Alexandria Remembers

[Klesta]

Back to Alexandria she went. Sure she might not be entirely "welcome" in Commonwealth territory, but at least they held a grudging respect for that particular Sith. Plus they understood warfare better than Sith would. She always found that Sith relied too much on Force-powers at short range before switching to lightsabers at point-blank range. And interviewing one of the heroes of the defense of Alexandria, [member="Jackson Mills"], was a proposition that might help the Sith Inquisitor: too often the SI was accused of being too East-centric. Gaining a foothold on Alexandria would allow them to cover the West more efficiently. Hopefully Yula won't be recognized as a Sith if she wears her business clothing and does not carry lightsabers with her, or even any weapons. True, evil doesn't necessarily come with red lightsabers and black robes, just that it might be more appropriate to do so. However, since she did not possess visitor ID to visit a military facility, and heroes were often at base, she wanted to. Yet some copies of the Je Suis Sith Inquisitor edition, released in the aftermath of the attack on the Sith Inquisitor headquarters on Ziost, could be found in the hands of readers on Alexandria.

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Dear [member="Jackson Mills"],

The Sith Inquisitor issues you an invitation to a journalistic interview pertaining to your own experience of the Black Tie Syndicate attack on Alexandria. Despite its name, the SI isn't a tool of the Sith Order; it actually aims to cover the atrocities committed by Sith and those who step in to fight the Sith when atrocities are committed. I understand that protocol may allow for a limited window for visiting, so please, let me know what protocol dictates for journalists visiting military facilities, and we will make our best to comply with it.

Best wishes,
The Sith Inquisitor journalistic staff

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[Jackson Mills]

Jackson stretched out his arms as he yawned, then leaned back in the chair in his quarters. It’d been about a week since the terrorist attacks on Alexandria, and the Marine Corps involvement in the reconstruction efforts were being eased back now. Jackson and his squad had been on loan to the Corps of Engineers for the last week, helping out with whatever grunt work was needed in the reconstruction efforts. As the civilian contractors got back on their feet however, military assistance was becoming less vital and Jacksons squad had been reassigned to garrison duty in Fort Sherman; a Marine base a few miles away from the main city of Alexandria.

Garrison duty was proving as usual to be a dull and plodding affair. He was doing what he could to keep his troops active, running and exercising together and performing whatever extra work needed to be done around the base, but they weren’t garrison troops. They were combat grunts being shoehorned into a garrison position out of temporary necessity, and it was driving him mad.

He was starting to drift off when he heard a chirp from his PDP. He pulled the Personal Data Pad from the dump pouch on his right leg and activated the screen. The PDP was bulky and had a monochrome black and white screen. It was unable to connect to any civilian network, being limited to the Mil-Net exclusively. It could download books and games to pass the time with, but was mostly for handling military communications and information. By most standards it would seem to be decades out of date except for one thing: It was reliable as hell and damn near indestructible.

He checked the notifications and found that it was the time of the month where Mil-Net receives data from the civilian networks. The two networks were kept completely separate except for screened data dumps and messages to help prevent outside hacking attempts. In his data dump today were a few canned videos from his favorite civilian network shows, a message from his mother, and a message from the Sith Inquisitor. His interest was piqued, but he opened the letter from his mom first. He was still close with his family, and he was always excited to get mail from them. They were letting him know that they were OK, and checking to make sure that he was too. Of course they knew he was physically well, the military would have already informed them if otherwise, but his mother was always more concerned with his mental health. He drafted a response and placed it in the queue to be dumped to the civilian network later that day. He then turned his attention to the Sith Inquisitor message.

His eyebrows raised gradually as he read the message. He was surprised about several things. For one, he had no idea why the Sith would even have a remote interest in an exposé about their actions recently. Secondly, he couldn’t figure out why they would be contacting him. True he had been among the first Marines to re enter the city, but he had mostly been on road blocking and triage duty, and had seen little combat. Regardless, he was interested enough to respond.


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Sith Inquisitor,
My squad was recently redeployed to garrison duty in Fort Sherman. As such, I have plenty of time to meet for an interview with you if you still want it. I’m off duty tomorrow at 1800. I’ll inform the MP’s of your visit and they should let you in no problem. We can meet in my quarters or the base recreation center, guess it depends on what level of privacy and quiet you prefer. Confirm the details with me and I’ll get everything set up here.
Regards,
Sergeant Jackson Mills
Commonwealth Marine Corps

365th Autonomous Infantry Battalion, Fort Sherman


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[member="Yula Knezevic"]

 

[Klesta]

So long as she was in Commonwealth space, she could almost say that she wasn't a Sith, and no one would notice. In fact, it would be more likely that she would be ignored as a Force-user altogether, whereas most FUs would be prejudiced against. She knew that, somehow, to the eyes of most residents, the Sith Inquisitor was actually acknowledged for what journalistic merits it has, while nowhere is it more reviled than on Ziost itself. While the head editor had no shortage of prospective applicants wanting to become journalists, even for media outlets as disreputable as the Sith Inquisitor, on Alexandria and on Ziost, Yula was perhaps more surprised than most; she might be a Sith, but the Commonwealth would never assume that she would be a Sith, especially not after she deployed Maladon's force in an attempt to defeat other Sith. Most importantly, some of the people garrisoned in Fort Sherman, [member="Jackson Mills"] included, would, at best, think that the Sith are facing internal troubles, and that Yula would be part of some Sith faction that wanted to stop the atrocities of the BTS, which is perceived to be a criminal arm of the Sith in the galactic southwest. Now that, with a few hours late, she would receive the answer from the... 365th battalion?

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Dear Sgt. Mills,

Thank you for your prompt reply. Tomorrow at 1800 in your quarters in Ft. Sherman is a timeslot that works for us, in accordance to the protocol. I can thus confirm the details you just gave me. See you in your quarters, and have a pleasant interview with the media.

Best wishes,
The Sith Inquisitor journalistic staff

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[Jackson Mills]

Sgt. Mills collapsed on his bunk. It’d been a long, boring day of garrison duty yet again. He had just come back in from supervising PT of his platoon and was trying to catch a moment of rest before his interview. It was 1755 hours, and he had dismissed his platoon early so that he could make it back in time. His quarters were spartan at best. The room was small, and contained a bunk with a single, thin mattress with a wool blanket, a basic aluminum desk and chair, and his footlocker. As an NCO he wasn’t entitled to an office or a nice room, in fact about the only thing that could be called luxurious was the fact that he didn’t have a roommate. The fact that he was a Marine necessitated that he also pack light. He may be on garrison duty now, but before long they would have to move, and he would have to carry all of his possessions in a duffel.

He was wearing the standard olive drab CDU Fatigues (Combat Dress Uniform), and though he was lacking armor he was carrying an MM99 handgun in a drop leg holster on his right thigh. They may have driven off the incursion, but the planet was still on high alert and the Marines were required to remain armed, even when off duty.

Finally a knock came at his door. He stood from his bed and straightened his shoulders, then opened the door to greet his guest.

 

[Klesta]

It was only because she inquired about the standard protocol for visits of military facilities that she was able to get to the designated location in Fort Sherman by 1800 local time without being troubled by the military police. Sure, [member="Jackson Mills"] was but a NCO and, for this reason, had rather spartan living quarters, as is the case in many armed forces for their enlisted, Sith or not. But it was as clear as day to her that the military police didn't even suspect that she was, in fact a Sith, and not just because she wore an olive-green business suit devoid of any lightsaber sockets, not even a light one. (If the Star Tours Guide to Force Specialties is accurate, she would be more accurately classified as a Dark Jedi, more so than as a Light Sith) But the main question that is on everyone's lips off-world, whevener the attack is brought up, is: how the kark the Commonwealth was able to set up roadblocks in their capital so quickly? Of course, Sgt. Mills will still have a question or two in his mind about why the Sith seemed interested in documenting one of their big-ticket failures.

"Greetings, sergeant. I am Yula Knezevic, for the Sith Inquisitor. The events on Alexandria left no one on Alexandria indifferent about the Black Tie Syndicate or the Sith they brought in tow. What do you think is responsible for the remarkable reaction speed of the Commonwealth chain of command when the attack occurred?"

 

[Jackson Mills]

The young woman came in, and he gestured for her to take a seat on the only chair in the room while he sat on the edge of the bed. She didn’t waste any time getting down to the questions, that was for sure. He could appreciate that. He was one NCO who didn’t give two farts about pomp, and preferred to get right to business.

“You are correct, while Alexandria and the greater Commonwealth have been aware of the Sith before this incident, this is the first time that we’ve been brought into conflict with them. Our response time is due to a few factors. Firstly, we were already on high alert when the attack started, with our fleets and major ground forces already in a ready defensive posture around the planet. When the attack began, we were completely ready to engage them within an hour. Also, you have to realize that the Commonwealth is a military government established by the people. Most of our citizens have military service records or are in the reserves, so Alexandrians have a cultural mindset to be ready for war. When the attack did come, it didn’t catch us off guard and it didn’t affect the morale of our people in the way that our attackers assumed it would. These factors allowed our chain of command a level of rapid response flexibility that most other militaries do not have the luxury of.”

 

[Klesta]

Only Mandos would have similarly rapid response times anywhere else in the galaxy and, from what little she knew about the Mandalorians, their population was essentially one big combat reserve. Were they on high alert because of Christophsis or because of something else entirely? She was a newcomer to the Commonwealth; she only came down to the planet because it was an opportunity to fight for what was right. To anyone that knew her for significant amounts of time, it was clear enough to her that she could pinpoint a few things that Sith often get wrong, the conduct of warfare being the main problem. Limited fleets (not even used as a fleet-in-being), even more limited attack craft, complete absence of air support in most ground operations, use of Sith as shock/elite infantry over all other types of troops, and they have shown a complete unwillingness to address those weaknesses. The main advantage of that doctrine is logistical: the amount of supplies required to wage warfare was much more limited. That sort of thing was suitable for guerrilla warfare or certain types of limited warfare where conquest isn't the objective, but when pitted in actual total war, the Sith were time and time again defeated; the pre-Ruusan Sith Empire (that is, before the Seventh Battle; the Eighth was fought 1840 so years later between two factions that waged warfare much like the modern-day Sith do) military doctrine is a little closer to what she would desire than to today's Sith Order. Perhaps the Sith factions are a little strapped financially, but that's another story for another day. She was ready to ask another question to [member="Jackson Mills"]:

"You previously mentioned that Alexandria was under high alert. One would think that, in the aftermath of Christophsis by the Black Tie Syndicate, which happened just a few weeks before the attack on Alexandria, many of the main powers of the galaxy would be on the lookout for the Black Tie Syndicate. Was the BTS the main enemy to be alerted about or was it someone else entirely?"