|
The Exploding Facts 7/24/21
((Timeline 11.09.0969 day after hotel bombing, morning as final descent to land the transport ship))
Nova, resetting her sleep schedule, had been looking over the fragment of the bomb they found as they began their final descent towards Europa where Jeb Marshall's crew stayed. She knew it looked familiar and very detailed, as well as made by a lady as Jeb had said. She couldn't shake the feeling of dread as she stared the piece down.
"Why are you so familiar to me? I would need to see that one which didn't explode, holograms are very detailed but holding one is very telling."
She whispered to herself before stretching and realizing she was up again very early but this time didn't have a reason to cook breakfast for these people. She had kept her bag extra close to her this whole trip as this would be the first time since the Daz Murl incident that she has been with random strangers without anyone familiar.
TheTraveler — 07/24/2021
Agent Marshall walked up behind Nova, "I got to say, I am pretty happy that SunCo is helping us in the Black Swan case. I can't tell you how many times we requested help" he said leading her in to the large State Secretariat Security Building. The building was massive, and looked like a government building. It was nestled in the heart of Rotterdam, and towered over the other lower buildings. He flashed a badge and signed Nova in. They walked in to the central hall and over a symbol of the floor, Justice & Order.
He led her to an elevator and badged the controls and the elevator descended down, "We have been tracking the Black Swan for nearly a decade now. One of my working theories is that the Black Swan is not just one person. But a network of bombers run by one person." He smiled at her, "my bosses don't like that idea."
The elevator doors opened up and Nova was in shock. The entire level, was nothing more than a large open space with short divider walls on wheels. Each divider wall held information and evidence on a bombing that had occurred. "Here it is, Black Swan Headquarters," he said with pride. He walked over to one of the divider walls, "Black Swan's first bombing. Church Street Bombing, Just over ten years ago. Bomb went off during mass and killed twenty people and injured dozens more."
He walked her over to a divider wall, "One of Black Swan's more recent bombings, Loyicu Heights. One of the Black Swan's smaller bombs went off in a school. The bomb didn't kill anyone. But it ignited a fire that killed three kids and injured many others."
@Lady Ryne Roke
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/24/2021
When Agent Marshall came behind her and spoke, she had to calm herself for a moment as she listened, "Ah I see. Well here on Baklid branch, we want peace and prosperity for the people of Baklid five(can never remember if we are on five or six, so whichever one we are on is the one she said). With the guidance of Chief Executive Officer Lady Ava Forma, she hopes to make the planet a beautiful place where we all like to live." She spoke in praise reverence as she spoke about Ava. She followed Agent Marshall and tried to think of what name to sign herself in with but went with Nova since that is now her forever name.
She observed how the building was as Agent Marshall had continued speaking about his theory, "Huh? Very interesting, it is a very interesting concept and shouldn't be discredited without looking into it deeply."
She though smiled for once this whole trip seeing the entire level devoted to these bombings as Agent Marshall took her to the one. As she listened, that church street bombing matched up to the story Sinya told her about. Though it was more about how she attended a rebellion against Argos for making the refinery, though it could of been centered around this bombing. She looked the church bombing over a bit more before joining the agent again at the new one. "Very interesting."
Tesara Anerin — 07/24/2021
((We're on Baklid 6))
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded, "come, let me show you where we stand." He walked her over to a large white board that stood nearly seven feet tall and over twenty feet wide. Pictures of different bombings across the system with dates going back nearly twenty five years. "This is the entire Black Swan case. Over one hundred separate bombings across all twelve moons." He drew in a deep breath, "we are lucky that the Black Swan hasn't moved beyond the system. Though I suspect that this is because the Black Swan doesn't want to involve the Republic."
He motioned to a image with a large doomed structure in the background, "Here, fifteen years ago. Baklid Five, two bombs caused one of the Habitation Dooms to fail. Nearly a hundred victims." He pointed to more recent bombings, "then there is a stretch of five years of bombings with no victims." He laughed, "Its as if the Black Swan suffers from multiple personality disorder. That or, the Black Swan is only a title among the terrorists."
He walked her over to a image of a bomb part. "Here, see this mark," he said drawing her attention to a small carved image of a stick figure with wings. "This is the Black Swan's mark. All but six of these bombings have it," he explained.
@Lady Ryne Roke
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova listens to Jeb's story as she looks over their evidence. She kept quiet as she looked at the items and listened to Jeb, "Sounds a bit like the Durro Thel-Tanis case. Where it has become a title among terrorists now." She said mostly to herself before walking with him to the image of the the Black Swan's mark.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded, "we had thought there might be a link between the two." He motioned to the most recent bombings, "but we found that there isn't enough evidence to support such a conclusion."
He frowned, "though that doesn't mean the Black Swan hasn't found a new apprentice to spread the terror."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
"True she could have, but as horrible as it sounds... more bombings might just be the information you will need on that front. If her bombs keep doing massive damages rather than her very precise attacks." Nova looked back at the most recent bombings. "Shall we go see if there has been any new developments with the bomb that didn't blow up?" Mostly curious about that at the moment.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He frowned, "finding the Black Swan has been a priority for as long as I have worked for the State Police." He walked over to morn peices of evidence. Nova once more recognized this bomb as one of hers. "This one is another odd ball."
He motioned to the bomb parts, "so normally the Black Swan uses local parts. And while most parts are pretty general, we found a curious residue on some of the parts. We haven't yet been able to identify this residue, but there is nothing like it in our data base. We send our findings to the Jedi but they never responded to our request for assistance."
"And here is the strange thing about it. After a few months, the residue faded. We were able to link this residue to six of the bombings. So we are able to identify that these bombs were made from the same batch."
@Lady Ryne Roke
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova observed the bomb as she listened to Jeb Marshall. "I see." She wasn't happy seeing the bomb right in front of her. "How very interesting. Well even though it faded, may I see the notes on this residue?" Even though she is pretty sure she knows exactly what is fading.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded and walked over to a terminal and dialed in a code. Within a moment the evidence for this case popped up.
"Here is the residue we found," he said as the image came up on the screen.
To his point, it was the strangest thing Nova had ever seen. It appeared almost crystal in structure, but it was as very fine in size.
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova walked to the terminal, being patient as he did the code and then looked at the residue. "That is very small. I could probably be able to look into it while I am here."
Curious if she can use her chemistry background to figure out what that residue is. Unsure if it was particles from the food, something from another project, or spice from Ryan by accident. Or it could be something they could track to the person who planted the bomb.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded, "I almost thought it was spice which explained its short life span. But when compared to the spice on record, they don't match. And seeing how there is only a limited number of places that make Spice, that ended up being a dead end."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova gave a nod, "Kinda looks like spice but I will take a look at the data you do have and see if I can determine, if any of my knowledge I have gained can assist." Not minding to help since it could be important information for Ava to know. ((Would you like a chemistry roll and maybe computer use?))
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
((OOC yes please, chemistry))
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
((23))
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
(OOC: it really does look like spice, but it doesn't match the chemical make up of Spice in the data base. Spice only comes from one planet and the make up is highly stable so if this was spice, it should match. But it doesn't)
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova frowns, "All this data is pointing to spice. How very strange." She shook her head. "I will see what I can find later on while back with my equipment." Curious if she can cross reference this spice with Ryan's, though she isn't sure if they still had spice from their time.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He laughed, "I told you, its a head scratcher."
"I sent this data to ever contact I could think of. And the only guy that could come back with anything was a Republic Ranger. He busted a group of Osis pirates. One of them had a blaster which had been used in a murder of a Republic official. The pirates were wanted for the murder. But wouldn't you know the inside of the blaster had similar residue as this."
He looked at the samples, "I be damned, but I can't find a link between our bomb maker and the Pirates."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova thought it over, "Do we know what the blaster looked like then? That might be your link." Curious if the blaster was the jedi killer weapon and that was why there was residue on her bombs.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded to her, "and that was my very first guess. But again a dead end. The blaster was a BlastTech DL-44. Which surprised the hell out of me. BlastTech only started producing them about two years before this incident. Normally it takes much longer for new weapons to make it in to the hands of pirates." He shrugged his shoulders, "like I said, a hole bunch of dead ends."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
"Well actually, have you heard of Yami? It is this interesting business that is supplying both sides of the war, weapons. They could of given the pirates the weapons." She wondered if Jeb knew of Yami at all.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded, "yeah I heard of them." He looked at the bomb parts and the sample, "well it could be a link, but my gut tells me no."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova gives a shrug, "You have been at this investigation longer than I, trusting your gut can be good as well as having new eyes look at your current dead ends and finding a possible link is also good. Even if it doesn't help this particular investigation, it might help another which could also bring you more information." Though she softly giggled, "But again, I am just here to assist for a little while before I go back to report my findings."
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded, "I know and trust me, I do appreciate the help." He frowned, "this thing has been killing us. Each time we thing we are close, it slips through our fingertips."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova thought it over, "I can understand that, often times it is like that. I hope we both can assist each other in the future. Shall we exchange numbers so that if you require any assistance I can get SunCo's opinion for you?" Since she was being a liaison between currently even though it wasn't suppose to be her true objective.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He nodded and pulled his comcard, "here just load this in to any comm-station or comlink." His voice was filled with hope and promise. He laughed, "and with luck we can bring the Black Swan to justice."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova took the card, "I see." She looked at her bracelet comlink. She will have to do that later. "Guess I should figure my way back unless you are heading back as well." Didn't want to call for a transport if she can hitch a ride back.
TheTraveler — 07/25/2021
He laughed, "heading back?" he waved his hand around, "there are mountains of evidence to go over. Remember fresh pair of eyes." He turned back to her, "I figured you would be here for at least a few months."
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/25/2021
Nova giggled, "Okay okay, give me few moments. I only came to set up communication and such. However I can probably stay another day or two." She honestly would like to stay but she had some other things to research and inform the group, so staying for a few months would be trouble.
TheTraveler — 07/26/2021
He laughed, "well a day or two, that would barely cover one case." He motioned her to follow him, "we have dozens."
He walked her over to a table, "this is our most recent," he said showing her a bombing case. "If I only have you for a day or two, then I will use you on this case."
He drew in a deep breath, "so this one, like the other five cases before it, has that same residue inside the bomb parts."
He motioned to the photos, "this little guy was used to blow up a NCO club about three months ago. Luckily, no deaths," he said with great relief. "But a score of injuries."
Once more, Nova could recognize one of her children that she created. The image of the wounded haunted her imagination.
@Lady Ryne Roke
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/26/2021
Nova sighed as she shook her head before joining him over to the table. She studied their things and then frowned as the pictures weren't making herself happy. "Horrible. Thankfully that NCO one didn't do any deaths at least." She still was frowning at her children as she didn't like what has become of them.
TheTraveler — 07/26/2021
He nodded and was going to say something when a woman walked up, "we have the latest findings on the Cooper Case." Jeb nodded and turned back to Nova, "give me a few minutes. I will be back."
On that, Nova set down at the table and started to work. It bothered her that her children had been used like this. She went over all the notes of the six bombings. Six devices, but something was bothering her. When Jeb did return, she asked for time and something to drink. He complied on both requests.
The six bombings were a School, a Military Club, a Police Training Facility, a pro-Delphin News Station, a Pumping Station for the Republic's Anchorage, and a Military Motorpool.
The bombs were the six she made and left in a duffel bag at Sinya's place. Each bomb did what she had made them to do. They caused wide spread damage and injuries. Well, except for the school which had triggered a secondary fire.
And it was that, that bothered her. Her Children had purpose, but a massive fire wouldn't have been caused by them. She dug deep in to the fire and was surprised to see the residue test results made it one of her own. She looked over the remains of the bomb and frowned. It wasn't one of hers! But the residue said it was.
She pulled up a computer terminal and started to work. By the time her call Ava alarm went off, she had her answer. The residue test had actually been negative. A clerical error left the assumption that this bomb was one of hers. She had almost missed the details of this bomb, but not now. She was sure this bomb wasn't one of her own.
And that left Nova facing another real fact. Five of her children had been used against the Government and the Republic. One remained out there and at large and in the hands of someone willing to use them.
She glanced at her crono and realized that Ava would just be waking up in the morning. Nova gazed out at the late night lights of Rotterdam.
@Lady Ryne Roke
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/26/2021
Nova flagged that piece of evidence to inform Jeb on to later as she turns her alarm off and called Ava. ((moving to another in between real quick))
Lady Ryne Roke — 07/27/2021
After the call, Nova moves over to the stuff she had out still and began to look on the computer for anything she can bring Arvid into this case with as well as check if there was a pattern to all these bombings her children caused, and check if the Black Swan symbol had been made with something that was flammable which could explain why they couldn't link the school bombing to the other ones that had been marked.
Nova also saved the residue chemical files for all on her bombs(plus the school one) and their data to her data pad so she can do research later on back with Ava.
Nova plugs Jeb Marshall's comlink information into her bracelet comlink. Last thing she did was book herself a train ticket with her limited funds.
TheTraveler — 07/27/2021
(End)
|
