A New Order: Aurora Inquisitorialis

[Rossos Atrapes]

It was strange, how much could change in the course of a year.

Not even a year, in fact. Inquisitor Atrapes had only been assigned to his position on Imperial Centre for some months. But he had acclimated well to it. Well enough that he was ranked enough to speak to the Grand Inquisitor without going through the myriad routes of requesting an audience.

The Crimson Guard before Valten’s chambers didn’t move as he made his way towards them. He was a familiar sight now, and no one would tempt fate and try to follow procedure and bar his way. That was assuming that he wasn’t expected, of course. In all likelihood, Valten had been expecting him for some time now, for the very subject Atrapes wished to discuss.

The doors to Grand Inquisitor Valten’s office opened silently before him as he entered.

“Veritas Vincit, Grand Inquisitor,” he said<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 56.7pt } P { margin-bottom: 12pt } P.western { font-family: "Garamond", serif } --></style>. “I have news to discuss with you.”

[Karl Valten]

Despite his frequent absences from the Citadel, the Grand Inquisitor did have his own loyal eyes and ears to pick up rumors and secrets. And in recent months there were nearly too many to sort through…….nearly.

Inquisitor Liet had already spoken to him a scant few days earlier. It was to be expected that Inquisitor Atrapes would be coming shortly after.

Valten smiled as he removed memory stick from his computer and killed the power. Atrapes had exceeded his expectations, the man was one of the more talented Inquisitors to rise since Palpatine’s death.

“Veritas Vincit, Inquisitor Atrapes. How may I help you?”

Karl motioned a seat to Rossos and slipped the memory stick into his uniform.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“I trust you saw the recording of my little meetings with the honourable Judge Eliessa Corta,” he began. He didn’t wait for the Grand Inquisitor’s reply, however.

“The Judge herself is not the great threat, though we should keep some eyes on her and make sure she doesn’t come upon any more sensitive information.”

Atrapes fixed the Grand Inquisitor with an intent stare. “The great threat, Grand Inquisitor, is some unknown person, with influence and sway within the Inquisitorius. Enough to steal away a large amount of the Moffs that presented a threat to the Empress’s position. That is bad enough. But also, the Inquisitorius is like a cloaked vessel that has stayed for too long uncloaked. We lost a large amount of the arrested Moffs that day, and on top of that, a Judge gained knowledge of the event. We are powerful, Grand Inquisitor, but our power is best suited to secrecy and the shadows. The Inquisitorius must become a thing of rumours, and nothing else, once more. A cloaked ship is a fearsome craft indeed, but only so long as it remains cloaked, only to be seen by those who will never be able to tell of it.”

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in, but did not let the initiative fall from his grasp.

“On that memory stick is information. I’ve kept up with the contacts and such that I could, and have made a report on the Inquisitorius throughout the galaxy. We are known, Grand Inquisitor. Not by most, but most have heard rumours. And many know of us for sure. The only way I can see to ease the pressure on the Inquisitorius is for it to disappear completely. For it to be, in a sense, terminated, like Project Nightmare.”

[Karl Valten]

Valten pressed his finger-tips together and grinned at how directly the Administrator was presenting himself.

“Well now, that’s rather bold of you. Many people would consider that a grave mistake.”

Atrapes was a good Inquisitor, not a man to blindly follow the ways of the Book of Indoctrinations of old. In the months of administrator of the Citadel he had shown initiative and resolve lacking in many of the more puritan inquisitors.

“But I appreciate your honesty. I have heard rumors regarding the good Judge Corta and talk regarding some missing moffs, but I have been fairly preoccupied. I’m glad that you have taken interest in the matter.”

Valten flicked on a device, a signal jammer, sitting atop his desk. Even this deep in the Citadel there were eyes and ears that Valten didn’t trust.

“However you shouldn’t worry about the state of the Inquisitoriate, plans have been in motion for a long time. Tell me more of this entity you think in manipulating us. I too have felt suspicious of something out of the ordinary.”

[Rossos Atrapes]

“My suspicions of this... entity... are what push me to say such things, Grand Inquisitor,” Atrapes replied, leaning forward.

“I have delved further into the matter of the missing Moffs, though I have not made any physical investigations of the evidence we have as of yet. What I learned is troubling. Every person and droid aboard those ships had been cleared. They were all Inquisitors. This tells me that either the ones who took the Moffs were good enough to overcome all the Inquisitors and servicemen on those ships, or that we have a problem in the Inquisitoriate itself.”

He leaned back, letting one hand rise to rub at his bearded chin. It was an unconscious action that occurred when he was lost in his thoughts. The way he had spoken the last part of his words gave ample evidence that he considered the problem to be in the Inquisition.

“I immediately thought that perhaps it was our enemies; but that was discarded. There is no doubt the entity is our enemy, but I believe this is one we have not met before, or has not yet decided to make its move against us. You know that none of the Inquisitors aboard those ships have returned, meaning that they are either dead, captured, or have taken part in this insurrection. But you also know the Inquisitors better than I do, and I know that getting any number of them to agree on an action without someone as the instigator or head is impossible.”

He paused, going over the evidence in his mind once more.

“Also, the Empress’s detractors have not been silenced. The arguments about the Empress were not that we did not need a ruler, but who exactly would the Inquisition support. I had my reservations, and still do somewhat, as she is mostly untrained and thus unable to use her powers to the extent the Emperor did.” He didn’t say that being such made her weak and susceptible to the influence of others and perhaps more. He continued, “But once the decision was made, I assumed that most if not all Inquisitors would silence and work on the stability of the Empire. I was wrong. The whispers of dissension, Grand Inquisitor, have only been louder. Someone or some ones are fomenting this dissension.”