Our story picks up with Watcher 2 sending me to the planet of Balmorra, in order to infiltrate the first of many of the Eagle's terror network cells, to dismantle it... by any means necessary. With Kaliyo on hand, we punched it to the war torn planet and headed for Sobrik space station.
I had always heard about this world, but had never had the chance to see what the Empire was trying to accomplish til now. I have to say I was a bit amazed at the layout of Sobrik city, tucked away in a natural valley, and well protected by a forcefield above.
Our first task was to check in with the station chief, one Lekern Renald. He got us up to speed on the whereabouts of the terrorist cell, and the best course of action to infiltrate them. I quickly lost my imperial accent, and set about meeting up with these hooligans.
On the way, we stopped at the local Imperial Authority and were asked to assist in a sidejob for them, covering up a "mishap" in the cantina. Apparently some Chiss notable went and got himself killed, and we needed to make it look like the Republic was responsible. Easy enough task... Doctor some discs. When the job was done, I took in some of the local Twi'lek sights.
I dare say, I think Kaliyo was even impressed... I had heard she swings both ways... though I have yet to engage her in any, more... intimate endeavors.
A few missions later, we met with our contact, and were introduced to the female leader of the Balmorra resistance. I had to admit, in a way I was pretty impressed with her ferocity, if not respectful of her natural distrust of me. The job had to be done though, so it was my goal to earn her trust, albeit temporarily... so I could gain the info I needed.
I did the things she asked of me, to assist her resistance... though I ensured whatever terrorist plans she had somehow were stymied by say, malfunctioning equipment. While the finger of suspicion automatically fell on me, I was able to deflect this by doing JUST ENOUGH to prove to her that I know what I am doing, and was doing it for her cause. Kaliyo being a true anarchist helped considerably in keeping our cover.
In short I had to kill the right people, to make it look convincing. As luck would so have it, the local commander in the field had a bit of a dilemma that required my subtle touch... His wife had been selling Imperial secrets to her boyfriend. Now I do not need to tell you, that sort of thing is frowned upon highly, and is usually cause for trial and most likely execution.
If there is one thing my training has taught me, is that your gender does not predispose you to any more or less mercy from me. This far from the heart of the Empire, the law still needs to be upheld... and the military code of conduct is absolute. She was an officer no less... She should have known better. I killed her boyfriend in the cantina...
And at the commander's urging, "escorted" his wife, Kelara to a "safe place", like a lamb to slaughter.
She never saw it coming. Normally the killing of a high level officer's wife, let alone a military person would garner a good deal of bad karma for me, but considering my assignment here, it fit the bill to sway the resistance's opinion of me. It did my galactic bank account some good too, from a grateful commander who realized there are more important duties than... love...
My hands washed clean with the blessing of the commander, I was able to extricate the information I sought from the terrorist cell and locate the prime target of this particular operation... The Eagle's Liason.
It had not occurred to me at the time just how far the chain of command actually went. The woman whose trust I had earned only led me to the next rung of the ladder, and after defeating the Liason, I was given info about the defense minister, who ALSO was a part of the resistance terror cell!
Once he was dealt with, we started to get down to the nitty gritty. Not only was the terror cell intricate, and deep, but overt republic troops were also being led by a charismatic general who "could not be defeated". It was time to garner some allies in the fight. Enter one Darth Lachris...
As expected, he was protected by highly trained Republic commandos. No mean feat to get through the gauntlet of crack troops, as well as Jedi that he had on his payroll. but like all "undefeatable generals", his day was coming... He was not prepared for the wrath of Belenos and Kaliyo.
Not surprisingly, he begged for his life, when all his toy soldiers were broken... Equally not surprising... The mission demanded no mercy.
What DID surprise me was where I found the Gran... Imprisoned by the Republic, and the charismatic General Cheketta. Not to be deterred, I extracted what information he had on the Eagle and his other terror cells, and ensured that Grey Star would no longer pose a threat to the Empire.
With the mission accomplished, I returned to a grateful Darth Lachris, to fill her in on the details. To say she was appreciative was an understatement. Not only did my bank account have more deposits, but I also obtained an unexpected, yet quite welcome gift...
The Sith lord herself, in her bed chambers. I have to admit... that is a first. Now I KNOW what the Sith mean when they say they embrace their passion. The average woman will be hard pressed to surpass her bedroom prowess.
Another satisfied customer, as I like to say... Our next stop awaited, so Kaliyo and I hopped back on board The Predator (as I have named my ship), and left the rocky world of Balmorra for our next terror cell demolishing assignment.
As expected, Watcher 2 was a step ahead... our next stop... Nar Shaddaa- the smugglers' moon: casinos, cantinas and of course a nice stiff drink.
I could hardly wait...........
