A Rumored Plan

[John Ash]

The Galactic Empire was failing. The signs of it were everywhere. John had seen the patrols near the border with the Confederacy around the Pii System grow less and less frequent. They didn't exactly want to touch his system as "pirates" were a real problem, but they it was still showing they were slipping. There was less protection the further away you got from the capital. It meant they were vulnerable. It meant they had a weakness. It meant there was something John could take from them.

John had been toying with an idea lately. He had a need and there was two ways he could see going about it. One was more expensive if he was being honest and came with some problems he didn't like. The other though.... Well the only thing stopping him was having no ready access to the experts he needed to talk to. But with the Empire growing weaker every day, he saw his chance to take what he wanted from them. So he had devised a plan. Something to both allow him to get what he was after as well as punish the Empire for growing so frail. But there was an aspect he was missing still. That is where some rumors he heard came in.

It seemed this [member="Lucien E. Irridius"] had a reason to hit the Empire. Something about being a Grand Admiral one day and then the biggest defector and traitor in their history the next. Also were rumors about him starting up another group that got the Imperials shaking in their cardboard boots. If they were true then John might have a solution to his problem. If they weren't then this might not end well. He normally wasn't a betting man, but this seemed too good to pass up.

An encrypted message was sent to Irridius. It stated: < Hear you don't care for the Galactic Empire. Neither do I. Have a proposition you might be interested in. I'll meet you in person. Send coordinates to where you would like to meet up. >

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

[member="John Ash"]


"Does someone care to elaborate as to how this man managed to circumvent our security measures, maneuver past our intelligence network and relay us an encrypted message?" the Grand Admiral's voice was ice and it got thinner with each syllable it edged out. Turning slowly, Irridius' gaze became wide and his features turned to chizzled stone - the barely contained fire behind his green eyes demanding an answer.

"Hm?" his arms splayed out dramatically as he challenged the men and women seated dead-still about the flashing monitors and blinking lights of the intelligence center, "No one then? Hm, is that it?"

Rage boiled over "Then who is going to answer for that!" A gloved hand rapped the air, gesturing at the transcription of John Ash's message.

"Grand Admiral!" a middle-aged man, pinned with captains bars, took the center floor and stood with arms stiff at the sides, "I take full responsibility for this failing"

"Do you now?" Lucien stepped forward, eyes narrowed down at the captain who stood more than two inches below Irridius himself, "then tell me, Captain, who is your handler for the counterespionage units responsible for this leak into our encryption network?"

"Me, Grand Admiral" A much younger man, barely out of his twenties, took a stand from beside a terminal in the far corner of the room, "Lieutenant, First Class, Montazin"

Then there was silence. The Grand Admiral stared dead at the captain's face, glancing over only for a moment to see the face of the man who failed so horrendously.

A twitch of the hand towards Montazin, "Slowly"

Without hesitation, the admiral's two death-trooper guards rushed from the shadows and crossed the room in a blink. Before any of the operators in the room could tell what happened, Montazin was screaming in his chair - hands fumbling for the organs sliding from his belly. While one death trooper held him down by the shoulders, the other wiped down his vibrodagger on the man's uniform before returning it to his sheath.

The screams lasted a lifetime, but Irridius didn't break eye contact with the captain. Green embers bore holes in the man's soul until the screaming faded and eventually stopped forever. "Train your next operator better or next time, it'll be you."

The captain didn't move a muscle as Irridius turned back for the screen, arms folded to the small of his back "send a message to this John Ash, tell him meet us alone at V'shar - the natives are still primitive and will be of little concern. Dispatch drones to the location and all surrounding systems ahead of the message, I do not want any ships falling prey to an ambush."

This man could very well be a spy for the Galactic Empire, a ploy by Graf to lure his fleet or himself into a killzone. He would need to take special care with this one...