A quiiiiiiiick visit

So, Hei had arrived, earlier by train. It took a few long crawling hours for him to get his silly little behind to West HQ, just in time for the appointed meeting ... well, more accurately, he just entered the building and was unsure how to proceed.

His right arm was still in a sling and bandaged ever since the annoying 'Festival' from several days back, and he was also here for reasons ... due to said 'Festival.' He had phoned Brigadier General 'Jet Black' yesterday about this quick trip, and had arranged for a momentary meeting discussing a possible 'international financial crisis' WITHOUT informing his smashed superior, Brigadier General Spade Aeries, who would have hand-waved him off to go do it anyway. Besides, he usually visited the West, North, or East HQ, mostly since he was the one who had a flexible enough schedule for traveling, to share information in prviate rather than over the phonelines that for god's sake could be tapped. He also had a thing against mailmen, even the express delivery within the Military, as some bad experiences were engraved in his memories.

So now, he was inside a wonderful Headquarters that was rather ... well-conditioned and quite beautiful, awaiting the one he had troubled over the phone to check if he was there. Time was of the essence, after all.

She sighed, making her way through the halls of West HQ, heading towards the lobby. He couldn’t be worse than Stuka, could he? Looking around, she noted no windows had been broken, no doors breached, and no “fatties” killed or otherwise called terrorists. Maybe Central wasn’t comprised entirely of drunkards and madmen. Maybe.

Gliding down the stairs to the first floor, she fiddled with one of her fans. She couldn’t help but be nervous. Meeting someone new always did this to her. Her heart was racing from anxiety. Too many faux pas she could mess up. She’d have to watch herself.

Entering the lobby, she scans the room, quickly identifying the man that was out of place. Some small gear in her mind clicked, vaguely remembering his face, but she ignored it. Proper introductions were in order. “First Lieutenant Hei?” she asks before saluting. “Sergeant Major Isabella Galicia, Head of Military Intelligence here in West City. I’ve been sent to take you to the Brigadier General.” Lowering her hand, she turns on her heel towards the staircase she came down. “If you’d be so kind as to follow me, I can lead you to him.” With that, she takes up a brisk pace towards Black’s office.

Jet couldn't help but smile. He hadn't stopped doing so for the last few days. Never before did he think he'd have a smile this big, or something this wonderful to smile about! New Western HQ, wonderful people to work alongside, his best friend at his side, leader of a wondrous place, upcoming glorious combat, but most of all, well, he wouldn't want to ruin that one. Jet walked into his office, happy as could be. On his desk, his schedule was sprawled open. From here he could see something big, red and circled several times. As he walked up to it, a realization dawned on him. He had a meeting, in this office, in a few minutes. Jet sighed at this, not really wanting to do something so boring as talk of finances. "Oh well," he said out loud as he sat down, looking towards the door with expectations of the imminent arrival of his Head of Intel and the man from Central. He knew they had taken some big hits financially from the carnival, but it must be pretty bad for them to come all the way here.

His mind was wandering: he was a bit absorbed by the wonderful beauty of this Headquarters, since Central was always a pigsty to him (what with strewn paperwork and empty beer cans on every floor), so it was so refreshing to the point of being breath-taking. In fact, he was so awed by the splendor of this Headquarters that he was mentally debating on trying to get a transfer here! But, no. Focus. Focus, there was someone approaching him.

And so, Hei's ambling mind returned to its original position as Isabella Galicia introduced herself, and Hei, being unable to return a proper salute with his crippled right hand (a bit of a blanched face when he saw the Sergeant Major's salute), bowed steeply, nearly bending himself at a ninety degree angle to compensate.

"I am he." were the first words out of his mouth upon being asked the question, and his bow came slightly after the Sergeant Major had given her name, rank, and position in the West HQ. Nearly as quickly as he bowed, his back straightened, appropriately around the time she had dropped the gesture as well, and told him she'd be leading the way to meet the Brigadier General.

"Thank you very much." he replied, kindly and truly grateful that his pleas over the phone hadn't fallen on deaf ears, while the remnants of his smile, which had been lost after he saw the digits for Central's debt, started to return. And so, the first step to the last stretch of a thousand miles of debt, insanity, drunkards, festivals, flaming-debris-and-icicle-filled tornados and Stuka poisoning every man, woman and child within a hundred miles of his general vicinity was taken behind Sergeant Major Galicia. And it didn't take too long before they made it to the Brigadier General's office, with his guide heading in first, and Hei following close-behind. This time, he took the intiative with introductions, perhaps a bit presumptious of him, but nonetheless he needed to convey what respect he had for his superiors.

"1st Lieutenant Hei Bai, Head of Intelligence to Central Command. An honor and pleasure to meet you, Brigadier General Black, sir!" again he bowed, incapable of technically saluting with his right hand, and his left currently holding an object containing documents he wasn't too comfortable relinquishing. His return to position was much significantly prolonged than earlier with Sergeant Major Galicia, not due to a lack of respect, but due to circumstance and the fact that he was going to grovel at Jet Black's feet next for spare Cenz in the next few minutes. Or make that seconds, depending on how poor the conversation was going to go.

"I apologize for asking for a meeting with you to talk about finances, and I thank you, sir, for finding time." whatever line of conversation this was going to go down stopped, as Hei was unsure how to proceed. Quite frankly, he wanted to hear the responses of the Brigadier General, and possibly that of the Sergeant Major, who was also the Head of Intel around here. And those responses would determine whether he would phrase his plight ... lightly, or just be blunt and beg.

"1st Lieutenant Hei Bai, it is well met," Jet replied to the man who just walked into the room. He was Xing, definitely, but didn't seem like it as a person, so he must have been raised here. His right arm was in a sling, really badly jacked up. From what he'd read earlier, there had been some conflict with a daemon-like chimera at the recent annual Central Festival in Central City. Though his arm had been ripped off during the fight, he had replaced his with that of the daemons arm, but it obviously wasn't quite in working condition just yet. He was a decent looking man, though in his eyes Jet saw something that somewhat worried him. There was a daemon of its own deep inside this man, whether from the arm, the fight, or his life as a whole, he was what you would say, insane. No matter, he was obviously a good man to come all this way to work for his leader, even in his current condition. Jethro believed himself to be a good judge of character, and this man was good.

"It's ok Lt., we've all taken some hits in the financial department as of late. We can only hope the upcoming conflict will be of some profit to Amestris," Jet continued. "So what exactly are we talking about finance wise?"

Isabella watched as Hei introduced himself to the general, noting his longer bow. She raised an eyebrow and stood up straight, listening to what he said. “Ah, so it’s not a courtesy meeting, then,” she thinks to herself. He’s asking for help, not pleading… yet. The general was right about the money, though. Her own department alone had to let a couple people go. Still…

“If I may, general,” she starts, thinking over her wording carefully, “the upcoming conflict, if it does happen, will only spend our money in the short-term. Any money we’ll receive would be further down the line, assuming we’re victorious, of course.” She shifted uncomfortably, feeling out of place. She hadn’t formally studied economics, but she knew warfare. “Plus, the war might just cost us more than we expect if things don’t go so well our way.”

Running Hei’s words through her mind, she tried to decipher the meaning behind it. If Central was asking for money, then were they really that deep in the hole? “No, it can’t be that… Simple? Preposterous?” She couldn’t decide.

She slides her fan open with a single, fluid motion, beginning to fan herself at a slow but steady pace. She could offer a suggestion, but she didn’t know what the lieutenant and general had in mind. Overstepping her bounds in this situation could be troublesome.

Nervous sweat drops were appearing by the dozens. In fact, there now seemed to be a dark haze all about him, clouding the room and significantly darkening it. That's right, he had gotten some reports that Creta was mobilizing forces, war was inevitable against them, and the West would have to expend their resource against them. But no, he wasn't thinking about that, he was darkening upon remembering that Stuka's recent damages to West City had to be tallied into Central's debt ... a very disturbing thought, considering how much he destroyed and how many he killed. So, his nervousness was going to get misinterpreted ... not to mention the mere thought of the festival was making him nauseous.

"Sergeant Major Galicia. Brigadier General Black. I not only came here to talk about finances, but also for the monthly data exchange. I feel, while the finance crisis does press me a bit, perhaps we should get this out of the way before ... ah ... discussing the issue of money? Ha ha" with those words, trying to ease his mind ... and his squirming right arm that was siphoning off his fury at Central's financial debacle. So, it was at this point, he approached the Head of Intelligence to West HQ, the Sgt. Major and extended his left arm out with the briefcase he had been holding on to. He was standing an appropriate distance away, less than an arm's length, but enough to not violate privacy, and while the Sgt Major presumably took the case, he proceeded talking to both her and to the General.

"Unfortunately, when I took over the position of Head of Intelligence at Central, the whole department was in shambles. The previous Head ... ah ... was not very productive, and whoever was still left included myself, a few members-in-training, a couple of long-time vets ... and ... Captain ... Stuka." he spat the name a bit venemously at this moment, but quickly carried on, trying to cover up the fellow's name as quickly as he could.

"So, ah. The information inside the case pertains a lot to the Cretan military. Since I do believe you've been doing your job longer than I've probably have, Sergeant Major, I think most of the info I can provide is not ground-breaking, but perhaps supplementary to your info. What's left of Central Intelligence has concurred that there is a mass mobilization effort on the West border with Creta, none other ordered by the nation's monarch, Dietrich. However, while we DO know that Dietrich has substantial funding and military might, as well as iron-fisted control over his country, we've identified at least four ... ah ... 'noblemen' as they call themselves. Essentially financial backers and poltical allies for Dietrich, and their additional support has given Dietrich substantial edge in spending power, which would make a war of attrition in his favor.

Fortunately, two of those four supporters are Amestrians ... abominable bastards ... and it wasn't too hard to get to them and ah. I know this is supposed to be West's affair, but their accounts were mainly in Central ... so we took the liberty of freezing what assets they have, and have them detained for the time being. The third is a Cretan himself, some owner of this dummy-front company that's been buying off rather fine-grade military equipment that was being shipped by the prior mentioned first two. Fine grade Amestrian equipment, might I elaborate. All operations have ceased, thankfully, and we have plenty of info to show that Creta's military forces don't quite have enough munitions for all their troops. But, they have a substantial amount that when the war begins, they can prolong it as they wish.

But, that leads to the fourth backer, an Aerugese merchant. Aerugo's known for it's enormous cache of military supplies and willingness to sell, given the right price. ... If the petition went through Brigadier General Aeries, and he understood the implications of my statement, that fellow should be dealt with before the week is up.

Beware, however ... of what the Cretans are calling 'Operation: Star Wars' ... I have not a clue as to what it is, and information is hard to come by, probably you know MUCH more than I do since you have to deal with Creta primarily, but it does sound like it involves a weapon of war, undoubtedly related to space, or the sky. But, what's left of the spy network claims that whatever this thing is ... it's progressing rather smoothly, and will match Dietrich's time-scale to an invasion. What that scale is, they didn't get to tell me."

OOC: Sorry, I took advantage of the fact that Isa kept spouting about a space program. Also, this is a reverse Dietrich test moment, lolz, I'm handing a briefcase over! xD Oh, the irony!

Ah yes, the data exchange. Isabella took the briefcase from Hei, now feeling slightly more relieved as she was given “her” intel. She’d have to shift through it later, after this discussion. In fact, she was about to tell him that, but he started giving a synopsis of the data before she could open her mouth. She fidgeted slightly, wanting to interrupt, but knowing she was a bit afraid to do so, so she stood there quietly and listened.

She cringed slightly at the mention of Stuka, but she couldn’t help but smirk, since Hei seemed to mention his name with great reluctance and scorn. Her amusement quickly vanished as she realized he was a Captain now. “I need to get out of here and do something important,” she thinks. She needed to field test her alchemy before she applied to become a state alchemist, something she didn’t have much chance doing in an office.

She continued listening to his summary of the given intel, noting that Central had gone a different route than her. She hadn’t considered going after Creta’s finances. She’d have to remember that possibility in the future. Though this Operation: Star Wars? It sounded preposterous, especially with a name better suited for a science fiction novel, but still… Sometimes, the most outlandish things do turn out to be true.

“I thank you, Lieutenant Hei,” she says, shifting the briefcase from her left hand to her right. Digging into one of the cases on her belt, she pulls out a flash drive, spinning it between her fingers. “As I look into your intelligence, I hope that you’ll look into mine. I’m afraid that I’m a bit of a pessimist, and, therefore assumed this was an inevitable conflict. Therefore, you’ll see that I focused more on trying to keep track of enemy troop movements when possible, their numbers, equipment, and even where they’ve been patrolling. We’ve caught a couple suspicious people, and we’ve been holding them for interrogation, but that fruit still has yet to bear.”

“If at all.”

“So far, from what I can gather, they seem to be gathering a more specialized, well-trained task force, as opposed to drafting a conscript army. While I’m not sure of the size of Creta’s forces, I wouldn’t imagine the being that much larger than our own – if at all. They seem to be upgrading to more sophisticated equipment, so although their numbers might be smaller, I think their force multipliers might allow them to take us on toe-to-toe.”

She paused for a moment, wondering whether all of that was too unnatural, too practiced. Internally she shrugged, reminding herself that now was not the time to worry about such things.

“That’s a general synopsis of the information, though if I learn anything else important, I’m sure I can contact you in Central.” She continues standing for a moment before realizing she’s still spinning the flash drive between her fingers. With a soft sigh, she extends her left arm out to hand it to him.

BUMP