501st: An Imperial Commando Novel

INTELLIGENCE REPORT (Extract)

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted

TO:
Director of Imperial Intelligence

FROM:
Section Controller J506

SUBJECT:
Special security risks
.

I regret to report that a number of security threats to the new Empire remain unresolved
.

Among them is a small but worrying number of desertions by clone troopers from the former Republic’s special forces. We consider it unlikely that they are unreported casualties because of patterns of association. They are:

1. Null-batch ARCs N-5, N-6, N-7, N-10, N-11, and N-12. Highly dangerous and volatile black ops commandos whose loyalty was always suspect due to their strong association with their training sergeant, Kal Skirata
.

2. Alpha-batch ARCs A-26 and A-30. (Others are unaccounted for, but they may be genuine casualties.) Equally dangerous, and—should you need to remind the Emperor—trained to be “one-man armies.
”

3. An unknown number of Republic commandos—at least three complete and partial squads. Experts in sabotage and assassination
.

4. Mandalorian mercenaries and military advisers working for Special Operations Brigade GAR, also known to have trained the missing clones—Kal Skirata, Walon Vau, Mij Gilamar, and Wad’e Tay’haai
.

5. Among the known fugitive Jedi—in other words, those not confirmed as eliminated in Order 66, or reasonably believed to be—is General Bardan Jusik. Interrogation of several Padawan Jedi before execution suggests that Jusik renounced his Jedi status and joined the Mandalorians as a mercenary. I hardly need spell out the special risks of a Force-using Mandalorian
.

The prisoner Dr. Ovolot Qail Uthan is also at large after being taken from Republic custody. Whether this was carried out by former Separatists, or is linked to Skirata’s alleged industrial espionage for an unknown commercial clonemaster, the biologist remains a threat to the Empire because of her work on FG36, a genome-targeted biological weapon specific to Fett clones. She is a Gibadan citizen, and Gibad is still refusing to observe the cease-fire
.

Recommendations:

1. That we continue to search for the missing special forces personnel
.

2. That we carry out reprisal action against Gibad, both as Uthan’s most likely source of technical support for bioweapon terrorism, and as a deterrent to other dissident governments
.

3. That we closely examine those Imperial clone commandos who have missing squadmates—such as the former Omega Squad—and whose loyalty may be in question. If they prove reliable, we should use them to track their former comrades
.

4. That we anticipate encountering former special forces clones in future military operations against rebels and malcontents, and ensure that Imperial stormtroopers are equipped to deal with the unique threat they pose
.

Submitted this day by: Sector Controller J506, Officer Marigand, H. F.

N
y Vollen had never broken her word to anyone, but now seemed like a sensible time to start.

I must be out of my mind. This is going to get me killed. And
them,
too. What was I thinking
?

She didn’t even dare imagine the word; her two passengers were just
them
. The brief time she’d spent with Force-sensitives had made her nervous at a gut level, and she was now irrationally afraid that her thoughts, feelings, and anxieties were somehow broadcast to anyone with the skills to detect them. It was crazy, she knew … but she
didn’t
know.

She couldn’t be sure her mind was still private territory. And that was what bothered her.

Just keep your heads down and shut up, both of you
.
Is that so hard? You can do your Force stuff to make guards go away, right? Well, do it
.

The Mezeg terminal smelled of lube oil, blocked drains, and those sickly sweet hot buns that were sold with near-undrinkable caf wherever freight pilots gathered. She gnawed unenthusiastically on a bun, trying not to imagine what the hard chewy bits were made of. The scent of artificial vannilan always made her feel sick. Now it added to the turmoil in her stomach, threatening to overwhelm her as she stood under
Cornucopia
’s fuselage waiting for her vessel to be inspected.

She rehearsed a convincing reaction in case her hidden passengers were discovered.

Never seen them before in my life, trooper
.

These refugees get everywhere, don’t they
?

Thank you, trooper—now get them off my ship
.

But none of those lines would have convinced her, so she doubted they would persuade any of the Imperial stormtroopers searching vessels entering and leaving Mezeg. If the stowaways were discovered, then at least they had no idea where
Cornucopia
was headed. And she hadn’t yet programmed a course for Mandalore, so there was no data to extract from the new computer and lead the authorities to Kyrimorut.

At least the worst wouldn’t happen.

But I know
exactly
where we’re heading, all the names, all the places, so the worst that can happen … will happen to me
.

She was far too old to be embarking on a life of lawlessness. If she was caught and interrogated, she had no idea how long she would hold out before she revealed what she knew of Kal Skirata’s refuge for clone deserters. Her chances of escaping from the search team of four fit troopers, a civilian guard, and an akk hound looked close to zero.

Come on. Are they really going to suspect me of anything? I’m a woman. I’m old. My ship’s even older than I am. As to which of us is in worse shape … 

“Waste of kriffing time.” The Rodian pilot in the line
next to her had a tiny courier shuttle that couldn’t have concealed a jackrab, let alone stowaways. He kept checking a chrono hanging from a fob on his jacket. “This is
costing
me.”

“Can’t argue with the Empire,” Ny said. “Suck it up.”

The white-armored stormtroopers didn’t scare her. She knew they should have. They weren’t Kal Skirata’s adopted sons, the special forces clones she knew, like A’den, Mereel, and Corr. They might have looked identical under those helmets, but if she thought they were friends—that was all wrong,
deadly
wrong. These men had their orders. They probably didn’t include being kind to old women who thought they were all nice boys at heart. Anyone aiding fugitive Jedi was an enemy of the Empire by definition.

And why am I doing this, anyway
?

The freight port security guard held his search akk on a choke chain as he went from vessel to vessel, letting the animal snuffle around cargo bays and hatches. Four stormtroopers waited to pounce if the akk reacted to a scent or a sound.

“I suppose they’re bored now they haven’t got a proper war to fight,” the Rodian said. “Nothing better to do with their time. And how much has Palpatine spent on all that new armor? What was wrong with the old style?
More
taxpayers’ credits wasted.”