Endgame
By Cody Barnett and The Second Revan

(Note: This is part five of a five part short story. You can read part one here.)

Finis Valorum turned in his seat, obviously perturbed by Captain Kevlar's course outburst. "Is there a problem, Captain Kevlar?" Beyond the Chancellor's head, a thick cover of dense clouds swirled around the cockpit viewport, making navigation through Kalyna-ir's atmosphere nearly impossible. The skill of the pilots, Byron Lujj noted, was impeccable.

The terse Captain Kevlar hesitated. Should he reveal to the Chancellor the complication? Kron Kevlar started to inform the inhabitants of the cockpit the information Pol Haus had related but then paused, eying "Sarge" Trent suspiciously. What if this gruff man were an assassin in disguise? The transmission had broke before Pol Haus had revealed the identity of the body. A corpse on the other side of the galaxy could belong to the real Les Trent.

Cursing Commissioner Loeb for mixing the Chancellor's guard with people Kevlar had never interacted with before, the captain decided to trust his instinct. "Sir, there's been a...development." Taking a deep breath, Kevlar continued, "That was Detective Pol Haus, homicide investigator with the Republic Sector Police. A body was found in the Galactic City Spaceport. He said..." Closing his eyes and exhaling forcefully, Captain Kron Kevlar finally delivered the ominous news. "He said that the body belonged to someone assigned to the Chancellor's detail. Your detail, my lord. Before Detective Haus could identify the body, however, the atmosphere interfered and the connection was lost."

A cold chill settled over Byron Lujj, although the thick air of the cockpit suddenly seemed smothering. The cogs of Lujj's mind were steadily turning, and he did not like the direction his thoughts were leading him. What if this entire operation was a setup for something far darker than pirate activity? Should Finis Valorum die, Lujj speculated that a certain senator from Naboo would be quick to grab the center stage, drumming up the valor of Valorum while decrying the event a tragedy. After that, it would only be a matter of time before the senator was thrust into the highest office in the Galactic Republic on a wave of popularity.

Popularity stemming from one man's death.

Chancellor Finis Valorum's face contorted in confusion. "A body? Of a Guardsman?" At a loss for words, the elegant politician could only stammer, "But how?"

"We've been compromised, my lord. I suggest we abort the mission at once."

"Sithspit!" Trent cursed. Chancellor Finis Valorum, Byron Lujj, and Kron Kevlar all eyed the lieutenant suspiciously. "Hey, wait a second!" he declared. "Don't look at me! I wanted to abort this damn thing from the beginning!"

"We'll have to take your word for it...for now," Captain Kevlar stated, ignoring the look of betrayal radiating from the lieutenant's face. "No offense, Sarge, but everyone's suspect until I hear from Pol Haus."

"Which could be a considerably long time," Byron Lujj said tersely, staring out the viewport as the shuttle settled gracefully on the landing platform.

----

Halfway across the galaxy, Horace Gurg gasped in surprise as the notice flashed across the datascreen. "Impossible!" he declared. Nonetheless, the information was accurate; the secret vaults of Gurg's bank had been accessed by an unauthorized third party, giving sensitive information to private eyes. Just as the banker feared, his most prestigious client's secrets were now in the hands of an unnamed assailant.

With careful and considerable effort, Horace was finally able to ascertain the final destination of the information. "Byron Lujj," he muttered, staring at the screen in shock. One of his client's greatest political opponent's was now in possession of information capable of ruining the client's career. Something, Horace Gurg concluded, needed to be done about that.

With shaky hands, Horace Gurg picked up his comlink and keyed in the ultrasensitive code that would transmit to the client. "What is it?" the man barked, obviously perturbed at being bothered without prior notice.

"My apologies, my lord. I regret to inform you that...that...sir, your account..." Horace Gurg was having difficulty expressing the unthinkable.

"Yes?" the client finally demanded.

"Your account has been accessed, my lord. By the Honorable Byron Lujj."

Silence ensued. Gurg found the bleakness more disturbing than the expected outrage. Finally, the client's voice spilled coolly from the comlink. "There is nothing honorable about Byron Lujj."

"Yes, yes, of course, my lord. This is a tragic and unprecedented mistake. My lord, I assure you that—"

"See to it personally, Horace." The line went dead.

In his penthouse on Coruscant, Senator Palpatine snarled viciously as he imagined the triumphant, smug look on Byron Lujj's face. Entering a code into his comlink, Palpatine waited for acknowledgment before stating, "There has been a change in plans."

----

"Eyes open, boys. The local militia reports that a small mob has gathered outside the landing platform." Captain Kron Kevlar paced in front of his squadron, each suited in the blue armor of the Senate Guard. One of them, Kevlar knew, was a traitor, a murderer, and possibly something worse. A sense of dread settled into the Captain's stomach as the boarding ramp lowered with a hiss of release gases, but the veteran calmed his nerves and forced the nauseau down as the procession exited the shuttle.

Governor Torlo awaited the group at the bottom of the ramp, flanked by members of Kalyna-ir's Revolutionary Guard. The man's face, tanned and leathered, starred sternly at the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Where Valorum's expression was warm and open, Torlo was just the opposite, a cold sneer spread across his facial features. Beyond the perimeter of the landing platform, a large mob had gathered, chanting such opposing phrases as "Death to the Republic!" to "Hail the Supreme Chancellor!" Obviously, Captain Kevlar surmised, the piracy had divided the people of Kalyna-ir.

"Supreme Chancellor," the governor greeted, his voice thin. "I am pleased that the government has finally decided to intervene. As you can see, the planet is in turmoil." The governor gestured at the mass of crowds. The Galactic Republic's initial hesitation to act - under the previous regime - had clearly divided the planet into two factions, one chanting succession and the other praising the bureaucracy's attempt to solve the problem.

The procession moved for the governor's motorcade of speeders, a secure perimeter established by the Revolutionary Guard. As the group passed, no one noticed a man with a hard face, covered with a salt-and-pepper beard, a distinct patch covering his right eye, casually slip a datapad into the hand of one of the Senate Guardsman. The bustle of the crowd was the perfect cover. Soon after, the Guardsman depressed a button on the datapad, the device relaying a message to a secret earpiece. With a nod, the Guardsman acknowledged the recording, discretely dropped the tiny datapad, and crushed the item with a booted heel.

A man known to a few as Captain Karsati smiled, fishing out his comlink to contact Darth Sidious's other active agent on the planet.

----

The motorcade stopped at the Grand Hotel, the building that would house the Supreme Chancellor and his delegation until the peace summit the following day. Supreme Chancellor Valorum and Governor Torlo were engaged in heated debate, paying no attention to the danger lurking ahead. Captain Kevlar recognized that this unfamaliar territory would serve as the perfect staging grounds for an attack from either the pirates or the Kalyna-ir revolutionaries. Thus, the Captain of the Guard kept a vigilance watch, his eyes scanning over every surface.

As the group continued through the lobby of the hotel, Captain Kevlar's comlink chirped incessantly. A transmission had breached Kalyna-ir's rough atmosphere. Immediately, the captain snatched the device from his belt. The procession stopped, all eyes of Kron Kevlar.

"Kevlar here," the captain answered briskly, impatience breaking through his stoic demeanor. "Detective Haus?"

"I'm having trouble hearing you, Captain. Before the transmission cuts out again, the body was identified as belonging to—"

Everyone in the lobby was shoved to the floor as the shockwave hit the building. Glass shattered and the shrapnel from the exploding shuttle rained destruction into the lobby. Doomed Revolutionary Guards were peppered with the hot shards of metal. Those left standing were quickly brought to an end as blaster bolts poured through the gaping hole where the building's entrance facade had once been.

Captain Kevlar was quick to react, swinging his prone body around and returning fire through the flaming portal. Red bolts streaked back in return. The captain, relieved that his unit was starting to react, quickly evaluated the situation. "Listen!" he barked over the roar of blaster fire. "Cade, Resh: take Byron Lujj. Sarge, you and Korus escort the governor! Pensh and I will get the Chancellor to safety."

Scooping up the comlink, Kevlar wasted no time grabbing Finis Valorum and darting away from the crossfire, Arvul Pensh quick to pepper the opposition with cover fire as he dashed to catch up to his comrade.

"Captain Kevlar? Can you hear me?" the comlink buzzed. "What the hell is going on there?"

"Haus! There's been an attack." Captain Kevlar could barely distinguish the Zabrak's gruff voice over the roar of the battle and the crackle of static. "Speak fast, detective! I don't know how stable this transmission is!"

"We traced the body to Arvul Pensh, Captain!"

Kron Kevlar's entire organs went numb. The Senate Guardsman braced himself for what was necessary and slowly turned his rifle toward the other man in blue armor, ignoring Pol Haus's repeated questions.

----

Resh Holda and Ios Cade darted through the desolate corridor, the adrenaline numbing the pain. Byron Lujj trogged behind, the bureaucrat panting heavily as he attempted to keep up. Finally, the group stopped at Holda's behest. The rookie took time to spit blood from his mouth, flinching at the gaping flesh wound; Resh had been hit by a stray blaster bolt in the shoulder.

"Damn, Resh," Ios Cade remarked, noticing the wound. "Bloody pirates. We all knew this operation was going to be a catastrophe."

Resh Holda nodded but, before he could respond, a single blaster bolt zipped down the hallway. The red beam, intended for the lumbering Ios Cade, missed by centimeters. The veteran Senate Guardsman quickly allowed his instincts to take over, returning fire and forcing the assailant to find cover. Resh Holda and Byron Lujj, likewise, were doing the same.

"Resh, get Lujj outta here!" Ios barked, ducking behind a table. Red streaks zipped overhead. The assassin continued his approach, relentlessly firing as Resh Holda attempted to force the man down. Ios Cade saw the futile attempts by the rookie. Realizing that the Senior Administrative Aide was in perilious danger, Cade rose to his feet.

And caught a blaster bolt in the chest.

The tall man collapsed to the floor, firing as he went. The assassin was forced to duck into an adjacent room. "Go!" Ios Cade ordered as Resh Holda approached. Byron Lujj, he noticed, was unconscious in the corner, a nasty lump forming on the man's forehead. "Go, dammit! Don't worry about me."

But Resh Holda continued his advance, not noticing the assassin creep back into the hallway. However, to Cade's surprise, the assassin lowered his weapon upon seeing the young Resh.

In confusion, Ios Cade looked into the eyes of Resh Holda, seeing not the bright eagerness of before but, in its place, a cold, calculating gaze. "Sorry, Cade," Resh stated, placing his hand over Ios Cade's mouth and nostrils. The older man's eyes widened in surprise, the pain preventing him from struggling against the young man. Ios Cade's body trembled violently as the life was smothered from him by a young man he had trusted. The real Resh Holda, however, was in a morgue on Coruscant.

Keder stood and looked into the deceased body of Ios Cade. "Everything has been taken care of?"

"Yes. Just as the employer promised."

"Good." A single blast escaped from Keder's rifle, striking the contact in the head. Shocked, the man collapsed to the ground, his face - like Ios Cade's - frozen forever in a state of horror and betrayal. To Keder, the blood and treachery were tools of the trade. After all, Keder's life was more important than anyone in the hallway, "allies" included.

The assassin paced over to the contact's body, plucking the man's pistol from his hand. Aiming, Keder put two precise bolts into Byron Lujj's face. The man, still unconscious from the blow Keder had delivered, slumped to the floor, smoke curling from his deceased body. At least the man hadn't felt anything before being absorbed into the netherworld beyond.

Smiling with satisfaction, Keder the Black carefully arranged the bodies before collapsing to the floor.

----

Steeling his nerves, Kron Kevlar fired. Arvul Pensh grunted before folding to the floor of the room in defeat. "Dear heavens!" Finis Valorum proclaimed, horrified at the dead eyes boring into his face. Recoiling from the Captain of the Guard, Finis Valorum suddenly felt a pressure settle over his chest. "Who...who are you?"

"Sir, Detective Haus identified this man as the traitor. You have nothing to fear from me. If I might say so, though, we need to get you out of here immediately."

Still shell-shocked, the Supreme Chancellor could only nod.

----

Darth Sidious looked approvingly at the assassin's hologram. "You have done well, Keder," the Sith Lord purred. "All suspicion of infiltration went to the grave with Arvel Pensh and Ios Cade. And, thankfully, Byron Lujj."

"There's still an investigation, my lord, but I'm confident that the authorities will clear me for duty."

"Indeed. In the meantime, however, I have a job for you. A certain banker has recently failed me. He has become a liability. Can you handle this job, assassin?"

"I live to serve, my lord. As long as the credits keep flowing, that is."

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About the Author
Cody Barnett has been a collector of the game since its beginning in 2002. Due to lack of interest in his community, however, he did not begin playing until he joined the Rebelbasers online community in 2003. He is an avid Star Wars fan and thoroughly enjoys playing the Trading Card Game; likewise, Barnett takes pleasure in helping the continuation of the game he loves. Currently, Cody is the Card Development Chairman and a moderator on the Rebelbase community (under the alias of Grand Moff Nicodemus Fett).

Matthew started playing when he purchased two 'A New Hope' starter sets, and started collecting and playing. He stopped, due to the difficulties in getting cards, especially from the later sets. In 2008, he started playing again, joining Rebelbasers and spends time creating dream cards on Rebelbasers.