Special Delivery

Jan 24 - NIV

"Umbrella Corporation develops cloning, genetics, cryostasis and other biotech. They have long been suspected of studying reanimation. Mercedes Celestalis is a licensed acquisitions agent for Umbrella." Colonel M________ to Major P. Siamendes, private correspondence, Jan. 10

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NIV would not have been my choice for a package exchange. However, these were the co-ordinates that I was sent.

I was glad that on my last trip to NIV I had spent so much time reconnoitering. If things got really nasty, at least I had some sense of where to run, which air ducts led where, and what areas provided the best cover.

The G-bar wasn't a bad location as such. While it was a cul-de-sac, there were two exits one could exploit. The neon orange color scheme was another matter.

The bar was empty when I got there. Mercedes Celestalis arrived soon after.

"Major Siamendes..." she began.

"Ms. Celestalis, I believe you have something for me."

"I delivered it for you yesterday," she stated.

"Yesterday?" I asked. I had received no package.

"Yes, I believe that is the correct word."

"I was in transit," I explained, "I did not receive anything."

"I left it for you in Al Raqis."

I was caught off guard. "On Al Raqis? I see...and where did you leave this item?" Please, not the desert.

"I did not go to much effort to hide it."

"And may I ask what it is?"

"I was instructed to give you some biological materials coveted by the Rogue Hale Turing Grade Replicant. This tracer should help you track its signal beacon."

She handed me a thick wristband bearing the Umbrella Corporation logo.

A woman with pale skin and huge wings entered the establishment. A glowing ring of light hovered over her head. She eyed us as she moved to the bar and leaned on the counter top.

"Touch to activate," instructed Ms. Celestalis.

I thanked her and pressed the activation sequence. The wristband came to life.

"Touch to deactivate."

The scanner became silent.

A useful tool," I remarked.

"We have found it keeps hands clean," Ms. Celestalis replied.

I removed the scanner and slipped it into the pouch on my hip. "I believe you know our ambassador to Al Raqis," I said conversationally.

"I have heard."

"Madam Raghilda."

"I never would have thought," she remarked.

"Of course, you knew her when she was a simple salvage operator working the derelict ship 'Persephone'."

"A young girl with ambitions greater than her skill," commented Ms. Celestalis, "That was regrettable. Claim jumpers and other rogue elements tainted the ship."

I smiled kindly, "Did you find it profitable nevertheless?"

"That assessment is handled in a different department," she replied.

"Ah I see... well, I'm sure Umbrella did not take a loss." I left an opening.

"The company has run for 500 years. They either had contingency plans or it was an acceptable loss."

"Naturally," I said reasonably.

She continued, "Or planned obsolescence...."

The Woman with Wings listened calmly, a smirk spreading across her face. "Ya two ain't from around here is ya?"

"Blue Sun has been crowding out our operations in the area," finished Mercedes.

I shook my head, "Blue Sun... "

"Is it too loud for you in here?" asked Ms. Celestalis, "Or are you just in the habit of repeating parts of other people's sentences?"

I smiled as a reply, "Why Ms. Celestalis, whatever are you suggesting?"

"You are planning to speak to the Rogue Turing?" she added. It was a question.

I chuckled, "And I would tell you why?"

"Because I have a present for you to give him that would suit both of our purposes."

"Are you an employee of Aurotharius to ask me such things?" I challenged.

"We contribute to Project Aurotharius."

The Woman with Wings had a comment too. "Now see, I was gonna ask yas what ya were doing all the way in a place like this. But I has a feelin' it's somethin' Chios would have a rather large distaste fer. After list'nin' to ya that is."

"Umbrella you mean?" I asked Ms. Celestalis, ignoring our neighbor.

"Yes. Ask the Rogue Turing why Blue Sun is manufacturing this Replicant Elixir." She handed me a bottle.

I examined the item but does not say anything.

"You are missing a special time for the Rogue Turing. You should speak with him soon."

I turned the bottle over in my hands, "You would be surprised how close we are..." I muttered.

Krenshar hadn't snapped my neck the last time I saw him. After the bombing of Caliban, I figured it was a hopeful sign.

"We don't have anyone on the ground, but we have reason to believe that someone has hacked your controls."

"My controls over the Replicant?" I asked.

The Woman with Wings picked up her datapad quickly typing and running a search. She glanced up eyeing us both. "Ya said ya were with Umbrella? My, my ain't that a... int'restin' company history."

Ms. Celestalis continued as if we were alone. "It was subject to Alliance orders, now we think someone has hacked an override.

"Yes," I confirmed "It was Ms Zhangsun. Tell me something I don't know."

"We are not sure, but we have not been able to get a reliable person on the ground in the Destiny Compound. First we thought it was x0x0, now we think its the project."

"Aurora?" I asked taking a wild guess.

"Rumors, gossip, conjecture, guesswork, etc.," admitted Ms. Celestalis.

"The little one is a loose cannon I have heard." I rotated the bottle of elixir in my hand.

"Regardless," added Ms. Celestalis, "Someone is affecting the behavior of the Rogue Turing, you might not want to miss the window of opportunity."

The Woman with Wings called out, "Hey, look ya two, I re'lly don't care, but ya should be careful sayin' yer from another company round here, som'ones bound ta shoot at ya. As fer reliable mercenaries, there's a ton round here, ya should hire em out. If ya got the fundin'...."

"It appears to be Blue Sun's and the Alliance's policy to let their experiments run loose in the 'verse to field test them," mocked Ms. Celestalis.

I laughed gently, "Well, you would be surprised how effective that really is."

A Woman with purple hair and a red trimmed skirt stretched a little as she made her way into the bar. She nodded as she passed by and sat at the bar, sighing softly "Again no bartender..."

The Woman with Wings smirked at the new arrival, "There's never a barten' when ya need one, I just been stealin' my vodka."

As the bar filled up, Mercedes Celestalis turned and left without a word.

The Woman with Purple Hair chuckled softly as she was already in the process of leaning over the bar, her legs kicking a little as she fished out a bottle from behind the bar "Yeah, but I shouldn't steal too many, I think they'd notice five bottles a day goin' missin' from me alone..."

I approached the Woman with Wings, "Excuse me, you mentioned Umbrella.."

"So I did, I was listenin' ta you. An' I looken em up. I could... benefit from their research."

I nodded, "Well, there are times when I need contract workers."

Another bar patron wandered in and looked at the pulsing lights with a bit of confusion. Her eyes seeming glazed over as she walked down the stairs as slow as can be.

"Yes, that woman who just left... works for Umbrella," I explained.

The Woman with Purple Hair's ear perked. she turned towards our conversation as she took a drink from the bottle.

The Woman with Wings moved closer. "My research shows they had some, int'restin' reanimation experiments, similar ta the first ones done on me by complet'ly different groups, but as it is, I'd keep pretty quiet about bein' en'ployed by tha' competition round here. Your friend, if she said it round the wrong person would be dead now."

"Yes," I conspired "She seems a bit arrogant ... not as careful as she should be. Reanimation you say?"

"I was 'bout ten seconds from shootin' her myself fust fer the entertainment of doin' so." She looked me over. "And you, what is it you do?"

Time to drop some bread crumbs and see what follows.

"I'm looking for someone.... Ardra Aurotharius."

"Yous lookin' fer them here?"

"No, I came here for information..." I looked around the club, "I've been here before actually."

The Woman with Purple Hair shook her head a little as we spoke. She chuckled a little before taking another long drink of the bottle.

"Obsidian began trickling into my sector," I said adding sugar to the mix.

A man who looked like a large fox in a military uniform stood by the door keeping his distance and watching me suspiciously.

"I came here for some background information," I continued.

"A dangerous place to do that kid," replied the Woman with Wings, "Comin' ta the worst place surrounded by criminals, and people whos love ya kill yas. Ya don't look like ya'd last long here, as ya is."

The Fox Man gruffed softly under his breath, "Myust've run out of unarmed agricyultural cyolonies to bombard.."

"I'm haven't been afraid of anything since ninth grade." I placed my hands on my hips. "I would offer to buy you a drink, but I heard you've been getting your own vodka."

The Woman Seated at the Bar chortled softly but stayed silent.

The Woman with Wings grabbed an over-sized pistol from her belt pointing it at my head, giving me a good view of the fifty caliber barrel. "That so?" she asked.

The bar held it's breathe.

The Woman with Purple Hair hearing the sound of a gun being drawn, turned to face us, ready in case a gunfight broke out.

The Fox Man maintained his distance, making it easier to clear out if rounds started flying.

I smiled warmly. "Yes, that is so."

I continued, "Now, you said something earlier about hiring contract workers. What sort of work are you looking for? and are you willing to travel?" I figured I'd leave the reference checks for later.

The Woman with Wings grinned wickedly. "I'm glad yas ain't afraid now. Cause I'm mildly insane." She smirked, "There's a ton a mercenaries 'round here, If yas lookin' ta hire some stick round, and don't do somethin' stupid ta get killed. I ain't a mercenary, I'm an arms dealer. With ya bein' outside a Chios and all, I'd look for the BCM they does outside contracts."

"Oo arms dealer? Wonderful. You will have to let me get you that drink then. I'm Major Siamendes, Special Investigations Unit with the Alliance Military and am always on the look out for good reliable ordinance."

I ignored the hand cannon and fished out the photograph of Lynx standing next to the warhead in Faith's warehouse. "In fact, I have a photo here...."

The Woman with Wings paused a bit finally lowering the weapon to her belt. "I take it ya has an int'rest in some firepower then." She looked me over, "I deal in two things mostly, High tech, very potent gear, the second, is upgrading existing gear som'one has. Anythin' big like say a small mech, or a tank, will take time, but is doable."

"Excellent, excellent." I showed the Woman with Wings a photo showing the multi-yield warhead. "I would like something like this..."

The Woman with Purple Hair slowly turned back around when the woman put the gun down, returning to her drink while leaning against the bar counter.

"Have you seen a warhead like it? That boy standing next to it is about fifteen years old to give you the sense of size."

"Yas lookin' for somethin' ta really f*ck somethin' up bad then," the woman remarked, "That's doable without any problem, But it's be more my style to make a real devistatin' weapon."

"Have you seen this particular type?" I stressed. I wasn't in the buying mood of course. This was simply a good opportunity to see if Faith's missile was on the market yet or being kept for home use.

The Woman with Wings looks at the photo again, "Looks like a human design, a simple toy. I seen a similar one."

I nodded, "I think it is Faith Industries... have you heard of them?"

She shrugs, "Nah, I don't keep up much on human companies, Chios bein' the first company with heavy human involvement I been employed at fer a time."

I was satisfied. Chances were the Faith weapon was not yet on the market, out here at least. "Very well then."

The Woman with Wings looked at the warhead, "What is it yas lookin to f*ck up?"

"Oh nothing special, I just like to keep our troops equipped with the latest. Next time we are accepting bids I will be sure to have you invited. May I give you my card?"

Another patron walked in and hopped into a chair, glancing around for points of interest.

"Please contact me if you hear of this item going on the market."

The Woman with Wings looked at the picture of Faith's missile again. "Then ditch the big hammer, and get yaself some real weapons. I might suggest atomic destabilization systems, just as potent as ya hammer, but more efficient, and fir'able more than once." She nodded handing over a small card, "When yas lookin' for an advantage, not a hammer, come see me."

I took her card. Her name was Zetriya.

"Good," I said in conclusion, "Thank you for your time."

The Fox Man hung back, keeping to himself for the most part. He leaned up against the wall with a frown on his face that seemed to ask 'when did the Alliance start scavving bars in uncontrolled sectors for procurement contracts?'

I took one final look around the bar, nodded to Zetriya and left.

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Jan. 24 - Al Raqis

I crossed the main square of the Al Raqis settlement. I was in a hurry and didn't change into my hydrosuit. It felt wasteful but felt a growing sense of urgency about the matter.

I turned the scanner on but it showed no signal. The welcome house with the free soup was empty. I passed the courthouse, Faith's warehouse, and the Cortex News office. Still nothing.

Tracer: No sources detected
Tracer: No sources detected
Tracer: No sources detected
Tracer: No sources detected...

The auto-shutoff kicked in before I had finished searching the main square.

I reinitialize the probe then headed towards the diplomatic quarter. As I passed the bakery, now closed, a faint signal was captured.

Tracer: 1 source detected
Tracer: Beacon detected. Bearing undetermined.
Tracer: 1 source detected
Tracer: Beacon detected. Bearing undetermined....

As I approach the Zenobian Embassy compound the signal strengthen.

Tracer: 1 source detected
Tracer: Strength 0 milliunits
Tracer: Bearing 305 degrees from north
Tracer: 1 source detected
Tracer: Strength 0 milliunits
Tracer: Bearing 306 degrees from north
Tracer: Elevation 2 degress from horizontal

The package waited patiently inside the main embassy building. The scanner, having accomplished its task, announced that it was turning itself off.

Bending down, I examined the box for signs of explosive or poisonous traps. Finding nothing, I gave the code word and watched as the lid flipped open automatically revealing a second inner box.

I ran my finger along the rim of the inner lid until it revealed the vessel within.

Carefully removed a large jar and it's contents and set it upon the ground.

It was from Caliban, from Alliance Laboratory 81.

It was the cloned brain of Aurora Littleboots.

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