Chapter 11

In all my time as an Agent for Imperial Intelligence, I had never been forced into an open, prolonged firefight. I was an agent, not a soldier. Sure, my training had included weapons training of all kinds, and I technically had the training to flourish in a situation like this, but I was meant to be a ghost, flitting between targets and taking them down before they even knew I was there. That sort of fighting I excelled in. To be a ghost meant scrupulous planning, and nobody was better at that than me. A firefight where the enemy knew exactly where I was and how much they outnumbered me? That was altogether not what I was used to.

There was no time to even think. I snatched up the envelope with my name—no, not my name—and stuffed it into my pocket. Training and instinct completely took over as the soldiers below began firing blindly up at my position on the balcony. I pushed back towards the wall, letting the balcony protect me.

Red flashes like a strobe light filled my vision as the soldier below fired their blasters, and superheated chunks of metal and debris rained down over me as I ducked for cover. The balcony shielded me from any direct hits, but certainly not from the collateral damage from the destruction. I flinched as the rubble rained down over me, covering my arms and the top of my back with burns and cuts. The smell of burning plasma on metal filled my nostrils.

I had to stop and think. Planning was my specialty, and there was no way in hell I would get out alive without a plan. Charging ahead like a foolhardy soldier was no good. I was completely outnumbered, and it had never been in my wheelhouse. I was better in more unassuming positions where I could become a lethal, invisible force. The lab was altogether too bright, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do up on the balcony above them.

I reached for one of the grenades I'd snagged off the guards upstairs. All I needed was a few seconds of unhindered movement. If I tried to move without it, I'd be dead in seconds. I pulled the pin off the grenade and flung it blindly into the lab below. I waited, still shielding myself from the destruction raining down on top of me.

"Grenade!" one soldier shouted as it bounced on the ground near their feet. The blaster fire stopped as they all leaped for whatever cover they could find.

I moved the second they stopped firing—expertly ignoring the pain from all the burns and contusions I had—and vaulted over the balcony. It was a reckless move, far more so than I would usually make. Still, it was the only choice I had other than turning back, and only about ten feet higher than the floor the soldiers were on, so it was pretty easy to land without injuring myself. I crouched down low behind the nearest computer terminal.

The grenade exploded on the other side of the room, the nearby machinery and computers adding to the ferocity of the blast. Screams and groans filled the room—probably the hiding engineers and a couple of soldiers closest to the explosion. Shrapnel splashed across the room. What followed was an eerie quiet. Across the room were quiet moans of pain, presumably from a grenade victim.

The soldiers had all taken cover from the blast, so it was possible, if unlikely, that they hadn't seen me jump over the railing. Now that I was in the room with them I could hardly hide indefinitely, but even a few spare moments could be the difference between success and failure, and perhaps of equal importance, of life and death. If I was to have any chance of success, I had to be unpredictable, and the best way to do that was to be unseen. If they knew where I was, and they had any sort of brains, they'd be charging my position. They had to know they outnumbered me, and there was only so much I'd be able to do if they all rushed me at once.

Since that hadn't happened, I had to assume they hadn't seen when they were jumping for cover from the grenade.

I'd learned in training to trust my senses. Every one of them was important, and perhaps the only thing I could trust with any certainty in a situation like this. I had to use everything I could find to ensure survival. Could I smell anything that might help? Some sort of flammable gas or other substance? No. I couldn't look up and over the computer for fear of them discovering my position. So what could I hear?

I heard soldiers shuffling around the room, trying to stay as quiet as possible, likely for the same reason I was. Dr Pip was harshly whispering orders to her soldiers, but nothing I could fully make out. I could feel the dull vibration of the computer behind me.

That's it!

The security checkpoints for getting onto Kuat Driveyards at all—even as a scrapper—were severe, so there was almost nothing I could bring with me. A stealth generator would have been invaluable, as would my vibroknife, but these were definitely something even the most basic scanner would pick up on. The only thing I could bring with me was my scramble key. I had it tucked away in my back pocket, almost forgotten. It looked like any common data spike, so even if it had been seen, it was hardly suspicious.

Also known as luckbreakers or electrolockpicks, my scramble key could slice into almost any system, even if the one I had was only to allow my Watcher remote access rather than myself. It had enormous processing power, even if it didn't look like much. Mine had been designed specifically by Imperial Intelligence, a small, black cylinder about the same length and width as my index finger. An incredibly unassuming device, but one that could very well ensure my survival. I reached up and placed it atop the terminal. It glowed red from base to tip as it began slicing wirelessly into the system.

C'mon, work!

On the other side of the Galaxy, Watcher Four would do everything she could to gain access to the system, a feat now made possible by the scramble key. In just a few seconds she was once again in my ear, more of a comfort than even if she'd suddenly appeared by my side fully armed with blasters and explosives to fight by my side.

"Agent Nine!" her voice spoke through my earpiece now that she had broken the encryption with the help of my scramble key. "You have little time. The lead engineer is erasing the plans for the stealth ship from her systems."

Shit.

Dr Pip was obviously taking no chances. This level of practical genius was how she had stayed steps ahead of the Empire for so long. Like me, she clearly left nothing to chance. Despite that I was alone, there was no way she was risking something as important as the blueprints to a completed stealth ship to fall into my hands. If even the smallest chance of me getting my hands on those plans existed, she would do her utmost to keep them from me.

"I need the lights out, now!" I whispered. There was no way of knowing just how complete Watcher Four's access was, but I had to assume she had enough to do at least that. Sure enough, the lights in the room fell, and now the only illumination was off small flashing red lights on the computers and machinery. I heard gasps and sharp whispers from across the newly darkened room as the guards scrambled to find out what happened.

Perfect. From what I'd seen, none of the soldiers I'd seen in the base looked to be equipped with night vision of any kind. The darkness was obviously a hindrance to me as well, but I had to assume that I had more extensive training in darkness than some random Republic soldiers. Imperial Agent training was more extensive than almost any military training in the galaxy, and that I'd made it through to graduation was proof of my skill.

"Three hostiles down, nine remaining," Watcher Four spoke in my ear.

Damn, only three with the grenade.

"Ten paces to your left is closest. A second is trying to flank to your blind side." Clearly Watcher Four had access to the cameras as well, which meant she could see far better than me now that the lights were off. As always, her help was invaluable. All Watchers in Imperial Intelligence were highly skilled, but none I'd ever worked with could outmatch her. They weren't trained to assist in combat situations, and yet she never missed a beat. She had an innate ability to know exactly what I needed without me ever having to voice it out loud.

I pressed myself back against the terminal and listened for the telltale signs of approach. The soft tread of a boot on the hard ground or the unsteady breath of a nervous guard. For a long moment, all I could hear was the low hum of the electrics around the room, but the guards wouldn't stay where they were forever, and I couldn't afford to wait. If I poked my head up and over the computer, I was sure that I'd see Dr Pip on the other side of the room, frantically trying to erase all her data before I could reach her. In a perfect world, I'd stay where I was, preferring to defend rather than attack. Once more, luck was not on my side.

But an Agent makes his own luck.

Watcher Four was in my ear the second I moved away from my position, crouched low and darting from cover to cover, despite knowing that the darkness was keeping me hidden. I was an added shadow to the darkness, a wraith amongst my enemies. A straight up gunfight was not my forte, but now with Watcher Four's help, I was in my element.

"Directly behind you in four, three, two—"

I could hear them now, footsteps clumsy and awkward. They were feeling their way in the dark, the absolute worst thing they could do in this situation. Watcher Four acting as my eyes wasn't a great substitute for being able to rely on my own eyes, but if my enemies were going to make that much noise trying to seek me out, they'd make it simple work.

At her count of one, I whirled, firing directly behind me with my blaster before jumping backwards and rolling behind the nearest cover. I could barely see in the dark, but I'd fought and trained enough times in darkness that I trusted my other senses to make up for the handicap. Add in Watcher Four's flawless instructions and I was in the best situation to survive and thrive.

I heard a thump and a groan as my now lifeless attacker hit the floor in a heap. The glow of the plasma bolt glowed for a moment in the middle of his chest before dimming out with a sizzle and the smell of burnt flesh. Blaster bolts whizzed through the air from where I'd fired, but I was safely in cover now, and even the light from their attacks wasn't enough to reveal my new position. Unfortunately for them, it instead made it incredibly easy to see where they were firing from.

I lobbed one grenade, then another, and ducked low behind the cover.

"Agent, I'm doing my best to stall, but she will probably be able to erase the plans within the next minute!" Watcher Four's voice was urgent, but not ordering. I could never be certain about whether it was because she was too afraid to bark orders at me or whether she trusted me to get the job done, but she was always careful with her words and tone, even in the most dire of circumstances.

The grenades exploded, sending debris and machinery spilling across the room, even crashing into the other side of the cover I was behind. I couldn't stay, though. The room was on fire and a dull alarm was blaring through the room, probably some sort of fire safety precaution.

"Three hostiles remaining. I can't stop her from erasing the systems. Whoever she is, she's very good." This time my Watcher sounded apologetic. I nearly bit back at her to work harder, but stopped myself. This wasn't Watcher Four's fault. Dr Pip had a stellar reputation, and no matter how good my Watcher was, I couldn't always expect her to be the best. Besides, if the letter with my name—no, Harry's name—hadn't appeared and alerted everyone to my presence, the Doctor would never have thought to erase the files to begin with. This mission might end up doomed to failure because of me.

I rolled out of cover, the sights of the blaster set steadily in front of my right eye as I moved. The lights were still off, but the gathering flames lit the room enough now that there was no way I could keep hiding so well. After the explosions, the guards were scattered, the few uninjured ones only just getting to their feet after the explosions. They were surrounding Dr Pip as best they could as she typed furiously on her datapad. Her face was hidden, but I didn't need to see her to see how determined she was to win. I had to admire her tenacity. Even the blast from the surrounding grenades hadn't stopped her work. She was the most difficult type of enemy for an Agent like me to deal with—faultlessly loyal, brave even in the face of her potential death. She and Watcher Four were in a battle of skill and will, and for the first time, Watcher Four seemed to be losing.

My blaster flashed red as I pulled the trigger with well-practiced ease. Three shots, three dropped enemies.

"Hurry!" Watcher Four said, her voice strained from effort. Even through my earpiece I could hear her fingers sliding across keys in front of her. I'd never experienced her needing to work so hard. Even if she was against a genius opponent like Dr Pip, I could hardly believe it. I'd yet to come across any system that Watcher Four couldn't break, or an opponent she couldn't out-slice.

I darted across the room, ignoring the groans and pleas from grievously injured enemies and engineers that were strewn on the floor, injured by the grenades or the ensuing debris. My blaster flared as I ran past injured enemies, clicking the trigger without even properly looking in their direction. I vaulted over computer terminals and broken furniture to try to reach Dr Pip before she finished her task.

"Agent Nine… I'm sorry. She's erased the files. I've failed." Watcher Four's voice was more defeated than I'd ever heard her sound. Neither of us had ever failed on a mission. I might've expected that she'd sound stuttering and afraid after failure, but she didn't. Instead, her voice just felt diminished, like she too couldn't believe that after two years we'd not completed a goal.

Dr Pip turned to face me, sweat glistening on her brow. A victorious smile spread across her face, and she showed me no semblance of fear, despite that I'd just taken out her entire room full of guards, plus her entire engineering team. She had cropped blonde hair and a pretty face, but her expression wasn't at all warm. She was entirely cold as she stared me down, almost resembling a Sith after a victory in battle.

"You've failed, boy," she said firmly. "Turn and run back to your empire like the whipped hound you are."

I lifted my blaster until I had it pressed on the skin between her eyes. She looked back at me defiantly, brown eyes flashing with fearless determination and victory. I swallowed my anger down. Emotions were no good to me. I hadn't struggled to control my feelings in years, not since Nar Shaddaa. Of course, I'd never failed before, either.

"Kill me, if you think it will help you. You will never get your hands on my stealth ship, and you will never get off this station alive."

My finger twitched over the trigger, but I didn't fire. My mind was blank. Normally my mind was formulating ideas upon ideas, but I had nothing. Years as an Agent of constant success and daring ingenuity, and now it all felt wasted. A letter that had appeared from who only knows where had bested me, and of course, so had Dr Pip. I had her before my blaster. No other guards were between us, and I still felt like a failure. I didn't feel like Agent Nine in that moment.

I felt like Harry.

I lowered my blaster a little and lifted my free hand to my ear. "Watcher, did you get anything from the plans?"

The communications line was nothing but static for a long moment. "Nothing. I have control over her lab, but she erased everything—there is no data left at all."

Well, at least the Empire will be rid of one of the Republic's greatest assets…

"Agent, she didn't just erase those files. She's alerted the entirety of Kuat Driveyards to your presence…"

I let out a growl and kicked out at the nearby debris. It smoked and sparked and broke apart, and I felt absolutely no better.

Dr Pip was smiling, but there was no warmth, only a mocking victory. "The Republic might never repeat my work without me, but if I've accomplished anything, I'm just glad it was in keeping it out of your hands," she said. She looked down the barrel of the blaster as though it was a welcome last sight.

My mind began whirring back to life. Suddenly I was Agent Nine again, not the weakling, Harry.

"You know, it's funny," I said, lowering my blaster before I pulled the trigger. "You nearly had me believing my mission was over," I laughed. "You aren't nearly as clever as you seem to think."

The victorious smile fell from her face. She looked suddenly pale, and her eyebrows pulled together in obvious confusion. She was probably wondering what she'd said wrong, but it was too late. Her dying victory speech told me this wasn't over yet.

"Repeat your work?" I asked. "A poor choice of words. Watcher, you said you have control of the lab? Open up the hangar bay shutters."

She didn't answer me, but with a sound of grinding metal, the shutters behind Dr Pip rose, folding themselves upwards to reveal the cavernous space behind. Even Dr Pip turned around to look. It wasn't an enormous hangar, probably built specifically for Dr Pip's use, but it housed exactly what I needed. The stealth ship sitting in the hangar looked very much complete, no scaffolding suggesting needed construction or tweaking. It was sleek, and quite large, far larger than I would expect of any stealth ship.

Maybe my mission was to secure the plans for the stealth ship, and with that aim, I had most definitely failed. But as a whole? The mission didn't have to be over. I had the ship itself, and better yet, I had the engineer herself. I had to get that ship back to Dromund Kaas, with Dr Pip in tow.

All I need to do is fly it out through an active meteor shower…

"I have to commend you," I said, my tone now mocking and a victorious smile planted on my face, "it looks like a very nice ship."

Dr Pip turned from the view of the hangar to lunge at me. It was the last attempt of a now desperate enemy. She might have been a genius, but not a competent fighter. I sidestepped the lunge and lashed out with the butt of the pistol, slamming it to the side of her head. It would probably be easier to kill her and be done with it, and hope that the Empire's engineers could reverse engineer her work. But more effective still was the possibility of getting her back to Dromund Kaas as well, where the Sith would break her. With the engineer herself and the stealth ship too, the Empire would have a chance at mass production.

She crashed to the ground in a heap, unconscious and bleeding from the temple. I needed her docile, too weak to fight me the entire way. Getting her to the ship was paramount, and she was far too loyal to the Republic to come just because I was aiming a blaster at her. I knew she was ready to die rather than be captured. Physically dragging her unconscious body was my only actual option.

"More guards are incoming. The meteor shower is slowing them down, but you have only minutes," Watcher Four said urgently. "Whatever you're planning to do, you need to do it now."

"Watcher, guide me to the hangar. I'm flying out of here," I ordered. I grabbed Doctor Pip under the armpits and began dragging her. So often my size was an advantage in my line of work, but not when I needed more than average strength. I wanted to sprint out the doors and leap over the railing, but having her with me forced me into small steps.

Fortunately, since the base was secret, it wasn't particularly large, and Watcher Four could lead me to the hangar in very little time. I was sweating from the effort of it, especially after my firefight with the soldiers. Of course, having no temperature control because of the need to overcharge the outside shields wasn't helping, either.

The hangar itself was nothing special, an open area with giant metallic doors leading to the cold, dark of space. I could not say the same about the starship it housed. For one, being even closer just reinforced how much bigger it was than I'd been expecting. Stealth ships posed an immensely difficult problem for engineers. To be at all effective they had to be fast and manoeuvrable, which became difficult the larger one became. Any stealth plating that hid a ship and its weapon systems from scanners had large power requirements, which would affect the ship's speed and fuel consumption. Most any stealth ship I'd ever heard of was only moderately effective, and about the size of a fighter or maybe a small freighter.

The stealth ship that Dr Pip had engineered was a lot bigger, probably around one hundred metres long. On the outside, it looked more like a civilian luxury vessel than a military ship, but I knew that they'd decked it out with the latest and most powerful weaponry. There was a reason she was such an asset to the Republic, if she could engineer designs like this. Silvery with black and red trim, the ship she'd created was gorgeous. Streamlined, with four main thrusters at the rear of its long hull. It looked agile—perfect for a ship in its class. In bold writing up the side, the Republic Engineers had already named her.

The Tempest.

Dr Pip let on a murmur and her eyes fluttered open. She tried to move her shoulders from my grip, but she was dazed and weak. Apparently, I'd hit her hard enough that she wasn't even in total control of her own body. I couldn't have planned it better.

"You've really outdone yourself, you know." I wasn't really intending to taunt her because I was honestly impressed. I had to assume that the ship would fly as well as it looked it would, which meant she'd really achieved an engineering wonder. Having a fleet of starships like this on the Empire's side would be an enormous boon in the war against the Republic.

Her only answer was to weakly murmur a choice phrase about something I could go do to myself.

"I'm afraid that's anatomically impossible," I answered.

"Soldiers have made it into the base. I'm not sure you'll be able to wait out the meteor shower," Watcher Four advised in my ear.

My answer came out as more of a grunt since I was dragging my hostage towards the starship. "I never planned on waiting. My best chance to escape is to fly straight through it. They'd have to be insane to follow me through it."

Watcher Four didn't answer—probably because she would be too terrified to possibly insult me—but I knew without question that she was judging my decision. Very few pilots, no matter how skilled, would risk flying through an active meteor shower. Even the best navigation system would struggle to find a safe path through, so it was all down to the pilot's skill and observation—and no small amount of luck.

The ramp into the cargo bay at the rear of the ship, underneath its thrusters, was already down. I dragged her along behind me. The interior surprised me as much as the exterior had. The cargo bay was quite large, probably able to fit as much as any decent freighter, but was also a strange mixture of luxury and practicality. Everything inside, from the lighting and the small elevator leading to the second floor, suggested wealth and comfort. It was all exquisitely made, all with expensive materials. Yet none of it denied any sense of purpose. Despite that it looked more like a luxury liner, it could easily be used as well as any proper freighter.

Past the cargo bay and engine room were even more impressive. I caught glimpses of an engineering room, a med-bay complete with bacta tanks and even a small bio lab. This starship, in the hands of someone truly competent and well-trained… it could be indispensable. Better yet, in the hands of an efficient crew or squad, there would be very few tasks they wouldn't be able to complete. This was a ship meant for the most elite, the most trained.

The Bridge was what I needed. As expected, it was at the very front of the ship. They made it of primarily dark materials and it was only dimly lit, enough that I could see the pilot and copilot controls, but not so much that the lighting would inhibit my vision. Out in the dark of space, it was better for a bridge to be dark, lest any interior lighting reflect and block some critical view for the pilot. Between the pilot's seat and the copilot's seat was something like a viewing platform, different from any starship I'd ever seen. It was a brilliant idea. The ship's captain could see everything from that position, all the better to order the pilot into action. This was no mere stealth ship. They clearly meant it as a mobile command unit. A ship like this meant that high-level military commanders could stealth their way onto any battlefront across the galaxy to support their troops as needed, even freighting critical weapons or gear along with them. No blockade would detect it, no fleet could chase it down. A mastery in design and engineering.

I threw Dr Pip unceremoniously into the copilot's seat and squeezed the nerve over her right shoulder. On a ready opponent in a fight, it was an impossible target to reach. As dazed and weak as she was, though? She was unconscious again in moments, and she wouldn't wake in a hurry.

"Soldiers are in the hangar!" Watcher Four's voice was urgent and filled with anxiety, but I couldn't have been more calm. I probably should have been terrified, about to fly a starship I'd never even seen through an active meteor field, but when I was in the pilot's seat of any starship, I felt confident. I pulled the latch for the cargo bay doors to shut and slid into the pilot's seat. It was comfortable. I would lose some speed efficiency and probably a decent amount of shield controls without a copilot, but I didn't care. This was where I was at my best.

I switched the controls on and activated the rear shields. The last thing I needed was for the soldiers outside to fire on the rear thrusters before I could even take off. I could hear them shouting outside, barking orders at each other and screaming for me to open the doors and set Dr Pip free.

"Watcher, open the hangar doors!"

Ahead of the ship the large hangar doors screeched open with the grinding sound of metal on metal. I fired on the thrusters and grabbed the controls. There was barely any rumble, no flickering of the rear thrusters that suggested any age or inefficiency. They flared to life with an electronic hiss as the instruments in front of me lit with glowing blue light. There was no time to associate myself with any strange controls. I had to go entirely off instinct. The rumble of the ship under my feet was more subtle than any starship I'd ever been on, let alone piloted, but I could feel the power of it.

The doors opened to reveal the glowing blue shielding separating the hangar from the vacuum of space outside. The ship hovered off the ground at my touch, the landing gear pulling up and inside. If I had a crew to work with, they'd be firing the lower turrets at the soldiers in the hangar, but as things stood I had only my skills as a pilot to fall back on.

Fortunately, as a pilot, I was unmatched. Even in the Imperial Academy where I'd been deliberately underplaying my skills, my talent as a pilot could never be hidden. Not even the highest ranked in our group, the current Agent Fourteen, could out-fly me. My instincts were flawless. No vector was out of my ability, no speed high enough to hinder my vision and dull my handling. In a pilot's seat, with a sufficiently adequate starship, I felt invincible.

I pushed the thrusters forward, and the ship shot through the glowing blue atmospheric shielding and out into space at a blistering pace, faster than any fighter I'd ever experienced. This was a one hundred metre mobile command centre, yet it flew like a single fighter, nimble and quick. I jammed the controls to the left to avoid an incoming missile, skirting around it like a magnet.

I glimpsed the Driveyards as I flew, now covered in debris as the meteors continued to smash into its surface and bounce off to the planet underneath its orbit. I darted the ship left and right like it was an ant trying to outrun a landslide, but no meteor even nicked me. Where I willed the ship to go, it went. When I thought its speed might fail me, it spurred on ever faster, twisting and turning in space like the rules of physics barely applied to it at all. So many other ships I'd flown would have pulled themselves apart against these ferocious turns, but not the Tempest. To the Tempest it was child's play. It had so much more to give than I could even throw at it. Dr Pip had truly outdone herself.

The second I had an opening and the navigational system blared green, I thrust the hyper-drive gear forward. The stars outside seemed to pull into space as the hyper-drive whirred to life, and then the Kuat Driveyards were nought but a distant memory, left light-years behind.


"Yes sir," I spoke through my earpiece despite the starship having state-of-the art holographic communicators onboard. Until Empire engineers had investigated every nook and cranny, I dared not use any systems meant for the Republic military. "Dr Pip erased the files before I could reach her."

"Understood, Agent Nine. Watcher Four has filled me in. We look forward to your return, and of course, your guest," Keeper responded. I thought he might sound disappointed, but he sounded the same as he ever did, ever professional. I looked over towards Dr Pip. She was awake, and staring at me impassively, no hint of emotion on her face at all. Not long after the jump to hyperspace, I'd found some cable in the cargo bay, and tied her securely into the copilot's chair so I could monitor her.

"Yes sir. I should also say—" I broke off, my hand moving to the envelope that still lay in my pocket. "There were… other complications. I dare not say more over an unsecured line."

Static filled the communications line for a moment. "Understood, Agent. Debrief at the usual location upon your return." The line went silent, and I pulled the earpiece from my ear.

I squeezed the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. I pulled the envelope from my pocket and laid it down over my thighs. His name stared up at me from the cover in cursive script.

Harry Potter.

A part of me wanted to rip the letter open, but I knew I shouldn't. I was not Harry anymore. That life was behind me. I was Agent Nine, now. This letter didn't—shouldn't—matter to me. Obviously, the concern was that someone out there remembered me, and as Agent Nine, I couldn't have that. I couldn't even consider that it might be him. I could never see him again. He was supposed to be dead, despite that logically I knew Harry had let him live.

It can't be Bril…

Nothing I knew of could teleport matter across space, not even the Jedi or the Sith. Besides, even Bril hadn't known the name Potter. On Nar Shaddaa, the only name he'd been told was Harry. The name Potter… that hadn't been remembered in years. Whoever had sent this letter, it was not Bril.

I knew I shouldn't open it. Opening the letter meant admitting I still had Harry inside me, and I couldn't be Harry anymore. I was Agent Nine now, and it was up to my superiors whether I was to know the contents of what was inside. I ran a hand over my face, fighting the headache that was forming at my temples.

"How did the Empire find out about my base on Kuat?" Dr Pip asked, distracting me from the thoughts. Her voice was flat and emotionless, but there's no way she was truly feeling that way. Her question made it obvious. She wanted to know if she'd been betrayed, if some member of her team had betrayed her to the Empire. It didn't matter now. She was on the way to Dromund Kaas, where the Sith would take her, and probably break her mind.

I lifted an eyebrow. Surely she would know that it's a question I wouldn't answer.

She stayed silent for a long time. The silence didn't bother me, but only because I was too lost in thought about the envelope sitting in my pocket.

"The Empire will never win, you know," she eventually said. She didn't look even remotely afraid, despite knowing the pain she was about to endure on Dromund Kaas.

I wasn't all that interested in having a philosophical or political debate, but I needed something to distract me from the letter lying in my lap. This was as good an excuse as any.

"Is that right? Why so?"

"Because the Republic is fighting for its people. We fight for Democracy and a peaceful, fair way to live. The Empire fights for nothing but hatred and dominance."

Until now, Dr Pip had impressed me. Her masterful engineering, her exceptional loyalty to the Republic. She was an admirable woman. Now I could only scoff at her naivety. Those loyal to the Republic always spoke in the same righteous platitudes. 'We will win because the Empire is evil.' Utter nonsense. Where was the almighty winning good when I was growing up on Nar Shaddaa, starving and beaten down? Relying on some sense of good to save anyone was tantamount to madness in my eyes.

"Perhaps if moral superiority was the weapon you seem to think it is, the Republic would already have won," I said. "Wars are won by killing the enemy, and nobody is better at that than the Empire."

Dr Pip shook her head, but she was apparently done with the conversation. Now that I'd started, I wasn't.

"Take the guards above your lab, for example. Killing them was rather easy. I was outnumbered and outgunned, but they lost their lives the moment I convinced them I wasn't a threat. You think Empire soldiers would be so gullible? You think your sense of moral sensibility is your strength? I say it's a vulnerability." When I turned to look at her, her eyes were wet with tears for her lost comrades.

"How does one so young become so cold and ruthless?" she asked. "By the force, you're barely out of childhood!"

I turned away from her and rolled my eyes. Others had asked before, and I had the same answer every time.

"Talent isn't restricted by age."

"No," she agreed, "but nor, it seems, is evil."

Notes

So, not super happy with the way it turned out but I had to post something and I was sick of staring at a mostly completed chapter.

Next chapter will deal with the ramifications of the Hogwarts Letter, and after that, hopefully some proper Harry Potter stuff!

The Tempest (the starship Harry took) is the Starship from Mass Effect Andromeda. Say what you want about the game, the Tempest is a damn cool ship.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Don't forget to join my discord! Link is in my profile :)