Spoiler Alert This story is not recommended if you do not want spoilers of the Imperial Agent story in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Watcher 7 walked down the corridor of Imperial Intelligence Headquarters, pleased to see several aliens on staff. As of only a few years ago Intelligence was comprised of Humans, a Sith species Pureblood and himself, a Chiss. The pureblood was a female called Zeeltra whom was non-force sensitive which was very unusual for her species. Because of this abnormality she was forced to pursue a life in the military or Intelligence. She had spent around ten years training to be a Minder and a further four years applying for a post at headquarters until she was finally accepted just to have another potentially useful asset. She had been given the designation Minder 9 and had been working at headquarters for eight years. Unfortunately for her though she was a disgrace to the Sith species and would never be allowed to rise to a greater position in the Empire. Unlike her however, Watcher 7 was a Chiss from Phase I of the Imperial Eugenics Program. He had deep blue skin and bright red eyes. His black hair was medium length and he wore a cybernetic implant around the bone of his left eye. The Imperial Eugenics Program was created fifty years ago when the Empire felt they needed an edge over the Republic. It had taken seven years to come to fruition but had been a major success. There had only been one Phase for a long time but another batch had eventually been created with the people ready to join the ranks of Imperial Intelligence in less than a years time, where there would be another twenty twenty-five year olds working as Watchers and Minders. In Phase one however Watcher 7 had been the only alien experiment just to appease the Chiss Aristocracy, which had provided the Empire with critical information and supplies during the war, which had come to a truce twelve years ago. Although, even though Watcher 7 was an alien he had been the most successful subject and was the only one chosen for trialling the Cybernetic Implants that the Imperial Technological Bureau had developed which were around eighty times faster than any other implants in the galaxy. Because of the speed of the processing only an enhanced mind could use them which meant he was the only worthy candidate. So far he was the only person to have them but there were more being tested.

Watcher 7 had been working in Intelligence for twenty years now and was now forty three. As a Chiss he had a lifespan around that of Humans but the Eugenics Program had modified his genetics which increased his lifespan to around double and enhanced his cognitive abilities, memory and intelligence. He was an adept at Slicing and finding tiny hidden pieces of information in the Holonet, which was what made him very good at his job. He was also enhanced in more ways than the other subjects in his phase, which was all to do with keeping the Empire on the Chiss' good side. They had made him very good at cellular regeneration, his DNA was very quickly repaired from any damage, he was stronger and quicker than most people and could fire a pistol with extreme accuracy. He was cold, acted on his instincts and he was not scared to take stupid risks if he could see them paying off later on.

When Watcher 7 had first started he had immediately risen to the most respected Watcher within the first few weeks which was unprecedented for any alien in Imperial history. Since then he had worked hard to prove to the Empire that alien alliances were something to be considered should they want to destroy the Republic for good and keep hold on the galaxy. The Empire had not changed by much, their prejudice still very much prominant, but there were some signs of change. One example of that was the fact that he had been created by the Empire from a donation of Genetic material by the Chiss Aristocracy. The other big example was the fact that more aliens had just been employed in headquarters, which was a big deal indeed. This view that Watcher 7 held was very different from most Chiss which was what made the Empire and the Chiss allies. Both of them believed that they were superior to aliens and held their Xenophobic ideas very closely. As Watcher 7 neared his desk he recounted that he had seen two Twi'leks, another Chiss, and a Duros called Lodenth, who had been working here for five years and could understand just about every major language in the galaxy, and even speak most of them. There were also rumors that the Technological Bureau had employed a dozen Anomids but he had heard no confirmation on these whispers as yet.

When he reached his desk and sat down he scanned his hand-print and his voice print to access his terminal, then imputed his password to unlock his account. Security was tight, and nearly impossible to breach. He began checking through his messages and found a priority from Keeper that said he wanted a meeting in a few hours, and about another hundred from various informants from across Balmorra, Nar Shaddaa and Quesh. He began listing down those he needed to pass on relevant information to and sent off an acknowledgement reply to the informants. After three hours he noticed Watcher 5 get up from his desk and walk over to him.

"So, busy day or are you just pissing around with a few reports to waste some time?"

"I'm not pissing around, I'll have you know I always make full use of my time" replied Watcher 7 sarcastically. "Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Going through some reports of Sith activity for some other important Sith. After about five minutes it just becomes pointless. They all stab each other in the back anyway so why bother using us to spy on the other Sith, just kill each other and leave us to fight a war so they can keep making power plays."

"You're never one to talk carefully about the Sith, are you?"

"Nope. I don't see the point, because I'm the one they need to get their data handling done, they're not going to kill me. Hopefully."

"Well, I suppose you have a point there. Anyway, anything interesting in those reports worthy of gossip?"

"Unfortunately not. Its just file after file of dull Sith movements. I suppose to them its useful but for us its just an inconvenience from our real work."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway, I'll need to get moving, I have an important meeting with Keeper to attend in five minutes."

"Oh, well don't let me intrude on your fun. I'll just be over there, boring myself to death for another eight hours before I go home, while you get an interesting task to boost your career."

"Ha, you're such an ass sometimes" Watcher 7 replies jokingly.

Watcher 5 walks back to his desk and Watcher 7 locks his terminal and heads over to Keepers office, which is just around fifteen meters away and is very convenient as he is often called to undertake vital and interesting tasks or operations. Keeper was a human male at around fifty years of age with grey hair . He had been a Watcher for four years before becoming Keeper as he had been the longest serving member at the time as there had been plenty of retirements at that time. His predecessor had been Keeper for around three years and before that a Minder then a Watcher for a total of four years, which was unusual however nothing too suspicious was evident. He had risen quickly to the Minister of Intelligence, which was the highest position in the Empire that a non-Sith could achieve and had served very well, with so little experience beforehand.

Watcher 7 knocked on Keepers door and waited for four seconds before entering.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, come in Watcher 7. Now, I have an important operation which I need you to undertake along with Cipher 8."

"What is it, sir?"

"For about a month now we have been intercepting messages between the Director of the Republic SIS and an SIS agent named Ardun Koth. We don't have any specifics what it is Koth is doing but he has been putting together a team and has been granted operational freedom. I want you to get Cipher 8 into his team and find out what Koth wants."

"How long do I have to get him in?"

"Their mission begins in a few days so I'm going to let you use the infiltration plan I set into motion nearly a year ago. After the mission the SIS pulled on Nar Shaddaa last year I decided I wanted to have the ability to get someone into SIS very quickly so I had Watcher 1 begin sending messages as an anonymous Agent that was wanting to defect. From that point they would receive information every two weeks that gave them the ability to strike at some of our small supply depots without being caught. Over time we have begun sending more information and now we have their trust. We will now need you to use this to get Cipher 8 into the team."

"This doesn't sound too hard."

"I'm sure it wont be, for you. But a mission like this can be demanding for the Agents carrying them out. Will Cipher 8 be able to cope or should I choose someone else?"

"No sir, he can do it fine."

"Good. There is also one other thing I want him to do. Watcher 1 has been intercepting these messages and has noticed something odd. In the messages there have been several mentions of an agent with the codename "Hunter". Six months ago, during Operation Ice-freeze, a recording was found by accident that had an agent, codename "Hunter", being given orders to maintain his cover in the SIS for a further six months. It is unlikely to be a coincidence which means we could have some other group of people also working against the Republic. I would like to find out and see if we can form an Alliance with them if possible."

"OK, so Cipher 8 is to get whatever it is Koth wants and find out more about this "Hunter"."

"Precisely. Any questions?"

"No sir!"

"Good, then you can go. Dismissed."