Part Two
When he saw Sabine Wren at Skystrike he realized just what rebels he was transmitting to, and he wondered if Sward, Fulcrum, whatever his name was, was happy with the irony. No one else could be sent to Skystrike Academy because they didn't have anyone else who could fit in so perfectly. Kallus didn't even need to volunteer, Pryce ordered him as part of the investigation. He interviewed the cadets thoroughly, he was still a thought policeman, and his training easily pointed out who the defectors were. He looked over their backgrounds, their connections or lack thereof, saw the commonalities that made them ripe for a Rebellion. His questions were subtle, their answers serviceable. They knew why Kallus was there and tried to hide their intentions. Kallus was no fool, but Pryce was, and she did not notice the small details that pointed out their defection.
Instead he noted that there were no obvious candidates and watched as Sabine Wren was transferred into the academy with nary a hiccup, saw on the surveillance feeds as she hooked up with Cadet Antilles.
And he watched as Pryce had the glimmer of competence and capture Wren and the defectors.
Kallus watched as Wren was outed, and he very carefully did nothing, did not acknowledge that he knew her, did not give her more than a passing glance. She, however, glared at him unhindered by the layers of intelligence going on, spat vitriol at him even as he debated how to let her go without giving himself away. She was a part of Zeb's crew and he would not be even indirectly responsible for her death.
Wren, however, proved to be as capable as ever, beating Governor Pryce and taking the defectors with her. Kallus tracked their positions on the surveillance he had linked to his personal holo. No one on this base knew how a Lothal Rebel escaped, but he did, and they were going to get caught all over again if he didn't intervene. Adrenaline was in his system again, and he pursed his lips and rushed to intercept, closing blast doors, giving them a small window of opportunity.
All three looked around in confusion, but Wren was quick, reacting to the barest perception of movement and leveling her stolen blaster at him. Good girl. Kallus lifted a hand up quickly.
"Don't shoot."
She was defiant, taking better aim. "Give me a good reason not to," she challenged.
… He wouldn't trust himself either, if the situations were reversed. He still didn't trust Fulcrum completely, but he trusted this moment, this decision. "Avoid levels three through five," he said simply, articulating himself clearly so all three could understand him as he pressed the release on one of the blast doors. "Hangar Twenty-Four if your best possibility."
The cadets were happy for the news, running almost immediately, but Wren was still the smartest of the group, had never lowered her blaster, was still glaring daggers at him.
"Wait," she called to her compatriots. "Why should we trust you?"
Oh, there were so many ways to answer that question. But she didn't know everything, even Zeb didn't know everything, and he couldn't out himself as Fulcrum. So he said:
"Tell Garazeb Orrelios: We're even." Her eyes widened. He stepped aside. "Go."
Wren escaped, and he hoped that was the only time he physically met the Lothal Rebels. He got away with it because Thrawn was elsewhere, but he could not afford to ignore identifying them more than that.
He waited three days after returning to Lothal before driving up and transmitting to Fulcrum.
"Sward here. Why are you transmitting? You have coordinates to your closest branch."
"I understand," Kallus told the accented voice. He'd identified the sector but not yet the planet. "I wanted to report the success of the mission."
"Your branch will make that report."
"Forgive me for being thorough," Kallus said, slightly irritated. "But there is another concern. The factories on Lothal are complete, and there is a section that I do not have clearance to get reports on. There are several possibilities as to why, and none of them are good."
"I understand. I'll pass it on. Fulcrum out."
"Fulcrum out," Kallus signed off.
With the factories complete, work began immediately, and once work began - secret section or not - Kallus could get Lyste to share the delivery manifestos and supply requirements. It took the better part of two months to have enough data - while doing so he found out about the dissident presence on Mykapo, and given Commander Sato's origins he forwarded the intel immediately - but from there he could reverse engineer what materials were "over-supplied" and take an educated guess one what was being worked on. The list of materials was diverse, and had several overlaps, but when Kallus cross referenced the surplus with known Imperial war machines the closest he came to were TIE fighters. Only there were several other quantities that didn't immediately add up. That was concerning, but by this point he had enough evidence to make a transmission, and let the Lothal Rebels know that someone needed to return to Lothal.
Other reports, of course, had crossed his desk: the high volume of malfunctions on speeders and other equipment for one, and when he traced the vehicle numbers he saw that they were all locally made. Pryce might ignore that detail, but Thrawn would not, and he prayed the Chiss Grand Admiral would not notice it for just a little bit longer, even forty-eight hours, enough time for whoever Sato and Syndulla sent to sneak in and sneak out.
But Thrawn did notice, in fact paid particular attention to everything to do with the factory, and decided that an inspection would be necessary.
"Agent Kallus, make sure that the workers are all present and accounted for."
"Yes, Governor Pryce," Kallus said calmly. He walked through the rows, mentally counting and comparing to the personnel reports he had on the factory. The numbers were accurate, either no one had come yet or someone had taken someone else's place. Smart to leave the safety visors on, too, if it was a known Rebel face. "Look sharp," he said, eyeing no one in particular. "This factory is being honored by a surprise visit from Imperial High Command."
And in breezed the Grand Admiral: slow, confident walk, arms behind his back, perfect posture; the epitome of Imperial perfection. "Thank you, Agent Kallus," the Chiss said in suave politeness. He looked to the workers. "My visit is not an honor, however, but an investigation. Vehicles in this factory malfunction at a rate far higher than that of others. I believe poor craftsmanship is to blame; and it has cost your empire troops and missions. This will not be tolerated."
Kallus' attention was split between watching Thrawn and watching the workers. The Grand Admiral had not said what his plan was, only that he would do an inspection and the fewer details known the more impact it would have. Thrawn singled out one of the workers. Fifty-four-seventy-three. Kallus would have to look up the name later. He watched as one of the speeder bikes that had been put on display was pointed to, Thrawn asking for a demonstration. Kallus could predict the rest of the show – he had done similar fare before transferring to Lothal: make the worker responsible for the sabotage demonstrate the sabotage, punish accordingly and have workers self-test their products.
But that was not what happened.
Thrawn would not let 54-73 shut down, took his control 'pad and took the demonstration to its inevitable conclusion: the speeder exploded, taking 54-73 with it.
Casual murder. To make a point.
"Now that I have your attention know this:" Thrawn said, voice only slightly louder to get the attention of the other workers. "Whatever you build here you will test personally." The Grand Admiral reached up to flick away a piece of ash. "I expect your malfunction rates will drop substantially."
Several workers were ready to fight, others bereft at the rage of the injustice. Kallus ruthlessly compartmentalized, forbade himself of thinking of Lasan and the slow deaths of the Lasat, reminded himself that he was here for a reason and that he could not speak up.
"See to it that no one leaves or enters the facility," Thrawn told Pryce and Lyste, moving away from the carnage, "I wish to inspect the line for sabotage."
That was his cue, and Kallus quickly moved to follow the Grand Admiral. He dared not look behind him to see what the workers were doing, he could not afford them his attention. If Thrawn was so set on this facility that meant that whatever was being built here was a personal project and it was imperative that he learn what it was as soon as possible.
They moved to the next hangar, and Pryce offered what she always offered: bravado.
"Grand Admiral, you don't think that the Rebels have infiltrated Section A-2 as well, do you? The secrecy of that project is-"
"Is imperative," Thrawn countered, still marching ahead. "Which is why I've ordered anyone attempting to enter the area without my personal codes to be terminated on sight."
Damn. Damn that would make Rebel work here forfeit if they could not get into that wing of the facility. Kallus' brain entered overdrive, trying to work out a way to get even the slightest sliver of information to help the Rebels when they arrived. "I can question the workers," he offered, "but I won't know if they're lying without more information about this new project." He added a bit of edge to his voice, a subtle dig to Pryce that Thrawn wouldn't miss and likely draw conclusions contrary to Kallus' true motives.
Pryce fell for the dig of course, cold blue eyes snapping to the ISB agent. "All you need to know," she said contemptuously, "is that the Admiral has a new fighter initiative here."
Interesting.
"A new fighter?" Kallus repeated. "Difficult to see how one small ship will change much."
Pryce didn't answer; rather, Thrawn did. The Grand Admiral had taken offense to the derision and Kallus bit the inside of his cheek, realizing he had just put himself on the Chiss' radar.
"Victory and defeat are determined by the smallest detail," Thrawn said smoothly, congenial and oily. Kallus chaffed: that had been his exact wording on several reports when he had been trying to get Minister Tua to pay attention to the information he was giving her to find the Rebels, and having Thrawn so casually toss it in his face was a low blow. The Chiss looked up to one of the walkers, and those red eyes missed nothing, narrowing at something and adding: "For example, take this walker."
Kallus looked up at it, but he did not come from an engineering background, did not know what he was looking for.
"Is this your work?" Thrawn asked to a worker.
"Yes, sir." Kallus looked to the worker, suddenly having a dread premonition. "I oversaw the walker's construction."
And unlike in the speeder warehouse Kallus was not a witness, but a participant, taking Thrawn's command 'pad and inputting the code to make the walker step forward, indirectly displaying its sabotage and signing off on the worker's certain doom. With Lyste locking down the workers, Kallus was left to dig up personnel records (Sumar, the worker's name was Morad Sumar; farmer, political allies of the Bridgers before their capture) for review. The two liaised and went to Thrawn's factory office.
The inside was littered with holo depictions of art. Kallus saw portraits of the Syndulla family from Ryloth, Bridger's holo-id from when he infiltrated cadet training, ancient paintings native to the planet, and the graffiti the Mandalore girl was so known for. Thrawn was studying them with the intensity he granted anything that had his attention, and Kallus knew he would have to show more competence that he was comfortable showing in front of the Grand Admiral.
"Lieutenant, what can you tell me about this?" He gestured to the graffiti.
"Uh, it looks... like a section of the retaining wall, sir."
Oh, Lyste, you will never amount to anything.
"Agent Kallus?"
"It is the mark of the Phoenix Squadron," Kallus replied. He had done his research when he first landed on Lothal. "A creature of light, rising in flames: a symbol of their commitment to victory."
Lyste openly gaped at him before making a fist, internally growling at his obvious failure.
The admiral's reaction was quite different: A slight smirk. "It is that," Thrawn agreed, "and more. I've seen it everywhere, marking territory. It is a commitment, but to this world specifically. These rebels have an attachment to this place and will always return." Damn again, Thrawn understood how important Lothal was to the Rebels, maybe not yet to Bridger specifically, but he knew, and that would not lead to success. "So, have you found more subversives?"
"Actually," Lyste said, and Kallus very nearly closed his eyes to the bad news. "Sir, we've lost some. Two workers went missing after your speech... we found their uniforms."
Then the Rebels were already here. He would have to make this quick... Kallus stepped in. "I am confident we will locate them once we issue and alert." And let the Rebels know they had been found out.
"No I think not," Thrawn said with a casual dismissive gesture. "The defectors will have new disguises by now; they'll hide as technicians or troops to gather data and escape."
"So," Kallus drew out, "You think the rebels are more than just saboteurs?"
"Indeed I do, Agent Kallus. These rebels are after information, likely heading to Section A-2. Secure it."
… He had to get the Rebels out of here before they got themselves killed.
Kallus happily followed his orders, gathering as much data as he could about stormtrooper movements and scanning heat signatures of troop placement. He found two that were standing in a hall, not guarding anything. The Rebels. Kallus moved to intercept, mind racing three steps ahead to make this look good. He boarded a lift to take him to the right level. If they were in disguise he could simply escort them to the perimeter as part of the sweep and have them conveniently over take him. Failing that he could allow their capture and break them out later – that was riskier though. Maybe he could contact Fulcrum and engineer the breakout that way. He could also-
The door opened and there were the two Rebels, a stormtrooper and scout, and a droid.
"You two," he ordered, "come with me to secure the perimeter."
The pair barely exchanged a glance before entering, the droid following. A stormtrooper called out to wait but the lift door closed. Damn again, they would attack him now unless he outed himself. What was the point of being an insurgent if someone knew who you were? Only Fulcrum knew his identification, and Rebel Command, and that was all he wanted. He took a deep breath. "Don't move, Rebels," he said in a low voice.
Much later, on reflection, he would realize that was perhaps not the right thing to say. The taller one threw a sharp punch, the smaller following up, and Kallus threw a fist of his own and there was grappling and gripping before he was able to suck in a breath and talk.
"Listen to me:" he said quickly. "I am Fulcrum."
"Ha! Yeah, right." Bridger? Ezra Bridger?
"You want us to believe that?" the tall one said.
Kallus worked his jaw. He would have to delete the footage of this lift. Entire sections of recordings would have to be doctored before he submitted his reports for this. "By the Light of Lothal's moons."
He had promised himself he would never utter that phrase on an imperial base, and Bridger and his partner had forced him to compromise that promise. His chest ached, and not from the struggle, and he watched the surprise flow over the two as they took off their helme—Kanan Jarrus was alive? How did he surv—what happened to his fac—what happened to his ey—what happened to his sight? Kallus did a double take, and that was all he had time to process before Bridger expressed incredulity. The pressure of the moment forced Kallus to ignore the revelation – they had to move quickly and there wasn't time to explain or talk or do anything other than survive the next few hours. "Your friend Zeb trusted me on the ice moon, I saved Sabine Wren at the fighter academy, and now I'm trying to save you. But you have to trust me."
The C-1 droid affirmed the thought in binary. Kallus would take what he could get. "Your droid trusts me."
"Yeah, that's not a good thing," Bridger said in a flat voice.
"... Fine, you want to help us so badly, we need to get a signal to our friends," Jarrus said, face bent down slightly, milky eyes staring at nothing. What was he even doing here? How could he even walk straight? Kallus shook the thought off.
"Then we'll have to move quickly," he answered instead, palming the lift and changing the departure floor. He opened up the console and searched for the security wiring while he was there, pulling the lift's camera and deleting everything after the initial scuffle; let Thrawn think he was still fighting in the lift. "Chase me when we get off," he said, "I'll lead you where you need to go. I assume you can knock out a few technicians?"
Jarrus had already put his helmet on – a relief to not look upon the scars, and Bridger gave a dark, predatory grin as he lowered his scout helmet.
The fight, if that's what it could be called, was efficiently brutal, one of the Jedi shoved a trooper into Kallus and against one of the console tables while the other used a captured stunner to subdue the room. Kallus was decidedly not used to being on the losing end of a fist fight and was indignant – Bridger was flippant to his attitude but Jarrus was all business, checking the troopers to be sure they were unconscious. Good man.
"Your droid can open your comm links from this port," Kallus said. "I'll provide the access codes-" But the droid gave a dismissive warble, the binary just as flippant. "He doesn't... need them?" Kallus was surprised, learned something knew about the Lothal Rebels that he should have known earlier. "This C-1 of yours is quite efficient."
The droid puffed up in pride, and Bridger rolled his eyes.
"Figures Chop would get along with an Imperial spy."
If the derision was supposed to be a dig, Kallus ignored it, his eyes were on Jarrus now, contacting someone on the outside and quickly forming a means of escape. The ISB agent suggested the east vehicle pool, and he finally allowed himself to breathe now that the Rebels had a means out of the factory. While they were escaping he could dig through the surveillance footage and do the scrubbing he needed, most of which could be done here... "Now I just have to make this look convincing," he muttered to himself.
"Okay," Bridger said helpfully, and suddenly Kallus was flying through the glass display and into another console table.
He was stunned for several minutes, stumbling to get his bearings and swearing he was going to kill Bridger for that damned transmission that had made all of this happen. When he properly came to he saw the two technicians trying to get up as well. Kallus ran a bloody hand through his hair, shaking out the worst of the glass and hoping he didn't need stitches as he crawled to a terminal and began calling up security monitors.
"What are you doing?" one of the troopers asked.
Kallus rolled his eyes for show. "I'm learning where the Rebels went," he snapped, hunched over his terminal so they wouldn't see what he was really doing. "It looks like they went to the east side of the facility, maybe you should start heading there!" Once they were gone he downloaded the last hour of footage per protocol and erased the original files to prevent tampering from outside sources. On his 'pad, he opened up the files and scrubbed the sections he needed – bald luck had given stray shots to the general cameras locations and Kallus had planted enough evidence in his life as an ISB agent to know how to filter video and make it look natural. Once his work was complete he started writing his report; Lyste arrived at one point and was stunned to see the injuries Kallus had suffered and helped him to one of the factory bays that was being used as triage for the stormtroopers. Kallus saw none of the worker's bodies present, and he knew he would have to look that up before his next transmission. Bridger would want to know what happened to his family friend Morad Sumar.
No stitches, but several bandages and bacta patches for his back and his neck, as well as pain relievers that he quickly disposed of. In a fresh uniform and hair once again slicked back, he and Lyste reported to the governor and the grand admiral. Kallus first: starting with Thrawn's orders to secure the perimeter to finding troopers to being assailed by the troopers in the elevator, escaping to the communications center to get word out where the Rebels were, and being knocked through the glass display. Lyste followed up with handling the id code verification, seeing the report of the stolen walker, and sending two AT-ATs to retrieve the Rebels before a speeder with a rocket launcher of some kind arrived to save the walker and facilitate the daring escape.
Thrawn absorbed the report as he did everything else: intense red eyes, closed off face, and finally a thoughtful hum.
"That will be all, lieutenant," Thrawn said, "dismissed."
Lyste looked relieved, and Kallus quietly wished his life were that simple. "Agent Kallus," Thrawn said, "I read your report; several troopers confirmed your encounter with the Jedi, it was very helpful." Out of context, the sentences was simple, even complimentary, but Kallus by now knew Thrawn well enough to hear a demurring "but..." in there, and he realized that scrubbing the surveillance footage after just coming to might have made him make a mistake. "Do you know," Thrawn said casually, "after analyzing the Rebel's escape it's clear to me they had help from one within our Imperial ranks."
Pryce, bored up to that point, immediately snapped to attention. "The Rebels have a mole? Then all personnel must be interrogated! This spy must be found!"
"Patience, Governor," the Grand Admiral said, "Acting out of emotion will not serve us here; we must wait, and watch. And when we find our Rebel spy – and we will find them – we shall turn them from an obstacle to an asset. Wouldn't you agree, Agent Kallus?"
Kallus could only answer one way: "Your strategy is without flaw, Grand Admiral. As always."
Once they were back at the capitol city Kallus looked up more on Sumar and his family, gathering the information and then triple checking that his access couldn't be traced. He cleared all his reports and scrubbed every datapad he had ever touched, then pulled out their cards and switched them with other 'pads just to be safe. He waited a standard week before he felt safe enough to drive to the communication tower. He didn't transmit to the Lothal base but rather to Fulcrum's channel, Joreth Sward, if that was his real name. The other Fulcrum picked up right away.
"Clearance code."
"By the light of Lothal's moons."
"Why are you contacting me? You already have a branch connection."
"I do, but a concern has come up that I don't want them to know," Kallus said, rubbing one of the long healed cuts on the back of his neck. "Thrawn has surmised that there is a mole in the ranks. It will take me much longer to verify my information, and even then some of it might still be forfeit."
A long pause. Then,
"Do you need an extraction?"
Kallus stared at the transceiver, stunned that someone had even asked that. Treason was always a game against time; Kallus had lived on the other side of it over and over, tracking, trailing, waiting only for the traitor to make a mistake, for the insurgent to miss some small detail. Now an insurgent himself, he knew it was not a question of if, but when he was caught. Thrawn would have always found out, and with him on the trail the only thing that changed was how fast the proverbial clock was ticking down. But... Evac? Evac? Save his own skin when he hadn't been discovered yet? When he could still help Zeb and the others? When he could still do more to erase the terrible things he had done? "No," he spat. "I've some time left, and I want to put it to good use."
"Fulcrum," the accented voice said. Fest, that was the accent of people from Fest. "You forgot what I told you. Do whatever it takes to stay alive and don't think too hard about what that actually means. This is the only time I will repeat myself: do you need an evac?"
… Do whatever it takes to stay alive. Kallus had done that, a lifetime ago, had done whatever it took to achieve his goals, had stepped over people because that was the way of the Empire, and therefore that was the way of life. He as only just now seeing the costs of that way, and Morad Sumar was a victim of that line of thinking. He would not continue down that path. He would not let bad things happen if he was in any kind of position to fix it. He could not be ignorant after Zeb had opened his eyes.
"No," he said simply. "I don't need an evac."
A pregnant pause draw out, the Fulcrum on the other end obviously mulling that over. "As you wish," he said finally. "It'll be on your head."
"Also, I have some information one of the Lothal Rebels, Ezra Bridger, might want to know. Be sure to pass it on to him."
"As you wish," Fulcrum repeated.
Kallus alternated from being planet-side to on a star-destroyer, bouncing from overseeing security of the factories building the new class of TIE fighter (the rebels passed on their stolen intelligence to everyone) he was guarding to offering insight and analysis of rebel activity throughout the sector. The factory work was easy after Thrawn's demonstration of power, and rebel activity throughout the sector focused mainly on trying to determine the location of their base. Garrel had been easy to identify – even without that Inquisitor witch it was obvious they were working out of some kind of space port in order to resupply so quickly. It wasn't that Thrawn was better than Kallus – everything the Chiss Grand Admiral did was straight forward and by the book – the thing that set Thrawn apart was the speed at which he drew conclusion and conjecture.
Send out probe droids?
No, instead send infiltrators, something innocuous and easy to pick up by a band desperate for any kind of supply they could get – even droids. Kallus very nearly couldn't find an excuse to go planet-side in order to send off the warning, and then it was back to the star destroyer waiting for all the droids to report back, watching their negative findings with equal parts relief and anxiety that the next would would instead report something dire. Kallus could not tamper with these droids, all data was uploaded immediately to the Chiss' chambers.
And then one of the droids came back, and exploded.
Whatever Kallus had expected when he warned the Lothal Rebels, it hadn't been that. Even ignoring the sheer destruction that had been wrought, the message sent was clear: try all you want, we still won't bend. We take your tactics and turn them against you. Kallus felt his heart lift at the sight, and had to quickly turn the adrenaline to anger to cover the smile that threatened to spread across his face as he demanded to know what happened.
There was, of course, the report to the Grand Admiral.
"How did this happen, Agent Kallus?" Thrawn asked, for now tone neutral.
"I suspect the Rebels captured a unit in the field and reprogrammed it to self destruct upon its return to base," Kallus said. "Quite... ingenious, really."
Thrawn smiled. "I'm inclined to agree," he said simply.
…? No frustration? No reaction to his of defeat? "You seem... in surprisingly good spirits, considering this loss," Kallus ventured carefully.
"Loss, you say?" Thrawn said softly, just a hint of condescension in his voice. "The Rebels may have protected the location of their base for now, but in doing so they have narrowed my search:" He changed the view of the holotable, before a list of blue planets now shifting to a zoomed in collection of ominously red spheres. "Before today they could have been hiding in any of a thousand a systems but now... now I know they are almost certainly on one of the ninety-four planets surveyed by my infiltrators. The Rebels have won this battle, but the war will be ours."
… A game against time, and Thrawn didn't let any mistake go unwasted.
Kallus nodded, and risked asking a question: "Any leads on the Rebel mole?"
"None as yet, but do not worry. I have a plan that will be enacted shortly."
Kallus dreaded what the plan might be, and he wondered in what other ways he could plan to delay (not prevent, there was no hope of that, just delay) his discovery. He rode out to the communication tower, Lothal's moons in different states of waning gibbous, eyeing his transmitter. Pacing back and forth, he considered his options, but really he needed a fresh perspective.
"Clearance code."
"By the light of Lothal's moons."
"This isn't a good time. What do you need?"
Kallus blinked, realized that the Fulcrum on the other side had a life. "Advice, but if you are busy it can wait."
"... I have a few minutes. What do you need, Fulcrum?"
Kallus pursed his lips, choosing his words carefully. "The Grand Admiral will soon be beginning his investigation of a mole under his command. How would someone throw off suspicion?"
"... That depends," the voice on the other side said. "What kind of plans have you made?"
"I have a cover for making these transmissions, a go-bag here, in my office, and in my quarters and four different ways to escape as needs be if I'm given sufficient warning. All information I deliver is accessible by multiple people to dilute the possible suspects, and-"
"Do you have a patsy?"
Kallus frowned, having never heard the word before. "A what?"
"A patsy, a fall-guy, a person to throw under the speeder."
… Oh. "No... I had not thought of that."
"From one Fulcrum to another you'd better think on it. If you're going to survive you have to know who you're going to sacrifice in advance, but still be prepared to do it to anyone who's convenient."
Pryce would be ideal, Konstantine after that, but the idea required thought. "Suggestions on a good candidate?"
"Someone without imagination, who can be easily manipulated, and is on the same clearance level or above."
"Understood. Fulcrum out."
Kallus went back to his quarters and pulled out his 'pad, looking not at reports but personnel records to pick a patsy. He wondered if the phrase was unique to Fest. Pryce and Konstantine were both easily manipulated, to be sure, and of a higher clearance level... Pryce had a hint of imagination though, or else she would not have become governor, nor would she have managed to capture the dissidents at Skystrike Academy. Konstantine would be better but he had no access to the reports on the Lothal factories, making his chances of being a mole improbable. He looked through the rest of the personnel reports – there were several good candidates in the communication and information sections of ISB, but none with the right clearance or section of reports. Lyste was a decent choice, and even looked up to Kallus, besides, and had all the right access, but a little dull to be believed as a mole.
He was up to the wee hours of the morning, looking at and making lists of names, memorizing faces and identification codes, ready to begin a deeper look to choose for a patsy.
He followed Fulcrum's advice, and religiously didn't think too deeply on just what he was doing.
Author's Notes: Since there's a lot of advice from "One Fulcrum to Another," we necessarily need to go through the events of Rebels itself. That's a little boring - we've done novelizations before and we were decidedly not interested in committing that much brain power. However, Kallus has a very limited view of the series - stuck on Lothal as he is - and because of that we could gloss over quite a bit. His priorities are significantly different from people like Ezra and Kanan, and he has the ability to tune things out if he doesn't need it while his brain is in overdrive. The next chapters are a little lcok-step as a result, but we insert small nuance and extra lines here and there without completely breaking the slightly faster pace of this fic compared to the AC novelizations. This chapter alone covers three episodes, but the next chapter is almost entirely its own beast.
Next chapter: Kallus gets surprised enough to swear. A lot.