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Darius Prewitt took a deep breath as he was ushered into Emperor Palpatine's presence. Earlier that day he had made love to his wife, updated his will, and kissed and hugged both his children. He was, in short, as ready to die as a man could be.

He bowed deeply before the throne, holding it until Palpatine spoke.

"What has your investigation found?"

"Your Majesty, Kren Blista-Vanee was killed by an assassin known as Kali. We have not been able to determine how he infiltrated his security and eluded capture afterward; it would seem he tampered with the security cams so they did not record during the attack."

The emperor gazed at him, face impassive. "My close advisor is dead. How do you intend to prevent this from happening again?"

Darius swallowed. "Your Majesty, our Special Tasks Division does have a task force working to apprehend this Kali. They were the ones who informed me that this assassination was his work. It seems this assassin is highly intelligent and has evaded all attempts at capture or even identification."

"This is unacceptable. I will not tolerate this assassin murdering my council. He must be taken down."

I guess he draws the line at literal back-stabbing. The infighting among Palpatine's councilors was legendary. "We will make it our top priority, Your Majesty."

Palpatine frowned, his fingers tapping a pattern on the armrest of his throne. "If this Kali is as smart as your task force believes, it won't be enough. We must fight fire with fire." The tapping stopped, and the emperor sat up a bit straighter. "I will send Vice Admiral Thrawn to head your task force." His lips spread in a smile. "If anyone can out-clever your assassin, it's him."

Hope and relief flooded Darius as he realized he was going to live—at least for now. "Understood, Your Majesty. We will cooperate fully with him, of course."

"See to it, Security Chief Prewitt." The emperor dismissed him with a gesture, and Darius bowed again and left.