Chapter 30: Investigation
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Translator: SFBaka
Fifty days earlier.
It has been three days since the reconstruction of the starship began.
The ship had already entered a somewhat stable orbit, so there was no longer any danger of crashing onto the planet below. It would just take some more time to make a few more trajectory adjustments in order to ensure a perfectly stable orbital path for the ship.
The repairs and maintenance of the ship were being performed by the maintenance bots at a rapid pace. The structural integrity and airtightness of the ship have already been mostly restored. But there were still a lot of places that needed fixing, and the number of maintenance bots ended up a little lacking. It would take some time to restore the full functionality of each section.
The basis of priority for repairs are all in accordance with the Captain’s orders to preserve the Galactic Navy’s pride by restoring the ship’s full fighting strength. Since the engine section has already been lost, both the main and secondary batteries can no longer be used.
But the photon torpedoes can still be fired, and there were still fifty laser turrets active, even if their power output doesn’t measure up to the secondary guns. The shield can also be activated, but only for a short period of time. If all sub-thrusters for attitude control can be brought back in operation, it would be possible to engage five Bug BG-1 class cruisers.
A plan for the restoration of the ship’s battle capabilities in concert with the overall repairs has already been plotted and put into motion.
There was still no contact made from the escape pod the Captain escaped with. I only thought it was due to a slight malfunction of the escape pod’s systems at first, but it was impossible for the Captain not to have repaired it with his Nanoms after three days. Something must surely have happened.
The escape pod should have been releasing signals that would allow me to pinpoint its location, but I am unable to pick up a signal beacon until now. I managed to confirm it entering the atmosphere and deploying its parachute, but the cloud cover blocked my view afterward and I lost sight of it.
Just why has the beacon not broadcasted any signal. I checked the specifications of one of the remaining escape pods on the ship and found nothing amiss.
And then I saw the name of the escape pod’s manufacturer. Orlando Heavy Industries. It was a company riddled with controversies regarding the various defects of its released products.
If I, Iris, was a human, I would have described what transpired afterward as ‘an instance of having a bad premonition’.
I tried getting in contact with the AI of the escape pod in question and found its state appalling. It really didn’t look like an AI fit for use on military equipment. Just why haven’t we discovered the existence of such a defective product until now? It’s baffling for sure.
This escape pod still seemed relatively new. Due to the weaponry of Bug ships sporting tremendous firepower, there were rarely any instances of a ship surviving a battle after getting severely damaged. It was either surviving a battle without much damage or completely getting destroyed. That’s why there weren’t many opportunities to properly make use of escape pods until now.
After a thorough investigation, I found that three years prior, Orlando Heavy Industries released a new escape pod model, and a number ended up being installed into the Iris Conrad. Now I’m fairly certain why we overlooked such a thing.
It seems I also need to investigate the model’s hull integrity apart from its AI.
I made use of one maintenance bot and disassembled one pod. Every part sported performance and quality considerably different from the ones presented in the official spec sheet. I’m surprised this junk even managed to pass quality control. Perhaps they only made the sample model that was inspected by Q.C. according to specifications and half-assed the rest.
Or maybe there was collusion that went on with the quality inspector.
Fortunately, the parachute and landing gear were all made satisfactorily, so there should be no problems with the landing itself.
Since I don’t have the exact coordinates of the Captain’s landing point, I’ll make do by doing a simulation based on the pod’s last confirmed position. It was unfortunate that I still haven’t managed to acquire updated weather data.
A difference in wind speeds would greatly affect the estimated landing point, so the search radius ended up being wider than expected.
I currently have 90% of the drones actively searching for the Captain’s whereabouts. There were a total of seventy-three drones invested in the effort.
I’m constantly checking on the drones round the clock, but there was still no result.
I did manage to gather various other data from the drones, however. Surprisingly, this planet actually houses a native human civilization. They looked human from their outside appearance at the very least.
One drone traveled through a sort of highway and managed to find a fresh corpse of the beings resembling humans. Perfect timing. I’ll check for the DNA patterns.
The road wasn’t all that spacious, but it was wide enough for the drone to land. I had it scan the surroundings, and didn’t detect any other humans of animals in the immediate vicinity.
The drones were in perpetual stealth mode while exploring the planet. The stealth mode combined electromagnetic wave absorption and optic camouflage to travel invisibly, so it was impossible for the naked eye to spot a drone even if it were already in front of you.
I had it land beside the corpse. The engine noise was quite loud though, so there was a chance of it being noticed. I had it keep an eye on the immediate surroundings, but it seems there was no problem.
The drone deployed its Flexible Arm and prodded the corpse with the high-performance sensor on its tip. The DNA sequence of the corpse definitely matches that of 【Humans】.
I had the drone investigate the belongings of the corpse as well, but found nothing of note. There were some clothes, food, money, and a sword. He had perhaps been attacked in the middle of traveling.
I managed to estimate the technological development of this planet based on the items but haven’t gleaned anything else worth noting from them.
I had the drone take off and controlled it personally to continue investigations.
Thirteen days after repairs on the ship began.
I still haven’t managed to find the Captain. Basing on the size of the pod, it wouldn’t be strange if I had already managed to spot it by now. But my search still continues.
I decided to widen my search range once more.
Surprisingly, I had managed to find other human-shaped forms of intelligent life on this planet apart from humans. This has never happened in all planets discovered by the Empire thus far. Their level of intelligence was evidently lower than humans, but they were definitely a point of great interest. Once I manage to find the Captain, I’d like to do some research on them if possible.
Investigation on the cities the local humans have built on this planet is progressing at a slow but steady pace. I had the drones gather as much data they can from the air.
I would like to conduct a more thorough investigation from now on, if possible. I would like to gather data on the languages used on this planet, familiarize myself with the cultures, and conduct more detailed information collection activities. These might even lead me to find the Captain.
After having a drone observe a bustling street from above, I observed a number of people entering one building and coming out after a while. The building might serve as a sort of diner or pub.
When evening came, I continued to monitor the building using the drone’s night vision sensors and spotted people coming out of it and walking about while staggering. It should definitely be a pub.
This is a good place. A pub would be a nice source of conversation since people will have loosened their lips after having a few drinks and say what they would normally keep to themselves. This is the case on all human-inhabited planets.
I determined the closing hours and decided to send a remote bit inside.
Remote bits are ultra-miniature intel-gathering devices measuring five centimeters in length and shaped like a stick. It has a miniature image sensor and mic equipped and can feed information directly to its parent drone.
Every drone is equipped with these bits, so I’ll have one launch a bit on the target establishment. Each drone is equipped with two hundred bits.
I will start gathering more detailed information tomorrow evening. It’s now nearing closing hours. I’ll launch one bit before they close for the night. The street still had people walking about, but there was no one currently present in the vicinity of the pub. I started to lower the drone’s altitude.
I have to be as swift as possible. I had the drone descend at speeds it didn’t normally reach doing these kinds of maneuvers and pointed it towards the street. There was one human present. He detected an abnormality and came out to check, but was frightened by the warmth coming from the jet exhaust and hurriedly went back in. The pub didn’t have a door installed, and the interior was open to view. I shall plant the remote bit on the support beam up on the ceiling.
The drone released the bit, and it had landed on target without any problems. The bit drilled itself inside the wooden beam. The bit hid its whole body inside the beam apart from the image sensor. This way, I’ve ensured that no one will be able to notice the bit.
After accomplishing the objective, I made the drone retreat. A live recording of the pub’s interior was immediately sent to the drone. Due to it being near closing time, the drone managed not to cause any noticeable commotion. Mission complete.
Suddenly, a whizzing noise resounded from the street accompanied by a gust of wind. The hot gust managed to enter the pub’s interior as well. The owner of the pub was startled and went out to the street, but due to the hot wind he encountered outside, he hurriedly went back inside the pub in a panic. Afterward, the sound went further and further away. The heat also subsided. Soon, it was as if nothing had happened. The earlier commotion was like a lie.
‘Just what was that?’ the pub owner inwardly asked in puzzlement.
Similar occurrences also happened in other cities on the continent.
There was a lot of new data coming in day by day. Since there were a lot of samples recorded, decrypting and translating the local language was finished right away. Fortunately, they seem to be using one single standardized language on this continent.
A variety of info like the local’s way of life, the names of countries and cities, and political institutions were gathered. A great amount of data was steadily being accumulated.
Twenty-three days after repairs on the ship have begun.
If the Captain has managed to procure a horse or carriage along the way, he might have already covered a lot of ground. I shall expand the search range once more.
It might be that the Captain came to the conclusion that the ship has failed to make it out safely after his escape.
There was a large amount of debris launched towards the surface during the reconstruction process, so he might have thought it was the ship’s wreckage. Launching debris on the surface of a planet housing intelligent life was a capital military offense after all. It wouldn’t be strange if the Captain thought I wouldn’t do such a thing and misunderstood that the entire ship was already lost.
This hypothesis is based on the premise of the Captain forgetting the particulars of a first-class emergency situation.
The military emphasizes the discarding of any useless interface in the interest of preserving information security.
Of course, this is only applicable to situations where one needed to prevent an outflow of sensitive information.
The Captain is especially particular about this point since he was formerly an information officer, which was a job that emphasizes a tight leash on information control within the ranks. If he concluded that the ship has been destroyed, him deactivating his remote ship interface would be the most logical course of action.
If this is the case, even if a drone were to come close to his location and release a signal, the Captain won’t be able to pick it up at all unless he manages to see the drone personally, and it was possible for him to relocate to an area outside of the drone’s search range afterward.
It seems there is a need for a revision in the search method.
The drones have been constantly operating in stealth mode up until now, but since it was necessary for the Captain to witness the drone’s presence personally, I shall have them deactivate stealth mode and show themselves openly.
However, this action may lead to some form of unnecessary influence in the development of this world. The Captain would sure want to avoid such a thing from happening. I should limit activities to the bare minimum allowable.
I have again managed to pick up humans being assaulted by animals during a routine patrol of the roads. I have always observed a noninterference policy, but today I shall lend them my aid.
I shall get their attention with the drones with the goal of having the Captain be aware of their existence once rumors about them reach him through word of mouth.
It would be best if those rumors reach the Captain’s ears as soon as possible. The Captain would surely reach the conclusion that the ones that are appearing were drones and would reactivate his remote interface to reach out.
I shall have the drones appear in each major city I encounter. If the drones appear, a large commotion would surely begin, and if the Captain were present in the area, he would surely check it out.
The ship repairs are proceeding smoothly. The attitude control sub-thrusters have all been fixed, and all the important functions have been reactivated.
The battle capabilities of the ship have also been restored to an acceptable level. Since we are currently under a first-class state of emergency, it wouldn’t pose a problem for me to implement somewhat rash courses of action in moderation.
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