In the ensuing chaos of the fall of the Republic, the Galactic Empire finds itself facing a very disturbing reality, resistance. In nearly every sector throughout the galaxy, there are bands of resistance to the Empire’s rule.

In less than two decades, those independent resistance cells begin to coalesce into a far greater thorn in the Emperor’s flesh, an Alliance to restore the Republic. The thought of such a vain attempt may have seemed laughable at first, but the Empire would soon learn the cost of their miscalculation.

All across the galaxy the Rebel Alliance and it’s allies engage in hit and run tactics against Imperial forces. On the ground they strike armories, supply depots, listening posts, and relay stations. In the skies above they strike at the heart of the Imperial fleet; it’s shipyards, scoring critical victories that cripple their foes.

The Empower did not take any of this lightly and ordered the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) to use whatever means where necessary to end the rebel insurgency. ISB tacticians studied the rebel attacks for weaknesses and decided to engage in their own asymmetric warfare campaign. They began planting agents on planets in the outer rim, gathering firsthand intelligence of rebel activity, but they didn’t stop there.

The ISB turned to the shadows and began hiring bounty hunters and mercenaries to do their bidding. They kept their contracts off of official Imperial records, by creating a separate, hidden file in their database. These contracts would be known only to the ISB and privately funded from their own sources. They would conceal these transactions as legitimate business payments in order to provide immutability to the Empire.

The ISB would provide support in the form of Intelligence, while the actual work would be carried out by the bounty hunters or mercenaries themselves. Often these contracts would focus on capturing high ranking members of the Rebel Alliance, in order for them to be interrogated by the ISB itself. For other High Value Targets like Rebel pilots, they wanted them eliminated to send a message back to their leaders.

Once this operation was underway, whispers began to circulate in the Outer Rim. Alliance informants, soldiers, and spies turned up missing or dead. It didn’t take long for Alliance Intelligence to ascertain what was going on. Their informants engaged in a deadly game of counterintelligence against Imperial spies, passing on what they had learned.

In the process, Rebel Intelligence would begin building target packets on the Empire’s hired hands. It became a real-life version of Dejarik, only the moves weren’t played out on a holoboard, and there was no respawn, and no second chances. Every step taken must be calculated and planned.

The Alliance knew that they needed a way out of any location before they ever went in, or else they risked being captured or killed. The bounty hunters and mercenaries themselves may have dared venture into shady business dealings with the Empire, but they would soon find the rebels to be unwilling participants in their quest for fortune and fame. Their easy ticket to retirement wouldn’t be punched as quickly as they thought.

Often their quarry would lead them on high-speed pursuits across towns and into the unexplored wilderness, while others demanded pursuit into the skies. These seedy characters began racking up the credits, as well as a reputation amongst their peers. It became a sick game that only the most ruthless enjoyed.

Their time of pleasure, however would soon find them under the watchful gaze of those more skilled in hunting and killing. The Alliance would not allow the Empire to go unrewarded. They would watch and wait, and set their own timetable for reciprocity. When Imperial spies and mercenaries began turning up dead on worlds like Bothawui and Tatoonie, the Bounty Hunters Guild took notice.

Rebel Alliance SpecForces were sending a clear message: back off or die; it’s just that simple. To make a point, they would leave holos of the Bounty Hunter’s families, their homes, their ships in a hanger. Now the tables would be turned, and they would soon realize that their dark deeds had attracted a cost that they were not willing to pay.

Their entire business and lives were datamined by the best slicers in the Alliance and exposed on the Holonet for the entire galaxy to see. The Rebel Alliance engaged in a multi-facetted attack on its enemies, that would draw blood no matter which direction they turned. The war may continue for years, but that pales in comparison to the price of forfeiting one’s personal security for inflicting temporary pain on a much deadlier adversary.