Canon?
Yes (has a planned occurence in the plot)
Main Cast
Time period
2041 - 2044
Tags
This is still very brainstorm-y for now so bear with me! Any info subject to change.
Start of the war
Sky, having no experience in wartime state security — or state security in general for that matter, being freshly out of college and all. He was eager to work with his mentor Goose, mostly in interrogating the prisoners of war Bauhinia captured. When Goose was alone, the interrogations were messy, involved too much bleeding and screaming, and arguably counterproductive. With Sky, she was a lot more reserved, and Sky learned a lot.
And one day, they captured a Fantoni agent lurking near Bauhinian military forts, way behind the frontline. She was sent to Goose and Sky.
Mulberry
She said her name was Mulberry and that she wanted to defect. Fanton coerced her into spying in Bauhinia, and she had always dreamed of escaping that totalitarian hellhole. Her first words as a baby were "fuck Fanton." Okay sorry officers I lied on that one, but I wish it were true, but the "f" sound is really hard for babies to pronounce you know? Ehh… sorry I'll shut up.
Goose was laughing so hard. You think you know more about totalitarian states than me? I spent my whole life living in one! Anyways, she was about to write Mulberry off as a really poorly-trained dangle. Sky, however, had a hunch that she was genuine.
He decided to treat Mulberry to dinner. Starving, she didn't care if the food was poisoned (or just didn't think of the possibility) and devoured it, meat and all. He also poured wine for all of them, gleefully clicking glasses with Mulberry. After the dinner, they each had a cigarette.
And he had his conclusion: Fanton would never hire someone who eats meat, drinks alcohol, and smokes to work for them. Mulberry couldn't have been pretending too, since her reactions suggested she was used to drinking and smoking.
He questioned Mulberry late into the night. She was drafted, trained in boot camp for a while, before offering to work for the NSA, and she was supposed to stay in Bauhinia, taking orders and providing them with the intel they wanted until they summoned her back.
Great. How do you feel about never going back?
The contract was signed; Mulberry was now an official double agent. Goose let Sky be her handler, since without him, Goose would've deported Mulberry right back to Fanton. Come up with a code name for her!
Agent Spades.
After the contract was signed, Mulberry opened up to them a lot more. Here's one crucial piece of information she gave them. During her time in boot camp, she heard that the Fantoni had acquired a deadly weapon that could kill people while leaving barely any trace. Like magic.
This had already been observed by soldiers on the frontlines. They didn't know how it happened, and their comrades were lying dead on the ground with no visible injury. Countless PoWs had been tortured over it but not a single one talked; no Bauhinian spy sent to investigate had returned. Like magic.
Like magic? Sky knew magic. One of his closest friends was a magician, though he hadn't heard from her in years. He had met the Arch-Magician once, briefly, inside a police station. And he knew that one, magicians only appeared in Bauhinia for at least a few hundred years now; and two, magic cannot be used by anyone other than the magician themselves. Qibli confirmed it, and she got her knowledge from the Arch-Magician, who, as the world's leading authority on magic, couldn't possibility be wrong1.
Blackjack
Jumbo
The MSS intercepted some correspondence between someone in Bauhinia and someone in Fanton. They looked at it and just stared… Seems like this person is trying to sell the Fantoni info but failing terribly at that. The person in question was completely making shit up.
They realized that the Fantoni trusted this person a lot, and that they could use them to provide intentionally misleading information.
Sky found out everything about them. Jumbo, trader, sometimes smuggles stuff but mostly law-abiding. He posed as someone wanting to contact some Fantoni traders and introduced himself to her.
Sky pulled a dirty trick for this one. He asked his beloved mentor Goose to hide herself and his MSS uniform touching him. That way, he appeared as a civilian while wearing the uniform.
Jumbo met Sky in a restaurant, but quickly, Sky asked to go somewhere more private. She took him to her studio.
In the split second Jumbo had her back turned, Goose released Sky, letting his uniform show. Still invisible, she slipped away, trusting her apprentice to handle it.
Jumbo turned around to see Sky clad in a jet-black uniform.
Sky was stepping around the room, surveying the place, arms behind his back.
Jumbo narrowed her eyes.
When did you put on that coat? I don't remember you carrying it. And it kind of looks like a government uniform?
Sky pulled his badge out of his pocket and showed it to Jumbo.
Sky pulled out a pair of handcuffs by his left hand, dangling them in front of Jumbo.
But — Wait! Let me explain! I — I made everything up! Surely you know that? I never gave them real information! I was — I was intentionally misleading them for the benefit of Bauhinia!
The Ministry does not care whether the information is true or false. The Ministry only cares about whether you did it. Did you, or did you not?
Jumbo was sweating and heaving, on the verge of tears.
He produced a piece of paper from his right hand. A contract.
The Ministry is generous enough to offer you a chance to atone for your crimes, and even receive merit. Come work with us. Or…
He jingled the handcuffs in his left hand. Both hands are extended towards Jumbo. She swallowed.
Tsunami
Epilogue
After the war ended, Sky was awarded with eternal bragging rights and a choice to work wherever he wanted to. He decided to become a teacher at Ministry Affiliate2.
Next: Spy School, Poker Party.