Mar Barezz

"You have rested on your laurels, Barezz."

- Darth Vader

Mar Barezz was an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau.

Biography
Mar Barezz was a Human male who served the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War as an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau. He was present aboard Commodore Bevven's ship during the Battle of Picutorion, which was part of the campaign known as the Kwymar Suppressions. As Bevven and High Colonel Theol Drost watched the battle unfold, they debated on whether or not to send in TIE reinforcements to assist Tensiger's 6th regiment, whose armor battalion had penetrated the outer perimeter of an Alliance to Restore the Republic tracking station on the surface. As the Commodore made his decision to send the starfighters in, Barezz politely interrupted and told both Bevvan and Drost that two soldiers involved in the assault, Captain Ganig and Sergeant Stecker, were listed by the ISB as "sensitive." Both had become decorated heroes due to their actions at the Battle of Sagma, but the ISB had come to notice that the pair displayed a casual observance towards discipline. Barezz was also sure that a trooper in their unit named Linds was a Rebel sympathizer who had been in contact with both, and was concerned about the possibility of two Imperial war heroes defecting to the Alliance. Barezz was certain that COMPNOR would decorate the two soldiers again if they survived Picutorion. He counseled Bevven and Drost to delay the reinforcements until both Ganig and Strecker were dead, as slain heroes were as good as live ones for the purposes of Imperial propaganda. Both officers agreed, and Bevven delayed the TIE reinforcement by ten minutes.

Personally charged by Lord Darth Vader to root out Rebel spies and traitors, Barezz developed an obsession with stopping the Alliance agent Tay Vanis, codenamed "Tiree." Operating under the aegis of Alliance Intelligence, Vanis was responsible for recruiting new operatives for the Rebellion. Barezz learned that Vanis was planning to escort a group of six new Rebels aboard a shuttle to a secret rendezvous. With the full support of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Aggressor, Barezz reached the rendezvous first, destroying the shuttle and killing the six souls aboard. However, the Star Destroyer was unable to capture Vanis when he arrived, despite Barezz's attempts to motivate the crew of the Aggressor&mdash;an act which annoyed the Aggressor captain as the ISB were a civilian bureau without military oversight, and it was courtesy that their agents were allowed on the bridge of a starship. While the Aggressor captain maintained that he believed his crew did everything they could to stop Vanis, Barezz implied that the loyalty of the Star Destroyer's personnel would be placed under a great deal of scrutiny when it came time to formally assess them.

Shortly after, Barezz received information from the bounty hunter Skorr that a fellow bounty hunter named Sammie Staable was planning to join the Alliance on Ord Mantell. While Barezz traveled to the planet, Skorr led a team of bounty hunters&mdash;including Zuckuss, 4-LOM and Furlag&mdash;to capture his prey in a docking bay, along with Staable's companions, the gambler Raal Yorta and the Squib Smileredon-Verdont. Upon arrival, Skorr found Raleigh Dawn, a bounty he had been attempting to collect earlier, present in the docking bay. Dawn subsequently boarded Yorta's ship and the four fled the planet. When Barezz arrived at the docking bay aboard a Chariot LAV, Skorr presented him with a witness; a freighter captain who was originally chartered to take Raleigh Dawn off-planet. Barezz interrogated the man using an IT-O Interrogator and found out that he had been hired to take Dawn to a rendezvous whose coordinates had been loaded onto a datapad that she had left aboard his ship. Barezz ordered the man's death shortly after.

Contacted by Lord Vader, Barezz relayed his belief that Vanis was gathering more Rebels, and that Dawn was one of his recruits, along with Staable. Vader gave the agent full authority to use whatever forces he needed to capture Vanis. Traveling to Bothawui aboard the Aggressor, Barezz found his quarry aboard a relay station in orbit. The Aggressor turbolasers destroyed Yorta's ship, which was docked at the station, but the four fugitives used an escape pod to reach the surface before heading onwards to an abandoned lidium mine, Mesa 291. Accompanied by twelve stormtroopers, Barezz took a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle to the top of the Mesa. Deploying stormtroopers throughout the facility, Barezz used the comm system in the foreman's office to order the Rebels to surrender, which they did not. The new Rebels fought through the facility until they reached the Main Shaft, a huge cylindrical chamber with a plasma fire burning below and multiple openings along the walls, but no walkways to cross over. The Rebels, at opening 7A on level seven, had to reach the opposite side of the shaft and descend to opening 6B on level six to continue to the hangar where their escape craft waited, which was unknown to Barezz. They planned to use R2-D0, Vanis' astromech droid, to bridge the gap using his thrusters with a rope attached that Smileredon-Verdont&mdash;who was riding on the droid&mdash;would tie off at the other end, allowing the Rebels to reach their destination.

Barezz, accompanied by three stormtroopers, entered the shaft at opening 8B on level eight, placing him above and opposite the Rebels. Ordering his soldiers to open fire, their initial shots hit R2-D0 in mid-air, shorting him out and stalling his progress. R2-D0 became a dead weight, forcing Staable to hold onto the rope to prevent the droid and Squib falling into the plasma fire below. While Yorta tied off the rope to assist Staable, and Dawn laid down cover fire, Smileredon-Verdont tinkered with the droid, bringing his systems back on line and rocketing him towards opening 6B. With the line now going taut, Staable was pulled out of the opening, and left dangling over the pit. Yorta, a former smashball player, threw a thermal detonator up to the level where Barezz and his men were. As one of the stormtroopers caught the device, Barezz attempted to run. The resulting explosion gave the Rebels the time they needed to escape, meet with Vanis, and get off-planet.

Barezz's reports on Vanis were detailed enough to allow fellow ISB agent Ref Mawber, who was also a friend of Barezz's, to recognise the Rebel when he landed on the planet Questal. Mawber informed the local Moff, Bandor, and Vanis was subsequently captured when he attempted to break into the Moff's palace.

Personality and traits
Barezz carried a blaster pistol, and was well trained in its use. He also carried a vibrodagger, and was proficient in the use of it, as well as blaster rifles, heavy weapons and simple weapons. He was also qualified to wear light, medium, and heavy armor. He was trained to use a computer, and was skilled in the art of information gathering and intimidation. Barezz could sense when someone was hiding their true motivations from him, and was knowledgeable about the New Order. He also carried a comlink, code cylinder, and datapad.

Behind the scenes
The events of the Imperial Sourcebook and The Game Chambers of Questal were originally believed to have taken place after the Mesa 291 incident from Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. However, Rookies: No Turning Back shows that Barezz possibly perished in an explosion. Pablo Hidalgo stated: "I've always been of the idea that he died on Mesa 291, and other events in his life mentioned in the Imperial Sourcebook actually occurred before the events of Rebel Breakout. But there's enough vagueness in either direction, I think, that I'll let individual timeliners play with it."

Appearances

 * Rookies: Rendezvous
 * Rookies: No Turning Back
 * The Game Chambers of Questal
 * Rookies: No Turning Back
 * The Game Chambers of Questal
 * The Game Chambers of Questal