An Interview

[J3C0]

Boan Rein sat in a small office room on her ship the Imperial Dawn. It was nothing huge, just a small frigate that she had been given command of by the One Sith in reward for turning against the Republic.

So far the vessel had proven steady, hardy, and all around survivable. Together they had faced off against Pirates, Jedi, and oddly enough even a Sith. It was strange, and more strange was the fact that every single time they went into combat the Imperial Dawn seemed to get boarded. As odd as that seemingly was, it was not an unconventional tactic, though it gave Bo a certain pressing need.

Mainly that of internal defense.

She had marines aboard of course, but they were...lackluster at best. Not to mention that now that she had proven herself the Imperial Dawn was being sent on more and more missions to distant worlds. So in short, she needed someone to lead her team, to head her security and run...errands.

After all, Bo didn't intend to stay Commander of the Imperial Dawn forever, she had ambitions.

Most of the candidates so far had all been rather lackluster, boring even, and even worse they had been completely loyal to the One Sith. She needed someone more free, someone more...liberated. She hoped the next one would be better, an [member="AnaSera Beliq"].

A bit of a mystery, her file was nearly entire blank. Something like that should have raised red flag and sounded alarms.

Then again, Boan liked mysteries.

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

At this stage in her life and career, she needed the benefits that steady employment could bring. Her time had not been wasted until now, she mused, but neither had it been as well used as it could have been. There were always choices to be made, things to be done differently...and in hindsight, there were plenty of things that she would change. But looking back would bring her nothing just at that moment.

It was high time Ana began moving forward once more, amidst like-minded individuals.

Tilting a head covered in auburn curls twisted back into a perfectly regulation style, fingers smoothed out the soft grey of her new Imperial uniform. It felt decidedly strange to be wearing it, and yet still, somehow quite comfortable. Uniforms were generally not her style...but for an official interview with the Commander of the Imperial Dawn, strict formality was the most proper course to take. Straightening the cap atop her head, Ana strode confidently down the hallway to the door of the office.

A check of her wrist chrono revealed that she was precisely five minutes early. Excellent.

The comm panel was pressed, and her name given when requested. She entered as it opened, shimmering yellow eyes glancing briefly around the space, finding that [member="Inkara Liet"] had already arrived, before settling on Commander [member=Boan Rein"] herself. A polite nod and a brief salute were offered as she came to stand the proscribed distance away.

 

[J3C0]

[member="AnaSera Beliq"]

Boan returned to salute, then bade the woman to sit.

She cast a glance at the file once again, bare as it was. The file was filled with two or three pages, mostly background that was likely falsified, one report from One Sith intelligence that Ana had once worked for the Empire, one of its splinter groups anyway located in the fringes of the galaxy, likely the Chiss parts.

More detail than that was not present.

Though there was one important note, the lack of loyalty to the Sith.

“You understand what I need?” Bo said her voice raspy, but confident as though she was an unashamed smoker for the last three decades, despite being younger than that number. “What you would have to do?”

That was always the first question she asked.

If they didn't understand, then they were wasting her time.

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

Wherever [member="AnaSera Beliq"] was, it seemed she was as well, some percentage of the time. Wherever the Shi'ido went in applicable circumstances, she was several steps ahead and in a strange habitual way, the spook was already in the room; forgotten entirely by the Commander, [member="Boan Rein"], which meant that things were operating as they should: she was likely inhabiting a corner or some out-of-the-way section of wall and watching with ever-attentive eyes. Eyes that took in every detail and seeped nothing in return.

When Beliq stepped into the room, it was the first time in the entirety of her time in the room, today, that her eyes had reason to shift away from where the Commander sat. Oh, she had known the Shi'ido was coming. It was so very rare that she did not know, and that was a fact for nearly every situation. It was not beyond reason that the blank-faced woman knew more about everyone in the room than they knew about her, and that was often the point. Inkara Liet only existed as she intended to be seen, if she was seen at all. No trick of illusion - not yet, at least - but a small host of other considerably more subtle skills that achieved this end.

Now she listened and did so closely. Nothing, of course, was said by her.

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

Her expression was naturally neutral as she approached the desk and sat in one of the two chairs present. [member="Inkara Liet"] was, as ever, tucked away off to the side, in perfectly plain sight. Even as long as Ana had known the woman, she'd possessed the singular ability to go unnoticed - a most useful trick in their line of work. She would join them at her leisure, she was certain, or at the moment Commander Rein asked her to be seated. It remained to be seen how their new superior would take to Inkara's...proclivities.

"I understand completely, Commander." the woman replied simply, feeling any more would be a waste of time and words. She knew her file was thin, she could see the slender sheaf of paper on the Commander's desk for herself. A moment's curiosity passed her mind, and she wondered, oddly, what little they'd managed to glean about her past. If anything, of course...most of her true background was unknown by most. Liet was one of the few who knew, and the only one Ana trusted with that knowledge.

The Shi'ido wondered if the Commander would ask about her abilities...most did. There were few who understood the depth and breadth of a Shi'ido's physical capabilities, and fewer still who were comfortable around her kind. She wondered which category [member="Boan Rein"] would fall into.

 

[J3C0]

[member="AnaSera Beliq"] [member="Inkara Liet"]

Boan looked at the file one more time.

Shi'do.

If there was ever a species more suited to intelligence work than Shi'do then they really were the perfect spies. They were remarkable specimens, able to shift and change into nearly anything on a whim, altering their bodies, faces, appendages, anything. The perfect spies really, the perfect agents. Another reason that this one had caught her eye.

She didn't need to know more about her abilities.

“I will be candid with you Miss Beliq.” That raspy voice turned serious, sharp blue eyes growing stern. “At the head of this Empire sits a Sith. At his side are more Sith, and below them are even more. If you are not a Sith, it is difficult to rise and achieve anything. It's like a tree where every fruit but one is a Sith.”

All true, they were called the One Sith after all, but that didn't matter. One Avadreia Lacroix had proven that.

It was just a matter of how far Bo could take that proof. “I intend to...shake that tree. Vigorously.”

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

| [member="Boan Rein"] | [member="Inkara Liet"] |​

​

The honesty the Commander spoke with went a long way in convincing Ana that she'd found a quite kindred spirit. It was refreshing to find an officer willing to brandish candidness in such an interview, where she had become accustomed to having Imperial and Sith scripture recited at her. Perhaps this would prove to be the place she sought to find.

The woman had fallen silent, allowing a moment or two to see if the Commander would continue. As she did not, Ana felt free enough to speak, a slow smile spreading across her features. "It would be my privilege to assist you in that endeavor, Commander Rein."

Oh, it most certainly would be a privilege...and a pleasure, to shake that tree most vigorously. And perhaps...perhaps to prune a few limbs in the process.