Winston Blackthorn III

Winston Blackthorn would be remembered in the collective memory of the galaxy as Admiral Black, a name whispered with the same fear given to the depraved monsters that lurk in shadows. Though involved in a number of events, he would best be remembered for his role as Prime Minister of the Terran Imperium under Emperor Rauschning, and his survival of a very public execution. The official crimes he was charged with during his tenure as Prime Minister include withholding information vital to the defense of the Imperium, conspiracy, mutiny, two counts of high treason, attempted assassination, fifteen hundred counts of murder, and four counts of genocide on a planetary level. Later additional charges would be laid for illegal cloning of a sentient and mind control experimentation. In connection with the Hilt Katatoman he was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the Republic, development of illegal nanotech devices, and intent to commit genocide on an interplanetary level. These charges would never be officially filed following intervention by the Rector, who claimed Black had secretly been working with the Domian Reformation to provide information on these activities. Many dispute this as being highly unlikely, as Black is famous for being openly xenophobic, once stating that all non-humans were “disgusting creatures best suited for labor or slaughter.” His role in the later Enmalex Wars is largely overlooked, in many cases deliberately glossed over in an effort to avoid connection with his previous infamy. During his time as Director of Defense Intelligence, he would never refer to the Enmalex by name, instead consistently calling them “the enemy.” While in public he aligned with the government position of desiring peace, in private he would persistently advocate for the complete extermination of the Enmalex as a threat to civilization.    

Early Life

The Blackthorn family was a well respected fixture of the Chicago community, and as owners of Blackthorn Distillery were well known among the nobles of the imperium for their fine brandy’s and cognacs. In 2229 (834 MY) House Hendrith, close allies of House Carruthers, would demand a discounted price far in excess of any others, citing their close alliance with the emperor as justification. Blackthorn’s father would refuse, and as a result Hendrith launched a determined smear campaign against Blackthorn Distilleries, persuading other Imperial Houses to stop serving their products, and through their influence in government ministries arranging a transport ban.
  The campaign would bankrupt the company, with House Hendrith swooping in and purchasing the distillery. Payment of the debts incurred while trying to keep the company afloat would leave the family impoverished. The entire affair would leave the young Blackthorn with an intense hatred for the Imperial Houses that would only grow as he aged.
  House Hendrith, along with other Houses would continue to apply pressure to the Blackthorn family, preventing them from starting another business or gaining anything more than menial employment. While once a fairly affluent family that was close to being able to apply for minor House status, the Blackthorns were now kept in abject poverty by the petty vengeance of the Imperial Houses.
     

Campaign against the Houses

With few options for employment given his disgraced status, Blackthorn would enlist in the Imperial Fleet. Serving for several years on a number of older ships on the periphery, Blackthorn would eventually apply for a position in Fleet Special Operations. At the time these were not only elite forces to carry out special missions, but were also the primary intelligence gathering agency for the imperium. Pressure from the Houses would ensure Blackthorn was posted to mundane intelligence gathering work.
  The coup placing Claudius II on the throne totally upset the delicate game of Houses that had prevailed for a century. Claudius took a personal interest in affairs of state, serving as his own Prime Minister and receiving briefings directly from government ministers. Impressed with a detailed report on the economics of the Old Regime, Claudius asked to meet the officer responsible. The emperor would take an interest in Blackthorn, personally assigning him the task of gathering intelligence on the activities on the Imperial Houses. This was a task Blackthorn relished.
  Blackthorn would dig into this new task with enthusiasm, comparing tax levies laid by the imperium to the amounts actually collected from the individual worlds. In doing so he uncovered the system of corruption and graft inherent in the tax collection system which allowed the Imperial Houses to line their pockets with tax revenue. He would uncover a series of crimes committed by a number of Houses including extortion, theft, bribery, rape, and murder, none of which were ever prosecuted. He would compile all these records and send them to Emperor Claudius.
  For his part Claudius held the information close, choosing not to act on it yet as he still needed the support of the Houses in fighting House Gerard in the Second Imperial War. He fully intended to use this information at a later date to quash the Imperial Houses once and for all in his plan to create a single Imperial House headed by his son Tiberius. All Imperial Houses kept such information on each other, but none had records as extensive as those Claudius was compiling, complete with evidence.
  The realization that Claudius intended to use this information against the Houses compelled the Minor Houses to turn on him, overthrowing the emperor and arranging his hasty execution before he could act. They would remove all his noble supporters from power and either imprison or execute them, but failed to notice that Blackthorn, a commoner, had been his primary source of information. Those few who did notice failed to consider that Blackthorn may have kept copies of all his reports.
  With the new Emperor Theodosius IV not contravening the order of Claudius, Blackthorn continued his investigations. He would periodically leak information through a variety of channels when he observed that a particular House was weak or otherwise gaining negative attention. This would lead to an assassination attempt in 2262 (857 MY), where his shuttle was bombed as he was leaving Abdera where he was gathering information on House ties to the Abdera Fighter Company. His life would be saved because he took the added precaution of always wearing a spacesuit when travelling by shuttle in case of an assassination attempt. While alive, he was seriously injured and many believed him dead. He would be permanently reminded of the attack due to radiation scarring along his left arm and torso.
  The attempt would also bring him to the attention of Prince Regent Constantius, who would quietly have Blackthorn brought to the palace. Here the Prince Regent interviewed Blackthorn, who perceived that Constantius was legitimately interested in his findings. As regent there was little Constantius could do with the information, but he did agree with Blackthorn that the Imperial Houses were a drain on the strength of the imperium both economically and morally. Constantius even accepted evidence of his own House’s involvement in these activities calmly, and did take immediate measures to reign in the abuses where he could.
  The Prince Regent would then direct Blackthorn to Admiral Otto Rauschning, the newly appointed head of Fleet Special Operations. Rauschning and Blackthorn would agree that conditions within the imperium had become too dangerous for Blackthorn to remain operating in the open. Blackthorn would shorten his name to Black, and upon promotion to commodore was assigned to command the highly classified station Outpost Sigma. While the mere shortening of his name would appear an amateurish attempt at creating a new identity, it was intended as a slight to the intelligence of the Imperial Houses by Black implying that they could fall for such a feeble trick.
     

Monsos War

Outpost Sigma was a deep range, clandestine monitoring station responsible for the entire Near Frontier. On the other side of the formally declared border of the imperium was Monsos, an enigmatic Triad power that Galatia had warned the imperium about. While choosing a policy where the imperium feigned ignorance of the existence of Monsos, an extremely close eye was kept on the frontier. Outpost Sigma was the lynchpin of this operation, connected to a series of remote monitoring satellites in a number of systems along the frontier.
  The sensitive instruments on the satellites were able to pick up on jump activity within Monsos territory, giving Black an indication as to the economic strength of Monsos. Noting that much of the activity did not relate to commercial operations, Black assumed these were military vessels and began forming a picture of the scale of the forces available. Assuming that as a successor state and Triad member that Monsos’ forces would be roughly in technological parity with Galatia, Black began to compile a terrifying picture.
  The volume of shipping Black observed seemed to indicate a fleet far larger than that of the Imperial Fleet. Given the technological advantages, Monsos represented a grave threat to the imperium at a time when it was felt to be overextended and unable to sustain itself with its current corrupted feudal system. With this information in hand, Rauschning ordered the upgrading of Outpost Sigma and the deployment of new, even more sensitive instruments along the frontier.
  The detailed sensor data was able to detect minute variations in the jump signatures of individual vessels, including an estimate of the power involved. As larger ships require a larger jump field, this led to the realization that Monsos had deployed a considerable number of ships larger than anything used by the other Triad powers. No other information on the layout or capabilities of these ships was available from remote observation.
  What Black, Rauschning, or even the other Triad members were unaware of was that Monsos had secretly developed the technology to generate artificial wormholes, and was practicing using them for large scale deployments. The satellites deployed along the frontier lacked the ability to detect these, as it was believed to be theoretically impossible since no other power had yet achieved it. This meant that Black and Rauschning were actually underestimating the strength of the Monsos fleet by a considerable margin.
  In the first week of January, 2265 (860 MY) Black would observe a large number of Monsos ships gathering at what appeared to be staging areas along the frontier. The jump signatures of these ships were consistent with Mykentian capital ships of the Triad Wars period and themselves represented enough firepower to topple the imperium. Black would withhold this information, believing that a war with this powerful of an opponent would sweep the Imperial Houses from power.
  On the morning of January 8, 2265 (860 MY) Black observed a vast number of the new, larger ships suddenly appear in the staging area, and then every satellite went black at the same time. He would immediately attempt to send a warning to Rauschning, but realized that all communications were being jammed. Black would also attempt to contact local fleet units directly, but unable to get through he would copy all the data to a tablet and set out by transport.
  Departing Outpost Sigma just as Monsos forces attacked the base, Black was able to use the stations sensitive sensors to take detailed readings on the new, previously unknown ships before jumping. He would catch up with the light task force of Commodore Beck, which had already been mauled in the opening engagement but able to regroup following an escape jump. Black would abandon his transport, joining Beck on Titan-7 as he attempted to locate Fleet Admiral Adex.
  Black would brief Adex on the forces that he had observed, leaving out that he had been monitoring them for almost a week. This gave Adex a clear picture of the scale of forces they were facing, and the fleet admiral would order an immediate withdrawal of all imperial forces to a more defendable line.
  Upon reaching the safety of Centadi, Black would receive the news of the death of Emperor Theodosius IV, and the contested succession of Constantius to the throne. Siding with Constantius, Black would immediately depart for Imperator, where he would personally brief the new emperor on the situation. As Black was the only person with any kind of detailed knowledge of Monsos and their capabilities, he was immediately given a triple field promotion to admiral and would advise Constantius directly throughout the war.
     

Prime Minister

[Summary: As Prime Minister, Black was responsible for the elimination of the Imperial Houses and the integration of the imperial bureaucracy into a single system. He would go about this with brutal efficiency. Those that cooperated would be allowed to keep one estate of their choosing, their current government post, and occasionally even their title. The rest of their assets would be liquidated at public auction. Those that did not cooperate would see the head of their House executed, followed by a new demand for compliance. These Houses would have all their assets seized and liquidated and be dismissed from all official positions. They would also be thoroughly invesitgated and charged with any crimes they may have committed. Throughout the suppression of the Houses, Black would have detailed accounts of their crimes and corruptions heavily publicized, ensuring public opinion turned against the Houses. He would then turn his attention to the so-called "Far Regions," taxing them mercilessly and putting down any protests. These actions stirred rebellion, which he ordered suppressed by military action. This would cause the region to break away from the Terran Imperium, declaring itself the Remian Republic and launching the First Terran Civil War. This was precisely what Rauschning and Black wanted, forcing an otherwise loyal region to break away from the imperium and thereby reducing the bureaucratic load on the imperial government and eliminating the need to develop an otherwise new and underdeveloped region. While ensuring democratic reforms through a strengthening of the Convention of Worlds, Black pushed through a law that only humans could work in the administration of the imperium or hold a seat in the new Convention. He would also strip all non-humans of citizenship, declaring them all "residents of the imperium" and therefore ineligable to vote and subject to higher tax rates.]      

Treason and Execution

  With diplomatic recognition of the independence of the Remian Republic by the Triad, Princeps Constantius felt confident in demanding justice for the civilian atrocities which had instigated the rebellion. Emperor Rauschning would feign ignorance on who could have issued such orders, but declared that only one person could have: Prime Minister Black. He was arrested on the spot, with representatives of the Triad, the new Remian Republic, and the newly reconstituted Mykentian Republic observing. Rauschning, in spite of his act of confusion laid a precise, detailed list of charges against Black that could only have been carefully considered in advance.
 

Charges

1. Withholding information vital to the defense of the Imperium
As the commander of Outpost Sigma, Black was well aware of Monsos forces mobilizing in preparation for attack prior to the Monsos War. He failed to send this information to his superiors, allowing the assault to be a complete surprise. In this case his superior was Admiral Rauschning, who now sat in judgement of him as emperor.
  2. Conspiracy
The charge of conspiracy was laid due to Black conspiring to overthrow Emperor Constantius in 860. His co-conspirators were never named, likely because his primary co-conspirator was Emperor Rauschning himself.
  3. Mutiny
At the opening of the Monsos War, Black would abandon Outpost Sigma and flee with his information to the nearest fleet unit. Investigation of the outpost after the war indicated that all escape pods and shuttles had been jettisoned, and the power plant had been irrevocably damaged by sabotage before his departure. The crew on the station had no chance to defend themselves or escape when Monsos forces arrived. As he had abandoned his assigned post during a time of war, Rauschning chose this opportunity to characterize the event as mutiny.
  4. High Treason (Count 1)
The first count of high treason was for the coup which overthrew Emperor Constantius. Again, this was with the complicity of Emperor Rauschning, who was placed on the throne by the coup. As Constantius remained popular with the people of the imperium, and was now the Princeps of the Remian Republic, Rauschning decided to portray Black as the primary actor in the coup.
  5. High Treason (Count 2)
As Rauschning was laying the first treason charge, Black would yell out that Rauschning was just as guilty, opening a folder and throwing out copies of documents that seemed to prove it. Rauschning would declare this false evidence and charge Black with a second count of high treason for attempting to implicate the sitting emperor in a crime. Those opposed to Rauschning would see this charge as proof that Black was telling the truth, and that he was actually being charged for revealing a state secret.
  6. Attempted Assassination
During and following the coup against Constantius, there were several who attempted to assassinate him. All attempts failed, and the suspects all indicated that Black was the one who had hired them. Black would vehemently dispute this charge, as he was actually an ardent supporter of Constantius in his exile.
  7. Murder (1500 counts)
Rauschning would choose to characterize the bloody, judicial executions of the heads of the Imperial Houses and their most loyal supporters as murder ordered by Black in an effort to distance himself from orders he had himself given. Documents would be presented with only Black’s signature ordering the individual executions, the original general order from Emperor Rauschning conveniently not being available.
  8. Genocide on a planetary level (4 counts)
The bombings of civilian targets on Remus and elsewhere that served as the catalyst for the Terran Civil War would be blamed entirely on Black. As Prime Minister, Black actually had no authority over fleet units, so any such orders could have come only from Emperor Rauschning directly. Aware of this, Rauschning claimed that the bombings were carried out by the same “judicial units” that had overseen the dismantling of the Imperial Houses, disguised as regular fleet units. Declaring that Black was responsible would allow Rauschning to distance himself from the events and fulfil demands by the Remian Republic to hand over those responsible for the atrocities.    

Sentence and Execution

Following the presentation of evidence, Emperor Rauschning would not allow Black to present evidence in his own defense, claiming that Black himself had not allowed those of the Imperial Houses to do so. Rauschning would then declare Black guilty on all charges and sentence him to death by spacing, to be carried out immediately. Officers from the Imperial Guard would seize Black as he stood in shock, dragging him to the nearest hangar bay. Here those assembled were forced to gather in the observation gallery and watch as the doors were suddenly opened. As the body drifted out into space, Rauschning ordered the point defense system to fire on the body, ensuring it was destroyed. Among those present was Mark Thomason as Galatian ambassador, and Constantius as Princeps of the Remian Republic.
  Following the execution, Rauschning would turn to those observing and state, “In the new Terran Imperium, justice is swift, and sure.” The entire trial from arrest to execution had taken less than thirty minutes. While most of the delegates of the Remian Republic applauded Rauschning’s decisive action, Princeps Constantius remained unsure. Galatian Ambassador-at-large Mark Thomason would make no comment, but Galatian ambassador to the Triad Andrew Thomason would later privately state that he felt Rauschning should have been placed on trial next, observing that “Black may have been vile, but the throne is in it up to its nose.”
   

The Black Clones

Weeks following the execution, a ship was captured raiding an imperial munitions depot, commanded by Black. Unsure how he had survived the public execution, fleet officers immediately carried out the sentence again.
  Three months later, Black was again apprehended, this time while attempting to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Guard thoroughly questioned him, and during a medical examination noted that his body seemed to lack the scars noted in his records from the assassination attempt in 2262 (857 MY). A more detailed analysis indicated that the individual was a clone that had experienced rapid aging. There were also unusual gaps in the clone’s memory.
  Psychological investigation revealed that the clone had been hypnotically conditioned with the memories and personality of the real Black to such an extent that the clone believed that they really were Black. The discovery of this led to fears that there may be sleeper agents planted throughout the imperium, loyal to Black and plotting to overthrow the imperium.
  Anyone even remotely associated with Black was immediately arrested and thoroughly examined and interrogated for any signs of mental tampering. While none was ever found, the fear would remain for years, and charges of illegal cloning and mind control experimentation were added to the list of existing charges.      

Involvement in the Domian Reformation

[Summary: It was Black who first discovered the plans of Katatoman, and briefed Andrew Thomason on what he had learned. Andrew in turn informed Mark Thomason, and the Rector made their first appearance. In spite of his abhorrence at Katatoman being a Monsos sleeper agent, Black would remain one of his closest advisors while also providing intelligence to Andrew. While Katatoman considered Black a useful weapon in his arsenal, he wanted to avoid any traceable connection to him and conceled Black's advice as his own ideas.]
   

Post Reformation Hearings

During the post Reformation hearings in the Assembly, Black would answer questions via encrypted hyperlink. As one of the conditions of unification, the Mykentian Republic had accepted all court judgments of member states as valid, and the sentence given him by Emperor Rauschning in 869 MY was still legally binding. Had Black arrived to testify in person, he would have been immediately arrested and executed according to the original sentence. Rather than risking overturning the precedents set during unification by granting him immunity from arrest, the Assembly agreed to allow him to testify remotely.
  As Black was known to have been associated with Katatoman he was charged as a co-conspirator with the deposed Hilt for intending to overthrow the Republic. The Rector would indicate that it was Black that had informed them of the Hilt’s intentions involving nanotechnology, and the plan to essentially enslave the elite of the galaxy.
  The Assembly would also discover evidence that indicated that while Black had received nanotreatment from Katatoman, he had not participated in its development. Further, he had gone to an outside party to have his reprogrammed so they would not be susceptible to the central control system Katatoman had in place.
  In regards to the charge of intending to commit genocide, Black replied that his proposal to hack into Katatoman’s central control system and send a command to execute all those who had received nanotreatment was merely one of a number of proposals sent to the Rector intended to show what the system was actually capable of. The Rector would agree that not even someone as infamous as Black would be capable of mass murder on such as a scale “for no real purpose.”
  While the Assembly ultimately decided not to charge Black with any crimes during the period of the Reformation, they included in their statement an affirmation that Black was still considered guilty of his previous crimes and remained subject to arrest and summary execution if he were ever apprehended.
     

Enmalex Wars

Secret Retrial

Before allowing Black to serve as Director of Defense Intelligence, Mark Thomason required that the issue of Black’s previous conviction be resolved by the Republic General Prosecutor and the Court of Supreme Justice. In examining records of the trial, the General Prosecutor found that the trial had been held aboard Leviathan-1C, which at the time was acting as the flagship and temporary capital of the newly restored Mykentian Republic. Further, at the time of the trial the ship was in orbit of Mykentia, a world the Terran Imperium had never officially claimed. Under those conditions it would have been the laws of the Republic which took precedence, not those of the Terran Imperium, invalidating the entire trial conducted personally by Emperor Rauschning.
  However, the General Prosecutor did not dispute that such a trial should have taken place, and referred the case to the Court of Supreme Justice for retrial. Black would agree to this retrial, as he would be able to present evidence in his own defense which he had not been allowed to before. He would take the additional step of having his evidence verified by the Office of Special Investigations, which authenticated the documents he presented as originals created during his tenure as Prime Minister of the Terran Imperium.
  The Court of Supreme Justice would find that the documents presented by Rauschning indicating that it was Black that ordered the executions of the heads of the Imperial Houses were, in fact, forgeries. Black conclusively proved that he signed every official document with the same pen, containing a special ink with traceable compounds, and meticulously signed his name in the same way on every occasion. The documents presented by Rauschning were not signed using this ink, and handwriting analysis showed variations in the signature which Black was unable to reproduce. Indeed, documents signed by Black as part of the new trial precisely matched his earlier, undisputed signatures.
  In relation to the charges of genocide, the Court found that the orders were similarly forged, and that it was indeed units of the Imperial Fleet that had carried them out, not the “judicial units” Rauschning had claimed. As Black had no authority over the Imperial Fleet at the time, he would not have been able to issue any such orders and have them be followed. Additionally, the Court questioned whether the crimes committed constituted genocide, as they involved indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population consisting of multiple species, but which was predominantly human.
  The Court would decline to rule on any of the other charges, as they related exclusively to crimes against the government of the Terran Imperium. Since that government no longer existed, it was not available to address such charges and the Republic lacked jurisdiction. However, as the trial was held within Republic territory, the Court did suspend the sentence of death as such a trial would not have been valid under the laws of the time.
  Cleared by the Court of Supreme Justice of the most onerous charges, Black was now free to assume his post as Director of Defense Intelligence.
    Spoilers for Terran Imperium              
    [Summary: While seemingly inactive, Black was continuously supplying weapons to resistance groups and gathering information on Enmalex removal operations. In the interwar period, Black would work closely with Hilt Andrew Thomason to root out corruption at all levels of the government, facilitating the removal of officials by coercion, imprisonment, or assassination by one of many criminal organizations.]