Log:Sith Empire: Manifest Anomaly

Two troopers battle complacency.

OOC Date: September 29, 2021
Location: RSD Harbinger, Coruscant System
Participants: Sith Empire, ST-K7020, Anlace AKA ST-A1025

Life in the fleet was not so glamorous as the Sith Trooper A1025 had originally thought. In her brief experience aboard the Harbinger, she had been party to a mission that took them to a completely foreign place, with aliens and lawless scum that despite futile attempts of aggression, fell before the might of the Empire. The altercation left much to be desired, and A1025 began to wonder why the conflict at Exegol was counted as a loss if these aliens were to account for the opposition that stood against the Sith.

These thoughts filled her head as she quietly reviewed the cargo list for a freighter being unloaded with gear. Standing to one side, the Trooper held out the datapad and checked each box that was brought out, opened, and presented, she was obviously being assisted with this task.

<"Aftermarket rifle barrel enhancement modifications?"> She calls out as a question requiring verification. <"The manifest counts fifty in total.">

Hoversleds descend the extended ramp of the craft occupying a designated section of hangar space aboard the Star Destroyer Harbinger. Enlisted personnel from the flight deck crew guide them down and halt them approximately two meters onto the deck, creating a queue of cargo that needs to be reviewed. When the sleds come to a halt, a team of four Sith troopers go through the process of scanning the cargo, checking its identification against the manifest submitted, and visually verifying the contents of each container. ST-K7020 and ST-A1025 are among the quad of troopers performing the task. While A1025 reads the manifest aloud, the trooper with the scanning device verifies the container's number and then submits it to invasive investigation with a spectrum of bandwidths searching for the slightest hint of something wrong.

K7020 is the one verifying the contents. The telemetry pod on her shoulder gets a glimpse into every container, allowing higher ranked non-commissioned officers and command officers to ensure each trooper is performing their duty as required. <"Fifty weapon barrel enhancement modifications verified."> When they speak, they do so over an internal communications net, meaning none of the deck personnel can hear them. The fourth trooper in the quarter maintains constant vigilance, weapon held across their chest and ready to take action at a second's notice. K7020's is maglocked against her thigh, allowing her free use of her hands. With the container checked, it's sealed and the trooper directs with her hand, fingers and thumb extended and in line, for the deck crew to proceed to their destination.

<"Next; replacement stabilizer pods. Manifest counts twenty-five in total."> A1025 indicates, watching as the previous supply craft is guided by wordlessly. Like her partner, K7020, her weapon is mag-locked to her armor so she has free use of her arms. Frequent glances toward their overwatch is made to pick up on any cue that might clue her in on something she isn't party to because of her devotion to reading the manifest.

This is mindless work. The monotony is a test of many things, however, and paramount is discipline. Complacency kills. Erroneous adherence to standard operating procedure might lead to improper handling of one of the containers. It doesn't get scanned correctly, the internal count is off, or some other crucial attention-to-detail component is otherwise missed and the next thing they know, a bomb goes off inside the Harbinger and damages its main launch hangar. The problems compound and grow exponential from there. The fighter launcher is blocked in this bay, leading to a significant force presence should the Star Destroyer need to be defended. Crew efficiency is decreased having to deal with fires and electrical malfunctions.

In the end, the most simple thing is to take the path of least resistance, and for K7020 that path is unwavering performance executing the task at hand. Her hands touch each one and sound aloud with a count to verify pod one to pod twenty-five. Then she does it again. Not all shipments are handled this way. Most supplies for the Sith fleet come from their own stockyards. They're deep into the galaxy right now, however, and these supplies are from the surface of Corellia itself. <"Twenty-five replacement stabilizer pods verified."> The container is sealed. K7020 gestures the deck personnel to move forward.

<"The manifest does not contain this crate's serial number. I have no record of its contents."> A1025 gives no indication of there being an anomaly, though. She keeps the datapad in hand, and leaves the escalation to the other troopers who know the next step. Having no indication that the troopers have discovered this infraction, the workers tied to the freighter that's delivered these goods are none-the-wiser that something is about to change in the demeanor of the troops.

The freighter crew responsible for bringing this cargo aboard the Star Destroyer are kept aside from their ship and the containers for this purpose. K7020 doesn't touch it. The trooper scanning the container doesn't send any signals at it. <"Stand by."> Tongue toggling something on the inside of her helmet, K7020's voice projects out of the helmet with the distortion of someone speaking over transmission. <"Do not move."> The enlisted deck crew snap their gazes up to the blank, uniform faces of the Sith Troopers but do not otherwise do anything. They remain at the operation end of their hoversled. Switching communications net, K7020 relays to the quarter of troopers that currently act as guards for the freighter crew. <"Bring the crew.">

The trooper among their own group snaps their blaster rifle up, as do two others, and the freighter workers find barrels trained on them. The safeties are already disengaged. They had been since the start of the task. Orders are given to raise their hands, and failure to do so will result in immediate use of lethal force. The Sith Troopers are on a hair trigger while waiting for the crew to comply. The slightest hint that one of the workers does anything other than lift their hands is likely to set off a blaster rifle. Better a dead worker than an activation device used. The Sith Trooper with the scanning device has already set it to broadcast a short-range jamming signal confined to a few meters, but it's not one hundred percent effective. Nothing is.

The crew of the freighter are held at gun point whilst the Sith Troopers execute the standard operating procedures for an unknown crate package. Setting aside the manifest, ST-A1025 appends her weapon from its mag-locked state and switches the safety off with an audible click. This action primes the receiver and draws an idle charge from the blaster pack that's been fed into its well. The audio click from her helmet projects the command of her voice as she motions for an additional EOD crew to observe and monitor the unknown device. The small detachment of four march over in unison and begin to cordon the area, as per Imperial policy.

ST-A1025 steps forward, staying beside K7020. <"Which of you commands this civilian vessel?">

One female raises their hand a little higher. <"Search and scan her for devices capable of transmission.">

K7020 mirrors A1025. The weapon maglocked to her thigh is released via button depressed by her thumb along its pistol grip handle. Raising the blaster rifle, that same thumb brushes along the safety toggle and the weapon whines as it primes the power cell to mix energy with frozen Tibanna gas. The Sith Troopers move in synchronized patterns that are almost mechanical. While four of the troopers adopt cross-firing sectors so that there are a square of troopers around two isolated in the center with the workers from the freighter, the two in the middle issue orders for the freighter personnel to get on their knees with their ankles crossed and their hands behind their heads. Gammeplast-covered booted feet jut themselves into that small tringular gap created by the tips of the worker's boots, and a single hand from each trooper grasps at fingers that are interlocked so they can't yank away from one another.

The slightest sign of resistance or struggle with the trooper engaging with the workers is also pre-planned. The trooper need only shove the person forward and step back, opening up the other Sith Troopers to fire on them with extreme prejudice. While those two troopers begin the process of searching the freighter crew, the one that had been scanning cargo containers now scans these individuals in search of devices.

After an intensive and invasive search, the troopers new a great deal more about their civilian suppliers. Knick-knacks and recreational use products were withdrawn from pockets and set out on the deck. Scanners moved over their bodies relaying real-time view of what resided beneath their clothing and skin, and bandwidth scanners searched for ingoing-outgoing transmissions. All scans brought back negative results. They were clean. The troopers conducting the search indicate this with subtle shakes of their heads and quiet transmissions issued over their secure net.

The search does not reveal what's in the box, which is what the next question is intended to discover. <"What is in that crate?">

"I-I don't know.. we loaded up the pallets they told us to load up, ma'am. They were pre-sorted."

<"You did not verify the contents of what you were loading?">

"Yes.. I mean, I guess we missed that one."

<"You guess? Which is it, Captain? Did you or did you not verify the contents of your cargo?">

"Not thoroughly."

<"Halt offloading operations immediately. Deck crew need to exit the freighter. The ship will be put on lockdown and we will detain these workers for further questioning."> Further questioning, in Sith Empire speak, means detainment. <"Leave the container where it is. Have the deck crew reload what is currently on the way down in the freighter hallway."> Maintaining her position in overview of the personnel on their knees, K7020's guidance is executed by the other troopers while A1025 carries out the questioning of the ship's captain. The two troopers that were performing the search withdraw stun cuffs from the belts around their waists and begin securing the freighter crew not currently being questioned. The Sith Troopers standing guard do not flinch during the entire process. They maintain overwatch and keep their blasters trained on the crew the whole time. Their fingers remain poised on their triggers.

<"You have engaged in illegal activity which breaches your cargo agreement with this vessel. Your freighter will be impounded, and suspended in space to be held at a safe distance whilst you are escorted and monitored in our security cells for further questioning. -- Take them away."> A1025 motions with her free hand. A moment later, a communication debrief is sent to command. <<"Be advised, the freighter docked within the main hangar requires quarantine for suspected threat. Unauthorized material was loaded and disseminated from the ship. We are currently recalling all supplies to place them back into the freighter, per Imperial operations standard. The crew is being escorted to security for questioning. The Captain of the civilian vessel has admitted to not thoroughly scanning the contents of their cargo. We are standing by for further guidance.">>