You.

[Pierce Tondry]

(ooc) If you're interested in participating, please see the related thread in the RP Planning forum.

(ic)

Deep space always looked the same. Stars could shift positions but it always turned out to be the same tiny pinholes letting light through a canvas of black.

It just made Pierce's reflection in the transparisteel window seem that much more hollow.

'Who are you?' he wondered.

In spite of having joined the Rebellion, and in spite of two mostly successful missions completed under that banner, it still remained "The Rebellion". A foreign entity that offered no real sense of belonging or acceptance.

Not that he needed it. First and foremost, Pierce Tondry was a warrior and soldier. That which needed to be done, he would do whatever the cost.

Pierce's attention pulled itself back from the void. So far, the situation was sunny side up. Minimal problems, mostly things that could be brushed aside with some rank, the threat of urgent doom, application of force, or a mixture of all three. More than anything else, he suspected his name and appearance were feared by his Rebel comrades-in-arms. Even the Jedi of the Wheel seemed hesitant to approach, unless asking for assistance he'd likely have given anyway.

He might as well still have been a Black Specter with ImpIntel for all anyone around desired to be near him.

Abruptly shutting off the train of thought, Pierce turned from the window. However purposeless his life seemed at the moment, dwelling on it was a luxury that he could not afford. Besides, the void in his stomach needed filling.

Which made it serendipitous that he'd chosen the cafeteria at the location for his philosophical musings on purpose.

Pierce began to navigate through the tables and chairs of the mess hall, heading towards the entry line's door. He passed by a Mon Cal eating some kind of squid-looking concoction (cannibal?), a pair of Bothans whose noses twitched simultaneously as he sidled by them, then wove directly through a group of humans who stood between himself and his goal of food. Although habitually he scanned the faces of all of them, none of them stood out to him and likewise, he registered below their radar.

Then he saw the raven-haired woman in the pilot's jumpsuit. His stride broke for the barest of seconds as his mind retrieved a name: Karin DeLumiar.

'You,' thought Pierce.

As he sought to pass, Her eyes moved up, touched his for the briefest of seconds, then froze. Her gaze locked on him like a tracking turbolaser and Her face contorted into a mask of sheer rage, gorgeous features disappearing into sudden fury. She cried out, a mixture of pain and hate and suffering.

"YOU!"

And then she drew her blaster.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna sat at the bar, a brightly-colored mixed drink of some Ithorian origin keeping her company. She had a difficult time finding better companions. The nature of her work with Alliance Intel, coupled with her programming, meant that she came off to most as either aloof or eccentric or both. Those who knew what she was treated her with the sort of bias that was to be expected of a droid, even though her personality engrams effectively ensured she was as sentient as any organic.

A sudden raising of voices caused her to instantly turn in the direction of origin. It was normally not Eluna's place to question a bar fight, much less interfere. That said, the objective in this instance seemed less about pummelling somebody into submission, and more on the nature of killing them. Lackadasical on the best of days in the area of moral fiber, Eluna nonetheless decided in the microsecond she'd recognized the weapon draw to act. Her sweet Ithorian drink was hurled as an accurate missile, striking the gun-hand in such a way to knock the weapon off-target.

[Evest Neel]

He wasn't sitting with her. He was with her and yet, not with her, if you could understand that. He'd learned, that with her, it was always best to keep just a little distance. He was right in that conviction in the current collection of moments, when the artful-looking mixture of colours that was her Ithorian drink hurtled from her hand to that of the blaster-wielder as he was halfway out of his seat and nearly drawn himself. The cracking shatter and spray of liquid caused him to melt back so, so slightly, sparing a glance in the replica droid's - Eluna's - direction, the seeming glow of his own red eyes not entirely leaving the unfolding scene, in which the pilot's demeanor clearly had not improved, leaving it to give time for how the subject of her rage, one Pierce Tondry, would react.

Outdrawn again. It wasn't much of a fight to keep sentiments of admiration of his face, for the simple fact that they weren't there. Had she been truly an organic being, it might have been a little more difficult, but she was what she was and he, in all honesty, did not hold it against her. Some people looked at him with much the same skepticism that he himself received, albeit for different reasons.

All this in a few tens of seconds, as action would give way to more reaction and more action besides. It was the way of things.

[Pierce Tondry]

Her hand came up empty and She stared at it in surprise. The pause didn't last long, as fury propelled her body forward. A surprisingly lithe two-step and She was battering at Pierce's body with fists like striking vipers.

Taking an Intelligence field operative by surprise, be they Imperial or Rebel, never listed on the “Things Easily Pulled Off” list. In the case of Pierce, the list was perhaps better titled “Things You Tried on Your Best Day and Failed Miserably At”.

Although he didn't match Her for speed, absolute precision drove Pierce's defense. He didn't need to be fast to be where Her attacks were not. In fact, a bystander unaware of Pierce's limitations might assume his slow dodges and minute sidesteps were a form of taunting his opponent. She certainly didn't take it well, as her attacks redoubled and ultimately managed a few glancing blows on her target.

As another one of Her punches whiffed past Pierce's ear, his mind recognized the similarity of another time and place. As if reading his thoughts, She screamed and punched him in the jaw during the momentary distraction.

Pierce's eyes blazed with sudden intensity and he stood, tall and immutable. Her next punch met the solid muscle and bone of his hand; he caught the attack, tugged the arm to get a better vantage on it, and jabbed it once at the elbow and again in the armpit. The arm sagged limp and useless. He let it go and it fell to her side.

The swiftness of her disabling seemed to shock her fury into subsiding. It did not vanish; rather the embers smoldered behind her eyes. Her glare turned, searching for some kind of weapon – the lost blaster perhaps – when her eyes fixed on a nearby knife. She reached her good arm for it when suddenly it jerked along the tabletop away from her reach. She took a step towards it, only to have it skitter further away. “Er hem,” someone said.

The speaker was small, green with a shock of white hair, and had tri-clawed fingers that rested atop a gnarled wooden cane. “A problem, there is?” he asked. “Help, Hob can!”

As if to give the notion some emphasis, the Jedi Master Hobgoblin leapt atop his cane and looked her in the eye. “Hm?”

“I-” she began, looking back at Tondry-

-only to find he was no longer there.

The observant who hadn't been distracted by Hob's sudden intervention and balancing act would have seen Pierce take the first opportunity of distraction to make good his exit from the mess hall. Karin had not; instead Pierce's appearance was little more than a hated desert mirage. His only existence's evidence was the painful numbness in her right arm and the dull, aching sadness in her chest.

The fury suddenly came back and she cried out.

”I WILL KILL YOU PIERCE TONDRY!” she yelled and dissolved into a sobbing heap on the floor, one arm cradling the other. ”I WILL KILL YOU!”

[Asha Vendax]

Three days.

Three days since her life had been turned upside down, and she'd accepted an offer to leave CorSec and join Rebel Intel. Doing the same covert ops and missions she'd undertaken on Corellia. Just on a broader, galactic scale instead of her homeworld. It was, truthfully, something Asha had wanted to do for a very long time.

She simply hadn't anticipated the first three days being so...boring.

No briefings, no meetings with other agents, nothing. Her time was her own until things 'could be arranged properly' and she'd be informed. At least back home she could have picked up an extra patrol or something - there was always something going on on Corellia, especially in Coronet City where she'd been assigned for the past three years.

Ahh well...in another week she'd likely be complaining about *not* having any time to herself. Asha sighed and sipped at her stimcaf, dark chestnut eyes taking in the sights of the mess hall from her little nook near the back. A dark brow lofted at the sight and sound of the commotion that suddenly erupted, the other brow joining the first at the sight of a blaster being pulled. Thankfully, someone else was far quicker on the uptake, and even as the weapon clattered away along the floor, the woman's fists were soon flying.

Asha shook her head briefly as she watched, her expression smooth and unmarred by her internal critique of the woman's blind rage. Her eyes remained on the man who'd been the center of attention for a moment, tracking him as he slipped past and out of the mess hall. Without being able to explain why, she rose and left her now-empty mug behind, following discreetly behind him.

Rounding the bend in a hallway, she stopped and leaned up against the wall, a faint smile hovering over her lips. "Do you often provoke such fascinating reactions from women?" her voice emerging with a refined Corellian lilt.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna casually walked to where the woman's weapon lay, picking it up. She inspected it, noted that it was indeed set to kill, and safed the firearm. In a casual motion she ejected the power cell and tossed it over to Evest, so it could be secured.

"You aren't killing anyone."

Turning, she looked at both the diminuitive alien Jedi Master and the kneeling woman.

"Not here, at any rate."

She eased down to her haunches in front of the woman, regarding her with a curious expression.

"I need you to stand. Can you?"

[Evest Neel]

With a quietness and a steady, unflinching eye, he tracked Eluna's crossing from where she had been seated to the woman, whose rage had shifted to tears and he hoped that her anger would dissolve. Most members of any species were infinitely easier to deal with when not so emotionally compromised. To not be so compromised meant much to his own work. He had noted the other woman, a raven-haired one of form that would be pleasing to the eye in another setting, slipping out of the room in short order after Tondry. Little escaped his notice, a stark contrast to the first of his years with the Empire's most steadfast opposition.

When Thals tossed him the power cell, he deftly caught it and tucked it away. As a matter of personal habit, he had extra cells. Always had extra, on his own person. There was always a few extra spaces for a few more - as often was the case with the run of the work. Always someone that needed disarming. Whether they wanted it was always a different story. Evest slipped from the stool and stepped with a casual gait over to the two women and stood in silent observance of them. He'd say something, when and if it became necessary.

The woman's eyes flicked to him and held for a long moment and for a shorter slice of time, one corner of his mouth edged upward, then descended, neutrality covering him again. She looked away and back to Eluna then, seeming to have started at making an effort to regain what composure she surely must have had prior to the altercation, nodding as if she was trying to resist doing it to quickly, a dipping and rising of her head that became awkwardly mechanical with that effort to control herself again.

"Your calm and cooperation are appreciated." He didn't spare an eye for the Jedi Master, considering him the least likely to provide any negative provocation. To say, the diminutive green man, at present, posed no discernible threat. He held a strong, blue hand out to the DeLumiar woman, keeping his intense-looking red eyes on her. "Allow me to assist you. Please."

It was a proper gesture, something that spoke of a concept supposedly long dead. Such small things worked to advantage, with the right subjects.

[Pierce Tondry]

"I'm fine." The lie, obvious. The reaction, predictable.

And yet, what else could she have said?

Karin placed a hand on a nearby seat and levered herself into it. Her arm limply dropped into her lap as she did so; an unintended act and yet it drew her attention. "How- ?" she drew a shuddering breath as her emotions stabilized. "He always could disarm me."

The words were laced with scorn and bitterness and something else besides. It elicited a "Hm!" from the Jedi Master Hobgoblin. "Disarm, say you. To disarm, one must have something to protect."

Karin's eyes went far away. "I used to. Before Him."

He took his gnarled wooden cane and set it on the table nearby. His claws gripped, found purchase, and pulled himself into the seat next to her. He reached for her injured limb and when she made as if to pull it away, the goblin hissed such anger that the surprise alone dispelled her defenses. She let him take the arm in his hands. With a satisfied "Hm!" Hob began gently probing with his claw-tipped fingers.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "I appreciate the concern. All of you" -her gaze included Eluna and Evestt- "-but it's just hard to forgive what he did."

"I used to be part of a cell on Chandrila. There weren't many of us, but we did what we could, and in the process we gave the Imps a few black eyes."

Karin wiped a stray tear from her eye. "I'll never forget the day we met. I-" she cut herself off. "He seemed like just the booster to take us somewhere. Could fight, could think, gave a damn what happened to the people around him. We were like pondskippers snatching gnats before he came. He'd only been there a month and we were blowing comm towers and stealing armaments caches."

"Night before we were going to raid an Imperial barracks, a Four-legs troop shows up outside our hideaway. They're in like they have maps of the place and arresting us all before we know what's happening. They took my dad, my brother Vic, 'n Ned 'n Flynn- somehow I managed to sneak my way out. Guess I learned a thing or two from him. Heard two of the plastic faces talking about how they'd put together the raid and put two 'n two together from the details. Guess we crossed one too many starched collars to get 'Agent Pierce Tondry' sent in."

"The bastard took my family away. I've hated him since."

Karin suddenly seemed to notice her arm. "Feels okay now. How'd you do that?"

"Hm!" Hob's inflection radiated smug. "Not bad at unblocking energy am I."

"Thanks, Hobby." She bent and kissed him on the cheek. "I don't care what Perris says, you're a sweetheart."

"Ha! Lies!" Kelly Perris himself stood behind the two of them on the other side of the table. One hand brandished Hob's cane, and before the goblin could react he began poking the diminutive Jedi. "This is for my pie (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20053)!"

"Aaaaahh!" Hob fell from his chair perch and scrambled beneath the table, making to escape the ferocious mini-assault.

"Get back here, munchkin!" Perris yelled, taking off in pursuit.

Karin smiled, but it faded as she turned back to Eluna and Evest. "I hear he's joined us for real, but I just can't believe it," she said. "Not after seeing what he does. I feel like he's going to betray us all again, only worse, and this time the entire Rebellion gets vaped."


######

"I betray people - then their friends get vaped," Pierce responded to the Corellian tail's question. "Sometimes there are hurt feelings. Why do you care?"

[Asha Vendax]

"Its what we all do in Intelligence. And the answer is, I really don't care. You're just the most interesting thing I've seen in a while." Asha replied with an arched brow, the smile melting slowly away.

"Poking around in places you shouldn't can get you killed," Pierce replied flatly as he continued down the hallway. "I'd have thought a spook would know that."

"Yeah...I probably should. But I've been one for three days officially and I was CorSec before. I'm used to poking my nose where it really shouldn't be." She said non-chalantly, trailing along after him.

Whose bright idea was it to fill the universe with nosy Corellians? "If you're a Corellian, you must love gambling."

"Ever since I could walk...got something in mind?"

"You get five chances to guess something about me that's not obvious," Pierce began outlining the terms of his wager. "For each guess, I'll answer one of your questions, truthfully, no strings attached. Guess more correct than not and I'll answer five more questions. Miss more than not and you owe me a favor I can cash in whenever I choose."

"Alright. Sounds fair to me." Asha tilted her head and thought a moment, bright chestnut eyes trailing over him slowly. "My first guess. You're not an agent. You don't really move like one...your motions are too fluid."

"Wrong." Pierce said flatly. "And if that's the strength of Rebel intelligence, it's no wonder the Empire has you stomped flatter than Kaminoan sea sponge."

Asha winked and smiled. "Who's to say I'm not going to throw this on purpose?" Fingers tapped lightly across her lower lip. "Alright...here's another guess. You prefer stimtea over stimcaf."

"Wrong again," Pierce replied. "I don't drink either."

"Down two. One more and I owe you." Asha replied, taking a moment to lean against the wall and smooth out her gray t-shirt, fingers lingering over the Dreadnaughts logo on the front. "Guess number three. Not a single person save for the weeping woman you left behind greeted you by name. You must not have many friends around here, if any."

"I'd say that's obvious, but I'm feeling generous," Pierce's face hardened into an unreadable mask. In his line of work, names were a liability. One was that much easier to forget if no one could remember anything about you. "You got one. Keep going."

"Guess number four. You don't work with a partner unless you're forced to." Asha arched a brow and crossed her arms over her chest, her accent melting from Corellian to Dantooinian.

"On an op?" Pierce paused this time, the expression on his face thoughtful. "I've never had a partner to work with so I wouldn't know."

Asha blinked and tucked one hand into the pocket of her shorts, the other toying with one of her currently dark chestnut curls. "Really? I've never not had one."

Pierce shrugged. "I didn't ask for your history - you asked for mine. I'll give you that one too. Last question."

"Fair enough." Asha tucked the curl behind her ear before that same hand slipped into her other pocket. Her voice remained cool and even as she continued. "Number five. You don't like being alone, but you make do because you think its the right way."

"Wrong," Pierce said, stopping next to a pair of turbolifts. "Just not for the reason you think."

"You don't know what I'm thinking, and you've already made it cleear that you really don't care." Asha shrugged as she turned to walk back down the hallway. "Come find me when you need me to cash in that favor."

The doors opened and Pierce stepped backwards into the empty 'lift. Then they closed and the hallway, too, was empty.

[Eluna Thals]

In a second, Eluna's nanoprocessors had fully brought to recall every scrap of information on Pierce Tondry, for refreshing in the here and now.

"I'm aware of Agent Tondry's past involvments."

She stated matter-of-factly, cutting through the woman's own anecdotal accounts.

"Nevertheless, he's an Alliance asset. Show a degree of better judgment before trying to kill him without authorization. The brig on this ship is small. I doubt you have any interest in examining the dimensions in person."

She looked to Evest.

"Find Tondry, and bring him to me."

No time like an attempted murder to take advantage of a potentially useful asset.

[Evest Neel]

Giving one short, confirmatory nod to Eluna, the blue-skinned man gave Karin DeLumiar one last look, turned heel and set off at a pace that was not slow, but not too fast - a jog. There were other people aboard, being the most obvious of things and it only hinder him to end up bowling any of them over. He would check the obvious places first. Tondry was supposed to be here and had no real reason to run and hide. He knew, everyone else knew, who and what he was and though he wasn't well-liked, it sufficed to say that nary a soul saw him worth it to risk their career on his blood. Well, there was proof now that there were at least one or two with the lack of forethought and the inability to resist certain compelling, heady emotions.

Evest himself had such occasions in the past. It was perfectly understandable. It happened to the best of them.

The first place he would check, once he had obtained the required info (which was a matter of seconds, a small effort of security override to gain access to the manifest), was the assigned quarters. From his understanding, Tondry had been afforded solitary quarters. This was favourable, as there was the odd occasion (which was all too frequent, in his line of work) where things had the opportunity to go decidedly unpleasant. Making tracks through the corridors after catching a lift to the proper accommodation deck, he soon found himself approaching the door to the small room Tondry was supposed to be occupying. He stood there for several moments, the area oddly silent and devoid of bystanders.

Admittedly, he had hardly been expecting it to be this easy to track Tondry down. As a rule, the blue-skinned man never expected ease in almost everything, save for those things that, if they caused you difficulty, it was without a doubt certain that there was some form of personal deficiency present. Boiling water, for example.

Raising one hand and forming a firmly packed fist, Neel rapped with the knuckles of his left hand while the right slid with a semi-unconscious caress over the location of his own concealed carry and in that way, he awaited a response. That action in itself was odd. In regular operations, he didn't typically end up having to knock.

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce expected someone's arrival. Not the Chiss', certainly, but someone. When the other requested his presence back at the mess hall, Pierce gave a mental shrug and acquiesced.

Karen, he knew, did not give up easily when an idea got into her head.

A brief return trip to the mess hall later revealed a far different scene. Most prior occupants no longer occupied it; aside from Karen, a few Bothans sat by themselves in a corner. Karen herself sat surrounded by a few others staunchly looking away from the entrance.

Pierce knew that meant something; what he'd decipher soon.

He began by marching over, inserting himself in the small cluster of people, and pointedly saying "yes?"

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna gave a nonchalant look over to the distraught woman that had just recently tried to kill Tondry. It was impressive how aloof he seemed in the face of that fact. It rivaled her own treatment of such situations.

"Walk with me, Mr. Tondry."

She stood, and moved to leave the mess hall, and didn't pause to see if he was following.

"I got an earfull from your would-be assassin. Seems you're not to be trusted. Is that true?"

[Pierce Tondry]

A lingering, impassive glance at Karen later, Pierce followed the inquisitive -

- woman? Something rang untrue about that.

Followed her outside the mess. Her ultimate question failed to surprise and his answer from all the past encounters with it remained unchanged. "Do you think asking that question to a professional liar is worth your time?"

[Eluna Thals]

"It's a rhetorical question, and to be honest, that puts you in the same regard that I hold most of my colleagues."

Eluna led him on down the corridor, heading to an area better fitted to talking to a character of Tondry's sort.

"I'm Captain Thals, of Alliance Intelligence. I'm interested in using your services."

[Pierce Tondry]

Nostrils flared. "To do what?"

[Eluna Thals]

She arched her eyebrow at that remark.

"I suppose that is also a rhetorical question, Agent Tondry. You're familiar with Phoenix Cell?"

If he wasn't, she might not have the right person for the job, so maybe it was a good thing to go ahead and passively interview him.

[Pierce Tondry]

No avenue for avoiding the upcoming conversation presented itself. Pierce folded his arms in front of his chest and stared her/him/it/them in the eye. "You have my attention. Go on."

[Eluna Thals]

"A large part of the reason the Alliance is as effective as we are is because, even on worlds we can't contest the Empire directly, we have the ability to make sector Moffs plenty paranoid."

She continued to probe him. So far, he seemed surly and distant. Eventually, she'd find something for him to get his attention.

"Phoenix Cell recruits grass-roots resistance in deeply-held Imperial territory. Indigenous peoples, disgruntled factions. We keep them motivated, fed with intelligence and occasionally weapons, and we keep them decentralized. The Empire's all too potent against enemies that play by their rules. We thrive where they don't."

[Pierce Tondry]

If she wanted something, she was taking her sweet time in getting there. "Yeah," Pierce shrugged. "In the past, you've even supplied some folks with manpower. An advisor. Someone to tell your cells where and when to strike to do the most harm."

The nonchalant air suddenly disappeared, like fog in midday sun. "Or where they could get themselves caught, if my traps were ready. Just like her cell."

And yet, here Karen stood. Or, actually, there, behind him.

He'd always found a kind of cadence to her footsteps. After innocently sneaking up on him once, he'd tuned his brain to recognize it to make sure he wouldn't be taken by surprise again. It struck him an odd pattern: step, step step, step, step, step step. Like a kind of skip-hop.

He half-turned his head, one eye looking at her just to signal his awareness. It also served to make his point to the spook next to him. "I'm very familiar with Alliance tactics. I very often had to beat them. Why do you bring it up?"

[Eluna Thals]

Tondry's dossier, much less what he'd said to her just now, betrayed his extensive knowledge of Phoenix Cell, so Eluna simply cut to the chase.

"It seems that my superior officer is missing, presumed killed. Not the most favorable sort of promotion, but it's expected in our line of work, so I find myself in a leadership position. I'm looking to find someone qualified and capable of being my second."

She gave the barest of smirks.

"I don't care if you're a pariah or not. You're qualified."

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce regarded the implied offer with his usual inherent mistrust. Being sidelined in what was essentially a minor role on a single cell would ultimately hurt rather than help the primary mission he'd been tasked to perform after defecting. It put his life at risk for only small incremental returns and put him under yet another watchful command chain.

Hardly an idea scenario. And yet.

An old adage about turning obstacles into levers recalled itself. If anyone could find a way to turn a minor assignment into a series of major plays, Pierce could. And he certainly didn't question his ability to excel at the role. He'd worked deep cover operations for nearly as long as he'd been with the Black Spectres.

The core question that needed answering was simply: did he want to do it?

The answer lay in the advancement - the real gains - he'd make for his own situation by taking the task on. "What's in it for me, exactly?" he said aloud. Convince me, was the underlying reply.

[Eluna Thals]

"Unless you actually want to spend the next few years in the bottom of Intel's petri dish and under perpetual interrogation, it's probably the best chance you have to become useful on your own terms."

Eluna had a good perspective of what she was speaking about. It certainly wasn't a selling tactic. Her entire personality matrix had spent months being written, and for the longest time she was given the shortest leash imaginable, until her handlers were confident that she wasn't a liability. Intel was so often a slow burn.

"Of course, that sort of freedom comes with a catch."

[Pierce Tondry]

"Of course it does." Pierce shrugged indifference. He'd be able to slip just about any leash anytime he wanted. Time and someone's inattention was all it took. "Isn't there always a catch?"