Game Guides Archive
Thread: Imperial Smugglers
That is at least, what I have written down in some of my short stories.
___________________
It might not be right as in nice or right as in moral and legal, but there are precedents in any level you want to name.
No offense to nationalities but the cold reality is that If illegal drugs stopped moving tomorrow, several governments in certain parts of the world would go into economic depression if not fall apart totally. It is that prolific.
That's just one of those things that you can't really translate into a computer game. Especially with paying customers. I admit that the penalties could and should be stiffer, but right now that's how it's being translated.
RpTheHotrod wrote:
You are all talking about how there is always corruption. You are forgetting one thing.....if they are caught, they are fired or sent to jail. If you're caught as an imp...you practically get away nearly scott free. Lost a few credits? pfft.....smuggler missions can pay 50k if you slice.
Imperials would impose a species penalty on me (less profit)
It would cost me too much to go Imp and try it out (especially if I go back)
Wait, there's a problem with rationalizing Imp smugglers? Has no one seen the Supply Officer on MASH, selling, trading, wheeling and dealing, things he isn’t supposed to have? Or heard stories of the drug dealing soldiers in Vietnam, filling body bags with drugs for shipment stateside? What about The Presidio with Sean Connery? (smuggling diamonds in water jugs on a military base, if I'm remembering correctly) Or all those German and French "goodies" the soldiers shipped home from WW2?
Beyond that, keep in mind being in Imperial employ does not stop in its military. The Ubiqtorate and Imperial Intelligence are both viable "back-story" branches of service for a character to be in. Both of those organizations employ non-military personnel for a variety of purposes, from assisting in undermining an existing power structure, to quelling small uprisings, to keeping the people quiet. Spice and other contraband can prove to be great tools in these endeavors.
Lastly, if we are "rationalizing" this, than we are looking for RP reasoning. In that case, we can look beyond the GCW factions to the various NPC criminal factions. A smuggler with strong ties to organizations like those of Jabba, Valarian, Black Sun, etc, is privy to data ranging from details about contacts and activities to intel on possible weak links within the Empire itself. An agent with access to that kind of intel would prove invaluable to the Empire.
Whether you play as a self-serving Imperial taking advantage of the privilege afforded to them by their station, or a Loyal agent of the Emperor infiltrating the darkest corners of the underworld for the betterment of the Imperium, there are quite a few reasons an Imperial Smuggler can exist.
The jist of the bio I’ve written for my Imperial Colonel, Master Smuggler is that I was sent to Tatooine by Imperial Intelligence to oversee rounding up of suspected rebels. I spent a good amount of time undercover over the years and learned the smuggler skillset, how to slice things and obtain spices. That knowledge helped me rise through the ranks as a skilled infiltrator. Once I got to Tatooine and got a cushy desk job with little oversight by Intelligence, I used the organization of weaklings and petty criminals who inform on their peers to work for me creating a smuggling network that could operate in plain sight of stormtroopers. All they need is documentation with my official seal that what they were doing was actually a “covert intelligence operation”. Whenever a stormtrooper stops me to do a scan, I always make it a point to slap him around a bit afterwards because not only did he waste my time, he also drew unneeded attention to whatever I was doing.
That said I am a fervent supporter of the New Order who does whatever he can to forward the goals of the Empire. The only problem I see if that the Imperial Army isn’t very good at allocating resources so I use my considerable influence to correct the errors. Certain parties with enough credits can get authentic imperial equipment and other perks like troop support or bases thanks to my man in the supply office. I also have an officer in personnel on the payroll if someone wants to get a promotion before they would normally be ready for one.