Muz Ashen, Dark Lord of the Sith and mastermind of Operation Tempest Omega
In 29 ABY, the few remaining shell corporations and operations of Operation Tempest Bravo saw a massive audit, with nearly every revenue stream for the Brotherhood's interests approaching imminent closure. To prevent Brotherhood-wide bankruptcy and the resulting destabilization and destruction of the organization, Grand Master Ashen and Deputy Grand Master Lord Halcyon assembled a covert operations team of skilled individuals and oversaw a mission known as Operation Tempest Omega, thus renewing Brotherhood revenue and eliminating the threat of discovery by the Galactic Alliance.
Operation: Tempest Omega
Coruscant, Capital of the Galactic Alliance
Circa 29 ABY, a young auditor in the employ of the First Alliance Bank discovered numerical patterns within the accounts and assets of several shell corporations and front companies, ranging from CSA companies to factories and warehouses maintained by supposed subsidiaries of such companies as Kuat Drive Yards and the infamous BlasTech. Following this discovery, many of the assets therein were frozen pending further investigation while others saw their accounts liquidated and closed entirely. The Brotherhood's long-standing source of income was running dry at an alarming rate.
As reports of this mishap began to pour in, Lords Ashen and Taldrya convened in a bid to stabilize the crisis. After careful analysis, Halcyon sent out a call for any ready and able Dark Jedi that desired to aid the Dark Council, assembling several covert operations teams and sending them out to procure additional income for the organization's aims. To combat the main threat, Ashen himself oversaw the creation of a priority team. Their mission: To eliminate the threat of discovery, and oversee the establishment of a mainline source of revenue to replace those lost.
To this team were assembled Ashen's wife and brother, Ashia Kagan Keibatsu and Shikyo Keibatsu, for their dual combative, stealth, and operational prowess. In addition to these familial assets, Ashen called forth the tactician Ronovi Tavisaen to aid in the planning and any militaristic aspects of the operation, while also sending for Kal di Plagia Vorrac, ex-assassin and expert at covert operations and espionage. This team convened on Coruscant within two days, their location the Penthouse Suite above showrooms owned by Gilmarin Jewelers, a subsidiary of the Ebon Flame corporation. It was here that the Dark Lord outlined his plans and saw sufficient equipment distributed to everyone involved.
Ashia Kagan Keibatsu
At 09:00 of the following day, as Evan and the Audit Department sought further access to properly investigate the necessary accounts from Evan's superior, Jick Zylest, the team arrived under the pretense of a business meeting. Muz, under the guise of "Maxim Fastblade", led the team in their respective disguises - Ashia in that of a businesswoman as Shikyo, Ronovi, and Kal took to CorSec uniforms - to meet with a banker by the name of Viktir Oliviera. As Ashen, Ashia, and Ronovi traveled to the fiftieth floor to commence the meeting, Shikyo and Kal broke off from the group in pursuit of information. Obtaining assistance from an associate code-named BlindDragon, Shikyo hacked into bank terminals to begin transferring files that would allow him to frame Zigtek Pharmaceuticals as those who had been embezzling money.
Following the reception of such files, Kal, under the codename Vorpal, was dispatched with simple orders - locate and follow the Zigtek CEO, Tiran Solutar, to ensure that his conduct matched up with the accusations perfectly. Using a refresher stall as cover, Vorrac quickly eliminated a random male employee before swapping their clothing out, doing so in a way that would make it look accidental. Departing in a stolen speeder, Kal quickly located Tiran in a nearby cantina, who recognized him mistakenly as a man named Osric. Kal was quick to help the suggestion along, ordering drinks for the already-inebriated Solutar and helping him to unburden every dirty little secret he'd ever had in front of several high-level witnesses.
During these events, a construction project on the planet Osarian - overseen by Headmaster Dupar - coincided with an interview from the holodrama star Derc Kast on the planet Corellia, who explained his youthful appearance as the product of a miraculous religion that he'd become a part of. It was this that drew one Chaz Olsen, former coworker, to Kast to inquire about the religion's retreat. Explaining that it had nothing to do with the Force or the Jedi, he led Olsen to believe that he could be revitalized and youthful, explaining also that it was an extremely expensive endeavor. True to form, the wealthy actor quickly sought out this retreat, spreading word to many of his associates and colleagues.
Back on Coruscant, Ashia had slipped away to "use the refresher," allowing her to buy Shikyo some time by inflicting Malacia upon a female Neimoidian who had originally used the terminal that gave the Adept access. Meanwhile, still with "Maxim", Ronovi underwent a tour of the Bank's server mainframe before covertly planting a small device into its workings. At the close of the tour, Ronovi used this device to obtain critical information and clearance before she and Ashen met with Evan to discuss important matters. The two then met up with Shikyo, who had run into a problem; though BlindDragon had obtained much from Tavisaen's spike, the server room hadn't allowed them any access to the server's feeder core.
Shikyo and Ronovi were quickly reassigned by Muz, sent into the Undercity of Coruscant to infiltrate the bank's server core. Entering, the two evaded security and obstacles via their Force training and extensive skill, coming to the final doors. As Ronovi covered him from any possible security forces, Shikyo sliced the controls to the core's large and noisy doors before the two entered, Keibatsu wasting no time in using his Krath abilities to reprogram a security droid within, which quickly laid waste to its fellows. Following this, Ronovi blasted the droid before it could target them and Shikyo quickly used an uplink from his datapad to allow BlindDragon to work her magic. Within a few minutes, the files within had been modified to blame Zigtek for the Brotherhood's discrepancies, while BlindDragon curtly informed the two that it was time to depart. The pair joined Muz and Ashia in a speeder car, heading back to their Gilmarin headquarters as Shikyo relayed the message to Vorrac.
Kal, receiving the message and having done his job, quickly departed the cantina. En route, he was somewhat detained by a pair of thugs, though their aim turned out to be sabotaging the real Osric; the pair and all witnesses were quickly destroyed. After Kal rejoined the others, he and the rest of the team went about their business, while Taigikori gave over control of the Osarian "retreat" to the Dark Council and Derc began attracting wealthy denizens of the galaxy to its pleasures. To tie up loose ends, Ashia was deployed against Jick Zylest, covertly assassinating him and making it appear that he had died of a heart attack. Meanwhile, the offer proposed to Evan by Muz and Ronovi quickly materialized, as the former auditor received his superior's job.
Operation Outcome
- Threat to Brotherhood security eliminated; embezzlement and monetary inaccuracies attributed to Zigtek Pharmaceuticals.
- First Bank accountant Tom Liyaani discovered dead in bank refresher, cause attributed to an accident involving spilled water and blunt-force trauma.
- Tiran Solutar convicted of corporate embezzlement and fraud, still undergoing trial.
- Derc Kast's holodrama ratings increase by an overall 35%.
- "The Retreat," a secret of rich and well-to-do galactic citizens, opens on Osarian to begin accepting adherents for its specialist religion and revitalizing treatments.
- Jick Zylest found dead behind a nightclub, official explanation points to cardiac arrest.
- Evan Dyran promoted to Zylest's former position following successful inquest against Zigtek Pharmaceuticals.
New Source of Revenue
While the other minor teams adjunct to Tempest Omega established incomes for the Brotherhood, supplemented by the corporations, companies, organizations and systems controlled by each House, the Osarian Retreat is now the primary source of income for the Brotherhood's needs. Using Force techniques, advanced sciences, and a few alchemical processes and deceptive tricks, the Brotherhood's servants have donned the robes of a new religious practice and have been routinely collecting tri-monthly multiple-million-credit payments from over two million signed practitioners. Some of these credits go into the retreat's facilities, while on the books, others are used to replenish supplies and treatment chemicals.
In reality, these funds are used to purchase low-grade filler supplies at exorbitant prices by shell corporations and Brotherhood front companies before being transferred via contracts and invoices by several Dark Councilors, their Praetors and Magistrates, the Consuls and Quaestors of the respective Clans and Houses, and specific minions of theirs. This system sees their money thoroughly invested into shell companies in a completely legitimate scheme that leaves neither suspicion of embezzlement nor possibility of fraud on the table for any involved. As a final gesture of security, the Osarian Retreat's location is the closely-kept secret of all those involved in its use; while rumors exist, only the extremely wealthy and the dependent are privy to its whereabouts or even the system it's in.
Event Details
The [DGM] Tempest Omega competition was run by Halcyon Taldrya in March of 2011 to help get new faces involved in the DJB and remove its fictional dependence on the Imperial Remnant, an organization whose prominence was quickly passing in relation to Brotherhood time. The competition ran from March 7 to March 31, with several teams of Dark Brotherhood members assembled to participate in the competition's Run-On event. The event also received a one-week extension, actually ending on the 8th of April, 2011. In the end, the team of Muz Ashen, Shikyo Keibatsu, Ashia Kagan Keibatsu, Ronovi Tavisaen, and Kal di Plagia Vorrac took first place and their entries were added to Brotherhood Canon.
The competition's specifics can be found at this link.
The winning Run-On, Tempest Omega Team #2, can be found here.
Other Run-Ons for the event can be found below:
Credits and Recognition
- The Tempest Omega competition was a creation of Halcyon Taldrya in 2011, authorized by Muz Ashen and the Dark Council.
- All other Canonized information on this article is a synopsis of the work of the victorious Tempest Omega Team #2 between March 3 and April 8, 2011.
- This article was originally written by Kal di Plagia Vorrac, acting as Praetor on the orders of Grand Master Muz Ashen. It is subject to any and all approved Dark Council changes, edits, and policies.