Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Dominion by codifying a major player who has been established in rp.
Image Credit: Ven Zallow.
Role: Antagonist to Elpsis and friends. Master of the Order of the Windian Jedi Order. Cassius is one of the key power brokers of the Dominion of Light. He is both an ally and a rival to Battlemaster Mahtara.
Permission: N/A.
Links: After Darkness, Into Darkness, Jedi Kyrric, Nexus City, Tephrike, Elpsis, Disciples of the Vader, Republican Guard, Battlemaster Mahtara.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age: Appears to be in his early forties.
Force Sensitivity: Master.
Species: Cloned Human.
Appearance: Cassius is a human male in early middle age. He is of average height and has athletic build, standing about 1.8 meters tall and weighing around 80 kilograms. The Jedi Master has a strong jawline, stern facial features, and lacks laugh lines. It is said that he never smiles. He has short dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and fair skin. Cassius possesses traditional Jedi robes of brown and tan and wears them when he is around fellow Jedi. However, he has adopted the habit of wearing some form body armour underneath it. Just in case he happens to be ambushed by Sith assassins or Republican Guard terrorists, of course. Out in the field his attire will depend on the mission profile. He will always carry a concealed sidearm and a dagger.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name: Jedi Cassius. Jedi Master. Master of the Order.
Loyalties: Tephrike, Dominion of Light, Shadow Visitants.
Wealth: He is rich in influence, but poor in financial means. The Dominion has abolished money and private property. Its Jedi are supposed to adhere to a vow of poverty. So he does not have wealth in the way it is commonly understood. However, he can acquire or requisition a lot of things if he needs them. This is one of the benefits of being an oligarch in a totalitarian, theocratic dictatorship with a militarised command economy on a planet that is rich in ores and diamonds.
Notable Possessions:
- Force Imbued Blade
- Taozin Amulet.
- Stealth Field Generator.
- Armour. The armour has a helmet to cover his face and protect him from chemicals. The helmet features a voice modulator, HUD and other basic systems.
- Cassius prefers to wear a Shadowsuit combined with a Thinsuit for assignments that require subterfuge. A No-show is often attached.
He dismisses claims that he is drawing upon the dark side to do so. In any case, it is a very useful power for a Jedi Sentinel and a Shadow. His use of Telekinesis is focused more on precision than raw power. He is more likely to use it to trip someone or crush their leg with a powerful telekinetic grip, take them out of commission with a blood choke or by messing with their lung rather than say summon an ominidirectional telekinetic wave. Flamboyant displays of telekinetic power such as tossing huge objects around or smashing multiple enemies with a massive wave are beyond him and would, in fact, contradict his preferred methods. Lightsabres are extremely rare on Tephrike. Cassius does not own one, but is a capable duellist with Force Imbued weapons. In addition, he is a talented marksman and has been trained as a sharpshooter. He has a lot of experience in spy craft, surveillance and investigative work. Typical for a spymaster, he is a skilled linguist.
The Dominion's Jedi Shadows believe that it is within the purvey of the Light to take peremptory strikes. If one can kill an individual rather than a thousand then that is righteous. In other words, assassination is part of their trade craft. Cassius was a member of the group and is thus a skilled clandestine operator. He has a good knowledge of poisons and has built up a resistance to many of them. He is good at slicing, but unfamiliar with more modern computers and security systems due to Tephrike's long isolation.
Personality: Cassius is a hard man and the product of a harsh, unforgiving environment. When the Gulag Virus ravaged the Galaxy, Tephrike was cut off. The planet descended into chaos. Countless lives were lost to the virus and the anarchy that ensued. The Jedi assumed a protective stance. Convinced that they alone could save Tephrike, they seized power to keep the people of the planet from destroying themselves. Unfortunately, absolute power and the horrors of war corrupted them and they created a totalitarian nightmare.
Cassius has been shaped by the world he inhabits. Harsh experience has taught him to keep his thoughts and emotions hidden. In order to survive the frankly horrible Dominion he has tamped down his feelings. However, he is more than capable of outlets of aggression and cunning when needed. Like many Dominion citizens, Cassius is a clone. The Dominion has taken the Old Jedi Order's opposition to attachment to the logical extreme by outlawing family units. Instead citizens are supposed to be grown in laboratories and raised by the state. Particularly meritorious members of society are cloned to preserve their skills.
In the case of Cassius, his template was none other than Jedi Master Aegus. Once recognised as a wise sage and Barsen'thor of the Order, he succumbed to madness during his term as Grandmaster. Cassius watched the man he had been trained by and raised to consider a role model, a father figure even, turn into a paranoid madman. In the end, it was Cassius who murdered his template when the latter's policies threatened to destroy the Dominion. There is a part of Cassius that believes Grand Inquisitor Antonius and Battlemaster Mahtara share some of the blame for his master's descent, as both manipulated him for their own ends.
Disgusted with the lack of vision, ignorance and petty schemes of the Council, Cassius has agreed to work with Mahtara for the preservation of the Dominion. However, it is very much a political alliance. He is an ambitious man, but recognises that he does not have the clout to assume the highest office in the state yet. Especially since he is the clone of the late Grandmaster. Officially the late Grandmaster was killed by a Firemane bombing run. But there are those who know better or at least suspect that the official story is a lie.
Cassius has a serious demeanour. It is said that he has never genuinely laughed. He remains cool and collected even around other Jedi. He is not one for rousing speeches to inspire the faithful. Indeed her dislikes giving speeches. But he can be very persuasive when he feels the need to sway someone to his cause. An intricate understanding of what motivates others helps, as does a formidable command of Force Persuasion.
Cassius is critical of several aspects of the Dominion. But he believes in its dogma that only those who can hear the will of the Force and execute it can be entrusted with power. His background as an Investigator and Jedi Shadow has exposed h8im to the darker side of society and the 'holy war' the Dominion wages though. As a result, he is guarded with his emotions. Cassius has extensive files on all major power players in the Dominion and is always seeking out new information. This made him very knowledgeable about the skeletons many members of the elite have buried in their closets. One could perhaps compare him to a darker version of Tholme. Similar to the Anzati Jedi Master, Cassius is more of a manipulator of events than a warrior or diplomat.
He is perfectly capable of bending or being economical with the truth when he deems it necessary or of Force persuasion to sway others. The Dominion is a nation at war and beset by grave threats both within and without. He is a hardliner and determined to fight a war to the knife against the Dominion's enemies. A Jedi's life is sacrifice, after all. Cassius does not regard the way the Dominion grows and conditions its clones to be servitors as morally wrong. From his perspective, it is perfectly in line with the actions taken by the Yodaist Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. The same applies to conscripting infant children and sending young Padawans to fight in wars. They have a higher calling and it is their destiny to serve the Light. He dislikes wastefulness though.
Many non-Tephriki Jedi would probably argue that he has more in common with the forces he has sworn to oppose. It would be easy to dismiss him as someone who does not believe in his faith and that it is all just a cynical front. Early in his career, Cassius did come across forbidden knowledge that showed the way the Dominion saw history and Jedi beliefs was wrong. But he chose to destroy it and was promoted as a sop to that. He rationalises his actions with the argument that it was for the greater good. As far as he is concerned, the knowledge was too dangerous to be revealed to the public. It would only cause chaos. A Jedi bears the mantle of responsibility, and must shield the common folk from danger. Perhaps the lesson is that any ideology, if taken to the extreme and given absolute power, will turn tyrannical, no matter how noble it purports to be.
COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice: Force Imbued Blade | The Force | Guns and Explosives | He is fond of using a Verpine Shatter Rifle or an Outland Rifle with a scope at long range, especially to take out high-value targets. He will usually carry a pistol such as an SH-9 or a Shattergun as backup weapon. He is also fond of using a Slicewire Garrote when he needs to eliminate a target close-up without fuss.
Combat Function: Cassius' skill set is that of a Jedi Sentinel. He strikes a balance between mastery of the Force and martial abilities, while being orientated towards infiltration skills. He uses stealth, cunning and subterfuge to fulfil what he considers to be the will of the Force. This middle-of-the-road approach means he might have advanced less in raw Force power or martial skills than a specialist would have, but makes him very versatile. He blends both schools of teaching and amplifies them with several non-Force skills, such as stealth techniques, demolitions, marksmanship, surveillance and slicing. He is extremely resistant to several forms of poison. His conventional training and knack for Psychometry make him good at intelligence gathering. His Force Sense abilities are very strong, helping him anticipate dangers.
His ability to use the Force to render himself invisible from others is particularly well-honed. The same applies to his skill in suppressing his aura to hide himself from other Force-users, conceal his alignment or pass as a Force-blind. He has invested a lot in these abilities, enabling him to evade detection from other powerful Force-users. Skillful use of Phase can give him a tactical edge by allowing him to surprise opponents, go places he would normally be unable to reach and extract himself from situations that are too dangerous for him. He can use Mask to alter his appearance.
In combat, Cassius is patient and methodical. He will try to utilise his environment to his advantage and where possible employ surprise and subterfuge to undermine his opponent before going for the jugular. He dislikes heavy, tanky armour and prefers to wear outfits that give him more mobility. This is a boon for stealthy manoeuvres and rapid strikes, but leaves him more vulnerable to heavy weapons. He is a Master, but does not have the immense offensive power of a titan, relying more on finesse, surprise and clever tactics. In other words, he is not a battering ram. He is good with a rifle and has been trained as a sniper.
Cassius is dedicated to the cause, but not a suicidal fanatic. If a situation appears unwinnable to him, he will perform a tactical retreat or wait for the circumstances to turn in his favour. A Jedi's life may be sacrifice, but that sacrifice serves no one if he throws his life away! Due to his background he only has limited experience in battlefield command, especially on a larger scale. Most of it is limited to leading small teams of special forces operators to eliminate specific targets. Thus he would be at a disadvantage in a command role that goes beyond that. To his credit, Cassius is aware of this and does not pretend to be a general.
Strengths:
- Cassius is a Master of the Force and a very skilled duellist. He excels in the skill set of a Jedi Sentinel and Shadow. Exotic powers such as Cloak, Phase and Psychometry are part of his repertoire.
- Force powers and martial prowess aside, he is a capable stealthy operator, investigator and marksman. Cassius is canny and able to think on his feet. He is also very pragmatic, prudent and has the sense to retreat or reevaluate when the tide has turned against him instead of fighting on out of pride and stubbornness.
- Cassius pursues a middle-of-the-road approach when it comes to raw Force power and martial prowess. He is good in both, but being a jack-of-all trades means he has advanced less than a specialist would. His telekinetic barriers are average, his offensive telekinesis is decent, but more practical against singular opponents or small groups. He is also only able to use it as close to medium range. Throwing very heavy objects or summoning Force Repulse style telekinetic waves is beyond his skill set. He can augment his physical attributes, such as strength, speed and stamina, but not to the point of being superhuman. In short, he will have to rely more on finesse and cunning to defeat foes who are Force titans or very tanky. He is a rapier, not a hammer or a broadsword.
- Lacks skill with a lightsabre, experience with starship piloting and only has a limited understanding of modern galactic technology.
- Limited command experience. He is perfect at leading small teams of infiltrators, special forces operatives and the like. But his skill lies in investigations, black operations and so on, not being a larger scale military leader. He is better at attaching himself to an established battlefield command and using his skills within its framework than being the commander himself. He is an assassin, not a field officer experienced in leading shock troops and certainly no general.
It has been observed that galactic history moves in cycles. There are always certain patterns, as if the Galaxy is locked in a state of stasis. Jedi and Sith are locked in a seemingly never-ending holy war for supremacy. There is always a Republic or a variation thereof that purports to represent democracy and individual rights and tends to be tied to the Jedi in some manner, despite their nondemocratic, oligarchic structure. Said Republic has a tendency of succumbing to corruption, which might not be too surprising given the myriad of interests in a galactic confederation. For a while Sith and imperialists are ascendant, before falling to their internal contradictions and external crusading forces. Sometimes the Mandalorians act as a third power or a wild card aligning with either side for their own benefit. The pendulum swings this way, than that, but though technology marches on, the fundamental makeup of the Galaxy does not change.
On Tephrike this state of affairs has been pushed to its extreme conclusion. The planet has been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy since the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. Originally colonised during the twilight years of the Old Republic, it was subjugated by the Galactic Empire. The human supremacist regime established by the Empire was overthrown with the aid of the Rebel Alliance and the planet emerged as an unstable, multi-species federation.
Then the Gulag Virus sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. Warlords, Jedi, Sith and rebels vied for power. Prolonged warfare and the use of primitive weapons of mass destruction brought great devastation to the planet. Benign intentions turned to evil over time. Jedi who sought to restore order and reunite the planet fell to the darkness they claimed to oppose, while still believing that their intentions and actions were good. In so doing, they followed in the footsteps of Atris and Joruus C'boath. Believing that they alone could lead Tephrike out of the darkness, they created a theocratic dictatorship.
Renegade Jedi established a Sith cult called the Disciples of the Vader, for they idolised the long-dead Vader as a god and believed it was his will to enslave all those who could not wield the Force and were not human. The Republican Guard, a faction that glorified the Old Republic and staunchly opposed Force-users, was founded by disgruntled clone slave-soldiers and racial minorities that declared war on both Force cults. In between these three extremes, several smaller factions tried to carve out a niche for themselves. The planet was locked in stasis, divided by riven groups trying to recall a past they did not remember. Here, the dark age never ended.
This was the world Cassius grew up in. Like several, though not all, Dominion citizens, he was a clone. The Windian Jedi Order had taken the Old Jedi's beliefs to their extreme conclusion by doing its best to completely criminalise sexuality and intercourse. Citizens should be grown in a medically sanctioned way, instead of their conception being left to chance and passions that could all too easily lead to the dark side. The most meritorious citizens would be cloned, as their skills could not be lost to future generations. This was called the Blessed Lineage Project. Of course, things got awkward when the template of a clone ran afoul of the law.
In the case of Cassius, his template was none other than Jedi Master Aegus, a Jedi Consular and Councillor. As he was the clone of a Jedi Master, more time and effort was invested in his creation than in, for example, that of a mass produced clone trooper. The Dominion had had bad experiences with clone madness and degradation, after all. Thus his growth took longer than that of a grunt. Cassius received a thorough flash conditioning so that he would be able to understand the world he was born into and would awaken with the right ideological mind set. As one of the Jedi healers at the laboratory he was being grown in said, "An open mind is like a freshly turned sod. Unless it is sown with the generous message of the Light, the insidious weeds of evil will take root."
By the time he was born, Cassius' body had been aged to that of a man in his early twenties. Aegus was there for his awakening. This was not standard policy. Often a clone was given some time to adjust before meeting their template, though they would have learned about them through their flash conditioning and generally been taught to admire them. While the Dominion had abolished family units and instead dictated that all young ones should be raised communally, in practice clones from the same line tended to form familial bonds with each other. This was before Aegus was consumed by madness. Though not the most powerful Jedi, he was a well-respected one. He was kind and attentive to his young clone, spending a lot of time with him.
However, Cassius was soon passed over to the care of Jedi teachers. Aegus seemed to resent this. The Force clone was put through an intense training programme. It was defined by long hours spent with physical exercise, combat training, spiritual education and fasting. Lightsabres are extremely rare on Tephrike, so instead he learned how to forge and wield a Force Imbued sword. He also took an interest in marksmanship and became proficient with rifle and pistol. He was raised as part of a batch of new students. Several of them were clones, but not all. There was a bit of a divide between those who were clones of famous Jedi and those who did not possess such an illustrious lineage.
Young Cassius was a studious and competitive man, but had a rather serious demeanour with little sense of humour. He performed well in standardised tests. Originally, the clone was supposed to follow in the footsteps of his template by becoming a Consular. This was what was expected in the Dominion, as it was believed that clones would manifest the same skills as their templates and continue their work. However, Cassius was drawn to a different path. Aegus was a strong healer, but his clone showed little talent in Force healing. Although most clones pursued the same path as their template it was not unheard of for some to choose an alternate path, although this was frowned upon as a sign of dangerous individualism.
Cassius displayed an affinity for puzzles and had a strong sense of justice. Moreover, he manifested an affinity for Psychometry, being able to get flashes of insight when he touched items. An older Jedi Knight by the name of Fashar, a Togruta, took an interest in him. The Togruta Jedi was a serious, grumpy man with a strong commitment to duty. Fashar had high standards for his pupils and was quite brusque, but also displayed a dry sense of humour. He had a lot of experience as a Jedi Sentinel, fighting crime and subversion. For a while he had served as the Jedi Watchman of a troublesome district.
However, Fashar and Cassius' template did not get on well. All templates were supposed to serve in a mentoring role for their clones, providing the young ones with an example to aspire to. However, it seemed to go beyond this in Aegus' case, who had come to view Cassius as something like a son. He might have been influenced by the fact an earlier clone of his had only recently died in battle. Thus he was resentful when Cassius was assigned to an external Jedi trainer, but even he had to follow the law.
At first Cassius served in a policing role alongside his master, assisting law enforcement agencies. This was similar to the duties Jedi had performed on Coruscant and other worlds of the Republic. However, the difference was that the Dominion was a totalitarian dictatorship, its police force was centralised and firmly subordinated to the Jedi Order. Though the Ministry of Enlightenment would have citizens believe otherwise, Nexus City was not a utopia free of crime, poverty and class disparities. The Dominion's command economy was supposed to usher in a world of plenty and perfect equality, but did the exact opposite. Its collectivist policies were inefficient and shortages produced a flourishing black market. Corruption was a serious issue in the bureaucracy and even Dominion officials, including Jedi, participated in the shadow economy.
Cassius and Fashar travelled to some of the most dangerous parts of the sprawling capital. There Cassius was confronted with poverty and organised crime. It was unpalatable for the government to admit that these problems had anything to do with its own policies. The two Jedi went there with the intention of combating the lawbreakers, carving through petty criminals and minor ringleaders. There were even Dominion citizens who secretly maintained families in this slum, despite the prohibition on family units. Thus one of the duties of the Jedi and the local constables was to ensure that any children found were brought to Dominion nurseries where they could be raised by the state.
Cassius proved himself a capable investigator and combatant. He held his own when one of the Wardens they were working with turned out to be a mole and led him into a trap. Cassius survived the ambush and personally apprehended the traitor. He was able to use his detective skills and budging Psychometry to locate him. When the traitorous policeman took poison, Cassius forced himself into his mind. Being inside the mind of a dying man took a toll on the Jedi and he suffered a collapse, but he was able uncover crucial information.
The methods used by the two Jedi were quite heavy-handed. The Windian Jedi Order was the law and did not have to bother with constitutional niceties such as trial by jury, right to counsel or habeas corpus. Given the way he had been raised, such things would have seemed plain absurd to Cassius and been wholly at variance with his world view. He would have also rejected the idea that invasive Force Persuasion and mind probes violated the rights of a suspect. The Jedi were judge, jury and executioner, carrying out the will of the Force. Anyone who refused to cooperate with them and voluntarily provide information was automatically suspect.
When interrogating suspects, Fashar made liberal use of Jedi Mind Tricks to persuade them to be compliant. Once he managed to break a criminal not by force, but by threatening to release him without even touching a hair on his head. This caused the suspect to break down and plead, for he knew that his gang would take his release as a sign that he was a snitch who had made a deal. The Togruta encouraged his student to follow his example.
Yet there was the nagging feeling that their investigations were barely scraping the surface. The truth was that the issues of the Dominion were systemic and could not be solved by arresting and executing a couple arch-villains. Contrary to popular belief, corruption flourishes in authoritarian and totalitarian systems. The trains also do not run on time. Cassius' faced his first serious test when he had to go up against a drug syndicate that was selling a new form of narcotic. Initially it had been peddled among the Dominion's proles, but now it started to reach what passed for its elite. This produced a scandal when some scions of the elite got hooked on the product.
In truth the drug was derived from a mild sedative that induced compliance. It made people easier to instruct. The Dominion put it into the water supply. In larger doses it acted as a super relaxant and as a hallucinogen. The syndicate sold it in more concentrated doses. They used primitive alchemy and science to seriously amp up its effects. Investigation and 'questioning' revealed that some disillusioned Dominion officials had been in on the plot.
Using their government connections, they had facilitated thefts from government warehouses and laboratories. As part of the investigation, Cassius and Fashar used Force Persuasion and mind probes to force a suspect to talk. Then they wiped his memory of the interrogation and seemingly let him go, while tracking him. Cassius dismissed the ringleader's claim that the Dominion was using narcotics to brainwash its citizens. To him they were criminals, notwithstanding their claims that they had acted to undermine a tyrannical government and expose its scheme to drug its own people.
At this stage, the Jedi Inquisition intervened. It secured the confiscated drugs, criminals and confiscated files. Cassius was commended for his work, but told to leave the case. Fashar instructed him to comply. He said enigmatically that people in high places had their eye on Cassius. It was unclear whether this was a good thing or a warning. Reluctantly, the young Jedi obeyed. Cassius would eventually learn that the criminals he had arrested had spoken truth. The Ministry of Harmony did in fact release mind-altering drugs into the water supply to better control the Dominion's citizens. However, by then it did not bother him. His next assignment took him out of Nexus City and pit him against Sith rather than criminals and would-be revolutionaries.
The Disciples of the Vader were a militant Sith cult who had, as is typical for Sith groups, been founded by a traitorous Jedi. They were slavers and human supremacists. Cassius had already learned through flash conditioning that they were the enemy. The Dominion Reclamation Service had discovered ruins said to predate the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. Indeed, some of the researchers believed that they dated back to the days of the Old Republic. It was rumoured that a powerful weapon or artefact from a bygone age might be hidden at the site. If this was the case, the Windian Jedi Order could obviously not allow it to fall into the hands of the enemy. Cassius' teacher Fashar was put in command of the mission due to his record as an experienced Jedi Sentinel. He also had the background to assess and if need be destroy the artefact. Moreover, he understood the importance of discretion.
At first all went well. The Jedi managed to reach the site first and set up an excavation operation. Cassius was no archaeologist, but his technical skills and knack for Psychometry came in handy. However, then all hell broke loose when they were assaulted by Sith assassins and their servitors. Cassius fought valiantly, but was injured during the fighting. He found himself facing a Sith Master by the name of Darth Furcht. The young Jedi fought bravely, but was bested by the Master. However, his teacher Fashar came to his aid, ordering him to make sure the device did not fall into the wrong hands. The two masters duelled. Cassius wanted to come to his mentor's aid, but was separated from him and fell into the depths.
The Jedi had to make his way through the collapsed ruins, evading or fighting Sith pursuers. When he found the data, it turned out that it was a holocron from the days of the New Jedi Order. When he activated the device, it showed a recording of the legendary Luke Skywalker. However, this Luke was a very different man from what Cassius had been told. For one, he spoke of the value of redemption and forgiveness and had apparently not slain Vader and the Emperor. Cassius barely had time to process this. The crumbling ruins had been badly affected by the fighting, so he had to leave. He found that the area was sprawled with corpses. His master was dead. Shaken with grief and by what the holocron had revealed, he was confronted by a fellow Jedi from the Reclamation Service, who had participated in the expedition. The Jedi demanded he hand over the device for study and safekeeping, but Cassius had grown suspicious and refused. He could not recall this Jedi being involved in the fighting.
So he drew his blade and the two fought. In a fury Cassius maimed him and forced the Jedi to confess that he had betrayed them to the Sith, then struck him down. The young Sentinel emerged as the sole survivor. This made him suspicious both for what he might have learned and because he might be a deserter. The Inquisition put him in custody and interrogated him for several days. However, Jedi Master Mahtara stepped in and put him in the care of her healers. She was one of the more enigmatic members of the Council. Being a Yodaling, she had lived a very long life. In fact, she was probably the only Tephriki Jedi left who had been alive before the Gulag Virus was released. By now she was almost an institution. The Yodaling gave Cassius the 'talk' about the danger of knowledge and the need for duty and order.
A Jedi must place duty before his personal ego. He shouldered the burden of responsibility for the masses. The Luke Skywalker from the holocron might be the true one instead of a Sith deception, but even if it were so, he was not the one the people of Tephrike needed. So what the Dominion taught was the truth, from a certain point of view. She hinted that if Cassius did not keep it all secret, she could not guarantee his good health. Cassius got the message and led her to the place where he had hidden the holocron. To ensure peace for this generation and future ones, the device was destroyed. Mahtara informed him that he would be knighted in a few days. The promotion was a clear sop to keeping his mouth shut.
During his knighthood ceremony, he had a reunion with Aegus. His template expressed how proud he was of 'his boy', which aroused mixed feelings in Cassius. At the time Aegus was on good terms with Mahtara and he praised her to his clone. Despite his dislike of Fashar, he also tried to help his clone through his grief, revealing how much the death of one of his previous clones had pained him. Shortly after being knighted, Cassius was approached by a secretive group within the order. They called themselves the Restorers of Community Health. This was a specialised group of Jedi Shadows who performed assassinations and other clandestine missions at the behest of the Council.
They made him an offer to join their group and, as their representative put it, make a difference. "It is within the purvey of the Light to take peremptory strikes. If one can kill an individual rather than a thousand then that is righteous. We excise disease before it can spread and take innocent lives." Cassius agreed to their offer, for it gave him a chance to retaliate against the Sith. He was inducted into the Shadow Visitants, one of their covert units, and put through a thorough training programme to turn him into an ideal agent of the Council. It included a survival course, exposure to a full battery of mental assaults and several days spent in prison while under intense psychological and physical pressure. He also learned about stealth, infiltration, escape and evasion. Cassius' first assignment was to eliminate Darth Hades, an ambitious Sith Master.
The assignment perplexed him, for he wanted revenge on Furcht. However, his superiors insisted that his target was an extremely dangerous Sith Master and a serious threat to the Dominion. Removing him from the board would deal a great blow to the Sith cause. For the purpose of the assignment, Cassius was taught how to manifest a false dark side aura. He was given a cover identity and contacts. However, during the course of the mission the fledgling Jedi Shadow came across information that contradicted the picture his superiors had painted. Hades was a powerful Master of the Dark Side and a fierce enemy of the Jedi, but seemed more rational than many of his compatriots. Indeed, he was a proponent of easing discrimination of near-humans and allowing certain alien species to be recognised as 'honorary humans' or 'developmentally near-human' and granted limited autonomy. He regarded slavery as an inefficient practice that did not meaningfully benefit the economy. Indeed, some common folk the Jedi encountered described him as less arbitrarily evil than most Sith.
Cassius' contact in the Sith Order was a cruel and venal Sith Knight with a grudge against Hades. The Jedi found her extremely distasteful. The information he came across indicated that Furcht resented Hades. He came to suspect that the intelligence he was acting upon was faulty. However, Cassius' superiors insisted he carry out the mission. The Shadow did so by planting a bomb at a parade, using his Phasing and Force Cloak abilities to plant it and exit the scene. However, the bomb did not quite kill Hades, so Cassius was forced to put a couple rifle slugs into his target from his vantage point. He was pursued by Sith warriors and Stormtroopers, but made a narrow escape.
Full of disgust with his contact, Cassius took care of her by murdering her. He helped her personal slave escape. In the aftermath of Hades' death, Furcht took his seat on the Council. He instigated a brutal crackdown to 'avenge' the death of his 'comrade'. In reprisal for the assassination attempt, the population of an entire village was massacred due to the suspicion that they had sheltered Hades' killer. All adult males over the age of fifteen were executed, while the women and children were deported to a concentration camp. Cassius' handler declared the of loss deeply regrettable, but insisted that Hades had to be eliminated precisely because he was less of a megalomaniac than many of his brethren. In the long-term, his elimination would hurt the Sith. Furcht was cunning, but also a die-hard Vaderite. In the long-term his ascent would be harmful to the Vaderites.
Cassius swore to himself that he would become a player instead of a cog in the machine. In the time that followed the Restorer completed several assignments for the order, targeting Sith as well as revolutionaries and traitors. His success rate was high, allowing him to rise in the ranks. This increased his influence, but it came at a cost. He grew colder after the Republican Guard staged a terrorist attack on a Jedi Academy, killing several Jedi and Younglings. Cassius started building his own network of informants. He gained renown when he successfully orchestrated the escape of a group of neophyte Force-Sensitives from the asylum in Red Coral City. Cassius acted as mission controller for the operation, providing tactical leadership.
The Republican Guard spread propaganda about how Force-users were dangerous, but that they could be cured and turned into productive citizens. This compelled families in Guard-controlled territories to give up Force-Sensitive children or loved ones. Those who did not comply were persuaded to do so. However, some extremists in the Guard were not content with collaring Force-users and distrusted any cure other than a slug round. Cassius exploited this, first by removing a moderate head warden and secretly providing support for extremist forces. He also took advantage of corruption and low pay through bribes. One of his agents helped a group of inmates escape the facility.
One of them was a fiery Nautolan called Phoebe, who had planned the breakout and was a leader among the group. Cassius met her after the escape and fed her a story about how benevolent the Dominion was. It would welcome her and those like her with open arms and teach them the ways of the Force, instead of locking them away and treating them like rabid animals. Though she was wary of his words, she accepted his offer, for the alternative was to be left in the wilderness and be hunted by the Guard. Cassius returned in triumph with his new charges. Phoebe and the other prisoners who had joined them were used for propaganda purposes. They appeared on the news, denouncing the Guard. It was a propaganda success. However, it soon became clear that the Dominion was not the utopia they had been promised. They were separated and kept under surveillance.
Phoebe protested and questioned the oppressive laws of the Jedi theocracy, but the Dominion only tightened its controls. Cassius blackmailed Phoebe, forcing her to make propaganda appearances by implying her friends would face consequences otherwise. Eventually, the Nautolan went rogue. She was able to ensure that some of her comrades escaped, but she herself was arrested and locked in Serene Springs, a black site run by the Inquisition. Cassius was annoyed by this setback, but the Dominion used old recordings and a compliant clone to maintain the ruse for a while longer.
He came to direct a programme designed to identify and destroy Republican Guard partisan cells via infiltration, capture, 'enhanced persuasion' and assassination. He called it a set of programmes that sought to attack and destroy the political infrastructure of the Guard. Throughout the programme, the operation neutralised tens of thousands of people suspected of being rebels. Detractors criticised the unknown number of civilians killed, the nature of the programme, the use of coercive techniques and it being used for personal politics. Nonetheless, Cassius described it as suppressing Republican Guard political and revolutionary activities. From his perspective, heavy-handed such as large-scale and lengthy mass detentions, search and destroy missions and excessive use of firepower, had a detrimental effect on the civilian population, did not really hurt the partisans and produced unreliable intelligence.
By contrast, he considered his programme, relying on local collaborators, infiltrators and small elite groups, as far more reliable. He described it as taking a rapier rather than a greatsword approach to target key political leaders, command and control elements and activists in the rebel infrastructure. His teams would capture or kill suspected Guard members, as well as civilians believed to be collaborating with them. The Guard made heavy use of Force-Dead operatives, so Cassius supported research efforts to find out how they ticked and discover ways to bypass their condition, though these efforts were not successful.
The programme was gravely disrupted by the Netherworld Event, when the Dominion was plunged into chaos. The disappearance of so how many high-ranking officials threw the government into disarray. A mass panic broke out. People believed it was the end of days. Government troops massacred protesters on the Square of Heavenly Peace. The Dominion's enemies suffered as well. The Vaderites went through a civil war that ended with a faction of Light Sith coming to power. They followed a programme quite similar to Hades', but officially rejected the Dark Side, as they had discovered a book that told the story of Vader's redemption.
Nonetheless, their leader Darth Salus declared war on the Dominion. Of all three factions, the Republican Guard was the swiftest to recover. It did not utilise Force-users, so the Force being thrown out of balance was an advantage for it. Seeing their enemy's weakness, the rebels launched a general offensive against the Dominion. At first their invasion was successful. Dominion troops were defeated and several towns were captured, though the expected general uprising did not materialise.
Mahtara, Battlemaster of the Order, organised the defence of the Dominion, implementing a scorched earth campaign to buy time and drain the invaders. Cassius also rose to power during these days. With so many more senior Jedi having disappeared, he became head of the Shadows by default. He soon proved he had the cunning to maintain his position. The Shadow discovered that Mahtara was shielding a group of 'heretics', as she had deemed them essential specialists for the war effort. Cassius knew that directly threatening the Yodaling would have dire consequences, but he kept the information as leverage, to be released to the Grandmaster if something happened to him.
The Guard and the Light Vaderites had entered the war as de facto co-belligerents, but their accord was an extremely uneasy one, as both sides distrusted and despised the other. Cassius did his part to break up their unnatural accord through disinformation and false flag attacks. This would ultimately culminate in the Republican Guard's chancellor being unseated after the debacle at Fortress Purity. There General Kennobi routed a Republican Guard army. It was a major victory for the Dominion and ended the war in their favour.
But the Dominion did not settle down. Aegus was elected as Grandmaster. This brought Cassius back into close contact with his template. However, it soon transpired that Aegus was a changed man. Apocalyptic visions had taken a toll on his sanity. Thus the Council tried to isolate him and use him as a figurehead. Cassius was formally elevated to the Council. He watched how Mahtara and Grand Inquisitor Antonius, a rising star in the Order, both vied for power and influence over the Grandmaster. Cassius tried to remain aloof, committing himself to neither side, but he watched with concern as his template grew more and more erratic. The man was the closest thing he had for a father, after all. When Cassius' former superior in the Shadows somehow reappeared, telling wild stories about demons and the Netherworld, the Jedi Master had him placed in custody and put in a mental asylum.
To his credit, Cassius made sure he was treated decently, but kept him isolated from the rest of the world. He formed an alliance with two other Masters on the Council, Varus and Karana. However, Cassius suffered a setback when Darth Furcht rose to power as Dark Lord of the Vaderites. His ascension sparked a series of purges, as the Sith Lord stood for a strict enforcement of the Sith's racial policies. Cassius tried to assassinate him, but the attempt failed. However, the Dark Lord's son was killed in the attack. Things came to head when Tephrike's long isolation was broken by the appearance of a Firemane fleet in orbit. Mahtara urged accommodation, reasoning that they could use the off-worlders against their enemies. However, Antonius convinced Aegus, who had been kept out of the loop, that the intruders were Sith and that this was the final battle between good and evil.
When a Firemane delegation visited Nexus City after being invited by Mahtara, they came under attack from militia and Jedi warriors in the service of the Inquisition. A Firemane operative called Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori was captured while covering the delegation's retreat. This sparked a war. Firemane retaliated with a bombardment. The Jedi Temple was levelled. Antonius persuaded the Grandmaster that Mahtara was to blame. The Dominion launched the hammer of light missiles against the Firemane fleet. One managed to destroy a corvette, another was stopped by Firemane pilots and the last two never launched because Mahtara's soldiers eliminated the crews and took possession of them.
Cassius was tasked with eliminating the 'treasonous' Battlemaster. However, the Shadow was not enthusiastic about this task. He had been against the war course and tried in vain to persuade Aegus not to embark on it, but been shut down. Thus he bungled the assassination, realising that killing Mahtara would serve nothing but vanity. However, he had to cover himself. So he set a bomb at her speeder. If she survived that and sniper attacks, she was strong enough. Mahtara survived the explosion and Cassius sniped at what he knew to be an illusionary Doppelganger of hers. When the Battlemaster lashed out with a strong telekinetic attack, he used his Phasing ability to escape.
Mahtara went underground to rally her allies. Meanwhile, Antonius carried out a purge and had Elpsis brought to Serene Springs. Cassius had to go along with Aegus' commands and ostensibly support his policies. However, it became clear that they led to ruin. After bombing military targets and infrastructure in the capital, Firemane landed ground troops. Together with the Republican Guard, they assaulted Fortress Purity. After a bloody battle, they were able to take the citadel. Mahtara had deliberately held back reinforcements. Meanwhile, Antonius was slain by Elpsis after she managed to break her brainwashing.
After learning of this, Aegus was apoplectic. The Grandmaster was incandescent with rage, declaring that he would lead the army himself and crush the Sithspawn. He ordered Cassius, Karana and Varus to return his legions to him and prepare for the final battle.
Aegus: “I gave them an order! Who are these people to refuse me? I, I am the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, the light in the darkness! And yet these traitors and criminals betray us. You have all failed to enforce purity in your ranks! The Council is full of backsliders!”
Cassius: “Master, I will not let you say such things about your Council."
Aegus: “The Council are traitors, criminals, fallen Jedi! It is no wonder that these Sithspawn from the stars have defeated you, you are all in league with them! You’re all nothing but a pack of lackies to the Sith “I…I am chosen by the Force. Dark rises, and Light to meet it. I will bring order to this chaos, to this ruin! I will summon all the Jedi and the loyal people, I will lead a crusade which will purge the Sith, their Vong allies and these enemies from the stars. I have no further use of any of you. You especially disappoint me, Cassius. I had thought my Padawan was beyond taint, but it seems not. Send for my Inquisitors and Purity Officers. I will fix this situation which none of you can.”
Cassius: “Of course, Master, I shall summon them immediately. It may take some time.”
Aegus: “Make haste, lest I think the Dark Side has tainted you irrevocably as well.”
Cassius knew that he could no longer follow his template or stand aloof. He came to the conclusion that he had to kill the closest thing he had to a father to save his country - and himself. He persuaded Varus and the slow-thinking Karana to join him. “The cursed enemy still drops bombs on the city. Were one to hit him he would be a glorious martyr to the cause. We will catch him as he walks through the corridor of heroes. Varus, see to the guards, Karana, have the Council in session. I will ensure there is a clear path to the surface and some theatre.”
And so it came to pass. Aegus was ambushed by the assassins while passing through the Corridor of Heroes. He defended himself, but he was old and no aid came from his guards. At the last, as he lay dying against the statue of Mace Windu, the Grandmaster saw one final figure approach.“You…too…Cassius?” “Your madness must end. I’m sorry.” Then he delivered the killing blow. Cassius' confederates moved the body to the surface and set off explosives. The rest of the Council and the public was told that Aegus had been slain by the Sithspawn while he heroically toured the ruins.
That done, Cassius sent a heavily encrypted message to Mahtara, inviting her to a Council session. Mahtara's troops moved into the city. Martial law was declared and Antonius' followers were purged. A stormy Council session followed. After several Councillors refused to accept the new regime, Mahtara denounced them:"When peace and order returns to the Dominion I will summon a Council which is both righteous and wise, strong and just. For now…get you gone, in the name of the Light go!” The Council was disbanded. In its place, Mahtara created a smaller war council. For the time being, the post of Grandmaster remained vacant. Cassius, Varus and Karana all got Council seats. Cassius was not surprised by this development, having discussed matters with Mahtara. He was made Master of the Order, while his two allies received posts in the government and the army.
When Karana urged their new leader to launch an offensive while the enemy was 'complacent', Mata disagreed with her, declaring that an attack at this stage would be folly, as their troops needed time to recover and if they attacked now it would only give their enemies a reason to unite again.
Karana: "But what shall we do against this Firemane? They rain destruction upon our city unchecked. Thousands lie dead. The hammers of light..."
Cassius: "Are a weapon of last resort. And no guarantee of success. If we launched them, we might destroy their large battleship. But what would we do when they send more ships? You know they would. They went to war for one girl. Moreover, I have my doubts that this 'Firemane' will be on our world for long. They are far from home. Even with their fleet, supplying such a large force will be difficult. And the Guard is no friend to them. Sooner or later, they will split."
Mahtara concurred with this assessment. The Dominion's armies needed time to regroup and reform. When the time came, they would attack with greater strength and reckon with the rebels. Ironically, Darth Furcht perished shortly after the overthrow of Aegus. Firemane's warships levelled his castle, killing him and many of his servitors. Cassius has agreed to work with Mahtara for the time being. However, he sees her leadership as provisional. One day he will be in command.
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