Erebus-3 Outer Rim
Rebellion Logistic Installation
It was easy for someone like Dirk Klaxon to find the shipping port that could lead him to his target. The Rebellion was meticulous in taking extreme care with their routes, choosing only the most hidden and difficult to reach systems for their bases. In a way that gave him a good start on where to look. With a little synthskin and a wig to match the ident-card he had stolen earlier that morning he was on the landing pad of Erebus-3 wondering how the Rebels could even stand it here.
Hot volcanic wind blew in from the mountain ridges extending into the sky all around them, anything not tied down was swept away and replaced by ash and dust. The dryness of the planet made his disguise itch constantly and he struggled not to tear it off. Deck officers had to shout over the gusts just to have their orders heard. It was a difficult environment for a base, but the interconnected prefab shelters and tarps laid across the supply sections suggested the base was set to move to the next hidden location at a moment's notice. Abandoning anything that can be replaced and vanish from any Imperial pursuit. Dirk wondered if this willingness to withstand suffering was the reason the Rebels have survived so long.
Regardless of their grit, it was still hard for Dirk to believe that this was the same group that had succeeded in assassinating the Emperor just a short while ago. They were disorganized and scattered, he doubted that they would be able to hold the capital for long after foolishly committing nearly their entire battle fleet to seize it. Now, the Empire was regrouping for a counterstrike. The Moffs, sector governors meant to establish order, had been quietly consolidating power in their respective jurisdictions while a new leader was sought out.
"What took you so long?" One of the officers called out to him. He held up a datapad near his face to shield from the biting particles flying through the air as he shouted. "This cargo isn't gonna fly itself!"
"Overslept, sir!" Dirk replied.
An excuse that poor just made the officer more annoyed, but it was better than the truth. Disposing of a body took a lot of time. Especially if you do it correctly, as Dirk took the time to do for each one of his missions. It wouldn't benefit him if the rightful owner's corpse was found before he had finished.
"Just get to work, you're assigned to the Tridium for this cycle." The officer said, "You have four drop sites to unload at. After the third, there is a classified location that needs resupply, we'll provide the hyperlane coordinates when they are required. They are encoded and will scrub from the nav computer automatically, so you won't have to worry about manually destroying it if you get intercepted en route."
Spying and infiltration tactics were just a few of the many useful skills possessed by the Emperor's Hand. A secretive collection of Force sensitive agents trained by Palpatine to exact his machinations. Dirk was shocked to learn of his death, it almost didn't seem real that someone so powerful could be killed, but even after Palpatine's death he could still feel the Emperor's influence. It snaked out from the edges of his thoughts, whispering through his mind in the night and channeled his darker and more intense emotions.
The deck officer guided him to the transport, a modified Zeta-class cargo shuttle. Its Imperial insignias were removed, painted in their place was the scarlet emblem of the Rebellion on the dark gray hull. Four long wings jutted out from the sides, retracted up for landing, and it rested on a large package of various cargo crates affixed to the underbelly.
Dirk made his way to the second level of the craft, dumped his satchel on the seat next to him and began initializing the preflight systems. He was sure that the target was on this resupply route, there were only a few logistical hubs that reached into the Unknown Region and Erebus-3 was just close enough inside Imperial territory to support the strike squadron that decimated their comms relay.
The encoded hyperspace coordinates were a problem however, it was likely designed by a droid, too complex for Dirk to slice manually even if he had several days. He would have to continue on with the mission, infiltrate the Rebel base and attempt to signal Imperial reinforcements on site.
It would be difficult for any normal spy, but he had the Force to bend to his will. The training he endured to become an agent of the Force made him stronger than any other being excluding the dark lords, even the other Hands he felt were inferior to his degree of control. But for a long time, Dirk felt that there was much more to the Force than what the Emperor deemed worthy to teach him.
The cargo transport's engines rumbled as they powered on, blasting the dust and ash that had settled into the metal panels of the craft. Dirk strapped into the pilot's seat and took the controls to guide the Tridium into space. This mission was just another means to an end. This Grand Admiral boasted about his knowledge of the Jedi and their Sith counterparts, Dirk admitted that his collection of artifacts was impressive, but he wanted more than just objects. Dirk wanted to learn more of the Sith practices, the restricted techniques previously out of reach, and with that comes power.