On [i]Universal Nova[/i], a certain member of the council was enjoying some time for themselves at a club when ACASIAS contacted them out of the blue. "Please excuse the interruption Duke, but as the representative of Internal security..." The voice modulated message of the supercomputer was shushed by Virne waving his hand and rising up from his chair, leaving those who had joined the celebrations in his table briefly wondering what had happened.

"I am sorry ladies and gentlemen, but my duties call. Another time, perhaps?" he excused himself and headed outside. Once the sign of the club he had left from was no longer in sight, he reopened the discussion with ACASIAS. "So what is it? What has happened now? Has the leak spread yet? And was it a freelancer unit?" he bombarded the AI with questions, who easily kept up by responding to each as it received them. Soldiers dead. Killed by allies. Contained. In a way. The combination of them suggested a certain option, something that had him stop in his tracks for a moment. "You are telling me...", he began, not even bothering to finish. The answer was yes.

[hr]
As soon as the vessel the group of diplomats were using to return from Vasishka had passed the third surveillance and counter-surveillance vessel, their radio burst to life. It came as a surprise to none of the council: The perimeter that had just been passed was the outermost layer council level confidential material could be sent over communications... the one all returning vessels knew to dread if there had been any protocol breaches. Creft opened the link and was unsurprised to find a familiar metal man staring at him from the video feed on the screen.

"I had heard that there are now two dead guards on your vessel, the cause of which being from inside the ranks of our Fleet. You must be aware that this means I will be starting and leading this investigation, yes?" Duke Virne requested confirmation in a tone much sterner than in which one usually heard the man speak in. If they could not explain this well, they could be in trouble.

"I deny nothing of the sort, Duke. The attacker has been identified and contained-" Creft began his reply, only to see the Duke respond by turning his head to the side and raising a finger to the screen.

"I am not asking about what happened after, ACASIAS has filled me in. What I am wondering is just how this came to be. How did you let an individual you well know to be unpredictable and violent to their own devices? Have all my regulations rang to deaf ears?" Virne asked, lowering the finger after the question and pressing his fist against the table. "I expect a full report of what happened and how you are going to be fixing that by the time you return. You have two standard hours after your arrival to show up at my office. With the perpetrator. I will be hearing all sides involved. Duke Rexes Virne, over and out."

The video screen shut down, returning the terminal to its usual state of showing monitored statistics of their flight. Creft turned to the other Fleet members in the cabin and made a request: "You heard the man. Please, speak up. What went wrong?"

[@JBRam2002][@Zverda][@Gordian Nought][@Corporal Lance][@Big Dread]