<div class="floatright">(https://i.gyazo.com/bdbafdeb23ed2d32b38bc190d1c6f145.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">The Rise of the Empire</span><br/>THE STORY<br/><br/>It is 72 hours after the declaration of Empire Day and the Purge of the Jedi Mutiny.  All across the planet of Coruscant, most of the population is in celebration of the founding of the Galactic Empire.  The Clone Wars are over, peace has been restored, and welcome order has been brought to an tired old republic weary of war and the corruption of the political process.<br/><br/>Most of the population celebrates...  But there are those who lurk in the shadows, some whose eyes recognize this fragile period as one in which lists of names are commonly gathered up, a time in which old grudges are tallied up, former friends and neighbors are gathered up by hysteria, lined up against bare walls, and shot...  Recognizing these fragile times, such souls dig deep into hiding, seeking escape, a way out, desperate for passage off-planet to farther reaches, where anonymity and apathy are better tools for survival than a blaster or durasteel armor.<br/><br/>The hour is late, the city is under curfew, although reveries and carousing still echo throughout the urban sprawl of the planetary metropolis of Coruscant.  But there are those who dare travel through the tunnels, the alleys, and the unsavory hidden paths that intersect throughout the lower city and underbelly.  Tonight, some of them seek the same destination, a location drilled into their memory, a rendezvous too valuable to commit to chip or hardcopy.  The location, known and named as Speakeasy, a rennovated cantina deep in the abandoned Factory District.  It is said that all manner of services and favors may be bought and sold in the Speakeasy, including discrete smuggling off-world.  It is said that tonight, a particularly noteworthy excursion may even involve Jedi survivors.  It is hoped by some, that what is whispered is true, and a General of the Clone Wars may even be the source of these rumors...<br/>