The Regimental Leave Party

(or.. The High Station Incident)

Leave started with the celebratory Regimental Dinner.

As the 30 day leave period for the whole regiment started several of the junior officers agreed to meet up at the famous Centissimo equatorial tourist resort of Augustus Island.

Lt Gogogoch, Lt Holland, Lt Lucking, Lt Parrell, Lt Rockford, Lt Shimazu and Lt Kampf all found themselves in a well known bar in one of the seaside resorts on Augustus.  A short-lived brawl with some rather rude Venerian tourists livened up their first evening.

Deciding that a period of skiing would be fun, they get the next transportation to High Station - a remote megadon farming station in the central highlands.

Click on image for full size map

Once there they have even more fun falling about in snowdrifts etc.  After some minor transport difficulties they return to high station for the night.  The next morning, Gogogoch, Holland and Lucking were missing.

They get little help from station security, though the local militia squad becomes very helpful once it realises that they are off duty marines.  A search of the station is organised.

Click on image for full size map

SITREPS FROM MARINES

KAMPF

"TO: Lt Col Kilgore

CC: 130 EMR Officers o.r.

Duty Office, Dolha Station

SITREP: High Station

Sir,

After some preliminary investigations we have discovered the following:

- The pharmacy had a large quantity of tranquillisers and some spray-injectors missing

- security had access to the pharmacy and unlocked the door on the night Lts Holland, Lucking & Gogogoch went missing

- security opened the perimeter earlier than usual on the morning that the Lts went missing and took out a personnel transport before dawn

- Lt Gogogoch's personal notebook was found in the back of the personnel transport booked out by security that day

The standard of record-keeping is very poor at High Station and the security system is very unreliable. I did manage to persuade the local system administrator to allow me supervisor-equivalent access and we can get access to anything we require on the system. I have taken the precaution of immediately backing up the system logs for further inspection and to prevent tampering.

We have just found the there Lts in the undergrowth. They were drugged and show signs of being physically maltreated. Until the regain consciousness we cannot tell you more than this. I attach a schematic showing the location they were found.

We have not yet told base security that the Lts have been found but the helicopter will be there quite soon unless we divert immediately.

Lt. J Kampf

OC 8/C/130 ESS Agamemnon

AND More detail.......

I arrived at the station in the early afternoon the day before the Lts were kidnapped. On being told that they had gone ski-ing up the mountain I borrowed a hover-bike and took it up the hill to meet them. After a few hours I reached the scientific research station, coincidentally around the same time as the group.

We waited around for a lift to arrive for the whole party which we called from the research station. The two people in the research station were quite friendly, although they were a little surprised to see us, visitors not being common.

We took the shuttle back to the station and I handed back the hover-bike. We got ourselves some food (megadon burgers) and went to the bar for a drink or two. The locals weren't at all interesting so we didn't have a great deal to do with them. The following morning after breakfast we discovered that the three Lts were missing.

On making this discovery we asked around to see if anyone had seen them.  We approached the security team to ask if they knew where they were. They told us they didn't. I also asked if they had video cameras in the place that might tell us anything, but apparently they did not. We did persuade the security chief to put a message on the tannoy for them to contact us.

We looked around the station for them, including speaking to the medic, the chaplain, the bartender and any other staff that we encountered, including the militia squad and the security team. After we had spent a few hours looking to no avail and attempting to contact them on their communicators we contacted the Dohla Station duty officer. He asked us to wait a little longer before declaring the Lts missing during which we should continue looking for them just in case.

We continued our search of the area and hired a helicopter to enable us to contact the other farms/stations in the area and also to sweep the countryside should we feel it necessary when daybreak came. At daybreak we contacted the Dohla duty officer again and he instituted the emergency contact procedures for the Regiment. We also set out in our hired helo to look for the Lts on the ground.

 During the evening we had made contact with the local sysadmin and others and investigated the system logs of the station. This investigation raised doubts about the reliability of the local station security team. It is entirely possible that they are involved in the kidnapping. Because of this we deliberately deceived the security about our intentions and flight-path for the day.

I am not in favour of returning to the station with the three Lts. My preferred option would be for us to RV with a shuttle on the plain to hand over the Lts and gain some proper armament. We could then return to the station and have words with the station security. Either that or the local IAS could go have a look.

Lt. J Kampf

OC 8/C/130 ESS Agamemnon"

SHIMAZU

"It should be stated that we spoke to the base physician. He stated that the base had visitors often. This was not the story told by the other base personnel that we talked to, who stated that visits were rare. The Dr. was clearly an abuser of drugs - my supposition being he does this to blot out what might be happening. The base personnel were generally sullen. The exception was the militia unit.

Although the base is largely populated by men the seemed to be unmoved by my presence, without false modesty this usually excites men. The militia responded as most men do. I would suggest from this evidence that the base population is somehow under the influence of something.

Now Parrell has made his comments [see below - Jim9000] and suggested that we contact Naval Intelligence and rendezvous with a squad at the science base further up the mountain. He makes excellent points with regard to returning to High Station. However I do nit feel that the personnel at the science base should be party to what is happening (for the same reasons as those given for keeping this matter quiet). I therefore propose a rendezvous in a clear part of the wilderness away from anyone else.

I continue to suspect that the personnel of High station, with the exception of the militia, are somehow under some sort of influence.

Lt. Shimatsu EMC"

PARRELL : "My understanding of the situation is based on this;

1) 3 members of 130 EMR were kidnapped from the High Station. High Station is a rough and ready factory megadon processing centre. It is located in a wilderness area with poor communication and transport links. There a few local farms or ranches nearby. Their is small scientific outpost nearby.

2) High Station has a security team that as I think James said is pretty suspicious and may well be involved in the kidnapping. The kidnappers probably entered our fellow marines room using security keys. They drugged the marine Lts. They got them out of High Station using a security transport. By about late afternoon or earlier they dumped our marines on the edge of a forest about 10 or 20 miles from High Station. They had plenty of time to realise who they kidnapped.  they had plenty of time to question our Marines, I estimate upto 12 hours, and extract very very very sensitive information from them as regards the woods asteroid site.

3) There may have been other kidnapping events at this Station in the past.

4) The recovered marines are not awake and physically not harmed.

5) We are flying in shuttle with only enough fuel to get back to High Station or land out in the open or go to ranch or to the science outpost.

My suggestions about what to do.

Inform Naval intelligence that we have a situation. Recommend we try and keep the investigation "in House" as much as possible. Given the potentially severe security risks we do not to many people involved.  Given the punishment that I want to give to the kidnappers I do want to many outsiders around.

Fly to the science base. Request that a squad of marines be sent to the science base with a shuttle and a refill for the near empty shuttle we are flying in. Monitor all movements and comms in and out of High Station.

I do not want to back to a High station, whose own security is deeply implicated in the kidnap. When they realise that we have recovered our marines they might try and make some very rash moves that could make things ugly, or they could simply "run" for it, or inform and warn co-kidnappers of the situation. Going to the science station also gives up more time to think.

The problem with this proposed course of action is that I am not a trained investigator, I am a marine.

Lt Parrell"

"Reply to Parrel from Kampf:

>My understanding of the situation is based on this,

>1) 3 members of 130 EMR were kidnapped from the High Station. High Station is a rough and ready factory megadon processing centre. It is located in a wilderness area with poor communication and transport >links. There a few local farms or ranches nearby. Their is small scientific outpost nearby.

The area is also home to efficient raptors that make being outside at night-time pretty suicidal. It is therefore not advisable to go outside on foot during the night.

>Inform Naval intelligence that we have a situation. Recommend we try and keep the investigation "in House" as much as possible. Given the potentially severe security risks we do not to many people involved.

I think our contact with the Dohla Station duty officer will have lead directly to Naval Intelligence being informed.

>Fly to the science base. Request that a squad of marines be sent to the science base with a shuttle and a refill for the near empty shuttle we are flying in. Monitor all movements and comms in and out of High Station.

I think an RV on the plain is probably best from the point of view of minimising those in the know.

In some ways the best thing for us to do in the short term is to get the three Lts off planet without the people at High Station (or elsewhere) realising that they have been found. The rest of us should return to High Station, maintain alertness and then leave the following morning to return to Dohla Station.

The authorities can then investigate High Station in their own time and in their own way. I don't think that there is enough evidence at the moment to do anything rash. Although given the emergency powers we have we could be justified in closing the station and questioning everyone in it until we find the culprits. None of the people there would be allowed to discuss what happened.

All we need is some local backup to secure the station. I would suggest dropping a group of marines from the other regiment around the perimeter to secure it while we go in to investigate, perhaps with a NI type.

Lt. J M Kemp

OC 3/A/130  ESS Agamemnon"

And this is what REALLY happened - according to the official after action report, anyway...

To: BuPubRel

From: CO 130 EMR

Subject: High Station - Marine Aid to the Civil Police (MAC-P)

Recently 2 junior officers disappeared while on R&R near High Station. This sort of occurrence is extremely rare in the Marine Corps, and in this Regiment in particular. Furthermore, the character of the individuals led me to suspect foul play.

I spoke to the Senior Police Officer, who requested my assistance in locating the missing personnel, as there had been a few previous unresolved disappearances in this area. Accordingly a Group of the 130th Regiment was sworn in as Special Constables to provide the necessary assistance to the Civil Police. While this was taking place, I placed a shuttle craft in geosync orbit with an enhanced telemetry package in order to assist the Civil Police in locating any missing personnel or equipment.

We then visited High Station, prepared to carry out an in-depth search of the facility in order to discover any evidence as the the location of the missing officers, and interview the local security personnel. On arrival we discovered almost all the personnel who would be expected to be there were absent.

Accordingly, we examined the orbital sensor data, and discovered that two large vehicles had deployed from the facility, shortly before our arrival, in a direction that was not consistent with the normal farming activities in the area. I immediately ordered a Squad to investigate. They reported back that there was evidence of suspicious activity in this vicinity, and they were investigating further. I, therefore, instructed one of my most experienced officers to take most of the Group and investigate the area at once; retaining one squad as a reserve.

In the course of our investigation of the area some shots were fired at the Special Constables. In order to protect themselves they returned fire, using the minimum necessary force to ensure the safety of their fellow squad members. It eventually transpired that a number of security personnel, and others, from High Station had been guilty of abduction, robbery and murder of personnel they though would not be missed.

In the course of the operation the missing regimental officers were located, alive and well, and all the criminals were arrested or prevented from engaging in further criminal activities. A considerable amount of missing property has been returned to the relevant authorities, and missing persons identified from DNA samples. The entire operation was over in a few hours with no significant casualties. In short, a model operation, and a fine example of Marine Aid to the Civil Police. The local Authorities have further generously agreed to reimburse our expences and repair the minor collision damage to the Ship's Boat.

The only unfortunate note was struck by the local press. Obviously starved on any real news, they undertook to embellish what was a routine police action, into a major event involving human sacrifice, alien machine monsters, and the usual fabrications of imaginative provincial reporters.

T A Killgore

Lt Col

Commanding The 130th Regiment.

The background on those Cultists.

Mission completed - well, it looks as though they all did terribly well...again.