The Resistance Movement on Velke had some information about the giant factories that were scouring the surface of their green planet, but the arrival of Team Fugazi presented an opportunity to find out more that they couldn't resist.

The Resistance was commanded by a team of four: Drake's sweetheart Allison Phillips, the hard-bitten Militia leader Raijon Fox, the ex-Minister for Public Works Sam Kanaris, and a mysterious fourth member that Team Fugazi as yet knew nothing about.

In conference with the Team, the commanders of the Resistance came up with a plan to infiltrate one of the giant factories on an intelligence-gathering mission. Ezreal and Sharris would sneak on board via a maintenance hatchway located on the underside. Since the factories moved at a mere 1 meter per minute, this would not be too difficult. The party consisted of Drake and Treesh, who would remain outside the factory; and Ezreal and Sharris, who would go in. Tok stayed behind at the hidden Resistance base to manufacture some explosives and other weapons for them to use against the Imperial invaders.

The team set out on hyperbikes, quickly crossing the surface of the planet to the nearest factory. Treesh established an empathic link with both of the infiltrators, and maintained it throughout the operation.

Ezreal Ghost Walked through the locked hatch and opened it from the inside. They found themselves in a narrow crawlway - a maintenance tube that did not appear to have been accessed in a while. They proceeded along the tube looking for information.

The first interesting thing they came across was a ventilation grille looking over a room occupied by a giant vat full of green-brown goo. The morass appeared to be kept constantly in motion by a submerged rotor. Awkwardly peering to see as much of the room as possible, Sharris noticed a small spigot dribbling a glowing, electric blue liquid into the vat. Ezreal, with his more limited range of vision, did not see it. The room had technicians occasionally entering to take notes and make small adjustments.

The pair of infiltrators moved on.

A loose panel in the wall opened onto a room filled with cylindrical tanks. Sharris fastened an a/v bug onto the end of his tail to get a good view of the whole room. There were 50 tanks in the room, filled with green-brown goo (with a mysterious blue glow). There were hints of a vaguely humanoid figure inside each vat, but it was unclear. Scans were consistent with the life signs of dreadar, but it was impossible to be certain. The figures in the tanks appeared to have only four limbs. Sharris left a bug in the room to monitor the constant comings and goings of the factory staff.

While they were there, an Anthropos officer inspected the facilities, accompanied by a mBari. All of the other staff - Anthropos, per'kiff and haochan - showed deference.

They moved on.

Sharris came across a loose panel with an exposed computer conduit. Gleefully he attached his Hacker and downloaded everything he could. The important files provided:

1. The date of the next arrival of the carrier (in 7 days time)

2. A medical log showing 50 sets of life signs slowly increasing from zero

3. Numerous mentions of 'Compound Alpha' and 'Element 414' in routine status reports

4. A communication to Dalla De Foure from the commander of the factory, stating that problems have been overcome and the production of 50 units of Element 414 is proceeding smoothly

5. A detailed blueprint of the factory

6. A diagram labelled Element 414. It clearly showed a dreadar with cybernetic enhancements. The enhancements consisted of a pair of blaster rifles replacing one pair of arms, a pair of force-enhanced blades augmenting the other pair of arms, speed-enhancing cyberlegs, a neural control circuit replacing much of the forebrain, and sub-dermal armour plating.

The hair on Sharris' back stood on end when he read this report. Treesh outside the factory felt it too, and reported it to Drake. This creature in large numbers would be devastating in the extreme if unleashed on an unsuspecting world. The experience that the team had with dreadar previously showed them their ferocity and speed - the creatures with cyberenhancements would be truly destructive.

They moved on, looking for other evidence.

The maintenance shaft they were in passed through what appeared to be a restroom. There was a sad-looking porasha mopping the floor. After a moment it looked up, then moved out of the room, dropping something on the floor.

Ezreal Ghost Walked into the room, collected the item, and came back. It turned out to be a security card. Sharris scanned it for copying in the future, then dropped it back into the room.

Moving on...

They came to a ventilation duct, which opened onto a completely dark room. Sharris could neither hear nor smell any lifeforms, although there was the distinct tang of metal in the air. Dropping into the room Sharris found that it was a storeroom for cyberware. There were 50 sets of all of the cyberware mentioned in the Element 414 diagram, packed in boxes.

Sharris scanned the neural control circuits into his handcomp. The scan was sufficient that it could be analysed at any cybermedical facility. Once that was complete he damaged every one of them such that it would not be detected until after they were installed. Then he bugged the room and returned to the shaft.

The next room he came across was a common room and sleeping quarters for the factory staff. There was a whiteboard displaying biological structures and formulas. He set a bug watching this whiteboard and continued on back to where he started. They had gone in a full loop.

Doing a final run through the shaft checking his bugs, he observed one of the Factory staff throwing the porasha janitor back into the rest room, where it looked for (and found) the security pass that it had dropped. The staff member was cruel and abusive towards the porasha.

They easily escaped from the factory and rejoined Drake and Treesh with the data that they had stolen, and brought it back to the Resistance. In a meeting with the three leaders present, they agreed that this was very important information, which should be transmitted to the Guild as soon as possible. Team Fugazi volunteered to perform this dangerous mission. They agreed to take the information to one of the few remaining House of Defiance bases - the xth fleet at foobar. Doing so would require skirting the Arthirian Sphere.

On the evening before leaving, the team were watching a newsfeed with the members of the Resistance. A cheer went up when an article came across about an explosion in a chemical factory. The report said that a number of civilians were killed in the explosion, but the resulting chemical leak was contained. It warned against anyone entering the area.

Shortly thereafter the fourth leader of the Resistance arrived with two companions: Vasil Michailov, the nephew of the President of the Great House (whom Team Fugazi had rescued from an Imperial Hatchetship), and his now-wife Jane, who had helped them. The fourth leader of the Resistance was in fact none other than...

The rogue Warlock Karla Krace!

Note:...the xth fleet at foobar... I plan to correct this some time soon. If I remember.