Embers After Flames, Chapter 7.5

7.5

+++

I had the WEEVIL ping Raven’s AC, alerting them to its presence before the WEEVIL moved to shift its camo tarp off of its body.

Raven didn’t react aside from turning to face it. I kept my own guns pointed downwards as the WEEVIL stood upright, the C-Weapon standing loosely, but prepared.

I received a ping back, and then, rather unexpectedly, an actual comms link request. That... well, most mercs were perfectly fine just broadcasting and listening.

Still, I wasn’t against it.

I accepted, transmitting my own codes in turn. After a moment of back-and-forth network negotiation, the link was established, and I had a direct line.

“It is not every day that you see a mercenary so eager to fight a governmental organization.” I began, right off the bat highlighting how unusual they were. “Ideologue, you’ve made a rather dangerous enemy in the PCA, I hope you know.”

“A mercenary’s life is filled with an endless supply of enemies.” A voice spoke back- and it was a familiar one, too. That voice belonged to none other than Raven’s Operator. “Isn’t it more surprising to see a machine using Coral battling against both corporate armies and the PCA?”

I laughed, and then I allowed that laugh to bleed through the comms link. “You must be perilously new to Rubicon if that is something you believe.” My laughter died down to a mere chuckle. “And of all those new names, there have been only a few I wasn’t able to keep track of. Of those few, from the skill on display... You must be Raven and the Operator.”

A moment of silence. The sand blew in the air as a gust of wind carried it from the top of a dune. “... Astute. May I ask who you are?”

“For the moment, you may refer to me as Drich. It is a name that means nothing to many on this world, but I have a good feeling about the pair of you.” The WEEVIL shifted slightly, the entire upper torso tilting a bit to the right. “So then. What was it that brought you to the Burning Star?”

This time, it was a few seconds of silence. I idly noted the activity in their secure channel, the two, presumably, having a short moment to talk between themselves, before the Operator spoke again. “We are independents who are interested in the matters occurring inside this system. The Planetary Closure Administration proclaims publicly that all matters on Rubicon are being handled properly, yet all information we have been able to acquire demonstrates an increasing dissatisfaction with them on account of unexplainable resource expenditures.”

“That would be their many attempts and failures to wipe out the RLF.” I said, injecting as much flippancy into the tone as I could get the audio-generation program to do. “This, however, is hardly public information, and your access to it suggests connections- or, much more likely in my opinion, that you are in fact hacktivists.” I chuckled again. “How intriguing.”

A notable pause. “What makes you think we aren’t private investigators?”

“Well, for one, your partner has taken a rather notable callsign with an equally long history attached, which you must be aware of because you yourself have done the same thing, and are now continuing the myths and legends.” I said, amused. “But aside from that, when I proclaimed that this wasn’t public information, I meant that I was well aware of what the general public in the rest of the Human Sphere knows. The PCA’s actions have thus far never escaped the highest of security measures, and only the upper political spheres are aware of the PCA’s continuing failures. They, of course, would never allow the information to come to light, because they don’t want to give anybody else ideas.”

“You are... well informed. Much more than anybody on this planet should be.”

“With age comes wisdom, and make no mistake, I have lived for quite a long time.” I paused for a moment, generating a hum. “You have made no operations against myself or my allies. You are motivated by your own ideology rather than mere money. You align yourself against the PCA. With all these factors combined, I do not have any particular issue with you and yours, and that makes for an opportunity for the both of us.”

“... You understand that we are hesitant to accept any offers from some we have just met.”

“Well, you are mercenaries, so that’s rather a given.” I stated. “Trust takes time to form and a moment to break. I shall lay the cards on the table, just so that we are both on the same page. You are clearly skilled and dangerous enough that eliminating you would require a significant investment of resources that I would prefer not to spend. As you claim, your goal on this planet is the investigation of the PCA, something that I little issue assisting with so long as my lines are not crossed. There is a working relationship available here, but I am not so foolish as to push on that particular matter. Ravens, after all, fly on their own wings.”

They paused, again. The silence stretched out, seconds, then tens of seconds, and then a few minutes. “A question for you, then. What is your stake in all of this?”

Hmm. A bit of information fishing. I don’t mind, and frankly, I’d be surprised if they didn’t ask, but, well... “Before I answer, I would ask what you think my stake is.”

“You have a close relationship with the Rubicon Liberation Front.” The Operator began, in a tone that was conveying that she was laying out the facts so that she could examine them. “You also make use of Coral in weaponry, which is something that the Liberation Front does not do. Of all of their members, only their leader and spiritual guide, Thumb Dolmayan, makes regular use of Coral, and even he only does it in the form of a generator. For everybody else, the extent of Coral usage lies in the production of food, and in the augmentation of RLF personnel. This could be attributed to a lack of supply or cultural standards and exceptions, but you do not appear to share the same limitations. Even so, you retain close enough ties to the RLF to protect them.”

Raven had been on this planet for not very long, in the grand scheme of things. The earliest they could have arrived would have been on February 23rd, presuming that they had been in orbit already when they acquired their license. It was much more likely that they had arrived later on, at the 27th or 28th, unless the PCA had somehow failed to notice them sneaking in earlier. That meant that they had been here for at most just under two months, and more likely a month and a half.

That they had already put this much information together was genuinely impressive, especially since the RLF had not reported any abnormal merc or corporate activity. Raven had vanished off the map and came back with all of this.

“Your dislike of the PCA is self evident, to the extent that you were willing to meet with us. With all those factors, and coupled with the claims of your age, as well as your evident skill and usage of Coral-based technology, you must be a survivor of the Fires of Ibis, more than likely a member of the Rubicon Research Institute itself.”

So close, yet so far. 

They had evidently not somehow picked up on Coral’s more esoteric properties. Good.

“I can only conclude that you see the PCA and the exoplanetary corporations as outsiders and negative influences upon Rubicon, and that you are ultimately attempting to remove them from it.”

“Correct on nearly every front.” I stated. “There are some parts you missed and some parts that you don’t know, but the truth of the matter is that they don’t matter.” Not to people like these. Their goals were focused on a different path. “I must praise your intelligence for putting it together so quickly, it certainly saves time!” I chuckled again. “With that particular knowledge in mind, I’m left with only a single question to ask, ideologues.”

“I suppose it would only be fair.” Raven’s Operator said, though her voice betrayed just a hint of caution. 

“Based on what you know, am I someone you could work with?” I asked outright.

A pause, though it was brief. “... You do not contradict any of our goals. Any more than that will have to be seen.”

I laughed, allowing it to echo across the link. “In that case, my dear little ideologues, I shall welcome you to Rubicon- and pass to you the warning that you already know. Nothing on this world is at seems, and at every turn, you will find another waiting for you. This planet is as a kaleidoscope. Dig as much as you wish; there are secrets aplenty.” I prepped a data package, before shunting it across the link. “I shall leave you to experience that yourself, however. We’ll be in touch.”

The link closed, and the WEEVIL turned around, immediately accelerating away.

Raven didn’t follow.

+++

“I feel like I should have expected such drama, but here I sit, surprised.” Flatwell raised his eyebrow as the recording ended. “I don’t know why I am. I know very well you can be as theatrical as Dolmayan, yet every time...”

“You and I are normally talking business or RLF matters.” I pointed out. “Which means that I normally don’t get the chance to be so theatrical, as you call it.”

He gave a considering ‘hmm’, before nodding. “So, hacktivists?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Imagine my surprise.” I said. “Aside from your corporate contacts, the PCA’s actions are heavily suppressed among the rest of the Human Sphere. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the governments really don’t like the idea that the Civilized Collective effectively unleashed something that ended any chance of a recovering polity.”

“Not when it opens them up to that possibility.” He agreed. “They must have been very skilled or very lucky, and with Raven’s performance, I think we can lean towards the former of those. Still, with information like that, these two could damage an entire pillar underpinning the galactic community’s function. Do you think they actually know that, though?”

“Mmm. I’m not actually sure about that part in particular.” I admitted. “They definitely know that the PCA isn’t doing its job properly, that’s for sure. I can’t say for certain whether or not they’re aware of the full scale of the PCA’s operations. With that said, it hardly matters right this instant; Raven and those connected to Raven are here to investigate the matter, and that brings them into conflict with the PCA. That, my friend, is something we can use.”

Flatwell nodded, before leaning over to grab his datapad. “It’s been a while since we’ve made use of mercenary forces. ALLMIND will notice Raven eventually.”

“She probably already has, to be honest.” I said. “So far as I can tell, Raven has taken no traditional jobs at all, yet here they are, still operating an AC, claiming a mercenary license, and paying the fee. I’m not sure if she’s pieced together Raven’s actual deal, but there’s no way she doesn’t know that Raven is weird. All that hiring Raven will achieve is to get her focus. Raven can handle that, but if you want to spread that attention around, there are other less-objectionable mercs around.” 

Flatwell’s head tipped to the side, eyes briefly flicking upwards before going back down. “Well.” He said, considering. “We did just acquire a considerable amount of capital.”

“And it would be a rather terrible shame to not put it to use.” I agreed. “We could use a bit of breathing room.”

Flatwell nodded. “And I know exactly what I need them to do.”

He had a plan, did he? 

Good. This should prove interesting.