The Rebel Faction

Kessel
Type: Asteroidic
Climate: Dry/Barren
Terrain: Desert/Mountain/Cavernous
Kessel is on the border of wild space a unknown and wild expanse of unexplored systems, The law practically does not exist and many bizarre creatures are found on the planets around here. Kessel itself only has one famous animal..or insect, A species of large crystanline spiders many of the spice miners who worked in the caverns found there end when these drained the liquids out of the bodys. The spiders would normally of been surpressed but due to there enormous size and the fact that they spun the valuble spice glitterstim used in many places around the galaxy for medication and interrogation. The Planet below ground level is rich in glitterstim and it is the only valuble resource found on kessel, on the surface mile upon mile of red deserts stretch out no life on the surface without artificial support can exist. The planet is so small that it lacks a atmosphere of it's own and so massive Oxygen factorys where constructed even then the oxygen is so thin that you cannot survive without a mask for anylength of time.

In the past this planet has been used as a testing ground for many imperial superweapons which where created in the maw installation nearby in the titanic battle which took place between the republic fleet and imperial remnant as it emerged from the maw. As a result the planet has no real moon to speak of only a long and vicous cycle of bloodshed and such on this planet. Being seperated by hutt space from the republic for the most part people on kessel can get away with pretty much anything here...

The term "spice" has come to describe a wide variety of stimulants mined or processed from a number of worlds, but the glitterstim found on Kessel is easily the most valuable. Not only a euphoric psychotropic drug beneficial in therapeutic uses, the photoactive fibrous strands imbue a user with a temporary increase in latent telepathy. This, combined with the rarity of the substance, makes it incredibly valuable --- valuable enough to kill and die for.

When the Empire rose to power, it took control of the spice mining operations, cutting into the profits of a number of underworld enterprises. The Empire constructed a correctional facility on Kessel's blighted surface where criminals and political prisoners were forced to toil in freezing underground caves to extract the spice. Since the spice would be activated by any light whatsoever, the indentured miners had to work in absolute darkness as they harvested the precious strands.

When not in the darkness of the mines, a criminal could find little hope in looking to the stars above Kessel. Not only was the system adequately guarded, but the skies were dominated by the startling display of the Maw Cluster, an unlikely conglomeration of black holes that would forever remind any souls on Kessel of their inescapable mortality.


This was all the Intelligence web had on the subject. The agents had come back from the world with very little information return. They had information on the battle, on the groups involved, the change of hands. Information on the now, while helpful in the now, was not a great intrest to the Empire as a whole. The then and after was a much more important aspect of the information gathering than the now would be. The then could show what the after might be and enlighten the young on what has been. The after would shape the way things would be and how the lives of the others would be lived. The now would only be good for the now, untill kept until it became the then.

What was known in the now was that the current owners, under the name 'Farfaleen' were more of a group of militants than an actual government in their own right. Much like a Claw or Wing given to their own. A Claw needed a Scale to protect it and a Maw from which to issuie forth its decrees. This Farfaleen was without this and it had been pointed out by these agents that perhaps it would be possible for that Maw to be spared and had.

Kessel.

To say that he knew a few people down there was an under statement. Before the planet had been occupied by the Farfalen Mercs, He had a fair amount of business there. It was back when business was good, and the Hutts ran the spice planet. Being a corporate CEO, he got on closer terms with most of the people in charge of distrubution. Of course they were as shifty as he was, but when you play the game, you're always gonna have those kinds of people. What he did know was that under the Farfalen Mercs, their entire business operation was pretty much vapourized, and spice production plummeted. Not exactly something spice-barons enjoy. Now, with the Empire gone, one would wonder if they even remembered how to play the market. Seeing how half the spice czars down there owed the Black Dragon Empire at least a dozen favors, a plan began to brew in the back of the envoys mind. If it worked, it might save his skin, and Faralen's for that matter. Even though Kessel was a dangerous place, it was a picnic compared to what we'd come across by taking out the Hutt guilds spice cache in the past.

The shuttle reappeared near the asteroid planet of Kessel approaching its destination. It would be only hours until the Lord set foot once again upon the grounds of the world. A world he had once known as an unescapable prison colony of the Imperial swine, that was of course, before he escaped. Though, what fates had sent him to return this day, only his wonderous saviors in Gods, praised be, knew.

Retrothrusters ignited as the landing gear emerged and touched down upon the bay. The shuttle landed with a slight jolt. The groan of the ramp lowering coinciding with the disembarking parties rise to their feet. In no time, the boarding ramp lowered from the shuttle and the Lord descended downward. The dark hooded cloak concealing his face, and his hands tucked away inside. As they descended the ramp the wind rose to meet them. Actung took the lead his head sheltered from the day light by the dark green of his hood. The two people flanking him stood to their full hieghts faces open to the wind each carrying several large padds with them. One had brown hair light skin deep darkened eyes and a hooked nose. The other Black hair tanend skin and a rather pointy nose with hazel eyes.

The spaceport was spartan, bland, and utilitarian. Utterly drab. Of course, being in the armpit of the galaxy and having absolutely no saving grace in tourism did that to a hunk of rock like Kessel. At any rate, it had four walls, ceiling, doors, and an atmosphere, which made it a good place to be. They walked inside, stopping at the slowly opening hydrolic doors, seemingly a very old technology to have been placed here. Apparently, the Farfalen Mercs coming had caused everything to stand on its head. Nobody was getting paid. Nobody. Military, spicers, etc. The mines had shut down, and confusion was heavy in the air.

As expected the Farfalen negotiating party had been at the prescribed coordinates, though they looked less and less like a negotiations party with every glance and more like a merc group that stole their computers. Either way, this was the way things were ment to be played out, and thus it would be as such.

"Droma dizon logun."

Actung greeted in Dameunn with a bow grinnign before translating.

"Hello, good life."

It wasn't an entirely accurate translation but there was more then one meaning to the key word of the phrase.

"I am Actung, and these are my aides. May I ask who I have the honours of meeting?"

He was in a dream, a fuzzy dream full of images, and pictures, and sounds, and smells. It almost smelled realistc. Then, as his head fell into a bowl of soup, he realised that in fact is was real, and due to the fact that he had once again been drinking, he had a bad hangover that made it seem like he was asleep, when in fact he was not. He pulled his head out of his soup, then faded out again. Fighting fate, he proceeded to slurp loudly as he drank his soup. He almost drowned, but just managed to get to the soup slurped up in time. He had become a slob, and despite resolve after resolve to change his ways, he always ended up the same. Perhaps this merger between the Black Dragon Empire, and his own group, Farfalen, would give him the motivation needed to change his ways, and become a proper fleet commander. But first, he was trying to remember exactly what he had been up to last night. He stood up shakily, spilling his bowls everywhere, when a Leuitenant came up to him, and helped to steady him.

"Careful Captian, don't push it. Thanks to you, the whole crew had a wild and awesome party last night. The ship may be a mess, but we thank you for the chance to unwind after several weeks of hard work." said the Leuitenant.


...


Some time later, Captian Vincent Harker strolled onto the bridge of the Kessel class Picket, and reported to Supreme Admiral Zen about the status of the plague that seems to have broken out on his ship.

"No sir, all victims are female, and all have cases of morning sickness. Despite the fact that they won't talk, I suspect that someone is having certain forbidden pleasures aboard my ship. I will deal with it immediatly." said Vincent.

After signing off, Vincent turned to his aide. "Find some slacker, and have him dumped out the airlock. He will be the sex bandit for now. And let me know when the replacements arrive, and if any of them are female." said Vincent with a growing smile. Life aboard a Farfalen ship was grand indeed...........

Cronese Mandate
Corvis Minor 3

Everything was happening so fast, it was impossible to judge the true effect it would have, here and across the galaxy. Here of course mattered more, but you had to have a wider vision- as long as you kept it in perspective. Everything has an order of importance; and determining where most anything fit in on that order was a simple task for Raleck Kradesh. It was as simple as this: If it involved the Cron Mandate, it was of the utmost important, if it involved anyone else, it was a distant second. Of course, it could be much farther subdivided than that, but Raleck preferred only to do so if he had to. Otherwise, such broad strokes would work; they always had and always would. Still, Raleck had an interest in the proceedings. It was expected off him, a blood member of the House of Cron, Raleck was expected to have knowledge in such things.

The mere thought made him spit in disgust. He was blood relative to the ruling house of the Cronese Mandate, a royal line that traced it’s lineage back centuries, yet the kingdom was becoming little more than a vassal. His ‘brilliant’ uncle, Robeir XXXIII, had made the negotiations with the Black Dragon Empire, and when Raleck had questioned, he had been penned of to a commission in the navy- to get out of Robeir’s hair. Stuck over Corvis Minor 3, he was still expected to keep up with all the intrigues of the court, and its relations, both domestic and foreign, as if he was waiting in line to rule all of the Cron. He spat again at the thought- although he was in the line of succession, the chances of his ascension were poor- and he wouldn’t have wanted to rule over such a pathetic existence such as the Mandate anyway. The region had slipped from its past glory, cutting back on its once profitable mining operations for no apparent reason (most likely mismanagement was the cause though) and being reduced to accept a joke of a treaty bringing Cron under direct influence of the techno freaks on Daemo.

Even the ship Raleck was on was a piece of crap…. And this was supposed to be a connected position. Corvis Minor 3 was supposed to be protected by a Loronar Strike Cruiser, and a pair of Rendilli Stardrive Dreadnaughts (not the best craft but certainly sufficient for a semi important world in the Tion Cluster) but maintenance problems had all three of those large capitals in eternal dry-dock, unable to be repaired to due to lack of parts. Raleck Kradesh, of Cron royal blood, commander in charge of defense of Corvis Minor 3 was forced to run his defense from a Highblood class frigate, a centuries old vessel that had seen service during the era immediately after the Mandolrian Wars! Refitted several times in its life, the vessel was capable enough, and its large size had allowed excellent defensive and sensor packages to be installed sometime in he relatively recent past, but for a 900 meter vessel, it had appalling weaponry, and was slower than Raleck even cared to think about.

Not that anybody cares.

He had been sent away to keep his ‘unneeded’ commentary from disillusioning any of the Royal Entourage or advisors that the Black Dragon Treaty was unfair. Of course now, sitting on the vessel, he was being asked to read a report on a Dragon affair, and make a report on how it would effect the Mandate. BDE was a power in the Tion sector to be sure, but their affinity for dealings with the outer galaxy, even if in a hostile manner, irked Raleck. Well, at least that’s what he told himself. The fact that BDE had tremendous power in the galaxy, with the threat of their ultimately deadly phage missiles and super advanced technology, may have been the real reason Raleck felt offended that the Mandate had submitted so willfully to Daemo. They had the power he wanted, and thus his jealousy manifested itself in anger. Anger that was only fuled by what he was reading, again, finally shifting himself back to his appointed task.

Intel Report 17464B
Black Dragon Expansion in ‘The Maw’

[I[ Our sources have pieced together a semblance of what is currently occurring with regard to the recent moves by both The Black Dragon Empire and the rouge group known as ‘Farfalen’. Much of the acticity between between the two seems centered on Kessel, a large planetoid located in the edge of the galaxy. The planet is known for its former Imperial connections, most reputably a large scale incarceration facility and slave mine. No known sentient indigenous life. Only 1 major commodity, spice, in its several forms. Most profitable export: Glitterstim. Current government: unknown. Also believed to be connected to Imperial projects of great importance.

Raleck was already disgusted with the nearly unitelligble report. The Cronese Mandate intelligence service was notorious for illegible, inarticulate reports filled with useless and easily accessible information, garbled together with bits and pieces of real info, in an attempt to hide the huge holes in their reports. Raleck felt he was about to get another huge bunch of bantha fodder where he was supposed to be getting priceless information. However he had to keep reading, on the small chance some useful information happened to be slipped in by mistake. Raleck seriously doubted it, but he had been wrong before.
He peered back down at the data file.

It seems that BDE was drawn in because the mercenaries who took the planet had seriously disrupted spice flow. The previous owners, the Outer Rim Soveringty had cut down the flow, but they had not fully stamped out the critical drug to millions of spice addicts. The space battle and subsequent bombardment and occupation had been quite a traumatic event though, and dealt quite a blow to the illicit trade. BDE must have had some links to the trade because high level executives had traveled there to speak with the new owners of the planet and possibly restore the flow of the critical material. This seems to be in the direct opposite of the ORS policy which was to begin cracking down, or turning a blind eye to the trade, as long as it didn’t get rampant. Like several other of President Griff’s decisions, it is subject to debate, several analysts believe it to be a intelligent move, while other felt it would cause problems for the Soverignty, which had made a previous declaration against smuggling in Soverignty space. It is unclear of course, how everything would play out, because the ORS was relieved of their instillations on Kessel following the Farfalen attack. Farafalen’s assault was believed to be very timely, due to the ORS commitment to fighting the Empire on several fronts, leaving fewer forces to protect this remote outpost. Still, the fight was quite tremendous, though in the end, the ORS force were overwhelmed by a combination of superior firepower and numbers. Our sources believe if the ORS had not been occupied elsewhere it would have been likely that the assault may have failed, due to a much larger Kessel defense fleet, though the leader of the Farafalen mercs is reputed to be quite a tactician.

The rambling was going so far off on a tangent, Raleck was having trouble following it. Why did it matter what the ORS was doing in relation to spice smuggling? Who cared how the battle might have turned out? It was in the past, it was unimportant, it was only slightly relevant, and basically sausage filler, a bunch of crap. He scrolled down a bit, and with a renewed disgust read on.

It is believed that Farfalen and Daemo made a formal agreement, bringing the former into the latter, in exchange for a huge amount of credits, and a agreement to renew the spice trade in a semi-legitament venture of IDtech, the semi-nationalized corporation on Daemo, which is the true technological power behind the government. Although he recently stepped down, the current leader of BDE, Heir Ratkus was for a long time the CEO of IDtech. IDtech is famous for several light friegther designs as well as other civilian technology on Daemo unparrelled in the galaxy. An example of this would be the so called ‘Mystery’ a revolutionary technology that allows the citizens of the Black…

Raleck didn’t even bother reading the next several paragraphs knowing it would contain pointless info about BDE which was totally irrelevant. If he ever caught the intel officer who wrote this report he’d have him beheaded- after he had him tortured for 7 days in a secret prison somewhere. He was getting a migraine headache just skimming the report.

The sum that has been transferred is huge number, available only to monster corporations. It is unlikely however, that such a loss of assets will affect IDtech, BDE or any other their current province will be unduly effected. In fact, since the deal is currently unknown to many galactic investors, IDtech has continued rising at a steady pace, and unless it is divulged, it may only continue to go up. Even if its divulged, the addition of legalized spice trading may actually offset any ill effects. Guryil Lijgh, a Twi’leck anyalist for finacial services has suggested that t

Raleck had had enough. With disgust he threw down the datapad. He wasn’t really angry at the Black Dragon Empire- no it was just frusturating reading such a poor report. It was things like this that had let Cron slip down low enough to be brought into a unfair deal with BDE. Well, maybe not totally unfair, but unneseccary. Raleck hit himself for giving the deal such a distinction. No- he would not allow his feelings to waver. His (it was to some degree his) kingdom deserved better. They should be dealing with Mercs over the spice trade, not BDE. Of course, now Cron was BDE, but that was not a distinction he was ready to make. Besides, foreign policy was the least of his worries. BDE and Farfalen could do whatever they pleased- he was more worried with his own internal problems. He had do something, everything else could wait. Maybe he could talk his Uncle into letting him address the court alone- and maybe convince someone about his point of view. Maybe he could promise to shut up in exchange for replacement parts (if there were any in the whole Mandate) for his strike cruiser and dreadnaughts. Having those toys to play around would distract him for awhile, maybe. Crushing the datapad would have felt much better, but he refrained- he might need it later, much later when such information might actually be important. They said if you put 100 tach monkeys in a single room and let them type up datacards long enough they would reproduce the works of the great Jedi Borles Huril if given enough time. Raleck had never been one to believe in those odds- he always thought that analogy was stupid, a foolish bit of nonsense. I mean what were the odds, 500 to 1? 1000 to 1. Higher? Probably. Raleck was sharp, and could probably figure out the exact odds if he felt like it- but it was a pointless exercise. He would leave such endeavors to the intell personale. Besides, the number would be depressingly small- Raleck would hate the touch of reality- it would remind him of an even smaller chance- something even more improbable than the tach writing something coherent.

The Cron Mandate’s leadership actually listening to reason.