Imperial Intelligence Headquarters

Dromund Kaas

3649 BBY

A Sith Lord rarely receives a friendly welcome, even from his allies. "What exactly is he doing here, sir?"

Sitting at his desk, the man known only as Keeper looked up from the terminal he was studying. The strands of a thousand Intelligence operations met and entwined in the tangled web of its memory core, waiting for his attention. He frowned, displeased with the interruption. "You would do well to keep your voice down, Watcher Three. It is unwise to provoke a Lord of the Dark Council."

Watcher Three lowered his voice, but the tone remained unflinchingly hostile. "That man has no place here. This falls entirely out of his jurisdiction!"

Keeper sighed. "A Sith's jurisdiction extends as far as he wants it to, Watcher Three. An unfortunate fact, perhaps, but a fact none the less. And one you would do well to remember." There was a clear warning tone in his voice now, a warning to drop the subject before it was too late. It already may have been. Every conversation within Imperial Intelligence was recorded, and all their visitor would need to do was ask for the right tapes to discover Watcher Three's insubordination. And the Sith were not known for their mercy towards dissidents.

Keeper returned to reading the reports. After about a minute, his eyes flashed back up to his subordinate, now pacing his office furiously. "What is he doing now?"

Watcher Three glanced outside. "Talking with Fixer Seven. I hear they're working on a project together, some new kind of droid. And that apprentice of his is locked in what seems to be a heated discussion with the new kid, Watcher Eleven. I hope he packed his respirator."

"Have you warned him about the dangers of associating with Sith?"

"I don't think I'll need to."

"Let's hope that is not the case," muttered Keeper, now examining digital copies of the ledgers of a junior member of the Hutt Cartel. "For his sake." With a sigh, he stood up from his desk. "I'd better go see what our guest wants."

He carefully arranged his face into the image of polite deference, and walked out his door, Watcher Three following close behind. At the other end of the command room, the Sith Lord ended his hushed conversation with Fixer Seven as they approached, and turned to face them. Yellow eyes glinted in the shadows.

Keeper bowed; stiff and formal, a gesture of respect that nevertheless subtly hinted at a measure of authority. "Darth Reliyk. It's an honour."

"Good morning, Keeper," the Sith smiled. Darth Reliyk had an easy, welcoming smile, like a benevolent grandfather. Keeper wasn't fooled. For all his charm and genteel manner, Reliyk was still a Sith Lord, and their kind never meant you well.

The amber light of the eyes strayed, questioning, and Keeper obediently obliged. "This is my deputy, Watcher Three."

Behind him, Watcher Three bowed curtly. "My lord."

"It's a pleasure- truly." Reliyk's voice was every bit the refined Alderaanian aristocrat, and he emanated a sense of confidence and grace with every syllable. His smile remained warm as he acknowledged the Watcher's bow, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of amusement. "I doubt the feeling is mutual, however. You wonder why I concern myself with Intelligence, Watcher Three?"

Watcher Three's professional mask slipped for a second, and naked fear shone through. "It- it is not my place to ask, my lord. I only-"

"You only wish to know why I am here," Reliyk finished. "It is an understandable sentiment; the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge rarely involves itself with Intelligence matters. Something, however, has come up."

He turned to the huge, circular command table in the centre of the room and quickly tapped in a reference code. A holographic image of a Terminus-class Imperial destroyer, clearly already queued up for viewing, materialised above the table, along with a basic star map of what Keeper vaguely recognised as the Ojoster Sector. The spymaster permitted himself a small, rueful shake of the head at this casual tampering with sensitive Intelligence equipment, but he knew from bitter experience that that was where his protest must end.

Darth Reliyk stood back from the table, and gestured towards the images. "I understand you spy types like your briefings to be as concise as possible, so I'll keep this brief. Two weeks ago one of my ships, the Aphra, disappeared over Taris. It was carrying several important artefacts of personal interest from a dig on Denova. The last communication we received was a distress call, saying they were under attack from a Republic vessel. I had some of my associates look into the matter, and it turns out no Republic warships had been deployed within a hundred parsecs of Taris in the last six months." The corners of his mouth twitched. "Curious, no?"

Keeper frowned. "There may have been no documentation of a deployment, my lord, if the mission was a secret. Especially since attacking an Imperial ship would violate the Treaty of Coruscant. The Republic would want to leave no proof of their involvement."

"I had thought of that, funnily enough," smiled Reliyk, his voice once again amused. "We archaeologist types are not all naïve and incompetent, you see. But just last week, I received a very angry complaint from Darth Vowrawn that the Aphra had been spotted attacking Imperial shipments near Bandomeer. That got me thinking, so I had my agents do some more digging, and they discovered that a Republic warship matching the distress call's description had recently been stolen from a Republic shipyard on Brentaal." He turned again to Keeper and Watcher Three. "Your opinion, gentlemen?"

Keeper considered the facts carefully. "Their activity would suggest some breed of pirates. But stealing ships from right under the Republic's nose? Hijacking Imperial warships? That's daring. One might even say too daring…"

"It could be one of the crime cartels, sir," suggested Watcher Three. "They've been known to pull stunts like this before."

"Possible, but unlikely," Keeper muttered, still analysing the holographic data scrolling past his eyes. "Crime cartels don't get to be successful by angering major governments, they have much easier targets. Hmm…" He glanced over Darth Reliyk's shoulder to the agents working the terminals below the dais. "Watcher Six, run a search on any recent pirate activity in the Ojoster Sector. I want a report on all Class Seven Offences on my desk in two hours."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Keeper." Darth Reliyk deactivated the holoterminal and began to move away from the dais. "Are you confident you can find those responsible?"

Keeper chose to ignore Watcher Three's poorly concealed tut of distaste. "I believe so, my lord. Imperial Intelligence never disappoints."

"Very good. And you will notify me as soon as something comes up?"

"Of course, my lord."

Reliyk nodded, satisfied. "Come, Loka. We're leaving." At the other end of the room, his apprentice nodded farewell to Watcher Eleven and began to move towards her master. Reliyk waited for her to draw level, then began to head toward the exit. At the door, he paused. "Thank you again, Keeper, you have been most helpful. I'll be sure to commend you to Darth Jadus at the next meeting of the Dark Council."

Keeper watched two Sith Lords leave, and smiled bitterly. "Thank you, my lord."