THE IRO INCIDENT
Everyshore Region, Lirsautton System, Quafe Company HQ Station
"Come in, come in, let's get this started", said the square-jawed man behind the desk in the dimly lit room.
"Sir, yes sir", said the tall, slim woman, taking a seat. "What's the situation?"
"Well, It's complicated. Have a look at these", he said, sliding a datapad across the desk, and pressing some controls to bring up a 3-dimensional solar system map.
"Iro system, I know it. Hmmm. These numbers... big falloff in Quafe sales. What're they doing out there?"
"That's what we want you to find out. These are the numbers they're reporting. See the number of ship movements? Same as before. But they're not carrying Quafe, that's for sure.", he said, leaning back in the chair. "And that's why we picked you. Your file says you're ethnic Udorian, and Tash-Murkon's an Udorian region, you won't raise as much suspicion"
"Yes, sir", she said. "How far do you think it's compromised?"
"Our whole operation in that region could be affected. Watch who you're dealing with. We've got a man on the ground, but he's a surveillance tech specialist, not a special troubleshooter like you."
"Got it. When's the ship out of here?"
"Rapid courier out to Domain in 1 hour. So, while you wait, how about a cool refreshing Quafe?"
She smiles "Sure, why not?"
He presses a button on the desk, and a pair of glasses filled with the cool, refreshing drink with a hint of mango are brought in by a hovering drone.
"Good luck Azuritte, we're counting on you", he says.
Tash Murkon Region, Iro System, Quafe Station Alpha
The civilian transport entered the docking bay of the Iro IX Moon 2 station. Azuritte and the other passengers disembark, dispersing along the station concourse, to the various shops and offices.
After checking into an ordinary hotel, Azuritte strolls along the concourse nonchalantly, smiling occasionally at the passers by that smile at her. Taking an elevator onto the lower levels, she continues strolling along, until she reaches a quiet area in one of the recreational parks spread throughout the station. She takes a small item out of her handbag, and approaches the nearby Quafe vending machine.
"Well, howdy there, would you like a cool refreshing Quafe?" asks the machine as it detects her presence.
Azuritte smiles, and inserts the item into the credit reader, "Quafe Super", she says. The machine vends a can, and Azuritte retrieves her item, and goes to sit on a bench nearby, taking her data pad out, and activating it, sipping from the can of Quafe Super. She establishes a link to the secure Quafe net, concealed within the vending machines.
QUAFE CORP INTSEC ONLINE UPLINK NODE Q473859-A0-VEND
>download messages /authorisation:T1
5 MESSAGES TRANSFERRED
>disconnect
Azuritte puts away her datapad, and stands up, finishing her can of Quafe. She tosses the empty can into a bin as she strolls around for a little while, before heading back to her hotel room.
Quafe Station Alpha, Hotel
Azuritte reads over the first three reports, there's very little in them to indicate what is going on. Ship movements and cargo manifests indicating movement of large quantities of machinery to the Beta station in system. She sighs and stretches.
"They're building something over there, it seems", she thinks. "But what? These machinery manifests don't look like any kind of Q-tech that they should be using".
She stretches in her chair, "I'll have a shower before taking a look at the last two". Standing up, she undresses and goes into the bathroom for a shower, returns to the main room wrapped in a bathrobe, and snuggles into the chair to continue reading.
"Confidential, Priority One:
Company interests on Alpha Station appear functional on medium to deep inspection. There are a few anomalies. Security teams have arrived, from Beta Station, no reasons given. Three groups of three. They look like Khanid Cyberknights, seem to have fairly extensive hardware. I don't like the look of them. Since when did Corp hire Cyberknights, even in our Amarr operations?
Managed to obtain some numbers from one of our ops in the Starsi network. Their production numbers haven't moved at all. Whatever's been going on, they're not behind it. If it's not our competitors, who is it?
Haven't been able to get anything from Beta Station. The Intsec laser link says it's working, but I can't connect. Might have to take a trip over there.
Brarell, Quafe Internal Security"
Azuritte sighs, making a few notes before opening the final report.
Just then, the hotel door chimes, indicating visitors. Azuritte stands and goes over to the intercom. "Yes? Who is it?" she says into the intercom. "Q-Sec. Open up" is the response.
"Q-Sec? It's a bit late, can this wait?" she asks. There's no reply, except static.
Suddenly the door bursts off its hinges, flying into the room. Three figures pour through the gap. One shoves Azuritte roughly, she falls to the floor. Another figure rushes over to where Azuritte had been reading, picking up the datapad and other things. The third speaks, "Get up. We're going to ask you some questions."
Azuritte climbs to her feet. The one that shoved her grabs her bathrobe and whips it away, leaving Azuritte naked. "whats the meaning of this?" she says, trying to conceal herself with her hands.
"I'll ask the questions, Amarr girlie", says the leader of the three. All three are heavy-looking Khanid, with odd bulges that hint at extensive cybernetics.
"I'm Udorian!" blurts Azuritte. "I don't think so", says the Khanid. "Not with those pink nipples. You think we don't know that Udorian nipples are brown? You think we're fools? You know nothing, Amarr girlie"
"Quafe Troubleshooter" says the second Khanid. "Bad news then", says the first Khanid, the one holding the bathrobe.
"Bad news for you!" says Azuritte defiantly. "Quiet!" says the leader Khanid. "I'm only going to say this once, girlie. You're going to find nothing wrong here, and you're just going to turn around and say that your boss made a mistake. You do that, and you'll live. If you don't, you die. You got that?"
Azuritte nods a little, then in a sudden burst of speed, kicks her foot out and up to strike the leader under the chin. He stumbles backwards, while Azuritte spins round to sweep the feet from under the one holding the bathrobe. He falls to the ground. The third man pulls out a pistol and fires, the laser beam catching Azuritte in the shoulder. She drops to the floor and rolls, and with a slurping sound, pulls out her miniature pistol and shoots the third man in the forehead. He falls over, dead. The second man, still on the ground, grabs Azuritte's leg and twists. Azuritte screams as her knee pops, but with a sickening crunch, whirls her other foot around to strike the man's head, smashing the skull. Rolling onto her front, she sees the leader staggering around, trying to aim his pistol, and fires hers again, shooting the leader in the eye. He topples forwards, smashing into a table as his body hits the floor.
Azuritte grimaces, pulling herself onto the chair. She pops her knee back into place, gasping in pain. "this mission is definitely fubar now" she thinks, pulling the nanotech medkit out of her handbag and deploying the healing units onto her knee and shoulder.
While the machines do their job, she reads over the last report.
"Priority Zero:
I killed one of the groups of Cyberknights I saw. Or what I thought were Cyberknights. The augmentations don't look like anything normal. This is getting out of hand. I think one group left on the ship to Beta Station, which leaves one team here. I've decided to try and get to Beta, find out as much as I can. I'll record anything I find onto the Quafe Intsec net. Wish me luck."
Azuritte sighs, replacing her pistol, and with the med units beeping to indicate they're done, she gets dressed, and slips out of the room.
Moving cautiously through the station, she makes her way to the Quafe Company hangar and takes an intersystem shuttle to Beta Station.
Iro XI, Quafe Station Beta
The shuttle slides into the docking port, and Azuritte disembarks. Looking around, she notes the concourse is a lot quieter than expected for the time of day, making her uneasy.
Trying to conceal her unease, she takes a walk along the concourse, and stops at the closest Quafe vending machine. Surreptitiously sliding in her access tool, she selects a can of Quafe Ultra, and activates the Quafe internal security net.
QUAFE CORP INTSEC ONLINE UPLINK NODE Q473861-B0-VEND
>download messages /authorisation:T0
2 MESSAGES TRANSFERRED
>disconnect
As Azuritte downloads the files, the machine speaks, covering her activity.
"Congratulations, customer! You have won a Quafe Promotional Item! Please redeem your Item at the Quafe Merchandise Unit of your choice! And remember, Quafe is the cool refreshing drink everyone loves!"
She smiles to herself, and sipping her Quafe Ultra, continues along the station concourse, eventually coming to a bench near a viewing window, looking out into space. Taking a seat, she reads the two messages.
"Priority Zero:
It's Nightmare scenario here. The Quafe Company experimental lab, there's something in it. I don't know what, but it sure as hell isn't a new cool refreshing flavour. I can't get too close. There's funny looking people around the facility. They have cyberaugmentations, I think it's a Sansha's Nation infiltration. I'm going to try and override the lab security, destroy the thing. I hope it works"
Azuritte makes a few notes, and continues reading.
"Priority, priority zzzz, z-zero!
I saw it! oh my god, the things! I can't! You must destroy it! Destroy the station! can't allow it! help meee!"
"aaaw, nuts" thinks Azuritte, putting her datapad away into her handbag. "going to have to do this the hard way."
She stands, and looks around. The nearest Quafe Merchandise shop is a short walk away, and she saunters off in that direction.
Quafe Station Beta, Quafe Merchandise outlet
"Howdy there, how about a cool refreshing Quafe?" asks a drone as Azuritte enters the shop.
"Not right now, thanks, buddy" she replies. "You got it!" chirps the drone.
She looks around, it's one of Quafes newer outlets, routinely staffed by drones and androids, with only a part time human manager. Strolling up to the clothing counter, she smiles at the android standing there. "Hi, I won a promotional item, and would like to claim it" she says.
The android, a tall shiny plastic Gallente woman figure resembling the famous Quafe Girl from interstellar billboards, smiles back "Congratulations!", it says. "What would you like?"
"I would like... the Quafe Promotional Personal Combat Armour, the Quafe Promotional Assault Rifle, the Quafe Promotional Automatic Grenade Launcher, and this fabulous Quafe wide-brimmed hat. I'm Agent Azuritte, and this is a T-Zero authorisation"
"Coming right up. In the meantime, how about a cool refreshing Quafe?", asks the android.
"Maybe later", says Azuritte, taking a seat while the android brings the requested gear out.
A short time later, Azuritte is all kitted out in a form-fitting combat suit, the weapons slung over her shoulders, all displaying the Quafe logo. Putting on her hat, she admires herself in one of the mirrors in the shop. "Damn, I look great", she remarks. The Quafe Girl android applauds in approval, and asks "Fabulous. Would you like a cool refreshing Quafe?". "All right then, just the one" says Azuritte, "Then we'll have to get moving. How many Q-Girls are there here? On the station?". "There are twenty Quafe Girl drones on station." "That'll have to do. I'm going to need you all to grab a gun and help." "You got it!" says the Quafe Girl android.
"Great. One last thing to do." says Azuritte, as she strides over to the shop's vending machine.
"Have you tried Quafe's newest cool refreshing flavour?" asks the machine. Azuritte smiles, and slides her access tool into the machine.
QUAFE CORP INTSEC ONLINE UPLINK NODE Q473897-B1-MERCH
>issue general evacuation alert /authorisation:T0
STATION EVACUATION ALARM ACTIVE. ALL PERSONNEL TO EVACUATION STATIONS.
>disconnect
A siren starts up on the station. People look up in surprise, and then start rushing towards the hangars.
"Guns up, ladies, lets move", says Azuritte, trotting out the shop, the Quafe Girl drones following her.
Quafe Station Beta, Quafe Research Facility
"Have a Quafe!" screams a Quafe Girl android, hurling a grenade at the entrenched defenders of the outer research facility.
"Try our new flavour!" yells another, firing a heavy repeater laser, keeping the defenders suppressed.
"Keep at it, girls" says Azuritte, patching up a leg wound she received in the initial firefight. "Should be a back door around here" she thinks. "Keep them suppressed!" she orders the remaining androids. Pulling up the map of the facility on her suit's augmented reality visor, she spots what she needs. "OK girls, one of you, with me, the rest, cover us, then hold this position." "You got it!"
Sprinting out of cover, Azuritte and the drone leg it towards a small doorway, as the rest of the Quafe Girls continue the assault on the main hallway. Firing the grenade launcher to burst the door down, Azuritte and the drone make their way deeper inside, stumbling over a person lying on the corridor floor. "What the?" says Azuritte. "Brarell, that you?"
Brarell moans "gghhauuh, the machine! you have to destroy it, urrgh, it puts things in people, I resisted, cut them out when it wasn't looking, uugh. Save us!".
"Aww, nuts. OK, Quafe girl? I need you to watch over this man. If it's safe, bring him outside, alright?" "You got it!" says the android.
"Stay alive, Brarell" says Azuritte, as she heads off deeper into the labs.
"Would you like a cool refreshing Quafe?", the android asks Brarell, who replies "guuh"
Quafe Station Beta, Experimental Laboratory
Azuritte makes her way through the lab complex. There's little resistance, only a handful of unarmoured subverted technicians, and a few crude weapon drones, nothing that stands up to a fully outfitted Quafe Troubleshooter.
Arriving at the lab control room, she quickly scans the consoles to see what she's dealing with.
"What the hell is this?" she says, seeing a giant machine with coiling tendrils. "A mechanical squid? Sure isn't Quafe's new mascot. Oh well."
Azuritte heads out of the control room into the lab, confronting the machine, which waves its tentacles menacingly at her. "Join us!" it screams in a harsh mechanical voice. "I don't think so" replies Azuritte as she fires her grenades at the machine. "Blaargh!" it cries, whipping her with a tentacle, knocking her to the ground. Azuritte rolls and fires her rifle, knocking out the tentacles, and piercing a red glass dome. The machine screams, convulses and then falls silent as the dome bursts.
"Huh, how about that?" thinks Azuritte. "That's it?"
Heading back out, she finds that the surviving defenders have surrendered, but seem confused and disorientated about the past few months.
Everyshore Region, Lirsautton System, Quafe Company HQ Station
"I have your report", says the square jawed man. "Fascinating reading. The Quafe secure net was the key to being able to overcome this... thing."
"Yes sir" says Azuritte. "It didn't compromise it, so I still had full access to all the security gear."
"Well, the drone threat is over now, Good work"
"Thanks. I'm going on leave for a couple months, got some things to think about, like how it turns out I'm not actually Udorian. Thought I'd take Brarell on a pleasure cruise, he seems to be recovering quite well. It's nice though, things being back to normal"
"Certainly is", says the square jawed man, leaning forward over his desk, his red eyes glowing in the dim light. "So, how about a cool refreshing Quafe? You've definitely earned it."
"Sure thing, Boss"
Author
Topic: [silvernight story contest] The Iro Incident (Read 871 times)