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Analysis of
the Cantor Tape
Signatories: Lt. Col Maria Esocbar, Norca liaison;
Inspector Wladislaw Polcovich, Unified Lunar Police Force; External
Affairs Derian Carter,m Esq., Orgotek legal advisor; Dr. Daphne
Kelestos, Beaulac Clinic, Department of Psychiatric Medicine;
Caruni Venlatesan, ISRA public relations director.
The commission
was called to order at 0832 hours on 2.10.2120 at International
Center (Unified Lunar Police Force Central HQ) with all committee
members in attendance. Committee member Carter (Orgotek) protested
the proceedings immediately, claiming that any results garnered
from the proceedings would be inconclusive, based on the incompleteness
of the transcript. The motion was voted down three to one (Dr.
Kelestos abstaining). Mr. Carter asked that a formal protest
be made in the record of the committee's proceedings.
It was agreed unanimously that he transcript of the Cantor 0
Mockva transmission, combined with the still images provided
by Lunar Orbital Station Mockva's long range tracking
facilities (see attached images 1A through 14A) depict the Aberrant
incursion on the Luna surface that led to the fatal assault on
Cantor Station.
Furthermore, the committee cleared the nearby Orgotek and Norca
troops of any wrongdoing in the incident by a three to one vote
(Ms. Venkatesan abstaining). The votes in favor were Dr. Kelestos,
Mr. Carter and Lt. Colonel Escobar. Inspector Polcovich lodged
the only dissenting vote. The Orgotek and Norca psions were deployed
to Harriot Crater, some 130 kilometers to the southwest of Cantor
Station, in response to an ISRA alert that Aberrants might come
through a warp point at that location.
The committee state that the psions in the vicinity were not
tardy in their response to the station's emergency broadcast,
since they were on assignment for exactly that reason, and that
any insinuation that there was a deliberate delay on the part
of Orgotek or Norca personnel to close with the enemy are flatly
untrue.
Ms. Cenkatesan qualified he abstention, stating a concern regarding
the psions deployment. She claims that Grenada Connor, a technician
on Lunar Orbital Station Strongville who made the initial
precognitive sighting, stated that the warp point was at Cantor,
not Harriot. However, her priority transmission the Linma Telcom
transfer center on Luna records the site of the warp as Harriot
Crater. Connor herself admitted in initial questioning by this
commission that she may have said Harriot. The other panel members
appreciated Ms. Cenkatesan's concern, but pointed out the notoriously
nebulous quality of the visions had by inexperienced clairsentients.
Ms. Venkatesan's protest was noted for the record, at her request.
Point by point analysis of the Cantor - Mockva transcript
follows:
1 We already have evidence
of a procedural breakdown at his early stage in the transcript.
neither Lunar Orbital Station Mockva, nor Cantor Control
utilizes proper transmission protocols. While this is not damning
in and of itself, it does establish a disregard for standard
operating procedures on the part of Cantor Station and LOS Mockva
operations personnel, and may well have been a factor in the
station's lack of preparation for the Aberrant assault. - D. Carter
2 The fact that three
staff members scheduled for shift were in sick bay, not to mention
the personnel diverted to tending them, left the station dangerously
short handed. Aeroc Corporation, the parent firm of the Cantor
Mining Co., should be fined in accordance with Lunar Statue 154:45
Subsection 12, for violating safety regulations as regards the
number of active personnel required at all times at a functioning
outpost of Type 3 or larger. - D. Kelestos
3 The effective quarantine
of the station, while admirable in the face of an unknown pathogen,
was clearly excessive in this case. The Cantor Station operation
is to be criticized for not lifting in Clinic assistance. [Inspector
Polcovich notes that a fragmented record of a request for assistance
from Beaulac Clinic was filed over eight hours prior to the assault,
but this evidence has been discounted due to its incomplete nature
and to the lack o corroborating evidence in clinic records.]
- D. Kelestos
4 I object vehemently
to the discussion of classified maneuvers by our psion operatives
on this clearly unsecured channel, and recommend that immediate
disciplinary action by taken against the individual who leaked
this matter to the station comm operator. It is only by divine
grace that the communication was not intercepted by the incoming
Aberrants, leading them to attack the waiting Norca and Orgotek
personnel by surprise. This breach of security is unconscionable.
- M. Escobar
I hope you're not saying you're glad that they attacked a relatively
poorly defended mining station instead of two squads of well
trained psions! -
V. Venkatesan
Perhaps the Aberrant plan was to seize Cantor Station, which
was, after all, quite isolated, and use it as a staging point
for further assaults. Or they figured Cantor was an easier target
that 20 armed psions. - D Carter
5 At this point, the source
of the static was clearly identifiable. Mockva control
should have notified Norca, Orgotek, ISRA and Olympus commands
immediately. Failure to do so may have resulted in additional
casualties, and is grounds for court martial. - M. Escobar
6 This piece of information
combined with the transmission delay, can be extrapolated into
a working movement rate for the three Aberrants. This data could
have been used to provide more accurate intelligence on these
creatures' incursion capabilities. By not broad - banding this
transmission, the Mockva operator deprived Orgotek and
Norca troops of valuable information on what they faced. - D. Carter
7 There appear to be blast
types in the background of the transmission akin to those made
by bioware, but they have notably different sound qualities.
[Both Lt. Col. Escobar and Mr. Carter go on record as saying
that they find nothing anomalous about the explosions, while
Dr. Kelestos suggests that the decompression of the station or
the poor quality of the transcript might produce misleading effects.] - S. Polcovich
It is the opinion of this commission in a two to one vote (Lt.
Col Escobar and Ms, Venkatesan abstaining), that he personnel
and management of Cantor Station and Lunar Orbital Station Mockva
are quality of egregious errors in the hours leading up to the
fatal Aberrant assault that resulted in the deaths of 39 people
and the destruction o f over 70% of Cantor Station. This committee
recommends that Mockva communications control officer
Relaford Santos be striped of his post and fined ¥15000 for
his part in the incident, and that Aeroc Corporation be fined
upwards of ¥4M for negligence.
This committee feels that this investigation is sufficient to
resolve matters. The commission therefore move that, aside from
performing standard site clean up and disposal of the Aberrant
bodies, the events leading up to and including this unfortunate
incident be closed.
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