LtCmdr. Dakora - Professional Distance

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Travis

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Jul 31, 2023, 2:38:26 PM7/31/23

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((Brew Continuum, Promenade, Cait Spacedock))

Talos had been sitting at one of the tables situated just outside the small coffee shop when he'd spotted Jovenan and flagged her down. They'd been chatting about the plethora of things to do on Cait and the Spacedock itself. The conversation had been pleasant enough, but for whatever reason his Edo companion seemed a little nervous.

Dakora: Where were you off to anyway? ::He tried to picture the massive spacedock’s layout.:: The transit terminals? Or somewhere else?

He felt her turning something over in her mind, but quickly focused his thoughts elsewhere to maintain her privacy. When she did finally reply, it seemed suspiciously dismissive.

Jovenan: Oh, it was nothing important. Nothing I can’t do later.

A silence stretched out between them and Talos played for time with another sip of coffee. Did he feel a wave of-- ...discomfort? That seemed like the most accurate description-- emanating from Jovenan and he wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to cause it. He'd really only flagged her down to chat, which was probably just an attempt to fill the lonely little void he'd felt forming inside him lately. So many of his old friends had gone now-- Iljor, Karrod, Adri, Jinean and others-- and both he and Yogan had been so busy that he'd sort of found himself drifting lately.

Maybe this is what happened to everyone as they gradually climbed the ranks... Maybe--

Jovenan: Uh, may I ask, sir? I asked what you do out of work, but I realised… I don’t actually know much about what you do at work.

He quirked an eyebrow up momentarily as she brought the subject around to work. He almost protested, but decided to let it go.

Keeping things professional all the time was going to take some getting used to.

Dakora: You want to know what I do? ::He laughed, wryly.:: Why would you want to know that?

Jovenan: I – I don’t mean to ask about the secret stuff, and I saw a little of your work during the last shore leave, but, uh, there’s no terrorists dropping asteroids on planets every day. It’s just that… I haven’t met too many intel officers before.

Still smirking, Talos shook his head and took a sip of his coffee.

Dakora: When you break it down the bulk of my job isn't that much different than yours. ::He rapped the knuckles of his left hand on the table for emphasis.:: We take tiny, disparate pieces of information-- gathered from a wide variety of sources-- and try to figure out what it all means. ::He rapped the knuckles of his left hand on the table for emphasis.:: But, while you sciencey types might be trying to unlock the secrets of a newly discovered plant or something, I may be trying to extrapolate how the assassination of some political figure on X planet a sector over is going to cause an influx of security resources to move to that area, emboldening the local warlord of planet Y to act up over here in the Borderlands. ::He shrugged.:: If we do our jobs right, we can advise the Captain and crew of potential threats before they're a problem. ::He cast his eyes down to the table.:: When we don't, well...

He gestured to the PADD with the repair estimates for the Intel Suite. He knew he wasn't the only one grappling with how the Suliban had gotten the drop on them, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Jovenan didn't seem to press the issue.

Jovenan: How would it differ if you’d be stationed on a station or a planet? What do intel officers do on a ship?

He considered the question for a moment. Talos' only experience was as a shipboard Intelligence Officer, but he could extrapolate how it might be different.

Dakora: I've only ever served on ships, but I can imagine there are some aspects that are easier-- not having to shift your threat coverage area every time the ship moves and it would be much easier to cultivate a network of informants and allies if you were on the planet or base every day.-- might simplify things. ::He scrunched up his face a little as he thought.:: Though there would be downsides as well. The fixed location adds a level of predictable vulnerability that may not be present on a ship. It's much easier to plan an attack if you know exactly where the target will be six months from now.

He looked up and let his dark eyes find Jovenan's

Dakora: As for what we actually do on the ship? A lot of reading, really. ::He laughed.:: The Artemis has her own sophisticated Intel gathering systems. She's always pulling in sensor and comms feeds, looking for any of the keywords or parameters we've specified and creating data dumps. Those-- combined with the broader feeds we get from SFI-- have to be processed and analyzed by our team and turned into digestible, accessible threat reports and Intel briefs. ::He raised his hand demonstrably.:: Despite what happened last shore leave, the Artemis’ smaller team doesn't have much in the way of Direct Action Assets. Unlike the team I had on the Excalibur.

Truthfully, the Artemis' Intelligence department had only one direct-action-focused Officer with a combat background-- Him.

It was a far cry from the finely honed DAGr team he'd headed up on the Excalibur, but in time, he could build his own.

Jovenan: Response?

He went for another sip and found his coffee to be distressingly empty. He made a show of shaking the empty cup.

Dakora: I guess we've been talking longer than I realized. ::He smiled.:: I should probably get back to work and let you get back to enjoying your shore leave.

Jovenan: Response?

He thought about re-iterating his offer to do something together during the time off, but didn't want to trigger the bout of awkwardness that had cropped up the last time. Instead, Talos just rose, pushed his chair back in and bowed his head slightly.

Dakora: It was nice talking to you Jovenan. I'll see you later.

Jovenan: Response?

And with that Talos scooped up his PADD and empty cup and headed off toward the docking ring and the Artemis.