Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Flesh out a location referenced in submission. Expand on Tephrike.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permission: N/A.
Links: Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, The Republican Guard is the Strongest, Phoebe, Cassius.
SETTING INFORMATION
Structure Name: Amidala Asylum.
Classification: Detention and Re-Education Centre.
Location: Red Coral City, Tephrike.
Affiliation: Republican Guard.
Accessibility: The Amidala Asylum is part of Red Coral City, an underwater settlement controlled by a rebel insurgency. However, the Asylum is outside rather than directly inside of the settlement to make escape or infiltration more difficult. It is a separate underwater facility, but close enough to receive supplies or reinforcements. As a result, reaching it is not easy. For starters, the water has plenty of monsters, the rebels have laid mines and conduct patrols with submarines. Moreover, the settlement is an armed camp and thus well-guarded. The rebels are militant, distrustful of outsiders and at war. Amidala Asylum is well-known inside Red Coral City, as it is the place Force-Sensitives are delivered to after identification. It is guarded by a contingent of soldiers and has internal defences. The facility is not accessible to visitors without authorisation. The relatives of inmates are able to visit, but they must apply in advance and their visits are monitored and visitors are vetted carefully and frisked. The Guard is rather paranoid about Dominion or Sith infiltration, so security measures are strict.
Description:
The Republican Guard has strong views on Force-users. Since a lot - though by no means all - of Tephrike's misery can be laid at the doorstep of competing Force religions, this is understandable. Force cults are prohibited and the Force is regarded as a disease. Individuals who manifest Force powers are brought to the Asylum. There, they are subjected to brainwashing, drugs and a good bit of mental trauma to associate the Force with bad things. Those who are deemed sufficiently stable are released into society.
The Asylum is part of Red Coral City, the armed settlement that serves as the 'capital' of the Republican Guard. However, though counted part of the city, it is located outside of it for security reasons. It is, of course, not the only facility of this nature. To concentrate all Force-Users in Republican Guard territory in one area would be extremely risky. The Force-Users deemed most risky will be sent to ancillary facilities outside of the settlement.
On average, the typical Force-User incarcerated here will have been identified very early and thus had little training, or none at all.Typically, they come to the attention of the authorities after using their powers on instinct. Individuals who are Force-Sensitive, but whose Force affinity is so weak that it only manifests as being persuasive, empathic, intuitive or similar, are generally overlooked. The Guard prefers to identify young Force-Sensitives as soon as possible. If they are found at an early age, they are considered more malleable and easier to 'wean off' the Force. They would, of course, not reject someone for being 'too old'. Needless to say, holocrons and other Force arcana are not allowed in the facility. Should the Republican Guard come across Sith or Jedi texts or Force artefacts during an operation, it will attempt to destroy them. Failing that, they will be hidden somewhere obscure to make sure they do not fall into the hands of Force-Users, not be brought to the Asylum.
The rebels have Yuuzhan Vong in their ranks, but their attempts to cure Force-users and pass on the Force Dead condition are rather risky. So they resort to mental conditioning to suppress Force use first. Particularly difficult cases are turned Force Dead. Some inmates volunteer for the process, as it offers the quickest way to leave the facility. Moreover, it means they will be cleared of any suspicion and be fully welcomed back into society. The asylum is run like a medical facility and is named after Padme Amidala, Queen and later Senator of Naboo. As anyone who visits the asylum is reminded, she was murdered by a psychotic, out-of-control Force-user called Darth Vader. He may have claimed to love her, but the disease inside him drove him to murder her and then the Jedi stole her children. That is how the Guard sees matters, at any rate. A strong emphasis is placed on educating the inmates about the evils of the Force. A system of carrot and stick is used to convince inmates to submit to the programme.
The Republican Guard treats the Force as a disease or curse. The party line is that someone born with this condition is not responsibe for it. However, they must detained for their own good and that of the community, until they are deemed safe and can be released. Guards and administrators are expected to be strict, but not unfair. It goes without saying that this rule is not easy to adhere to. The inmates are able to elect leaders from their ranks to act as representatives, but these must be approved by the administration. Moreover, their presence in the Asylum is based on coercion. The inmates receive a regular dose of Force-Suppression drugs in order to put a leash on their powers and wean them off the Force.
Finally, the Republican Guard is engaged in a life or death struggle with the Dominion of Light and the Disciples of the Vader, both Force theocracies. Several guards used to be soldiers and were brutalised in this bloody conflict. There are guards who are corrupt or brutalise inmates, with the argument that this is 'necessary' to prevent them from turning into the overmighty wizards who have brought death and destruction to Tephrike. Of course, this can also be an excuse for simple abuse of power and cruelty. Equally, there are guards who honestly see themselves as protectors and feel empathy for their charges.
The Asylum has rooms for the inmates, class rooms, a community hall, an administration wing, medical areas as well as a museum and a cell block. Particularly problematic cases are kept in isolation. There are living quarters for the guards and the functionaries who run the facility. Kitchens and dining areas are communal. Moreover, there is a visitation area, though it is tightly guarded. All of the guards are Force-Dead. This applies to a number of administrators, though this is usually limited to the upper ranks and not universal. Personnel and inmates are monitored by a network of security cameras. Yuuzhan Vong security technology has also been incorporated. Living conditions in the Asylum are Spartan.
The existence of the Asylum is not without controversy among the Guard. There is a general consensus that the Force is evil and those sensitive to it must be contained, but not all agree that the Asylum is the best solution. The Communards, the most radically democratic faction of the Guard's Popular Front, see it as a failed institution. However, they do not want to let Force-Users roam freely. They view the Force as incompatible with democratic institutions, as there cannot be freedom in a world that has people who can read minds, shoot lightning from their fingertips or mind-trick people. Instead, they advocate that all Force-Users should be turned Force Dead. Those who resist should be shot. The Vanguardists, the dominant faction in the Popular Front and the junta, uphold the institution as the best solution on the table at the moment. Letting Force-Users practice their powers is unthinkable, but murdering them wholesale is considered barbaric, especially in the case of young ones. The Guard is at war against terrible foes and cannot allow a potential fifth column to form in its midst.
There is also a more moderate faction, whose members call themselves the Progessivists. Outsiders refer to them as Integrationists, which is often used in a derogatory manner. Regardless of the label, they believe that the Asylum served a purpose, but has lost sight of its original goals. In their view, its harsh methods are self-defeating. They feel that Force-Users can be educated and rehabilitated so that they just choose not to use the Force and live normal lives as law-abiding citizens. They have some studies the other groups are highly dubious of.
The facility is controlled by the Extraordinary Commission for Preternatural Regulation and Control. This body is responsible for enforcing the Guard's Force-User policies. It is headed by Jagat Gosir, a Quarren. Ironically, Gosir herself was once a Force-User and is a former inmate of the Asylum. Unable to control her powers she was turned Force Dead. The medical procedure nearly killed her, but she was free of her 'curse'. Her empathic powers had caused her to suffer greatly, so she came to see the Force's loss as a blessing. It turned her into a strong advocate of the institution.
She is very organised, strict and can come across as rather cold. The loss of her empathic powers means she is no longer tormented by crippling headaches from feeling the emotions of the people around her. However, it also stiffles her ability to express emotions properly. Thus while she does feel concern for the Force-Sensitives under her care, especially the very young ones, she has trouble expressing it. Her detachment and objectivity is also a bonus for her job though. She has no patience for the vainglorious who boast about their special powers.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Processing: The area new inmates are brought to are entering the facility, no matter whether they have done so voluntarily or under compulsion. The entry hall is quite spacious and guarded by soldiers. Administrative and medical personnel is present to process the new arrivals. The relatives of inmates are also processed and vetted here.
Docking Bay: A place for submersibles to dock, off-load cargo and personnel, or conversely take off. This area is heavily guarded and well-monitored.
Quarantine Wing: An euphemistic name for inmates deemed too dangerous or troublesome to be allowed to mingle with the rest. They are quarantined from the rest of the residents and kept in solitary confinement. The section has been built to contain Force-Users, featuring Force-Sensitive holding cells and similar technology. It is located in the lowest levels of the facility, the walls are reinforced and strong like those of a bunker. Drugs are also used to keep inmates under control. There are few ways to legally leave this section without accepting the cure. Universal energy cages see use. Firemane has sold some ysalamiri and olbio trees to the Guard, but the cost is steep, so the Rebels are only able to purchase a few. Thus they rely on more classical means of containment.
Administration Wing: The hub of the facility. The functionaries who run the facility have their offices here. This is also where the control centre and the security office are located. Access to this wing is restricted.
Community Hall: A place for inmates to get together. Games can be played here, and movies are often shown. Not all are overtly political, but they tend to have a propagandistic element. The right to attend these gatherings can be withdrawn, depending on the behaviour of the inmate.
Class Rooms: Self-explanatory. The Asylum is perceived as not just being a detention centre, but also a school and re-education centre. Detractors would call it a brainwashing facility. Regardless, the facility has several class rooms for both young and older inmates. Teachers educate inmates about a variety of subjects. Aside from obvious political indoctrination courses, they are also supposed to learn useful skills so that they can rejoin society if they are released. There is an emphasis on practical skills.
Patients' Quarters: The accommodations of the inmates are located here. Usually several inmates share a room. The rooms are utilitarian and Spartan. Having a single room is a rare privilege that is granted to inmates for particularly good behaviour. They tend to have a position of seniority among the inmates and can expect to be released soon unless they relapse into behaviour deemed unmutual. Quarters are segregated by sex.
Gymnasium: A place for inmates to exercise and keep fit. The administration encourages physical activity so that inmates learn to use their muscles instead of the Force.
Padme's Dressmakers: A nickname for one of the workshops inside the facility. In this case, it is a textile workshop. Padme Amidala is known for having had a closet full of elaborate outfits. The name is officially considered mocking, but has caught on. However, the inmates do not produce fancy dresss. A lot of their work is about producing coats, uniforms and shoes for the militia and the army. Patients' clothes and staff uniforms are also made here. Activity in one of the workshops looks good on the resume.
Luke's Garden: Whoever coined the name probably thought that Luke spent his exile working as a gardener and growing vegetables instead of milking space cows. Regardless, the greenhouse is tended to by the inmates, who grow plans and vegetables here. This is supposed to increase the inmates' viable work skills and help them land positions after release. It helps the facility feed itself, but vegetables grown here may end up on the dining table of citizens and soldiers. Inmates are assigned work based on skill and need, but volunteering makes a good impression.
Medical Centre: The medical hub of the facility. It takes care of the medical needs of the inmates, who are sent here for treatment. Medical professionals also inform them about the cure. Moreover, research on the Force condition is carried out here. The same applies to electrical shock therapy and behavioural modification for problematic cases. There is also a Counselling wing, where psychologists attend to inmates and provide advice on their options, including the cure. There is a special section to carry out the procedure and conduct scientific research.
Hall of Memory: A moderately fancy name for a museum. It focuses on the history of ills perpetrated by Force-Users, particularly Jedi and Sith. It details history from the perspective of the Republican Guard. Thus it is biased and there is a lot of propaganda. Tephrike has been isolated for several centuries, which has led to a distorted view. For instance, the Guard believes that the Jedi and Sith conspired to foment the Clone Wars in order to bring the 'mundanes' to heel. After realising the harm the endless Force Wars had caused, Luke Skywalker went into exile and burnt the Jedi texts, for he did not want future generations to repeat the mistakes of the past. However, Rey revived the Jedi Order and led it to battle against the Yuuzhan Vong, who wanted to liberate the Galaxy from the tyranny of Force-wielders. The museum interprets Luke and Leia more benevolenty. They are portrayed as good people who were deceived and manipulated. It is also kind to Ulic Qel-Droma, who committed great evil, but repented and forsook the Force.
Obviously the museum also has an exhibition on Tephriki history. A lot of attention is paid on the destruction of Palmyra, Tephrike's old capital, which was devastated in a battle between the Dominion and the Sith, creating a dark side nexus. To this day, a special unit of the Guard mans the wall and keeps watch over this cursed place in order to prevent any Force-User from harnessing and being corrupted by it or the evils that lurk inside it from breaking out.
Visitation Area: Comparable to a prison visit hall. Visit entitlement varies and depends on the conduct of the inmate, as well as of the family. A visiting order must be filled out by the inmate. Upon arrival, visitors have their visiting order checked by staff. If they do not have one or forgot it, they will not be allowed entry, regardless of circumstance. They are also searched and must carry identification. Seating in the visits hall is dictated by staff. Throughout the visit, visitors will be watched by a number of Asylum officers, who watch out for suspicious behaviour or signs of undue tension. Should the officers consider the behaviour of the visitor or the inmate troublesome or unsettling, the visit can be ended at any time. Sometimes inmates must contend with only having behind glass visits. All conversations are recorded. Facility staff reserves the right to deny visits. Broadly speaking, visitation is treated as a privilege and an incentive for good behaviour rather than an inherent right. Needless to say conjugal visits are not allowed. Families that kept the Force-Sensitivity of a member secret will not be granted visitation rights, unless they seem to have radically changed their views.
SECURITY
Maximum
- The facility is guarded by a contingent of soldiers, who have been trained to deal with Force-Users. They are without exception Force-Dead. Several of them are Yuuzhan Vong. The guards have access to nonlethal weapons such as Czerka headbangers, Stokhli sticks, batons and tasers as well as lethal ones. Sonic weapons are popular, as they are good against Force-wielders. The same applies to Yuuzhan Vong weapons and high-powered slugthrowers. If need be, the facility administration can call upon the Red Coral City garrison and militia to back it up. The facility is located close enough to allow the timely deployment of reinforcements, though it would obviously not be immediate. Neural Bands are commonly issued to Non-Force-Using personnel.
- Inside the facility there are security cameras, motion sensors and an auto-turret network. There are also biometric scanners, which guard access to sensitive areas. The scanners can determine whether the retina they are scanning belongs to a live person or not. In the case of a security alert, the facility will be placed under lockdown. Compromised areas can be sealed off. Heat pit sensors have also been set up.
- The Republican Guard have mined most of the approaches, so only a few well guarded pathways exist. Torpedo launchers help defend those. Furthermore, they have a 'gate' that can be closed and is a section of rock, which can rise and seal the entrance. Sonic cannon emplacements provide additional defences. The rebels have a small force of military submersibles. Foreign submersibles and divers who approach the facility without authorisation will be targeted as hostiles. A special unit of frogmen, composed of members of aquatic species such as Gungans, Mon Calamari and Nautolans, is on call and conducts patrols.
- The facility is underwater and located in what is called a submarine canyon, which is basically an underwater valley. Explosives have been rigged on both sides to cause a landslide of mud and rock and bury the whole facility as a last resort.
- Taozin nodules are concealed throughout the facility. They muffle telepathic contact and muffle psychic attacks. In so doing, they impede inmate cooperation and also make it more difficult for external Force-Users. If an inmate managed to acquire a Taozin nodule, it would do them no good since all staff members and guards in the Asylum are Force Dead or Non-Force-Users, and thus do not use the Force to find anyone anyway. Moreover, the nodules do nothing against the sensors that constantly monitor the inmates.
The Amidala Asylum is the product of Tephrike's war-torn history. Here, the Dark Age never ended. When the Gulag Virus broke out, the planet descended into chaos. Civil strife, famine and starvation ensued. The local Jedi, believing they were the last of their kind, assumed a protective stance and tried to wrest order from the chaos. Tephrike's weak, unstable coalition government buckled, they seized power, believing it was up to them to save the planet from descending into chaos.
What was supposed to be a temporary emergency dictatorship to safeguard civilisation turned into a totalitarian nightmare. Unfettered power corrupted good intentions. Their new government became the Dominion of Light. It was a slave state that sought to exert total control over its citizenry. A group of heretical Jedi split off, forming the Disciples of the Vader, a totalitarian, human supremacist Sith cult that worshipped Darth Vader. The Republican Guard arose in opposition to both groups, regarding itself as the vanguard of the Non-Force-Users, the common people who got trampled on any time the space mages clashed.
The revolutionary movement came to power in Red Coral City, until then a minor underwater settlement of Gungans and Quarren. After narrowly managing to thwart a Dominion assault, it evolved into a rebel insurgency. While dedicated to the ideals of the Rebel Alliance, necessity forced them to become a de facto military junta. The Force, the rebels decided, was a disease. Its use had to be prohibited and those sensitive to it could not be allowed to wield power, lest they succumb to corruption and bring harm to the 'mundanes'. A society that let the mages rise to the top would inevitably turn theocratic and oppressive. In the light of history, this position was not without merit.
This position was affirmed by refugees who fled to the rebels and brought with them stories of atrocities perpetrated by the Dominion or the Sith. Initially, the Republican Guard's position was less hardline, favouring registering Force-Users and barring them from politics. But over time it evolved into the belief that they had to be quarantined from the rest of society until they had been cured. This was a policy that caused great individual sufering. Families were broken up and children who did not understand what was happening with them or what was wrong with them were locked up. It also affected Force-Sensitive soldiers and officials who had supported the movement due to opposition to Sith and Jedi tyranny. But it was deemed necessary.
Koquon, the founder of the Guard, had been hesitant to go as far as the radicals in his own party wanted. But his belief that not all Force-users were diseased was not rewarded, for he was murdered by a 'sanctioned' Force-User, who was later accused of being a Sith agent. Sinya Kairn, one of the Clone Commanders who had defected to the Rebellion, became his successor. She had witnessed the actions of the Dominion first-hand and started her life as a slave-soldier, which made her a harsher leader than her predecessor.
Thus the Amidala Asylum was founded to teach Force-users to suppress their powers. This institution was set up as a cross between a high-security prison and mental health facility. To run the facility, General Kairn set up the Extraordinary Commission for Preternatural Regulation and Control. This body was made responsible for identifying, incarcerating, re-educating and, if need be, eliminating, Force-Sensitives within territory controlled by the Guard. At first the Asylum was the only facility of this nature.
But when the Guard was able to not just set up revolutionary cells in Sith or Dominion provinces, but conquer and hold territory, ancillary facilities were established. However, the Asylum remained the most notorious and well-known. This was partly a deliberate policy of the Commission. Not all members of the Guard agreed with the official policy. There was quite a scandal when it was revealed that one of their commanders had set up a secret unit of 'sanctioned' Force-Users, who were kept on a leash and used as special operatives to combat Jedi and Sith. For a while the Asylum lacked viable means of permanently suppressing a Force adept's power. This made incarceration risky. Brutalised by the horrors of war, partisans operating far from the centre were more likely to shoot Force-Users out of hand.
However, this changed when a notable portion of the Yuuzhan Vong community of Tephrike sided with the Guard. This came to pass because the Sith launched a genocidal campaign against the Vong, targeting them for extermination. Surviving Vong fled into the forests and fought a guerrilla war. One of their most notorious partisan units, Viper Company, later became an important component of the Guard's special operations units. Tephrike's Vong did not have full access or understanding of the technology of their ancestors, but they were able to turn Force-Sensitives Force-Dead, though this was a risky process. This also led to a policy of only employing Force-Dead guards in the Asylum. After all, they could not be mind-tricked.
The Extraordinary Commission was given far-reaching powers to enforce the Guard's Force-User policies. However, its authority was not unlimited. The Guard is not a nation-state with a comprehensive governing apparatus, but a coalition of rebel forces. Thus while there is a general line, its enforcement is more difficult in areas far away from the centre. Force-Sensitives whose Force affinity is too weak to actually do much of note with the Force beyond being say empathic or intuitive tend to get overlooked. Their abilities are harder to quantify and they are not viewed as threatening by most. The Amidala Asylum was intended as a model facility that could be presented to Republican Guard journalists. Of course, there is an element of Potemkin village. There are persistent rumours that the Extraordinary Commission maintains black sites. These tend to be used for captive Jedi and Sith, as they are deemed too risky to be sent to the Asylum, where they could corrupt more innocent minds.
Of course, there were escape and infiltration attempts. The Vaderites were less successful at infiltration since they were human supremacists and Red Coral City was mostly inhabited by aliens. However, the Dominion's Jedi Shadows succeeded in arranging the escape and recruitment of a group of inmates. The escapees' leader was a Nautolan called Phoebe. She was identified as a Force-Sensitive as a young girl, when she used her powers to save her parents from a rock slide. The fact that she was being locked up after saving them left her bitter and resentful. She found conditions in the facility depressing, and lived in fear of the 'cure'. The tremendous power imbalance between the inmates and the guards led to abuse.
Cassius, the Jedi Shadow in charge of the clandestine operation, managed to get one of his agents into the facility. The agent infiltrated the Asylum staff and manipulated events to make conditions unacceptable, including eliminating a benevolent guard to empower a sadistic one. He helped Phoebe and her friends escape. The group was brought to the Dominion, where they appeared in propaganda broadcasts to speak about the evils of the system. This was a major embarrassment for the Extraordinary Commission and the Asylum. It led to a serious shakeup. However, Phoebe and her friends soon saw that the Dominion was a totalitarian dictatorship that sought to exert total control over their lives. When they tried to resist, they had to flee. Phoebe ended up in a Dominion concentration camp, where she became a leader among the prisoners. The Asylum was thrown into crisis by the Netherworld Event. Many inmates and members of staff simply vanished, as they were raptured.
Like virtually every place in the Galaxy, Red Coral City was affected by the Netherworld event. Suffice to say it was a huge shock when hundreds of people suddenly vanished. Mass panic and hysteria ensued as those who had been left behind tried to find a culprit. Many blamed dark magicks. Little did they know that they were right, but no one knew of the mad goddess Akala and she was beyond their reach in any case. An enraged mob, whipped into a frenzy by demagogues, stormed Amidala Asylum, blaming its inmates for the calamity.
To their credit, several guards tried to protect the facility and their charges. Nonetheless, it was a bloodbath. Some of the inmates managed to escape during the chaos. Some sought to flee the settlement with varying success, but others stayed and went underground. Feeling vengeful, they formed a gang that became a menace to the inhabitants of Red Coral City, terrorising those who had scorned them. Eventually order was restored by the Guard.
The asylum was rebuilt, but suspicion of uncontrolled Force-users only intensified. Harsh punitive measures were carried out by the Commission. It also tightened security by implementing a fail safe, a final resort to prevent mass breakouts or attacks. Taking advantage of the fact that the Force being thrown out of balance had weakened their foes, the Guard launched a grand offensive against the Dominion. It was supposed to deal the knockout blow and incite a general uprising among the people. The fighting was characterised by great ruthlessness on both sides. Both groups treated it as the final struggle between good and evil. As casualties mounted, the Guard started sending inmates deemed sufficiently 'cured' to perform auxiliary duties on the front lines to support the troops. A few saw action, particulaly those who had been turned Force-Dead. However, after initial successes the offensive failed.
The Guard was defeated in the bloody battle of Fortress Purity and forced to withdraw. The debacle was a great blow to the Guard's morale. A few years later, the Guard attacked Purity again and prevailed. This time they had allies in form, for a group of space people called Firemane had made an alliance of convenience with them to exact vengeance on the Dominion for its treacherous attack on a diplomatic delegation. The alliance was tremendously ironic since Firemane had Force-Users in its ranks. Indeed, it was led by a Dark Jedi, though the Guard did not know that since Siobhan Kerrigan was not present. Firemane has left Tephrike, but maintains an outpost on one of the asteroids in the system and trades with the Guard, exchanging weapons and medical supplies for raw materials. Time will if and in what manner this might affect the Asylum.
Last edited:
