Private Tenets

[Aeson Keel]

The war with the Sith Empire was back in full swing after a brief lull dealing with New Imperial schemes and plots to wrench control of the Core away from the Galactic Alliance. While he was sure the skirmish at Yinchoor wouldn't be the last they fought, for now, they could put up their blasters and- He paused as new data ran across his optical implant. The words in Arubesh script scrolled down, too fast to read normally but taken in and processed through his other implants.

New Imperial Forces at Dantooine repelled and routed.

Status of GA fleets at Korriban and Felucia: UNKNOWN

Aeson cursed and quickened his pace to the Director's office. She likely had already seen this report but this along with other information he had could shed some light on what was going on in Sith Imperial Space. Startled aides scampered out of his way as Aeson's stormy face cleared a path like a Pamarthen thunderclast. He placed his hand on the panel outside of the Director's office, let the optical scanner do its thing, and finally entered his code cylinder before the door acknowledged his appointment and identey and slid open. It hissed closed followed by a series of clicks as locks latched into palce.

"Madam Director," he said, his eyes looking at the datapad in his hand, "We may have a very serious-" his eyes adjusted to the light in the room. An unfamiliar silhouette stood where the previous Director normally would have. His hand found the blaster at his holster quickly and immediately he felt the room's security systems tracking him for movement.

"Who on the Seven Pamarthen Seas are you?"

IVI

 

[IVI]

CORUSCANT | GALACTIC CITY | SIA HEADQUARTERS
TRUST IN ME

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​

Good news, bad news –– it all travelled at variable speeds. Speeds that the SIA managed the flow of. Technically, the Information Analysis Bureau managed communication exchanges through some level of monitoring, but at the end of the day, nothing that conflicted with her will was shared. And the distribution of her ascension was closely managed on a need-to-know basis.

So when Aeson Keel walked in alarmed and prepared to shoot, she offered the smallest of smiles. A curved line that stretched across blue painted lips of a Twi’lek. One of the personas rendered by her disguise matrix purposed to continue making M as elusive as her file suggested. Much of her likeness pushed through the projection; sharp cheekbones, narrow eyes, ski-jump nose, blue skin –– just enough to be convincing.

“Seven seas, hm? And you're a pilot, not a diver? Curious.” M offered amicably, her tone cool and controlled while gesturing with a modicum of elegance to the open seat across from her desk. The surveillance in the room continued to noiselessly adjust and follow his movements. The same sort of invisible tracing that had been tracking him from the moment he set course for the Intelligence Agency’s domain.

The screens that surrounded the room, facing them and mostly obscuring the otherwise beautiful view outside, transitioned to another series of displays. Some were covered in scrawling text, others were citizens passing by in the POV of REC droids, others still relayed images beyond Coruscant’s borders. None of them seemed to warrant M’s attention. She kept her focus forward.

“Your first assertion was correct, Gusto. Let's trust that I deserve to be in this chair more than your former familiar face.” Her fingers found their way to the length of a spoon resting on a saucer and stirred the blue milky cloud within her caf. “I hope your powers of deduction are just as strong with what brought you here.” She set the spoon down and folded her hands in her lap, easing into the hair and levelling her falsified eyes with his.

“Especially since we’re in the business of being ahead of those May have moments.” Her wrist rolled to encourage him to continue “Doubly so when they're serious––You were saying?”

 

[Aeson Keel]

Aeson's brow quirked in curiosity. He was still suspicious but the hidden blasters trained on him forced his hand. Defeated, his shoved his blaster back into its holster and glared at her from across the room.

"Sailor," he corrected before taking a tentative step forward. "You'd have to be airsick or a complete idiot to attempt diving on Pamarthe the way those waters move." His eyes were fixed on hers as he moved forward and pulled out a seat for him to sit at her desk.

"I appreciate the hospitality miss," he said, "But I believe I asked you a question first." He folded his arms and kicked his flight boots onto the table, slamming them down and spilling some of the blueish caf onto the table. "You may have hacked the terminals and the security, but until I see some credentials it would be a breach of my oaths and protocol to hand over any information to the first pretty Twi'lek that asks." He glanced to the panels in the ceiling and walls where he knew there were hidden weapons trained on him from his earlier transgression.

"Even if you have a dozen blasters trained on me."

IVI

 

[IVI]

The Twi'lek hm'd unamusedly. Her expression remained listless. Even when he spilled the caf, though her skin bristled in response. When she spoke, it was through her teeth: "You've got a bloody cheek."

She tilted her head indicatively at the heels crossed on her tabletop. The gesture was overt enough to be unmissable.

"You may have hacked the terminals and the security, but until I see some credentials it would be a breach of my oaths and protocol to hand over any information to the first pretty Twi'lek that asks."

"I'm glad you're maintaining standard operation etiquette." M cooed, making a subtle gesture over the flat buttons of a keyboard. Within an instant, there was a flash on the screens. Moving silhouettes in the streets, scrawling reports, each glowing rectangle was replaced with a black background and a scrawl of aurebesh.

"Even if you have a dozen blasters trained on me."

"Fifteen." She corrected and leaned into the seat long enough for him to read through the credentials. The relevant parts anyhow, her personal information was purposefully redacted for instances such as these.

| STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE AGENCY - ALL OPERATIONS |
| DIRECTOR M - GA-1948-00|
| [REDACTED]|
| CLEARANCE LVL: DIRECTOR |
| LETHAL FORCE AUTH: YES |

"While you've been galivanting and indulging in other vices, the agency has undergone some changes. Director Gethsverg's approaches were far too relaxed for the necessities of The Alliance today. A reorg was necessary for us to regain a presence on this galactic stage." Her hand waved dismissively, and the screens were restored back to their original details.

Here, Agent Keel, I'll give you another bone. The reports are in from Felucia and Korriban's assault, The Alliance has solidified a victory on both fronts. Enough to maintain a presence in the space and retain the stronghold. The broadcasts will begin in a few hours.

"Given your timing, and urgency in your tone, I assume you're here to discuss the potentials of our recent allegiances showing up in a defensive pact against another of our longer-term Imperial allies."

Hands folded in her lap, and she eased deeper into her chair. "What have you got for me?"

 

[Aeson Keel]

Aeson's eyes flicked over the data quickly, his optical implant pulling relevant data and storing it for later use. His eyes narrowed in suspicion still. He hadn't been told about Gethsveg's removal and he had been one of her personals, had answered directly to her. But this woman's credentials checked out and it didn't seem like anything had been tampered with in the data so he had to move forward. This was the best he was going to get short of the Chancellor herself telling him in person that she had authorized this.

He set the datapad onto the table and moved his boots from the table, adopting a more formal and alert looking posture in his chair.

"Director M," he said, trying out the words, "As you said, I came with that news, though there is something else." He tapped a few touchpad buttons on the datapad and swiped forward, sending her images of the Korriban fleet.

"Reports say we have defeated the Sith...But what is this?" An image of a large structure, similar in design language to Sith Temples observed throughout the ages, except it was in space and flanked by another fleet of new warships. The photo had a play button in the top righthand corner. The video played when he tapped the datapad again. The temple structure let loose an arc of energy tearing through Sith and Allaince ships before the mystery fleet began launching boarding pods and the Sith battlecruisers began opening fire on everything that moved. The video feed fizzed out when the electric arc from the temple ship reached the camera.

"It appears as if our 'victory' at Korriban is less certain than initial reports indicate Madam. GADF isn't even sure whose ships these are yet. The battle is still ongoing as far as my sources confirmed." He paused, "But they've also missed their last five check-ins. We're in the dark until the fleet or our agents regain long-range encrypted communications."

IVI

 

[IVI]

They seemed to reach a level of understanding, and M could appreciate the efficiency of the revelation. There was a curiosity to her ascension, but in her beliefs; that was always the intent. Keep everyone guessing or at need-to-know length.

"Reports say we have defeated the Sith...But what is this?"

"It appears as if our 'victory' at Korriban is less certain than initial reports indicate Madam. GADF isn't even sure whose ships these are yet. The battle is still ongoing as far as my sources confirmed."

"Hm. We haven't seen this technology before." She scratched at the curve of her chin, drawing her finger up to rest against her nose in consideration. "New players on the field."

"But they've also missed their last five check-ins. We're in the dark until the fleet or our agents regain long-range encrypted communications."

"Their last five?" M's voice grew tight, whatever warmth had existed was drained. Five check-ins were far too long. That was at least two days, and the request for communications would have triggered after the first two absences. The majority of Intelligence's operations boasted exclusivity within the shadows, but being in the dark was not a place she wanted to dwell. She said as much: "Being in the dark isn't a place we want to be." The mission to return to Korriban was mostly a favour to the New Jedi Order to retrieve their left-behinds. The GADF had the muscle to flex, and establishing dominance over that sector was easily done with the fleet that had been redirected from Felucia.

"The Sith Empire returning to salvage their losses is unprecedented, though not entirely unlikely. If there's a third party threat on the horizon, beyond our thin allegiances. We best be prepared. I'll arrange for a stealth deployment of drones to collect and report information back. If they're lost, they're lost, at least we'll have some eyes without expending living resources unnecessarily.

Or.." she steepled her fingers together. "What do you propose?"

An indicative beep sounded from her wrist chrono, and she glanced at it. "My next appointment will be here in a few moments. I'll ensure you have my details so we can be a bit more scheduled next time. Appreciate your flexibility with this news."

Pinching the space between her eyes, she rose to stand. "Agent Keel, I'd be pleased to have you stick around for this, and offer your own opinions on the transgressions of Dantooine. It would be appropriate given you're requiring a new assignment and there just might be one by the end of this meeting. If you don't mind, however, I'll need the seat back for The Chancellor."

Within the next few moments, the office door whooshed open and a personal assistant droid escorted itself in –– mindfully not letting its visual sensors make eye contact while it went about informing M of the incoming arrival of the Chancellor and busying itself tidying the spilled caf to restore the desk to its original spotlessness. Once those two duties were complete, it left the room to await the party of the Chancellor's arrival to see if the politicians wanted any refreshments for their meeting within SIA headquarters.

Adhira Chandra | Aerarii Tithe

 

[Adhira Chandra]

​

The usual tranquility of the Strategic Intelligence Agency was shattered when the elevator to the Director's floor opened and the Chancellor of the Alliance stormed into the hall. A cadre of military and intelligence officials scrambled after the old woman as she kept a brisk pace, all the while hissing into her datapad. "I don't care what you have to do, General, but you will hold your ground on Korriban," she was almost shouting at him now, "those planets are strategically vital to our operations in Sith space. Especially with the Concord stonewalling my requests for assistance. Some allies."​

"We will do everything we can, ma'am," the gruff voice of the military officer on the other end growled at her. Her shoulders became visibly less tense and she stopped just outside of the Director's door. "Thank you, General... May the Force Be With You." The officer saluted on the screen before it went blank and she advanced into the office. The old woman waved her hand dismissively at the entourage and they stopped short of following her inside.​

The office was tidy, though by no means as grand as the official suite of the Chancellor... but this meeting was, by its very nature, meant to be conducted in secret. There was nowhere more secretive on Coruscant than the SIA building. Certainly, there would be reports about the Chancellor's visit to the facility but the details would be so secure she had little to fear. Her dark brown eyes fixed on the pale blue skin of the woman known simply as M - the director of the SIA.​

"Director," Adhira smiled and stored her pad in her long cerulean robes, "I appreciate you agreeing to speak with me today, I know you are quite distracted with the recent.. developments." Her wary gaze traveled to the other individual sitting in the room. He looked very familiar. "Agent Keel," her tone was knowing, but not without a touch of warmth, "I have heard many promising things about you. I'm sure we will all be watching your career with great interest."​

​

​

IVI Aeson Keel ​

 

[Aeson Keel]

"Their last five?" M's voice grew tight, whatever warmth had existed was drained. Five check-ins were far too long. That was at least two days, and the request for communications would have triggered after the first two absences. The majority of Intelligence's operations boasted exclusivity within the shadows, but being in the dark was not a place she wanted to dwell. She said as much: "Being in the dark isn't a place we want to be." The mission to return to Korriban was mostly a favour to the New Jedi Order to retrieve their left-behinds. The GADF had the muscle to flex, and establishing dominance over that sector was easily done with the fleet that had been redirected from Felucia.

"The Sith Empire returning to salvage their losses is unprecedented, though not entirely unlikely. If there's a third party threat on the horizon, beyond our thin allegiances. We best be prepared. I'll arrange for a stealth deployment of drones to collect and report information back. If they're lost, they're lost, at least we'll have some eyes without expending living resources unnecessarily.

Or.." she steepled her fingers together. "What do you propose?"

"I don't have much to propose but...My agents have seen this battlecruiser, or at least reports of it around the-" He was cut off by the urgency of the next meeting. It wasn't an important detail anyways and was mostly just rumors. If it came up again he'd tell her, but he'd rather have more concrete evidence first.

Pinching the space between her eyes, she rose to stand. "Agent Keel, I'd be pleased to have you stick around for this, and offer your own opinions on the transgressions of Dantooine. It would be appropriate given you're requiring a new assignment and there just might be one by the end of this meeting. If you don't mind, however, I'll need the seat back for The Chancellor."

"Of course," Keel said, standing and moving towards one of the far walls. He was surprised when the Chancellor entered so quickly after he was told she would be there. She was a surprisingly punctual woman.

He saluted the older woman.

"I'll do my best not to disappoint, Madam Chancellor."

IVI Adhira Chandra Aerarii Tithe

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

LOCATION: New Escrow, Aargau
OBJECTIVE: Attend intelligence briefing
ALLIES: Adhira Chandra | IVI | Aeson Keel

SAME ENERGY

A convoy of up-armoured airspeeders looped around the a nearby towering Aarguun skyscraper and lined up for final approach on a large landing pad. The lead and tail airspeeders, armed escorts for the third and largest airspeeder, peeled off and at last minute and begun to slowly orbit the landing pad. A chrome protocol droid, polished to above factory specifications, stepped toward to greet the returning passengers…

…and was immediately bowled over at the encourage piled out the still-opening hatch.

The group literally ran across the landing pad and through the still opening blastdoors to the well-appointed administrative complex. Aerarii Tithe, at the head of the pack, looked back over his shoulder at his senior chief of staff who was hot on his heels. “This is the education reform bill all over again!”

Ever since the Eternal Empire had struck out against the Galactic Alliance at Byss, Tithe had made a point of staying up to date with the latest intelligence briefings. As such, one could imagine his surprise when he learned that the Chancellor was meeting with M, the enigmatic head of the Strategic Intelligence Agency, without him. What was she getting at, trying to keep him out of the loop? With not enough time to make it back to Coruscant, Tithe had rerouted to the nearest holoterminal capable of establishing a secure connection with the SIA complex.

His close protection team run ahead down the corridor, yelling for bureaucrats to get out of the way. Tithe and his advisers hurried at full speed in their wake, making record time back to his office. Once inside he took only a second to catch his breath then straighten his hair and attire before sitting down at his desk. His senior chief of staff dialled up the connection to M’s office before stepping out and closing the door behind herself.

“Ahh yes, Chancellor, Director, how lovely to see you,” Tithe announced as the link was established, clenching his diaphragm to avoid gasping for breath. He spotted a third individual in the room who he assumed to be an SIA handler or operative. He gave the young gentleman a nod of acknowledgement.

 

[IVI]

ONE OF A KIND​

"I don't have much to propose but...My agents have seen this battlecruiser, or at least reports of it around the-"

M left the interrogation of the suspicious battlecruiser to a later date, though worthy of follow up. Perhaps not the utmost priority, but anything that posed a threat to national security was inevitably within her interest. On the other side of the doorway, her assistant droid would receive the director to notify Veil agents of deploying stealth drones to the last documented coordinates of the allegedly missing Alliance personnel above Korriban.

In compensation to Agent Keel's agreeableness when he vacated the seat, she offered a small nod. And not a moment too soon. Only a short interval later and the venerable Chancellor appeared in her doorway.

"Director, I appreciate you agreeing to speak with me today, I know you are quite distracted with the recent.. developments."

"Madame Chancellor," she greeted, nodding her head respectfully to the politician as she took a seat once more. Her expression turned into something all-knowing and mysterious. "Developments I'm confident we can shape to our favour."

There was a pause in conversation –– a grace period the vice-chancellor could benefit from –– when the protocol droid re-emerged in the room. Chancellor Chandra, any refreshments? Caf? Tea?

Pleasantries were supported just long enough for the blue, flickering silhouette of Tithe to come to life.

“Ahh yes, Chancellor, Director, how lovely to see you,”

"And you, Vice-Chancellor Tithe." Another nod. "Now that we're all here, I shan't be responsible for wasting any of your time.

As you well know, my Agency's sole purpose is to monitor and prevent threats to our nation, its borders, and its allies."

Further, it was M's duty to review all the inputs, disseminate, choose, and recommend the most topically advantageous from all the collection.

“And my my, have our allies been busy.” She tsk’d and leaned back in her seat, the screens around the room aglow with different views of Dantooine. Some were in space, captured in a monotone resolution. Others from the suits or micro cams the New Jedi Order soldiers were equipped with.

“While the Imperial Order's vilification on Dantooine is of little concern to us, it exposes a dark pattern of behaviour from other players on the field. Players I was frankly surprised to see on that field." Levelling her gaze in the Chancellor's direction, she glanced once-twice to Tithe's facial rendering as well. “I’m not a fan of surprises, as much as I’m not a fan of two of our defensive allies not consulting us in coordination that affects the tides of this war we’ve chosen to crusade in.

The Elder Compact. I don’t suggest we take offence but do take caution.”

The screens around the room panned about respectively. Emblems and crests evidenced on armour, ships, weapons –– all at different resolutions depending on their size and appearance on the battlefield itself.

“Two of our allies we have categorized as Trustworthy and Reliable made a decision to defend an active enemy of our foreign policy. The same enemy that activated one of their formerly few allies, The Eternal Empire, against us in Byss." She sniffed. "Where were those that signed our infallible defensive pact?”

The question sat in silence, allowing rumination as she continued to build up her case. The operations were already in play, they’d been activated from the day the Senate turned favourable and hungry eyes Atrisia’s way.

“It's my job not to trust signatures and handshakes.” She titled her head in the direction of the two politicians, a small smile offered in place of the statement. “It's my job to raise suspicion and prevent hypotheses before we're on the back foot. I assume, given your presence, you have your own reservations. Operation Viscitude is a mission among special operations initiated to qualify our doubts –– to give you evidence that might be more...invisible in nature otherwise. And of course, to accept any contributions of a similar nature you may have to give.”

A single pointer finger tapped on the empty space of her desk, the touch of her nail in rhythm with her sentence to emphasize her point.

"With the collected contents, I expect The Senate to prepare for holding our allies accountable to their pacts.” Leaning forward from her seat, she rolled her fingers over her knuckles to put a stop to her monologuing.

 

[Adhira Chandra]

Adhira kept her eyes locked on the young man as he saluted her and gave his assurances, a small smile raising the corners of her mouth. She concluded by offering him a nod before turning to the brilliantly blue young woman that headed her intelligence agency. Technically, the Minister for Intelligence was the most powerful figure in the spy community, but the Chancellor was no fool. She knew who pulled the strings and she was staring straight at her. Luckily, Adhira had no qualms with the mysterious Director M and even had a measure of respect for her. "It is unfortunate the Minister and Vice Chancellor could not join us today, but I think we-" as she was apologizing for the absence of the other two key figures, a voice cut across her as the image of Aerarii Tithe appeared.​

In truth, she had been so involved in the situation on Korriban and Felucia that she had simply forgotten to inform her deputy about the meeting. Which certainly raised the question of how he knew about the meeting at all and was no, unbelievably, projecting himself in front of her. "Aerarii," she exclaimed tightly, a tinge of frustration in her voice, "you- I see my communique about today's meeting did reach you in time, after all," she lied.​

When she had selected the dashing young man to join her administration as the principal deputy of the Alliance, she understood fully the baggage that came with him. He was ambitious, manipulative, and sneaky, but he was also effective and, publically, loyal. After a beat where she mentally made a note to keep an eye on her number two, she turned back to M and nodded for her to proceed.​

Adhira swept up her blue cloak and lowered herself carefully into the chair where she listened to the Chiss woman expound on the recent activities of the Confederacy and the so-called Elder Compact. The Chancellor steepled her fingers and closed her eyes for a moment in consideration. "Director..." she began when the chief agent finished, pausing briefly to consider her wording, "naturally, the recent developments about the Confederacy's actions have certainly been troubling, but your suggestion for Senate action - Aerarii, what would that look like at this juncture? A formal condemnation?" She turned to the man's projected image inquisitively. This was where he tended to shine.​

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

LOCATION: New Escrow, Aargau
OBJECTIVE: Attend intelligence briefing
ALLIES: Adhira Chandra | IVI | Aeson Keel

The Director of the SIA laid out a sobering galactic state of play. The repeated insistence of those they had agreed to support to willingly join forces with the Sith threatened the stability of the Core Worlds the Alliance had worked tirelessly to build. But of greater concern to the Aargauun was the impact it was having on the markets. Investors did not care for uncertainty, especially when it played out on a galactic scale.

Adhira asked him what their operations for a Senate response were. Somewhat ironically, were he still a Sith bureaucrat, his the paths open to him would have been varied and strikingly effective. There was a certain efficiency to how his former employer had operated.

“Legislatively we had a number of druthers,” he explained via hologram. “A censure motion, while symbolic, would send a message of excoriation. I’ll need time to whip the votes.” The isolationists would be in favour, as would the so-called 'war hawks' caucus who were always scrapping for a fight. “After that, a trade war could be efficacious.” The Corporatist party could certainly be counted on to support a motion which padded their bottom line. The banks of Aargau would do well for an increase in domestic commerce.

“Bureaucratically,” he suggested. “The Minister of State could revoke their diplomatic credentials. Again, symbolic, but stops short of full provocation.” With ongoing wars against two Empires - Sith and Eternal - now was not the time to fate the full might of the Geonosis droid foundries.

 

[IVI]

F I R E S T A R T E R
​

M nodded along slowly, accepting the back-and-forth between the two leaders of The Alliance. Politics, as always, would win the public eye. The first few words from the Chancellor were cautious, but not dismissive. Fully attentive, her ruby eyes stared at the leader, fascinated and thoughtful.

"This is more than a decent warning," M started, "And I appreciate your deliberation. The Senate's reaction is only a part of the steps to hold our allies accountable. A large part of Operation Viscitude is active countermeasures, not just data collection." She held up a blue hand to pause and dissuade reactions that might flare up "The data collection came first, I assure you. We follow a process here."

Tithe's suggestion sounded slow. But she could appreciate his methods. Thus far, they seemed to work well enough for the Eclipse Rebellion.

"Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor -–– I'd have to lean on you for expertise here." Flattery. "For a Censure Motion, what information from my agents would best tip the Senate in favour."

She made a nonchalant gesture to her datapad, beep-booping a few keystroke commands through. Within an interval, her guests' pads lit up with an ephemeral message from the director. "Those multimedia files are only a surface layer to the resources I have available for this. That's how assured I am."

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Adhira Chandra | Aerarii Tithe | Aeson Keel