06-03-2021, 06:48 AM
Calhualyana laid her tablet down on her desk, gently. She had gone through several of the devices, in the days after the Cauhloc raid, but her temper had cooled considerably. The Empress was now in a contemplative mood, at least enough to think without destroying several thousand quetzals' worth of high-end Xiomeran electronics.
The Security Ministry and ASI had completed their initial report on the Cauhloc breach, and the Empress was surprised at how forthright it was about the failures that had allowed the Auroras and their Huenyan helpers to breach what was supposed to be a virtually impenetrable site. "You've been both thorough and honest about why this happened," she said finally to Quihichua, the Security Minister. "That is good. It will allow you to keep your head. But not your job."
Quihichua blanched; she loved her work as much as Calhualyana had during her time as head of Imperial security, and losing her job would be almost as painful to her as death. Before Quihichua could say anything, however, the Empress shook her head. "Don't worry, I don't intend to fire you, or punish you any more than you have already been punished. You are, in truth, too valuable to the future of our security apparatus. However, there will be major changes coming in the wake of this." The Empress turned to Tlihue, Xochicueyetl and Tōpillnao, the top three ASI leaders. "You allowed the most severe breach of Imperial security in our history on your watch. You failed ASI, and you failed the Empire. You know what is required of you."
The three of them simply nodded, saluting the Empress before being escorted out. By the end of the day, there would be three vacancies to fill in ASI, and three funerals to arrange.
As they left, Calhualyana turned back to Quihichua. "Be thankful I am not ordering you to follow them. And do better next time."
"Yes, your Majesty, I will," Quihichua said, gaze aimed at the floor. "But....if I may ask....what changes do you speak of?"
"Other than clearing out the incompetent deadwood at the top of ASI that allowed this breach?" the Empress said, smirking. "More change than we have seen in our security apparatus since ASI was created 100 years ago." The Empress gestured for Quihichua to sit down. "I love ASI, and I love the Cauhloc. I spent the greatest part of my time serving the Empire there, before becoming Empress, of course. But we must face facts. Both ASI and the Cauhloc are relics of a simpler time, a less dangerous time. ASI's basic structure dates back decades; the Cauhloc itself is a 60-year-old relic. It is shameful that Xiomera, a nation that prides itself on its modernity, allowed its most important state arms, the security services, to become so hopelessly outdated. I even warned people like Topilpopoca about this; the old fool never listened." Calhualyana smiled. "But now I am Empress. And I have the power to bring our security services into the modern age."
As Quihichua watched, Calhualyana turned the screen mounted to her office wall on. "You brought me the problem, Quihichua. I present you the solution."
On the screen, a series of slides displayed what the Empress was about to command. "ASI is too overburdened. It is responsible for everything from intelligence gathering and foreign intelligence operations, to internal threat assessment and domestic counter-intelligence, to internal security and maintaining order. One agency cannot do all these things - not well enough, anyway, to fight the threats the Empire now faces. So, this is my plan. ASI will be broken up, and new agencies created. One of them, the Imperial Intelligence Agency, will handle all of our foreign intelligence gathering, intelligence operations, foreign threat assessment, technological and corporate espionage, cyberwarfare, and anything else we need done outside our own borders. This new IIA will remain under the Security Ministry, under a new leader."
Calhualyana advanced to the next slide. "You, however, will be taking over the Ministry of Loyalty from Tzinaca. He is frankly too weak to hold the position anyway, and I will 'encourage' him to retire. The Ministry of Loyalty will be in charge of taking over ASI's domestic functions. They will form a new agency - the Imperial Security Agency. The ISA will handle all domestic intelligence and internal security threats. They will also monitor Xiomeran populations abroad, to make sure they are remaining loyal to the Empire. They will also work closely with the Ministry of Information, to make sure that both internally and externally, the message that we want sent to people about our Empire is delivered."
The Empress advanced to yet another slide. "A new era for our intelligence and security forces will require new facilities as well. The Cauhloc is in the middle of the city, which makes it entirely impossible to keep secure. There is too much traffic, too many people, too many buildings, around it. This attack has proven that. We must isolate both the IIA and the ISA to keep them secure." On the slide, two sites in the foothills north of Tlālacuetztla were displayed. "The Security Ministry and the Ministry of Loyalty will receive new headquarters complexes. Isolated, in the mountains. Open space for miles around, so that rats like the Auroras can't hide and blend in amongst the city crowds."
Calhualyana began displaying images of design sketches she had done. "The blind spots this raid exposed in the Cauhloc will not exist in these new facilities. There will be not an inch of them that is not covered by cameras, sensors and guards. There will be no way anyone who isn't supposed to be there will be able to get within a mile of them without being spotted and stopped. The roads leading to it will have multiple checkpoints and guard towers to ensure that. And even if someone does manage to get to the new facilities, they will never get past the perimeter fences and walls. We will follow the same model as the Cauhloc, with offices above ground and detention and interrogation facilities below. However, the number of entrances will be much more limited, and much more heavily guarded. It will also no longer be the sole responsibility of security forces to guard security or intelligence facilities - the Army will also be tasked to guard the sites and their surrounding areas. I will not allow anyone to threaten our security or intelligence forces again. We will not be caught off guard again - and no one who guards these new sites will be even the slightest bit complacent, unless they want to end up inside a cell instead of guarding it."
Quihichua had come to see the Empress expecting to be executed, or at least fired. She began to smile as she realized that she was actually about to get everything a secret police agent ever dreamed of.
"In addition, once the new facilities are built, this will enable us to demolish the Cauhloc - which will allow us to be rid of many secrets that it is best the world not know about," Calhualyana mused.
Security Minister Quihichua smiled more broadly at that idea - burying the secrets of the Cauhloc, from her standpoint, was a very good idea. "What will happen to the former Cauhloc site once it is demolished?"
"I have already earmarked that site for the new Ministry of Information complex which will be built. With security maintained on one hand, and the Information Ministry ensuring that this nation hears one voice, and speaks with one voice, Xiomera will finally be ready for the vision that I have for its future. With two razor-sharp, lean and focused security and intelligence agencies, the Empire will be in a stronger position than it ever was with ASI." Calhualyana turned back to the images on the screen, of the rough sketches she had done. I will obliterate the stain that the Auroras and their Huenyan lackeys have placed on my security and intelligence forces. I will level the Cauhloc to wipe the shame of this violation from the face of the earth. And when the new IIA and ISA facilities rise, if anyone tries such a raid again, they will never leave Xiomera alive, she thought.
With that, the Empress dismissed Quihichua to begin implementing her vision for Xiomera's security future. Quihichua had already, days before, been punished for the Cauhloc raid. But she was not the only one due that reckoning. The Empress had an appointment.
---
The sound of the whip cracking was the only noise in the room.
Calhualyana, Empress of Xiomera, had punished those responsible for the lapse at the Cauhloc. Except for the person most responsible, to her very Xiomeran way of thinking.
In Xiomera, the leader was always responsible for any failings of their subordinates. The Director of ASI, his deputies, the guards at the Cauhloc during the attack, the Security Minister....they had all shared some role in the failure of the Cauhloc, to be sure. But Calhualyana had once been in charge of Security herself. And now, she was Empress. For both reasons, Calhualyana could not deny her own role in the failure of ASI to protect itself.
And after all, if the leader is responsible for the failings of their subordinates, who was more responsible than the Empress, in the end?
When the priests of Huītzilōpōchtli at the Huēyi Teōcalli were done scourging her, the Empress put her robe back on. She had not cried out during the scourging, and she didn't wince when getting dressed, even though the wounds were fresh. The pain would be a reminder to her to not be complacent, and not to fail again.
The Security Ministry and ASI had completed their initial report on the Cauhloc breach, and the Empress was surprised at how forthright it was about the failures that had allowed the Auroras and their Huenyan helpers to breach what was supposed to be a virtually impenetrable site. "You've been both thorough and honest about why this happened," she said finally to Quihichua, the Security Minister. "That is good. It will allow you to keep your head. But not your job."
Quihichua blanched; she loved her work as much as Calhualyana had during her time as head of Imperial security, and losing her job would be almost as painful to her as death. Before Quihichua could say anything, however, the Empress shook her head. "Don't worry, I don't intend to fire you, or punish you any more than you have already been punished. You are, in truth, too valuable to the future of our security apparatus. However, there will be major changes coming in the wake of this." The Empress turned to Tlihue, Xochicueyetl and Tōpillnao, the top three ASI leaders. "You allowed the most severe breach of Imperial security in our history on your watch. You failed ASI, and you failed the Empire. You know what is required of you."
The three of them simply nodded, saluting the Empress before being escorted out. By the end of the day, there would be three vacancies to fill in ASI, and three funerals to arrange.
As they left, Calhualyana turned back to Quihichua. "Be thankful I am not ordering you to follow them. And do better next time."
"Yes, your Majesty, I will," Quihichua said, gaze aimed at the floor. "But....if I may ask....what changes do you speak of?"
"Other than clearing out the incompetent deadwood at the top of ASI that allowed this breach?" the Empress said, smirking. "More change than we have seen in our security apparatus since ASI was created 100 years ago." The Empress gestured for Quihichua to sit down. "I love ASI, and I love the Cauhloc. I spent the greatest part of my time serving the Empire there, before becoming Empress, of course. But we must face facts. Both ASI and the Cauhloc are relics of a simpler time, a less dangerous time. ASI's basic structure dates back decades; the Cauhloc itself is a 60-year-old relic. It is shameful that Xiomera, a nation that prides itself on its modernity, allowed its most important state arms, the security services, to become so hopelessly outdated. I even warned people like Topilpopoca about this; the old fool never listened." Calhualyana smiled. "But now I am Empress. And I have the power to bring our security services into the modern age."
As Quihichua watched, Calhualyana turned the screen mounted to her office wall on. "You brought me the problem, Quihichua. I present you the solution."
On the screen, a series of slides displayed what the Empress was about to command. "ASI is too overburdened. It is responsible for everything from intelligence gathering and foreign intelligence operations, to internal threat assessment and domestic counter-intelligence, to internal security and maintaining order. One agency cannot do all these things - not well enough, anyway, to fight the threats the Empire now faces. So, this is my plan. ASI will be broken up, and new agencies created. One of them, the Imperial Intelligence Agency, will handle all of our foreign intelligence gathering, intelligence operations, foreign threat assessment, technological and corporate espionage, cyberwarfare, and anything else we need done outside our own borders. This new IIA will remain under the Security Ministry, under a new leader."
Calhualyana advanced to the next slide. "You, however, will be taking over the Ministry of Loyalty from Tzinaca. He is frankly too weak to hold the position anyway, and I will 'encourage' him to retire. The Ministry of Loyalty will be in charge of taking over ASI's domestic functions. They will form a new agency - the Imperial Security Agency. The ISA will handle all domestic intelligence and internal security threats. They will also monitor Xiomeran populations abroad, to make sure they are remaining loyal to the Empire. They will also work closely with the Ministry of Information, to make sure that both internally and externally, the message that we want sent to people about our Empire is delivered."
The Empress advanced to yet another slide. "A new era for our intelligence and security forces will require new facilities as well. The Cauhloc is in the middle of the city, which makes it entirely impossible to keep secure. There is too much traffic, too many people, too many buildings, around it. This attack has proven that. We must isolate both the IIA and the ISA to keep them secure." On the slide, two sites in the foothills north of Tlālacuetztla were displayed. "The Security Ministry and the Ministry of Loyalty will receive new headquarters complexes. Isolated, in the mountains. Open space for miles around, so that rats like the Auroras can't hide and blend in amongst the city crowds."
Calhualyana began displaying images of design sketches she had done. "The blind spots this raid exposed in the Cauhloc will not exist in these new facilities. There will be not an inch of them that is not covered by cameras, sensors and guards. There will be no way anyone who isn't supposed to be there will be able to get within a mile of them without being spotted and stopped. The roads leading to it will have multiple checkpoints and guard towers to ensure that. And even if someone does manage to get to the new facilities, they will never get past the perimeter fences and walls. We will follow the same model as the Cauhloc, with offices above ground and detention and interrogation facilities below. However, the number of entrances will be much more limited, and much more heavily guarded. It will also no longer be the sole responsibility of security forces to guard security or intelligence facilities - the Army will also be tasked to guard the sites and their surrounding areas. I will not allow anyone to threaten our security or intelligence forces again. We will not be caught off guard again - and no one who guards these new sites will be even the slightest bit complacent, unless they want to end up inside a cell instead of guarding it."
Quihichua had come to see the Empress expecting to be executed, or at least fired. She began to smile as she realized that she was actually about to get everything a secret police agent ever dreamed of.
"In addition, once the new facilities are built, this will enable us to demolish the Cauhloc - which will allow us to be rid of many secrets that it is best the world not know about," Calhualyana mused.
Security Minister Quihichua smiled more broadly at that idea - burying the secrets of the Cauhloc, from her standpoint, was a very good idea. "What will happen to the former Cauhloc site once it is demolished?"
"I have already earmarked that site for the new Ministry of Information complex which will be built. With security maintained on one hand, and the Information Ministry ensuring that this nation hears one voice, and speaks with one voice, Xiomera will finally be ready for the vision that I have for its future. With two razor-sharp, lean and focused security and intelligence agencies, the Empire will be in a stronger position than it ever was with ASI." Calhualyana turned back to the images on the screen, of the rough sketches she had done. I will obliterate the stain that the Auroras and their Huenyan lackeys have placed on my security and intelligence forces. I will level the Cauhloc to wipe the shame of this violation from the face of the earth. And when the new IIA and ISA facilities rise, if anyone tries such a raid again, they will never leave Xiomera alive, she thought.
With that, the Empress dismissed Quihichua to begin implementing her vision for Xiomera's security future. Quihichua had already, days before, been punished for the Cauhloc raid. But she was not the only one due that reckoning. The Empress had an appointment.
---
The sound of the whip cracking was the only noise in the room.
Calhualyana, Empress of Xiomera, had punished those responsible for the lapse at the Cauhloc. Except for the person most responsible, to her very Xiomeran way of thinking.
In Xiomera, the leader was always responsible for any failings of their subordinates. The Director of ASI, his deputies, the guards at the Cauhloc during the attack, the Security Minister....they had all shared some role in the failure of the Cauhloc, to be sure. But Calhualyana had once been in charge of Security herself. And now, she was Empress. For both reasons, Calhualyana could not deny her own role in the failure of ASI to protect itself.
And after all, if the leader is responsible for the failings of their subordinates, who was more responsible than the Empress, in the end?
When the priests of Huītzilōpōchtli at the Huēyi Teōcalli were done scourging her, the Empress put her robe back on. She had not cried out during the scourging, and she didn't wince when getting dressed, even though the wounds were fresh. The pain would be a reminder to her to not be complacent, and not to fail again.
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