Lurking Within The Shadows-Ra

[Brent Smith]

Brent slowly pulled himself hand over hand, crawling on his stomach through the semi-darkness. Over his eyes he wore a visor to help level his playing field with the locals in the mostly-dark setting. Over the years, Brent had changed, slowly, ever so slowly. When had enlisted years ago, or what felt like a life time, he was just a family man looking for any way to support his family. He was still a family man, but now he was in the FOSB. Being an agent had changed him. Brent had never dreamed before he'd take a life--at Dredd he had taken too many to count, all for a black box of intel. It changed him. Then his family had been captured by drug lords, all while he was trying to do the right thing, and Brent had to kill them all and fight for his own family again.

Under all of the murder, under all the fighting he was still there, still alive, and that optimism was still there, somewhere. He still believed he was doing the right thing, even after all the bad things he had done. It was for the right reason, to help take care of people.

It doesn't make me a bad man, Brent told himself once more. It just makes me a man who's done what has to be done.

He needed to clear his mind, get this horrible fog of death off him. That's what this little hunting trip was about. Clearing his head. Getting away from the agent work.

Brent felt it out of the corner of his mind, something flutter through before it appeared before him. A flock of Banshees appeared from a nearby bush to his 5 o'clock, about 100 meters away. He tilted his shatter rifle at them, watching the predators flutter away in horror. They were running from something, and if they were running, Brent could guess there was probably a good reason. The planet tended to attract some dangerous type.

The man rose to his feet, clutching his hunting shatter rifle at his side in a gesture of good will.

"Hello there," he shouted towards the bush, "Anyone there?"

@Ra'a'mah​

 

[Riamah]

Ra was drawn to this dark planet for reasons beyond her understanding. Maybe the Force led her here, but why remained illusive. The red haired woman wore her dark cloak with a silver pin clasping the front closed. Under her cloak were dark clothes to match the atmosphere. Not knowing what to expect, she came fully armed. Three lightsabers- two short ones up her sleeves, a double bladed one hung on her hip. A simple blaster was on her other hip, two boot knives in her boots and a spiked ball at the end of her braid.

She did not hide her presence here, the dark lent its uses and kept the predators at bay. However, her eyes were naturally gold and did not have the customary sith hue. The only time that happened was when she used her emotions to power her skills. Not even using the core skills made that happen as both light and dark could use them.

So far her visit here was uneventful, but interesting. The different life of nature still displayed the natural course of life. The strong preyed on the weak and the weak died. Very primal and she liked it here. Who knows, maybe she could move here in time, claim this world as hers like she had Vjun and Helska.

Stopping when something lifted out of a tree not far from her, Ra cursed lightly and continued on. Not far from her a man stood up, a gun clearly outlined, but held at his side. Calling out to her, Ra debated on disappearing, but then he might by she was drawn here. Narrowing her eyes only very slightly, she kept her hands visible as she walked in his direction. By the time, she reached him, her face wore a neutral, but slightly curious look.

"Hello yourself. Having any luck?"

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

A figure appeared and began to approach him. The visor over his eyes made it easier to see than if her were using his eyes in this dismal light. He could tell pretty much immediately the figure was a woman, and she was a red head. When you were as used to reading body language as this spy, it was pretty clear she knew how to handle herself in this place and she wasn't some teen who was lost out wandering in the woods with her friends.

"Hello yourself. Having any luck?"

"Not much," Brent said, wincing. "I'm not trying too hard either, just looking to blow off some stress, clear my head on vacation."

There wasn't much of a reason for him to lie, besides the best covers were the ones that were true after all. He shifted his weight. The man didn't know what it was about this woman, but there was a little bit more to her than met the eye. Maybe it was just his gut feeling, or maybe he was just a slight bit paranoid, but there seemed to be a little bit of an extra flicker around her. It was the same sort of flicker that he felt in the back of his mind when he found someone of interest on a case or when he was focusing in on some dangerous work.

He shifted, offering his right hand to shake, "My name's Brent, what brings you out here?"

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a small grunt at his answer, Ra cracked a small, half smile at him. It didn't reach her eyes though. With a slight tilt of her head as she spoke.

"I can appreciate that actually. Never did understand hunting for fun."

It was true to an extent, the difference was she had never been hunting. So what pleasure a person could get out of it, she didn't know about. She sensed he was actually telling her the truth on the matter and didn't question him further on it. It wasn't really her business anyway.

He shifted his stance slightly and in the end extended his hand offering his name and asked what brought her here. The name wasn't issue, but an answer to the next question was difficult to come up without sounding like she was nuts.

"Call me Ra. Easier than my full name. Well, I've never been here before. So I decided to visit."

It wasn't the full truth, but she didn't want to come across like a nut job to him. Not at least they knew each other better.

"It rather nice, don't you think? I could potentially see myself making a home here. Better than my other two homes for sure."

Both were on lifeless world. One a frozen rock and the other had acid rain.

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

She said she couldn't understand hunting for fun. He shrugged slightly, "I guess it really isn't for every one. I usually don't go so far out from home but," he paused. But what, he wondered. The man wasn't even entirely sure why he came out this far, to a planet this deadly. Maybe he was starting to get addicted to the thrill of fighting, and struggling to stay alive. Or maybe it was something more sinister.

"But I thought it'd be nice to try something different," he finished at last, satisfied to settle on that reason. "Ra, huh? Nice to meet you then, Ra. I guess we are both new here then."

She said nice, but Brent thought it was a little bit of a stretch. He turned and looked the dark, twisted place over, the place fully visible from his visor. But there was something, even destructively so, enjoyable about the place like a twisted beauty. He looked back at her and nodded, "There is something exotic about this place. I can't say I'd love to set up a vacation home, but there could be something nice here."

He leaned on his rifle, planting the butt of it in the ground. He could see her lightsaber at her hips, and he could almost guarantee this lady had more weapons on her, but for now--she didn't need to know that he knew. "Rather brave to visit a planet like this so scarcely armed, don't you think?"

@Ra'a'mah​

 

[Riamah]

"Well, to be honest, I've never been hunting."

He said he was here far from home and she understood that and silently wondered where his home was. Brent said he was here to try something different and Ra nodded. Looking him up and down, she could tell he took care of himself. In the closer look, she also reached out with the Force slightly to confirm what she thought. There was a mutual flicker in him, he could learn how to use the Force and that must be why she had been drawn here.

"Nice to meet you as well, Brent. It is exotic here for sure, but full of life. You see the other two worlds I live on are either a frozen wasteland or has acid rain with no plant life. Of the two, I mostly stay on the rainy world and have a castle there actually."

What Ra said was true and if he asked for details, she would answer him. For now though, he didn't need to know the planets she lived on. Given he could use the Force, she had the feeling he would learn soon enough. Training somebody took time and sometimes different locations, her homes provided pretty much everything she could think of for teaching. If he accepted what she had to say.

Brent clearly set his rifle butt on the ground and leaned on it. His comment about being scarcely armed actually made Ra smile slightly. It was the perfect opportunity and opening for her.

"This isn't my only weapon. I can use the Force and that can be more powerful than many simple weapons."

Her eyes moved to his gun and a hand pointed to her saber.

"You have the ability to use it as well, but I don't think you know it."

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

"You could say I hunt regularly," Brent said with an effortless shrug.

But what he hunted, who he hunted, they were often not animals. Usually they were people who posed a threat to the danger of the First Order, or just a danger to all that was good and orderly in this galaxy. More often than not, they were just beings who were rogue, ones who had a little too much knowledge or too much power and by far too much skill. Hunting someone who wasn't hunting you back was a refreshing change for once.

She said she had two homes, on two different worlds. It didn't seem like a big deal to her, but for a man like Brent, the average guy in the galaxy, that was a fairly big thing. And not only that, one was a castle. It was a little old fashioned, but the galaxy could use some more old fashioned.

"Sounds like you've done pretty good for yourself," Brent said, "I'm a simple man, I don't imagine I could live that way, with two different homes so far apart. I'm content for my apartment on Dosuun, its quiet and not too much for me to clean," he chuckled, "And I don't have to worry about anyone else, just living alone and content."

That was a half truth, while Brent did have an apartment on Dosuun, where he was born and raised--something his accent more likely than not betrayed unquestioningly. But he was hardly ever at his apartment, when he had a chance off, Brent spent as much time with his family as he could. Everything in his life revolved around them, even the work he had taken up was to provide for them. His disabled father, his school teaching mother, both of his brothers and his sister were his life. But she didn't need to know that, as far as he could help it, no one knew that side of Brent and no one ever would. Because in his line of work--attachment got you killed.

She brought up the Force, and the agent was beset once more with the irony. He seemed to be always putting out fires for Force users these days. It was a running theme that seemed to codify who he was now. The Ren were causing almost as many problems in First Order space as they were solving, and he found himself caught in the mix of both it seemed.

"You have the ability to use it as well, but I don't think you know it."

He sighed, "I do know," the man shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "I was tested, standard procedure when you enlist as a storm trooper for the First Order, but was deemed Sensitive, but not sensitive enough to train," he shrugged, "I trust the experts, so I served my time. But I was Honorably discharged after the battle of Kaeshana," the man gripped his shirt collar with his left forefinger and pulled the tee-shirt back just enough for her to see the grizzly line of scar tissue that ran along his collar bone, "I went in on the first wave. An Alliance grunt did this to me with a vibroblade. I barely survived, I felt it coming just in time to get out of the way."

It was a story fraught with half truths--he had been there, he had arrived on the first wave, he had been a storm trooper for the first order, he had been tested, and his injury had placed him on medical leave for a very long time. Although the paperwork would say that he had been honorably discharged, Brent hadn't served at Kaeshana as a trooper, but as an agent. She didn't need to know that--and she certainly didn't need to know that he was an active agent for the FOSB. Maybe, maybe she could learn that later when they got to know each other better if she was trust worthy, but until then he couldn't afford it. The man hated lying to her, but he had to do his duty to protect his family and his oath.

"Well, and now you know a lot more about me than I'd intended," Brent said with a wry smirk, "It helps me sometimes, just to know before something bad is about to happen or to shoot just a little more accurately but besides that? I don't know anything about this Force," his voice took an ironic, joking tone, "So what does all of this play in for you, are you one of the Ren I kept getting called out to deal with for kicking over garbage cans or something else?"

@Ra'a'mah​

 

[Riamah]

He said he hunted regularly, but in looking at him, she didn't think it was wild game. He was as relaxed here as he could be and Ra could tell he was being honest, but not fully open. Understanding this fully, she wasn't either. She was being honest though. Brent commented he was a simple man and that actually brought a slight smile to her face.

"I was once a simple woman, much like you are a simple man right now. Then something was revealed to me and everything changed."

That was when she learned she had grown up a Sith and was a lord. She had thought she grew up on Coruscant, but that had been wrong. If she was truthful, Ra didn't know the name of the planet she grew up on, but she was raised by a sith lord. And followed that code now, but on a very personal level. Too many applied it on a grand scale, but not her.

When he said he knew he could Force, but it had been decided it wasn't strong enough to train, Ra let out a small grunt.

"Using the Force is like exercise, the more you practice, the stronger you become. So while they may have decided you didn't have a future, if you choose to learn, then you can."

That choice would be up to him, but if he wanted to explore that aspect of his potential, she would gladly provide assistance. He then asked if she was one of the Ren he had to clean up after. The way he phrased it meant he was more than just a simple First Order grunt, it provided a bit of enlightenment to Ra, but she had no idea what he was within their ranks.

"No, I am not a Ren. However, I am an ally of your order. In a way, I am a simple businesswoman and handle myself as such. However, let me tell you something I don't tell most people and it better not go beyond us. I am a sith lord, but I don't throw my abilities around just because I can. In a way, I am just as normal as you are and we are both unique."

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

She said she used to be simple like him, then her life changed. In a way, Brent knew what that was like. His life had gotten complicated when he switched over the FOSB. His life was strange, his circumstances were weird, but he still thought of himself as a regular guy. He didn't know which made it weirder, his life or the way he still considered himself plain and simple.

"I guess we all have parts of our lives like that," Brent said tilting his head to the side.

She said that something was revealed to her. He guessed in due time she'd tell him, if it really mattered. If it changed him too, then so be it, if not, then he supposed he was none the poorer for it. Maybe it was all a matter of where you stood, as to what would change you. When Brent was told he was Force-touched or Force-sensitive or whatever they called it, he hardly batted an eye. He met people growing up that would have killed for that, and others who centered their life on that part of themselves as "gifted" people. Things like that didn't bother him too much.

"Using the Force is like exercise, the more you practice, the stronger you become. So while they may have decided you didn't have a future, if you choose to learn, then you can."

That made sense to Brent. He gave a slight nod, if this whole thing was really just a part of him now, then he supposed he should at least pay attention to it some. He didn't know if he had that talent she seemed to think he did. But she was the expert here, not him. He would just have to take her word for it.

She wasn't ren, she called herself a business woman then a Sith. He had read about them during training, same as the Jedi, but what he read had little to do with cultural appreciation and everything to do with being an effective opperative to bring either of them down if needed. Or how to negotiate with them in high-stakes situations.

"I'm pretty sure no one is going to listen to a washed up vet like me," Brent said wryly, "But, your secret is safe with me."

She said he was unique and he shook his head, chuckling softly, "There's nothing unique about me. I'm just a regular guy, another man walking down the street," Brent motioned to the forest around them, "who just happened to be a little better at something than most people. Something I don't even know about, that I am not even good enough at to merit training," his words were not angry, if anything they were a little more remorseful than anything else, "But just good enough to keep me alive as my squad mates get cut down around me," he adjusted his shades with a sigh, composing himself again, "What about that a guy like that do you think is so special he deserves much of anything?"

@Ra'a'mah

 

[Riamah]

Nodding at what he said, "I still consider myself just a normal person as much as possible. Never using my Force ability to solve every day issues. That's what this," Ra pointed to her blaster, "or this," her hand moved to her head, "are for."

There were times when she felt using the Force was required, but that happened rarely.

"My view is probably why my eyes are not corrupt like so many other sith or dark side followers. Like your Ren for example, I would imagine some of their eyes have the sithlike yellow hue."

Brent said he was washed up vet and Ra looked him over again, "you don't appear to be that old, but thank you for your word. I think I can trust you to keep it quiet. Something about you told me so." She shrugged slightly before responding to what he said next.

"Everybody is unique, Brent." As Ra spoke, she took a single step forward and close enough to touch now. Reaching out a hand and if he allowed it, she would place it on his shoulder before answering his question.

"Everybody deserves a chance."

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

"There's no right way to solve a problem, just a lot of wrong ones," Brent agreed. He didn't realize it until a second after the words left his mouth, but he was quoting the FOSB field manual. Maybe that stuff had changed him a little bit too much, more than he had thought.

She mentioned the yellow in their eyes. He had never really noticed it before, but there were a lot of Ren with that in their eyes. He had always guessed it was a species thing, but she was pretty accurate. He wasn't fond of the Ren in general, not because of their use of the Force, or because of their code. It was their tendancy to rush into things brashly and mess up the finely tuned plans that chapped his hide. They had a skill for it, it was amazing more of them weren't slaughtered whole sale, force or no force.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said at last, "and they tend to be the more reckless ones, the ones that get in the most trouble," he smirked again, "Not that any of them didn't get in trouble, but they were more prone to it than the others."

"you don't appear to be that old, but thank you for your word. I think I can trust you to keep it quiet. Something about you told me so."

There was always something about Brent that made people feel more trusted than not. Maybe it was some of that Force stuff she was talking about working along side him. He didn't know, but the irony of his status as a spy made that trustworthy nature all the more intense. It was one of his greatest assets.

"I am a trustworthy guy," Brent said with an amiable shrug, "We troopers tend to be reliable. Discipline is important for us."

She placed her hand on his shoulder, Brent flinched instinctively with a sharp inhale. But she wasn't about to rip his head off, or if she was, she was just doing a poor job of it. He exhaled deeply, looking down at the ground. His first instincts were to say no. Then he remembered his family. Their capture flashed before his eyes. If he had been faster, stronger, or just able to see it coming, they never would have had to go through that. They never would have had be that scared. Brent couldn't let that happen again. He looked up, "Your right. I'd like a chance."

@Ra'a'mah​

 

[Riamah]

"Sadly it seems that many people that can use the Force- Sith, Jedi, Ren and the countless others out there, seem to feel they are immortal and can't be beat. So they rush in without thinking first."

Her eyes narrowed slightly when he called himself a trooper. Ra knew he was more, but he had to admit that. Not knowing what he was though, she couldn't call him on it. Until he told her himself, that would be a secret he would keep.

"Even more than discipline, I value honor. If I ever give my word on something, I do everything in my power to keep it."

Having been a part of a faction that was now destroyed, she had given her word to them when they were strong that she wouldn't leave them. Even when she knew they were going to die, she stayed until that happened. Now she was more careful to whom she gave her word, but honor she valued above almost anything.

Brent flinched, but didn't pull away when her hand went to his shoulder. He admitted what she said was true, everybody deserved a chance.

[member="Brent Smith"]

 

[Brent Smith]

He statement was so true it stung a little. They thought they were immortal, they acted like it too, often charging head first into battle selfishly. If they used their so-called abilities to shield others like him, or his squadrons that he had been a part of, they might have actually stood a chance. But instead he, and all others like him were acceptable losses. Expendable. He had lost a lot of good men who were deemed acceptable losses. But he learned to keep going through it. You either kept moving or you became the next loss. In the grand scheme of things everyone was an acceptable loss. Brent knew he was, and for the right cause whoever was in charge would find that everyone on the ground was expendable, they all had an expiration date Force users and regular folk alike.

"No one is immortal," he agreed, his voice solemn as the grave, "No one."

She said she'd keep her word. He'd take her word for it for now. He might be able to trust her with his true identity if she was right. One day. Loyalty was a valuable commodity in the business Brent was in, it was often the difference between life and death. For some it was for sale, but for the real professionals in this business, they never would give up their info. The best those sorts of sell outs could hope for is death, and even that was a grace. Their careers rarely lasted long at all.

"Your word is all you have in this galaxy at the end of the day," Brent agreed, "Someone can take your ship. Your speeder, your credits, but they can't take your honor and word. Not for a minute."

He paused. She said she was a sith. She knew what she was talking about, she knew the Force. She had a solid head on her shoulders, unlike the psychotic ren back in the First Order. She understood the ways of the galaxy, and she seemed to believe there was more to the galaxy than just waving around a deadly glowstick and moving things with your mind. Brent swallowed, knowing he was about to take a big leap.

"Teach me," he said at last. "Please."

@Ra'a'mah​

 

[Riamah]

Removing her hand from his shoulder, she nodded at what he said. In a voice just as serious as his, "I know, Brent. Nobody is immortal. Even those that can live forever can be killed."

There were certain skills within the Force that allowed a person to extend their lives. Ra did know one of them, but Brent wasn't ready to know of it.

When he spoke of your word being the only thing you had at the end of day, Ra knew he had a greater understanding of how things worked.

"Exactly. Our word, honor, code or anything else we hold within ourselves is all we have. They are what make us who we are. Anything external are tools that can be used."

It was a rather sith way​ of speaking, but true nonetheless. When he requested she teach him, Ra gave a simple nod and held her hand out to him.

"I will."

[member="Brent Smith"]