#mission20

[BEGIN LOG]

Mark: Hey, Mark here. I, uh, don’t know why I started like that, but the way I’ve been starting these logs was starting to annoy me.

(he pauses)

Mark: We were on our stakeout when we saw a young girl--maybe twelve years old--stealing the flowers, so we confronted her. She screamed, apparently we startled her, but Jack’s calm demeanor and kind words quickly relaxed her.

(he pauses and speaks slightly to himself)

Mark: We were all impressed with how easily he did that.

(he pauses again, but begins speaking fully into the microphone soon)

Mark: He got her to talk and she told us she was stealing the flowers for her grandfather’s grave to replace the dying ones. She honestly touched our hearts, or at least mine. We decided to let her go but told her not to do it again. We made sure she at least kind of understood her small actions had universal ramifications. She promised not to steal again and then left, but we didn’t manage to find any leads to the gang that might be stealing the flowers.

(he sighs loudly)

Mark: Reporting back to HQ is gonna suck. Mark signing off.

[BEGIN LOG]

(a long pause before he starts)

Jack: I know the Agency told us to always do logs, but I really don’t wanna talk… So, bad day. Jack signing off.

[BEGIN LOG]

(he sighs loudly)

Mark: I know it’s part of our job and all, but I don’t think I could ever get used to it… It’s just--

(he sighs again, longer this time)

Mark: So… after we landed back on Utania, Jack and I decided to split up into two teams to cover more ground. Leim with Jack, Tom and Billy with me. We wanted to explore outside the main area mentioned in the reports, see if there was something we missed. Once my team had been looking around for a while, maybe an hour, we decided to turn off our lights.

(he pauses)

Mark: I saw something move in the dark… I--

(he pauses)

Mark: It was the little girl from yesterday. She was stealing flowers again. I was really shocked at first because she sounded so sincere and like she truly understood last time we spoke. At that point, I don’t really know what I was thinking. Protocol just kicked in and my team tailed her.

(he pauses, but starts speaking again very quickly)

Mark: Maybe a part of me didn’t want to believe it. I mean, she looked too young to lie like that. Maybe I still expected a grandpa's grave. But…

(he slows down)

Mark: It wasn’t a grave she brought us to. The gang’s camp was hidden underground. The original report said they might’ve had an excavator. We saw it.

(he pauses)

Mark: But there were so many kids… I don’t know how they got there or what lies the gang had told them, but they were innocent. Innocent kids roped into a dirty black market. Code told me I had to storm the place and take into custody the leader. I sent a message to Jack, hoping maybe he could figure something out…

(he pauses)

Mark: We took the entire camp into custody. Nobody died, but it got really heated when we were caught sneaking into the central tent. I just hope none of the kids were hit in the crossfire. Jack’s team did manage to capture the leader from the other side of the tent and he took care of securing the entrance on his way in, but I dunno. So many kids were taken into custody and I don’t entirely trust the Galactic Enforcement Agency with properly housing them… At least, not that many…

(he sighs)

Mark: I’ve rambled for too long. Mark out.

[BEGIN LOG]

Jack: Man, I got completely destroyed by the Board. I just hope they didn’t set the bar too high on this mission. It never went well when they did that on my solos. Maybe that’s why I’m a Commander…

(he briefly pauses)

Jack: At least I managed to convince them to give us more time. We may have another stakeout. Maybe, I don’t know yet. Sorry I have to cut this short, but I have to go get more supplies for our ship. Jack signing off.

[BEGIN LOG]

Mark: Jack went to talk to HQ. I asked him to go since he spoke with the girl and he’s the smoothest talker out of all of us. Surely he can appease them.

(he pauses for several seconds)

Mark: He’s been gone for a while maybe I should-- Oh, Jack! How’d it go?

(Jack’s voice can be heard, but it’s much fainter than Mark’s)

Jack: Not good. They destroyed me.

Mark: Yikes… That bad?

Jack: Yeah, but it was worth it. She was only a kid.

Mark: Yeah, I know. Oh, whoops. Uh, let me turn this thing off real quick.