Imperial Presence on Tatooine

The Empire has forgotten about Tatooine for many years but are beginning to return. It has become valuable to them for a number of different reasons, mainly to support the secret initiative Solstice Station and its research projects.
The expedition is lead by Moff Kestren Balor. He is an idealist, believing in the mission of the Empire. He wants to bring law and order to these hives of scum and villainy which is the Outer Rim. He feels that they have much to offer Tatooine. Where there is disorder, the Empire should step in to provide order. He is supported by many of the Nobles of Tatooine who agree that the Empire would help them live more secure lives. Obviously, they are resisted by the Crime Lords of Tatooine, the Bandits of Tatooine and the Pirates of Tatooine. Harsh conditions sometimes need to be imposed to wrest an area from the criminal elements that are entrenched in the power structure.
Balor is trying to negotiate a binding contract with the Nobles of Tatooine to maintain Imperial routes through the sector and provide support facilities for the expedition but does not truly realize how disenfranchised these politicians are.
Balor recognizes that these efforts are secondary concerns to his main goal: protection of Solstice Station. He understands that if the station's secrecy required it, he would firebomb the entire planet into oblivion.
One of the main subleaders on the expedition is Lieutenant Rhode Herkin. Herkin tries to position himself as Balor's right-hand man, but Balor does not trust him enough. The Moff probably could not put his finger on why but it may be due to Herkin's working class background. Balor deeply believes that breeding is important for leadership.
Herkin is also trying to run a side hustle--well, maybe even a few. Due to his family background in mining, he fervently believes that Tatooine is not being properly exploited as a mining resource. He is certain that there are ways to make the planet more profitable. He has been secretly using Imperial resources to survey the geological formations of Tatooine to come up with a plan to most effectively harvest whatever is of value in the planet. He feels no need to key the Empire in on this. If he could figure out a way to do it on his own, he would.
Herkin also feels that every good leader should have a secret spy network to feed them information. The universe is not obvious. There is treachery at every corner. One must delve in the shadows to truly understand the threats arrayed against oneself. The player character Mil Sanra'Ara has been swept up in this. The spaceport commander Overseer Brynn of Mos Shuuta is also one of his people. Herkin uses the codename Titan for this operation.
Captain Kosh of the 68th Armored Legion runs Fort Ironhand near Anchorhead. He has been here longer than Herkin and sees him as an interloper and threat to his smuggling operation. Huff Darklighter helped him set this up initially.

Imperial Goals

Moff Kestren Balor has a number of demands for the people of Tatooine that he feels need to be in place before they can seriously tackle the crime problem.

• Agree to pay standard Imperial taxes
• Stop buying from criminal elements. Provide space in each city for Imperial vendors to set up and sell Imperial goods. This will starve out the Hutts and other nefarious elements.
• Financially support more Imperial bases. 2 more now; 5 additional ones in the following year.
• Enlist new troopers.
• Maintain anti-piracy patrols. The Imperials will wipe out the pirates initially but the citizens of Tatooine must financially support ongoing police efforts in the sector.
• Help to promote Imperial control of other habitable planets in the Arkanis Sector.

If the Nobles of Tatooine agree to these terms and convince their constituents to do so as well, then the Empire can begin doing what they do best--bring law and order to the scum and villainy of the galaxy.

Assets

The Imperials have more resources than any single faction in the sector. Their single star destroyer is so much more powerful than anything anyone else has. Other groups would have to unite and work together to be able to stand against them. In addition, they have a number of Gozanti-class cruisers and many squads of TIE fighters.

The 68th Armored Legion is ground forces. They have an AT-AT walker (heavy weapons platform) as well as a number of scout walkers, but they are mainly composed of trooper squads in armored personnel carriers.

Type

Expedition, Military

Leader

Kestren Balor