Taif Imperials

The Empiricist was assigned to long range patrol duty on the outer edge of Galactic Rim largely due to the unreliability of its Captain, Daken Riu, who had ties to the old Republic political class and was widely suspected of being involved in anti-Imperial conspiracies. The Imperial Navy high command felt that there was little damage Riu could do so far from her support base in the Core Worlds.

As a secondary insurance policy against Riu's treachery, all the new officers assigned to the Empiricist were chosen for their loyalty to the Empire and its ideals. In particular the First Officer, recent Imperial Navy college graduate Vek Ceilo, had already gained a reputation for unswerving faith in the Emperor and the New Order. On arriving aboard the ship Vek sought out other officers with similar qualities. While they did not specifically plan for a mutiny, Vek ensured that officers that she could trust were given access to weapons stores and command of critical locations onboard.

When the Empiricist entered the Taif system and was disabled by a starquake, the Republican officers saw their chance to stage a mutiny. Although the Republicans had the advantage of surprise, Vek was able to quickly rally those she could trust, seize command of the situation and fight back. Before either side could prevail, damage caused by the fighting sent the ship crashing into the atmosphere of Taif's sole inhabitable planet.

The Imperial loyalists outnumbered the Republicans, but only a small number survived the crash. Vek was badly injured and was only saved by the ship's surgeon, who managed to salvage the vessel's medical suite and used it to restore her to life with crude but effective cybernetics.

Since then Vek has marshalled the survivors and their descendants into a formidable force. Unlike her Republican counterparts she has remained an active leader of her forces. She has had her engineers fashion a carapace of dwarf star alloys that shields her from the starquakes and keeps her cybernetics working. Unfortunately, the other Imperial forces have been forced to resort to primitive tech, including vehicles using ignition-based engines that will not short out during starquakes. After realising she was not going to be rescued, the increasingly megalomaniacal Vek named herself 'Moff' of the 'Taif Sector'.

The Taif Imperials number about four hundred strong. They chiefly use slugthrowers but also have several flame based weapons that utilise a concentrated version of the same natural gas that powers their vehicles.

Moff Vek Keilo