#brotp: spyboys | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

greyias · 4 years

Text

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 16

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Crossposted to AO3

As far as targets went, Rian Darok was proving to be an exceptionally dull one. The contents of his schedule turned out to be incredibly mundane, as it just consisted of meetings with other SpecOps officers. Once he returned to Coruscant, there had been a brief hope that would uncover the proverbial smoking blaster. However, it seemed to lead to just more meetings, and an interminable amount of time spent in front of a data terminal searching for nothing of interest whatsoever.

The low-profile made sense, though. If Darok had a hand in what happened with Tython, that kind of thing would have taken a lot of time to plan out. Theron had tried scrubbing through the man’s personnel files on his breaks, but it was spotless. There was zero indication that Darok was anything but a loyal citizen of the Republic, and had no reason to collude with the Empire. In fact, he probably had more reason than most soldiers to hold a grudge. In fact, according to his personnel record, he probably had more reason than most soldiers to hold a grudge. He was the sole survivor of an Imperial attack on the Dorin’s Sky while it had been serving in the Nanth’ri System...

The location gave Theron pause, and he stared at Darok’s file. The galaxy was a big place, and seasoned veterans would have served all over the map, but that particular system was familiar. Wasn’t that the same system where Revan had fallen to an Imperial strike team? That same funny feeling that had been haunting him since this whole thing had started crept up again, starting at the base of his spine and slowly crawling its way up, until every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It was circumstantial at best but… it was odd how connections to Revan kept popping up. First with Jensyn, and now Darok.

If he didn’t know better, he’d almost suspect they had some little secret club. Of course, that didn’t make much sense. Revan was dead, and all of these connections were just… coincidence. Funny. The timing of the attacks on Tython and Korriban were supposed to be coincidences too.

He glared at Darok’s file, but it didn’t yield any further insights or secrets.

The Tython investigation was beginning to wrap up, and Trant had begun to redirect resources. The Analytics Division was moving on from post-mortem reports to dig into the data that Theron had managed to extract from Korriban during the strike team’s raid. Of course, that wasn’t sitting well with Theron either. His data was clean, he knew that, but the intel that had started all of this mess, the one that they’d raided Korriban for had yet to be turned over to the SIS yet.

The last time Theron had asked the Director about it, the face that Marcus had made would have been almost comical. Almost, because a lot of people had died for that data, and now it was apparently lost in some military bureaucracy. Theron considered calling in a favor from dear old dad, see if maybe he could grease the wheels. But that might call too much attention to the fact that Theron was very interested in the origins of all of this.

So unless he wanted to try and involve more people in his crazy conspiracy chase, it was best that he not attract to much attention. He still hadn’t found any proof yet to sound an alarm, just a bunch of odd coincidences and interesting pieces of trivia with nothing to connect them all together. He stared at the terminal in front of him, absently tapping his finger on the keys.

Highwind had reported that Darok, or some men under his direction, had been unusually interested in the Jedi’s library. Theron pulled up the official investigation into the Tython attack. He tried to scan through the findings, but only found reports on destruction, compromised terminals, and some missing artifacts.

With a glance to his surroundings, he slipped out the private datapad he’d been conducting his own personal investigation on, and did a quick check on the current whereabouts of The Defender. It appeared that she’d been called back into duty to help mediate a dispute of succession for House Barnaba in the Tapani sector. He tapped the bezel of the datapad, wondering if it was too soon to say anything, considering he hadn’t uncovered anything yet. The nagging thought about the Archives wouldn’t leave him, so he pulled up his empty inbox, and began to compose a message:

To: Greyias Highwind From: Theron Shan Subject: Nothing Noteworthy Yet

I wish I could say I’ve found something, but it’s been a slow two weeks since I last wrote. The life of a SpecOps commander is apparently very mundane most of the time, filled with meetings, meetings, and more meetings. And when not meeting, apparently they’re in front of a terminal cruising the HoloNet. I’d say your taxes at work, but you don’t really take a salary do you? Still, you get that fancy ship, so I guess that’s something.

I’ve been knee deep in this investigation on Tython. There’s a lot of data on damage inflicted, suggestions for beefing up security, how security failed, and what was taken. It’s a lot, is what I’m saying, and I’m still sorting through it. I keep thinking about our mutual friend and the library though, and what might have been so interesting there. Just trying to find some correlation between that and what we’ve gotten from Korriban.

Just to keep busy mind you, since our buddy is boring me keeping such a low profile. You ever hear anything interesting about that before your trip to Barnaba?

He stared at the letter for a few moments, recalling the previous communication he’d received, and added one last bit:

I also feel the need to let you know that as vast as they are, the SIS databases aren’t all-knowing. There’s a lot of entries on famous pieces of jewelry around the galaxy, but nothing about this bracelet you keep bringing up. Still want me to keep looking?

Satisfied, he sent off the letter, and stowed the datapad away for now. He’d have to wait for answers, and in the meantime, had to close out the official report on Tython.

When he’d mentioned that the intel side of his job was boring, he wasn’t kidding. There was a lot of snooping, and occasionally some fast-paced running, but there was a lot of waiting that wound up happening between discoveries. The first one came in via official channels, an intel request from Darok on "Isotope-5 Proliferations and Deployment in the Empire". Theron was pretty familiar with the contents of that already, and it made perfect sense for the colonel to be requesting it considering the devastation wreaked by the Iso-5 bombs on Tython.

The second one came to him as he was getting himself another cup of caf from the community carafe, although the sudden arm flung around his shoulders made him nearly spill his drink. Theron at first thought he was being assaulted, and it was only his quick recognition of who the arm belonged to that saved its owner from having his face shoved into the wall.

“Shan,” Jonas exclaimed, “why haven’t we gone out again?”

“Because you’re still banned from the Dealer’s Den for cheating?”

“I do not cheat!” Jonas proclaimed loudly, then leaned close. Theron felt something being slid into his pocket and heard a quick whisper. “This qualified as weird for me. Mind telling me what you’re up to?”

Theron shot him a glance and shook his head minutely, and then made a show of elbowing him away. “You might be right, I hear there might be a crooked dealer there.”

“I don’t like to accuse people of cheating without proof,” Jonas said carefully. “Being wrong about that’s almost as bad as cheating itself.”

“As I said, I just heard, never confirmed.”

Jonas pressed his lips together in a thin line, a little concern surfacing through his cheery facade. “I’ve got to run to Denon, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it for a rematch at Dealer’s Den for a while.”

“That’s too bad,” Theron said casually, “I wouldn’t mind having another go myself.”

“I’m not a fan of drinking alone, Shan. Gets rather lonely. You really shouldn’t either.”

“I’m touched by your concern for my social life, Balkar, but I’ll be fine.”

“I’m more concerned about that face jumping in front of more incoming fists. Or maybe getting a vibro-knife in the back. Bar fights can easily get out of hand.”

“Funny how that doesn’t stop you from getting into them when I’m around.”

“That’s because we’re both there,” the joking edge from Jonas’s tone was rapidly fading away. “I’m just saying, it’s not a good idea to take on heavy hitters without someone backing you up.”

It probably had been too much to hope that Jonas wouldn’t get some clue of what Theron was doing in his off time after their last drinking session. It was clear that his occasional partner was not going to let this drop, and if he kept the conversation going too long it was going to attract attention.

“What if I took a date?”

“I might get jealous if you start running around on me with another drinking partner. Does he have a good right hook?”

Theron shrugged. “Hers is better than yours, that’s for sure.”

“Her?” Jonas’s eyebrows shot up, intrigued. “This the same girl we talked about last time?”

“Could be.”

“Well, in that case I guess I’ll allow it.”

“You’ll allow it? What are you, my keeper?”

“When you’re being a careless idiot? Yes,” Jonas ground out. “You don’t always look both ways before leaping into oncoming traffic.”

“I’m always careful, and I’m never an idiot,” he corrected.

“You still leap into traffic, though.”

“Have to get across the street somehow. Crosswalks are boring.”

“You’re the worst sort of pedestrian.” Jonas shook his head, and then fixed Theron with a hard, serious look. “Just watch yourself, okay?”

“Don’t I always?”

“No,” he said, “that’s why I’m saying it. Don’t make me find another drinking buddy, Shan.”

“I already told you, we’re not bud—”

Jonas cut him off with a glare, and the usual retort died on Theron’s lips. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and let out a sigh. “Fine. We’ll get another round next time we’re both in town. Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” Jonas said flatly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with the least chatty person in the Denon system. Can’t be late for that.”

“Have fun,” Theron intoned as his fellow agent left as quickly as he came, leaving Theron alone with his caf.

He glanced around, sipping from his mug and making his way back to the data terminal he’d staked out. As he sat down, he fingered what had been slipped into his pocket, marking out the familiar shape of a data chip. Considering the ruckus Jonas had made, it would be best to look at it in the relative privacy of his apartment.

The rest of the hours dragged by, as he found it hard to focus. His eyes kept straying to the chronometer at his station, as his mind kept straying to the data chip and Jonas’s ill-concealed concerns. He’d tossed Highwind’s name in the conversation to get the other man to back down, but he still wasn’t sure exactly what role the Jedi should play in all of this. She’d provide ample muscle if he needed to make a show of force, but he still had to wonder about her reliability.

She’d been all too eager to throw in with him to uncover the truth behind the attack on Tython, but enthusiasm didn’t earn any extra points with him. If anything, it only puzzled him more. He’d expected a far more grizzled, no-nonsense Jedi from what he’d read in her dossier, and he’d seen some hints of a more battle-hardened personality emerging when she was leading the strike teams. There almost seemed to be a different person that emerged when the pressure wasn’t on. He wouldn’t describe that as normal, because she came across far too earnest and almost compassionate to a fault. When he tried to mesh those observations with her record, including the curious gaps and sparse mission details that smelled of a coverup—he was just left with more questions.

Theron didn’t like questions, as it meant he was lacking intel. And not having the right answers could get him killed in the wrong situation. It was hard to say if this was one of those cases, as he tended to lean on the more paranoid side of things. It still bugged him, though. He preferred to know exactly what and who he was dealing with. Maybe if he’d known more about Darok before taking on the Korriban op, things would be very different right now.

His eyes strayed back to the chrono, watching as another minute ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace, and he tried to calculate the time that had passed since his last missive to The Defender. The previous replies had come in rather quick, but he was already nearing seven days without a response. It didn’t bother him exactly, as it was obvious that there were more important things for a Jedi Knight to be doing than checking her inbox constantly. And considering the six-month gap in her dossier, her being out of contact wasn’t exactly an abnormal occurrence.

Maybe after he looked at whatever Jonas had dug up, Theron would check in on the HoloNet and see what was happening in the Tapani Sector.

Just out professional curiosity. That was all it was.

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Jonas Balkar #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #brotp: spyboys #brotp: theron shan & jonas balkar #SoR Fic O Doom #smoke and mirrors #swtor #fanfic #greyfic

14 notes · View notes

legionnairelass · 6 years

Text

Favorite Character: Lyle Norg, everyone’s favorite dead-inside spyboy.

Least Favorite Character: Ultra Boy. I don’t hate him! I just. Sometimes wish he wasn’t there quite so much....

Best Legion Leader: Tie. Nura, Lyle, and Jan. Nura’s term was the most fun. Lyle and Jan’s were some of the most stable/well led Legion periods.

Favorite Legion Reboot: Archie Legion!

Least Favorite Legion Reboot: (I’m Not Gonna Count the CWboot because it ain’t finished yet) Threeboot. By itself, it was fine, but because it took characters, and made them completely different while trying to say they were the same people....

Thing You Hate Most About LOSH: (WE NEED A COMIC) When DNA had to give Sneckie boobs, and Sun Boy’s (+ a couple other’s) macho player characterizations in the 70s/80s.

Character You Secretly Root For: Silver Age Polar Boy! <3

OTP: UMM I HAVE LIKE SIX SOOOO Science Buddies, PolyFounders, Sunflowers, Reboot! Cham x Ayla, Jan x Happiness, Shvaughn x Well Written Trans Portrayal

NOTP: Timber Wolf x Shrinking Vi

BROTP: Reboot Querl and Ayla. (So many people forget they were bffs, it makes me sad)

Favorite Moment: When the Fatal Five almost kicked the Legion’s asses for the first time in the Reboot and the Legion Rescue Squad showed up just in time, with everybody who had been kicked out, or was sorta in comic book limbo in tow. (All of Andromeda’s sass, and her standing up to Mon was very very nice)

Most Precious Character: Jan or Jenni or Sneckie (perfect babies, must be protected)

Favorite BROTP That Never Happened in Canon: Andromeda and Element Lad

Something You Wish Happened In Canon: Uhhh, I guess I wish Dirk had been Sun Boy in the reboot, instead of whoever that Inferno Girl was. I had been looking forward to him making an ass of himself, getting put in his place by Saturn Girl, and learning how to be Jan’s best friend again.

Thanks @hazilnut! <3

#hazilnut #i has opinions #Andromeda and E-Lad's Bromance is v important to me #so is Shvaughn #Legion of Superheroes

3 notes · View notes

greyias · 4 years

Text

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 15

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Crossposted to AO3

“Now, to be fair,” Jonas said, holding the glass filled with mostly ice, and a thin layer of Corellian’s finest up to the rapidly purpling bruise on his face, “no one could have seen this happening.”

Theron glared across the table at his fellow agent before promptly knocking back a shot of the most expensive whiskey he could find on the bar’s menu, since Jonas was now most definitely picking up the tab. The alcohol stung against his split lip, but he just glared through the discomfort, focusing all of his ire on the man in front of him. “I should have. You should have. And apparently the surliest Houk this side of Tatooine did.”

“I’ll have you know, my Sabacc deck is perfectly legal in just about every circle the game is played.”

“Except apparently the Dealer’s Den,” Theron said sourly.

“This is a much nicer cantina anyway,” Jonas sniffed.

“The nice cantinas turned us away.”

“Yes, but this place has character. You just don’t get that these days.”

“I’m never drinking with you again.”

“Never say never.”

“Never,” Theron said emphatically.

“Well, in that case,” Jonas gave out a dramatic sigh, “if this is our last drink together ever, we might as well make it a good one. Bartender, two Whyren’s Reserve, neat.”

The bartender just laughed. “You’re a riot, kid!”

“Okay, then just another round of the best of whatever won’t kill us in one sip.”

“So two more of what you’re having right now?”

“Yes, extra ice please.”

“You really know how to treat a guy, Balkar.” Theron rolled his eyes.

“Has anyone ever told you that you need to lighten up?”

“This one guy, but he keeps getting my face punched in. So I don’t think I should listen to him.”

“I’m just keeping your life exciting.”

“My life was already exciting. And somehow, filled with less bruises.”

“Now that’s a lie.” Jonas took a sip from his drink, getting just the smallest dregs of whiskey through the thick layer of ice. “Half of the times that I’ve seen you your face has looked like some abstract art concept.”

“Um, thanks?”

“To be honest, I’m surprised I was able to recognize you today, what with the lack of blood stains and black eyes. This look now is more you.”

“I do not get injured that often,” Theron said testily, then added a muttered, “and I just haven’t gotten a lot of field work lately.”

“Yeah, promotions suck.” The sarcasm practically dripped from the other agent’s voice. “Although, you have to admit, you’ve been keeping some awful interesting company lately.”

Theron slid a glance up from his glass to see a grin on the other man’s face, rather than the frown that he had expected. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, I know for a fact you were involved with the Tython op.” Jonas picked up his glass, and swirled around the ice cubes and minuscule amounts of whiskey. He went to take a sip and frowned when nothing came out. “And also saw that the Jedi’s poster girl was the main operative there.”

“Oh. Her.”

“Thought that I’d get more of a reaction than that, but I forgot who I was talking to for a moment.”

Their conversation paused as the bartender sat two more glasses down at the table, and Theron quickly reached across the table and grabbed the one filled to the brim, leaving the one that was mostly frozen water for his companion.

“Hey—”

“You wanted the ice. I prefer to actually taste the alcohol.”

“Why do I ever take you drinking? Those damn implants make it nearly impossible to get you drunk.”

“That’s the point.”

“You’re an expensive date is all I’m saying,” Jonas grabbed his own glass and pulled it back, “and all I get from the deal is sass.”

“Then stop inviting me.”

“Invitation means someone accepts without being forced out the door. Seriously, you’re more trouble than you’re worth at times.”

“I think you just want a human shield when the punches start flying.”

“Well, that too.” Jonas raised his glass and paused before taking a sip. “And that’s all you’re going to say about the Jedi?”

“What else is there to say?”

“From the way Fauler and the others keep going on whenever they pull her in on ops, I figured there’d be something noteworthy, even from you.”

“Why do you care?” Theron asked, tracing the rim of his glass with a finger. “Angling for an introduction?”

“Just wondering if I should keep the name in mind for future ops is all.”

“I thought Havoc was your go-to squad,” Theron mused. “Or is the Major not picking up your holocalls anymore?”

“I like to have extra options,” Jonas said lightly, “you never know when you might need a Jedi to open a few doors. With the Force. She’s pretty, right?”

“She’s a Jedi.”

“Yes, and some of us don’t hold that against them.” Jonas looked thoughtful. “Pretty sure I could charm even a Jedi.”

“Pretty sure she’d just kick your ass if you tried to put the moves on her.” Theron’s finger stilled as he narrowed an eyebrow.

“Hmm, maybe not my type then,” the other man flashed him a wide grin, “although that’s what you like, isn’t it?”

“There’s not enough whiskey in this bar to get me to answer that.”

“Hey, just saying I haven’t seen you with anyone who couldn’t easily kill you without a second thought. You really ought to lighten up, in every aspect of your life.”

“You haven’t seen me with anyone,” Theron corrected. “Some of us like to be a bit more discreet than you.”

“Oh, drink your whiskey, sourpuss. It costs a small fortune to go out with you.”

“Maybe if you stopped using my face as shield for incoming fists then you wouldn��t feel so guilty that you wind up paying for drinks for the rest of the night.”

“Maybe if you stopped jumping in front of the incoming fists you’d have a few less black eyes,” Jonas shot back. “But point taken.”

Theron let his gaze drop back down to the overly full glass. He eyed the amount of alcohol and weighed it in his mind against the amount his implants could easily dampen the effects of. It would help dull some of the pain of his bruises, but he could easily shove that aside with a few tricks from his childhood training. The fact that he still needed to check into what Darok was up to on Carrick Station had been at the back of his mind for the whole evening, but he couldn’t exactly start that delicate of a slicing job while Jonas was watching.

He reached across the table and swiped Jonas’s glass of ice and poured about half the contents of his glass in, before returning it to the other side of the table. His fellow agent raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

“Getting sentimental on me, Shan?”

“Figured you haven’t looked in a mirror yet, so that’s just to help soften the blow.”

“I’m sure I look dashing still.” Jonas accepted the glass though. “You seem more sullen than usual tonight. Something up?”

“No,” he said and quickly took a sip from his glass, “just trying to sort through this mess from Tython.”

“Yeah,” the usually cheery demeanor slipped away then, and a shadow of Jonas’s real face surfaced for just a moment, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. Thought we had the Imps on the run, then this…”

Theron nodded, eyeing the other agent over the rim of his glass. It was probably the alcohol, but he found himself asking. “You haven’t seen or heard anything… weird lately, right?”

“Weird?” Jonas snapped out of his reverie, and gave Theron a look. “You’re going to have to be more specific, considering the galaxy we both live in.”

“Never mind,” Theron muttered into his next sip of whiskey. “Forget I asked.”

The other man frowned, eyeing his fellow agent speculatively. “I haven’t seen anything that’s caught my attention, if that’s what you’re asking. Should I be looking?”

“I don’t know.” He set his glass down a little harshly, the clunk of the impact sounding louder to his own ears. “It’s probably nothing.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Jonas said quietly. “If anything pops that doesn’t fit, I’ll let you know.”

Theron nodded. He didn’t want to bring Jonas into this thing, hell, it was bad enough he’d recruited one of the most famous Jedi in the Order on his paranoid hunt. Wrangling her was proving difficult enough, and he really didn’t want to to add Jonas and his questionable “charm” into the mix. An extra set of eyes on the official investigation for the odd bit that didn’t fit couldn’t hurt anything. It probably wouldn’t be enough to catch Darok officially, but it couldn’t hurt either.

Jonas raised his glass for a toast, and Theron begrudgingly raised his as well. There would be no slicing tonight it seemed.

“To Tython,” Jonas said.

“To Tython,” Theron echoed, and then mentally added. You bastards are going to pay.

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Jonas Balkar #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #brotp: spyboys #brotp: theron shan & jonas balkar #swtor #fanfic #SoR Fic O Doom #smoke and mirrors #greyfic

9 notes · View notes

greyias · 4 years

Text

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 14

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Crossposted to AO3

The report didn’t get finished that night, but his automated trace on Darok did. It would help monitor most public and low-security information. Any high-clearance snooping was a manual process systems had been put in place to prevent automated data mining. Several of which were of his own design after he’d found the flaws several years back.

Of course, having such an intimate knowledge of the SIS systems helped him keep off the radar, as long as he kept a clear head about him. It also helped that his official assignment was to assist with the investigation on finding out how the Imps had managed to get to Tython. Which he was, just… splitting his attention some.

Officially, none of it led to Darok, which was frustrating, but not to be unexpected. Thus far, Theron had been able to identify two leaks associated with the attack on Tython, but had several more flagged for follow-up. The first was the Sith capture of a Jedi Archivist that worked in the Tython library, and the other was an ignored report from a cargo pilot that frequented the temple regarding the theft of a manifest that included information on her route and the hyperlanes.

These leaks mirrored his own datamining into the Korriban op too closely for his own comfort. If he were a suspicious man, which he was, he would suspect that the information he had found had been planted. By someone leaving just enough bread crumbs for a clever enough intelligence operative to put the pieces together. If that was the case, someone had used the SIS, and more specifically him, in whatever this was.

His implants pinged him with an alert from his automated trace, cutting through his sour mood. Seeing that it was a passenger manifest of a flight departing Tython, he pulled away form the terminal he’d been manning most of the day and surreptitiously pulled out his datapad to review the passenger list. It appeared that Darok was leaving the Temple, and his current destination looked like it was Carrick Station.

Theron was about to do some minor slicing into the colonel’s schedule to see exactly what he had planned, when he got an inbox notification.

To: Theron Shan From: Greyias Highwind Subject: HI!

Heya Spyboy—we haven’t met officially, but the boss asked me to write to you from this address. (I’m Kira, I’m sure you’ve read about me. I hear you have a file on all of us! What does mine say?) She got pulled away with a meeting with the Pilgrim Matriarch. Or a hugfest, not really sure what’s going on over there. Anyway, she wanted me to let you know right away that some ‘mutual friend’ of you two had to leave the planet on a meeting?

Good riddance I say. He was cramping our style. Scourge almost started a lightsaber fight with one of his men when they kept blocking the door to the Archives. But this is Scourge, so it could just be Taungsday.

Okay, I’m getting a look now, so maybe this letter was supposed to be shorter. I promise I’ve only looked at like all of your messages to her. What’s this about a mythological bracelet? Are you two going treasure hunting? Can I come? I promise to bring snacks.

Theron couldn’t suppress a groan, massaging his forehead as he read the contents of the message. He had only just gotten to the end of it, when another notification pinged.

To: Theron Shan From: Greyias Highwind Subject: Apologies

Apparently my former Padawan can’t be trusted with the simple task of writing a sentence and pressing the send button. I got pulled away in the middle of my message and asked her to finish it since I thought it was important to keep you updated on… our “friend’s” whereabouts. Clearly my inbox was too great a temptation for her to pass up.

To: Greyias Highwind From: Theron Shan Subject: Really?

I’m making the bold assumption this message is being read by its intended recipient now, and that you’ve changed all of your security protocols and passcodes? And that in the future you won’t be handing off future dictation requests to your nosy secretary?

I’m aware of our our friend’s movements, and if there’s anything noteworthy I will let you know. I trust you’ll also inform me if I need to be aware of any incidents between your crew and SpecOps? Things that, say, might hamper my efforts on this end?

You should probably also let Kira know that we’re not going on a treasure hunt. I think she was far too excited about that.

He stared at the screen for a few moments, debating whether he should ask about Dentiri. Seeing as she hadn’t brought it up, he decided against it, and just pressed send before he thought on it too long. Besides, he didn’t intend to start a letter writing campaign here. His time was better spent on the investigation—both the official one he was conducting and the private one.

Of course, if he didn’t want a reply, he shouldn’t have asked any questions.

To: Theron Shan From: Greyias Highwind Subject: Yes Really

There was nothing noteworthy to report on this end regarding my crew’s interactions with SpecOps. We’re simply trying to do what we can right now, and most of the Republic forces arriving are of great help. We will likely be called away soon, but I’m hoping that some members of the Council will arrive before then. No offense to the military, but I would feel more comfortable leaving with one of the Order’s leaders in charge. I hope we do not have to miss the memorial service, but a Jedi must go where they are needed most.

Until then, I will await your reply of these “noteworthy” revelations.

I have also informed Kira that there will be no hunt for the Lost Bracelet of Darth Lahvvish. I have never heard of this Sith nor know why she was so careless with her jewelry, but I don’t want to ask. Kira seems crushed enough as it is.

However, maybe you should look into the mystery, since you’ve got access to all of those special databases to know where everyone is at all times. Maybe they can give you the clue to the location of the missing Bracelet of Fellowship, last seen in the Sea of Hypothesis? Just a thought.

“Hey, Shan, you okay there? You look like you’re having a stroke.”

“What?” Theron was torn away from the datapad to see Jonas Balkar’s stupid smirking face leaning into his cubicle.

“Well, that or you might be starting to form a smile, and I know that’s not physically possible.”

“Shut it, Balkar.” He quickly stowed the datapad away before it attracted the other agent’s attention. “What are you doing here? Thought you were living it up on Nar Shaddaa.”

“Trant pulled me back, said he needed more eyes on this Tython thing and wanted the best.”

“I think you got the memo meant for me. You can run back along to playing nice with the Hutts.”

“Pass.” Jonas sauntered over, throwing an arm around Theron’s shoulders. “Now, since it’s quitting time and your old buddy’s back in town—“

“We’re not buddies.”

“—I say it’s high time we go get a drink.”

“I’m not—“

Jonas apparently wasn’t listening and already in the mood for a good hangover. Using his grip on the other man’s shoulders, he propelled his fellow agent towards the door. Sure, Theron could have popped the other man’s arm out of its socket and reclaimed his personal space and evening plans of spying on Darok… but he really didn’t want to have that conversation with Marcus again.

“Fine,” Theron muttered darkly, “one drink. But if this winds up being another one of your stupid schemes, I’m going to rearrange that pretty face so all the girls run away at their first look at you.”

“No need to get possessive, Shan. You’ll always be my number one.”

“Bite me, Balkar.”

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #kira carsen #jonas balkar #otp: adorkable #brotp: spyboys #brotp: theron shan & jonas balkar #SoR Fic O Doom #smoke and mirrors #swtor #fanfic #greyfic

8 notes · View notes

greyias · 5 years

Text

FIC: Swipe Left

Title: Swipe Left Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Gen Rating: T Author’s Notes: For @rinskiroo, who needed a fic written incorporating a very, erm, special dating profile I shared over on Discord. Pieces of said profile were adapted to fit the universe. Also, a very special thanks goes to @aearyn for helping me come up with some amazing HoloNet dating apps.

If there was one thing Theron needed to learn, it was to find a way to prevent Jonas from pulling him into operations at the last minute. It always seemed to end up with him in the most awkward situations. The details of the missions always seemed sketchy, and tonight that had somehow landed him in a candlelit restaurant with an, admittedly attractive, Hrakian making googly eyes at him from across the table on a blind date.

He kept eyeing the man, trying to figure out exactly what nefarious plot the seemingly innocuous person had gotten wrapped up into. They certainly didn’t look like someone who ran with the Crimson Horde, one of the more minor gangs that was making a power play. Looks could be deceiving though — for now he’d have to keep playing his part.

“So, Theron,” the Hrakian said, golden eyes raking over him and flashing in appreciation, “I have to say, your profile pictures don’t do you justice.”

“My profile—?”

“Just go with it,” Jonas’s voice sounded over the audio feed in his implants, cutting Theron off before the confusion could be heard in his voice. “You don’t want to arouse any suspicion.”

Normally, Theron would find a chance to get on his sub-vocal mic and throw a snarky reply back at the man on the other end of the surveillance feed, but the table was too small, and the room too quiet, for him to disguise the noise. He briefly wished for just enough relative privacy so he could make a rude gesture at the holo-cam watching from the far end of the room, or at least glare, but that would definitely count as suspicious. So with little recourse, Theron fixed a wide smile in place and kept his cover.

“Well, Therzee—”

“It’s pronounced Thazia.”

“Sorry,” Theron said quickly, hoping that the flush didn’t show in his cheeks.

This was not exactly showing off his suave nature—but then again, he really wasn’t big on grand seductions. He preferred ops with a lot more explosions and adrenaline. But this was a Jonas Balkar op, so of course it had to be complicated. And he’d really needed more than thirty seconds to try and glean important details like his target’s name from a note hastily scribbled on flimsi.

“No, it’s okay, it’s a common mistake.” Thazia reached across the table, gently resting his hand on Theron’s. “But I’d be happy to help you with your pronunciation later.”

He was going to kill Jonas when this was all said and done—but until he had free clearance to murder his partner, Theron would have to make do funneling his annoyance into an even wider grin. “Later? But we haven’t even ordered appetizers yet.”

Thazia returned the smile, almost coyly. “You surprise me.”

“Yeah?” Theron smirked, and took a sip from the glass of whiskey he’d ordered.

“I mean, that’s what I get for making assumptions,” Thazia said. “Everyone moves at their own pace, even aspiring holoporn stars.”

The whiskey spewed across the table as Theron choked. He didn’t even bother trying to maintain his cool, suave image as he tried to process that statement. “What?”

That got a frown. “Your… you told me the nerdiest you’ve ever been was the one time when you wore glasses for a geeky school library themed adult film.”

“I told you that?” he asked hoarsely.

“You contacted me,” Thazia said. “That was your icebreaker message.”

“Hard to imagine anyone would use that as an opening line for a romantic match,” Theron ground out, although the statement was clearly meant for the person he could now hear laughing on the other end of the surveillance feed.

“I just assumed you were trying to impress me with your sexual prowess,” Thazia shrugged. “I’ll be honest I almost swiped left when I got that message, but I just… really needed to know about the goat.”

“The goat?” Theron meant to snarl. It sounded more like a squeak to his ears though.

“And you said you would only explain it in person. That the whole story was too risqué for the StarDate app.”

“Could you excuse me for a moment,” Theron’s voice was almost dangerously calm as he pulled a datapad from his pocket, “I need to check on something.”

Without any preamble, he quickly connected to the HoloNet and pulled up StarDate, the cheesiest and most notorious dating site in the galaxy. His fingers flew across the keypad, eyes furiously scanning the screen, until he found what he was looking for.

“Balkar,” he growled, completely dropping the ruse, “did you make a fake dating profile for me?”

“Hey, it’s only fake if the information isn’t real,” Jonas replied back cooly.

“I am not a porn star! Aspiring or otherwise!”

“Really? Could have fooled me with the amount of times you wind up naked on missions.”

“There were extenuating circumstances! You know what, I’m not going over this again--also that’s not my favorite book!”

“I took a shot in the dark. Sometimes you swing and you miss.”

“And what the hell is ‘Jedi Camp’?”

“All of your training as a kid.” Jonas said a little too innocently. “Is that not what it’s called?”

“I’m going to kill you!”

“Who are you talking to?” asked the very confused Hrakian.

Theron ignored him. He had much more important questions to get answers to, such as, “Why is there a picture of me spitting out a drink?”

“It shows character!” Jonas insisted.

“No it doesn’t—it shows saliva!”

“Well, I just wanted to give your potential suitors a preview of what they were getting in for!”

“I—I do not drool!”

“Really? Because I thought I heard—”

“You’ve heard nothing!” Theron insisted and then shot a look back at his date who was very slowly backing his chair away from the table. “Where are you going?”

“Um,” Thazia looked around nervously, “not to holo a friend to come rescue me from my mad date?”

Stars, the poor man look absolutely terrified, and not in the cornered animal way most of the perps he’d busted did. No, he just looked like a nice, normal person whose date had started ranting out loud to an invisible person.

“Balkar,” Theron growled, “did you lie about a mission to set me up on a blind date? Like an actual date with a real person and making me think they’re a dangerous gangster?”

“Of course not, do you think I’m a monster?” Jonas said. “I just thought you two might hit it off. Him with his insatiable curiosity about goats, you with your—”

“We are not talking about the goat right now!”

“Also your target is the guy two tables to the left—the Crimson Horde’s actual accountant. Oh, and I think he’s figured out you’re with the SIS since you started screaming at invisible people. You should probably do something before he gets away.”

Damn it.

He was going to have a long conversation with his partner after all of this over—probably with his fists—but for now… for now he had a job to do. With a quick apology to poor Thazia, Theron leapt over the table and gave chase to the gangster.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“But, Theron,” Jonas pretended to sound wounded, “you’re a shoe-in for a promotion after single-handedly bringing in the key to infiltrating and dismantling Crimson Horde.”

“I don’t want a promotion,” Theron paused long enough to glare at his partner. “What I want is to get my face off of the HoloNet so I can just do my job in peace. A job that, may I remind you, requires anonymity.”

“You act like managing a digital footprint is a difficult thing in this modern galaxy.”

“You’re changing the subject,” he muttered petulantly.

“Which is?”

“Why you didn’t just sign yourself up—isn’t seducing people on the taxpayer’s dime your thing? You could have gone to that restaurant just as easily as me.”

“Ferr knows my face, so I couldn’t exactly sidle up to him. Besides, you work too much.”

“Well someone has to!”

“You need to get out more. Go on a date. Have a good time.”

“That wasn’t a date. I was working!”

“And who’s fault is that?”

“Yours!” He snapped. “I don’t have time to clean up your messes.”

“Why, do you have plans?”

Theron felt the barest rush of heat to his cheeks, but it was just visible enough for the other man to catch.

“You do! Wait—don’t tell me it’s an actual date. With a real person.”

“It might be. What of it?”

Jonas sniffled and pretended to wipe away a tear. “I’m so proud. My little boy is growing up.”

“I am not your little—can you help me with this? If I’m late, I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the last straw for Thazia.”

“Is that your little goat-infatuated admirer from earlier?”

“Yes. I felt like someone owed him an apology after that whole mess of a dinner.”

“That’s adorable, you asked him out for real. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Theron snarled in frustration as he continued to scroll through the literally hundreds of potential matches on StarDate as he failed to navigate the app’s poor user interface, accidentally swiping left on a profile he wasn’t even trying to look at.

“What the hell Balkar? How do I deactivate this thing?”

“You’re the slicer,” Jonas shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Newscaster: ...In stranger news, there are reports that the popular dating service, StarDate, has gone offline after all of its servers suffered a catastrophic failure over the weekend. Both competitors, LoveForce and HoloConnection, were contacted but had no comment at this time.

Newscaster: Back to our continuing coverage, the Republic Military again deny rumors about a strike on Dromund Kaas, even as more reports emerge regarding the disappearance of the Sith Emperor…

“Shan, has anyone ever explained to you the definition of ‘overkill’?”

“Bite me, Balkar.”

#swtor fanfiction #crackfic #theron shan #jonas balkar #brotp: theron shan & jonas balkar #brotp: spyboys #image heavy #i have no excuse for this #other than someone told me to do it #swtor #fanfic #greyfic

61 notes · View notes