Republic Strategic Information Service

"I'm with the Republic Strategic Information Service. Key word is information&mdash;if you talk, I let you go."

- Theron Shan, SIS agent

The Republic Strategic Information Service (RSIS), also known as Republic Strategic Information Systems but most commonly known simply as the Strategic Information Service (SIS), was the Galactic Republic's domestic and military intelligence agency during the Great Galactic War and the following period of political unrest. Although the agency existed prior to the Great War's initiation in 3,681 BBY, as the Strategic Information Service of the Senate Library, the rapid expansion of the conflict prompted the Republic to shift the group from a small-scale decryption agency to a full-fledged information and espionage bureau.

The SIS was much younger, smaller, and was stretched thinner than its counterpart in the Sith Empire, yet it served efficiently during the Great War and the subsequent Cold War. In 3,643 BBY, under the direction of the SIS Director, Agent Theron Shan undertook a mission to the Vesla system to find and gain information about the Sith Empire from Jedi Master Ngani Zho. In the process, Shan discovered the Empire's secret weapon and battleship builder, the Sun Razer, designed by Darth Mekhis. Shan destroyed the Sun Razer and the resulting political fallout pushed the Republic and Empire ever closer to a renewed, full out war.

Overview
"But the galaxy has changed, and someone with flexibility has to protect the Republic."

- The SIS Director

The Republic Strategic Information Service was an espionage agency of the Galactic Republic. Though it was smaller and younger and managed a smaller network of spies and informants than its counterpart in the Sith Empire it was still deemed to be an effective intelligence service. Serving as an agency with the Senate Library before the Great Galactic War, the SIS was charged by the Galactic Senate with monitoring and decryption duties. With the outbreak of war, the agency was responsible for providing intelligence to the Republic Military and the Jedi Order. By the end of the war, its duties included the management of networks, counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence, and military intelligence. Desperate for information on the Sith Empire during the Cold War, the agency expanded its operations into fighting criminal organizations like Black Sun in the hopes it would produce a lead.

The SIS was headquartered in the Heorem Complex on Coruscant and was led by a Director who was protected by two bodyguards.

Early operations
"I was there when the war started, back when the Strategic Information Service was a monitoring and decryption arm of the Senate Library. Now we're, what&mdash;the thirtieth, fortieth attempt at a Republic espionage agency?''" "''Depends whose conspiracy theories you believe."

- The Director and Theron Shan

The SIS was founded prior to the start of the Great Galactic War as an intelligence agency with monitoring and decryption duties for the Senate Library. Years before the war, Republic scientists discovered an ancient Rakatan prison complex on the planet Belsavis and, during several secret sessions, the SIS decided to convert the complex into a new detention facility, to be used to house dangerous prisoners whose execution was not possible or simply impractical.

With the emergence of the Sith Empire and the outbreak of war, the Republic reformed the SIS as part of the Republic's military intelligence. Due to its small size and relative newness, the SIS lacked the large network or bureaucracy that its Sith counterpart possessed. This became both an advantage and a disadvantage. The SIS had little oversight systems to worry about yet it remained within its legal and ethical boundaries. However, the agency had a hard time penetrating the Sith Empire. Following its emergence as an intelligence bureau, conspiracy theorists claimed the SIS was the Republic's thirtieth or fortieth attempt at an espionage agency, a theory not far from the truth.

During Hylo Visz's attack on the Mandalorian blockade of the Hydian Way, the SIS was informed of the battle and scrambled starfighters to aid the smuggler in her mission to break the blockade for the Republic. The battle was a victory for Visz and the Republic, and the Rimma Trade Route was once again open for the transportation of goods and military wares.

Cold War
"But we don't have a clue what goes on inside the Empire–and we haven't since the Treaty of Coruscant. We follow every lead we've got."

- The Director

Despite the agency's relative efficiency during the war, it held little knowledge of the inner workings of Imperial Intelligence. In Anchorhead on Tatooine, the SIS was able to establish a spy network. At the same time however, an SIS station on Nar Shaddaa was shut down and rumors of Imperial mobilization were increasing. Consequently every lead was vital. When Ngani Zho, a great Jedi warrior who had disappeared after the war, was spotted near the Imperial border, the SIS took immediate interest. Discovering that Zho had claimed to have returned from the Vesla system, a "Black Sector" ceded to the Empire as part of the treaty, the SIS sent several agents to investigate hoping to gain knowledge from Zho's time behind enemy lines. However, none of the SIS agents returned. Over several years in the aftermath of the Treaty of Coruscant, the agency was spread thin. The Director was also placed under pressure because of a bounty placed on his head and with his ex-wife under investigation by the Galactic Senate. Needing new leads into Imperial Intelligence, the SIS director decided to send Agent Theron Shan to find Zho and discover his knowledge.

After several weeks, Shan, along with a female Twi'lek criminal named Teff'ith Shan had picked up on Coruscant, was able to track down the missing Jedi Master Zho on Taris. The three were followed and attacked by Sith Knights under the control of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Mekhis. They managed to defeat the Knights and escape Taris. Shan then questioned Master Zho on his experiences in the Vesla system. Except for knowing that the system was under the control of Darth Mekhis and that she was constructing horrible weapons, the old Jedi was not able to remember much of what happened. He was insistent thought that Darth Mekhis must be stopped. Shan consulted with the SIS Director and learned that the Sith Empire had shut down an SIS station on Nar Shaddaa and there were rumors that the Imperial Guard was mobilized. Feeling the need to press their advantage then, the SIS Director authorized Shan to investigate the activity within the Vesla system.

After securing clearances and navigation charts at Port Nowhere, Shan and his team entered the Vesla system and set up an observation post with telescopes and a spy ray developed by SIS scientist Dr. Godera. Several days later the planet's rotation allowed Shan to view the other planets in the system. He was able to see the Darth Mekhis's shipyard that was fueled by the Sun Razer which used the energy of the system's sun to create a new and experimental class of warship called the Javelin Dreadnought. The warship was capable of using its weapons to flash irradiate a planet's surface from space, wiping out all life below within a three kilometer radius. Shan recorded the information and attempted to leave the system with his companions, however they were spotted and captured by the Imperial Navy dreadnaught Valor Prevails under the command of Captain Eisek.

Taking action
"This is a knife right in the guts of the Treaty. You may've started a war, Theron''" "We couldn't sit back and watch forever." "''Maybe not."

- The Director and Theron Shan

When they were captured, Shan was taken on a tour of the facilities by Captain Eisek while Master Zho was placed under interrogation. During this, Zho revealed his adventures and how he had slipped into the slave labor force the Empire was using to build the Sun Razer so that Zho could investigate the Vesla system. After the tour, Shan was taken to the same room as Zho and placed in restraints. Darth Mekhis then ordered the execution of Zho but before that could be carried out, Shan was able to free them both from the restraints. They then met up with Teff'ith to plan their next move. Instead of attempting to leave again and report to the SIS, Shan decided to destroy the Sun Razer.

Shan then made his way to the control center in order to bring down the shields of the facility thereby destroying it by exposing it to sun. Meanwhile Teff'ith and Zho made their way towards the hangar and engaged in a fire fight with Imperial forces to distract from Shan's goal. Teff'ith and Zho had made it to the hangar, however, Zho was killed by Imperial troopers when he pushed Teff'ith out of the line of fire. Meanwhile, Shan entered the control center and found Darth Mekhis there. After fighting with her Sith Knights and other Imperial soldiers and was seemingly captured by them, Shan drew Mekhis closer by revealing his name and claiming to be a Jedi. When Mekhis came closer, Shan shot her with a toxin from his arm. He then killed the other Imperials and lowered the shields of the facilities. Upon reaching his ship, Shan and Teff'ith escaped the explosion and destruction of the Sun Razer and the shipyard. Shan returned to Coruscant and reported to the Director of his activities. Though the Sun Razer and it's surrounding shipyard were destroyed, several of the warships created there were in operation in the Sith fleet and the Director felt that the Cold War was ready to heat up again into full conflict. Shan told the Director his intentions to keep investigating with a special interest in a light-speed cannon that was capable of eliminating hyperspace targets called the Gauntlet.

The Director
"I've got an agency stretched thin, a bounty on my head, and an ex-wife under Senate investigation&mdash;I don't need more worries."

- The Director

The Director had served in the SIS since its early years when it was a branch of the Senate Library. By the time the war ended, he had climbed through the ranks and attained the position of Director. Along the way he made sacrifices in his personal life when his marriage fell apart, and in public where he had to contend with a thinly stretched agency and bounty that had been placed on his head. However, he realized his role to be vital. To him the Senate and the Jedi Order were age old institutions that hated change and so a flexible organization was needed to protect the Republic, a role the Director felt the SIS filled and so deserved his loyalty.

Theron Shan
"I have a standing invitation to spend time with the skyraiders of Thonboka. I may take them up on it&mdash;I've never flown in a saddle, and Coruscant is getting stale...''" "Dont give me that leave of absence'' garbage."

- Theron Shan and the Director



Theron Shan was an agent for the SIS during the Cold War in the years following the Treaty of Coruscant. Shan was good at his work, though his attitude was one of both sarcasm and, to a certain degree, resentfulness of his abilities as a spy and the life he led. Shan was also the secret son of Grand Master Satele Shan and was raised by Jedi Master Ngani Zho. Shan continued in some of the Jedi traditions by meditating and fasting in the morning before he gave up the latter habit. While investigating the Black Sun crime syndicate for possibly selling slaves to the Sith Empire, Shan captured a female Twi'lek named Teff'ith who was involved in the deal. In a move that expressed his own brand of humor, Shan did not turn her over to Coruscant Security instead opting to take her, bound and chained, on his newly assigned mission to find Ngani Zho. Shan was also accompanied on his mission by his droid, M-6.

Behind the scenes
The SIS was created for the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game. The organization will not be playable, but is featured heavily in various class stories. The SIS also took a lead role in the Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Lost Suns comic book series which began publication in June, 2011.

Though the Timeline 2 video refers to it as Republic Strategic Information Systems, The Old Republic developer and writer of The Lost Suns comics Alexander Freed confirmed its official name as the Republic Strategic Information Service and it has appeared under that name in following publications.

Appearances

 * Timeline 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 1: Shades of the Sith
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 7: The Lost Suns, Part 1
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 8: The Lost Suns, Part 2
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 9: The Lost Suns, Part 3
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 10: The Lost Suns, Part 4
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 11: The Lost Suns, Part 5
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic