Ask Smoking Them Out

[Emryc Thorne]

While Emryc had visited Coruscant often, it would be the first time he set up a meeting with the new Senator. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a pleasure visit peppered with some diplomacy. This would be all work. The half Sephi was on a war path, and he wouldn’t be slowing down anytime soon. He had sent ISC forces to push Zaa Fenn out of Ploo, and he was given intel on some critical operations the Zaa Fenn managed on Coruscant. With his holiday interrupted, Emryc was a dangerous man to trifle with. That methodical and calculating side of him emerged to the top, and he would see it through till Zaa Fenn was all but eradicated.

It didn’t take him long to make his way over to the Senate building they agreed on as a meeting place. He was flanked by two Blackwell droids, but they remained at the entrance as he walked in. The half Sephi took the repulsorlift to the right floor, stepping out towards the meeting room.

“Senator Isard,” He greeted with that familiar baritone, “I hope you’ve been enjoying your holidays,” He said as he took a seat, “While this may not be the most pleasant of topics to meet on, it is unfortunately urgent.”

Emryc wasn’t the type to waste time. He also knew that Isard was also a woman that appreciated cutting right to the chase.

“No doubt you are entirely up to speed on the Zaa Fenn broadcast,” The half Sephi explained as he pulled up a datapad and began to draw out information before sliding it over to her, “I unearthed some rather concerning intelligence that points to a strong Zaa Fenn presence on Coruscant. I want to act on it before they are able to harm the citizens here like they did Mon Cala.”

@Wit

 

[Elayne Isard]

Elayne, forced to cut short the quite holiday she was enjoying with her wife, was still catching up on all the details of recent developments. Reports had started sneaking in to the moon the Isards owned and used as a summer home just as the news regarding the development on Mon Cala was breaking on the Holonet. Joe had predicted that was the end of their vacation, but Elayne had been hopeful that they might get another a day or two just to themselves before shit truly hit the fan. But the little stunt by the Zenn Faa brute had changed that. She had rushed back to Coruscant, just in time to receive a meeting request from none other than Emryc Throne himself.

"President Thorne," Elayne responded to the greeting, "yes, yes I have. Though I daresay it might be some time till Joe and I get the luxury of a vacation." While she was not familiar with Thorne in anything more than an official capacity, her wife had mingled with the man on Onderon, and Elayne never missed an opportunity to remind people that her personal life was centered around a happy and successful marriage. Partly out of genuine affection for her wife, and partly because a lot of people seemed to find it hard to assume a kind family-woman to be someone to worry about.

Gesturing for her aide to leave and close the door after her, Elayne walked over to a table to pick up a tray with refreshments and placed it at the coffee table between them before taking a seat across from the ISC President. "It has kept everyone up through the night." She replied to the question about the broadcast as she poured tea for the two of them, before picking up the datapad he slid across to her.

"This," she said after a few moments of staring at the information on the datapad, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, contemplating how much to say, and how, "this is not the first time such reports have reached my ears. Though the extent to which their influence had spread here is surprising. But with the state of affairs in the Galaxy, the virus, the recent financial crisis in the Core, not to mention a rather ill timed election and transition of power, I probably should not be surprised." She paused, once again glancing through the information on the datapad.

"But what is done is done," she said as she placed the datapad back on the table, "I don't know how the Republic, or the Senate will react to all this. But it is within my power to take action here, and I will support you in that regard. Ideally I would have called upon the Sector Rangers, but I am afraid I would need Republic approval for the scale of action this would involve, and we know well enough how the wheels of bureaucracy turn." She paused, glancing at the man seated across from her, her mind working the problem. "Am I right to assume that you can call upon your Sector Rangers if required?"

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc nodded, “That was the first part of my request, actually,” He said after she finished speaking and asked her question, “Would you permit ISC Rangers to operate freely within the lower districts to investigate the Lower Five?”

The half Sephi paused for a moment, “The second request is discretion. Zaa Fenn has gone to great lengths to hide their operations and invested greatly in slicers. How capable is your intelligence agency?”

The half Sephi had Bothawui as an ISC world, and that meant he had access to some of the best intelligence operatives in the entire galaxy. If he called them in, he knew it would be only a matter of time before they were able to slice into anything to extract intel.

“I suggest monitoring the region, but it would be foolish to barge in or make any moves just yet. At this point we need to keep an eye on all districts known to be affiliated with Zaa Fenn. It may lead to Gareth’s capture.”

@Wit

 

[Elayne Isard]

Elayne smiled at the response, that was one less hurdle. She knew there were be some fallout from letting ISC rangers into Coruscant, but she could see ways to exploit that as well. A pivot for more independent power for planets to call upon the Rangers than the Republic currently allowed.

"Yes," Elayne replied, "given the circumstances, and in the spirit of collaboration, I believe it would be best if we relaxed jurisdictional issues in this regard. Republic Rangers might not like it, but I'll deal with them if I must. We'll draw up the paperwork, but consider this a verbal agreement to grant ISC Rangers the authority to operate within Coruscant's lower levels to follow up on the intelligence you have unearthed and investigate activities of the Lower Five."

Listening to his second request, Elayne titled her head for a moment as she thought on the matter. She too knew of the Bothans working for Thorne, and she had long wondered on how they would hold up against Coruscant's cyber-tech personnel.

"I can assign planetary forces to this task," she said after giving it some thought, "but the need for discretion would limit what resources I can bring to the table. Drawing resources away from ongoing investigations, particularly those involved in Republic efforts might draw unwanted attention. And once the Senate gets word of this we can forget about any hopes of being discrete." She didn't have to say more, Thorne knew as well as her how prone to leaks either of their governments were, the more people knew about this the more the risk of things getting leaked.

"The lower levels are a world unto themselves, and frankly speaking any support you can provide to our cyber-tech forces would not go unappreciated." It was the truth, allowing ISC forces to bolster her planetary forces would definitely help, but it would also provide an unique opportunity. By working with the Bothans there was a wealth of knowledge that her operatives could pick up, knowledge that would do wonders for Coruscant's own intelligence capabilities.

@Sreeya