SCRA Communications Centre

[arvg]

Comm-ID: Sub lt. Alvin Katz
Destination: SCRA Command

It had started out a hard day. But he lifted the recorder to his lips and began to speak.

Snub-fighter training under the Commissar himself and Comrade Commander Ymir Molotov had been a rough awakening to exactly how long the road was going to be ahead of me. Though I did learn key tactical maneuvers that hadnt occurred to me before.

The demonstration of the might of the Coalition wasnt wasted upon me, it was impressive and terrifying all at the same time.

My new Partisan was a sturdy vessel, tight in its cornering, with a broad roll-out of the turn, excellent for afterburner turns. A maneuver I have been practicing repeatedly since.

Mines remain a puzzle I am eager to solve, requiring a complete and radical re-think to my initial fighter strategies. And of course there had been the control problem, Id encountered a problem of muddling the control for the Counter-Measures and the Mine Launcher, and ended up firing a spread of mines that I later ran into, much to my dismay.

There is something to learning in the breach. It was a mistake I will never repeat.

The Commissar and the Commander were excellent instructors.

I finished training to return to my reports, departing on my dawn patrol ahead of schedule. Leaving through the Siberian Ice Fields and making my way up through the Dublin System and into Bretonian Space.

He sat in the archive cubical at Fighter Corps Command, a thermos of coffee that the barmaid, Tangerine, had made for him at his request after he had returned. Maps and diagrams spread out across the table behind him.

I have a Medical report from the infirmary taken upon my return from my Dawn patrol. The enclosed transcripts of my flight recorder, and of course the detailed scans Id taken of the Keeper fighter are enclosed on a separate data feed for Commands review. As per situational discretion, I have forwarded a copy of these files to the TAZ Ambassador, explanation to follow.

I am not a researcher, I am a political ideologist. There were members of Military Intelligence that would be better suited to the task of assessing the value of the information that I have collected. But then, I am not exactly clear on what I have discovered.

I would like to pursue further research on this matter, before I attempt a fuller report on the Keeper, Wilde and Nomad mind control techniques. It was decided, for the safety of the SCRA Command echelon, that no specimen be returned to Omega-52, as there is no conclusive proof that the Mind Control techniques cannot be used to subvert Command level Officers during interrogation. I will terminate all captured prisoners/minds/contaminants unless ordered otherwise.

He was smoking again, the ashtray overflowing from the pack hed already gone through in the course of his studies. And he was thankful for the fact that A. no one really bothered to come down to the archives. And B. No one cared that he smoked.

He sipped the coffee, clutching the cup from the sides, savouring the Irish Cream that Tangerine had added. Thankful that shed realized he was off duty, and could use the hit of something more potent than the coffee pot could provide.

There is some connection between Cardamine the Keepers and a Black Squadron all rumors I managed to acquire in the course of my patrol. But again there is nothing concrete to report beyond that I am investigating further. I have leads that have taken me to the Zoners Ambassador Doc Holiday, and point towards the Outer Omicron sectors. An area I will patrol in a few minutes after filing this report and rearming my Partisan for the journey.

I have learned from my communications with Ambassador Holiday of counter techniques to the Keepers voodoo. And I quote: I do know one thing about the Keepers, like their Wilde Cousins they dont like the strong minded

It had been Marx that had saved me from doing something stupid. I merely recited the ten tenants of a successful communist revolution, and of course the Maxim: Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labor of others by means of such appropriation.

It was recited like a mantra to drum the Euphoria-spider out of my head, that and a very powerful Order Gunboat chasing the Keeper Kharybdis out of the trap I had set for it.

The oldest play in the SCRA playbook. Im here, come get me sent to the Keeper, and tipping off the Order vessel to the incoming vessel at the same time. I deftly played one side off against the other, and it had kept me alive long enough to get some detailed information. Such as an order Code-name that I believe refers to the Nomads in some fashion. The Information is transmitted in a Classified file separate from this report.

The knowledge of the Baffin System, and the Keeper interest that is something I hope would pan out into something. As yet there is no further information on that matter to report. However, since the system is not important to the SCRAs immediate plans, and knowing that further information was. I used the information to open a dialogue with the TAZ zoners, which proved fruitful in gathering more information, such as the resistance technique. But a more effective and permanent counter to the Mind Control remains elusive, I must explore further to learn more.



To sum up what I learned: Keepers are some kind of Nomad Hybrid and they fly ships that are not seen often the rest was all some kind of Liberty Security secret, which I will attempt to access at a future date. I am working with contacts in the Revolutionary network to gain the files.

He stopped his pacing, suddenly remembering the Atropos, the freighter that had been so supportive of the Coalition.

I have a further issue to report. My fighter had been smashed repeatedly by Corsairs, leaving me to limp across the Cambridge system, trying to avoid random Armed Forces patrols, when I come upon a freighter that saw I was in distress and Coalition. The Freighter immediately stopped and supplied me with the parts needed to affix repairs and press on with my patrol.

This incident that only reaffirms my belief that the common folk out in Sirius are supportive of the Coalitions goals.

I would strongly recommend that if you encounter the Atropos to show them the gratitude of the Coalition and allow them to pass on their way.

Sub-Lieutenant Alvin Katz

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