TYPE: Transcription
DESCRIPTION: Debriefing of Guardians following incident during pirate hunt on 1633 Chimay
PARTIES: One (1) Guardian-type, class Warlock, designate Ikora Rey [REY]; One (1) Guardian-type, class Warlock, designate Aunor Mahal [AM]; One (1) Guardian-type, class Titan, designate Donovan Morgan [DM] (POI #0268); One (1) Guardian-type, designate Wahei Ohr [OHR] (POI #0247); One (1) Ghost-type, designate Vizier [viz]
ASSOCIATIONS: Cabal; Catacombs; Darkness; Eliksni [AKA Fallen]; Deathsinger; Hive; Lucent Hive; Old Paris; Pirates; Pyramid; Relics; Salvation, House of; Themis Cluster
RELATED RECORDS: REP #AAR-2022-1633C-THC-326
// AUDIO UNAVAILABLE //
// TRANSCRIPTION FOLLOWS... //
[REY] Interview recommences.
[AM] So let's reiterate matters, Morgan--
[DM] Captain Morgan.
[pause]
[AM] To reiterate, you deployed a team of snipers whil in apporach of 1633 Chimay-- and given the pirate leader Iriks is styled "The Sharpshooter," I can't fault your decision to do so-- and they reported that a reliquary was in his possession.
[REY] A reliquary similar to the ones you've been finding in the treasure hoards of other captains of these "old crews."
[DM] Yes.
[AM] Iriks had one of these reliquaries, and was exhibiting unusual behavior, you said.
[DM] I did not personally see this unusual behavior, but you have the report from Rega in front of you.
// TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: See RELATED RECORDS above. Rega is Rega-7, member of the Skyspear crew and longtime teammate of Donovan Morgan.
[REY] Yes, she reports seeing Iriks using the Eliksni "flash step" technology far more rapidly than is possible. Everything we know about the tech-- both from our own intel and from information received from Misraaks's people-- says that they shouldn't be used as rapidly as the reports are indicating.
[AM] Devil's advocate here-- could the reports be wrong?
[DM] Rega's report is corroborated by the rest of the 'Longshot' team, including telemetry recordings from their Ghosts. As well as from non-Lightbearers like Halsiks and Qulai.
[AM] Noted. Highly unlikely they're invalid reports then. Thank you. Continue.
[REY] Rega also reported seeing these fibrous "hoops" emerging from Iriks's shoulders.
[DM] They were still on his body when I recovered it afterward. Kind of like the one that Val'aug had after using her relic.
[REY] Preliminary analysis shows that these... "Darkness fibers," for lack of a better term, were effectively "overclocking" the Sharpshooter's body and tech, but they were burning through energy stores and rapidly depleting other essential resources. I suspect if Iriks hadn't been killed, he wouldn't have survived for long without access to some kind of Darkness energy. That kind of behavior is unsustainable.
[AM] Further proof that the Darkness is too dangerous to wield--
[OHR] Hah!
[AM] Did you have something to share, Ohr--
[REY] Mahal. Please comport yourself professionally. Wahei, that goes for you, too.
[AM] ...Ma'am.
[OHR] Yes, Ma'am.
[REY] Paracausal power is inherently dangerous. Whether it's derived from the Darkness or the Light. Regardless, further study of the reliquaries we've managed to recover is ongoing.
[AM] Returning to your ground team's experience in the Sharpshooter's lair. There was another rogue Eliksni on site, who was utilizing SIVA nanotechnology?
[DM] As noted in my report. He'd booby-trapped several bulkheads. Nearly killed one of my crew. And he was able to use SIVA to reactivate some wrecked heavy shanks. Gave me some Sepiks flashbacks, or those zombexos from Vergift's Europa lab.
[AM] "Zombexos?" Really?
[REY] Based on the visual, we suspect that this is a former Devil Splicer called Bansiks, who escaped the purge of the Plaguelands. Intel says he's called "The Technomancer." No word yet on how he managed to get his hands on that much SIVA. With Aksis and the main replication complex destroyed, there shouldn't be that much in play.
[DM] Eh, we always suspected there were other locations producing SIVA, just nowhere near as much as Site 6. Even if Saladin and Shiro hunted them down, they still could have produced a stockpile.
[REY] Let's focus first on taking Bansiks off the baord before we try to track down his stockpiles.
[AM] Not least because he got his hands on Iriks's reliquary.
[DM] The SIVA shanks weren't too difficult to take down, but it was enough of a distraction for the Splicer-- what'd you say he was called? Bansiks?-- enough for him to transmat off to his skiff and get out of there while we were tied down dealing with the last of Iriks's crew on his ketch.
[REY] Do you have a vector on his location?
[DM] He was wearing Sawtooth's banner, so he's probably wherever that old crew is hunkered down. Probably still in the Themis Cluster, but that still covers a lot of ground.
[AM] And there was the added complication of Wahei's breakdown.
[viz] Here we go...
[AM] Did you have something to add, Vizier?
[viz] It's no secret that you don't like my Guardian. Which makes me question having you helping administrate this debriefing. How do we know your bias against Wahei won't--
[AM] (interrupting) I am here precisely because of bias. But not mine.
[REY] Because of concerns of my bias.
[viz] Your--?
[REY] My tendency to let some of Wahei's behavior and antics slide without censure has been called into question.
[AM] Vizier. Despite your Guardian's documented handicap, she was allowed to venture back into the field, and then further allowed into a hostile combat zone before it had been cleared.
[viz] "Allowed?"
[AM] You're her Ghost, Vizier. I expected more from you to talk her down.
[viz] ...Have you met my Guardian, Wahei Ohr?
[DM] In Wahei's defense, none of us expected Lucent Hive on the scene. Much less one that would trigger that kind of reaction.
[OHR] I never even considered that she'd come back...
[pause]
[REY] What happened?
[OHR] I... I panicked.
[REY] The reports say that you almost shook 1633 Chimay apart. That's one hell of a panic attack.
[AM] All the more reason you should not have gone into the field.
[REY] Talk us through it.
[OHR] I was sitting in the room where we'd transmatted in, as Morgan had told me, when I sensed a shift in paracausal energies. It was... different. It was the Light, but it was different from the Light that Morgan or Rev were using. In retrospect, I think the difference I sensed was because it was the Light used by the Lucent Hive.
[DM] Light is Light, why would it be different?
[REY] Except it's not the same for everyone. Why can some Hunters cast their Golden Gun into their weapons, while so many instead have to conjure up a hand cannon separately? Why can some Guardians switch between the various types of Light at will and wield it immediately, while others need to wait for their Light to rebuild before they can start casting it?
[OHR] I never picked up on the variances in... call it "Light frequencies" with my Warlock senses before. I suppose it's down to my blindness, other senses sharpening to compensate.
[AM] As interesting as this discourse might be, back to the incident on Chimay. You sensed a Lucent Hive?
[OHR] I knew it was a Lucent Hive when I smelled it. Lucent Hive smell... cleaner, or fresher, than regular Hive. I wasn't panicking at that moment-- even though I'm blind and at a serious disadvantage-- I was ready to fight. But... but then she spoke... and I... I-I recognized her voice.
[pause] [shuddering breath]
[REY] Wahei, you're safe here.
[AM] It's all right. Take your time.
[pause]
[OHR] I... You... you remember my report from the Red War?
[REY] You'd been incommunicado that whole time-- not too surprising, our communications network was in shambles after the Red Legion attacked-- but you'd been presumed lost even after retook the City. It was... about a week or so later that we finally got word from your Ghost that you were alive.
[AM] That's... several weeks out of reach. In Hive spaces in the Old Paris Catacombs. You'd encountered and eventually killed a Hive Deathsinger-- Ir Tasarakh, as I recall. But you're saying she was back, on Chimay?
[OHR] You'd remember a voice that taunted you for weeks and weeks while you were terrified out of your mind. It was her voice. I'm certain.
[REY] Ghost telemetry from Vizier confirms there was indeed a Hive Lightbearer present on the scene.
[AM] Why was there a Lucent Hive presence in the area?
[REY] We're not sure of that yet, and that's not the point of this debriefing, Mahal.
[AM] Yes, Ma'am.
[OHR] Ikora, I know you're not happy I left the Tower and went out with Morgan--
[REY] That's putting it mildly.
[OHR] An-and I know that this incident doesn't help my case--
[REY] No. It doesn't.
[OHR] But I can be of some help--
[REY] Absolutely not.
[OHR] Ikora--
[REY] I said no, Wahei. You'll be lucky if I let you go up to the H.E.L.M. at this point.
[OHR] Ikora--!
[REY] No. I've let you get away with too much for too long, and that was only because you were still capable of functioning without compromising other operations. I overlooked symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and now it's come back to bite us.
[AM] I'm glad to hear you're finally taking the right steps, Ma'am.
[REY] Don't gloat, Mahal. It's unbecoming of a member of the Praxic Order.
[OHR] Please, I can--
[REY] No. Before I'm going to sign off on any sanctioned departure from the Tower, I want you to get treatment. We have people that are helping other Guardians and Lightbearers with psychiatric counseling. They're making good progress. You're going to meet with one of them, Wahei.
[pause]
[OHR] ...yes, Ma'am.
[REY] Morgan--
[DM] Captain--
[REY] Morgan. I don't care how much trust you have in your partner. If I find out you've let her talk you into letting her tag along again--
[DM] No risk of that, Ma'am. My crew are wary of her after what happened on Chimay. I bring her back on again, I'm liable to face a mutiny.
[REY] Good. As for you, Wahei, if I find out you've snuck out into the field again, you'll wish the Witness had done worse than blind you by the time I'm through with you.
[pause]
[REY] We're done here. Debrief concluded.
[AM] [DM] (overlapping) Ma'am.
[OHR] (quiet) I'm sorry.
[REY] Don't be sorry. Be better.
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