He sighed heavily, letting his mind take a moment of rest before he fired up the engine of his boat to get off this rock. Only once in his life had he been on this catastrophic planet, and he was far more than ready to get off of it after experiencing what he experienced just now. The entire mission had taken a day just to track down where Malcolm Reynolds came from, and it took another half day just getting information that he found useful. The girl that opposed of him gave a fight, but both he and she knew that the teenager was far from her league with the Operative. He had taken pleasure in taking her down, but he had a feeling she'd bounce right back after a few days, hating the Alliance even more now. Shadow had proved to be a place with...not necessarily unhappy memories, but memories that he could do without. The first time he ever set foot on a planet that was not affiliated with the Alliance in any way possible was the place he'd first began his training as an Operative. Back then he was known with a name, one that was well known throughout all Core planets. Caleb Andrews. The name was so distant that it was a miracle that the Operative hadn't forgotten it. He suspected that in due time, he would lose his memory of it. And he had trouble figuring if that was a good or bad thing. Only a few times had these sincere thoughts actually ran through his mind, it was odd that he'd think such things after interrogating someone, it was something that rarely happened and surely not ritual. After questioning someone and getting the answers he wanted, which hadn't failed to be accomplished yet, he's leave feeling quite triumphant and a little more ego inflated. He didn't know what it was...perhaps the teenager had gotten to him before even he realized it? Or maybe it had to do with this entire thing of capturing Malcolm Reynolds and taking him to the Alliance. And to put quite truthfully, the Operative was quite interested in what they wanted the Captain of Serenity for. That was enough to make him hesitate to bring him in if he ever found him. Hell, the Operative was quite interested in the man, period. He had a record of being quite intriguing and the Operative was very much looking forward into finding him.Another heavy sigh passed from him, but this time accompanied with a sly and mischievous smile, the Operative heated up the engine and took off, flying his ship through the atmosphere and into the blackness of space. The thoughts that ran through his mind as he put the ship on auto-pilot to head to Persephone (where he has been known to drop off at many a times) contained of the girl that he met while on Shadow. The girl that he shot two holes in, though he fired twice. The girl resembled him in some ways, with her stubbornness and her foolish bravery. He was quite like that when he was that age, it had been his first year in the training camp for future Operatives and he was very much a rebel, despite being raised to adore and worship the Alliance. Though he had been a firm believer in the Alliance and fought for them for a short period of time during the Unification war, he had to wonder sometimes as to why his allegiance would waver. It did not happen too often, but he had to notice that it did. The last time happened when he was speaking with Admiral Jiang. The small, little corner of his mind had to hold the doubt that maybe all this time the Alliance was incorrect and that the Browncoats were right. He shook his head as he sat in the pilot chair, his stature and sitting position quite relaxed. No one was inside the bridge besides him, he had no reason to keep up appearances. The girl back on Shadow had served quite interest for the Operative, which was interesting, as he'd never seen anyone with such wildness or found anyone who would be able to intrigue him like she did. What she said, what she did, how she did it...it was all interesting and, to put quite frankly, the Operative was very satisfied to have brought her down. To have made her hurt. She looked as if she'd been hurt before, but that didn't matter. As long as he was the cause of it, he found it quite ego-inflating.
He swirled his chair around and exited the bridge, going down after realizing just a moment before that he was hungry. It'd take about two days to get to Persephone, which was good. As he wanted to get this job finished so that he could go about his own business and do what he wanted. He didn't necessarily hate being on the job, he just found it consuming, and even sometimes hard. But he knew that every time he finished a mission, he found his ego bursting even more and a satisfied grin spread across his face, that triumphant glow in his eyes. This is what he lived for after all. He then caught sight of the passenger rooms and remembered that Lin Yao had tagged along with him. There were only two passenger rooms, including the two crewmember rooms. The ship that he owned operated very quick and was very small, just the thing he needed, since he liked to work alone. Normally, he did operate his job individually and if anyone else besides the Companion who really had no place out here or any significance to coming, he would have turned them out flat, not even bothering with giving a reason as to why. But Lin Yao proved to be a different circumstance, when she had approached him asking if she could come along with him, the Operative was very surprised. And he couldn't even remember the last time he'd been surprised, everything that happened had been predicted...if something surprised him, it was a definite something. He was so taken aback by her request and he nodded without even realizing what he was doing. And when he realized that she really was coming with him, he didn't really know what to do but to let her come along. He hated teamwork and he didn't like the fact that someone else was intruding on his territory, but then...he did find some perks with her aboard. She really was something to look at.
After two days of being in the air, the Operative and his ship had landed in Persephone. The almost desert-like planet was welcoming to him, as he'd been here several times before. The people here were scared and submissive, they did what he told them too. The hot sun only came during the summer and the cold nights only came in the winter. The markets were always filled with produce and the people would give him food or any merchandise for free after realizing what he was. The Operative even liked the fact that it contained criminals and savages and smugglers and bandits that weren't so stupid to get themselves caught like the other planets in the 'verse. The only thing that was wrong with Persephone was the fact it had very loose ties with the Alliance, although that was changing by the day. The planet had been tightening it's rope to the Alliance, making the people there have knowledge of the Alliance and the planet developing more and more each day the sun passes. He exited the ship, briefly wondering if Lin Yao would follow him, or keep her princess self on the ship. It didn't matter though, she proved to just be there, not really bothering the Operative, which was of use to him. The dust kicked up on his shiny shoes again as they did on Shadow and he gave another sigh and rolled his eyes. He will have to ask people around for anyone who knew who Malcolm Reynolds. He was sure they could give any information that he could need in order to track this captain down. Ever since reading the file, the Operative was anxious to know what Malcolm Reynolds was like. He sounded very proud and arrogant, he sounded distant and cold, and he definitely hated the Alliance. Even from viewing his criminal record and profile, the Operative was quite sure that he would have much fun when he met Malcolm Reynolds.
Would he find what he was looking for in here? Probably, but then, Persephone was quite an unpredictable planet, perhaps he wouldn't be able to find what he was looking for. If that were the case, the Operative would be deeply offended and have no other lead to go by since this was the only tip that Mrs. Reynolds had given him. And when the Operative was offended, he became angry. And the mixture of anger and the Operative was not a good drink to swallow. Only one person would have proof to this however, because the Operative rarely ever actually got angry. He was trained to control and manage his emotions, anger was among the first ones to control (and, ironically, love was another top priority.) The person who got him angry found himself in nothing when the Operative took him onboard his ship and locked in the airlock as he broke atmo. The man became as thin as paper, as he had to squeeze through the very small gap between the airlock and the opening to space, while he sucked right through the two pieces of metal and probably choked to death for five seconds while staring at either the very black space or the Operative's ship flying right on by, seeming not to really notice that there was a man there dieing. People had to understand that the Operative was not a man to play games with, especially when he was in no mood for one. And thankfully (or perhaps not thankfully), most people were able to understand that from just glancing at him. He was well aware that he put fear into people and he was well aware that they would go out of their way to avoid him. At first he found it revolting how the people automatically deserted him, but now he finds it amusing and enjoyable. They were like wild animals, scattering around the moment they are aware a human was walking in the midst of them. The Operative found it funny and he loved he was the one giving that effect.
"Me...a bounty hunter? No. You really call 'em how you see 'em slick. Yeah...I guess you can call me that. However, I like to think of myself as more of an entrepreneur who brings balance...the kinda the balance that requires pulling the trigger."
Caleb looked down his nose at the man's rough hand as he brushed at his shoulder. It was easy for him to disregard this obviously untrained man because Caleb's own superiority was only that much more apparent by comparison. The smile on his face, however, was quickly replaced by a straight line, his gaze hard and even. While Caleb was familiar with this sort of underling pecking order -one of the reasons he was allowing himself to mix with such a common blooded man- he was not going to stand for disrespect. Even the most uneducated man should know his place and Caleb would have to be the one to teach it to him.
It was obvious. The Operative did not like this man, and he made sure to show this to the bounty hunter. No words were needed; if the Operative allowed it, the man would be able to see it on his face; if the Operative allowed it, anybody can see what the Operative was feeling and thinking just from his face alone. He had to show the man that he was only letting the smartass remarks slide on by because he managed to find an advantage to having him around. If the Operative hadn't found any reason to keep him alive, he would be dead within the first moment he'd first spoken. He had a license to kill at his own will, he needn't even a real reason to kill in the first place. This man should consider himself lucky that he's standing there with his head held almost as high as the Operative and his pretty mouth flapping about complete nonsense on what he thinks is important.
There were many resemblances to the people on one side of the dusty road and the people on the other. When the Operative saw someone at one side of the road, then turned around completely facing opposite of where he first faced, he found the same person in front of him. Of course, there was no way that person was able to move as fast nor as quiet, but the Operative couldnt help but notice that everyone looked the same as he walked through the roads. There was no one who particularly stood out to him; there was no one who caught his attention. Not even the bounty hunter who was pacing himself behind the Alliance super official had a striking different feature other than his clothing. As far as the Operative could see, he was the only one who stood out, the only one different from everyone else. Which caused people to go out of their way to stop and look (if not stare) at him. Not that he minded, being adored by people who were not used to the appearance of the Alliance this far out of the planet might give them a sense of what could really benefit them.