Chapter 4

DIANA

The holoterminal in front of the young woman known as Cipher Nine, once known as Diana Kroan, flickered to life. She stared emotionlessly as the image of Darth Vatrus appeared before her. The Sith Lord looked over her appraisingly, as if trying to find out why, exactly, she was on the other end of the holo. "Ah, Miss Kroan, good to finally meet you, even if it isn't in person. Forgive me for saying so, but I was expecting someone with a reputation such as yours to be a little older. Though considering my own history, I probably shouldn't be one to judge you based on your age. But this is all besides the point."

Comments as to her age wasn't something that Diana hadn't heard before. Whenever she met a new contact, they were always skeptical as to her abilities and what they automatically assumed to be a lack of experience due to her youth, yet she always proved them wrong. They never seemed to be able to see past her youthful figure to her flawless performance record. And her allies weren't the only ones that thought she wasn't dangerous – many of her enemies usually made the grave mistake of underestimating her, a mistake that often cost them their lives. There was, however, one thing this Sith had said that bothered her.

"My lord, how do you know my name? All records of my past life were wiped or put under lock and key when I became an Imperial Cipher." She refused to let this Sith see the seed of panic that had begun to grow in her.

The Emperor's Wrath gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Please, Miss Kroan – can I call you Miss Kroan?"

"Call me what you like, my lord."

"Thank you," Vatrus said. He then continued. "My authority, as well as my clearance, is equal to the Dark Council's, if not higher. It took a fair bit of digging, and quite a few holocalls, but I was able to find your records. I've read your file, Diana Kroan. All of it. Even the parts that the Minister of Intelligence didn't want me to."

The message was painfully clear to the Cipher agent. Darth Vatrus knew something that only a very small handful of people in the entire galaxy knew: He knew who she was.

Wanting to end their discussion on this particular topic, Diana did what she did best when receiving a mission, and went straight to business. "Darth Vatrus, you contacted my superior, Keeper, about hiring an agent for a top secret operation. You said you needed an operative that could handle any situation, eliminate any target, and do it all with complete anonymity. I am that operative. What is it that you require, my lord?"

Vatrus' lip twitched upward on an involuntary grin. "Straight to the point, I see. I think you and I will get along just fine. I have a bit of business that will require my direct attention soon, so we need to finish this holoconference quickly."

Vatrus began to pace back and forth. "As you no doubt know, the Empire recently discovered the sinkhole planet of Utapau, a world located in the Outer Rim."

Diana nodded. Who didn't? The news had spread like wildfire across the galaxy.

"Unfortunately," Vatrus said, "the Republic discovered it soon after we did, and has managed to secure a rather large foothold in the northern part of the planet. Now let's be clear: I'm not asking you and whoever you have help from, if anybody, to completely obliterate the Republic's presence on Utapau, though it wouldn't hurt to snipe a few commandos while you're there. No, the man that you are being sent to kill is a distinguished Jedi Master and Republic general named Grantum Ovan. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long, and I need him dead. You will be my instrument of execution."

Diana frowned. "With all due respect, my lord, how do you expect me and one or two other people to sneak past thousands of Republic troops and kill a man who is apparently capable of sabotaging the plans of the Emperor's Wrath?"

Vatrus scowled for just a second. "You'll have to forgive me for being blunt, but it's really not your place to ask why I do the things I do, only to obey orders. I will grant you the knowledge that normally I prefer to take care of my own dirty work, but unfortunately the task I am currently occupied with cannot be abandoned, and if I let Ovan slip through my fingers now, there's no telling where or when he'll turn up again, or what kind of havoc he'll wreak on the Empire during that time. I need the best the Empire has to offer in order to take down Master Ovan, and apparently that's you. You yourself said that you can handle any situation, and eliminate any target, and now you're going to prove it. Now, plot a course for Utapau, find a way to get past the Republic lines, and infiltrate their command centre. Once you're inside, find Jedi Master Grantum Ovan, and kill him. Vatrus out." And with that, the Emperor's Wrath faded from sight.

"Can you believe that guy?" asked a deep, gravelly voice from behind. Diana turned and couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face at the sight of the smirk on Tobias Ilic's face. The massive, muscular Chiss stood leaning against the wall, apparently listening to the entire conversation.

Diana grinned. "Now, now, Tobias, you know that you're not supposed to poke fun at the extremely rich overlords who give you all the money for your shiny gear as well as those fancy toys of yours that go boom. I'll admit that it's amusing from time to time, but somebody is eventually going to take it the wrong way and either stick a lightsaber through your gut, put a blaster bolt through your forehead, or maybe even just choke you through the holo."

Tobias rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mother…"

"I'd like to meet this mother of yours someday. She seems like a person I would agree with, don't you think?" Diana smiled. "Anyway, my old friend, how much of that did you hear?"

"Enough. The guy is too busy with his Sith crap to go in with his own force and kill one cranky Jedi. Big whoop. I've never heard that one before." He sighed. "Ah, well. That guy's some big-shot overlord dude, right? Isn't his title like the Wrath of the Emperor, or something?"

"His official title is the Emperor's Wrath, though most simply refer to him as Darth Vatrus. According to what little I can dig up – and believe me when I say I dug very deep – he was specially chosen by a very secretive group of Sith Purebloods known only as the Emperor's Hand. Fortunately, there's quite a bit more information on Vatrus himself. It would seem that he has had a very impressive career as a Sith. First, as a simple apprentice, he-"

"YAWN!" Tobias interrupted. "Kroan, when will you figure out that I don't care? If the guy pays the big credits, I'll kill whoever he wants as long as it doesn't run counter to my honour as a Mandalorian."

Kroan fixed her friend with a serious look. "Tobias, I know all too well that you're one of the toughest warriors in the galaxy, but Darth Vatrus is not a man you want to cross. If he was able to find out who I am just because he wanted me to do a job for him, do you really want to find out what he'll do if we make him angry? And before you say that you'll just blast him, now's probably a good time to inform you that back when he was just an apprentice, he fought a Jedi Knight and a Jedi Master at the same time by himself, and won. Today, even the Dark Council fears him."

Diana was immensely relieved and even a little surprised when she saw a flicker of actual caution in the bounty hunter's eyes.

"I'll... do my best to make sure that Darth Vatrus will be a very satisfied customer." The Chiss promised.

Diana stared at Tobias for severel seconds, then shook her head in amazement. She had officially done the impossible. She'd gotten Tobias Ilic to basically say that he'd be careful!

Once she'd gotten over her little victory, Diana gave her friend an easy smile."Well, then, Mister Mandalorian Big-Shot, shall we proceed to my ship or not?"

"Lead the way, Agent Kroan."

SWTORSWTORSWTOR

"Wow, Kroan," Tobias said, staring at her ship. "How, exactly, does one get their hands on one of these babies?"

This brought a smirk from Diana. "Oh, Tobias. Don't you see? It takes away all the fun if I just told you. Because then you wouldn't be forced to just guess aimlessly, and I would lose a fantastic entertainment source."

The Mandalorian stared at her. "You're evil. You know that, right?"

"You love me and you know it." Diana said, winking.

She was tempted to tell him anyway. The X-70B Phantom really was impressive. It was streamlined, with state-of-the-art radar resistant exterior plating and a next-generation navigation system. The Phantom was given only to the absolute best and brightest of those in service to the Empire, as it was so futuristic that mass production simply wouldn't be possible until the rest of the Empire caught up with its remarkable technology. She gestured to the door, which she had opened with the push of a button. "Shall we?"

Tobias smirked. "Don't mind if I do, agent."

Upon entering the vessel, her personal assistant droid, 2V-R8, rushed to her side. "Master! It is truly a pleasure to see you again! Can I get you anything? Anything at all? As I've said many times before, I function to serve you!"

"Thank you, Toovee, but no thank you. I am fully satisfied right now. Go and… I don't know, polish the windows or something. I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job, as always."

The droid was clearly restraining itself from bursting into some sort of happy dance. It walked down the hallway, whispering gleefully to itself. "She appreciates what I do… she appreciates what I do! I knew I was doing something right…"

When Toovee was out of earshot, Tobias burst into laughter. "You've got one of those too? They're hilarious, aren't they? They're always so… servantly."

Diana laughed. "Yes, I suppose that is the best word to describe them, even though it's not an actual word, Tobias."

"You would know that, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. As an Imperial Cipher, I am required to be highly versed in multiple languages, including Basic. You would not believe how snobby some of the aristocrats I scam information out of are."

Tobias smirked. "Look, Kroan, I could stand here all day arguing over who has to deal with the snobbier people - FYI, I do - but shouldn't we be going to the bridge to plot a course for Utapau or something?"

This brought a smile from the Cipher Agent. "I suppose we should. Oh, and FYI… I do."

This led to a very important discussion between the two friends that occupied their complete attention on their way to the bridge. They each explained in great detail their history with multiple pompous snobs with giant, unearned egos - almost all of which just happened to live on Alderaan. Tobias told his friend from Intelligence about several infuriating members of House Thul, House Girard, and even a couple from House Rist. Diana countered this with several snobby Thuls of her own, followed by the pricks of House Cortess. That was when Tobias pulled out his master card: His experience with Lord Savorin Malfus the Seventh.

When Tobias told his friend that the first thing Malfus had said to him was that no one below his rank was supposed to be within ten paces of him without his permission, her jaw dropped. By the time he was done, she was forced to admit defeat.

When they finally arrived at the bridge, the Cipher Agent sat down in her custom-built, ultra-cushioned, revolving, reclining captain's chair. It was probably the most useful thing she had ever installed, in her mind at least. Never mind the retractable missile launcher; sleeping while on the job beat that by a landslide. While most of her coworkers in Intelligence would probably not agree (and her superiors definitely wouldn't), nothing was ever going to convince her otherwise.

"Well, Tobias," Diana said coolly, falling back into the role of the cold, calculating Cipher Nine. "Shall we proceed with our mission?"

"Yes," The galaxy's most famous bounty hunter agreed. "Let's."

And with that, Diana punched in the coordinates. Their mission had now begun.

AN: Special thanks to Paragon of Awesomeness for betaing yet another chapter! Best. Beta reader. EVER! I highly recommend him. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!