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Author	Topic: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
BigE Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 7/23/07 12:03pm Subject: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Title: The Recruit Author(s): BigE Timeframe: Saga Characters: OC’s named Artaan Chalste and Boon Harken Genre: Action Summary: Imperial Recruiter Artaan Chalste signs up Boon Harken, a failed business man with a shady past who is down on his luck. July’s Essential OC challenge, brought to us by the illustrious Luton_Plunder, is as follows: Your OC is about to make a shocking discovery. The object/person/droid they have seen everyday for years is going to turn out to be something very different from first impressions. Is their fiance actually an underworld hitman? Is their hairy, burly partner in crime really a ballet dancer? Is their airspeeder really a 40-foot robot? Whatever the case may be, will your OC like this sudden change...or will they hate it? Artaan Chalste sat in his chair, shifted his weight to his right side, placed his elbow on the gray desk and rested his head in the palm of his hand. His left hand, feeling left out and in need of something to do now that the right was busy propping up his head, began to twirl a pen. He struggled to keep his eyes trained on the hapless man sitting on the other side of his desk, for despite the sad tale the man had an unnatural ability to drone, and so his gaze occasionally strayed back to the small room although it was certainly no more interesting. He looked over the same gray Imperial fliers posted on the same grayish bulletin boards which graced the same old gray walls. A lot of gray, but that’s the Empire for you. He quickly glanced down at his uniform. Yep. Still gray. At least I am color-coordinated with my surroundings. The Empire seems to despise non-humans, which is a philosophy or mindset that I don’t agree with personally, but, I can envision how misconceptions and the like could result in that kind of thinking. What I don’t get is why they have an issue with color in general. I mean: black, white, gray - bland as can be; how about a little teal, or perhaps a splash of orange? Artaan imagined himself painting the walls in a muted crimson. Isn’t the garb of the Emperor’s Royal Guard similarly colored? How could they argue against that? He then imagined getting dragged to a cell for violating the Empire’s color harmony scheme. Nah. It’s just not worth it. He shook his head at the thought. The man, with his five-o-clock (yesterday) shadow, workman-like clothes, and keen blue eyes suddenly stopped his droning, and looked panicked. “What did I say? I didn’t just hurt my chances, did I?” He reached out to Artaan as if begging for alms. “I really need this. I lost my job four weeks ago. I’m going to lose my house soon if I don’t do something. We’ve known each other a long time, mister Chalste. Isn’t there something you can do for me?” He’s breaking my heart. It was a gloomy tale, not unlike so many others uttered in this petite office. The gentleman was trying pretty hard to plead his case as needy – this was the fourth time that he’s mentioned that he lost his job four weeks ago. He also mentioned more than once that he recently felt no other option but to sell his speeder. Thankfully he doesn’t have a family. That was one of the things that made him a candidate. An annoying candidate, but that doesn’t matter to me; I just get these people through their first step. “No, sir. I was just thinking about…someone else. Sorry.” He was right about knowing him, although we are more like acquaintances. Our paths crossed on occasion, back when we were both experiencing the height of our respective careers. I owed the man nothing, certainly. My decisions had to be based on qualifications alone. Still, sad accounts can steer my heart. One of my flaws, I suppose. Artaan stood with a grunt. Smiling, he extended his hand; the man took it. “Congratulations, mister Harken. I believe you’ll find that you are about to embark on yet another life changing course.” Harken shook Artaan’s hand enthusiastically. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” Artaan walked him to the door, trying not to limp too much. He patted Harken on the back as he crossed the threshold. “You’ll be notified soon with information as to what to do next.” He waved as Harken walked off, with a seemingly increased pep in his stride. The poor guy; years ago during the Old Republic he was a successful businessman, making trade runs in the Mid-Rim and enjoying a nice profit. In those days I worked as a hired ‘gun’ in security assignments for the Trade Federation. His work typically fell within my assigned sectors, and so his ships were often inspected by my unit. In time we would manage to have a cup of caf, when I was off-duty of course, as his vessel was awaiting approval for departure from whichever dock or base the inspections were being carried out. After the Empire took hold of the galaxy taxes, trade restrictions, and the loss of power from the Trade Federation caused him to lose his gains against larger firms which had ties to the Empire that a small businessman couldn’t hope to compete against. It didn’t help that this little dirtball planet called Neywaul was located in a part of the Mid-Rim that was far from standard shipping lanes. At the same time the Trade Federation lost a great deal of power due to their association with the Separatist movement. At least they lost enough to no longer desire to hire out skilled security teams to patrol shipping lanes. I ended up recruiting with the Empire, and joined their ranks. The economy here on Neywaul has joined Harken in degradation since those days. That’s what makes this a great place for an Imperial Recruiter, like me. Isn’t the Empire a cause of this misery? Oh, certainly, at least in part, so why would anyone want to sign up to become a part of the grand machine? Well, what does Neywaul have to offer that’s better? What does anyone have to offer that’s better? Hope for a brighter future, that’s what is needed. I make it my life’s goal now to do just that. Artaan looked to the fliers on the wall: The Imperial Academy, The Imperial Navy, The Young Imperial Marines, the Imperial Infantry, and even certain small branches of the government including Imperial Financial Services. You name it, if it’s part of the Imperial Government, I can recruit for it. The main draw is military of course. Harken was a pirate in his youth, before going legit with his own shipping business. He knew space faring, and had experience with a blaster. Harken’s background was less than legal, but he had hoped for leniency in return for joining the Empire. He asked for a low-ranking military post, hoping that his skills honed from his illicit past would be an incentive. He’ll get something better. Artaan drew out a comlink. “Womprat 2, this is Womprat 1. I have a nut for you to harvest.” He received a single click in reply, signifying an affirmative. “Two days. Copy?” Another click. It was getting late, the sun began to set casting violet highlights onto the wispy clouds, and the city began to fall into shadow. Soon Artaan would have to close up the recruitment station. It was a relatively slow day. Several people stopped in, most were not good candidates at all. He tried to be professional whenever he spoke to the lowly hopefuls that would walk through his door. He was also very keen to their eyes, their body language, and their stories; especially the stories. Word on the street was that there was a contingent of Rebels in the city. Artaan had to be alert; one never knew if the next angry young man seeking a new career path was not all that he seemed - that there would be more than meets the eye. ***** Two days went by with all of the thrill of a Bantha taking a long walk across the desert sands. There were few Neywaulians (humans of course, not that native sentients) who stopped by, and fewer yet who Artaan could consider to be a reasonable candidate for recruitment. This was a horrendously boring job. The office had a HoloNet terminal, which was naturally only allowed to visit Empire-sanctioned sites, and a stack of reading material that Artaan read through several times already. This is my reward for services rendered to the Empire: Years dedicated to the infantry, slugging it out with criminals, petty despots, rebels, and smugglers; and thanks to a knee injury and an admittedly poor choice of words toward a commanding officer, and I’m granted a slate gray hole in a city devoid of optimism. So I disagreed with the slaughter of a criminal’s family; as far as I was concerned they were innocent. They children didn’t know what their father was engaged in, and the wife was blissfully ignorant, or at least was pretty adept at blocking it out. The CO, not caring for my outburst, ensured that I received little treatment for my knee injury, and helped push through his request to have me sent here, where I can see even more the fruits of the Empire’s labors. “So now I get a new occupation – recruiting more souls into the system. How grand. At least I get to put my own little wrinkle into things,” he muttered to the smattering of dust motes floating in the stale air, reflecting the orange hue of the setting sun. The front window and door gates closed concurrent with the arrival of dusk. Naturally, the gates were gray, and completely solid, as opposed to the iron bars that some of the establishments on the street used when closing up for the night. This afforded a great deal of privacy. “Now the fun begins.” Artaan went through the room, turning over the Imperial fliers on the wall. Out of the bottom right desk drawer he pulled out a heavy cloth material; this he draped over the desk. He followed the same procedure throughout the recruitment office, including covering the filing cabinet and rearranging the location of most of the lightweight furnishings. The room was lit by a singular modest yellow light fixture in the center of the ceiling, with some track lights mounted in such a way that they cast indirect white light; the track lights were aligned with the side walls. He dimmed the overhead yellow lights, and strode to a modest switch mounted by the back door. The illumination of the ambiance lighting provided by the track units transitioned from white to shades of red. It wasn’t the cheeriest color, but it was at least a contrast to the typical dull yellow lights, and it made picking out particular features of the room difficult. He opened the lower drawer of the leftmost filing cabinet (again, gray) and pulled out a spacesuit helmet, and a padded jacket. He donned the headgear and activated the vocal modulator, so that his voice would sound nothing like his own, but much tinnier. The padded jacket would make him appear much heavier. He paced the room, ensuring that all was ready before bringing the comlink to his lips. “Ready.” Artaan lowered the translucent blast shield, sat on a modest stool and faced the back door. After a minute passed, the door opened and two burly men, dressed in common Neywaulian garb, led a ragged, blindfolded third person into the room. The sightless guest stumbled after the two chaperones let go, and he fell to his knees. “You may remove your blindfold,” Artaan stated. The man did so. He looked around bewildered. “Welcome,” Artaan greeted, trying to make the tinny voice sound as warm as possible. “You are Boon Harken, are you not?” Harken nodded. “I believe you and my two friends here have had some interesting conversations lately. You are somewhat disenfranchised with the Empire, hmmm?” Harken nodded again, but with reservation. He looked as a trapped animal. Then he spied the posters on the wall. They were promotions for the Rebel Alliance. “I did it,” Harken laughed. “I found you at long last – the Rebellion!” “You’ve…you’ve been seeking us out? How can this be, since we happen to know that you have visited an Imperial recruitment station just two days ago?” This was an unexpected revelation. Artaan’s goal was twofold: to forward onto the Empire those who were actually quite unsuited for any military position, or at least suggest die hard Imp-lovers to posts that would keep them out of a position which would cause the Rebellion harm; and to find those who had skills but were just seeking a means of living and purpose, and it was that sort which Artaan strove to divert to the Alliance. To have someone request a career in the Empire, and yet claim to be seeking out the Rebellion – that wasn’t something he had encountered before. Boon Harken stood to his feet, smiling faintly. “Ah, well I had given up you see. I went to bars and taverns, social clubs – you name it. I tried being subtle, after all the last thing I needed to do was announce myself as seeking the Rebellion, only to find myself being arrested for being a traitor to the Empire.” Artaan thought he saw a twitch when Harken concluded his explanation; and the near-vagrant didn’t often look at him directly, but continued to scan the room with darting eyes. He addressed the men flanking Harken. “Verify?” The man to Harken’s left answered. “He speaks the truth. Boon has been seen several times dropping hints that he desired to make a connection.” “Very well. Welcome to the Rebel Alliance, Mr. Harken.” Artaan stood up. Harken extended a hand, expecting a handshake from this mysterious host, but Artaan instead reached into a pouch in his belt. Harken looked uncertain. “You’ve gone through this already with our two friends here, but please understand that this is a mere formality I like to engage in,” Artaan continued, drawing out a scanner. “I like to use redundant checks for security purposes. After we leave this place, we’ll take you to another facility for further processing. The Rebellion can’t be too careful in making new recruits.” “Yes. That is wise,” Harken hoarsely replied, as Artaan’s scanner issued a yellow light, accompanied by a wail. The rebel to Haken’s right quickly inspected his own scanner, not understanding how his could detect nothing while Artaan’s did. He thought that the power cell was fully charged that morning. The man felt a sharp pain to the base of his skull, and fell into darkness, but not before finding that the power cell was no longer in his scanner. Harken quickly dispatched the Rebel to his right, and using the surprise granted by the sudden change in activity managed to land a kick to the midsection of the Rebel on his left as well. The impact caused the Rebel to double over as he lost his breath. It provided Harken just enough time to disarm him, and take the man’s blaster. Artaan had a bad feeling about this as soon as Harken expressed his desire to find the Rebellion, but dismissed it as unwarranted suspicion. He found himself wasting too much time frozen in shock as the man who so recently seemed disheartened and beaten down had quickly dispatched the two Alliance escorts. Artaan struggled against the padded jacket, trying to reach his blaster. He cursed his lack of foresight. In an effort to disguise himself, as a form of protection for himself and of the Rebellion, he had failed to take into account that the costume made for poor access to his hip holster. He should have been holding the blaster at the ready. By the time he grasped the weapon, Harken had the escort’s blaster in hand. Artaan and Harken trained their respective blasters upon one another simultaneously. “Well,” Harken sneered. “It appears we have something of a stalemate, don’t we?” “I suppose so.” “Doesn’t matter. I don’t care for stalemates, if you recall. I play to win.” Harken’s intention couldn’t have been made more clear. Artaan fired. His aim found its mark, the blaster bolt striking Harken in the gut. He fell clutching his midsection with a howl. Artaan only vaguely noticed this, for he also fell to Harken’s blast, which thankfully only struck him in the shoulder. It hurt like hell. A nerve must have been badly damaged. He couldn’t maintain his grip on the blaster. It fell, adding a metallic clatter to the sound of both men grunting in pain. He was about to pick it up, but was blown back by another blast which struck just under his ribcage. “If I die…you’ll die with me,” he could hear Harken croak. As Artaan lay on the floor, he saw that Harken was bleeding rather badly. It would seem that only the two men who accompanied the spy would survive this day. He wanted to reply, but couldn’t find himself able to do more than just try to breathe. He wondered if Harken had joined the Empire, much as he had, or if he was still the struggling businessman he portrayed himself to be, selling himself out to the Empire he despised so much just to make a credit. The red light of the room was darkening into deeper shades of crimson. Soon the world would be black, and he felt the calm assurance of rest greeting him. He peeled off his helmet so that Harken could look him in the eyes. Harken’s eyelids fluttered, but there was a brief hint of recognition, and a low laugh that only managed to surface as a gurgle. Ah, he’s conscious enough to recognize me. Blast! If only I could give him one pithy comment before he dies. If only I could throw back in his face the fact that the transmitter he’s managed to conceal will do the Empire no good. There’s nothing in this room that can be traced back to the Rebel contingent on Neywaul, and the two men who are even now shaking off Harken’s attacks will have escaped before any Stormtroopers arrive. You’ve failed, just as the Empire we’ve both served at one time or another continues to fail the galaxy it purports to keep safely governed. Artaan managed one final smile before succumbing to Death’s warm embrace. The End -----signature----- Not charging for Awesomeness. Gentlemen's Writing Guild 'Shipwrecked' challenge: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30481486/r30519170/ psst: It's "crazy good", says a source.
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Onoto Registered: Oct '04	Date Posted: 7/24/07 4:51pm Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Cool story, BigE! I'm quite partial to stories about Imperial recruiters. -----signature----- A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems. ~Paul Erdos
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whiskers Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 8/22/07 7:21pm Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Great story and a fine entry to the challenge! Artaan's a good character; shame he's dead... -----signature----- No Signature Needed
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Luton_Plunder Registered: Jun '06	Date Posted: 8/23/07 12:06am Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	I very much enjoyed this one, BigE - The idea of an imperial recruiter who funnels people to the rebellion aswell is brilliant Kind of like a guy who's trying to shape the universe as he thinks it should be, assigning people to the roles he decides would be best. A bit grandiose of me but I like the concept I really liked his internal monologue, too. It gave alot of insight, especially as things got toward the conclusion. The final piece was just great - way to tie the attack into the bigger picture. Great take on the challenge, and extremely well executed! If you'll excuse the pun. -----signature----- The Essential Guide to OCs. Say No to Mary. http://boards.theforce.net/fan_fiction_resource/b10304/25562370/p1
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VaderLVR64 Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 8/23/07 6:43am Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Superb! Two days went by with all of the thrill of a Bantha taking a long walk across the desert sands. There were few Neywaulians (humans of course, not that native sentients) who stopped by, and fewer yet who Artaan could consider to be a reasonable candidate for recruitment. This was a horrendously boring job. The office had a HoloNet terminal, which was naturally only allowed to visit Empire-sanctioned sites, and a stack of reading material that Artaan read through several times already. This is my reward for services rendered to the Empire: Years dedicated to the infantry, slugging it out with criminals, petty despots, rebels, and smugglers; and thanks to a knee injury and an admittedly poor choice of words toward a commanding officer, and I’m granted a slate gray hole in a city devoid of optimism. So I disagreed with the slaughter of a criminal’s family; as far as I was concerned they were innocent. They children didn’t know what their father was engaged in, and the wife was blissfully ignorant, or at least was pretty adept at blocking it out. The CO, not caring for my outburst, ensured that I received little treatment for my knee injury, and helped push through his request to have me sent here, where I can see even more the fruits of the Empire’s labors. Incredible OC! -----signature----- R.I.P John, Alex, Jason, and Christian Never forgotten Soldiers' Angels http://soldiersangels.org/ 2114 soldiers waiting for someone to care
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BigE Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 8/23/07 8:07am Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Onoto – Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. Any coincidences are purely coincidental. whiskers – Yeah. I’m afraid I had him shot up a bit too much to recover…unless I do a crossover where we find that he’s actually Wolverine. L_P – I’m glad you enjoyed the premise. I think Artaan’s motivation is derived by both a change of heart and revenge. It works for him. I like the puns – puns are good. VaderLVR64 – Thanks!! Artaan has been quite well received. Pity I killed him off. -----signature----- Not charging for Awesomeness. Gentlemen's Writing Guild 'Shipwrecked' challenge: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30481486/r30519170/ psst: It's "crazy good", says a source.
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Commander-DWH Title: Shiny Fan Fiction Manager Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 8/23/07 1:38pm Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Great response to the challenge. I especially loved the observations about the Empire's colour sense, and the thought of being dragged to the detention block for violating their colour palate. Great OC. This story was definitely a good read. -----signature----- Complements (KOTOR)- http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/21177927/ Luminosity- http://boards.theforce.net/before_the_saga/b10475/27900517/ Barefoot hippie in the OC revolution Master of the lovely and talented SoA
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Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 8/23/07 6:39pm Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Ooh, we get two separate transformations in this one--the Imperial-to-Rebel, and the recruit-to-spy/sellout. Nicely done. It wasn't until the second read-through when I knew who was who that I caught what I believe are some double meanings in some of Artaan's thoughts in the first part of the story. I really liked how Artaan was using his Imperial recruiting post to put a "wrinkle in things," as he put it. That's a darn cool idea. The little sneak. I was sad to see Artaan get killed. I was really liking him by the end. The color contrasts between the grey at the beginning and the red at the end were also very neat. Excellent job, BigE! -Thumper -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799
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BigE Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 8/24/07 4:31am Subject: RE: The Recruit – Essential OC July ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ Challenge
	Commander-DWH – At my workplace there is actually a group which concerns itself with ‘color harmony’. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say that the well-known black/white/gray color scheme Mr. Lucas employed for the Empire would no doubt have been enforced by some department overseeing such things – ensuring that their beloved color scheme was followed. I thought it would be amusing to have the main character bemoan the lack of variety. I’m pleased that you liked it! Thumper09 – Ah, thank you for noticing: yes the two main characters both had their ‘transformations’. I’d like to think that there were two other significant transformations in the tale: the recruitment office changed from an Imperial station to that for the Rebellion, and Artaan himself ‘transformed’ in a sense when he donned the disguise for the interview. After Artaan spent some time grousing over the drab colors of the Empire, I thought the contrast was appropriate. -----signature----- Not charging for Awesomeness. Gentlemen's Writing Guild 'Shipwrecked' challenge: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30481486/r30519170/ psst: It's "crazy good", says a source.
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