Ardun Kothe's SIS team had scattered to secure the warehouse that held the Shadow Arsenal, a hidden superweapon that could turn the tide of the war. Legate was bound by his keyword to man the facility's shield station.

Except that Legate was no longer bound by the keyword.

He met Wheel where the droid was standing sentry duty over the front gate. "Shields are secured," Legate reported, "from what I could slice it looks like the center control console is a better place for me to be. Everything quiet here?"

"Yes," said Wheel. "Thus far operations are optimal."

"Yeah," said Legate, nodding. "Good…You know something? I've always loved machines. They fascinate me. They're such ingenious inventions." He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded again. "And they always do just what you want, if you know what buttons to press."

He flicked a small electrostatic device directly into the mid-torso gap of Wheel's chassis. In the moment of stunned sparking he swung his rifle around to slam Wheel off balance, then bore him down and flicked a vibroknife to sever a couple of circuits at the droid's neck.

Cipher Nine straightened and pocketed the knife again. "That was the off button," he said lightly. "Sorry I didn't have time for anything more nuanced."

He took a look around; no one else in sight. He tapped his earpiece to reach the next agent on his list. "Saber, where are you?"

The Twi'lek responded right away. "Watching by the crates inside the big house. Problem?"

"Yeah. I'm being followed. I'll lead him your way, just tell me where to go."

He started trotting, following her directions. When he finally reached her he found her halfway up a minor mountain of crates, her rifle set up to look over the floor of the warehouse.

She stood up to greet him. "Hey. I didn't see him on your way in. Who is it?"

"Imperial operative." He walked up beside her to take a look around.

"Where?" she asked tensely.

One hand to twist her arm up behind her, a second to seize her neck and ram her up against the nearest crate. "Right here," he breathed, then hauled her back to slam her again. She grunted and started the sharp flexible motions that would slip her out of a weaker man's grip. Cipher Nine just pinned her harder against the crate, using his whole body to trap hers in place. He bent his head down close to her ear. "I've wanted to do this since the day I met you, little girl."

It wasn't often he felt so richly justified in snapping someone's neck. It was a hell of an appetizer for his mission and his revenge. Cipher Nine left Saber to slide limply down the crate wall to the floor; he was already on his way to the main course.

Ardun Kothe was deep inside the warehouse, struggling with the control console near an inner forcefield. He straightened when Cipher Nine approached.

"Legate," he said, without quite turning around. "I thought I felt you. You were supposed to be back at the shields…ah. You're free. Aren't you."

"I am. Did your informant tell you that was possible? Or did they say I was safe to handle?"

He turned around slowly, radiating the same weary determination he always had. "Nothing's ever 'safe'. I took my chances."

"Right, and you were going to help me redeem myself or something. I've had the chance to do good for you and yours, Ardun. I have to say, no part of it gave me the slightest desire to repent."

"I see. So your true nature shows after all."

"My nature's a malleable thing, but even I can't force it into the sorry mold you people go for. You know, I was hoping for some grand secret? Ardun Kothe, fallen Jedi, and the rest of the SIS band…what is it that keeps you together in the bureaucracy of your lives? What helps you go on in the fight to preserve your Republic? And how much more powerful could it be in the right hands? But there's nothing. Only borrowed tools and men too broken down to go all the way in using them."

"You forget our principles, Legate. That's the part you're missing. Before Ardun Kothe the SIS chief, there was a better man. A Jedi Knight who couldn't live up to the code. That Jedi may have failed…but even Ardun Kothe remembers what he's living in this world of shadows to defend."

"Do you? I don't see the motivation. And the worst part is, none of you people enjoy this. You could rule the galaxy if you could only drag yourselves out of review committees, but you don't. You still pretend to be better than people like me. You're too busy holding your nose to take the prize by both hands." He looked Ardun Kothe over. "Too late now. So if you want to fall on that lightsaber you're fondling that'd be just fine with me. Stars know you won't beat me. Jedi don't know how to kill."

"I'm not a Jedi anymore." Kothe finally activated the lightsaber. Too bad for him, it wouldn't be enough.

*

Cipher Nine turned away from the broken Jedi. One more. Just one more.

A holoprojector he hadn't even noticed clicked and flared to life nearby. Cipher Nine looked up at Hunter's smiling face. "Well, this is a surprise," said the SIS agent. "I was finished with Ardun, but I had plans for you. We could've wandered the galaxy together – me as the captain, you as my servant."

Cipher Nine's mind raced. Had Hunter been watching? Why wasn't Ardun Kothe's death a problem for him? Hunter knew something. He had seamlessly infiltrated the SIS, but apparently he wasn't of them. The casual infuriating way he overused the keyword indicated that he had an appreciation for power. He knew things. He had things. Cipher Nine wanted it. "'Could have'? Hunter, are you saying I'm not invited?"

"Oh, you're no good to me now, Cipher. I am sad that it had to end this way. It's been a lot of fun. But big changes are coming. Imperial Intelligence and the SIS…history will forget them. And it'll forget you. I just tipped off a squadron of Imperial bombers. That facility is about to be wiped out."

"I won't be." Oh, no. Cipher Nine shivered a little; it would be a shame to lose the Arsenal, but a new game was starting. "Keep an eye out for me, Hunter. Because with or without our special word, I'm not done with you."

Hunter just smiled. "Move fast."

Cipher Nine moved.

Actually too lazy to write a Jedi fight? Actually too lazy to write a Jedi fight. I'll just cop out on that one.

Cipher Nine is totally fine with working in the Empire's interest if working in the Empire's interest lets him acquire and use power. In this he is more or less a patriot.