Private Out of the Sun, Into the Shade

[Ronhar Tane]

CAPTAIN RONHAR TANE, TK-3301
CORROX, MAHPOREEM
[REDACTED]

Corrox was a city full of surprises.

For all intents and purposes, the building looked run down and completely abandoned, just another of the many half completed structures littering the outskirts of Corrox. Literally falling apart at the seems, the last kind of place anyone would willingly choose to spend any time in, and even those brave or foolish enough to go on an adventure would quickly find themselves moving onto safer pastures. Of course, the location had been chosen deliberately, and no one would expect that underneath the building was an entire underground training facility for the members of the Mahporeem Imperial Army. Contrary to the building above ground, the underground training facility was state of the art, fully furnished out with everything a Mahporeenian solider could ever ask for. A completely stocked armory with every weapon produced by Mahporeem and many others not, a simulation room that could run tens of thousands of different scenarios, and just about everything in between could be found at this particular location.

Very few inside Mahporeem knew about the existence of this facility, and even fewer outside of it had any knowledge of its existence whatsoever. Yet today, the Imperial Remnant had invited not only an outsider to this location, but one they were hoping to recruit into their service: a rather dangerous Chiss woman named Shade . From what the Mahporeem Intelligence had been able to dig up on her, she was a highly skilled and rather dangerous assassin, and her known employers included the likes of Sith Lords. Yet Admiral Burtch had seemingly trusted the woman enough to meet with her personally, and he had gone so far to recommend that the Imperial Remnant make serious efforts to recruit Shade onto their side.

And so, Shade had been dutifully invited to meet Ronhar Tane so that the two could negotiate her joining the Imperial Remnant. Whether or not his attempts would be successful remained to be seen...

TAGS:
Shade

 

[Shade]

The invitation had been unusual enough to earn Shade's attention.

Admiral Burtch had never mentioned Captain Ronhar Tane or suggested that their conversation might result in her name traveling farther through Mahporeem's military establishment. Their meeting had concerned a considerably narrower proposition, one involving testing security through mock assassination attempts against personnel important enough that discovering weaknesses before a genuine assassin exploited them had obvious value. Apparently Burtch had taken something else away from their conversation. Some time afterward, an invitation had reached Shade requesting another meeting, this one concerning possible employment with the Imperial Remnant.

That was enough to bring her back to Corrox.

The coordinates were considerably more interesting than the invitation. Shade had checked them before making planetfall and again before leaving her ship, initially wondering whether someone had made a mistake. The portion of Corrox she entered hardly looked like somewhere a military organization would conduct recruitment. Half-completed structures stood beside buildings that appeared to have been abandoned before anyone had bothered finishing them, creating precisely the sort of neglected district most people passed through without ever finding a reason to stop. The building identified in her instructions distinguished itself by looking worse than most of its neighbors.

Shade stopped across the street from it.

Crimson eyes traveled slowly over the deteriorating exterior, lingering upon broken sections and unfinished construction without giving any outward indication of what she thought. There were two possibilities. Either the coordinates were wrong, or the appearance was intentional. Considering who had invited her and what little she had been told, Shade considered the second considerably more likely. A faint trace of amusement touched her expression before disappearing as she crossed the street.

She followed the instructions she'd been given rather than testing the location's security for weaknesses. She was here as a prospective employee, not an intruder, and there was little value in making her hosts regret providing the coordinates before anyone had even explained what they wanted from her. That didn't stop Shade from observing. Habits developed across decades did not disappear simply because she had been invited through the door. Entrances, exits, personnel, surveillance, response points, and the small procedural choices people made when admitting someone unfamiliar were quietly cataloged as she moved farther inside.

The contrast beneath the surface was almost enough to earn another smile.

Whatever Shade had expected to find underneath the ruin, the facility itself answered several questions while creating considerably more. The neglect above had been theater. Below it existed the sort of installation that required money, planning, and considerable effort to conceal. Her eyes passed over what she could see without openly staring at anything, taking in the equipment and construction while allowing whoever escorted her deeper into the facility to believe her attention remained primarily upon the route ahead. Someone had deliberately shown an outsider something they clearly preferred most of Corrox never knew existed.

Either Admiral Burtch's recommendation carried considerable weight, or the people waiting for her were very serious about whatever they intended to offer. Perhaps both.

Shade wasn't entirely certain what Burtch had told them about her. Judging from the invitation, it had been enough. She doubted the word assassin had been omitted. There was little reason to hide that history anymore, and anyone considering employing her deserved to know precisely what sort of person they were inviting into a concealed military facility. The Veiled Sight had trained her to kill long before Republic Intelligence had taught her to apply many of the same talents toward a different purpose. Neither organization owned her now. Shade had spent enough of her life serving institutions to have become considerably more selective about the obligations she accepted. That didn't mean she objected to employment.

Varin had recently made her an offer of his own, but she had made one condition particularly clear before accepting it. Her life remained hers. She could leave when necessary, pursue her own affairs, and decide what other work she accepted. Varin had agreed. Whatever the Imperial Remnant wanted from her would therefore be judged upon its own merits rather than dismissed simply because someone else currently paid for some of her time.

By the time Shade reached the appointed meeting place, she had returned most of what she'd observed to the back of her mind. It would remain there if she needed it, but openly advertising how much attention she'd paid on the way inside would accomplish little. Her expression was composed when her crimson gaze settled upon the man she had been sent to meet. The information accompanying the invitation had given her his name and rank, sparing either of them the awkwardness of guessing identities.

"Captain Tane."

The greeting was accompanied by a slight inclination of her head, respectful without becoming unnecessarily formal. Shade allowed a brief silence before continuing.

"Admiral Burtch and I had an interesting conversation when we met." A faint suggestion of dry humor entered her voice. Being asked to repeatedly pretend to assassinate an admiral qualified as interesting by almost any reasonable standard. "Apparently he thought enough of it to pass my name along."

Her gaze remained steadily upon Ronhar. There was no suspicion in her posture, but neither was there eagerness to please. They had invited her here because they wanted something from her. Shade had come because she was interested enough to discover what that something was.

"Your invitation mentioned the possibility of working for the Imperial Remnant, but very little about what that would actually involve." Her hands rested easily at her sides as she regarded him. "I'm listening."

It was neither acceptance nor rejection. Shade had spent too much of her life accepting obligations before understanding the true cost of making either decision blindly. Captain Tane had gone to considerable trouble simply by arranging for her to enter a facility whose existence was clearly meant to remain hidden, and Admiral Burtch had apparently placed enough confidence in her abilities to open another door without her asking him to do so.

The least she could do was hear what waited on the other side.

Ronhar Tane

 

[Ronhar Tane]

CAPTAIN RONHAR TANE, TK-3301
CORROX, MAHPOREEM
[REDACTED]

It hadn't taken Shade much time to find the location of the base and training facility.

That in of itself had been something of a test for the Chiss, which she easily passed. Still, as far as tests went, that was perhaps as basic as they came, and was not even remotely close of an indicator of how well Shade would work out as a Mahporeenian operative...assuming she even agreed to work for Mahporeem in the first place.

Still, she had no qualms about coming up to Ronhar, and immediately struck up a conversation with him, having presumably been given his description before she had entered the base.

"Captain Tane. Admiral Burtch and I had an interesting conversation when we met. Apparently he thought enough of it to pass my name along. Your invitation mentioned the possibility of working for the Imperial Remnant, but very little about what that would actually involve. I'm listening."

Ronhar nodded along as Shade spoke, listening carefully to her concerns and opinions.

"Firstly, it's very nice to meet you", Ronhar stated as he extended his hand outward. "You may already know who I am, but allow me to reintroduce myself. Captain Ronhar Tane, TK-3301 of the Mahporeem Imperial Remnant", Ronhar stated confidently. "Thank you for coming to meet with us here. Please, walk with me", Ronhar instructed as he started taking Shade on an impromptu tour of the base and its facilities.

Assuming they came along, they would quickly start to get a good idea of just how large the facility they were in truly was. Dozens of soldiers could be spotted performing a variety of different tasks. Some were cleaning and maintaining blasters, some were conducting exercises within the facilities holodeck, and some were just milling about, though they immediately stood at attention the moment that Ronhar passed by them.

"As you can see, we're quite busy", Ronhar mentioned casually with just a hint of pride in his voice. "This facility that we're in didn't exist as of just a few months ago. Even with our military operations across the sector, there was no need for us to go through the expensive undertaking of creating a hidden subterranean training facility like the one you see before you. I'm sure you can imagine just how time consuming and costly it is to create something like this. At first, we just couldn't justify the expense."

"Then, OPERATION: HOMECOMING ensued".

"Six planets, all taken in as many days without any form of bloodshed. Dornea, Dorn, Hast, Krinemomen III, Munto Codru and Ruisto. All willingly agreed to join under our leadership and contribute their people and resources to our cause. With this new influx of capital and bodies, we suddenly found ourselves in a position to begin expanding our military presence even further than we had before. This facility is a direct result of our efforts in doing so."

"Now, the Imperial Remnant seeks to keep its momentum going by continuing to integrate the neighboring star systems, and whether or not is done diplomatically or militarily, we're going to need more soldiers. Your employment with use would entail two main responsibilities. Firstly, you would be asked to continue your previous duties as an assassin, eliminating high value targets that threaten the sovereignty and the mission of the Mahporeem Imperial Remnant. It would be nothing you haven't done before, and we are fully prepared to lend you and weapons, armor and equipment you may need entirely free of charge."

"Your second responsibility would be a bit different. As I explained, this facility is a training facility, among many things, and as our conquests continue, we are going to need more and more soldiers going forward. I would like you to use your skills, knowledge and expertise to train the next generation of special operation units. We're only going to rely on them even more than we already have been, and the more instructors we have at our disposal, the better it will be for us in the long run."

"Naturally, you would not be expected to do this for free. The Imperial Remnant has the resources to ensure that you are well compensated for your time and effort. Underworld Credits, salvage rights, Mahporeenin technology, you name it and it can be provided for your services. In fact, we just had a mercenary request a domicile for himself, which we readily agreed to construct for him", Ronhar mentioned, recalling Karkosuchus 's unusual request as a condition of his continued employment. "Regardless of what you might have heard, working for us will leave you wealthy and fulfilled, knowing that you are engaging in important work for the future of this Imperial Remnant and the many people living under its rule."

"So, Shade , tell me: how does all of this sound to you?"

TAGS:
Shade

 

[Shade]

Shade accepted the offered hand with a firm, brief shake before falling into step beside Captain Tane. She had already seen enough of the facility on her way inside to understand that the ruin above concealed something considerably larger, but the tour gave her a better sense of its scale. Her crimson gaze moved from one activity to another without lingering unnecessarily, taking in the soldiers maintaining their weapons, those working through exercises, and the immediate change in posture whenever Ronhar passed. There was discipline here, although Shade knew better than to judge its quality from appearances alone. Soldiers could stand straight and polish weapons beautifully, yet fall apart the moment circumstances no longer resembled their training.

She listened without interrupting as Ronhar explained what had changed for Mahporeem and why the facility now existed. Six worlds in six days without bloodshed was an accomplishment, particularly when each had joined willingly. Shade had spent enough of her life around governments to know that acquiring territory was often easier than keeping it, however. Expansion created borders that needed protecting, populations that needed integrating, and enemies who suddenly had considerably more places to cause trouble. More soldiers were an obvious answer. Better soldiers were usually the more difficult one.

The first responsibility Ronhar described came as no surprise. Shade had assumed the Imperial Remnant wasn't interested in her because of her ability to file intelligence reports. The Veiled Sight had trained her to kill, Republic Intelligence had given her different reasons to use many of the same skills, and the years between those organizations had supplied enough practical experience that eliminating a protected target was hardly unfamiliar work. What interested her more was the language surrounding it. Targets threatening Mahporeem's sovereignty and mission covered a potentially enormous range of people, and Shade quietly filed that away among the things she would eventually want defined more clearly. She had no objection to assassination as a tool. She did object to being handed a name and discouraged from asking why it needed to disappear.

The second responsibility was considerably less expected.

Shade's attention shifted from Ronhar toward a group of soldiers working through an exercise as he spoke about training future special operations units. For several seconds, she said nothing. There was a peculiar irony in being asked to teach others skills that had first been forced on her when she was young enough to have very little choice about learning them. The Veiled Sight had created an assassin. Republic Intelligence had refined an operative. Everything afterward had taught Shade which portions of either education were actually worth keeping.

Perhaps that made her unusually qualified to decide what shouldn't be passed along with them.

"The assassination work is straightforward enough." Shade glanced back toward Ronhar as they continued walking. "Although I'd want sufficient intelligence on a target before accepting an assignment. If you expect me to kill someone, I expect to know why. I don't require a committee meeting every time you need something done, but I won't operate blind simply because someone above me considers the explanation inconvenient."

There was nothing confrontational in the statement. Shade presented it as exactly what it was: a professional boundary. She had spent too many years following orders from organizations and people that considered obedience more important than understanding to willingly recreate that arrangement.

"Training your people is more interesting."

Her gaze returned briefly toward the soldiers. "I can teach infiltration, surveillance, counter-surveillance, intelligence gathering, close combat, and how to approach a protected target without announcing what they're doing to everyone watching. I can also teach them when not to do those things." The faintest trace of dry amusement touched her expression. "That lesson tends to be neglected."

Shade could imagine what the training might become, although she wasn't prepared to promise Ronhar an entire curriculum during their first conversation. If he wanted soldiers who merely knew how to shoot accurately and enter rooms efficiently, there were countless instructors who could provide that. Special operations demanded people capable of thinking after the plan failed, recognizing when intelligence was wrong, and knowing when completing an objective exactly as written would accomplish something very different from what their commanders actually intended. Those were skills Shade could teach.

Ronhar's description of compensation earned considerably less reaction. Credits were useful. Equipment was useful. Access to technology might prove extremely useful depending upon what Mahporeem possessed. A newly constructed home was considerably farther down the list of things likely to persuade her. Shade had spent enough years living from ships, temporary rooms, safehouses, and whatever accommodations happened to be available that the promise of a permanent residence wasn't particularly seductive.

There was, however, one part of the arrangement Ronhar hadn't mentioned.

"There is something I would want clarified before I agreed to any of this."

Her tone remained practical, neither hesitant nor apologetic. Shade slowed slightly as she turned enough to regard Ronhar directly rather than continuing to survey the facility around them.

"Would I remain free to come and go when circumstances require it?" Her crimson gaze remained steady upon his. "If I accept your offer, I won't treat the work casually. If I take an assignment, I see it through. If I agree to train your people, they get all my attention rather than whatever happens to be left over."

That distinction mattered. Freedom did not mean unreliability, and Shade had no intention of asking Ronhar to accept one in exchange for the other.

"But I have other obligations. Investigations that may take me away for days or weeks. Contracts I may choose to accept. People I've already made commitments to." She paused, considering how much explanation the question actually required. "And there is unfinished business of my own that I intend to resolve eventually."

Something colder briefly entered her crimson eyes before disappearing again. She offered no name and no explanation. Cassian's disappearance was hers, and whatever had happened to him was not a subject she intended to bring up with a prospective employer during their first meeting. The same was true of other pieces of her life that might someday demand her attention. Like the Veiled Sight.

"None of that means I intend to disappear halfway through an operation because something more interesting came along." A faint smile touched her lips. "I'd simply rather establish now whether you're offering employment or ownership. I've had enough experience with the latter."

The words were delivered without bitterness, although they carried considerably more weight than the humor surrounding them might initially suggest. Shade let the silence rest for a moment before continuing.

"I don't require exclusivity from the people I work with, and I don't offer it myself. If Mahporeem can accept that, then the rest of what you've described sounds workable."

Shade glanced once more toward the facility surrounding them. The Remnant clearly possessed resources, ambition, and an increasing need for people capable of doing the sort of work governments preferred not to advertise. Whether that made Mahporeem somewhere she wanted to remain involved with would take considerably longer than one tour to determine, but Ronhar had offered enough to keep her interested.

"I'd prefer we begin with clear expectations rather than discover months from now that one of us expected something the other never promised." Her attention returned fully to Ronhar. "If we're in agreement on that, Captain, then I'm interested."

Ronhar Tane

 

[Ronhar Tane]

CAPTAIN RONHAR TANE, TK-3301
CORROX, MAHPOREEM
[REDACTED]

Shade 's response was about what Ronhar had expected of her, though not entirely what he wanted for their potential professional relationship.

"The assassination work is straightforward enough. Although I'd want sufficient intelligence on a target before accepting an assignment. If you expect me to kill someone, I expect to know why. I don't require a committee meeting every time you need something done, but I won't operate blind simply because someone above me considers the explanation inconvenient."

"Naturally", Ronhar replied as the pair finished their walk around the facility. "I intend our relationship to be one of mutual trust. If we didn't have interest in you and your abilities, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. Working for Mahporeem is an investment for us, and we wish to get our value's worth of what we choose to invest our time and credits in. That, of course, hinges on your success during such missions, which is why you would be provided with the information and tools necessary to complete any task that has been asked of you. To put things bluntly, you're no good to us dead, and so you will have adequate information about the nature of your targets and why we might ask you to hunt them down."

"Training your people is more interesting. can teach infiltration, surveillance, counter-surveillance, intelligence gathering, close combat, and how to approach a protected target without announcing what they're doing to everyone watching. I can also teach them when not to do those things. That lesson tends to be neglected."

"That would be much appreciated", Ronhar replied, noting Shade 's increased interest in what he was asking her. She had been somewhat difficult to read, but she was clearly rather interested in this particular facet of what Ronhar was asking her. That, of course, was deliberate, because the Imperial Remnant wanted something that would tie Shade to them and give her a reason to keep coming back to work for the Imperial Remnant. Having a position where Shade could teach others what she had learned and keep them safe was generally a rather appealing one, far more so than simply going out on missions to assassinate nameless targets or those she had no connection to. This position would help foster a relationship between her, those she taught, and the Imperial Remnnat, and migth just give her an extra reason to stick around for the long run.

"While we have those who specialize in this field, they are rather few in number and far between, especially considering the ever growing amount of recruits we have coming to us on a daily basis. Your assistance in this matter would go a long way in keeping them safe on the battlefield."

Yet, despite what Ronhar had said and the promises of rewards he had given Shade , the Chiss seemed unconvinced, as was evident by her next question.

"There is something I would want clarified before I agreed to any of this. Would I remain free to come and go when circumstances require it?" Her crimson gaze remained steady upon his. "If I accept your offer, I won't treat the work casually. If I take an assignment, I see it through. If I agree to train your people, they get all my attention rather than whatever happens to be left over. But I have other obligations. Investigations that may take me away for days or weeks. Contracts I may choose to accept. People I've already made commitments to. And there is unfinished business of my own that I intend to resolve eventually. None of that means I intend to disappear halfway through an operation because something more interesting came along. I'd simply rather establish now whether you're offering employment or ownership. I've had enough experience with the latter. I don't require exclusivity from the people I work with, and I don't offer it myself. If Mahporeem can accept that, then the rest of what you've described sounds workable. I'd prefer we begin with clear expectations rather than discover months from now that one of us expected something the other never promised. If we're in agreement on that, Captain, then I'm interested."

That was very much the part that Ronhar didn't like.

Too many variables, too many thing outside of his control. Ronhar would have very much preferred that Shade sign exclusivity with Mahporeem, though someone of her caliber would have course other clients that she would be working for. Still, there were a number of things that worried him, most especially of all that comment about her 'unfinished business'. Ronhar did not know what she meant, and knew better than to try and clarify. He chose his next words carefully.

"While we would prefer you work with us exclusively, and would offer you a bonus to do so, we understand you have other clients and business contracts across the stars. We do not intend to infringe on your business nor force you to work for us at the potential loss of your other clients. You would be free to leave after the duration of any contract that you choose to sign for us, and would not be obligated to work for us until accepting a new contract for either assassination or teaching duties. However, that does go both ways: meaning that if you do get into trouble on your own, away from us, we are not liable to come help you or save you. Furthermore, any actions that you take that could be considered actions against the Imperial Remnant would be dealt with appropriately", Ronhar warned the Chiss.

"Beyond that though, you are free to act as you wish, and pursue whatever business you have with your other contacts. Would that be acceptable?"

TAGS:
Shade