In the immediate aftermath of the events of The Nain Logs 3308: In Time, This Too Shall Pass, the Thargoids showed themselves to be less than forgiving of the actions taken on behalf of the human race by Azimuth Biochemicals and the company’s spiritual-leader, Salvation. The rouge signal sources that appeared, following Salvation’s failed attempt to permanently secure humanity against the xeno-threat, revealed themselves to be nebulous agglomerations of caustic destruction, dubbed Maelstroms by leading authorities in study of xeno-biology and xeno-defense; and with them came death, and hell followed with them in the form of an armada of Thargoid Interceptors, including a never-before-seen variation that is believed to be specifically evolved(?) for conducting wartime intelligence. Completely seizing eight regions of colonized space, each occupied seemingly overnight as the Maelstrom’s reached their positions, the Thargoids’ wrath pushed both Imperial and Federation leadership to call for their respective constituencies to hold the line, against myriad calls from within and without to reconsider the policies implemented after the disastrous Proteus Wave failure.
Having been so ordered by Munus Nullus Ordo, aka The Zero- in response to the actions taken by Imperial Senator Bluecrash acting at the request of Princess Aisling and with permission from Her Empire, The Emperor Arissa Levigny-Duval- the team remained in HIP 18077. Pilot’s Federation Representative Corps representative Callie Nain, K-Double-N, call-sign Half-Lock, had rejoined her former training partners to provide carrier support. Egressing from the duty-post to which she’d been assigned under forged Pilot’s Federation credentials, and joining the group with her former training partner- now a member of Novus Ordo Siderum’s Order of Primis Aseptus, Clara Nain, KN, Callie was provided with a new set: Cadence’s own.
In a process undertaken by The Man in the Black Suit (Carl), Order of Primis Aseptus, PFRC representative Cadence Nain, K-Double-N, was equally provided with a new set of Pilot’s Federation credentials under the call-sign Half-L0ck. A minor alteration, but one that carried the enormous scale of her loss, incurred for the actions of Novus Ordo Siderum in Imperial space.
Frater Orion Roehner, Ordo Mandati Fratribus, KN, and The Man in the Black Suit, along with Cadence, had been assigned to the California Sector, just within range of the California Sector Nebula, in order to provide carrier support for PFRC representative Coral Nain, KN, call-sign Half-Lock. Coral had recently chosen to deprive the team of her incoming communications following a final set of transmissions that left the team shaken. Going further, Coral disabled the technological apparatuses of Novus Ordo Siderum’s surveillance aboard her vessel, Keystone, as she continues toward the completion of the final phase of her Realignment, The Run, leaving the team without information pertaining to her progress.
Amidst the war made upon mankind by the Thargoids- a modest counter-attack by some measures- and a potentially deadly misjudgment of the group’s position within Her Empire’s domain, Munus Nullus Ordo has called the team to attention.
03JAN3309 Callie Nain, Call-Sign CMDR Half-Lock
To Those That Hear The Call
Coral had been lost to us since disabling the NOSCOMPROTOCOL surveillance equipment aboard Keystone. According to Orion, The Zero had continued to receive Pilot’s Federation galactic-location protocol data from her vessel, indicating that she was continuing along The Run. Hoping to glean any further information on her whereabouts, Carl sent Cadence on a tracking mission, from which she returned with nil. She was issued leave shortly afterward.
I’d been keeping track of her doings in California. In accordance with Carl’s last briefing, Cadence had been collecting occupied escape pods in the region. What she hadn’t been told at the time is that my crew would be unable to store the OEPs for her, aboard Nain One (V2L-45B). In the weeks to follow, what she’d equally not been told is that we’d been issued an order, straight from The Zero, to abort all work in relation to Imperial Senator Bluecrash’s Order of Twelve Fringe Science Laboratory. Something pertaining to Princess Aisling’s less-than-supportive stance on slavery worked its way into The Office; and The Office found it less than amenable to the organization’s future goals to have our Cadence, native of Cubeo, conducting slaving operations on behalf of an Imperial Senator whose previous ties to us could potentially imply the support of The Princess Duval. We’d terminated our relationship to the Senator shortly afterward, issuing statements to Novus Ordo Siderum agents in Imperial space containing our assessments on the Senator’s activities and aims.
Cadence had been doing little other than conducting smash-and-grab operations, murdering a hundred-and-a-half, targeting various facilities in the region. NOSCOMPROTOCOL surveillance had video of her making use of station data centers to locate personnel, immediately locating them and terminating their “contracts”. When she’d returned to Nain One (V2L-45B) before being issued leave, she hadn’t the slightest hint of aggression in her eyes. Just the plaintive look of someone appreciative of her freedom in the immediate aftermath of her captivity and the seizure of over five billion credits-worth of her assets by Imperial forces. It was unnerving. I’d mentioned it to Clara and she shrugged her shoulders, turning to her reports on Coral and slurring, “Most people as stupid as she is can’t tell the difference between tactically-defined operational strikes and just plain murdering people”, before dipping back into her glass of Burnham Bile Distillate- which Cadence’s crew had managed to salvage from her fleet carrier during the Imperial Senator’s seizure.
Carl had invited Dorothy Green aboard and she’d requested berthing for a vessel she’d been putting some work into, which I granted at Carl’s prompting. He’d been far more quiet, and far less jovial than in the immediate aftermath of his captivity, since the order from The Zero came down. He hadn’t been particularly thrilled about the Imperial Senator’s request, but neither was he naive to the possibility that the termination of our working relationship might result in recurring frictions between the organization and various Imperial forces and proxies. He’d been avoiding attending Orion’s briefings on Coral’s progress and Clara had been growing increasingly wary of his lack of communication. He was still Coral’s Primis Aseptus and, along with being Cadence’s, it imposed certain responsibilities upon him that Clara reasoned were bettered by maintaining fully opened lines of communication between he, herself and Orion.
Mr. Roehner had holed up in the briefing room, taking meals only when brought over by Clara, leaving only to take his place in the hangar bay for the occasional 15-25 hour hibernation, where I’d set up a barracks for Cadence, Coral, and Carl. Clara had told me little less than nothing about the operations of the Fatbus people and Orion, being of The Order and a KN like Clara, did little more than divert my attention toward various operational goals for which we’d been tasked with in providing them carrier support. He’d spoken little to me about Coral’s atemporality and I could only glean so much from Cadence’s recounting of the situation- it was like talking to a child about why the wind blows. Orion had been the first to the briefing room and we stood, both facing the holo, as The Charge droned on. He focused on The Face and I directed my attention toward Clara as she entered.
“What’s the-“ She turned her face toward The Charge, trailing off. She broke off, briefly, before returning her gaze to The Charge, “Where’s Cade-“
Carl entered, with Dorothy in tow, their hands clasped. Carl turned toward The Charge, releasing Dorothy’s hand and we four stood, awaiting word on Coral. Then, the words came:
“Standby for status on PFRC representative Coral Nain, KN, call-sign CMDR Half-Lock…”
The Charge continued.
“Munus Nullus Ordo has issued the following statement on the status of PFRC representative Coral Nain, KN, call-sign CMDR Half-Lock:
PFRC representative Coral Nain, KN, call-sign CMDR Half-Lock
Status: Operational
Status: Currently being administered Realignment
Communications attempts underway
No status update
NULL CESSAVIT
Status: Operational
Status: Currently being administered Realignment
Communications attempts underway
No status update
NULL CESSAVIT
The Charge faded and I turned to look at Clara, who’d remained gazing into The Face, “That’s it?”
Clara turned toward me, smiling and nodding, “Its good news.”
Orion stepped forward, turning to us all, “Good news, everyone. NULL CESSAVIT, nothing to worry about.”
I squinted, turning to Carl, who looked at me for a short moment, his eyes darting leftward and back. Dorothy grabbed his hand and walked him from the room. I turned away from the two, looking toward Orion and Clara, again, who’d both begun to discuss the remainder of the day.
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