Chapter -19 Faint Signals
Chapter 19: Faint Signals
Outer Sector Outpost 7, Imperial Periphery
Another cycle dawned on Delta-7, marked by the same tense vigilance. The Sector Command fleet was now just over a standard day away – close enough to be a tangible hope, yet distant enough that the outpost remained isolated, facing the silent threat in Grid 11 and the unfolding mystery on Moon 7C.
Valerius dedicated the early hours to his Wargod consolidation. In the privacy of his quarters, he pushed his Spatial Sense, extending it further than before. He could now 'map' the adjacent corridors with reasonable clarity, identifying individual personnel by the faint 'feel' of their energy signatures, even discerning the low thrum of active consoles through bulkheads. It was like navigating by sonar in murky water – imprecise, requiring intense focus, but offering awareness far beyond normal senses.
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He practiced differentiating between the signatures of Kaelen (currently in his own quarters, energy tightly controlled) and Commander Vorlag (in the command center, his Peak Warrior energy a steady, powerful beacon). This ability to remotely sense key individuals, even crudely, was a potent tactical advantage.
His attention, however, kept returning to the feed from Drone Prime-3. The drone maintained its lonely vigil, passively scanning Moon 7C from the edge of detection range. Crater EC-117 remained stubbornly quiet on standard sensors – no significant energy emissions, no obvious structural changes, no vessel launches.
'System, continuous deep analysis of EC-117 sensor data. Focus on micro-thermal fluctuations, seismic tremors, trace atmospheric venting – anything deviating from baseline geological activity.'
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Hours passed. Valerius attended the morning briefing, reporting no change in the Scorpion fleet's posture in Grid 11 and no definitive activity from the 'Crimson Fury' group on Moon 7C. Commander Vorlag accepted the report with a grunt, the strain of command visible in the lines around his eyes. Lieutenant Kaelen remained watchful but silent, offering no challenges today. Perhaps the fabricated emitter logs had given him pause, or perhaps he was simply biding his time.
Back in the analysis room, Valerius reviewed the speculative hypotheses the System had generated regarding 'Project Chimera'. Illegal bio-engineering? A cache of Precursor artifacts? Advanced AI weapon systems? None fit perfectly with the known profile of the Red Scorpions, who were primarily known for piracy, smuggling, and extortion on a grand scale, not cutting-edge R&D or artifact hunting. Yet, the deployment of a cruiser and the extreme secrecy suggested this was far beyond their usual operations.
Suddenly, the System flagged an alert from Prime-3's feed. Not a major energy spike, but something subtle.
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Valerius leaned forward, instantly focused. A small, localized tremor, deep beneath the crater floor, followed by venting of non-natural gases. It wasn't a weapon discharge or a ship launch, but it was activity.
'System, analyze seismic signature and gas composition. Possible causes?'
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Underground activity. That explained the lack of surface signals. Were the Scorpions digging for something? Or accessing a hidden facility already present on this supposedly barren moon? This strongly suggested the 'manifest transfer' wasn't just a hand-off on the surface; it involved something within the moon itself.
He immediately compiled an urgent update for Commander Vorlag, detailing the micro-seismic event and atmospheric traces, along with the System's (presented as his) analysis suggesting subsurface operations.
Vorlag's response was swift. "Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Subsurface activity… that complicates things. Keep Prime-3 focused. Any further tremors, any energy fluctuations, report immediately. This 'Project Chimera' smells worse by the hour."
Valerius felt a grim satisfaction. He was peeling back layers, revealing glimpses of the Scorpions' true objective. The mystery deepened, but the direction was becoming clearer. Moon 7C wasn't just a rendezvous point; it was a hidden operational site.
He checked the countdown to the Sector Command fleet's arrival – roughly 30 hours remaining. The window for the Scorpions to complete their operation, whatever it was, was closing. The pressure was building, not just on the outpost, but on the 'Crimson Fury' and its hidden activities beneath the dust of Moon 7C. The faint signals detected by Prime-3 were the first concrete evidence of the secret buried there, and Valerius knew, with chilling certainty, that more was yet to be revealed.