The Empire's Golden Boy

[Baastian Cain]

FADE IN.

EXT: Great Jedi Temple, file footage


NARR:
The Jedi. Ancient defenders of truth
and justice.


Artistic rendering of several Jedi with ignited lightsabers, poised to leap into action. Their noble, heroic faces gradually twist into maniacally evil grimaces.


NARR:
Or so they were.


Shaky camera footage of bodies moving in smoke, blaster fire, swinging lightsabers. Screams of terror and anguish.


NARR:
At the end of the Clone Wars, the
Jedi betrayed the Republic and tried
to seize power... with tragic
consequences.


EXT: The Great Jedi Temple burning and in ruins. Pan up, fade to starfield. Three Imperial Star Destroyers slide into view. TIE Interceptors fly by in formation.


NARR:
But out of the decadence of the Old
Republic rose the Galactic Empire,
and out of the ashes of the Jedi
came... THE IMPERIAL KNIGHTS.


Four Imperial Knights in uniform fade into view, larger than life, superimposed over the starfield. At the front of the group stands BAASTIAN CAIN, a tall, classically handsome blond man with piercing blue eyes and a lantern jaw.


NARR:Stalwart champions of justice and
order. Mystic heroes for a new age.




BAASTIAN CAIN: (to camera)
The Force is my ally. And now, thanks
to the Imperial Knights, it's yours,
too.


Under voiceover, a series of still images appears depicting the Imperial Knights helping citizens of the Empire. A raven-haired man surveys a district of housing ravaged by war. A Twi'lek woman shakes hands with local magistrates. A blonde woman walks through a classroom full of studious children in apprentice uniforms. A dark-skinned man and a pale woman stand watch over Imperial soldiers on parade. Baastian Cain levitates a small child out of a tree while relieved family members stand by.


BAASTIAN CAIN: (voiceover)
The Imperial Knights of the Throne
train Force-adepts like me to use
their powers for the good of the
Empire, so we can be sure that
the Jedi tragedy never happens again.
If you think that you or someone you
know might be Force-sensitive, please
contact your local COMPNOR office, or
call the number on your screen.


Baastian Cain, in uniform, stands surrounded by smiling children and lifts one onto his shoulder.


BAASTIAN CAIN: (to camera)
Join us. And together, we can keep
our galaxy safe.


Emblems for the Knights of the Throne, the Inquisitoriate, and COMPNOR fade in.


NARR:
The Imperial Order of the Knights of
the Throne. May the Force of justice
be with you.



FADE OUT.

[Palara Iscandar]

Palara Iscandar watched the ad fade from its spot on the huge billboard spanning one of the dizzying towers of Imperial Centre, or Coruscant, as it was interchangeably known by most of the Galaxy. Even Imperial citizens by and large called it Coruscant still. The balcony of the former Jedi Temple, and the former Citadel of the Inquisitorius, and now the headquarters of the Imperial Order of the Knights of the Throne, was a fair ways up.

There was still much construction and remodelling being done within the structure itself. Classrooms for teaching military strategy and tactics, training rooms with simulators and firing ranges, barracks and dorms, and conference rooms. Much of the interior would remain black, but many rooms and many corridors would have their colour scheme changed to better befit such a public organization as the Imperial Knights.

The twi'lek's expression was bemused, and when she sensed her compatriot approaching her from behind, she waited until he stood next to her and the ad began playing again to speak.

"It is," she paused, her bemusement tinging the Force around her with a levity that didn't normally follow the serious-minded Knight, "'ow do you say, ridiculous at times."

She couldn't hide a snort as the holographic version of her companion raised a child onto his shoulders and spoke to the audience again.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian Cain, now looking precisely as large as life, moved to stand alongside the Twi'lek with his hands clasped behind his back and a sheepish look on his face as he watched the glittering billboard. "I couldn't agree more. But with the campaign COMPNOR's got lined up, I guess we'll just both have to get used to it."

He smiled ruefully at his fellow knight, then nodded back out the window. "You look great up there, you know. And you weren't in makeup half as long as I was."

[Palara Iscandar]

"Zey said I should take part een more of zose," she said, a faint sour note impinging into her tone. "As if I was not aware of 'ow twi'leks are perceived by ze reech as nothing more zan playthings for zeir lust. I can only imagine what zey would 'ave me do some months from now in ze name of 'supporting ze Knights'."

She turned from the ad abruptly, and pressed fingertips to her temples, the sleeve of her uniform blue tunic falling back to reveal slightly blasted and discolored armor. She had been busy since she had been raised into the Knights' ranks, and in truth, she preferred it that way. At first it was to soothe her guilty conscience for the fiasco with Wei, but after, being busy kept her from being included in the myriad plots that were already being woven by the labyrinthine Imperial bureaucracy. She'd been leery of Baastian at first because of it, but as time had passed, so had her discomfort. Now he was among the few that the non-human Imperial Knight felt at least somewhat comfortable around.

As the numbers of Knights had grown, she had seen Atrapes's (Lord Atrapes's) policies enacted. More practitioners of the Light had been allowed, restrictions on non-human personnel had been lightened, and missions and activities were geared toward aid toward Imperial friendly governments on the border and cementing the Empress's power within the Empire itself. She had found it cathartic to bully Imperial moffs and governors into submission.

"I 'ave been waiting for... for Lord Atrapes," she said, stumbling over her mentor's title again. She'd been about to say Inquisitor Atrapes. "'e wants information on ze Jedi and Alliance, in particular about Force Sensitives and zeir policies toward zem. 'e eez worried, I think; about ze Jedi smugglink sensitives out of ze Empire."

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian lost his levity as Palara expounded on the darker side of media publicity. He knew as well as she did the way her people were exploited all over the galaxy, and it was all too natural to distrust a man with a holocamera and a multimillion credit propaganda grant. He'd play along with the kitschy greeting card scenes, but he'd sooner hang up his lightsaber than see one of his fellow knights debased for the pleasures of a viewing audience - it would violate everything the Imperial Knights stood for.

"Well, it would certainly fit their history," he said. "Now that we've got a border to watch, hopefully we can do a better job of bringing adepts into our own fold."

He glanced up at the billboard again as the faces of the Jedi twisted into monstrous snarls. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to the window so he didn't have to keep watching the silly thing cycle again.

"You picked up some leads on Fell Astar, didn't you? Something about a Jedi recruiter disguised as a mendicant preacher. Did anything ever come of that?"

[Palara Iscandar]

"Eet may be 'ard to compre'end," she said in amusement, "but ze disguise was real. 'E was both Jedi and preacher."

She paused.

"Ze Jedi 'oo survived Palpatine's Purge, many of zem were young. Cheeldren. Zeir identities as Jedi were..." she paused, trying to be sure of her words. Despite living in a galaxy dominated by Basic, a language devised by Humans for Humans, her childhood and teens years speaking her native language still stuck with her. "Malleable? Zey could not stay Jedi and remain alive. So zey became ozzer things, took jobs to stay alive, to feed zemselves. And zey became zose things too. It was easier to 'ide if zey could pretend to be something else. And ze longer one wears a mask, ze less of a mask eet becomes, non?"

She paused, realizing that she was in fact lecturing. Slightly embarrassed, she tried to extricate herself from her predicament, and latched onto the original topic quickly.

"'e overpowered me. I 'ad faced 'im before, on Tatooine also, zough zat time I 'ad ze upper 'and. We both sought ze killer, but 'e 'ad us to rights. 'e attacked me, and I could not prevent ze Jedi from escaping."

[Baastian Cain]

"It's a shame," Baastian said, and he meant it. "I'd like to meet someone from the old Order one of these days. I'm sure many of them were just misguided. It would mean a lot if we could get one or two of them to join our cause."

That was a longshot, and both of them knew it. Atrapes' predecessors had been brutal in their handling of Force adepts, which was a big part of the reason behind this latest media push from COMPNOR - they wanted sensitives to start reporting in, and they were willing to offer education, shelter, medical care, and jobs for every one of them. But any survivors from the old Jedi Order had spent the last thirty-odd years in hiding, thinking of the Empire as the enemy, justly or otherwise. It wasn't easy to overcome that sort of history.

"In a lot of ways, we're more heirs to the Jedi Order than anything going on in the Alliance."

[Palara Iscandar]

"Do not say such zings around ze Empress, or she will 'ave ze Knights disbanded," she said lightly, though the point she was making was completely serious. Her comm unit pinged softly, and she lifted it from her belt and raised it to her ear.

"I understand, Knight-General," she said after a moment, and replaced the communicator back onto her belt. She turned a wry eye to Cain. "Ze Knight-General wishes to speak to us."

Only one person bore the title of Knight-General, and that was Rossos Atrapes, the man who almost single-handedly created the Knights of the Throne, using much of the infrastructure of the old Inquisition and many of its members also. The political wrangling needed for the venture was over Knight Iscandar's head, and she didn't want to get a grasp on it either. Now, however, with the backing of the Empress and as such COMPNOR and the Empire itself, the Knights were poised to be a real power, with command over regular army and stormtroopers as needed, and even over Imperial Starfleet vessels themselves. Starfleet and the other branches of the military were not pleased with it, even though in most cases the Knights never assumed such commands; their missions and assignments were much more logistic and strategic than tactical at the moment.

Iscandar repressed a shiver at the thought of the man. She was one of the few he had mentored personally, and though her skill and abilities reflected that circumstance, the fact remained that Lord Atrapes was at the very least intimidating.

[Baastian Cain]

"Well, we'd better not keep Lord Atrapes waiting."

Together they stepped away from the window and headed into the recesses of the citadel, past vacated offices and conference rooms, several of them roped off and stripped down by construction crews. Even building on the foundation of the Inquisitorius, the Imperial Knights weren't nearly as large an organization as the old Order that had once occupied these halls, which meant there were plenty of nooks where one could find some solitude from the more... strident of their comrades. Palara seemed to be seeking those places more and more frequently these days.

"What I mean to say is, while the former Jedi are hiding in the wilderness, we're still here in the center of civilization where we can actually make a difference," Baastian continued. "I consider that a lot more important than contemplative navel-gazing."

[Palara Iscandar]

"I agree," she said, ignoring some of the more intense looks of the trainees gathered below as they traveled along an interior balcony overlooking one of the vast halls that adjoined the dorms; their path led them to a turbolift to one of the towers where Atrapes kept his office. The man had been an administrator, and though now he was proving himself as a fighter and commander, he wasn't leaving his previous skills honed in the Inquisitorius to decay. "Zough, it does make some sense, non? Zey are 'unted into near extinction, and any sign of zem would 'ave brought us — ze Empire — down on zem with a vengeance. Some of zem no doubt steel remember 'ow ze Empire sacked zis vairy place when it was zeir temple. Zey will not want to be in such a position again."

A pair of droids flanking a hoversled loaded with materials forced her to step to the side to allow them to pass. The sounds of people speaking grew to a droning murmur in the background, punctuated by the sounds of the renovation taking place. Scaffolding dominated one of the balconies, though it was erected such that people could pass underneath it and through it without the inconvenience of having to go around.

"Zey will probably not trust zeir benefactors in ze Alliance as much as the ze Jedi trusted ze Old Republique," she continued. "Zey want a position of relative strength from which to rebuild, safe from intrusion by ze Alliance, which I 'ave no doubt will want to make use of zem as ze Empire will make use of us."

She grinned, an expression uncommon to her.

"But zey are loyal to zeir Order, while we are loyal to ze Throne, and 'ooevair sits on it recognized as monarch. Ze Knight-General was most adamant zat we not be 'obbled should ze worst 'appen to our Empress as what 'appened to Palpatine. So we 'ave ze unlimited resources of ze Empire, while zey rebuild with as much aid as zey are willing to take wizzout being too be'olden to zeir Alliance, 'oo will expect a return on zeir investment."

Her grin dimmed as they reached the turbolift. She idly waved a hand over the control panel, and watched as the indicator blinked, letting them know the turbolift was on its way.

"But I agree," she said, quietly. "We are more ze 'eirs of ze Jedi zan zey. We must show eet, zough. And zat—"

She paused, looking back at the trainees on the floor below them. Their instructors were showing them lightsaber forms, and how to judge when to use blasters or to go to melee. Most of the instructors came from the Inquisitorius, which she knew firsthand had been dominated by the Dark; full of ambition and corruption as much as the Imperial governorships had been. The turbolift opened and the two Knights entered.

"Zat will be ze 'ardest part."

The turbolift deposited them on one of the highest floors of the southwest tower, if she had judged it correctly. Atrapes's office doors were open, and people were moving about, painting the walls and moving pieces of technology into the office. The Knight-General was standing by a cluttered desk, speaking with a group of well dressed people no doubt from COMPNOR. He wore the uniform blue tunic, though it was clean, it was singed in places and had obviously seen battles.

"—no doubt contest the most fundamental aspects of our history," the man was saying, looking at the group severely. "And we cannot allow even a sliver of credibility be lost to them. Therefore, anymore announcements will be modulated such that none of them can be used against us later should the Alliance or the Jedi be of a mind to bring up the Empire's many actions against other races."

"They're aliens—" one began with a sneer, but stopped and began to choke. Atrapes was looking at him intently, and shifted his gaze to each of the people gathered before him. They quailed as their compatriot fell to his knees. Finally, the Knight-General released the man, who gasped and coughed in relief.

"Power," he hissed. "Near Human or not, they represent a sizeable portion of the galaxy we rule, much less at large. That is power. And alienating such a wide base of support that we could handily have at hand for ourselves is foolish. The Clone Wars are little more than a memory now. We cannot rely on it to conjure the fear needed. We need other avenues. We cannot let them gain any advantage."

One helped the man he had choked up, and Atrapes frowned, before gesturing them out.

"Lord Atrapes—" one started.

"You will leave. Dead or alive, you will leave now."

The group left hurriedly, their gazes quickly dropping to the floor upon seeing Cain and Iscandar standing by the doorway.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian pressed his mouth into a thin line as the COMPNOR officials filed out. For a group that claimed to exist for the good of the New Order, their aspirations always struck him as distinctly political, and not just a bit old-fashioned. For now the Imperial Knights needed their resources, their propaganda network, but they also needed to keep the politicals on a tight leash.

The blond-haired knight watched as the last suit walked out, rubbing his throat. Hm, maybe a poor choice of words.

He turned to face the Knight General, chin high, chest up, filling out his uniform like he was born for it. "Lord Atrapes."

[Rossos Atrapes]

Atrapes regarded both Cain and Iscandar inscrutably.

"Knight Cain. Knight Iscandar," he greeted solemnly, and sat at his cluttered desk as a droid puttered past carrying a large crate filled with light fixtures.

"There is much hope being placed in you, Knight Cain," he said finally. "But do remember, both of you, that in end we do not rely on the good will of the people. If our Empress orders something done, we do it."

He gauged them again.

"Then let us begin. Our own recruitment up to this point has been mainly from Intelligence, the Inquisitoriate, and select hand picked individuals that the Empress has deemed worthy to wear this mantle," he said the last carefully, as though he had tasted something foul. "Few members hail from the military services, and it does not seem like they will be quick to change their policy of ignoring us."

He shifted the top flimsis and datapads on his desk to another, slightly cleaner portion of the surface.

"But the Jedi have been steadily recruiting long before us. What are their policies towards sensitives in the Alliance? And will they extend their recruitment past the borders into Imperial territory?"

[Baastian Cain]

"I think it's inevitable that they will, sir," Baastian replied. "They don't have the resources to screen infants on a galactic scale as they used to."

His eyes dipped to the flimsis on the Knight-General's desk. He wouldn't have asked those questions unless he had designs on answering them, and Baastian knew from experience that Lord Atrapes didn't like to leave any stone unturned. Mere due diligence was for lesser men.

[Palara Iscandar]

"As to zeir policies on Force Sensitives," Palara added, "they seem to be relying on mainly word of mouth. We 'ave no real intelligence on zeir activities, but we do know zey are 'eadquartered on ze world of Ossus, with an exile government of Gossam. Zere are many ships going to ze planet, with materials and supplies for building and settling on ze planet long term."

She stopped, giving Atrapes time to interject anything, but he remained silent, only regarding them intently.

"Zere are circumstances where it seems Jedi 'ave entered Imperial space and left with sensitives, but zey 'ave been clever, my Lord. We 'ave no damning proof."

[Rossos Atrapes]

"The Jedi have entered Imperial territories on multiple occasions," Atrapes answered. "Border security is being strengthened, but there is no true way to effectively keep them, or anyone else for that matter, out indefinitely. What we must do to limit their poaching of sensitives in Imperial space must be done regarding Imperial policy, not regarding the Jedi."

The Knight-General leaned back, a hand going up to stroke his bearded chin. He looked slightly weary now, as opposed to merely tired as a consequence of many sleepless nights. He regarded Cain and Iscandar again; he was grooming them for command of the Knights, able to assess the galactic situation and determine actions without directly coming to him. There was too much to do to place all the power of the Knights in his hands alone; delegation was necessary. Cain was human, but his circumstances made the leader of the Imperial Knights balk. Despite the situation regarding Wei, he regarded Iscandar as one of the most important pieces in regaining control of the galaxy for the Empire.

"This... public campaign is one of the ways we will be counteracting the threat of the Jedi. More friendly governments on the borders and in non-aligned worlds are also necessary; as staging points into our domains, they are strategically important. I will be busy taking care of them as well as keeping an eye on some of the more wild members of our Order."

Iscandar smirked slightly, aware of whom he was speaking.

"Imperial Intelligence is working on ways to counter our lack of knowledge of Jedi activities. I have my own ideas. But, since Intelligence and the military services are less than friendly to us at the moment, we should have ideas in place that we can act on. Both of you have been made aware of the situation, with this in mind. I will hear your thoughts on it."

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian had long grown accustomed to the Knight-General's habit of spiraling in toward the point of the conversation, like an assassin covering all the exits before going in for the kill. The blond knight was a soldier at heart, and he preferred to keep words to a tactical minimum wherever possible, but he could still appreciate Atrapes' meticulous consideration of every contingency. You had to be a lateral thinker to make something like the Imperial Knights work.

"Well, sir, if we want to know the Jedi's intentions... we could always ask them."

He felt rather than saw Palara's surprise. Atrapes, as usual, betrayed nothing, either on his face or through the Force.

"Presumably they're trying to build a public identity for themselves just as we are. They might not be putting out holo-ads, but they have to have a position of some kind. We could send an inquiry, maybe even a delegation, force them to put something on record."

[Palara Iscandar]

"But ze Knights — we, I mean — 'aven't recognised ze Jedi of Ossus as anyzing ozzer zan a group of terroreests," the twi'lek Knight responded, her accent becoming thicker due to her surprise at the idea. "A delegation would show zat we see zem as a legitimate organization, non?"

She shifted on her feet, tapping the fingers of her left hand to her lips in thought.

"It couldn't be a secret delegation," she murmured just loudly enough for the other two to hear her. "Ozzerwise we could not 'old zem to anytheeng zey say. Zere would 'ave been no meeting for us to point to."

[Rossos Atrapes]

"The idea has merit," the Knight-General said, interrupting the flow of words from Iscandar. "While granting the Jedi any form of legitimacy is bothersome, the Treaty we signed with the Alliance granted the Alliance legitimacy. The Alliance recognizes the Jedi. It would only be a matter of time before they grew enough that we would have to recognize them."

The Empress's top enforcer (though there were others who would argue that claim, they were a scant few) seemed sour at the thought.

"Such an endeavour should be approached cautiously," he hummed, steepling his hands in front of his face in thought. "The Empress loathes the treaty enough as it is, and the Jedi are an object of hate apart from that."

As a Tarkin, she would hate them; after all, is was a Jedi that had destroyed the first Death Star with Grand Moff Tarkin aboard. It was a blemish to the family name only the ascension to the position as Empress wiped out.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian grew pensive as he tried to chart a course around the 8000-kilo rancor in the room.

"We may not need to approach the Jedi directly," he said. "We could contact the Alliance government, make it an issue of sentient rights. Say we're concerned about the illegal trafficking of Imperial citizens, and we want assurances that Force adepts are not being exploited behind their borders."

He was well aware of the irony, and he purposely did not meet Palara's eyes.

"It's the long game, but what's important is how it plays on the homefront."

[Palara Iscandar]

Palara stiffened a bit at the mention of exploitation, but the reaction was released smoothly. It was a sore subject for her, especially as Atrapes wasn't against slavery, or even exploitation as long as it served the interests of the Empire.

"Zat could work. Per'aps send a Knight or two to ze Imperial Ambassador, 'oo could arrange a meeting with zeir officials? We'd need more proof of border crossing; I do not zink zat zey would be impressed with 'zere are reports zat Jedi are trafficking Imperial citizens'."

[Rossos Atrapes]

"We would not need proof," Atrapes replied, his eyes fixed on Cain intently. "A simple statement or mention of rumours of Jedi in Imperial space would be enough. We could even say we don't believe the rumours, but that we are worried about the possibility. It is the pressure that matters."

Palara seemed confused, so Atrapes continued.

"The Alliance is still in upheaval. They are desperately trying to arrange themselves so that they have an economy, and that internal politics are normalized. The only thing stopping Imperial ships razing everything they have is the missiles they have pointed at Imperial Centre and other essential Imperial worlds. But even with that, we could survive. We would take losses that have never been imagined before, but we can absorb them. They cannot. Our own missiles, and the vastly superior numbers of our ships and military forces mean that in the event of a war, we would crush them."

There was a short chime, and Atrapes stood.

"Right now. In a few months' time, that may well change. But, they can ill afford to seem like they are antagonizing us into a war they know they cannot win right now."

[Baastian Cain]

Starkillers. The Death Star had been, by many accounts, a crime against nature and decency, but at least its power was wielded by one man. It was contained, predictable, not subject to the whims of a mob. Leave it to the Rebel Alliance to democratize the apocalypse.

"It gets our foot in the door," he said. "Anything more than that, we'll have to play by ear. It's the closest look we'll get, short of landing a probe droid on Ossus."

He raised an eyebrow, realizing that, for all he knew, the Knight-General may have already done just that.

"If we wanted to catch them in the act, we could always organize a sting. Place one of our adepts on a border world, with instructions to solicit help from the Jedi through illicit channels. Play into the MO of some of their known recruiters."

Like Palara's mendicant preacher.

[Palara Iscandar]

"No," Atrapes said, though he seemed tempted. "If signs continue after the meeting, then that will be considered. But we are stretched as it is. Although —"

The Knight-General stopped and Palara glanced back to see another Knight, older than both her and Cain, but younger than Atrapes, standing in the open doorway. He bowed.

"Knight-General," he said. "I have a report."

Atrapes paused for a moment, before holding up his hand to Cain and Iscandar, silently telling them to wait. Iscandar glanced over at Cain while Atrapes and the Knight conferred quietly.

"We should send orders to the Intelligence assets on ze Border Worlds," she said, quietly. "'ave zem set up ze stings. Put out rumours zat zere are cheeldren or something being gazzered for zeir sensitivity. Zen when a Jedi comes to investigate, as zey will surely do, lock down whatevair building we 'ave set for it, and capture ze Jedi. We are stretched, but ze Knights need not do everyzing, non?"