Hmmm, what’s that?
Tommy went to the meeting with the company management, introduced himself and said this was a spot audit covering all aspects of Vanguard Prospecting operations and asked to see there current books, standing assets, operasional and storage sites both owned and leased. Personal, and contacted suppliers. Their full operations database. Expenichare going back 5 years and accounts full, Projected expenditure and costings projections. Company stakeholder listings and reporting management structure. He then asked to be left alone with his assistant while he they reviewed the books. Taking out he most prised TL 14 Pda, she got sally to process it all into packets, while he reviewed local laws and contacts active and inactive.
In other words he works into the night, getting to know Vanguard Prospecting and looking at where the money is going. Having spent his carer doing this in local seter government, her had a very good idea of what he was doing.
Warren made sure to holster his gauss pistol and stunner out of sight for their trip. He puts an EM probe and a radio scanner into his brief case.
He confidently walks behind Tommy a half a pace back and to the right. His eyes scan everywhere, but he says nothing. To the receptionist he only smiles.
When shown the room he gets out the EM probe as Tommy does his thing. Sweeping the room for bugs and then begin listening in to any comms channels he can.
Looks at Warren as he words and nods. No need to say anything he know his job.
|
As Jak and Rai examine the ore hauler, as well as the facility it is held in, they discover a few things:
Rai (Technical Clues)
The M‑Drive mounting brackets weren’t cut with torches or industrial saws. They were removed using a grav‑shear — a restricted, military‑grade tool capable of slicing metal at the molecular level.
This tells Rai:
The thieves had access to off‑world military procurement, and they were highly trained.
They wanted the M‑Drive intact, not damaged.
This was not scavenger work.
This was not a rush job — it was a planned extraction.
Jak (Human/Investigative Clues)
Jak notices:
A second set of footprints in the dust. These are not Vanguard boots...the tread is narrower, the soles cleaner, and the wearer had a very light step. Someone didn’t want to be noticed!!
He also spots a dataport access panel that was opened recently. Neither Vanguard nor Rai say they accessed that port. It looks like someone else inspected the hauler before the team arrived. There was no sign of someone signing in or clearance for others to examine the wreck.
Jak waves Rai over and points to the prints and the data port, ”Looks like someone already been here. Maybe, covering things up or creating a false trail?” He shrugged, ”Lets see if we can access anything with that data port.”
|
|
Warren and Sir Tommy
The conference room Vanguard Security “generously” provides is sleek, sterile, and aggressively corporate — a long obsidian table, recessed lighting, and a wall‑sized holo‑display waiting for input. The kind of room designed to intimidate visitors and reassure executives that they’re in control.
Sir Tommy sits down like he owns the place.
Warren doesn’t sit at all.
While Tommy begins navigating the internal network with his Inspector‑level credentials, Warren moves with slow, deliberate steps around the perimeter of the room — checking corners, fixtures, the underside of the table, the seams of the wall panels. His hands never quite touch anything, but his eyes miss nothing.
With his Admin skill and full audit clearance, the system opens for him like a flower under a heat lamp. He moves through Operational logs,
Shipment journals, Internal memos, Budgetary reports, Pelagic League liaison correspondence, and Security incident summaries and patterns begin to emerge.
Tommy finds missing timestamps, gaps in sensor logs, redacted internal messages, a deleted personnel file reference, and a scrubbed maintenance request.
All done with high‑level access.
Not a hacker.
Not an outsider.
An executive.
When Tommy leans back, the holo‑display still glowing with red‑flagged entries, he knows two things with absolute certainty:
1. Vanguard Prospecting is hiding the truth from the Pelagic League.
2. Someone high up is actively sabotaging the investigation.
Tommy thinks about the level of clearance needed in Vanguard Prospecting to do the level hiding. And pulls HRs info on everyone who has such access. Then he looks at logs, if he can work out from where the deletions and alterations were done.
Jak waves Rai over and points to the prints and the data port, ”Looks like someone already been here. Maybe, covering things up or creating a false trail?” He shrugged, ”Lets see if we can access anything with that data port.”
Rai tsks at the sloppy security and nods at Jak’s suggestion, ”Works for me.” He grabs the appropriate tools from his belt and does a close examination of the port and tries to find access record or some clue as to what the trespasser got into.