Grimoires and Gunsmoke

“Mmm…This is it…” Toivonen hummed with interest as she sat in the passenger seat of a car, pouring over the latest reports from her special operations team. “We need to debrief these guys…”

The world seemed to blur past her as Toivonen scrolled through her phone with hunger in her eyes and marveled at how this ODA team single-handedly outperformed every one of her paramilitary officers. She didn’t know if their actions were intentional or not, but they were paving the way for future intelligence officers and building the very infrastructure for a spy network.

Toivonen couldn’t even count how often she read their reports, but whenever she went over them again, she always found some new detail she could capitalize on. However, the other problem was she was just a distant observer. But if she managed to get control of Patrick Coleman… then the sky was the limit…

An unhinged and unsteady breath left Toivonen’s mouth as she bit her lip.

Opening a dossier that OBSIDIAN SPIKE had constructed on her phone, Toivonen furrowed her brow in thought as she scrolled through it. “A… Aze… Azeline…?” The Intelligence Officer tried to sound out the name. She wasn’t quite as fluent as she’d like in this alien language, so she couldn’t be certain of its pronunciation, but she needed to try at the very least.

Familiarizing herself with all these new players was paramount because this ‘Azeline’ was a mercenary with suspected connections to a larger crime organization. That fact alone made her a priority target for their plans moving forward, and she needed to get claws into her.

As Toivonen continued to go through the dossier, she sifted through the uncountable pictures snapped of her. This blonde elf evidently preferred to be around her favorite special forces team, either lounging in the back of one of their vehicles or aimlessly wandering around with one of the members. However, she noticed it was always a particular team member this ‘Azeline’ chose to be around the most… and he was a particularly troublesome individual…

In fact, it was explicitly stated that the local listened to no one but the most troublesome person on the team… “What’s the connection here…?” She grumbled as she tapped away at her phone, looking through this ODA’s files again.

This had always puzzled her, but she never really had the time to think about it before being ripped away from the veritable mountain of other situations she had to handle. However, now that she had an hour or two to sit in a car and think, she couldn’t help but wonder just why in the world the local pick-up would be more smitten with this guy. Why would she stick to some rogue operator who bordered on being a thug instead of the team leader who would be calling the shots here?

Was Coleman really calling the shots?

Toivonen had been keeping an eye on Coleman for a while now. She had rubbed her hands greedily when she read the details of how his unit successfully infiltrated a population center some significance. Not only that, but recent reports were sparse, but they mentioned how he and his team had potentially subverted and turned someone in the town's law enforcement with some influence.

This was another incredible milestone that would go a long way toward establishing a foothold in this new world. However, the more Toivonen dug into Major Patrick Coleman's background, the more confused she became. It was suspicious to the point where she had a tough time believing that this team leader played any role other than a passive one in this endeavor.

The Major was clean… way too clean.

Once more, she read through Coleman's profile. “Above-average-income and holistic family in Connecticut…Captain of his high school football team…. Graduated from West Point…” Toivonen pinched the bridge of her nose. “Bastard reads like the poster child of the all-American boy next door from the goddamn 50’s…”

"No way this guy is anything but straight-edge," Toivonen said, her fingers transitioning from pinching to rubbing as if she were trying to ward a headache away. The disconnect between Coleman's background and his current actions was too significant.

So the question was: how in the world did such a seemingly innocent man brought up in an idealized household develop the skills to subvert and manipulate to such a degree? It just didn't add up. Coleman's file painted a picture of a straight-laced, by-the-book officer who was universally loved by his superiors. He was the kind of man who'd sooner report a jaywalker than negotiate with criminals.

Toivonen leaned back in her chair as she thought. In her experience, the operators who excelled in this type of work usually came from more complicated backgrounds. They understood the criminal mindset because they'd lived it or at least brushed up against it. This usually gave them the innate understanding of the darker side of human nature needed to perform more… sensitive tasks.

But Coleman? His background suggested he'd the most he’d done was underage drinking at a party. "There's no way," Toivonen muttered, shaking her head. "No fucking way, this boy scout just waltzes in and starts flipping thugs and made men in a crime syndicate. It just doesn't happen."

The dissonance was jarring. It was like reading about two completely different people that were polar opposites.

Toivonen threw one leg over the other, letting it bounce restlessly as she glanced briefly at her driver. "How much longer until we arrive?" she asked, her voice taut with impatience.

"Twenty more minutes, ma'am," the driver replied, his eyes flicking up at her in the rearview mirror.

With a curt nod, Toivonen glanced back down at her phone. She was determined to find out what was happening here in the hello as she started digging through the rest of Coleman's team. There were a couple of candidates, but only two individuals stood out to her. The rest were either career soldiers or fresh out of selection, and none of them were particularly noteworthy.

Jason Kwon seemed interesting, but his file read more like a guy who went with the flow and never really rocked the boat. And then there was Elijah... Elijah Drake.

Her leg bounced as her thoughts honed in on Drake's file. Toivonen never looked that deep into the man other than the cursory background check due to his… unusual circumstance in the form of his plus one. But now that she taking a closer look, dots on the graph are starting to line up.

Elijah Drake was a troublemaker who bordered on being a renegade. The fact that he was joined at the hip by that immortal fairy thing didn’t help.

Toivonen's thoughts swirled momentarily as she read what files they had on him, but she quickly realized there wasn't much to go on. She would have to dig deep into him like she did with Coleman. But what she could glean from the limited information they had painted a picture of a problem child from start to finish.

A grimace formed on the intelligence officer's face as she pored over the details of his sealed records. He had a... very colorful history with the plethora of gangs of South Los Angeles in California. The arrest reports and investigation files painted a vivid picture, even if nothing ever stuck to the man. Toivonen wasn't one to judge someone born in such an environment, but she couldn't help but wonder how he'd slipped through the system's cracks. Despite multiple arrests and ongoing investigations, his record was technically clean. Whatever strings he'd pulled to make it all disappear must have been impressive. She found herself both intrigued and unsettled by the question: what did he do, or what kind of information could he have traded to wipe his slate so thoroughly?

Whatever the reason, the involvement of both the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI hinted at a significant case – perhaps the takedown of a major gang’s criminal operation. Whatever it was, they'd locked it away tight and made it virtually inaccessible.

Besides his alleged criminal history, Elijah’s story reads like some kind of fever dream. It seemed this guy managed to bypass checks and balances that would flag him as a no-go, but Toivonen assumed this was only due to the Army’s desperation for a warm body. However, that wasn’t the only anomaly she saw within his dossier. He had not only joined the Army at the height of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) but also managed to secure an 18x contract…

… The exclusive pipeline that guaranteed and prepped you for Special Forces Assessment and Selection.

Shaking her head, Toivonen read that he not only finished Robin Sage but was drafted directly into their direct action company. Sure, the details of his time in that unit were spotty at best, but his combat performance was… quite impressive. However, the operator had a very colorful record with disciplinary action and was a stark contrast to Coleman's squeaky-clean background.

Toivonen winced as she noticed that Elijah was still just a Staff Sergeant despite being one of the team's senior soldiers besides Kwon. The man had not been promoted once since joining, which was highly unusual for someone with his experience unless they were a perpetual problem but too valuable to let go.

Something else jumped out at her, though. Elijah served under Colonel Finley, the 5th Special Forces Group commander when he led a commander's in-extremis force (CIF) team as a major. It seemed that Finley was not the biggest fan of dear Elijah, regardless of seeing the value in him, and decided to be the roadblock that prevented him from progressing his career.

When Toivonen dug deeper into their unit, she couldn’t help but groan. "I wish they’d just stick to one goddam name…." She muttered as she saw the multiple asterisks with the litany of names the Special Forces direct action company had used in the past.

Suddenly, her driver spoke up, ripping her out of her train of thought. "We're here, ma'am."

A disgruntled huff left Toivonen’s mouth as she turned her phone’s screen off and looked up as the vehicle pulled into a heavily guarded lot. The sight of the familiar grounds within Camp Peary met her gaze as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. Turning her head, she saw that the security was a lot tighter than usual, with CIA Police sweeping the area, but Toinvonen soon spotted a familiar face caught her eye/

A rather petite woman with long blonde hair that flowed down her shoulders sauntered over, dressed casually in a camisole and yoga pants. She had her phone in her hand and a smirk on her face while waving happily.

"You only come to see me when it's work-related, Sofia," the blonde called out, brushing some hair from her face.

Toivonen rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress her own smile. "You know how it is, Jamie," she replied in a casual and familiar tone. "I was pretty much ignored before all this fantasy alien garbage, but now they think I’m some kind of slave."

Jamie chuckled as she watched her old friend sigh miserably. "Well, at least the aliens are giving you an excuse to visit old friends," she said, pulling Toivonen into a quick hug. "Though I have to say, I'm a little hurt you didn't come running to me the moment you found out about elves and magic."

Toivonen rolled her eyes with a playful smile. "Come running to you?" she replied incredulously as they pulled apart. What is a knockoff of some Instagram-obsessed Valley girl gonna do? Flirt with them?" Toivonen looked her up and down, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Jamie laughed as her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. "Well, maybe I wouldn’t be the best tactical choice. Isn't being unassuming the point?" she retorted, doing a princess-like twirl. I’d make a great case officer. You should see how many people ignore me because I look like some random girl!"

A hum left Toinvonens mouth for a moment as she put a finger to her chin. "Potentially…” She replied thoughtfully. “Your pet project is going to need a handler… so I might have a need for reliable people in the near future.”

“But, I am impressed by your ability to look like a perpetual sorority girl.” She then said with a cheeky smile. “What's your secret? The lifeblood of virgins? Ritual sacrifice?”

Scoffing at the backhanded compliment, Jamie's eyes rolled dramatically. "Oh please, get with the times, grandma.” She put her hands on her hips and shot back with a mock glare. "It's adrenochrome and eating babies this time around."

"My secret for eternal youth, huh…" Jamie’s tone softened as she crossed her arms in thought, "I mean… all I do is work out and keep as far away from brass as if they had the bubonic plague.” She shrugged. There really wasn’t anything else that she was doing, so she didn’t have an answer for her.

Toivonen's face fell into a tired, pained expression. "Ya... I guess that makes sense..." she muttered while her hand scratched at her arm.

Over the past half-year, Toivonen had developed many nervous tics due to the overwhelming stress of her new responsibilities. The wrinkles hadn't quite come yet, but she could feel them starting to appear.

However, she found a few grey hairs, which nearly made her cry.

"Speaking of aging faster than one should and our… leadership." Toivonen stood up properly and crossed her arms. "There are visitors on their way. Big ones."

The corner of Jamies lip shot up in disgust as the bridge of her nose crinkled. She had absolutely no interest in whatever the hell Toinvonen was about to drag her into, but seeing as she was already here, Jamie realized she had very little choice in the matter. "The Director?" The words came out more as a bitter accusation than a question

A smirk spread across Toivonen’s face as she nodded slowly. "And the Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence..." She said somewhat happily at the fact that someone else was joining in on her suffering.

Jamie groaned and slapped her forehead. "Are you serious?"

But Toivonen wasn't done delivering the terrible news. She continued, pulling up a finger for each important individual that was going to show up. "And the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Advisor..." She continued, watching Jamie’s usual nonchalant expression turn more and more sour.

"And a whole host of Scientists!" Toivonen topped it all off in a triumphant tone.

Staring at her supposed ‘friend’ in disbelief, Jamie opened her mouth to give her a few choice words but held stopped just before a sound came out. Her mouth flapped like a fish, cycling through whatever curse or derogatory term she wanted to hurl toward Toinvonen but never committed.

Finally, after a moment of stunned silence, she found her voice. "Jesus Christ, Sofia… what the hell?” She asked with a look that said she wanted absolutely no part of what was happening.

"Too late to escape now!” Toivonen cackled evilly and clapped her hands together. “Our betters have spoken!" she said, walking away from the car and grabbing her hair to tie it in a bun.

A slew of muttered curses left Jamie's mouth as she threw her up and slapped them against her thighs in exasperation. "You haven't even told me what's happening yet!" As she chased after the woman.

Toivonen furrowed her brow and slowed to allow Jamie to catch up as she finished fussing with her hair. "It's... complicated.” She replied with a troubled voice as she looked around at all the staff and security officers wandering around the place. “Come on, I'll tell you more when we’re not in a goddamn parking lot."

Jamie's expression turned highly suspicious as she took a spot right next to Toivonen. She had a sinking feeling that she was stepping into something she really didn't want to deal with, but she knew better than to ask questions, given the nature of her work.

With their conversation coming to a natural end, the two women crossed the grounds, heading towards a section of the Farm that Jamie knew was reserved for more clandestine tests. It was a highly secured area, requiring multiple clearances and biometric scans to access, but everyone entering these grounds had already gone through extensive clearances before even laying eyes on the building. The security was so intense that no one who wasn’t supposed to be on this side of the camp had been forcibly removed.

As they walked, Toivonen lowered her voice and gave Jamie the side eye. "We're headed to Sector 7-G to participate in an... unusual presentation."

The ominous words caused Jamie to bring her hand to her face and push in her eyeballs to ward off the headache that was starting to form. She had to assume this presentation was also why she was ordered to bring her latest experimental trainee. It seemed like they were going to be messing with things beyond their current conventional understandings and taking another step into the unknown.

"Yep, L's other half is on their way with a host of her students and a few engineers to do some testing,” Toivoinen continued, referring to Lysandra and Yzael. They want everyone there, including L."

Jamie gave a reflective look at this. She couldn't quite understand why the scientists would want Lysandra there. The woman was training in espionage, not their technical bullshit. But then again, this was far beyond her pay grade, and the decision had most likely been made far before she was consulted.

"I see," she said carefully, thinking about what they could possibly want to see from her latest Protégé. "And I'm guessing this isn't just a capabilities demonstration?"

Toivonen shook her head and gave her a complicated expression. "Far from it. I wasn't even briefed on what’s happening.” She gave an annoyed and dismissive wave of her hand as she rolled her eyes. “There’s so many layers of bullshit classification that they told me to fuck off, it’s none of my business, and to just show up.” shrouded under so many layers of classification, it made my head spin.”

As they continued through the Farm, grumbling to each other, the two seemed taken aback at the even heavier security presence when they got to their destination. The CIA police seemed to melt away and were replaced with more shadow personnel equipped with more personalized weapons. Their presence made the atmosphere grow tense as they passed hardened security measures and anti-surveillance equipment.

Around the perimeter, teams of technicians were setting up additional equipment. Some were deploying mobile signal jammers, while others were erecting what looked like portable weather stations – likely decoys to mask the true nature of their activities from satellite surveillance.

Recognizing that the men and women who secured the area and operated the equipment here were from the clandestine branches of the CIA, Jamie couldn’t help but shake her head. “This is getting weird.” She said, presenting her ID to the guards in front of the door, who then started pulling out biometric verification equipment.

Toivonen pressed her thumb against a reader as it flashed green and looked towards her blonde friend. “I mean, ya. Our country’s biggest adversaries are promptly losing their minds,” she said while going through another host of security verification protocols. Counter-intel has been running the gauntlet at every waking moment. There are sleeper cells that have been activated all over the place, and those are only the ones we know about.."

"Not surprising…” Jamie murmured as she went through her own identity verification process. We’re completely shifting the paradigm and shifting it in a MAJOR way." She continued in an annoyed huff as the operator held a phone-like device to scan her face and fussed about the positioning of her head. "I'm surprised outright acts of war haven't been committed yet."

Toivonen didn't say anything for a few moments as the device scanned her hands, measuring the known shape, width, and length of every finger. "We're teetering." She finally took a few steps forward after finishing it all, "The Navy and Air Force are internally on DEFCON 2."

Jamie wasn’t even remotely surprised by the news, if anyone could call it news in the first place. “Any plans on our security posturing going public?”.

“Nope,” Toivonen shook her head. "Public’s already whipped into a frenzy. The last thing we want is them screeching for war with anyone and everyone."

Once they entered Sector 7-G, they found the building itself to be a windowless, reinforced concrete structure that seemed to hunker down into the earth. Its walls looked as if they were thick enough to withstand a bunker buster, and one could see the telltale signs of a Faraday cage built into the structure.

Looking around, they found that the massive complex easily contained several acres of open space. The air seemed to shimmer slightly, and waiting for the two was the sight of the two elves happily greeting each other.

“Let's get this over with…” Toinvonen sighed as she trudged over to the group of very important individuals off to the side.