"How do you gentlemen know about Necromo?" Hap asked.
"We were monitoring the calls coming into and out of the Embassy, even encrypted ones." Rich said
"Especially the encrypted ones." Sam added with a laugh.
"And my team intercepted several messages sent from Necromo to Sian." Kurt added.
"Before we get how we do our business we'd like to ask you a few questions." Sam said.
Hap looked around as the men settled into their chairs and pulled out large notepads and pens. "I'd like to record this if no one objects." Kurt said as he started to press a few buttons on the noteputer built into the table. Hap and Anastasia nodded, thinking they had little choice and Rich and Sam mumbled their agreement.
"Let's begin at the beginning." Sam said, "Tell us how you and your company came to conduct a raid on Necromo."
Hap and Anastasia explained everything from their introduction to Colonel Norton, the training on Daniels, the actual raid, and then the failed attempt to hijack the ship. The interview felt like a mix of a post mission debriefing and what Hap would imagine a police interrogation would feel like. The men didn't ask too many questions; rather they just let Hap and Anastasia tell their story, at some points they wrote a few notes, other times they would just look at them and nod.
When Hap and Anastasia were done, the MIIO agents went back through the items they were unclear about. Rich and Sam tried to get as much of a description of Demi-Precentor Norton as they could. They seemed to have a vague idea who he might be. Kurt was more interested in the Electronic Countermeasure device. He was impressed Anastasia was able to recognize the purpose of the device based purely on mathematical equations in a technical manual. She explained how she had to piece it together with the help of their non-English speaking Aerotech.
The questions then started to become in depth. The analysts began asking about Daniels and the training center that was used there. They wanted to know how similar the facilities there were to the actual fortress from the raid. They then started to ask questions about everything they saw and experienced on Necromo, from objects or platforms floating around the planet to the installation and even surface conditions, flora, and fauna.
When they were done with their questions Rich and Kurt turned to look at Sam.
"We're going to need everything you took in the raid, and whatever you got from the ComStar ROM agents. Equipment, papers, that demi-precentor's briefcase, and all the data discs or drives he had, and every last thing they took in the raid."
"We don't want the precentor's briefcase." Kurt said, "It likely has a suite of tracking devices and other nasty things that we probably don't want anywhere near our offices."
"You don't want to look over a ComStar suite of tracking devices?" Rich said, "I'm disappointed Kurt."
Kurt held up his hands placatingly, "fine bring us everything. I won't have you spookies thinking I'm not up to the challenge."
"Now you said this ECM suite thing was in a 10-meter-long shipping container?" Sam asked, "We don't have any way to move that, not without renting a vehicle, but that might draw attention. We also don't have any good place to really look it over. Honestly the best place for it is probably NAIS, but Kurt,"
"Yes?" Kurt sang out.
"Do you want your people to look it over and see what they can figure out?" Sam asked.
"I'd be quite disappointed if you did not let my team of scientists and cryptologists examine the device, but I agree we can't really move it. It sounds like there is some personal trash and detritus for you to sift through so you can 'profile' the great minds that made this device."
Hap was starting to get the sense there was a professional "friendly" competition between the Signal analyst and Human intelligence gatherers. Instinctively he sided with the HUMINT guys, "We have a ROM agent if you gentlemen would like to take her off our hands." Hap offered.
"Not really." Sam said, "The more truth serum you feed them the more they start howling about Blake this and holy prophet that. Honestly you talk to one of them, you've sorta talked to them all. Or it's like reading their damn book. I'd rather have Kurt explain how he can tell a Maskirova agent is a native Russian or Chinese speaker based off the oscillations of their noteputer's power supply when the type."
"Oh so you did read my whitepaper."
"Someone left part of it in the staff toilet." Sam answered.
"That probably has more to do with the shipping problems we had when we first stood up the embassy, and toilet paper started getting scarce." Rich said.
"Someday you'll come to understand the genius of what I do." Kurt answered.
"I believe we are getting off topic, Gentlemen." Anastasia said, "I'd point out the ROM agent in question is certainly highly indoctrinated, but I've never heard her speak of Blake, and I worked with her for a few months before she tried to murder me."
Kurt looked confused and gave Sam and Rich a questioning look. "Why does ROM have a special interest in the daughter of one of our nobles?"
"Anastasia here was a researcher at NAIS while she was studying there. She was helping her father working on an experimental weapon project. He was an industrialist, scientist, and businessman." Sam said.
"He's more of a polymath really." Anastasia said. "and the business was sort of a side hobby."
Sam nodded, "Either way her father, like a lot of scientists, happened to have an 'unfortunate accident' followed very quickly by her father's business partner and fellow polymath killing himself under suspicious circumstances. The usual self-inflicted execution style gunshot wounds to the back of the head. We figured it was ISF, but honestly we usually blame Kurita for a lot of things until we have evidence to the contrary, sometimes we still blame them anyway." Sam laughed. "Man, we hate those guys."
Kurt sat up taller, "This is why the science of electronic intelligence is superior, if you give me a signal I can-"
"Yeah signals get spoofed or redirected all the time, so don't start." Rich answered.
"Wait, my mother has evidence that ComStar assassinated my father, and likely killed his friend."
"We saw the report." Rich said. "And given ComStar's attack on NAIS and the whole interdiction episode, it's pretty obvious it was them, but given the concessions Prince Davion himself had to make with ComStar I'm not sure accusing ROM of assassination is something he wants to do right now."
"What happened with ComStar?" Hap asked.
"Have you been living under a rock, my boy?" Kurt asked.
"Take it easy Kurt." Sam said, "He's a mechwarrior that means he's been living on a Dropship jumping between systems and only visiting planets long enough to destroy things. When he's not doing that he's 'getting to know' his gorgeous new wife, or trying to figure out what it means to be married into a noble family. Which is tricky for him because he grew up in a 'mech garage and had to work his way through a second-tier military academy."
"I see you did your research once you were done eavesdropping." Hap said. He wasn't sure he liked being reduced to a few succinct statements.
"Would you expect anything less of MIIO?" Rich asked.
"No, but I wouldn't consider Albion a second-tier school" Hap said.
"Let's ask your wife." Sam said.
Anastasia looked apologetic, "Albion is not NAIS, and he was right about me being gorgeous, and Intelligence is their name. I personally feel we really can't question Sam's assessment, Harold."
"Oh don't look so hurt, and Kurt's right Captain, you should watch a news holo once in a while." Sam chuckled. "And it looks like our reports were right that you're as smart as you are gorgeous."
Rich cleared his throat "In regards to what happened with ComStar, in June of 3029 ComStar perpetrated a raid on their on HPG facilities on Sarna, but framed AFFS for it. They used this as a pretext to put most of the Federated Suns under an HPG Interdiction. Then in September a unit, who we've all but confirmed was the ComGuards-"
"But I'm still blaming Kurita" Sam added with a smile as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"- attacked New Avalon Institute of Science. They did some damage to the grounds, but nothing serious. Between the interdiction and the very intentional attack on our Science and Technology research centers it became obvious that ComStar was trying to cripple the new Federated Commonwealth. By December the Prince negotiated a peace with ComStar. The interdiction would be lifted, but they could station ComGaurds units-
"And those nasty ROM bastards" Sam interjected
"Around their HPG stations." Rich said.
"Wait." Hap said, "We were using the HPG on Monhegan in October."
"The interdiction was primarily aimed at New Avalon, the AFFC, and the military industrial complex. Although, to our surprise, they allowed MRB contract work to go through." Rich said.
Sam smiled, "Even ComStar seems to respect a mercenary's honest hustle in the business of violence and murder." Sam paused to collect his thoughts, "For the first couple months it looked like a complete comms black out, but then on some worlds particularly on the edge of the empire, like Monhegan, they'd let civilian traffic pass, and maybe some diplomatic things. Some worlds, like New Avalon, stayed dark though. It was sort of random where ComStar would allow traffic and where they wouldn't. It was more annoying than a complete blackout. But it could have been worse."
"Anything encrypted they'd refuse to send, and if they thought you were trying to secretly pass troop orders or something like that, those messages would be 'garbled' or would be key missing parts." Rich said.
"It hurt, and even with our black box 'fax machines' it's pretty much stalled the war effort." Sam added, "Damn shame because we were really giving the Combine hell."
"Fax Machines?" Hap asked
"A K series transmitter. It's like a mini HPG. It sends an omnidirectional message instead of a focused signal. It's not as effective and can't send messages as far or as quickly, but it is FTL communications, and an alternative to ComStar's HPG." Anastasia said.
"How do you know about these devices?" Kurt asked. "I thought you and your father worked on an x-weapon project."
"My father was interested in building an HPG network for the Federated Suns. When he heard that the Department of Military Communications and Research had an alternative to HPG he asked to see it."
Kurt looked half shocked, "Build an alternative HPG network? That would take significant resources…it's almost impossible without the resources of an empire."
"He knew." Anastasia said, "that's why he hoped if we did well on the experimental weapons project he could prove to someone at NAIS or in the DMCR that he was capable of such a thing."
Kurt still seemed flabbergasted, "I couldn't imagine where to even begin such an endeavor."
"With a functioning K-F drive from a decommissioned JumpShip and a lot of test equipment." Anastasia answered.
"See Kurt this is why unimaginative old bastards like us work in government." Sam smiled.
"It would be impractical to try and build anything like that." Kurt said. "Further I'm not unimaginative."
"Yeah, but it would have been real nice a year ago." Rich said dryly.
"It'd be nice today. I'm sick of dealing with ComStar." Sam shook his head, "I'm sick of every time we call the home office I got to give money to the competition. Alright, here is what we need to do. When is your meeting with the DAT?"
"Tomorrow at 0900." Anastasia said
"Good that's probably too early for him to cancel." Sam said, "Alright Tomorrow we'll send a vehicle to pick you guys up, but I need you to be ready to fill it with everything you can, prioritize the technical things that ROM took on the raid, and everything you got from the Demi-Precentor."
"The mercenary company is probably going to want some compensation for all of that. It's like salvage, and ComStar hired them but, backed out of the contract for obvious reasons. We're not sure what happens next with them and the MRB." Hap said.
"Bring whoever does their money." Sam answered, "We'll work out a fair price. After that we'll need to contract your friends to help us get this thing back to NAIS. I need to talk to my boss and see what she says, but we can't keep this thing here. And speaking of things that can't stay here, can I offer you a ride back to your hangar?" Sam asked
"Wait, before we go, I have a question" Hap said, "What do you guys know about Necromo?"
"Well we've never visited." Sam said. Both Kurt and Rich looked at Sam. After a moment he nodded, "They've been in the Necromo system twice now, and their both cleared for Top Secret information."
"It's likely one of the most secure and secret places in the Capellan Confederation." Kurt said. "Right up with Romano Liao's underwear drawer."
Rich shook his head, "Necromo has a Capellan top secret research site for aerospace technology. The planet also has shipyards and repair facilities for all classes of Drop Ship and Aerospace fighters, possibly even Jump Ships. There are unfounded, but persistent and frightening rumors they may have the capacity to repair Warships. Only the most fanatically loyal and faithful citizens of the Confederation are allowed on Necromo."
"'Unfounded, but persistent and frightening rumors'? Tell me this is not what you base your work on. Next you'll be repeating some spacers legends or that conspiracy theories about the warship the Taurians found."
"Kurt, you try to filter out a good signal from background noise, you ever mistake one for the other?" Sam asked.
"I might have." Kurt said quietly, "I see your point."
"Right," Sam said, "so we sent the Smithson's Chinese Bandits to conduct a raid on Necromo about a decade ago. I'll admit they didn't find a warship, but they met the Big Mac and it went pretty bad for them. Bad enough we didn't try it again." Sam said. "A few months back we decided to use a small merc company to conduct a raid and mess up the systems advanced warning post. You might be familiar with that action. It took us months just to find a Jump Ship pilot that would take a bribe and get you into the regular system traffic."
"Once the post was destroyed we bribed a couple bureaucrats to get a particular construction company as one of the sub-contractors doing repairs. They happened to add a few extra sensors and detectors, and most of them were pointed the wrong way, if you catch my drift."
"Even with all that we still can't tell you much more about Necromo." Rich said. "We can confirm it has extensive repair facilities and even some aerospace manufacturing factories, but exactly what the Capellans are doing there, and what ComStar wanted with their work is something we'd like to know."
"So tomorrow we'll get a look at whatever you got, talk to the ROM agent you brought with you, and see if we can make some sense of things." Rich said, "In the mean time though, you guys want a ride back to your company?"
Hap and Anastasia exchanged glances. "We wanted to do a little shopping before we returned."
"Surely you jest." Kurt said, "According to everything I've heard today, you're a significant science and technology research asset. This is an asymmetrical warzone, and you are personally being hunted by ComStar. Do you really think it's wise to just wander the streets looking for the perfect shoes?"
"ComStar seems to make convoluted plans and rarely strikes in broad daylight." Anastasia said. "I thought if we went today it would be before they figured out some over-wrought plot to kill me."
"Has it occurred to you that you've only been lucky up to this point?" Rich asked.
There was a quiet moment Sam laughed again, "Tell you guys what, We'll sign out a vehicle, get you a driver, maybe that Private in the DAT's office, and she'll take you to the up-town shopping center. It's nice, and has real good security. ROM wouldn't suspect it, and I'd feel good about letting my grandkids shop there, if I let them visit us here."
"But would you let your wife shop there?" Kurt asked
"No man I don't feel good about letting my wife shop anywhere. If I'm not watching her she'll blow through my whole paycheck in one go." Sam said with a laugh.