Imperial Agent

I selected IMPERIAL AGENT.

The universe disappeared.

For several seconds, there was nothing.

Then somebody shot at me. My eyes snapped open as a red bolt screamed past my face and exploded against the wall behind me, a flurry of sparks burning the back of my neck. “Shit!” I threw myself sideways. More bolts tore through the corridor as I landed behind a barricade beside something that looked like a seven-foot-tall armored skeleton.

Its black metal head rotated toward me. “Agent.”

“Robot.”

“I am pleased you have regained consciousness.” Another volley hammered the barricade. I covered my head with my hands.

“Was I unconscious?”

“Fourteen seconds.”

“What happened?”

“You struck your head.”

“On what?”

It pointed toward a suspiciously head-shaped dent in the bulkhead.

“Did I win?”

“The wall remains operational.”

Fantastic.

I peeked over the barricade.

The corridor looked like a luxury hotel designed by someone terrified of color. White walls. White floors. White ceiling. Not too unlike the room of emptiness I had just been in. Except currently, most of it was on fire.

Six soldiers of varying alien species were laying down suppressing fire from the other end of the corridor. Their faces were blackened with oil and grime, their firearms appeared crudely assembled and they looked like they’d just spent a month fighting their way out of the Amazon. One of their shots hit the robot directly in the chest. Right on its decal of the crimson imperial Sigil. It looked down at the scorch mark. Then back at them.

“That was discourteous.” It stood.

“Wait—”

The robot stepped into the corridor. Red bolts hammered its chest and shoulders as it casually walked toward them. Why was he behind cover if he’s bullet proof? Hell he should’ve been my cover. One soldier stopped firing.

“Oh, fuck.” The robot grabbed him.

“Correct.” It threw him into the ceiling. His body hit with a sickening crack before dropping lifelessly onto one of his horrified buddies.

Okay.

I liked the robot.

A translucent window suddenly appeared in front of me.

DATA DOWNLOAD COMPLETE

CLASS: IMPERIAL AGENT

Another followed.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: OPERATION FALLING STAR

OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE PRINCESS ASHLYN VESPERIA

RECOVER STOLEN IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE

PRINCESS MUST BE CAPTURED ALIVE

Well…That answered almost none of my questions. I decided to start with something easier: Me. I patted myself down. Matte-black armor covered me from neck to toe, with flexible plates protecting my chest, shoulders, forearms, thighs and shins over a skintight synthetic undersuit. I recognized it immediately.

“Oh, hell yes.” I’d seen this armor in the original game. Imperial Intelligence combat armor. Lightweight. Fast. Expensive as hell, I was never able to afford a set last time and I’d spent an embarrassing number of hours trying to get a set for my character. Now I was wearing one. Better yet, I was armed.

An Imperial L-8 particle pistol rested in a holster against my hip. Standard issue for Imperial officers. Black metal, angled grip, narrow barrel. Not particularly exciting. Then I felt something hanging across my lower back. I reached behind me and pulled it free. My heart skipped a beat.

“No fucking way.” Three feet of black metal extended from an equally black hilt. An H-9 Heatblade. Forget the pistol. I’d wanted one of these since the concept art had leaked. I ran my thumb over the activation switch. The blade hummed. Orange light raced from the hilt to the tip as the black metal turned red, then white-hot along its edge. Heat rolled across my face.“Oh, that is fucking cool.” I swung it, leaving behind a molten gash on the wall in front of me. Again. Another gash. Again, more molten metal dripping down the sides of the wall.

“Stop doing that.” I looked at the robot.

“Doing what?”

“Swinging your weapon without purpose.”

“Uh the purpose is took look dope as fuck.”

“What?”

“It’s fun.” A rebel suddenly appeared from behind a doorway. He fired. I raised the blade instinctively.

CLANG!

The bolt struck the blade and ricocheted into the ceiling. I froze. The rebel froze. I looked at the glowing blade. “No fucking way.” He fired again.

CLANG!

This one bounced into the wall. I laughed. “Oh, you’re fucked now.” I charged. The rebel fired wildly. One bolt flashed past my shoulder. Another struck my chest and burst against a shimmering blue barrier. I barely noticed. I swung. The Heatblade sliced straight through his rifle. The weapon fell apart in his hands, both halves glowing orange where I’d cut them. As I stared in awe at the awesome power of my blade, the robot’s fist came down hard on dude’s skull.

THUNK.

His body hit the floor. “I had him.”

“We’re wasting time, the princess may have escaped by now.”

“Right, the princess. Hey what am I supposed to call you anyway?”

“My designation is K-11.”

“K-11?”

“Yes.”

I looked at the bodies scattered around him. “I’m calling you KillBot. With two Ones where the L’s should be.”

“No.” Ki11bot said.

A woman’s voice cut through my earpiece. “Would both of you shut up?” I stopped. KillBot stopped. Boots clicked against the floor behind us. I turned. And momentarily forgot about the sword. A woman emerged through the smoke. Tall. Dark hair fell around a face that looked like someone had spent an unreasonable amount of money designing it. Her black Imperial bodysuit hugged a figure that didn’t do much to discourage that theory. She carried a compact rifle in one hand. Her other hand rested against her hip. She looked at the bodies. Then KillBot. Then me. Her blue eyes narrowed. “Having fun?”

I looked at the glowing sword in my hand. “No.” She stared at me. The Heatblade powered down. Her eyes narrowed further. I slowly lowered it. The woman walked past me and crouched beside one of the rebels. A window appeared.

AGENT SEPHANEE

IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE

SPECIAL OPERATIONS

“Why are you staring at me?”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were.”

KillBot’s head rotated toward us. “He was.”

“Damn, be cool Ki11bot.”

Sephanee stood. “What the status of the rebel princess?” Her question was met with equally blank stares from me and Ki11bot. Her expression changed. Not much. Just enough that I noticed. Then she started looking really mad. “Twenty dead rebels at your feet and you didn’t interrogate a single one?”

“Kinda hard to question someone when Ki11bot keeps crushing their skulls in.” I quickly passed the blame. Ki11bot’s head quickly turned to stare me down but I looked away.

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Alright Ki11bot search the next level. I’ll clear the Garden.