Relic Stolen, No Suspects 02/07/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT ARTHUR—Early this morning, an unknown group of thieves broke into the
Towne Museum of Science and Industry. They passed up hundreds of incredibly
valuable jewels, weapons from ancient Terra, and even a collection of early space-
race equipment from the 24th century. Instead, they focused on an early Boeing
Interstellar FB-312—a large VTOL helo that was but a mere curiosity in a side room
off the early-industry display room.
The thieves entered the museum at approximately 0200 local time, disabling numerous
alarm systems and apparently coming in through an electrical access tunnel within the
museum’s basement. The thieves then spread out, subduing the guard patrols and
avoiding every interior alarm and tri-vid sensor.
Exactly what happened next is anyone’s guess, though evidence seems to support this
sequence of events: After entering the museum and subduing the guards, a smaller
team entered the security office and deactivated or rerouted a number of security
subsystems, while a team moved to the roof of the museum, climbed down onto the
VTOL, and hooked supporting cables to it. While they were doing that, the individuals
in the security office opened the sky dome above the hanging VTOL.
Sometime shortly thereafter, the thieves brought their own VTOL into the picture.
Witnesses agree that sometime between 0345 and 0415, a VTOL swept into the city
at treetop level and began to hover in the vicinity of the museum. It seems the thieves
cut the supporting cables that suspended the Boeing Interstellar vehicle from the
museum’s ceiling and lifted it away beneath their own craft. The few witnesses to the
final minutes of the robbery agree that a VTOL sped away from the area of the
museum with what looked like a huge load swinging below it.
Towne Space Traffic Control received several complaints early this morning about a
low-flying aircraft, but initial reports indicate this escape aircraft did not show up on
radar long enough to track.
The rest of the thieves apparently left the complex in a number of ways. Surveillance
images from nearby buildings seem to show several vehicles in the area at the time,
including a dozen aircars and two moderately sized hover transports.
One of those surveillance sensors did capture some of the action on the far end of the
museum roof, well away from the area where the ancient VTOL was housed. The
sensor did not show the thieves’ VTOL, though unconfirmed reports say that it
caught ghostly images on the roof, possibly indicating the thieves were wearing sneak
suits. Sneak suits are, of course, closely identified with the Draconis Combine’s
special forces DEST operatives, though their use has increased over the past century
or so.
For the time being, authorities seem to be stumped by this theft. While the FB-312 is a
relic almost 700 years old, its value is negligible next to some of the other items
housed in the museum. Indeed, the craft would be of value only to historians and
collectors of vintage aircraft.
Officials are expending a great deal of effort cataloging everything within the museum
to determine if the thieves stole anything else.
The FB-312 belongs to the collection of an anonymous individual, but has been on
display within the museum for the past 20 years. Little is known of the actual history
of this particular VTOL, other than that it was manufactured on Terra in the mid-24th
century. Authorities are looking into the possibility that the actual owner of the vintage
aircraft was the target of this crime rather than the museum.
Towne Log
+ Hippee? FM? Anyone wanna tell me how this is part of some grand conspiracy??!
Somebody run out of black VTOLs? :- Trander9
+ Bored tonight, Trander? Haven’t started a flamewar in at least two days, I see. . . . :
- Chungabunga
+ You know, I’ve been to that museum about a thousand times, and I’ve always
loved that machine. There’s just something about it. Something cool, something
romantic. I dunno, but it’s a beautiful machine. I always wondered if they kept it in
flying condition. :- Aeronaut66
+ I wrote a paper on the ancient machines in the museum while at university. I
discovered some interesting facts about that particular contraption, namely that it’s
had a dozen owners over the past three decades, each on different worlds. The queer
facts, though, are that some of the serial numbers do not line up with what they
should be. At the time, I did not have the resources to track down those any further,
but even then my uneducated guess was that it had been illegally traded a number of
times before showing up in this collection. :- GSkapEsq
+ You know, as a kid I heard a bunch of different stories about that VTOL. I didn’t
really believe them after I grew up, but who knows? Maybe it was the personal
transport of Lucien Davion. :- Pooky
+ I did some research over the past few days on the museum and its recent
acquisitions. It seems that they brought in an unlisted shipment two days before the
theft. I tried to track the shipment back to its source, but the trail ended at the
spaceport. The museum brought in something so valuable that they kept it off of all
cargo manifests and hired additional security—what the story didn’t mention was that
the security staff was at triple its usual strength. The VTOL theft was just a
smokescreen. I’m betting that these commandos—this was an operation executed
with military precision—got away with that crate in a truck while everyone was busy
looking for the VTOL. Hell, they probably just dropped it out at sea!” :- FMLurder
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT ARTHUR—Early this morning, an unknown group of thieves broke into the
Towne Museum of Science and Industry. They passed up hundreds of incredibly
valuable jewels, weapons from ancient Terra, and even a collection of early space-
race equipment from the 24th century. Instead, they focused on an early Boeing
Interstellar FB-312—a large VTOL helo that was but a mere curiosity in a side room
off the early-industry display room.
The thieves entered the museum at approximately 0200 local time, disabling numerous
alarm systems and apparently coming in through an electrical access tunnel within the
museum’s basement. The thieves then spread out, subduing the guard patrols and
avoiding every interior alarm and tri-vid sensor.
Exactly what happened next is anyone’s guess, though evidence seems to support this
sequence of events: After entering the museum and subduing the guards, a smaller
team entered the security office and deactivated or rerouted a number of security
subsystems, while a team moved to the roof of the museum, climbed down onto the
VTOL, and hooked supporting cables to it. While they were doing that, the individuals
in the security office opened the sky dome above the hanging VTOL.
Sometime shortly thereafter, the thieves brought their own VTOL into the picture.
Witnesses agree that sometime between 0345 and 0415, a VTOL swept into the city
at treetop level and began to hover in the vicinity of the museum. It seems the thieves
cut the supporting cables that suspended the Boeing Interstellar vehicle from the
museum’s ceiling and lifted it away beneath their own craft. The few witnesses to the
final minutes of the robbery agree that a VTOL sped away from the area of the
museum with what looked like a huge load swinging below it.
Towne Space Traffic Control received several complaints early this morning about a
low-flying aircraft, but initial reports indicate this escape aircraft did not show up on
radar long enough to track.
The rest of the thieves apparently left the complex in a number of ways. Surveillance
images from nearby buildings seem to show several vehicles in the area at the time,
including a dozen aircars and two moderately sized hover transports.
One of those surveillance sensors did capture some of the action on the far end of the
museum roof, well away from the area where the ancient VTOL was housed. The
sensor did not show the thieves’ VTOL, though unconfirmed reports say that it
caught ghostly images on the roof, possibly indicating the thieves were wearing sneak
suits. Sneak suits are, of course, closely identified with the Draconis Combine’s
special forces DEST operatives, though their use has increased over the past century
or so.
For the time being, authorities seem to be stumped by this theft. While the FB-312 is a
relic almost 700 years old, its value is negligible next to some of the other items
housed in the museum. Indeed, the craft would be of value only to historians and
collectors of vintage aircraft.
Officials are expending a great deal of effort cataloging everything within the museum
to determine if the thieves stole anything else.
The FB-312 belongs to the collection of an anonymous individual, but has been on
display within the museum for the past 20 years. Little is known of the actual history
of this particular VTOL, other than that it was manufactured on Terra in the mid-24th
century. Authorities are looking into the possibility that the actual owner of the vintage
aircraft was the target of this crime rather than the museum.
Towne Log
+ Hippee? FM? Anyone wanna tell me how this is part of some grand conspiracy??!
Somebody run out of black VTOLs? :- Trander9
+ Bored tonight, Trander? Haven’t started a flamewar in at least two days, I see. . . . :
- Chungabunga
+ You know, I’ve been to that museum about a thousand times, and I’ve always
loved that machine. There’s just something about it. Something cool, something
romantic. I dunno, but it’s a beautiful machine. I always wondered if they kept it in
flying condition. :- Aeronaut66
+ I wrote a paper on the ancient machines in the museum while at university. I
discovered some interesting facts about that particular contraption, namely that it’s
had a dozen owners over the past three decades, each on different worlds. The queer
facts, though, are that some of the serial numbers do not line up with what they
should be. At the time, I did not have the resources to track down those any further,
but even then my uneducated guess was that it had been illegally traded a number of
times before showing up in this collection. :- GSkapEsq
+ You know, as a kid I heard a bunch of different stories about that VTOL. I didn’t
really believe them after I grew up, but who knows? Maybe it was the personal
transport of Lucien Davion. :- Pooky
+ I did some research over the past few days on the museum and its recent
acquisitions. It seems that they brought in an unlisted shipment two days before the
theft. I tried to track the shipment back to its source, but the trail ended at the
spaceport. The museum brought in something so valuable that they kept it off of all
cargo manifests and hired additional security—what the story didn’t mention was that
the security staff was at triple its usual strength. The VTOL theft was just a
smokescreen. I’m betting that these commandos—this was an operation executed
with military precision—got away with that crate in a truck while everyone was busy
looking for the VTOL. Hell, they probably just dropped it out at sea!” :- FMLurder
| February 7, 3133 |