comms suite than others. It became clear to her when she discovered a file containing biometric data of multiple people, two of whom ceased life functions during the recording which ended abruptly. She wondered if that might have been the death of the team leader but could not be certain. The team data showed basic data about the location, weather and other atmospheric information of the user plus the data mix of three logistics personnel, an ekranoplan tail gunner from the Naval Air Service and appar - ently a penal trooper. The location information stated they were at Atoll LV- 427. There was also a short notation about the team being assembled, “after hostile orbital bombardment and other attacks destroyed the HQ and shat - tered the garrison into small disorganized fragments.” When she read the atoll number again, she checked her database to see, yes, she had been there once herself. That got her into a frenzy of sorts, trying to nail down if there was some kind of personal connection, which led to her truly beginning to wonder about the real purpose of Magda’s visit. MILDRED REMEMBERS LV-427 Determining where the mem-bead had been made Mildred worry about the timing. Why was she assigned to investigate something connected to her past? How could they know? Was this all a setup to ensnare her? She recalled her mission as a young intel officer on the atoll, sent to supervise intelligence gathering on the atoll along with monitoring the garrison for defeatist sentiments. After all, this was mostly a MOBO (mobilization-only) force, meaning these were the lowest quality troops just a notch above a penal unit. Her mission also included watching for shirkers and saboteurs, since she arrived in a bizarre-looking ekranoplan sea-skimming craft with a penal unit that clearly needed tight supervision along with supplies for the garrison. Outside of the MOBO main force and the arriving penal unit, meant as an unarmed labor force, the atoll had only a few other small specialist units since this was meant as a support base for the spearhead which would advance further into enemy territory. She heard they landed here about two weeks ago and nothing much had happened; sure, there were hostile drones overhead, but otherwise it was as if nobody cared or perhaps they were
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