Chapter Text
Yes, indeed. There it was. Right in the middle of a rjelln field. //And I thought agricultural rotation was supposed to be relaxing,// Lashan thought ruefully. //Well, that shows me.// She swung out of the rover and strode down the hill between the fields, untroubled by the still-dark sky. It would be morning soon enough -- too soon, in fact, since morning meant the first shift of units out in the fields, and no one could possibly not notice a Marauder crashed in a rjelln field. Bad enough that the unit on sentry duty and the medical response team were already involved. Lashan didn't know what was going on, but she was pretty sure it didn't need to concern every unit in the hemisphere.
As she passed the sonic generator that kept animals out of the crops, the sentry who'd comm'ed the report fell into step beside her. She didn't immediately remember his name, but he was young, with the common blond/brown stripe pattern in his hair and an emerging command-pattern of facial markings. As she preferred, he didn't bother with unnecessary honorifics in an 'active' situation. "There was no movement from the Marauder, but sensors indicated there was at least one person still alive in there, so medical response went ahead in. They're extracting survivors now."
The initial report had mentioned the sensor readings, which was most of the reason she was out here in person, instead of happily asleep while a salvage team discreetly hauled the rubble away. "I see frag cannon marks. Is most of the damage from a fight?"
"Most of it, yes. They had to land. But even with the damage it *could* have made a better landing than it did."
Lashan's mouth quirked. "Meaning *you*, for example, could have brought it in without..."
"Digging such a long furrow in the rjelln, say. And a halfway competent pilot could have avoided the rollovers." He indicated the lengthy trail of scarred ground behind the Marauder. "Navve -- the nearest sentry at the time it came down -- counted ten complete and very bumpy revolutions before it finally came to rest... upside-down, as you see, Captain. Someone was -- loosely speaking -- in control of it at that point, because several soldiers report it was steered for the rjelln from over the pfalln."
"Wise of them," Lashan remarked. The pfalln orchard was full of hardwood trees. "So... in your opinion, given the quality of the piloting, was a Peacekeeper flying that ship?"
The unit leader shrugged, then said judiciously. "It could have been a Peacekeeper -- wounded or in some other specialty. The flying was not up to Peacekeeper standards, no. And Medic Zhiv I think said they weren't Peacekeepers."
She nodded thoughtfully. "No one's approached the Marauder beyond the medics and assistance as required?"
"As per your orders, Captain."
"Good. Needless to say, this field -- and the ones immediately surrounding it -- are interdicted to off-duty personnel. Not that I need to tell you this, but impress on your unit that they are *not* to discuss this with any other units." Lashan looked once more at the Marauder and sighed. "You know, I was actually looking forward to this rotation and a nice, peaceful break from border patrol?" She didn't make the unit leader come up with a reply to that, but continued. "Your unit's relieved early. Get back to quarters and write your incident reports -- discuss it together, make sure you don't forget anything. We'll have a full debriefing later."
He nodded, "Captain," then hesitated. "Perhaps... it might be best if everyone logged their individual reports first, to prevent inadvertent... alterations."
Lashan nodded and waved him on. "Use your judgment, unit leader." She had a good crew. What pleased her even more than the coordination was the knowledge that he hadn't been afraid to make a differing suggestion. The Elite had come a long way from the obedient drone-soldiers they'd been designed as, and Lashan hoped to see them come further in her lifespan. //Though of course that becomes infinitely more difficult when the times call for soldiers...// Thankfully their political standing was a matter for the Central Jurisdate, not a mere captain. //But it certainly makes things no easier when Marauders come crashing down on us...//
The head medic, kneeling beside a mobile support unit checking a readout, looked up as Lashan approached. "We've extracted all survivors," he reported, indicating three MSUs set up beside the wreckage. "All passengers, actually."
She raised her eyebrows. "They all survived?"
He indicated the nearest MSU. "This one's on the brink -- spinal damage. I've ordered a stas unit brought out. I think I can pull the other two through, though one of them's in bad shape. But no, no outright deaths." He paused, glancing around. "Where's your shadow?"
Trust Zhiv to notice the absence. "If you mean my aide, Tacer has gone hiking in the wilderness. He's not fond of agricultural rotation." Lashan had known her chief medic for a very long time -- they'd been in the same training unit. She could tell he wasn't saying everything. "What else, Zhiv?"
He hesitated, averting his eyes -- he had never been much of a liar. Zhiv looked tired, but then, medics often did with the violet markings around their eyes. "Um... I'll just say, you better check the middle one, Lashan."
She gave him a long look, then walked over to the middle MSU, nodding politely to the young medic busy with injectors and readouts. Lashan gently pushed aside the opaque film that made up the top and sides of the unit and eyed the patient. Hadn't Zhiv told the sentry they weren't Peacekeepers? This one was dressed like a--
Oh, *frell*.
The Elite were frequently called isolationist with, Lashan thought, some truth. But she'd always made an effort to keep abreast of what was happening outside their tightly guarded region of space.
Not a Peacekeeper. Not even a Sebacean.
For the first time in a very long time, she found herself relieved that most of the Elite were so ignorant about the rest of the universe.
"Highest classification, Zhiv," she said softly. "I'll come with you back to base and unseal the Vault's medical section. If the robots have been doing their jobs, it'll be in good order. I don't want *anyone* finding out about this."