SotP Addenda - Galactic Underworld, Beneath the Façade

PERSONS OF NOTE

Within the Consortium there are a number of individuals beyond the big three (who will also be covered) who are worth investigating and bringing to light. They are largely managers and administrators of the Consortium and have become fairly integral to operations. All of these individuals are marked for investigation and potential dossier reports.

Cassian Lone: The more sharp-eyed Mandalorian analysts will likely wonder if the surname indicates a connection to the Mandalorian Clan Lone, one of the few that are not part of the Mandalorian Union itself for one reason or another. Research has confirmed that Cassian is indeed formerly of the Lone Clan, but he does not identify with any aspect of Mandalorian culture, as he left the clan when he was a teenager and fell in with a group of mercenaries.

As fortune had it, these mercenaries eventually joined forces with the Consortium and Cassian soon attracted the attention of several ranking figures and was offered the opportunity to join the Yellow Vests three years after initially allying with the Consortium, a position he gratefully accepted.

Over the past fifteen years he has continued distinguishing himself, participating in the most dangerous and vital missions to the Consortium at great risk to himself. He's lost his left hand and entire right leg in different battles (both replaced with cybernetics), and acquired a notable collection of scars from campaigns on dozens of backwater worlds. He has now ascended to Commander of the Yellow Vests, and is one of the primary advisors to Tyrell Zann and appraised of all major operations of the Consortium and the Yellow Vests.

Regardless of his affiliation, Cassian has the physique of a Mandalorian. He stands exactly one point eight meters and carries nothing short of a full arsenal on him at all times, particularly, disruptor rifle and mass driver rifle combos, with carbonite and thermal grenades. Older now, he has a graying beard and short haircut, and while his features have hardened, there is nothing that especially stands out about him appearance-wise, as the majority of his scars are under armor.

He has good working relationships with all major figures of the Consortium, Urai and Tyrell in particular. He ignores Tora, and is rather restrained when it comes to his opinion on Tlon Fett. He must find it ironic how involved Mandalorians are now in his life, even if he no longer considers himself one. He has no children and has an off-on relationship with another Yellow Vest officer, and both men appear to have known each other for years.

A final note of interest is that while Cassian is definitely not a Mandalorian, he doesn't really seem to have any significant animosity to them, and interestingly it appears that Tlon Fett is making a positive impression on the Mandalorians for him. Rather showcases the skewed morality of the Consortium when Fett can actually impress someone.

EX-QT: This is one of the more unique individuals in the Consortium. We don't know who or what originally created EX-QT, but whoever it was obviously intended for it to function as some kind of assassin droid. The model is completely custom, and it actually has evolved itself to operate in 'shells' as it maintains several bodies from which it uploads itself to whenever it wants to do a particular task.

EX-QT was originally – amusingly – a bounty hunter of sorts, who seemed to grow bored of it and developed an interesting personality quirk – that of collecting and managing items. We don't know exactly how it made contact with the Consortium, but directly stated that it was impressed with the operation and wanted to learn more. At this point, Talia Zann was still in command, and understandably wary of a seemingly independent droid.

An interesting historical note about the Consortium is the fact that they are somehow very accepting of unshackled droid intelligences, having worked with the infamous bounty hunter IG-88 back during the formation of the Consortium (note: there were four iterations of the IG-88 series and it is unclear which one worked with the Consortium). They are aware of the benefits – and risks – such partners can bring. Talia extended a tentative offer to provide assistance, so long as it was reliable.

EX-QT accepted, and in the beginning, moved around the Consortium quite a bit until it settled into the role of Manager of Black Market Management, and is now responsible for planning, assigning, and deciding just what steps will be taken for the Consortium markets and how best to carry them out. It appears to enjoy the significant amount of data management the position offers, and will often unknowingly participate in the events using a protocol droid shell – which is, of course, heavily augmented to support weapon systems.

I am honestly not sure how dangerous this droid is, since it does not seem to really embrace violence and seems content in management. I wonder how much it actually cares about the Consortium, but unless another better offer comes along, it isn't going anywhere and its removal will definitely hinder their market operations.

Cynthia, the Executor: While technically a freelance bounty hunter, the Executor has been involved with the Consortium for nearly a decade, and it is fair to say that she can be considered one of their most reliable assets. Everyone is aware of the Executor's reputation, but not much about the woman herself – it took a surprising amount of effort on our part to piece together her history.

She was not, as we had suspected, trained as a freelance hutt assassin who went rogue. She is former Imperial Intelligence. We are still unsure how she managed to break the conditioning, and even more unsure why she left at all. She does not display any significant animosity towards the Empire, nor does the Empire seem to have some vendetta against her. The only reason we know for sure is that she keeps her bars as a memento. We had always assumed it was a trophy, but it appears to merely be her own.

Cynthia began taking contracts from the Golden Board early into her career, and has stated her preference for avoiding hutt contracts. She has always expressed a disdain for the entire species, and this actually matches up very well with her Imperial background. After her reputation began growing, she began being offered exclusive Consortium contracts which she has a one hundred percent success record in.

Tyrell Zann in particular took an interest in her, and we can only speculate as to why. It was initially believed it had to do with the fact that he definitely has a type he is attracted to, though later information has dismissed this as a reason. The more likely reason is that he respects her efficiency, as well as her rather dramatic methods of killing targets – forcing them to their knees and killing them with a single shot to the back of the head. The Executor didn't earn her name for nothing, after all.

We were unsure why she slowly began working almost exclusively for the Consortium, but we recently discovered the fact that she made a deal – years ago – for the Consortium to grow a child for her. We didn't make this discovery until recently, but she's being raised covertly by Cynthia herself and another Defiler who we haven't been able to identify. Further digging into her past showed that she had a sister who died in an airspeeder accident, so the most likely explanation is that the clone is made from her sister's genetics – or at least looks like her.

Rather sentimental, and explains why Cynthia is so loyal to the Consortium.

In terms of her threat level, she is just as dangerous as always, if not more. The Consortium continues to fund pretty much every aspect of her one-woman operation, with her armor being made out of Mandalorian iron, and having her field mass driver sniper rifles and disruptor rifles. This collection does make up for her rather short stature, and the final appearance note of worth is that is she one of the few mirialans to not sport any facial tattoos, and is identifiable by her green eyes and black hair which is dyed with strands of silver.

Gabrial Uloi: This man is perhaps one of the most malicious within the entire Consortium. He is the manager of all slaving operations in the Consortium, so that should already tell you a lot of what kind of person he is. He is, unsurprisingly, a former slaver with a specialty in grooming. Tyrell Zann approached him and said his talents were being wasted, and invited him to tour the Consortium slaving operations on Spaarti. Gabrial joined on the spot.

Disgusting man.

Gabrial is a frail old human who looks exceptionally unconcerned with the fact that he looks like a sexual predator with his elderly features, groomed white beard, and unsettling eyes that never seem to blink. However, appearances can be deceiving as somehow Gabrial isn't a sexual predator of adults or children, and in fact, never touches any of the slaves.

What is unnerving about him is his intelligence. We are unsure exactly what, if any, education he has, but he has a deep understanding of slave mentality, parenting, child psychology, and child grooming. He has personally been the architect of all modern Consortium slaving doctrine and grooming curricula, and the Consortium owes much of its current slaving operations to his work.

He does not have combat training, nor carries any weapons from what we know. He is also in no relationships that we are aware of, and seems dedicated to serving the Consortium until he dies. However, he has recently been seen holding private conversations with a newly cloned child, who has more recently been following him around on Spaarti.

Since we can say with some confidence that his tastes do not involve children, the more likely explanation is that this child is a clone – perhaps of himself – that he is grooming to be his successor. We do not know right now, and if so, we likely will not for many years.

Rana Tu: The kaminoans have managed to find a haven in the Consortium, and the first one – and the one who keeps finding enclaves and refugees of kaminoans – was Rana Tu.

Yes, the Rana Tu.

I remain shocked that he managed to slip the grip of the Alliance and Jedi, but I am somehow also not surprised that the Chief of Cloning Operations had a contingency that let him survive. He did, admittedly, seem smarter than his brethren, since he maintained his headquarters in the Rishi Maze and not Kamino itself.

If you're wondering how the Consortium has made such advances in cloning and genetics, that can be traced solely to Rana Tu himself. The kaminoan is brilliant, no one can objectively dispute that, and his brilliance within the Consortium is on full and horrific display. I know he gave the profilers nightmares since they didn't know how to correctly profile him, and I'm afraid that there can't be anymore light shone on it than already exists.

The continuing argument on if Rana sees non-kaminoans as legitimate beings and not walking collections of genetics is not settled, as he and Talia appeared to actually get along quite well, with Rana even making poor attempts at jokes at times. But we can say that the only time Rana shows any sort of real emotion is when he is working.

I don't even think we can say that he has emotions. This is a kaminoan who is able to watch a twi'lek girl get tortured to death and make notes on a tablet while cocking his head curiously at the scene. It is like how we would see a droid being dismembered; it just doesn't affect us viscerally even if the droid simulates pain.

I think we should be careful about considering him a sadist – because that implies he takes pleasure in what he does, and that simply does not happen with Rana unless he is in a room filled with gene-editing software. He is a geneticist at heart, and is responsible for the creation of the incredibly large library of genetic templates for cloning.

The challenge of taking a genome and shaping it to his will is something he takes a significant of pride in, though I don't know if we can even assign him a 'god complex,' as to him, he is simply doing what comes naturally to all kaminoans – life is to be shaped by their hands. Amoral bastards the kaminoans may be, but they're good at what they do.

Like all of his kind, he does not consider any kind of clone something that is actually alive – though he rarely interacts with them outside of tests anyway. More recently though, he appears to have opened back up research into the cloning of Force-sensitives – and knowing the Consortium, they are going to give him whatever tools and resources he needs to make it a reality.

The ability to grow Force-sensitives without side-effects would turn the Consortium from merely an evil criminal organization into a galactic threat. This can simply not be allowed.

Samantha: Very rarely are the names of Defilers learned, or are necessarily relevant outside of certain contexts. But this is a notable exception. Samantha is not like other Defilers. She was a special project begun by Talia Zann shortly before she gave birth to Tyrell.

Samantha is a heavily modified human on a genetic level. She is faster and stronger than women and most men of her size, she stands at barely over two meters, dwarfing most individuals (including Tora, much to her annoyance) except large species like wookiees. Her appearance is that of what you would expect of a supermodel with flawless olive skin, cropped black hair, and deep blue, almond-shaped eyes.

She is also hyperintelligent for a human, testing far outside the standard range of even Defilers. She has received training in all specializations of Defilers, has expert knowledge of political science, anatomy, and combat surgery. She speaks Basic, Huttese, and Cheunh fluently, and is overall the perfect iteration of a human woman.

The thing is, we're unsure exactly what is making all of this work. The most obvious theory is that there are alien genetics integrated into her – the fact that Rana himself worked on this project suggests this is likely, but there seems to be a piece missing, or the exact reason why Talia ordered her creation in the first place. Regardless, it does not change the facts.

Currently, Samantha is the personal Defiler to Tyrell Zann himself.

She acts as a mix between bodyguard, advisor, and hitman. Tyrell, and only Tyrell can command her, as her control chip only seems to force her to accept orders from him. If this was intended by Talia or something Tyrell added himself is unknown. She has been personally responsible for staving off six assassination attempts, and led the investigations and ultimate captures of the perpetrators.

The woman is dangerously intelligent and fanatically loyal to Tyrell, a fact which Tyrell seems to enjoy keeping to himself, as he gains great enjoyment from guests dismissing the towering woman behind him as an idiot bodyguard, and typically asks her for opinions of certain individuals or reactions to supply thoughts and observations that he otherwise would not have noticed.

Both of them are also in a romantic relationship. We attempted to learn some specifics of this, as both of them keep relatively quiet about it, but considering the deepening relationship between the two of them, it was likely only a matter of time. It is also highly atypical, and raises some questions about how much of this could be extrapolated to other Defilers – and how much is due to Samantha's unique situation.

Romantic relationships with Defilers – while not unheard of – are usually just sexual release with slaves or between other Defilers. They are never with Consortium personnel, and certainly not with the Zann family. Tora was supposedly aghast when she found out, and while we don't know what happened, we do know that Tyrell kicked her off his flagship and confined her to patrol duty for three months.

Returning to the relationship dynamic, we are unsure how much influence Samantha has on the relationship, and if Tyrell is genuinely in love with her or using her. While the simplest answer is the latter, there are several factors that make it appear less likely. The first is that Defilers are not slaves. They are incapable of betraying the Consortium, yes, but they are integral parts of the organization and highly respected and skilled. The power dynamic is not exactly that of master and slave, but superior and subordinate – for the most part. The control chips muddle the waters here significantly.

The second factor is that we cannot find a single instance of Tyrell treating Samantha badly or as anything less than a friend or confidant. He regularly requests her input on matters, has her supplement his blind spots, and seems rather amused by the fact that she is smarter than him on an objective level. There is very little evidence to suggest that this is something Tyrell is forcing on an unwilling Defiler, which is admittedly surprising.

Unless we have the opportunity to interrogate both of them, I suspect the details will have to remain speculation. In any case, she should be regarded as an extremely dangerous threat – and the fact that Tyrell never goes anywhere without her means that any operation targeting the Iron Lord will also come into contact with Samantha.

Prepare accordingly.

Urai Fen, Enforcer to the Lord and Lady Zann: Urai Fen is one of the more fascinating characters within the Consortium because there is simply no one like him. His history prior to joining with Tyber Zann is largely a mystery, but due to his species essentially remaining ageless, he could be thousands of years old. From what we know of the talortai, they are a species largely confined to the planet of the same name in the far Outer Rim.

What is interesting is that when we approached the Jedi for information on this planet, they first asked how we knew of it, and then proceeded rather reluctantly to provide what they had on it. As it turns out, the planet is supposedly steeped in the Force, with the talortai believing that they exist to 'protect the planet from those who would take its power.' All talortai are Force-sensitive – including Urai – though how powerful he is is unknown, as the only hints of Force-sensitivity are his extremely fast reflexes.

It also appears that Talortai has been the site of several incursions by Jedi and Sith over the millennia, in a similar situation to the voss, although both parties inevitably pulled back as the talortai slaughtered their people. The mystery of the planet will remain, it seems.

Why or how Urai left his planet is unknown, and it was a subject that he never discusses, even with his closest allies or friends. He bluntly and quickly shuts down all talk about his past before the Consortium, and something of note is that Planet Talortai is also free of Consortium assets, and he regularly has the Pirate Fleet patrol the systems around it, as if he is covertly trying to protect the planet.

For what purpose, we aren't sure. Urai is not especially sentimental, but could clearly have some kind of connection to his people he wants to preserve.

What strikes me as extremely curious is that of all the people in the Consortium, Urai simply does not fit the mold of a criminal. He has a very defined sense of honor, such as fighting his enemies personally, and undertaking dangerous assignments with his soldiers, as well as fulfilling bargains and remaining loyal to your allies. He doesn't seem to care about credits, women, or even power.

He just… goes through the motions at times.

He isn't an idiot, but he lacks the charm that Tyber, Talia, and Tyrell Zann have. He lacks flair and appears to be enjoying his work less and less. He is blunt and to the point; preferring to simply eliminate targets over manipulating them. He couldn't talk his way into a deal without threats or just giving up.

Because when it comes down to it, Urai is a warrior. He isn't a diplomat, speechwriter, or crime lord. The best he could do when he was in charge of the Consortium was prevent the bad decisions from collapsing the organization and relying on others to supplement his blind spots. I feel like he could become these things if he wanted… but he deliberately chooses not to.

In an organization revolving around the corruption of others, Urai Fen is oddly incorruptible. He does not, and will not change. He has been the singular constant of the Consortium since its founding, and he is unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon. But it honestly seems like his heart is no longer in it, and he's doing this out of a sense of obligation and respect for Tyber Zann to ensure that his organization doesn't fall apart.

It does raise the question of what would have eventually happened to the Consortium if Talia Zann hadn't happened, and Tyrell hadn't followed her legacy. At some point, even an immortal would become tired of being shackled to a singular organization for centuries. There seems to be something more to Urai staying so connected, but we can't come up with a plausible reason for why that is.

He notably does not involve himself in the vast majority of business decisions within the Consortium, instead managing all military and fleet assets, as well as handling Defiler assignments. He attends the parties and events at times, but he is more often seen on Consortium assignments where there is likely to be fighting.

Now it is important to say that Urai Fen is one of the most dangerous opponents that exist in the galaxy. This is an alien potentially thousands of years old, who has fought Force-users throughout his life (Sith Acolytes of Palpatine and Silri are ones we can confirm), and has a kill count in the high hundred thousands.

He uses a variety of techniques in combat, most notably his twin talortai combat blades, which are likely made out of some kind of metal from his home planet and are sharpened to the point of being able to penetrate almost any armor. The few times Urai ran into Jedi, he easily killed them, including a Sentinel of the Militant Order (the Jedi in general had not encountered the Consortium previously).

His blades are also not his only weapon. He carries several pieces of stun equipment that are able to completely knock out almost any human or near-human species – which armor cannot stop. EMP bombs, mines, and equipment are also utilized. When deprived of his blades, he utilizes his strength extremely effectively, and is more than capable of fighting the best CQC experts.

From what we have seen, he is extremely difficult to kill, and regenerates light wounds in minutes, and heavier ones in days. We don't know if he can regrow limbs or other organs, but it is not inconceivable.

A final note is that he gets along surprisingly well with Tlon Fett, and Urai appears to be the one Fett respects most within the Consortium. Perhaps it is due to the fact that they are both warriors who disdain small talk and chatter. Perhaps it is because they are experts in the art of combat. Perhaps they view each other as practical. Whatever the reason, Fett is the one person of his Gra'tua that Urai seems to see as something of a friend.

Tora Zann, Lady of the Zann Consortium: I find it highly amusing that her title is 'Lady' when that is one of the descriptions that fit her least. Tora is the second child of Talia Zann and her only daughter. Younger sister to Tyrell, and from the beginning she had been considered a disappointment by pretty much every ranking member of the Consortium. Were it not for Tyrell, Tora might have ended up deposed by Urai had she taken sole command of the Consortium. Again.

She is an odd beast. She has significant mood fluctuations at times, she is arrogant, self-centered, and dismissive to those around her who she considers her lesser. She is best described as the rebellious teenager of the family, and in that age she quite regularly abused Consortium assets for drugs, unnecessary wealth, and slaves. Not enough to make a noticeable dent in the Consortium, but enough that Urai and Talia stepped in and attempted a course correction that seems to have only been partially successful.

She was pushed to find an outlet, and ended up becoming a rather skilled and dangerous soldier – with some improvements. She got every single kind of enhancement one could think of, replacing her limbs with cybernetic equivalents, neural implants synched to her weapons, applied genetic modification, and more. There is suspicion that these haven't improved her mental stability, but if so, it's not any more noticeable than normal.

The truth is that Tora Zann is something of a moron, and everyone knows it.

Any sort of influence or control she is given is largely ceremonial to assuage her ego while Urai and Tyrell assume control of the actual Consortium. She doesn't participate in the business side of the organization, instead preferring to hold parties in her quarters with her harem of slaves. Tora is also a classic example of a nymphomaniac, and has reportedly has had hundreds of sexual encounters with men and women of all species, and, in fact, seems to seek out new and exotic sexual experiences.

This is understandably an issue, as when she isn't raping her slaves, she attempts to do the same to Consortium soldiers, which has resulted in Tyrell ordering a specific Defiler to watch her and intervene when she decides to sexually harass the personnel, something she is continually furious of. Though she does, for some reason, have an aversion to the Defilers in this regard. Possibly because they are the few who will not listen to her merely because she is a Zann.

Unfortunately, when this happens, she typically responds by taking out her anger on her slaves, which results in them either having severe injuries or in some cases killing them. In this, the Consortium doesn't care as slaves can be easily replaced, and if it keeps her aggressive tendencies in check, then all the better.

The sole area where Tora displays any kind of competence is in battle. She is a walking war machine, wears a specialized battle suit which contains a modular loadout that supports heavy laser weaponry, micro-missiles, and even a cage for a small ysalamir on the back. It also supports chemical dispensers or flamethrowers.

She has an affinity for explosives, and her primary weapon is a grenade launcher, though she will switch to a heavy mass driver cannon if that runs out of ammunition. She has close to no regard for her own safety, although admittedly is built to suffer as few injuries as possible. She is predictable and easy to out-strategize, but that also doesn't necessarily make her significantly less dangerous.

Ultimately, Tora is someone of note more for her heritage than because she is actually important. I suspect that if she were to die in any circumstance, no one in the Consortium would mourn her.

Tyrell Zann, the Iron Lord of the Consortium: If Talia Zann was the one who revitalized the Consortium, Tyrell Zann is the one who will define the legacy it leaves behind. While there is apparently some debate if Tyrell or his mother was the greatest leader since Tyber Zann himself, the fact remains that he has been one of the most respected and influential leaders of the Consortium in its entire history.

As a young boy, he had ambition to not only succeed his mother, but achieve even greater things than she did. He was determined to turn the Zann Consortium into the greatest criminal empire in the galaxy that no one would be able to touch, not the Alliance, not the Empire, no one.

At the insistence of his mother, he made a plan for his life and also like her, left the Consortium for a short time to expand his education and worldview. He acquired degrees in political science, general psychology, acting, and business management. He spent time as a high-ranking aide to several prominent senators at the time, spent time traveling the galaxy and visited several Jedi Temples, major political, and social hubs of the galaxy such as Corellia, Taris, and Coruscant, and of course, the places of the underworld including Nar Shaddaa, Nal Hutta, Tatooine, and more. He also has a singular acting credit (under a false name) in the hit holovid "The 500," a heist holovid following a team of criminals attempting to break into the vaults of the 500 Republica.

Tyrell played a minor crime boss, and his performance was praised for being 'authentic, intimidating, and flawless.' Tyrell often holds showings of the holovid at parties, and personally sends the director a thank you note and small sum of credits monthly. Tyrell has credited him with awakening his love of acting, and he covertly makes sure he receives near-unlimited funding for his projects in the future.

He's rather generous to his friends, I'll give him that. I wonder how they would feel knowing that their projects are funded by the most notorious criminal organization in the galaxy.

Tyrell eventually returned to the Consortium after fifteen years, throughout which he was apprised of Consortium developments and kept in contact with his mother and Urai. Upon returning, he was immediately given a full update on the operations of the Consortium and eased into taking command. Samantha was also assigned to him at this time.

Before Talia was diagnosed and placed into carbonite, both of them were working closely together and determining the future of the Consortium. I will note that Tyrell has never once mourned his mother because he is certain that she'll return and a cure will be developed, and when she returns, he wants her to find everything in good working order.

Upon taking full command of the Consortium with the full blessing of Urai, Tyrell began getting to work, and he has defined himself by his aggressive and merciless expansion and treatment of opponents. His title of the 'Iron Lord' was earned from his unrelenting expansion into the territories of the hutts and Black Sun. He has decided it is time for the Consortium to drive these organizations out of the Outer Rim, and he has shown his willingness to cripple them however he can.

The modern drug operations are a result of his policies, and he is slowly and methodically working to dismantle each hutt crime lord piece by piece. Ruthlessly cutting off their streams of revenue, assassinating their allies, sabotaging their equipment, and stealing their client base. The Black Sun, while they have not been hit hard yet, are preparing for the worst as they have found Consortium influence growing within their previously reliable bounty hunters, assassins, and freelancers.

Tyrell Zann is also known for executing his enemies – and those who have defied him – personally. He will hold a grudge for years, and isn't concerned with getting his hands dirty in some instances. Usually he will record the executions and send them to associates, or keep them as a personal playlist of his 'greatest hits,' so to speak.

He enjoys showing these off at events too, by the way.

Despite his more ruthless persona, Tyrell is described as exceptionally charismatic and charming, capable of capturing a room with his 'impromptu' speeches and friendly personality to his friends and guests. He's very good at making everyone he meets feel like a personal friend, and this makes him a very good diplomat, as well as upselling clients and talking people into purchasing the various products and services the Consortium offers.

It helps that his style is also distinct and eye-catching. He has the silver hair of the Zann family, which is sharply cut off at the neck, his eyes are sharp and brown, and he always presents himself as well-groomed and clean-shaven. He wears expensive, knee-length coats with fur collars – often hiding pistols and other holdout weapons inside. He wears no jewelry, but each piece of his attire is clearly of the highest quality and gives him an almost rugged appearance, more suiting of a crime lord than anything else.

This is perhaps to also take away from the fact that he's rather short, standing at only one point seven meters, although perhaps that adds to his aura of command, as Samantha dwarfs him in size – yet he still has command over her.

Yet quite a lot of this is, I think, an act the Tyrell puts on. In private, he's described as very different. He's much more reserved and focused. He has less tolerance for wasted speech and is highly decisive in his actions. He takes his position very seriously and surrounds himself with people to account for his blindspots who he believes are reliable.

He and his parents were very close, and he spent a lot of time with his father, Alyson Soro-Zann, before he was killed, who was also a notably reserved individual. After that he has made sure to remain very close to his mother, and is driven by a need to make her proud with what he has accomplished. Urai is also someone he considers essentially family, and as far as we know, no one else except maybe Samantha is considered such by him.

This does not extend to Tora who he privately despises and has considered stripping the name of 'Zann' from her due to her antics. The only reason he hasn't is because he's too busy and Tora has confined herself to nonessential areas, and Urai also covertly handles her since he feels that such actions would do more harm than good.

In short, Tyrell is an individual who is not to be underestimated under any circumstances. He is responsible for the continued actions, expansion, and atrocities of the Consortium and highly competent at this job. Considering the fact that he is taking on the GenoHaradan and managing to hold his own, we should be very careful with how we approach the removal of the Iron Lord.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STANCES

Templates, I swear.

As a criminal entity, the only political stances the Consortium really takes are those that ensure that their operations are not tampered with. They obviously push against campaign finance laws, regulations on businesses, and the usual. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they would prefer for the rule of law to be abolished as a whole, and the Triumvirate dissolved.

Now, in regards to what social views the Consortium holds, this is more nuanced. The Consortium quite obviously is a supporter of the slave trade and holds life itself as a commodity that is disposable and replaceable. The leadership in particular views their client base more akin to sources of revenue or tools than anything more. They have an exceptionally warped view of the galaxy and on life itself, which paradoxically does not really apply to anyone within the Consortium itself.

In fact, the Consortium is somehow one of the most inclusive criminal organizations in the galaxy, or entities in general. Species and gender are not really something taken into consideration, just do your job well and with competence. Tyber Zann himself believed the more aliens within the Consortium, the more effective they would be due to the different advantages each offered, whose weaknesses could also similarly be offset. He made several notable and deriding comments on the old Imperial tendency to treat aliens as second-class citizens. This attitude continues in the modern Consortium.

There are aliens of all species that populate the ranks of the Consortium, and a majority of Consortium demographics are non-humans, and include species which are often associated as criminals or outcasts such as weequay, kaminoans, rattataki, and so on. More attractive is that the Consortium doesn't care about previous criminal activities so long as they can do their jobs.

The point is that within the Consortium ranks, there is a surprising lack of prejudice, sexism, or racism that you may expect from such an entity. Even droids are arguably given equal status if they prove themselves to be loyal and dedicated. It's bizarre to contrast with how they view slaves as disposable trash, even if the only differences are the chips in their heads – not to mention some of the slaves grown are smarter, stronger, and faster than actual Consortium personnel.

I do not hold out hope that they will become aware of the irony of that.

ECONOMIC BACKING AND SUPPORT

The majority of their income comes from their rich client base which is relatively few for an organization as large as theirs, but makes up for it by paying far more on a per client basis. They make significant income from their various rackets and a sufficiently large amount from the black markets and Golden Board they sponsor. They are not backed by any other outside organization, and are completely self-sustaining.

There is very little else to note in this section. The only hope of stopping their revenue stream is to go after their client base, and we simply do not have the time and resources to go after every single rich creep in the galaxy.

ALLIES OF NOTE

Gra'tua be'haar Vemann'mando'ade: The emergence of Tlon Fett upon the Outer Rim came as a surprise to the Consortium, who largely ignored Mandalorians due to how isolated and impossible to penetrate their territory was. The fact that there was a new faction led by such a dangerous warrior caught the attention of Tyrell Zann and they set about observing Fett's Gra'tua and appraising their capabilities.

They did not actually approach the Gra'tua until years after Fett emerged, but after a certain point, they had seen enough and saw potential for an alliance of sorts between the two organizations – a first for both. Urai Fen was sent with a Defiler team to make official contact with one of the White Capes – an offer that Tlon was initially skeptical of. The initial conversation between Urai and Fett was apparently enough for Fett to later go and visit the Zann twins a few weeks later.

No one knows exactly what the four of them discussed, but both Fett and Tyrell announced a partnership which exists to this day. The details of which we can really only speculate at this juncture, though we can see the effect the Consortium has had on Fett's Gra'tua, especially in regards to drug and slaving operations.

The Consortium actually is a fairly frequent client of the Gra'tua, and buy drugs and slaves from them at regular intervals. Fett has supposedly also attended some of the gladiator matches and black markets the Consortium has hosted, and his Supercommandos have access to the Golden Board and regularly take contracts.

The Consortium will also sometimes hire the Supercommandos to undertake various tasks which tend to be direct strikes against Hutt Cartel targets. Both entities are working to destabilize the Cartels, and the Consortium seems more than happy to coordinate on that front, and it is speculated that both Fett and Tyrell have exchanged intelligence – particularly in regards to what Fett knows of the Mandalorian Union. What Tyrell does with this information is unknown, though it is unlikely that he will move against the Mandalorians.

But the Consortium definitely has plans for them. We know that Fett is likely planning to one day return to the Union and assume control. It would be wholly unsurprising to learn that they would also have the backing of the Consortium that day. A combination that I am unsure that the Union could stand against.

The Union is dangerous – but they are not invincible.

The Migrant Fleet of Dac: There is some debate over how to properly classify the relationship the Consortium has with the Migrant Fleet, as they are not traditional 'allies,' but are without a doubt clients of each other and openly do business. There have been multiple sightings of Defilers on the Migrant Fleet, and Tyrell Zann himself personally visited the High Admiralty once – what they discussed is unknown.

What is known is that after that point, business between the two entities was strengthened and expanded. We've fortunately been able to pinpoint a good deal of their involvement, and it appears that the Migrant Fleet is only involved in the Black Markets and Slaving Operations and not any of the party side of the Consortium, as they clearly are not interested in it.

The Consortium pays the Migrant Fleet handsomely to host the results of their vong-inspired weapons and continually developed anti-Force technology. Outside of the Black Markets, the Consortium has likely bought some of the most advanced weapons and tech of the Migrant Fleet, as well as significantly invested in continuing ventures.

The Migrant Fleet also buys large quantities of slaves from the Consortium – all of them Force-sensitives – and knowing what we know about how the Migrant Fleet treats those who can use it, they are most certainly being used in experiments and tests with their weapons. Alternatively, they're merely performing autopsies to determine if there are universal traits of those who use the Force. We do not know, and an operation on the Migrant Fleet itself would need to be conducted to confirm this.

Too many people are under the impression that the Migrant Fleet is ultimately harmless – and laughably, deserving of sympathy for their fate. They paint the image of a broken, wandering people flying across the stars and play on their tragedy to dismiss questions. But make no mistake, the Migrant Fleet is fanatical, ruthless, and pragmatic to a fault.

They want to purge the galaxy of the Force and all who use it. They will fail, but we continue to ignore and underestimate them at our own peril. Perhaps we should respect the largest standing fleet in the galaxy a little more, yes?

ENEMIES OF NOTE

The Hutt Cartels: Saying that the Hutt Cartels and the Zann Consortium don't get along is saying that the Jedi and Sith have philosophical differences. While technically true, that fails to accurately convey the context of why it is that way. Tyber Zann and Jabba had a long-standing feud after they both attempted to betray the other, and this has not really died over time.

The modern Consortium considers the hutts as petty, ineffective, thuggish, and incompetent criminals who pander to the lowest and most desperate, and are mocking of their clearly inferior forces and technology compared to the Consortium. But the fact is the Cartels still have more manpower, territory, and credits than the Consortium and are – more to the point – not yet intimidated by the Consortium, even if they are growing more concerned.

The Cartels, for the most part, have been able to ignore the Consortium, though this has started to change now that the Consortium is actively targeting their drug and arms operations and corroding their power base through cheap drugs and weapons, and conducting assassination ops on minor hutt allies and clans. The Consortium is going about this conflict intelligently – they are isolating minor hutts and taking them out, while using Fett's Gra'tua to further weaken the various Cartels.

The only major hutt of note who has sounded the alarm is Tuchanka the Hutt, who is coincidentally the one who took control of Jabba's remnant criminal empire following the Yuuzhan Vong War and turned it into one of the most powerful cartels in the Outer Rim. Tuchanka is something of a legend among certain species and a celebrity within the Cartels.

Tyrell Zann has also openly declared his intention to 'dismantle the legacy of Jabba and all associated with him.' Which was, supposedly, met with uproarious laughter when it was played before a meeting of Cartel leaders.

Laughter which has begun to die as the hutts realize just how dangerous the Consortium has become. The major ones are still insulated, and Tuchanka has begun making changes to his own forces and security. He's now surrounded by a small army of bodyguards, has all of his food tested for drugs, and has heavily restricted who can enter his palace.

He's also worked on providing extensively more security to his own operations, and posted a bounty which will reward those who kill Consortium personnel, and personally sponsored a bounty of fifty million credits for the head of a Zann. Urai also has a bounty of forty million credits.

The point is that eventually there will be major conflicts between the Consortium and Tuchanka the Hutt, and depending on the outcome, it may very well decide who will control the majority of the Outer Rim. We can confirm at least that the GenoHaradan are not working with Tuchanka or contacted him at all.

While I can't blame them exactly, this isn't exactly a case of two criminal empires fighting each other and weakening themselves. One is clearly not like the other, and like it or not, Tuchanka is the one most likely to enter an open war soon, and if he loses… well, it's not going to be good for anyone. The status quo is better than a dominant Zann Consortium.

The Black Sun: The history between the Consortium and Black Sun is much less hostile than the hutts, but it would be accurate to say that, at best, there is a cautious respect between the two organizations. Or was, until the Consortium began moving on Black Sun territory and actively sabotaging their operations on a military and political level.

In some ways, Black Sun has been working to reform their image over the past few decades into less of a criminal organization, and more into a private security company. They still carry out arms deals and fund the drug trade, but the majority of their businesses have some legitimacy to them, enough where they had an actual lobbying presence in the Senate.

Intruding on the political sphere, however, is seen as a threat to the Consortium, and they have gone to certain lengths to target and mitigate any allies the Black Sun is attempting to make in the Senate – and succeeding, as recently the Black Sun was blacklisted from lobbying and approaching the Senate directly – a significant win for the Consortium (and most people, honestly).

The Vigos responded by declaring their intention to remove the scourge of the Consortium from the galaxy by any means necessary. They have reached an agreement with Tuchanka to fund his operations directly dealing with the Consortium, reached out to the Empire to establish an intelligence agreement regarding the Consortium, and as we recently learned, they were contacted by the GenoHaradan who are providing their own assistance.

In addition, they are hiring small armies of elite and established private armies and bounty hunters and massing them deep within Black Sun territory for an unknown purpose. It is likely that they are saving them for the perfect moment, but the amount of credits they are spending is staggering, and emphasizes just how badly they want to destroy the Consortium.

They are worth watching, as they are potentially the main force behind Tuchanka and could mean the difference between victory and defeat. We also have to assume that Tyrell knows of this buildup and is planning accordingly.

The Fellan Imperium: If there has been one consistent failure of the Zann Consortium, it is the continued attempts to penetrate the Empire and failing spectacularly. The incredibly sterile society of the Empire is simply not compatible with the Consortium, and if planets start experiencing drug epidemics, gang violence, or suspicious activity, that isn't normal, and is investigated immediately.

The Empire has absolutely zero issue with deploying the Stormtroopers to quell gang wars, and then interrogating the survivors with Inquisitors. They have no issue with pulling junkies off the streets and extracting the names of dealers. They are capable of ruthlessly dismantling a Consortium cell in days, and it is possible that after dozens of attempts, Tyrell Zann is figuring out that the Empire just isn't going to be fertile ground for the Consortium.

They maintain strict control over the HoloNet, and playing cute games like using proxy sites to get around bans will get Imperial Special Forces deployed or, if you're especially unlikely, the Imperial Knights. Something the Consortium has learned the hard way several times. For once, the draconian control the Imperials exercise has produced something good.

The government is close to impossible to significantly corrupt, as the higher one rises in the ranks, the more scrutiny from Imperial Intelligence and the Inquisitors there is – and they love nothing more than stamping out corruption. Not to mention that thanks to continued meddling, the Empire has placed a bounty out for any information on Consortium operations in Imperial Space, and encourages any bribe attempts to be immediately forwarded to Imperial Intelligence.

Imperial Intelligence has also beaten them at their own game several times, by setting up honeypots that the Defilers took the bait from, and subsequently used them to first locate, and then assassinate three Defilers before the Consortium realized what was going on. There haven't been any blatant bribery attempts since then.

Extortion is also less effective than one might think, as the structure of the Empire makes it impossible to leverage your position outside of your own specialty, and there is so much constant scrutiny that acting out of character – even subtly – is going to attract the attention of Imperial Intelligence who are going to bust the operation – and usually the person being extorted, since it often involves crimes against the Empire.

The Empress has sarcastically thanked the Consortium for helping expose the criminals in their midst, turning even that vector of penetration into something exploited by the Empire. At this point, the Consortium has given up – and put the Empire on notice of the organization as a whole.

And yes, they did enter into a limited intelligence sharing agreement with the Black Sun. That alone should tell you just how much they hate the Consortium.

The GenoHaradan: We do not know how long the GenoHaradan have been watching the Consortium, but it has apparently reached a point that is a threat to galactic stability. They would not be revealing their presence otherwise. We still don't know exactly what triggered this kind of response, because it's definitely not based in any sort of morality.

Perhaps Tyrell Zann is too competent for his own good?

Unimportant, and this will likely go down as beneficial for us because we will get to observe what happens when the GenoHaradan are confirmed to be active. As far as we know, this is in the very early stages, since we were not officially informed of their involvement until late into this operation.

We know that there have been at least two assassination attempts on Tyrell Zann by the GenoHaradan, and both have been thwarted, which is actually not unusual for the GenoHaradan. Disposable assets are typically sent first to appraise reactions and responses. It would not be surprising if the GenoHaradan was privately funding Tuchanka and the Black Sun while they determine a permanent solution to the Consortium.

Because we know from past experience that when the GenoHaradan strikes, everything comes crashing down for those who have earned their ire. We already know the GenoHaradan has acquired full records of Tyrell's little galactic journey, and their actual operations right now appear to be data gathering.

Knowing them, I suspect they are going to identify the major clients of the Consortium and assassinate them simultaneously and sever their primary revenue streams all at once. Which is something easier said than done, as Tyrell suspects – if not knows – that there is someone more dangerous than the hutts and Black Sun targeting him and the Consortium.

We are waiting to see how he adapts to this, but it isn't out of the question that he may begin providing protection to clients for all the good that will do. However, an issue that could very well put the Alliance in a difficult position is the sheer number of Consortium clients that live within, or have business with the Alliance.

If the GenoHaradan carries out a decapitation strike against Consortium clients simultaneously, that will do more than merely destabilize the Alliance – is could send it into chaos. The economy would enter into a recession, if not crash outright. The public will be thrown into chaos when it comes out that celebrities and media stars that they admire were actually clients of such a reprehensible organization. The Senate will be paralyzed and literally everyone will eviscerate anyone with the slightest connection to the Consortium.

And that will only be the start. Imagine what will happen when the mass investigations are demanded and the past of each and every senator is uncovered. Everything could be exposed, because this time, money won't be enough to protect them unless they run. Worst-case scenario is a collapse of the government entirely, with a military takeover.

You know, reading all of this back, I wonder if that would be better in the long-run. The Alliance is compromised, and has been for some time. If not the Consortium, it's the Black Sun, Exchange, Cartels, numerous criminal syndicates, businesses, the obscenely wealthy, the Jedi, anyone with any shred of influence or wealth who wants to have a say on Alliance policy.

Perhaps a cleansing is warranted.

OPERATIONS IN THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE

It's probably time to bring up the issue which has been rather obvious, but also not specifically addressed until now – how much this relates to the Alliance.

The bad news is that the most important clients of the Consortium are within the Alliance. They aren't making their money from their operations in the Outer Rim – those are just designed to acquire influence and territory while mitigating that of their enemies. It isn't to say that they don't have rich criminal clients in the Outer Rim – just not as many as elsewhere.

By now you should understand the kind of people the Consortium attracts. The wealthy and influential. The ones who don't care about laws or morals, or who, at best, see it as an obstacle to overcome. The ones who use and abuse their power to get ahead by any means necessary. The ones who think they are better than the common galactic citizen.

This shouldn't be a surprise in retrospect.

Democracy is said to be the worst form of government, but I would argue this is a gross misunderstanding. Democracy is the easiest form of government to subvert. The problem of Consortium influence, which extends to a good portion of Alliance business elite and much of the Senate, is not just limited to them. I guarantee that the Consortium is only one entity that these people do business with – perhaps the one they have the best working relationship with – but far from the only one.

Out of curiosity, we took the profile of one of the participants at one of the events the Consortium threw, and decided to perform a deep background check on. He was the galactic Senator to Naator, a Mid-Rim planet which is largely ignored and unimportant, who passes along various pieces of information to the Consortium in return for protection and political assurance. His 'wife' is a custom-ordered slave who he likes to parade around.

This is the surface level. We decided to go deeper. He is far from the only one on the planet who is under Consortium influence, and he's directly responsible for introducing many of his friends to the Consortium, and now all of them are valued clients who buy arms, drugs, and slaves without anyone the wiser. We kept going and going, and for this one planet over twenty percent of all government administration was compromised in some way by the Consortium.

We didn't bother going beyond the one planet. We already knew what we were going to find.

The Consortium exposes an ugly reality of the galaxy – that if given the chance, many people will throw away whatever values they supposedly hold for power, money, sex, or drugs. For thrills or exclusivity. To brag and boast; to show off. In this, the ultimate amoral irony of the Consortium shows itself. In a galaxy where most people are supposedly good, the Consortium should never be able to function.

Ultimately, the Consortium is providing services. Services which too many people are accepting without thinking. And it's not because of ignorance. These people know what they are doing. They know what they're propping up by going to their parties and buying their products. They knew.

They just don't care.

I don't know if it can be fixed without bringing the entire house of cards down. None of us do.

COUNTERMEASURES AND NECESSARY RESPONSE

We held a mock vote.

Sixty-seven percent of us voted to let the GenoHaradan do their thing and put the pieces back together after.

The rest voted to come up with some kind of plan.

Since this is our job, and suggesting "that we let the GenoHaradan execute whoever they want" isn't going to fly, we tried to come up with a way to purge the influence of the Consortium from the Alliance in a way that won't destabilize the Alliance.

First order of business – the AIS. The Consortium deliberately avoids antagonizing intelligence and military services, but that doesn't mean there aren't moles here. Get the Jedi involved and perform systematic interviews with all of our staff and at minimum, AIS Command. If there is Consortium influence, we need to purge it right now.

Second, we reach out to the Empire and let them know how deep this goes. They take the Consortium seriously, and both our governments are allies through the Triumvirate, so they should have some incentive to help us. We keep this channel open until the Consortium is purged one way or another. If we get lucky, the GenoHaradan reach out and we can approach this as a coordinated unit.

Third, we get the President on board. Anti-corruption is her thing, and while we all joke about her being a spineless naïve girl who is way too optimistic about the nature of the galaxy, I guarantee she'll allow us the authority to take the necessary actions here to purge the deep corruption in the Alliance. Yes, she'll be less than thrilled – especially since she already dislikes many of our operations, but I cannot realistically see her refusing to do anything about this. The public still adores her, and this will be absolutely crucial going forward. Especially since she is likely going to need to suspend the government when the hammer falls.

Forth, we get the Jedi involved. This kind of thing is right up their alley and when they realize just what the Consortium is doing, I bet the Militant Order is going to be livid. We'll need the Jedi anyway for their Force capabilities, as there is going to be a lot of interrogation going on. I guarantee the Jedi will be more than willing to help. If nothing else, tell Undien there will be one less entity working to stop his own political machinations.

With all of this in place, we begin the creation of the web. We identify everyone we know has done business with the Consortium and build a database until we can't find anyone else. Then we systematically arrest them in groups. Some big fish go down first, preferably a mixture of businessmen and politicians. Get the media talking and put the name of the Consortium out there. We begin selectively releasing evidence of what the Consortium is doing.

The public gets riled up. Our good President promises action. Lo and behold we nail the second round. As long as we can do this – and wait in time for new and secured elections to be held for political positions – we should be able to achieve this without completely destabilizing the Alliance and slowly but surely cutting off the revenue of the Consortium.

In the meantime, we send Alliance Special Forces and the Jedi after known Consortium military assets. It will ultimately culminate in what will hopefully be a joint Imperial-Alliance-Jedi invasion of Salucami, Spaarti, and anywhere else they set up shop. During this period, we'll hold off operations against Tuchanka and the Black Sun. Let them continue to bleed the Consortium.

If all goes well – and this is admittedly unlikely – the Consortium will be purged, the Senate will at least not be composed of criminals, and the President, AIS, Jedi, military, and all of the clean senators come out looking like heroes and everyone is happy. Maybe the GenoHaradan will even send us a thank you note.

Alternatively, we could just let the GenoHaradan do their thing.

Up to you.

CONCLUSION

When all of us began this assignment, we were all hoping that it would be enough to get the Senate to actually take some action against the Outer Rim. We didn't think that there were any major differences between major criminal organizations – Cartels, the Exchange, Black Sun, you name it. The Consortium was just another criminal syndicate in a galaxy of them, they were bad, but no worse than any of the others.

We know now how untrue that is. I won't whitewash the Cartels or Black Sun here, or the thousands of criminals and rapists that permeate the Outer Rim. But for the hutts, there is a certain incompetence around them and they rise and fall with frequency, the Black Sun has cut back, even if they are criminals at heart. The Exchange is ultimately a collection of poor thugs and the desperate.

The Consortium is worse. And they have done more than that – they have highlighted the rot that exists within the galaxy. Rot that we continue to blind ourselves to and lie to others that it can be controlled – that it can be fixed – when in truth, we can't confront just how corrupt everything has become. If action is not taken, this rot will only continue to spread.

I have read many definitions of the word 'evil.' It's often dismissed nowadays as a word without meaning, thrown around to simply mean 'bad.' It's a subjective word, a concept that can never be objectively defined even if it is easy to apply to things we find reprehensible.

Why is the Consortium evil?

One definition stuck with me that applies here. Evil is the 'absence of empathy.' And the Consortium is devoid of any empathy whatsoever. They don't care about the lives they destroy, the worlds they put in danger, the people they kill, the millions they enslave before taking their first breaths.

They torture while only taking notes and appraisals. They rape and discard without any extra thought, because they know that if their slave bothers them, they can just dispose of them and get a new one like a machine. They treat life without meaning; not because they are necessarily sadists or enjoy doing it… but just because they don't see those they abuse as real. They don't see them as anything more than tools to use, collections of DNA and genetics to derive pleasure from, or amusement to toy with at their leisure.

The Cartels? The Exchange? They likely derive some pleasure from their actions. They are driven by emotions. They kill because of credits, or to take revenge. Their actions are derived from emotional foundations, which include selfishness. Or maybe it is for their brethren or to pay a debt.

The Consortium does not even do this; every action they take is taken on the soulless basis of completing a business transaction. They will terminate an entire cloning line if one genetic sequence is flawed. They will allow drug addicts to overdose if it will increase their chances of breaking the drug stranglehold their rivals control. They will grow slaves for the singular purpose of ending their lives.

And they don't care.

They don't feel.

Does that make them more evil than the alternative? I don't know. Consider it up for debate.

Regardless, the fact remains that the Consortium is a soulless organization devoid of any shred of empathy. I will personally state without any ambiguity that they are evil.

They are an evil that serves those who are as evil as they are.

Very rarely do I – or any of us – consider all within an organization incapable of redemption. But there are no excuses here; there is no redemption for those who tie themselves to the Zann Consortium.

Kill them all.