Faction Court Martial [The Imperial Confederation]

[Tales of the Rule of Two]

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Court Martial​

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Dac, Outer Rim Territories, Calamari Sector, Calamari System;
Within the former territories of the Empire of the Lost;
The Imperial Confederation, The Cerberus;

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"This wasn't just an attack on a city—it was an attack on an idea," said one Historian. "The Diarchy built Bastion to symbolize order. Someone wanted to burn that idea down."
-- Excerpts from "The Kael Report: Shadows Over Bastion -- The Battle That Wasn't Supposed To Happen" written by Joran Kael .

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In 902 ABY an emergency session was called by members of The Chancellorate to meet with representatives of the Imperial Ruling Council sent from the late Empire of the Lost to negotiate terms of surrender that would see the old Imperial stronghold of Bastion turned over to the Imperials. As delegates from The Diarchy gathered to meet with the Imperial Delegation to discuss terms disaster struck the convocation when a sharpshooter opened fire upon the PHANTOM EMPRESS, while in the skies above, an Obscruer-class Star Destroyer designated as, 'THE QUEST' , opened fire on the city of Ravelin. These events brought about the 'SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS' : a full scale battle waged between the forces of the Empire of the Lost, The Diarchy, and The Lilaste Order while the warlords of the Dark Empire capitalized on an opportunity to engineer maximum damage against all sides as they sought to contest the Braxant Run in the days before the, 'SIMULTAENOUS COLLAPSE' , which saw the Imperial Remnant at Carlac and Lianna scattered across the reaches of the Outer Rim Territories and out into the Unknown Regions.

Following the catastrophe in the Sartinaynian system, back in home space, the surviving Imperial leadership of the Battle of Bastion found themselves leaving one hellscape and into another. Distracted by the events over Bastion, as they were drawn into conflict with one of the galaxies superpowers, the seditious and treasonous cell known as, 'THE FIFTH WING' , engineered the economic collapse of the Empire of the Lost leading to it's loss of territory as a multitude of star systems revolted against the Imperial occupation of the Tion Cluster and the half-a-dozen other star sectors that it had encroached into. While Lianna was lost, and with it the rest of the Empire, the remnants had managed to gather in the Calamari System as they sought to consolidate their losses, and prepare contingencies to stem the bleed that had begun from the ranks within.

Healing, combined with answers, are set to be acquired today as a tribunal is formed on board the, 'CERBERUS' , to ascertain the legitimacy of The Diarchy's claims that a cancer had taken root within the ranks of the late Empire and it's various military branches which were ultimately responsible for the subsequent crisis that had taken place at Bastion, and the later economic collapse which led to the loss of , 'THE EMPIRE OF THE LOST' .

During the massacre in the Pellaeon Gardens, as surviving delegates and representatives of both sides sought safety from the sudden surprise attack on The Diarchy's capital, a Lieutenant from the, 'IMPERIAL IMMORTALS' , had been captured during the battle and later subsequently turned over to the, 'IMPERIAL SECTOR AUTHORITY' , as the ISA negotiated an armistice with members of The Chancellorate to bring an end to hostilities between them and the Sons of Kakus. Following their capture and subsequent detainment it was asserted by The Diarchy that Sieliel Dimegor -- creator of, 'THE TRIGONUS REPORT' , and head of the NISB's special-taskforce-- had attempted an assassination on Kaanni Ugaiya Kilran (the then newly coronated defacto head-of-state to the Empire of the Lost) and the Lord of the Diarchy, Diarch Reign , and was a member of the conspiracy that had engineered the events at Bastion and the revolts that had led to the collapse of the Empire.

In the subsequent days following the conclusion to the, 'SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS' , a new burgeoning Imperial Remnant is rising to power and out of the ashes of destruction. 'THE IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION' consisting of the new 'IMPERIAL SECTOR AUTHORITY' and 'RISEN EMPIRE' has been formed to bring about a new era of peace, justice and order to bring an end to this tumultuous time. In order to investigate the claims made by The Diarchy and the alleged existence of the so-called, 'FIFTH WING' , a tribunal consisting of dignitaries from the ISA and RE are gathering to try Sieliel Dimegor for the alleged crime of conspiracy, sedition and treason against the ex-members of the Imperial Ruling Council founded by the late Velran Kilran in 900 ABY.

It is the first time that someone connected to the conspiracy has been found and subsequently delivered into the hands of Imperial justice. The alleged founder of the Fifth Wing-- as outlined in the Trigonus Report, the ex-Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau, Alicia Drey -- was discovered deceased in her apartment in Lianna City following a series of statements made internally, and externally among the brass of the NISB, including a dossier outlining the assassination of the Voland Administration at the turn of the ninth-century; and a report released by 'DREY INCORPORATED' regarding their intention to enter the Mining sector following the Trade Federation of Planet's decision to place the Empire of the Lost into a trade embargo. In the wake of the Director's death personnel belonging to all military branches in the collapsed Empire had subsequently went missing further exacerbating internal tensions amongst the highest echelons of the Imperial administration that something was amiss but fears that were put aside to pursue their mission to reclaim Bastion in the name of the Empire that ultimately went so wrong for them.

Until now, 'THE FIFTH WING' , has been nothing more than a superstition, and rumour among the Imperial elite believed to have been instigated by the rebellion that was founded on Hurikane and subsequently defeated at the Battle of Maldra IV. With the creation of the 'THE TRIGONUS REPORT' -- an explanation regarding the death of Alicia Drey , the rise of the defeated 'TINGEL ARM COALITION' founded to liberate Imperial occupied worlds, and a denial that the Fifth Wing even existed -- has been brought into disrepute now that it's creator has been brought before an Imperial tribunal that has been created to ascertain fact from fiction, and truth from lies.

For two entire years this seditious organisation, which was founded to reform the Empire of the Lost into a state aligned to the SITH ORDER -- and if their mission failed, to destroy it -- has obfuscated it's activities, and hidden it's movements perfectly . . . until now.

Therefore, with the context now established, the COURT MARTIAL can now begin . . .

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[Pel Grennin]

Strictly speaking, Pel Grennin had little authority in the Empire of the Lost. He had been a member of its Inquisition, but his focus had been almost entirely on his work as a doctor and researcher. It had been as close to a quiet, humble life that someone of his capabilities and training was really capable of. He had believed, or allowed himself to believe, that the state would go on without his meddling, that the Empire of the Lost was secure enough and had a clear enough vision that his personal involvement in its politics and intelligence apparatus wasn't needed. He would fill a role of a researcher and teacher, and that would be more than enough.

It was complaisant view, and Pel was not going to make the same mistake twice. He would be involved from here on out.

Because of this, he had no place in the proceedings themselves, but he was not going to miss them. His children, Bawrad and Novik, were with him. They were dutiful apprentices and respectful children; a show of power and wealth, as well.

With a small group of other observers to the proceedings, Pel made his views quite clear, "This whole incident illustrates what I've long held about the Sith Orders. They're parasites. They cannot build, they can only destroy and steal. Every empire they create is an amalgamation of those they've conquered through duplicity and surprise. Everything they wield crumbles, so they much steal and confuse. Vigilance will see us through their schemes. We must never forget that their gifts are curses. Their narratives are lies. The truth is, they are weak, at their core. When they are confronted, they crumble. When they are infiltrated, they falter. But we must be united. We must be strong. And we cannot forget - nor forgive - this enemy. The Sith Orders are a threat to the whole galaxy, a cancer that must be cut out once and for all. If you ask me, we should cut the hands off of Sieliel Dimegor because she is, first and foremost, a thief. Not just a conspirator and murderer. And on ancient Korriban, before the deranged maniacs that stole their culture took power, they took the hands of thieves. Seems only right to me."

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

OBJECTIVE: TRIAL OF THE TRAITOR
LOCATION: CERBERUS
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This new alliance between the Risen Empire and the remnants of the Empire of the Lost, now calling themselves the Imperial Sector Authority, was proving to be interesting. These other Imperials were... different. The operated in a completely foreign manner to that of the Risen Empire, and tolerated things that he found deplorable. The open allowance of practitioners of the Force within their ranks was something of disgust to him, but Selrik didn't speak on it because, in the end, the Empire was stronger in unification than it was in separate, small pockets of influence.

The gathering they had been called to was directly related to things of which he valued, though: interference in the Empire by the Sith. This was a long standing problem. It went back to the formation of the Empire itself out of the Republic. Yes, that formation had come at the hands of a Sith Lord, but that Sith Lord had lost the vision when he succumbed to the madness of the Force and settled for building gigantic toys with which he could destroy worlds rather than investing in programs that could have actually defeated the fledgling New Republic before it even got started. Selrik was well aware of this failure, as were all within the Risen Empire.

So now, to have them attempting to assert control once again through manipulation and attempting to bring about the downfall of the Empire, well, he had a vested interest in seeing that squashed like a bug.

But before he or anyone else could speak, before the defendant had even arrived, a Duros spoke up. Among the Risen, open xenophobia was frowned upon, but that didn't mean it was absent. Selrik was human and believed humanity was the ultimate destiny of the galaxy, not to mention the fact many of the species that populated its worlds had started as human themselves. The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly downward as the Duros spoke. Especially considering he spoke as if the trial were already decided when it had only just begun. An accusation was leveled against the defendant, true, and a grave one if true, but Selrik still wanted to hear the details.

"I would much rather hear the details surrounding her arrest and connection to this supposed organization than simply throw about punishments," he said, staring coldly at the Duros before looking away. "Lest we all forget, the Empire we all were born of, the Galactic Empire, was founded in part by the actions of a Sith Lord. They are filth, the Sith, but don't sell them short unless you want to find yourself squashed under the heel of their boot."

He would loved to squash the Duros beneath the heel of his own boot, but given that he served the ISA, he refrained from saying anything on the matter. Let them deal with their own. As long as they, over all, worked towards the goals of the Empire, then he would let them get away with things that he detested and the Risen Empire detested. They had survived for close to nine hundred years not by being rash and hasty in their decision making, but by biding their time and taking things with measured restraint.

"You should also wait for the defendant to be here before starting the trial."

OUTFIT: Moff Standard | GEAR: Blaster Pistol | COMPANIONS: Imperial Sentinels x4
TAGS: Pel Grennin | Open​

 

[Meredith Rayner]

OBJECTIVE: TRIAL OF THE TRAITOR
LOCATION: CERBERUS

Grand Inquisitor Rayner was attending this event on the orders of the council, their new allies, the ISA had some dirty laundry that they wished to deal with. She found it peculiar that outsiders had been invited, she found this sort of hearing was best done in privacy to prevent the uninformed from making up their own stories and worse, giving an extra podium in front of people you may not yet have the trust of. Oh well, it was not her job to make those decisions.

The Sith were a disease in the galaxy that needed to be eradicated, she would love to see the whole strength of the law thrown at such a person. She would be here to ensure that was done, she also would ensure to use her considerable abilities to prevent either the suspect or any other malicious force user from interfering with due process. If they wished to be found innocent, then they would have to prove it with genuine innocence, not waving their hand and some gullible juror like they might an ancient stormtrooper.

"The Grand Moff is correct, their power must be respected even if it abhorrent to the right thinking parts of the galaxy. And unlike the Jedi and the Sith, we do not hand out vengeance on a whim, we have a due process to follow." there was a malevolent smirk on her lips, operating within the law was one of the games she enjoyed playing. She was fiercely loyal and obedient to the Risen Empire and their laws were many, so there was sometimes she had to be creative to get things done efficiently.

"I for one am relishing the chance to hear their defence." it would provide an amusement at the very least and who knew, they might be innocent.

OUTFIT: Inquisitor armour | GEAR: Lightsaber | COMPANIONS: 3 Purge Troopers team and purge commissar
TAGS: Selrik Lorcas Pel Grennin ​

 

[Lady Varokscar]

Court Martial

"I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life."
- Corazon Aquino -


Location: Cerberus
Gear: In Sig
Tags: Open​

Theme: December I Static X​

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I arrived, along with Mystique, and immediately marched my way to the court martial proceedings upon docking with the warship, Cerberus. There had long been whispers of treason back in the waning months of the Empire of the Lost, but only rumors. Until now, or so it seemed. But as Overseer, and the former High Inquisitor of the Empire of the Lost, I found a great fascination in these forthcoming proceedings.

Upon entering, I didn't bother with the basic formalities such as introductions or shaking of hands; but there was one word I heard among all the others through the chattering of the early arrivals: Sith. I have no love for the Jedi, but the Sith was a focus of my anger and hatred; roaches allowed to skitter about unchecked, roaches that long outlasted the squashing boots. "I long since spoke of the Sith to those of higher ranks such as myself when I infiltrated a sect of the Sith," I began, stopping short of the others. If there was a traitor, who among us could be trusted?

"There is an abundance of Sith running amok in the galaxy, and not all follow the same philosophies," I continued, pointing to my wolf companion to sit before adding, "The Sith are deceptive, very seclusive in much of their doings. And as such, are we to be led into a belief this supposed traitor worked alone? The Sith have spies everywhere, perhaps there are some already amongst our ranks. Or even in this room."

The last of my words was not meant as a challenge or an assumption, rather to open the eyes and ears of the others. Loyalty can be bought. "If this newly formed Confederation is to flourish, then jointly we need to purge any and all from our echelon, make examples publicly if need be." I looked over the faces of the others, wondering if they understood what I was saying in regards of public examples.

 

[Sieliel Dimegor]

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Dac, Outer Rim Territories, Calamari Sector, Calamari System;
Within the former territories of the Empire of the Lost;
The Imperial Confederation, The Cerberus;
Tags: Pel Grennin | Selrik Lorcas | Meredith Rayner | Lady Varokscar | Karl Von Strauss

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"House Dimegor served the Sith Empire for a quarter of a century. Your father was loyal to the cause."
"The Sith no longer rule the Tion Cluster. They pulled out of here well before I was even born?"
"We are Eternal, and our reach is long. Won't you serve again?"
-- Alicia Drey recruiting Sieliel Dimegor into the ranks of the Fifth Wing.

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A buzz had filled the room that had been converted into a makeshift court for a military tribunal. Survivors from the late Empire of the Lost had gathered to spectate the events and the subsequent justice that would be dispensed. The upper castes of the now dissolved Imperial Ruling Council and the dozen sector Moffs who had maintained over forty star-systems before the fall to the offices of the destroyed NISB that had long since been suspected of corruption ever since Director Drey had been found not guilty of clear acts of sedition, and treason were here to see whether or not the alleged Fifth Wing was real or not.

The existence of the 'TRIGONUS REPORT' had confirmed for many the idea that the Empire had been infiltrated. From the assertions made by Darth Empyrean during the 'SIEGE OF TION' , where he had leaked data pertaining to the alleged infiltration by the Dark Empire and placement of a mole within the Empire of the Lost in the form of Alicia Drey had been substantiated by Dimegor in her report. Despite the fact that Empyrean and his armada had been responsible for the destruction of a then Imperial occupied system, the report had gone onto reveal that Director Drey was in fact as a former Jedi Knight called ELLA NOVA who had infiltrated the Empire to turn it against the Sith and had later collaborated with the rebellion known as the Tingel Arm Coalition to try and destroy the Empire of the Lost from within.

But while the report had gone onto detail that the Empire had been infiltrated by the Jedi, thereby exposing and connecting events galaxy wide implicating a conspiracy to destroy Imperialism by followers of the 'NEW JEDI ORDER' through the founding of TAC; their subsequent attacks at Lothal and Maldra IV to liberate Imperial occupied systems which resulted in the death of Emperor Kilran; and the then conflict between the Dark Empire and Galactic Alliance colloquially known as 'THE CORE WARS' it had gone onto discredit the rumours and superstition of Sith influence within the Empire of the Lost as nothing more than Jedi propaganda and lies designed to entice escalated tensions between the Sith Warlords and the Kilran Regime which resulted in events such as the attack and subsequent destruction of Tion.

With the accusation lobbied by The Diarchy that the Fifth Wing is real and was responsible for the crisis that had unfolded on Bastion combined with the alleged assassination attempt of the coronated PHANTOM EMPRESS (now being held in a medical induced coma following injuries sustained during the attack) by Dimegor brought the report into disrepute. Just when the upper echelon of the Empire were beginning to suspect Sith corruption a report pointing the finger at the Jedi had been delivered and duly substantiated by facts that they had delivered only for it's creator to be caught in an act of treason and attempted murder of the defacto head-of-state of the former Imperial administration disbanded after a series of revolts brought about by a manufactured, engineered economic collapse of the Empire of the Lost.

Things were no longer adding up. Acts of obfuscation, misdirection and manipulation had kept the truth from being discovered until now. As the courtroom buzzed and hushed conversations were whispered by members of the newly formed 'IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION' they each turned to quietness as the prisoner was escorted into the room by a regiment of officers each belonging to either the Imperial Sector Authority and Risen Empire. A show of unity, and strength between the newly formed alliance that had went onto form the confederation was designed to give the message that while this alleged seditious organisation had broken the Empire of the Lost it would not break them.

As Sieliel was escorted into the room, and made to face the military tribunal gathered to investigate the allegations of The Diarchy made against the former Lieutenant of the 'IMPERIAL IMMORTALS' and the whereabouts of other members of The Fifth Wing-- in order to discover whether or not the organisation had found it's way into the confederation as well-- a report was passed along to each member detailing the accusations in full, and the crimes that they were set to prosecute.

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The Imperial Confederation; Court Martial of Sieliel Dimegor ; Stardate: 08042025.​ REPORT:​ On Stardate: 20012025 a delegation were dispatched from Lianna to the Sartinaynian system upon the invitation made by members of The Chancellorate (Government of The Diarchy) to attend a ceremony hosted in the city of Ravelin. The "Imperial Delegation" consisted of the following:-​ Kaanni Ugaiya Kilran . Maldor Sancetti . Karl Von Strauss . Sieliel Dimegor . Following orders left by the late Velran Kilran (pronounced KIA during The Battle of Lothal, Stardate: 08172024) members of the Imperial Ruling Council were ordered to pursue the reclamation of former Imperial territory. In conjunction with intelligence provided by the New Imperial Security Bureau, which implicated that The Diarchy were open to negotiations in turning over Bastion over to the Empire in exchange for a military alliance and joint attack to liberate Taris (the ancestral home of The Diarchy currently occupied by the Galactic Alliance), a taskforce were dispatched to the Sartinaynian system to commence aforementioned described negotiations to bring Bastion into the territory of the Empire of the Lost.​ The delegation, once transported to Bastion on board The Quest (Obscruer-class Star Destroyer), were redirected to the old Imperial Headquarters and met with representatives of The Diarchy in the Pellaeon Gardens. It is substantiated by eye witness testimony on both sides that, during the negotiations, an assassin opened fire on both the delegation and Diarchy leadership, resulting in the loss of life by both sides. Search for the body of the sharpshooter (in order to ascertain their identity) did not result in a discovery, but forensic evidence provided by The Diarchy revealed organic matter registered as Human where the assassin was first spotted, and traces of an energy weapon implicating use of a Disruptor was used to destroy the assassin's body before it could be found. The attack on the summit hosted in Pellaeon Gardens coincided with The Quest opening fire on the city of Ravelin. These combined events resulted in a crisis whereby reinforcements belonging to the Empire of the Lost (previously dispatched alongside The Quest and held in reserve on the edges of the Sartinaynian system upon the recommendation of the New Imperial Security Bureau) were brought into reinforce The Quest who was fired upon by the Lilaste Order (members of The Diarchy) in response to it opening fire on Ravelin. As battle broke out between both sides a third attack group was picked up entering the Sartinaynian system and which subsequently opened fire on the Empire of the Lost and The Diarchy. This third group belonged to the Dark Empire and is currently unsubstantiated why they attacked Bastion. Speculation and analysis by The Diarchy suspects that they capitalized on an opportunity to attack them following escalating tensions between both sides along the Braxant Run but this cannot be substantiated by this report. During the attack Lieutenant Sieliel Dimegor of the Imperial Immortals was spotted engaging with representatives of The Diarchy as she opened fire on Diarchy security forces. Later, eye witness testimony stated that Dimegor opened fire on Diarch Reign (Lord of the Diarchy), Kaanni Ugaiya Kilran (The Phantom Empress) and VR-4 “Four” (Empress' Servant) which later resulted in her being captured by Diarchy security forces. It was asserted by The Diarchy that Lieutenant Dimegor attempted to kill Empress Kilran and The Lord of the Diarchy. After her capture, Dimegor was searched where it was discovered that she owned a Disruptor Pistol. It is in the findings of The Diarchy that this weapon was used to destroy the body of the assassin whom opened fire on the summit, and this is further collaborated by evidence proving that the disruptor energy discovered at the site registered as the same found on the discovered pistol on Dimegor's person. Secondly, a datapad was discovered on Dimegor. It was later registered as a Lenoi I created by a long defunct technological developer formerly known as Chandrila DataTech. The device was sliced and subsequently revealed a messaging system revealing messages pertaining to the attack launched by The Quest and the assassination attempt made upon representatives of the Empire of the Lost and The Diarchy during the summit in the Pellaeon Gardens. A full transcript of the messages can be read here. Following the collapse of the Empire of the Lost a diplomatic envoy was dispatched by Maldor Sancetti to the Sartinaynian system to negotiate an armistice and a cessation of hostilities. During this summit the aforementioned allegations made against Lieutenant Dimegor were made, and her custody was transferred to the ISA alongside evidence pertaining to their involvement in the attack. Dimegor was held in detention before being transferred to The Cerberus to be tried on acts of sedition, treason, and conspiracy against The Imperial Confederation as the direct successor to the Empire of the Lost. During her detention, Dimegor was interrogated and questioned whereby it was learned that the individual known as "LAETOR" (discovered in messaging system found on the Lenoi I) was alleged to be Alicia Drey . This is in spite of the findings made by the New Imperial Security Bureau which discovered the Staff Director deceased by means of asphyxiation as described in the Trigonus Report and the NISB's statement which you can read here. "LAETOR" is speculated to be a different member of the Fifth Wing: a terrorist cell founded within the Empire of the Lost that the report aimed to discredit the existence of and which can be substantiated as REAL. It is believed by members of the Imperial Sector Authority (formerly part of the administration of the Empire of the Lost) that the Fifth Wing were responsible for the crisis at Bastion, and the subsequent economic collapse which occurred during the Empire's retreat back to Lianna following the conclusion of the attack on The Diarchy. Based on the chatlogs discovered on the Lenoi I, in conjunction with a statement made by Diarch Reign to Maldor Sancetti indicating that a Sith Lord contacted Reign during an incident on Malachor V, that "LAETOR" was impersonating Alicia Drey within the Fifth Wing in the weeks leading up to the attack on Bastion and the later manufactured collapse of the Empire of the Lost, and that they are the same person who attempted to kill Reign during the aforementioned Malachor V incident. The findings made by The Diarchy, in collaboration with the analysis conducted by this report, recommends that the tribunal convened on board The Cerberus find Lieutenant Dimegor guilty of sedition, treason and conspiracy against the Empire of the Lost and The Imperial Confederation. It is recommended that Dimegor be executed, and that any information she may provide be used to discover the whereabouts of the individual now known to us as "LAETOR" and other members of the Fifth Wing who are still at large, and may have subsequently found their way into the ranks of our confederation by way of the Imperial Sector Authority who may still retain some form of corruption with thanks to their former allegiances to the Empire of the Lost. --END OF REPORT-- ​ ALLEGED CRIMES:​ - Two count of SEDITION after being found in collaboration with a Sith Lord colloquially now known as "LAETOR", and member of the terrorist cell which calls itself, "THE FIFTH WING". - Two counts for TREASON against THE IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION after being found as a double-agent working on behalf of the terrorist cell now known as, "THE FIFTH WING" through her role as a LIUTENANT in the NISB special-taskforce, "THE IMPERIAL IMMORTALS" and her involvement in the, "SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS". - Two counts of CONSIPRACY against THE IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION after being found as a conspirator against, "THE EMPIRE OF THE LOST" which resulted in it's economic collapse in 902 ABY and her involvement in the, "SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS". - Two counts of attempted murder against Kaanni Ugaiya Kilran and Diarch Reign.​

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[Arthus Karn]

Court Martial
Weapon: Link
Armor: Link
Ship: Karn's Resolve & Starfighter
Tags: Sieliel Dimegor Selrik Lorcas Lady Varokscar Pel Grennin

The Karn's Resolve sat a few hundred meters from the Cerberus as a shuttle quickly darted between the two. Onboard, the Lord-Commander of the Imperial Knights stood eagerly awaiting its arrival to the ship. He was somewhat late, having been on Onderon for a meeting between himself and potential beginnings.

The datapad currently in his hand flowed through all of the information presented as he went through the details with the efficiency of a military commander looking over a logistics report. He knew the details and what he was here for. While the actual sentencing would come later, for now, Arthus just wanted to know how much further these Sith managed to infiltrate with their machinations. The merging of governments and peoples into the newly established Imperial Confederation could not be threatened. Not now, not at this early of a stage.

The Imperial Knights would be sure of that.

As the shuttle touched down in the hangar, Lord-Commander Karn and two fellow Knights exited the shuttle and made their way to the temporary tribunal court room. The doors opened as the three bulky Knights, wearing crimson and black armor made their way past the Imperial Officers who stood aside. His two fellow Knights took up positions within the corners of the room, closest to the accused, as Arthus himself took position between those who came to judge and the defendant on his other side.

He was here to ensure a fair and just trial, even as he shot a knowing look towards his favorite work rival Meredith Rayner. No doubt she was here to lick boots and cause trouble, he would keep an eye on her as he always did. Arthus turned to the official in charge of delegating this tribunal and nodded his head. The official in turn understood the motion and turned towards those gathered as the accused settled into her seat.

"This tribunal is now in session."
​

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Outfit: ISA Uniform
Equipment: Relby k-23 mod. E, NZ PEG
Tag: Sieliel Dimegor | Arthus Karn | Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar | Meredith Rayner | Selrik Lorcas

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Karl Von Strauss strode into the makeshift tribunal chamber with a measured, controlled gait, his presence commanding attention even before he spoke. His midnight purple uniform cut a striking silhouette against the metallic backdrop of the chamber. Although the report recommending Lieutenant Dimegor's execution had already been digested in his mind, he deliberately refrained from scrutinizing it anew. His grey-blue eyes, old and alert, betrayed little of his inner workings as he absorbed every nuance of the atmosphere. In his mind, beyond the cold documents and harsh statements, he saw an asset, a latent potential hidden amidst the chaos of betrayal and political maneuvering. One that could shift the unbalanced nature of recent events if properly harnessed.

Yet Karl was a strategist first and foremost, well aware of the turbulent emotions around him. He knew that the council's fervor, stoked by the many recent crises, left little room for subtle nuance. Out loud, he simply nodded to his colleagues and settled into his reserved position, his voice measured and low as he began to speak.

"While the documentation might suggest a swift end," he intoned quietly, "there are elements here that warrant further examination." His tone, careful yet resonant, was laden with unspoken implications. In his eyes, the apprehension surrounding Lieutenant Dimegor's case was as much a tool as it was a danger.

Karl remained standing a moment longer than protocol required, allowing silence to settle like a veil over the tribunal chamber. He let the tension hang, absorbing the gaze of each officer, inquisitor, knight, and official seated before him. Then, with deliberate calm, he stepped forward and placed a gloved hand behind his back, motioning with another.

"We have before us an individual accused of the gravest crimes," Karl began, his voice calm and deliberate. "Treason. Conspiracy. Collusion with an enemy whose very existence many, until recently, believed to be a fabrication; manufactured, ironically, by the very agency meant to protect us."

He allowed a pause, the weight of that irony settling in the air like the smoke from the riots put down by the fledgling Imperial Sector. "I will not speak to her innocence. The evidence against Lieutenant Dimegor is damning. Nor will I challenge the findings of our colleagues in the Diarchy."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"But I will speak to the larger truth. The Empire of the Lost fell not from war alone, but from rot within, an economic collapse, a crisis of command, and the whispering of a ghost: the Fifth Wing. And now we have a name: LAETOR. A phantom using a dead woman's face to engineer collapse."

"Lieutenant Dimegor may well be guilty. But she is also the first thread we've found that leads directly into the heart of this conspiracy." He turned, slowly, catching eyes around the room. "A thread we would be fools to sever without first pulling."

Again, he paused, then added, his tone slightly lower but no less clear, "Let justice be done, but let it not blind us to the opportunity before us. The question is not whether she deserves to die. The question is whether she has more to offer us alive."

Letting his comment linger in the air, he bowed his head slightly, then sat down in the seat that was left open for him, placing the datapad with the report on his lap.

 

[Pel Grennin]

Moffs. Over the decades, Pel had seen them, a dime a dozen. Some given titles, some earned, some self-declared. How many Captains were out there with their own Cruisers and half a planet to torment calling themselves Moff such and such now? Forming their own councils, declaring themselves the True Empire? Pel kept these thoughts to himself. This was not a trial, the guilt was already known. This was simply a sentencing. And here, Pel could see it in this Moff's face, he had tried and convicted Pel in his mind already. Bearing a view of history that what had been is what must have always been, too.

'Due process', indeed. This crucible was only the first stage of the traitor's interrogation.

"Make no mistake, I still respect the Sith the same way I would a leech. And for the same reason," was all that he remarked. No point in debating those who had made up their mind, convicted him of perspectives he did not actually say. All he had suggested was cutting off her hands, and they were declaring that he'd intended to execute her himself.

No, if Pel had his way, her hands would merely be the first things to go. Perhaps, if this tribunal found her confession incomplete, he may have the chance.

There were starting to be processions of officers, and people piling into the trial chambers. Surely, the defendant had arrived now, and they were about to begin, "It would seem we must be onto our seats now."

Pel led his children into the audience, quickly finding their seats.

Bawrad leaned over, "The Grand Moff did not seem pleased with you."

"No. I suspect he may have a habit of picking his enemies ahead of time. It must be quite reassuring for him, but there's no need to give him real cause. We have enough real concerns not to invent news ones," Pel assured him.

"How long before he or his ilk give us cause?" Novik asked. Pel grinned.

"What does a beaten animal do when someone enters its cage after rescue?" he asked.

"It cowers and bites."

"And what is the remedy?"

Novik leaned back in her chair, resigned to knowing the answer but not accepting it, "Patience."

"And so we must be patient. Now sit back, and enjoy the theatre. The actors are important to know."

 

[Lord Rasnuhl]

Court Marshal​

Tags: Karl Von Strauss | Pel Grennin | Arthus Karn | Sieliel Dimegor | Meredith Rayner | Selrik Lorcas | Lady Varokscar |

Lord Rasnuhl arrived from a shuttle that disembarked from the Impetem RDF Courageous. Wearing a white imperial uniform with a black band and burgundy bands on each upper arm he made his way into the court marshal light saber clipped to his left hip. The court martial on Sieliel Dimegor was unexpected, but also illustrated the depths the Fifth Wing had dug its claws into the Empire of the Lost.

Making it all the way into the heart of the NISB illustrating why Velran Kilran had appointed Vilissa Pormenn as director of Counter Intelligence. It turned out it was too little too late, but as this trial would hopefully show how long the plot had been brewing.

Lord Rasnuhl was later than he wanted, with the fall of the EOTL there were many armed actors to take care of. And in this case a skirmish that his ship ended slowing down his travel plans. Lord Rasnuhl saluted to the chamber guards before walking in to assess how far along the court marshal was. Seeing Karl Von Strauss sitting he made his way to his seat.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

OBJECTIVE: TRIAL OF THE TRAITOR
LOCATION: CERBERUS
​

Selrik said nothing further to the one he'd heard speak of cutting off hands. That one was clearly beneath his attention for the moment, though he made a note of their appearance and intended to find out who hey, and their associates, were, after the events of the court martial were over. There were a lot of individuals from the ISA he did not know, and some from holdout groups of the Empire of the Lost that he was unfamiliar with as well. As Grand Moff, he would know them, and he would know what their job was within the Empire.

However, as the woman that was the subject of the court martial entered, his attention was drawn from the Duros to her. Attractive, but she could very well have been his daughter given her apparent age. How she had come to be a player in a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of the Empire was, well, curious. He would have loved to dig into that himself, given the chance.

Alas, Von Strauss in his purple uniform entered, which signaled that they were going to begin, and sure enough, the man quickly began to speak on the matter at hand. It was clear that the ISA had intelligent people among them based on what was said. This was not a matter of simplicity despite the obvious facts of the case. She was guilty and there was no one who would dispute that, save perhaps herself, and the ultimate punishment for her crime was, indeed, death. Preferably a public execution to make show of what the Confederation would do to those that challenged it.

But that could, and should, wait.

"Lieutenant Dimegor," he said, staring the girl square in the eyes with unflinching disdain for her very existence. "It's my understanding that you are of House Dimegor of Lianna, a long-standing Imperial world. It once served the Galactic Empire and shall soon serve the Empire again. The people of Lianna are Imperials and always have been, regardless of what any other government might say, or try to force upon them. But it would seem that you do not value your own world, as you would turn against its very ideals."

He could ask directly for information on LAETOR, but he wouldn't get an answer from her. He knew better. No, he wasn't an ISB agent, and he never had been, but he understood how to question someone, how to work his way into their mind. At least, he had done so before, and he was going to make an effort to pry what he, no, what the CONFEDERATION wanted, out of the girl.

"Is that what you wanted, Lieutenant? To turn traitor to Lianna? Do you wish to bring about an end to what the people of Lianna have striven for in the past and future? Is House Dimegor not only traitor to the Empire, but traitor to Lianna as well?"

OUTFIT: Moff Standard | GEAR: Blaster Pistol | COMPANIONS: Imperial Sentinels x4
TAGS: Sieliel Dimegor | Karl Von Strauss | Pel Grennin | Lord Rasnuhl | Arthus Karn | Meredith Rayner ​

 

[Sieliel Dimegor]

---

---

Dac, Outer Rim Territories, Calamari Sector, Calamari System;
Within the former territories of the Empire of the Lost;
The Imperial Confederation, The Cerberus;
Tags: Pel Grennin | Selrik Lorcas | Meredith Rayner | Lady Varokscar | Karl Von Strauss | Arthus Karn | Lord Rasnuhl |

---

"The Fifth Wing is a branch of the Tsis'Kaar. Founded at the turn of the ninth century by Darth Malum of House Marr and Alicia Drey, the purpose of this cult is to serve Darth Malum and his agenda within the territories of the Empire of the Lost and the wider Tion Cluster while simultaneously working on behalf of The Order of the Sith Lords without the likelihood of them ever being aware of it."
-- A description of the Fifth Wing.

---

As Sieliel listened to the tribunal deliberate about her alleged crimes, and the circumstances that had brought them together, she found herself disturbed by what she was listening too. Her eyes followed the report as it was passed around to each member of the tribunal, and she found herself longing to know what it said. The results and subsequent details contained by the dossier (that the tribunal were now examining and using to question or debate her fate) must have been damning.

It was like they had already made up their minds.

Up until this moment she had been quietly hopeful. In the weeks leading up to Alicia Drey 's death, the late Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau had been brought before a proceeding much like this one in similar circumstances. Like Sieliel, Drey had been accused of sedition, and treason after a series of datapackets had been delivered by the Mors Mon to the fleeing Imperial forces during the catastrophic 'SIEGE OF TION' which had seen the Empire of the Lost and it's forces broken by the Sith armada later resulting in the destruction of the planet.

Now she felt doomed. The subsequent court case held by Velran Kilran as a result of that data later resulted in the late Emperor delivering a verdict of NOT GUILTY despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary that clearly showed that the Director had been colluding with the enemies of the Empire which had substantiated the claims made by CORPSE EMPEROR against the spy who had climbed up the upper echelons to the top office within the NISB. Was the only difference between then and now is that Emperor Kilran was no longer here to veto, or dismiss such claims against the women who had served him in their capacity to keep him and the titles he had sworn in following his coup d'etat against the Voland Administration?

Now that The Emperor was dead did it mean that Sieliel was expendable because there was no-one to keep in power anymore now that the Empire of the Lost was gone?

In the weeks since the end of the 'SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS' Sieliel had had nothing to do but contemplate on her past and future. The same conclusion kept coming to mind: she was already dead. If-- by some minor miracle-- that this tribunal decided she was not guilty, or dismissed capital punishment in favour of incarceration, or some other form of punishment to fit the alleged crimes, then whoever had murdered The Director would be coming for her too. It was inevitable. Axiomatic. Whoever had killed Alicia Drey could not afford the risk of their involvement, or any secrets pertaining to the plot, becoming known to the members of this tribunal, or the powers that be in the burgeoning Imperial Confederation.

These people were talking to a ghost. Figuratively, and soon enough, literally.

As she stood before the tribunal, as acceptance began to settle in, a strange sensation crept over Sieliel while Grand Moff Lorcas began his interrogation. It was a moment of clarity, and realisation that went beyond the pondering, and ramifications of her involvement in 'THE FIFTH WING CONSIPRACY' .

It was now a choice.

How does she want to go out?

"It's my understanding that you are of House Dimegor of Lianna, a long-standing Imperial world. It once served the Galactic Empire and shall soon serve the Empire again. The people of Lianna are Imperials and always have been, regardless of what any other government might say, or try to force upon them. But it would seem that you do not value your own world, as you would turn against its very ideals."

How typical. It was commonplace among the Imperial elite going back to the days of the Empire of the Lost. It didn't matter to them that Lianna had once been the capital of the Tenth Sith Empire before it had been defeated by the Ashlan Crusade. Did it matter to them that the planet had also been ruled by the same Jedi Crusaders in the years leading up to the last Star War? Or that, before all of them, it had been home to Separatists who had left the fledging Old Republic behind as it was invaded and subsequently annexed by the One Sith more than fifty-years ago?

It wasn't just Imperial in culture, or society. At least it wasn't anymore. Among the citizenry who still believed in the tenants of the New Order there were the elements of the past occupiers who had come and gone over the eons. Yes . . . There had once been a house that had called itself Dimegor and it had been destroyed-- save for one, last daughter, who had been spared-- following the Ashlan Crusade's victory over the Tenth Sith Empire in the formative years before THE SECOND GREAT HYPERSPACE WAR.

Soon, there would be no-one left with the name of DIMEGOR.

House Dimegor had stood by the ideals that had kept peace, order and security along the Outer Rim Territories before the Jedi incursion. Like her father before her, and the former noble house of the Tionese that she was last of, Sieliel had stood by those very ideals, and continued to do so even in the face of persecution, and execution by the hands of the new Imperial Confederation. She had gone through the dirty deeds and the manufactured crisis's of the Fifth Wing in service to the late Emperor and his administration. It had been her duty, her form of service to the Imperial Regime that had been formed following the coup d'etat against the Voland Administration at the turn of the ninth century.

Was it now her duty to be killed them?

It was how they had all been kept in power despite the circumstances that had brought about the creation of the Empire of the Lost and the subsequent coup d'etat that had put the likes of Karl Von Strauss onto the Imperial Ruling Council in the first place. Did they truly think that the men, and women who had served under the command of the officers who had been assassinated by Velran Kilran would stand for it? That the expats of the Tenth Sith Empire or remnants of the Ashlan Crusade or the elements of Separatism did not still persist simply because an Iron Sun had once more risen over the Liann and their planet?

No . . . House Dimegor's very ideals were to serve The Empire no matter what. It was their duty, their form of service.

So, they would not change now even with it's last daughter.

"Is that what you wanted, Lieutenant? To turn traitor to Lianna? Do you wish to bring about an end to what the people of Lianna have striven for in the past and future? Is House Dimegor not only traitor to the Empire, but traitor to Lianna as well?"

"Sir. I am loyal to His Majesty of All Imperial Kind, as I stand here before this tribunal, in death, as it was when he was alive."

Sieliel averted her gaze from Lorcas to meet the eyes of Karl Von Strauss . She frowned at him deeply. His desire to discover the identity of the individual known as 'LAETOR' was a path to ruin. If not for the fact that Strauss had been selected by Emperor Kilran to join his administration on the Imperial Ruling Council then she might have helped him follow that path right to the source. But, like her, he had been loyal to the Eggman even going as far as to help in the coronation of his daughter on Lianna before the collapse of the Empire.

He would have to be put on a new path before it was too late.

"The Immortals were assigned a mission to help the administration retain and remain in power. Those were my orders from the Emperor, and the Director. I followed my orders, and completed my assignments, as they were given, and instructed to do so. If Emperor Kilran were alive today, and in attendance of this tribunal, he would veto or dismiss the allegations that have been made against me, in the knowledge that I am not a traitor, and that my work was done in accordance to his designs to rule the Empire of the Lost, and reconsecrate the Galactic Empire."

"None of you really understand what the Fifth Wing is. There is no Sith influence in any of this. The Trigonus Report was created to bring the administration up to date with operations. It is still true today. If this tribunal was formed to uncover classified information not included in the report then I cannot help. What I believe is that Laetor is Alicia Drey, and that her death was a cover-up for reasons that I do not know. It is my belief that she is alive, and well. A Jedi, who took upon an alias of a deceased entrepreneur, from Chandrila, whom infiltrate the Empire on behalf of the New Jedi Order as part of their plot, and the rebellion that was formed out of it, to destroy Imperialism in the known Galaxy."

Sieliel sighed and shook her head as she turned away from Strauss to stare past Lorcas into the viewing port behind him. In the distance Dac spun beneath them; a recent target of the same rebellion she had implicated as the source of The Director's assassination. Now, here she was, implicating Alicia Drey was still alive, and operating in the Old Tion Hegemony. It sounded ludicrous, even as she said it, and yet there was no other explanation that she could think of to explain who it was she had been in communication with, and received orders from, in the weeks leading up to the attack on Bastion.

After all, 'LAETOR' had been The Director's handle in the Lenoi IRCs that the Fifth Wing had used to communicate with one another anonymously. Sieliel only knew that it was her anonymous handle because she recognised the word as a translation of a word from the long lost language of an ancient race of Humanoids that people today referred to as 'THE BUILDERS' due to the strange landmarks, anomalies and architecture that had been discovered throughout the Tion Cluster ever since the dissipation of the Gulag Plague. The Director had once shown her a hymn of the people, and the other discoveries made about them, while she had been recruited into the conspiracy two years ago, and so only Alicia Drey could have possibly had the access, and the knowledge to use the handle to pass on instructions that Sieliel had subsequently followed on Bastion, and during the summit hosted by representatives to The Diarchy to negotiate the planet being surrendered to the Empire of the Lost.

"The Tion Hegemony is an old place," Sieliel went onto say as she considered whether or not she had been deceived. Had it been her that been lied and manipulated, or had it been the late Emperor? Perhaps it was this tribunal, and the other witnesses who had gathered to watch her sentencing, and prosecution by the new Imperial regime? Was it possible that Alicia Drey hadn't just been working with Sieliel or Emperor Kilran, but someone else as well?

"It has seen the rule and march of Separatists, Sith Lords, Jedi Crusaders and now the Imperial Remnant," Sieliel continued to explain.

"There were many enemies to the Kilran regime. My work, for these past two years, was to maintain peace, order and security in his Empire. We failed. The rebellion destroyed him during the Battle of Lothal, and up until these past few weeks, I had been under the belief that they had done the same to my boss, who has been substantiated not only to still be alive, but as the real identity of Ella Nova, a Jedi Knight who served in the One Sith Wars more than fifty years ago."

"You are prosecuting the wrong person today."

---

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Outfit: ISA Uniform
Equipment: Relby k-23 mod. E, NZ PEG
Tag: Sieliel Dimegor | Arthus Karn | Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar | Meredith Rayner | Selrik Lorcas

Karl rose smoothly to his feet, the tribunal's attention sharpening on his measured presence. He brushed a lock of silver-streaked hair from his brow and allowed his steady gaze to roam the assembly before settling on Lieutenant Dimegor. He spoke with calmness, each word deliberate.

"Lieutenant Dimegor, your devotion to Emperor Kilran and your record of service are without dispute," he inclined his head in genuine respect, the movement precise enough to reveal both deference and command. "And yet, the evidence before us presents an undeniable conflict. Your disruptor pistol's energy signature at the summit, the destruction of the assassin's body, and the Lenoi I logs bearing your access. You stand accused not of idle conjecture but of active conspiracy."

He paused, letting the weight of those facts hover in the recirculated air. Slowly, he leaned forward, with barely perceptible firmness, and continued: "You claim orders came from 'LAETOR,' and that the identity of that individual was Alicia Drey, whom you believe to be alive. Tell us, Lieutenant, what concrete evidence do you possess that Ms. Drey ever reassumed that role? How did you verify it was her and not someone else? And why did you choose to follow such orders without checking on these inconsistencies yourself as a member of the NISB?"

He drew a breath before continuing, voice steady but edged with quiet intensity. "Furthermore, you assert your mission was to preserve the administration's power, but opening fire on Diarchy leadership and obliterating the assassin's body hardly sounds like preservation. What instructions did you receive regarding force protocols at Bastion?"

He began to lower himself back into his seat, but paused midway, turning his gaze once more to the lieutenant. "And if we truly are prosecuting the wrong individual, then who is the right one? Answer these questions plainly, Lieutenant. This tribunal seeks not to punish the wrong answers, but to understand the truth that binds your loyalty to these actions."

As Karl returned to his seat, he exhaled slowly as if the motion alone might steady his thoughts. On the surface, his demeanor remained ironclad, the picture of a man loyal to process. But beneath the veneer, his thoughts turned like slow gears in an old war machine. He had seen soldiers break, and he'd seen them be rebuilt stronger, hardened by trial and meaning. Sieliel Dimegor was not a traitor. Not truly. She was a product of their chaos, a weapon forged and abandoned in the wake of collapse. He didn't need another martyr. He needed loyalists who could still serve. If she could be reclaimed, she would not be a weakness, she would be a blade. Still sharp, still dangerous, but pointed in the right direction. He only had to find the right way to do it.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

OBJECTIVE: Get More Data
LOCATION: Cerberus
​

Selrik listened to the response from the accused, and didn't really like the answer, though it was as expected. Defiance in the face of certain damnation, a shuffling of accusations upon others, including someone who was reportedly dead. This was not a new tactic. It was not a tactic he was unprepared to deal with, either. Fortunately, he didn't have to deal with it alone, as the Exarch spoke up as well, asking his own round of questions towards the girl, his questions pointed and demanding answers that she was certainly going to have to provide if she wished to support her argument that they had the wrong person.

"To further on what the Exarch has asked, you say that this Alica Drey is a Jedi infiltrator, but surely Emperor Kilran would have seen through this. Do you believe that he would have authorized the actions of the Fifth Wing under the leadership of a Jedi, believing it in the best interest of the Empire?"

It was entirely possible that she was just a pawn in everything that had happened but given her communications with prominent leadership within the Fifth Wing, specifically Laetor, it stood to reason that she knew more than perhaps even she realized. Either way, she was involved with the organization who had brought about the destruction of the Empire of the Lost, whether that was their intent or not.

He did not believe that she was entirely telling the truth. There was more to everything than what she was saying. He did believe that her loyalty was to the Empire, but he also believed that she was working based on some secondary motivations. Motivations that were not consistent with the Empire ideology that had been originally created many years ago to be about strength and order and the peace they could bring. If she had knowingly worked for, and done the bidding of, a Force practitioner, she was not, in his opinion, working for the betterment of the Empire, but for the advancement of a group of people with abilities that they could use to control and manipulate others.

"If Laetor is Alicia Drey… then who else do you suspect was involved in this infiltration? And how did the Fifth Wing allow a Jedi to gain such clearance? Why wasn't this brought forward in the Trigonus Report?"

He leaned forward in his seat, steepled his fingers and stared at the woman. Hard, long moments of unblinking eye contact between him and her. It was an effort to make her uncomfortable, but also to let her know that he was not going to back down, and that he would push her until she broke.

"If the Fifth Wing serves for the betterment of the Empire, why are no other members of it here to defend you?"

OUTFIT: Moff Standard | GEAR: Blaster Pistol | COMPANIONS: Imperial Sentinels x4
TAGS: Sieliel Dimegor | Karl Von Strauss | Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar | Meredith Rayner | Arthus Karn ​

 

[Sieliel Dimegor]

---

---

Dac, Outer Rim Territories, Calamari Sector, Calamari System;
Within the former territories of the Empire of the Lost;
The Imperial Confederation, The Cerberus;
Tags: Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar | Karl Von Strauss | Arthus Karn | Lord Rasnuhl |

---

It was the conflict that every spy went through. As she stood there listening to the questions that were designed to get to the heart of the matter, Sieliel was conflicted by who her true allegiances were to.

Were they to the dead woman who had recruited her into the NISB to head it's special-task force? To the conspiracy she had went onto create within The Empire of the Lost? Were they to the coronated PHANTOM EMPRESS of a state which no longer exists? Did she owe loyalty to the newly formed Imperial Sector Authority and the subsequent coalition that called itself The Imperial Confederation as the successors to the Imperial occupation of her homelands?

Did Sieliel not owe loyalty to The Tion Hegemony itself as a native Liann? Wasn't House Dimegor a loyal supporter of the late Tenth Sith Empire? Wasn't this all for her father-- butchered by his fellow nobles-- in order to help bring back the Dark Lords that he had so diligently served over the course of his life? To avenge the destruction of her House as it's last living survivor?

These questions, each in their own regards complicated, and full of nuance, were in conflict to the very heart of these proceedings. Selrik Lorcas , and Karl Von Strauss both wanted to ascertain the truth behind THE FIFTH WING; it's involvement in THE SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS; and what her role was in the conspiracy.

Hadn't she said too much already by implicating that Alicia Drey was still alive and now operating under the alias of LAETOR?

Since the beginning of her recruitment into the New Imperial Security Bureau, Sieliel had been involved in the conspiracy itself. The Director had taken her out of the cold harshness of exile wrought by her fellow Tionese as they punished the last of House Dimegor for their support of the SITH OCCUPATION over thirty years ago. The mission had been clear: to turn the Imperial administration into a state aligned with The Sith Empire and, as a last resort, in the case of discovery of the conspiracy, or if the likes of Velran Kilran could not be turned, then they would work towards the destruction of the state in service to the Dark Lords whom ruled on Jutrand as they prepared for their return back into the former lands of THE TENTH SITH EMPIRE.

As she listened to the tribunal, Sieliel wondered how did the core tenants of The Fifth Wing coincide with the mission of The NISB to work towards maintaining the Kilran Dynasty following their coup d'etat against The Voland Administration two years ago? Her mind raced as both of the men in front of her punched through the holes of logic. The Eggman had been aggressive in his expansionist policies to turn The Empire of the Lost into the second coming of THE GALACTIC EMPIRE. They had coincided with the annexation of Felucia, plans to take the planet Corbos, and later the catastrophic Siege of Tion. These events painted the picture that Kilran and his administration were against the Sith.

Why then would The Fifth Wing work towards keeping him in power if he was set on conflict with the Dark Lords? What was fact from fiction? Had the truth been so obfuscated that not even the likes of Sieliel Dimegor could see into the dark? Weeks spent in detention, being held by the ISA as they set the date of her court martial, had allowed these questions to ring through her head. Now, as she stood here in front of the military brass of the new Imperial Confederation, Sieliel felt torn.

Whose side was she really on?

"When I was recruited into the Bureau two years ago, during my training, one thing became very clear to me," Sieliel replied. "Do what you are told. There is no time to think for yourself. When you are given orders you go through with them. No matter what they are. Even if they do not make sense to you, or you do not like what is being asked of you, you do them regardless of circumstances. Diligently. Efficiently. You trust your superiors and their judgement. Their expertise. When it comes to intelligence they know more than you do. There is no time to think."

Sieliel sighed out loud while admiring the cuffs on her wrists. Detention is rough on the body. She longed for a dreamless sleep that would last for days. A hot meal and time in a sonic shower. They take these niceties away from you to break you down, so that when you're served up for interrogation, you're weak and your resilience wanes. Lifting her gaze back up to Selrik, Sieliel replied:

"My answer remains the same, Grand Moff Lorcas. I stand by the findings of The Trigonus Report. To answer any of your questions would to divulge classified information."

She turns her gaze to The Exarch next. "The last wishes of His Majesty of All Imperial Kind were to reconstitute The Galactic Empire. Bastion is a state which belongs to The Empire in perpetuity. The galaxy shall assemble an EMPIRE. So, my mission was to capture both of The Lords of The Diarchy if a settlement could not be reached. They were offered terms to turn cease Diarchy control over the planet so that the Imperial occupation may return to what is one of our oldest strongholds. They refused."

"To answer the rest of your questions would divulge classified information. I cannot help with your queries anymore."

As Sieliel responded she felt the weight of her words bringing her closer to catastrophe. She didn't even believe them herself. Were these men supposed to accept her word at face value and believe that she was still taking orders from a woman whose death was substantiated by an autopsy? That this same woman was a Jedi Infiltrator, whom The Emperor of the Lost was aware of the entire time up until his death, whom went onto orchestrate THE SARTINAYNIAN CRISIS long after she had been discovered dead?

Sieliel had made her decision now. She would side with The Director even in death. Was it her training taking over? Or something else? Loyalty, or gullibility? Hero to a righteous cause, or victim to a vicious conspiracy?

A sacrifice for a scheme in the design of THE RETURN OF THE SITH?

Sieliel had always followed orders accordingly. Executed them, without fail, until she had been confronted with the power of Diarch Reign which led to her exposure and subsequent incarceration for court martial. Whoever they were-- the mysterious LAETOR-- wanted the events which led up to the crisis on Bastion to lead back to The New Jedi Order. To the same Jedi who had founded The Tingel Arm Coalition and who were, according to The Trigonus Report, were responsible for Alicia Drey 's death. Was it even true? The revelation that The Director was a Jedi had been substantiated. They were Ella Nova. But that brought up more questions than answers. Had Velran Kilran known the entire time? Or had he been deceived?

How did it all fit?

But even as she offered vague answers, and denied their questions, she knew that regardless of what happened to her they would not believe that this was The Director anymore. Despite the levels of compartmentalization, secrecy, conspiracy... Even Sieliel had been led to the same conclusion that this tribunal would also undoubtedly reach. This was someone else-- something else-- which was lingering just behind The Fifth Wing the entire time. If they were to follow through the known and substantiated facts to their conclusion then it could only mean that LAETOR was not Alicia Drey (as they were meant to be led into believing), but someone else; an impersonator, a cancer among the ranks of the Imperial remnant, who had somehow found their way in to wreak havoc.

The individual responsible for a seditious, treasonous conspiracy which interlinked organisations, factions and events that on their own seemingly had nothing to do with one another, but were somehow connected; a vicious, convoluted conspiracy that had cost the Imperial remnants so much known as THE FIFTH WING!

A web of lies, and deceit.
The Second Galactic Economic Conference.
House Mecetti, Drey Incorporated.
The Dark Empire.
The Core Wars.
The Emperor Revealed.
Darkest Jungle.
The Fifth Wing.
The Siege of Tion.
Trade embargos, recession.
You Were Found Wanting.
Rebellion, The Tingel Arm Coalition.
The Rim Wars.
The Eggman dies.
The Rebellion Is Crushed.
Mission to Malachor.
The Sartinaynian Crisis.
The desecration, and destruction, of The Empire of the Lost.
Laetor.
The Heist of the Century that Nobody Knows About.
The Imperial Sector Authority?
The Imperial Confederation?​

Was this what the The Director had truly wanted? Sieliel would never find out. The people best suited to answering these questions were all dead now. Velran Kilran died in the skies of Lothal allegedly to the hands of the rebellion deemed responsible for the assassination of Alicia Drey . The only known captive member of The Fifth Wing was uncooperative. Not even the prospect of death dissuaded their loyalty to the cause. As if whatever or whoever it was behind all of this was far more awful to consider than an execution.

Despite light finally becoming cast upon the conspiracy, gleaming little insight and understanding of what it is, it leads back to the same question asked at the beginning of today's tribunal. The most important, perhaps, out of them all. One that not even Sieliel Dimegor could answer because, in the end, the dark side of the force continues to hide the answers, making it elusive, and dark. . .

. . .Who are you, Laetor?

---

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Outfit: ISA Uniform
Equipment: Relby k-23 mod. E, NZ PEG
Tag: Sieliel Dimegor | Arthus Karn | Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar | Meredith Rayner | Selrik Lorcas

Karl remained in his seat, motionless, for a lingering moment. His hands were interlaced before him, they were beginning to show white as he subtly clenched his knuckles and joints. Sieliel's words hung in the stale air of the tribunal like the final line of a closed dossier: neat, deliberate, and sealed.

He stood.

"Loyalty to the deceased is still loyalty," he began, his voice even, methodical. "As I've said before, I believe you were loyal, Lieutenant Dimegor. That you executed your orders with precision, regardless of what you believed... or didn't."

He stepped down to close the distance, the quiet thud of his boots echoing softly in the chamber. His tone never shifted, never rose, not even as he approached the prisoner's platform. The guards tensed subtly but did not move.

"Obedience. You view it as a virtue, yes? Perhaps it was. Once. However, blind execution of a flawed directive is no longer an acceptable currency in the Empire we are building. Not when such obedience had a part in our ruin."

He halted before her, locking his gaze with hers. Up close, he could see the weariness of her eyes, the pallor of her skin, the diminishing strength in her posture. All of that told more than her testimony did.

"Here's what I think," he murmured, only barely loud enough for the tribunal to hear. "I believe you still have value. There's a discipline in you. An iron will. You were built to endure, not simply obey. But you're hiding something, Lieutenant. You know something the rest of us don't. Or won't."

And then, very gently, he leaned in; just enough that no one but Sieliel could hear him. His lips barely moved as he spoke the phrase:

"P... double OO... R... Sh(en)."

Nothing more. Just that.

He straightened, watching her face with the intensity of a hawk tracking a twitch of movement in the grass. A flicker in her eyes. A shift in posture. A sharp breath. Anything.

Then, calmly, he returned to his seat. He didn't elaborate. He didn't explain. He simply folded his hands again.

Inwardly, Karl's mind was moving like a warship through the fog. She had heard the word. Whether she understood it, or feared it, or both, he would know soon enough. He didn't want her dead. Not yet. She was close to a truth, and too valuable to discard. But if she was playing him, if she thought she could outlast him through silence, then she underestimated how far he was willing to go to learn the shape of the ghost now known as LAETOR.

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

OBJECTIVE: Get More Info
LOCATION: Cerberus​

Selrik listened as Sieliel responded. He nearly snarled when she mentioned that divulging anything further would involve the divulsion of classified information. Grand Moff of the Confederation and she was deeming it classified from him? No. He collected himself and calmed his expression, recognizing that there were people present who likely did lack the clearance necessary to hear some of the things she knew. There were always secrets that had to be kept from certain levels of the rank and file for their own safety and for the operational security of people in the field.

However, the Exarch was right. Blind loyalty had no place in the advanced version of the Empire that was developing here. No longer would merely following orders because someone higher than you gave them, unless it was the Empress herself, be acceptable. Too often were there chances for crisis to be averted should junior officers rightly reject orders given by compromised senior officials.

"You speak of obedience as though it were virtue, but obedience without verification is not loyalty — it is blindness. Blind tools are easily wielded by traitors in the Empire's uniform. You executed orders because you trusted your chain of command, but you don't even know who was really holding that leash, do you?"

The Exarch approached the woman and spoke something to her that he couldn't hear. Given that Karl had a history with the organization that the Fifth Wing had brought the downfall of, perhaps it was some sort of internal thing that only the two of them could know, something that would trigger a response in her? He didn't know. What he knew was that he wanted answers. He watched, silently, the woman before them as the Exarch returned to his seat, not speaking further for a short amount of time.

He wanted to make sure there was enough time for what was said to take effect first.

"Kilran is gone. If he were here, he'd demand answers, not silence. As it is, Empress Deschart wants answers, not silence. And I am not without reason, Agent Dimegor. I believe you to be loyal to the Empire. I believe, as the Exarch does, that you retain value for us as an operative, but that your are sabotaging yourself by remaining blindly loyal to orders. Your loyalty is to the EMPIRE, not to orders, and your silence here will not preserve the Empire. It will bury it."

Standing, he approached the rail between them and grasped it with both hands, leaning slightly forward to stare directly at her.

"Tell us what you know. If you do, I will do what I can to see that you continue to be afforded the chance to serve the Empire by working for me personally." A brief pause. "If we need to dismiss everyone from this room that isn't a member of the ruling council before you'll speak we'll do so, but you must speak, Agent Dimegor. Now."

OUTFIT: Moff Standard | GEAR: Blaster Pistol | COMPANIONS: Imperial Sentinels x4
TAGS: Arthus Karn | Sieliel Dimegor | Karl Von Strauss | Lady Varokscar | Pel Grennin ​

 

[Sieliel Dimegor]

---

---

Dac, Outer Rim Territories, Calamari Sector, Calamari System;
Within the former territories of the Empire of the Lost;
The Imperial Confederation, The Cerberus;
Tag: Karl Von Strauss | Selrik Lorcas | Arthus Karn | Pel Grennin | Lady Varokscar |

---

This was an Imperial Court Martial, so, of course, they told her to dress up in her uniform before transporting her to The Cerebus. A sleek, grey outfit displaying her rank as Lieutenant in the former administration, with the tabard of the now defunct New Imperial Security Bureau emblazoned upon her sleeve. It hid over the cracks that had appeared in her armour wrought by several weeks of detention, and incarceration as she waited for this day. Sieliel had expected a grilling. Hard, tough questions some of which were easier to predict, and others that were unexpected, which made the proceeding all the more difficult.

Nothing prepared her for what The Exarch would say next.

"P... double OO... R... Sh(en)."

What little colour Lieutenant Dimegor had left in her face was suddenly drained as she looked into the cunning, intelligent eyes of the new leader of The Imperial Sector Authority. Neither man nor woman should be stood in these proceedings. Strauss should be away in some laboratory or engineering facility generating up the designs and schematics for the latest technological marvel to serve The Imperium. Dimegor was meant to be deployed in the field, into the heart of the former territories of The Empire of the Lost, to quell the revolts and riots that had risen up in over thirty star systems as The Imperial Confederation came into focus; brought together by the political machinations of three Imperial remnants banded together through alliance, and politics that neither should be apart of.

Yet service had thrust them into these proceedings. One to a cause that only now came into focus as more corrupt and convoluted than it first appeared even to the likes of Lieutenant Dimegor; the other a man thrust onto the stage of leadership, when no-else else would step up, to stem the tides which threatened to destroy that idea that was The Empire. How was this man-- this genius-- in possession of the code? What had happened to The Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats for its cryptography to have been dismantled and subsequently deciphered by such a man? Had these questions been a ruse?

Did Karl Von Strauss already know?

Sieliel averted her gaze away from The Exarch to look upon The Grand Moff. Even in her incarceration she had heard a little bit about this Risen Empire. Some of their personnel had manned the corridors of her prison while she was being held for this court martial. The offer was powerful in it's weight: the opportunity to serve under the direct command of the man who would be responsible for the return of the Imperial Occupation; to the office where every other Moff in the confederation would report to. As an intelligence operative that kind of post was tempting. From the jaws of defeat and incarceration to the prospect of a promotion-- the opportunity to reignite her career, and save her life-- was alluring.

Lowering her gaze from Lorcas to the ground, Sieliel's mind raced. Taken out of the convoluted life of a double-agent which served a conspiracy created by her superiors on Lianna, she had now been given clarity and objective reasoning regarding the events that had brought her to this place. Why was she protecting Alicia Drey ? A Jedi saboteur? The mystery that was LAETOR who was clearly not The Director? Was she supposed to throw away her life, and career, in service to a conspiracy that had destroyed The Empire of the Lost?

For the Sith?

Lorcas was right. Blind obedience, and loyalty to The Director-- to this seemingly powerful, elusive entity that was LAETOR-- to the cause of The Fifth Wing, and through the web of lies and deceit surrounding the Kilran Dynasty. Compartmentalized from the truth, Sieliel could not understand the machinations that she had been in service to that had seen to the chaotic set of events which brought down the Imperal occupation of The Outer Rim Territories. In place of conspiracy and collusion to a cause that she did not even understand, Sieliel was given an opportunity of redemption and clarity by these new leaders of The Imperial Confederation.

Of course, The Grand Moff was right: Velran Kilran would demand answers, and she owed them. His Majesty of All Imperial Kind had given his life to save The Empire of the Lost only to be betrayed in death through the consequences of The Sartinaynian Crisis. His administration-- born out of a coup d'etat-- had been a victim to sabotage, manipulation and subversion by forces orchestrated by someone in the Sith Order, through the lie of a Jedi, in service to... Who?

Looking back up to Strauss, Sieliel grimaced under his gaze. He possessed the key to answers but did he know what door it unlocked? Darth Virelia knew. As Lianna City burned around them, the corruptor had been lured into the same webs of lies and deceit wrought by this mysterious LAETOR, and in Northwest, she had been shown the door which led to paradise; the indoctrination program known as eXit which taught it's creator the type of person she was dealing with, and how they would be useful to Her schemes. But Sieliel had not been led to paradise. The Dark Lords had not returned to retake their place above the Liann, the Tionese, or the Tion Hegemony itself. No invasion force had come forth to reclaim the lands and territories of The Tenth Sith Empire destroyed by The Ashlan Crusade after the end of the Imperial occupation.

Just the destruction of The Empire of the Lost. Was that what they had wanted? Was this to be the fruit of all her work over the past two years? Was this it?

The only chance of salvation had been offered by these men, and as she stood there, Sieliel found her resolve broken and loyalties turned around. Denials, misdirection, obfuscation; they had not been enough to stop them from getting to the bottom of the truth, and why was she trying to stop them? To be left to rot in detention for the right of her life? To be tortured for information? To have her career destroyed? For what?

"Two years ago I was living in exile in the Tion system," Sieliel began to explain. She looked away from Strauss again as she spoke. Humiliation was beginning to settle in as she came to the terms with the truth: she had been used for something else. Not the return of order and justice that the Dark Lords brought to her lands when they ruled on Lianna decades ago during the reign of The Tenth Sith Empire, or the rise of the Kilran Dynasty and THE RETURN OF THE EMPIRE, but something else.

Sieliel could not bear to look at The Exarch as the truth came out about something more obscene, corruptive... destructive.

"I was approached by Director Drey while I was in exile and made an offer I could not refuse after Tion had been destroyed. I was to be given command of the Imperial Immortals, and operate under her direct command as lead in the NISB special-taskforce. I was told that there was someone in the Sith Empire who sympathised with what had happened to The Empire and that there was a scheme to eliminate The Kainite which had the support of Emperor Kilran that called itself The Fifth Wing. I was immediately on board with the ideas of The Director."

"At the time I did not know who she was... What she was. That would come later."

---

The Fate of Tion: the destruction of the planet Tion following the catastrophic Siege of Tion, a retaliatory attack by The Sith Order upon The Empire of the Lost following their annexation of the Felucia system in 900 ABY.
​

---

"My exile from Lianna would come to an end if I were to serve the cause and I had survived the Tion massacre. So I accepted The Director's offer. My first orders were to assist The Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats to obfuscate the identities of comrades that were to be sent into The Empire of the Lost by our comrade in The Sith Order. These men were to join personnel recruited from within the New Imperial Security Bureau and other military branches to join us in the conspiracy. I eliminated opposition leftover by the Voland Administration for Emperor Kilran and his dynasty as per my orders. It is my belief that others from The Fifth Wing did the same as well."

---

The Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats: a program invented by Alicia Drey after her ascension to the post of
Staff Director of The New Imperial Security Bureau.
​

---

"I discovered Director Drey had been murdered after her court martial. There I was given information that Alicia Drey was a Jedi called Ella Nova, and that she had infiltrated The Empire as a member of the rebellion that would later cal itself The Tingel Arm Coalition, which was founded after a revolt on Zygerria and that I was to include this in a report detailing a conspiracy to destroy Imperialism as part of the cause. The person who contacted me introduced themselves as Laetor in an interconnected real time chatroom used by The Fifth Wing to communicate and interact anonymously which was where I had previously received orders from The Director when she was alive."

"Laetor verified themselves through a cipher that was placed among the items stored in the archives of the program. I was taught a form of cryptology to verify Director's Drey identity whenever we communicated to discuss operations pertaining to The Fifth Wing and they knew it. I had to believe it was her. But, in spite of this, Laetor provided me with proof that Alicia Drey was a clone created by a member of The Sith Order who is called Mendacium and that it was made from the genetic template of Ella Nova to create a narrative of infiltration and sabotage by members of The New Jedi Order to destroy Imperialism which coincided with the Core Wars waged by the Dark Empire against the Galactic Alliance and the later Rim Wars instigated by the rebellion inspired by Zygerria and founded on Hurikane to liberate systems occupied by The Empire of the Lost."

"I called it The Trigonus Report. I did not understand what was going on. But the verification, through the cipher stored in the program, combined with the evidence I was provided, was unmistakable. I ignored my feelings and logic. The things that were telling me nothing made sense here. I reasoned that somehow this would lead to the goals of the conspiracy. To destroy the Sith faction responsible for the attack on Tion. The Kainite. So I continued to work. I continued to follow orders"

---

The Trigonus Report: a propaganda piece invented by The Fifth Wing to lead the leadership of The Empire of the Lost to believe in a Jedi plot to destroy Imperialism throughout the galaxy following their victory over The Tingel Arm Coalition.
​

---

"The fabrication of the Jedi plot was made to offer deniability and obfuscation to the existence of The Fifth Wing after members of The Imperial Ruling Council convened aboard The Revenge, following the Battle of Maldra 4, to discuss the state of the New Imperial Security Bureau after it failed to provide intelligence regarding a superweapon that was detonated against Imperial forces by the rebels during the battle, and to misdirect leadership away from questioning whether or not the conspiracy existed after court martial and subsequent death of The Director."

"I was ordered to not include the fact that The Director was a clone in the report during my communications with Laetor. I do not know why. I can only speculate that something changed after the deaths of Emperor Kilran and Director Drey. This coincided with new chatter and orders to begin targeting The Diarchy: a new galactic power that had risen up along the Braxant Run. We leaked the whereabouts of a vault on Malachor 5 that was created by the Ashlan Crusade to the Lords of Diarchy pertaining to artefacts that may offer information to the whereabouts their missing founder."

"We simultaneously leaked that Malachor 5 was about to be attacked to members of the Imperial administration through our comrades in the NISB. They subsequently mobilized to defend the vault. In there a woman called Lyssara Thrynn was captured by a Bureau operative. Her name is Lyssara Thrynn. It was discovered that Thrynn was the apprentice to Diarch Rellik: one of the two central figureheads of The Diarchy. We arranged for Thrynn to be turned over to the Imperial Immortals where I was instructed to transfer her to the Sartinaynian system after a delegation was formalized to negotiate Bastion being turned over to The Empire."

"This was all a prelude to the Sartinyanian Crisis."

---

The Sartinaynian Crisis: a false-flag attack upon The Diarchy by The Empire of the Lost after both sides were framed into acts of war by The Fifth Wing. The attack coincided with an attack by the Dark Empire, and the economic collapse of The Empire and the end of it's occupation of The Outer Rim Territories by 902 ABY.
​

---

"I was invited into an IRC called Five Wings Cast A Mighty Shadow where myself and other comrades in The Fifth Wing were debriefed about Operation: Powderkeg. We were to assist in creating a series of events that would begin a conflict between The Empire of the Lost and The Diarchy for control of the planet Bastion. It was arranged for a delegation to be sent to the Sartinaynian system to negotiate for Bastion to be turned over to The Empire. These were verified by Laetor as the last orders of Emperor Kilran. To continue the mission of bringing back The Galactic Empire."

"During the negotiation one of us was to open fire on it to fabricate an assassination attempt on the newly coronated Phantom Empress and the other delegates from both sides. It was not communicated to me that Imperial forces would open fire on Ravelin at the same time. Despite what had happened-- the parts I did not understand-- I followed through with my orders. I was to capture Diarch Reign while his brother, Rellik, was to be captured by the Imperial Immortals during a rescue mission to save his apprentice, Lyssara Thrynn. We thought we knew everything..."

Sieliel shook her head. Even as she was pouring out the truth-- about everything that she knew about The Fifth Wing and her involvement in The Sartinaynian Crisis-- it still wasn't making sense. Lost in the dark of conspiracy, confined and compartmentalized by the machinations of Sith Lords-- Mendacium, Laetor-- that it was only now in the artificial lights of The Cerebus, in front of this tribunal convened by The Imperial Confederation, that she was brought into the light and the subsequent mess she had helped to created based on a chain of events which do not make sense, should not be connected and yet somehow were.

"Upon capturing both brothers we were to transport them to the Auril sector, to a planet called Nespis 8, and rendezvous with someone in The Fifth Wing on a satellite people call Childhood," Sieliel said as she continued to give her testimony. "But, as we all know, that never happened. This is everything I know. I don't know what Drey Incorporated is or if you have even heard of it. I do not know how House Mecetti Nationalized Industries were involved. I cannot explain the participation of Maldor Mecetti or why any of this led to the end of The Empire of the Lost. Why I was ordered to capture both Diarch brothers, or instigate a conflict with them. I don't know how The Dark Empire fits into any of this, or how any of this connects to The Core Wars. I don't know if the real Ella Nova or Alicia Drey are alive, or if the person in the Sith Order was a comrade, as I was led to believe two years ago, who wanted to help us after what happened to Tion, or if they were the one behind all of this."

"I do not know how these events-- the murders, the rebellion, the battles, the destruction of planets, the end of The Empire of Lost-- were meant to contribute towards the destruction of The Kainite or to keep Emperor Kilran in power. As I stand here before you, sir..."

Sieliel looked back to Strauss with the mask of a woman horrified by her participation in all of this. Hurt, confused and terrified by the ramifications of her explanation-- the answers to their questions finally answered after a long, arduous court martial. "As I stand here before you..." Sieliel repeated nervously. "...I am just as lost as the rest of you. But one thing I do know, for sure, is this..."

"...The program, sir. You decrypted it. I was never given access to the program. My orders were to help hide the outposts, the personnel, and the men sent in by the Sith. But you have the access code, don't you?" Sieliel raised her cuffed wrists and pointed to a nearby terminal. "It was connected to everything to do with The Empire. This is The Cerebus, isn't it? You could access the initiative right now. It logged everything. Names, faces, reports. The money."

"Everything."

In the backdrop of revelation and testimony, as the tribunal watched on stunned, a nearby terminal hummed quietly. Innocent looking. Blended in. Yet, with a few master keystrokes, everything that they were looking for was there to be read. All of the secrets-- the truth. It had been there the entire time. Hidden under their noises obfuscated by a surveillance system that had been created to serve them and yet unknowingly, inexplicably, had been used against them the entire time, and which now threatened to expose the mystery of LAETOR once and for all.

---

 

[Karl Von Strauss]

Outfit: ISA Uniform
Equipment: Relby k-23 mod. E, NZ PEG
Tag: Sieliel Dimegor | Arthus Karn | Pel Grennin | Selrik Lorcas

Karl said nothing at first. The tribunal chamber hung in a heavy silence, the tension now replaced by something colder: calculation. His eyes, a pale steel, had shifted away from the woman before him to the console tucked just beyond her. It looked unremarkable. And yet it felt as though the whole ship now pivoted around it.

He stepped forward, slow and deliberate, adjusting the cuffs of his uniform with mechanical ease. His movement had no urgency, only precision, as if each motion had been weighed, judged, and deemed necessary. He looked behind the lieutenant toward a senior security officer, his voice cut cleanly through the air.

"Major. Get the techs, I want that terminal as isolated from the rest of the ship as it can be. Reroute all external access to a blind node and disable all outbound functionality until I say otherwise."

The Major stiffened. "Yes, Sir."

After a few moments, two techs entered the room and used a code key to lock down the computer. Only when the order was in the process of being completed did Karl return his attention to Sieliel Dimegor. She was quiet now. Exhausted, no doubt, physically and mentally, though still too dangerous to be dismissed. He studied her not with suspicion, but with the practised eye of a man who had stared down many people in his life.

"I do not trust you," he said not unkindly. "Not yet. Possibly not ever. But I believe that the strings binding you to blind loyalty have been frayed and cut." He paced across the chamber, inching closer to the console. His voice was even, composed, betraying none of the deeper concern threading through his thoughts. "You were a tool to them; refined, effective, and cruelly employed. And at the first sign of a scratch, they threw you to the compactor."

He paused at her side, then took one long look at her, his eyes lingering just long enough to convey some empathy. He, after all, was in her spot a very long time ago, but that is a story for another time.

"You've spilled everything, or nearly enough to show me the shape of your ruin. And while it's clear you've been severed from whatever hand once guided you, that doesn't make you free. It makes you untethered. Stray."

He paused, gaze sharp and unblinking. "Stray things are dangerous. But sometimes, they can be broken down and rebuilt into something better. Sharper. More loyal, if forged correctly." He turned from her then, but the implication lingered like smoke. "You're not beyond purpose yet, Lieutenant. Not if you can be remade."

Karl moved again, his boots echoing on the metal floor as he stepped toward the now-quarantined computer. His reflection shimmered faintly on the polished metal, a ghost waiting to awaken something older and far less forgiving.

"You've earned a reprieve, Lieutenant Dimegor. A brief one. Should this be another deception, if this is a final trap laid in desperation or design, I'll make sure you disappear knowing precisely why that was a mistake."

His tone never rose. There was no need. The room was already his. He turned around to face the few people in the room.

"Anyone with anything less than a tier nine security clearance, clear the room. Now."

He would wait for those without the proper clearance to leave, holding out his hands to stop the technicians or the security team from leaving. He looked toward the techs.

"Reenable outbound functionality, keep it contained to this computer." He looked toward Sieliel, then back to the console. "Let's see what was left behind."

He took out one of his extra hexacrypted code cylinders and inserted it into the machine. Once the DSDT program was activated, it asked for a passcode. Slowly, he entered it: 'POORSH.' And was met with a small affirmative beep.

Quietly, he said to himself, "May the truth set us free."

 

[Selrik Lorcas]

OBJECTIVE: Review the Info
LOCATION: Cerberus
​

Something got through. Something broke through that blind loyalty, that belief she was doing what was right, despite the reality that she faced of the destruction of the organization she was supposed to be working for. Not the three letter group within it, but the actual government. The Empire of the Lost was gone in large part because of her actions. There was a lot of pressure to make an example of her, to throw her into the fire and watch her burn. No small part of him believed she was worthy of such a punishment. It would be a good example to the rest of the Fifth Wing that they were going to be hunted down and disposed of.

But a larger part of him, as she spoke, recognized that she was just a young woman trying to do what she THOUGHT was best. It wasn't malicious in nature, at least not by her. She'd been used, and that realization was playing havoc in her mind. But she was at least recognizing it, and divulging the reality of what had happened.

"Good," he said, when she finished speaking. "Very good."

When the Exarch mentioned people without a certain clearance leaving, he lifted a hand and his guards left the room. It was a safe place, and he was certain he could take care of himself should, say, the girl get violent. He didn't see that happening, as he honestly did believe in her loyalty to the Empire, so he wasn't worried about it. The guards left, as more filed out while the Major went to work on the console, and then Exarch Strauss himself approached and typed in a passcode.

"As long as she isn't lying, Exarch, I will take command of her future. She will work for me."

He was eager to see what was on the console. What was it going to expose?

"Let's see what she's given us."

OUTFIT: Moff Standard | GEAR: Blaster Pistol | COMPANIONS: Imperial Sentinels x4
TAGS: Sieliel Dimegor | Karl Von Strauss ​