It is an exercise in futility to try and give an Imperial intelligence agency a friendly image. That is not to say we must beco the SIS, for they serve their own role, but any who join up need to rember that we are not the local police forces. Any of you who had the assumption that they would sit in a police box and give shelter to passersby from the rain, fetch cats and playing balls from trees and help with directions should throw in your resignation right now. This is not the purpose the IBI, it will never be the purpose of the IBI.
The reason the SIS is effective is because the SIS is shaless in what it does, and how it acts. When a man needs to be killed, the SIS will kill him and be done with it. The reason Imperial Military is effective is the exact sa. Everyone who reads this booklet is intelligent enough to understand that the IM is Kassandora’s private dictatorship, the mont it begins to stray from that path, it will lose effectiveness.
The SIS is the visible arm of the state. The IBI is its eyes and ears.
- Excerpt from “Imperial Bureau of Intelligence Manual, 1st Edition”. Written by Goddess Helenna, of Love.
There was no way to fra a bureaucratic overseer such as the IBI as so benevolent organisation. Helenna walked through the construction sight in Ghelgia, Ghelgie or Ghelgen, each worker here answered different depending on which part of the country he ca from. The building was coming along swimmingly, at the Imperial battle-speed that she had expected from Arascus. A hundred mages had been trained in from the nearby colleges, a hundred more would arrive by the end of the week. The skeleton of steel for a huge, round donut building was already rising stabbed into the ground.
It was a well-oiled machine of a construction team, Maisara would no doubt appreciate standing here and just watching them go. Kassandora probably too. Trucks filled with bricks and beams were coming in, cranes were lifting thick tal rods into the air so that they could be screwed and welded into the rest of the skeleton. The diggers had scoured out a ditch to the main road, today, they were working on excavating a car park for the IBI. A few days had passed since Pax’s death, Malam’s SIS was moving constantly.
But today, she would go back and pop open a bottle of fine wine. The organisation was new, but it was already making a change.
Helenna is a Goddess who rarely fights…
Agent Colm pulled out a cigarette and his phone. When he had applied to the Imperial Bureau of Intelligence as an agent, he had been expecting sothing… more... More to do with the fact that the Empire was in a state of war. And his first assignnt had been handed down directly by Helenna, since the IBI was so knew that there he didn’t even have a boss yet. It was a test run, of that, he was sure. It was so that Helenna could show off to her boss, most likely Arascus, maybe Malam, what she was capable of.
The report had co from the Imperial Bureau of Manufacturing after their own internal audit. One of their computers had caught an egregious error regarding the amount of timber that was being sent to a sawmill. Waste was always expected, IBM had their own internal guidelines no one knew of, but… Well, it did have to be egregious if one of their computers had caught it.
It had not been a difficult job. Colm was only just returning from it right now, still dressed in the simple white shirt and the every-day jeans, a cap on his head and a coat for weather that was cold, but not snowing yet. He knew how these things worked, his father had shown him back before the days of Empire. You turned up with a bottle, preferably strong drink, you put it on the table, you hinted at first, then you said you could offer a bonus for the work, and that there was no need for the paperwork. The foreman even had a radio that played a quaint little song as they negotiated for buying twenty tons of wood whilst skipping taxes. He had even said that it could be shipped off to Lubska, that was an internal customs charge too.
The fool had taken IBI money. And that was that. There would be no more egregious shortages anymore, although what would happen to the man, Colm had no clue. He finished off typing the email to the Hallin’s chief of police: In short, Gurenstag is selling Imperial Timber to the point that the IBM had it noticed. I’ve attached their docunts. He has sold twenty tons of wood. I will return to pick up the IBI cash in a week, have it done by then.
He forwarded the emails to the Hallin police and finished his cigarette.
A thoroughly civilian matter. He chuckled to himself and stopped besides a bar. Ti for a drink to celebrate not being on the frontlines.
…she does not bicker either, not like Fortia or Maisara or Elassa…
Agent Niti entered the Aris police headquarters as the sun fell behind him. He had only been in the city for four days now, but everyone here knew him by na already. Pretty Safrette waved from her desk, he nodded back. Flint and Jean both strolled out of the changing rooms. “Anything today?” Jean asked.
Niti hefted the suitcase by his side up and then let his arm fall loose. “The Anarchia gang.” He said, that had been the big project so far, although it wasn’t all that difficult to solve. Aris was divided into various districts, those had their own stations and they were fairly territorial even if supposedly, everyone was part of the sa force. The Headquarters spent more ti wrangling their own troops than they did actual criminals.
That was coming to an end today. Niti and his IBI had found the issue. About two dozen of the officers themselves had been bad-actors. Operation Ratsweeper had eliminated those that Anarchia had blessed, but the Goddess’ ideas still had a foothold in this nation. There would be more work to do here, but it was catching petty criminals. Minor robberies and thievery from them, the AG knew not to kill, nor to damage the infrastructure of the Imperial Military. Nothing that would give the SIS a reason to co here.
But the IBI were not the SIS, and the SIS was simply not tech-savvy enough nor did it bother to check through security cara footage or back-alley dealings. Niti walked to the office the IBI had stolen in the HQ. Teresa was here, Connelly too, Mirek and McGuinness were off catching a nap. He dropped the onto a stack of papers, it had a pocket for the burned disk from the southern quarter’s police station, and images he had printed off back in his hotel.
Police officers caught on the CCTV footage of a shop. A match of a captain and a wanted criminal sitting in a car, although that image was just a screenshot that had cropped up in the background of a social dia video. They had gotten sloppy frankly, if the Empire were to have criminals, it deserved a better of class of criminal. They had only gotten away because the police was understaffed from most of its officers going to the war. And because they weren’t particularly effective in what they did. The big fish had avoided them.
Just as Helenna had said though, you didn’t get in the pool whether it had sharks or crocodiles, piranha or leeches. No one wanted to clean out the leeches, everyone wanted the fun of wresting with the lizard. Everyone but the IBI.
…but it is obvious she wields influence around us…
Agents Piotrus and Halenka walked through a cold Lubskan forest, both dressed lightly for the trek. Small backpacks, long trousers, shirts and hoodies. Leaves crunched underneath their outdoor boots. The IBI did not even have a uniform yet, whether it would was a question for the future but everyone that Piotrus had asked hoped that Helenna would take rcy upon them and let them keep dressing as they wanted. The trees were bare, autumn rains had co, washed away the dirt track that the local park rangers used, and the forest lay dead or as close to it under a grey sky wholly covered in clouds. At least the tall trees had culled most of the wind here. “If we had a drink, I’d consider this a date.” Piotrus said.
Halenka chuckled, her blonde ponytail swaying to her waist as she laughed, as she walked, she slipped the backpack off a shoulder, opened it and slid a bottle of drink half way out. “If we don’t find anything at the bridge, then we made a full inspection of the nearby and found nothing. It should…” She smirked and looked around. “Take a couple of hours?”
Piotrus imdiately knew where to take it. “Car got stuck in the mud, it took all night to get it free.” Halenka laughed.
“There’s a lot of space in the back when you fold the seats down.” Perfect. What a fantastic job. This was the life. Agent Piotrus chuckled to himself, already excited, as they reached the train track which led to the forest. The sound of water was audible now, that indicated the direction.
The local park ranger had reported a fire in the forest at night, although no sign of anything else. The job had landed on Piotrus’ and Halenka’s desk today in the morning, and it was better to do these things as quickly as possible to make sure that they didn’t get overwheld. If it was kids, then it was kids and could be forgotten about, but the fire had been close to a railway bridge, and that demanded attention. Why the man couldn’t inspect himself, Piotrus did not know.
Maybe the Ranger was just scared with the panic of succubi in the Empire. Piotrus followed the railway, his hand sliding over the pistol on his belt to remind himself he had a gun now that he thought of the demonesses. Maybe the Ranger was not so stupid after all, two pairs of eyes were better than one. They got to the Pani Jajka bridge, no sign of charring on the concrete columns that held it up. “We should check below.” Halenka said, she pointed to a set of stairs down. “Look.”
“I see it.” Leaves lay everywhere here, but they had been brushed off the steps as if soone had ventured on them. Piotrus pulled out his pistol, just to steady his hands, and made it halfway down the steps before he saw the blinking at the top of the column. A red light on sothing that looked like a black box. “Ahh…” He trailed off.
This was definitely out of their pay-grade. Hundred percent. There was… “That’s a bomb.” Halenka whispered quietly, her voice cracking, she jumped, drew the pistol and aid at the deer that cracked a branch. It stared at them, frozen, as animals did. “Are you going to remove it?”
“Fuck no I’m not.” Piotrus said, bringing out his phone. “I’m going to ring Transport to block the line and then a bomb-squad.”
…The Pantheon Voting Council model was ruined by her…
It had been a joke that Agent Konhurst had been sent to Canhers. It had definitely been a joke, and the joke was self-explanatory. His na sounded almost exactly as the na of the Ghelgien town. At least it was close to the headquarters currently being built. Hopefully that would give him a promotion away from desk duty. He had been unlucky enough to be the butt of a poor joke, but the truth misery lay in the misery that he had been assigned to surveillance.
So, in a dark room with the blinders down, he sat and watched. One cara feed into his laptop, four onto the tv, another onto Mary’s laptop that she had left behind. So had Yerik and Malk, as if he didn’t have enough screens to watch. The phone, on loudspeaker to the rest of the squad who were on the ground, sat on a table by where Konhurst sat on the floor. Mary spoke up, as she did every two minutes, almost to the dot. The woman was damn impatient. “Do you see movent? Police are going to be here soon.”
“I just called, they’re stuck in fucking traffic.”
“There’s nothing going on yet.” Konhurt replied and chuckled. “Better they get stuck in traffic, then it doesn’t look suspicious.”
“I suppose.” Malk replied.
“Radio silence team.” Yerik replied. “You’re not the ones out here. Can you see Kon?”
“I can.” Through the footage being bead in from the tiny caras that the team had set up earlier in the day, he could see Agent Yerik stand and lean against a wall. The man was chain-smoking, already on his fourth cigarette. Konhurst had nothing to say to the man though, he understood. There was a reason they had joined the IBI and not the SIS.
“Cops are here soon.” Malk said. “Are they going to do anything.”
Through the cara, Konhurst finally saw movent. A man walked out a back alley, a large coat him. He saw Yerik, then walked around as everyone fell silent. It was a sting operation, a drug bust, a favour for the local to get in their good graces. They knew already, they had supplied the phone number and what to say, and what they wanted and so on, but they would need to plan and organise and have etings on how to do this. Risk assessnts, civilian procedures, a workable fallback plan if things went south. The IBI could be called to just…
Well, to just do it. Like a bunch of fucking amateurs maybe, but Helenna demanded oversight and report only insofar as it related to political matters, the favour would be more important to her than the actual arrest. A report that would be a half-page long, that they successfully ran a sting operation, they had planned it themselves, and that was all they needed to say.
A few minutes later, a black drove by. Then another. They both stopped. Yerik drew his pistol and aid it at the figure, a team of police officers did the sa. The man who had stepped out of the back alley fell to his knees, hands in the air, a mont later.
…Because she managed to turn it into her own autocracy…
Agent Horn stood on the pier as they watched a large ferry disappear over the horizon in the distance, next to the three police officers who had inford that an operation was going south. A local criminal was on the run, they had managed to find the man, but not before he managed to get onto a ship and leave. Horn himself had arrived late too. The police, in their blue uniforms, had not believed the tall fellow in a red t-shirt and jeans was IBI until they saw the badge and the stamp. “Can you turn it around?” One of the cops asked, the people sight-seeing gave them enough distance for privacy.
Could he? Horn had to think about it. Probably, he had ministerial powers after all. He even outranked soldiers as long as they were in civilian dress. “I have sothing better.” Horn slipped his backpack off his bag. Good thing he had brought it, and then out ca the little booklet of numbers they had to know. Helenna had made it. “Where’s that ship going, do you know?”
“Lais only sails to Bover.” One of the officers answered. Good enough. He flipped to the Allian section, to south, then found the number of the Bover police. The call went through.
“Good afternoon, this is the Bover Police Departnt, speaking, how may we help?” A receptionist. Oh. Horn blanked out for a mont. Of course it was a receptionist, Helenna would not give them numbers to police chiefs, would she?
“Hello, this is Agent Horn of the IBI. Security code Jack-Onomatopoeia-Laughter-Integer.” He waited for a mont, the code was long but easy to rember, it would be changed every week, updated on Helenna’s own IBI system. Supposedly. The IBI had not existed for a week yet. The police officers stared at him for a mont as the call went through.
“Understood Agent Horn. What do you wish to report?”
“I’m in Rancais right now. There is a ferry.” He turned to the three police officers. “What’s that ferry? What’s the ship na?” They stared at each other, just as confused.
“It’s operated by Kingdom Routes I know.” One of the n said.
“A Kingdom Routes ferry has just set off from Lais, heading to Bover.” He sighed. “Get police there, there is a wanted criminal on board. I’ll…” He trailed off. “I’ll ring you back in a mont, I’ll get details from the police here and then call back, send officers out to pick him up though.”
“Understood Agent Horn. We’ll dispatch officers to intercept.”
…The woman is not powerful in the traditional sense…
Tomas sat in the back of the police car and looked at the most beautiful he had ever seen talk to a pair of local police officers that were dealing with a situation far out of their pay grade. The woman living in the house was one of the Arseille evacuees. Her bloodwork date had co up, as it did for all evacuees, she had not even rang the doctor to give a reason for missing it and then ghosted all the return calls. So the problem made its way up the chain, to the local police, and they did not want to handle it alone. Tomas and his team were assigned here, and direct communication to the SIS from police forces had been banned unless it was a case of ergency. So the IBI would have to do, and Tomas sohow found himself here, looking through a pair of binoculars as a woman who would put Helenna to sha joked and laughed with the police officers, and then sent them away. She walked back and shut the door, her trousers and shirt accentuating her form, the sway in the walk didn’t make it easier to pull his eyes away either.
They trawled back to the car. “She…” One of the officers, Pierre, began then burst out into laughter. “She was sothing.”
“Sothing bad.” Georgie said. He turned back to Tomas. “She didn’t consent to bloodwork with us right now.” The silence that followed was defeaning. Tomas brought out his phone from his jacket and scrolled to the dreaded number that no one wanted to ring, but everyone had been given.
“We’re waiting here then.” Agent Tomas said as he picked the phone up to his ear. The ring-tone began to sound. “Don’t move, get your gun, you know the procedure, shoot if she runs, flies, flees or attacks.” The pair of police officers shared a nervous look and then went back to Tomas.
“Shoot a succubus sir?”
“Hopefully not.” Tomas said, the ring-tone finally ended and soone picked up a phone. Tomas spoke as was usual, those fuckers never introduced themselves. “This is Agent Tomas, rank of Corporal, of the IBI. I am in village Liena, Rancais, area-code 44010. We have a suspected succubus, I’ve confird her presence myself. No bloodwork to confirm though but she refused to have any done.” He blinked, realising he had not given his code. But then it was the SIS internal lines. He would have to have a death-wish to try and prank the SIS.
From the other side of the line, the voice ca exactly as he had imagined it. A deep, rough tone that obviously had to release the puff of a cigarette before it answered. It sent a chill down Tomas’ spine. “Twenty minutes.”
…But I do not think there is anyone on this world who would not call Helenna dangerous. She does not kill in the sa way that Fortia or I kill. She strangles. Slowly.
- Excerpt from the private Diary of Goddess Allasaria, of Light.
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