$W 11th $W January $W 2368
$W 26 $W days $W after $W the $W Exodus

$W Fleetmaster $W Caliphtys' $W office $W Ready $W Room
$W ORD $W Demetrius

$G Fleetmaster $G Aasira $G Raji: Let's be honest with each other, Fleetmaster Caliphtys. We rescued just over one million survivors from the genocide which consumed Sol. We left behind everything we could not take with us and fled deep into enemy territory. In our path lies a multitude of Shivan-infested systems. Behind us, a large fleet of Shivan ships is pursuing us. All things considered...the circumstances we face could be a lot worse, I suppose. Now, it is mostly because of your doing that our plan to escape the Sol system succeeded. I appreciate that fact. I pledged my loyalty to the Outer Rim Syndicate and thereby agreed to respect your leadership. But, if you want me to stay loyal to you, then I must know the truth. What is our next step? Where are we going? How is it that you know exactly where to go? 

$B Fleetmaster $B Hector $B Caliphtys: You ask a great many questions, Fleetmaster Raji. Not all of them can be answered at this moment. But on the merits, you are correct about needing the truth. I would be foolish in leading our people through the wilderness if I did not have a tool showing me the right path. I am sure you understand for security reasons that the fewer the people who know about it, the better it will be for the good of the entire operation. Indeed, I have a guide and a special one at that. That guide might very well be humanity's last hope in a terror-stricken galaxy that is rapidly becoming devoid of life.

You wish to know what shows us the way forward? Our guide...is the Mastermind. 

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: What is it? 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: Basically, it is an artificial intelligence that has provided us with a new starmap. The Mastermind has given us a complete list of traversable jump nodes in this quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy and has suggested optimal routes for travel. So far, every single jump node marked on this map has been found in stable condition. All of these jump nodes have taken us exactly where we intended to go each time. Additionally, we have access to a detailed stream of data concerning any Shivan presence in the systems we pass through. That has allowed us to stay one step ahead of our enemy. 

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: A very useful tool, indeed.... The way you describe this 'Mastermind,' I am assuming that it was not created by neither Terran nor Vasudan hands. Is it Shivan technology? 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: There is a high possibility of that but we don't have any way of confirming those suspicions. The EFN originally found it on Mercury during the Rim Conflict. When ORSI discovered that the Federates had found this device, we made a bold attempt to liberate it from their grasp. It cost us greatly to retrieve it.  

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: You are talking about Operation Argo, aren't you? That mission was announced as having ended in failure. The official records state that the retrieval target was destroyed as our forces made their retreat. That was a cleverly played deception, Fleetmaster. Very cleverly played. 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: A good deduction, Fleetmaster Raji. We took many measures to ensure that outside a small group which shared direct involvement, both the EFN and ORS would believe in this fairy-tale. We simply couldn't risk the Federation learning that the Mastermind had actually survived. If they did, then they would most certainly have tried to reclaim it. I can assure you that all the effort we made to obtain it was well worth it. 

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: What else have you learned about this device? If it is indeed Shivan technology, wouldn't that make it dangerous? How do we know that it isn't going to lead us into a trap? 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: While we cannot be absolutely sure about anything concerning the Mastermind, the device has proven its usefulness thus far. Al-Zardari is quite obsessive about it. He is strongly convinced that the Mastermind knows much more than it is telling us. Because of that, he and his Navigators are determined to unravel its true nature.

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: Oh, yes...old, kindly Al-Zardari. The hero of the common folk and a humble servant of the Syndicate. I heard rumors that you plan to re-nominate him as High Magistrate. 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: You are certainly well-informed. Yes, my intention is to re-nominate him for that position. Al-Zardari was an important figure within the old ORS government. He is an honorable man, uncorrupted by the grand weave of politics and fanatically loyal toward Syndicate virtues. We could never dream of a better candidate to lead the Colony Fleet and, of course, to look after the Mastermind itself. 

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: I would never dare to doubt Al-Zardari's loyalty. Where do you keep the device, anyway? Is it somewhere safe? Is it here on the Demetrius? 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: No, it is not on the Demetrius. It is in everyone's best interests that we keep it out of the public eye. If I can offer you any form of assurance, it is that the device is in the safest of hands right now.

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: I hope so. I would think, however, that perhaps additional precautions may be needed if--

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: I will do everything necessary to see it kept well out of harm's way. Thank you for this conversation, Fleetmaster Raji. I hope your doubts have been assuaged now. I am sure we will have further conversations as...fruitful as this one in the near future. 

$G Fleetmaster $G Raji: You are playing a dangerous game, Fleetmaster Caliphtys. Our future depends on technology we do not truly understand. Remember, the survival of our species is at stake. Do not make a mistake, for it will cost us all dearly. 

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: I am aware of that, Fleetmaster Raji. More than you realize... 

<Holo-communications line terminated.>

$B Fleetmaster $B Caliphtys: Hail Al-Zardari and patch him through to me immediately.

$E Signaller: Yes, sir. 
