SRWOG Secret Hangar Viletta Badim

TURN.23
Viletta Badim's Casefile ~Calm Inference~

Featured Character(s):
Viletta Badim: Formerly an Aerogator double agent. Has since joined the Earth Federation Military after the L5 Campaign, serving as commander of the SRX team. Rank: Captain.

Through a rather convoluted sequence of events, Viletta Badim ended up as the commanding officer and emotional support pillar of the SRX team. The SRX team was training hard to face a looming threat, when suddenly, an incident occurred...

A hand extended out in the darkness, picking up an object. The figure's lips curled into a faint smile.

"This is it... With this, the project is bound be a success... Heheheheh..." With those words, intended for no one in particular, the figure vanished from within the room, with no one noticing and no one knowing anything about it. Thus began the case that occurred at Izu Base in the Far East.

"The stiffness after transforming is pretty much gone now... Nice work, Rob! This handles way better than the R-Wing used to!"

"Yeah, I'm seeing it in the numbers on my end. We're getting the exact values I anticipated." Robert H. Ohmiya smiled softly from his seat in the control tower, where he was observing the R-Wing being piloted by Ryusei Date. It was after the L5 Campaign, the Earth's first large scale conflict with aliens on record, and the SRX team was training and retuning their mechs.

"I see the tuning's coming along nicely, Dr. Ohmiya." Soft heelclicks echoed in the control room as a woman walked in, one with a cunning gaze, chiseled features, and smart contours. It was Viletta Badim, commander of the SRX team, a drop-dead gorgeous woman gifted with both acuity and allure.

"You can see the numbers for yourself, Captain. I think they're coming out even better than what you were requesting." For his part, Robert was a man with long, blond hair going down to his mid-back. He gave Viletta an affable smile and gestured to the graphs on his monitor.

"Hmm... Not bad, I suppose."

"Not bad? I'd say it's pretty good. I put in a whole lot of work to get here..."

"If scientists were satisfied with the current status quo, where would we be now? I think you can do better still."

"Well, maybe..." Robert muttered, scratching his head. Meanwhile, Ryusei's voice came in over the control room speakers.

"Routine F4 complete! Moving on to the next testing routine."

"Roger. Keep it up." Viletta picked up the mic and issued instructions in a crisp voice. On the monitor, the R-Wing gave a little roll before flaring its afterburners against the backdrop of the blue sky. As Robert studied the monitor, he held up a finger like he just remembered something. He hit his own mic button.

"Hey, uh, Ryusei? I should mention, your--"

Before Robert could finish his sentence, loud alert klaxons blared in the control room. Viletta, Robert, and the other operators in the room all looked up sharply with tense expressions. Viletta quickly leaned in toward the mic and opened a comm call.

"What's wrong, Ryusei?!"

"...Agh! A stray current blew in and buffeted the mech! Rob, send me the A-2 boundary layer data!"

"Uh, roger! I'm sending it now!" Robert got to work typing furiously at the console. Almost immediately, the klaxons in the control room faded out, and the alerts on the monitor screens blipped out.

"Phew... That was close..."

"Thanks, Rob! I'm getting back to testing." The R-Wing did a barrel roll like it did before, then went back to its designated flight course.

That same evening...

"AAAAAAH!" A voice rang out without warning throughout the Izu Base officers' residential block.

"What's wrong, Ryusei?!" Raidiese F. Branstein was the first to arrive on scene, after correctly guessing the source of the voice. He was a fellow member of the SRX team who had been assigned to Hickam Base in Hawaii after the L5 Campaign to work on tuning of a new model. He had made a temporary trip back to Izu Base to assist in the retuning of the SRX.

"It's gone! It's completely disappeared!"

"...Let me guess, you lost your ID card again?"

"No! This is much worse! This is my treasure!"

Another figure, this one in a sleeveless uniform, walked up to Ryusei. "Your treasure? Oh, is this one of those mecha toys you love so much?"

"EXCUSE ME. This is NOT some toy, Aya! This is a Burnblade 3 Black Metal Coating Edition! It's a superalloy model with a really limited production run! There are only fifty of them in the whole world!"

"Okay, um... What I got out of that was that it's a rare item." The woman named Aya gave Ryusei a strained effort at a reassuring smile.

"Maaan... I won that thing in a raffle with some freaking crazy odds... They're never gonna make another run of it..." Ryusei slumped his shoulders sadly. His typical upbeat expression was gone, replaced with a look like it was the end of the world.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Viletta showed up then to ask what was going on. She got the rough gist from Rai and Aya, then she turned to face the hapless Ryusei. "Is this Burnblade 3 Black Metal Coating Edition the only thing that's gone from your room?"

"Yeah. Just the Burnblade 3 Black Metal Coating Edition."

(Do they really have to keep saying the whole name every time?) Aya wondered to herself. Meanwhile, Viletta began examining the facts.

"I see. So the room was locked, and the Burnblade was there until this morning."

"Yeah, I'm positive about that."

Viletta cupped her chin, furrowed her neatly etched brows, and started thinking out loud.

"We'll need to consider a few possible avenues here. Perhaps it wasn't just a theft for value, but a grudge. Maybe it was personal."

"Holy crap, was it you, Rai?!"

"Please. I couldn't care less about Burnblade 3 or any toys."

"Whtaever, dude. You were at the last Burnblade 3 showing I did."

"That wasn't..."

Meanwhile, Viletta continued thinking, leaving Ryusei and Rai to their arguing.

"No signs of any break-in. No other items touched. That means the perp only wanted the Burnblade 3 figure... Ah, I think I have it."

"Really, Commander?! You've got a lead?!"

"If my guess is right, then the perp is--"

But right then...

"Huh? What're you guys all doing out here?" A figure walked up to the door to Ryusei's room. It was Robert, carrying an attache case.

"Well, well. Looks like the perp came to us."

"What?! How could Rob be the perp?!" Ryusei gaped at Robert in shock.

"Uhh... I'm kind of lost here." Everyone's eyes were on Robert. He glanced around uncomfortably. But he quickly regained his composure and held out his attache case to Ryusei. "I gotta say, though. This was a huge help, Ryusei."

"Huh? What's in the case?"

"Oh, this. I borrowed it for a bit." Robert opened the case. Inside was a single mecha figure, fully ensconced in protective cushioning.

"AAAH! Is that my Burnblade 3?! What are you doing with that, Rob?!"

"Uh... Oh, right. I meant to tell you I borrowed it, but that accident came up."

"So that's what you were about to say when that buffeting accident happened during testing."

"Oh, dang! I thought someone had stolen it!" Ryusei slumped his shoulders in relief.

"How did you know Dr. Ohmiya was the perp, Commander?" Rai cast Viletta a dubious glance.

"Elementary. If this was a personal grudge, the scene would be more of a mess. The spot the figure was taken from was immaculate, and there was no damage to any other item present. This establishes that the perp handled the Burnblade 3 extremely carefully."

"I see."

"Furthermore, how many people on this base would show as much of an interest in Burnblade 3 as Ryusei does, AND know that Ryusei owns this figure?"

"...Yeah, that pretty much narrows it down to just Rob. He knows my room code, too." Ryusei nodded in understanding.

"See, I had to submit an external design proposal for a new model mech by EOD today, so I decided to use the Burnblade as a point of reference. It's way easier having a model on hand than looking at it on a 2D monitor, y'know?"

"Ooh, that explains it."

"Sorry, Ryusei. I was in such a rush, I had to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. Don't worry, though. I was extra careful and I only handled it with gloves on."

"Well, heck! That's fine by me, even moreso if it means a new model gets to be a Burnblade!"

Ryusei and Robert shook hands firmly while Rai and Aya looked on with eyerolls.

"I guess this case is closed, then." Viletta looked off, satisfied that the matter was settled. "Just remember, none of this means the new model will look like the Burnblade. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

"Aww, man!"

The ace detective's expression softened ever so slightly when she heard Ryusei and Robert cry out in unison.

<<Terada Memories>>
Viletta is coolheaded, with a wee bit of an airheaded streak. She's supposed to specialize in infiltration and spying work, but she might be better suited to working behind a desk than being on site. She's probably never going to get bumped higher than captain, either. After all, if someone with her voice got promoted to major, well... Tee hee. (Terada)