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Long Goodbye - CthulhuTech PBF- IC

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Gargulec:
'Mhm' she muttered with a shrug, snatched a cigarette from a pocket, lighting it with but a touch of fingertip. As every White, she was a parapsychic and she was not even trying to hide that. 'I guess someone will see into this... And please' she added, pointing the smoke towards Razziny 'keep your jokes to yourself. They are kind of path...'

'Ketry!' sharp, loud voice interrupted her speech. You turned your heads towards it's source, to see a short, burly man, wearing this same uniform as the xenomix, with additional patched that identified him as a Chief Engineer of the outpost, emerging from one of the hangar storerooms. You all knew him, of course, and as hard as it was to believe, he was the father of the White, despite showing no similarities whatsoever to his daughter. 'Sorry for her again' he said, glaring angrily at Ketry. 'Anyway, you are to report to the Old Man for debriefing, ASAP.'

The Old Man was, of course, Major Alexander Sully, commander of the outpost, and your direct superior.

Xander Morhaime:
"Right... let's not keep the chief waiting," Kroenen said with a shrug. "Let's go."

Gargulec:
Sadly, all your possible conversations on the way to the Old Man's office were rendered impossible by thunderous roar of large aircraft taking off from the outpost landing pad. Thankfully, judging by the huge pile of boxes it left, it brought only supplies, not additional wounded for the hospital.

Ah, yes. The hospital. If there was anything remarkable about Karki Outpost, it was the hospital. Huge, slightly imposing structure, with thick walls and small windows looked like a futuristic version of the Bedlam House. You know more than one person in the base that was personally crept by this building, even knowing that it is certainly one of the safest places in the region.

One thing puzzled you as were strolling through the base. Everyone you have passed by- a fellow pilot and a few ordinary grunts appeared to be greatly disturbed or unsettled by something. You had no time to inquire, but it could not be a good sign.

Poor, Unfortunate Soul
The interior of Alexander Sully office was rather bare and unremarkable- epitome of the base. Desk with a rack for data crystals, a shelf with a few personal items- old holos, an old-fashioned photo, a medal which you did not recognize. Nothing special.

The Old Man, however, was all but bare and unremarkable. Tall and muscular still appeared like he could bend steel rods with his bare hands, despite his advanced age. He glanced at you, smiled, and showed you to sit down.

'Well' he spoke, his voice more than a little bit husky. 'There quite a bit going on here now. I guess you noticed already. Anyway, first things first: report. I want to hear it, before we proceed.'

Xander Morhaime:
Kroenen saluted first, out of formality, then gave a light shrug. "Not much to report, sir. Majority of the patrol went quietly, no enemy contact. On the final leg, lieutenant Hertz picked up some disturbance and we diverted off course to investigate. Ran into an ECM field, scrambled our comms and sensors... Faust managed to spot the source regardless and take it out. Engagement with 1 scoutbug and three locust-class bugs followed, during which all enemy units were rendered inoperable, with no damage to our own unit. After the engagement and a final sweep of the area we returned to the patrol route and to base. Sir."

"So what's going on, Alex? You've usually got things here in Ordnung, but today everyone looks like there's going to be an inspection from high command or something..."

Gargulec:
Alex frowned before replying, and grabbed a glass of water, chucking some sort of tablet into it. The liquid begun to hiss and bubble.

'Let just say' he said, taking a sip 'that I have small pile of good news, and a huge mountain of bad ones... The good ones are connected to your flawless victory. Two hours ago, I received a report that our air forces three hundreds clicks to the east intercepted and eliminated a migou flight bearing our way- given that it had an empty transporter among them, it seems logical that they were trying to pick up the machines you have busted, so it looks like it was a deep reconnaissance op after all, and we do not have to fear being attacked any time soon... Furthermore, migou are withdrawing in Easter Europe, even giving up ground. Intel says that they trying to hold back Rapine Storm from wrecking them in Asia, and transfer some forces from less prolific fronts, giving us more space to breathe. So, the outpost, the region, and, by extension, we, are safe. For now, at least.'

'As for the bad news... Well. First of all, we had another civvie from hospital personnel disappear during the leave in the city. Secondly, there are more and more reports of shoot-outs in the city at night, but again, despite the fact that we have no idea how is wasting who, this is not really our problem.'

He stood up from behind the desk, and gestured towards you.

'Follow me, you gotta see something.'

He led you outside the office, to the main control and security building, and then, taking a stairs down, to the underground section of the base. He remained silent on his way there.

Finally, you arrived at small door. Alex entered a long code on the keypad, and the door swung open, revealing what appeared to be an interrogation room of some sorts. You had no idea it was even there. From what you could see through the window (two-way mirror, without a doubt), there were three people inside. Two of them were probably grunts, clad in combat armour and armed with assault rifles... The third, sitting on a lone chair, with her hand and legs shackled, was a Nazzadi women. She seemed somehow familiar... Then, she raised her head, and you instantly recognized her. She was a fellow mecha pilot, from the other mecha squad in the outpost. You could not quite remember her name, though... As far as you could remember, she joined the forces not long ago... month maybe?Or two? Anyway, from what you have she was really well liked by her squad.

Alex sighed.

'I had her arrested this morning, after routine search in her quarters turned out that she was in possession of uncensored copies of "Book of Five Shadows" and "Breath of R'lyeh".'

He sighed again.

'This alone would a very bad sign, and good reason for entire outpost to become nervous- finding an unregistered, illegal sorcerer among the pilots is never a good sign, right? But it is far worse, this whole case really stinks... You see, yesterday, I have received an anonymous denunciation that this Kiy here is harbouring illegal tomes and dabbling in forbidden arts. And someone really did his best to make this information remain anonymous, there is no way to track it to it's source. Suspicious, right? But I had to conduct a search, just in case. Furthermore, Kiy is claiming that she has never seen this books before. Of course, I know that every single sorcerer would do the same in her situation, but somehow I find it hard to believe that a pilot fresh out of academy is also an adept of forbidden art skilled enough to actually utilize contents of this books. The tomes we found are really advanced, containing a knowledge which mere comprehending would require and iron mind and iron will. And it does not appear that the girls has any of above. But again, we have found them in her quarters, and this means that we should hand her over to OIS, to determine if she is even mortal any more...'

He paused, and took a long look at the girl. She was literally shaking and sobbing, and you could not say if it was fear, anger or both.

'I served in OIS for a good few years. And I know that if she will be taken into one of their facilities, it will mean a great, great suffering for her, even if she is actually innocent. And even if they prove it... Her career in the Army will be wasted, and I am afraid that her entire life will get ruined as well. I have seen such situations before, a few times too many, if you ask me. And if she really is innocent, someone must have framed her, right? And that would mean that we have someone pursuing his own agenda here, and God knows what will it bring.'

He turned towards you.

'Tell me, would you do an old man a final favour?'

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