Location: Northwest Spaceport, Landra.
"
Information is a commodity. It can be traded, sold, and purchased. And in the end, credits are only as useful as the secrets they can buy."
-- Darth Bane.
Tags:
Valery Noble
As the
Jedi Grandmaster boarded her transport, and made their way into the heart of the
Empire of the Lost to find her target, she had, in turn, put into a motion a series of events that were set to shake the very foundations of the galactic powers.
The city of
Northwest, located on the smaller of
Lianna's two continents
Landra, was colloquially the only spaceport on the planet's surface. This was done by design, of course. With the sprawling megacomplexes and buildings which lined the inner walls of
Lianna City (the planet's capital and ecumenopolis) made it some what of a logistical nightmare for the purposes of surveillance, and order, such was the size of the city in comparison to smaller ones like
Northwest. The
Peacekeepers and contingents of
Stormtroopers which patrolled the capital city would be overrun in their duties without the surveillance apparatus that served the Empire. So the
Bureau had taken steps to co-ordinate with their patrols, and deliver the necessary information to ensure that the Capital was secure. After all, it was the primary mission of the
Bureau to maintain security, and order across the Empire at any cost, especially in the Capital of
Lianna City.
In it's initiatives to keep the planet under their control the
New Imperial Security Bureau had done well to stop the lobbyists petitioning to re-open the now abandoned spaceports inside the city. Their pleas, which were based on arguments for better lines of commerce and trade, had fallen on deaf ears. To the
Moff Council maintaining security, and order, took precedent over the economical advantages that a spaceport in the capital would provide. So, instead, new arrivals were directed to the lesser known
Northwest so that their surveillance apparatuses were better equipped in the monitoring of domestic or foreign arrivals to the planet. Away from the noise and overpopulated crowds of the Capital this much smaller (and arguably more eloquent city) was prime for the
DSDT Program as there was less domestic foot traffic to monitor, leaving them the time to track foreign travellers that had come to
Lianna. Leave the domestic work for the other
DSDT Outposts in the Capital, and other cities across the planet.
Outpost Northwest's primary concern was the spaceport, and all those who came or went from it.
At the turn of the new century the
Bureau had- with the financial backing, and approval of the reigning
Moff Council- founded the
Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats program, or
DSDT for short, with the objective of putting every star system, planet, and city within the Empire into a sophisticated security apparatus unparalleled in it's design and ability to monitor targets. The idea of
Alicia Drey
(the new sitting
Staff Director of the
Bureau) there are outposts across the Empire that are keeping an eye on
you. Using modern day technologies and
A.I (which followed sophisticated algorithms of Drey's own design) there wasn't much missed by the
Bureau today's day and age. Indeed, the program was the envy of the
Secret Intelligence Agency of the
Galactic Alliance as well as their enemies in the
Sith Order and their
Tsis'Kaar or their new enemy in the
Dark Empire and their
Imperial Security Bureau.
Naturally, these outposts were linked to the mainframe of the
Bureau and it's other branches of intelligence gathering, monitoring and security apparatuses. A list of individuals spanning across the entire Galaxy had been drafted as 'persons of interest' to the Bureau. Some were enemies, of course, and others were neutral, or friendly. It didn't matter who you were: the
NISB always held an interest into the dangerous, the rich, powerful or influential, both inside and out of the Empire. Friend, or foe. All of this matched not only the
Bureau's original directives, but that of
Director Drey and her
Order of Sith Lords.
If a member of the
Sith Order were to step foot onto a world belonging to the Empire, for example, then chances were they would find themselves under surveillance and consequentially terminated or detained rather quickly. The same would be true for neutral factions, or organisations. If
Danger Arceneau
appeared on
Lianna, or any other planet that the
DSDT Program had under surveillance, then chances were she would be picked up for interrogation too. Nobody came or went from the
Empire of the Lost nowadays without extreme methods of anti-surveillance, and training. There were also other people that the
Director had put into the mainframe itself. Alicia had interests in a wide variety of individuals across the entire Galaxy. With the
Bureau under her control she was set to use it as the foundation for the creation of a vast conspiracy set to engulf all the major factions. In this way
Darth Ayra continued to weave herself into the tapestry of the
Sith'ari. She was confident Bane would approve of her work.
From the
Tsis'Kaar to the
Corporate Sector to the boardroom of the
Trade Federation and the dark meetings of the
Dark Side Elite Alicia was on a recruitment drive designed to create an organisation that had no name, or face. A conspiracy in which only she and her Apprentice were in the full knowledge of who were both set to bring in the spies, politicians, heads of business, senators, diplomats or crime lords to conspire with both
Sith through acts that were covert, clandestine and often compartmentalized. Initiatives, such as the
Direct Surveillance of Domestic Threats program, were mere stepping stones to a much larger thing she was growing in the shadows, and all of it inadmissible to any scrutiny from the likes of
Velran Kilran
and his
Moffs. If they were to ever inquire, or interfere with her work then Alicia was confident she would find them in admiration. They too had their own paradigms in motion that were of need of an intelligence apparatus of a scale such as the
DSDT that, in turn, she was set to corrupt and turn to her own schemes. As Alicia had been taught during her early years of training and study in the dark side the act of manipulation was to make them think that your ideas were theirs. In the
DSDT Program Alicia had accomplished exactly that.
In her seminal efforts in creating the
DSDT Program Alicia had drafted up a list of people that she was set to target. The reasons for their entry on the list were numerous, and convoluted. There was, of course, the heads of business and corporations, such as
Arceneau and her trade company, but also enemies or threats to herself that would need to be kept an eye on, and if necessary, eradicated. It just so happened that on this particular fateful day, as a public transport begun docking procedures in
Northwest Cities Spaceport, one of those threats had just been picked up by
Outpost Northwest: a building located in vicinity of the Spaceport, and whose
A.I had just recorded a picture of
Valery Noble
that held a mere 58% match.
It was enough to send the
Agents who manned the Outpost into a state of shock, and frenzy.
A call was going to be made.
~
Location: Lianna City, New Imperial Security Headquarters.
Alicia often found herself on the rooftop of the
Bureau's headquarters when she was on
Lianna. She had just returned from a successful trip on
Obredaan only a few days ago, and up here she could think. Her time back had seen her convene with the
Staff Deputy Director, Sector Commanders and
Agent Commanders which made up the head brass of the organisation. The agenda of the meeting had been in regards to the
Tsis'Kaar. Now that the Empire had entered into conflict with
Sith on
Felucia there were major concerns with the
Bureau regarding the security risks posed by the secretive organisation that they were now set to do battle with in the shadows. They were right to be afraid of them. In comparison to the power of the dark side the
Bureau were not much of an opposition, even if the followers of the
Tsis'Kaar followed the diluted ways of the modern
Sith.
Standing up on this building, while watching over the city, was a comfort Alicia allowed into her life. It allowed her to think, and ponder on her next move. It involved furthering the corruption of the
Bureau from the top to bottom. She would need to court another person to fill the role of
Staff Deputy. The current man was not someone that Alicia would be able to manipulate, coerce or blackmail. He was a stout
Imperial- a
loyalist to the Empire and doctrines of the
New Order. Their replacement would be someone that Alicia could use, and act in her place, so that her trips off-world to the likes of
Obredaan could be done without affecting her duties back here on
Lianna. They would need to be someone capable of fulfilling the role while she would be away. A believer in her cause, and the plans that she would put into motion. Not someone who would know the full extent of her plans, but an individual who would buy into an idea that they would think is theirs, but would be hers in realit-
Gon.
Alicia turned her gaze from the street traffic below to her hip. The familiar sound of her commlink pinging to her left broke her thoughts. Annoyed, Alicia lowered her hand down to her hip to remove the device and open it.
"This better be good," Alicia spoke curtly to the person on the other side.
"Director Drey," replied the nervous tones of a male. Alicia already guessed by his voice that he was someone in their early twenties. Native to
Lianna based on the accent. Nervous because he was low in rank and talking to the second most powerful person in the entire Empire.
"I am Agent Barut from Outpost Northwest..." The annoyance that Alicia felt graduated away rather quickly as Barut continued to speak. She recognised the outpost as one belonging to the
DSDT. Now she was intrigued instead.
"...we have a message on display here to contact you directly."
"Yes, Barut. Who is that you have found?"
"You won't believe this, ma'am, but our A.I picked up a sighting of Valery Noble in the spaceport," Barut explained. He did well not to stammer in his explanation, and Alicia did the same not to break out into laughter. Was he being serious?
"We can't be a hundred percent confident on the match but we're now making enquires to get a confirmation. It could be someone who looks like her, so we're looking into it now. Just to be sure. But we were passed orders on by the A.I to contact you if a..."
Alicia looked away from the commlink quietly to stare back out at the city as Barut's voice trailed off somewhere in the distance. Her eyes became unfocused, and the mind begun to
race. Alicia knew that after
Coruscant there was going to be someone after her. Her expectations had rested in some
Jedi of relative obscurity, or a
spook working for the
Secret Intelligence Agency. Someone was definitely going to come after her, she had foreseen it. Given her recent arrangements with the
Mecetti she had, in fact, expected them to have something to do with it. After all,
Casteban Mecetti
was a
Senator and a cunning man at that. It made a lot of sense for one of them to put the might of the
Alliance on her heels given the things she had discovered about them.
Fight fire with fire, as the saying goes.
But not the
Jedi Grandmaster herself and here on
Lianna of all places? Was this because of
Tython and her recent duel with
Vulpesen
? Had her recent meetings with the heads of
Mecetti Nationalized Industries, Trade Federation of Planets, Corporate Sector and the dozen other organisations warranted the full attention of the most powerful
Jedi today? Had she underestimated Casteban and the investigation he was going through into Alicia and her affairs after what happened to
Relux and the incident on
Obulette? Or was this was the move of an unknown rival in the
Dark Empire or
Sith Order who were simply following the old maxim of the enemy of my enemy is my
friend? Out of all the prisoners who were freed in
Operation: Absolution had she been really far up the rest of criminals to kill, or bring back in, that the leader of the
Jedi Order would come here, for her?
The variables were numerous. Far too many to consider, and ponder on. This required her full attention. The ways of the dark side compelled her to
act.
"Agent Barut," Alicia replied after a long bout of silence. Far longer than it should have been to reply too his brief report. Her eyes narrowed, and the cunning mind that she possessed begun to assert control of the growing situation.
"I am on my way to your Outpost right now. I want eyes kept on the suspect at all times. Contact me immediately when you have a full picture, or recording of Noble. I want an exact match beyond a shadow of a doubt. Do not let local authorities know of this sighting yet. We have to be sure before we make our move. You have five minutes."
The last part had been a lie. If she were a real
Imperial fulfilling the duties of the
Staff Director then a 58% match to
Valery Noble
was more than enough to send in the
Peacekeepers to apprehend and detain the suspect until a positive identification was made. This would require some explanation later if internal affairs were to look into this incident. But Alicia would worry about that for later. If it really was the
Jedi Grandmaster then they were here on
Lianna and it was either for her, or they were up to something else. Both were intriguing, and dangerous. If it was the former- rather than the latter- then Noble's presence here on
Lianna risked catastrophe to Alicia and her place in the
Bureau. If it was the latter then it still warranted her full attention.
As far as Alicia was concerned the newly anointed
Emperor of the Lost and his council of
Moffs did not know Alicia Drey was in fact a
Sith Lord nor the former
Jedi Knight who served in the
Old Republic. Of course, it was possible that Kilran
did know who she was and was playing a cunning game that Alicia did not yet understand or know about. With
Maestus
at his side there were already connections to be made and it depended on what the Twi'lek would do with what she knew. Then, of course, the man was an extremely powerful individual with his own powerbase to work with. It was entirely plausible that Kilran had his own sources to work with outside the ones Alicia knew about.
But if Noble made contact with any of them, or were discovered by the Empire before Alicia could intervene, then it spelled doom for her. She had to find Valery first, and stop her before the other powers that be here on
Lianna made their move. The only advantages that Alicia possessed at this time was first knowledge, and control. It was days like today that made the effort and expense of the
Direct Surveillance program worth while. She would get to Noble first, before the Emperor, his Council or others discovered her.
Darth Ayra was a Master of the
dark side and a true master never revealed him or herself.
In the here, and now, Alicia knew of a possible threat and it warranted her full powers in the dark side. Switching frequencies from
Outpost Northwest to her personal ship Alicia called up
Arsix: an old astromech droid left over from Ella Nova's time.
"Arsix. Activate the protocol unit on board the Initium and have it take the ship directly to my position. I am on top of the Bureau headquarters in Lianna City."
Wee-woo replied the astromech on the other end. Closing the commlink and pocketing it Alicia begun to unfasten the white tunic that she was wearing. As the flap came undone and loosened Alicia bowed her head in concentration. She reached out into the Force for guidance, and answers. As the gusts waged around her, threatening to knock her off the ledge of the headquarters, Alicia felt
nothing. Was it really
Grandmaster Noble, or was it a false positive?
