Imperial Science Bureau (Sith Empire)

The Imperial Science Bureau, also known as the Imperial Science Corps, was an organization of the reconstituted Sith Empire dedicated to research and development of new technology. It held a significant amount of influence in order to achieve its aims through other agencies within the Empire.

Multiple divisions comprised the organization including the Geo-Engineering Corps,^[2] New Thinking Division,^[3] Project Chimera,^[4] Project Cicerone, Project Harvest,^[8] Project Protean,^[5] and Research Corps Eight.^[6]

The bureau managed multiple facilities across the galaxy including the Cybernetic Research Center,^[7] Project Protean laboratory in the Subterrel sector,^[8] Quesh Geo-survey Station, Taris Engineering Post,^[2] and Special Energy Project Center.^[10]

History

Around 3685 BBY, as part of a joint initiative with Imperial Intelligence, the Science Bureau chose a family for a project whereby they genetically altered a child in the womb and subjected the child to a series of additional procedures during maturation. By adolescence, the child exhibited a keen mind and strong aptitude.^[11]

Cold War

In 3643 BBY, during the Cold War between the reconstituted Sith Empire and Galactic Republic, the Science Bureau possessed the blueprints for the Javelin Dreadnought starship.^[13]

During the revolt of the Sith Lord Grathan against the Dark Council on the Imperial capital world Dromund Kaas, twenty Imperial soldiers assigned to observe Grathan's forces disappeared and were later discovered by Imperial heroes in Grathan's manufacturing plant having been subjected to experimentation by Grathan's scientists whereby they had their brains removed from their bodies and placed in droids. The heroes used a command console to direct the droids to return to loyal Imperial forces where the soldiers' former commander, Captain Sarnova, revealed the Science Bureau wanted them for research.^[9]

On the Imperial-occupied planet Balmorra, Science Bureau Doctor Revis led Project Hexapod to analyze the weaponization of the mutated Colicoid species on the planet. Revis recruited Imperial heroes to enter the Farnel science lab with a data spike to upload data on the experiments.^[12]

On the desert planet Tatooine, two twin Neimoidian brothers named Teek and Jeek, both tier-six inventors of the Science Bureau's Research Corps Eight, were engaged in separately field testing their inventions and procured the assistance of Imperial heroes to aid them. At Teek's direction, the heroes tested his shield destabilizer to destroy eight Mark V junk droids^[6] and ten other malfunctioning droids.^[14] Later, Jeek had the heroes test his control core nullifier on four assassin droids, rendering them harmless.^[15]

During the Cold War, they were responsible for getting the Imperial Diplomatic Service to assign Ambassador Vector Hyllus assigned on Alderaan in order to get him to encounter the Killiks so that they could witness the process that transformed a sentient into a Joiner. This was all part of Project Protean that sought to find means to use alien species to enhance Imperial operatives by means of genetic engineering.^[16]

Galactic War

Around the start of the Galactic War in 3641 BBY,^[18] the Science Bureau assisted the campaign of Sith Lord and contender for the Alderaanian throne Serjay Thul to confront and contain the threat of the Killik Black Hive on Alderaan^[19] by provisioning one of Thul's strike teams, the Imperial Special Tactics Group 41-Delta based out of Outpost Eudor in the planet's Kaamos Territory, with a device called a Brood Totem. The totem was an experimental attraction device intended to lure Killiks to enemy territory. Imperial heroes assisted the mission by retrieving the device's components and defeating at least twenty Killiks^[20] in the Soros Killik Burrows then deploying the assembled device at rival House Organa's Wardpost Thrantus and spy camp to provoke Killik attacks on Organa troops.^[21] Separately, Science Bureau Doctor Imodin Ganalya led the Mother's Milk project, the development of a serum to neutralize Killik larvae. After her team failed to test the serum on Killik eggs, she obtained the assistance of Imperial heroes who recovered the serum in the field and poisoned ten egg clusters at the Sabas Killik Hives.^[22] While performing the mission, the heroes defeated at least twenty Killiks who opposed them,^[23] destroyed seven burrows,^[24] and eliminated the hive's queen and her eggs.^[25]

In 3640 BBY^[26] on the recently discovered planet Voss, a Science Bureau research team code-named Project Chimera was studying the corrupting effects of the planet's Nightmare Lands region on offworld wildlife and observed unusual changes in several non-native life-forms imported to the planet. The project's findings were considered vital to Imperial operations on the planets Aaris III and Sebiris. Shortly after the team stopped responding to communications, the bureau sought any surviving data from the project's survey stations in the Nightmare Lands and issued a public notice and offer of reward to Imperial personnel on Voss. Imperial heroes accepted the mission, recovering and compiling data from three survey stations and attracting and retrieving samples from a corrupted k'lor'slug, tuk'ata, and shyrack^[4] while defeating multiple indigenous vorantiki and crysfangs.^[27]

The following year,^[28] Republic Strategic Information Service operatives raided a Science Bureau outpost on the planet Ilum and recovered several variations of color crystal prototypes. At the Ilum outpost, the bureau's Project Expertise achieved a significant breakthrough in the crystal cutting process by which multiple variants of existing crystal colors which improved the crystal's natural properties were created.^[29]

Nadrin Tro and a Human female of the bureau's New Thinking Division were sent to the planet Makeb during the Conquest of Makeb.^[3] Under Katha Niar, they worked to secure Makeb's isotope-5 deposits for the Sith Empire. At an Imperial hero's command, Nadrin Tro contacted the Science Bureau for help in devising the plan to stabilize Makeb's planet core to buy time for the Empire to extract the isotope-5 within.^[2]

Behind the scenes

The Imperial Science Bureau first appeared in the BioWare-LucasArts video game Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2011. Imperial player characters first encounter the organization on Dromund Kaas, the Imperial faction capital planet, in the mission The War Machine.^[9] The organization primarily appears intermittently throughout the game in minor world missions but figures more prominently in companion conversations between the Imperial Agent player character and Doctor Lokin.^[1] Some game updates and expansions have included brief appearances of the bureau with the group figuring most prominently in the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion.^[3]

Alternate stories

In the mission The War Machine on Dromund Kaas, player characters have the Light side option of disabling the droids from the command console, killing them and putting the soldiers out of their misery.^[9]

At the conclusion of the Imperial planetary story arc on Tatooine, which focused on an Imperial Reclamation Service archaeological expedition, player characters have the Dark side option to accept the offer of The Imprisoned One to work with the empire. In conversation options with Captain Barden Golah later, the officer states the Science Bureau will decide whether the Imprisoned One's mind prison will be opened if the player character cautions against it and also states that the bureau will demand the mind prison be transported to Dromund Kaas.^[31] Later, players receive an in-game message from Golah where he lauds the contribution of the player character to the expedition's mission and details progress made by the Science Bureau in examining the mind prison.^[32]

At the conclusion of the Imperial Agent class story for Act II, if the player character decides to kill Ardun Kothe and has Dr. Lokin as the active companion when speculating about the fate of the missiles of the Shadow Arsenal, Lokin suggests the Science Bureau and Imperial Minister of War will fight for possession.^[30]

Appearances

• "The Old Republic: The Third Lesson" — Star Wars Insider 124 (reprinted in Star Wars Insider: The Fiction Collection Volume 2) (First appearance)
• The Old Republic — The Lost Suns 1 (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel

Sources

• Economic Changes in Patch 1.1.5 on The Old Republic's official website (June 22, 2025) (backup link) (Mentioned only)
• State of the Galaxy on The Old Republic's official website (backup link) (Mentioned only)

Notes and references