Out of My Head

[Darth Caecus]

Somewhere on Rishi, halfway between the lowland fugue and the clean, crisp air of the highlands, something was happening.

It wasn't a big something. Perhaps not even an important something. But it was unexpected and potentially uncomfortable in a blaster to the face sort of way.

A young woman sat at a camp site. Simple but hidden by the lay of the land and the configuration of trees and the giant fungi. Impossible to find if you didn't know where to look, and easy to simply walk right past even if you were only a few meters away and not looking closely enough for it. The site was clean, not far from a fresh water source. The modular tent hung low between two trees, off the damp ground but not too far to drop if it was necessary. Just above the height of the snuffling creatures that could get a little mouthy with a sleeping person's foot. There was no need for a fire for light, the phosphorescent fungi took care of that, the site situated to take advantage of it without casting unnatural shadows on the jungle around it. It wasn't needed for warmth either, the elevation high enough to keep things from being as humid and stagnant as farther down the mountain, offering a cool breeze at night, but low enough to take advantage of the jungle's heat. Lean supplies, stacked in two small cylinders, more than enough for one careful person for a little vacation. And the person who had put together this site was very careful indeed.

Her? She was dressed in grey and slate blue, tank top and cargo style shorts perfectly suited to the climate and locale. Heavy boots laced halfway up pale calves, good for hiking or for preventing small nasties from biting ankles during such a thing. Blonde hair hung in a single braid down to the small of her back. Stormy eyes, the blue-grey of where the sea touched sky, cast up at the canopy above. She sat on a log that had been dragged to near the tent for just this purpose- contemplating the creeping dusk of the midland forests, listening to the steady rise of insect speech as the bird calls tapered off. A long, stout staff, native wood and cut that morning, rested against the log beside her. Night would come to this side of the mountain early, but there would be light in the far sky for hours still. A good time to be back at camp, an hour before moving through this jungle would become unnecessarily dangerous and fraught.

There was just one problem.

This wasn't her camp.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

The press of the barrel of a disruptor would wake her from her musings.

For the rest: silence, one breath, two breaths, seconds passed as the foreign objected brushed against bright blonde hair and touched the fragile skull beneath it. The approach had been silent, not a sound out of place, not even the wildlife around the camp bothering to hush in silence because of external stimuli disturbing them. No branches breaking, because Luca had swept through the area around the camp many times, before settling down here in relative comfort.

Every branch, every loose rock, every vine was accounted for and allowed him to traverse the area without causing a disruption. "You have ten seconds to speak, before I shoot."

First the warning.

"Why are you here?"

Then the inquiry that determined if Luca was interested in hearing more or would rather do away with the distraction entirely. He wasn't pleased with this, at all. It was supposed to be his holiday. After retiring from Lord Carach's service he had gone on a rush of one mission after another to gather up more funds.

But now it was being interrupted by this.... person.

 

[Darth Caecus]

A Sith Lord with a focus on stealth and senses was someone difficult, not impossible, but nearly so, to sneak up on. She'd known he was coming long before he'd known she was there, but she had nothing to prove. And everything to gain by letting him feel as though he had the upper hand in this situation. She wanted him surprised, yes, but not afraid. It was one of the reasons she was here as herself, rather than Darth Caecus. She knew all too well the assumptions made in regards to the mask- it was, after all, the whole point of it. But those were assumptions she had no desire to start with here. Instead, there were others she needed. Non-threatening competence was far more important than the unease and distrust the mask tended to offer.

She knew before it touched that he had the gun to her head. She was gambling of course. Even a Sith Lord wasn't going to shrug off a disruptor shot to the back of the head. Sure, she'd be able to sense a hairs breath before he fired, but keeping him from knowing just exactly who and what she was, well, it was worth that calculated risk. She knew enough about him to know that at least in the scene she had set up here, he would ask questions first.

It would have been very different if she had shown up as Darth Caecus.

She didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't try to turn around.

"I am here with an offer of long term employment, Luca Thorne. I am unarmed, you may check if you like. There is a credit chip in the right side pocket above the knee, yours if you are willing to talk. I can show you or you can get it yourself."

Succinct and to the point. Never two words where one would suffice. But it spoke volumes. She knew who he was, and she knew exactly why she was here. She had no reason to fight, did not request that he remove the gun from her head. She didn't bargain, merely stated and answered as requested. She had come without weapons, and would be unoffended if he didn't believe her. Cool, calm, professional, and giving him the options of where to go from here.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

From this angle checking her pocket would only serve to expose himself, while losing his center-point of balance.

"Use your right hand, slowly in one steady trajectory, to get out this chip of yours, please." Thorne finally responded. There was no arguing with the tone of his voice. Clearly military, clearly to the point with no nonsense attached to it. His free hand carefully snatched up the chet and his cybernetics scanned it.

He didn't have a connection to the wider net from here, but that was alright.

Last update was only a week ago and unless Muunilinst blew up while he hadn't been looking, the worth of the Galactic Credit probably didn't suddenly drop over night.

The barrel of the disruptor no longer touched her head, but Luca did not move from his position. "I am listening, but please do not make any sudden moves. I would rather avoid killing a prospective customer."

 

[Darth Caecus]

She moved slowly, keeping her left hand in plain view as she retrieved the chit and held it up over her shoulder for him. Waiting patiently for him to check it, she just as slowly lowered that hand again to settle on the log beside her.

The blonde woman, in contrast to [member="Luca Thorne"], was clearly *not* military. Her own training had come from within, rather than without, and she carried it comfortably with a coolness even a gun against her head could not warm. Well muscled, tall for a woman if she stood, there was no disguising martial prowess even if it had a different history than his had taken.

"I work for a Sith Lord," she said promptly. Up front, no hint of shame or hesitation in that admission. Of course the fact that she was the Sith Lord she was speaking of here was immaterial. She knew that he had no qualms about working with them, and had decided from what she could gather that being as straight forward as the situation allowed was for the best.

"You came to his attention after the job you did on Muunilist."

She was perfectly content to add additional confusion to Caecus's true identity.

"While he is loosely affiliated with the Sith Empire, he finds that he needs operatives that are on his pay roll directly. There are certain skills you possess that make your services appealing."

They could have been discussing the weather, for the slightly bored tone in her voice.

"He would appreciate knowing who hired you to hack into the mainframe there, even if you are not looking for more permanent employ at this time, and would pay you for that information- the chit in your hand is purely for your time here, and offered with no other strings attached of course."

She waited then. The last part, no matter how he answered, it gave her something useful. If he sold out his previous employer? Perfect. And if he refused to? That made employing this particular individual all the more acceptable. Someone unwilling to sell out even a former employer was something she could respect, even if it didn't help her now.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

The fact that she had known his name? Cause for concern.

The fact that she knew about Muunilinst and could link him to it? Cause for execution.

But this was just a messenger, just a courier whose actions were being guided by firmer hands. The fact that she worked for a Sith Lord didn't matter to him, he had worked for one for his entire existence, so no judgement there.

"Off the table." Luca responded before holstering the gun and carefully picking his way around her, settling himself down across from her. "I do not share the information of previous customers." Bad business, if it got out his reputation would be karked at best with nobody wanting to hire him. At worst? They would still hire him, but then try to kill him after to get his silence.

Not sharing the information no matter what ensured that things stayed as uncomplicated as they could.

"But I will work for your Master." The credit chit had already established that this was serious. "Price is right, I will consider long-term, but I usually accept it per contract." Luca didn't really care about the killing, stealing, general mayhem, but it was dangerous to tie yourself to someone without knowing them.

Only man he had worked for exclusively had been Carach.

Extraordinary Sith.... but then again, these ones had managed to link him to Muunilinst, that gave them some credit.

 

[Darth Caecus]

She stayed where she was, only stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands slightly when he came around to the front. She nodded (now that there was no longer a gun to her head) in response to his answer. Either answer was useful to her, but Kith tended to play a long game, and this one was much better in that regard than the alternative. She could still work to find out who had hired him, after all. But an untrustworthy operative wasn't actually what she wanted.

Those were a dime a dozen.

"Per contract is fine. If a different set up becomes mutually beneficial, you can come to an agreement at a later date."

It gave them both a chance to see if they were up to the standards of the other. Different standards, different things across the employee/employer divide required, but important nonetheless. She knew enough about him to know that he had the skills and temperament in certain things that she wanted, but sometimes there was simply no knowing if a long term arrangement would work out from just that sort of second hand information. And she was certain he had similar reservations.

She studied him, head cocking every so slightly to the side. The glow from the mushrooms was more than enough light to see by, even with the rapidly darkening sky.

"Do you have questions for me about my employer?"

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Thorne studied her for a moment.

There were tons of questions that Luca had, but right now none of them would be exceptionally beneficial to him. The money was good, their competence already established by the fact of her appearance here and they were Sith, so he already had an idea what kind of jobs they would be offering him throughout it all.

"Two." The woman had been moderately honest with him, but they were Sith and as such anything she gave him would be suspect in terms of truthfulness.

It would probably be better to do his own research.

The less that he knew about these Sith (as far as they knew anyway), the better the relationship would be for now. "When do I start and will I be working alone or with a team?" Thorne used to work with a good squad... until they had all been killed, since then he preferred to do things solo.

But you didn't always have an option when you were working with these Sith types.

Sometimes they liked to add their own little qualifiers. Don't kill x, break y, make sure a message is send, etc, etc, there were always additional things at play with them.

 

[Darth Caecus]

"Paired, usually," she answered his second question first.

"While my employer works frequently with another organization, their agents are not his. So, with me or him directly, depending on the needs."

She didn't need to detail out the implications of that. Not with what she'd been able to turn up about Thorne. It could be read as something clandestine, Sith being hungry Sith. Or as cautious, shoring up loyalties to ensure personal safety. She didn't really care which way he saw it, honestly.

It also told him that this was a hands on employer. He wasn't being hired to go do dirty work for someone without the ability or inclination to do it, but someone that recognized a need in their own skillset. Not a spider, organizing things to their desires. That could be either a point in favor or a point against, of course, but there was no reason to pretend more than she already was. No need to make up an imaginary Sith when she had a very real one right here.

Even if he didn't know it.

"As for when, that's up to you. I can contact you when the next thing he needs comes up. A week or two, at the most. Or, tomorrow. I'm here on business for him beside delivering your invitation," she said, the first trace of a smile ghosting across her lips before vanishing again like a shadow scuttling across the moon.

"Your choice."

The implication that she would handle this just fine on her own was there, though the invitation of work now was genuine.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Thorne listened and then inclined his head.

In truth all that the operative cared about were the facts, not the implications that he could draw from the facts she was giving him. It didn't matter to him if it was caution, greed or clandestine reasons that they would mostly work in pairs. Though it did tell him a measure about the size of this Sith Lord's operations... which seemed to be surprisingly small.

A newcomer to the scene maybe? Or maybe it was caution and the Sith only trusted a handful of people to work with.

"What are his skills and what are yours?" It might be too direct for her taste or the taste of her master. But in the end Luca would find out anyway, once they started working together.

By telling him now Luca would be able to anticipate tactics to ensure the operations in the future would go as smoothly as possible. When she mentioned the option of starting tomorrow Thorne hummed to himself, looking at his campsite, before nodding. "Mission parameters?" In truth this vacation had been rather forced.

He preferred to work.

Knowing that you sometimes needed to take a break didn't help with that sadly.

 

[Darth Caecus]

And there it was. Inevitable that it would come up.

"I run his errands," she said, spreading her hands. "Wet work. I watch and report. Blend in. Get in and out without being noticed. Our skill sets, other than being a Sith, overlap a great deal. Which is why he's looking for someone outside of that. Tech hacking, slicing, small arms," she motioned her chin slightly toward his disruptor. "Vehicles. I'm proficient in the last, but he needs someone with a greater skill."

It was clear she had no hesitations naming strengths or owning areas she lacked in.

"He is conservative with the Force. Not flashy without a reason. So I can't tell you much about that."

None of it lies. Well, except for the glaring fact that they were the same person. Otherwise, just careful ways of explaining the truth.

"Mission is straight forward. Small group of pirates operating out of here are harassing shipping lanes that head into Empire space. They aren't a direct threat, just a nuisance and someone called in a favor, so he'd said I'd handle it."

She shrugged.

"Mission is to assess, decide if it can be taken care of by one- two people if you're in- and go from there. Make sure they aren't part of a larger group before removing the nuisance."

It was a long speech from her. But it was easier, without the mask, to act a little more human.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

His mind went immediately through the options laid out in front of them.

Just prior to actually taking a holiday on Rishi Luca had made sure to keep an account on the outfits currently operating in the area. Most of the larger ones were mostly active around Rishi and further down the Mara Corridor, but a couple of bands had dropped anchor about three weeks back. Two of which had called StarForge Station its home.

But one particular group fit the bill Caecus outlined.

"The Bloody Edge?" Thorne asked after a moment of thought. They had been renovating an old imperial-era shipyard for the past three weeks, fortifying it against possible incursions from their rivals.

That was the entire point though- they weren't their rivals, so there tactics would be different. "Do you have a plan?"

From what Luca knew of the Edge it would be problematic to try and take them down with the two of them. Well, he hadn't seen Caecus fight before, but it would be a tough one either way. So the idea was to stack the deck in their favor before they fired a single shot.

Thorne was curious how far along this woman had thought about that.

 

[Darth Caecus]

"The plan is to get in. Assess. Decide the best course of action."

She shrugged like it was no big deal. Mostly because it wasn't a big deal as far as she was concerned.

She'd already basically said what her plan was, and it annoyed her slightly to have to repeat it.

Kith had no military background. She had trained herself, from flashes and figments of a woman nearly a millennia removed from the present. Situations presented themselves and she responded to them, in the moment, as needed. Certainly she planned- her being here was proof of that. But not with any level of precision. She knew all too well that no plan survived first contact with an enemy. If she knew of something that gave her an edge, she would certainly account for it, just as knowing something that left her vulnerable was worth accounting for.

Of course, if she had intentions of keeping him in the dark about her, she'd have to be conscious of her Force use. She could not utilize every weapon in her arsenal. But that was a challenge, and a necessary one if she was going to watch, first hand, how he worked. As much as she was certain he would be assessing her (he was the type that couldn't help it, not really, when everything was viewed as a potential threat), she had no doubts that he knew she would be assessing in return.

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

Slow blink.

That was it?

"That is not a plan." Luca retorted- there was no malice or annoyance in the voice, just level-headed correction. "That is an outline from which a plan may spring."

He could be forgiven for this attitude. After all, Thorne was military, it was branded in his very genetics. Yes. No plan survived enemy contact, but going in with one gave structure and meaning when chaos was at its height. It was that structure that ensured objectives would be completed, instead of running around without a head.

For a brief moment they looked at one another, almost as if she was challenging him for one reason or another.

"But this is your operation."

It was her money after all.

Shifting his position he changed seating towards a tree trunk nearby, a few rocks, some twigs, he started positioning them on the ground. "Here's the old shipyard they have been renovating. They have put up choke points here, here and... here. There is a constant scout presence in a nest nearby, unsure what his firepower is. The best approach is from the West, it's all wild jungle there, so they haven't been able to dig themselves in too much."

Head tilted.

"Questions?"

 

[Darth Caecus]

The combination of Kith being non-military and the fact that for the majority of her life (both this incarnation and the first) she worked alone, meant that she rarely had a need for a coordinated plan. Her place had always been that of the lone falcon, launched aloft at prey that simply must be taken down. Even with the manner of it was complicated, there was rarely reason to set a formal plan down. Broad strokes of course, sketches.

She watched him, waiting in silence for him to either offer a solution to what he perceived as a problematic lack, or else to shut up. She didn't particularly care which, but those who simply complained without offering an alternative were usually fairly easy to dismiss. It was a challenge, even if he didn't know a challenge of what. She didn't particularly care if he disagreed with her.

There were too many more important things to- no, be honest, she just didn't care.

The challenge was if he was the sort to offer, or merely the sort to complain.

She was moderately pleased to find that, as she had suspected, he was the former and not the later.

"Since some of the details you have offered were what needed to be assessed, that simplifies things."

She leaned forward, knees apart and elbows braced on them as she took in his map.

"Where is the scout nest?"

He indicated the location and she nodded once.

"Do you have an estimate of how many of them are there? The raids have never been done with more than ten, but I have been assuming there are more than that."

[member="Luca Thorne"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Darth Caecus"]

"More, definitely."

That was the instinctive response, which was followed by introspective silence as Thorne went over what he remembered from his scouting runs. "They have left twice on raids, each time they leave a garrison of at least another ten, but I have never been inside-" He hadn't been casing them for a mission, after all. What business was it of his to break them apart? It didn't matter to him that they were raiders- disgusting disorderly rabble, sure, but how did it influence him directly?

Luca hadn't been printed with much in the way of empathy or personal responsibility towards the plight of others.

In truth he had been programmed with little besides how to be the best soldier, operative, whatever he could be. "We could be facing as little as twenty and as much as thirty-five by my estimates." Thirty-five? It was a guess based on logistics, place, the speed of their renovation, amount of food available, the usual factors.

"If this was my operation, I would wait until they leave for another one of their raids- eliminate all resistance within, then use the remaining time to turn their base against the ones coming home." The suggestion was made without expectation. Luca assumed that there was a schedule and that they couldn't just wait for them to split up once again. His attention was once again taken up by the rough 'map' he had made with the twigs and rocks.

"Diversion might work too. Lure a portion of them out, soften up the target before we go in, if we don't have the time to wait."