OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To found a new order of Sith under the leadership of Darth Adekos.
- Image Credit: Daily Minimal No. 364. It is now absent from their website, but it was there once. Alterations (coloring, border) were done by me.
- Canon: This submission is a certified Original Recipe™.
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Important links are included in-line, where they belong.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Organization Name: Sictis Association
- Classification: Sith Sect / Research Group
- Affiliation: Independent, Darth Adekos
- Organization Symbol:
The symbol pictured above is the geometric glyph associated with the Central Committee. Different branches the Sictis Association utilized different, but similarly styled, glyphs. The one utilized by the Central Committee was the most widely known. Its meaning, if any, was unknown.
The Sictis Association were an obscure group of Sith who rejected the superstitious trappings commonly associated with the Sith and use of the Force. The Association was dedicated to the scientific study of the Force, particularly the Dark Side, for use in developing advanced technology.
They were particularly interested in finding ways to predict the future more reliably and accurately. If the future is known, they reasoned, then it can be more easily manipulated.
Though the Association was ostensibly disinterested in seizing power or achieving ideological dominance, it did not stop them from involving themselves in galactic affairs.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
The Sictis Association maintained a handful of small, subterranean research facilities on certain planets. They were most often connected to Silver Shield Group campuses under the guise of more innocuous research facilities. A larger observatory in the Deep Core served as the headquarters for the Association.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
The activities of the Sictis Association were managed by the Central Committee. This Central Committee was composed of six Sith Masters with the title of Director. The Central Committee then selected one of its members to act as the head of the organization, who was titled Executive Director.
Beneath the Central Committee are a number of panels, which managed individual projects, and bureaus, which administered entire facilities. These sub-organizations are composed of the rank and file members of the Sictis Association. They were given the title of Officer, which had its own numerical sub-ranks based on seniority and skill.
Officer ranks 1 - 4 are usually Apprentice level Sith. Officer ranks 5 - 7 are usually Knight level Sith. Officer ranks 8 - 10 are usually Master level Sith. Ranks are usually styled as, for instance, O-3 or O-6. Those ranked at O-10 are usually referred to as Chief Officers. The higher one's rank, the greater their responsibilities.
Requests for promotion were processed exclusively by the Central Committee.
There are several hundred members of the Sictis Association. A few dozen hold the rank of O-8 or higher. It was predominantly composed of species with technical predilections: Verpine, Sluissi, Anomids, Bith, Givin, Skakoans, Arkanians, Fondorians, and Chiss. Humans were presented, but accounted only for a minority in the Association.
The Association only selected recruits based on rigorous screening and psychological evaluation. A significant portion of recruits were not born with Force Sensitivity, and had it granted to them only after joining the Association. Some were drawn from the ranks of disaffected members of other Forced-based organizations, but this was rare.
Though cooperation was emphasized, the day-to-day atmosphere was often tense with rivalry. Most members of the Association quickly settled into tightly-knit cliques based on location and expertise. There was an implicit competition to perform the best research, extract the best results, demonstrate the most progress, and therefore receive the most recognition from the Central Committee.
This did not frequently devolve into violence or catastrophic sabotage, as most members of the Association lacked the disposition to engage in such activities. Workplace toxicity manifested in different ways. For instance, data analysis revealed that 56% of all communications between Association officers could be characterized as "passive-aggressive" and "condescending."
The "public" persona of the Sictis Association was as the nameless research and development division of the Silver Shield Group. In that aspect, they were regarded as secretive and mysterious. Interactions with researchers were often confusing, as no one was quite sure what they did or why they tended to have so much authority invested in them.
Few were aware of the existence of the Sictis Association as it truly was, and so no meaningful opinions were formed on it.
The Sictis Association operated under a strict set of regulations called the Association Charter. This charter, among other things, appointed the creation of the Ethical Oversight Committee (EOC), which would manually review all ongoing initiatives to ensure compliance and a minimization of harm to the wider galaxy.
The cornerstone of the Association's wider philosophy was found in a relatively recent Sith text known as the Sictis Dialogues. The dialogues were purportedly an exchange between an unidentified Sith acolyte and an unidentified Sith spirit on the planet of Bal'demnic.
The main points of the Dialogues are summarized below.
1) The Force is not conscious. It is an energy source - a tool - to be tapped into and manipulated. Nothing more. Regarding the Force through the lens of superstition is a waste of time. To truly understand and control the Force, it must be interrogated through an entirely rationalistic approach. Not sorcery.
2) The pinnacle of organic lifeforms can only be achieved through fusion with technology. Rigorous cybernetic enhancements are not just a necessity if organic lifeforms are to realize their destiny.
3) The ultimate goal of the Sith should be to ensure an orderly, stabilized galaxy bereft of destructive conflict. Attempting to engineer this through military conquest and autocratic rule is inefficient counter-productive. Other paths must be explored.
Whether or not members agreed with the Dialogues was immaterial. Full compliance with the Association Charter and the rulings of the EOC were expected. Violators often had their sensitivity to the Force removed, their employment terminated, and amnestics administers before being released back into the galaxy.
- Goals:
- Develop technology that will bring about an end to destructive conflict in the galaxy
- Advance the fields of Sith science and engineering
- Survive
MEMBERS
- Darth Adekos
- Hundreds of Sith Knights and Apprentices
- Dozens of Sith Masters
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
"Sictis" was a title given to the most capable commanders of Belia Darzu's technobeast armies. The cunning and brutality of these commanders was enough that they gave the twenty-year Darzu started conflict its name: the Sictis Wars. When Darzu perished towards the end of the conflict, the original Sictis turned on one another or were otherwise hunted down by Jedi.
Some of Darzu's surviving disciples continued to take on the title of Sictis themselves, waging petty conflicts as minor warlords. The last of these successors were long dead by 1100 BBY, and the term fell out of use in the intervening years.
Darth Adekos borrowed the term in founding his own personal cabal of Sith, the Sictis Order, around 840 ABY. It was intended to become an arm of the Sith Triumvirate, though it was destroyed shortly after its founding.
The Sictis Order relocated to the Deep Core, locating and occupying a labyrinthine facility on Odik II. For a short time, they occupied an academy on Gargolyn IV.
These Sith toiled in secret for many years, acquiring resources and conducting research. Their outlook and demeanor eventually resulted in them dispelling the lingering, antiquated customs and terminology of less civilized Sith. To this end, they rebranded as the Sictis Association.
When Adekos returned to galactic affairs from his exile, he installed himself as Executive Director. With his acquisition of the Silver Shield Group, the Association has been folded directly into the company as its research and development branch. In reality, of course, the Association directs the activities of Silver Shield rather than the other way around.
