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Episode 02: From Fire to Blood

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Episode 02: From Fire to Blood
Fero Transmission From fire to blood.jpg
Series overview

Series:

Hunt the Truth

Season:

Season 2

Episode specifications

Episode:

02

Air date:

September 29, 2015[1]

Run time:

23:02

 

Episode 02: From Fire to Blood was the second episode released for the second season of the Hunt the Truth audio drama.[2] The episode was originally released on Soundcloud on September 29, 2015.[1]

Official summary[edit]

“ A city lies in ruins, Maya meets a madwoman, and the Colonies mourn the death of a hero.[3] ”

Plot summary[edit]

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Audio transcript[edit]

  • Maya (Voiceover): As we made our way towards Conrad's Point my head was still spinning. The raid at the camp, seeing Ben, the intel about these events... It was almost too much to handle. But something about it felt familiar too. I thought back to when I was monitoring Mshak Moradi. Right before he was going to expose me to Ben. He had been onto something. The chatter about the anomalies in deep space. Then just a few weeks later, Ari had relayed his own warnings to ONI HQ... Could they be connected? With so many skeletons in ONI’s closet it was just a matter of time before some of them found their way out.
  • Black-Box: Maya, you need to focus.
  • Maya (Voiceover): I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize we were coming up on Conrad’s Point.
  • Black-Box: A world-gone-dark is a scary question hanging in space. You need to be present and ready. There could be anything beneath those clouds and I’d prefer not to die today.
  • Maya (Voiceover): This operation was rife with uncertainty. We were approaching Conrad’s Point, a world in chaos, controlled by militant NCA rebels. My only link to them was a fellow agent, Ari Rezneck. But he’d gone dark weeks ago, and now this whole planet was dark because of a catastrophic seismic event. All that uncertainly should have been terrifying, it should have felt immediate and sharp, but… somehow, it didn’t. It seemed far away, surreal… I needed to pull it together.
  • Black-Box: Someone down there is using an analog transponder.
  • Maya: What?
  • Black-Box:: Look. “Extreme caution. Ping on final approach. Friendly pings get new coordinates.”
  • Maya: Ari...
  • Black-Box: Looks like Captain Rezneck may be alive after all.
  • Maya (Voiceover): It had to be him. Ari Rezneck was one of the most resourceful people I’d ever known; a gifted mediator, an eccentric tinkerer, and a good friend. As an agent, he orchestrated complex social ecosystems with impeccable technical precision. But ironically, when it came to actual tech, he was more of an artist. Finding a way to send a signal from a dead world? Risking his neck to warn others? That was Ari.
  • Maya: I’m shutting down for a dead-dive.
  • Black-Box: The question is, are these cautionary measures in response to human or non-human threats?
  • Maya: Well… We’ll know soon enough.
  • Maya (Voiceover): Free fall was rough to say the least. But I held down my lunch, opened the drag as late as possible, and then quietly brought the transporter down in a well-hidden, jagged ravine. I may have had no idea what we were walking into, but I was making damn sure we had a way to get back out.
  • Black-Box: What a heinous, depressing rock. It’s really no wonder these people are so angry, they make camp on waste-worlds. I mean, I’d be quite angry myself.
  • Maya: Yeah, well, I don’t think they’re here for leisure
  • Maya (Voiceover): On the remote fringes, a planet like Conrad is the perfect hideout for the NCA. They take over abandoned mining facilities and establish military training grounds. Life out here? It isn’t for the faint of heart.
  • Black-Box: This region is lovely. Just lovely. All the... rocks.
  • Maya: This is it... nobody’s here.
  • Black-Box: Why don’t you try the vantage point, up there? On that rock.
  • Maya (Voiceover): I came up the ridge and the sun suddenly crested into view. I shielded my eyes and finally saw the wider landscape. Behind us and to the sides, it was all jutting rocks. But then the ridge dropped off, sloping gradually into a much smoother section. I squinted into the light, barely making out the silhouettes of massive industrial structures in the distance.
  • Maya: I don’t like this. We’re exposed up here.
  • Maya (Voiceover): I looked out again and realized what was off about the area beyond the ridge: it was a crater. A vast hole. Like someone had just torn out a massive section of the planet’s surface. I hadn’t seen it because the size of it was impossible. I was so in awe I didn’t even hear him sneak up on me.

Ari: Listen carefully and do exactly what I say.

  • Maya (Voiceover): I turned around and saw Ari, pointing a gun at me.
  • Maya: Ari? What are you-
  • Ari: STOP... talking. Put your hands up! Don’t move, don’t talk. They may be watching. You just showed up here and I don’t know you. I’m pointing my gun and that scares you. Now give me the bag!
  • Maya (Voiceover): Ari yanked the bag from me, and rifled through it with one hand. I played along.
  • Maya: I assure you there’s nothing threatening in there.
  • Ari: I see that, so I’m becoming less aggressive. I’m assuming you’re here because of the event.
  • Maya: Yes.
  • Ari: I’m giving you back your bag, we’re getting over our misunderstanding. I’m asking who you are.
  • Maya: I’m the rebel leader, FERO.
  • Ari: I’ve heard of you. The situation is starting to relax.
  • Maya: Were you here when it happened?
  • Ari: No, we came right after. I’m lowering the gun, because I realize we’re on the same side.
  • Black-Box: Well, now that all of that ceremonious posturing is out of the way, can we get on with the mission at hand?
  • Ari: A smart AI?
  • Maya: Yeah-
  • Black-Box: The name is Black-Box. Your reputation precedes you, Captain.
  • Maya: It’s good to see you Ari. They were afraid you were dead.
  • Ari: Yeah, and what’d you think?
  • Maya: My faith never wavered.
  • Ari: Heh. So are you the entire brigade?
  • Maya: Just me and Black-Box. Here to find out what the NCA knows... or has, and report back to HQ.
  • Ari: Well, I… I don’t have a lot. We were close by when the colony was hit. But by the time we got here it was all over. All I know is it caused major seismic damage, fried every piece of tech on the planet, and left behind that hole, half-mile wide. NCA’s got the site blocked off now, only a select few have been allowed in. Ilsa is planning her next move.
  • Maya: Ilsa? Ilsa Zane is here? I thought she was dead?
  • Ari: You didn’t know? It was in my last message before I went dark.
  • Maya: No... I-
  • Ari: Damn. They really sent you in here blind. Or they don’t know... After she attacked the UNSC Infinity Ilsa was picked up by some NCA loyalists. She’s been running roughshod over this faction ever since, executing anyone she sees as a problem.
  • Maya (Voiceover): Ilsa Zane was a walking science experiment gone wrong. At one point, she’d been slated for the SPARTAN Program, an attempt at building the ultimate unarmored killing machine, but she snapped. After defecting to the NCA she was quickly indoctrinated, and promoted to Admiral Drake’s attack dog.
  • Ari: Then, when the colony was hit by the event, she brought us all here. The bloodletting seems to be over now, but everyone’s still on edge. Unable to use COMS, unable to leave.
  • Maya: But, why haven’t you escaped?
  • Ari: I’ve certainly thought about it, but I can’t. I’m trying to keep a lid on things here. They’ve got enough thermo-nukes in the armory to flatten a whole system, and Ilsa’s been setting the table for total war against the UNSC. I’m hopeful I can steer things back from the edge, get her finger off the nukes until ONI can take her out.
  • Maya: I… I should send a sit-rep to Noah before we go in.
  • Black-Box: Hold that thought, Maya. We’ve got movement on the perimeter, several guards heading this way.
  • Ari: Quickly. Brief me. You were abducted by ONI. What happened?
  • Maya: I escaped custody and hijacked a prisoner transport. They were questioning me about the colony attacks. I was worried, so after I broke out, I came here.
  • Ari: Geez, that’s the best they could do? Lucky prison break? Alright, we’ll have to make it work. Ilsa’s been pulling rebels in from all over so we say you’re just another fighter joining the party. Now lay low in there. It won’t take a blown cover to set Ilsa off. She’ll kill you if she thinks you’re dead weight. And keep the AI quiet unless you wanna lose him.
  • Black-Box: I am but a lapel pin.
  • Ari: Found another one, boys!
  • Raj: What were you doin’ outside the perimeter, Ari?
  • Ari: It’s called a perimeter check, Raj. And it worked.
  • Maya (Voiceover): The crew was heavily arm and looked severely sleep deprived. Ilsa seemed to have them on a hair trigger. It was tense, but Ari worked his magic, cracked a few smiles, and I was suddenly being escorted into the encampment as a guest of the NCA. There were hundreds of rebels with dozens of affiliations packed inside the dilapidated refinery. Drinking and shouting, almost manically festive. It was a party, but it all felt slightly unhinged.
  • Maya: What’s the occasion?
  • Ari: That’s a good question, it’s been silent as the grave in here until late last night. Her guys broke out the colonel’s old cases of whiskey, told everyone it was a celebration. Everyone’s been wound pretty tight.
  • Maya: I can see that.
  • Ari: Alright, w