Explanations
Cipher Nine leaned back in the chair as much as he could, relieved to finally stop running. Watcher T- no, Keeper, wasted no time.
"Cipher Nine! You've…returned."
He sighed, "Stating the obvious, Keeper. Wish it were under better circumstances."
"As do I." She agreed, "But now that you're back I hope we can sort out this mess."
"I doubt it." Cipher Nine shook his head, "The Dark Council isn't known for being merciful."
She raised her hand, "We'll discuss this later. Did you complete the mission?"
He raised his eyebrow, "Keeper," he breathed slowly, "I've just arrived on a Dromund Kaas. A planet I assumed was a sanctuary, only to be chased and hunted by the Imperial Guard, Imperial Intelligence, the Imperial Army and the Mandalorians. Yet the first thing you want to know is the mission?"
Her face flushed, "It might provide some insight into this situation." She defended.
Well, it certainly did, at least part of it. "Fine," he conceded, "Ask your questions and then you'll explain to me what's going on. Do not lie to me."
"When have I lied to you?" She asked, confused.
"I don't know if you have," he admitted, "But we'll see how that holds up later."
She shook her head as if to clear it of questions. "Very well. Did you locate Cipher Seven?"
"Yes." He confirmed, "He should be heading here now."
Her eyes widened in alarm, "He's here! And loose?!" she exclaimed.
Normally, that tone would have him worried. Now he was too tired to care, "Yes, in fact, I'd wager that this slave revolt is his doing."
She rested her forehead on her hand, "Why did you let him go free?"
He didn't care for her surprised tone, "Because circumstances changed when we landed. We intended to arrive together but decided that splitting up was better."
"He wasn't even captured?" She groaned, "Wonderful."
"No." Cipher Nine answered, annoyed, "No, he wasn't captured. He wanted to come to Imperial Intelligence."
Now her head was resting on both her hands, "You talked to him, didn't you?"
"Yes," He answered slowly, "He had a lot of information to share."
"I'm sure he did." She sighed and put her hands down and faced him furiously, "I warned you not to talk to him!" she exclaimed furiously, "I explicitly said that we need to control the conversation, not him! You've ruined any chance we had of capturing him!"
This was utterly ridiculous. "Oh, really?" he spat, "I'm so sorry I decided to converse with him instead of killing or capturing him. I'm really sorry that I listened to what he told me, and I'm especially sorry that he was right!"
"What did he tell you?" Keeper demanded, "You have to know he's manipulating you for his own ends!"
"Where should I start?" He demanded, "Tell me? He warned me that the Sith were going to turn on me. Guess what happened? They did, and you know what? I'm not even surprised anymore."
"This can be reversed!" She insisted, "The Sith are clearly mistaken. Once they're shown that, they'll fix it."
"Fix. It?" He repeated incredulously, "When have the Sith ever fixed one of their own problems?! When have they owned up to their mistakes? When have the Sith ever cared about anything other than themselves?!"
Keeper looked around nervously as if she was worried about eavesdroppers, "Keep quiet!" She hissed, "If anyone heard that you'll be executed for sure!"
He rose out of the chair quickly, "Exactly!" He exclaimed, "And how is that right at all? Why should the Sith be immune to criticism?"
"They rule the Empire." Keeper replied nervously, "That's the way it's always been."
He took a breath "Then perhaps that should change."
Her eyes widened at that, "Cipher Seven." She stated, "He's turned you against the Sith. What did he tell you?"
He raised a hand to cut her off, "I'll tell you, but first tell me what convinced the Dark Council to turn on me?"
"Somehow they acquired audio logs of your conversations with Sanju Pyne and Chemish Or on Balmorra." Keeper explained, "Specifically when you decided to turn the bombs and sympathizers list over to the terrorists."
"How did they get that?" Cipher Nine demanded.
She shook her head, "We're trying to find out."
"That's not enough of a treason charge." He pointed out, "I was undercover and authorized to do whatever it took to eliminate the cell."
"The Minister attempted to explain that." Keeper told him, "But Darth Zhorrid didn't really believe him. Though I believed some of this stemmed from her, ah, dislike of you."
"Of course she didn't." He muttered bitterly, an emotion resembling hate forming within him.
As a general rule he tried not to feel strong emotions towards other people. It made things complicated and could often compromise his judgement and the mission. Darth Zhorrid had tested that rule severely. The Dark Council member who oversaw Intelligence, she was what he considered the embodiment of everything wrong with the Sith.
From his first meeting with her, she'd given him a terrible first impression. Intelligent Sith, or people in general, didn't try to murder you just for amusement or as a "test". As far as he knew she hadn't actually done much as the overseer of Intelligence, leaving most duties to Keeper. She was arrogant and egotistical, believing that he should give her respect simply because of her position. She had learned quickly that wasn't the case.
Once, she'd interrupted his terrorist hunt to send him on an errand that had no benefit to the Empire. She'd questioned his devotion to her and he'd flat-out told her that he was not loyal to her. It turned out that she had not liked that. At all. Regardless, he'd found the man that she wanted but decided not to turn him over.
When he returned he found her torturing Keeper for no other reason that he'd not given her enough respect. That was the final straw that turned his dislike of her into hate. Jadus may have been insane and ruthless, but he had been competent and charismatic. Traits which Zhorrid lacked. She had not cared about the Empire or even Imperial Intelligence, she was only interested in her own power.
The final time he had seen her it seemed that the other Dark Council members had grown tired of her as well. Seeing her bleeding and attempting to heal herself had given him a grim satisfaction. She had clearly expected him to feel sorry or want to help her, he didn't. She had apparently realized that he wasn't going to go along with her, so she had sent him out rather violently, shooting lightning. It was almost funny, she was so incompetent that her lightning wasn't even that painful. Back then he wouldn't have thought about resisting, but now he would gladly plunge his blade in the woman's heart.
"I really hope that wasn't it." He finally spoke after a few seconds. "I'd rather be falsely accused by someone not insane."
Watcher Two looked around nervously, as if Zhorrid would somehow appear. "It isn't." She continued quietly, "She was backed by several other Dark Council Members. That was before another got ahold of some other information."
"Who are they?" he asked.
She shook her head, "Only the Minister knows the full list, but I do know that the entire Council has heard about you in some capacity."
"Wonderful." He muttered.
"Darth Vengean then received footage of you letting the terrorist Mia Hawkins escape." She continued, tone turning disapproving. "The Minister was surprised at that, as was I. You failed to mention this in your report."
Ah.
Of all the decisions he had made, this was one he hadn't expected to address this quickly, and certainly not now. Still, he had good reasons. "She helped me eliminate the terror cell." He defended, "The Empire does not betray its allies."
"I explicitly remember giving you direct orders to use her and then dispose of her." Keeper reminded him.
"She was no threat." He insisted, "She owes me her life and she knows it. She won't cause trouble."
"Can you be sure of that?" Keeper questioned.
He didn't want to reveal this, but he didn't have much of a choice. "Zero-Three-One, Four-Four-Seven. Outer Rim, likely in spaceflight." He told her reluctantly, "That was her last location. I'm not stupid, Keeper. Allowing her absolute freedom would be a mistake. But I know where she is at all times. She knows better than to try and trick me."
"Ah." She looked slightly embarrassed, "I see." He supposed that that was her version of an apology. "In any case, some of the Sith believed that you were acting on your own volition, recruiting a potential assassin."
"Is there anything else?" He asked.
"They know that you activated the eradicators." She told him, "They're now pinning the entirety of Eradication Day on you."
"Me?" He demanded, confused, "I thought they already knew everything that happened!"
She grimaced, "My predecessor decided to not forward your report to the Dark Council. When they found out they assumed the Minister was responsible for covering it up. I'm told that was the final straw that made the Dark Council decide to execute him."
He had never actually met the previous Minister of Intelligence, but he still was saddened at that. "Unfortunate. I had always wanted to meet him."
She grimaced at that, "Sadly, I think this was almost better for him." She answered grimly, "The new Minister has forwarded everything about him to me. His mental health was…not the best."
"So," he recapped, "I'm declared at traitor for allowing several terrorist attacks to happen to preserve my cover. For allowing an ally to live who is being tracked, and for the entire aftermath of Eradication Day. Correct?"
"Yes." She answered sadly.
He sat down again. His face even more intense than usual, "You asked how Cipher Seven convinced me, do you not consider this reason enough? I'll tell you exactly why they want me dead and it isn't because of those supposed traitorous acts."
She crossed her arms, "Go on."
"Their afraid of me." He told her and held up his arm to forestall whatever she might say, "Yes, I know. It doesn't make sense unless you actually pay attention to Sith behavior. Now, why do you think they would fear me?"
"Anyone outside of Intelligence would not trust you based on those actions." Keeper pointed out, "The Sith may be…overzealous, but I can see their reasoning."
"When have the Sith ever cared about loss of life?" He insisted, trying to explain logically, "They only care about their personal power. When that is threatened then they decide to intervene."
"That is a gross oversimplification." Keeper answered, "If that were the case then we wouldn't have one united Empire."
"United?" He responded in disbelief, "The Sith are many things but united is not one of them. They use the Empire to respond against their enemies. Darth Jadus was a perfect example! The entirety of Eradication Day was to strike at his rivals and assume control of the Dark Council."
"Jadus was an extremist!" She exclaimed.
"No, he just had more ambition!" He shot back, "How long until the next Sith decides to attempt to seize power? In this state can we afford it?"
"That won't happen." She insisted.
"It happens every day, Keeper." He stated, "Not to the extremes but I've seen it on a much smaller scale. It's as innocent as a Sith demanding items that go to him or as blatant as using Imperial resources to blatantly attack their enemies. You may not see it here, but it's throughout the Empire."
"It isn't just that." Keeper noted, "You're too much of a patriot to completely buy into that. What else did he say?"
He was silent for a few moments. "Did you know about the Castellan Restraints? The programming?"
She went slightly paler at that, not much, but he could tell. She had known.
He felt hollow at that. The one person he felt he could trust completely had kept this from him.
"You knew. Didn't you?" he muttered.
"Yes." She whispered, "The Minister told me after he gave the order."
He clenched his fists and breathed slowly, trying to keep control. Strong emotions were foreign to him. He wanted to lash out. To hit something. But he couldn't. He was an Imperial, a professional. He couldn't allow his anger to make the situation worse.
"Did you not think," he breathed, "That I might, just might, want to know about this?"
"This Minister ordered me not to." She explained, looking distraught. She knew full well what she had done, "We follow our orders. You know this."
"Some shouldn't be followed." He muttered, "I almost wish he hadn't told me."
"I'm sorry." She apologized, or at least attempted to.
"I know you or the Minister didn't have much choice." He told her coldly, "But that doesn't mean that you're excused from it. Cipher Seven is probably not telling me everything, but he removed the programming from me. That's how he earned my trust, Keeper."
"I see." She was silent for a few minutes. "So he's coming here. What does he want to talk about?"
He shrugged, "He has a plan, the details of which I don't know. But it concerns the Sith and Intelligence."
She frowned at that. "I see."
"I doubt it." He told her, "But I thought he should be given a chance to present his plan." Keeper was reaching for a datapad and typing furiously on it. Seeing him notice she explained.
"I'm contacting the Minister, once Cipher Seven arrives we need to meet."
"That we do." He agreed. She sent the message. "What do you plan on doing with him if you don't agree with his plan?"
She sighed, "I don't know." She admitted, "We can't let him go, but I doubt he would be foolish enough to walk in here without a contingency plan."
The door behind them hissed open and Cipher Nine spun around, blaster drawn.
"Correct." Cipher Seven answered, striding in, someone slung over his shoulder, "I always have a plan."
"Cipher Seven." She stated.
"Glad to see you still recognize me." He smiled, "You're looking good yourself. Congratulations on the promotion by the way, you deserve it."
"This isn't the time for pleasantries." She told him harshly, "You owe everyone explanations."
"On what exactly?" he asked as he laid the body from his shoulder on the ground. It was a human woman, Cipher Nine guessed her age to be around mid-twenties, her face was pale and smooth, barring the empty left eye socket. Her brown hair was cropped shot, not even reaching her neck. She also appeared slightly taller and much stronger than an ordinary human woman. From her physique she was probably a Mandalorian or soldier.
She wore simple gray clothing, the kind slaves wore. It was not hard to guess where Cipher Seven had found her. But whyhad he brought her here.
"Perhaps you could explain how you just walked in here?" Cipher Nine asked, more curious about that than the woman at the moment.
He tossed a badge to Keeper and winked, the gesture looking odd on the chiss, "Cipher Twenty-two, at your service. Here to bring in the rogue agent for the Dark Council."
"There is no Cipher Twenty-two." Keeper answered, bewildered.
Cipher Seven sighed and swept his right hand above his head as he made a whooshing sound. "Your odd combination of brilliance and naivety never fails to be endearing. No, Keeper, Cipher Twenty-two does not exist. It does now though, if you check the records, you'll see that Cipher Twenty-two does exist and had been deployed in the outer rim until recently."
"How did you manage that?" Cipher Nine asked, impressed.
"I have my ways." Was all he said, "But I believe you still have questions."
"Who is that?" Cipher Nine nodded towards the bound woman, Cipher Seven looked at her and gave a slight smile.
"A potential ally or a source of information. I'll let her tell you herself, she really wants to meet you."
"You brought someone who wants to kill me here." Cipher Nine confirmed in disbelief. "Is that really wise."
"I brought her because I think she can be reasoned with." He extrapolated, "If she cannot, I will interrogate her and then kill her."
"You, will not be doing anything of the sort." Keeper stated. "You should be here as a prisoner. But you've turned Cipher Nine to your side it seems."
"Is that how you see it?" He asked, amused, "I know we parted badly, but do you really believe I can simply talk anyone into doing what I want?"
"You've done it before." She pointed out.
"You have no concept of true manipulation." Cipher Seven explained, "You don't simply convince someone by words alone. Actions and deeds are the true mean of control. As you have adequately proven."
"What are you talking about?" She demanded.
"I know how your mind works." He explained, "I knew that you would connect the dots if you listened to some of my conversations to easily persuaded people. I knew you would draw conclusions when several people I talked to died mysteriously. You only have this perception of me because I gave you that perception."
"What?" She gasped.
"I knew early on that my time with Intelligence would be limited." He explained, his voice becoming softer, "Eventually the Sith would kill me and you would probably do something stupid. I didn't want that for you. I tried to talk you out of continuing our relationship several times. Yet you insisted. So, I had no choice but to change your perception of me. I didn't like it, but it was necessary."
Keeper took a stuttered breath and leaned on the desk, looking down. For his part, Cipher Nine considered leaving. This was obviously a personal matter between them and he felt uncomfortable listening to this conversation. "I'll wait outside." He told them.
"No…no need." Keeper shakily told him.
"I'm sorry." Cipher Seven told her, "But I felt you needed to know."
Keeper sat, or rather, collapsed into her chair. "We'll…we'll discuss this later. We have work to do."
"Agreed." Cipher Seven nodded, "We need to speak to the Minister."
"I'll notify him." Keeper responded.
"Cipher Seven, a word." Cipher Nine motioned him over to the corner away from Keeper as she sent the message. Cipher Seven walked over.
"Yes?" he asked.
"What was the point of that?" He demanded, "This isn't the best time to bring up personal issues!"
"If I had said nothing, she would have been suspicious of me throughout the entire meeting." Cipher Seven shrugged, "Not beneficial for any of us."
"And you think that you helped?" he whispered incredulously, "You just told her that you've been manipulating her for years. You think that she'll be less suspicious now?"
"She'll undoubtable be furious at me later." Cipher Seven admitted, "But right now she doesn't know what to think of me. It will take a few hours for her to completely process information on this scale. She'll be more open to additional options now than before."
"You have a…surprising amount of knowledge on Keeper's mind." Cipher Nine noted, suspicious.
"Genetic engineering is becoming more common in the Empire." Cipher Seven pointed out, "I needed to know how to manipulate those who are enhanced. Keeper taught me much about a genetically enhanced mind. It's strengths and weaknesses."
"You used her." Cipher Nine stated, anger underlying his tone.
Cipher Seven didn't back down, "I did, yes. At first." He glanced over at Keeper, "But eventually my interest was genuine." He finished softly.
Cipher Nine crossed his arms, "You still manipulated her."
"To protect her." Cipher Seven insisted, "Would you not do the same?"
"Not like that." He shook his head, "Not like that."
"Right, you do it by covering up their part in controversial assignments." He looked at Cipher Seven giving a wry smile. He wasn't even surprised that Cipher Seven knew that. Wherever he got his information, it was good. And worrying.
"Yes." He replied simply.
"Oh," He smirked, "Perhaps I should watch out."
Cipher Nine didn't really have the energy to smile, let alone banter about what Cipher Seven was clearly implying, "No. Keeper is…was a friend. Nothing more."
"Was a friend."
"She knew about my programming." He admitted, "I don't know if I'll fully trust her again."
"Well, I won't pressure you." Cipher Seven replied, "But she really didn't have that much choice. Honestly, before all of…this, would you have told her if the roles had been reversed?"
He thought about that. Despite what he had told Keeper, he wasn't sure he would have told her if ordered not to. Would he have just accepted it for the supposed greater good? He didn't know. He liked to think he would do the right thing. But the past few days had altered his definitions of right and wrong so much that he didn't know if they would even be remotely similar to his definitions a few days ago.
"I'd like to think so." He told Cipher Seven, "But I don't know."
"Tell her that." He answered, "Not now, of course. But it's important to admit that you aren't always right."
"I'll think about it." Was all he told Cipher Seven, he wasn't fully convinced yet.
Keeper motioned them back over. "The Minister is heading here." She informed them.
"Here?" Cipher Seven sounded mildly surprised, "Interesting. Makes things easier I suppose."
"How soon?" Cipher Nine questioned.
"He's conversing with the Minister of War." She answered with a pointed glare at Cipher Seven, "Apparently an entire unit of slaves stole a ship and fled the world, killing a large amount of soldiers in the process. He'll likely be an hour or more."
"How unfortunate for the poor Imperial Army." Cipher Seven mourned sarcastically, "Beaten by a bunch of slaves. How will they ever live that down?"
"Armed slaves." Keeper corrected.
Cipher Sevens eyes widened in mock surprise, "Really, perhaps they should increase their security. By the way, did they find out who instigated the revolt?"
"I did." Cipher Nine informed him sarcastically, "Thanks for helping clear my name. Really appreciate it."
"It was a distraction!" Cipher Seven defended, "Besides-"
He was interrupted by a cough from the woman who was waking up. He pulled out his pistol and marched over to the woman. "Hello," he knelt down, "Welcome to Imperial Intelligence."
She glared at him, her blue eye filled with venom. "You should have killed me." She growled, "I will never talk. Not to you."
"Not to me? Fine, will you talk to him?" He stepped to the side allowing her to see Cipher Nine. Her eye widened and her face contorted into a mask of fury. "Ash'amur, aruetii!"
Cipher Nine had no idea what she was saying. He frowned, it sounded Mandalorian, but he wasn't sure. He was more concerned with her sudden and angry reaction to him. To his knowledge, they had never met before. One of the Eagles advisors or friends, perhaps?
Cipher Seven smirked, "Charming," he addressed the woman, "Tell him who you really are."
She stubbornly remained quiet. The smirk vanished from Cipher Seven's face. "Now." He commanded.
She looked down, "Arcyle." she said, "Arcyle of Clan Kast."
Cipher Nine and Keeper exchanged a look. She shook her head, apparently as confused as he was. "Interesting," He finally told Cipher Seven, "But I fail to see how this warrants a personal introduction. I already know that the Mandalorians are hunting me."
"Because she is not telling you the whole truth." Cipher Seven explained, looking down on Arcyle sinisterly, "She was indeed part of Clan Kast…until she left and became something else." He knelt down until he was looking her in the eye, "So tell us. Who are you?"
She looked away from Cipher Seven and focused directly on Cipher Nine.
"I am Arcyle," She stated, "The Hand of Jadus."
Supplementary Material
Journal of Lord Vauner
Alright, well I suppose I should start keeping some sort of record as I am now a full Sith Lord. Vette, is this recording? Excellent, now where to begin?
I suppose that I should state what prompted this recording. Well, Darth Baras decided it was time I meet a member of the Darth Council. I was surprised that we were not meeting the Dark Councilor that he reports to. I suppose that will come later.
So, we go to meet the woman in charge of Imperial Intelligence and well…
I was, to put it politely, not impressed. I have no idea how that idiot became head of Imperial Intelligence, much less on the Dark Council. She was crazy, irrational, and reminded me of a raving madwoman. She was going on and on about some Cipher Agent who had slighted her, can't imagine why. Put this on record, I would help this agent just to spite her.
Baras had also apparently grown tired of her as well and gave some empty promises and made his excuses and left. I asked him how exactly she was on the Dark Council and he answered "Because of her father." So I asked who her father was. He just told me "Darth Jadus", what was odd was that I sensed something resembling fear when he mentioned the name.
Interesting, I wonder what Darth Jadus did to inspire this fear and caution? Well, Baras believed that her time on Dark Council was coming to an end. Good riddance.
I think that covers everything I wanted to say about her, yes? Yes. End log.