Tabloid Is the former Sith going rogue?

[The Storyteller]

IS DARTH DIN THE TRUE RULER OF THE EMPIRE?

Many HoloNet News Outlets pointed this out when the Empire first expelled the Sith Order. Was it merely a coup by the Sith Lord Altaïr Din? Did he just cast out the Sith that opposed him as the new Dark Lord and make his confidents the new Imperial Knights? The new Lord Commander was one of his most vocal supporters, the Sith Lord Wodan, and after his disappearance -some claim involvement of the Imperial Security Bureau- another of Altaïr's confidants was made Lord Commander, the Sith Lord Varyn Atrix.

Doesn't it strike you as weird that the Emperor, who is a longtime member of the senate and known for his mediating and anti-violent and anti-impulsive approach to problems, is now only sending in "written rebuttals" to these broadcasted accusations made by his former colleagues?

Is he even alive? Is Davik Emer-Drast even the real Emperor? Or is he just a puppet that the Sith Lord Altaïr Din uses as a cover to justify his crusade against the Jedi Order? I ask you, who has been seen leading the invasions of Jedi worlds? IT IS ALTAIR DIN! It is the Sith Lord who has manipulated and murdered his way into command of the so-called Imperial war machine and the senators are playing right into his hand!

By removing the Empire from the senate they are taking away the only lifeline that Davik Emer-Drast has to protect himself from the Tiefling Sith's vile manipulations through the Force.

Their impulsivity, by not even trying any kind of political and diplomatic discourse with the Diplomatic Corps and the Emperor just proves the point this paper is trying to make. To shine a light on!

Darth Din has been manipulating you all. Everyone that ever opposed him in the Empire is gone! The former Empress, the former ISB Director Vathra, the late Commander Karn, who even admitted in the senate that he did not like the idea of Force users controlling the Empire! It is all connected!

Open your eyes, citizens and senators of the galaxy, and see who your anger should be directed against! On your left you have the former Dark Lord of the Sith, razing the Coreworlds with his Force abominations, while on your right you have the new Dark Lord of the Sith, destroying the only people strong enough in the Force to stop Darth Raze's monsters.

This is not about the senate, former Republic worlds, and the Empire. It is about Darth Raze and Darth Din burning the galaxy to the ground. Wake up! Instead of expelling the Empire from the senate, you should go after the real culprit!

Altair Din is holding the Emperor hostage as he invades Jedi worlds to help Darth Raze's conquest of the galaxy.

 

[Kalique Baize]

The Holonet was buzzing these days. Not just with tabloids, but with much more. An emergency senate session had been launched and the politicians of the Galaxy were in a state of chaos and unrest. No...not just the politicians, the whole Galaxy was chaotic again. The Core was under attack by Raze's abominations, the Sith on the loose, the holonet completely on fire and the mood in the headquarters extremely tense. While stability had been slowly reclaimed through hard work and dedications, somehow Kalique saw the first shatters. It was as if a dormant volcano had once again been woken and whether or not an eruption could be averted remained to be seen...

It had started with another stupid tabloid. A tabloid about Darth Din. It had drew a chuckle from her at first before she had read the whole message. The rolled eyes had soon turned into an actual frown because while the message had been spread and some voices had gotten loud, another realization had hit Kalique.

What had started with the tabloid had turned into a fiery holonet debate that was finally answered by the Dark Lord herself after a few senators had condemned the crimes of the Empire. Sith capitalized on chaos and the Sith had chosen a great time to intervene and fan the flames, but while Kalique doubted that the message would carry much credibility, the consequences kept getting worse. Altair was suddenly getting scape-goated and while the Emperor personally answered Kuat's senator, there was no answers on the rumors about Altair being the Sith puppeteer in the background. Nothing came after Tempest either, no rebuttal, no prove that he was neither captured nor dead, just a puppet or whatever.

Not that the Grand Marshall, who had so much backing, so many followers, who had been the one who had made it possible for the Empire to break free from the tyranny, who was the one that kept it safe and secured by leading the military and who had always put the Empire first and was basically its head needed more credibility, but with zero replies from the Emperor, it didn't look good for the Empire in general and to say that Kalique was disappointed might have been an understatement.

The Knight-Captain was frowning. Yes, it made sense. Politicians always played their games. Was Altair a thread to the Emperor? Surely. The Grand Marshall had been there from the beginning, the Emperor had been elected just a while back, the Grand Marshall was still at the front lines, the Emperor hadn't even shown up at the senate, nor had his face outside in general. But was it a smart move to let those rumors fester? It was only a matter of time until the focus would move from the force-sensitive Grand Marshall to their Ex-Sith Lord Commander and the whole Order of the Knights in general. Once the Knights would come under attack, the wheel would just keep turning until a whole cascade would be triggered that would not only harm the Empire's credibility, but influence, too. Maybe the senate agenda was just the beginning.

To Kalique it felt that a part of the trust that had slowly been rebuilt and all the hard work, all the years she had invested were shattered. It was as if a self-destrcution button had been hit and all measures taken in terms of damage control seemed to do the opposite. Kalique even began to wonder whether this was a set-up...a clever move from a political enemy - not the Sith, maybe the ISC because there had never been any efforts made to offer and olive branch to their once sworn enemy...or had this been an early result of the open war against the Jedi? She didn't want to believe it came from within as she simply couldn't imagine a single scenario in which this whole ordeal would turn out positive, but as she kept struggling for answers, things seem to get worse.

Altair was leading the campaign in the North, Kalique still wasn't sure why a northern expansion had been started in a first place as they had only made themselves another enemy by that, an enemy who would have been a powerful ally against the Sith who were now the only ones benefitting while the Empire lost its credibility...and then there was still Altair, who was once again faced with so much shit after he had always been the one who had dedicated his life to the Empire that was now leaving him undefended? Was this the course of action now? Blaming the "power hungry" Tiefling "Sith Lord" for the Northern expansion? Would this be the political explanation of the diplomatic corps? The grande Imperial power play and clever diplomacy? No...this simply wasn't right. None of it.

"What does one have to do these days to get an audience with this Darth Din?" she sarcastically messaged Altair, a bitter taste in her mouth. It was hard to imagine what this was doing to him, but she needed answers. She wanted to know whether he was alright, whether he had any information on why the Council wasn't acting or why the Emperor wasn't present in such times. The first Knights were already slightly unsettled, fearing the consequences that could have been so easily avoided but instead the downward spiral continued. It was Altair in the dock, alone for now, and it was wrong - just as how wrong it would be if he'd speak up now. Actions needed to follow, but the whole situation was already complicated enough and it left Kalique with a thousand thoughts in her mind.

@Sreeya

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The complexities of politics were sometimes difficult to follow, given how there would often be so many moving parts and a myriad of those involved deployed to see an end goal enacted. When each of the departments within an organisation were operating at maximum efficiency, mountains could be moved, but once they were out of alignment, chaos.

Chaos was a vehicle for change, and often this change came in unexpected ways. When the Sith Empire took measure against the ISC, it did so without the full backing and support of its armed forces. A sudden and violent war of attrition unfolded, and the two juggernauts of the galaxy expended vast treasures and blood. But in the end, this misalignment and mismanagement left unchecked and withering ultimately festered, forcing chaos to emerge which famously lead to the great exodus.

From the ashes, a new empire was born, freed from the shackles of the Sith and dominance of the force. A new era was ushered in, it was proclaimed. To most outsiders, the Grand Marshal was expected to succeed the former empress in what might have otherwise been called a coup, but yet this did not occur. Stepping aside instead and restoring the empire to civilian rule was a breath of fresh air in a stale galaxy, and one that saw planets from the North to the South teem with excited energy at this new prospect.

No longer ruled in fear by the possibility of having a lightsaber thrust through one's chest into one's terminal, the ISB blossomed once more. Guinevere's own success pulled her from a simple desk hand to an Overseer of her own division among the many others that saw meteoric rises under the new system.

The news of the Empire's sudden and explosive campaign against the Jedi had swiftly taken Bastion before a real defence could be mounted. Further sectors seemed imminently to be taken, and yet in the midst of this grand undertaking came the most surprising attack of them all - against the Grand Marshal.

From her privileged position, with access to material and information far more classified than the average Imperial, it wasn't difficult to see where the dagger had come from. Certain sectors would immediately leap upon it, for their own machinations, but the common foot soldier, whose loyalties to the man ran deep, wouldn't likely be so easily convinced. Short of a confession, Guin expected a vast majority would simply side with the man they knew and trusted over a frail old man they didn't when push came to shove.

Of course, that would be treason. But so was rising against the Sith, was it not?

The galaxy watched and waited to see how Altair might respond, or if he would? And yet nothing immediately came. The seemingly neutered ISB lay in wait without direction from the director either. Was this a sign of complicity, or simply an attempt at being shrewd and awaiting to see who would come out victorious?

With no direct ill-will towards the Grand Marshal, Guin could only be disappointed if the ISB had a hand in handling this. Not only had the hit job failed to actually destroy the man in the eyes of his biggest supporters, it had fuelled their enemies and given rise to more dangerous groups to take advantage of the situation. Not to mention targeting the leader of your military campaign whilst it grows.

Why hadn't they simply offered to support him and in the critical moment pulled the rug from beneath him? Collapsed under the weight of his own success, the failures would do tenfold the damage than any tabloid could. Or why even bother at all? If Altair had wanted the throne he could have taken it at any time, could all this has been avoided by simply thanking him for his service and offering the ageing warrior a well-earned retirement?

It wasn't even that Guin disagreed with the premise. A vastly popular figure in command of your military was certainly an unsettling consideration for anyone, even if there was little risk of it blowing up. The rudimentary way it was done, however, hearkened back to the Sith invasion of Corellia, and we all saw how that played out. If the IAF could be contained with a loyal puppy, the only remaining threat to the seat was the Imperial Knights.

The easy option, it seemed, had closed its doors and thus remained only chaos. In this, however, it can also accompany opportunity for those willing to reach out and grasp it.

Guin sat there quietly in contemplation sipping a caf, considering the risks and rewards of doing nothing compared to the alternative. What if Kalique was next? The bitter feeling churned her stomach at the thought of a close friend being put through that. After all these years of watching her be the protector, it was only fair, to return the favour.

Maybe someone just needed a little nudge first.