Wilhellm Bassel

"He was virtually lord over life and death."

- on Wilhellm Bassel

Wilhellm Bassel was a high-ranking official of the. He was a General of the and chief of all Imperial Planetary Security Forces. In 1 BBY, he was appointed and served as Enacter of Alien Emigration and Control. Bassel chaired the 1 ABY Coruscant Conference, which discussed plans for the deportation and extermination of all non-humans in Imperial territory. He was attacked by members of the sent to assassinate him on. He died slightly over a week later from complications arising from his injuries.

Early Life
Wilhellm was born on to composer Tomas Bassel and his wife Iliza. He was born into a well-to-do family. Music was a part of Wilhellm's everyday life; his father was an opera singer as well as the founder of the Coruscant Conservatory of Music. Young Wilhellm developed a passion for string instruments, which he carried into his adult life, and he impressed listeners with his musical talent. His father was a nationalist who instilled patriotic ideas in the mind of his son. The Bassel household was very strict and Wilhellm was frequently disciplined when needed. As a youth, Wilhellm engaged his younger cousin, Anakyn, in mock fencing duels, thus developing strong fencing skills. Wilhellm was very intelligent and he excelled in his schoolwork. He was also a talented athlete and he became an expert swimmer and fencer. However, he was a shy, insecure boy who was frequently bullied for his high-pitched voice and his family's political views (the community was at the time largely Liberal). It was also rumored that he had some non-human ancestry, his grandmother's second husband had been one-quarter, and these rumours were later used by Wilhellm's superiors in the Imperial military to exercise a measure of control over him.

When the broke out in 22 BBY, 15-year-old Wilhellm was too young to enlist for military service. He joined the Reformation Cadets, a right-wing paramilitary group that strongly opposed the Seperatists. He also joined the Humans First Group, an anti-alien organisation. In 19 BBY, the war ended with the Seperatist's defeat. Due to the conditions that the war had caused on the Republic's (and now the 's) economy, inflation spread across the Empire and many families, including Wilhellm's, lost their life savings.

In 15 BBY, he joined the, taking advantage of the free education and guaranteed pension it offered. He became a naval cadet at Coruscant's chief naval base. Wilhellm was unpopular among his fellow cadets, however, as rumours of his supposed non-human ancestry resurfaced. In 11 BBY, he advanced to the rank of ensign and was assigned as a signals officer on the battleship Insidious. Finding himself with considerable authority over the subordinate officers who had once bullied him, he got his revenge by ordering them around and treating them like lowly subjects.

Wilhellm became a notorious womanizer, having countless affairs. One night in 11 BBY, he attended a military officers' ball and met a young woman named Lina. The two became romantically involved and soon announced their engagement. A former lover, the daughter of a shipyard director, became infuriated that Wilhellm was going to marry another woman, and she then complained to her father, a friend of. A formal complaint was lodged against Wilhellm for insulting the honor of a young woman. He was charged with "conduct unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman" and an investigation ensued. Wilhellm was called before a court of honor and he protested his innocence, accusing the woman of lying. Though he was exonerated, the officers demanded that he be cashiered for "conduct unbecoming a naval officer". In 10 BBY, Tarkin sentenced Wilhellm to "dismissal for impropriety." He was dismissed later that year. Wilhellm was devastated, but he remained engaged to Lina. He now found himself with no prospects for a career.

Imperial Security Bureau
In 10 BBY, began to set up a counter-intelligence division of the ISB. Acting on the advice of his associate Cierl Estarr, who was a friend of Lina, Yularen interviewed Wilhellm. A commonly stated version is that Yularen arranged for an interview with Wilhellm and was instantly impressed, hiring him on the spot. His pay was 180 credits per month. In doing so Yularen also effectively recruited Wilhellm into 's inner circle, alongside the likes of and Wilhuff Tarkin, the man who had dismissed Wilhellm from the navy.

Emperor's Eyes and ATD
To begin work, Wilhellm set up his office at his retreat on. He set about creating a counterintelligence service to be reckoned with.

At this time, he was insignificant within the Imperial apparatus. Wilhellm created his own network of spies and informers and sent them out to dig up information that could be used as blackmail, going after the Empire's opponents as well as high-ranking Imperials themselves.

In late 10 BBY, Wilhellm and Lina married. During the wedding celebrations, he was promoted to ISB major. As early as 10 BBY, Wilhellm was becoming one of the most dangerous men in the Empire. With his vast archive of cross-referenced index cards, the fate of Imperial opponents rested upon his whims.

In 9 BBY, however, Wilhellm was given a taste of his own medicine by Palpatine. A number of Wilhellm's enemies had discovered the old rumours of his possible non-human ancestry and began to spread them around. Within the Imperial organisation, such innuendo could be deadly, even for the head of the Empire's counterintelligence service. An investigation was conducted by Dr. Achim Rett, the top racial expert of the Empire, into Wilhellm's genealogy. Dr. Rett reported that Wilhellm was "...of human origin and free from any alien blood". Nevertheless, Wullf Yularen was distressed by the mere suggestion of a man with "tainted" blood heading his counterintelligence service.

Crushing COMPNOR
In 7 BBY, Moff, who headed the Emperor's Eyes, and Yularen agreed to put aside their differences (largely because of their mutual hatred and growing dread of ). Trachta transferred full authority over the Emperor's Eyes to Yularen, who was also named chief of all Imperial Security Forces. Soon after, Yularen named Wilhellm head of the Emperor's Eyes. With the Emperor's Eyes under their control, the three men plotted as to its use along with the ISB to crush COMPNOR.

Wilhellm had his men uncover false "evidence" that COMPNOR leaders were plotting to overthrow Palpatine and Vader. Trachta put pressure on Palpatine to purge COMPNOR. Meanwhile Wilhellm, Yularen, Tarkin and (at Palpatine's direction) drew up lists of those who should be "liquidated" starting with seven top COMPNOR officials and ending with many more. Later in 7 BBY, the ISB and Emperor's Eyes acted in coordinated mass arrests that continued throughout the entire weekend. Many COMPNOR leaders were shot without trial along with around one-tenth of all of COMPNOR's members.

With COMPNOR out of the way, Wilhellm began building the Emperor's Eyes into an instrument of fear. He improved his index card system. Since he created more categories of offenders, the cards were now color-coded. The Emperor's Eyes had the authority to arrest citizens on the mere suspicion that they might commit a crime, and the definition of a crime was at their discretion; Palpatine himself said of the agency that "all means, even if they are not in conformity with existing laws and precedents, are permitted if they serve the will of the Emperor". People began disappearing throughout the Empire, never to be seen again. At a later date, their families would receive an urn containing their ashes. Under Yularen and Wilhellm, the Empire became a police state. Further, Yularen had been involved in developing his idea of an "Imperial religion" that was based on worship of the Emperor and wanted ISB members to leave their respective religions. In early 5 BBY, Wilhellm left his religion. His wife, Lina, had already left the religion the year before. Wilhellm not only felt he could no longer be a member, but came to consider the political power (and influence) of religion a danger to the state.

Forging Together the Security Force
In mid-5 BBY, all Security Forces throughout the Empire were united with Yularen as the chief. Yularen reorganised the Secutiy Forces into two groups:

- Regular Security Forces (RSF)which consisted of the uniformed members and the municipal members.

- Secret Security Forces (SSF) which consisted of the Emperor's Eyes, the Anti-Treason Division and the ISB.

At that point, Wilhellm was head of the SSF. His cousin Anakyn was the chief of operations of the Emperor's Eyes. Wilhellm's first task was the suppression of all possible dissent prior to and during the 5 BBY Galactic Games, a task he executed with a cold and systematic ruthlessness that gained him the Imperial Games Honor Badge (First Class).