A Silent Ultimatum

The video feed displays the lounge area of Plumb’s quarters aboard the Silent Angel. Plumb himself is sat at his desk, bolt upright, his eyes locked forwards and betraying no emotion to anybody who may have been watching. He is throwing a leather ball roughly the size of an apple at the opposite bulkhead and then catching it again with almost uncanny precision. As the feed sharpens, what appears to be cable comes into view, plugged directly into Plumb’s pod socket interface. The cable is linked to the data interface in the wall behind Plumb’s desk, which is m=quietly ticking to itself as Plumb continues to throw the ball against the bulkhead. Plumb remains in this state for several minutes, throwing the ball, letting it rebound from the bulkhead, catching it without effort and then throwing it back again. Eventually he catches the ball and freezes, his body rigid. He remains perfectly still for a few seconds, then seems to snap into reality. He looks around briefly before removing the cable from his interface socket and standing up, ball still in hand.

‘Personal log... 25th September 111YC’ he says slowly, looking down at the leather ball and turning it between his hands.

‘I am actually quite surprised at how effective River’s meditation technique is’ he says matter-of-factly, continuing to study the ball, ‘One wouldn’t believe that throwing a ball at a wall could so effectively clear your mind’. He starts to pace slowly, continuing to study the ball. Reaching the far bulkhead, he stops before turning to face the camera and looking up.

‘It seems that the world is in shambles. A week or so ago, one of Ghost Festival’s pilots, Ms Amaterasu Mikoto, was kidnapped by forces unknown...’ He pauses to reconsider his words ‘Or rather, unknown to me. Several of the other pilots seem to have an idea of who the kidnapper is however’.

He starts to pace again, throwing the ball up in the air and catching it between his hands.

‘While the kidnapping itself is slightly disturbing and in my eyes an insult to the corporation, it is not the act itself that concerns me. What concerns me is how divided the corporation has become over how exactly they intend to retrieve her. A few days ago I attended a meeting chaired by Nephilim Arkenath herself with the subject of how we can go about retrieving Amaterasu from her kidnapper. As I have stated before, The Nephilim, Inara and Morwen among others know who the kidnapper is, and had concocted a plan to retrieve Amaterasu.... by means of a prisoner exchange’ He pauses, having reached the opposite wall. ‘Well, a prisoner exchange of sorts anyway. The idea was to trade Mr Reimei Kaminamina... Kaminaminada...’

Plumb stops talking for a second, holding his ball close to his face and pulling some fluff out of a seam before continuing,

‘Well, i’ll call him Reimei. The plan involved trading him for Amaterasu and then killing Reimei and activating a soft copy, or something to that effect. The process is not important, what’s important is how quickly the meeting... degraded.’ He seems to snarl the last word almost, his expression darkening.

‘The meeting ended up being a monumental clash of egos. Agendas, counter-agendas, unkind language, etcetera etcetera. Eventually Nephilim Arkenath walked out of the meeting, and I don’t blame her’. He sighs heavily, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds.

‘It is no secret that I don’t hold to this “We are a family happy snuggle snuggle” idea that Nephilim Arkenath holds so dear, but even i can see that the situation is reaching breaking point. Unless Ghost Festival bucks it’s ideas up and starts acting like a frakking team then Amaterasu will never be recovered. Not by us, anyway. Good old Ethan Verone from Veto has launched his own quest to find her, which im sorry to say will likely be more successful than any Ghost initiative at this point’.

He pauses again before moving over to his set of shelves and resting the ball upon the lowest shelf. He then proceeds to reach up to the highest shelf, removing a beautifully detailed model of a Chimera carrier from a wooden stand. The model is at least a metre long and is gorgeously hand painted in the colours of the Caldari fleet. Plumb looks at the model for a moment, before turning around and continuing to pace.

‘I wouldn’t call myself a part of Nephilim Arkenath’s big Family as all the other pilot’s do, but I can agree with her that unless we band together and put petty differences aside, we can wave goodbye to any chance of recovering miss Mikoto. I have offered my services to Nephilim Arkenath in helping her cause, but unless the corporation acts like the supposed family they say they are, I fear that that cause is lost’.

He looks down at the model starship in his hands, turning it over slowly and admiring the functional design.

‘Note to self: Remember Miss Arkenath has a new title. That woman has fury, and id rather not invoke it by using the wrong name. Recorder off’.