Subject: [Fanfic] Rog's EmpireDate: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 18:08:21 +0100 From: "Rog" <rog2@slaanesh.freeserve.co.uk> Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars	Rog's Empire - A prelude to conflict Episode 1.1	 Rain lashed the surface of the Imperial capital while massive starships clashed high above, engaged in a battle that would decide who would be recognised as the legitimate government of a galaxy. Those among you who believe in mystical happenings may regard this storm as a portent of things to come but the "Ides of March" in this case was not Rogue squadron's covert mission on Coruscant, which was to lead to the planets imminent fall to Rebel forces. No the significant events alluded to would come several years in the future and would change more lives than the rise and (apparent) fall of the Galactic Empire put together.	All things must start somewhere though and this story begins in a conference room high in the Imperial palace. A room which at this moment held (either physically or in holographic representation) some of the Empire's most important commanders. Near the head of the table sat an anomaly although not because he was alien, that attribute was still generally an impediment to progression in many areas of Imperial service. No our subject is quite human, he stood out for two reasons, firstly compared to his peers he was but a child and secondly his appearance was slightly unusual. His sharp features were shaped into a smile as he considered the conversation in the room while he smoothed his fingers through his impeccably groomed black hair. It wasn't just his hair that was black, so were the robes he wore and even most of his jewellery (the rest was silver). The only hint of colour in his visage were two dark brown eyes that sparkled from within his deathly pale face. This individual's name was Rog, he was a member of the ubiquitoriate (which explained why he had been summoned to this meeting) and he currently had the undivided attention of some of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.	"It seems clear to me that the Rebellion will soon take Coruscant. How long this state of affairs will last is another matter, even though Isard has fled to Lusankya, you would expect her to make the Rebellion pay more dearly for this world than the defences she has left can ever hope to make them do. I suspect that she has something planed that will spoiled their victory celebrations but that still may mean that this planet is going to be a very dangerous place for us Imperials in the short term at least."	"That is why many of us have already left Imperial centre and without a capital world are seriously considering whether we should leave the Empire entirely and set up on our own" replied the hologram of High Admiral Terridoc. A murmor of approval swept around the table but this didn't surprise Rog, he knew that many of those present had been requisitioning ships, troops and other assets that would allow them the carve out their own little fiefdoms for months. It didn't worry him either because he had (through Imperial Intelligence) resources of his own that the others were not even aware of and agents in place within the command structures of their core sectors and fleets that could keep him well informed of events. Despite this he felt compelled to respond, even though he cared little about what they did it was important that he played conciliatory role for now so that they wouldn't suspect anything later. "Be that as it may it would be prudent to maintain links between our forces for common defence. We can squabble for leadership all we want when the rebels are dealt with but if they are left unchecked they will grow increasingly problematic".	An arrogant Grand Moff by the name of Poot interrupted at this point "You don't consider the loss of Imperial centre to be a problem? Don't be so foolish boy! Do you have the intelligence reports that we requested anyway otherwise there is little reason in you being here". Rog considered having idiot struck down by one of his agent while the other watched but thought better of it, after all it was hardly worth letting them get more of a view of the power that he and Intelligence commanded than absolutely necessary. And an assassin could do administer discipline at a later date. In response he simply pressed a button on the datapad in front of him.	"The data you all wanted has been transmitted to your respective headquarters. Your senior intelligence liaison officer will be able to decode it for you. Now if you will excuse me gentlemen I have other business to attend to, you all know how to contact me or another member of the ubiquitoriate if you need to. So I will bid you good day". With that he stood and stalked out of the room his dark robes flowing behind him. As he left he could hear them comment about him and continue to bicker with each other but he didn't care. Indeed he was glad that some of them held him in such low esteem as it would be so much easier to do what needed to be done if they didn't consider him a threat.	Exiting a turbolift several floors up Rog crossed the hallway to his office. As he entered a device attached to his belt beeped indicating that the room had been successfully swept and no surveillance devices were present. The holo-alcove to the side of the desk activated and as soon as he was comfortably seated Rog turned to face his guest. Projected in 1/4 scale but represented in perfect detail was a tall man of regal bearing. By human standards he looked to be middle aged almost certainly too young to gain the white uniform and rank insignia he wore, but his blue skin and glowing red eyes indicated that he was an alien. A fact that made his ascension to Grand Admiral all the more remarkable considering the late emperor's well known prejudice in such matters.	"I trust that the relay of the conference worked fine and I can assure you that none of the participants were aware that you were watching them".	"I got a perfect view thank you. Earlier you spoke of something of great importance that you wanted to discuss with me, would you like to tell me what it is?" asked Thrawn.	"A file regarding this matter has been inserted into the secret files section of the Imperial central archive, I believe your command centre has a copy of them. It uses my personal encrypt so no one else should be able to access it."	"I have the file" the warlord paused for a few moments while he scanned it's contents. "It seems that the this could be quite problematic. As you know a lot of my work in the unknown regions has been to provide protection against extra-galactic threats. The last thing we need right now are for more of them to appear.  However I don't think that we should discuss this over the holonet no matter how secure intelligence keeps it's channels." an aide approached Thrawn and spoke quietly to him so that Rog could not hear what they were saying, after the exchange was over he turned back to Rog.	"I have just been informed that the Rebellion have started to land troops from above your head and that the remainder of the defensive fleet has surrendered. I would advise you to leave as soon as you can, when you are safely off planet come straight here so we can discuss this further and make sure no one else finds out about this especially Isard or those squabbling fools in the conference room."	"As you wish, computer end transmission".  Rog had little difficulty getting off Coruscant, but this was only to be expected of someone who had reached such a senior position in Imperial Intelligence.  As he relaxed on his Escort shuttle while on route to his meeting with Thrawn his mind drifted back to the events that had brought him to this point.	Vir Rog (Note: Vir is the surname) had enjoyed a privileged upbringing the Emperor's court, back then his farther was been a senior member of COMPNOR. For a reason unknown to Rog at a relatively early age Palpatine had taken an interest in him.  In this time he developed a keen interest in politics but ultimately under the Emperor's guidance choose a career in Imperial Intelligence.  Rog turned out to be a talented student and passed through training to become an agent very quickly.  Rising through the ranks of the organisation with astonishing speed he soon had a seat on the ubiquitoriate, Imp Intel's ruling council.	That was when disaster struck, with the rebel victory at the battle of Endor (approximately 3.5 years before the present day) Palpatines new order began to collapse.  The loss of his master was worrying to the young intelligence officer but not as worrying as the loss of patronage that went with it.  In Rog's opinion this was a very bad thing and he considered leaving Coruscant. His reason for staying came in the form of a message from Grand Admiral Thrawn.  The chiss informed Rog of his mission in the unknown regions and requested his help saying that he came highly recommended.  Rog accepted and from the Imperial capital used the agents under his control to aid Thrawn's efforts.  Intelligence Director Isard didn't seem to mind him doing this (probably because Thrawn out ranked her and she wanted to be left to her own devices).	It was in the course of compiling information just under a week earlier that Rog noticed that one of his probe droids near the galactic core had sent out a rather strange report.  When he directed the droid to investigate further the results were shocking to say the least.</end of Episode 1.1>