Ironhawk's Log - November 24, 3049: Salute to a gentleman
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It has been 23 days since the St. Ives Expeditionary Group communication got to us. The SIEG themselves deny they even transmitted it though. I can still feel the tension among the Atlas Hunters. It's palpable even after today's discovery. Thunderbird did inform me of a potential plan for mutiny. But I had to shift the dropship from its course. We had to land here. We had to know.
Colonel Hayden was a benefactor to the AH and an accomplice to our escape from the Capellan Confederation. News of his disappearance deserved an investigation.
Asper Crow's deduction, the code inscribed on the back of the Comstar pin we found yesterday was indeed the coordinates of this abandoned factory's location. But we would never have thought to find such an important artifact: a Highlander 'Mech without a pilot. From the inscriptions on it, no doubt He rode it... And from the looks of it, it's been through quite a fight.
No way to know, however, where its pilot may be. No blood. No trace of violence. We have to assume he must be safe. Somewhere.
I am about to abort the search. The Atlas Hunters must go back. Go back at what they do best. And cash in well deserved C-Bills!
Wherever you are, Col. Hayden, do take care of yourself.