Gabriel De Luca
Captain Gabriel De Luca was a member of Imperial Intelligence and the commandant of one of its secret prison facilities, Serene Harbour on body 3 b of the R CrA Sector AF-A d42 system. He was killed on January 26, 3307 during a mass breakout orchestrated by the Lords of Restoration to free Theta Group, a group of senior Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army leaders and bomb-makers who had been captured at a bomb-making workshop in LTT 1935. Independent pilots discovered Serene Harbour on January 28 after the Pilots Federation was alerted to transmissions broadcast by De Luca and a member of Theta Group who had been designated "Theta Seven".
On February 3, 3307, Senator Karl Nerva denied that Serene Harbour had any connection to Imperial Intelligence or the Empire and accused the Federation of staging the site to damage the Empire's reputation. While he did confirm that Captain De Luca had been a member of Imperial Intelligence, he insisted that De Luca had died years earlier and suggested his identity had been stolen. However, Nerva's explanation was exposed as a lie in February 3308 when the Affiliated Counter-Terrorism unit uncovered the Lords of Restoration conspiracy.
Logs
| Log No. | Log Text |
|---|---|
| 1/4 | COMMANDANT’S LOG SH-343 20/01/3307 18:30
A new group of inmates were delivered today — Theta Group. My guards gave them the usual welcome that all our guests have to go through. Afterwards they were assigned their designated numbers. Nobody gets to use their name here, myself included. Even these voice logs are automatically processed to remove all identifying markers. It makes our job much easier, knowing there were never any real people at Serene Harbour. Everyone In Theta Group is a confirmed member of the NMLA. We’ve had Marlinists here before, but they didn’t last long before telling us what we wanted to know. The IISS were grateful for the information, and their raids on terrorist cells were very successful. As always, we’re happy to let them take the credit. As long as it keeps the spotlight away from Imperial Intelligence. What’s slightly unusual about these Marlinists is where they were captured. Prisoner files say they had an advanced workshop hidden in LTT 1935, a Federal system. It’s thought that these were the people who built the enzyme bombs that were used in the starport attacks last year. So we have some real celebrities in our cells. It’s a mystery to me Why everyone is so scared ofthe NMLA. I’ve handled radicals like them before. Emperor’s Dawn, Silver Oracle, League of Reparation… they all broke eventually. These will break too. |
| 2/4 | COMMANDANT’S LOG SH-343 24/01/3307 19:12
Theta Group are proving to be harder to crack than I expected. Most of them haven’t said a word so far. Screams don’t count as words, obviously. The man we think is their leader, Theta Seven, is supposedly something of an engineering genius, despite being covered in corrosive scars. During questioning, he just closes his eyes and lets it happen. Something tells me he might have gone through this before. A few of the others are more vocal, but not with anything useful. Theta Twelve just spits abuse, whereas Theta Two is always shouting some nonsense about ‘remembering the nine martyrs’. She’s using a technique I’ve seen from other extremists, where they self-reinforce by reminding themselves of their cause. But they don’t usually hold out for this long. We’ve been told that these terrorists need to look healthy and intact for a public execution, which limits our usual methods. Therefore, I’m taking an alternative approach. I’ve requested a neurosensory amplifier to be loaded onto the next supply shuttle. It’s a delicate piece of medical equipment, so I told them to mark it as fragile. |
| 3/4 | COMMANDANT’S LOG SH-343 25/01/3307 00:22
Situation report. We have a major incident. A large-scale security breach is in progress. I cannot explain how this has happened, but… the prisoners are no longer in captivity. They got free. All of them! Just as the supply ship was coming in to land, most of our automated systems shut down simultaneously. Cell doors unlocked, electric barriers were disabled, even the sentry Skimmers outside just dropped to the ground. And the inmates came surging out – too many to stop. I managed to reach my office, but I’m watching what’s going on via the monitors. It’s brutal. Several of my men have been killed already. There are prisoners running riot everywhere, smashing whatever they can find, although… Theta Seven hasn’t joined them. He’s still sitting in his cell, even though the door’s open. It looks like he’s waiting. Could he have done this? Top-rank Imperial Intelligence officers have override codes giving them remote control of assets, which would explain this security shutdown. But Theta Seven can’t know those codes, unless he’s stolen them somehow? All of Theta Group look calm, like they knew this was going to happen. Maybe that’s how they resisted our questioning for so long... they had hope. They probably timed this so they could hijack the supply ship and escape. But it’s not going to work. I’ve ordered my remaining guards to retreat to the control room and await reinforcements. We anticipated breakout attempts like this, which is why all our shuttles carry a full squad of combat troops. I can see them on the external cameras now, leaving the ship and heading inside. They look heavily armed. Good. I think we’ll have everything locked down again soon. |
| 4/4 | COMMANDANT’S LOG SH-343 25/01/3307 00:58
This is an emergency broadcast on all frequencies from Serene Harbour. We are an Imperial Intelligence detention facility, and I’m the... my name is Commandant Gabriel De Luca, ID code XTU67065. I might… might be the only survivor. There’s been a breakout. A massacre! The soldiers from the ship killed them all. They just stormed in and started shooting, gunning down prisoners and guards alike. I watched it happen, all the corridors filled with laser fire, the bodies piling up. My men didn’t stand a chance. They wiped out every single person... except Theta Group. The troops let them live. More than that, they escorted them back to the ship like they were senators! Why are our own soldiers doing this? Are they… has the NMLA infiltrated Imperial Intelligence? Used our override codes against us? It sounds impossible. It must be impossible! I’m not sure if this transmission is getting through. They might be jamming our comms. I’ll try again once the ship’s taken off. I don’t know why it’s still Sitting there, or what the hell is happening - Wait. I can see on the monitors, two people have come back in through the airlock. They’re still suited, I can barely see their faces through the helmets, but one looks badly scarred… Theta Seven! It’s got to be. Why has he come back? They’re heading inwards, past all the corpses. I think they’re… I think they’re heading for my office. And they’re carrying something between them. A large steel box with writing stamped on it, that says... it says... Fragile. |
Timeline
03 FEB 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
An Imperial Intelligence detention facility discovered in the R CRA Sector AF-A d42 system has been repudiated by the Empire. The outpost, named Serene Harbour, was located after its distress call was shared publicly by the Pilots Federation. According to the Commander Andee-X- who first investigated the site, all its occupants were dead as the result of what appeared to be a prisoner breakout. Unlike the Imperial Internal Security Service, the Imperial Intelligence organisation has no spokespeople or public channels. However, Senator Karl Nerva told the media: "The claim that high-security prisoners and terrorists are being tortured for information in an unregistered outpost is categorically false. There is no such place as 'Serene Harbour'. We believe that independent pilots have been duped by a Federal ploy to undermine the Empire, using fake locations and logs for theatrical effect. I assure all citizens that Imperial Intelligence operates fully within the law and remains vigilant against all threats." When asked about Commandant Gabriel De Luca, who was identified by surviving logs at the outpost, Senator Nerva replied: "Captain De Luca was indeed an agent of Imperial Intelligence, but died on active duty several years ago. It's obvious that this respected hero's identity has been stolen to add credibility to anti-Imperial disinformation."[1]
28 JAN 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
An encrypted message seems to provide planetary coordinates related to the mysterious signal from 'Serene Harbour'. The message received by the Pilots Federation was as follows:
Welcome to Serene Harbour. 56.4 latitude -8.3 longitude. Theta Seven.
Although this pinpoints a geographical area on a planetary surface, the astronomical location of this body remains a mystery. It is unclear whether 'Theta Seven' refers to additional map coordinates of some kind, or is a code-phrase intended for unknown recipients. Little is known about the original distress call, other than its brief content:
This is an emergency broadcast on all frequencies from Serene Harbour. We are –[2]
28 JAN 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
An independent vessel has detected a fragment of a mysterious message coming from an unexplored region of space. Commander Elsa Solomon was travelling through the Swoilz XX-D c1-30 system when her ship's communications array picked up a faint transmission. The message was as follows:
This is an emergency broadcast on all frequencies from Serene Harbour. We are –
The transmission ended abruptly and did not resume. The signal did not contain any identification data or indications as to its origin. Commander Solomon gave more details to Vox Galactica: "The message appeared in my comms panels as text and an electronically generated voice. I wasn't able to determine a source, only that it was broadcast within 80 light years of that system. My schedule was tight so I couldn’t spend long tracking it. I have no idea if Serene Harbour is a starport, a settlement or even a megaship, but this is obviously a mayday signal. Someone somewhere is in serious trouble. I've asked the Pilots Federation to share the information in case any of my fellow Commanders can help." To help triangulate the source, there is a callout to any other ships that were in the area at the time, which may have received a similar broadcast. However, no responses have been received as yet.[3]
Gallery
-
Serene Harbour on R CrA Sector AF-A d42 3 b
