Once Avery and his companions had managed to calm down after learning that the private soldiers they had been fighting were actually kidnapped rcenaries that had implants in their heads forcing their subservience, they listened to the rest of what Kaiden had learned.
"So, we're looking for soone whose na begins with Ini-. That's not much but it's sothing at least. Jasmine, would you look into influential or wealthy people currently operating in or have so sort of stake in the Phregon System. Maybe we'll get lucky and co up with a decent suspect list." Avery said.
While Jasmine began her investigation to identify a potential mastermind orchestrating the attacks and kidnappings within the system, Grito connected the data drive containing the communication information obtained from the enemy's base to the Dauntless' main computer.
From there, they traced the calls to their source and found that it originated from an orbital station around Drahanus, the planet that was currently undergoing terraforming.
"Well, we know where he is now, but that's not going to be an easy place to break into." Ezra said, staring intently at the screen.
Not only was the station in question built like a fortress, but it was also in an area with far too many eyes on it.
Right now, Drahanus was basically the center of the system. There were hundreds of ships coming to and going from the planet every day, and already there were nearly a hundred stations in orbit of it or floating in nearby space.
Security was incredibly strict, with the Alliance police having a heavy presence, along with private security and rcenaries.
If Avery's group tried to attack the station, it would not be long before they were sward and overwheld.
"Do we know who is in charge of that station?" Avery asked, looking towards Kasandra and seeing her already typing away on her terminal.
However, the deeper she dug, the more frustrated she looked.
Eventually she put her terminal down and threw her hands up into the air in defeat.
"I give up. All the information I can find on that place is worthless."
Grumbling as she did so, Kasandra explained that the orbital station holding Grito's uncle was apparently owned by a company called Bréige Pharmaceuticals.
Yet, when she looked into the holdings of the company, even going so far as to pay for the information on a site that collected valuable intel for rcenaries, the only asset she found that truly existed was this single orbital station.
"It's a shell company as far as I can tell. They don't have any physical offices, their website doesn't have any way to interact with the business and it is basically just a brochure, and all the contact thods are completely automated and just send you around in circles. I've also looked up the employees that are on public record, but none of them are important in any way as far as I can tell. A few are even paid actors. With so more ti and a lot of hard work I might be able to get more, but that's all I can do for right now." Kasandra said, huffing in aggravation about how little she had been able to find.
This was certainly not ideal. If they knew who they were up against it would give them so options, but currently they were basically going in blind. And it was only a matter of ti before their enemy figured out who they were.
"I guess until Jasmine is done, the only other lead we have is this."
Avery picked up the device that had been implanted in Erantur Oert's brain.
Normally if they wanted to have sothing like this analyzed, they would need to commission an expert, but fortunately, their client just so happened to be quite competent in the field of technology.
"Do you think you can figure anything out with this Grito?" Avery asked, dangling the device in front of the Baccigan's face.
"It looks pretty intricate, and I certainly don't see any similarities to other similar brain implants that are more benign. Nevertheless, I'm always up for a challenge. I should at least be able to take it apart and figure out generally how it works."
Grito appeared confident and ecstatic as he took the container holding the device from Avery.
He then sauntered towards the ship's dical bay, since it had the best environnt for him to work in. With Kaiden right behind him to make sure he did not get into any trouble.
"I wish we could get the Alliance Police involved. That would make this a whole lot easier." Kasandra muttered.
"That certainly would, but it seems unlikely. Any evidence we have is circumstantial at best and was obtained through unlawful ans. The only thing we have connecting that orbital station to Grito and his uncle's abductions is Grito's word."
Unfortunately, what Ezra said was true. They had logs showing when certain transmissions occurred, but they only knew that this was when Grito was talking to his uncle because that was what their client told them. Even if they had obtained the information legally, it was far from enough to sway the Alliance Police to raid an orbital station of a seemingly reputable company.
"It's tough not being on the right side of the law, even if what we're trying to do is generally considered good." Avery muttered, frustration evident on his face.
In response, Kasandra and Ezra sighed and nodded their heads. During their tis as rcenaries, they had accepted a few jobs that were similarly in a gray area. These types were always the hardest to complete.
At the very least, a small ray of hope soon presented itself.
Jasmine had diligently dug up information on individuals that had a na that began with Ini- and were connected to the Phregon System.
"Including, first, last, and middle nas, I've put together a list with a little under thirty possible people of interest on it. I wish I could do better, but there's really just too many high-profile individuals involved in this project. I suppose that's just how big of a deal terraforming a planet is."
"Don't worry about it, this will help imnsely. Our suspect pool went from thousands to under thirty thanks to you. Now all we need to do is figure out who on this list is the mastermind behind everything." Avery said, scrolling through the nas and searching for the culprit among them.
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