Chapter 24 of: The Fate of the Wandering: Renee, Part I
A light flicked on, shining down upon Atton's tired face, making him wince.
The Republic officer crossed his hands over the desk, and regarded him sternly. Atton stared back indifferently. "You know what you're here for," the officer said finally. "What do you have to say?"
Atton laughed hollowly. "Where, exactly, do you want me to start? You wanted to know her last name? I'll tell you her last name. In fact, I'll tell you her whole goddamn name. Renee Zian Lunecaster. Last time I heard she was five feet, ten inches tall. She enjoys dancing, running in the nighttime, and, as you may have noticed, causing trouble."
The officer was taking notes. "And your relationship with her?"
Atton looked over at Demi, who was sitting in the corner. She looked just as tired as he felt, curled up there, head leaning against the wall, her blue and green eyes slightly diminishing. But she saw him looking at her, and so she gave him a small, encouraging smile, which he returned. Atton turned back to the officer. "We were…We were…Force, I don't know what we were."
"How did you meet?"
Atton sighed and sifted through his pazaak cards, just like he was sifting through his memories now. "It was an across-a-crowded-room sort of thing, I guess you'd call it these days."
"Recall it for me, start to finish."
Atton looked again at Demi, almost apologetically, then nodded and consented. Thus began the story.
::.Many years ago, The Academy.::
The first thing Atton noticed about her was her hair. Brown, curly, and abundant, it seemed to glimmer and shine under the lights, going down almost to her waist. The second thing he noticed, from this distance at the other side of the room, was her stance. She was slim and tall, and held herself upright, which just added to the energy and charisma she possessed.
Intrigued, Atton turned reluctantly back to the officer who was questioning him.
"Eres III. That's my homeworld, yeah," he managed to say.
"And you say you've been training at the Soldier's Academy since you were a teenager?"
"That's right, sir."
Atton looked around. She was heading this way now, weaving her way casually through the crowd. Now she was standing in the next queue, waiting her turn. One hand was on her belt, the other pushed back her hair as she looked around with a bemused smile on her face. A smile. Atton hadn't seen anyone smile here in a long while, and if they were, it was only because they were high on juma, and relating their whole life story to him, gesturing lazily, and as Atton won the pazaak game and took the earnings, they barely even noticed. But whoever this was, she was different.
"Did you hear me?"
"W-What?" Atton turned back to the officer. "Sorry, sir. My attention drifted."
The officer sighed. "So I noticed. What is your reason for fighting in the war?" he repeated, like a mantra. He must have asked these questions at least a hundred times in the last hour.
Atton almost said, Because there's nothing else to do. I'm stuck here.—but didn't. "They have to be stopped," he said. "And…for the adventure of it."
"As good a reason as any." The officer tore off a sheet of paper. "This is your new bunk quarters, and you will be under the command of Officer Rai-el."
"Thank you, sir," Atton said automatically, taking the slip, and heading off to the side.
Pretending to be interested in reading the words on the report, he watched as the queue eventually shortened, and the brown-haired woman made her way to the front.
"Name?" the officer inquired for the hundredth time.
"The name's Renee," she said, her voice self-assured, not cocky or confident exactly, just ready. Knowing she's prepared and knowing that you know it too, and not caring what you thought at all. That's the kind of aura she gave out, and Atton found himself oddly curious about it. Where did it come from? "Look under L," she said now, pointing a finger down at the officer's datapad, a little smile on her red lips. "For Lunecaster. Just a little hint to help you out."
"Thank you. Birthplanet?"
"Nar Shaddaa," she said.
"Reason you want to fight in the war?"
"I hate my home," she said, and both Atton and the officer were struck by the truth behind her words. Renee shrugged. "Anything's better than back there. It was getting old."
"Well, you look capable, and as long as you're fighting for us and not against us, we welcome you. Here's your paper. You'll be under the command of Officer Rai-el."
"Sounds like a plan." She took the sheet of paper and started to head off, but caught Atton staring at her, and he didn't look away in time.
Renee smiled a secret smile, and after looking around, walked right up to him. "Something catch your eye, soldier?" she said in an undertone, whispering right in his ear.
Atton's heart started racing. But before he could say anything, she was gone, carried away with the crowd.
"Hey, Jaq!" Dane Ulgo waved at him from the other side of the room, grinning. Mars Wood was at her side, who nodded at him slightly grudgingly. They would always be competitors, but perhaps they could also be comrades.
Atton pushed off the wall and joined them. "I got moved to Officer Rai-el. You?"
"Officer Kempshaw." Dane wrinkled her nose. "Mars got the same officer as you. Just my luck. You'll both be best buddies and forget all about me."
Mars and Atton exchanged a look, remembering that day not too long ago that Atton had pretty much torn Mars' arm out of his socket during the Echani training session. "Somehow, I doubt that," Atton said.
Just then, a bell started tolling, resonating throughout the large room.
"Dueling arena time," Mars said, a grin coming onto his face. "The best part of the day. Eating weaker guys for breakfast."
"Force, Mars, that sounds so wrong," Dane said, but they all headed toward the training room anyway.
The training room was a rectangular room, comprised of greys, silvers, and whites, with a space cleared out in the middle where people could spar. The corners of it were marked with skinny, silver punching bags, acting also as markers for the boundaries of the ring. There were a few windows very high up, shedding light onto the scene. Here, you could challenge whoever you wanted to, or just have a practice fight. The winner of the match could either choose to sit out, or challenge another person.
Of course, Mars was the one challenging the most people. Atton had already beaten him and Dane both about three times, so Mars had learned his lesson and moved on. When Mars and Dane had sparred, there had been a tie, because the fight had gone on longer than was allowed. Now, however, Mars surveyed the room, looking for a worthy opponent. Then he grinned.
"You," he said, pointing a finger at a brown-haired girl, who was now sitting down on the ground, cross-legged, fiddling with something on the carpet.
"Me what?" Renee said in return. "No 'please?'"
Mars just looked at her. "Right," Renee said, and she got up to her feet, and stood across from him on the floor. "They always pick on the new person," she muttered under her breath. "Always."
Mars had his hands up protectively, but Renee just stood there, calmly waiting. Atton wanted to warn her, tell her to at least defend a little bit, knowing how when Mars attacked, he could get ferocious.
"You know the rules," said the supervising officer. "Once you fall on the ground twice, you have lost. No fights to the death, of course, and no weapons. If it turns to a wrestling match, I cut in. Other than that, let it begin!"
Mars immediately lunged in, fists ready to strike, but Renee just moved a little to the left, so he fell right past her and onto the mat. Renee looked surprised. "I thought you held the record here, Wood," she said now, as Mars instantly jumped back to his feet. "Honestly, I was expecting a little bit more from you."
"No talking during the fight!" the officer barked.
Renee smiled a bit, but complied. She blocked Mars' incoming roundhouse kick with her left leg, and ducked one of his punches, before kneeing him firmly in the stomach. Mars reeled backwards, but collected his balance before falling. He delivered a chop to the side of her neck, but Renee held his wrist and stopped it before it got any farther. Mars twisted out his wrist, and ended up doing some sort of spin to get out of her grasp.
"We're dancing now!" Renee said, laughing.
Mars was glaring at her, and started advancing on her again. "Where's your home, girl? Why don't you go back there? You don't belong here."
"Shut up and fight, Mars!" Dane yelled from the sidelines.
"I guess your parents didn't want you, that's why you're here at all. But you're getting deserted all around, so you come here, and don't realize that maybe we don't want you here either. And do you want to know why, girl? Do you want to know why?"
"The name's Renee," Renee said, blocking his punches.
"Because you're worthless," Mars said, and Renee held his gaze, and for a moment they both stopped fighting. "Because you think you're a goddamn queen who can just come here with no background and no story and expect to make it to the top, but the truth is, your whole life has been a lie, so you're trying to make something of yourself, but it ain't working, girl."
"Let me just make something clear for you, boy," Renee said, and her emerald eyes flashing, so even Mars instinctively took a step back. "You don't know who I am or where I came from. But as for the why? I came here to fight. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to be the one who leaves this arena without a fair match. So why don't you pull that big lower lip of yours over your head and suck on it, and let's see the soldier that you say you are. Because so far, I haven't seen him yet."
Somebody in the crowd whistled and clapped their hands at this. Atton watched as Renee and Mars circled around each other, waiting for the other to strike.
"Sixty seconds left!" the officer informed them.
"Come on soldier," Renee said quietly, never taking her eyes off of his. "You let those sixty seconds fly by and I've already won."
Mars realized the truth behind her words. As he went forward to give her a lightning-fast punch to the stomach, Renee pushed that arm to the side and shouldered him so he rolled over and hit the ground.
"Hey," Renee shrugged. "You wanted to go in that direction. I wasn't going to stop you."
Mars just stared up at her, sputtering and disbelieving, before he got up and stormed out of the room. Dane just shook her head at this from the sidelines.
"This match is over!" the officer announced. "Renee Lunecaster is the obvious winner. She can either choose to stay in the ring for the next match, give a challenge, wait for one, or sit out."
"Not a chance," Renee said. "I'm not tired yet." She gave a little smile. "Sorry, folks."
"Any challengers?" the officer inquired.
Renee walked around the room, inspecting everybody. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Nobody moved a muscle.
Except for Atton.
"I'll fight her," he said finally, getting up and pushing through the crowd.
Renee turned around and looked at him. "Ah," she said, smiling teasingly in that way of hers. "We meet again, Padawan."
"Don't get used to it," Atton replied.
"Rand versus Lunecaster," the officer said now. "The match will begin in three, two, one!"
Atton watched Renee, watched as this time, she had fists at the ready. She thought him a potential threat. Somehow, Atton liked that. "What are you planning, Rand?" Renee cooed softly. "I have the feeling you're not going to fall for the old feint-lunge-and-fall trick like good old Mars."
"Do you honestly talk this much when you fight?" Atton asked.
She shrugged. "Old habit." Suddenly, out of nowhere, one of her long legs whammed up against Atton's side, which he barely had time to block. "I think it distracts people," she said, smiling a bit now.
Atton shook his head to clear his thoughts, and they resumed circling around each other. Renee had a fondness for kicking, something which Atton learned fast. He ducked one of her roundhouses and aimed a blow at her head, a fist which made hard contact with her face and made her turn away briefly, brown curls obscuring her expression from view.
"You okay?" Atton said, but did not get too close.
"Yeah," Renee said, wiping her nose, recovering quickly, and then it was on.
In a flurry of fists and punches she drove him to the other side of the mat so some of the crowd had to part to the side. She delivered an uppercut to his chin, so Atton's teeth rattled together unpleasantly, then he shot an elbow at her which knocked her back a little.
"Come on, love," Renee said tauntingly. "Really give it to me."
Atton got down on the mat and aimed a sweeping kick to her ankles. Renee jumped over them and attempted to punch him, but Atton grabbed her wrist hard and rolled her over him so she landed with a smack on the floor.
"One point for Rand," the officer announced.
Renee got to her knees, then to her feet in one fluid movement. Now she was grinning. "One more to go for you," she said, ducking under one of Atton's incoming hits, and threw a curved punch at him, which hit him right in the face, at the same time kneeing him in the most-painful-place-for-guys-to-get-hit. Atton stumbled backwards, a groan on his face, and Renee shoved him roughly down. "One more for me," she said.
"You're merciless!" Atton exclaimed, amused, but just a little bit. He got up, ready to block. "Where'd you learn to fight?"
"Think, flyboy! I'm from Nar Shaddaa. You learn to pick up stuff from the streets. You have to, if you want to survive."
"Sixty seconds!" the officer proclaimed.
Renee did two crescent kicks in a row, the first one which slapped Atton's hand, but during the second, he grabbed her swinging ankle and attempted to trip her. Renee just moved her foot upwards more, yanking it away, and brought its heel down onto his foot, jamming his toe with numbingly blind pain. She was really flexible. A fist appeared out of nowhere and hit him on his jaw. Atton was pretty sure he was bleeding. He did a strike to her neck, which she parried, and elbowed him once in the chest, then brought up the fist on that arm to his face.
Atton kicked her hard in the stomach, although he could barely see anything, just a blur of brown in a dark blue uniform. The kick made her stumble backwards a bit. Atton himself was panting heavily, looking slightly at the ground, which was a bad mistake. Renee ran over, and bashed his spine with a firm fist, which sent him sprawling facedown into the mat.
"And Renee Lunecaster wins. Again!" The officer sounded surprised.
A bell started ringing again. It was chowtime.
"Congratulations all, and see you here tomorrow."
There was the sound of many people's thundering footsteps, leaving the room, inching their way out slowly. Dane came over and knelt by Atton's side. "You all right?" she said.
Atton rolled over, and placed his hands under his head, breathing hard. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'm fine. Considering I just got my ass beat by a girl."
Dane smiled. "Get used to it, Rand. I'm going to go check up on Mars. He's not exactly the best sport, is he?"
Dane left the room, and the lights flicked off, leaving them mostly in shadows, except for the rays of warm sunlight that filtered in from the high windows.
"Good match," Renee said now, standing over him. She offered him a hand, which Atton accepted, and she heaved him up easily. "I think you gave me some well-deserved bruises." She was slightly shorter than Atton, and he noticed that her eyes were a deep green. "But you're too tense when you fight. It makes it so much easier to get you off balance. You're like pushing against the force, when you should be riding along with it, controlling it. You know?"
Atton nodded slowly, absorbing this. "Yeah, all right."
But she wasn't done. "You could be a better fighter. You could be manipulative, sneaky, everywhere all at once, predicting your opponent's moves, before even they realize what they're going to be. You have to connect with who you're fighting with, and maybe that'll help you flow along better. But you're not too bad, considering what the Academy seems to dish out these days: Guys with all brawn, no brain."
"Hey!" Atton said defensively. "Look, there's only so much shame a guy can take. Go easy on me, will ya?"
Renee smiled. "Sorry." She held out her hand again. "I'm Renee."
"So I've heard," Atton said dryly, shaking it. "I'm Jaq. Jaq Rand. Don't wear it out, though."
He headed off toward the locker rooms, to wipe the sweat and blood off his face a bit. To his surprise, Renee followed him.
"Um," Atton said, pointing at the 'Men Only' sign.
Renee smiled. "I'll save you a table," she said, disappearing into another door that led into the mess hall.
"Thanks," Atton said after her. "I guess."
::.Later.::
The mess hall was one of many scattered throughout the academy. A crescent-shaped bar was at the side, where many recruits drank up. You were only allowed two alcoholic drinks a day, and after that, they made you drink this boring, poisonous thing called water.
"Hey, Rand," Dane called, over at the bar. She was patting Mars on the back, who was staring into his drink, holding it tightly, his face a deep shade of red.
Atton shook his head and started to make his way over, when…
"Heya, flyboy."
Rene was at the other end of the room, sitting down at a bench table, her back leaning against a wall. Her leg was propped up on the bench, knee pointing upwards, the other foot dangling below. Pazaak cards were splayed out on the table beside her. She looked slightly…sad.
Dane looked over at Atton, then at her, then nodded her consent, mouthing, "I'll take care of Mars over here."
Atton took a deep breath and walked down to Renee, sitting at the bench opposite her.
She glanced sideways at him and motioned at the pazaak cards. "I swiped them when you weren't looking. They're a pretty sturdy deck. Want to play?"
Atton rolled his eyes and grabbed his cards back. "You know, if you wanted to see them so bad, you could have just asked me."
"Oh, now, where's the fun in that?" Renee smiled and turned to face him now, setting both her feet down, hands clasping together. "Let's talk, flyboy."
"You like calling people that, don't you? I'm not a pilot. I'm a soldier."
"That's what you say, but that's only now. Who knows what you'll be in the future? Besides, 'flyboy' is way more fun to say, don't you think?"
Atton smiled at her antics, and tapped his fingers on the table absently. "Have it your way. I'll get us some drinks. What do you want? A juma?"
"Urgh. No." Renee made a face and shook her head. "That stuff is gross. The nastiest. My 'rents, they own a cantina back in Nar Shaddaa. I didn't exactly grow up with rainbows and flowers, and even I was surprised at the crazy stuff that drink could make people do. So, water, please."
"Now where's the fun in that?" Atton said with a teasing smile, getting up and heading to the bar. When he came back however, he had the aforementioned water, as well as some plain soup and bread for the both of them.
"Thanks," Renee said, breaking off a piece of bread and pushing the rest back at him. "I'm done."
"What?" Atton said disbelievingly. "How can you fight two guys and still have energy afterwards, living on just one glass of water and a measly piece of bread?"
Renee shrugged. "What can I say?" She grinned. "I travel light."
Atton shook his head, amused. Then he turned around to glance at Mars, who was running his hands through his hair, elbows on the counter, but other than that, he seemed fine. "Mars is going to hold a grudge against you for the rest of eternity, you know."
"Oh, he'll get over it eventually. I have." She was silent for a moment, then added, "Is he always like that? I mean, does he say things like that to someone who is even remotely a threat?"
"That's just Mars for you, I guess," Atton said. "Biggest schutta if there ever was one. I'm serious. He has his issues, but he's someone you'd like to have by your side during a real war. Because when he gets pissed off, he's on fire. And I know it doesn't seem like it now, but he knows how to handle himself under pressure."
"I suppose," Renee said softly, looking down at the table. Then she seemed to wake up. "I mean, it's not like I'm taking what he said too seriously. It was probably his last defense before I whupped him bad. He probably knew that. And I couldn't care less about what he thought. Just…some of the stuff he said. It's true."
You don't belong here. You're getting deserted all around. You're worthless.
Atton stared at her, not expecting this, and Renee rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here, flyboy. This room is depressing. It's doing stuff to me."
Atton got up as she did, and they left their food there, weaving through the tables. Atton could feel Mars' eyes on them as they exited.
"That girl's trouble," Atton heard Mars say to Dane. "It follows her wherever she goes. You mark my words, Dane. Atton better get out while he can."
Little did Atton know how right he would be.
::.A few days later.::
Atton and Renee were running. Sunlight played on both of their brown hair and Renee's curls were flying behind her in the wind. They ran at the head of the pack, along the eight-mile training trail. Renee was laughing.
"Come on, flyboy!" she yelled, as they sprinted up a hill together, the grass damp and green beneath their feet. Atton felt like his lungs were capsizing, but he couldn't stop running. He felt suddenly…free.
They had long since left the other soldiers behind them. Now, Renee slowed to a walk, and dirt crunched beneath their boots as they breathed hard.
These past few days he had spent mostly with Renee, only briefly talking to Dane and trying to avoid Mars altogether. The latter was rather hard to do, however, especially since they roomed together. Late at night Atton awoke to find the bunk above his empty, and he soon discovered this was because Mars spent almost every hour he could training and training even more. He probably wanted to duel Renee again, and show her where she belonged, but Atton and Renee hadn't gone back to the practice arena for a while. Instead, they'd head over to one of the empty gyms, and play pazaak in the bleachers. Occasionally they'd spar. His technique was getting better, Renee had said.
And they talked, too. Atton now knew that her parents were always so busy running their cantina, called The Dancing Gypsy, that Renee had been forced to spend most of her days exploring Nar Shaddaa. Renee now knew that the store that his parents had owned was, ironically, a droid parts shop, but that had in no way, made him interested in or fond of droids at all. The only thing that he didn't tell her about was his little sister Gabrielle, or Elle. He wasn't sure why, exactly. It just hadn't been brought up, so he decided to let it rest.
"They're slow today, aren't they?" Renee said now, glancing behind her, but the rest of the recruits weren't there yet.
"We're just fast," Atton said with a grin.
Renee smiled as she walked. "Word is," she said then, randomly, "that you're quite the playboy, Rand."
"That so?" Atton said, feigning no interest in this topic.
"Mm-hmm," Renee said, trailing her hand on a bush of flowers to her left. "A heartbreaker, apparently."
Atton felt a corner of his mouth curling up in a smile. "Really."
"Really really."
"And what do you think of that?"
Renee narrowed her green eyes in thought, before turning to look at him with a mischievous smirk. "Sounds exciting. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that side of you yet."
"Well." Atton stuck his hands in the pocket of his uniform. "Sorry for letting you down."
"Don't be. Be sorry for me because of that fan club of yours who bug me all night long, asking questions about you."
"A fan club?" Atton repeated, raising his eyebrows, now starting to get his cocky look and tone again.
Renee snorted indelicately. "Oh, please. Like you haven't noticed."
"I haven't."
"Whatever you say." Renee looked thoughtful for a while then said, "Question."
Atton glanced at her. "Yeah?"
"Why are you with me?"
This startled Atton. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Renee said, frustrated, then shook her head. "Forget it. Let's just run."
"No, you wanted to say something, so let's hear it."
Renee sighed loudly. "Look, you know, ever since my first day here, ever since I beat you and Mars in that stupid dueling ring, nobody wanted to look me in the eye."
"That's not true."
"I'm being serious. But, for some reason, you do. Even now that you know all about my crappy un-childhood and all my annoying habits. Is it because I'm a bit of a tomboy? I take the place of some—some pal you used to have, back in your home planet? Or because I'm teaching you about martial arts? Because I don't have friends, Jaq. Honestly, I can't stand them. They get all up in your business with falseness and—and fake sympathy and…Force! Girls! You should hear what some of them talk about, Jaq. It's enough to make me hurl. Dane's all right, though. But, like I said—"
"You wanted to know why I spend time with you?"
"Well…" Renee rolled her eyes. "Yeah. It doesn't make sense."
"Because—because you're different."
Renee raised her eyebrows. "I'm different. Nice one, Jaq."
"No, it's a compliment. It's a—"
"You know what? Let's just run. Let's just forget that I ever brought this up."
Renee started running, gaining ground, faster and faster. Atton ran up behind her, and started jogging alongside her. "You honestly want to know why?" he said.
"No!" Her eyes were focused on the path ahead of her. "I d—"
"Because of this." And, forgetting the beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead, forgetting that maybe the rest of the recruits would catch up to them any moment, forgetting pretty much all coherent thought except for what he was crazy enough to do next, Atton intervened into her path so she had to stop running, and then, he kissed her.
Renee was surprised at first, but she caught on quick. Force, she really did. The world was swirling, swirling, and they were both out of breath from running, running, and their hearts were beating, beating to some wild rhythm that they could not keep up with. She tasted of sun and fire and wind, and though they were both unsure, they played along because now there was no going back.
And then they heard the footfalls of the rest of the class, finally catching up, and so they drew apart and kept on running. And Renee was laughing once again into the sky.
::.Present time, Republic Office on the Docks.::
There was silence for a few moments in the room, and then the officer ordered the lights to be switched back on. Atton kept his eyes staring at the same part of the desk he had been looking at for the last hour, still hearing her laughter in his ears, until it was drowned away into the place where memories go.
"What happened next?" the officer inquired, a tad gently. Atton had not said aloud the last part, but the officer was keen enough to gather that on his own. And Demi had seen and heard it all in his thoughts.
Atton looked up, and sat up a little bit. He had already decided what he was going to say. "We met Revan. And after the Mandalorian Wars, Renee stayed with Revan to fight during the Jedi Civil War. That's the last time I saw her. Last I heard, she became some sort of Sith Assassin, one of the most elite. That's all I know."
"Really," said the officer, sounding interested. "A Sith Assassin? That's something new that we have not heard before. We must look into that. That explains a lot about her and her…techniques." He pushed back his chair and stood up, holding out his hand for Atton to shake. "Thank you for your time. We know this must be difficult for you, but you must understand, we have no choice, but to kill her."
Atton nodded, looking strained, and shook the officer's hand wearily. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."
The officer gestured out the door. "Come see us if you have any other information that would be helpful to our case."
Atton left and Demi followed without a word.
::.Outside.::
Demi walked beside Atton, as a speeder zoomed somewhere above them. She wasn't really sure what she should say, or if she should even say anything at all. She wasn't sure if she should look, at him, or at the ground…It was strange now.
"So," she said, and had to clear her throat a little. She hadn't spoken in about an hour, and was more than thirsty. "What really happened?"
Atton sighed and looked up towards the night sky. "I'll tell you back at the ship, how's that? After eating about half of our food rations, that is. I can't believe they didn't even give us a glass of water or something. Talk about bad service."
"It's a crime," Demi agreed solemnly. They glanced at each other, and Demi smiled a bit, relieved that at least their old comradeship was slightly back.
But she could not ignore the dark shadows that still clouded his eyes at the thought of Renee, and whatever she had become. She wished she could at least take his hand and let him know it was all right, but didn't have the courage to. And so the two figures just walked back in silence.
::.Somewhere in Nar Shaddaa.::
"You wanted to see me?" Renee said with a grin, pushing Lena to the ground and walking inside the room, the door sliding shut behind her. "Huh, boss?"
The shape in the chair was faced away from her, and she knew the person in it would not turn to her even once throughout the whole meeting. "You're going soft, Renee."
That made the grin on Renee's face wipe right off. Stopping in her tracks she said, "What did you say?"
"You heard me. You're going soft. And it's all because of that rascal's presence here on our planet. Causing havoc at our base on the Rim, and now he's here." The figure chuckled softly, and lighted a cigarra. Renee saw the smoke lift up in the air above him, and hoped he would choke on it. "He sounds interesting. I'd like to meet him."
"I'm going soft?" Renee repeated dangerously. With this, she picked up Lena off the ground, who moaned and struggled, but had long since given up really trying. "Good-bye, flower," Renee whispered to Lena, holding her in front of her, one hand dancing on her neck. Lena's eyes now grew wide in panic, and a soft whimper escaped from her lips.
GoodbyeGriffMissionLifeGalaxyGoodbye, she thought as she felt the end loom nearer.
"It's been fun." And with that, in one swift movement, Renee twisted Lena's head and snapped her neck.
Lena's body crumpled to the floor before Renee's feet. Renee stepped over her elegantly and looked up pointedly. "I'd think twice before you say something like that again, boss."
"It's not enough, Lunecaster."
"Not e—" Renee broke off disbelievingly, unable to go on.
"You are a rogue, Lunecaster. You are not Dark or Light, not anymore. You are in between, shades of grey, just like I am, fighting for your own benefit. But that is not why we hired you, is it?"
"I just killed somebody, Voren! I killed somebody right in front of you."
"Behind me, to be exact. Lunecaster, if you're going to try to make a point, please at least try to do so correctly."
"And I didn't feel anything," Renee continued, her emerald eyes intense. "I care nothing. I don't know who she was or what she might have been. We might have been friends, you know." She laughed softly. "I heard she was a dancer at that cantina. We might have gone and had our fun, had a real girl's night out. Now we'll never know, will we?" Her voice trailed off, then hardened. "Instead, I killed her, for you, to prove a point, as you put it, and you say, I'm going soft?!"
Voren sighed and Renee thought he was going to get up and actually talk to her face to face, but she was wrong. "When we freed you, I thought you were going to be an asset to us. It's not everyday we get one of Revan's most dangerous assassins, if you get my meaning. But you brought us a worthless person to interrogate, and you have let our quarry slip by one too many times, even when the opportunity was right in front of you."
Renee's gaze was pure cold. "If you're complaining this much, why don't you get off your chair and actually do something about it?" There was silence from Voren's end. "How about it, old man? You and me. Show me how you did it back in the day. Really give it to—"
"Be quiet, Renee." Voren's voice was harsh and hard. It reminded Renee of grating ice. Decaying smoke filled the air around him. Voren pressed a button and the door slammed open once again. "Next time I expect a report, I expect actual results. And that means three, living, breathing bodies, Renee. Get them, get here, and our business is done. You get your nice pile of credits, and then you are no longer in our debt." He paused, then chuckled a little. "You don't want to get on this company's bad side, Renee. You know that. I saw what you did to Larken, by the way. Watched, in the security cameras. He may have been a fool, but now you are a larger one. I thought you would have learned this by now. There are worse things than death. Now leave me and get out."
Renee swept out without another word. "You're right, old man," she murmured as she wandered back down the hall. "There are worse things than death. But I don't believe that's what you'll be saying when you find a blaster held to your head one unsuspecting night. I don't believe it at all…"
::.Nausuma.::
The door slammed shut behind Morgana, and the torch nearby wavered with the breeze it made. A servant was waiting for her, all in black, a silent guard. And then, Morgana morphed into her true form, the transformation made clear to the servant as 'she' emerged from the shadows. Firelight played upon this new person's features, a male, tall, with broad shoulders, and a powerful presence. He wore dark armor, and thick, black facial hair made his face look harder, as though etched from stone. His eyes glinted, sardonic and cruel.
"She's made peace with her past," he informed the servant in a deep, rumbling voice. "I never deemed it possible. We, as always, have underestimated her." Then, he laughed softly. "I think it is time I speak to her face to face, what do you think?"
The servant remained motionless, staring blankly ahead. "If you wish it, Aleksander."
"Get me the possessions that you stripped from her when you captured her," Aleksander commanded, as he peered through the peephole, and watched the dark-haired woman with the violet eyes close them in exhaustion. But she was far from extinguished. Not yet. "The fun and games are far from over," Aleksander said softly. He unlocked the door. "But the more serious game begins."
A/N: Dramatic music inserted here...All right, here's to the anonymous reviewers that I can't reply to so I'll just leave this here:
Aly – Hey, you! I hope you're having a good spring break. Yes, Renee is evil, but that's partly why she's so fun to write. :) (I'm sorry about Lena! Cowers in corner...) Anyways, good luck in your writing.
Marie – Thank you very much! I say this a lot, but I mean it every time and your review really made my day. Well, here's another pretty long chapter. :) (Which twist, exactly? lol I can hardly keep track of them…Darn plot bunnies…) Anyhoo, thanks very much again and I hope you keep reading!
To everyone else if anyone's out there: The next chapter is still being edited but should be up soon! (Renee, Part II, if you can imagine.) Thanks for your patience. Later, all. ;)