Ninja assassin, Republic Intelligence operative
It had been a clean op.
That's how Colrenth summed up tonight anyway.
The transport shuddered gently as it docked. Mechanical groans sounded from various airlocks as engines powered down and ramp lowered to the deck. Colrenth pushed through the hatch nonchalantly, dust caked armor jutting and scraping against hardened creosote. Carbon scored plates glinted under the faint light of the bay as a streak of dried blood not his own trailed across his armor.
Target eliminated.
Objective complete.
Another name crossed off the list.
Colrenth walked with purpose through the hangar deck. The same measured cadence he had maintained coming into this assignment. No strut to his step. No grin on his face. Colrenth simply returned his weapons to their holster and began running diagnostics.
Officers and enlisted personnel of the RIS watched him.
Some openly.
Others from behind darkened corners and half-lit alcoves of the hangar.
Colrenth saw all of them.
He always did.
Finally, an older member of the command staff stepped forward.
"That wasn't extraction." He stated.
Colrenth continued prepping his gauntlet.
"No, it wasn't."
"You were there to take out the target."
"I did." Colrenth replied without looking up.
The commander gritted his teeth.
"You were there to take out the target without jeopardizing the op."
Colrenth stood up straighter.
"I didn't jeopardize the op."
"You left three guards alive."
Colrenth paused.
"Four."
There was no grin to accompany his reply but the air lightened none.
"You killed the target in his own living room, triggered the alarm, and walked out the front door."
Colrenth shrugged.
"It was the quickest way out."
"The hell it was."
His voice had raised several decibels. The Commander closed the distance between them.
"You could've gotten back through ventilation. Disabled alarms. Removed the target quietly."
Colrenth didn't react.
"And taken twenty minutes to do it."
"That was what professionals did."
Colrenth offered a slight smile under his mask.
"No."
He turned and walked away from the Commander.
"That's what idiots do when they have the luxury of time."
Silence fell over the hangar once more.
Behind the Commander, another stepped forward.
"You do this every time."
Colrenth paused. "Do what?"
"You ignore protocol. You operate outside comfort zones. Use knives when a laser will do. Get into blade range when a clean shot is easy."
Colrenth slowly pivoted to face him.
"You weren't there."
"No," The officer paused. "But I've read your after-action reports."
The mood in the room changed.
Colrenth remained silent.
"You were trained by Nightvipers." The officer continued pointedly.
A collective inhalation filled the space around them.
Nightviper.
Name alone said volumes.
Clan.
Tradition.
Assassins.
Decades of blood craft operating entirely outside of standard military practices.
"Some of us wonder if you're really an RIS agent…"
He paused, letting his words sink into the flanking RIS agents.
"…or a Nightviper assassin that just wears our uniform."
Complete silence.
Colrenth looked at him for several seconds before taking off his helmet.
His expression was stoic.
Too stoic.
" wanna know the difference between me and your stereotype?"
The second officer flinched but said nothing.
"An assassin kills because he's paid to."
Colrenth dropped his helmet beneath his arm.
"I kill because the mission calls for it."
He closed the distance between them.
"And I don't let the two bleed together."
Another voice called out from the back of the room.
"That's convenient of you."
Colrenth turned to glare at him.
"No."
His voice was colder now.
" Convenient would be me going along knowing my kills look pretty as fuck to you."
He thumbed towards the scars littering his armor.
"I don't do pretty."
"I don't play for applause."
He met each of the staring RIS agents in turn.
"And I don't need Targets to be compliant."
His gaze slid back to the older officer directly in front of him.
"The target is dead."
"Our Intel is secure."
"And everyone on our team made it home."
Colrenth paused, letting the words hang in the air.
"That's the part of this op you can put in the report."
The Commander regarded him silently for a long moment.
"And the rest?" He asked, leaning forward on his toes.
Colrenth pulled his helmet from under his arm and placed it squarely on his head.
"The rest stays with me."
He stalked past them and towards the supply lockers.
Murmurs filled the air around him once more.
Questions about his methods.
Questions about his loyalty.
Questions about trust with someone trained outside of their ranks.
Colrenth heard them all. What he lacked in patience he made up for in experience. He knew each RIS agent in that room would spend the rest of their careers wondering. Perhaps even worrying.
He didn't care.
Colrenth knew better than to expect trust from others. It was a gift given slowly, over time.
Respect?
Even slower.
He pulled open his locker and began to divest himself of the op gear.
Weapons first.
Armor after.
Mission complete.
Let the RIS wonder whatever they wanted about him.
Colrenth had a target.
He found it.
He killed it.
And he came home.
Surviving was justification enough for the Shadow Warrior.