The Reign of Princess Gabriella Storm: A Black Sun Rises
Although existing in more nebulous forms for hundreds of years, an organization
recognizable as the current Black Sun was first mustered under the Dark Princess
Gabriella Storm. Its business front opened to the galaxy on Year 0 Day 5 (CGT).
Though ostensibly a reputable trading concern, the core of the group was to
become one of the most feared social clubs in existence.
According to accounts from the period the first Princess eventually grew bored
with continuing success and faked her own death in order to escape the group
(Year 0 Day 318). The existing pattern of loyalties, when confronted with the
sudden departure of the Princess, created a rift in the organization. Many who
were loyal to the Princess reasoned that where their leader went they must
follow and so they departed. For the first time the leadership of the Sun was
shaken and the organization set to tear itself apart.
The First Inter-regnum: The Reluctant Princes
Loyalty games are almost always devastating. They divide groups along the faults
lines of who/what members are actually loyal to. Then come the other reasons;
Those members who are ambitious or greedy are lured towards opportunities they
see opening and those who are fickle are motivated just by the desire for a
change. The damage is, generally, far worse than expected. Such times are
treacherous and a leader is required to stabilize what is left. Dark Prince
Blood was appointed in the interim and, though he never wanted the job, he did
his best at a holding action until a new leader could emerge.
After long deliberation among stakeholders in the high command a new Prince was
chosen, Dark Prince Keevan Colton, who pushed towards stabilizing the high
command and the organization as a whole. Again, the new leader was a reluctant
Prince and quickly set about training a successor.
The Reign of Prince Qel Dar: The Falleen Connection
This successor was Dark Prince Qel Dar. He propounded the philosophy that the
Sun's power must become centralized and became known for military-level
conflicts with the Hapes Consortium.
The reasons for the dispute between Black Sun and the Hapan government are lost
to time as no member involved still serves the Family today. What is known is
that Prince Dar was a member of the Huruk-Rah clan and drew the Sun closer to
the Falleen Federation. The Federation was, at that time, led by Tholin, a
sentient with ties to the syndicate. Qel Dar also took as his protégé the
galactic businessman Kosh Naranek who was former governor of Lorell. Together,
they pushed construction on the planet in an effort to wrest control from Hapes
(Year 3 Day 107, CGT), ultimately leading to a military intervention that foiled
these plans.
Despite his other works as Dark Prince, Qel Dar's plan to seize the planet
Lorell was his most grandiose action and his failure there irrevocably marred
his reign. He would abdicate within half a year after the conclusion of what the
Hapans now call the "Black Sun Crisis".
The Reign of Prince Plojo Rosom: The Black Sun and those who Walked in its
Shadow
Naranek, the expected successor, had disappeared from the galactic stage when
Dark Prince Dar stepped down and so the task of rebuilding passed to Plojo Rosom
(ascended to the throne Year 4 Day 61). Dark Prince Rosom set out to reconstruct
Black Sun, dividing the corporation up and appointing Lords, each with the
responsibility of conquering volumes of space. Each of these taskforces would be
a microcosm of the way Black Sun itself had been run in the past and the Family
grew to its largest point since its inception under Dark Princess Storm. Freed
from the day-to-day management of territory and assets the Prince could take on
larger issues and those of personal interest. Dark Prince Rosom married Avalon
Larkin on Year 4 Day 159.
Realizing the Sun's need for military muscle, Rosom contracted mercenary groups
among these was Irv Howie, a petty warlord based in the Jospro sector. This
mercenaryŐs relationship with Tee ubo Tarkona (then fiancé to the Emperor
Uebles) drew him into conflict with the Galactic Empire. Tee fled Imperial space
aboard her YV-666 the "Leap of Faith" to join with Howie's fleet just outside
the Sullust system, it was here she changed her name and appearance to avoid
pursuit. Tee became Xyanax Jasper and then Xya Howie after the pair married and
combined their resources into a new group, the Shadow Walkers, which was hidden
from those who were not members.
Using her connections in the Empire she lured a Victory-class Star Destroyer the
flagship of 2IF "Dauntless" to the Sullust system. Here they were ambushed by
elements of Warlord Howie's fleet, notably the Carrack-class light cruiser "ISS
Golgotha" which was loaded with troops, ready to storm the Destroyer. After a
fierce battle the ship was captured and renamed the "ISS Chosen" to serve as
flagship of Howie's fleet. Disputes between Xya and Irv caused the marriage to
decay. Xya took those Shadow Walkers loyal to her into the service of Black Sun,
while Howie returned his fleet to mercenary work.
The Shadow Walkers were initially employed by Dark Prince Rosom as an external
group to remove Family members who broke their pact with the Sun. Incorporating
Xya and Tara Tylger into Black Sun caused diplomatic strife with the Empire -
the Emperor hated the pair, for personal reasons and for their involvement with
a group which stole a Star Destroyer and murdered its crew. Hostility led to war
and Black Sun found itself at war with a large government once again. After a
small altercation on Tatoonie, Black Sun rose to meet the new challenge.
Ultimately, neither faction could claim to have won the conflict and, after
diplomatic success, it was downgraded to a state of mutual animosity.
Xya was still tasked with reporting and eliminating Family members who betrayed
Plojo and her personal records suggest that as Plojo grew more paranoid she grew
to hate the work. Prince Rosom finally merged the Shadow Walkers into the
mainstream of Black Sun and left, appointing her the Dark Princess.
The Reign of Princess Xya Howie: Conglomeration, Conglomeration,
Conglomeration
The agenda of Dark Princess Xya was to push omniscience through connections with
factions and to push illegal money making with the creation of the Black Market.
Her initial reign lasted just over eight months.
The Black Market was set up to sell rare and expensive technology anonymously
through Black Sun as an intermediary. Silent auctions meant that pirates could
flog their stolen goods to upstanding citizens without anyone stopping to pick
up moral scruples. The two principal sources of military goods for the Black
Market were Emperor Uebles (who was faced with the prospect of either, working
with BS, or continuing hostilities with them) and Irv Howie (who maintained
volatile relations with the Princess and her organization).
At the same time Black Sun formed an alliance of conglomerates. Wealthy through
initiatives like the Black Market and capitol created during Prince Rosom's
reign, Black Sun could afford to tempt new, expanding groups with offers of
support. No less than three budding conglomerates considered themselves a part
of the organization at this point. Xya pushed for this in order to fulfill the
goal of Black Sun:
Being everywhere and knowing everything at any given time.
-
Princess Xya Howie, Kiffex Palace, Year 5 Day 160.
The fourth, and final group involved was to be SoroSuub. Irv had funneled his
personal wealth into the creation of the SoroSuub Conglomerate along with his
new business partner Adam A Flynn. Together they were pushing forward what would
become the largest, richest group of businesses the galaxy had seen. The
SoroSuub shipbuilding company was a gift to the pair from Black Sun so, from the
start, they were indebted to the organization. SoroSuub began its golden age
around Year 5 Day 181 (CGT) and by this point it was very loosely interwoven
into the Sun.
The Second Inter-regnum: The Mistakes of Our Past
When Princess Xya Howie stepped down her loyal Regent Joseph Roscha was
appointed Dark Prince. His reign was short, only three months, before continued
disagreements with the former Princess prompted a turn of events that saw him
expelled from the group and Dark Princess Xya's return to the throne.
While Count Irv Howie of SoroSuub Conglomerate and Dark Princess Xya Howie of
Black Sun were aboard the YV-666 "Leap of Faith" the ship suffered catastrophic
damage. The central computer on the ship was fried and provides no clues to this
day what became of the pair but they are still missing, presumed dead.
The Regent Tara Tylger stepped into the breach as the new Dark Princess but this
was short lived. Princess Tylger's reign ended when she rampaged through the
palace on Kiffex, leaving many dead.
Regime changes are never a good thing for a group and it is readily apparent
that Black Sun was, by this point, in crisis. Camaris sa Vinitta took the throne
and the organization was sundered again. Predicting this eventuality a successor
had been trained in secret and now stepped in to restore control to the
fractured group, Dark Princess Daa`iata Tnaysc.
During this period SoroSuub Conglomerate had pushed forward the creation of a
massive city-world on Galalryn and eventually became the leading Galactic
Government, replacing the Galactic Empire. Count Ingo R. Vailis made a famous
speech to the Galactic News Service, outlining his political views and pushing
SoroSuub towards the Rebel Alliance and, eventually, the New Republic.
Meanwhile, Count Adam A Flynn was heavily involved with Black Sun, supporting
Princess Tnaysc's efforts to rebuild. Her reign did not last long and she handed
control over to Prince Flynn. In such a short period Black Sun had undergone
tremendous political turbulence. SoroSuub was willing to contribute massive
amounts of credits to sustain the syndicate but to no avail. Rivalry among the
remaining Family members made their position untenable and Black Sun was gutted.
The group was held as part of the SoroSuub Conglomerate, stripped of all but its
Kiffex holdings, the flagship Darkstar-class battleship and a fleet of vipers.
Prince Flynn and Count Vailis debated its future at length but neither could
afford to divert time from the furtherance of SoroSuub to repair the damage done
to the Sun. It looked like the end.
The Reign of Prince Flynn: Illegitimate Government
As events came to a head and SoroSuub merged with the Rebel Alliance to form the
New Republic, Black Sun was forgotten almost completely. Prince Flynn and Count
Vailis had never been able to answer the question of how to restore the group
and so it languished, neglected.
The New Republic outlined plans to transform Black Sun into Republic Trading.
Severing the group from its criminal past and setting it on the course for a
legitimate future as a trade consortium. Flynn and Vailis proposed a deal to
sell the group to Teniel Djo with the hopes that a pirate could become a solid
candidate as the new leader of organized crime in the galaxy. The idea of
selling to a pirate sickened the moral majority in the New Republic. The Chief
of State and leader of the Republic, Ingo R. Vailis, unable to reconcile his
past and current identities or achieve his goals within the framework of the
Republic, pushed on the deal. A last, desperate ploy to float something of the
heritage which he felt a part of, rather than see it sink.
The member body of the republic rallied against what they saw as unethical
behaviour and, on Year 8 Day 310, they passed a vote of no confidence in Chief
of State Vailis. Ingo secreted himself on Sulon and there he met with Adam A
Flynn, Beauba Fettt and other key individuals to plan their response. It was
time to correct the mistakes made with the Sun.
On Year 8 Day 338 Chief of State Vailis began sending orders to Black Sun agents
in the New Republic. He ordered the deaths of several key political opponents
and the transfer of massive amounts of military technology and credits into
Black Sun. He and Adam A Flynn worked closely together over this period and, by
Year 8 Day 350, Dark Prince Flynn had ascended to the mantle of Black Sun, this
time with the full intentions of restoring the crime syndicate to its former
infamy.
State of Play: Black Prince takes White Castle
The first actions were to pull Black Sun's new warfleets back to Thyferra (a
planet taken from the Republic) and begin organizing centralized military muscle
on a massive scale while their leaders take time to plot the future course of
the syndicate. Shortly after this point Black Sun begins pushing to reconstruct
itself on all fronts.
Ex-republic cruisers, now under the flag of Black Sun, and star-viper assault
platforms move into Thyferran airspace. Thus begins Black Sun's occupation of
the planet. Their warfleets would remain in orbit to muster strength for months.
Year 9 Day 30, Black Sun takes the decision to become a government in its own
right, abandoning the facade of legitimate trade concern which has long since
lost any credibility among the wider galactic population. Work begins rebuilding
the famous Library of Black Sun as a central repository of all information in
the galaxy, public and illicit. Plans for the development of Kiffex are unveiled
with a view to creating a suitable capitol world out its current barren and
neglected state. Recruitment of agents is pushed and new members are
indoctrinated with the creed: Family. Honour. Profit. A creed no Black Sun agent
should ever again be allowed to forget.
They live in the shadows, seldom known to the rest of the universe. They are
people you know and trust. The people you trade with. The people you fight with.
The people you buy drinks for. They are all linked, all members of the same
Family. A Family not bound by blood, but by honour, and for life. A Family that
will bring swift and merciless justice against any who betray or oppose it.