August 2941
Spider - Hidden Ballistic Logistics Base
Cathcart System
Matthius' Perspective
Commander Cole Ruiz stood at his desk bellowing orders. His Saisei oak desk had seen better days. Today it was littered with battle plans and requisition notes from the past few months. Everything was in order for the plan he had concocted at the expense of the Gedion family. But now, what the hell was Matthius doing on his station unannounced? To make matters worse, the plan was already in motion with the Course Correction having just arrived! Specialist Linsen as anticipated had reported in about the alien presence in Min. Following SOP, he was in the process of getting the station troops and ships on full alert and ready to mobilize.
Ruiz slammed his fist down on the table in frustration. Matthius was here, he must have figured out the plan. How? He couldn't worry about that just yet. As his Mobi-Glas powered up, Ruiz hurriedly made a secure connection to Kallis, using the backdoor channels as instructed, he had to warn Sundavold.
The backdoor connection went around Ballistic Logistics infrastructure and was the one thing Sundavold stressed above all else. They were not supposed to use any BLG assets for communication. Period. As the comm channel opened, he impatiently began to record a message. It was one of his faults and he realized it but this was serious enough it had to be quick and to the point. "The Alpha Dog has scent. I repeat, the Alpha Dog has scent." He was sure he butchered the phrase but the anger seething through his veins won out. The time for secrecy was apparently over and it was finally time for action. Action, he thought, that would right the wrongs of Anatoly Deerfield in 2920. Sundavold had assured him that Ballistic Logistic's would become his and Matthius would pay.
His hatred for Matthius Stormfury was deep. Entirely based on Matthius taking the position that was rightfully his and should have stayed within the family. Now it appeared the ruse was finally over. Sundavold had promised and Ruiz had completed his end of the bargain.
Satisfied with the results of his hurried recording, Ruiz sent the message. He knew it wouldn't arrive for hours. Now he needed to consider his options. Perhaps he could use the alien invasion to stall until he could figure out how to handle Matthius' presence. Cole Ruiz let out a laugh. "Alien Invasion." He muttered, Flicking on the video feed of interrogation chamber on his Mobi-Glas. Ruiz watched intently.
"...what I see. I see unauthorized personnel in my base." Matthius was grilling the pawn in his plan. "Smug bastard, calling this his station." He said out loud. He continued to watch the video plotting. There had to be a way he could continue the mission and take out Matthius in the process.
"So… am I free to go?" Relen Gedeon begged. Perhaps the plan would take care of itself, Ruiz thought. Quickly he shut off the video feed and switched to the comm channel connecting to the interrogation room. He breathed a long breath, composing himself and put on his game face. "Ruiz here, just wanted to inform you, I’m deploying our forces to investigate the hostile alien activity that Specialist Linsen encountered. I’ll keep you apprised of their findings."
Now if only Matthius would take the bait, perhaps he would investigate the pirates freeing him to finish phase two. This would provide him time and allow him potentially to ambush Matthius when he returned. He so wanted to kill Matthius, but he'd been instructed to keep him alive if possible. "We'll see." Ruiz muttered as he exited his office and began issuing orders. He'd already begun the process, now he needed to finish loading the Origin 890-Jump.
Ballistic Logistics Research Facility
Kallis System
Director Jacob Sundavold knew the message he had listened to three times now had been sent at least sixteen hours earlier. "Damn fool. He's blown my cover." He said aloud. His assistant entered the room.
"Sir?"
"Nothing. I think we've had enough stress this week. Inform the entire division that we're closing in 1 hour. Have a great weekend."
Her face brightened as she hurried to her desk and made preparations.
How had Matthius figured everything out? He'd been tracking Matthius' movements and his people assured him that the Executive was still on board the Pennefeather. Yet, Cole Ruiz was only to send that message upon a sign of trouble, specifically relating to Matthius. Still not wanting to believe, he listened to the message one more time.
Convinced the plan had been set in motion, months early, he had to proceed. Issuing a series of commands through his Mobi-Glas, Sundavold started triggering various shadow programs. Programs he had prepared and placed for this very day. As he loaded several programs, He ordered facilities to load several artifacts onto his Constellation. Monitoring the station facility staff on one screen, the cargo loading process in another, he proceeded with the major portions of the shadow programs. Issuing a series of commands the first of his hidden programs was off to the races.
"I'll get the last laugh, Matthius." He muttered far quieter than his earlier outburst.
This first program would wipe out petabytes of data on the station's hardware, meanwhile asynchronous programs sent out communiqués to agents across the Ballistic Logistics Network. One in particular, he thought was most pleasing.
Sundavold couldn't hold back the smile overtaking his face. "That particular one will hit deep." He thought. Pressing on, he issued a few more commands. These programs began the process of deleting the backup systems on the station as well as sending a virus to the off-site backup facility. Once these programs had completed the deletion process, the next step would be to fry their hardware. Making it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, for his steps to be traced and ultimately impossible to track his future actions.
Now fully aware that the station had been vacated, Jacob Sundavold stood up. Taking in a deep breath, he shouted at the height of his lung capacity. "I QUIT." The words echoed throughout the empty station. Sundavold laughed at the notion and watched as various display screens in his office started warping and fading as the initial program deteriorated its data storage.
Feeling confident that his plan had been hatched, he proceeded through the door and towards the hangar bay. Grabbing a few valuable experiments along the way, the smell of fried circuitry invaded his nostrils. He could see random pieces of equipment throughout various offices and labs smoking from his programs. Continuing towards the hangar, he stopped at one last chamber. Entering the room, he activated an anti-grav unit and loaded up the Hadesian Artifact. "Thanks for the financing, Matthius." He muttered to no one and laughed. He had hoped to utilize Ballistic Logistics resources to study the artifact, but Ruiz, with his temper and lack of control, had set things in motion. At least, Ballistic Logistics had paid the excruciating black market price.
He'd planned for this day for over ten years, but he really couldn't believe it was happening and so unexpectedly. In truth, a tingle of excitement made it's way into his gut. After all, this day was a new beginning. He'd spent the past decade placing agents and gaining valuable insights into Ballistic Logistics. The events that were about to transpire would set them back decades, if they ever recovered. His organization's leadership would be extremely pleased at his success.
"Shadow Advocacy!" He laughed. "You'll never figure out our real identity Matthius." With that he boarded the last few artifacts on his Connie and took off from the station.