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zhakyria · 2 years ago

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Forged Identities

Summary

*WARNING: May contain spoilers for Chapters 1 & 2 of the Imperial Agent story* Darth Jaedus has been defeated and the Eradicators stopped, yet an operative’s work is never done. Kahl’ryn ends his R&R short after word reaches him that his Sith father is not only missing but also a traitor to the Empire. To ensure the safety of his family from Sith retaliation, Kahl’ryn infiltrates the Imperial Census Bureau on Dromund Kaas in order to doctor his family’s history, unaware that he is already a pawn in someone’s schemes.

The light drizzle grew heavier as Kahl’ryn passed through the atrium towards the Census Bureau. A day rarely went by without rain in Kaas City, but today he welcomed the incoming storm. It would be useful for covering his tracks.

He padded down the crowded halls towards the records office. The weight of the data spike in his pocket felt heavier with each step. He wore dark gray technician coveralls and carried a small tool bag slung over his shoulder. A facial prosthetic covered his cybernetics and burn scars, which were blended in to match the rest of his skin with makeup.

He entered the Census offices and checked in with the front desk. No concerns were raised. No questions asked. The single raised eye brow and half hidden sneer didn’t escape Kahl’ryn’s notice but the receptionist didn’t question his credentials nor his work order.

He joined a group waiting at the elevators. When the doors opened, he stepped inside. A young woman stood near the control panel. She wore a light gray Census Bureau uniform, and her dark brown hair was pulled back into a bun. She cast a glance his way. “Where to?” Her hand hovered over the control panel.

“Records please.” The Lower Kaas City accent rolled off his tongue with ease. It wasn’t that much different then the accent he grew up listening too, but it wasn’t his natural accent either. It took several days of practicing to get the nuances of it just right.

She nodded and keyed in his floor. He caught her sneaking glances his way, but she made no further move to engage him in small talk. The other occupants were too absorbed in their own thoughts.

He absently tapped the edge of the data pad stuffed into his right thigh pocket. He felt another headache creeping up on him. He’d been struggling with them for a few days now due to the stress and long hours he’d been keeping. He fished a migraine tablet from his pocket and let it dissolve beneath his tongue, ignoring the bitter chalkiness that now coated his mouth.

He exited the elevator into a short hallway the led to the records rooms. Dim ambient light filtered in from overhead. Droids patrolled the narrow corridors between the stacks and their clicks and whirring added a tenor note the otherwise low hum. It would have been an oddly comforting mix of white noise, if not for the claustrophobic placement of the data stacks. He entered his forged credentials into the waiting keypad. A welcoming chime sounded as the force field dropped. It felt too easy and doubt nagged at the back of his mind, he didn’t have time to contemplate that thought; he had a schedule to follow.

He checked the time and counted down the last few seconds. 1….2….3…. The lights went dark and the soft hum of electricity went silent. He hit the stealth generator hidden under his belt, and stepped past the threshold. The back up generators kicked in and the droids switched to attack mode. Security cameras would be out for 60 seconds while the system rerouted power. Kahl’ryn made a bee line for the back terminal, the only blind spot in the droids patrol. He took the data spike from his pocket, connected it to the terminal, and entered the start command.

He didn’t have enough time to clean all the data. Half truths, misleads, and random data corruption were the best he could scrap together on short notice. Enough to throw people off the trail, he hoped, but not enough to raise suspicions. It helped that most records had him and his siblings growing up in an orphanage on Rhelg, with few records directly connecting his Mother and Father, but they did fight in the war together. Without interference, it wouldn’t take much to put two and two together, that put all the children that grew up under their care at risk of retaliation.

New adoption papers, orphanages that no longer operated, forged relationships, it all helped to hide who they were. In less then 45 seconds the family of Lord Xhai’tan, former apprentice to Darth Malgus and a traitor to the Empire, became strangers.

The program finished and Kahl’ryn disconnected the data spike. He left the room, and once back across the threshold he deactivated the stealth generator. The power came back on a few seconds later.

With the force field back in place and the droids no longer hostile, he entered his credentials a second time. The chime welcomed him again. This time he walked over to the nearest terminal and connected his data pad to it. He started a simple diagnostic program, then knelt down to open a maintenance hatch. The plan called for two minutes of playing technician after which he packed up his gear, secured the maintenance hatch, and returned to the elevators.

His foot tapped in time to his heartbeat until the elevator doors opened. The woman from earlier waited inside. Relief flickered across her face before her expression returned to neutral. “Good. You’re not dead.”

Kahl’ryn nodded. “I got lucky. Power went out before I was even inside.”

“Were you able to fix the problem?” She hadn’t moved from her spot and there wasn’t enough space to squeeze past her onto the elevator.

“Nope. The problem must have resolved itself with the power outage.” He made a point of checking the time. “You know how it is, turning it off and back on solves most things.”

A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. “So, I’ve heard.” She stepped aside so he could enter the elevator. Kahl’ryn punched in the code for the main level then pulled the data pad from its pocket, feigning work. They rode together in awkward silence until he bid her farewell at the floor to her office.

No one bade Kahl’ryn any mind as he hurried through the heavy rain towards the safe house. He wasn’t the only one in a hurry to escape the storm. He soon reached the apartment and tapped his code into the lock. The smell of stale alcohol and cigarettes assaulted his nose as he entered through the open door. He took a measured and thorough look around the studio, taking note of the threadbare rugs and stained bed covers. A mustiness hung like a sour note in the air. The place was empty.

He grabbed his gear from the hallway closet, pulled out his neatly folded uniform and laid it out onto the bed. He gabbed the face cleanser he packed and hopped into the small shower.

The makeup and prosthetic covering his face took longer to remove then he calculated, but he scrubbed until the burn scar once more marred his face.

By the time he’d finished in the shower he needed a stim to calm his shaking hands. He pulled one out from his pack, injected it in one swift motion, then tossed the spent cartridge in the trash.

Kahl’ryn took a little extra time putting on his uniform and made sure to brush out the wrinkles. Then he re-connected his cybernetic attachments, which included a visual scanner and ear piece. He took one more look in the mirror. The twi’lek that looked back at him seemed out of place in the Imperial Intelligence uniform. His pale yellow skin appeared sallow in the unflattering light, and dark circles had formed under the dull eyes that starred back at him. Satisfied with his appearance, Kahl’ryn pulled on his great coat and stepped back into the pouring rain.

He checked the news while on the taxi ride to the Citadel. Between the propaganda and general reports on the conflicts across the galaxy, he didn’t find any mention of his Father. He wondered if the Dark Council would keep that close to their chest or turn the Empire against the rogue lord. Either could spell disaster. Next he checked the intelligence channels, still nothing.

An encrypted message blinked onto the screen; he entered his encryption key and opened it. Code Green. He huffed out a breath, he was in the clear. The plan worked, for now at least, with no one the wiser about the tampered data. The relief did little for the headache that started to return with a lot more fight then before. He pulled a bottle of pain killers from his pocket and swallowed two.

He arrived at Keeper’s office with no time to spare and walked right in. Watcher Two greeted him. “Cipher 9, come in.”

Kahl’ryn came to attention. “Outside operations are complete. Reporting for duty.”

“Then you’ll be reporting to me.” She stood up. “The Dark Council decided to make changes. My predecessor was elevated to Minister of Intelligence. That makes me the new Keeper of Operations Division.” She kept her tone clipped and professional.

He bowed. “You have my full support, Sir.”

He settled into at ease as she proceeded to fill him in on the next mission. He’d be working as a double agent, infiltrating the Republic SIS as an Imperial Defector to locate and eliminate the spymaster Ardun Kothe. Kahl’ryn followed along the best he could but the meds he’d taken were doing little to keep the headache at bay and the world around him lost focus.

Kahl’ryn woke later on his ship confused and in pain. He didn’t remember much from the briefing other then his main objectives. Returning to the ship felt like a fevered dream. He stumbled to the basin and splashed cold water on his face. His entire body ached and the headache pounded the inside of his skull. He sagged against the basin. His haggard visage starring back at him from the mirror.

As he contemplated dragging himself to the med bay, he glanced over at the bed side table. An orange light flashed on his data pad. He shuffled over and picked it up. It was another encrypted message. Kahl’ryn entered his code. Caution. Sith Interference. That wasn’t surprising, but he didn’t know what to do about it. Not until he had more information.

The light from the message made his vision swim and he swayed. He tried to set the data pad down before his knees gave out, but it landed on the edge of the night stand and tumbled to the floor with him. He sat there reeling for a few minutes, before pulling himself back into bed and dragging the covers over his head.

He woke to the sounds of his team returning. Kahl’ryn groaned as he sat up. His body felt like a punching bag. He must have pushed himself too far, or perhaps the stim interacted badly with the other meds he’d taken for the headaches. Regardless, the headache was gone for now.

Once done in the refresher he dressed in his usual black pants and light gray shirt. He pulled on the shoulder holster for his small holdout blaster, secured a concealed vibro knife in his boot, and then he buckled his primarily blaster’s holster around his waist. Next he took a few minutes to clean the connectors on his cybernetics before clicking the scanner and ear piece into place.

Before leaving his cabin he picked up the data pad from where it had fallen and scanned the intelligence channels quickly. No new messages, and still no word about his Father.

Hearing Kaliyo and Vector arguing from the other room, he slung his favorite red jacket over his shoulder, set the data pad back on the bed side table, and left to inform them of the next mission.

#Star Wars: The Old Republic #SWTOR #fanfic #Dromund Kaas #Twi’lek #Imperial Agent #Cipher 9 #Kahl’ryn #Valyr Legacy #Zhak’s Stories #my obsession with this fictional family is unreal #it’s nice to be writing stories again #not perfect but it has been 10 years since I wrote fanficion

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