Another War, Another Chance

[Joshmaul]

He sat in the hall outside the general's office, his helmet rocking on his knee as he shook one leg, alleviating the tension of waiting. Most would not look at a Cathar in Army uniform as being unusual here.

"Colonel?" He looked up. "The general is ready for you, sir."

"Thank you." That caused some heads to turn in his direction - not what he said, but how it sounded when he said it. It was something he wondered if he would ever get used to, and more or less resigned himself to the idea that he wouldn't.

After all, not too many people with an Imperial accent would be all that welcome on Coruscant...

Repressing a sigh, he followed the adjutant into the general's office. The adjutant gestured for him to wait for a moment before he poked his head into the office. "General?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Dismissed." The general limped slightly as he turned to face his guest, as he had a prosthetic right leg. "Well, Colonel Tekan..." He gestured to a chair in front of his desk, and sat down - not behind the desk, but in the other chair in front of it. "You wanted a chance to prove yourself, and to stick with your men. You'll be getting the chance for both."

"I'm glad to hear that, General Savel." Colonel Menrim Tekan, ex-Imperial Army, took the chair offered him, the helmet shaking on his leg again. "After the bloodbath on the Castellum..."

General Aleric Savel nodded grimly. "Colonel Danrei and the survivors of the New Talaos Irregulars have all resigned in protest, and took their gear with them. I'm letting them go, rather than slap them with desertion labels again. Bad enough we have to fight the kriffing Empire again; we do not need to be hunting down our own." He met Tekan's gaze. "Hunting, however, is something I'm looking to have you do. And you may be familiar with the hunting grounds."

Tekan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Go on, sir."

"We've picked up intelligence regarding who your replacement was as commander of the army contingent of the Reydovan System Defense Force..." Savel leaned over and activated the holoprojector on his desk.

Tekan growled in his throat. "Of course it would be him. With Malagant back in control of the sector..."

"Just so," the general agreed. "The Jedi's blade was apparently not enough to put an end to his threat. Let us see if your knowledge of Imperial doctrine and skill in battle will do better."

The colonel was shaking his head. "It's not going to be a one-shot, one-kill operation, General. For one thing, Malagant has put death warrants on us, which means mercenaries from here to Tatooine might decide to cash in." He paused for a moment; Savel nodded for him to continue, not interrupting. "For another, he has a considerable support network, both from Malagant and from his own connections in the Imperial Army." His expression changed. "Perhaps... cutting that off first."

"Undermining his connections?"

Tekan nodded. "A long-term, behind-the-lines operation. You'll probably not hear from us a lot, if at all, until either we pull it off, or we end up dead. You'll probably be able to keep tabs on us anyway, of course..."

Savel was silent, considering it... and then, finally, he nodded. "What do you need?"

"Transport. Preferably something that would not be any more suspicious than any other Subjugate ship visiting Imperial space in the middle of a war."

Savel smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

[Joshmaul]

The Palace of Winterhome was equal parts residence and fortress, high in the Caymarnian Mountains on Reydovan Prime's southwestern continent. After his shuttle dropped them off in the palace grounds, three figures - Moff Arik Daltyn, Reydovan Prime's planetary governor, and Sith Intelligence agents Indi'zar'kleoni and Merelan Kinsale - were escorted by two guards through the gardens surrounding the front gate, inside the palace, and to the hall leading to the audience chamber, where they came up to an elevator leading outside.

A large side building was set up behind the main palace, upon a ridge and out of sight from the front grounds; the portion of the building they entered was a medical bay and laboratory. Upon entering the room, they discovered a massive kolto tank set up in the room's center, a medical droid attending to the machinery. "Lord Malagant?" Daltyn asked uncertainly, looking around the room... and then his eyes went wide as he saw movement in the foggy fluid of the tank.

"I am here." Darth Malagant was suspended inside, the metal replacements and reinforcements to his body, as well as the burn-scarred flesh, becoming more visible as he floated closer to the edge of the tank. He was speaking through the rebreather mask he wore, his voice projecting from a speaker next to the tank. "My apologies for the unusual method of meeting, Arik, but... I needed some work done." His red-eyed gaze went from Daltyn to the agents. "You said you had something to report?"

Daltyn glanced over to Indizar, who had stepped forward. "My lord, Agent Kinsale and I have confirmed your suspicions. The hunter has accepted a counter-bounty from Lucia Zherron. For you and General Undjo both. Our sources indicate that Captain Zherron has put together an up-front fee of one million credits, with full payment to be determined upon completion of the task."

"Not surprising. While once an enthusiastic supporter of Imperial doctrine - even having a brief commission in our starfighter corps during the Revanite conflict - Nyssha has always been a mercenary at heart. She worked with me well enough, but Andav..." Malagant made a sound like a snort of derision. "My brother has always been a... divisive figure. What of Colonel Tekan?"

"He's dropped off at the moment, which makes me think he will probably resurface somewhere in the Empire. He knows enough about our policies regarding Subjugates to be able to blend in reasonably enough."

"My assessment as well, Lord Malagant," Daltyn agreed, nodding. "Tekan will have been briefed on the incident at the Castellum and want to avoid so obvious an insertion in full Republic regalia. He and his troopers will either masquerade as a mercenary crew or as Imperial Army - and they could likely get away with that, given that most of the men in his irregular battalion are defectors."

"I am well aware of that, Governor." Daltyn took a cautious step back on hearing the steel in Malagant's tone; even suspended in a med-tank, a Sith Lord could still be dangerous, and he knew it. "Agent Kinsale."

The dark-haired infiltrator stepped forward. "My lord?"

"I think our 'Red Dragonslayer' has outlived her usefulness at this point. I cannot afford to have such a viper with easy access to my household. Kill her immediately."

Kinsale hesitated for a moment. "My lord, Captain Petrand is employed by Taelios Genetech Industries. As you are well aware, Taelios has considerable --"

Malagant laughed, a wheezing sound. "Taelios is a spent force, a relic of yesteryear. A bogeyman invoked by neophyte Sith and others of this weakling generation to frighten them into eating their vegetables. You have nothing to fear from that shriveled old fool, Merelan. Kill the backstabbing little schutta, and bring me her head."

"...yes, my lord." Kinsale bowed, and made her way out of the lab.

Malagant turned his attention to the Chiss sniper. "I know your humiliation rankles you, Indizar. I will confess, my brother does not have very subtle methods for dealing with problems. His bluntness is something I can occasionally appreciate, but perhaps he was... overzealous. Not even I could have predicted the colonel would betray us; that lapse was as much mine as it was yours. And you have served me well enough since."

Indizar bowed his head, not daring to speak.

"I reinstate your rank of Commander to you, and task you with overseeing Agent Kinsale's mission. Given the fear and doubt she has displayed, she will likely require firm guidance to ensure she follows it through. If she does not..."

He knew full well what Malagant left unsaid. "I will see to it, Lord Malagant."

"In addition, keep your sources on the lookout for our traitors. If what you and Arik suspect is true, they could be here already. This is our mess to clean up; whatever resources you require that I can grant you, name them. But get it done, and get it done right... or a demotion will be the least of your humiliation when I am through with you. Do I make myself clear?"

Indizar swallowed nervously, but answered in a level voice. "Crystal, my lord."

"Good. Now leave us, Commander. You have work to do, and I have much to discuss with the governor here."