Kallus spent most of his day working on the background checks and clearances of the newest transfers to the base on Lothal. He had found a few officers whom he doubted had ever been subjected to an adequate check since if they had they would never have been given the clearances that they had in the first place. He pulled a couple in personally because he wanted to see just what kind of men and women they were. He had hoped that meeting them in person could offer an excuse for such sloppy work of his predecessors. Instead, he saw that those who had done the previous checks had just been lazy since it hadn't taken him long to discover the skeletons in these individuals' closets, so to speak.
Kallus waited until the end of his shift before sending for Valour to come to his office. He didn't know why but he wanted to set aside some extra time. Perhaps even reminisce about their old times at the Academy. It was strange considering that he'd never really felt as if he needed friends around in all of his years of service to the Empire but today, only a week after the incident at Geonosis, he wanted to pretend to at least to have one. So, an old one that he'd not seen in over a decade will have to do since sadly that was the closest thing that he had.
While waiting for Valour to arrive for the meeting, Kallus spun around in his chair as he stretched out his still healing leg. Sitting behind his desk for most of the day had given him a painful cramp. He grimaced and waited for the pain to subside now that his leg was stretched out. The last thing he planned to do was to hobble down to the medical bay for anything to help with the pain. He refused to allow himself to look that weak in front of his fellow officers. He could handle it, just fine. It was just a cramp. Compared to the actual break this was nothing.
Lieutenant Valour received word to report to the office of the local ISB Agent just before the end of the shift. Along with it, an intense sense of dread began to set in. How far had this agent dug into the past of the new transfers?
Never once in the past has one called for a meeting so soon after being stationed in the time since joining the Empire. Going through the potential benign reasons that one might be called in for a sit down with an ISB agent, Valour came up completely dry. There was only one reason for this meeting. One. This agent must have found the one thing that none of the others ever have. He must know.
DOSH!
Approaching the office, Valour noticed the security detail outside of the ISB office. Flexing a fist, Valour tried to calm down. They aren't moving like they've been alerted to a potential traitor. So maybe they don't know. Maybe the years of hiding in plain sight hasn't been discovered. Yet at least.
The door opened and it revealed the agent inside had his back turned toward it. So, a powerplay? Letting all know when they entered this office just how insignificant they really were in the grand scheme of things. Not surprising, really. Those who rise to the positions like that of an ISB agent are well-versed in such dramatics. It made them feel powerful. Valour knew that there was little choice but to stand at attention and play the part of the patient peon waiting for the agent to choose to turn around and come clean on why she was here and what he'd found.
"I must say, I was surprised to see that you were stationed here to Lothal. And still only a Lieutenant, too." Valour knew that voice. It was different from the young man from the academy that he'd once been, but she'd recognize it anywhere. The chair spun around and revealed Alexsandr Kallus on the other side of the desk smirking. "So, it seems that you've kept your desire of living a life of mediocrity even after all of these years."
After a moment of realizing that she hadn't been brought in here to have her arrested she did her best to cover her relief with a small snort. "Someone has to make sure that the higher ranked officers always feel self-important. And what is with the muttonchops? Geez. Either stay clean shaven or grow a beard. You look ridiculous."
"And it appears that your years of service have yet to teach you how to curb your tongue when speaking to a superior." Kallus chuckled since he remembered how often he'd hear a retort regarding various students and instructors from the woman standing before him back when they were younger. Though, he had always found it interesting that those comments were never spoken loud enough to be heard by anyone but the two of them.
"I'm still alive, aren't I? Means I must have learned a few things in the last decade."
"Only a few?" Kallus motioned toward the chair across from his desk for Valour to sit.
"Only a few that I'll admit to."
"Ah, yes, the same Kiara. I never could figure out why you didn't want anyone to know just what you really are capable of. Even when some of the snobs back in the academy would flaunt what little they knew and I knew you could show them up, yet you never would. Why is that?"
Valour snickered. "Some of us wanted to just have a roof over our heads. Nothing more. I figured that I'd let those of you who wanted more to compete for the honor of being the best. I didn't need to show off."
"And I did, I suppose?"
"Well, you have made it to being among one of the youngest ISB agents over an entire sector, just like you said you would. So that tells me that you've done exactly that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting where you are. I can only imagine everything that you've had to do to-" Valour bit her lip when she realized that she must have overstepped when she saw Alexsandr grimace. "Sorry."
"No, you're right. I've had to do a lot of questionable things to get where I am. Given up on a lot that I wish I could get back." Kallus briefly wondered how his life would have turned out if he'd been less willing to make the hard choices over the last few years. He's been wondering that ever since his conversation with Garazeb regarding his part in the destruction of Lasan. That battle had set up much of his success and propelled him forward in a manner that nothing else could have. "Maybe even taken credit for things that I had no right to."
"Okay, that sounds a bit cryptic, I'm guessing that you called me in here to talk about something that is bugging you since clearly it has nothing to do with the background that you ran for my clearan-"
"Actually, there is something that I found that I wanted to ask you about." Kallus saw the woman on the other side of the desk bristle. That meant that what he had found really wasn't a glitch. She knew what he found. What she doesn't know is that he had yet to figure out what it meant. "When I pulled up the records from Coruscant no birth record for a Kiara Valour could actually be found. An oversite that I was surprised to find that no one has really caught in all of this time. I know that there was a lag regarding information in the early days of the Empire so it isn't too surprising that it was allowed to slide back when you applied to the academy, but I would have expected for that information lag to have caught up since then. I need to ask you to explain why there isn't a record of your birth. In fact, I have cross-referenced most of the planets within the Empire and can't find a birth year to match your name."
Kallus watched as the face of the woman whom he'd been bantering with only moments prior become stone that revealed nothing. Kallus watched for any telltale sign that Valour was about to crack and tell him nearly any excuse for the lack of a record for her birth. If he didn't know Kiara, he'd swear that she must be a rebel spy. After all, that would explain why someone's name may raise some red flags from the lack of ability to be vetted but he'd known Kiara way back during his academy days. If there was one thing that he knew, it was that he could trust her.
"Kiara? Why can't I find your birth records to cross-reference it to check for any conflicts of interest?"
The office was silent for several moments before giving the only reply that Valour felt that she could give. "You may as well as go ahead and call those troopers in here, now."
Kallus looked across his desk exasperated. Was that it? No attempt to explain? No excuses? Nothing? "I'm not prepared to do that."
"And I'm not prepared to answer any more questions." Kiara crossed her arms in front of her chest as she waited for the moment that she'd been expecting for over the last decade to happen. Being so far into the interior of the Imperial Complex she doubted that she'd have a prayer at actually escaping if she made a run for it. She could probably do some damage, though, if she put her mind to it before she succumbed to the inevitable. But that would mean taking a lot of innocent civilians working in the manufacturing section with her. Something that she wasn't prepared to do.
Kallus ran his hand through his blond hair as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Not just with the fact that Kiara seemed to be saying that there is something for her to be arrested for without actually confessing to anything but also the fact that he was hesitant to do exactly what she'd suggested; to call the troopers in to haul her away. Had this been a week ago he'd have had the troopers prepared to take her away the moment she strolled into his office. Old friend or not. But now...
"If I'm going to help you, I need to know why. So, I can make sure that no one else finds the same loose threads that I found and pulled on."
Valour eyed Kallus at that. It was true that they went back a long time, but it was no secret that Kallus could be ruthless when it came to rebels, insurgents, spies, and just about anyone else who threatened the Empire. At the moment, he had no idea which of those categories to place her in.
"And I'm supposed to believe that you won't turn me in, why?"
"Because I could have turned you in already, for one," Kallus pointed out. "Two, because we were once friends. And if there is anything that you should remember about me, it's that once I'm loyal to someone I don't renege on that, lightly."
Kiara studied Kallus for a moment before blowing out a breath. "Okay. I guess I'm going to see just how much I can trust you." Kallus raised brow as he waited for her to continue. "I wasn't born Kiara Valour. It is a name that I took on after the Clone Wars. Not to mention when the Jedi were wiped out."
"Jedi? Wait, were you a Jedi?"
"What? No! Gods, no!" Kiara bit her lip before adding, "But I had a family member who was. And I am force sensitive. The Jedi tested me when I was a child, but they chose to not take me to the temple to train. My mother never let me forget that, either. But the Empire did have names of all of the force-sensitive children. That meant that they had my name. Eventually, someone from the Empire came for me and... Well, after I escaped on board a freighter and ended up on Coruscant, I eventually figured that the best place to hide from the Empire was within the Empire."
Kallus thought back to the way that Kiara had gone out of her way to appear to be ordinary, even mediocre, and it now seemed to make sense. Being force-sensitive likely gave her an edge and he knew from experience that when students here at the local branch of the Imperial Academy appeared to be a bit too good that an Inquisitor was usually called. He didn't know what happened to them when they were taken away. Had never stopped to question it. But now, he found himself questioning a lot. Even woke from his sleep in the night doing just that. Questioning.
"Okay, well, that means that we have to figure out a way to put a record on file. Because this was bound to catch up with you eventually. I'm just glad that I'm the one who caught it instead of someone else." Not to mention that she hadn't been transferred here before now. Because had this happened before his stint on the ice moon, he had no doubt that he would have been a complete bastard after hearing what he just did.
"Just like that?" Kiara stared at Alexsandr with her mouth agape.
"I'm sure it won't be a simple feat but yes." Kallus slowly stood and schooled his face to not show how much the action had hurt with a new jolt of pain upon his movement. Still, he'd been sitting too long, and he needed to stand up. "I should warn you, though, that Grand Admiral Thrawn is known for being quite thorough so I may not be the only one who has been looking into the clearance of the newest transfers to this sector. If that happens before I can try to get the records altered, I won't be able to be of any help to you."
"So, in other words, you are telling me that I'm not out of the woods, yet." Kiara stood and eyed Alexsandr and thought that she saw him grimace as he stood.
"I'm afraid not. But I'll do my best."
"Yeh, well, don't stick your neck out too far. I'd hate to be the cause of anyone else being charged and punished for my own actions. I've just never had the clearance to get into those files to do this myself."
"Maybe if you hadn't accepted a life of mediocrity-"
"I would have been found out all the more sooner. Because I doubt you got to your position without someone taking a closer eye at your own records, Alex," Valour pointed out as she felt the adrenaline that the belief that she'd be on her way to the brig had caused continue to pulsate through her system. She needed to get out of the office and find an outlet for that energy. She would like to get out and away from the complex but knew that no passes were ever given to new transfers to any base for the first three months upon arrival. Protocol and all.
"You are probably right." Kallus sighed as he tried to work through his mind just how he was going to go about creating a fake paper trail. "When I get the paperwork in order and in place, I'll let you know. Until then-"
"Until then it would be best for me to not get my hopes up if this Thrawn is as formidable as you say. You may even want to create a file of where you are investigating me in case he discovers my non-existent birth record. That way it won't look as if you were actively covering for me."
"Sharp as ever. I'll get to work as soon as you leave."
Valour knew a dismissal when she heard one. Even when it was an unofficial one, she headed to the door. "Thank you. For everything. This isn't what I expected when I was called to this office today."
Kallus nodded. This isn't what he had expected, either, when he'd set up this appointment. Nor could he really figure out why he was taking such a risk.
Hours later Kallus finished inputting the data in yet one more database. This time, being the last one, or he hoped the last one, needed to cover the missing documents of his old friend. He'd been very careful to go through several programs to prevent any red flags and if anyone went digging the only location that would be found as the source of the data would be the generalized sector, certainly not Lothal and absolutely not able to be traced back to his computer terminal. Now, all that he could do would be to wait. Hopefully Thrawn had been too busy today to have taken the time to read through the files of the newest transfers. If he hadn't been, then all of this would have been for nothing.
Kallus stood and left his office and headed down to the mess hall since he'd not eaten in at least half a rotation cycle. As the growling of his stomach began to remind him of. After eating a lackluster meal, he then returned to his quarters. Upon entering the room, the soft glow of the meteorite was a stark contrast to the dark atmosphere that was commonplace in the Empire. A light in a darkened world. A light that was very much out of place.
Maybe the meteorite was as far as he needed to look to find why he had behaved so uncharacteristically today. The kinship that he'd found in an unlikely place, even understanding, seems to have sparked a desire to change the status quo. Would his actions today be where that change ended? If not, where?
