General Zhang sat tensely in his office as he scoured through the reports from on the attack on Earth, the patrol on the border on wild space and the UNS Arctic commanded by Taisen.
He was curious about the report on the destroyed supply ship supplied by the crew of the UNS Arctic.
"…Wrecked consoles, fried data storage banks, life support modules, destroyed sensor clusters and analysis pods.."
And bodies… Lots of bodies.
Or rather, the remains of bodies.
"This wasn't just a freighter." Taisen's voice came softly through General Zhang's speaker. "It was also a refugee ship."
Zhang nodded silently. Adults, teenagers and small children—the whole range of life experience had been represented in the slaughter.
All of them murdered with the same brutal efficiency.
"What did the fleet's analysis give us?" Taisen asked.
"Almost nothing," Zhang admitted. "As you already noted, the ship's design isn't one we've encountered before. The victims' DNA sequence isn't in our genome data listings. The size of the ship suggests it didn't travel very far, but there are a lot of planetary systems and small nation clusters in Wild Space that we've never visited."
"And their physical characteristics?" Thrawn noted.
"Not easy to decipher," Zhang said grimly. Explosive rounds had left very little for even the best reconstruction team to work with. "I was hoping there might be something you could glean from what they left behind."
"There are a few things," Taisen said. "The basic ship design has certain characteristics that likely translate to other aspects of their culture. Their clothing, too, is distinctive."
"In what way?" Zhang asked. "Material? Design? Patterning?"
"All that, and more," Taisen said. "There's a certain air about such things, an overall feeling that forms in my mind."
"Nothing you can simplify for us?"
Taisen turned to him with a wry smile. "Really, Commander," he said. "If I could write all this down, I certainly would."
"I know," Zhang said. "It would be a lot easier for all of us if you could."
"Agreed," Taisen said. "But rest assured I'll be able to recognize these beings when I see them again. I presume your plan is to search for the ship's point of origin?"
"Under normal circumstances, I would definitely do so," Zhang said. "But with the Senate in its current state… the manufactured outrage and the virtue signalling… it will be difficult to dispatch more resources from the UN fleet."
"I'm prepared to go it alone. I do my best work on my own."
Zhang nodded and feigned concern but in reality he'd expected Taisen to volunteer. If there was one thing the man enjoyed, it was doing crazy things and basking in his saviour complex. Add in his unique ability to see connections others couldn't—and the fact that the Zhang would like to keep him out of sight and away from the UN leadership. Most members of the UN naval command would be happy to have him out of their sight for a while—and he was the perfect person for the job.