The briefing room aboard the Specter of Light was dark except for the pulsing red bounty icon hovering above the holo-table. The target's face rotated slowly: a Mirialan male, late thirties, scar across one cheek and cybernetic enhancements on both arms. His expression was hard — military posture, cold eyes.
Bounty Tag: MercNet Priority — Black Sun AffiliateName: Joryn KessLast Known Location: Serroco Fringe – Black Sun Outpost 117Reward: 18,000 credits (Alive), 10,000 (Dead)Notes: High clearance. Suspected smuggling overseer. Force immunity level: Moderate.Client: Anonymous (Redacted Channel)
Kael scrolled through the file in silence.
Vox leaned on the wall behind him. "Looks like a professional."
"He is," Cortana confirmed. "Former Republic special forces. Went merc after the Siege of Merisee. Black Sun picked him up two years ago. He runs weapons and slaves through Hutt space."
Kael's jaw tightened.
Aris stepped into the room, adjusting the bracer on her new light armor. "So we take him in?"
Kael nodded. "Alive if possible. We need the credits. But…"
"But if he resists," Voro finished, "you won't hesitate."
"Exactly."
Cortana pulled up the target zone — a scorched trade moon orbiting a gas giant, riddled with atmospheric storms and industrial decay. The outpost was buried in a canyon crevice, shielded and lightly staffed, but heavily surveilled.
Kael eyed the schematic.
"In and out. Silent. No heroics."
The Specter dropped out of hyperspace three hours later, her signature masked under a trade freighter's ID. Cortana rode the system's transponders like a slicing knife, burying them behind Black Sun's own corrupted pings.
Kael, Voro, and Aris descended via an unmarked dropship — stolen from a slaver Kael had dispatched a month prior. Ghost rode shotgun on the navigation panel.
The moon's surface was dead and gray, wind whipping ash across rusted steel domes. The entrance to Outpost 117 loomed at the base of a rocky trench, guarded by two turrets and a single patrol skiff.
Cortana's voice came through their comms. "I've looped cameras on entry paths Alpha and Beta. You've got a 90-second window before redundancy sweep kicks in."
Kael nodded and moved.
They slipped through the east maintenance hatch undetected, bypassing security with Vox's bypass tool. The halls were tight, unclean, and dimly lit. Pipes hissed overhead, and distant machinery groaned beneath the floor.
Kael kept his hand near his hilt.
Aris moved quietly beside him, eyes flicking in every direction. Her Force sense was improving — he could feel it — a subtle radar always scanning for intent.
They reached the central control hub within minutes. Inside, Kael planted an encrypted relay Cortana had preloaded.
"Once we're in position, I'll trigger the signal," she said in his ear. "I'll lock every door between you and exfil except the ones you need."
"Copy."
Voro split off to cover the access tunnel.
Aris followed Kael toward the target's office.
Joryn Kess sat at his desk, mid-call with someone on a holo-transmission.
Kael paused at the door, listening.
"…Yes, I said no reroutes. The Hutt Council doesn't get to dictate Black Sun lanes without sending more credits. If they want to renegotiate, they can talk to someone above my pay grade."
The call ended.
Kael pushed the door open.
Joryn looked up and reached for his blaster — too slow.
Kael's blade ignited with a snap-hiss.
Joryn froze.
"Kael."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "You know me?"
Joryn smiled faintly. "You're making waves, merc. Even in places you haven't been yet."
"Stand down. I need you alive."
"You won't get it."
And just like that, he slammed a panic switch on the underside of his desk.
Explosions rocked the corridor. Turrets whirred to life.
Kael cursed and grabbed Joryn, slamming him into the wall.
Aris blocked the door. "Multiple signatures incoming!"
Cortana shouted through the comms. "They've got a shadow server! My override's being purged. I need a minute!"
Kael dragged Joryn into the hallway as the lights flashed red. Smoke filled the vents. Laser fire erupted from the far end.
"Fall back!" he yelled.
Voro rejoined from the flank, covering their retreat with a grenade toss that sent three guards sprawling.
They cut through the hall like lightning — Kael's blade a blur of white and red reflection, Aris holding formation like she'd done this a dozen times. Joryn fought him the whole way.
"You think you're fixing the galaxy?" he snarled. "You're just a glitch in someone else's simulation!"
Kael slammed him into a support beam. "Better a glitch than a parasite."
They reached the evac point just as the Specter dropped from high orbit. The upper hatch opened, and Ghost activated the tractor lift.
Cortana's voice was grim. "They're jamming comms now. Someone else knows you're here."
Kael threw Joryn into the lift and vaulted in after him.
Once aboard, the ship kicked into evasive burn, breaking orbit in a sharp diagonal arc.
Missiles chased them halfway into the thermosphere.
But they escaped.
Barely.
Back on board, Kael threw Joryn into a reinforced holding cell.
"You were supposed to be a standard grab."
Joryn grinned, blood on his lip. "You're not standard."
Kael leaned in. "Who's watching me?"
"You really think you're the only one using a system?" Joryn hissed. "You've lit up more than MercNet. You've triggered deep archives. And now they're coming."
Kael stepped back.
Joryn whispered, "Not for your bounty… for you."
Later, Kael stood alone in the armory, letting the weight of the mission settle over him.
Aris entered quietly.
"We won."
Kael shook his head. "No. We were watched."
Cortana confirmed it minutes later.
"Someone breached the Specter's signal signature. We were scanned mid-extraction. This wasn't just Black Sun."
Kael turned.
"Then who?"
Cortana paused.
"I don't know. But they're on your trail now."
[ Mission Complete: Crosshairs ]Target: Joryn Kess – Captured (Alive)Reward Received: 18,000 CreditsXP Gained: Kael +850 | Aris +400 | Voro +300Alert Status: ElevatedSystem Alert: Specter Signature Tagged – Unknown Surveillance ChannelRecommendation: Jump to Safe Zone | Initiate Signature Scramble Protocol
In the shadows of a shattered comm satellite above Nal Hutta, a transmission was received.
The voice on the other end whispered.
"Confirm subject's identity. Begin Phase One."