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Chapter 59 - The Administrator[]
LCS David Ngo
Sampan IV class class Cutter
Krievci System
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
Janurary 3148
Commander Linda Sithers-Minh 002 watched screens.
"What's the word?" Her XO asked.
"No heavies besides the heavy squadron of pocket warships and so far, about a short squadron of fighters." she sighed, "Not a lot of merchie traffic, but plenty of haulers leaving. Artoo, what's the chatter sound like?"
"Pretty busy on the military bands, mum. Signals intercept shows some land-line chatter in what's left of the major cities."
"Scope?"
"Lots of the farmland's overgrown, looks like they pulled the farmers off or out except right next to the major urban centers. I've got heavy presence of man-size thermal in the fields outside of town on three continents, southern hemisphere it's definitely harvesting. the old LCAF base is occupied, looks like mostly Clanner second-line machines, an armored cluster, maybe?"
"See if you can filter out distortion and get a look at the intact urban."
"Aye mum."
She waited and the telescope imagery sharpened.
The only motorized transport in motion were marked with the symbol of the Golden Ordun, the "horde", civilians walked.
"EM spectrum." she had a suspicion.
"Almost nothing." the Gunnery officer said, "Artoo? am I reading this right?"
"You mean, is the power out down there? yeah. same reason there's so much smoke on your image, Dinh. My guess on the filters you're using, that's wood or coal smoke. the only electrical leakage I'm picking up goes to the garrison forts."
Linda superimposed maps from the last imagery taken before the Falcons took this world in 3141.
"The dams are gone." she said.
"The Dams?"
"It's why most of the old ag land is fallow. No water, no power."
"Reverting them to peasants." she mused. "Look for regular distortions outside what used to be major cities."
"Mass graves?"
"I think so, make comparisons with demographic and geographic data from before the planet was taken."
"Got 'em on thermal and contour. Jesus."
"Jesus had nothing to do with what happened here." she said quietly.