Spectre-7 felt nothing, even as he kissed and grabbed the arse of a human in his arms; his body did react, but his mind did not. For he was on a mission, and it was not to flirt with some common human whore, not that she looked any like it.
He currently found himself in Abridon, a few blocks away from the Moff's residence. And he stood in an alley, with his 'girlfriend' enjoying his presence. Spectre-7 had taken the identity of Tony Dio, and was charged with noting down any visitors to the Moff's residence, and eventually, if he went out to meet someone.
The Commodore had a strong feeling that other forces were involved in this, including most likely Imperial ones. And they would never permit such a loose thread; they might kill him. But most likely they would attempt to have him evade responsibility, likely push it onto a Governor or something similar.
But for that, they needed to remove enough potential witnesses that the case was impossible to build. Whether those witnesses were paid off, killed or hidden was of little importance to those people. And Spectre-7's task was to find out who would be sent, as a cleanup effort.
A slight vibration in his right arm forced him into action, as he brought his 'girlfriend' in for a hug. Tapping a gauntlet on his right arm, which showed a holographic display of a back entrance. Where none other than Moff Cassian left, hidden by a hood, but the facial-recognition program designed by I.I would not fail them.
He was followed by a pair of men also cloaked, though Spectre-7 imagined they were armed. And with that, he sprang into action. Taking his girlfriend with him as they walked down the road, heading towards an intercept on the Moff.
Spectre-7 knew that the person they might just meet would be a professional, and thereby conventional means of espionage would most likely not work. So he'd have to hide in plain sight, though his dress-up as an 'noteworthy' individual was unique.
Most agents would look for 'unnoticeable' characters when looking behind their back. So when a blue-haired, glass-wearing, near-criminal-looking guy walked behind them. With an equally similar girlfriend, he'd most likely get ignored.
Within a few moments, they caught up with the Moff, and remained 20 metres behind them as they trailed them through the city, his glasses sometimes catching pictures of the guards' faces, and the Moff's for that matter.
It took less than 30 minutes to enter a shady-looking house, and without hesitating, Spectre-7 walked straight past without a look. Taking one discreet photo of the building, but otherwise kept moving. Before crossing down into an alley two corners down.
His mood instantly shifted as he turned towards his 'girlfriend', "I need to go to the toilet, wait here." He said and she nodded with a smile. "Of course, I'll be right here."
And with that, he ran into the restaurant beside him. Sneaking into the kitchen before exiting onto the second floor, climbing out a window- making sure his girlfriend was looking a different way. Before climbing onto a roof and moving down towards the building.
Of course, there was no vantage point to look into the house through the roof. Which reinforced Spectre-7's suspicions that this man was professional. But sadly, Spectre-7 had a technological advantage. And with a flick of his glasses, 4 heat signatures appeared on the second floor. Hidden in a room without windows.
Though that would not prevent Spectre-7 from doing his job, as he grabbed a ball from his pockets before throwing it onto the building, as mid-air it revealed itself as a spider-like electronic drone. Landing as Spectre-7 brought out control and began manipulating the drone into the building, sneaking through a crack in the old house.
Spectre-7 saw through the drone's eyes via his glasses, and soon enough spotted the agent. Taking multiple pictures of him before dying down, fastening itself to the crack as it shifted colour. Becoming nearly invisible.
Meanwhile, with the Spectre. He turned around and bolted off the roof, jumping from roof to roof as he made his way back towards his 'girlfiend', but just as he was about to climb down the roof of the restaurant. A bolt slammed into the back of his head, as he fell down headfirst. Landing in front of his girlfriend directly, as she screamed out of fear.
Three roofs back, a man in full black clothing smiled. Having covered his superiors' backs once more, he was bound to be promoted or receive a pay increase after this. As he put his sniper down and ran after the corpse of the spy, intending to retrieve any evidence.
He landed beside the corpse, noting that his screaming girlfriend was gone. Most likely to call authorities, though from what the sniper had discovered, she was a well-known slut. So she was most likely not included in this.
However, as he ransacked his pockets. He realised that the controls which the man had used to control that spider, which also most likely held most of the evidence were gone, alongside something missing on his face, which the sniper soon concluded as the glasses.
"Fuck, they worked as a double-team." He cursed out, before running into the streets. A desperate attempt to catch the girlfriend, but he had no luck. And she was far gone. 'Fuck, I'm done for.'
Meanwhile, in a building 10 corners down. Spectre-8 opened a computer and inserted the memory card from both Spectre-7's glasses and controls, retrieving multiple pictures, angles, and notes.
She then removed the face mask, wig, and makeup. Revealing a whole different person, and not the slut she had faked being for the past three days. After kidnapping the original, who would be released soon after.
It was standard Spectre procedure for many of these types of missions to play in pairs. One to retrieve information, the other as backup or support. And it had saved the mission, and this time maybe earned her a pay increase or promotion.
She did want to get out of these dangerous field missions eventually.
...
Hannah leaned back in her chair out of annoyance as she sighed, this new revelation would only bring further problems and complications into an already annoyingly complicated case.
Aaron had just recently, aka a few minutes ago. Dispatched a report from one of his 'Spectre' agents, which included pictures and notes for on a week-long mission to document all the Moff's visitors. Before being killed, and the information barely retrieved by the backup agent.
She knew Aaron well enough to understand that he was beyond furious at the loss of a Spectre Agent; they were not units he could just sacrifice left and right, and the process of training a Spectre Agent was even more difficult and costly than Wraith Troopers.
But, the information had been worth it. The ISB had done a good job at hiding this specific agent, who had been given the codename of the 'Cleaner', for simple purposes of course.
Sadly for them, the result of a dual intelligence-assortment meant that Imperial Intelligence had their own separate archives, ones that could not be simply 'deleted' or 'cleaned'. And therefore had several records of the man, and to state that he was a professional was a gross understatement.
This man, was the best. He was involved in three dozen ISB cleanup cases, where they had overextended or entered dangerous territory to obtain information or political favors. And almost every time, they had called in this guy to solve it.
He was one of their most valuable assets, which is why it made sense that he had such high-tier agents protecting him at all times, being capable of watching a Spectre-Agent without being noticed. And then eliminating that same person.
This was developing away from a simple removal of a Moff, to a proxy war between Imperial Intelligence and the Imperial Security Bureau, which is also why she had already contacted Ysanne Isard on the matter, awaiting commands.
But even so, Aaron had already taken steps of his own. Both he and Hannah knew that there was only one way to successfully execute this case, and that was by cleaning up this so-called 'Cleaner'.
He needed to die, and Aaron was already preparing to ensure such an outcome, not that it would be easy in any way. But it would be attempted nevertheless, even though the ISB was most likely to be unhappy with such a course of action.
But they could not go against Aaron for it publicly, as this 'Cleaner' did not exist in any public database, nor in the ISB. And they could not be hurt for it, unless the Cleaner was simply classified at a higher level for the Emperor and his court, but unless Isard directly stepped in. It would be no problem.
Aaron would handle the 'Cleaner', it was now her job to safeguard and secure as many assets as possible in the case, for she did not know how long it would take to get this guy.
She brought a comlink to her mouth, as she spoke directly to a Captain within the local garrison that had submitted to her command, on the condition of total immunity. "You have your targets; extract immediately. Naval Fleet will stand down."
And with that, it began.
--------------
Please support me via påetron, it really helps keep me motivated and I'm lowkey kinda broke so any help is very much welcome.
påetron underneath;
Pondsfyre - +20 chapters, alongside 5 other stories of mine. Each 50+ chapters.