Angel peered discretely over the stacked crates in the Nar Shadda warehouse. Even in stealth, the young Jedi Shadow kept a low profile. One never knew when these warehouses had stealth detection droids, she thought, better to be careful. Luckily, her strong Force connection let her remain in stealth longer than many other Jedi, even able to go hours undetected. Thank you Mother, she thought warmly, appreciating the fact that the Sith Lord had shown her how to enhance that skill.
She'd learned she was the offspring of a powerful Sith and a former pirate almost a year ago and was still getting used to the idea. Along with tawny brown skin and contrasting silver hair and eyes, she discovered she'd also inherited her father's daring attitude and her mother's rebellious streak. She'd even found herself adapting her mother's sense of style, noting that it was easier to move in leggings and short tunics than long flowing robes.
When her parents presented her with the choice Angel decided she didn't want to be Sith, and would stay with the Jedi Order for the time being. So she kept her Imperial connection hidden and regularly volunteered for covert operations, figuring it was best to stay out of sight and out of mind.
Besides, the secret missions felt natural to her; she'd trained to be a Shadow, and the shadows were where she preferred to be. It allowed her to use the skills her mother had taught her and her father's underworld connections while still working for the Order. She chuckled to herself when she thought of how the Order and the Republic would react to her resources if they knew about them.
Dropping her stealth field, she pulled out her macrobinoculars and focused them on the group below. There were Imperial officers scattered among Nikto mercenaries, but that made it easy for her to find who she'd been looking for.
"Caught you," she murmured as she zoned in on the Selkath Ambassador and snapped several holos of the clandestine meeting.
There had been rumors of Ambassador Gre'ann stealing the relief funds the Republic had provided his planet of Manaan, then turning around and using them to support the Empire. But Manaan was a natural source of kolto, the healing fluid essential across the galaxy, which meant that the Senate wanted to be especially cautious about accusing the Ambassador of being an Imperial supporter. They needed proof of the Ambassador's dealings to remove him from office and had asked the Order if someone could look into the matter with the utmost discretion.
Taking holos of the Ambassador's activities would be easy, Angel thought, for some reason she excelled at uncovering the hidden. She could wrap this mission up quickly and pay a surprise visit to her parents' Nar Shadda home.
They'd be delighted to see her. Encrypted holo conversations meant they could stay in regular contact now, but face-to-face meetings were kept to a minimum to avoid arousing suspicion. Neither she nor her parents thought the Jedi would appreciate her Sith associations, not to mention how the Empire would react to a Dark Council member having a Jedi daughter. For now everyone involved agreed their relationship should be kept under wraps.
Finishing up with her holos, she took a deep inhale of satisfaction and she caught a warm scent, like heated herbs. She froze, slowly looking behind her while casting her stealth field. At first she saw nothing, but as she watched she noticed a slight blur in the dim light. Before she could react, an invisible body rolled into her with a resounding 'Oof'. With the wind knocked out of her, she dropped to her knees and froze again.
Motion creates sound, her mother taught her, better to freeze and get your bearings than give away your position.
She heard a light pattering on the crate, the sound of a hand testing the surface and she knew whatever had rolled into her was trying to discern where she was. The warm scent she'd smelled was closer, helping her pinpoint which direction it'd come from.
Without warning the blur solidified into a muscular body and she found herself looking into the strong features and swirling red eyes of a male Chiss. His rich blue skin, distinctive to his species, blended well with the shadows and his short indigo hair looked tousled, giving him a rakish appeal. The epitome of a handsome devil, she thought with a smile, too bad she was trying to avoid him.
His red eyes were still scanning the area but Angel held her position. Crouched next to her, he looked mildly puzzled and she saw his hands test the surface of the crate again as if wondering how it could be soft one moment and firm the next. He moved forward until his face was so close that Angel could feel his breath puff on hers. She tried shifting back to avoid his searching hands, but her tunic made a soft rustle. His gaze shot to where she was, and she pressed her lips together to silence her gasp as his hand lashed out and grasped her arm. Still locked in a crouch, she was surprised to see an approving nod.
"Very good," the Ziost accented voice muttered, "Your silence just bought your life. A lesser agent might have given away our position."
An Imperial Agent, she realized in shock. Not wanting to reveal herself, she only made a soft affirmative murmur and he tugged her arm carefully, pulling her beside him. She noticed that the scent she'd discerned was coming from him.
"Upgraded stealth I see. I'll have to look into that, yours seems more effective. I appreciate your discretion, but that won't keep your Watcher from getting flung over. Hebras is my target, I'm taking him out," he informed her before muttering, "Too many agents in the field, they don't even realize they're doubling up on assignments. That's the Empire for you."
"Should I leave then, Agent?" she whispered, unsure at how he'd react to her lack of accent. His eyes darted to where she was and she was surprised to see his lips quirk.
"Cipher, actually, Cipher Sixteen, so I'm sure I outrank you. But you can stay. Getaways work better with someone to watch your back," his hushed voice was smug, "Besides, you may learn something."
Great, Angel groaned inwardly. A Cipher, one of the Empire's elite agents, and an arrogant one as well. His overconfidence could buy her time though, he assumed she was in stealth because she was an agent
As she watched he pulled several metal pieces from his pack and began assembling them into a rifle. His words sunk in and she realized she was about to witness an assassination. Her training insisted that she couldn't let it happen, while her instincts told her to hold her position.
"Hebras?" she repeated the name he'd mentioned, "Not who I was sent for. Didn't they send you for Ambassador Gre'ann?"
Cipher shook his head as he lined up his sight. "No, we still have use for him. I'm taking care of his Imperial connection. Major Hebras is getting sloppy and pocketing most of the funds he's supposed to be retrieving," He shot a disgusted look to where she was still invisible. "Remind me to speak to Keeper about making sure agents are better prepped for these missions."
So the Empire had no qualms about eliminating their own, she thought while shaking her head. But it didn't escape her that her and Cipher's missions were almost identical. They'd both been tasked to handle corruption in their faction, her way just happened to be less lethal.
She watched as he hunkered over his rifle, and looked to where he was aiming. The Ambassador was still speaking with an Imperial officer, a florid, bloated man oozing self-importance. If anyone could be done away with, a little voice in her mind spoke up, this corrupt man could and you wouldn't have to expose yourself.
'A Jedi's first concern was to preserve life.' The voice of Master Tho spoke clearly in her head, and Angel knew her late Master would've been disappointed if she'd just watched the man be killed. For you Master, she thought and took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve as she began to look for a peaceful solution.
Touching Cipher causing him to miss might clue him into the fact that she wasn't an agent. Then as she looked down at the assembled group, a risky idea formed. She watched closely as Cipher's finger tightened on the trigger. Just as it pulled, she sent a push into the group knocking them back and sending Cipher's blast into the warehouse floor.
"K'pah!" Cipher exclaimed softly, "I don't miss, what happened?" But before he could line up another shot, alarms rang out. The assembled group started to scurry while the mercenaries were pointing up at the direction the blast had come from.
"Looks like we'll be making that getaway after all, Agent. Follow me," Cipher said as he grabbed her arm. He clicked a small unit on his belt and was rendered invisible as he pulled her towards the stairs.