9

"Before I get started, are all comms officers and security representatives present in the call?"

A wave of confirmations rang out over the appointed frequency.

"Then let's get down to business. Now it goes without saying that the Church of New Kantler wants their cargo to be delivered safe and sound. They're also acutely aware that a vocal portion of the citizenship is actively trying to undermine this objective. As such the new joint government has instituted martial law in areas leading up to and around the station. To take things one step further they've placed temporary travel restrictions on the entire city. No doubt an attempt to prevent direct negotiations between resistance leaders and raiding party's or mercenary groups."

"When did the travel restrictions take effect?" [Breccan Yulent, 24, Communications Division]

"Day before yesterday."

"Far too late to have been effective."

"Sure was. In fact we've just gotten confirmation from Belveer that two separate anti-faith factions made arrangements to have members whisked away from the city nearly a full week prior."

"Care to explain why we're only hearing about this now? And how could they have prepared so far ahead of time?" [Youn Sigurd, 20, Security Division]

"As I'm sure you're aware the Council of Mitigation is hardly transparent when it comes to explaining its methodologies, besides an order this large would have been made upwards of a month or two ago. Plenty of time for information to leak to the public through unofficial channels."

"Don't go biting Flannery's head off Youn. It's the church's fault for being too naive." Lux wasn't about to let Flannery, who was only the messenger, take the heat for this.

"Glad to see you're here Lux, I'm sure you can tell us a thing or two about the Council's methodologies."

"Enough both of you! Now pay attention. We've been given reason to believe that one of the two anti-faith factions made contact with the raiding party 'Quiet Murn.' By all accounts the two sides came to some sort of agreement. Whether it includes a joint ride along remains to be seen."

As everyone digested the new information Breccan spoke up once again. "Such information could only be made available if the Council of Mitigation had a person on the inside, but placing someone in such an obscure faction so far in advance is next to impossible. Meaning they must of taken advantage of a member second guessing the faction's means to an end."

"My thoughts exactly, and with all the rumors of New Kantler pushing the Commonwealth to secede, it should come as no surprise that the Council has resources operating within the city capable of swaying a member or two."

"Any word on the other faction? I find it unlikely the Council wouldn't cover all its bases."

"No word on the other anti-faith faction, seems our sources lost track of them."

Youn was beside himself, "Lost track of them?! What did they sneak out the back door?!"

"Any updates on recent party activity outside of what we discussed this morning?" [Corral Reefe, 30, Communications Division]

"Hey now, not all us attend comms officers anonymous! Fill us in on this recent party activity you speak of!" Youn snapped, ever the impatient one.

"Corrs, if you could reach over and throttle Youn for us. We'd get through all of this a LOT quicker."

"Lux..." Flannery was beginning to remember why group transmissions were so few and far between. "Corral, if you could share the main points from earlier before we continue."

Esma perked up, also curious about the contents of the earlier meeting. She really should have followed up on that.

"According to written reports from convoys in the region, the raiding party 'Needless Frenzy' has been plenty active. And they aren't picky when it comes to choosing targets."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about any raiding party's that aren't attached to the political fiasco. Especially since words already out that we're transporting Cinnabark."

"Breccan's right, the weight and dimensions of the cargo would make grabbing it and escaping more trouble than it's worth."

"All the more reason to be wary of 'Quiet Murn', if they did get hired by the anti-faith faction, then theoretically they only need to worry about destroying the cargo or turning us around."

Esma kept tabs on the back and forth of the conversation, but mainly focused on wrapping her head around all of the main players and their respective motivations. Her first thought being it was unwise to dismiss 'Needless Frenzy', or any other "uninvolved" third parties, as a direct threat. It also didn't sit right with her that one of the anti-faith factions remained unaccounted for. Both factions had predicted and escaped the impending restrictions placed by the church, which meant their leaders were at the very least forward thinking. And it would be naive to assume that either faction would have expended the necessary resources to escape without a plan for afterwards.

Esma's attention was pulled back to the group transmission when a new voice made its presence known.

"That's enough speculation, because it doesn't matter what either faction or raiding party does. All that matters is how we respond to it."

"With all due respect Commander Heenan, our responses will need to vary depending on if the four groups collaborate in some way [Heenan Larkspur, 35, Convoy Commander].” Flannery figured he'd barge into the conversation at some point. She briefly considered disconnecting his headset just before the transmission started.

"Any aggressors that meet the rules of engagement will be dealt with all the same. If anything I'd say it would be a boon if the anti-fate factions are foolish enough to ride along. Let the raiding party's believe it will offer them protection."

The implications of the Convoy Commander's words left little to interpretation, and while some crew members already anticipated the possibility, it was still a discomforting precedent everyone present preferred to avoid.

For starters, the security representatives couldn't just tell their colleagues they had the green light to shoot indiscriminately, but they also had no way of knowing if it would be possible to differentiate combatants in the heat of a raid. Assuming they managed to confirm civilian casualties, its not like the current New Kantler administration would make much noise about its opposition dying. Where as it would most definitely be a bad look for the LCF. In other words a win-win for the new joint government.

"If you're telling the security officers its ok to kill civilians then say it directly please. It would be cruel and impractical if they had to decipher your expectations of them amidst combat."

Lux could only stare in disbelief at the source of the voice beside her. It took some serious guts to talk that way to a superior on your first day of the job. Not that she was a model worker.

"Who is this?" The Commander's voice sounded more annoyed than angry, but still carried an edge to it.

"Esma Villard, communications officer of Crusader C248."

A brief pause, most likely the Commander needing a moment to do a mental run down of the crew roster. For what's it worth Esma didn't seem too worried from Lux's vantage point. More locked in than anything.

"Fortunately for you Miss Villard, I've decided to let your comment just now slide. I'd advise you to show more care in the way you address your superiors. After all, no Convoy Commander wants to be responsible for driving away new field service recruits."

"With all due respect sir, my intentions revolved solely around clarification. I'm well aware of..."

"Miss Prentice, I think it best if we skip ahead. Please inform those present of the decision passed by the new joint government an hour ago."

"..."

Flannery had hoped the group could come to a consensus regarding the possible involvement of the anti-faith factions without having to share this bit of troublesome news. In hindsight her choice of security representatives may have been counterproductive to that cause.

Sensing and not appreciating her hesitation Commander Heenan took it upon himself to repeat the most recent transmission.

"Henceforth, any members of anti-government factions who ally themselves with raiding party's or mercenary groups will be denounced as terrorists and stripped of their protections of the state."

Heenan let the news sink in before continuing. "As of now, neither the LCF nor the city of New Kantler will be negotiating or acting in the best interest of terrorists."

Lux watched as Esma removed her headset and uttered a few choice words under her breath. Lux then turned to Cade who she knew had been listening from the controls, and summed up the course of the group transmission in three words.

"I hate politics."