On the Way Out (Marek)

[Ashin Varanin]

ESFANDIA

Tap, tap. Datacard on a desk she wouldn't call hers anymore. Moving on to smaller and better things, after a very successful stint as AEI's interim CEO, and a member of Silk's board. Moving on, but not moving up. Except from a certain point of view.

The datacard really wasn't all that important, in the grand scheme of things. Sensor and camera records of a handful of unique ships (and one shadowy little one, visual details fuzzy, surrounded by an increasing electromagnetic distortion) congregating over Esfandia. It had been not long after AEI had set up a significant orbital presence and the Mandalorians had done the same. Weapons fire on the ground.

And intercepts of radio transmissions. Encrypted, naturally. Not something AEI had done much with, and now it was too late for her to be involved with that, at least with AEI. The data had gone to her Tion associates, primarily [member="Sasha Santhe"] and [member="Marek Starchaser"] -- Sasha or Marek would know what to do with it. Selka had made herself a copy. It had just been such an interesting little event, a threat to AEI's dominance over the half-completed Blood Trail. The information would now be in the hands of the new leaders of AEI ( [member="Ostanes"] ), though they might have other priorities -- Selka certainly had. Whether there was something worthwhile to be learned from this was anyone's guess, but it stuck in her teeth like a splinter of bone, a relic of the insatiable curiosity she'd inherited from Velok. Unfinished business, one of the few details left. Those ships had to have turned up somewhere else.

 

[Corey's OOC]

There was data coming in. Marek was almost curious as to what the larger data transmission was. Then he saw who it was. [member="Selka Ventus"] seemed to be hard at work. He knew that his Tionese comrade was making sure that the transfer of power in her company was going smooth, but getting this data? That was… she was keeping busy. Opening up the encrypted data, he stared at it for a few moments before switching into the rest of the packet, he saw the images. Now that was something he could understand.

He was hopeful that someone in his galactic congregation could help. Perhaps [member="Hion the Herglic"], and [member="Darell Irani"] would have the people who could decode this? They did offer a variety of points of views. But this data could be very useful.

Marek was nodded thankfully before composing a message.

“/KmvCCbpa1loXTqm3d4Isvs7lxo8AvXNN1XyJs4TExVNVkW+fdAsO8nGU0H8EFmlrkMnAsNLi/pfJUvt
6YfN8p/bzqtzkyfA1kJkPAa76OxyZucUtECs+DsJ5d1W+YxSXmUk4HK14kLWQhj1WbmQYzeTBnUI3MIe
VcFZcfzoZCo=”

 

[Jacen Cavill]

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Selka Ventus"]

Fingers crossed and uncrossed as the man sat at his desk inside his secret office inside the Sion. Looking over the message, he sent a few encrypted messages that were impossible to crack on private servers. His work finished, he soon slid on a ring and some glasses.


There was work to do.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek was definitely interested in seeing what ideas the Tionese had for this. Sure, the ships had attacked a Haor Chall facility, but this was when it was independent and not working under the Santhe umbrella. Still, one of the primary companies with the Hegemony was attacked. He was hoping that someone like [member="Jacen Cavill"] would've found this interesting. Even if [member="Sasha Santhe"] and [member="Gerion Ardik"] might have more... subtle means of dealing with it.

 

[Velok the Younger]

File LIA-2356262: Lianna Incident 85s

Unidentified human or near-human female, apparently armed, blindfolded, wearing clothing at odds with local fashion, recorded loitering near a SJO-affiliated building on Lianna, capital of the Tion Hegemony. Standard facial recognition routines inconclusive but ongoing. Blindfold partially conceals identity. May be Miraluka or other Force Sight practitioner. Context: ongoing tensions between SJO and TH.


File TH-254263727: Delayed addendum to File LIA-2356262s

Identified through facial recognition match as Genevieve Lasedri, candidate for Chief of Senate Chief of Senate Chief of State Prime Minister of the Galactic Republic. Blackmail possibility slim.


File DAC-2534: Report via TH:MS

[REDACTED] met with bounty hunter Ceran Moerelle. Moerelle claimed to have interrogated a Rebel Alliance operative pursuant to the Tion Hegemony bounty on the unidentified leader of the Rebel Alliance. Leader identified as 'The Benefactor'. Moerelle claimed that the operative said that The Benefactor was almost solely responsible for providing the Alliance's operating funds. Moerelle also provided the location of a Rebel Alliance base on Heklor. Recon flights confirmed the base's existence but estimated that it had been deserted for some time. Moerelle's information considered credible by [REDACTED]. Rebel Alliance considered to have a single ideologically and financially central figure.


File ESF-139523: Esfandia Incident 12

Akure Executive Interstellar orbital elements already in place over Esfandia, as well as existing Mandalorian presence, record incursion by four vessels. Partial sensor data for Unknown One, Unknown Two, Unknown Three and Unknown Four included. Unknown Four, though visually stealthed, underwent testing of Mandalorian-built countermeasures device which caused a large electromagnetic disturbance. Note: I have extensive experience with Mandalorian countermeasures devices, as did the Mandalorians already present in-system. May contact Mandal Hypernautics, the leader in countermeasures, for sales record inquest. It didn't work with Firemane, but it never hurts to ask. Encrypted radio communication intercepts included.


Crosslink: Unknown Three: File HAL-135345: Halm Incident 47

Vessel designated Unknown Three in File ESF-139523 identified as modified CR90 corvette. Vessel and encrypted high-power broadband transmission detected by Fringe Confederation monitoring station Chalcedon. Vessel landed at Adegan crystal mines.

Second vessel involved in brief confrontation with Halm orbital control. Minimal sensor data from third parties. Potential correlation with Unknown Four. Previously alerted monitoring station Chalcedon has comm intercept of open channel conversation between second vessel and Halm patrol forces. Intercepts included. Commander publicly identifies as 'Viola Tave, high representative of the Rebel Alliance'. Voiceprint inconclusive due to SIGINT intercept quality issues. Note: Viola Tave identified as author of 'The Little Black Book,' the fundamental text of a quasi-Socialist ideology called Selectivism. Vessel openly landed on Halm for meeting with local authorities. Unconfirmed HUMINT suggests "Halm struck a deal with the Rebs for protection against the Fringe."


Crosslink: Halm planetary government: File HAL:146295: Halm Incident 53

Fringe Confederation vessel Chimaera engages with [REDACTED] in Halm orbit. Twelve starfighters enter the system. Vessels are of unknown make and model. After a short delay, they begin broadcasting Fringe Confederation telesponder IFFs and approaching Chimaera. Types include unknown semi-stealthed bomber, unknown starfighter. Chimaera hails incoming squadron, requests aid against [REDACTED]. No response or course change. Chimaera destroys [REDACTED] and leaves Halm system. Unknown vessels flagged for further investigation.


Crosslink: Unknown ship types: File GEO-346236: Abrion Corporate Alliance/Techno Union assault on Rebel Alliance at Geonosis
Unknown ship type (semi-stealthed bomber) fielded at Halm operates as part of the Rebel Alliance defense force.


File XX-24627: Delayed Addendum to File HAL:146295
Unidentified vessels over Halm believed to be Rebel Alliance due to File GEO-346236 and File HAL-135345.


File XX-24628: Delayed Addendum to File HAL-135345
Increased probability of unidentified vessels belonging to Rebel Alliance. Correlation rising.


File XX-24629: Delayed Addendum to File ESF-139523
Increased probability that vessels detected over Esfandia are affiliated with Rebel Alliance. Correlation rising.


File XX-24629: Delayed Addendum to File DAC-2534
Increased probability that Viola Tave, referenced in File HAL-135345, is either the Benefactor or a close associate.


File XX-24630: Delayed Addendum to Files TH-254263727 and HAL-135345
Estimated 65% correlation between Viola Tave intercept clip and public speeches by Genevieve Lasedri. Voiceprint quality inconclusive. Recording enclosed. Lasedri considered low-priority candidate for Viola Tave cover identity, even in light of File TH-254263727.


File XX-24648: Delayed Addendum to File XX-24630
Public statements by Senator Alyesa Organa of Ranklinge claim that Prime Minister Lasedri is a leader of the Rebel Alliance. Reopening file.


File XX-24672: Results of stylometric comparison between Senate speeches by Genevieve Lasedri and 'The Little Black Book.' Results mixed. Low vocabulary correlation, very high structural/punctuation correlation. Turns out you can change what you say, but not how you say it.


File XX-24673: High probability that Prime Minister Lasedri is Viola Tave, a high-ranking Rebel Alliance member and founder of the quasi-Socialist political philosophy known as Selectivism. Moderate probability that Lasedri/Tave is the 'Benefactor,' meaning the leader, founder, and chief funding source of the Rebel Alliance. Minor probability that Lasedri/Tave is a trained Force-sensitive and concealing that status from the Senate and the Republic as a whole.


Zhol Kash Dinora, once called Rave Merrill, High Councilor of the Fringe, founder of Akure Executive Interstellar and the Tionese Inner Circle, now a low-profile and senior member of the Techo Union, sat back in her chair. For anyone else to have put this pattern together, they would have needed ultra-high-end Fringe, AEI, Tion, and Techno Union access at one point or another -- and nobody else had that, not even Ovmar. But the beauty of it was that if she gave it to someone, they wouldn't need to believe her. Stylography would be enough to verify the lot. Now she just needed to decide whether to save it for a rainy day.

Isn't this interesting...