Cipher Nine: The Untold Stories

Chapter 14: A New Mission

It has now been roughly eight months since the failure of the Shatter Project.  Darth Serevrus's followers were heavily criticized by other Imperials, with many other Darths and Moffs reluctant to accept them into their ranks, for the embarrassment of the project, let alone the mention of it rattled any Imperial to the bone.  

Fortunately, my crew and I were spared any backlash due to our previous works with saving the Empire.  As of recently, no new jobs have come in.  We've had a few, but they didn't pay all that well.  

The five of us sat in a booth on Vaiken Spacedock, sorting through different bounty assignments that Veriss and Zar'ix were kind enough to offer us before they went off on a hunt of their own. 

"All I'm saying is that a noble would be easier than a mil-" started Kaliyo, waving a bounty profile in hand.

"The payoff would be way better if we went after this rebel cell's leader!" retorted Raina. 

"Well, whaddya think Agent?" asked Kaliyo.  

"To be fair, a rebel cell leader may be more exciting," I replied, picking up my drink from the table. 

"Guess that settles it," replied Raina with a smirk.

"Oh c'mon agent. You know messing with noble punks is way more satisfying," argued Kaliyo with an energetic smile. 

"Well, Lokin, what does your seasoned mind say?" I joked as I took a sip.

"I may be graying, but I'm not that old," replied Lokin.  We erupted in laughter. 

I hear a beeping coming from my holocommunicator and get up to check what the message was.  I walk over to a nearby empty booth and notice it's an Imperial channel. 

"You've reached Cipher Nine, what's the situation?" I asked as the hologram recalibrated. 

"Cipher Nine? This is Moff Ostrus," replied the hologram. "I worked with Darth Serevrus and Cipher Six on the Shatter Project."

"Yes, I remember you," I replied. Ostrus smiled as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I have done digging into Cipher Six's disappearance, and as it so happens, the Republic have him in custody on a remote station deep in Republic controlled space," started Ostrus.

"What of i-" I started, but Ostrus held a hand up.

"Even more exciting is that an asset of mine verified that your father is being held there as well," continued Ostrus. "And to my understanding, any other officers aboard the Dark Eclipse that were captured were transferred to this station." 

"What do you want me to do sir?" I finally asked. "Exfiltrate or execute?"

"It would be ideal to exfiltrate both as they still have much to offer the Empire," started Ostrus. 

"Are you sure that's wise sir? With the current state of our war machine, there's very little we could do aga-" I started. 

"We may not be able to, but they have the genius to help pull us out of this," interrupted Ostrus.  "It's not only myself who wants them back, but Darth Vyspa would like especially your father back for her own ambitious schemes." 

"Darth Vyspa?" I repeated.  "What could she want with my father?"

"That remains unknown, but regardless," continued Ostrus. "This mission will undoubtedly be very dangerous.  Report to my flagship for the full mission briefing. I'll be docking with Vaiken momentarily."

"Understood," I replied. Ostrus nods then disconnects. 

I return back to the booth where my crew was seated.