Faction (GA/SIA) Blackout - Debrief

[The Vulptex]

A trio made their way through the halls of SIA headquaters. One, a short haired redheaded boy, or at least he could easily be mistaken as one. All of them could be mistaken as children if you weren't aware of who they were, each of them standing only a few inches about 4 feet. Another, a girl with blonde hair, wrapped into a pony tail. The third, another girl who seemed to have a set of purple dyed hair.

Despite their stature, all of them were dressed in full SIA gear. Blue trenchcoats and suits as they walked into a quiet office room. The purple haired one pulled out a mask as they sat down, at the agreed upon location.

The last few days had been rough. Kiffu had become a warzone, what was supposed to be a stealth mission had become a firefight.

Now that the battle was over, it was time to talk over what was discovered.

The Wizard had a feeling in their gut. Things were about to get complicated.

Tag: SIA Members​

 

[Nikolai Messervy]

Messervy stood at the far end of the office room, flipping through reports on a datapad. His jacket was missing, and his sleeves were rolled unevenly up his sleeves and he had what was becoming a ubiquitous cup of stale coffee in his free hand. He didn't look up from his datapad when the trio of wunderkind entered; he didn't know them but that wasn't terribly out of the ordinary today. This week had been an endless cavalcade of meetings with people he didn't know, people for whom he was now responsible as the new director.

After a moment he looked up, surveying the trio. An eyebrow arched briefly before he drained his coffee and he crossed the room to refill it.

"Afternoon," he said, coming back to his position. "I understand you three have something to report about -- Kiffu, wasn't it? We're still getting data and reports, so any information you can share about that theater would help us fill in the blanks." Messervy took another long drink of the coffee and then set the cup down, putting his hands flat on the table and leaning over to study the trio. Very nearly looming.

"Who's going first? Go ahead."

The Vulptex​

 

[The Vulptex]

The purple haired girl was the first to speak, clicking a button on the inside of the fox mask she had on her. The mask lit up, projecting it's internal contents. A recording of the battle, taken from a vantage point far above the action. "A lot of it was general combat. What was supposed to be a stealth mission devolved into...well, this."

The battle had become pure chaos. Mandos up against Mandos, SIA agents and commandos up against Mandos, jedi fighting mandos, all in the open.

The boy spoke up. "Me and my friend here," He gestured to the red head, "We took on a mando who was hunting down other GA members. Meanwhile..." He motioned back to the purple haired one.

The purple one fast forwarded through the footage, eventually stopping on footage of an Imperial style shuttle landing off in the distance.

"I found a new target." She opened. "Those weren't mandos, and they seemed to have a vested interest in whatever was going on here, so I followed them." The footage followed her as she slipped through the warzone, eventually finding a squad of Imp commandos with markings unlike any of the known warlord states, engaging and mowing through GADF defenders. "I've checked the archives. These imps weren't wearing any known warlord symbols. Imps are all about their symbology, so these have to be someone who doesn't want us to know they're there, or they're someone new. Either way, that's a direct assault on our assets."

Tag: Nikolai Messervy

 

[Nikolai Messervy]

Messervy's hard hazel-green eyes narrowed at the video proffered by the violet-haired creature. His eyes flickered back to her when the video ended. "I'd heard tell of a mystery group of would-be Imperial commandos on the field, but nothing firm yet. Not like that." He jabbed his finger at the vid player and looked back to the purple one. "You've logged this footage, I assume, left a copy with our analysts?"

He paused and straightened, putting his hands on his hips.

"What is your current assignment?" he asked them. "I've half a mind to put you on the trail of these bastards -- and more importantly, whoever sent them to the battlefield -- but if I'd be taking you away from something more important I'll need to see what kind of flexibility our field assets have."

Messervy leaned over and activated the video once more, thunderclouds gathering on his brow as he watched, shaking his head. If there was anything worse than mercenaries it was the cowards that hired mercenaries. And he very much wanted to see this lead followed through.

The Vulptex​

 

[The Vulptex]

"Right now? Nothing other than internal security. And yes, I've logged everything. I also..." The purple haired girl smirked slightly. "Got trackers on all of them. Turns out Dust works just as well 900 years after the clone wars." She pulled out a small black egg. "Just hid them in this, and threw them in a cloud. They tried to airstrike me for my trouble. My only request is that if we're to be put on this assignment, my team here works together. No exceptions. We're worked together for years, and I don't plan to break up the band anytime soon."

Tag: Nikolai Messervy

 

[Nikolai Messervy]

The Director raised his hand when the purple haired one started droning on about their team working together, trying to stifle the teen drama holovision of it all, but there was no stopping it. "Listen, you three," he said. "I couldn't care less if you work together if there was a pill to achieve it, as long as you bring back actionable intelligence."

He paused, swirling the dregs of his coffee cup around and examining the contents with a frown. "Just get sign-off from whoever it is you normally report to and make sure you submit all of your intel to the database for us to analyze. If your supervising agent has a problem, you can direct them to my office." He took a business card and jotted something down on it, signed it with his initials, and then leaned across the table to offer it to Purple Hair.

"Take this to Q," Messervy said, referencing the SIA's Quartermaster. "You'll have priority access to anything you need from the lab and the armory. Also copy my office on any status updates." He handed the card over. "Make sure those are regular status updates. The address is on the card, so don't lose it. I want to see good progress or we'll talk reassignment." He examined the coffee once more, then sighed and set it aside.

"If you have questions, now is the time. Otherwise, I'll leave you to prepare."

The Vulptex​

 

[The Vulptex]

“Roger.” The three said in unison.

They looked between each other, all wondering the same thing. It was the blonde who spoke up this time.

“What’s the protocol on engagements? I’m assuming we’ll have plausible deniability on this, so to not start a war, but I’d rather we have some form of authorization before we get into any spats with the Imps. They aren’t exactly the types to have trigger discipline, if you know what I mean.”

Tag: Nikolai Messervy

 

[Nikolai Messervy]

"Why, exactly, do you think you need plausible deniability for this operation?" Messervy asked the trio, though his eyes lingered on the blonde for the moment. He cleared his throat and went on: "You're investigating an assault against Alliance personnel. If you find that these people were there under the employment of another government, the war has already begun and we're just finding out who the enemies are."

He paused and turned a moment, going to the window. The traffic in the skylanes was skimming along at pace. His hands went to his waist and he lowered his gaze. He hated politics. And he hated complications. Particularly when the complications weren't strictly speaking necessary. He lifted a hand and ran it over his stubbled jaw, cursing internally. He thought about it for a few long moments, his head canting this way and that.

"Your best bet is to just not get caught," he told them finally, turning to face the trio again. "I'm not eager for a war, but if some other government has already seen fit to send mercenaries against us that's not really at our option, is it? You can leave the political considerations to me, as much as I loathe to say it. I'll brief the Minister. Just be cautious and keep a low profile to the extent that that's possible."

The Vulptex​

 

[The Vulptex]

The blonde simply nodded, "I understand. The plan is never to get caught, but we just wanted some clarification on what happens if we do. And I like having plans, even if they never get used. I don't want use to get caught with a murder charge if we're going for self defense. I know the Empire aren't exactly the type to tell you to lay down your arms and surrender, especially for our type. We'll keep quiet and stealthy. I'll have Wizard here,-" she gestured to the purple haired girl. "-Give Q all the info we have. I think our best bet is to follow up on those trackers, and inquire about whatever they lead us to. Sound good, or do you have any other ideas before we head off? You've probably been doing this long before we were even born."

Tag: Nikolai Messervy

 

[Nikolai Messervy]

"How the hell old -- "

Messervy's voice broke off when he realized he was trying to ask two questions at once: one that ended in do you think I am? and the other that ended in are you three? There was a moment of bewildered silence. Smartass kids, he thought, which in retrospect he decided made him an aged curmudgeon without question.

He loosened his tie. "You want some advice, huh? Listen: there's no magic to this. It's all about being observant and careful. Heavy on the careful." Thinking better of it, he untied the necktie entirely and pulled it off his neck, dropping it on the desk. "And don't let this be mistaken for some kind of pep-talk, okay, because that's not really how I operate. But the truth is you three -- or at least one of you, at any rate -- has sharp instincts. That kind of thing can't be taught or advised by an old man. Trust your gut. Get it done. Don't get caught."

He picked up his datapad again; he'd received half a dozen reports already. What a mess. "If I were you I wouldn't ask Q for her sage wisdom, either," Messervy said, his voice faintly amused. "She'll just say 'Sometimes you've just got to kill a guy, all right?' -- and she's not wrong."

The Vulptex​