The Sienar Fleet Systems Lone Scout A-2, a personal craft typically used for space exploration by the Empire, suddenly came out of hyperspace near the jungle planet of Selvaris. The Needlepoint, a modified A-2 painted in an iridescent black to reflect the stars and almost become invisible in space despite the craft not having a cloaking device, effortlessly slid by an Imperial scout ship, an MRX-BR Pacifier called Brutus, as it made its way towards the green marble ahead.

Nine had cut the power and let the momentum gained from just exiting hyperspace push him along towards the planet because almost becoming invisible isn’t being invisible. Any heat or electronic impulse cranking from his ship would surely set off alarms inside the Imperial assault vessel. That was trouble he didn’t need and might not be able to outrun.

As soon as he began to enter the turbulent atmosphere and gravitational pull of Selvaris, Nine fired up The Needlepoint and hit the thrusters before the less agile Pacifier could make a move even if it wanted to.

Thick forests and lush greens greeted Nine through the windshield as he flew towards the surface. A vast blue ocean stretched out towards the horizon and he began to wonder if a place like Coruscant ever used to look like this before it was turned into metallic planet-wide metropolis. The raw, untamed nature was a welcomed respite from the cold halls of Palo’s palace on the outskirts of Galactic City. Suddenly the dual shine of the twin suns shook Nine from his daydream and he released the landing gear, heading for a clear patch of ground near the base of a large pyramid.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

General Fol Yerring stood among the holograms of the small group of Imperial gophers afforded him when he was given charge of this planet and watched a large screen affixed to the mossy stone wall of the makeshift briefing room as The Needlepoint landed.

When word reached him that he would be placed in charge of the wild planet of Selvaris, he told his superiors that he would need many men and resources to properly “place the backwater planet under the Imperial boot” but all he was given was four subordinate officers and five hundred Stormtroopers. No engineers. No builders. They did, however, commission a patrolling MRX-BR Pacifier to hover in front of the lone hyperspace route between the Core Worlds and Selvaris in order to help secure the planet.

For a second he thought to complain upon hearing this, but he suddenly remembered what happens to those who complain about the Emperor’s wishes. They get a visit from the mysterious dark enforcer with the red blade. Yerring did not want that so he simply said “thank you” like a good little soldier and made his way to his new assignment.

To his credit, Yerring had done well with what he was given, albeit only a portion of the planet was secured since he had to split his five hundred troopers into five units across the region. Four groups were stationed at each of the cardinal ends of the large continent they inhabited and the remaining one was stationed alongside him at the crumbling pyramid that was used as a central base of operations. His four subordinate officers each managed a section of the continent and commanded a troop of one hundred Stormtroopers. To keep order and the appearance that he was in full control, Yerring demanded that they meet every day via hologram so that they can report their previous day’s affairs to him.

“How did this ship make it passed Brutus,” Yerring asked the holograms of his officers who all watched The Needlepoint on the main screen. “Are we expecting an Imperial visitor? Surely the Inquisitors have no business here.”

“That’s not a ship designated for the Inquisitorius, General,” a low-voiced, high-browed officer named Gerrick Henson replied. “If my time serving aboard the Carrion Spike serves me well, I’d say that’s a scout ship. Version A-2 I believe. We had a few in the hangar bay that we sent on local explorations.”

Yerring scoffed. “A scout ship? Here? There’s nothing to see here, I can assure whoever’s inside of that.”

“Maybe they’re lost,” a tall, thin officer named Voss Palloy posited.

“Or maybe they’re looking for trouble,” Henson added.

“Perhaps trouble has found them instead,” Yerring said as he motioned to three Stormtroopers standing near him to follow. “We will reconvene after I greet our unwanted guest.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nine checked his twin DT-29s and holstered them as he pressed the release button for the docking ramp. This time his mission didn’t so much call for the element of surprise as it did shock and awe. General Fol Yerring was going to be a calling card for Palo. To date, Nine had only taken out political obstacles and opposition to the Gungan’s grand plan. He excelled in eliminating the M’onnoks all across the Dejarik board, but always left the Mantellian Savrips and Kintan Striders to fight. Now Palo also wanted dread to run up the spine of the Imperial military complex as they fought an invisible war against an unseen foe.

Before the assassin could step foot off the ramp, he was greeted by Stormtroopers flashing their blasters.

“Weapons on the dirt,” the lead Stormtrooper demanded, motioning to Nine’s guns. “Nice and slow.”

“Where’s General Yerring,” Nine asked, not touching his blasters. “I have a scheduled meeting with him.”

The Stormtrooper started to say, “TK-2278, do you…” to the trooper next to him who immediately shrugged.

“Well… the General is en route with his escort,” the Stormtrooper replied, “So if you have a meeting with him it looks like it’s happening right here.”

Nine checked his surroundings and nodded his head. “Fine by me…”

Out of nowhere and quick as lightning, Nine pulled his twin DT-29s and put a bolt through both Stormtroopers before they could react. Then he immediately ran over to the first trooper and dragged him into a clump of overgrown plants near the ramp. He then took hold of the other trooper and pulled him up the ramp.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

General Yerring and his three Stormtrooper entourage walked into the clearing to see the sleek, black scout ship. As they approached, a Stormtrooper exited down the ramp and saluted with one hand, dragging what appeared to be Nine by the collar in the other.

“An assassin, sir,” the Stormtrooper said. “I managed to take him out, but not before he got TK-2278.”

The Stormtrooper flung the lifeless body of the man dressed in black garb onto the ramp and it rolled to a stop at General Yerring’s feet. The face had been shot and was unrecognizable. Yerring winced.

“Right, where’s the other trooper,” asked Yerring. “The one who was… got?”

The Stormtrooper motioned towards the clump of overgrown plants near the ramp.

“We tried to outflank him, sir,” the Stormtrooper continued, “But TK-2278 took a slug to the chest and fell over there.”

General Yerring motioned for the troopers to retrieve their fallen comrade as he looked down at the assassin’s body.

“Job well done, trooper,” Yerring said. “However, I would’ve liked to know who sent this man to kill us before we killed him.”

“Apologies, sir,” the Stormtrooper replied.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” General Yerring said as he began to wag his finger in the air for his troopers to get the body and wrap it up when… BOOM! The ground shook and pieces of earth, metal, blood, and Stormtrooper armor rained down upon Yerring who stumbled to the dirt. His ears rang as he tried to make sense of what just happened.

As his eyes regained focus, Yerring could see a smoking crater in the ground where the thermal grenade was triggered. He started to get up when a Stormtrooper helmet crashed into his ribs and he dropped back to the dirt.

“So, you want to know who sent me,” Nine asked as he walked over in the Stormtrooper armor minus the helmet.

General Yerring glared over at Nine who knelt down to pick up the DT-29s still holstered in the belt he strapped to the body of the trooper he shot earlier. “The Empire does not take kindly to attacks on its officers. I demand to know who sent you!”

“I won’t tell you who,” Nine said as he stood up and walked over to Yerring. “But I will tell you why you’re marked to die.”

“Marked you say? As if an assassin’s target,” Yerring swallowed hard and nodded, steeling his nerves. “Perhaps I’ve underestimated my station here. Am I not simply a forgotten soldier on an inconsequential world?”

“A precedent is being set,” Nine told him as he pointed one of the blasters towards Yerring. “You’ll be the first military cog to fail inside the machine. Minute. Small. A seemingly unnecessary cog, yes, but a very important step towards a greater goal. If the Empire loses this world, so what? If the Empire loses them all, then…”

“Are you some Republic sympathizer,” Yerring asked with a bark. “Some terrorist scum bent on turning back time to an inefficient democracy?”

“Honestly,” Nine replied. “I don’t know who or what I am, but I do have a job to complete so-“

Suddenly blaster fire peppered the air around Nine and he ducked out of the way to avoid being hit. Yerring frantically began to crawl on his belly as he used the moment to escape certain death. Dozens of Stormtroopers soon emerged out of the trees into the clearing with blasters firing towards Nine as he fled into The Needlepoint and slammed the button to close the ramp as he went.

Blaster fire continued to ping off the hull of the craft as Nine raced over to the cockpit and jumped behind the controls.

“Plan B,” Nine said to himself. “Aerial bombardment.”

A moment later he was hovering above the ground and spinning the ship around to face the Stormtroopers who began to back up, likely sensing what was coming next as… Nine lit up the area with the laser cannons mounted on The Needlepoint’s bow. The ground exploded with earth, debris and Stormtrooper parts as those who weren’t caught in the blasts fled back into the jungle while the world fell apart behind them.

Nine scanned the area for General Yerring, but he was gone. He slammed his hand on the control panel in anger and flipped up a covering to reveal a set of buttons. He bit his lip a moment in thought before punching each of them. He watched two proton torpedoes fly from underneath right where he was sitting, sail just over the tips of the trees and collide into the base of the pyramid with a blinding explosion. The concussive blast rocked The Needlepoint, forcing Nine to clamp down on the controls to steady the craft.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

General Yerring’s eyes stung as he awoke to fires all around him. Bodies of Stormtroopers were all about. Some dead. Some moaning in pain. Others walked around as if lost. A second wave of fifty troopers was poised and ready to take down the assassin should the initial group fail. They were waiting at the base of the pyramid, ready to strike at a moment’s notice, but they didn’t see the attack coming. No one did. The torpedoes ripped into the stones near the base of the pyramid and that was that.

Yerring managed to get to his knees to see that the entire front face of the pyramid had crumbled to the ground, crushing several troopers in the process. The computers and equipment inside the makeshift Imperial base that he and the others had pieced together sparked and hissed inside the ancient ruins. The technology infused inside the mossy stone was a sharp contrast that Yerring seemed to fixate on until a wounded Stormtrooper walked over and shook his shoulder.

“Sir… sir,” the Stormtrooper said. “Just got word from Officers Leary and Henson. They are sending in reinforcements. Both are inbound aboard transport shuttles now.”

“Right. Thank you, trooper,” Yerring said with a wince as the shock wore off and the pain set in. “What about the others? Palloy and Brighton’s companies?”

The Stormtrooper shook his head. “No word yet, sir.”

The general nodded and the trooper limped away to help the others. Yerring suddenly noticed that his sleeves were charred and still smoking a bit. He quickly tore off his outer shirt and noticed that his arms were scraped and bloodied. What the hell was going on?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nine knew that time was no longer on his side. Surely local reinforcements were coming soon and he wouldn’t be too surprised if the MRX-BR Pacifier orbiting overhead had already been alerted to the attack. It wouldn’t be a stretch from there to suppose the news had then been reported to Coruscant who may dispatch a Star Destroyer or two just to make a show of force.

He had to act fast. His target was General Fol Yerring, anything else he took out was icing on the cake. Getting the job done of the ground now was not going to happen. He was good, but not good enough to take on a company or two of the Empire’s goons. He thought about calling it and retreating into space back to the palace, but disappointing Palo seemed more dangerous than taking on a thousand Stormtroopers barehanded. He was going to see this one through. Yerring was going to die.

Through the windshield and the now-cleared area of charred jungle, Nine could see the remaining Stormtroopers starting to regroup as The Needlepoint hovered in position. He needed to move. Somewhere down there, among the smoke and debris, was General Yerring. Nine reengaged the laser cannons and unloaded a second time, lighting up the area and sending bodies flying and troopers scrambling for cover.

As the smoke began to clear, Nine moved his ship closer towards the smoldering pyramid, now more closely resembling a pile of rumble than the magnificent wonder it was hundreds of years before the Empire came. The scanners searched for Yerring as he peered out the windshield, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Imperial. Hoping to see him sprawled out across the dirt, either dying or already dead somewhere.

No life signs pinged back to his console as he hovered through the area. He briefly thought about a quick landing to scout the area for Yerring, but an alarm sounded in the cockpit, alerting Nine that a transport ship had entered the area.

“Reinforcements,” Nine said to himself followed by an audible exhale.

With no time to lose, he made the snap decision to land The Needlepoint and ever-so-briefly scour the bodies and debris for General Yerring. He maybe had a few minutes at best before the familiar clatter of hundreds of Stormtrooper boots would tremble the ground.

He grabbed a satchel hanging off the back of his pilot’s chair and lowered the ramp.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Officer Gerrick Henson, the low-voiced Imperial who once served aboard Wilhuff Tarkin’s specialized Sienar Fleet Systems starship, the Carrion Spike, stepped out of the Delta-class DX-9 transport ship with purpose. He brought over three-quarters of his company of 100 troopers to help belay the apparent assassination attempt and onslaught of the Imperial base.

Flanked by four Stormtroopers, Henson made his way across the clearing towards the crumbling pyramid. In the distance through the smoke, he could make out the scout ship that he saw in the monitors earlier that day.

“The terrorists are still here,” Henson said to his men. “Have the men find them and locate General Yerring. Now!”

Three troopers all complied with “yes sir” and ran ahead while one remained, tightening his grip on his blaster rifle.

“Sir,” the remaining trooper said. “Officer Leary’s transport has just landed on the opposite side of the base. His men are closing in as we-“

The sounds and low rumblings from a series of nearby explosions stopped the trooper in mid-sentence.

“What was that,” Henson asked.

“Landmines… we’re still under attack, sir,” the trooper replied with slow realization. “We need to-“

Just ahead, a squad of Stormtroopers suddenly flew into the air, arms and legs flailing, with chunks of earth and dirt raining down around them.

Henson and the trooper stumbled to the ground and looked back up to see fresh, smoking craters in the ground where the other men were moments ago.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A series of explosions nearby didn’t bother Nine as he searched the area, twin blasters in his hands. The Stormtrooper wave would be held back for a little while thanks to his positioning of several landmines around the perimeter, but they’d push through before too long. He had to find General Yerring quickly.

Through the sound of men yelling and bombs detonating, Nine heard the faint cough of a man, and as he neared the source, came face to face with his quarry. Before him stood General Fol Yerring, bloody and bruised, clutching a Stormtrooper’s blaster rifle in his hand.

“This is… fortunate,” Yerring said as he aimed his blaster, surprised to see that Nine was still planet-side. “You should be half a system away from here at this point. I know I would’ve been.”

Nine kept his two DT-29s on target. “Got a job to finish first.”

“Oh right. Killing me,” Yerring scoffed, shaking the blaster rifle in his hand, “Well, that may not be as easy as-“

Just like that, a blaster bolt sailed into Yerring’s chest and out his back, sparking into the burning trunk of a partially fallen tree. It happened so fast that General Yerring barely realized what had happened before he collapsed to one knee and saw that Nine was already turned around headed back to The Needlepoint.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Treading carefully, Officer Gerrick Henson scouted the area, blaster in hand, alongside his Stormtrooper guard when he saw General Yerring’s body, slumped over, with a smoking blaster hole in his back.

“Should we get the medic, sir,” the trooper asked looking down at Yerring.

Henson shook his head. “He’s gone…”

He gazed up at the sky in time to see The Needlepoint slip away into the atmosphere.

“And so’s the killer,” Henson continued. “The Imperial Council needs to be made aware. The Emperor won’t be pleased.”