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Empire Reforged
Chapter 54: Counterwatch
Location: Diab-Zeta Relay Station – Command Core
Date: BBY 6 – Day 21 of Operation Apex
The relay station's command core was cramped, metallic, and bathed in pale red emergency lighting. The breaching team had secured the structure, but the stench of scorched electronics and melted wiring lingered.
Lucan stood over the blackbox processor node, arms crossed, watching as Veya worked.
"Got it," she said finally, pulling a drive from the side console. "Backtrace complete. Whoever was routing orders through this place wasn't just tracking Partisan units. They were also watching us."
She handed Lucan a datachip. "At least six Imperial vessels are listed in their surveillance patterns. Not just you — but you're the most logged."
Lucan inserted the chip into his wrist pad and watched as the data streamed past: logs of patrol routes, projected intercept patterns, burst communications records, and even internal fleet debriefs.
"These are encrypted at the Centares level," Lucan muttered. "This shouldn't be accessible outside Intelligence Command."
Veya's expression turned cold. "Unless someone in Intelligence Command is feeding them."
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Back aboard the Silver Lance, Lucan summoned his senior officers.
Darran looked up from his console as the data appeared on the holotable. "That's… not just insurgent traffic."
"No," Lucan confirmed. "This is Imperial ghost code. Masked protocols. Sub-layer routing. Whoever this Hexnode Prime is, they're not just a rebel. They're trained — and well-connected."
Milar leaned in. "Could be ex-Intelligence?"
"Or current," Veya added grimly.
Lucan tapped the screen. "We've initiated a silent beacon loop using their own protocol. We'll pose as a compromised node requesting instruction. If they take the bait, we get a response."
"And if they don't?" Darran asked.
Lucan gave a small smile. "They already made one mistake."
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Eighteen hours later, the response came.
Encrypted. Fragmented. But Lucan knew a command ping when he saw one. The signal origin? Somewhere within Onderon's outer ridge complex — deep forest, heavy terrain, and a network of abandoned Clone War installations.
Lucan stood silently over the projection for a long moment.
"That's where we go next."
Veya nodded. "But Konstantine will block this. You're already outside your patrol sector."
"I'll report it as a relay anomaly. If he demands a sensor report, we send him scrambled logs. Delay his oversight."
Darran tilted his head. "And if he finds out?"
"Then he can write me up while we're burning their command bunker to ash."
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Later, as the Silver Lance drifted under blackout in the Diab system, Lucan sat in the observation alcove — a quiet space beneath the forward hull.
Veya joined him, uninvited but welcome.
"You're pushing the edge now," she said softly.
Lucan didn't deny it. "If we don't find the head of this network, we'll keep losing ships."
She nodded. "I filed a side channel to Thrawn's sector office. Nothing direct. Just observation logs. If he's watching — he'll see it."
Lucan looked at her.
"You trust him?"
Veya didn't blink. "I trust his interest in efficiency. And right now, that means you."
Lucan returned his gaze to the stars.
"This campaign won't end with a single raid."
"No," Veya said. "But it might begin to shift with one."
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In a darkened fleet command chamber hundreds of lightyears away, a blue-skinned figure stood over a glowing map of insurgent activity. His red eyes tracked the shifting patterns with deliberate calm.
"Captain Lucan Virex," Thrawn said quietly to no one in particular. "You see more than most."
His fingers tapped a control.
A dossier opened.
And the next move was already in play.
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