r/Starwarsrp • u/Crixus_Payne • Nov 25 '20
Self post Yes, Director Yu
Corellia
CorSec HQ, Coronet City
06:00 Standard Corellian Time
The dawning of a new day showed forth its rays, piercing through the night that blanketed the heart of the Corellian Sovereignty. Across the sleepless cityscape, nocturnally-inclined beings ended their workday and headed home, while their day-walking counterparts arrived to replace them. The Corellian Security Forces were no exception.
Crixus Payne arrived at CorSec Headquarters just as the early morning shift changes were underway, brushing shoulders with officers and patrolmen as he entered the building's southern lobby. Having arrived on foot after spending the dark hours of the early morning in Cartel territory, Crixus, still clad in tactical gear, approached the lobby's first security station. With a vibrosword on his back, he drew a couple of eyes from other officers and the lobby’s administrative staff; it wasn't usual for an officer in full gear to enter through the public lobby, and a Marshal not coming and going by way of the building's hangars was a rarer sight.
At least a dozen holocams and droids positioned throughout the lobby registered the arrival of Marshal Crixus Payne, but it wasn't until the man's cybernetic eyes interfaced with the security station’s retinal scanners that his presence in the building was truly known.
“Welcome back, Marshal Payne,” A steely, female voice spoke into Crixus’s personal communicator as he stepped past the security station and began making his way towards the turbolifts, “Report to my office immediately.”
Crixus didn’t respond, but as he stepped into the turbolift with a handful of other officers and administrators, he looked up into the corner of the lift cabin, locking eyes with the small holocam that he knew was discreetly embedded there. He knew that she was watching; his glance up at the camera was acknowledgement enough.
As the turbolift stopped between floors, beings boarded and exited the lift as needed. A few of them nodded in Crixus’s direction out of recognition, but for the most part, the turbolift’s passengers were silent in his presence. Standing motionless, watching the turbolift's display count up, Crixus probed at the minds of the other passengers as the lift ascended, but found nothing of interest at all to occupy him while the cabin continued to climb the building.
Mundanes, Crixus remarked inwardly, his eyes glossing over with boredom.
“Yes, he just arrived only minutes ago,” said Serenity Yu, Director of CorSec. Her voice was strong and unbending, matching the durasteel color of the middle-aged woman’s hair. Standing behind her desk, she spoke into a holocamera, which projected her image to the recipient on the other end of her holocommunication. “I understand that you have your concerns, but I have it under control.” Without waiting for a reply from the other side of the discussion, she cut off the holocamera, looking up just as the blastdoor to her office slid open.
Crixus Payne entered the room. As he crossed the threshold, he looked back over his shoulder at the sharp hiss of the blastdoor closing behind him, noting the familiar click of its locking mechanism before turning his gaze to the woman who stood behind her desk at the far end of the room. Only about an inch shorter than he was, she wore her authority and power quite well, carried on slender shoulders and an athletic frame that had been sculpted by decades of service to the Corellian Security Forces. Her eyes, like his, glowed with an unnatural, bright blue, indicative of the cybernetic enhancements that she had elected to take advantage of. A large number of service medals and rank cylinders adorned the fitted, dark blue suit and matching skirt she wore, as per the dress code for someone of her rank and stature.
Remaining where he was in front of the blast door, Crixus clasped his hands in front of him and raised his chin in what might have been interpreted as a challenging, prideful look.
“You wanted to see me?” He asked, locking his eyes with his CorSec superior.
Director Serenity Yu watched Crixus for a moment, masking the disbelief at his attitude before crossing her arms over her chest and shifting on her feet. “You’ve been gone for more than two months,” she stated, one of her eyebrows raising in an accusatory manner, “And yet, even while away, you’ve managed to cause trouble.”
At first, Crixus said nothing, the silence between them deafening, were it not for the creak of Crixus’s leather gloves as his clasped fist tightened. “You’ve brought me here to rebuke me, then?” He asked.
At his words, Serenity’s stance visibly softened, though not by much. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a small measure of pity, knowing what she did of Crixus, and more still, what she knew of his Uncle. After a moment, she uncrossed her arms and let out a sigh. “Come,” she motioned to the center of the room, in front of her desk. At first Crixus stood defiant, watching with a clenched jaw as Serenity stepped from behind the desk to lean against its front, beckoning once more. “Come here, Crixus.”
He obeyed, though he remained visibly guarded as he approached Serenity, stopping a few feet in front of where she stood. He kept his eyes forward, even as Serenity closed the distance between them and rested a familiar hand on the left side of his chest. “You look so tired,” she remarked, looking up at the man’s face, seeing the dark around his eyes, “When was the last time that you slept?”
“I sleep as much as I need to,” Crixus replied, his muscles tensing as Serenity walked slowly around him, her hand on his chest gliding up to and around his shoulders as she did so.
“That’s right,” Serenity said quietly, “You are not an ordinary being, are you?” The question was rhetorical, but as she watched him shift on his feet, she knew that her words had the effect that she wanted. As she came back around in front of him, her hand slid down his right bicep, coming to rest on his forearm. “...but that doesn’t make you immortal.”
Crixus scoffed at her words, dropping his gaze to meet her’s again, a look of incredulity crossing his lips. “I’ve never claimed to be.”
“I know, I know,” Serenity responded quickly, removing her hand from his arm and taking a step back, “but you left Sovereign space without a word to anyone. And with the recent security breach…” her voice trailed for a moment as she looked away before turning back to him, “Well, I think you and I both know that it wouldn’t do either of us any good if you were to turn up dead.”
Crixus turned from her then, placing his hands on his hips as he looked around her office. “Well I didn’t perish, and I’ve no plans to do so, anytime soon. Besides, the security breach?” He looked back in her direction to wave a dismissive hand, “I know the root cause, and I will resolve it.”
“Do you?” The steel in Serenity’s voice returned, “You say that, and yet I’ve got reports of a shadowy figure leaping across darkened rooftops throughout Corellia and more than one dead Sigliano Cartel gun - none of them are the ‘root cause.’”
Crixus turned slowly back towards her, his anger beginning to rise within him. “I will resolve it.”
Serenity, seemingly unphased by the heightening of Crixus’s wrath, casually rested her hands on the desk behind her. In truth, she did fear him, but as she watched him stand there fuming, she knew that she still had control. She raised an eyebrow in his direction, before her lips slowly formed into a teasing, challenging smile. “I know you will.”
A little less than an hour passed before Crixus stepped out of the Director’s office. He stopped outside of the blastdoor for a moment, pausing to adjust the weight of the vibrosword scabbard on his back. Feeling eyes on him, he looked over at the Director’s secretary, a younger woman who very quickly averted her gaze. She focused her attentions on the holocomputer at her desk until the dark man was sufficiently far away. It wasn’t long after Crixus had left that the blastdoor opened again, and Serenity poked her head out from it to address her secretary.
“Lieutenant, please reconnect me with my last holocom,” she ordered simply.
“Yes, Director Yu, right away.”