Private Sinews of Empire

[Solis Tyber]

"Wyvern"
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
Orbit above Bilbringi VII​

Solis stood aboard the bridge of the Wyvern the aging Imperial II-class Star Destroyer that orbited Bilbringi VII, the home to the nascent Galactic Empire. His hands were folded behind his back, his uniform, a white uniform with gold epaulets was pressed and cleaned. His uniform was that of a Grand Admiral, it bore the Grand Admiral's rank plaque, 6 blue on the right, 3 yellow on the top and 3 red on the bottom. He wore 4 coded code cylinders, they contained all relevant access codes, data information and whatever else needed to be added to them. He wore the uniform of a Grand Admiral but he was not a Grand Admiral, he bore the title of "Regent of the Galactic Empire", a title earned through political machinations and the movement of time and history. The nascent Galactic Empire was preparing itself for a new era, a new era of bringing safety and order to the galaxy. While that was the design, he had spent more time in the administration of the new government than he cared to admit. He sat with his advisors and those that had made up the first Imperial Ruling Council and discussed the design, nature and organization of the Empire, that was something he enjoyed but he'd prefer to be spreading the New Order, really the True Order, across the stars. That time would come but for now it would about gaining allies and building trade relations with the dozen or so factions throughout the galaxy.

Solis began to pace around the bridge of the Wyvern and he looked around. It was a revival of the classical Empire, it brought him emotions that he had not felt in sometime. The Bilbringi PDF had largely modeled itself off the old Empire and its newer iterations but overall, this was different. Solis smirked at the difference between the two empires however; he peered around the bridge and only a squad of white armored Stormtroopers existed. Solis had stripped whichever members of the BDF wore anything resembling Stormtrooper armor, it was improper. In his eyes the Stormtroopers were meant to be the elite of the elite and the rest? The Imperial Army? They were meant to be the shining examples of Imperial citizens charging into the fray and fighting for the New Order, the True Order. Solis had a dataslate that contained the latest information that was occurring within the fledgling Galactic Empire and one notice peaked his interest in particular. Iakar Thif stood on the bridge, he tended to a datastation and his red uniform was distinct compared to all the rest of the uniforms of black, grey and the occasional khaki green-grey hybrid that senior officials wore. "Thif." Solis spoke his last name, as was common among military men and women. The red uniformed officer turned on his heels and made his way over to Solis. "Yes Lord Tyber." He stood at attention before the Regent. Solis waved his hand. "At ease. What is this notification here regarding a new entry into the IIA Interrogation Section." Solis was thumbing through the attached documents and related information. "Val Horne?" Solis had looked up to Thif. "We believe him to be a smuggler sir, picked up by a patrol vessel on the outer fringes of Bilbringi VII's orbit Lord Tyber. He's aboard here in the detention section." Thif was the liaison from the ever growing Imperial Intelligence Agency to the Regent himself. Thif was perhaps one of the few new Ubiqtorate officers whose identity was somewhat known. While Solis remained somewhat distanced from learning the true internal workings of the IIA, he had known that Thif, in a previous life prior to his service, was a sort of criminal spymaster and a damn good one at that.

"Bring him to me." Solis handed the datapad to Thif and Thif nodded, clicked his heels and saluted the Regent. In what seemed like mere second, Solis had returned his gaze back to the orbit and several minutes later Solis' thoughts were intruded by the presence of the bridge doors sliding open. Held under the arms and dragged by two red uniformed, blast armor plates over their chest, that red as well. They were from the Internal Security Branch and served as the physical security and uniformed force of Imperial Intelligence. They were trained similarly to Imperial Army Troopers; Solis had recently approved them to begin training as Imperial Army Special Mission Troopers giving them a leg up on most others. The somewhat lifeless body of the captured smuggler was brought within arms distance of Solis. Solis knelt down, his legs supporting his weight and resting his hands on the tops of his thighs he looked at the bloodied and beaten mess of a man. "Val Horne I presume."

Val Horne

 

[Val Horne]

It had been a simple job in theory. Val had been approached by one of his usual contacts while relaxing in one of Coruscant's many, many, many bars. It was a job Val had done hundreds of times during his career as a smuggler. Get some goods from one planet to the other, while avoiding all checkpoints and potential searches. Easy money, Val had thought when he accepted the job. Most worlds not affiliated with any of the galactic powers had only moderate amounts of security for themselves, and those could be circumvented easily enough. However, what his client had failed to inform Val was that the world he was going to had recently become the seat of a new galactic power.

Almost immediately after dropping out of hyperspace aboard the ship he had been loaned, a patrol group was on him. He had managed to shake the older vessels, escaping further into the system when a larger star destroyer caught him in its tractor beam. Pulled into the hangar, Val had managed to slip away from the search party as they stormed his vessel, and had even been able to get out of the hangar before being confronted by several men wearing pure red armor. Before he had taken a step to escape them, the familiar feeling of a stunning round slammed into his back.

The following hours of interrogation were not the most pleasant he had ever experienced. He had managed to slip free of his shackles once, only to find a rather non-descript man waiting just outside the door with a stun baton. All, this smuggling trip was turning out to be a very poor use of his time.

As Val was dragged onto the bridge of the star destroyer he took the time to look around and analyze his surroundings, making note of potential exits and blind spots. His head was snapped around by one of the guards though when the brutish man before him crouched down, addressing Val. He did not respond for a few seconds, before leaning forward, forcing himself to cough a little bit. The resulting expulsion saw several droplets of blood land on the boots of Solis Tyber and the deck plating around his feet. Only then did he look up, meeting the man's gaze.

"You may presume as you desire. Sorry about the boots, I seem to be bleeding for some reason..."

 

[Solis Tyber]

Solis chuckled. He stood and motioned his head to the Internal Security troopers holding the man and they pulled him up to standing position, they continued to have their arms wrapped underneath his, supporting his weight. "The nice thing about bleeding is it means that you've managed to be worthy of being bled." Solis smirked as he eyed the smuggler. "Now, tell me, what are you doing around these parts? Bilbringi has long been...neglected by the galactic community despite its notable shipyards and mineral rich asteroids." Solis folded his black-gloved hands behind his back and had his back turned to the outside of the bridge. Solis didn't wait for the man to answer, an intelligence officer handed him a datapad containing all the information he needed about the man, with the exception of his presence within the system. "Val Horne. Freelancer...smuggler? Opportunist? What is the name for that these days?" Solis continued to break his vision with the datapad to see the man standing in front of him.

Iakar Thif stood immediately to the left rear of the Internal Security troopers holding Val, another two men from the Interrogation Section had joined them, one of them holding a stun baton. Solis smirked. "You see what the Sith accomplish with powers, I accomplish with simple everyday tools." Solis had quipped at the use of the Force by many as an interrogation technique. "It is simply easier when the Force is an ally. It rids it of a challenge, of the hunt so to speak." Solis handed the datapad to an intelligence officer standing to his flank. "Now, Val Horne , tell me why have you graced us with your presence?" Solis stepped closer to the man.

 

[Val Horne]

"Begging your pardon Mr. Captain, but at the moment I would prefer to be worth nothing." The words flowed from Val's lips without thought as his mind went on autopilot, considering his options. Escaping now would be impossible, with the two guards currently holding him and an entire bridge crew seemingly waiting for trouble. Odds were more than just slightly against him. No, his best option would be to play along for now until he could get off the bridge. His chances would increase exponentially as long as he survived the next few minutes.

"Smuggler will work just fine, it is a noble profession as long as you don't look at it for too long. And as for me being here, worlds forgotten by the wider galactic community tend to pay a high price for rather simple goods. If a world is out of the loop for even a year, they might miss the latest model of blender after all. So really, I am just a man trying to help foster ties between worlds in the name of good business. As for why I grace your very august presence, Mr. Captain, it simply comes down to me not expecting to be caught. I was not informed of the rather militarized nature of the area, and took the wrong route for what was needed." As Val spoke, he slowly flexed his hands, feeling blood slowly going back into them. After several seconds of this he turned his attention to Thif, his eyes narrowed.

"Tools and toys, whatever you want to call them, only get you so far mate. Better if you don't get caught in the first place, and better still if they never even know you were there."

Solis Tyber

 

[Solis Tyber]

Solis stood as the man finished speaking. "You mustn't be a very good smuggler if you're getting caught." Solis chuckled. He nodded to himself. "I am Regent Solis Tyber of the new Galactic Empire." Solis continued and he smirked as he finished. Prior to this it was just simply "Admiral Solis Tyber, Chief of Naval Operations of the Bilbringi Defense Force." but this new title, this new title had a nice ring to it and someday it might even change to be something else or something greater but it was not this day. Solis eyed the intelligence agents and officers around him, they had all similar backgrounds. They were idealist that had lost their way and his first and dedicated followers had reached out to them, found them and brought them into the bosom of the New Order, the True Order. The new Galactic Empire had not been the same as old, Solis had attracted men and women that wanted peace and security, they believed firmly in the New Order and if they didn't? Well, they were trained to do so. Over the course of the past several months the Bilbringi Defense Force academies had trained tenants of the modified New Order, what Solis called the True Order. It was plain and simple indoctrination and propaganda but it was necessary for unity. Many of Solis' initial followers, including those within Imperial Intelligence were adherents to his beliefs and that allowed him a manner of sway over them.

Solis snapped back from his thoughts and focused down on the man. "Smuggler is indeed a noble profession. It's the glory of the galaxy. One man can find anything to do." Solis nodded again to himself. "We've done our best to ensure our influence and control over this system but it is not absolute, that will come in time and luckily you will be lesson at one of our academies about how to properly interdict smugglers and others. So for that, I thank you." Solis watched the man's eyes narrow on Thif. "He rather excels at his duties. You want to know a secret? He was once a smuggler like yourself who became valuable because he accrued knowledge and sources that we needed, that the Empire needed." Solis stepped closer to Val. "Perhaps one day you might find yourself standing in my cadre, but that is only if you desire the safety and security of the Empire." Solis always made a play on recruiting new, skilled assets for Imperial Intelligence when he could.

Val Horne

 

[Val Horne]

"Regent Captain, please take no offense when I say you got lucky catching me. I came here with some outdated info, and even then, if your little ship here had not shown up, I would have been able to get away." As Val spoke, he glanced up at the two armored guards holding him, judging the best potential way of slipping away from them. He had heard about a Galactic Empire some time ago and knew of various different factions to this day that claimed the old Empire as their ancestor in one form or another. Being held prisoner by such an organization suddenly held a lot less interest to Val, and he began rethinking his thoughts on escaping from the bridge.

The next words from the mouth of Solis Tyber froze Val in place, however. A smile spread across his face as he glanced up to make eye contact with the man, despite his own best judgment. "You capture me, interrogate me, beat me bloody, insult my abilities as a smuggler, and you think you can offer me employment?" Val let out a chuckle as he leaned back into the arms of his captors, resting his weight against their shoulders, letting his tensed muscles relax. One way or another, this was about to end.

"After all of these outstandingly lovely gifts you have already given me, why not employ me, right? How could I possibly refuse an offer like that..." The distrust in Val's words could not be hidden as he watched the two men before him warily. The conversation had taken a turn he was not prepared for, and he was not ready to simply jump into bed with this new Empire, no matter how nice the sheets might look. Especially when he had already gotten a nasty look at their entryway.

 

[Solis Tyber]

Solis shook his head. He made a tsk tsk tsk sound and placed his hand on the shoulder of the smuggler. "That wasn't an offer." The Imperial Intelligence Agency thus far had been made up of those who been brought into the fold of the True Order. "The Galactic Empire will become a power in the galaxy, you fell into my hands for one reason or another and you will serve." Solis clenched his fist and he could feel the tendrils of the Dark Side pulling around him. While combat had indeed been a period in which he connected to the Force the most, he also was connected to the Force in general. Solis eyed the Intelligence officers behind him and he could feel the presence of Iakar Thif. Thif would be responsible as the handler for Val when he entered into the service of the Galactic Empire. Solis backed away from Val and turned his back for the first time to the new addition to the Empire, he approached closer to the transparisteel windows of the Wyvern's bridge. "I didn't start this to fail Val. I didn't start this to end up some footnote in history. I started this for the same reasons you started smuggling. To survive. This galaxy is filled with horrors and conflicts that have cost the lives of billions, we cannot have that anymore. We need safety, we need security. We need the True Order." Solis wheeled around and narrowed his eyes on Val. "Welcome to Imperial Intelligence Agent Horne."

Val Horne

 

[Val Horne]

"Doesn't seem like I have many choices then do I?" Val had begun to surrender to the fact that at the moment, things were no longer in his control. However, that did not mean that he would be stuck in a situation like this forever. No, in many ways this actually gave him a chance to escape down the road, with a lot more credits and resources at his disposal if he played his cards right. Glancing at the others in the small group, Val dipped his head in a show of resignation.

"Very well, I would be happy to join the Intelligence team, Mr. Captain Regent."

Solis Tyber