Transcript of intercepted transmission between two senior kiith council repesentatives made by Naabal intelligence units:
"Afras-sa recieving."
"Barak-sa here. We have discussed the matter, and we have decided to go ahead with your proposal. We will detach most of the Third Fleet and have them rendezvous with one of the Explorers."
"Excellent! I'll send the Kuun-Lan."
Pause
"Are you sure that is wise? There is still some opposition to your choice of replacement commander." [Note: Somtaaw traditionally allow the leader of any enterprise or vessel to choose their successor upon their retirement. Our historians suggest that this dates from their religious heritage.]
"He was my second choice after my tactical officer. She declined the promotion, and it was either the fighter group leader or some Dreadnought skipper who'd ignore every piece of advice she gave him and probably screw up the whole mision. We saw where that led with the Faal-Corum, didn't we?" [Note: We assume that this refers to an encounter with Imperialist forces in which the Faal-Corum and its fleet suffered a stinging and bloody defeat, at a loss of several thousand lives. The ship's CO was court-martialled and deprived of his command as a result.]
"Merak made that decision in good faith, and his replacement has himself been replaced. Kindly refrain from sniping at him for an eror of judgement."
"I'm not sniping at him, and it's no crime to make a mistake. But I'd be a fool if I didn't learn from that mistake, and avoid repeating it. Kheran's sharp enough to know that Tac-officer Kenrac has more expertise in combat group-level warfare than he does, and he'll take her advice a lot more readily than I did when I first took command. It's the next best thing to her taking over from me."
"That he is also your nephew is mere coincidence, of course. Yes, I heard about that call he made to you. The people on the communications desk thought he was a most fetching shade of puce when he asked to discuss his recent promotion. I suppose if he'll scream blue bloody murder about nepotism he won't do so badly. It's the ones who insist they got where they did on their own merits when everybody knows who their uncle is that tend to prang asteroids."
Laughter
"True, true! Well, we'll find out soon enough if he does a good job. He's proved himself in combat, though; Distinguished Piloting Citation, Nomad Moon campaign medal, Sajuuk knows how many other decorations... We need more like him." [Note: Research into Afras Somtaaw-sa's nephew Kheran indicates that he has indeed won many awards for courage and skill in battle. One of these citations was endorsed by the CO of the Caal-Shto.]
"Understood. You are certain that the slipgate leads to Kharak?"
"Yeah, right place and right... ahem, time." Pause "Is this line secure?"
"It should be, unless Nabaal have come up with some really good cryptography systems. There's more chance of the Soban becoming farmers, if you ask me." [Note: This remark caused some levity in our decryption room, and demonstrates a great deal of complacency among Somtaaw's upper echelons about our ability to penetrate their communications net.]
"Okay. Wow. If this works then it will change history!"
"The Galactic Council will go crazy if word gets out. We must have absolute secrecy; as far as the Kuun-Lan's commander is concerned, he is just searching for survivors of the Burning of Kharak. We will give them a mission update as soon as they are through the slipgate. I just hope the chrono-quantum shift won't affect phased telemetry communications." [Note: We are unsure what Barak-sa means by 'chrono-quantum shift'. It may refer to some property of a slipgate.]
"I understand, though I don't like keeping them in the dark. Well, they'd think I was insane if I told them the truth. Afras-sa out."
Remarks: It would appear that much of whatever mission the Kuun-Lan is being sent upon has been planned in face-to-face meetings, suggesting that perhaps Barak-sa's attitude to communications security is unique among Somtaaw high command. The precise nature of the Kuun-Lan's mission is unclear, and appears unconnected with their proposal for a multi-kiith mission to Kharak via the slipgate newly charted in the Faal-te dark matter cluster. Precisely how Afras-sa expects to 'change history' is a matter for conjecture at this point. One analyst presented the wildly improbable hypothesis that this slipgate may be one of the legendary time portals, or at least that the Somtaaw believe this to be so. This is of course barely credible, but there have been no other suggestions of even the wildest kind.
"Afras-sa recieving."
"Barak-sa here. We have discussed the matter, and we have decided to go ahead with your proposal. We will detach most of the Third Fleet and have them rendezvous with one of the Explorers."
"Excellent! I'll send the Kuun-Lan."
Pause
"Are you sure that is wise? There is still some opposition to your choice of replacement commander." [Note: Somtaaw traditionally allow the leader of any enterprise or vessel to choose their successor upon their retirement. Our historians suggest that this dates from their religious heritage.]
"He was my second choice after my tactical officer. She declined the promotion, and it was either the fighter group leader or some Dreadnought skipper who'd ignore every piece of advice she gave him and probably screw up the whole mision. We saw where that led with the Faal-Corum, didn't we?" [Note: We assume that this refers to an encounter with Imperialist forces in which the Faal-Corum and its fleet suffered a stinging and bloody defeat, at a loss of several thousand lives. The ship's CO was court-martialled and deprived of his command as a result.]
"Merak made that decision in good faith, and his replacement has himself been replaced. Kindly refrain from sniping at him for an eror of judgement."
"I'm not sniping at him, and it's no crime to make a mistake. But I'd be a fool if I didn't learn from that mistake, and avoid repeating it. Kheran's sharp enough to know that Tac-officer Kenrac has more expertise in combat group-level warfare than he does, and he'll take her advice a lot more readily than I did when I first took command. It's the next best thing to her taking over from me."
"That he is also your nephew is mere coincidence, of course. Yes, I heard about that call he made to you. The people on the communications desk thought he was a most fetching shade of puce when he asked to discuss his recent promotion. I suppose if he'll scream blue bloody murder about nepotism he won't do so badly. It's the ones who insist they got where they did on their own merits when everybody knows who their uncle is that tend to prang asteroids."
Laughter
"True, true! Well, we'll find out soon enough if he does a good job. He's proved himself in combat, though; Distinguished Piloting Citation, Nomad Moon campaign medal, Sajuuk knows how many other decorations... We need more like him." [Note: Research into Afras Somtaaw-sa's nephew Kheran indicates that he has indeed won many awards for courage and skill in battle. One of these citations was endorsed by the CO of the Caal-Shto.]
"Understood. You are certain that the slipgate leads to Kharak?"
"Yeah, right place and right... ahem, time." Pause "Is this line secure?"
"It should be, unless Nabaal have come up with some really good cryptography systems. There's more chance of the Soban becoming farmers, if you ask me." [Note: This remark caused some levity in our decryption room, and demonstrates a great deal of complacency among Somtaaw's upper echelons about our ability to penetrate their communications net.]
"Okay. Wow. If this works then it will change history!"
"The Galactic Council will go crazy if word gets out. We must have absolute secrecy; as far as the Kuun-Lan's commander is concerned, he is just searching for survivors of the Burning of Kharak. We will give them a mission update as soon as they are through the slipgate. I just hope the chrono-quantum shift won't affect phased telemetry communications." [Note: We are unsure what Barak-sa means by 'chrono-quantum shift'. It may refer to some property of a slipgate.]
"I understand, though I don't like keeping them in the dark. Well, they'd think I was insane if I told them the truth. Afras-sa out."
Remarks: It would appear that much of whatever mission the Kuun-Lan is being sent upon has been planned in face-to-face meetings, suggesting that perhaps Barak-sa's attitude to communications security is unique among Somtaaw high command. The precise nature of the Kuun-Lan's mission is unclear, and appears unconnected with their proposal for a multi-kiith mission to Kharak via the slipgate newly charted in the Faal-te dark matter cluster. Precisely how Afras-sa expects to 'change history' is a matter for conjecture at this point. One analyst presented the wildly improbable hypothesis that this slipgate may be one of the legendary time portals, or at least that the Somtaaw believe this to be so. This is of course barely credible, but there have been no other suggestions of even the wildest kind.