Cyana Bastra

Coruscant

Standing at the door to the Supreme Chancellor's office, Cyana found herself observing her reflection in the stainless metal separating her from her fate. She had made sure to look as perfect as possible for this meeting-more than she even did for her husband, he jokingly told her-as she had never met the Chancellor in person before. Being a Republic spy (like her husband, Barak,) she had taken missions for him over the holo, but something was different this time. He had contacted her, telling her the information was too vital to risk being leaked even over their nigh-impenetrable encrypted frequency and to come alone. Now, here she was, checking her red hair for any imperfections and making sure her makeup blended right with her naturally tan skin. She couldn't help but briefly chuckle to herself at the pettiness of her situation as the door opened.

She walked in past the two red armored guards, towards Palpatine, who was facing her in his chair. "Mrs. Bastra," he greeted her. "We have much to discuss." He looked towards his guards. "Leave us." They walked past Cyana as she entered, the door closing behind them. Now that they were alone, Palpatine seemed to lighten up a bit. "Please, have a seat.," he told her. As she sat down, she decided to ditch the small talk. "Why the secrecy?" The Chancellor's face shifted to a much graver image; his voice made a similar change in sound. "This assignment must be the best kept secret in the history of our Galactic Republic."

The sudden shift in tone and the gravity of the situation actually startled Cyana, though she made every attempt not to show it. "What is it?" she asked.

"Do you remember the Cerrano case?"

"Yes."

To say yes, however, was quite the understatement. She'd followed the case closely as it developed. The story went as such: Hans Cerrano, a fresh recruit in the Coruscant Security Force and son of the Senator Berloc Serrano, had returned home one night to find his mother had been murdered. With the assistance of Captain Taran Ragnan, he managed to find the suspected killer (Dak, a friend of his father's) and exposed for the first time a criminal group that would later be known as the Brotherhood. Then, in a shocking development, it was discovered that Hans himself was the one who was behind the entire thing, but he vanished immediately after. Unusually, about a year after this incident, Taran was promoted to Rear Admiral in the Republic Navy, where he had been working since.
"Then you may be familliar with this face."
A holoprojector on the table between the two activated, creating a blue image of Taran Ragnan.
"Yes," Cyana replied, "The ex-detective."

"We believe he is much more than that. For the last six months, I have been slowly placing spies into the Brotherhood, and they believe Ragnan is in fact a puppet for their leader."

"Ragnan is one of them? Does that mean..."

"Yes. Hans is innocent. That, however, is irrelevant. Your mission concerns Ragnan." Palpatine leaned on his desk, folding his fingers. "Cyana, I will not force you to take on this assignment, but should you accept it, there are sacrifices you must make."

"What do you mean?"

"This mission will require possibly years to complete in its entirety, and you must have no contact with anyone other than me. Cyana Bastra must die."

Cyana's first thoughts went to her husband. "Even he cannot know." Palpatine had correctly guessed her next question.

Cyana weighed her options. The Republic knew little about the Brotherhood, only what they had learned from the Cerrano case. They knew the Brotherhood operated ''somewhere'' on Coruscant, and had operations on other planets. Additionally, judging from the new information, they had a strong influence in the Republic. What was Ragnan giving them? Who else did they have implanted behind the scenes?
"What do you need me to do?" she asked.