Star Cabal

Star Cabal
General information
Leader(s)	The Prince
Headquarters	Star Chamber
Location(s)	Megasecurity Ward 23 Tytun Rings
Historical information
Date founded	c. 5000 BBY with the Koros Covenant
Date dissolved	3641 BBY

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The Star Cabal was a secret society of influential conspirators that were formed in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War. Formed with the purpose of eradicating the Jedi and Sith, allowing for once the 'ordinary people to rule', it was made up of every major society or species in the galaxy. At least one Rakata was known to have been a member of the Cabal, as well as Voss, Hutts and many others.

Organization and philosophy

"They were responsible, and so we resolved to control their actions from the shadows. To keep Republic and Empire separate. We were their secret masters--a Star Cabal."

―First Tank Resident.

Originally, it was envisioned that the Star Cabal's purpose was meant to have been a noble one. Their mission being the preservation of civilization that had nearly been destroyed at the hands of the Jedi and Sith. Thus, they believed these parties were responsible for the devastation caused by their wars and the Cabal sought to indirectly control their actions from a distance. They resolved to keep the Republic and the Empire separate from one another to limit the damage they were capable of inflicting.

The later successors of the secret society came to believe that there was no freedom so long as the Jedi and Sith remained. Thus, they viewed that anyone that served either side was forever under their control unless attempts were made to destroy the Force-sensitive orders. As such, their ultimate goal was the end of the 1400 year old rule of the two dominant Force-sensitive orders in the galaxy. This, they believed, would result in the galaxy being united in peace under the common citizen, who no longer had to be dragged into crusades or beg at temples.

They believed that the real world operated not through religion or use of the Force but rather through information, money and technology. Their hidden actions meant that they saw the galaxy as being controlled by the Star Cabal and that only a few beings were able to see this truth. This was a view held by the older members of the organization whilst the later generations were seen as corrupt. The successors of the Cabal were noted to consult their preserved older founders for wisdom only to return them to their stasis and never revealing the changes to the society that had been wrought in later years.

In terms of military support, the Cabal employed mercenaries for use against their enemies.

Many of the Star Cabal's in-the-field operations - which included such activities as spy/counter-spy work, torture manipulating individuals and organizations, sabotage, hacking and orchestrating massacres for influencing media - seem, to some degree, to be entrusted to a central agent, referred to as 'The Enforcer'. Based on available information, it's likely that this Enforcer directly served the Star Cabal's leading council, and was prepared to operate under multiple falsified identities in order to accomplish their missions.

Some of the organization's members indicated to have used the title of Enforcer have been the exiled prince/pirate crime lord Nok Drayen, a human male named Albathius who managed to win the Voss over as 'The Shining Man', and Hunter, a female agent masquerading as a male SIS agent.

History

Origin

"Our purpose was noble. We assembled to save civilization after the Jedi and Sith nearly destroyed it!"

―First Tank Resident.

Its origins were traced to the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War when the Galactic Republic had been victorious over the Sith Empire. Their triumph saw the Sith flee known space which left only a ruined galaxy in the wake of the conflict. During this time, a group of beings of influence that included spies, nobility, scientists and crime lords gathered to find justification on why no force had managed to stop the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith. This gathering saw them conclude that the billions that died were attributed to the two Force-sensitive orders. Thus, this group decided to control their actions from the shadows and formed the Star Cabal with seemingly a noble purpose. Its formation occurred when these individuals came together in the Koros system, and with the declaration of the Koros Covenant they formed the Star Cabal—a secret organization dedicated to the preservation of galactic civilization through the control of information and influence. The Cabal did not discriminate against those of questionable morality—crimelords, gangsters, and smugglers could be members just as easily as politicians, nobles, and government agents.

These founders operated in complete secrecy where they ensured that both the Jedi and Sith were allowed their supreme power in their world of religion as well as hereditary might that was gifted to them from the Force. They were content to allow this as they believed that this was simply a facade with the real world being controlled through the use of finance, technology and information. The Cabal operated in complete secrecy, ensuring that no one outside of the organization knew of their existence. They also worked to conceal the continued existence of the Sith from the Jedi Order and vice versa, knowing that war would ensue if the two sides collided again.

Around eight centuries ago, the order was still considered young as an organization. While they claimed to have held a noble purpose, the younger generation of the Cabal became colder in their views and hungered for power. Eventually, they became corrupt and, at some point, these newer members of the Cabal turned against the older founders that had stayed true to their original purpose. This menagerie of men and women were greatly respected by the other members of the secret society which was why they were not killed. Instead, they were stored away in stasis at a secret vault called Megasecurity Ward 23 on the planet Belsavis that was under their control and served as a site for other treasures of the organization.

The Conspiracy Stirs

However, sometime before the Cold War, the Cabal took on a less noble purpose. Later generations of members began to subvert the organization's goals, taking advantage of the Cabal's resources for their own profit. Over time, the Cabal strayed from its goal of preventing war, and became a secret society dedicated to its own protection and continued prosperity. The Cabal also orchestrated the creation of a private section of the Tomb, a secret Republic prison complex on Belsavis that had been created by the Rakatan Infinite Empire. This section, known as Megasecurity Ward 23, became a secret storehouse for the Cabal.

Here, the Cabal stored remarkable technology such as microdroids and genetic maps, as well as the SCORPIO artificial intelligence droid which served as its protector. In addition, their most valued members that were deeply respected were kept in stasis in kolto tanks in the Ward with one of their number being as old as 800 years old. These individuals were kept alive because of their experience though they themselves lamented on how the Star Cabal had become subverted.

During the Cold War, Hunter, a female Human agent of the Star Cabal had inserted herself into the Republic Strategic Information Service, as a male spy, where "he" used Ardun Kothe in his quest to find the Shadow Arsenal. When Cipher Nine of Imperial Intelligence uncovered these plans, the Star Cabal's existence was discovered by this Imperial Agent who sought to bring down the conspiracy.

Cipher Nine pursued Hunter to the mining colony of Isen IV, where Hunter had turned the colony's own machinery and droids on the inhabitants, in an attempt to frame the Empire for a massacre. The aftermath of this incident officially reignited war between Republic and Empire.

Nine later traveled to the planet Belsavis where the agent intended to infiltrate Megasecurity Ward 23 where Cipher masqueraded as a criminal who desired to find treasure amongst the vaults. This Imperial Agent worked with a group of criminals trapped on the prison planet to accomplish this task where they were being opposed by the vaults SCORPIO artificial intelligence. Upon the achievement of the task, Cipher Nine encountered a trio of preserved members of the ancient conspiracy that had been overthrown by their latter successors. These individuals revealed the origin of their organization and explained its secrets as well as the fact that they saw the modern incarnation of the Cabal as being corrupt. As a result, they offered to help the Cipher Agent by aiding in reprogramming the Scorpio droid to get the machine to aid the Imperial Agent in tracking down the Star Cabal as they were not privy to their current activities. In response to the agent's breach of their secret vault, the conspirators started leaking Nine's identity to anyone who had an axe to grind.

Afterwards, Cipher Nine went to the Tytun Rings HoloNet archives, which the Star Cabal discreetly built to hide their communications. Upon being reassembled by the Watchers back on Dromund Kaas, it displayed a recording of a meeting of many of the conspirators, discussing their enigmatic, risky plan. But within the recording was a trap designed to overwhelm a genetically enhanced mind, rendering all enhanced Watchers comatose, effectively crippling Intelligence's operational capabilities.

Undeterred, Nine chased down another lead Keeper on the planet Voss. With the aid of an undercover Imperial agent, Bas-Ton, Nine unraveled the conspiracy of the Shining Man. The Shining Man was sent to Voss to find ways to shield the Cabal members against the Force. When that failed, he fabricated a prophecy and convinced Voss-Ka's rulers, the Three, to avoid making alliances with outsiders for three thousands days, promising that the Gormak, Empire and Republic would be eradicated. Nine managed to find the agent's ship, which contained valuable intel on the Cabal. The Agent's efforts forced the Cabal to take action, and it demonstrated its reach by dissolving the Operations branch of Imperial Intelligence, with all members being drafted into the armies of individual Sith Lords and forced into open war.

Endgame

"We knew we would be vulnerable in this moment. Despite the risk, we invited chaos, knowing we could cleanse the galaxy. Our duty now is to survive and as our thousand year journey ends... we will enter a finer age."

―The Prince to his comrades in the Star Cabal.

With Intelligence gone and the Sith blind to the threat of the Star Cabal, the Minister of Intelligence himself decided to take matters into his own hands. With the last of his influence, he reassembled the most prominent men and women of Intelligence secretly and began working off the grid. They then contacted Cipher Nine, who immediately took up the mission once more.

During the Battle of Corellia, Hunter of the Cabal orchestrated a high class party arranged on an airship floating above the battlefield. This was with the intention of bringing in the richest individuals on Corellia and distracting them in what he termed as a "apocalypse party". The aim was to prevent them from doing anything constructive on the planet. At this point, Cipher Nine had arrived on the airship. Hunter, communicating via hologram, revealed the Star Cabal's plan to manipulate both Empire and Republic into annihilating each other, so the "ordinary" people can rule again. Hunter proceeded to knock out the agent with coma gas in order to be interrogated on the contents of Moff Zamar's report on Imperial forces to the Dark Council. During the interrogation, the Cipher fed false information under torture that the Imperial forces were about to be reinforced by troops from an arriving Sith Lord. Once concluded, the agent killed the interrogators and escaped the airship. At this point, Cipher Nine planted explosives that destroyed the Military History Museum on top of the agent after SIS members were sent after the Cipher Agent. This gave the impression that the agent had died to the Star Cabal.

This opportunity allowed Imperial Intelligence to conduct a coordinated effort to bring down the Star Cabal now that its guard was down. Onboard the Tenebrous, they managed to track their communications to a space station in the Null Zone holding the headquarters of the Cabal and dispatched Cipher Nine to the site. At their base, the Cabal believed that they had lost Corellia as a result of recent events though alternative plans were being conducted on the Mandalorian front and noted that some success on their strategy had come following the apparent death of Tol Braga. At this point, the Cipher Agent's infiltration of their base was discovered and the Star Cabal scattered with some of its members attempting to kill the Imperial agent. This saw them killed and Keeper posting bounties on the known Cabal members. Afterwards, Cipher Nine confronted Hunter who revealed that the font of all their collected information was located within the Black Codex which he attempted to defend. Hunter's death allowed the artifact to pass into Cipher Nine's hands with its fate being determined by the agent who had the choice of destroying it or using its contents. Either way, the Star Cabal was effectively dismantled and destroyed, their dreams of a "finer age" dying with them.

Equipment and training

For recruitment, the Cabal did not enlist converts to their cause as this was considered a security risk. Instead, they inducted new members into their ranks from remote worlds and young children as old as eleven who were brought into their secret society. Others were even born into the ancient conspiracy where they grew into adulthood to complete the Cabal's goals. Some of its members were not capable of being identified as they were not present in the databanks of bodies such as Imperial Intelligence. The heads of the secret order consisted of a number of individuals that formed an inner circle.

Belsavis prison was secretly under the control of the Star Cabal who used it as a vault for their weapons, technology and other precious treasures for safekeeping. Such items included microdroids, genetic maps and the Scorpio artificial intelligence. These were all advancements that the Cabal had denied to the wider galaxy. In addition, those individuals they felt were highly valuable or respected were kept in a form of stasis where they were preserved in kolto tanks to survive across centuries.

The entirety of the secrets of the conspiracy was located within digital files present in the Black Codex.

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (First appearance)

Notes and references

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