Behind the Scenes

[Reeves]

//This will be a thread full of one-post stories about incidents, mundane events, or otherwise purely unremarkable and fluff-oriented details regarding life in the LFR

Fortress Ramsey; Ontario System; Liberty Free Republic

---

This was headache inducing.

The room was small and only just sufficiently lit by warm lights. This was to say nothing about the utterly dodgy state of the computer terminal in front of the Section 8 liaison assigned to this case. More of an informal investigation or curiosity than anything else.

Documents, tapes, old drives, and even holo-projections had been called up for production so that it could be properly reviewed, assessed, and then duly catalogued into the increasingly tempting pile of irrelevant material. All of which would no doubt return to cold storage and never again see the light of day, not that there was any.

What had prompted this apparent curiosity from up high was an incident that felt equal parts anecdotal and easily explained. A wing of Alliance ships had been launched to raid the nearby system of Inverness, and subsequently encountered what the pilots referred to as a "collection of Nomads" in their way. This was by no means novel or monumental in its own right, even the most unassuming of Freelancers might survive encounters with stray Nomad interceptors on the far frontiers of Sirius. Some might even defeat these creatures and gloat about the accomplishment for generations. In total ignorance of the fact that there are far worse things to be found where man is unwelcome.

Eventually, the box of blackbox tapes in question are brought to the desk and lowered with a thump. This in turn causes the monitor to report that it had "lost signal" before defaulting to a black screen. A frustrating occurrence, because now a game has to be played with a cumbersome cable, pressing and twisting until it brings the wallpaper of a white star back.

"Can't you just put these things on the floo-"

The nonchalant but sharply dressed PA pointed rigidly to the floor, now overrun by brown boxes that smelled distinctly of naphthalene.

There was no argument to be had - just agony for later. Still, these drives needed to be reviewed at any cost. And so tired hands once again went through the chore of loading them into the terminal's rectangular port. This prompted a series of clicks, scratches, and whirs to overtake the noise of nearby ventilation outlets for a handful of moments. These drives have to be loaded in this manner one after the other, and there's easily more than a dozen in this suspiciously damp box.

Eventually, and with more than a little disgust, everything has been copied over and unpacked for review in what appears to be an open source video player. The starting few seconds of all feeds are choppy, indicative of the turbulence that comes with the use of jumpholes. All the snubcraft these tapes were pulled from are then transitioned into a dim blue nebula, bordering on purple, and utterly unremarkable. They take a moment to organize, enter formation, and start moving out.

Almost as soon as the "smoke" clears, the wing of snubcraft are confronted by what would easily be seen as abject horror. A line of large Nomad warforms all primed to fight and neatly ordered to to consume or subsume anything in their wake. Panic is in fact the natural response from almost all the pilots involved. Cleverly suppressed by not openly broadcasting over the secure comms-line between ships. Some curse repeatedly, some pray, and others begin to breathe more rapidly and shiver.

A further element of chaos manifests with many of the pilots beginning to fall prey to psychic assaults, hearing voices that never spoke a word, or seeing things that do not actually possess a form. The comms-line is rife with chatter now between pilots, and the occasional interjection of static.

-
"That is a lot of them, what the hell!"
[static]
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"I didn't say anything!"
[static]
"Who is that?!"
[static]
"Shut up! Don't say that!"
[static]
"I said stop!"
-

This repeats down the line, colored in a variety of different ways, with each pilot having their own adverse reactions to an unseen influence that pervades their senses and tests for weakness. It seems as if the wing might lose cohesion and retreat under such circumstances. And from a cursory review of the reports of Ramsey's specialized infirmary, the most common side effect of exposure to forms of such a magnitude range from catatonic to raving madness, episodes that last days, weeks, or even months. Cocktails of drugs, constant observation, and sometimes reassurance solve a minority of these cases. But a majority are either written off as dead in the interim from further complications, or put down.

Static soon overtakes the line in ordered bursts, as if the unseen is having its own conversation, or perhaps initiating the final crescendo of an orchestra designed to break resolve.

And then it parts.

-
"Clear comms!"
-

A voice that oozes authority barks. Rewinding the tape multiple times, from multiple perspectives has the same result, the interference ceases from all perspectives at this exact moment.

-
"Come with me and kill these beasts!"
-

Static briefly threatens to creep back in soon after these orders are relayed, but as the formation tightens around the lead craft, it gradually dissipates into clarity. This is once again something that can be universally verified, even from the point of view of a straggler that's nudged back in line. More curiously, the flight leaders voice is never once hampered by any interference. Instead, the pilots steel themselves and nurse well developed hatred into action.

Even more curious is the absolute lack of reports about pilots of this wing by Ramsey's previously mentioned infirmary. None of them were found to be suffering from adverse effects, given clean chits and simply put back into active service. The reports had clearly downplayed the magnitude of the threat these pilots faced, and yet they were unscathed. Not only this, but as the feed continues on, they appear to be winning?

Trained pilots, seasoned veterans, and even heroes of the first Nomad war had been lost facing down forms of this scale. The human mind is only capable of so much.

But these were not trained pilots, at least not in the sense required, they lacked the experience, and were woefully ignorant of the true extent of danger the Nomads posed to unprepared human minds. But they still prevailed.

How?

Frustratingly, this requires a complete repeat of all the tapes. Every perspective, every second, every word spoken, and every scratch of white noise. But there is only one common denominator. A connection made as the PA's polished shoes click and clack their way back into the room to deposit one final tape in the reviewer's hands.

The flight leader's..