The Intel is Good

[Arya Cognito]

Updated Public Vorzyd Secor Record excerpt:
—Columex, originally known as Nardolin, is a trade planet located in relative proximity to the Vorzyd Cluster of the Outer Rim Territories, on the Perlemian Trade Route. Population 8 Billion people primarily human. Common language is Basic. At this time, Vorzyd sector is under Imperial control, and includes Deepdock fleets for repairing various ships in the Imperial Navy.—

Screaming rapidly by the tops of capital city towers that reflected brightly the early morning sun, a Lambda class shuttle carried in tow Agent Riati toward the Vorzyd Sector Office. She appraisingly checked over an updated case report from the night’s surveillance operation. The operations report detailed an undeclared, illicit cargo shipment that a freelance trader was attempting to offload in the dead of night without Imperial authorization. The report wraps up with the successful seizure of the cargo by Imperial Port Authorities and the subsequent detainment of the trader. The ISB Investigation division would handle the case from there with involvement by Agent Riati’s close friend and colleague, Agent Vetra.

As the ISB shuttle smoothly halted upon the landing pad in the courtyard of the Vorzyd Sector Office, a lanky, blue skinned twi’lek Imperial grey suit approached the lowering shuttle ramp with a data pad in hand. Riati adjusted her long black coat that draped over her dark grey leather suit with the Imperial insignia hidden in a darker shade of black on her left shoulder blade of her own uniform. The insignia and her blaster pistol were always obscured by her coat as she moved. Riati departed the shuttle with the two shuttle pilots and a couple other office workers as two stormtroopers moved from the sides of Sector Office door, stopped at the flank of Riati and Talina. They would continue on to the sides of the shuttle ramp after a swift handoff. Talina, her trusted twi’lek colleague slipped her datapad to Riati as Riati slid her datapad to Talina.

“Talina, put that record in the appropriate place and quickly meet me in the command center. I have been informed by the Imperial Sector Chief that he is waiting to speak with me.” Riati stated sternly as her eyes assessed the condition of corridors as the two of them moved through the Office atrium.

“Yes, Riati.” Talina said tucking the datapad tighter against her frame.
“Oh...and Talina could you might fetch the station custodian? This entrance hall could sorely use a scrub up.” Riati said stopping at the foot of the command center door and turning to look upon her colleague. Talina agreed and headed in the direction of the station staff quarters.

Moments later, Talina returned to Riati in the bustling command center. Day shift ISB technicians and intel analysts were hard at work assessing and dispensing directives to the few Agents working in the sector. Talina, herself, worked alongside Riati as a trusted intel analyst. Riati had all ready moved to the Sector Chief’s Office. Riati did not concern herself with Talina’s reemergence, having insured Talina be vetted by her supervisors for private meetings.

[Professor Mors]

"Ah, this must be your errant operative", a foreign, honeyed tone announced as Agent Riati entered the rectangular room, normally occupied by her overseer alone. And, while Sector Chief Arlen Hance was stationed at his usual chromium desk chair, a new face hovered beside him: an unsettling face. The second man was much shorter than the chief, standing at a little over 1.6 meters. Nonetheless, the stranger's probing, slate-gray eyes and plastic grin easily made up for this apparent lack of presence, as did his expanded, colorful rank placard. "The incident report will have to wait Agent", the Chief began, briefly floating his eyes over at his diminutive associate, "Allow me to introduce Major Heiys Brant from the COP".

An occasional liaison from the Commission of Operations was not entirely unheard of, especially in a priority sector like Vorzyd. That said, to receive an official above the rank of corporal, much less a Major, was the stuff of myth. Whatever warranted Brant's appearance here and now, it was sure to produce a mound of paperwork for somebody, somewhere down the line. "Chief Hance tells me you do fine work Agent", Heiys continued, his dimples collapsing inward as his smile widened, "And that you take the confidentiality of your tasks very seriously". Though much of the ISB's work was shrouded in shadows, stealth and discrepancy were mandatory for those that kept a firm eye on persons of intrigue. "Riddle me this", Brant purred, "Outside of this room, how many of your colleagues do you trust?".

[Arya Cognito]

Agent Riati took to a rigid locked stance with her eyes forward momentarily before returning to her original relaxed, yet respectful and professional stance as she was now audience to her superiors. Talina, smartly, remained silent and nondescript as to not draw any more attention than she understood was on her.

Riati responded in turn to the Sector Chief Hance’s introduction and Major Brant’s inquiry, “I am honored to meet you, Major Brant, sir. You are correct in your assessment that I take great care in maintaining the anonymity of my work and the results of that work, sir.”

Agent Riati’s hazel brown eyes locked onto her colleague Talina for a passing acknowledgment that Talina was no doubt part of the subject of Major Brant’s question. Agent Riati returned her gaze to Brant to reply, “My colleague Talina and I have worked closely together since our first days at the Imperial Academy. To answer your question thoroughly, there is no one outside of this room that I trust as implicitly, sir.”

[Professor Mors]

As far as outward appearences were concerned, the Major seemed pleased with the agent's answers. Bobbing slightly as Riati gave her greeting and exposition, Heiys smiled inwardly at the ruling on her fellow agents and other office staff. It was an interesting assessment, an honest one. Certainly, Brant held his own intuition on the matter, but he made no move to counter his younger counterpart. Instead, he casually stepped round the front of the Sector Chief's desk, and came to a stop directly in front of his newest acquaintance. "I confess, I come with ill tidings Agent", Heiys continued, his grinning gaze fixed on the woman before him, "There's a rat in your midst, and we must catch them before the sector's coffers suffer any further".

Without further explanation, the Major produced a small, handheld holoprojector from within his tunic pocket. Depressing a side button, the minuscule device soon light up the air between Brant and Riati, displaying a series of color-coded bar graphs. "For the sake of time, I shall summarize our dilemma", Heiys teased, "Three days ago, our friends in Internal Affairs identified a sharp decline in the government account of this particular sector office; from what can tell, someone has been taking liberties with the Empress' treasury for well over a month now". Theft in the Empire was not unheard, theft within one of its paramilitary units was beyond inexcusable. "Whoever this individual- or individuals may be, their treachery cannot stand", Brant concluded, something dark flickering in his expression, "So I ask you Agent: will you help me catch the rat?".

[Arya Cognito]

Riati‘s eyebrows arched downward as she silently analyzed the information presented by her bosses. Talina did the same thing as she began setting up a task docket for the two of them to work on her datapad that included compiling a list of sector office staff to surveil and also account activity logs to look into. Riati eyed her busy colleague momentarily noticing her acceptance of the case. Riati returned her gaze to Brant and Heiys. “Any attack to the Empire cannot go without Investigation. I will aid you in this task. Am I going to be able to access sector office account data to help me better track any red flag transactions? That would greatly narrow my search...if they haven’t used an external account for the theft. Although, an external account would be a red flag unto itself. I will see what I can dig up and call in the Vorzyd Enforcement and Interrogations Office to aid me in the apprehension of this thief after I have found them.”

[Professor Mors]

Somehow, despite what seemed physically possible, Heiys' grin deepened by another centimeter. He did so love those gung-ho, loyalist answers. "Thank you for your cooperation Agents", Brant purred contentedly, "I have been given full access to all sector office mainframes within this system; such being the case, my resources are your resources". The Major stepped past Riati, and stopped off to the side of the exit, adding, "As far as the other branches are concerned, we will request their aid after we have tagged our likely suspects, any preemptive confusion might give our culprit a window to escape: and that cannot be allowed". "The Major is right", the Sector Chief gruffly affirmed, "This is a sensitive matter, discretion may prove the difference between success and failure".

Heiys nodded in agreement, and chortled, "Well said Sir: now if you'll excuse us, the agents and I have some digging to do". Turning about, Brant inclined his head at the two local servicewomen, and led the way back out into the access hallway. As he sauntered forward, the Major's bone-white cloak fluttered side to side as the trio traveled toward the central hub. Parade dress was uncommon outside of events, yet Brant's self-styling seemed to compliment grating sense of self-confidence. It was a fitting emblem of one of the Bureau's most infamous upstarts. Having achieved the rank of Major at the age of thirty, Heiys had taken a masterful advantage of the command vacuum in the wake of the failed coup, now some several cycles past.

Even on border world like Columex, there would certainly be those within the office that would recognize him, and actively work to avoid his scrutiny. For that reason, the Major respected and enjoyed the company of Agent Riati. Thus far, she had been unaffected by Brant's presence, which meant, if nothing else, fear would not hamper her performance. Heiys was not sure the same could be said of the Twi'lek, but he afforded her the blind hope all the same. "Our probes have triangulated several potential dens of embezzlement", Brant abruptly began once more, having scanned the immediate vicinity for any hungry ears, "Including packing companies on Vorzyd II, industrial sites on Vorzyd III, and some of the larger casinos on Vorzyd V: tell me Agents, does any one of those stand out to you as a likely staging ground?".

OOC: I like the purple, a fine addition!

[Arya Cognito]

Talina was typing swiftly as she brought up closed surveillance case reports regarding the aforementioned locations, eyed any connections to shady dealings, and quietly handed the datapad to Riati once a red flag site had popped up. Quickly, Riati skimmed over the report. “Last month, Talina had brought to my attention the Vorzyd III industrial sites. I undertook a surveillance mission in those sites which included...”

—A month ago Vorzyd III—
An imperial insignia laden shuttle touched down at the spaceport populated by Imperial military personnel and the Vorzydiak locals with their greenish-yellow skin, larger than most sapient species’ round eyes, and multiple antennae sprouting from their brown-black hair. Riati, whom had studied xenolinguistics extensively at the academy along with her other spy craft courses, walked up to her Vorzydiak contact and spoke Vorzydiak to him. The contact informed her regarding industrial sites converted into Imperial factories needing surveillance due to some less than reputable natives reportedly working against the local Imperial occupation. It would be a few days of night time infiltration operations and a couple days of surveillance. Riati installed untraceable system surveillance and analysis software and small cams in key points across each of the sites. The results returned to Riati stating that the local disgruntled natives were crafting weaponry and other armaments for local resistance groups. Agent Vetra took point after the initial report was sent back to Vorzyd Sector Office. Vetra’s investigation and subsequent quell of coordinated militia supply lines closed the case. Vetra had remained on Vorzyd III, she claimed it was to continue the investigation beyond the supply chain. She only just returned last weekend.
————
“...Agent Vetra’s activities beyond the closed investigation are unknown. Many thought it was unusual that she underwent another investigation without ISB issuance. Vetra has yet to explain why she stayed nor what, if anything, she may have uncovered during her non sanctioned operation. Vetra merely left that thread dangling as a flag for me as she resumed her work with me on Columex.”

[Professor Mors]

Heiys cradled his chin between a pair of gloved fingers, beaming ever-onward as the Agent explained the situation with her colleague. An off-the-books exercise was a surprisingly common occurrence within the ISB. Seldom were operations labeled as all-around need-to-know, and while one party might not report to one, the standard assumption was that they would report to an official in another branch or office. Assumptions however, were not always so valid, especially in Brant's line of work. "Depending on the nature of the assignment, whatever information she might have gleaned could be flagged for supervisors only", the Major deliberated, "Nonetheless, I'm always in favor of a little extra digging".

Brant stopped mid-stride, and paused to consider their next course of action. The grip on his face tightened, as if to try and constrict the apparent glee plastered on his visage. "That said, it might behoove us to divide our search efforts for the time being", Heiys continued, his grin leveling out some as an air of seriousness briefly manifested in his voice, "I'll strike up a talk or two with some members of this branch's oversight committee: in the meantime, why don't you and your associate poke about on the down-low?". Brant took a moment to unclip a rather oblong data disk, before gingerly handing it off to Riati. "You'll need this for any technical barriers you encounter", Heiys cheerfully elaborated, "Think of it as the Commission's skeleton key".

[Arya Cognito]

————
An hour later within a private sector office
————
The doors were locked to a blackened shiny metal office with mirrored glass views of the command center of the Sector office. The office was mostly silent, very dim. Riati was alone with the key.

Talina was offsite in her staff apartment room working quietly at her station on her own part of the case as to distance herself from any possible interference with Riati’s information combing.

The sound of a keycard activation in the console pinged the terminal to life. Riati typed a name. A list a page and a half deep of correspondences between a code name CSB and Vetra. Their correspondences left a sense of almost preemptive disappointment that crossed her as the back of her mind acknowledged what her eyes bore witness to next. A slip-up. Heiys was mentioned by name in two different correspondences. As was a mention of a person named Rhoden. Riati went back to figuring out who CSB was. CSB...CSB...BSC...not a hard one to solve Bureau Sector Chief.
These correspondences were painting a scene of a false investigation into the militant natives of Vorzyd III that was actually utilizing the same raided industrial sites for satellite links to the Vorzyd Sector Office. The credit transfer meet ups took place in all three sites over a period of weeks under the guise of follow up investigations. Who the money was going to was unclear as the recipient was not named nor declared under a faction.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...a tone rang out as well as a timer. Riati sprang to action as she noticed the correspondence files were being purged by a second user in real time. Quickly, Riati started an external source backup on the correspondence list to salvage them while trying to fight an encrypted virus that had been implanted on some of the files being transferred. A series of beeps sounded out as an indicator the virus had been destroyed. The virus only managed to corrupt a few of files out of the dozen collected. Riati, then, isolated the source of the data slicer and brought up cam footage from the terminal. She began a cam feed recording to upload to her backup chit. Riati was visibly rattled by the cam footage...

[Professor Mors]

"No", Heiys growled through an angry grin, "I'm not trying to reach the branch chief: I would like access to the mission records for the past three months!". A disinterested desk official did not bother with making eye contact, and kept his gaze glued down at a magazine that lay before him, "So y'wanna inspect the communications terminal from the eh- COP?". "No", Brant argued once more, his voice shifting a tone lower, "As I already said before, I need you t-". The Major was abruptly cut off by a large pop, which seemed to emanate from whatever chewing gum the desk jockey happened to be consuming in their miserable excuse for a mouth. That was quite enough. With a earth-quaking impact, the oblivious tech nearly fell from their chair in shock as the help window received a new opening.

The treated glass was not as tough as transparasteel, and was intended to catch stray blasterbolts as opposed to a vengeful fist. Heiys had little issue in sending his message, and soon after the much-more alert aide told him exactly where he needed to be. It did not take long to find the cluster of terminals and personnel the Major had been seeking, and Brant had only just removed the stray shards from his glove when he hastily dragged an unsuspecting agent down to his height with a forceful tug. After swiftly hissing his demands into the put-upon colleague's ear, the younger man led the way to side cubicle that housed the surveillance record-keeping official. Briskly introducing himself, Heiys then leveled an unprecedented request.

"You mean to search all the recorded minutes from the oversight meetings Sir?", a bewildered, older gentlemen inquired. "No Lieutenant", Brant spat back, "We are going to comb through every last memo, every holorecording, and every hasty caf receipt from three months prior up until this week". "But Sir", the winded oversight member protested, "It could take hours: would it not please you to have a droid-". "What would please me greatly", Heiys intejected, "Would be for you to quit mewling and start working Lieutenant: unless you'd rather we talk to your supervisor?". The older man, not unfamiliar with a threat when he heard it, quickly shook his head, and took to aiding the Major with his search. It was going to be a long afternoon.