Kiesta Colony
Garden, Coreward Delta
The team had arrived a scant few months ago, investigating a series of abnormal events in the small town called Kiesta, one of the larger settlements on the world. The world itself could be considered by many to be nearly 'ideal' with a wide habitable belt and few threats to its population or infrastructure, but it was far from any trade lane and uncomfortably close to a number of polities known to be too willing to prey upon others to further their own agendas.
Kiesta Colony (now called just Kiesta) was once a poster child of some corporation in some nation somewhere that was trying to blaze a new trail, became a stagnant world of small towns and empty, prefab structures once ready for an influx of hopeful souls that never appeared. It was the smaller of the two surviving primary settlements, though towns and villages dotted the world in haphazard ways. Agriculture and infrastructure were set up and left with no demand for their produce, leaving most of the early residents stuck on a world with little chance of income at the whim of outsiders they would never see. Some had managed to scrape together the funds to escape, stowed away in hopes of a better life, or taken to other means to leave the world, but many remained. Those that remained were stubborn and distrusting of outsiders, who they blamed for many of their troubles, but few had any good path off-world, even if they desired it. The settlements of the world had been sent as a first wave to seed the planet for further industrialization and colonization, so while they could gather raw materials, the factory works had never appeared to use any of what they had gathered.
Mines sat silent, and farms built to feed millions sat fallow, feeding a few hundred thousand across the world. The entire world was full of destitution, desperation, and silent despair as people struggled to make a living on their 'ideal' world. The world, renamed Garden of Loesar to drum up support amongst those who believed in Loesar, a deity of vibrance and hope, now brought such shame to the faithful of Loesar that they had recently paid a large sum to the residents to get the planet renamed merely to "Garden", enough to get them out of most of their initial debt, but not all.
All of this lead to the conclusion that the towns and settlements of the world would be desperate for items of real, practical value, but Kiesta had been spending every spare cent now for the past ten months on parts and construction expertise for a large-scale, high-bandwidth entanglement communication system. A system the likes of which wouldn't be required for a colony with twice the population of Garden, let alone Kiesta.
On top of that, the small mines designed to feed the greater colonization that sat dormant in other towns were up and running in Kiesta. Some proceeds were sold, nowhere near enough to justify the expense of running the mines, but much simply wasn't accounted for. The large stores of raw material that had been gathered were now mostly empty, and the town seemed to have little or no difference to the others on the world for all this.
All of these things indicated something was happening out of sight of the galaxy at large, but none of it quite fit. Bar'Densi had been tasked to take his team here, to this dirt-ridden planet to find out why, for fear that another Winger had escaped and was operating in the area, but there was no pheromone saturation in the atmosphere, near or around the town. It didn't rule out the start of an infestation, but it was strange. It meant, unfortunately for him and his team, they would be here a while.
To that end, they had set up outside town, in a home designed to once manage the food production of a little over ten thousand acres of land. Now, it sat amid the empty fields, thirty kilometers from Kiesta. They had spent the first week carefully subverting the systems designed to observe the empty cropland to allow it to interact with their devices, working as a central point from which they could observe and record the events within Kiesta.
Kestin Werna Sikissa had been making regular trips into town for supplies that could be expected of a group living on the outskirts away from town. Food, tools, and other supplies as they were deemed needed. The Sikissa had seemed to take some joy in bringing some business to the local economy, despite the open disgust many of the locals have for him. Some of the ire decreased as their new 'neighbors' realized they weren't there to farm, but the dislike of new faces was still palpable, and there was no level of trust awarded to the him even during his weekly visits. His slightly-too-large eyes and sharp carnivorous teeth that set him apart from the humans that dominated the population just made him an easier target. Though there were many other non-humans among the population the distrust had easily fallen onto new 'outsiders'.
The distrust was deserved, of course. They weren't here to settle, or grow with the town, and no one on the five-person team had any illusions to the contrary. They were there to make sure that the Ikittitl hadn't taken hold of this world, but what they found concerned them. While there were no Ikittitl thralls, there were some people showing abnormal nanomachine activity. It was possible it was used to subvert their will, but so far their ability to identify who was affected was agonizingly small. Only a single individual had so far been flagged, a foreman at the mine, and he had since avoided them.
This meant that their attempts to identify individuals that may have been compromised or get samples to analyze was limited by the participation of the people who distrusted them. It was long, slow work that left most of his team waiting for results from the carefully planted suggestions that Kestin left behind during his visits. Even Keni'Tala Sanbuchi (Most just called him Kenny) had little to do as their operations agent. Observing feeds, making sure all the deployed sensors were reporting in, and keeping Ahma Chiyo and In'Hidora on task reviewing data.
Kenny was a Huerdaen-born Kitsune tod, with orange fur bright and full in such a way that he got more attention than the rest of the team combined, all of which went unrequited. He had few markings, but a white dash on his brow drew everyone's attention, giving him an even younger, more vibrant look to his face. He was, however, fully committed to the job, and never left his Akki or the Blood Corps powered hatchet behind. The hatchet was a matter of some discussion, but Kenny had maintained a standoffish attitude that made asking about it or its acquisition impossible.
The primary investigator, Ahma Chiyo, was a Pankrees Slayer, but their interest had always been more in the hunt. Testing themself against intelligent, elusive prey. Ahma had a slightly unnerving presence to them, with a steady gaze that felt a little too unconcerned at all times. They spent most of their time in the adopted farmhouse, going over data or performing the semi-ritualistic blade practice of the Slayers. They favored being up close, carrying a Hellfire and puppy, and withdrawing to more favorable ground if a conflict at range seemed indicated.
Secondary investigator fell to In'Hidora, the most amicable of the bunch other than Kestin. She was outspoken and a Shield veteran. The whole team liked and trusted her, enough that even Kenny didn't mind her presence for extended periods. She often spoke at length, but she was a capable team member and her past experience let her serve as the backbone of the team in more ways than one. Her Maedar bruiser was a welcome addition to their small arsenal, letting her serve as a firebase when things got difficult.
And that left Bar'Densi himself, the team lead. It was probably the fourth time today he had gone over their current situation, weapons, and team, but there really wasn't much to do. Sitting back with a sigh, he glanced over to his own preferred weapons. As a corporate militia vet, he had a carefully maintained Scorpion SMG and Arachnid pistol laid out nearby. Right now, he was supposed to be helping Kenny manage the team in their operations but there was so little data, the tod had no need for the annoyance he would cause. Perhaps, he could be attempting computer intrusions, but without a good idea of what they were looking for, or where, it was an unreasonable risk to attempt.
So he sat, going over the roster again. Drinking quietly and staring at the sensor displays, looking for anything strange other than that vague, barely-perceptible signal overlay that seemed to center somewhere around Kiesta. It had been there the whole time, but try as they might, they couldn't lock down any specifics on it.
The door archaic, hinged door slamming against the wall as it was opened nearly made him tumble out of his chair as Kestin surged in.
"Bar, we got a hit. One of the locals reached out to us, says she has something she wants to show us."
For a second, the team leader collected himself, looking the Sikissa over before responding. "And you think it's legit? Didn't you say it could be another month before we get any good leads?"
The Sikissa nodded, but pushed forward regardless. "That was my guess, yeah. But she's got something here. Sent me a scan of some nanomachines. I don't know how she got it, and it's bad so we can't learn much from it, but it's not local. If I can get to her and get that sample, maybe we can crack this open."
"When does she want to meet?"
"Tonight, out in the dark district in three hours."
"And you're okay with that? Isn't that where most of the drugrunners move?"
The Sikissa looked more than a little annoyed. "Who do you think my contact is, boss-man? You gonna give me the green, or no?"
After another split second of considering, Bar nodded, gesturing to the door. "Talk to Kenny, get a plan together. I want a way out. I'm guessing just you, right? Make sure you've got your bike nearby so you can bail. I don't trust these locals any more than they trust us. Play it safe."
The smaller, almost-childish-looking man nodded, hurrying from the room to prepare. There wasn't much time, and while the skidbike could make the journey quickly, they had to make sure they weren't risking everything on a trap. Kestin was good, he was very good, but he was excitable and quick to jump at an opportunity.
Bar sighed, and went to get something that would help him stay up for the meeting tonight. They'd all have to be awake tonight.
