Bluemilk Run
The Oracle,
Before Jailbreak
It's been awhile since I've been called to the briefing room. Usually it's the opposite with me calling on others and then giving out the missions that have been handed down to me. The last time I really had any hands on experience was … oh … four months ago? It was pretty much clean up on Ord Mantell. I've been doing so much paperwork or clean-up regarding the Seekers that Dani has given me the title "Armchair Spy". I guess the connotations are slightly better than the title "Ms. Second Place" Olvia gave her in response. Thank the uncaring Force that I was able to calm Dani down with small praises.
I will never understand Olvia's incessant need to needle the one person who can choke her across the room. The 'anger management lessons' excuse only goes so far.
My thoughts are interrupted as the room's door slides open. My eyebrows raise as the highest-up glides into the room and smirks at me.
"Why, Cϋnuel, it's good to see you!"
I nod my head in acknowledgement.
"Ciaran."
I nearly miss seeing Ciaran's lips twitch just the slightest bit before her face becomes fully carefree like it tends to be around potential victims.
"Why, the last time I saw you properly was when I dropped in on this year's meeting for the Seeker officers! Is the paperwork beginning to chafe? It always has for me."
A small smile begins to grow on my face at the memory of the chaos created when she barged in on said meeting, but I smother it as soon as possible. I know how this goes. Any bait seen by Ciaran will be used to drag me down.
"In some ways I actually prefer it. Fewer blasters going off for one."
Ciaran scoffs and sits down into one of the front chairs placed around the briefing table.
"Boring as ever I see, but I should have expected it. After all, here is the man who attended a party only to stay at the edges."
"Are you talking about the one where I was supposed to check the wiretaps in the room or the one where I was there to ensure the target was present?"
Ciaran looks at me with a deadpan stare. She raises a single eyebrow above her visor.
I shrug and say, "Either way it meant leaving undetected."
She raises a hand to her face and shakes her head into it. I laugh internally. Ciaran then takes a datapad out from her dress and starts to fiddle with it. I would ask what the mission is but, if she's not bothering to fill me in, then we must be waiting on someone else. Only a minute or two goes by, but it's enough for me to grow bored.
I ask, "I wonder what would happen if others knew that the best way to stop your teasing was to start talking about work?"
Ciaran looks up from the datapad with a small pout.
"You're a cruel, cruel man, Cϋnuel. You wouldn't do that would you?"
Her pout is overly dramatic and comical. My lips can't help but raise themselves. I let her simmer for a moment even though I know she knows I don't mean it. I finally shake my head.
"No, I wouldn't. I'll admit it's amusing to see others suffer under your particular torture. The key word though is
others."
"Is that so?"
A slight feeling of dread crawls up my spine when I see Ciaran look back to her datapad with a wide smirk.
"If that is the case, then why was it that you weren't there to send Ms. Plenar off on her- " A brief flash of confusion crosses Ciaran's expression before she smiles again and continues, "-promotion?"
My eyes narrow at her question and I hesitate before asking, "Why would I have gone to send her off?"
Ciaran looks up and lets escape a mocking gasp. She brings a hand to her mouth.
"Why, Cϋnuel! If you enjoy seeing me
torturing others so much then you missed out on such a treat! Or was it because you didn't wish to see
her tortured?"
I ignore the connotations in her last statement and think back to our group's Sabaac game before last where I remember her telling us about the ceremony.
"I don't really see how it would have been either a treat for me or torture for her. She told me that it was a simple ceremony. Go to 'The Home', have a short ritual and discussion with you, Tyro and Veki- Vectivus, was it? Something like that. Anyway, there wasn't any real teasing from what she said."
Ciaran's smile slips for a second but then turns predatory when she says, "So she shared her experience with you?"
I have a guess now where she's trying to lead me and for once the truth can help me here. I answer, "She told our whole Sabaac group."
I must have crushed her hopes in trying to get gossip off of me because her smirk slowly slides off her face. She slumps back into her seat and then goes back to her datapad.
She mumbles, "You
truly are no fun."
A grin breaks out onto my face just as the room's door opens up. Gulan walks in and then stops for a moment when he looks around. I think for a second as to why but then realize it must be a strange scene to walk in on. Ciaran is effectively pouting in her seat while someone else has a smirk on their face. It's effectively a role reversal and must be somewhat of a shock due to how rare it is.
Gulan sharply shakes his head and then continues on to sit beside Ciaran. I hear him mumble while he sits down.
"Okay, let's get this over with. This should be my only meeting of the day and there's a Coruscanti Spa with my reservation on it."
He takes out a datachip and plugs it into the briefing table. An hologram of a human female with black hair mixed with red stripes and blue highlights pops up. The data circling around the figure's base contains a name, Ovolot Qail Uthan. Gulan begins the briefing.
"I know you actually read the damn mission details so for the sake of us all moving on with our lives I'll make it short."
He presses another button and the planet of Coruscant appears next to Ovolot with a particular point highlighted. The words "Valorum Center" appear underneath the swiveling planet.
"The Watchers are being contracted to break out Doctor Ovolot Qail Uthan from the Valorum Psychiatric Center or just Valorum Center. It's a madhouse essentially where those who are considered 'insane' or otherwise mentally disturbed are sent to for their crimes. The mission is a simple jailbreak. Get in, get her, get out. It's a blue milk run. The only obvious complications are that it contains medium level security and that it's on Coruscant so it
must be done quietly. At the end you are to escort her to a location where a third party will pick her up. Questions?"
Gulan grimaces at his offer because he knows I will have some. Thankfully there's someone else who can answer them. I shoot a quick glance at Ciaran and then focus back onto Gulan.
"I'll have mercy and say I don't have any for you. You can go on your own extravagant ways, Gulan."
Gulan's wary expression turns giddy and he quickly bustles out of the room with a simple, "Good Luck", thrown my way. I turn to Ciaran who's smiling.
"He can be so easy to please. But now then … "
Ciaran's smile turns into a smirk and she says, "I had
no idea you wished to spend time with me."
I roll my eyes and lean back into my chair.
"Oh, you know me, I always love to
bask in your presence."
The smirk widens for a bit before it changes to just a small smile.
Ciaran asks, "So what is it you want to know?"
I straighten up and ask, "First off is who is the contractor and third party? Are they the same? Also, are they simply criminal or Black Ops? Second is what the relationship is between the contractor and/or third party to the target. The third is what resource limits are there to help with the operation? Personnel, expendable information, and so on. Those are the main three. Anything else I can get from the mission chip."
Ciaran nods and then fiddles with her datapad. She takes the datachip from the table and replaces it with the one from her datapad. I lean over and take Gulan's and sit back as the image of a Mandalorian pops up.
"So you haven't had to deal with this guy personally, but since this is a personal request from him that I'm having
you deal with I guess I can tell you a little about him. This is Cal Skirata and he used to be one of the trainers for the Clone Army."
She presses a few buttons and some helmet cam videos pop up of Skirata dealing with clones from the Republic Army. He's shouting in some and simply looking over them in others. The images change now to still images from cameras. They show him along with a few camoed clones and actual Mandalorians move through various environments.
Ciaran continues, "Now he's a rogue operative who's working to aid the clones, as people and not soldiers, from behind the scenes. One thing he's doing is trying to get rid of the clones' accelerated growth issue which will cause them all to degrade in quick fashion after a decade or so. He believes Doctor Uthan can help with that. The mission is neither criminal in the basic sense or black ops from a sanctioned sense. You will be dealing with a group of off the record professionals. Cal won't likely be the drop off person and instead it will most likely be another group of Mandalorian trainers or a small squad of clones. You needn't worry either way.
As for resources … "
The table becomes inert. After Ciaran puts the chip away, she stands up and gives me a wide smile.
"Have fun."
I raise my eyebrows and look at her. Her smile remains the same while she walks towards the exit. Before she leaves, she stops to glance at me and quips, "Say hello to Dani for me."
She raises her visor to show one of her eyes and winks it at me. She then leaves and I sigh while shaking my head. I plug in Gulan's mission chip and lean back to read it.
A bluemilk run, huh? Nothing's ever that uneventful…
(Watch me make massive assumptions WATCH ME BURRRRRRRRRN)
