Opening his eyes, Kale was blinded by a sort of light. When the light faded, he was able to make out a huge circular machine in the middle of the room. He looked over his shoulder, noticing that the Imperial stormtroopers were trying to cut open the door. Everything was blurry, but he began running towards the device.
As he got closer, he knew what he had to do. He looked back as he heard an explosion, and saw that the stormtroopers, with a burnt Nen'the in charge, had broken through the door. Kale smiled as he punched a few keys on the device, causing it to emit a red light. He felt a burning pain as fire consumed him.
---
"Dreaming again, Loner?" A voice to his left asked. He looked around and noticed a man with a rough beard looking at him, "You seemed rather happy with what you were dreaming"
Kale shook his head, "I've been having these dreams. But each time i have them, they turn out to be true. Anyways, why did you want to meet me here?"
The man reached into his pocket, and took a hologram projector out. He clicked the activator, and a hologram of the device from his dream appeared.
"This is the Origin Projector. We don't know what it's purpose is, only that it's capable of killing. We need you to find out what it does, and where it is"
Nodding, Kale took the holo-projector and looked at it, "That's all?"
The man simply got up and walked away from the bench without a word. Kale could feel he wasn't told everything, but he had nothing to lose now. Jored was safe, Terrel was underground, and the Rebel alliance was working on a plan to destroy the death star.
---
Back on Naboo, Terrel's terminal began beeping. He approached it, and noticed it had an incoming transmission from an unknown party.
Incoming Transmission from: Classified
Officer Terrel, on behalf of the Emperor, i congratulate you. Your application was accepted.
You are to begin immediatly. We're aware of a certain device being kept hidden inside the palace.
According to our sources, it has been codenamed the Origin Projector, and is highly classified.
Infact, it's so classified that even the Emperor has no knowledge of it. Let none be aware of your work. Remember; You are the Agent of Justice. Your word is truth, and your promises are golden.
- Intelligence Officer Reth Kuren
Imperial Office of Intelligence
Sighing, he picked up the comm-link from the top of the terminal, "Contact HQ, i think we have a mole"
---
Meanwhile, Kale had just stepped out of the shuttle when he spotted a squad of Imperials asking around. He only just managed to duck behind the other passengers as the squad leader turned around to face the shuttle. Coordinating his movements, Kale was able to sneak past the squad and into the backroom of the shuttleport.
If the Empire was searching all incoming shuttles, they must have tracked down where the assassination came from. That meant the Rebel Alliance's intelligence on Naboo would have been compromised, but by who? Who could possibly know about Kale's return to Naboo?
He left the room through a secret backdoor all the agents used when in emergency. It lead to a small basement area underneath the palace. It was the only place he knew he'd be safe for now. Just as he stepped through the backdoor, his datapad beeped.
Incoming Transmission from: Jored Lorell
Intelligence compromised. Mole uncovered. Code Womprat.
Despite the short words, Kale knew what this meant. He was now sure that the intelligence office had been compromised, and most of the agents either killed or arrested. The main thing he should do now, was seek out the planets Sleeper Agent, which in Naboo's case was Jored Lorell and Terrel.
He made his way to the basement area, and turned on his flashlight as he looked around the room. It was flooded, and the water reached his knees. It was too muddy for him to see anything below the surface, so he'd have to hope he didn't step into a hole. He turned around as he heard a splash coming from one of the side tunnels.
"Hello?" he asked as he approached it, turning his flashlight down the corridor. He didn't expect to see anyone, but he did. In the other end of the corridor, a man wearing a coat was waving at Kale, approaching him.
"I'm glad you made it out alive, Kale" Terrel smiled as he stepped into the main room of the basement.
He took Kale's flashlight and turned it down towards the other end of the room, "There's a door there leading to a hidden imperial installation. Apparently, that's where the Origin Projector is located"
Kale turned around and put on his coat, "All right. I better go do this alone then". He reached under his jacket, removing something from one of the pockets. He then heard a light flick behind him.
"Sorry, Kale-", Terrel didn't manage to say anymore, as the second he grabbed his pistol, Kale turned around and shot Terrel in the stomach.
He fell down and into the water, barely managing to keep his head above the surface.
"How did you know...?" he asked and looked at the burnt clothing.
Kale simply smiled, "The mission was classified to me and my contact. There's no way you could possibly have heard about it, except from the Empire. Plus Womprat is your callsign, and i received a transmission with it". He turned around and began walking away, leaving Terrel to die of his wound.
Instead of using a traditional hacking method, Kale punched the panel, causing the door to malfunction and set off an alarm in the facility. He calmly made his way up the steel corridor, past a heatscanner and a turret. The facility seemed, to his surprise, empty. It was all automated for some reason.
He looked to his right, and noticed a door with a caution notice on it. He broke off the panel and began fiddling around with the wires, forcing the door to open. He lifted an eyebrow as he spotted the Origin Projector. However, he didn't have time to inspect it further, as he barely dodged a laser shot from behind him.
He hurried inside the room, and closed the door as he made his way towards the project, exactly like in his dream. As he approached the projector, the Imperials began cutting through the door. He entered the password he remembered from his dream, and turned around as the door broke down.
"You're making a huge mistake by activating it, Kale" Nen'the said as he walked through the door. He was, however, too late as fire erupted from the device. Kale closed his eyes as he slowly lost all control over his body and felt as if he fell through an endless pit. Then, everything blacked out...
---
He moaned as he opened his eyes, looking around the area. He hadn't moved an inch, he could feel that much. But something had happened. He took a closer look, and noticed he was on the floor of the throne room in the palace. As he got up, he looked out the window and saw a Theed very different from the one he had lived in.
The Imperial troops were nowhere to be found, merchants were trading freely, and the queen was taking a walk through the palace gardens. As he started to realise what had happened, he ran over to the nearest terminal in order to confirm it...