Elsewhere in the galaxy, on Dromund Kaas…
"This was necessary."
It wasn't phrased as a question, but the newly appointed head of Sith Intelligence, Lana Beniko, answered nonetheless. "Yes," she said, as Darth Marr sat in front of her, paging idly through her report. Though she answered to the Dark Council, her office reflected her elevated status. Bright red banners blazoned with the Imperial logo flanked the walls to either side of her desk, which was itself one of the most technologically advanced pieces of machinery in the Citadel. It granted her unrestricted access to the Intelligence Archives, and she had already begun collating some of the available data, using it to expose over a dozen remaining Revanite loyalists who survived the initial purge. "Given his surname, the likelihood that Theron Shan and Grand Master Satele Shan are related was within investigable probability."
"It is the custom of those in the Republic to name orphaned children after their war heroes."
"Yes, my Lord. However, you must agree that any amount of leverage we might gain over the head of the Jedi Order was worthy of pursuit."
"I would see him break."
A screen turned on behind her and the video began to play. There were over eight hundred hours of footage, but she advanced it to the point Marr referred to. She had shied away from watching it at first, but repeated viewings gave her a better understanding of the power she was entrusted with. It allowed her to embrace it and to quell any feelings of remorse for those who truly had none.
She knew without looking what Darth Marr saw. The former commander of Imperial Intelligence was stripped and suspended, upside down, in an organic, rack-like restraint system. The flesh of his right arm and calf were melted away, exposing where his cybernetic replacements joined with bone. He was marked with cuts and burns of varying depths and ages over the rest of his body, the shallowest of them already in the process of healing. His artificial left eye had been crudely excised, its socket crusty with blood. The remaining eye's pupil was a pinprick; the mix of chemicals being pumped into his system included xebonica and mangoriza, as well as several powerful sedatives. It had taken a platoon of Imperial soldiers to subdue him, twelve of whom were dead with another five seriously injured. The loss of life was acceptable, but could have been prevented if Lana had known then about Cipher Nine's pre-programming, a blame she shouldered willingly. Even in this state, his limbs still jerked with mechanical regularity against his bonds, seeking a weakness to allow him to escape.
A needle-like tendril snaked out and plunged in a hole drilled into the agent's temple. He remained like this for several minutes until, from out of camera range, one of his interrogators approached him. He was taller than Cipher Nine by several inches, with hair so pale it appeared white and dressed in an immaculate lab coat. He allowed the Commander time to become aware of his presence, before withdrawing a syringe from one of his pockets.
The room echoed with the growing shrillness of the audio feed until Darth Marr called a halt. "Enough."
Lana Beniko froze the playback. "As you have read in the transcripts, my suspicions were proved false. Theron Shan is a highly capable agent for the Republic and nothing more. The questioning did confirm him to be the asset known as 'Technoplague', named so by Darth Acina. I cannot say I'm surprised," she added, "given the facility he displayed on Manaan and Rishi. This also links him to the destruction of the Ascendant Spear and the deaths of Darth Mekhis and his protégé Darth Karrid."
"Then we have learned nothing of value." Marr tossed the thick file onto Beniko's desk.
"The Commander confessed to multiple indiscretions with Shan that violated standard protocol regulating such interactions." Lana reached for the report and shuffled it away into a drawer.
"Unimportant. It was not Shan whom he called upon for release." The Dark Council member stood. "How soon before he is able to return to the field? Darth Imperius has begun asking questions. I would provide the answers he seeks, before he goes looking for them on his own. He takes a peculiar view of methods such as these."
"I'm told he will require several weeks' worth of kolto immersion before they believe the physical damage is repaired. IX serum was administered as part of his recovery and he has been re-primed with the same set of keywords, to further enforce previous training."
"Release him now. His ship is equipped to meet his needs, and it is unlikely those ministering to him fully comprehend his capabilities. Time is being wasted, as are his skills." Marr turned to go. "Be wary, Lana Beniko. Our operative understands his place as a slave in the Empire, but he wears the collar for a reason. Jadus perhaps understood him better than any of us, which was why he fitted him with it in the first place. Yet, Darth Jadus is dead and Cipher Nine lives. Take care he does not survive you, too."
"Of course. I will take precautions."
"Good. He will not forget who issued the order for his detention and neither should you." Darth Marr was almost through the doorway before he paused, silhouetted in the dim light of the corridor beyond. "I trust you have a plan in motion for the nullification of Theron Shan?"
"Yes, Dark Lord. I do."
Author's Note: I drew some of the "historical" details this story references from Drew Karpyshyn's novel Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation (the Ascendant Spear and Darth Karrid). It's a book I highly recommend. Thanks also goes to Wookieepidia for all other things Star Wars related that I simply didn't know enough about and had to look up.
The universe belongs to George Lucas, Disney and Bioware (and whoever else, now) as I'm honestly not sure where Theron and Satele fall now as far as the expanded universe. It seems as if anything that pre-dates the Clone Wars series is still generally considered canon, which makes me happy. Arren and Sandor are mine.
A brief explanation about some of the things alluded to in the story, that I consider fixed in anything else I write involving Theron and Sandor going forward.
1. Sandor replaced Theron's tooth with one of his own. This means that, eventually, the robotics that infuse Sandor will be transferred to Theron. This sort of grafting was tried previously by Imperial scientists, but the protocol allowing for the technique to be successful was something Arren was very careful about. There is a story lurking somewhere involving how the two met and their relationship (and what brought my Imperial Agent to this point, 300 years later, including how he became indentured to the Empire).
2. Sandor's programming was removed in Bioware's IA story arc and Lana's re-use of it has no effect on him.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I've done my best to proofread and check for errors, so if something's amiss, it's all on me. If you're so inclined, please feel free to review; a critique is as valued as praise.
