Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the beginning of Mandalorian season two! I liked the first episode, I'm less crazy about having to wait a week - not sure why streaming services do that - anyway, here is chapter sixteen, enjoy!
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act II.
The Heart of Darkness.
Chapter XVI.
The Intelligentsia of Cipher-9.
I saw Phanza sat on her observation deck, meditating. The red-skinned Nautolan was dressed in a black and purple robe that revealed her midriff and sleeves - it was definitely the same style as the one she wore on Acina, but I didn't think it was the exact same set, I think those were a lighter color - revealing her bare blood red skin. Phanza was a beautiful woman, but it was also clear as day that she was fierce. She didn't have massive muscle or defined abs or anything, but she was clearly toned, and I'm sure that's exactly what she wanted: she wanted to be an even mixture of deadly and elegant. Lady Attam always tried to appear this way, wearing her hood as four of her head-tails hung in front of her shoulders, soft skin contrasted with the harsh black tattoos, her beauty and her past both prominently displayed. She was part of a lineage of masters and apprentices tracing back all the way to Darth Imperius - this lineage was evidently called the Line of Kallig - and she was proud of that, but she was also proud of the fact that she was a young, beautiful, and intelligent woman, and she would flaunt all of it.
I also noticed that Ruumshi and Avoine were silently converging upon Phanza Attam, and I realized that this wasn't simply meditation. Part of the reason why Phanza was so deadly, so quick, and so confident was that she had this arrangement with her two bodyguards. Phanza's meditation place was also her dueling circle and, at any moment that she was in here, her bodyguards could attack, putting her skills to the test. This was a part of Sith life that I could never see myself getting used to - I couldn't ever see myself honing my reflexes like this, I couldn't see myself training by experience like that, and I definitely didn't want to always be on edge - I couldn't comprehend how Phanza could focus on meditation while knowing that her bodyguards could attack whenever. That being said, Phanza seemed absolutely at home in this environment, it was like she thrived in these conditions, operating well under pressure. I suppose this is why she was able to get us out of that situation with Vader - Phanza was caught with a lightsaber by Darth Vader and an Inquisitor and walked away alive with her weapon, that's impressive - I certainly wouldn't have done as well as she did.
I saw Phanza open her eyes and smile at me before, in an impossibly fast maneuver, she twisted up and ignited her red and black lightsaber, catching Ruumshi's electrostaff. At this point, however, Ruumshi got used to her mistress's spins and took advantage of her unstable footing, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her over. Phanza landed flat on her back and, before she could get up, the human joined in, with Avoine attacking. The electrostaff slammed down where Phanza had just been as she rolled away, coming up on her knee, and she turned off her lightsaber and threw it. I watched, fascinated as the lightsaber hilt flew through the air at Avoine while Phanza followed it with Force-enhanced speed - I guess the rule of not using the Force only applied to Phanza using the Force directly - I watched as Phanza caught her lightsaber hilt again, igniting it just behind the electrostaff. Avoine took a deep breath, feeling the hot blade so close to her face, and she dropped her electrostaff, surrendering. The electrostaff never hit the ground, because Ruumshi caught it.
Two electrostaffs were pressed against Phanza's back, knocking her to the ground as she was electrocuted. I thought that Phanza was finally being defeated, I didn't see how Lady Attam could've possibly recovered from this, but the Nautolan was persistent. I watched as Phanza kicked Ruumshi in the shin and knocked the Zabrak bodyguard to the ground, rolling on top of her. In just a moment, the fight completely changed, Phanza went from being electrocuted to pinning Ruumshi to the ground and holding her unignited lightsaber emitter to the orange girl's throat, having won. Phanza and Ruumshi remained like that for just a moment, Lady Attam breathing heavily as she put her lightsaber back on her hip, but I couldn't help but notice that Phanza was still panting and straddling the Zabrak. I knew that the circumstances were entirely benign, but that little moment, the moment as Phanza and Ruumshi recovered from the surprise training, bothered me. I didn't know when I stopped breathing - perhaps when Phanza was electrocuted, perhaps when the fight ended, or maybe it wasn't until I noticed that beat where Phanza remained hovering over the Zabrak - but I didn't start breathing again until Phanza got up and helped the Zabrak up.
"Well fought, my mistress, you caught me off guard in the end there." Ruumshi admitted, the Zabrak seemed somewhat embarrassed in her failure, like she believed that she really should have won. Maybe that was true, she had recovered the two electrostaffs and snuck up on Phanza from behind, bringing her to the ground. Phanza should have absolutely been defeated at that point, but one little kick was enough to bring down Ruumshi and give the Nautolan Sith yet another victory. This was another part of Sith society I didn't appreciate, the Sith hate failure. I don't think that failure is necessarily a death sentence on Taaszon, they do seem to be much more merciful than the Sith typically are - another example of pragmatism as the Grand Duchy does not have enough numbers for anyone to be disposable - but they still look down upon failure. I don't think I could ever see myself fully assimilating into a society like this, where failure is never tolerated.
"It's fine Ruumshi, you did well. This training betters the two of you as well as me." Phanza reassured her bodyguards as Ruumshi returned the other electrostaff to Avoine. The Zabrak bowed her head and smiled at me before the two of them left the observation deck, giving Phanza and I some privacy. I gave a polite smile as I walked closer to Phanza, waiting patiently as the Nautolan stretched out and recovered from the fight. A sheen of cold sweat shined on her bare skin as the physical exertion of the fight contrasted with the cold mountain air of Castle Attam, perched high above the valley and the capital city. The only thing higher than this observation deck was the Citadel itself, symbolizing that Phanza was the second most powerful woman on Taaszon, fitting for the heir to the Line of Kallig. The Nautolan smiled in turn before speaking to me "Good morning Zaliza, how are you?"
"I'm okay Phanza, how are you?" I answered, not really thinking about how I actually felt. The truth is, I felt rather lost right now, I was dissatisfied with my behavior as a Jedi, I doubted my ability to make a difference for Thonna Ai'Sunn, let alone for the rest of the galaxy, and I was finding problems with Phanza's way of life as well. I didn't know how I was supposed to exist in this galaxy now. Prior to Order 66 I had friends and I had purpose, I wanted to help the Jedi find their way again after the Clone Wars, correcting our course, but now, I'm alone in the galaxy, with a Sith for a best friend.
"To be honest, I'm a little paranoid." Phanza began, kneeling down on the meditation pad as I joined her, listening "With my spies on Coruscant dead and my spies elsewhere in the Empire in hiding, I'm looking for a new line of information. Anything that can help us find a weakness in the Empire or even just some news we can use to our advantage. The problem, of course, is that we already tried the underworld on Nar Shaddaa, without much success. I don't trust the Hutts, the Exchange, or the anyone else out there anymore, we need something different. My hand is forced, I'm going to have to go talk to a group called the Intelligentsia. They are an autonomous society of spies based on a world called Cipher-9. If anyone is still able to get information out from under the nose of Darth Vader, it's the Intelligentsia, and I'm out of better options right now."
"You sound like you don't want to go there. Are they dangerous?" I asked, Phanza had her own capable spy network and, well, she was the second most powerful woman in the whole Grand Duchy, who could she possibly be afraid of? This is the same woman who lied to Darth Vader's face and got away with it, now she was paranoid in the face of the Intelligentsia, I couldn't help but be worried about this. I heard about this mission from Yevenna and, if my Mandalorian friend and Phanza were going to be there, I wanted to be there too, but I couldn't help but ask questions and wonder what was going on. I didn't understand why this Sith Lord felt paranoid about all of this.
"The Intelligentsia were formed from a variety of spies and intelligence operatives from the old Sith Empire. Some came from Imperial Intelligence, some from Sith Intelligence, some where the personal spies of Sith Lords, others yet were rogue agents, and the Intelligentsia represented them coming together under one name on Cipher-9, loyal to each other above all else. They don't care for any currency or demand, they only trade information for information. Espionage against the Empire is going to demand a high price, and I don't like giving them any more insight into me or my companions than is strictly necessary. I don't even bring the same people with me to Cipher-9 more than once, I don't want them to be able to pinpoint my close allies, so I mix up who I bring. I don't want them to figure out a pattern of behavior, so I keep my movements on Cipher-9 random and erratic. I don't want them to know about my operations, so I try to sell them information from my spies. That isn't going to be possible this time. I'm going to have to give them something about me and about my plans, and I don't like doing that." Phanza revealed, explaining just what the Intelligentsia was and how they did business. I now understood why she was feeling paranoid, whatever information we get on the Empire, we're going to need to give them something just as valuable in return, that wasn't good.
"Couldn't you simply order them to give you this information? They're enemies of the Empire too." I pointed out, after all, the Intelligentsia is part of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon and an attack on the Grand Duchy would hurt them too. That's also ignoring the cold, hard truth of the chain of command. Phanza is just below Grand Duchess Voytana herself and the Sith love their hierarchy, why couldn't she just simply use it now? I'm obviously not a fan of Phanza throwing her political weight around, but I can recognize that it's a necessary move for the greater good in this case.
"No, it's not that simple unfortunately." the Nautolan frowned, her tone indicating that she wishes this was the case "The Intelligentsia and the Grand Duchy of Taaszon have a very special arrangement, they enjoy our protection and we value their abilities, therefore, they have considerable autonomy and freedom from our usual chain of command. If I tried to order the Intelligentsia around I would be defying an agreement which has stood for four thousand years and I would be endangering any future cooperation with their spies. I'm not thrilled about giving them information, but I know that this is how it needs to be. I am not going to jeopardize this arrangement because of my own paranoia."
"Well...I would like to go with you anyway. I think we would both feel better there together." I said. I know that Phanza said she likes to mix up who she brings, but obviously she has never brought me to Cipher-9 before, in fact, I could even be the secret that gets us the information on the Empire. Surely the secret that Phanza is harboring a surviving Jedi is valuable, even if I haven't necessarily made an effort to hide it. In any case, I wanted to make sure that Phanza and Yevenna Aphlen would be alright and I had a feeling that Phanza would feel more comfortable with me along as well.
"Very well then. I am bringing Ceyla and her protege as well. I was with Ruumshi and Avoine last time I was on Cipher-9. There was also the time with HK-107 but...well, that didn't go well for anyone." Phanza smiled, standing up as she remembered what definitely sounds like a bit of an incident. I got up as well, thinking about the assassin droid. HK-107 was an interesting specimen, he was a ruthless assassin droid, yet one with a developed personality, but, despite all of that, he had an archaic speech pattern. Part of me wanted to ask more about why the droid was like that, but another part of me, perhaps the sane part, wanted to stay as far away from the HK droid as possible. In any case, I had no doubt that bringing a droid who was blatantly obsessed with spreading bloodshed and assassination to a planet populated by secretive and intensely independent spies wasn't the best idea. I do, however, feel like Phanza was somewhat amused by the whole episode, not enough to ever do it again, but amused enough to enjoyed bringing HK-107 to Cipher-9.
"I look forward to joining you." I replied before heading back into Castle Attam, having nothing left to do but wait. It was a bittersweet feeling: on one hand, I had nothing to do but sit around and wait for our mission, letting the worries and the doubts build and build over time, but, on the other hand, I had something to anticipate, something to keep my mind off of my own wretched circumstances. I suppose that I even want to worry in a way, the anticipation and the adrenaline of a dangerous mission was better than just sitting there, living with the memories. I was too young for everything I experience, I still am I think, all those clones I came to know only for them to die - or worse, live long enough to betray me - all the battles I fought. The older masters, for whatever reasons, they were able to make their peace with slaughtering so many droids, but I couldn't do that. I saw living things that could speak, think, and act for themselves, it didn't really matter that they could be turned off, what matters is that I killed so many of them. Perhaps I wasn't too young in that respect, perhaps I was simply too human. I couldn't see it as a war between clones and droids, I saw it as a war of living beings against living beings, and I had to live through that. Now, I have to live with those memories in the context of Order 66 -the droids I killed weren't even for a purpose, it was just two sides of the galaxy slaughtering each other to set the stage for Palpatine's rise to power - on top of the immense grief of that genocide of my fellow Jedi. A dangerous mission was a welcome distraction to my mental hell.
The Ultimate sat in front of us, the now familiar angular black Sith vessel was perched on its landing gears, looking as if it could attack at any moment. A mechanical bird of prey, as if at any moment it could be screeching through the sky and picking of its unsuspecting foe, and it certainly could be. Phanza stood next to me, still wearing her robe from earlier, the Nautolan had her arms crossed and was simply leaning against the hangar wall and looking at me. Phanza and I were waiting for Ceyla and Yevenna to arrive, the Mandalorian entourage would not only provide additional security should something go wrong on Cipher-9, but they would also help confuse the spies. From what Phanza told me, the Intelligentsia were good, but they weren't so good as to have access to Castle Attam. They had to work to figure out who Phanza's closest allies were, because she would show up with a different crowd each time. It sounded like Phanza arrived with different numbers of guests as well, further keeping the Intelligentsia on their toes. The woman was very careful to obfuscate any information on her and leaving the spies of Cipher-9 guessing. This skill, I suspect, was very rare, yet another example of how truly impressive Phanza is.
"Ceyla has been an excellent ally of mine. She is a warrior through and through, the coming together of both Mandalorian and Echani culture, and that mixing of warrior traditions has produced a woman that can single-handedly destroy armies. At range, she's lethal with blasters and her jetpack, closer up, she has lightning reflexes that keep her faster than any opponent while still wrapped in that protective layer of beskar steel. Ceyla Ordo does a lot for me and I am grateful for all of it. I trust her and I think you should do." Phanza explained, her tone indicating two things. One: it showed that Lady Attam really did put a ton of faith into her Mandalorian companion, which was unexpected considering this was a Sith talking about an ally who wasn't even Force-sensitive. Two: this indicated that Phanza truly was concerned about this mission. We were dealing with the greatest spies in Taaszon, spies who treasured compromising information like nothing else, and, to get out of that situation the best way possible, we needed to trust each other and have faith in each other. Any division, any mistake, and any carelessness will instantly be caught by the Intelligentsia and I am certain that they will play it to their advantage.
"If you trust her, I'm going to trust her. I already know Yevenna by the way, I trust her too." I shot Phanza a smile, adding the information that we could trust the Mirialan Mandalorian as well. We were dealing with sensitive information here, mutual trust was essential. Speaking of sensitive information, I looked down on my robes. I was dressed in black and purple robes which covered my entire body - significantly more modest than Phanza's outfit - the dark hood hanging over my red-skinned face. The double-bladed lightsaber on my hip only contributed more to the image: the fact that I'm really a Jedi shall remain a secret, I can pass, quite convincingly, as Phanza's new Sith apprentice, so that will very likely be our cover stuff. Openly traveling as a Jedi would render the truth about me worthless, as the Intelligentsia would already know that. This cover was the best way to buy our information on Cipher-9, even if the whole idea hit a little too close to home. It shouldn't be possible that I would ever become Phanza's apprentice, but I can't pretend that it's impossible.
There are parts of Sith life I intensely disagree with. I don't think that raw strength and power with the Force is nearly as important as the Sith believe it is, it doesn't matter how strong or weak a Force user is - to take it further, it doesn't even matter if someone is a Force user or not - we all matter and we're all equally important. Everyone, no matter how insignificant, has the potential to do great or terrible things, no one should be rejected simply because they don't meet some arbitrary strength in the Force standard set at Taaszon's Sith Academy. I also have to admit that Phanza's more tolerable interpretation of the Sith Code is also a very liberal interpretation of the Sith Code. The good parts of Taaszon also receive somewhat of a asterisk given that all their good was a product of a small number of Sith who escaped the collapse of their old empire trying to survive and rebuild.
"Good. Both the fact you found a friend here and the fact we can trust her." Phanza replied, a gentle smile on her face. This side of Phanza, the side that cared, the side that showcased how much of a brilliant woman she was, and the side that was a nice and compassionate person despite being a Sith, was wonderful. Phanza Attam could be a vicious woman, ripping Jedi philosophy apart, deconstructing people's entire lifestyles, and more than capable of giving a verbal thrashing, but that wasn't the entire side of her. It was interesting to describe her, it would almost be easier to say that she seemed bipolar, like she had her Sith personality and her friendly personality, but that wasn't the case, Phanza was always Phanza. Her most brutal actions, threats and lightning, were just as much of her as the pleasant and open person who was housing and comforting me through this dark new era in the galaxy.
"Here they are," I said as the two Mandalorians entered, both of them holding their helmets under their arm. The same arm for both of them, and they walked in perfect lock-step, Yevenna walking back straight and trying to do her best to appear professional, ready, and capable in front of Ceyla and Phanza. It was an interesting choice to bring the highly talkative Mirialan to a spy planet, but, I suspected that this was intentional - Ceyla was a Mandalorian, and that was definitely a culture that learned under pressure - the idea was that if Yevenna didn't learn self-control here, she wasn't going to learn it ever. I hoped that things would go well for Yevenna, I wanted her to succeed and I wanted her to realize her dreams as a Mandalorian. One more thing that I noticed about Yevenna and Ceyla Ordo was how heavily armed they were, showing how dangerous this mission could be. Yevenna had two blaster pistols at her hip, a blaster rifle against her jetpack, various weapons and gadgets controlled by her twin wrist gauntlets, and a short vibroknife on her belt as well. Ceyla was even more heavily armored, having her own twin blasters, wrist weapons, and gadgets, as well as a number of grenades on her belt, a heavy blaster pistol on her thigh holster, a long vibroblade on the side of one boot, and a pair of electrified batons on her other boot. The both of them also had their missiles on the top of the jetpack. The two Mandalorians were packing quite an arsenal, and all I could do was hope that they didn't have to use it on Cipher-9.
"My Lord, this is Yevenna Aphlen, a Mandalorian student under me." Ceyla bowed before her traveling companion and formally introduced Yevenna to us. The Echani Mandalorian had her silver-white hair short and professional looking, her matching eyes had an intense, serious, and prepared quality to them, suggesting that Ceyla fully understood the gravity of the situation and she was ready to face the trials of Cipher-9, to face the spies and pay the price of information. Yevenna was reserved and ready for action too, bowing before Phanza when cued and knowing that this was the side to prove herself. Yevenna could be clumsy and she may definitely talk way too much for her profession, but if she could separate her bubbly personality from her working persona, Yevenna could still be a very successful and very dangerous Mandalorian warrior on her own right.
"Very good. Zaliza Vyvan here is playing the part of my Sith apprentice. That's the cover story if anyone tasks, understood?" Phanza asked, making it clear that we had to present a unified front should we be separated and grilled by the Intelligentsia, which was perhaps possible. I didn't know to what lengths the Intelligentsia were going to go to for the sake of retrieving information. Me being Phanza's Sith apprentice was just one of the ground rules we were going to set on the way to Cipher-9, being careful was crucial to all this. In any case, the Mandalorians and I nodded "Good? Good, lets go."
I wasn't sure what I was expecting for the spy world to be, but Cipher-9 seemed to fit the bill exactly. The planet seemed to be perpetually dark, with raging storms and a sea that was just as active and tumultuous. I was almost thinking that Cipher-9 was an ocean planet similar to Kamino, however, soon enough, we came upon a cliff face, and, perched on top of that cliff face, sat a towering city. Tall walls surrounded a monolith - not nearly as tall as the Citadel, but the whole complex was definitely larger that Castle Attam - and a single large landing pad extended out from the walled compound. It was a big place, but, as far as I could tell, that this was the only structure on the whole planet, with the rest of this continent or island or whatever this cliff face was a part of being dark and deserted. I was expecting more from Cipher-9. Of course, as soon as I had that thought, I instantly proved myself wrong.
Two search lights picked up the Ultimate flying in, a pair of cannons at the top of the compound walls trained on us. The implication was clear, the cannons were going to open fire on us if we didn't pass their test. The next hidden security measure, a scanner hidden underneath the landing pad, did its work, the red light of the scanner coming over our ship, making sure that everything was okay. I held a breath in the beat after the scan passed, because the turrets were still trained on us, but, fortunately, the treat passed and the guns returned to their alert position. I thought that was going to be the end the transformation here, but then, the cliff face itself began sinking into the sea. I watched as the whole landmass was revealed to be a massive base, a row of windows halfway down making me question just how big this base truly was. The Intelligentsia of Cipher-9 went from looking underwhelming to now seeming larger than life. The cliff face finally disappeared completely below the waves, revealing that the monolith and the compound was just the top of a very wide, almost pyramid shape angular, sleek compound. It was both a hidden spy base and a testament to how much strength and resources the Intelligentsia had.
The Ultimate came in for a landing. Rain battered down on the ship as the ramp lowered down and the four of us came down it. Phanza first, the Nautolan wore her hood up, but I didn't think that she needed it - the raindrops soaking on her head-tails must have had the Nautolan feel at home, her aquatic species was more than comfortable in the water - I watched her take a deep breath and enjoy the sea air as I joined her, standing at her side. I wore my hood up to protect against the elements and it almost shocked me how easily I settled into the role of Phanza's Sith apprentice. I stood next to her, but just half a step behind her. I keep my eyes down, but at attention - I didn't want anyone to focus in on me, but I wanted to focus on everyone else - then Ceyla and Yevenna followed. The rain drops pattering against their metal armor in a gentle hum as we walked in formation towards the entrance to the monolith, crossing the walkway at the end of the landing pad. A few months ago, before meeting Phanza and Order 66, I probably would have thought this was a chilling and evil entourage, yet now, here I was at the center of it. My species made me a Sith, my disguise made me a Sith, and the people around me were Sith, I could tell myself that I disagreed with the philosophy all I want, the fact is, what is marking me a Jedi at this point? I didn't know, but I was brought out of my mind as the monolith door all of a sudden opened, a man walking out.
At first glance, the man was simply a bald human male in a black longcoat, but that was far from the truth. The pale man had a set of cybernetics over his face, two rectangular black lenses over his eyes, perhaps replacing his eyes, and these lenses were attached to cybernetic frames which sunk back into his face, heading back up into his brain, down his jaw, and back into his neck. The man was dressed in all black, the leather longcoat over a black stealth suit, boots, and a tactical belt. I saw a blaster pistol on his hip as he pulled his coat back, I began anticipating a threat. The pistol wasn't his intention though, it remained safely in his holster, but four spherical droids flew out from under his coat, flying around the area. My eyes rapidly tracked them as one of them flew around us on the right, another on the left, a third flew through our group, making observations, and the fourth swung around the ship, no doubt checking if we had something to hide. I wouldn't be at all shocked if that particularly probe did infrared and x-ray scans in an attempt to see if we had anything still in the ship, and I also wouldn't be at all shocked if all the information from all four of the probes was being streamed directly to this man's lenses. This was just one man but I was already beginning to understand why Phanza was so paranoid about the Intelligentsia. One man had all of this equipment, and there was a whole island-sized compound of them below us.
"Operator Rahlkann," Phanza gave a tense greeting as the man and our group met in the middle of the walkway, the rain still coming down, but all of us were far more concerned about a potential storm right here, right now. The encounter only grew more tense as Rahlkann pulled his coat back yet again, revealing his blaster. At the same time, with the smallest of movements, Phanza used the Force to pull her lightsaber back into her hand. Tensions grew as the little probe droids returned to Operator Rahlkann, the first three probes coming back into his belt. A gust of wind blew the back of his coat up as the fourth probe circled out from behind him - odd, I hadn't seen it flying in on the right, but I guess it is dark, stormy, and windy. All of a sudden, Rahlkann drew his blaster and fired at Phanza, but the Nautolan caught the laser bolt with her red and black lightsaber. At the same time, another probe droid somehow appeared behind Lady Attam and fired a laser at her, but the Sith Lord stopped the laser bolt with the Force for long enough to bring her lightsaber back around and catch it with her lightsaber. Phanza had an incredibly grasp of the Force and of her surroundings to be able to manage all this while wearing a hood. All the while, Rahlkann laughed and put his blaster away.
"You're good Phanza, you really are. Welcome to Cipher-9!" the cyborg man finally spoke, greeting us. That whole tense reaction had only been a game, Rahlkann trying to get the best of Lady Attam, yet failing yet again. Rahlkann turned around and made his way back inside as the final probe tried flew back into its place, leaving me to wonder where this fifth droid came from. In any case, Phanza, Ceyla, Yevenna, and I followed the Operator inside. We were about the enter the massive island-sized base of the Intelligentsia, so big they were able to disguise it as a geographic cliff face.
"What was that about?" I asked Phanza through our mental link, wondering about that whole tense shoot-out stunt.
"Operator Rahlkann is more than just a spy. He is part ambassador, part field operative, and part assassin. He once boasted to me that he could kill a Sith if he wanted to, I have been proving him wrong ever since. I knew what he was trying to do this time. The third probe droid is what kicked up his overcoat, then it came back around to make it look as if four probes docked back on his belt, in reality, the fourth was lining up a shot at me. It was just a matter of catching the laser bolts and he would be bested yet again." Phanza explained, going into detail as to how she knew what Rahlkann was up to and what this whole game was about. So this just meant that Operator Rahlkann was particularly dangerous and he has been trying to prove that to Phanza for a long time, with Lady Attam remaining just one step ahead of him. This was yet another example of Phanza needlessly putting herself into risks and I didn't like that, but I was grateful that she won. I also get the impression that the Operator's blaster was set up to be nonlethal, or, at least, I hope so. In any case, all five of us piled into an elevator. Rahlkann turned to Phanza before choosing a floor, presumably meaning that different kinds of information are stored on different levels.
"What are you here for Phanza? I doubt it's something simple like a little blackmail material." Rahlkann asked, his question seemingly confirming my suspicions, suggesting that blackmail material would be a lot easier and cheaper to come by than something like industrial espionage or military intelligence, and, unfortunately for us, we're looking for the latter, on the Empire no less. We were probably asking for some of the most sensitive, exclusive, and expensive information that the Intelligentsia had in their possession, meaning we would have to trade them quite a bit of information in return.
"I need information on the Empire. Weak points, military movements, identifies on important figures, anything that can give us an edge." Phanza answered, soliciting a heavy sigh from Operator Rahlkann. This information was indeed hard to get.
"That, my friend, is very tight information." Rahlkann answered before selecting one of the lowest and most secure levels - should this planet ever be invaded, the most secure information was furthest underground, furthest from the reach of potential invaders - and, since we were going down rather than up, the elevator required a scan of Rahlkann's fingerprints. The base had multiple layers of security - the monolith was guarded by the cannons, the base was concealed by the false cliff face, and access to the base was restricted with a biometric scan - only adding more proof that the Intelligentsia was a very serious and very capable faction. The elevator started moving as Rahlkann turned back to Phanza "Perhaps before we get into the main exchange, I can tell you what we know about the Imperials and their counter-espionage efforts in exchange for what you know."
"Very well," Phanza accepted after a beat, knowing that it was a gamble as to whether or not the Intelligentsia knew more than we did "My apprentice, Zaliza, and I encountered Darth Vader himself on Nar Shaddaa. He is in charge of a group of Force-sensitives - all former Jedi as far as we can tell - operatives called the Inquisitors. They are the ones who hunt down my spies on Coruscant and I suspect they must have caught some of yours as well." Phanza revealed, saying most of what we knew, but I noticed two interesting omissions. The first was that Phanza didn't mention why exactly we were on Nar Shaddaa, the fact we were in disguises, or how we escaped Vader and the Third Sister. The second omission was that Phanza didn't share that the Inquisitors were supposed to be hunting surviving Jedi. I suppose that Phanza only shared what she thought was directly relevant to the Inquisitors and the Grand Duchy's disappearing spies.
"Our man in the Galactic Senate was compromised as well. The bugs we had him place are still transmitting, but we don't know for how much longer. That being said, we don't think our spies are necessarily the main target, we believe that these Inquisitors are hunting for threats to the Empire. I don't have any confirmation for this, but I think they're trying to find surviving Jedi and their supporters." Rahlkann revealed. For someone without the Force and no understanding of it, he did manage to figure out pretty much exactly what was going on. The fact that the Jedi seemed to be a priority target over the Grand Duchy was a good sign - well, not for me I suppose, but the Empire doesn't know I'm hiding in Taaszon - only Thonna knows and, despite being the Third Sister, I don't think she revealed me. I think Thonna allowed us to escape so she didn't have to confirm anything to her superiors.
The elevator arrived down at the bottom level and Operator Rahlkann lead us out to a central holoterminal. I watched as the human cyborg pulled up an image of three Venator-class Star Destroyers.
"Three Imperial capital ships, the Constitution, the Benevolence, and the Geonosian were given new training and combat regiments. These combat regiments seem to be well placed to counter the tactics used by our Grand Ducal and Chiss forces during the Battle of Imperius Prime. We believe that these ships are due to be part of an attack group the Empire is developing to target our outlying systems." Rahlkann explained, and I suddenly felt guilty about the information Ullara and I gave to the Jedi Council after the battle. I couldn't have possibly predicted how my life would've changed since then, with me ending up on Taaszon against an evil Empire, but here we are. In any case, the Operator changed the image to a Republic, now Imperial, space station "These ships, however, were just rerouted to bring down separatist holdouts over the planet of Loukhamii."
"So...not only can we destroy three ships from the attack group against us, we can go it in a context where it looks like this Loukhamii resistance was responsible." Phanza realized, the Nautolan quickly realizing that this was, indeed, a good plan. We finally had a way of hitting the Empire without being the most obvious culprit, and that good potentially make the difference in the inevitable struggle. Of course, this was a Sith plan, and that meant there were some problems with it. For one: we would have to make sure there were no survivors on the space station or the three ships, after all, the whole point was to avoid being seen as responsible for this, after all, this was the price of fighting an asymmetrical war. The second issue was that, if we did succeed, the Empire would very likely carry out reprisals against this Loukhamii resistance, who, despite being former separatists, would be innocent in this case.
"If we manage to attack while the three ships are docked, all we really need to do is get to the reactor, set it to blow, and escape." Ceyla determined, the Mandalorian coming up with a battle plan, we had a way to make this work.
"Yes, yes, very good.' Operator Rahlkann began "Of course, any one of you could return to Taaszon with the mission details, and this is some very sensitive, very important information here. The Empire is involved, it is a major terrorist strike, and it is still possible that this could lead back to the Grand Duchy and, by extension, us. Therefore...I need a piece of intelligence from each of you. Valuable secrets and information that will pay the price of each of you knowing about these Star destroyers and the space station."
The four of us tensed up as the door leading to the elevator slammed shut and Rahlkann released his probe droids. A number of other Intelligentsia operatives gathered elsewhere in the room. The message was clear: all four of us were telling them something, or we were going to die.
I'm becoming habitual with these cliffhangers, I know, but this was a fitting ending.