Author's Note: HEY YOU! YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU! I KNOW YOU SKIPPED LAST CHAPTER'S AUTHOR'S NOTE! GO BACK AND READ IT!
-Present-
Warmth.
Joy.
Embrace.
Goodbyes.
Hope.
Ignorance.
Disappointment.
Emptiness.
Longing.
Cognition.
Reality.
Former Imperial Agent Cipher Nine awakened with a loud gasp. He bolted up right, his breathing labored, his forehead damp. A sharp, burning sensation shot up his spine and he gave a brief cry in pain. A strong hand was placed on his chest, pushing, trying to lay him back down. He batted the arm away from him and moved to his feet, ignoring the protests of his body.
He walked towards the end of the balcony, placing both his crossed arms on the edge, gazing at the rainy sky in front of him with soft and quiet longing. His head looked down at the rain fall. There he stood, under the dark grey and black cloudy night sky, the rain beating down on him.
Lighting shone distantly behind the horizon backing the agent, illuminating the sky as well as his pained face and red eyes. Then the thunder following that finally clasped. The rain drops poured harder on the wet city and on the creatures outside of his stronghold.
It only took a few seconds before the recollection of that day came over him like a wave. He barely remembered anything about him, but he could still see his face. His smile. The same smile he had before his departure that last evening. The last time he ever saw his father. He could still hear him saying, "I'll be back before you can say, 'I forgot you left'!". But he never returned.
He felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned to find his comrade and friend Taren behind. Beyond him, kolto containers and medical supplies littered the chamber. "What happened?" The cipher asked, bewildered. He had no recollection of anything in the past 72 hours ago, and that was saying something.
"You don't remember?" The mercenary asked, concerned. "Darth Marr sent us on an operation. We had just taken control of the bridge when someone set the cruiser to self-destruct. We got caught in one of the explosions on our way to the hanger bay. Me, The Wrath, and Nox were fine, but unfortunately you took the brunt of the explosion."
Ah, it was all coming back to him now. The Justicars had somehow commandeered aHarrower-class dreadnought, one in Marr's fleet. He and Mako were slicing the system's computers when someoneremotely set the dreadnought to self-destruct. Which was odd, considering cruisers don't do that. "How long have I been out?"
"... eight days." He said gravely.
"What?"
"Eight days. You got pretty banged up by the explosion. Plus, The Wrath kept dropping you on the way to the ship. He's good at killing people, not trying to save them. Nox had just stopped by to check on you about an hour ago. By the way, when you started coming to... You were muttering something, then you started groaning, then you started kicking... Same dream?"
"... Yeah... Same dream."
"You know, i'm pretty sure it's not normal to have the same dream for seven years—"
"Yeah, I know."
"... And the old man still won't say anything?"
-Flashback in third person view (Author's Note: Wait, that possible? Hmm... Just go with it for now: End of Author's Note), Two years ago-
Cipher Nine quietly cleaned his rifle as he waited in Keeper's office. The Minister of Intelligence had summoned him, and from the way Kaliyo was so suddenly whisked away to be interviewed at such short notice, this was something important. Speak of the devil. The Minister walked into the office, an Astromech droid trailing just a few meters behind him. The agent stood at attention. Not as a show of respect. Not as proper protocol. It was something he was used to, and he did it unconsciously. To be honost, he was having mixed feelings at the moment. And he found himself constantly resisting the urge to just shoot the man.
"This isn't my office anymore," the Minister began. "But Keeper is occupied and I thought we should talk. It's been a long time, agent."
A small part of him was glad the old man was still alive. If he was still the loyalty-blind operative he was a year ago, there would be some much he would want talk to him about. But he didn't come here for small talk. "The new Minister of Intelligence. You climbed up the ladder pretty fast... Right in time for my physical exam, too. Let me guess, the IX serum was administered during my immunity shot, am I right? You signed off on my brainwashing." He accused.
The Minister hesitated for a brief moment. He obviously hadn't expected that topic to arise so soon... But he didn't object. He instead turned to the astromech. "Remote?"
"SCAN COMPLETE." It replied. "NO LISTENING DEVICES FOUND."
"Broadcast mode. White noise, ten minutes, then leave." He ordered the droid before turning back to the agent. "Yes, I did approve of your programming. I also know you stole our files, and I know you freed yourself."
The agent looked behind the Minister, making sure no one was hidden in the office. He pressed a button on his gauntlet, sealing the doors and powering off all surveillance cameras in a ten meter radius.
He wanted absolute privacy while he lost his shit.
Grabbing the Minister by his collar, he hefted him sharply into the air and slammed him against the wall with minimal effort. "Well, did you know that Ardun Kothe was controlling me?! Did you know I was his puppet?!"
"That was unfortunate and unplanned! The Sith wanted you under control. With the Emperor nowhere to be seen, Darth Jadus is the most powerful Sith on the Dark Council. Every Sith has learned to fear Jadus, and you defeated him—now you've earned not only they're respect, but their fear as well! You survived Darth Jadus, how long before you defied another on the Dark Council? The programming was a safeguard. I did it to protect you."
"So the Council praises me while they punish me? And you let it happen? I trusted you—I trusted you with my life! How could you do this?!"
"Everything I've done has been to protect you!
"For what?" He shot back. "Some promise you made to my mother over ten years ago?
"I promised your mother I'd protect you before she died and dammit, that's a promise I intend to keep! If I hadn't approved of your administration, you'd be dead! I don't plan to tell anyone your free."
"In case you haven't noticed old man, I can take care of myself!"
"For how long? How long, until someone is faster than you, or smarter than you, or stronger than you, hmm? Have you ever thought about that? I do. I think about it every day. I think about how your father's death would go unpunished. How your mother's sacrifices would be in vain. How they lost their lives just to save yours, and it would have been for nothing. You're just like your father, you know? No one knew him better than me—not even your mother—and I knew him to be an arrogant, irresponsible, care-free bastard. You could never tell if he did things for the good of the empire or for his conscience. His free thinking and unsubmissive personality is what nearly got him killed on many occasions."
"But it was his compliance and loyalty that finally finished the job, am I right? You were there when he died, weren't you?" His countenance changed. That obviously brought back a few unpleasant memories. It seemed he struck a nerve. It seemed he was right.
"... Yes." He replied regretfully. "I was there."
"You took away my life. Maybe I should take away yours."
"Go ahead. I estimate you'll have about nine minutes to escape Dromund Kaas. But, should you choose not to sabotage your career, I suggest you put aside you outrage and consider this: The SIS should never have known about the Imperial Brainwashing procedure, let alone posses codes... Ardun Koth's shuttle was found abandoned in space without any data on your "Shadow Arsenal"... And according to our records, there's no evidence of an 'Agent Hunter' ever existing..."
"I know you. You're avoiding the subject. You're scared."
"And I know you, agent. You're trying to make me confess something, and calling me a coward won't work. I'm merely showing you the closest thing you'll ever come to the truth. And we both know I'm not afraid to die."
"Closest thing I'll ever get to the truth?! Why is that! Why can't you just tell me the whole truth?!"
"Truth is merely a child's dream! This is war, agent! War is a jungle, and we're at the bottom of the food-chain! Those in the upper echelon of the Empire, Sith, Moffs, they're the only ones with access to the truth! They know everything that goes on in the empire, and they keep it from the rest of us. At our level in this society, there is no such thing as truth! I wish you would just understand that!"
"No such thing as truth, you say?" He said through gritted teeth. "In that case, why should I believe you?" He didn't answer. And that was the only answer he needed. The Cipher dropped the minister to to his feet. His fingers tunneled his hair and he backed away, shaking his head, trying to deny everything he heard. "Your a spymaster. I always knew you kept secrets. I always knew some things you had to withhold from me. I always knew you couldn't always tell me the whole truth. But this—this crossed the line. I'm done. Done with the Sith, done with intelligence, and done with you."
A weighty silence settled between them. The Minister's eyes flashed with sorrow and regret. His lips were moved, but nothing came out. For several minutes he struggled for the right words to say. Struggled to hopefully find something to say that would make everything right again. But there was nothing left to say about it. He resigned himself to discuss the mission. "Agent, someone—your Hunter or his employer—is manipulating this war for his or her own ends. Someone with access to both Republic and Imperial resources. I know I've asked much of you—far too much, but this someone gave Ardun Kothe your keyword. It is imperative we find out who and why."
"You sound like a madman. There's no secret power responsible for this."
"No one thought there was a secret power behind the Eagle's terrorists, either. Fortunately, the trail is still warm. Yesterday, a man fitting Hunter's description boarded a shuttle to the Isen Four asteroid colony. Nine hours ago, we received this message:
The astromech drew near, a displaying a holo-recording of a man-Mirialan, perhaps late thirties, body type four. "Imperial fleet command, this is Representative Omana Tragg of the Isen Four mining colony. We have been monitoring your victories in this sector. While we continue accepting refugee transports, our defense systems are... Minimal. Our population is ninety percent civilian... We cannot afford a confrontation. Under Republic Law, I am authorized to discuss terms of immediate surrender. All weapons powering down."With that, the recording ended.
"Our forces will be arriving tomorrow..." The Minister began. "But we don't know if the colony's surrender is related to Hunter's arrival. I want you to investigate."
"You can find as many distractions as you like. I'm not going to forget what you've done."
"No, of course not. I don't expect you to. I won't beg for your forgiveness. But you do need me to find our enemies. When your done, if you still want revenge... I'll be right here.
"There's going to be a reckoning between us, old man. And all of the maneuvering in the galaxy won't save you."
-End of flashback-
"... No..." The Cipher said bitterly. "He'll never talk. I don't even know if he's alive, anyway." Though, there was a rumor that Shara Jenn managed to coil the Dark Council's rage, but they hadn't spoken since the Tenebrous, so he was didn't know. And he didn't care. Or at least, that's what he told himself, ever since that day. That day when everything he thought he knew turned out to be a lie. When the foundation of his beleifs crumbled before him.
The day when he learned the truth.
Or some of it, anyway. He remembered one of the things the minister said to him during their final meeting. "There's so much I want you to know," The minister told him. "So much I wish to tell you... But each of them would get us both dead in the morning... No, the answers you seek must be found by none other than you." So, by reasons out of his control, he was most likely to live his life ignorant.
Then again, he didn't expect to live very long. Whether at the hand of a Jedi, a merc, or some punk who gets lucky. In the spy game, there is no such thing as escape, victory, or survival. Only delaying the inevitable.
"Agent, the empire will always take more than you want to give, keep you longer than you want to stay, and take you farther than you want to go. You need to escape while you have the chance." The minister told him the Black Codex would be a way to elude the... End results of the Empire. However, something seemed... Wrong. The way the Minister seemed to always give him peices to a puzzle and riddles for which he had no answers to... Somehow he felt it went deeper than that. Things like this... They always go deeper.
The mercenary hesitated, as if considering whether to say anything. They were best friends, and he didn't wish to discourage him, but this worried him. "Listen... Agent... I—I know you want answers... But this is hopeless, this is something way over your head! The old man won't talk, there's nothing in the imperial archives, and all information on the black Codex was erased. I'm afraid this search for answers will get you killed one day."
The agent knew Taren was right. He told himself he would have peace and satisfaction once he found the truth, but he also knew this would kill him one day. Perhaps sooner, perhaps later, but he was digging for something that someone—someone powerful—obviously wanted to stay buried. But... He couldn't give up... "I know, but I just can't stop now. I'm getting close, I can feel it in my bones, and whoever wants to keep this from me knows it too."
Taren said nothing, staring at him blankly. A pregnant silence developed between them, both of them waiting for the other to speak... Surprisingly, Taren dropped the subject, walking toward the front of the room and picking up his helmat, tucking it under his arm. "Well, I have to go. Mandalore invited me to a meeting a few days ago, and I asked him to reschedule it to today." He said, turning to leave. "Oh, and by the way, I took the liberty of overriding your security measures. Your staying locked up for a few days until you fully recover—and if I find out you left, I'm going ask Kaliyo how to shoot an Electro Dart up your ass." With that, he left the room and the door locked behind him.
However, as soon as Taren left the agent immediately prepped his gear to leave. He had an appointment...
