Intro
Human Edge
Homeric Belt
Batth'o Ubelin inc. Operative Center
Batth'o Ubelin, estimeed silk trader, half-smuggler half-business man, well introduced into Haqqislam politics and allegedly a Hassassin Bahram undercover agent walked toward Erin O'Nealz in a middle eastern smart casual attire to greet her.
Despite her impressive track record and covering of Operation Hungry Walrus, Batth'o had always been mildly suspicious about the independent journalist. She did pass all biometric scans but in a couple of circumstances with just sufficient scores and once with a minority report. On the other hand, he liked her a lot.
- Lady warcor, welcome to my humble abode. It is a pleasant surprise to acknowledge your arrival in the Homeric Belt. -
- I go wherever there are good stories and truth to be told. - replied the Sixth Sense News reporter with a smile.
- I will be pleased to support you. We will be soon heading to the Averroes Hospital Compound to run some business. I will be pleased to have you part of my entourage, the Human Sphere needs to know from independent sources what the situation is really like here, beyond all propaganda. -
Batth'o had been informed Erin was closely watched by Aleph, her Comlog and cyberware most probably infested by malicious and spy software. This was the AI attempt to fool Haqqislam or escalate the conflict. Either way, they were forcing the issue.
This might even be related to what those people from Adeq Greenspaces were cooking, definitely a good opportunity to learn something new. Acquiring information about their operation was proving more challenging than expected and considering this was his primary task in the Belt, his stakeholders were starting to be impatient...
The Averroes complex was full with undercover Hassassin Barham operatives, hidden or mixed to the civilian and technical personnel. A small official security detail escorted Batth'o and Erin as they toured the complex. The distress of the Ariadnan workers was evident as also evident was the armed presence of all Hyperpowers. It clearly was the hospital of a war zone, not of an Ammonia mining facility...
Erin didn't even have the time to target her cyberoptics toward the sudden threat as DA rifle shot put her down.
- Removing inconvenient pawns is always a good way to start an operation. - Thought Batth'o.
Then a metallic voice, a classic Uncle Pentium's quirk, echoed in the Haqqislamites' comlogs.
- Security data extraction in progress. Do not resist or you will be prosecuted. -
