Nova 7

Nova 7 is an Imperial operative during the Cold War, the Second Great Galactic War and the Dread War. One of the founding members of the Nova Branch, Nova 7 was formerly a Cipher agent known as '''Cipher Thirteen. '''Being an expert marksman, he utilized these skills to silently kill both allies and enemies.

He was known to be ruthless and untrackable, even by the Dark Council, and therefore considered to be one of the most feared operatives in the galaxy. He was known to be able to track any of the Cipher agents and provided the Sith Empire with the location to the mysterious operative known only as the Shroud.

He was personally responsible for the fall of Hutta to the Dread Guard forces of the Dread Masters, after helping Bestia to arrive and kill the leading Hutt members.

The Nova elimination
Shortly before 3,643 BBY, Nova 7 would be dispatched by Nova Branch to infiltrate Hutta and exfiltrate three of Nova Branch's finest Intelligence operatives. These operatives were along with Nova 7 the first agents of Imperial Intelligence that were trained by Nova Branch. Blackmailing a local spice trader into allowing him to stash away in his spaceship, Nova 7 discreetly arrived on Hutta. Killing the spice trader to cover his tracks, Nova 7 used a secured holo frequency to contact Imperial Intelligence that he arrived.

Making his way to the palace of Nem'ro the Hutt, he would encounter Kaliyo Djannis, a right hand of Nem'ro and a recruiter for the Hutt Cartel. She tells Nova 7, without knowing who he is, that Nem'ro has planned the execution of three wanted mercenaries that afternoon. Kaliyo advices him to stay away, however Nova 7 demands an audience with the Hutt. Kaliyo tells him that she cannot arrange it that easily, but Nova 7 promises he can make it worthwhile for both Nem'ro and Kaliyo. Kaliyo invites him to join her in the execution ring later that day, but cannot make any promises to have him meet Nem'ro.

Scouting the city, Nova 7 discovers the rivalry between Nem'ro, Karagga and Faathra. Each of them wanting to become the new mogul of the Hutt Cartel, Nova 7 decides to tip this situation into his favor and kills a guard of Nem'ro's army. Taking the disguise, he obtains a speeder and travels to the plains of Faathra's palace. Here he slices one of the holoterminal, obtains a data codex from it, kills a library guard, takes its holocom and travels back to Nem'ro's palace. Here he places the holocom on the guard he previously killed and allowed Kaliyo to find the dead guard.

Kaliyo presents the evidence to Nem'ro who becomes enraged. Nova 7 takes this oppurtunity to present himself as the killer of the guard, who discovered the ties with Faathra. Now willing to listen, Nem'ro does not give into Nova 7's demand to release the Nova operatives to his custody. Nova 7 tells him he has to give them to him as he is looking to hand them to his masters for exchange of a huge bounty. Not knowing of the bounty, Nem'ro told Nova 7 the executions will go through.

Taking Kaliyo up for her offer, Nova 7 joins her in the execution arena but seperates himself from her. Using a sniper rifle he bought on the black market, Nova 7 positions himself on high ground and waits for the operatives to enter the arena. Their executioners however are a group of Tiatin Lions and he cannot give away his position by shooting them. Using toxic darts, Nova 7 manages to delay them enough for the operatives to escape custody. Sending them the coordinates of his freighter, Nova 7 deliberately delays their departure, by making them run through the catacombs of the arena. Finally arriving at the freighter, Nova 7 is there before Nova 1, 2 and 3.

Seeing they are pursued, Nova 7 shoots Nova 3 in the leg and orders Nova 1 and 2 to enter the freighter, leaving Nova 3 behind. Nova 1 and 2 enter the freighter, while the front guard of Nem'ro's forces shoot and kill Nova 3. Finally in space, Nova 1 and 2 question Nova 7's motive for leaving behind Nova 3. Nova 7 tells them he had to slow the Cartel's forces down. He was able to exfiltrate them, they should thank him. Nova 1 contacts Imperial Intelligence but is put through to Darth Jadus, who congratulates Nova 7 on the succesfull mission and that they have found a new recruit. Jadus tells them he will see them on Dromund Kaas and tells Nova 7 to finish the mission. Before Nova 1 and 2 can react, Nova 7 pulls out his sidearm and kills both of them, dumping their bodies in space.

Recruiting the new Cipher Nine
A few months after the mission to Hutta, Nova 7 is dispatched by Keeper to Hoth. He is told by Keeper that he must find a talented Chiss hunter descending from a long line of Imperial Intelligence operatives. Arriving at an Imperial outpost, Nova 7 poses as a traveling smuggler to gain a speeder permit to the Starship Graveyard from Imperial authorities. As he travels there, he meets a Talz named Raazmarr, who informs him that he knows of the Chiss hunter he speaks off and leads him to the outskirts of the settlement of the Chiss. In order to get entrance, he uses an electro dart to take out a patrolling guard and shoots the second with a throw-away sniper rifle.

Making his way into the camp, he manages to stay covered, but when life signs and guards point to a certain hutt, Nova 7 simply rolls a grenade into the entrance killing the guards. Through the smoke he enters the hutt and subdues  the Chiss hunter. He manages to escape the encampment before being captured and evades a Republic patrol on his way back to the freighter he came with. When he finally arrives inside the freighter, he uses a second serum to wake up the Chiss hunter, welcoming him to his vessel, saying he now is property of Imperial Intelligence. He knocks him out again and places him in a containment cell, preparing the ship to travel back to Dromund Kaas.

First encounter on Ord Mantell
Nova 7 would be dispatched by Imperial Intelligence to oversee the daily operations on Ord Mantell's Imperial Outpost. He was warned by the Dark Council that one of Republic's finest Jedi would arrive there soon to recover files from the base. He was ordered to keep this from happening and if necessary blow the base up. Nova 7 positioned himself inside the volcano where he set up a communcations grid and while most of the Imperial forces inside the base were unaware, Nova 7 ordered Leuitenant Orda Morr to set up explosive charges around the base, as a last ditch effort if the Republic would invade the base.

As predicted by the Dark Council, the Jedi indeed arrived on Ord Mantell seeking the base and Nova 7 does not alert the Imperial forces inside the base. However he does order Lieutenant Morr to stand their ground. As the Jedi and his droid companion T7-O1 make their way into the base, Nova 7 follows their route through the hidden cambots in the base. When they finally confront Morr, he refuses to reveal anything to the Jedi and to Nova 7's satisfaction, Morr is killed. Before able to download the files, the Jedi is confronted by Nova 7 himself through holocom and he tells him that no-one may obtain the files hidden in this base and therefore cannot allow the Jedi to leave. Revealing himself to be Nova 7 to the Jedi, Nova 7 sets off the bombs inside the base, disconnecting the transmission.

To his dissatisfaction, Nova 7 sees the Jedi and his droid companion have survived and were able to secure a copy of the files. Unlike Nova 7 however, the Jedi have not gotten their hands on a secret file containing intel on the Ancient Superweapons. Returning to his ship, Nova 7 contacts Darth Angral saying he secured the files, however the Jedi has obtained a copy. Darth Angral tells him it does no longer matter, his plans are into fruition already.

Sowing the Seeds
After succeeding in killing Karagga the Hutt, Nova 7 was contacted by Nova 20 who had found the dreadnought that seated the Dread Masters previously. Taking a detour from his way back to Dromund Kaas, he stirred his ship to the coordinates given to him by Nova 20. Arriving in a starship battlefield, but without the battle, Nova 7 was alerted by his ship's systems on the presence of one life form about a large Imperial dreadnought. Believing the one lifeform to be one of the Dread Masters, Nova 7 made his way to the dreadnought.

Arriving inside the dreadnought, Nova 7 felt the cold temperature and the chilling surroundings. Activating his com, he secured a staging ground before advancing to the bridge, where the life sign was revealed. Arriving their, Nova 7 is confronted by a surviving member of the crew, who seems possessed. Surrounded by dark red aura, Nova 7 deduces this is the work of the Dread Masters, he asks the surviving crewmember when they betrayed the Empire and the Dread Masters. The crew member smirks telling Nova 7 they never were betrayed, the Dread Masters will rule for an eternity.

The remaining power systems shut down and as the surroundings turn cold, six shadowy figures arrive on the bridge. Revealing himself to Nova 7, Raptus reveals they have seen his future and it is not serving the Empire. Raptus tells him they can give him so much more. Nova 7 tells them he is not interested, he serves the Empire and the Emperor. Raptus laughs as the Emperor was killed by Kenli-shun. Understanding his mortal nemesis killed the Emperor, Nova 7 pledges to avenge him and believes to join the Dread Masters is the right cause. Raptus leads him to a hidden chamber where there is a capsule with Dread Seeds. He tells Nova 7 to set these out around Kaas City, the Dread Seeds will do the rest.

Nova 7 makes his way back to his ship and informs Nova 20 about the dreadnought he found and how it is unoccupied and no longer in service. He tells nothing of his encounter with the Dread Masters. He then hears the automated systems of the dreadnought it is set for collision course with the nearby planet. Making his way off the dreadnought, Nova 7 sets course for Dromund Kaas, while watching the capsule with Dread Seeds.