Opening Gambit
((SWTOR story))
She had never seen anyone quite as unique as the man in front of her now. Everything about him was striking, or handsome if you will. He had long silky smooth hair that made the perfect frame for his dark-skinned face - and the fact that it was white made it no less stunning as it curled its way softly over his shoulders and down his back. Not a strain was out of place. But the thing that caught her the most, was probably his pale and ghostly eyes. They had an intensity about them that she didn’t think he intentionally tried to convey - and right now they were fixed on her as if nothing else mattered.
Ranai gave the man a little professional smile and stepped further into the small interrogation room as the door closed behind her. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Agent Cygnus of the Republic Strategic Information Service.” The smile remained in place as she reached for the only other chair in the room that wasn’t already occupied. “How are you feeling today, m’lord?”
The female Human agent was perhaps not stunning in the same unique manner as the Sith, but she had her own charms, and a very pretty smile that lit up her brown eyes. She was dressed very merc-like but lacked any visible weapons to go with the look. Security protocols was probably to blame.
“I feel better, thank you.” His reply was calm and to the point, and she made a note of the missing Imperial accent as she sat down at the table opposite him. For a moment, she didn’t say anything and instead just placed a datapad on the surface between them. Her eyes shifted between him and the device, and the fact that he didn’t appear visibly restrained didn’t seem to bother her, despite her knowing that this was a capable Sith. Albeit currently unarmed to the naked eye and wearing nothing but a simple grey suit, she knew that his Force abilities were a different thing altogether.
“I trust that you have found our treatment of you to be satisfactory, everything considered?” She continued. Her left hand lifted to shift some unruly strains of black messy hair behind her ears.
“Yes.”
She leaned back in her chair after turning the datapad on. “Excellent.” So far so good. “I apologize for what happened up until you came into our custody. I would never have authorized such…measures, had I known ahead of time.”
He dipped his chin in an acknowledging fashion without taking his eyes off her. “I understand.” A thin smile then crept over the man’s dark features and she couldn’t help but feel that it somehow seemed to contribute to his fascinating looks.
“Do you have anything to add? You seem like you do,” she helpfully offered.
“Under other circumstances, perhaps…” He gave her a thoughtful look. “But why bother, you already know everything about me, yes?” He lifted his hands from their position in his lap and now rested them on the table itself. The two missing fingers on his right hand were hard to ignore.
She nodded, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “Yes, we know a great deal…about things that are strategically important, so obviously, that is not why I am sitting here now.” The curious look she received from him, prompted her to continue. “Your past intrigues me, Lord Neshimo. It is a mystery that needs solving because, well, inquiring minds are…inquiring.” She smirked. “For instance, did you know that your genetic makeup is partly tampered with? As in, engineered?”
The look that she earned from him, told her instantly that he was not the least surprised by her words. “You already knew,” she said. When he didn’t say anything, she tapped the screen on the datapad, reading something on it. “You are of Thyrsian descent according to the tests that we ran, but obviously, that is not the whole story, seeing as you…look rather different from the rest of your people.”
“Where are you going with this, Agent Cygnus?”
“Nowhere in particular, just curious as to why someone would do this to you.” She tapped the small screen again. “You were found on Thyrsus as a child by Master Shogona L’ar…” The experienced agent glanced up and managed to catch a tiny flicker in his pale eyes. Interesting. She continued; “According to this report, she found you in the middle of a desert with nothing but big scary beasts keeping you company. You couldn’t have been more than six years old at the time, and yet you appeared to oversee the creatures.” She casually gestured at the datapad and the information on it. “That is quite Impressive.”
“So you say.”
She grinned at his curt replies. “You can relax, we are just having a conversation. I am not here to harm you or put you away in some dark cell for the rest of your life. In fact, I contacted the old man and we are going to meet to discuss how best to solve this little peculiar...obstacle of ours. Speaking of the Inquisitor, does he know that you are partially engineered?”
A chuckle slowly worked its way up through the man’s throat. “There is no such thing as ‘just having a conversation’ with a Republic agent – or Imperial for that matter – besides, I read your file, Agent Ranai Cygnus.” He emphasized her first name to make her aware that he knew it. “You have had quite the active career, haven’t you? Always proactive and trying to deal with matters before they evolve into something unmanageable. You did a lot of undercover work against the Sith Empire.” He paused for a moment, and she could have sworn that his eyes went a little paler with his next words. “Too bad that Lord Vekor put a stop to a lot of that…”
The grin on her face had faded considerably, but her tone of voice was still relaxed and forthcoming. “Yes, too bad indeed. It has restricted a lot of my work and I now deal with public relations – as I am sure the file that you have on me also states. Though, as you can see, I am sitting here doing something that isn’t entirely public, so who knows, maybe you need to revise your file a bit whenever you get back home to Dromund Kaas.” She held up a hand and got an almost confused look on her face that was anything but sincere. “Oh, I’m sorry, I guess that was pretentious of me. Is Thyrsus your home? Or maybe Tython? I can’t tell.”
Her words elicited a little amused snort from the Sith. “Why don’t you tell me? I bet you have a working theory.”
“Oh absolutely. I have a theory on pretty much everything, but I don’t feel like sharing it just yet. I’d like you to answer a few questions first, and then I’d be happy to answer any that you might have.” She shifted in her seat, as if getting ready to dig in. “Like say, how much do you think the Inquisitor values you? What kind of deal do you think he would be agreeable to? I mean, I am sure that he on some level cares about you, he did spend about fourteen years on you after all. That is a lot of work to put into someone, right? But I’m just wondering… Do you think he’d part with Enigma knowledge to get you back?”
The pale stare that she received from the man, was annoyingly indifferent, and she let out a sigh. “Come now, work with me a little. I am actually trying to get you back where you belong – or at least, back where I think you belong. However, I cannot do so without knowing what it will take.”
There was an odd silent moment before the silver haired Sith finally replied. He sounded almost hesitant. “You know of our project. You know what is at stake. It is bigger than any one person, so no, he will not part with Enigma knowledge in return for me.”
She let out a slow exhale at his evenhanded reply. “Are you sure about that? You seem like quite the price to him; would he really give up on you so easily?” She drummed a couple of fingers on the table and studied him keenly, taking note of the slight flicker in his eyes once more. It was very telling to her, and she cleared her throat. “Alright, I’ll tell you what…” She switched the datapad off. “I am going to give you a few hours to figure out how to best help yourself.” She calmly picked up the device and rose from the chair. “You clearly didn’t expect me to be willing to hand you your freedom back, and I guess the surprise has left you a bit…indecisive…in how best to approach this.”
She gave him a comforting smile as he just sat there and stared at her. Unmoving. Hmm. She hoped for everyone’s sake that she had read him correctly just moments earlier. She would know soon enough… and with that, she turned on her heel and went for the door.
To Be Continued...