****, I feel like I need to pay my respects or something. It's no secret that I can't stand the Vasudans, but still... nobody deserves to have their home planet desolated like that. Four billion, I can't even picture that number. Rest in peace, you treacherous bastards.
I guess the one good thing that came out of that whole snafu -- actually, two good things. The first good thing is that it's a hell of a lot easier to get a date now that everyone's convinced the end of the world is just around the corner. The second good thing is that the GTI didn't come out of it smelling like a rose like it usually does. Everybody got kicked in the balls this week, including them. I doubt it'll put a dent in their long-term plans, though -- you can't fix a rotten root by chopping off a branch.
It's true what they say; the greatest threat to security comes from within. That guy I snagged the blueprints from (no, I'm not giving out his name, at least not yet) is careless enough that I've been able to pick up a few interesting tidbits of information, and from there do some extrapolating.
The Phoenix program is a lot bigger than everyone thinks it is. It takes up something like 40% of the total budget allocated to the GTI, and counts a number of high-ranking officers on its payroll, the absent-minded commodore being one of them. One of the more interesting names is Marcus Glaive, the guy rumored to become the next head of the R&D fleet after Orlov bit the dust. And there are a number of noteworthy projects under its umbrella. I don't want to show my cards just yet, but two words you should keep in mind are Hades and Eumenides.
It's frustrating being this vague; I'd like nothing better than to say, "Contractor X lobbies for political favor Y in return for placement on project Z" but we're too compartmentalized for that. If I were to provide specifics (and I certainly could), and if the GTI were listening, they'd be able to track me down pretty quickly. You'll just have to bear with me while I dig stuff up.