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Mystic Spirit Sea
c67320
>Maybe you could start fighting the Coalition.
I wasn't really being serious about starting our own army. Not that I wouldn't like to see this stupid war between them and the Empire put to an end for good.
>That ship is a problem though.
Yeah. That reminds me, actually.
"Hey, Tannon?"
>"Yeah?"
"Have you heard anything useful on those Coalition radios we picked up?"
>"Nothing overly pertinent. Squadron movements, idle chatter, references to materials and commands I have no means to verify.
>"The only transmission of merit was a statement by an operator five minutes ago. She seemed to slip, and mentioned Broken Towers alongside the ship."
"What about it?"
>"Little else. She mentioned the city was cleared at ground level.
>"It should be obvious enough, but while you were asleep there was a great deal of chatter once they discovered the team we fought. They neutralized the standard frequencies soon after, although I found a way around that."
Guess I won't ask about the details.
>stealth
>Piaculum
Frankly, Piaculum can suck it. I'm doing what's right for the mission. I'm treating this as though I've never heard of Piaculum.
>The most practical thing to do would be to leave no trace behind.
>Dead men can't talk.
I'm inclined to agree. However, I'm not going to start killing civilians. Not unless it's absolutely necessary.
"Right now, there's little to trace us. The Coalition will be looking for us, since they still don't know who we are, other than we're Confederate refugees. And that seems to be who they're after.
"They'll know we're in this vehicle, once they discover there used to be two of them at the dig site. They'll follow the tracks. If they preserve well enough, which they certainly will, the Coalition will find their way here, to Gray Bay."
>"So we should ditch the SPT?"
Kitty seems to have her own ideas, but for whatever reason, is reluctant to offer them up. Or, that's the impression I'm getting.
"Well... not necessarily. Not if we hurry. If we wanted it taken with us, we'd need to pay someone off to get it on board a ship anyway. There won't be a record of it leaving this port. Just eyewitnesses."
>"Minimize eyewitnesses then?"
"Right. If we want to keep the SPT, we can go in on foot, pay someone to bring it in, low-profile. The same type of person will be able to get us on board a ship without it being noticed, too."
>"So we hide the SPT, head into town, find some delightful fellows to ship us in and out of the city to keep the Coalition off of our tails, pay them off with the weapons, and off we go?"
"Right. It's a little riskier than just selling it off, but we're already limited by what we can do. Might as well go the extra mile."
Tannon is throwing a lot of levers up front. I think we're getting close to a point that we have to get back onto the main highway, if we want to ride straight into town.
>"Have you two animals decided what you're doing?"
That's getting tiring. Hey...
"Kitty, how well can he hear us?" I nearly whisper.
She shrugs.
>"I think they're entirely human, aside from those brains of theirs. So I guess they're no stronger or better off than anyone else? And Tannon is in the body of a forty or fifty year old."
Hm.
"Tannon, we'll need a place to hide the SPT. We're going to go into town on foot to see if we can find a safe way to transport everything."
He pauses, probably calculating or whatever the hell he does.
>"Hurry, then."
All right.
>Do you have any list of potential places where you will arrive?
This is our next problem. Like I said, I have no contacts. Unlike what happened in Qer, Poilen is more organized. Finding someone to get a job done should be no more difficult than wandering into the bad part of town and holding up a couple of thugs for information on the local toughs. In Qer, everyone was a local tough, and there was no real organization.
After that, we might have to broker a deal, maybe more.
Voices, I appreciate your input, but I think I've decided you aren't cut out for command. I was never the commanding officer everyone seemed to think I was, but it's time I started believing it, myself.
A good CO knows it's best to have as many ideas as possible before making his own decision. That's why I open up these plans to you. So, if you have any objections, concerns or ideas, you should make them known before we get started. Once we decide on a plan, we're sticking to it. That's how we run things.
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