The base intercom hasn't fully been wired yet, but word still manages to reach everyone.
"Attention. Special Forces Team Alpha report to the briefing room. Special Forces Team Alpha report to the briefing room."
5 minutes later, everyone is there and waiting. You all notice the shiny new rank insignia on Niil's uniform.
[OOC: Not sure if Collan is there or not, but he may jump in at any time if he decided to stay here.]
Major Tibbero walks in, looking as emotionless as ever.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a situation." He fiddles with a computer, and up pops a map of the area around Megyek Ebol, on the edge of the Bladesea plateau.
"The local cell in Megyek Ebol has discovered that their routine data transmissions have been altered slightly. It turns out their data has had small amounts of data attached for the past several weeks. They compiled the data, but could not decrypt it. They sent it to us. Our crypto people had a look at it, and it turned out to be a relatively simple code."
He fiddles with the display again, and a written message pops up. "This is the first message we received."
Do not be alarmed, your transmissions are secure. I wish to leave the service of the Empire, but I cannot get away on my own. I work for Imperial Intelligence, Operations Branch, Surveillance Division. I will send instructions for making contact with me. You must be careful, or they will kill me.
Major Tibbero continues. "We instructed the local cell to work this, and establish contact with this individual. There has been some dialogue, though we still do not know the identity of this individual, but we have been able to corroborate information they have been sending. They haven't given us anything damaging to the Empire yet. They are concerned that we will trip up and get them killed, but they say they have information we could use."
Tibbero fiddles with the display again and the image vanishes.
"This raises several concerns, not the least of which is that someone could slice our communications and modify them without it being very obvious. Now, I don't have to tell you people that an insider from Imperial Intelligence would have a wealth of information. We're still reaping valuable insight from Major Shrike. Adding another Imperial operative to our resources would be of great importance. However, we are very concerned that this is a trap."
He shows the region around Megyek Ebol again.
"Our contact is trying to arrange for us to make a strike against a local Imperial garrison that apparently houses the unit where this individual works. They hope that during the confusion, they can slip away with the local cell operatives. They're asking for a quick prisoner extraction, hoping they can slip away int he confusion."
"The station is on the outskirts of the city. Nominally a patrol base, we've known for a little while that the facility has more traffic in and out of it than would be expected for a patrol base, and we suspect it has several sub-levels. The presence of an Imperial Intelligence surveillance unit there would explain the extra traffic and supplies. We can also corroborate other elements of our contacts information. We believe there is an Intel unit there."
He zooms in on the map. It is situated in a light industrial area on the southern edge of the city, in a low-population area.
"The local cell would have to employ almost all their people to have any hope of successfully assaulting this facility. Given the risks, that is out of the question. So, we're going to send you in. Our contact wants a simple smash-and-grab prisoner extraction. We don't think that goes far enough. If this operative is to get away clean, we must cover our tracks, so we're looking for you to assault the power core, and destroy the entire facility. With any luck at all, the Empire will assume this operative was vaporized in the blast."
He stands back and crosses his arms.
"Given recent changes, Warrant Officer Spaar will lead the assault. We are here to work up a plan of attack, but I will answer any questions you have. Many of us in HQ likely have the same concerns you may wish to raise, but we can address them here nonetheless."
He looks around. "Questions or comments?"
[OOC: I'll post maps tonight.]
