Tower Star
The Corporate Intelligence Service(CIS) operates in many roles, all throughout the solar system, and often must do so while hiding their true purpose. Sometimes these operatives must skirt, or violate, Corporate Policy in order to find the information they seek. To reduce unintentional loss of operatives due to mistaken identity during Corporate Security raids, The Pleiades Corporation created a special badge, in 2054, to allow CIS operatives to identify themselves discretely when absolutely necessary. This badge, called the Tower Star, became a symbol of all of the darkest, most secret, and most enigmatic activities of the already mysterious Pleiades Corporation. Always disguised as a common item, and easily overlooked, the badge is nonetheless one of the most important items carried by every CIS field operative.
There are many members of the CIS field corps throughout human space. They serve as janitors on DSTV. They serve as broadcasters on the nightly holovids. They serve as corporate officials, Corporate Security, asteroid miners, humble farmers, Martian Hive software engineers, retirees on Luna, and even members of the CIS headquarters watching the watchers. The bulk of the CIS employees are headquarters staff, analysts, counter intelligence operations, administrative and technical staff, public relations, planning and strategic operations, even financial operations. The elite few, however, are field operatives in the field corps. The field operatives are the only members of the CIS who receive the coveted Tower Star badge. This badge, carefully concealed and tied to the unique characteristics of the wearer, identifies them as a CIS field operative when absolutely necessary. An operative working within the prison facility on Himalia might discover plans for a riot, cooperation from multiple guards and a high ranking prison executive, and details of the schedule, then use the badge to identify to a secure contact in order to pass the details on to headquarters where analysts connect the activities with other data to reveal a larger plot to disrupt multiple facilities and hide the actions of a Corporate Executive. Another operative might be caught in a raid of an illegal sweatshop on Earth where they were investigating a smuggling ring. The badge would be brought out, at just the right time, to show a cleared official so the operative could be afforded careful processing to avoid spoiling their cover identity. Another operative, close to exposure, might discard their favorite money clip, containing the badge, to avoid its use against them. They would later contact a handler to obtain a replacement, possibly after completing the current mission.
Structure and Use
The Tower Star is always a seven pointed star with a stylized city dome in the center and seven towers radiating out to the points of the star. This symbolizes the Seven Towers, the enigmatic and immense corporate headquarters for The Pleiades Corporation. The symbol also suggests the ambition of The Corporation to expand far beyond this solar system and out to the stars. Finally the symbol invokes the central power and control of the Corporate Executives, and their luxurious life among the domes of Luna. The symbol is always very small, easily concealed, and easily discarded if necessary. Often it is disguised within or as part of another object. It has been made in the form of a brooch, a piercing, a ring, a bracelet, an implant, or even an electronic tattoo, always disguised to seem common and unremarkable. In all forms the badge contains a contact pattern for an included chip, which will verify the bearer if contacted by an authorized reader and a finger placed on the reader's scan panel. Print, DNA, and geometry measurements combine to form a profile which the badge authenticates, returning a success or failure, along with certain probability indicators. Success usually ensures a quiet release. Failure sometimes results in a re-scan, but if failure assertion probability is high or the rescan also fails, the impersonator is nearly always executed on the spot.
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