Rated M [I wasn't sure quite what to pick so I went the safest possible route.]
The sun had barely crept into view against the horizon, the mild ways slowly beginning to warm the surface of the near side of the planet. The air was still but the deep musk of the barq farms was pungent and in many ways inescapable. The native populations had long since gone nose blind to that particular stench. Qiilura, the planet that kept the Empire's most prosperous fed. The quality of what was grown and produced here outmatched anything else in the known galaxy. A crop so profitable the Empire nearly tore the planet asunder to obtain it.
In contrast to the serenity of Qiilura's natural world stood a distinctly human form. Still as the air, unrelenting as the sky. This sight alone was not an unusual one, nor was what truly broke from the beauty of the sun rising on an otherwise unremarkable morning. Rather, it was the massive metal landing platform the figure stood upon, a powerful reminder of the Empire this world, and the woman upon the platform served.
As the sun rose higher in the sky stirring the planet back to life after a restful slumber, brief respite from the watchful thumb of their overlords more and more detail of the figure standing came into view. A slender human woman, tall with pallid skin and delicate features. Hair deep brown falling beneath her shoulders in length. She was clad in a familiar color to the denizens of Qiilura, a soft if not monotone grey. Muted, much like her function which had yet to reveal itself. The sturdy grey fabric brought another word to mind, utilitarian, after all the fabric did constitute a uniform. Every imperial uniform was more or less the same, with generalized style and fabric adjustments to suit the environs of the planet where the uniform was to be worn.
As quickly as the peace and solitude of the morning had come, it left. Another non-descript figure, a man this time, wearing the same grey uniform approached the woman at the edge of the platform and called to her in a voice that she would not be able to recall if you had asked her later in the day. "Lieutenant Beren!" he cried out, though a lower volume would have been appreciated by all. Snapping back to reality the woman turned her head to face him. Her hands remained folded neatly behind her back, her face, though beautiful bore no real expression. It was as though she could simply not be bothered to even show annoyance at the man who interrupted her silence and her solitude.
"Can I help you?" the woman responded, in a quiet but audible voice. Her voice was much softer than you would think to look at her.
"Lieutenant Fischer's shuttle should be touching down soon." he responded to her inquiry.
"Ah. I see. Do you think I'd be standing here at this hour if I didn't already know that?" The woman's tone was slightly irritated in nature, though more matter of fact. One got the impression that she wasn't one for jokes or for wasted time. The man nodded his head, saluted accordingly and walked away. It was probably in his best interest not to say anything more. In that moment a deep sigh escaped the woman's lips as she turned her gaze toward the sky. The signature boom of the shuttle entering the atmosphere was cue enough. The roaring of the engines and the wind that came as the vessel descended was enough to make her raise her left hand toward the sky with her palm turned upward ever so slightly acting as a brief bit of shield from the sun and flare of the engines as they began to cool down.
This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. Lt. Marienna Beren of the Logistics Corp of the Imperial Security Bureau stood, lowering her hand as the shuttle quieted down. There was not a trace of a smile to be found on her face. Marienna had arrived on this planet two days prior to the occupants of the shuttle. On that shuttle was her commanding officer, one Lieutenant Corwin Fisher. Marienna had been sent in advance to make preparations for his arrival and their work. It would came as no great surprise that prior to her arrival not a single Imperial on the planet could have bothered to set up the logistics division. Overall the officers of the Logistics Corp proved one thing to be true, they earned their keep in doing their jobs so well that few ever thought of them at all.
"Alright, let the games begin..." she whispered to herself, uncomfortably adjusting her body to stand at attention in anticipation of the shuttle doors opening. The duo had worked together before, several times on other projects, though this would mark the first occasion on which the two of them worked together as partners, alone, save for a droid or two. It was no struggle for Marienna to recall what she thought of Lt. Fischer all those times they had met. Phrases like "barely memorable". He was a nice enough man. She seemed to recall that he was the type who followed the rules, kept his head down and did his work. There was, of course, nothing wrong with that. It just wasn't exactly her style. Marienna waited there as silence fell once again, no matter how brief it would be. Here was to a new adventure.
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