Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 486: Sneegal Hunt

"Prosecutor Skell?" Speaker Ta’Maz looked over at the prosecutor who stood up.

"We would like to deny bail entirely or require Jace Hex to hand over the rights to hovertech which is roughly equivalent in value to the bail we would require." Skell declared before looking over at Jace with a smirk and sitting down.

Speaker Ta’Maz grunted and looked over at Jace and his attorney. "Attorney Handsole?"

"My client is satisfied with his current lodgings and would not like to push the issue." Attorney Handsole declared before sitting back down.

Speaker Ta’Maz tilted his head in confusion at that. "What?" Then after a moment he cleared his throat. "Colonel Jace, please explain."

Jace stood up and shrugged. "It is simple really. My current accommodations are actually quite nice. I do not see a need to downgrade." Jace declared and only received even more confused looks from the judges, the prosecutor, and just about everyone else.

Speaker Ta’Maz looked down at his datapad and tapped a few buttons. Then a symbol of the Warden appeared in the center of the room. "Warden, what are Colonel Jace’s accommodations like on Hysole?"

"Basically an underground apartment with just about anything he could need." Warden began explaining and then the image showed images of the cell he was staying in. "We were told to make accommodations for him. The prosecutor told me and I quote, ’make it nice’. So that is what I did." When he quoted the prosecutor he literally mimicked his voice.

"Well that is... okay. Moving on. Thank you for answering our line of inquiry Colonel Jace. All we have left on the docket for today is lining up witnesses and expert testimonies. So tomorrow we can spend all day listening to the lawyers arguing about it. Now first up..." Speaker Ta’Maz droned on for a bit and took input from both Prosecutor Skell and Attorney Handsole. It took only an hour before it was all sorted out. Although it looked like both the Speaker and Prosecutor expected it would take much longer. Then they were dismissed and Jace was escorted back out of the courtroom.

Instead of going the route they came in from. They went underground and eventually arrived at a derelict and old platform. They walked out and Jace raised an eyebrow at Speaker Ta’Maz’s presence. But in addition to him was a person that he did not recognize and another person that he was actually quite familiar with. Including a human in full infantry gear in a design he did not recognize. Which was an achievement itself. Along with Admiral Dakota who he had not seen in awhile. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Admiral, Speaker, and I have no clue who you are." Jace bowed his head slightly as he joined them. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Actually I am in charge of the quarantine for the Crystoph Federation. I know you sent a rough report but I wanted to confirm that they managed to slip past us?" Admiral Dakota asked with a sigh.

"Yes, but from what I understand they were on an ambassadorial ship from the Crystoph Federation. I assume that someone in the Victorium Government managed to sneak them out without you knowing?" Jace asked.

Admiral Dakota nodded his head. "Yes, I have been facing a few issues. But this is most certainly a case of corruption nearly causing a disaster. We were fortunate that they were targeting you from the start." Jace frowned at that. Dakota grinned, "oh come on. If anyone can handle themselves against a bunch of zombifying nanomachines it is you."

"Although now that one incident has occurred we need to keep a lookout for more. To that end I have a request for you two." Speaker Ta’Maz motioned at Jace and the human in infantry armor that looked more like a quarantine suit. "Colonel Jace, I assume you have a plan to get out of this. But during and after I would like you to track down anything that is being smuggled out of the Federation along with who is doing the smuggling. You and Cerberus will take care of whoever is doing the smuggling. But we want Specialist Rend here to deal with anything or anyone that was smuggled out. His unit is specially composed to deal with things that leave the quarantine."

Jace nodded his head. "I can get that done. It should not be too hard that I know what to start looking for." Jace declared as he glanced up at a ship that was slowly lowering to the platform. He then glanced at Jacquette who was yawning some distance away. "Although I am surprised you think so highly of me."

Speaker Ta’Maz shrugged in response. "Despite the level of this sneegal hunt it is still just that. A sneegal hunt."

Jace blinked and then looked at the Admiral and the other soldier who both shrugged. Just as confused. "Okay... may be a translation issue or it may just be a creature we have not encountered. But what is a ’sneegal’?"

"Hm?" Speaker Ta’Maz tilted his head in confusion before understanding dawned on his face. "Ah... sorry. A sneegal is a creature that does not provide any food and is typically good for the local environment. That term was coined because there was no point in hunting sneegals."

"So..." Jace looked at the others. "Similar to the term ’witch hunt’?"

"I would say so. Although even now the term witch..." Admiral Dakota pointed out and Jace nodded his head in agreement. "So... myself and General Ta’Maz need to catch up. I think you two have some tactical planning of your own as well?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jace rolled his eyes. "I swear, I do not get a break even in jail." He pointed out jokingly as he moved to the ship as its ramp lowered. It was a Nero Hawk. To be accurate it was his unit’s Nero Hawk.

He walked up and moved to the pilot seats. "Rook, it is a pleasure to see you again and who is this lovely young lady?" Jace asked as he sat down. Glancing back to see Specialist Rend and Jacquette were the only ones who followed him on as the ramp closed up.

Rook waved back and forth between Jace and the hydragentia whose leaves bristled. "This is Brittlewood, at least that is the rough translation. She is with the pilot corps under Asana."

"Sorry about putting your unit in quarantine." Jace chuckled out as the ship began pulling away and was quickly approaching the moon’s orbit. Completely bypassing the lanes of orbital and space traffic that was happening. It looked like they had already locked down the planet to search for more of those nanomachines.

"We understood, Colonel. Although, there was no need to blindside us." Rook pointed out they approached Hysole’s orbital defense systems. Sending a signal to let them pass, they could just sneak past but it was protocol so they were following it for the time being.

"Yeah... but now you know to look for it." Jace pointed out with a grin before turning to Specialist Rend. "Now then, I suppose we need to come up with a basic plan. But you will handle any people or goods that come from the quarantine zone. While my unit will handle anyone that did not interact with the smugglers or their goods. Like the politicians or any business men. Is that acceptable?"

"That is fine with me. But my unit is not big enough to have more than a single cutter." Specialist Rend declared with a grunt.

"That is okay. We are going to get everyone in position and then sweep everyone up at the same time. We can provide assistance with our own ship as needed. Although my people will not be boarding but instead stay at a distance and disable the smugglers." Jace began explaining his plan.

"We can do something similar with other ships and employ the rest of the military but what happens when they accidentally cause critical damage to the smuggler’s ship?" specialist Rend after thinking about it for a moment.

Typically in an event like that. The military unit responsible would be required to protect them and fix the damaged ship. Which would require them to dock. But that would break quarantine if they did that. "Change the quarantine protocol. If the ship is accidentally damaged they are on their own. If they try to run or get assistance from other ships then the smuggler should be destroyed with extreme prejudice." Jace nodded as he thought about it for a moment. It would deter enemies if it happened from trying the same trick but he had a feeling someone would have to be made an example of first.

There were a few moments of silence as Specialist Rend was clearly thinking over his words. "You know in the military academy there is now an entire course dedicated to methods of ruthless conflict resolution. Most of the theories and plans were things you suggested."

"Makes sense." Jace nodded as a slight grin took over his expression.