Private Unfamiliar Ground

[Shade]

The industrial quarter of Ord Mantell never truly slept.

It only shifted into different forms of wakefulness as the hours wore on, exchanging legitimate traffic and regulated movement for quieter, more dangerous rhythms shaped by desperation, opportunism, and people who preferred to operate where oversight thinned into suggestion.

By the time Shade reached the rooftop overlooking the derelict shipping annex, most of the district had settled into that uneasy twilight between activity and abandonment. Cargo haulers drifted through distant lanes with lazy inevitability, their navigation lights blurred by layers of smog and recycled atmosphere. Heat rose in shimmering waves from exhaust vents and processing stacks below, bending the horizon into subtle distortions of color and light.

She stood near the edge of the roof with practiced balance, boots planted lightly on fractured duracrete, her posture relaxed enough to appear casual to any distant observer, yet controlled enough that every muscle remained ready. Four stories below, the target structure sat wedged between two aging warehouses like an afterthought that had outlived its usefulness. Once, it had served as a customs annex, a minor administrative node in the wider network of planetary logistics; now, it functioned as a temporary operations hub for an information broker designated as K-17-Delta, a man who had managed to remain profitable just long enough to become dangerously careless.

According to Republic Intelligence projections, this broker was responsible for a recent security breach that caused multiple data leaks and has notoriously unstable loyalties, rapidly approaching the critical point where sheer desperation would finally outweigh his caution.

Shade raised her macrobinoculars and began her slow, methodical survey of the area, refusing to rush the process because she knew all too well that haste only produced fatal blind spots. Her gaze moved in deliberate patterns, mapping the structure and its surroundings with the patience of someone who had learned through hard experience that even the smallest oversight could eventually unravel an entire operation.

She cataloged rear access points and emergency exits with clinical precision, while simultaneously tracking the predictable arc of a surveillance drone as it completed its programmed cycle. She noted the faint thermal bleed from improvised generators hidden behind false wall panels and carefully counted the interior heat signatures, cross-referencing each one with her projected staffing reports.

Everything aligned with the briefing, or at least it seemed to until her attention lingered on the eastern roofline. There was nothing overtly wrong with the architecture. No visible movement, no anomalous heat bloom, and no detectable sensor activity, and yet, something about that particular angle resisted being dismissed. It was not a sensation of fear or an immediate alarm, but rather the subtle, almost imperceptible sense that the environment had already been touched by another intelligence before her arrival.

Shade lowered the binoculars slightly, allowing herself a single, quiet breath to widen her awareness, relying not on any overt display of Force sensitivity but on the instinct and pattern recognition she had honed across years of infiltration and operational analysis. The signs were faint but undeniable: foot traffic in the adjacent alley was fresher than it should have been given the local schedule, one exterior camera had been repositioned by a few degrees, subtle enough to evade casual notice, and a ventilation access panel showed microscopic scoring near its latch.

Someone had been here recently, operating not with sloppiness or carelessness, but with a level of intent that matched her own. Her expression did not change; she did not frown or tense or reach for her comm, understanding that an immediate reaction would only create noise, and noise inevitably led to exposure. Instead, she adjusted her stance by a few centimeters and altered her overwatch angle just enough to broaden her peripheral coverage, allowing three new contingencies to form quietly in her mind to replace earlier assumptions without disrupting her composure.

This was no longer a clean, single-actor operation, but a situation complicated by an unknown operative with unknown motives and an unknown affiliation, which meant her margin for error had narrowed significantly. Below her, inside the dim interior of the annex, Meridian paced in restless patterns, entirely unaware that his clumsy attempts at concealment had already attracted more attention than he could possibly survive. He believed himself hidden from the world, but in reality, he was caught between two fires.

Somewhere else in the district, another observer tracked the same structure through entirely different lenses, guided by priorities that did not align with Republic Intelligence protocols. Neither operative yet knew the other existed, but the environment already bore the heavy marks of their parallel presence.

Shade remained where she was—still, focused, and profoundly patient. She had learned long ago that the most dangerous conflicts did not announce themselves with open confrontation, but began instead with small distortions in expectation and the gradual tightening of circumstance around people who believed themselves in control. Whatever game was unfolding around this broker, she intended to understand its rules before it dictated her future actions. Her gaze returned to the building, and while the operation would proceed, it would now do so with a caution sharpened by the weight of uncertainty as unseen paths in the shadows of Ord Mantell began to bend toward one another.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

The problem with information brokers was that they had no loyalty to anyone other than themselves. Sethran knew this and he was pretty sure most people knew this. It bothered him that people still engaged with information brokers knowing that they would inevitably sell them out to someone else for the benefit of making money. He could never trust someone like that. The safety of those he worked with and others was far too important to trust to someone with no morality.

His feelings were justified when word got to him about one having information on the location of a Jedi safehouse within the confines of Sith Order space and that he was willing to sell that location. While that fact angered Sethran, he didn't allow the anger to control him. The man needed to be brought into custody so that he could be prevented from selling the location and compromising anyone that might be using it, but he didn't need to be harmed for it. His intent wasn't malicious towards anyone, just greed induced, most likely. He had to remember that when dealing with him and not let his feelings on the danger imposed.

He had already scouted out the location where the broker, known as Meridian, was operating. There were signs that others knew of his location as well. One thing he noted was the presence of foot traffic where there really shouldn't be any, plus evidence that some grates had been recently moved. For that reason, he had foregone using that location as a means of keeping track of Meridian. He didn't want others to know he was present.

Several days of watching had led him to believe the man didn't yet have a buyer willing to meet with him. People went in an out, but his assessment of them was that they were his info gathering associates, not buyers. It was possible that he was selling it on the holonet, but there were people tracking that who would let him know if it was the case. They had already abandoned the safe house he had information on, just in case, but it didn't mean they could just let this go on. There was the option of pretending to be a buyer himself, but he didn't think that would be a good idea. He didn't want to get mixed up with the man, even briefly in a fake transaction. This was an enforcement operation.

For the moment, he waited on the opposite side of the structure, watching from the dark of a different alleyway, waiting to see if Meridian would leave the confines of his shelter, or if the opportunity to enter would present itself. He wore his hood up, dark pants and shirt beneath a hooded duster, and was eating a bit of energy bar to sustain him. He could survive without it, but he didn't like the feeling of being hungry and it kept his hands from fidgeting too much.

There was a nagging feeling in his mind that something was up beyond his target. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on edge and he was certain that there was some added danger involved with the situation he was in, but he would handle it when it popped off.

For now he watched.

Shade

 

[Shade]

Shade had been stationed on the rooftop for nearly an hour before she finally allowed herself to acknowledge the deeper, more hidden rhythm of the district. It wasn't the obvious patterns, not the predictable ebb and flow of traffic or the scattered footfalls echoing through the alleys that held her interest; those were easy variables that anyone with enough patience could map. Instead, she focused on the quieter, more meaningful cadence: the way certain doors only unlatched after the sun had fully retreated, the subtle way figures passed through intersections without ever acknowledging one another, and the maintenance grates that shifted positions in a sequence that never repeated. It was a network skillfully pretending to be chaos, which confirmed her suspicion that Meridian was careful enough to be truly dangerous.

She lay prone against the building's edge, her weight balanced precisely on her forearms with one knee bent for leverage, while a thin thermal sheet masked her silhouette against the cooling stone. From the street below, she would appear as nothing more than a trick of the light or a piece of forgotten debris, which was exactly as she intended. Through her lenses, low-light and heat signatures filtered into clean layers of data, revealing that the structure across the narrow service lane was glowing faintly with residual power. The internal generators were cycling irregularly. Too irregular to be accidental, that suggested that someone inside was actively managing their electronic footprint.

The fact that he was nervous was a good sign, though it meant she had to be even more meticulous. She adjusted her angle by a few centimeters, letting her gaze drift through the upper windows and noting that, while no buyers were present in person yet, the situation remained fluid. She had already confirmed the abandoned safehouse hours earlier and found it empty and scrubbed clean of lingering signatures; while that was a small mercy for whoever had escaped, it didn't make Meridian any less of a liability to the mission.

As her focus shifted to the alley on the opposite side, she spotted a figure half-swallowed by the shadows. His posture was controlled but not rigid, his hood pulled up over a duster as he ate, yet he remained entirely undistracted. He wasn't a local, nor did he move like hired muscle or one of Meridian's usual runners; he was far too still for that. Rather than zooming in immediately, Shade began to catalogue him with the clinical precision she had been trained to use for everything that might eventually matter: his height, his gait, his weight distribution, and even the rhythmic steadying of his breath.

He was disciplined and, more notably, likely Force-sensitive. Though he wasn't actively projecting, she could feel a faint distortion in the space around him that resembled heat haze without the heat. It was an interesting development, though Shade didn't smile; she never did when things became interesting. Instead, she shifted her primary attention back to the building while keeping the man in her periphery, knowing that if he were here for Meridian, he would eventually reveal his hand.

Inside the target building, a light flickered on briefly in a rear room, and a silhouette paused behind a curtain before moving away. It was Meridian—still inside, still waiting, and likely still trying to decide whether to trust the next ghost that came knocking at his door. Shade exhaled slowly through her nose, adjusting her grip on the roof's edge with the knowledge that there was no need to rush. Without making any unnecessary movements, she maintained her observation, shaping the field and learning who else believed they were the hunters tonight.

She keyed a quiet note into her datapad, recording the presence of an unidentified secondary operative observing the target from the west alley with no hostile action yet reported. Then, she settled back into the stone, her eyes returning to the windows to watch the board fill and the pieces reveal themselves. Sooner or later, someone would make the first mistake, and she would be ready to move the moment they did.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

The energy bar was finished and he let his hands fall back to his side as he watched. That nagging feeling was still there so he allowed his senses to reach out, just a bit, to feel what was going on around him more than just watch. Perhaps whatever was worrying his mind was nothing at all. If so, he would feel nothing and be able to simply go back to watching and waiting. That would certainly be better than trouble sneaking up on him. He needed to be left alone so that he could complete his mission, not be bothered by a local gang or someone worse. It was imperative that the operation go off without a hitch.

But that nagging feeling was right. It was faint, but he could vaguely feel the weight of emotion drifting in his direction. It was subtle, not on the brink of explosion. More it was measured. The individual responsible for the emotion was controlling themselves in a manner that belied either training, professionalism or both. Though he wasn't a trained assassin, he knew better than to move his head around and look for the person whose attention, albeit briefly, had been sent his way. Instead, he remained positioned in the shadows, allowing his eyes to flit back and forth over the scene before him without any head movement to go with it.

No visible signs so they must be at distance. I can't tell for sure, he thought to himself. Didn't matter. If they weren't making a move on him in the open, they weren't there for him. That meant it could be someone else after Meridian or someone waiting to see if it was safe to go in. Third option was that it was a privateer who wanted to snag the information without paying. Any of those were a problem for him, but one he'd have to deal with later.

The time wore on with nothing happening. The person who had taken notice of him was still there, he was sure of it, but neither of them had moved. Darkness settled fully. It took a bit for his eyes to adjust, pupils dilating to allow more light in. He cracked his back and worked his arms just a little bit to keep them limber. A good thing, too, because he noticed someone walking down that side of the street that approached the two guards at the door and stopped to speak with them. His alertness shot to ten and he moved slightly away from the wall, crouching slightly in preparation. This, he was sure, was going to be his chance.

When the door opened and the figure went in, he sprang.

Crossing the gap at speed, he used the Force to slam both of the guards into the wall with enough force that it would knock them out. They were just guards, hired to do a job, he was sure. Probably had no idea what Meridian even did for work. Most hired muscle didn't ask questions as long as they were paid well. Before the door shut, he slipped inside, though he was careful to keep himself back from the figure that had entered. He didn't want to cause a disturbance on the inside until he made his way to Meridian himself. Stealth was imperative.

But at least he was on the inside now.

Shade

 

[Shade]

The moment the door opened, Shade shifted. It wasn't a visible movement that anyone on the street would have clocked, but internally, the board rearranged itself. She watched the approaching figure, noting that he didn't move like a buyer. There was too much direction in his stride and too little hesitation. The guards had straightened but not stiffened; it was a routine exchange, nothing dramatic, until the shadow across the street suddenly broke.

The move was fast and decisive. The two guards hit the wall with a concussive force that carried a distinct signature even without visual confirmation. It wasn't blaster fire or physical contact; it was the Force.

Shade didn't waste time cursing or dwelling on the complication. By the time the bodies had begun to slide down the wall, she was already in motion. She abandoned her rooftop vantage without hesitation, her boots silent against the stone as she crossed the span in three long strides and dropped onto the adjacent fire escape. Controlling her descent by using her momentum rather than fighting it, she caught the final railing with one hand, swung, and hit the alley floor in a low, balanced crouch.

The door had not yet sealed, which was a stroke of luck she intended to use, but she didn't follow immediately. Instead, she pressed against the opposite wall to check the guards, pressing two fingers to the carotid of the nearest. He was breathing, his pulse strong: unconscious, but not broken. Whoever had moved was disciplined enough not to escalate unnecessarily, which significantly narrowed the list of possibilities.

She slipped through the doorway just as it began to close, staying offset rather than following directly in the intruder's wake. After letting the door ease shut without a sound, she remained in the dim entry corridor to listen to the building's layers of noise: the low hum of a generator, footsteps echoing from above, and the faint scrape of movement further down the hall. Beneath it all was the subtle echo of someone attempting to be quiet while moving quickly.

Exhaling once, she let her senses extend outward. Not as a flare or a probe, but as a widening awareness. The same measured presence she had felt earlier now tightened and focused. He was inside, and he had not yet engaged, which meant she still held control over the tempo of the encounter.

She didn't draw her blaster yet. Instead, she advanced down the corridor with deliberate pacing, keeping one hand near the blade at her hip. Every step was placed precisely where floorboards would not creak and where dust would not betray her passage. If he was here for Meridian, they were now on intersecting paths; if he was here for something else, she would know soon enough.

Up ahead, a staircase curved toward the second level, and the air shifted faintly with the weight of someone moving above. Shade didn't rush. She angled toward the stairs, hugging the shadowed edge of the wall as she began her ascent. If the intruder thought he was alone in this hunt, that illusion would not last much longer, but she wasn't ready to announce herself. She would let him make the next move, and only then would she decide whether she was intercepting a threat or cooperating with one.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

For a mere moment he considered hanging back to see if the other person who had been watching would follow him. He was certain they would. It wouldn't have been hard to utilize the Force to conceal himself in the shadows inside of the door and utilize subtle trickery to make it sound as thought he were moving forward. He could even have projected his presence onto the person that had entered before him. The problem with doing that, however, was it allowed far too much time for Meridian to slip through his fingers. He didn't know the purpose behind the original visitor, either. The whole thing could go sideways before he even got there.

With that being the case, he had to focus on getting to Meridian as quickly and quietly as he could. That meant following the first person. He kept a distance between them, sticking to the shadows as much as he could. The place wasn't as lit up as he would have expected, but Meridian was on the second floor, not the first. Perhaps he was frugal with his use of power.

He ascended the stairs, one hand reaching inside of his jacket to draw his blaster. He didn't want to give away that he was a Jedi unless he had to. Keeping a card or two up his sleeve might come in handy at some point. At the top of the stairs, he made sure his blaster was on the stun setting. He didn't want to kill anyone. Killing for no reason wasn't becoming of a Jedi, and there was no reason the man needed to die for what he was trying to do. A stint in prison was all this warranted.

Creeping along the hall, he stopped next to an open door. In the room beyond he could hear people talking. They didn't sound all that happy with one another, but he couldn't be sure what was the cause of that as they weren't speaking that loudly. He knew he didn't have a lot of time, but he had to be sure of what was going on before making any moves against his target and the person with him. If that person was a buyer, it would be wise to take them down as well. If they were an associate, just making a drop, it might be worth letting them go. No sense in lumping everyone into what Meridian was up to.

It meant he was forced to wait for the moment, but he was making sure to keep track of the people inside with the Force.

And he knew he wouldn't be alone for long.

Shade

 

[Shade]

Shade remained at the far end of the corridor, half-veiled by shadow as she watched him in profile. She noted the quiet precision of his movement when his hand slipped inside his jacket and returned with a blaster. The draw was controlled and deliberate, devoid of the flashy haste that signaled an amateur; it told her, with silent clarity, that he had done this many times before.

She could not see the weapon's setting from this distance, nor did she care to assume its intent. A blaster, whether set to stun or lethal, was never a tool of subtlety. It was a tool of decision, and its presence meant that if he moved, the quiet of the evening would shatter very quickly.

What interested her more, however, was what he had not done. He had not ignited a blade to test the reaction of those inside, nor had he forced the door or committed himself prematurely to an unknown variable. Instead, he simply listened. His shoulders remained relaxed rather than coiled, and his breathing was steady, rhythmic, and calm. He was measuring the conversation beyond the threshold rather than merely reacting to it, displaying a level of discipline that suggested he was not a man who operated on impulse.

Inside the room, the tension continued to mount.

"You told me this was secure," one voice snapped, the irritation now openly bleeding into a sharp accusation.

Meridian answered in a tone tighter than before. "It is. You are the one who insisted on meeting tonight."

The air in the hallway seemed to thin as the emotional pressure in the room edged toward volatility. Whoever the pacing man was, he did not sound like a patient buyer; there was a frantic urgency in his stride, perhaps even a sliver of fear.

Shade shifted her position with slow, ghost-like deliberation, angling herself toward the secondary exit without stepping fully into view. Her mind mapped the possibilities with clinical efficiency: if the man inside bolted, she would intercept him before he reached the fire stairs, and if Meridian attempted to escape in the ensuing confusion, she would cut off that path as well.

She did not reveal herself to the man in the hall. Not yet. He knew someone else was present. She had allowed that awareness to brush against his senses earlier, but now she simply let the silence between them stretch, keeping it taut and controlled.

She did not need to know what he was. Whether he was a Jedi, a mercenary, or a private contractor did not matter to her. What mattered was the next choice he made, and whether that choice happened to align with her own. For now, the hallway remained suspended in that fragile space between observation and action, the outcome waiting for a single breath to tip the balance.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

The conversation within the room was tense. A buyer that was nervous, even fearful, and a seller that was nervous as well. Volatile was a good way to describe it. Neither would budge on their intentions, but the deal would be made in the end. It was clear, at least to Sethran, that the buyer wanted this data, no, needed it. Something about the way he spoke led him to believe that the mans very life may depend on acquiring the data, which meant he wasn't the true buyer, but a courier sent to make payment and acquisition. He would take the data back to the actual buyer to do with as they pleased, and if he failed, it probably meant death.

Nearby, the other person was watching. He couldn't tell exactly where they were, their skills were good, but he knew they were there. Any amount of attention placed on himself was easily detected through his natural abilities. Even a passing glance could be felt when there were few in the vicinity to offer one.

Regardless, it was time to work. Waiting would just allow the men out front to wake up, or someone else to come along and see them and raise the alarm. He couldn't risk allowing Meridian to escape with the data, and if that got in the way of the plans of the other, well, that was too bad. He wasn't operating alongside anyone else. He was operating because it was necessary to tie up loose ends. He couldn't do everything he did in consideration of other groups or individuals, even those within the Republic itself.

Taking a deep breath, he spun into the doorway, weapon aimed, and fired at the back of the courier.

"Meridian, do not move and you won't be harmed."

Shade

 

[Shade]

The shot cracked through the room before the words had even finished forming as Shade moved at the same instant the air fractured with sound.

She had been positioned along the exterior wall adjacent to the office, not directly outside the door but offset at an angle that gave her a partial view through the cracked transparisteel panel near the hinge. While she had not been close enough to hear every whispered word, the body language inside the room had already told her enough to identify the presence of fear, desperation, and the shifting of leverage. When Sethran spun into the doorway and fired his weapon, she did not hesitate to analyze who he was, already busy analyzing the room's vectors.

The courier dropped to the floor, and Meridian froze in sudden shock.

Shade crossed the remaining distance in three silent strides and pivoted into the room behind Sethran's line of fire rather than standing alongside it. Her pistol was already raised and ready, though she kept it angled downward just enough to avoid intersecting his silhouette as she took control of her sector.

Her voice cut through the thick tension with a low and controlled resonance.

"Drop it. Slowly."

She did not address the command to Sethran; instead, she directed it entirely toward Meridian. Her crimson gaze locked onto the data pad clutched in the broker's trembling hands with an intensity that brooked no argument.

"Place the device on the floor and step back from it immediately."

Meridian's eyes darted frantically between the armed intruder in the doorway and Shade as she flanked him from the side. His breathing had shifted rapidly from the rhythm of negotiation to the ragged gasps of survival. Shade did not look at Sethran yet because she did not need to question his entry or comment on the stun setting he had chosen for his weapon. That particular conversation could wait until the area was secure, since the priority at that moment was absolute containment.

"No one else needs to die over a simple data transfer," she said evenly as her eyes never left Meridian for even a second. "You are officially out of leverage."

The courier lay stunned but was still breathing, while the guards outside would eventually recover from the initial engagement. Time was thinning for all of them as she adjusted her stance a fraction to be careful not to block Sethran's line of sight while also ensuring she did not yield her own.

"You have five seconds to comply with this request."

Her tone did not rise in volume because it did not need to carry any more weight than it already did. If Meridian chose to bolt, then she would shoot without hesitation, and if Sethran decided to advance, then she would adapt her movements to match his. For now, she held the room steady as a second axis of control layered over the first, making it very clear that whatever this was, it was no longer a private negotiation.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

She didn't make her appearance until he'd shot. It surprised him, just slightly. She couldn't have known what he was going to do. He had kept everything guarded about himself other than the glimpse of his presence she had clearly felt. Still, she'd trusted enough to wait, it seemed, on the fact that he didn't have the intention of doing harm. Had she somehow pegged him for a Jedi despite the fact that he was wearing regular clothing and not visibly displaying his lightsaber? No, he could feel it from her: she'd trusted the Force.

What surprised him the most was the fact that she was a Chiss. Second most surprising was the fact her hair more resembled the color of a white dwarf than of the abyss itself. What was a Chiss woman doing all the way out there, not to mention hunting down the same information broker as he was? Not to mention the fact that she was Force sensitive, which, if he recalled correctly, was somewhat rare amongst the Chiss.

Regardless of what he thought or felt, he did everything to keep his mask of professionalism in place. Only someone skilled at reading eyes, or emotions, would know that the two of them weren't affiliated with one another. Meridian was not either of those. He was an info broker, a good one, and yes he understood how to manipulate people into getting the prices he wanted and the information he wanted, but he wasn't used to being placed in such a precarious position. Normally, his line of work was cushy and quiet. This situation had him on edge, and nervous enough to want to run, but the placement of Sethran and the Chiss woman blocked any avenue he had to do so.

"Do what she said," Sethran said, motioning with his off hand. "Set it down on the desk and step back."

He considered for a moment, but with the buyer down, and clearly his guards ineffective, he really had no choice. Meridian reached out and set the data pad down on the desk. Trembling, he stepped away from it and held his hands up.

"Who are you people?" he asked. "How did you get in here?"

"We have our ways. As for who we are, that's need to know. Do you have restraints?" he asked, glancing briefly at Shade, indicating he was asking her the question, not Meridian.

Shade

 

[Shade]

Shade did not shift the steady weight of her weapon when Meridian chose to comply, her focus remaining fixed on the broker with a clinical, unyielding patience.

The datapad touched the scarred surface of the desk with a soft, final clack, and the broker's trembling hands rose slowly into the stale air of the room as she watched the motion with a precise, measuring gaze. She wasn't looking for a reason to fire, but rather observing the specific cadence of his fear, evaluating whether his panic would settle into submission or spark into something far more desperate and unpredictable.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the broker remained still.

The man in the doorway maintained his composure with a practiced ease that suggested he was well-versed in the high-stakes geometry of a breached room. His tone carried a natural sense of authority without the need for empty theatrics, and he kept a respectful distance that kept the broker from escalating the existing volatility. It was the movement of a professional who understood exactly how to handle a room where the margin for error was razor-thin.

When he looked toward her to inquire about restraints, Shade met his gaze with a brief, silent nod of acknowledgment—a gesture of mutual recognition between two people who spoke the same tactical language.

"I have a set of binders right here," she said, her voice steady and stripped of any unnecessary edge.

She reached to the back of her belt and withdrew a compact set of restraints, the durasteel catching the dim light of the room for a fleeting second before she tossed them across the short space toward him. The throw was executed with a clean, fluid motion, timed and aimed specifically so that he could catch them easily without having to compromise his stance or divert his eyes from the target.

"These should serve the purpose," she added, her tone suggesting a shared objective rather than a command.

Her pistol remained level on Meridian, providing the necessary cover while the stranger moved to secure him.

"I'll keep him covered while you take the datapad and get him secured."

She stepped a fraction to the side with an economical grace, adjusting her angle to ensure the secondary exit was still blocked while giving the other man plenty of room to operate without getting in his way.

Meridian swallowed hard, the sound sharp in the sudden, heavy quiet of the office.

"Listen, I don't even know what's actually on that drive," he blurted out, his voice thin and cracking with a panic that he was no longer able to hide. "I'm just a middleman who moves information; I've found it's safer for everyone if I don't ask questions."

Shade kept her eyes on him, her expression unreadable but not unkind.

"If that's true, then the rest of this process will be much simpler for you."

Her tone was calm and observational, lacking any of the heat that usually accompanied a threat.

"Go ahead and turn around for him."

Meridian hesitated for a heartbeat, his eyes darting toward the stranger with the binders.

The muzzle of Shade's pistol lifted just a fraction: a silent, firm reminder that the time for hesitation had passed.

He turned immediately.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

Shade ​

---

What he hadn't expected was her tossing the binders at him. He thought it had been implied that he wanted her to put the binders on Meridian. But, that was his fault for not saying exactly what he wanted. He couldn't find fault with her actions, given that neither of them actually knew the other, or who they were working for. All he knew was that she was clearly there for the same reason he was. What he hoped was that didn't mean she was going to interfere in him taking Meridian. If she was, they were going to have a problem.

He did catch the binders, for the record. Slim set, but it would work. Meridian wasn't the kind of person that was going to break out of them.

"You may consider yourself a middleman, but you deal information indiscriminately and you crossed a line and put innocent people in danger. Courts will decide your fate."

Walking over, he waited for the man to turn around as she had instructed. A quick flick of her weapon was enough to remind him who had the power here. With his hands behind him, Sethran applied the binders, and when he was fully secured, he returned his blaster to its holster before grabbing the data pad the man had put down on the desk and sliding it within the confines of his duster where it wouldn't be seen and wasn't easily grabbed from him. Evidence had to be protected.

That done, he turned his eyes to the ruby-eyed chiss woman, his eyes studying her briefly before he spoke.

"So who are you?"

Meridian looked between the two of them with furrowed brows and an open mouth. A bit too open.

"You two don't even know each other?" he asked, his words a bit stuttered.

"No, unfortunately. Would have made this easier if we did."

He gripped the middle of the binders, tugging Meridian closer to him while focusing on her and awaiting her response.

---

​

 

[Shade]

Shade did not immediately answer, letting the silence stretch as her crimson eyes followed Sethran's movements with a professional scrutiny. She tracked every small detail, the way an expert always did when standing beside a stranger, noting that the binders were applied with practiced precision: tight enough to prevent any hope of movement, but not so tight that they would restrict circulation.

He secured the datapad quickly afterward, slipping it into his coat with a fluid motion that suggested deep-seated habit rather than mere improvisation. To Shade, it looked like evidence protection, and that observation told her more about him than any formal introduction could.

Meridian's surprised remark earned nothing more than a brief, dismissive glance from her before her attention returned fully to the man currently holding the prisoner.

"No," she said calmly, answering Meridian first without actually looking at him. "We do not."

Her pistol remained remarkably steady in her grip, angled just enough to ensure Meridian did not suddenly decide that a late burst of bravery was a good idea.

Then Sethran asked his question, and Shade studied him for another long second before finally lowering the weapon slightly. She didn't holster it, but she removed the immediate threat now that the broker had been successfully secured and the chaos had ebbed.

"Someone who was interested in the same datapad you just pocketed," she replied evenly.

There was no trace of hostility in her tone, only the flat, cold delivery of a statement of fact.

"And someone who would prefer that information never reaches the buyer Meridian intended it for."

Her gaze flicked briefly toward the broker, whose nervous, ragged breathing had become noticeably louder now that the situation had stabilized into something far less frantic.

"You moved quickly," she added, looking back to Sethran with a slight tilt of her head. "Efficiently. That suggests you were here for the exact same reason I was."

A small pause followed as she let the implication hang in the air between them.

"Which means neither of us wants this man walking away with that data."

Her free hand moved to her belt, retrieving a second set of binders from her gear before tossing them lightly onto the desk beside Meridian with a sharp metallic clatter.

"In case he starts feeling optimistic."

Only then did she meet Sethran's eyes directly, her expression unreadable but focused.

"Shade."

There was no rank offered, nor any mention of an organization. She gave him just the name and nothing more.

"And you?"

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

Shade​

---

She started off by commenting that she was someone just as interested in the datapad as he was. That he already understood. It seemed the two of them were after the same thing from the start. Though, he didn't know her. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't a part of the network, just meant he didn't know her yet if she was. It wasn't as though they all operated together all the time, after all.

He spared a glance for the other set of binders but left them where they were. He didn't believe it was necessary. Meridian wasn't going anywhere, not with Sethran holding onto the binders with one hand. Even if he tried to run, it would be easy for him to jerk the man back and to the floor. The man looked as if he'd resigned himself to his fate, as well, staring at the floor and barely acknowledging the conversation around him. Wouldn't have mattered if she kept her blaster up.

"Well, provided he didn't send it out to someone already, it's not getting to anyone we don't want it to."

That should be enough to tell her that he was there for the same reason as her. Obtaining the data was key to keeping it from getting into the wrong hands. Not because they could do anything to the safehouse, but because it meant they could figure out who had compromised it and they could use that to help them compromise others. They couldn't afford to have someone going around and discovering their safe locations and spilling the details of their locations to anyone willing to buy it. That was why he also needed to take the man in for questioning: they needed to know the identity of the person who obtained the information for him.

Shade was a name he didn't know. He doubted it was her real name. She was a Chiss. They had complicated names. A callsign. She was some sort of operative. For who, though, was a mystery. Not someone antagonistic to him, though. She wasn't giving him the vibe that she was about to flip on him. That meant she worked for one of the good guys. And if she was interested in his data collection, maybe he was right that she was another network operative.

"Sethran," he said when she asked his name.

He jerked on Meridians arms to pull him towards the door.

"We should probably leave before his guards wake up or someone else comes looking. You're free to walk with us."

---

 

[Shade]

Shade did not lower her weapon immediately when the binders clicked shut around Meridian's wrists, a deep-seated professional habit that dictated the scene was never truly secure until the target was physically removed from the environment. Her crimson eyes lingered on the man for another second, meticulously measuring the slackness in his posture and the resignation settling into his shoulders, confirming that the fight had left him long before the cuffs had even touched his skin. Only when she was certain he had transitioned from a threat to a liability did she ease the muzzle of her blaster downward, stepping closer with movements that were as controlled and economical as the silence she usually operated in.

Sethran's explanation served as a quiet confirmation of the suspicions she had been harboring since she first tracked the datapad's signature; he wasn't driven by the typical greed of a data broker, but by the necessity of containment. That alignment of interests allowed the atmospheric tension in the room to dissipate slightly, though she continued to watch him with the clinical detachment professionals reserve for unknown variables.

"That was my assessment of the situation as well," she said, her voice remaining low and steady. "Raw data of that nature acts more like a contagion than a commodity; it spreads faster than blaster fire the moment it reaches the hands of the wrong buyer." Her gaze flicked briefly toward the hidden shape of the datapad within his coat before settling back on the prisoner. "If he has already offloaded the encryption keys, then we are merely managing the fallout, but if he hasn't, then our combined intervention just saved this sector a significant amount of grief."

When he offered his name, she inclined her head in a single, sharp gesture of acknowledgment. Sethran was not a name that appeared in her internal archives of Republic assets or known freelancers, yet his performance throughout the building had provided all the dossier she required. He moved with a practiced efficiency that prioritized results over spectacle, marking him as the kind of man who understood that in their line of work, visibility was usually a precursor to failure.

Since her own name had already been put on the table, she saw no reason to elaborate further or offer the specifics of her affiliation with RIS. Affiliations were vulnerabilities, and call signs existed specifically to keep the work separate from the person.

As he began to maneuver Meridian toward the exit, Shade stepped aside to grant them a wide berth, though her blaster remained gripped firmly in her hand as she fell into a trailing formation. "Walking with you was already the plan," she replied, her tone devoid of warmth but layered with a clear sense of cooperation. "I find that exits are significantly more successful when the interested parties aren't shooting at one another's shadows."

She maintained a position slightly off-center as they reached the hallway, avoiding Sethran's immediate six to ensure she had an unobstructed line of sight toward the stairwell and the potential hazards lurking below. "Your initial entry was undeniably efficient," she added quietly, her eyes scanning the dim perimeter for any sign of shifting shadows. "However, the two guards you neutralized downstairs were far from fragile; they will not stay unconscious indefinitely, and their professional pride will likely make them quite irritable when they wake."

She cast a fleeting, cold glance toward Meridian, then back to Sethran. "We should be entirely clear of the building's perimeter before they remember their employment and reach for their comms. Lead the way, Sethran; I'll ensure the air behind us stays clear."

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

Shade ​

---

She had a fair point. If they were in this for the same reasons, then it made sense they would exit together in order to avoid incidental crossfire. Her presence would certainly help him in making it safely out in case the guards at the entry had already woken and radioed for help. And no, he didn't miss the glance she gave towards his jacket where the data pad was stored. He knew she wanted it. He didn't know if she wanted it bad enough to try and take it from him, but he kept a projection of the Force around his body, tight to it, to keep her from just grabbing it and running. Making sure it didn't send anything out was going to be important, and they'd need it to help figure out who gave Meridian the data. Had to make sure there wasn't a mole.

"Agreed," he said to her last comment.

While he appreciated her acknowledgment of his methods in taking down the guards initially, he knew that they would be waking soon if they hadn't already. With one hand guiding Meridian to the stairs, he reached into his duster and pulled out his blaster. Since he hadn't changed the setting, he didn't need to worry about permanent harm to anyone. With any luck he wouldn't need to use it, but he didn't really count on luck. Luck had never much helped him. The Force was his only real friend.

They descended the stairs, this time without having to do it quietly or remain in the shadows. An interesting fact, but he found it easier to use the stairs when he was being stealthy than when he wasn't. He surmised this was because he paid less attention to the stairs when being stealthy and spent more time focusing on not missing a stair when he wasn't. Or, perhaps, it was because Shade was behind him and watching him and it made him somewhat nervous given that she still had her weapon drawn and could, at a moment's notice, turn on him. It was possible that she'd hidden her true intent from him, after all.

But, they made it to the bottom of the stair and moved towards the door without any trouble. He reached out with his feelings to gauge what was ahead of them, and came to a stop after he did.

"The guards have moved and I have an ominous feeling about exiting that way."

He couldn't say for sure, but he felt they would be quickly ambushed if they left the way they came. A quick glance behind him did not reveal an immediate back exit, but no building of the size of the one they were in would be without one.

"Back exit?"

---

 

[Shade]

Shade followed at a measured distance behind him, her blaster held low but kept at the ready as they transitioned through the structure. Although the building no longer required the same absolute silence they had maintained earlier, she remained acutely aware that it was far from safe, her attention moving constantly to track doorways, shifting shadows, and potential angles of approach. Years of field work had ingrained in her the hard-earned lesson that exits were often the most volatile and dangerous part of any operation.

Sethran's sudden stop brought her focus sharply forward again, and she watched him for a quiet moment as he reached outward with his senses to probe the perimeter. The subtle shift in his posture and the tension in his frame were enough to confirm what her own intuition had already begun to suspect: something in the environment outside had changed.

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the front door before returning to him with a look of steady professionalism. "Sure," she replied, her tone remaining calm and controlled despite the rising stakes. "A back exit is perfectly fine with me."

As she spoke, Shade shifted her stance slightly, angling her body so that she could maintain a line of sight on both the hallway ahead and the open space behind them simultaneously. Meridian remained positioned between them, still secured and unlikely to make any sudden moves that might compromise their retreat.

Her eyes flicked once toward the deeper, shadowed parts of the building, her mind already beginning to map possible service corridors and maintenance routes that might lead them to safety. "Do you want me to scout ahead and clear the path?" she offered, the suggestion being purely professional and devoid of any ego.

She did not feel the need to push for the datapad or question his instincts, knowing that if the exit they had initially chosen felt wrong to him, that was more than enough reason to adapt the plan.

Sethran Solivar

 

[Sethran Solivar]

Shade​

---

It seemed logical, her suggestion.

"Sure."

He didn't know whether she would lay a trap to catch him while she was doing so, or if she was being legitimately sincere in working alongside him, but he chose to assume the latter. It was possible for people to fool his ability to ascertain the intentions of others through their emotional state. People had done it before. A chiss would probably be good at it. They were known for being able to control their emotions better than most and had manipulated major galactic powers in the past.

So while he allowed her to go, he kept his gaze focused primarily on the front door. If they got antsy and decided to come in shooting, he'd have to haul Meridian off at a quick pace. Still, he needed to give Shade the time she'd requested to move ahead and make sure the path was clear. Wasn't a lot for him to do in the meantime, but eventually he followed after her, hoping that the back entrance was less of a trap than the front.

"Hope your guys aren't the quick shooting type or you're going to have an even worse day."

Meridian groaned.

---

 

[Shade]

Shade moved ahead of them without another word, her steps quiet and deliberate as she slipped down the narrow corridor that branched off toward the rear of the building. The lighting grew poorer the farther she went, the glow from the main hall fading until only a pair of tired overhead fixtures illuminated the passage.

She slowed as the back exit came into view. Voices. Two of them.

Shade stopped just short of the corner, listening. One man stood near the door itself, his weight leaning against the frame, in the bored posture of someone who had been told to wait and was already tired of it. The other sat nearby on a crate, blaster resting loosely across his lap as he complained about something in a low voice.

Neither of them expected trouble from inside. That made the next part simple.

Shade stepped around the corner in a blur of controlled movement. The man by the door barely had time to turn his head before the pommel of her knife cracked sharply into the side of his neck. His body went slack instantly, sliding down the wall before he even understood what had happened.

The second guard reached for his weapon.

Shade closed the distance before he could bring it up. Her hand caught his wrist, twisting hard enough to force the blaster from his grip. It clattered across the floor as her elbow drove cleanly into his jaw.

The impact snapped his head sideways. He followed the blaster to the ground.

Shade crouched briefly, checking both men with quick efficiency. Breathing steady. Consciousness gone but not permanently. Good.

She dragged the first man a short distance away from the doorway and pushed the second against the wall beside him so neither would be immediately visible from outside.

Then she opened the door just enough to scan the alley beyond. Empty.

Only the faint wind moved dust along the ground. Shade stepped back from the door just as Sethran and Meridian reached the end of the corridor. Two unconscious bodies lay nearby. She met Sethran's eyes calmly.

"Two guards," she said quietly. "They're out." Her gaze flicked briefly toward the open exit. "Back exit is clear." Then she stepped aside to give them space to move through. "Let's go."

Sethran Solivar