Imperial Concerns

Posted on Wed Apr 15th, 2020 @ 4:05pm by Thane & Bomoor Thort & Theon

2,621 words; about a 13 minute read

Chapter: Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Grand Alban Library, Capital City, Alba, Outer Rim Alliance
Timeline: End of Week Four, after "Heart of the Alliance"

OLD

A greyish-brown gull-like bird cawed as it swooped down to capture something invisible on the water’s surface and the pair watched as it flew away with its catch towards one of several waterfalls that swept over the endlessly-wide cliffs.

With growing warmth in his tone, Bomoor continued, “This place is a reminder of something that people have always shielded from us, despite it being the most obvious thing in the galaxy: there is life without the Republic.”

Then adding, “And isn’t it quite grand?”

NEW

The walk through the streets of Elsgate had been enjoyable and civil; despite the recent unpleasantness on the Raptor, the simple pleasure of the walk had rekindled some joviality in the two former Jedi and they had begun to reminisce on past outings, comment on the locals and generally discuss other matters of no consequence.

They eventually wound their way, through the narrow streets and across small waterways, to a great green courtyard, filled with trees and market stalls, surrounded by great stone walls at the head of which was the Grand Alban Library. It was telling how this place of learning was the most heavily fortified location in the city; if society fell, the knowledge here was more important than any government, monarch or individual.

This section of the city was so close to the cliffs that great shadows were cast down on the buildings for much of the day but the space seemed to have been designed to catch as much light as possible, with no tall structures, only small stalls, and numerous trees that gave it the impression of a local park more than the city centre. In keeping with the scholarly nature of the area, most of the stalls allowed to operate within the courtyard were of some studious nature, with booksellers, cartographers and apothecaries to name a few.

Thane and Bomoor stepped up to the looming library doors, constructed of some rich, varnished wood and reinforced with durasteel bolts, painted black. Within these excessively-large doors were two smaller entryways, which was where the pair entered the building. Inside they were met with a surprisingly modern data-library with the familiar blue and white holobooks arranged on wide bookselves, each one containing more data than the average sentient could digest in a lifetime. Along the centre, were lines of reference databanks for easy access to the knowledge within the books. All this was set behind a broad front desk made of the same reddish wood as the great doorway.

“Incredible,” Bomoor exhaled as his eyes swept the massive interior, which seemed to go far back into the cliff face to make it considerably larger than it appeared from the outside, “This is even more vast than the Jedi Temple Library or any other data-archive I have ever seen.”

His eyes caught something on a higher level, “And look up there: they have physical books too.”

Up a carved flight of steps and behind a likely locked metal gate, were more bookshelves packed with an assortment of physical books made of paper and other binding materials of various faded colours.

Having pored over the texts retrieved from Darth Cabal’s laboratory on Vaa, as well as the other books Thane and Amare had acquired on Sheva, the sight of more ancient tomes ignited a yearning within the Ithorian to learn more wisdom of the ancients contained within such texts. Something about the physical nature made it harder to censor and control than what was available in data-form.

The two friends had long shared a love of and fascination for a great many interests and pastimes, not least of all the digestion of knowledge through the medium of writing, non-fiction and otherwise. Many hours had been whiled away in the Archives during their youth - and even in the latter years as Jedi Knights - although Bomoor had, ultimately, accrued more hours within the Temple's literary stores, as Thane devoted that iota of extra time to hone his martial prowess.

Even so, he had paused on more than one occasion after they entered the Alban Library. He had taken in a deep breath to savour the distinct scent of the old books and wood that were plentiful in the citadel of learning and wisdom they found themselves within. The aspirant Sith Lord had even removed one of his black gloves - he had retained his dark Jedi regalia for the liberating excursion to Alba - to place a hand on one of the carved bannisters.

"The Republic fought two wars against an idea that they did not even realise existed," Thane observed, angling his head to examine the equally intricate walls and ceilings that stretched far above and around them. Reliefs, statues and classical works of art decorated the building in a fashion almost entirely alien to the modern Core worlds, this place being an ode to a bygone era of High Human culture, abducted as it was by the idealistic intellectuals of the Outer Rim Alliance.

"For some, that battle never stopped," a distantly familiar Human voice spoke from their right and the pair turned to see a slightly larger and older Theon, Knight of the Rift Jedi Order. He wore a light orange tunic with black trim but covered his muscular arms with a thin brown robe.

"Theon," Bomoor acknowledged, giving him a small nod, "We were surprised to hear from you after all this time. How have you been?"

"Very busy," The man gestured over to a small alcove he had been sitting at where another reference computer sat, along with a muted HoloNet projector, "Come, sit over here out of the way."

They slid into the alcove, feeling the cold stone wall on their backs. Bomoor thought this place was not built with comfort in mind, particularly for someone with his frame. However, he propped himself in the corner, which felt a bit better.

"I'm not sure how much you know about what happened to me after Onderon," Theon began, his eyes flitting between and intensely examining Thane and Bomoor, "But I have never truly escaped those events to this day. Losing Sazar in such a way and evading GalactaWerks persecution has meant that my progression within the Order has been slow. But it has given me plenty of time to study and observe the sinister methods by which GalactaWerks continues to assume control over more and more of the Outer Rim and, indeed, the Core worlds as well."

"Sinister corporatism and ineffective politics infects every level of galactic government," Thane agreed, speaking as though he had some personal experience on the matter after listening to Theon's description of his work. He and Bomoor, over the years, had discussed what had possibly become of the tempestuous Rift Knight Thane once duelled in Iziz; details of the Rift Jedi and their movements was fairly limited to the Reborn Jedi or the Judicials, being one of the few effective concessions they had achieved through the peace treaty that ended the war. "But why did you need us?" He asked, cutting straight to the matter.

"Because," Theon stressed the word, as if to make his reasoning more obvious, "I am still a member of the Rift Jedi and, while I can research and investigate of my own accord, I am still under a lot of scrutiny and if I wanted to say, undertake a politically-volatile mission, you can be sure I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long."

He pulled out his personal datapad and inserted it into the terminal, which clicked a couple of times before the HoloNet projection faded and instead displayed the image of an amber-toned planet alongside some data.

"I have certain sources who have made me aware of some recent Mando chatter, particularly around their border with Bastion space. It's not normally my area of interest but when I heard about a GW freighter being ambushed in Mandalorian space, only to find it was transporting a sizeable shipment of their beskar... Well, then I started to take notice. Some further digging has led me to believe there is increased movement from both GW and the Exile faction of the Mandalorians in and around Imperial space. Yet, nobody is admitting to why and how they are getting in and out."

Theon poked a large digit at the planet, "Something is rotton on Bastion and GalactaWerks is once again at the core of it. I don't know if the Imps are in on it, or just being duped, but what I really want is to get down there and find out," the Rift knight spoke with a quiet passion, "I don't know what your positions are on GW after all these years, but you must have your doubts after Onderon. The pair of you are the only ones who, not only might be willing to act against the corporation, but who are also outside the scrutiny of both the Republic or the ORA and their respective Jedi Orders."

Thane had listened intently, crossing his arms across his grey-robed chest, eyes narrowed and examining both the readout and Theon. After a few moments more of considering the other Human's commentary, he spoke. "That is not a great deal to go on, Theon. A vague piece of rogue intelligence and a hunch is not going to convince us to risk our lives in Bastion space for, what?" He gestured to display, to where the chemical designation for beskar sat. "War trophies from another war between the old Imperials and the Mandalorians?"

The former Jedi Guardian looked to Bomoor quickly, a sceptical, quizzical look on his face, before turning back to Theon. "We sympathise with your frustrations with GalactaWerks. There is little more cancerous in this dying galaxy than their corporate tumour, but it's not unfeasible to believe the Company has been pushing the borders illicitly with those two pariah states. They might even be arming for another petty conflict. It's been almost thirty years. They're probably overdue another one."

"This goes beyond a bit of war profiteering," Theon leaned back and mirrored Thane's pose of crossing his arms, "That's practically their bread and butter by this point. No, no; what if I told you that GalactaWerks and Bastion were in bed together? What if this beskar is payment for providing their Imperial military with advanced weaponry and technology? Seems like they might not be taking their alliance with the Republic too seriously."

Bomoor joined the other two in their trio of crossed arms, although this made him re-discover his uncomfortable seat as he did so, "That would be concerning, but how can we trust this is more than just a conspiracy theory brought on by your vocal distaste for the company?"

Theon sniffed sharply as though he found the comment distasteful, "Well, perhaps this will do?"

He tapped the controls before him and brought up an image of a black assault blaster, with a smart but efficient design, "This," the Rift Knight jabbed again, "Is a Bastion-designed weapon. Only made and supplied from the Imps to their troops. That same GW freighter with the Beskar, yeah? Well, the entire security detail aboard had one of these weapons."

Leaning forward slightly, it was more evident that Thane's interest was piqued, a degree of his scepticism dying with Theon's descriptions. "Well, how do we know this isn't a war trophy?" He nevertheless asked, although he was not aggressive with his querying. "We know so little about the state Bastion is in, so diligently and jealously do they guard their borders. It's only what the various types of Mandalorians many to scurry away with from their conflicts that we seem to learn anything, and even then it's second-, maybe even third-, hand information."

"Nope," Theon smirked confidently, seemingly pleased he had anticipated this avenue of questioning, "I checked up on that; this model is modern, produced well after their Fifth Bastion War and current issue to their military."

Bomoor exchanged a glance with Thane, both feeling a rising interest that they fed into each other through their bond, "There are still other ways this could have come into their possession; I am sure even Imperial soldiers are not perfect and it is possible one may have been lost or stolen when out on assignment or in some cantina somewhere. But I will admit that to find such a number among a GalactaWerks crew. That does smell foul."

Theon nodded and his smirk increased into almost a full smile, "There it is: you have tasted GalactaWerks poison and can see things as I do. This is why I wanted the two of you. So, what do you say? Will you look into it for me?"

Before either Thane or Bomoor could answer, the Rift Knight pulled his datapad out of the slot and the screen fizzled back into the standard HoloNet broadcast. To the tremendous surprise of the two former Reborn Jedi, upon the screen were the archive photographs of both their old Masters: Thurius and Sotah.

"Quick, Theon!" Bomoor gestured to the terminal, "Unmute that broadcast!"

"...details have not yet been released," the familiar voice of Charin Dalta, the long-running HoloNet broadcaster, became audible, "But I can confirm that two members of the Reborn Jedi Council have today been stripped of their seats on the council. Masters Thurius and Sotah were relatively recent additions to the council, having served less than ten years between them. The reason for their dismissal is unknown, but we understand they have retained membership of the Reborn Jedi Order. HoloNet News has reached out to the Reborn Order for further comment."

Theon's smirk had gone and he instead scowled at the broadcast, "Those were your masters, weren't they? Is this something to do with you two leaving the Order? Seems rather underhanded to me."

Thane watched the broadcast with an intent glare, and his hands, his arms having dropped down from their crossed position, clenched tightly, the whites of his knuckles clearly visible.

Dalta, and the most recent iteration of his co-host anchordroid, continued providing a spoken account as recordings and images replaced their faces on the broadcast. A video, clear but taken from some distance, of the two Jedi Masters descending the steps from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was shown, as if supporting the misleading notion they had actually been dismissed from the Order (which was not the case), was shown, alongside an account regaling viewers with some of Sotah and Thurius' heroics from the Second Outer Rim Conflict. There was also a brief mention of their actions since the war's conclusion, but these quickly fell aside to the more interesting commentary regarding their supposed mixed loyalties as Rift sympathisers and apparent anti-Republic sentiments in more recent years.

Thane's shoulder and arm muscles tensed with that latest line of vitriol against the two elder Jedi, but his eyes flared when the image suddenly shifted to one of Thane and Bomoor, appearing to have been captured a short while before their first fateful excursion to Nar Shaddaa.

Dalta was unashamed in his retelling of the occurrence at the Galaxies Opera House, as interpreted loosely post-incident by detractors. This went on to reference other less-than-savoury exploits levied against the two former Jedi in the months since, although the details were purposely unspecific and vague. However, "Officials were not available to comment..."

The Sith Lord switched off the monitor mid-story and rose up. He offered a brief and knowing glance to Bomoor, before turning his dark gaze towards Theon. When he spoke, his voice was cold. "We will find your Bastion rot."

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