A little bit of espionage before we move onto the Partisans...how does this one work? Let me know...
STAR WARS: THE EMPEROR'S SHADOW
TRUE IMPERIAL
CHAPTER ELEVEN: BAIT AND SWITCH
Once I was out of Isard's office, I took the path to the secret hanger to call my ship. While on the way, Isard called me on my wrist communicator. I wasn't surprised that he had the frequency-though I doubted he'd have it for long-the Emperor had probably let him have it solely for this mission. Still, if it was important to my mission…
"It turns out the Partisans have an agent on Coruscant." He Revealed.
"How did you allow that to happen?" I asked.
"Simple…she's under surveillance all the time. Besides, we can feed her false information to mislead the Partisans. However, she's outlived her usefulness, as her cell is about to be wiped out, so I am turning her over to you. I'm sure she'll be of some use to you…"
"You learned of her allegiances and did not kill her. Why?" I asked.
"Sometimes you can use an enemy spy without them knowing they are being used by their enemy. I've been able to feed her false information a number of times, in an effort to spread misinformation. However, I suspect that she may have been rumbled by the Partisans to. Either way, she has outlived her usefulness…so I trust you will be able to think of something to do with her…"
He said no more, but his meaning was clear. My wrist computer then indicated that a file had been received…
Shura Ralkhar…Corellian. Operating as a merchant trader, but secretly a Partisan spy. Had unknowingly been rumbled by Isard, and used as an unwitting agent for him. Now she would be the architect of the demise of her cell of the Partisans…and all without even knowing she had been discovered. I read the file carefully, and adjusted my plans accordingly. She had a ship berthed out at one of the merchant docks. I could take a transport there under an assumed identity and then put my revised plan into action…
Disguised as a fellow trader, another pre-set identity, I set off after my prey.
After a lengthy journey travelling incognito, I finally saw Shura Ralkhar, drinking at a cantina. I decided that the best thing to do would be to try and arrange a deal 'on the side', I think the terminology is. Walking up to her, I sat down next to her.
"I've been told that you're the one I talk to if I want to grab some…blasters?" I began quietly.
"Don't know what you're talking about…" she said without looking round.
"I'm sure you do…Partisan." I said in a low voice.
This caught her attention. She fixed her glare on me.
"Not so loud…and not here. There's a meeting place I like to do business on the side. So long as you tell nobody, I'll meet you there in one galactic standard hour. Come alone…and leave me your identity so that I can vet you. We need to ensure a certain respectability of clientele, after all…"
Her voice was calm, and her face gave nothing away-well honed at the Sabacc tables no doubt.
I had no choice but to hand over my 'details', then left to await the meeting.
The meeting was inside a warehouse, though it was fairly open, with all of the containers lining the walls. It looked like a fairly standard merchant's drop-off and pick-up point, one that would be frequented by cargo traders a lot…but not very often. It would be all too easy to arrange an ambush here…so I took a few precautions. Using my wrist device, I was ready for them…
I didn't have to wait long…My contact soon appeared.
"You're here already…I like that." She commented, before a group of heavily armed soldiers appeared. Mercenaries, judging by the look of them-paid muscle. No trouble...at all. Nonetheless, they were proof that this trader-this partisan-was suspicious of my presence.
"Lock the door, Jayne…" she ordered to one of the mercs, a burly woman with an oversized blaster rifle. She walked over to the door, and ensured that it was sealed from the inside. The moment that it did, my wrist device gave a quiet beep. The programme that I had composed had triggered…
The trader looked at me.
"You must be an Imperial spy…and not a very well informed one at that. You were too brazen…and you've walked into what was so clearly an ambush. A secluded warehouse in an area rarely frequented except by the more dubious of society…where there is no Imperial presence. And now you're trapped in here with us…and we can do as we wish with you, Imperial spy…"
However, beneath the hologram disguise and the helmet, I was smiling…
"No, you've got the situation completely wrong….you're all trapped in here with me."
I deactivated my holographic disguise, as I activated my serum injector.
To their credit, the mercenaries stood their ground as they drew blasters to fend off the clearly Imperial operative. However, it did them little good. Thanks to the serum's effects, my extra strength and speed made short work on the hired mercenaries. As I slaughtered them, I felt a rush of pride and…dare I say enjoyment? Whatever I felt, I wanted more…
The trader herself had fled to the door, hoping to open the door from the inside. However, she found it refused to open. As the fight continued, she tried to send off a message. However, she had no luck…
"Sithspit…why won't you answer me!? Who could be jamming my comms!?"
She then turned, to see her expensive hired mercenaries all dead and my looming form over her.
"You are a traitor to the Empire…and for your rebellion, you should die…however you also have information concerning the Partisans…and I intend to take every last piece from you…"
"You'll have to work hard to break me, Imperial dog…" she spat out.
I then drew my Force Pike, and took my time with the trader. Her screams of pain told me that her death by torture was not a painless one-but her screams were now music to my ears. The screams of a traitor, dying as per the Emperor's will…All the while, I obtained all the information I needed from her to access the space station, as well as to take her ship.
As her body finally gave out, I took a body print of her, having obtained her vocal patterns from the interrogation. I now had all I needed to impersonate her…
My programme had set the doors to lock from the outside, preventing the trader from leaving-as well as jamming all of her comms. So long as she had not contacted her cell prior to meeting me, my mission success was assured. All I needed to do now was to contact my contact…
I had been given Isard's agent's contact frequency through my wrist computer. Using the frequency and an Imperial comm scrambler, I attempted to make contact with his chosen agent. Once we had exchanged the necessary codewords, she spoke more casually.
"You are in place among the targets?" I asked.
"Affirmative…I will send the co-ordinates. I am hidden on their base, but they have not detected me. However, I have no means of smuggling you onto the station, so you will need to find a way to gain access yourself. Once you're here, however, I shall make myself known to you and we shall begin the clearance operation." The voice was young, but very assured of her abilities.
"I've acquired a means of entry…all I need is the co-ordinates." I replied, keeping it brief.
A short while later, the co-ordinates arrived. Aware of where I needed to be, I decided to destroy all evidence of my presence and set up an 'accident'. I left an incendiary explosion rigged up that would destroy the bodies and look like a warehouse fire…with my cover set up, I left.
I had a meeting to keep, and a rebel faction in need of pacifying…