Chp-13: Sibling Trickery

Chp-13: Sibling Trickery

I sat in my office chair. Newly named Mugwuffin was laying across my desk, purring as I scratched her smooth skin. It had taken quite the battery of tests, and a veritable bucket load of BBQ covered Shaak meat to keep her happy throughout, but it was determined that she was female. Though what she is has yet to be determined.

None of that is important, however. What is important is the person sitting across from me with her arm in a sling and a black eye, pouting in her chair while I was signing documents.

"I think you're a little too old to be acting like a toddler, Zyx. You're 27. Grow up."

Her pout only deepened. "Your garrison commander is a monster, you know that?"

"I know that" I smirked. "It's why I keep her on the payroll. Anyways, I'm surprised to see that you were beat. The decorated Agent Mola, caught red handed sneaking into the R&D labs."

"I just wanted to know what you were researching in there! It's not my fault the money trick didn't work on this beast of a woman."

Commander Grant eyed her warily. "Do you… know this insurgent governor?"

I sighed as I signed another paper. "Yes. She's my sister. And she's not an insurgent. Far too incompetent for that."

Zyx pouted again, but her eyes sparkled with a twinkle of mischief. "Correct, least favorite brother! I am a proud member of Imperial Intelligence!"

"I'm your only brother."

"And?"

Grant once again looks to me for affirmation, and again I sigh. "Yes, this toddler of a woman is indeed a decorated agent of Imperial Intelligence. So, Commander, I both ask that you release her, and commend you for your actions. Not only did you capture a spy in our midst(allied though they might be) but you were able to physically subdue a member of MI, which is no small feat."

The Commander preened under the praise, then released Zyx's arm to salute. "You're praising her!? But what about my arm?"

I shrugged, a sense of mirth emanating from Las's memories that I tried to convey. "You tried to bribe her. Frankly speaking, I'm not sure why you thought that would work." As I say this, I grab another document with a sticky note hidden just under it(god I love the R&D team).

"It wasn't meant to be a bribe" she retorted "It was meant to be a distraction. The clinking sound makes people turn their heads away just long enough for me to get by."

I stared at her, contemplating how unimaginably stupid that sounded. Then I laughed. Long and hard, as the frown on her face just deepened. Even Mugwuffin joined in, sounding out little trills from her mandible covered mouth. With Zyx focused on my laughter, I made sure to hide the paper and its sticky note behind Mugwuffins body.

"Ah… haven't had a good laugh like that in months." I got myself under control, before sitting up straighter, right into Business Mode™. "What are you here for, Zyx? I still have over a year before the Commandant comes by to inspect my work."

Her put disappeared, the little sibling act dissipating. A dangerous smirk crossed her face. "Well, dear brother. I wanted to check up on you. See how it is your faring."

"And?"

She hummed. "Better than I thought, though not quite up to mothers standards."

I snorted. Las's memories told me all I needed to know about his mothers 'standards'. 

She gave a quick laugh. "Yes, that's what I was thinking as well. We both know that giving you this position was really just a way to get rid of you. The only reason she didn't throw you directly into the infantry-"

"-was because if she did it on Eriadu everyone would know. I get it, it's always a political ploy with her. No need to remind me."

I fix her with a stare. "Now, Zyx. What. Do. You. Want."

"I can't just be visiting my little brother?"

"No."

For a second I think I see a flash of legitimate hurt flash across her face before she schools herself. "Well it's the truth. I had a great deal of leave, and decided to burn some to come and visit."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to."

"Fair enough."

From there, an awkward silence stretches across the room while I continue to sign that document, a few orders written onto the sticky note disguised as me modifying the document for further review. 

The only one who seems unaffected by the vibe being off is Mugwuffin, who just paws at me until I give in and toss her one of her treats. BBQ flavored, of course. 

And then I can't take it anymore. I refuse to sit in silence with my officers and soldiers watching me be awkward with my not-sister. I stand up, and start walking towards the door, the document folded in half to hide the sticky note on the underside.

"Come on, I'll show you the R&D lab."

She raises an eyebrow "I thought you didn't want me in there?"

"Not only do I have nothing to hide there, but we both know that if MI wanted, I wouldn't be able to hide anything in there anyways"

As she contemplated my words, I turned to the Commander. "You will be accompanying us, to ensure that she doesn't toss bugs or trackers around." As Grant nodded, my mind turned inwards. 

While all this banter with Zyx was entertaining, it was driven by Las's memories rather than my own emotions. Like putting on a mask, it was actually pretty easy to just immerse myself in his memories. While my charade wasn't perfect, as attempting to get his emotions right was a little outside of my skill, any differences could be attributed to the eight months apart. 

As we exited my office, I stopped by Darna's desk, handing her the paper. She simply affirms with a nod. As I do this, a quick hand motion has Mugwuffin curling herself around Zyx's leg, keeping her attention away from my actions. Just to ensure she didn't look too closely at the document I was passing over. 

On a side note, Mugwuffin was strangely easy to train.

Anyways, we pressed on, making our way to the R&D lab. It was a large, squat building, with most of its facilities being underground for safety reasons. It's interior was sterile and white, with clear signage and arrows indicating the various departments. 

As we walked through, there were copious stations that held gas masks, fire extinguishers, and emergency releases for doors. This place had been built with safety in mind.

Finally, we reached the section Zyx had been attempting to infiltrate.

"Here we have it." I said, pointing at the weapon. "The RSTT-00. An attempt at a anti-air rail cannon."

She hummed, studying the turret. "And why are you developing this?"

"Because it's actually cheaper to build the spikes for this in system than it is to import the gasses necessary for our AA turrets. The only reason we aren't making some for our defense fleet is because it would be incredibly expensive, and they aren't really effective against larger ships."

"Ah, because of the particle shields I imagine. Still, if made correctly, such a weapon could tear through starfighters."

"Correct. Combine that with the fact that, unlike most weapons, this is not a subsonic weapon, and with some basic targeting software it would be quite the anti air weapon." I responded.

She turned to me with a serious look. "And why are you building this?"

"Honestly? I didn't ask for this to be built. Some of the R&D personnel had some spare parts and were experimenting when this popped up. When they realized the potential for anti air and anti armor applications, they sent it up for my approval. I decided they could go in for limited testing. Not much is being applied to the project, and it's more like a state funded hobby for some of the engineers here more than anything else."

"State funded." She says, quirking an eyebrow. "You use government funds to pay for your R&D team's hobby?"

"Well, to be fair, in attempting to make this whole thing work they've made some discoveries. The miniaturized repulsorlifts that are meant to replace the magnetic rails and give the weapon more power are becoming very energy efficient. We've applied the same technology to our repulsorlift vehicles and weapons. Energy consumption is down 8% across the board."

Humming, she circles the turret, but refrains from touching it due to the Commanders imposing stare. 

"Anything else?" She asked, looking back at me.

I refrain from sighing. While I never intended to hide anything around here, it is an earlier reveal than I would have wished. Regardless, I know that not showing her everything is going to bring up some uncomfortable questions down the line. 

So, we continue the tour. I take her through the rest of the weapons division, showing off things like the minor improvements made to the E-11 that, while entirely possible for the original manufacturer, would push prices a little further up than the Empire is willing to pay. 

We also pass by the armor division, speaking on the attempts to upgrade both standard infantry, police and stormtrooper armor to be better than just a thin piece of plastoid. While infantry and police armor was mostly unchanged save for basic upgrades in durability, there was a new stormtrooper armor still in the design stage. At the current stage, it was still being improved upon and tested, and even then would likely only be given to elites and officers due to costs. Still, its added protection, helmet integrated PDA functions/commands, and a myriad of other toys were of great benefit. Now if only they could make it lighter. And cheaper too. Very costly.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the armor that caught Zyx's attention(though I'm sure it would be reported to her superiors) but the PDA's.

"These devices, they are quite intriguing. Why did you have them made?"

I suppose I should have seen this coming. "Well, I had wanted a way to do what I did on my terminal with a datapad, but datapads lack the functionality. Now, I don't actually have a wireless connection to my terminal, that would be bad for information security, but it has a great deal of uses. After I had one made, I decided that it would be a decent product to sell to the populace. Eventually that expanded to military versions."

"And you didn't think to inform high command of this?"

"Do I look like I can talk to high command? I think all those promotions got to your head."

She pouted again. Again! This is like the fifth time! She's close to thirty and she pouts like a baby. I tell her as much. She pouts even more. 

"Pathetic."

More pouting. "I'm going to report this, you know? It'll probably enter production if approved."

Containing my surprise, I turned to her. "You think these would be approved for production?"

"Well, yes. Probably only for officers and elites on the military side, but I don't see why not. You might even get some credit!"

I winced. "I'd…rather not."

The room went silent. Zyx, the Commander, all my guards, even the mouse droids cleaning the floors. 

She turned to stare at me, eyes wide. "...What?"

I faced her, took a deep breath, and started explaining my personal ideology for the first time in either life to a bunch of people who had been raised with the idea that pushing for career advancement was the only worthwhile thing to do in the Empire.

"So, my job here is to turn Minda into a decent system within two years or be carted off to the Infantry frontlines to die in some pacification campaign. I don'twant that, obviously, so I'm working hard to make the Minda system worthwhile. The problem with all that is that if I improve too many things, or the wrong things, or make too much noise and draw a lot of attention, then I'm going to get the attention of people higher up. I don't wantthat kind of attention, because it means more work, more danger, all while I just want to spend my time working to improve the system. Being a part of the Imperial bureaucracy, especially at this level, is a cutthroat game of politics more than it is about actually doing your job. I have absolutely zero interest in being a part of that game. I just want to do my job and avoid my death. So no, I don't want the credit. It would bring undue attention to me. Just let one of your bosses take the credit or something, I don't care. So long as it doesn't come crashing down on me it won't matter."

As I witnessed the shock on the faces of both her and the Commander, I sighed. "Ok, just because you don't get it doesn't mean I don't."

I gesture for one of the techs, and a minute later I have a data chip in my hand. I pass it to Zyx, pat her on the back, then look at the Commander. 

"Please escort Ms. Mola to her ship, and contact the Captain to ensure she leaves the system without incident."

The Commander seems to salute purely on instinct as I turn away and walk deeper into the lab. I still have some engineers to talk to about new security features I'd like to put into production. Zyx's appearance here scared me more than I've let on. I had to stick my hands in my pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking. 

Sure, she didn't threaten me, and it was comical how she was caught, but the fact that she made it that far down was terrifying. If this had been an official mission, and she had official gear? Who knows how far she could've gone.

In the back of my mind, I note down that I should contact the Navy HQ to ask for Captain Veers to be promoted to Commodore. It's odd to have a Captain in charge of a defense flotilla. 

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Hi there folks! I worked a little harder than usual on this one, solely to try and figure out how to hide stuff from the spy sister. That little thing with the sticky note and paper was an attempt to try out this smart character stuff. I figure that using natural movements to conceal hidden plans, along with things like laughter or a pet alien drawing the attention of his sister so that she doesn't notice his minute movements is something that might work. 

And yes, I did name the Creature Mugwuffin. Saw someone's comment to name it Mr. Muffins or something along those lines, and I was thinking of McDonalds at the time and it all sorta combined.

Anyway, as always, comments, feedback, lore and more are wanted!

Thanks for reading!