Dev Doctrine of Fear | First Imperial Moff Assembly

[The Contingency]

Following their victory over Arkania, the Empire's reach extends into the Mid Rim. With this triumph, the first Imperial Moff Assembly convenes on Imperial Center to deliberate on the development and direction of Imperial strength. For the first time since the Empire's resurgence, the Moffs, entrusted with the care and control of vast sectors, gather together beneath one roof to debate, plan, and scheme for the future of Imperial dominion.

This is not the Imperial Ruling Council, nor a session of Sith mystics or shadowy decrees. No, this is the table of governors, pragmatists, and commanders who turn the Emperor's will into reality. Their words will shape fleets, factories, and worlds.

On the agenda:

• The State of the Empire: Reports from the Moffs on their sectors, their challenges, and their triumphs.
• Development of a Super Star Destroyer: The flagship of the Imperial rule, whose design and deployment hangs in the balance. Will it be a warship of fear, a bastion of defense, or something more sinister?
• Integration of Conquered Worlds: From Arkania to the Core, how shall the Empire turn resistance into obedience, and obedience into strength?

To ensure balance between political and martial voices, several high-ranking Admirals of the Imperial Navy have also been invited into this Assembly, their expertise in strategy and logistics vital to guiding the discussion.

This Assembly is a forum of strong voices and stronger wills. Moffs and Admirals alike will vie for influence, spar with words, and forge the path that will carry the Empire into its next great age.

Raise your glass, sharpen your tongue, and prepare your arguments, for progress does not wait, nor shall the Empire.

​

 

[Zethran Cott]

​

Always something new. That was the philosophy Admiral Cott lived by. There was always a new way to do things, to build things, to change the way people lived and thought.

What was older still, however, was the good old fashioned meeting. Minutes taken, accountability rendered, decisions made and futures shaped. The Admiral had endured his fair share of such gatherings, knowing that the success or failure of a military campaign lay not in the ferocity of the fighting man nor the tenacity of the strategist but in the ability to move food and ammunition to the front faster than the enemy could replenish their own.

An army did not only march on its stomach. It lived, breathed, fought and died on it too.

The chamber smelled faintly of stone and polished leather, the air close with the weight of expectation. Cott sat in his uniform, sharp and pressed, listening to the scrape of chairs and the shuffle of papers as the council settled. He fixed his gaze forward, ready for the business to begin, and hoped his input would find its place where it was most needed.

He had not been deployed to Coruscant this time. He had been deployed elsewhere, mopping up Alliance defences as the fleets swept through the Core, suppressing the enemy and crushing their resistance. He was glad to be back on Imperial Center; he was at the heart of it all once again.

 

[Alars Keto]

MOFF ALARS KETO
Governor of Empress Teta


GRAND MOFF Arage Bao | GRAND GENERAL Kroeger | FLEET ADMIRAL Zethran Cott | MOFF Daedalus Tarkin | MOFF Domaric Mordane | MOFF Alars Keto | ADMIRAL Remus Adair | CAPTAIN Lydia Vandron | Runar Ævar | @Imperial Navy​

The chamber was alive with the quiet murmur of aides and the rustle of uniforms attending the seated Moffs. Behind them, many high ranking members of the Imperial Navy and their entourage stood, those lucky enough to be invited would engage at the Moff Council’s pleasure to discuss the development of a new Super Star Destroyer.

Clad in the polished grey of his office, sporting an imperial medallion, and a long Tetan cloak, the Governor of Empress Teta cut a proud austere figure. His words came clear and clipped, carrying across the vaulted hall with the precision of a man who understood the weight of the moment.

"Honored Moffs, esteemed Admirals, let us begin."

His gaze swept across the assembly before turning upward toward the high chair, where the Grand Moff Arage Bao presided in silent authority. Keto bowed his head respectfully, voice firm as iron. He straightened, hands clasped behind his back.

"We gather here not as idle bureaucrats, but as stewards of a manifest destiny. Our charge is threefold: to assess the strength of the Empire in this new age, to deliberate on the design and deployment of a new Super Star Destroyer that shall embody our supremacy, and to ensure the swift integration of conquered worlds into the Imperial regime. These matters cannot be delayed, for the galaxy does not wait, nor shall we."

Keto allowed a faint, measured smile to crease his lips.

"The floor is now open to the voices of the Empire. Speak boldly, for our Emperor's will is carried on no timid tongue."

With that, the Moff of Empress Teta lowered himself back into his seat, the Assembly officially in session.

 

[Kroeger]

THE MOFF COUNCIL, IMPERIAL CENT
THE GALACTIC EMPIRE
902 ABY

D E M O N
THE GALACTIC EMPIRE
GRAND GENERAL
Arage Bao Zethran Cott Daedalus Tarkin Domaric Mordane Alars Keto Remus Adair Lydia Vandron Runar Ævar

MARCH OF DOMINATION​

And here came what was the consequence of conquering. As it was once said, it is far easier to ride the horse than to step off of it and rule. Kroeger had only ever been to spilling blood to gain ground, not governing it. Save for his once enclave on Adumar, he'd been a leader of men on the field and in preparation for it. Luckily, to this point- he'd managed to stay in his lane as far as the concerns of the Galactic Empire. But High Command was playing a double life in both ensuring maximum lethality of the Empire's army, and playing the political game to ensure his interests were met.

He was sat in a seat at the Moff's table, clad in the field grey of an Imperial Officer, his rank panels displaying the highest order of an Imperial Army officer. A bit of ash from his cigarra was flicked into the glass ashtray in front of him, a thin plume of herbal smoke fluttering from the charred end as his eyes, one organic and one photoceptor flitted over the others present.

"Dreadnoughts are a means of fear but not victory. Resources and development should be dedicated to the Imperial Army and Starfighter Corps before naval expansion." Kroeger suggested, his interests were aligned solely with ground warfare, the sentiment should not be surprising.

"The worlds we have seized from the Alliance might be conquered with naval supremacy, but Imperial rule is enforced and high value objectives seized by the Army. Not Dreadnoughts." Kroeger explained.

 

[Domaric Mordane]

"I must agree with Grand General Kroeger ," The Moff began, "The Army must be rebuilt, yes. Not as it once was but stronger, leaner, and prepared to carry the torch of war into the deepest reaches of this fractured galaxy. We must harvest more of the galaxy's young, and the Core affords us an endless supply of recruits that I hope this Assembly will entrust to my care. That is a conversation for later, however."

He glanced upward, at Grand Moff Arage Bao first, then to Kroeger, then to Alars Keto .

"After the Alliance is crushed, our gaze cannot remain fixed upon scattered rebels and broken republics. There are other nations that must bear witness to the Empire's might. Chief among them, the Sith Empire."

The name was enough to stir the chamber. Admirals, smug in their typical naval elitism, smiled at the mention. Mordane's face did not shift.

"They cower behind their decrepit Blackwall, only barely repelling an incursion by the false Imperials of the Tingel Arm. The only reason they are relevant is because of the Mors Mon."

A scoul crowned his face as one of his aides activated a holographic display of the behemoth flagship.

"Sixty kilometers of armored blasphemy. A fortress that traces its lineage back to the Supremacy of the First Order. Its existence is a threat to our Empire. It grants them legitimacy they have not earned. It offers a rallying point for fractured dominions, a sanctuary from which they may retreat and return at will when our war machine inevitably batters down their childish Blackwall."

He rose, not fully, but enough to shift the balance of the room toward him, voice sharpening with conviction.

"We cannot allow such a vessel to outshine the Empire. The Sith wield it not only as a weapon, but as a symbol. And symbols are dangerous. If we build nothing to counter it, if we let the Army march without a proper banner of steel above them, then when the time comes, we will not simply risk defeat. We will risk irrelevance."

Alars Keto | Arage Bao | Kroeger | Zethran Cott | Remus Adair | Daedalus Tarkin | Lydia Vandron | Runar Ævar​

 

[Remus Adair]

Alars Keto | Domaric Mordane | Kroeger

Remus Harlan Adair felt a bit out of his depth amongst the assembled beauracrats, luminaries and other officers. He was acutely aware that as a Vice Admiral, yet to be gazettes upwards that he was perhaps the junior most officer present for this conference. Not of course that that would stop him from speaking out for his own opinion. It had been Adair who had cleared the space around Coruscant for the Emperor, and it would be Adair now who spoke up.

"If," he anxiously looked side to side to ensure that he had not stepped on any boots chiming in, "I may present an opinion," he looked to Keto and then to Kroeger, "But I disagree with the right honourable member. His input is important, but it is…." He tried to find the best way to put it, "Short sighted." The best way Remus could without calling the man an imbecile outright, "Since time immemorial the imperial army has been a projectile, fired by the cannon that is the imperial navy." Remus pontificated, "I do mean to cause no harm,nor offence. Contrarily, the Army has acquitted itself constantly. But without the support of a strong navy it is stranded. Without support and vulnerable to bombardment."

Remus cleared his throat and winced a little. He hoped he hadn't painted a target on his back. "But to the broader question of the Emperor's diktat," Vice Admiral Adair continued, "A vessel of any remarkable size acts as a symbol, but I believe we should focus on doctrinally where it sits." He explained, "As shown with the recent routing of Arkanis, the deployment of massive vessels does not alone secure victory." Remus declared, "And I believe that the development of this vessel presents an opportunity of a sort." He explained, "Rather than perhaps crudely and to be frank, stereotypically fashioning a prow mounted superlaser," his attempt at a wry joke, delivered with a smirk, "We should look to alternatives. Gravity weaponry. Engine capacity. Hangar storage."

Remus looked to those assembled, "The Emperor has commissioned us here today to create a weapon of great power. I propose we take the initiative to design something which will force the Alliance to reevaluate us as a military men."

 

[Arage Bao]

Zethran Cott | Alars Keto | Kroeger | Domaric Mordane | Remus Adair

She watched the proceedings impassively.

It was no secret where Grand Moff Bao's favor often leaned. Before she became known as the Dictator of Humbarine, she had served as one of the Admiralty, and in time the sole Lord Admiral. The Navy was still where her heart and discipline lived, yet Arage did not so much as raise an eyebrow at the arguments presented. Not a nod of approval or even a faint smile.

She was here as an impartial observer and nothing more... mostly.

Listen, study and finally find the few who proved themselves more than self-serving opportunists. Then, with time, apply pressure and draw them upward. It was the same quiet method she had used to claim Humbarine, the same way she had built alliances with the old Director of the SIA, the same way she had secured Kuat.

The Empire was no different. In fact, she found the halls of power here almost entertaining. In those days she had been forced to move quietly, wary of Alliance attention and the governments that came before. Now her eyes needed only to follow two things: Solipsis' favor, and the restless ambitions of those who surrounded her.

The latter was obvious. The room was filled with men who would gladly slit her throat for the chance to step over her corpse. That honesty, at least, she could respect.

"We should not lose the forest for the trees, gentlemen." Arage's voice cut across the chamber, steady and precise. She did not speak to impose her own point, but to draw them back to order. Disorder, she would not abide. Her tone carried easily, crisp and unshakable, the voice of one who had already borne the burden of entire sectors under hostile eyes.

"I understand the appeal. New weapons, new soldiers, vast batteries of guns to be claimed. A hundred here, a thousand there. But none of this will exist without governance."

The debate had drifted, as debates always did, into the rivalry between army and navy. Arage knew the temptation well. Yet the Emperor had tasked her with more than weighing tonnage and manpower. She was here to hold together a conclave of Moffs, each clawing at the same prize while their enemies watched for cracks to appear.

"I would instead hear how our new territories are bending to order. What resistance remains from the Alliance, what industry we seized unbroken, and how swiftly the damaged is being restored." She let her eyes pass slowly over the chamber, measuring each reaction accordingly.

"These are questions that matter. They are the foundation on which your fleets and armies will stand. Ambition may conquer the day, but order will stand the test of time."