For the second time today, Ariadne’s handheld holo-com buzzed.
The first time had been her brother Corven, in a furious fit over her stealing his ship. He really should keep it locked. Granted, the Drommund spaceport is heavily guarded and secure, but the guards would never stop her from getting on her brother’s ship. Unless of course she did something drastic like murder four sith acolytes in the middle of a busy public square, then storm out of the city in a stolen speeder; apparently the spaceport guards, however, didn’t get the memo.

It wasn’t her fault that those acolytes were arrogant mongrels deserving of painful death; she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time! It also wasn’t her fault that Corven’s ship The Accomplice was the quickest way to get halfway across the galaxy without committing several more crimes.
Always a victim of circumstance, she thought with a sigh, then answered the buzzing device.

“Talk to me.”
“Ms. Spark,” Agent Caphus Stirk’s voice crackles, as a miniature holographic projection of him hovered above the round device in her hand. His was a thirty-something, thin man with a chin that could pop a balloon, and a personality equally as sharp. “I’m in need of your… erm… unique skills for a task of great importance.”
“Stab it, Caphus,” she groaned, “I deactivated my imperial holocom for a reason. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not part of your little Empire anymore.”

From the day she had joined The Academy, to the day she graduated it, The Empire had merely been a tool for one thing: to gain the power she desired. The moment her training was complete, she left the Academy, and the Empire behind. Occasionally she helped her brother with something, and she visited Drommund Kaas on rare occasions which usually ended in someone dying at the end of her lightsaber, but she and the empire were about as close to being friends as fire and dry paper.

“You often work with Agent Spark on missions of importance to The Empire,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Only on common interest occasions.”
“You’re on his ship right now.”
“What, are you stalking me now? Look Caphus, you’re like sixty, I’m nineteen. It’s weird.”
“Amusing, Ms. Spark, but I’m no stalker… just well informed. You didn’t leave Drommund Kaas quietly the last time you were here. More to the point, this is a job offer, not an assignment. You will be rewarded considerably.”
“I don’t care about your stupid credits, Caph.”
“Then perhaps you’ll care for the prospect of a challenging task, worthy of your skills, with lots of people to kill by any method of your choosing. It’s been a while since you’ve seen any real action, hasn’t it, Ms. Spark?”
“Bleed you Caphus… for speaking my language,” she smiled, “so what’s the job?”

“The leader of a rebel terrorist group on the imperial besieged planet Beiertahk has been giving us trouble- holding off our entire effort to take the planet’s capitol. He has friends in almost every level of power in the capitol, and won’t even let our transmissions go through for us to try to negotiate terms of the planet’s surrender. But because of the lies this terrorist had been spreading about The Empire, they’ll never surrender peacefully now anyway.”

“So just blast the city off the face of the map; build a new capitol.”
“That would be an option, if it weren’t for the fact that the city is not only a major trading hub, but also houses the largest mining operation on the planet.”
“So you want me to sneak in to the city, find the punk and remove his head.”
“In short, yes.”
“Alright Caph, I’ll do it. But this job better be worth it. You do not want to make me angry.”
“Fully understood and noted, Ms. Spark.”
“I’ll need to call in some help though,” she said, thinking out loud, “and I know just the lady for the job.”
“Hire whomever you want.”
“I wasn’t asking your consent, stupid. Now go away.”
Caphus half-groan half-sighed, “Very well. I’m sending you the coordinates. Meet me there in 48 hours sharp.”
“Don’t count on it,” she mumbled, “now get lost, Caph.”
Without another word, his image evaporated.
Ariadne smirked, turning toward the cockpit of The Accomplice.

***

“Why her, Caphus?” Corven stormed in, fists clenched tight, “Why recruit my sister? It’s a suicide job for one person and you know it!”

“Because, Agent Spark, she can do it. Because once she puts her mind to something she’ll stop at nothing to accomplish it. She’ll have that terrorist trembling in fear before she’s even standing before him… and when the people of Beiertahk find out that an imperial teenage girl defeated their greatest hope singlehandedly, they’ll surrender in a second.”

***
Ariadne activated The Accomplice’s holocom, typing in Malign June’s contact number. After a few seconds, the projector flickered to life with a staticky blue image of the bounty huntress, who was sitting at a desk, examining a small vial of liquid. Blood, Ariadne presumed.

“Sup, huntress?” Ariadne said cheerfully, “How goes the bloodshed?”

Mal looked up and smiled, placing the vial of liquid in her hand into the container in front of her. “Ariadne, it’s been too long. And the blood is shedding more than ever I’m happy to report. I’ve missed your presence. What brings me the pleasure of conferring with a fellow murderess such as yourself?”

“I just had a nice chat with opportunity. He’s paying big bucks for the deaths of many hapless individuals. A big time rebel terrorist with friends in high places has been outsmarting imperials trying to take the planet Beiertahk’s capitol. He’s been blocking transmissions, spreading lies, outgunning imperial troops… and poor little Caphus Stirk, imperial intelligence big-wig, has called upon me to hunt the guy down and take his head off. Terrorism, deceit and torture from us, met with violent opposition from his friends… all likely. You in?”

"Totally. You know I can't resist a chance to cause some chaos," Malign said, standing up and moving the container to an electronic cooler at the end of the room. She continued to speak as she unlocked another lockbox in the room, removing a syringe with a light green liquid. Floating around in the liquid were what appeared to be hair-thin strands that writhed and swam about.

"As a matter of fact, I've been developing a few nasty surprises that I've been tempted to try out lately. This, for example," She returned to the holocomm.

"Genetically modified parasitical worms from that planet with all of the fungi... Felucia. These have been altered to release a lethal toxin that will cause severe pain in the nervous system, eventually resulting in death as the toxin builds to dangerous levels. Hopefully I'll have a chance to test it out on a few 'subjects', eh? I'll have to convert it into a dart form, though."

She placed the syringe on the table, "So tell me, what have you been up to these last few months?"

"An assassination here and there, nothing too exciting. It's ironic, I thought I'd leave the empire and their stupid rules and system of 'I outrank you', and find excitement and challenge on my own, but I keep coming back because they have the best jobs. Just yesterday I was hired by a young Sith to kill four acolytes who refused to stop harassing her. Slaughtered them right in the middle of the busy Citadel plaza," she smiled, "wish you could've heard all the gasps, heard the cries of terror, seen the hands-covering-mouths. It was... incredible."

As she spoke, she was programming the ship's navigation-computer with the coordinates to the planet Beiertahk. With the pull of a lever, the ship's engines hummed, and the stars outside the viewport became streaks of solid white as The Accomplice accelerated to lightspeed and beyond. She then turned back to the holo-com and began typing on its keypad.

"I'm sending you the coordinates to Beiertahk now. They lead to my contact's ship, which should be drifting in high-orbit above the planet. Got any exciting stories since we last spoke?" she asked.

Malign activated her portable holocomm., carrying it with her as she walked out of her office. "Oh you know, the usual assassination or hunting job. Oooh, there was a fun one on Hutta though. Who knew that crime lords could cry so much?"

After a moment or two of chatting, she said goodbye and entered her suite, opening her closet. Ignoring the priceless, exotic dresses and formal wear, she went to the back of the closet and pulled out a heavy chest. She opened it, revealing the dark black and pink armor inside. After putting it on, she checked her weapons, humming to a cheerful tune as she strapped the double-barreled pistols to her sides.

As she left the compound, her assistant, Cyan James, ran after her, clutching a datapad. "Ms. June! Ms. June! I hate to slow you down but-"

Malign sighed, blowing a strand of crimson hair out of her face. She turned around to face the short, thin intimidated young man. Cyan was 25, one of the best assistant managers and organizers in the galaxy. His knack for securing deals was invaluable, and his position was permanent in the corporation.

"Whatever do you want now, dear Cyan. Can't you see I'm busy? I'm off on a killing spree," She said casually, beginning to walk again. Cyan trailed behind, frantically speaking.

"Malign - you know that our business conference with the Collocoids is this weekend. They won't take kindly to your abscence! I know they've been looking forward to seeing you again after your last discussion. They loved how you ripped the claw off of the one who wouldn't bring down his price."

"Certainly you can do it this time. Or in the very least bring some insecticide to threaten them into submission with."

"I would get snapped in half! From you it amuses them. From me.... I'm just prey. And where are you off to? Hopefully nowhere dangerous-"

"You are the one in danger. I hope you remember the last time you made me angry, Cyan? You had to buy a new datapad and required two days of surgery to get the bits of glass out of your forearm."

"Oh um... Yes. That was erhmm.. I see your point. I'll postpone the meeting. Just please, Malign. Alert the corporation of your position on occasion. We'd hate to think you were deceased."

"Me... Deceased. That's real funny, isn't it?" She said, turning once again to face Cyan. By now they were on the landing strip, right below the boarding ramp of The Empress VIII. She pulled her arm back and smacked Cyan's cheek once, grinning. "I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, will not be fine if you don't keep this company running. Best of luck... and Cheers."

Then she was off, leaving the man rubbing his now-stinging cheek on the surface below. "Let's find this fancy ship, shall we?" she said to herself, intering the coordinants.

The planet Beiertahk was barely close enough to fill a sixth of The Accomplice's thin viewport, but she could already feel millions of life signatures bombarding her senses. It was obnoxious. It was like an itch that she couldn't scratch. She could tell that the people of this world were once strong, but they had given up the fight easily. She knew what war felt like through the force, and this was a feeling of fear, but not the kind that provokes one to war. No... it was the kind that made one shrink, and beg, and cower. She hated a coward. Their wealth and power had made them cowards, too afraid to risk what they had to fight outnumbered. She would enjoy watching those fools fall to the Empire.

As the planet grew closer and closer, she could make out its landscape. It was covered in mostly in vast forests and snowy tundras, and dotted with large, dark lakes. big, shining golden-and-silver cities were connected by what appeared to be highways or train systems over otherwise vacant, forested land.

Caphus's ship was visible now, big and impressive, just like his ego. She smiled at the thought, making a mental note to start calling it The Ego. She piloted The Accomplice into the hangar bay of The Ego, then stepped out into the hangar bay and waited for Malign to arrive. When she did, they were led by Caph's imperial guards to the ship's bridge. She made a conscious effort to walk much slower than the guards as she and Malign had a pleasant chat, forcing the men to slow down for them. When they finally made it to the bridge, Caphus was all but tapping his foot impatiently.

"Ms. Spark, nice of you to finally join us," Caphus said in his normal, snobby monotone.

"Thanks, Caph," she said cheerfully, "This is Malign June, founder of the Lorrdian Cybertech and Medical Corporation. You will treat her with dignity and respect, none of that snarky know-it-all attitude you give me, understand?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're referring to, Ms. Spark."

"Oh, right, I forgot that your moon-size ego prevents you from judging your own character flaws.”

Caphus acted like he hadn’t heard her, turning his attention to Malign. “Pleasure to make you acquaintance Ms. June. I’d very much like to hear more about this business of yours.”