Ask Crown Jewels

[Sebastian Montari]

Since becoming a lieutenant, Sebastian had been a little surprised with the lack of action he’d seen. During the promotion ceremony, it had seemed as if they would all be sent out onto the front lines. He’d prepared himself for that and had even been looking forward to it.

Instead, he’d been assigned to a small military outpost on Eiattu, far from any real combat. There had recently been reports of rebel activity on the planet, but since he’d arrived, it had been relatively quiet. Not that peace wasn’t a good thing— that was what he’d signed up to fight for, after all. However, part of him felt bored going through the same motions every day, eating the same food, talking with the same people, writing the same dull reports. He wanted something different.

Fortunately, he would be saved from having to write yet another page-long report today due to the visit of an Imperial Agent. That was new due to the two branches working separately for the most part, at least in the lower levels. Still, it was a departure from his normal routine, so Sebastian found himself looking forward to it.

Soon, the agent would be escorted in by an officer, and Sebastian would stand up from his seat behind the desk to greet her.

“Agent.” He gave her a brief smile and nod of greeting as the other officer left the room. “Lieutenant Montari here. Welcome to the Eiattu Outpost. The captain is currently on leave, so I’ll be responsible for what you have for us today. What brings you here?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

When she became an agent, Eliora had expected that she would be able to be useful to the Empire. Not only that, the woman also hoped that there would be some exciting action with her job. However, her expectations were totally subverted since she started working.

Rather than going to deal with possible conspiracies and other problems, Eliora was forced to spend most of her time in an office filing reports. Her superiors seemed to dismiss most of the occurrences that they received, which made her entire department spend hours staring at walls.

Of course, some of the occurrences that they received went nowhere. However, there were still a good number that were worthy of being investigated. It was with a great cost that she convinced her superiors of allowing her to investigate one of those. According to the information, there were suspicious things happening on Eiattu.

Before she could start doing the investigation, Eliora was forced to talk with the military stationed in the outpost. After all, she would need to stay somewhere while working. The best part of all this was that she was going to see Corbin again. After his condecoration, the Lieutenant was sent to Eiattu.

When she arrived at the outpost, the woman was escorted to an office. Rather than being welcomed by the captain, Eliora was greeted by a Lieutenant. This was uncommon, the protocol dictated that the responsible for the place should be the one greeting the visitors.

“Hello, Lieutenant Montari. I’m Agent Vulloon and I’m here due to some reports.” she said, before pulling her datapad and giving it to the man. “As you can see, there are some suspicious occurrences in Eiattu. The entrance of these shipments weren’t programmed, or even allowed.”

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

Agent Vulloon cut directly to the chase by explaining what was going on, and as she did, Sebastian accepted the datapad. What it showed was consistent with what the agent was saying about unauthorized, illegal shipments. What was more intriguing was that they appeared to have a schedule— one or two packages were intercepted every week at a specific time. Most of the contents were mundane enough, but still, it was enough to raise some eyebrows.

This was, after all, the first real disturbance he’d seen so far, however small.

“It is strange,” he admitted, sliding the datapad back to Agent Vulloon. “I assume you’re in charge of investigating this. Is there anything I can do to help?” He was far from being one who could actually authorize the loaning of equipment or men for something like this, but he figured that he could try to do what he could. Especially since the agent would already be staying here for a while, why not make himself useful?

Anything was better than his monotonous daily routine.

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

Eliora waited patiently for Montari to read the information on her datapad. Like the man had said, it was indeed a strange occurrence. There was no sense for so much equipment to be moved into Eiattu. Not only that, but these things seemed to disappear as soon as they reached the planet.

The apparent disappearance of these equipment was the reason why Eliora’s superiors allowed her to investigate. While they still believed that this was going to be nothing important, the Agent was capable of convincing them that there could be something illegal behind it. They thought that it was a case of smuggling, but she believed that there was something more happening.

“Yes, I was designed to investigate it.” in reality she begged to be sent, but he didn’t need to know that. “I would need some help to navigate through the city and also to have access to the spaceports where these equipment were received.” she said, before picking her datapad back.

“As you probably noticed, it disappeared from the custom records after arriving in Eiattu. I believe that these things couldn’t even be here anymore.” she not only wanted to discover if these equipment disappeared, but also to where it could have gone. However, Eliora would need the Lieutnant's help.

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

“Navigation shouldn’t be a problem— a map of the city isn’t hard to find. In fact, I can give you a copy here,” he said, plugging in a device that would download it from the public database. As he waited, he would look up to meet her gaze for her other concern.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the authority to give you military clearance for open access to the spaceport… but I can go with you and use mine instead.” The map finished downloading just then, and he offered it to her. “I hope I’m not overstepping, though,” he added quickly. He didn’t know if his superiors would be particularly happy with that as it didn’t directly involve the military, but he could probably talk his way out of it especially since it did genuinely affect the Empire.

More importantly, he didn’t know if Agent Vulloon would approve of him tagging along. As far as he knew, she had come to the outpost for some information, a place to stay, and nothing more. She was an imperial agent, he was an army lieutenant, and this appeared to be mostly “agent business”.

“If you’re right about the equipment not being here anymore, it would be better to get there as quickly as possible,” he said finally, watching the agent for some kind of cue as for whether or not he could come along. “Do you have a ride?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

”Thank you.” Eliora said and waited for the map to be downloaded in the datapad. While she could have found one in the Holonet, perhaps one offered by the military could be more informative. After all, anyone could create a fake one these days. The last thing that she wanted was to get lost in this city.

The answer for her other request was disappointing. It was essential for the investigation that she had access to the spaceports and their records. “I’ll accept your offer.” Eliora would have wanted to investigate alone, or perhaps with Corbin. However, if both options weren’t possible, she would go with what Montari was offering.

“However, I ask you to not touch the scene and to do what I say.” Eliora didn’t know if Montari knew how to operate during an investigation, since it was a mission that was more common to the agents. “If it isn’t your first time doing it, then you can ignore what I’m saying. You probably already know what to do.”

“You are right.” Eliora said, before turning to walk out of the room. “I was going to call a cab, but if you can offer a ride, I accept.” the Agent smiled, thinking about the possibility of saving the money that she was going to spend with transportation.

“By the way, do you know Corbin Sylva? He is also a Lieutenant and was located here in Eiattu.” she asked, thinking that Montari could know her friend. After finishing this investigation, she hoped that there would be some time for her to say hi to him before leaving the planet.

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

At the agent’s consent, Sebastian gave her a nod to show that he understood. Underneath his stoic expression, however, was an immense relief that he would finally be able to leave the outpost to do something else for a change. He didn’t mind the company either.

“Yes, ma’am.” He knew better than to interfere with others’ jobs. If the roles were reversed and say, a rogue agent was messing with equipment or such on a battlefield, he wouldn’t be particularly happy either. So he told himself that he would stay out of her way.

“The speeder is right this way. After you.” Sebastian would smile back as he opened the door and let Agent Vulloon out first before taking the lead toward the speeders. On the way, he would turn to look at her curiously when she brought up Corbin.

“Yes, I know him,” he responded, heading outside to where the speeders were kept. He never mentioned having a girlfriend, though, he thought in surprise. Of course, he wouldn’t say that part out loud. “We have lunch together all the time.” He opened the speeder door for her, looking apologetically at her at the next part. “He’s out on patrol now, unfortunately, so if you want to pay him a visit it will probably have to wait until after we come back from the spaceport.”

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

Eliora felt relieved when Montari agreed with her requirements without complaining. In the chain of command, the two are basically on the same level and she had no right to order him around, with the Lieutenant being allowed to question her orders. However, he would be an idiot if started to argue with her regarding the investigation. After all, she was the one used to doing this type of thing, not him.

“Corbin is a good man. We have been friends since we met at the Academy.” she said, with nostalgia in her voice. Between the craziness of it and the despair of needing to study several subjects at the same time, Eilora needed to agree that these were good times. “Then I’ll talk with him later.”

The two walked out of the outpost and toward the speeders. There were typical military vehicles and ones that were simpler, perfect to move in the streets without being noticed by the people. “We should go with one of these.” she pointed toward a simple one. “It’ll avoid bringing attention to what we are doing.”

Her logic for that comment came from her time training to be an Agent. By picking such a vehicle, the people behind the transportation of these equipment would not notice that who was approaching were members of the Empire. When investigating, you want to catch the possible criminals by surprise.

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

It was only when Agent Vulloonn brought it up that Sebastian realized he’d led them to a military vehicle. He was so used to those that he hadn’t even thought twice about it, but she was right that in this situation, something less… obvious would better suit their needs. This was why she was the agent and he was the lieutenant, he presumed.

“Good point,” he admitted, heading over to the one that she had pointed out. “After you, agent.” When they both got in, Sebastian would start up the speeder before pulling out of the lot. The way to the spaceport wasn’t far, and they would get there quickly enough despite the traffic.

Once they’d found a spot to park their speeder, they would be able to make their way inside the spaceport. His uniform garnered a couple of looks, but it was common enough seeing soldiers around with an outpost nearby. So, once they were in, he would look to Agent Vulloonn for what to do next.

“Where to?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

Eliora nodded, before entering the vehicle. It was good that Montari could understand her line of thought and agreed to go in the inconspicuous speeder. With so many military people loving to show the strength of the Empire, it was a welcome surprise to see one that understands the importance of being subtle. It would make the investigation easier.

Once inside the vehicle, Eliora pulled her datapad and started to once again read the reports of the suspicious shipments. While they had remained in Eiattu very briefly, some local customs agents were clever enough to register them. She would need to have access to that and hopefully conduct some interviews with the workers.

“I need to talk with the supervisor and ask for the records of that particular shipment.” she said, while leaving the speeder. “Then, I’ll want to see the place where it was stored and talk with the workers. Do you think that you can arrange that?” Eliora asked, uncertain if Montari’s rank of Lieutenant would be enough.

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

As Agent Vulloon stated the things she needed done, Sebastian nodded as he jotted them down on his datapad. The supervisor wasn’t directly affiliated with the Imperial military, but a consultation wouldn’t be difficult to arrange. He could think of few beings who wanted to get on the Empire’s bad side by declining a meeting with the army and ISB. As for the workers, they wouldn’t have much of a choice.

“‘Course I can.” Sebastian quickly sent a message to the supervisor, then put his datapad away. He glanced at the agent. “While we wait for him to respond, do you want to interview the workers first? That way if he denies that the shipments came through, we’ll be able to use his own workers’ testimonies against him.” He paused. “Or… we could grab a caf or something and wait for him to message back.”

Maybe he was getting a little ahead of himself slightly suggesting changes to Agent Vulloon’s plan, but being able to do something for once was invigorating. Plus doing it with a good-looking agent didn’t hurt.

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

”Thank you.” she smiled at Montari, happy with the fact that the man was proving to be efficient. With the presence of a member of the military, the supervisor would feel even more compelled to answer her questions. Not that refusing to cooperate with the ISB would be something clever to be done, but there was always a fearless idiot.

Eliora was surprised with Montari’s offer to grab caf. She didn’t expect that he would want to do something like that in the middle of an investigation. However, the idea wasn’t that bad. Since she started to work as an agent, caf had become her fuel. The woman believed that this case wasn’t going to be easy, thus this beverage would be necessary.

“I like the idea of going to have caf. We can grab it and return to do the interviews. I have the feeling that we are going to do it for a long time.” she said, before waiting for him to walk back to the speeder. "I believe that you already know a good place for us to buy caf around here."

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

Sebastian had to blink twice when Agent Vulloonn actually agreed to his idea about getting caf. He was half joking when he suggested it, but now that they had the opportunity, why not?

“Oh, yeah, I’ll show you. It’s definitely one place I’ll miss once I’m transferred away from here,” he said with a smile before gesturing for the agent to follow. “It’s close. Hopefully you’ll like it as much as I and the other guys do.”

With that, the pair would make their way to a cafe close to the entrance of the spaceport. Even before they went inside, they would be able to smell the rich scent of warm caf in the air. When Sebastian opened the door though, he was surprised to see a very familiar face looking up right at them. A grin spread across his face as he went over to greet the man.

“Corvin! Great to see you here, man.” He gave his colleague a firm handshake. Then, he suddenly remembered that the agent had been looking for the man earlier, and quickly stepped aside. “Lieutenant Corvin, Agent Vulloonn. The agent was looking for you earlier,” he said to his colleague before smiling at Vulloonn. “I’ll let you two catch up while I get the caf, yeah?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Eliora Vulloonn]

Eliora noticed the surprise on Montari's face and it made her wonder why he was reacting this way. Did he expect her to accept the offer? Besides needing her daily dose of coffee, the Agent didn’t mind having a time to relax in the company of someone that wasn’t part of the ISB. The fact that the Lieutenant was cute was a bonus.

She followed Montari toward the caf shop, which wasn’t so far away from the spaceport. Eliora was surprised that she didn’t notice it when they arrived. The place was so close that the smell of caf was even reaching the entrance of the spaceport. It only made her desire for the beverage to increase.

Once she entered the shop, the two saw Corbin staring at them. Eliora smiled at the sight of her friend, but she didn’t have time to talk. Montari had immediately walked toward the G’weneen and greeted him. The Agent raised an eyebrow when she saw her friend smile stupidly at his fellow Lieutenant.

After Montari left them, Eliora approached her friend. “It’s good to see you, Corbin. How is your life as Lieutenant going?” she asked, while his friend seemed to recover from having interacted with the other man.

“It’s going well, nothing bad happened. While everyone wanted some action, I think that it’s good that everything is at peace. It means that the citizens of the Empire are safe.” Eliora needed to agree with her friend. “What are you doing here? Did you miss me that much?”

@Sicadorito

 

[Sebastian Montari]

As Sebastian waited in line, he occasionally glanced back at Corbin and the agent. He wondered how long they’d known each other for— he could have sworn he heard Corbin mentioning her during their promotion ceremony. Well, he was happy for them.

Just then, he turned around at the sound of the barista completely butchering his name. He’d almost forgotten it was his turn.

“Your order is ready, Mr. Montree. Three cafs?”

“That’s right. Thanks, mate.” He handed over the credits and grabbed the tray, making his way back to the others. He made sure no one was in the middle of speaking before approaching them again.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I have the caf,” he said with a smile. He offered one to Agent Vulloonn first, then gave one to Corbin as well. “Just the way you like it, bud.” He glanced back at the agent.

“Have you told him about why we were here yet? If… it’s not against protocol or anything, I mean,” he added quickly before breaking into a grin. “We can trust him, though, right?”

@LouJoVi