"Sir," An Imperial technician turned away from his station situated in the control pit of the bridge on the ISD Halberd.

His senior officer quickly appeared at his shoulder and asked, "Yes, what is it?"

"I just picked up a message through one of our military frequencies."

The officer scowled at his subordinate. "And what would be the problem with that?"

"The message was from a Galactic citizen. He should not have been able to contact us through that frequency, let alone contact us at all." The technician spilled, silently hoping he would still have a job at the end of the day.

The metallic ring of boot heels emanated through the quiet room and began to grow louder. Striding down the main walkway, Commodore Vaynus looked down into the pit and addressed his subordinates in a cold voice, "What appears to be the problem?"

Saluting, the main officer responded, "It appears someone wants to contact us badly enough that he some how managed to obtain the proper frequency and time frame to send us a message." The officer began to sweat on the back of his neck. He had only had the job for two days, and Vaynus was not known for accepting failure.

"Well," the commodore inquired, a dark twinkle appearing in the corner of his eye. "What does it say?"

Swallowing, the officer looked down at the technician who was now absolutely petrified. He was now hoping that he lived just to see the rest of the day out. "Well, it appears that...uh," The technician hesitated, forcing himself to swallow, "That is to say, he requests to meet us somewhere safe. Apparently he has some information that he thinks would be valuable to Grand Admiral Thrawn. It's about another of the Imperial Factions."

Vaynus tilted his head up from the control pit and walked towards the front of the bridge to look out one of the main view ports, his brow crinkling slightly as he pondered potential actions.

"Uh, sir?" The young technician cleared his throat to once again address the Commodore, but received a silencing look from the officer at his shoulder.

Oblivious to the young man's confusion, Vaynus clasped his hands behind his back and looked out at the stars. For a month his ship had been silently floating in open space, between solar systems. Thrawn had sent him here for no apparent reason. A month before that, Thrawn had given him a task to do. After completing it, Vaynus was completely surprised to be relegated to this barren part of space and told to wait upon further orders. Apparently, he had not been creative enough when completing the task. Vaynus still wondered if the task had been really been as important as he had been lead to believe, or whether it was just how he completed the task that was the true test. Whenever he tried to ponder it out, he just received a headache in return. No man could try to match wits with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Letting his eyes trace the distant shape of a nebula crowd, Vaynus made his decision. If Thrawn wanted creativity from his subjects, then he would comply and bring his a substantial present along the way.

"Ensign Coprall, send this source of ours a message," He said abruptly, not turning from his position at the view port.

Coprall glanced at Vaynus' back, apprehension on his features, "And what should we say sir?'

"Tell him to," Vaynus paused to find the right words, a slow smile creeping across his face, "To politely join us for dinner."

Coprall's eyes visibly widened. Why was his commanding officer beginning to act strangely now? Had the solitude of space gotten to him? "Where at, commander?" He questioned, already fearful of the reply.

"Illum."

Well aware that traveling to the designated planet would be a direct breach of Thrawn's orders, Coprall forced himself to steady before he replied, "As you wish commander." Turning to the technician, he asked a question that had been plaguing him for some time, "Do we know where this man has sent this message from?"

"No sir." Came the timid reply, "Unfortunately it has come through a few different connecting buoys, to our isolated position. We could backtrack the information to find out, though it would take awhile."

Ensign Corpall sighed. "It doesn't matter. No one would be stupid enough to send a message regarding sensitive information about a force while still in their controlled territory. Send this Fro-Ja Tsck a message."

*        *        *        *        *        *

Fro-Ja Tsck sat back in his pilot chair. His ship, the Tossback, so named from the way he had obtained it, drifted around the ice planet Daylid. How his life had changed in just a single day. He had gone from a lowly mercenary to being the one who would bring this Empire to its knees. Of course, none of it would have happened if he hadn't met that, man, back on Lotaith.

Sitting at a back table atop one of the taller buildings in Lotaiths capitol, Fro-Ja could almost feel the eyes upon him. Rodians were not known for going to fancy restaurants. They were generally the thieves and criminals that stalked in the back of dark, smoky bars, places half the guests of the Chan'til would never be caught dead in. Chortling softly to himself at their expressions, Fro-Ja leaned to his right and glanced out over the balcony. He was not particularly fond of heights, and if he hadn't been promised more money for showing up than the hundred thousand credits he had already received, he would be out of this place and back in the underbelly of the city in a heartbeat.

"I wouldn't lean that far over if I were you," A cloudy voice said from behind him. Fro-Ja tensed and began to turn, but stopped when the voice continued. "I doubt I have to tell you not to turn around. You're more professional than that, I hope."

"Of course not," For-Ja said in his native language-Rodese, as it was all he knew. "Why did you bring me here?"

"To give you something," The voice said softly. "I had hoped you wouldn't stand out too much, but that silly red suit clashes so horribly with your green skin that even a blind Wookiee would have seen you come in."

Fro-Ja rushed to his feet, his quick Rodian temper taking the better of him. As everyone's eyes turned to stare at him, he quickly forgot his anger and slowly sat back down. Making a scene here would not end the same as at a bar, and he did not need city officials finding him. Luckily, his outburst had given him something. As he was sitting down, he was able to sneak a look behind him. As short a glance as it was, Fro-Ja had developed one technique over the years.

The man was wearing a dark suit. His dark black hair was perfectly trimmed. Though his face had been turned away from him, Fro-Ja would have bet anything his face was cleanly shaved. If this man was so keen on not standing out, then why would he have dressed so nicely? He was probably handsome as well, adding to the looks he was sure to get from half the people in this place. Fro-Ja's head was already beginning to hurt.

"Don't think too hard, you might hurt something in that small head of yours." The voice across from him continued, shocking Fro-Ja with his ability to read him. "Now, to business, so pay attention. You will find all that I have for you underneath your seat. All I am asking you to do for me is follow the directions explicitly. I'll know if you don't, so don't screw up or you won't receive the agreed payment, understand? Now if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment."

Seizing the opportunity, Fro-Ja turned in his chair to once again catch a glimpse of the mysterious man, but he had disappeared into thin air. Jumping to his feet, Fro-Ja looked around the rooftop wildly in all directions. If someone had not been looking at him before, they were now. Figuring it was time to leave; Fro-Ja looked under his seat and found a small box. He threw off the lid and found only a datapad and the rest of his pre-payment. Turning the datapad on, he quickly skimmed through the information, then turned and scuttled from the restaurant and back into the streets.

Staring out at the stars, Fro-Ja felt a chill run down his spine. He had not followed the directions explicitly. He had been told to leave the system before sending the message, yet had decided to send it immediately to get the job done a little quicker. He just hoped that the man never found out. Fro-Ja had been known to run from an enemy before in his life, but never from fear. He hadn't known fear, that is, until now.


-----------------------
Sergeant First Class Kairo
Platoon Commander

PC/SFC Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV][IH]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it will always haunt your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.