Private Hier Encore…

[The Director]

|| HIER ENCORE… ||

~blink and you’ll miss it~

TAG: Delphine Grosvenor​

FONDOR UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

Not often you do find a time to stroll around during war time. People will say that it’s a waste of time, why walk and talk when you can act. But that’s a very narrow viewpoint that has pushed this once great Alliance of the finest people of the galaxy on a downward spiral.

Believe it when I say it, you find the most brilliant ideas in emulous conversations, and you find the vim and vigour to continue fighting the good fight when you can sense the gloom and sorrow in those you seek to protect.

That’s why I called my recently hand-picked Deputy Director of the Special Operations Division for a walk at this very time, an hour or so past midnight. It wasn’t a surprise that she was still in her office when I knocked, we all have no time to rest at times like this. The job demands us to do so, and the advance Alliance’s medical science allows us to get by such schedule.

Such is life of the protectors of the Alliance.

We walk through tunnels, further from the main building, away from the bustling SIA’s business-as-usual, where it should clear our mind enough to sharpen our intuition and perspective.

“Isn’t this just better?” I asked the deputy, referring to the city and the planet, not the situation. “I’ll never miss the wretched machination of Coruscant.”

Corrupt senators, arrogant Jedi, incompetent army, and all three were also true for the SIA. At least we can start relatively fresh here, establish a foothold, build a robust stronghold for SIA. For the sake of the good people of the Alliance.

“We have so many enemies, deputy, outside and within…” I said softly, as we continued our walk, deliberately leaving words hanging, forcing a response from her.

 

[Delphine Grosvenor]

How long had it been since Delphine slept?

Really slept. Not the snatches of sleep on the uncomfortable leatherette sofa in her office, curled up under her blazer, or upright in her chair. She longed for a proper bed, but she suspected it would be some time, still. And now here was the Director, newly minted and apparently believing himself still in some kind of honeymoon phase that entitled him to schedule meetings at mad hours. But Delphine was pleased for the opportunity to stretch her legs, and she was nothing if not a workaholic, so that the meeting was at a mad hour did not discomfit the Deputy Director at all. She met him at the doorway, falling into step one step behind and to his right. "Good morning, Director," Delphine said, her in her usual professional, if slightly posh, voice.

Respectful, without being obsequious.

"I don't know about better," Delphine said without preamble. "But I'm approximately eighty-nine-point-seven percent certain that a heretofore unnoticed capital ship is about to tear out of the floor under our feet here on Fondor, though, and that's not nothing." Delphine missed Coruscant, to a point. It had no culture of its own, but there was something exciting about the melting pot nature of it, the way people came from all over the known universe to be there. The food, the music, the clothing -- well, maybe not the clothing. Delphine preferred to keep things classic, like her sharply tailored trousers and satin blouse.

She followed along her superior, heels clicking officiously along the tunnel floors.

"Yes," she agreed with his assessment. "It's worse than all but our worst projections. I can't help but think... it couldn't have been a one-man show, could it? Tithe, acting on his own?" She frowned and shook her head; despite the hour, not a single auburn hair departed its appointed place in her sleek beehive. "One wonders if we ought to include an internal element to our... little scheme. I was thinking of calling it Operation: Riftwalker. Thoughts, sir?"

___________________________________________________________________

The Director​

 

[The Director]

|| HIER ENCORE… ||

~blink and you’ll miss it~

TAG: Delphine Grosvenor​

FONDOR UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. This planet has always been a hotbed of capitalists and opportunists, after all," I answered the deputy's quip. Tithe has many associates who either frequented this planet often or are based here. Another Imperial Star Destroyer? Unlikely. Yet chords of strings were also planted here in Fondor. "But I've been stationed here once, way before it was integrated into the Alliance. I have a network here." People and places and all the clues and cues. At least I'm half-familiar with all of it. There got to be something hidden in Fondor, but Coruscant was an untamed beast, and Fondor is only a rodeo bull by comparison.

We continued our walk, making another loop that might be a challenge to trace back. Mindless walk and talk often has that effect, and these tunnels are built exactly for that. If someone walked pass by, not that they will be able to, they would see a peculiar sight of one sharply dressed mature woman and one rugged Duros with an eyepatch and an overused coat. One might think that the woman is the boss here, as was by design.

Another remarks by the deputy, one I only answered with a hum. Tithe, working on his own? The senate is full of roaches, the Trade Federation, the Commerce Guild, all the corporatists, their pacifist enablers, and the silent majority. Having someone on the inside is paramount for our cause. That's the case for every organisation, even. The NJO, army, navy, you name it. It seems like the deputy also shares the same sentiment. "Riftwalker... names are just names; I have no preference either way." If it answers our needs of dependable ears and mouth and hands acting on our behalf from the shadow, then I am all for it. "Tell me what you have so far, hmm?" The more names and cases, the merrier.

​

 

[Delphine Grosvenor]

Delphine frowned thoughtfully. The Director was right, of course. Fondor was a shipyard world, after all, so was it more likely, then, that the planet might play host to another Eclipse III? She did some rough calculations in her head, her eyes flicking this way and that as her mind world over the puzzle. She was sure that he didn't want a revised estimate of their chances, but after weighing the factors, she was reasonably comforted that her confidence level had dropped only three point five percentage points.

Fondor was indeed a hotbed of capitalists, but that was its saving grace, in her view. A state of the art warship going missing from its production lines would have to raise some red flags, she thought. Then again, capitalism and corruption went hand-in-hand, and there was also the matter of ineptitude. "Now that you mention it, sir, and I hate to overstep, but perhaps we might prevail upon our brothers in DipServ or Counterintelligence to... acquaint themselves with the shipyards here. It would be helpful to get eyes on the financial statements of the players here -- and not the ones the provide to Alliance Revenue," she added dryly.

She half-twisted to accommodate a fixture on the wall as they passed by it before she resumed her normal gait at the Director's side.

As they weren't in a secure environment -- and the Force only knew what forces were at work here in the unsecured corridors -- the Deputy Director was wary of saying too much. "What I have is the beginning of a plan. I wanted to sound you out as far as joint resource availability before I get ahead of my skis, so to speak." She paused a moment as what appeared to be a janitorial droid passed. "It will require a team effort, I expect. SpecDiv can handle the apprehensions and eliminations, of course." This was a point of pride for her, as perverse at it sounded to relish in the hunt and the kill. "But our brothers in Counterintelligence will have a critical role to play. There are plenty of targets for whom we don't yet have names, locations, routines. I don't think it is a good use of SecDiv's resources to have my agents on long-term intelligence-gathering stakeouts or surveillance missions, not with so many active threats already identified."

Delphine cleared her throat, reaching up to smooth her collar. "It would be broken down into phases," the deputy said. "First, the report. Then, surveillance and intelligence-gathering to corroborate the report and positively identify the individual, to establish whether there is a likelihood of actionable intelligence to be extracted via infiltration or continuous surveillance. If so, our brothers in CInt keep squeezing until the fruit is dry. Meanwhile, we would determine whether the Agency's existing protocols would allow for a priority apprehension for interrogation or elimination of the target. Once there is no more valuable intelligence to be gleaned, or if it is determined that the risk-reward or effort-reward ratio is too high, I would authorize the... operation." A beat, then she added: "In consultation with your office, of course."

There would have to be details ironed out, of course, and petty border disputes between the divisions settled, financing approved, mission parameters to be settled. But the broad strokes were there, the bones of the plan.

"Obviously, any internal focus would require more collaboration with DipServ," said the deputy thoughtfully. "And a gentler questioning. It wouldn't due to imprison Alliance personnel or, heaven forfend, Senators without something more or less ironclad."

___________________________________________________________________

The Director​

 

[The Director]

|| HIER ENCORE… ||

~blink and you’ll miss it~

TAG: Delphine Grosvenor​

FONDOR UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

"Step however you want, deputy,” The I answered the… conscientious(?) deputy. She isn’t that familiar with me, after all, and she’s most likely had been working her entire life to secure this job. It’s not surprising that she chose to be very careful with her words. But that definitely doesn’t work for me long-term. “You know why you were my first, and to this date, only option I ever considered as a Deputy Director, don’t you?”

I looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction, “I believe that you are more capable than even your current position suggests. If I wanted a yes-man I wouldn’t even thought of approaching you.”

We continued our walk as I listened to her take on how the SIA should approach and handle the numerous threats we are facing right now, and how we as an organisation should tackle those issues effectively. “Your assessment was right. SpecDivs resources are way too valuable to spend on surveillance and analytics, that are jobs for Veil and CInt.” That we still have to work a lot in. I don’t have a doubt of SpecDivs ability, competence, and readiness, the same can’t be said for the other divisions.

“We need SpecDivs to be the spearhead of SIA’s vision, to annihilate what are, were, and could be malicious towards the Alliance.”

Another droid passed by, and I took that moment to take a look back at why I decided to hire Delphine at the first place.

“You, however, we both share the same eagerness to see the Alliance preserve their role as the galaxy’s beacon of hope and moral. Not the Senate, not the Jedi, not the Army nor the Navy. That’s why I need you, your mind, your insight, your intuition, on everything.”

That was decision that I hope will help SIA greatly in our effort to reinforce hope and justice back to the Alliance.

“We have so many enemies, but I was also given a clearance to protect this Alliance, at all cost.”

I took a pause to walk passed a junction between tunnels, making sure that we are in one of the numerous blind spots before continuing our talk.

“I have every single of our stakeholders mapped out, as well as the known external threats, and our approach and strategy for each individual. That’s not a discussion appropriate for this short walk however.” I handed the deputy a note, a schedule for another talk, as well as a one-time use passcode. Board, papers, markers, and complete isolation are going to be crucial for our next talk.

“I’ll walk you back to your office, hmm?”

​

 

[Delphine Grosvenor]

Delphine felt a prickling sensation at the nape of her neck. The hairs there, styled and pinned and sprayed into a flawless quasi-beehive wanted to stick up. The Director was being quite complimentary, and that made her... anxious. For all his talk of her being potentially suited for a higher position, she was acutely aware that there was only one position within the current power structure higher than hers -- and that was the Director's himself.

She allowed herself a beat to process his question, internal gaze scanning for traps. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Director -- quite the contrary -- but Delphine had spent a lifetime in this kind of corridor, in spirit if not in body. Anyone who ever thought that intelligence work wasn't political knew nothing of the game, and Delphine -- she didn't love politics, but she played the game. Then, she said: "I would have no way of knowing that, of course." This in response to his question about her knowledge of his selection of deputies. "I did wonder, after Teta and Tython, after Coruscant -- there is something worse than having no one on the job, and that's having the wrong person on the job."

Her eyebrow arched and she glanced sidelong at him, murmuring quietly: "I have no particular designs on your parking spot, if that's what you're getting at." She'd almost said worried about. Delphine couldn't picture him worrying -- not in that way.

They continued their walk, Delphine second-guessing every step of the way. She had to stop herself replaying the conversation back in her head; focus on the here and now, here and now, and fret over it later. When he offered to walk her back, she nodded cautiously. "Yes -- thank you, sir. A wise choice, if I say so myself," she added, referencing not wanting to carry out the conversation in this corridor.

Wordlessly tucking the note into a hidden pocket in her sleeve, Delphine nodded and touched the side of her nose. "Very good, sir. Is there anything you need from me ahead of this broader conversation?"

___________________________________________________________________

The Director​

 

[The Director]

|| HIER ENCORE… ||

~blink and you’ll miss it~

TAG: Delphine Grosvenor​

FONDOR UNDERGROUND TUNNELS

“That’s how they play the game,” I hummed at the deputy’s point on how crucial it is to secure the top roles in the SIA.

“They bribe politicians and bureaucrats to placate weak leaders in our military and intelligence services when they can’t outright install a mole in our ranks.” Such is the machinations of the Dark Side, of evil. Sometimes we forget that we are fighting a shadow war, that despite of the wealth and the supremacy of the Alliance, we are always in a very vulnerable position, that it only takes a few errors for it to crumble. And they are banking on it.

“Oh believe me Deputy Grosnevor, there are moles within our ranks. They’ve always been here,” I whispered to her, making it clear if it hasn’t been by now that we are fighting an uphill battle to secure the survival and longevity of our Alliance.

My mind wanders around some faces that I suspect have something to do with two of our enemies. Call me paranoid, but it had happened with Taeli Raaf and it happened again with Aerarii Tithe. They are around, dormant, comfortable in their station in the Senate, NJO, GADF, and even SIA. All while we walked mindlessly, in silence for a moment, letting both of us digest how crucial it is for us to work closely, to be working in sync.

The deputy then voiced her disinterest in my seat; maybe one of respect, yet can only be of distrust or genuine evasion of such responsibility.

“You should. I’m not doing this out of ambition, only love and duty. The moment someone has proven that they can lead the SIA better than me, I’ll be back enjoying mai tai on the beach with my dogs and the ash of my dead husband.”

As our conversation is coming to an end, we circled back on our route, slowly making our way back to the deputy director’s office. Beeping sound starts to creep back in as we are walking back towards maintenance droids and such, closer to where most activities in the headquarters are happening in this hectic midnight. We are getting closer to the end of our conversation, so I opted not to answer her last question, instead offering a food for thought.

“The SpecDiv are in the forefront of our access to the NJO and our war against two of the biggest threats to our Alliance. Know, study, and play your cards right and we might secure us the chance to free the good people of this hopefully eternal Alliance of the shackle of this supposedly eternal war.”

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