Private The Other Side of War

[Katja Javik]

Her prospects were looking worse each day. Once one thing went wrong, she knew it wouldn’t be long before everything else followed suit. The first domino to fall was a bounty placed on her head by the ISB. A missing Stormtrooper being hunted for in Alliance territory drew enough attention towards her to warrant the need for questioning – the very situation the ISB hoped to avoid.

As a special operations Stormtrooper from an infamous task force, she knew more than most, enough so that it was standard practice for troopers in her position to dispatch themselves rather than allow capture from the enemy. This time, she had no opportunity to flee or otherwise and would face the stark reality of her actions as a result.

So far, she was not yet guilty of a crime, as far as they knew, but she knew she could easily incriminate herself if she didn’t choose her words wisely. Acting as accommodatingly as she could, she complied with all demands, hoping it would buy her some good grace and favour.

“Just through here.” The person leading her gestured towards a door which opened on cue. “Thank you.” Katja responded politely with a small smile. She took a deep breath before entering and settling down on the seat.


Noah Corek

 

[Noah Corek]

When Katja Javik entered the room her eyes would immediately be drawn to the lone occupant, seated behind a simple metal table with a seat on either side of it. He was currently leafing through a manilla folder that had various sheets of paper inside of it. Not taking his eyes off of the papers he pointed towards the seat opposite of him. “Take a seat there Sergeant Janik.”

Once she sat the man didn’t even take his eyes off the folder. “Katja Javik, Sergeant Katja Javik. Hapan by birth, Corsin by citizenship. Twenty two years of age, medical specialist of the Empire’s elite SCAR Squadron. Sergeant by twenty-two…impressive for the Empire.” Done with the folder he closed it and put it down on the table before finally making eye contact with the woman.

Taking a simple black case from his pocket Noah took a cigarillo out and lit it, taking a drag before blowing the smoke upwards and away from the woman. Setting the cigarillo down on a nearby ashtray he looked at the woman. “Do you know why you are here?”

 

[Katja Javik]

Immediately, she was surprised by the amount of respect she was given to be addressed by her rank as someone from an opposing military, even going as far to be given a compliment. No one had addressed her like that since she had deserted the Empire but it was a large part of her identity.

She was similarly surprised by the amount of information that was already held over her which made her noticeably more nervous with a shift in posture, though she tried to portray that she remained calm. Acting guilty was only more suspicious. Being in the military was not as great of an issue as being in SCAR Squadron whose actions were high-profile enough to not allow the degree of anonymity that being in lesser known task forces allowed.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with everything you just mentioned." She tried to inject some humour to diffuse some of the tension before immediately asking a question of her own out of curiosity but also to deflect attention away from herself. "You serve in the military?" No one without military experience would refer to another by rank. Even Imperials could afford begrudging respect to an enemy officer.

Noah Corek

 

[Noah Corek]

Katja Javik​

When she mentioned the obvious reason the two of them were in this room together Noah snorted and shook his head. "Great powers of deduction there Sergeant. I was sent here to interview you, on behalf of a mutual friend of ours..." Noah made sure not to mention the word 'interrogation' to keep the woman relaxed and also didn't elaborate on their mutual friend to also keep her guessing about who exactly it was who had called him here.

When she asked about his own military service he nodded. "I was a Colonel in the Alliance Army Reserves..." He let his words linger for a little bit, letting her think he was a desk jockey who had never seen a day of combat. And then he snapped the trap shut. "... and before that I served as a General under Yasha Cadera, Mand'alor the Infernal and before that I was Head of the New Republic Special Operations Command and before that I served as a private military contractor for the Omega Pyre and lastly my first career...I spent fifteen years a Commando in the Galactic Republic Army. Needless to say I've been a soldier for about twice as long as you've been alive Sergeant...so don't try and screw me."

With his own military service record laid out before her Noah leaned back in his chair. "Now tell me about your time and operations with SCAR Squadron and the events that led to IMPCOM putting a rather substantial bounty on your head."

 

[Katja Javik]

“Hm.” She chimed in curiosity, wondering who this alleged mutual friend was. She supposed it wasn’t normal procedure to be interviewed by the person she currently sat across from but this seemed like the better choice as their similar backgrounds gave her an inherent respect for him which she hadn’t yet afforded to any Jedi. She supposed the intention was to build rapport, at least she hoped so, rather than it being an attempt at manipulation.

Her expression shifted to one of curiosity as he began to explain his history to her. She was hesitant to afford respect to many but he seemed certainly deserving of her respect. “No, sir. I wouldn’t try to screw you.” She replied as a sign of her respect. “I’m not sure I could even if I tried.” She told him, half-joking. With such an extensive military record, she couldn’t even hope to pull the wool over his eyes. Her next few steps in their encounter would need to be cautious.

“Yeah...” She began, trying to hide her nerves. “I’ve worked with Task Force 99 for the last year or so. A bounty was put on me after I deserted. I didn’t want to leave but... I had no choice.” She began to explain. “My Squadmate he... tried to kill me. I fought in self-defence.” Her gaze shifted upwards to his, seeking some sort of understanding.

Noah Corek

 

[Noah Corek]

Katja Javik
​

Noah would make sure to continue keeping her guessing on who exactly their mutual friend was, in situations like this even the smallest degrees of withholding could prove key to a breakthrough. Reaching for the ashtray he clutched the cigarillo betweens two fingers and took a drag before exhaling the smoke upwards, offering the smoke to her if she partook. Aftering the offer he flipped through her file again and began reading it once more, more making a show than actually reading.

He chuckled when she continued to call him sir, shaking his head slightly bemused at the respect he garnered from a soldier on the opposite side, though he always knew that effectively fighting someone always meant respecting them at the end of the day. "You don't have to call me 'sir' sergeant. I've been outta the service for a good decade now." While this was of course the truth it was more of a version of it since he still was technically a warfigther with the PMC he ran.

When she brought up the exact name of SCAR Squadron Noah let out a small chuckle. "Task Force 99...an odd name for an Imperial task force considering the origin of that name." When the topic of her desertion and bounty was brought up Noah only sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose slightly exasperated. "Sergeant I already know all of that. What I was asking was for details about the task force. Roster, operations, standard operating procedures and the like."

 

[Katja Javik]

"Sorry... force of habit." She replied, still ingrained with the respect that she knew she was supposed to give to superiors, not that she always did but in this situation she didn't want to do anything more to incriminate herself. After all, she had plenty of other information that could indict her with a crime and none that she was particularly willing to give.

"Yeah." She agreed. "The name has a lot of infamy attached to it now. Even more so after... recent events." She admitted, purposefully being vague. Even though she had come to the Alliance for refuge, she was reluctant to denounce the Empire and evidently remained loyal in spite of the persecution she would receive if she were to return.

"Right, right..." She nodded, her gaze shifting downwards to the table as she tried to carefully formulate a response. "Sometimes we were just deployed to support ground operations from behind enemy lines, like on Ilum." She began to explain. "But we also had specialist missions... regarding the Chiss insurgency which threatened the Empire." She told him, withholding details that she knew would reflect poorly on her. "We found plans of an attack so we were uh... deployed to prevent it from happening." She rambled, trying to make it seem like she was giving away more information than she really was.

The full details of their final fateful mission were known only to her and five others. Three of them were dead and she was unwilling to talk.

Noah Corek

 

[Noah Corek]

He nodded when she mentioned the force of habit, having been a long serving member of various different military organizations he understood the discipline that was ingrained at every level, especially for Imperials, it was one of the few things that the anti-Imperial man actually respected about the organization as a whole.

Having been through many interrogations before, both as the interrogator and interrogatee Noah understood when one was being vague, it often annoyed him on either side of the situation be he could understand it in the situation of Katja Javik in particular, just a surface dive into some of the files and information he had gleaned from contacts had given him a pretty good idea that a good few of the operations she had participated in hadn't been on the up and up in what could be considered the war crime department.

Speaking of files he reached into the manilla folder and pulled a few more sheets of paper out and splayed them out on the desk, there were operations reports, particularly about some of the operations that Katja had been involved in. "Yeah I've read some of the after action reports...you guys weren't slouches in the least. Fast, efficient and deadly, being former special forces I can respect that after overlooking the ideology."

Letting her peruse the operation reports Noah leaned back in the chair with crossed arms. The reports were not particularly easy to come by, often classified and packed away under intelligence agency protection, and as such it spoke that Noah had eyes, ears and hands everywhere and probably knew a little more than he was letting on. Leaning forward he fixed the woman with a stare before speaking. "I'll cut to the chase Sergeant...are you defecting or are you simply looking for protection?"

 

[Katja Javik]

There was only so long that she could get away with trying to conceal as much as she knew. She knew the risks involved and the contrast between them was stark but simple: get deported to face trial and possible execution at the hands of the Imperials or reveal secrets in exchange for potential political asylum with the Alliance. Unfortunately for her, she didn't want to do either and thus darted around the topic. She had prided herself on her loyalty but now it was all coming under question.

She knew that there were even worse outcomes, should she make a wrong move here. Even under the former Empire's radar she had been a suspect in the terrorist attack on Bastion. Allies and foes alike were sceptical of her squadron's operations. No where was truly safe. Not now.

"We did what we needed to do to complete the objective." She replied in a tone almost devoid of emotion. Cool and detached from the reality of war. It was an excuse she had used time and time again to distance herself from her actions. Taking commands from those above her meant it was their judgement call to make - not hers.

Her expression remained calm and collected as she glanced through the files, not wanting to display too much emotion and incriminate herself further. She paused at his question, looking at a file in her hand before placing it down and looking back at him, a clear hesitation in her answer.

"I- I have no where else to go... I'd get executed for desertion if I went back..." She indirectly answered his question, clearly wanting protection but being unwilling to follow the means to achieve it.

Noah Corek

 

[Noah Corek]

Katja Javik​

Noah was not apathetic to the woman and her concerns about revealing secrets, hell he had found himself in the same situation a wide variety of times before, usually after one of the governments that he had served collapsed or had been subsumed into a larger government. When the Omega Protectorate had been absorbed into the Galactic Alliance he had at first refused to reveal any secrets or confidential information to them, be it intelligence, technological or governmental.

When she mentioned doing what needed to be done he nodded in assent. "When I was a part of the Galactic Republic Army I served in a unit very similar to yours, black ops mostly. S&D, sabotage, assassination, strategic reconnaissance, you know, the usual chit. Wanna know what I learned after I left the service Sergeant?" He leaned towards her with a raised brow as he was about to let her in on a secret...well an open secret.

"They don't give a damn." Leaning back in his chair he withdrew a flask and took a swig, the small grimace on his face making it clear to her that it was water in it. Offering it to her he continued to speak. "Empire, Alliance, Republic, Protectorate, it doesn't matter the government. Politicians, intelligence agencies, higher command, all of those at the top don't care. Well a few do maybe but they are in the minority and usually have little room to object. Soldiers like us;" He made sure to point to the two of them to emphasize his point. "Are disposable."

He leaned back again and let her digest his words before piping up again. "But it's how we are treated when disposed of that I think matters. The Alliance will court martial you and drum you out or imprison you given the circumstances. The Empire? Like you said, they'll just kill you outright, no trial or a sham trial if you're lucky. You want my advice Sergeant? Talk. Tell the Alliance what they want to know because at worst you might be locked up but at best...maybe you'll get to be a soldier again."