“I came here for you.”
The words echoed through his head, and the man spun around, his blaster already palmed and ready to fire.
But he was too slow. The knife hit him in the chest, staggering him backwards into a wall. He fell to his knees, the blaster slipping uselessly from his hand as warm blood stained his chest. Slowly, he looked up into the face of his attacker.
And then he died.
The Past . . . Krake’s Planet
Agent Jin strode down the hallway, walking casually through the heart of Imperial Intelligence.
Now, in this time, the agency was at the forefront of galactic administration. None rivalled the Imperial information gathering network; none could predict their moves, or uncover their agents. The computers of the galaxy were held wide open for Imperial commanders to inspect and modify at their will.
Of course, this is the same intelligence agency that would later watch as the empire was brought to its knees by the traitorous rebellion. But this was of no consequence, because at that moment Imp Intel was at the height of power, extending its arms out across space and helping conquer the galaxy, bringing it to order.
Which was just what agent Jin was about to do.
He came to a stop by a large, black door set back into the corridor, and flashed his ID at the scanner. The door slid open noiselessly, and Jin entered the briefing room.
The interior of the room was mostly black, like the door. There was a large, round table set in the centre, surrounded by high-backed chairs that bore a distinctive Imperial rigidity in their design. There were no windows, as the room was deep underground, and the dim light that Jin saw by came from glow bars fixed to the ceiling.
“Agent Jin, sit down.”
Jin hesitated only a second, using the time to glance quickly around the table and note the faces seated there. Jin walked into the room and moved over to a vacant chair opposite the door. He pulled out his blaster and placed it carefully on the table as he sat down, making sure to point it at the wall, and turned on the terminal that was set into the table in front of him.
“Agent Jin, are you familiar with the planet Syvn, in the Arkanisis system?” Marley asked, getting straight to the point. He was a tall, balding man whose years of service had worn him down to an impatient and unforgiving administrator.
“No, I haven’t,” Jin replied shortly, after searching his memory for any reference to either name.
“That would be because it was only discovered four weeks ago, by a civilian cargo ship that made a mis-calculation when departing Corellia for Coruscant. Damn fool ended up on the other side of the Core before he realised what’d gone wrong.” As Marley was speaking the holo-projector built into the table sprung to life, and a three-dimensional image of space began revolving in the air, with Arkanisis and several well-known planets highlighted.
“And he just happened to stumble upon this system?” Jin asked, studying the map to get his bearings. He was sceptical, of course. The chances of randomly running into a previously undiscovered system - especially in the outer core - were quite literally astronomical.
“An interesting point. It seems the Syvn sent out a probe several years ago, broadcasting co-ordinates to their system into deep space. They’ve already discovered ION engines, but haven’t got as far as hyperspace yet. Because of this, they’ve managed to colonise the rest of the planets in their system, and make contact with several alien species in a neighbouring system, also undiscovered.” The display rapidly zoomed in, coming to rest on a wide shot of the Arkanisis system. Arkanisis itself was a large, fiery yellow ball sitting at the centre of four planets, of which Syvn was the third. Jin noted this, but something in Marley’s voice sparked his interest.
“You said ‘alien’, as if the Syvn weren’t.” HE turned to the man, a questioning look on his face.
“Yes, I did, and no, they’re not.” Marley gave a tight-lipped smile; one of the only times Jin had seen him do that. “We think a colony ship may have crashed there several thousand years ago. Aside from some understandable evolutionary changes to help them deal with the environment, the Syvn are human. That’ll be one of your objectives, by the way; finding out what happened.”
“Understood.” Jin paused. “What are the other objectives?”
Marley turned his head to the side, and nodded at the only other person sitting at the table. She, in turn, looked at Jin, then flicked a button on the tabletop and changed the holo-display.
“Agent Jin, my name is Argrego Tlime. I work for Research and Development.” She motioned to the image hanging in the air. “This Arkanisis Two, known to the Syvn as Demelethon. They have several colonies there, but the world is uninhabitable. No water, hardly any atmosphere. The people have to wear spacesuits if they want to move outside the prefab habitats they brought with them.”
The display changed again, zooming in on the world until the focus was microscopic; a single atom now filled the room.
“This is magnetosminto, a metal, and an abundant natural resource on Demelethon. When treated properly and mixed with several other chemicals, it forms one of the strongest metal alloys in the galaxy.”
Jin held his breath for a second, while his brain processed what he was hearing. Strongest metal in the galaxy? The possibilities...
Marley began speaking again.
“In short, Agent Jin, we need this world. Your primary mission objective is to find out as much as you can about Syvn and Demelethon, and start the propaganda train running. You will be working with Jesp Nydoon and Ursec Neb on this. You will be in charge of the operation, and will leave for Syvn with Miss Tlime as soon as this briefing is over. Nydoon and Neb will join you in a few days. Questions.”
Jin only had to think a moment. “If this magne... this metal is so strong, then won’t the Syvn be opposed to giving it up?”
“Yes, they probably will. But Miss Tlime has put together a number of fake samples of metal that you will say are far stronger than magnetosminto. They will stand up to any scans the Syvn perform, and of course they are ‘abundant’ throughout the galaxy.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Good. The ship is in bay RRP390, and all standard equipment has been transferred to the hold. Your flight path will take you through several systems, including Fondor. If you need to requisition anything, send a transmission at your first stop, and it will be ready for pickup when you arrive at Fondor. The code is ‘bel et semonith’.” Marley stood up, and so did Jin. “If there’s nothing else, Agent Jin, then this briefing is over.”
The words echoed through his head, and the man spun around, his blaster already palmed and ready to fire.
But he was too slow. The knife hit him in the chest, staggering him backwards into a wall. He fell to his knees, the blaster slipping uselessly from his hand as warm blood stained his chest. Slowly, he looked up into the face of his attacker.
And then he died.
The Past . . . Krake’s Planet
Agent Jin strode down the hallway, walking casually through the heart of Imperial Intelligence.
Now, in this time, the agency was at the forefront of galactic administration. None rivalled the Imperial information gathering network; none could predict their moves, or uncover their agents. The computers of the galaxy were held wide open for Imperial commanders to inspect and modify at their will.
Of course, this is the same intelligence agency that would later watch as the empire was brought to its knees by the traitorous rebellion. But this was of no consequence, because at that moment Imp Intel was at the height of power, extending its arms out across space and helping conquer the galaxy, bringing it to order.
Which was just what agent Jin was about to do.
He came to a stop by a large, black door set back into the corridor, and flashed his ID at the scanner. The door slid open noiselessly, and Jin entered the briefing room.
The interior of the room was mostly black, like the door. There was a large, round table set in the centre, surrounded by high-backed chairs that bore a distinctive Imperial rigidity in their design. There were no windows, as the room was deep underground, and the dim light that Jin saw by came from glow bars fixed to the ceiling.
“Agent Jin, sit down.”
Jin hesitated only a second, using the time to glance quickly around the table and note the faces seated there. Jin walked into the room and moved over to a vacant chair opposite the door. He pulled out his blaster and placed it carefully on the table as he sat down, making sure to point it at the wall, and turned on the terminal that was set into the table in front of him.
“Agent Jin, are you familiar with the planet Syvn, in the Arkanisis system?” Marley asked, getting straight to the point. He was a tall, balding man whose years of service had worn him down to an impatient and unforgiving administrator.
“No, I haven’t,” Jin replied shortly, after searching his memory for any reference to either name.
“That would be because it was only discovered four weeks ago, by a civilian cargo ship that made a mis-calculation when departing Corellia for Coruscant. Damn fool ended up on the other side of the Core before he realised what’d gone wrong.” As Marley was speaking the holo-projector built into the table sprung to life, and a three-dimensional image of space began revolving in the air, with Arkanisis and several well-known planets highlighted.
“And he just happened to stumble upon this system?” Jin asked, studying the map to get his bearings. He was sceptical, of course. The chances of randomly running into a previously undiscovered system - especially in the outer core - were quite literally astronomical.
“An interesting point. It seems the Syvn sent out a probe several years ago, broadcasting co-ordinates to their system into deep space. They’ve already discovered ION engines, but haven’t got as far as hyperspace yet. Because of this, they’ve managed to colonise the rest of the planets in their system, and make contact with several alien species in a neighbouring system, also undiscovered.” The display rapidly zoomed in, coming to rest on a wide shot of the Arkanisis system. Arkanisis itself was a large, fiery yellow ball sitting at the centre of four planets, of which Syvn was the third. Jin noted this, but something in Marley’s voice sparked his interest.
“You said ‘alien’, as if the Syvn weren’t.” HE turned to the man, a questioning look on his face.
“Yes, I did, and no, they’re not.” Marley gave a tight-lipped smile; one of the only times Jin had seen him do that. “We think a colony ship may have crashed there several thousand years ago. Aside from some understandable evolutionary changes to help them deal with the environment, the Syvn are human. That’ll be one of your objectives, by the way; finding out what happened.”
“Understood.” Jin paused. “What are the other objectives?”
Marley turned his head to the side, and nodded at the only other person sitting at the table. She, in turn, looked at Jin, then flicked a button on the tabletop and changed the holo-display.
“Agent Jin, my name is Argrego Tlime. I work for Research and Development.” She motioned to the image hanging in the air. “This Arkanisis Two, known to the Syvn as Demelethon. They have several colonies there, but the world is uninhabitable. No water, hardly any atmosphere. The people have to wear spacesuits if they want to move outside the prefab habitats they brought with them.”
The display changed again, zooming in on the world until the focus was microscopic; a single atom now filled the room.
“This is magnetosminto, a metal, and an abundant natural resource on Demelethon. When treated properly and mixed with several other chemicals, it forms one of the strongest metal alloys in the galaxy.”
Jin held his breath for a second, while his brain processed what he was hearing. Strongest metal in the galaxy? The possibilities...
Marley began speaking again.
“In short, Agent Jin, we need this world. Your primary mission objective is to find out as much as you can about Syvn and Demelethon, and start the propaganda train running. You will be working with Jesp Nydoon and Ursec Neb on this. You will be in charge of the operation, and will leave for Syvn with Miss Tlime as soon as this briefing is over. Nydoon and Neb will join you in a few days. Questions.”
Jin only had to think a moment. “If this magne... this metal is so strong, then won’t the Syvn be opposed to giving it up?”
“Yes, they probably will. But Miss Tlime has put together a number of fake samples of metal that you will say are far stronger than magnetosminto. They will stand up to any scans the Syvn perform, and of course they are ‘abundant’ throughout the galaxy.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Good. The ship is in bay RRP390, and all standard equipment has been transferred to the hold. Your flight path will take you through several systems, including Fondor. If you need to requisition anything, send a transmission at your first stop, and it will be ready for pickup when you arrive at Fondor. The code is ‘bel et semonith’.” Marley stood up, and so did Jin. “If there’s nothing else, Agent Jin, then this briefing is over.”