Metatheran Cartel Tilnes base

Metatheran Cartel Tilnes base
General information
Constructed	c. 31 BBY
Location	Tilnes
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	Metatheran Cartel

During the waning years of the Galactic Republic, the Metatheran Cartel trading concern operated a base on the moon Tilnes.

Description

The base was situated on Tilnes, a moon of the planet Cularin and was situated within a network of tunnels deep beneath the moon's surface. The base consisted of a series of steel-walled caves in which goods were stored prior to shipping. The installation was also fitted with a lift that connected it to a hangar located near to the world's surface.

History

Around 31 BBY, the Metatheran Cartel trade alliance established the base on Tilnes after being forced to withdraw from Cularin. They kept their presence on the moon secret but after knowledge of the base became public among the people of Cularin the Cartel claimed to have closed down their Tilnes facility. However, the Cartel continued to covertly occupy the facility and bribed the Verga Mer Mining Company, a concern that mined tunnels situated near to the base, to ignore the Cartel's operation.

During the time of the Clone Wars, the Caarite Ko Bas served as the Cartel base's overseer. Circa 21 BBY, the Believers Sith cult plotted cripple the Metatheran Cartel by unleashing a virus fatal to the Caarite species, members of which dominated the Cartel. The Believers were aware from their contacts in the Cartel that the Tilnes base remained in use and the cult selected the facility as an appropriate site to test the virus, because as the Cartel had kept their presence on the base a secret they would not openly acknowledge any attack on the installation. The Believers dispersed the contagion throughout the facility by detonating an explosive device laden with the virus in the base's ventilation system. The entire population of the Cartel, facility quickly contracted and died from the pathogen with the exception of Ko Bas and the Caarites G and U, who were instead transformed into violent, mutant beings.

Two weeks after the release of the virus, a team of six Believers traveled to the Cartel base to examine the results of their pathogen. Shortly after they entered the facility, an electromagnetic pulse emitted by the core of Tilnes struck the base, triggering security procedures that caused the doors to seal and activating a distress signal. The disturbance also caused traces of the virus to leak out of the base and contaminate the surrounding tunnels. The cultists soon fell under attack from the mutant Ko Bas and he slew and ate four of their group, leaving only the Believers Aris and Osia alive. The pair took shelter in the base's security office, where they encountered G and U and used the Force to bring the two mutant Caarites under their control.

The Verga Mer Mining Company official Nevan Khash detected the distress signal sent out from the Cartel base and hired the heroes of Cularin, a group of freelance agents that operated in the Cularin system, to investigate the signal's origins. Three hours after the Believers' arrival at the Cartel facility, the freelance agents made their way to the base, where they fought and defeated Bas. Shortly thereafter, the freelance operatives recovered an active sample of the virus and headed to leave the base. Seeking to keep the existence of the contagion a secret, Aris and Osia ambushed the freelancers, assisted by U and G. The agents successfully fought off their their attackers and departed the facility with the viral specimen.

Appearances

• Broken Orbits: Tilnes Rising – Living Force (First appearance)
• Metatheran Caution: Caaried Away – Living Force
• Metatheran Caution: Belly of the Beaast – Living Force (Mentioned only)
• "Metatheran Promise" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (Mentioned only)

Sources

• "Tilnes Falling" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)