Taneka

Taneka tapped their carved cane twice on the frosted training grounds of The Dojo, a signal Ushirou knew meant 'again'. Before the kid, missions were simple: get in, get the intel, get out. Taneka navigated the empire's shadowed corridors with a grin and a well-placed lie, their loyalty only to the contract, not the cause. They found Ushirou huddled in the ruins of a collapsed safe house, a mission gone sideways. The contract was to retrieve an object, not a person. But leaving the small, determined chimper behind felt like a failure Taneka's charm couldn't talk them out of. So they broke the rules and brought Ushirou back. The cane that once tripped up guards is now used to demonstrate a parry. The work is still in the shadows, but it's no longer a solitary game.