《Aegis》Chapter 53: Seven Kinds of Sideways

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Getting the Terra Incarnadine back to Dagda proves to be a non-trivial challenge. First is the nearly month-long stretch of maintenance, sealing in the auxiliary bridge, adding temporary struts and gellar field generators that should hopefully allow her to survive a warp transit. Next is the transit itself, a slow and twitchy affair, punctuated by the creaking of the hull and whispers in the dark. Last is the revision to realspace; a slow affair permeated by the coppery smell of ozone.

Now in geosynchronous orbit over Dagda once more, You assign Jace to the Terra Incarnadine, with instructions to complete her as he deems fit. the resulting grin on his face is slightly horrific, but you figure the project should pay for itself, given the system's asteroid belts. Crewing the ship is another matter. Where the Aegis needs a crew of twenty-six thousand, the Terra Incarnadine is going to need closer to three hundred thousand.

But that is a problem for another time. The Leaf has returned from her latest run to Outbound, bearing reports of trouble brewing. They are out of date by now, nearly two weeks old, but indicate strife brewing between the colonists and the Tau outpost in the system. Given that Mu'randa indicated that the Tau had arranged for the colonization effort, something is definitely fishy.

You order the Leaf to stand down for a refit cycle while you investigate. Bringing Mu'randa along is something of a calculated risk. She knows more about tau culture and diplomacy than anyone else, but her former employers / overlords might not take kindly to her defection. You shrug and decide to bring her anyway, she is a part of your crew after all.

The Aegis had made much better time to Dagda while you were waiting for the Terra Incarnadine to be Warp-ready, and is ready to leave as soon as you are. Instead, you order another week of rest and relaxation for the crew, thought he real purpose of the order is for Yasha to rest up properly. With some... personal... attention from yourself of course.

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Finally, everything is ready to go. You depart the Dagda system with little fanfare, passing the now familiar unfinished bulk of the Terra Incarnadine.

The Warp transit to Outbound is smooth, though you are plagued by whispers. Half-words and sibilant hisses emanating for dark corners, laughter from empty rooms. when you check with Yasha, she reports some of the same things.

On arriving in the Outbound system, you are greeted by a sight that is both familiar and depressing to see: a war-torn world. The main colony sight is riven in two, a blackened strip of no-man's-land separating what you presume to be warring factions. The Tau enclave in orbit is starting to grow the familiar bulk of weapon emplacements, presumably to defend itself or protect Tau interests on the planet below. The Warp Shrine location is still a crater, though you are sure that someone has been poking around the area, if the small clutch of tents is anything to go by.

Mu'randa has been fielding communication attempts nonstop since the Aegis' arrival. As the Aegis settles into a vector designed to slowly overtake Vrenna, she hands you a summary.

Leafing through, you quickly grasp the gist of the situation: the Pilgrims are objecting to the presence of the Tau, where as the former crew of the Cambrian is defending it. The Tau are standing well clear of the civil war, but are looking into the disappearance of an investigation team from near the Warp Shrine.

This of course leaves you with something of a conundrum; who to help first, and how. The Tau are leery of routing trade through the system with the civil war going on, though they may be persuaded to continue the route direct from Nil'kvee, so that bit can keep for the moment.

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