Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike's lore.
Image Credit: Here, Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permission: N/A
Links: Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, Into Darkness, After Darkness, Adlerberg, Prosperity Quarter, Darth Eisen, Tephrike.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name: Inheritors of the Light Father.
Classification: Underground Organisation, Religious Cult, Force-Sensitive Organisation.
Affiliation: Independent. Their loyalty is to the people of Tephrike.
Organization Symbol: See below.
Description: The Inheritors of the Light Father are an underground group who revere Darth Vader and seek to serve the cause of Light. They are native to Tephrike, a remote world that was cut off from the rest of the Galaxy after the outbreak of the Gulag Virus and descended into a dark age. When the Gulag Virus ravaged the Galaxy, Tephrike descended into chaos. Millions died from disease or factional infighting. The nominally democratic federal government proved incapable of resolving the crisis, so the Jedi led a coup to remove it from power and impose a junta. What started as a temporary, emergency regime soon degenerated into a repressive, totalitarian dictatorship. The Jedi were corrupted by their power and the horrors of war, as they were forced to make increasingly ruthless choices. They became the very thing they sought to destroy, while still believing they served the greater good. The Disciples of the Vader arose to counter them. The Disciples are an extremist, human supremacist Sith cult that worships Vader as a Dark God and preaches the inferiority of non-humans.
The Inheritors are a Vaderite splinter group. They are all that is left of a faction of 'Light Sith' who temporarily managed to seize power in Sith territory by mobilising the under classes and slave population. Whereas the Disciples see Vader as the true Dark Lord of the Sith, who achieved apotheosis and ascended to godhood, the Inheritors believe in the story of his redemption. Tephrike has been isolated for many centuries. A lot of knowledge has been lost or distorted, which means some of their beliefs are fairly strange. The Inheritors believe that it is their duty to spread the true story of Vader's rise, descent into darkness and redemption. Like him, they must be reborn in the Light and follow the example of the Light Father.
Both the Dominion and the Disciples consider them heretics. Meanwhile, the Republican Guard, a revolutionary organisation that seeks to overthrow the Force theocracies and establish a secular republic for Non-Force-Users, views them with suspicion. In the eyes of the Guard, the Force is a disease that corrupts those who draw upon it. They do not persecute the Inheritors with the same fervour as the two theocracies, but regard them as problematic.
Of all the groups that seek to exact their will upon Tephrike and remould it according to their vision, the Inheritors are the smallest and the most decentralised. Necessity has forced them to adopt a cell-based structure. They idolise a former Jedi Guardian and Sith Warrior, but their methods have more in common with that of Jedi Shadows or Sith Assassins. The cult operates in the shadows, relying on subversion on secrecy. They spread sedition, smuggle in subversive literature, free political prisoners, conduct assassinations and acts of sabotage.
The Force-Sensitives of the cult vary in power and strength. The secretive nature of the cult makes formalised training programmes difficult. A good number of them are aliens who have fled the Vaderites' ghettos and forced labour camps. The Vaderites regard non-humans as lesser beings that must be enslaved or eradicated. To them, Force-Sensitive aliens are thieves who stole their powers, and thus they are not allowed to be trained. Others are disillusioned Jedi or Sith as well as Force-Sensitive fugitives from Republican Guard territory. While far more benign for the common man than the theocracies, the Guard regards Force-Users as cursed and isolates them from the rest of society. While the scope of their powers varies, Force-Sensitives are commonly taught how to cloak themselves, mask their Force aura and shield their minds from mental intrusion. These skills are essential for the survival of the sect. Tapas is an important skill since their sanctuary lies in the arctic. Broadly speaking, the Inheritors empathise precision and stealth over brute force. However, the group also accepts Non-Force-Users into its ranks. A good number of them are defected soldiers, others are spies, agents or support personnel.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Headquarters: The Ausrine Redoubt on Tephrike.
Domain: The Inheritors are an underground movement and do not lay claim to any territory. This would be impractical, since it would make them an immediate target for Dominion, Sith and in some cases Republican Guard reprisals. They maintain a loose, cell-based structure. They maintain hidden sanctuaries in remote areas of Tephrike, as well as safe houses in places controlled by their foes. The Inheritors operate in secrecy, and thus only have limited connections. Some maintain ties with more benevolent underworld groups or have some influence in them. But they lack official authority outside of the sect itself. In some areas the local population protects them, but the Inheritors also have to contend with suspicion, denunciation and active hostility.
Notable Assets: The Inheritors do not have any large scale assets such as factories, mines, cities and so on. They are a clandestine sect that is best off keeping a low profile. They do maintain a network of safe houses and hidden sanctuaries though. Their main sanctuary is located in Tephrike's polar region.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Hierarchy: The Inheritors are not a top-down, centralised organisation. They utilise a clandestine cell structure. The typical cell contains three people. Each cell member knows, recruits or was recruited by one person in another cell. This clandestine cell structure allows expansion. However, it can also be problematic for coordination and trust. A cell member who is apprehended and interrogated (or who turns out to be a mole) is unlikely to know the identities of the higher-ranking members of the sect. The Inheritors' network has been set up as a conspiratorial network that draws upon the leadership of a number of regional nodes.
Some Inheritors devote their entire lives to the sect's teachings, while others meet in secret and maintained their ordinary lives while adhering to the Light Father's beliefs. Those in the latter category act as sleepers and clandestine recruiters. A few of them have managed to infiltrate Dominion or Sith ranks or academies. However, they tend to be low-ranking or mild-level. After all, they would be under far closer scrutiny in the upper echelons. Moreover, both powers have vigilant state security forces dedicated to weeding out enemies of the state both real and imagined.
There is an official leader who bears the title of Illuminator. However, this is an illusive figure only a few Inheritors have ever met in person. Most who speak to the Illuminator will have only seen a hologram of a figure wearing a mask and a suit of armour. The mask hides their identity and possesses a built-in vocoder that distorts their voice, making it unable to determine the gender of the individual. While very important for the running of the sect, this figure is more of an ideological figurehead, strategist and guide. The Illuminator takes a largely hands-off approach at the operational and tactical level. The Dominion's Jedi Shadows have speculated that the Illuminator might just be a projection or a group of people rather than a single individual.
Broadly speaking, the senior leadership outlines a strategic course for the organisation a whole, but empowers cell leaders to execute this strategy as they saw fit. This has enabled the sect to maintain both organisational and strategic coherence even in the face of considerable internal and external challenges. This flexible model allows affiliates to adapt their tactical approach to the situation on the ground. However, the sect has also had trouble with rogue cells.
Membership: Limited to Tephriki. In contrast to the Vaderites, the Inheritors are multiracial. Indeed, the group has a high proportion of aliens. This is no surprise since the group arose out of a rebellion against the human supremacist Vaderite old guard. The sect focuses on the marginalised and the oppressed. However, becoming a member is not easy. The group is a secret society and recruits its members clandestinely after observing them for an extended period of time.
Prospective acolytes are vetted very thoroughly and must perform trials that test their skill, commitment and dedication. A trial may be about retrieving an item that is of value to the sect, eliminating one of its foes and may place the neophyte in a situation where they can seemingly advance themselves at the expense of another or do the right thing and bear the consequences. For Force-Users the final trial may eventually involve being exposed to a nexus similar to the dark side cave Luke had to enter on Dagobah. The trials are a bit manipulative, but the sect wants to make sure its members are committed. Those who are accepted into the sect shed their old identity and receive a new name. This can, ironically, be compared to how many Sith give up their old name and chose a Darth one. Recruitment is conducted by the individual cells, which may set different standards due to the situation on the ground. The sect has a small member base and does not aspire to be a mass movement.
Climate: Within the group there are strong bonds of loyalty. However, at the same time it is characterised by extreme secretiveness and fear of double agents. The Inheritors are an underground group that faces persecution from the established powers. Members are expected to adhere to the code, protect the group and be ready to sacrifice themselves if need be. Those members who live in one of the sect's hidden sanctuaries have it a bit easier than those who live as sleeper agents among the enemy, but even they live under threat of discovery. The climate is austere, disciplined and zealous.
Reputation: All but unknown outside of Tephrike because the planet has been totally isolated for several centuries. Firemane and the Resistance recently discovered the planet and conducted a brief campaign against the Dominion, but did not encounter the Inheritors. Within Tephrike, the Dominion and the Vaderites have a very negative opinion of the Inheritors, whom they see as heretics. The Vaderites want to wipe them out and the Dominion's view is not much better, though it has occasionally tried to use them as pawns or temporary allies of convenience.
But all in all the Dominion regards them as misguided at best and heretical anarchists at worst. The Republican Guard is radically anti-Force-User, which colours their opinion. They do not really know or care about differences between Force cults. Moreover, to a degree the Inheritors recruit their members from a similar pool of recruits. This can make them competitors, though the Guard is a lot bigger. Individual cells have grudgingly cooperated at times, but also clashed. Opinions among ordinary Tephriki vary, depending on where they live. Some regard the Inheritors as noble, but many see them as terrorists or heretics. In Vaderite territory, the Inheritors draw their support from the disenfranchised aliens and other under classes. This is no surprise since the Sith regard aliens as lesser beings. The human middle class is far less likely to back the renegades. A good number of Tephriki dismiss them as a fabrication. Overall, the sect keeps a low profile and does their best to minimise any insight outsiders might acquire about them. The Inheritors are no stranger to muddying the waters by spreading disinformation.
Curios: Their holy book is a tome called The Word of the Light Father. It tells the story of Vader's redemption. In truth, it is based on a 'Galactic Civil War for Dummies' type book, which was found by Vaderites during the Netherworld Event. One of their sacred relics is what they believe to be the burned, disfigured helmet of Vader. It is undoubtedly a replica, but then this applies to all manners of ancient artefacts in the Galaxy. Inheritors who are granted the honour of seeing the mask and meditate before it sometimes claim that it speaks to them. They seek it out when they feel the pull to the dark.
Lightsabres are incredibly rare on Tephrike, and the Inheritors have less resources than the Dominion or the Vaderites. Several members carry Force Imbued Blades, which are common among Force-Users on Tephrike. In contrast to Jedi or Sith, few Inheritors will wear distinctive robes or suits of armour. Those who live undercover will wear whatever is needed to blend in, while field operators favour stealthy outfits. Inheritors also often wear masks. These resemble those worn by the Vaderites, who are extremely irritated by this appropriation.
Rules: Secrecy, loyalty and commitment. Inheritors must be loyal to the sect, keep their identities and those of their comrades secret from the public. They must oppose the Dominion of Light and the Sith. A member of the group must be ready to fight the forces of darkness and give their life if need be. The sect prioritises caution, patience, discipline and cunning over daring. The Inheritors see themselves as the true followers of the true past, especially the story of Vader's redemption. Their version of his story is closer to that acknowledged by the galactic mainstream, but still distorted. They see it as their duty to preserve the truth and value the collection of data about the lost past. One day the hidden knowledge can be put to use for the betterment of Tephrike.
The Inheritors regard themselves as true followers of Light, though some Light Side sects might argue that they are closer to being grey. They have adopted some of the tenets of the Jedi Code, such as defence of the innocent, pursuit of knowledge and opposition to the forces of darkness. However, they do not believe that the Force should only be used for defence, never for attack. Such a rule would be unrealistic on Tephrike. Moreover, their beliefs and way of life empathise secrecy. In contrast to the Vaderites, the Inheritors depise slavery. This is no surprise since slavery is one of the main pillars of the Vaderites' ideology and the Inheritors are a schismatic off-shoot. In keeping with this, they oppose humanocentrism and Human High Culture, which are both upheld by the Vaderites.
The Inheritors live in the shadows, instead of operating in the public eye and wearing distinctive robes. Indeed, many Inheritors live double lives, walking among the foes of the sect in order to undermine them from within. They may be forced to undertake actions they find morally disagreeable to preserve their cover and serve the greater good in the long run. In keeping with this, it is within the purview of the Inheritors to carry out peremptory strikes. In short, they endorse assassination of select targets to further the cause of the sect. However, such actions must be carefully considered, as they could easily expose the group or put innocents at risk. Overall, good is not nice or soft are good terms to describe the Inheritors. The path of righteousness does not include giving free passes to truly vile and horrible beings.
Like the Disciples of the Vader, the Inheritors revere the Chosen One. However, whereas the Disciples see him as Vader the conquering warlord who achieved godhood due to his mastery of the dark side, the Inheritors believe Anakin was redeemed through his noble sacrifice. His spirit ascended after he had cleansed himself of hatred, pride and lust for power. According to the Inheritors, Vader's spirit faced many trials in the Netherworld of the force. His spirit was tested in the Nether, where he was compelled to face his crimes. However, while the prophecy of the chosen one foretold the destruction of the Sith, it never predicted the end of darkness. Like many Tephriki, the Inheritors perceive the Gulag Virus through a millenarian prism and interpret it in apocalyptic terms. In that regard they agree with the Dominion, which believes that it was a machination of the dark side. However, the Inheritors contend that the Dominion's Jedi have been tainted by the dark side.
The Inheritors wish to preserve the memory of the past. But while they are dedicated to the truth, they are operating on the basis of limited information. Centuries have passed, and the passage of time has led to knowledge being lost or distorted. For instance, they believe that Snoke was a failed Palpatine clone who thought he was the real deal. The true Palpatine had become a malevolent spirit and was the true force behind the First Order, using them as puppets to usher in his return from Chaos. In their view, Rey and Kylo Ren, who was once known as Jacen, were twins and the granchildren of Vader. But one embraced the light, the other the dark.
The Inheritors believe in redemption, but see it as a continuous journey rather than one moment of atonement and instant forgiveness. In their view, it takes the form of lifetime penance in order to overcome the darkness. An atoner must always be vigilant against temptation, lest they succumb to their evil habits. Those who strive to redeem themselves get one chance, but it is their only one. The Inheritors take an extremely dim view of the revolving door policy. Someone who claims they want to atone but then succumbs to evil again is regarded as lost forever and must be eliminated. The journey is ended by death, but the longer one atones, the better. The Inheritors believe that after death, sinners enter an intermediate state for expiatory purification. Wise Force ghosts guide them. The spirits of evil beings end up in Chaos, a place of darkness and torment. The Light Father is charged with guarding it.
Goals: To finish what Vader started. On a more serious level, the Inheritors seek to spread what they believe to be the Light Father's teachings. They want to provide a safe haven for people escaping the tyranny of the Dominion and the Sith. To this end they also intend to spread awareness of the truth. Their long-term goal is to overthrow the despotic regimes that dominate Tephrike. However, the Inheritors are divided on the question as to whether they should take power themselves. Some maintain that it is their duty to provide their planet with enlightened leadership, others fear that taking the reins would inevitably corrupt them. However, at present the small size and very limited resources of the sect mandate that they focus on affecting things on the micro rather than the macro-level, rendering such debates moot.
MEMBERS
The Illuminator: The Inheritors are led by an enigmatic figure who bears the title of Illuminator. Only a few have ever met them in person. Most have only ever seen a hologram of a person clad in a mask and an all-white suit of armour. Their voice is modulated by an electronic speaker inside their helmet, leaving their gender ambiguous. Certain remarks made by the Illuminator imply that they are an alien who participated the Prosperity Quarter Uprising against the Sith. They are rumoured to be a powerful illusionist and telepath. The Illuminator has been declared dead multiple times, but always seems to have resurfaced. Some claim that the Illuminator is a group of individuals rather than one person. Others believe that it used to be a single person, but that the original holder of the title has since perished and now the Illuminator is just a projection used by a collective.
Astrae: Astrae is a Force-Sensitive human female and one of the field operatives of the sect. Prone to cynicism and with an independent streak, she spent a lot of her life as a drifter, who scraped out a miserable existence in some of Tephrike's most unpleasant areas. On the positive side, the fact that she has gone through the school of hard knocks means that she has good survival skils and is street-smart. It has also given her a world-weary, irreverent attitude. Despite her somewhat unorthodox, questioning stance, she has a deep appreciation for the sect.
Astrae was born in the Greater Sith Imperium, the grandiose name the Disciples use for their realm, and inducted into their Sith order. She was raised as a Child of the Supreme Leader, a member of a secret cult of Sith created to be spies, telepathically-controlled puppets and if necessary a host for the Supreme Leader's consciousness. She escaped from Castle Maysaf when she started noticing missing time. For a while she was part of Salus' Light Sith insurrection that tried to change the Imperium from the inside. This was the predecessor of the Inheritors. However, she has now concluded that the only way to change the regime is to tear it down without making compromises. One of the attributes that make her valuable to the sect is a special talent similar to Force Sight, which gives her insight into an individual's true nature and pierce deception.
Onaconda Amado: Onaconda is a Rodian male member of the sect. He prefers to go by Ona since his full name is quite a mouthful. Like several of its founding members, he is from Prosperity Quarter. The name is darkly ironic because it is a ghetto for aliens and others the Sith consider undesirable lesser beings. His mother worked in a textile workshop owned by Imperial war profiteers, his father was sent to a forced labour camp. The rations were so meagre and the conditions were so primitive, unhygienic and unhealthy that he perished. His sister was murdered for being a teacher in an underground school. It tried to counter the Sith's efforts to eradicate the culture of the inabitants and provide the youths o the quarter with an education. The secret police shot her in the middle of a lecture. His father was worked to death.
Onaconda was adopted by a Sith officer as a 'pet'. The Rodian survived, not the least due to his talent as an actor. Rodians are renowned for their vibrant theatrical tradition. The Sith liked to make aliens stage theatrical plays that pandered to stereotypes by 'proving' the aliens' inherent backwardness and the superiority of mankind. They enjoyed forcing the actors to humiliate their people. Onacaonda was good at playing his part. He had to bury his hatred, but he never forgot it. Many bigwigs attending the plays. Eventually he started to use his position to gather intelligence for the resistance. He joined the rebels during the rising and became known as an assassin. In the aftermath of the ghetto's destruction, Onaconda got involved with the Inheritors. He is a skilled dramatist, assassin and spy. Out of respect for his dead sister, he has tried to carry on her work by preserving lost Rodian cultural heirlooms as well as supporting an underground press.
Caylis Dre'nayr: Caylis is a Bothan member of the sect. She was one of the victims of the Vaderites' oppressive, xenocidal policies. After arriving at a camp on one of the death trains, she was forced to join a so-called special commando. This is a slave labour unit comprised of prisoners who were forced to dispose of the bodies of murdered inmates. They were given slightly better treatment than other inmates, but could not resign or refuse their orders.
Those who disobeyed were murdered. They were also forced to help captors deceive prisoners who had been condemned to death or medical experimentation. Many of the special commandos were routinely murdered by the Vaderites, who believed they knew too much, and replaced with new arrivals. The time in the camp left Caylis traumatised. She and some of her comrades were able to acquire writing materials and record what they had seen and endured. Out of five authors, only Caylis survived. She helped plan an uprising in the camp, but it failed.
It is claimed that she was saved by the Illuminator, who awakened her Force potential.. She feels a fierce hatred for the Vaderites and has taken it upon herself to ensure the story of those who were condemned to be murdered in the camps does not die with them. But it is not enough to preserve their memory; they must be honoured through action. Her involvement in the special commando causes her a lot of guilt, though she would have been killed if she had refused. Due to her past, Caylis is extremely distrustful of humans and former Vaderites who claim to have seen the light. She requires them to perform visible acts of penance.
Iris Matsoukas: Iris is a human female stormtrooper who served the Vaderites until her desertion and subsequent defection to the Inheritors. She was conscripted into the Stormtrooper Corps and fought for the Sith in many engagements during the Netherworld War. She was even allowed to join the Party. But she has seen the futility of the war and the sense power plays. A big reason for her defection was the murder of her mentally ill cousin, whom the Vaderites had labelled as 'life unworthy of life' and a 'useless eater'. She was also forced to participate in a massacre against 'dissident' villagers. This caused her to snap. Her family still lives in Sith territory and she has cut ties with them. They consider her a race traitor. Thus she now seeks redemption for her past deeds. Though she cannot feel the Force, Iris believes she is guided by it. As a result, she takes the spiritual aspects of the sect seriously.
One of her goals has been to incite a rebellion among the Stormtroopers, since her former cormades are used as tools by uncaring masters. However, there is a conflict between this aim and her knowledge that many endorse the regime. While she is committed to the teachings of the sect, Iris does not bow and scrape before Force wielders. She has first-hand experience of their fallibility, after all. She keeps up with the magi through determination, planning, preparadness and by going to the gym an awful lot. Back when Iris still served the Sith, she was a scout trooper and rose to the rank of sergeant. She was the sniper of her squad and is a very good shot.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The outbreak of the Gulag Virus had a profound impact on almost every inhabited world in the Galaxy. Galactic commerce came to an end, billions died from the plague and many more due to internal strife. Galactic governments collapsed and many planets succumbed to anarchy. The repercussions for Tephrike were extreme. The planet's fragile democracy had already been under fire due to racial and social tensions. Moreover, the planet was highly dependent on galactic trade. Things turned from bad to worse as the survivors warred amongst themselves.
Tephrike's small Jedi enclave tried to impose order and fight the darkness, but ended up becoming the very evil they fought against, while insisting that they were righteous. Influenced by a debased, warped interpretation of the old Jedi code, they sought to bring the planet under the control of a radical Jedi theocracy, the Dominion of Light, which took totalitarian control to new heights. Inevitably, there was opposition. Heretical Jedi turned on their masters and declared a dark crusade, forming a Sith cult that worshipped Vader as a god and believed all Force blind should be enslaved and treated as chattel. Both cultist factions were opposed by the Republican Guard, a secularist faction that drew a lot of its support from aquatic aliens, escaped clone slave-soldiers and Yuuzhan Vong.
Like most Sith movements, the Vaderites were founded by a schismatic Jedi. As the Jedi grew corrupt and sought to impose their vision on society, some grew drunk on power. One of them was Cade Seward. Thrust into command at a young age, he fell to the dark side. A vision convinced him that Darth Vader had chosen him as his champion to eclipse the light. For Vader had experienced apotheois and was now a Dark God. Indeed, the Gulag Virus had been a machination of the dark side to cleanse the Galaxy of weakness. Cade chose the name Darth Menace and was able to assemble an army that became a serious threat to the Dominion. His dark crusade was halted at Palmyra, Tephrike's old capital. But victory came at a staggering cost for the Dominion, for the city was turned into a cursed, dark side nexus.
But the Vaderite threat did not vanish. The Sith managed to carve out their own state. It was built upon a foundation of slavery, human supremacism, and tyranny. Humans who professed faith into the Vaderite religion were coopeted as a new middle class and given preferential treatment. They became the soldiers, officers, administrators and technicians of the new regime and were organised in the Humanist Party, a political machine responsible for the promotion of Vaderite ideology. Meanwhile, aliens were enslaved, confined to ghettos or exterminated. Rule of the strong was enshrined in the Vaderite's Sith ideology, for there could be no place in the New Order for those deemed weak, mentally or physically defective.
Taking the Sith's obsession with rule by the strong to its logical extreme, the Disciples dispensed with more rational means of promotion by allowing a Sith to challenge his direct superior to combat to the death. The rationale behind this was that any man who could not physically defend his position did not deserve to hold it. The Sith remained at war with the Dominion and the Republican Guard, seeking to bring all of Tephrike under their jackboot.
The Inheritors came into being as the result of a schismatic movement among the Disciples that arose shortly before the Netherworld Event. At the time the arbitrary, tyrannical rule of Darth Impaler had destabilised the empire. As his Darth name implies, he was fond of impaling real and imagined opponents. Two heretical movements arose. A group of cultists had discovered what they believed to be 'a sacred text' from the Jedi. Said text was actually a 'Galactic Civil War for Dummies' sort of book, which told the story of Vader's redemption. Thus one group proclaimed that since Vader had embraced the Light, it was their duty to do so as well as the true disciples of the Chosen One. In doing so, they would finish what he started by bringing balance to the Force. Darth Eisen, a rival of Impaler, knew of these 'Light Sith', but did alert his overlord about them. Impaler had slighted and humiliated him, and Eisen believed he could use the heretics to his advantage. However, they soon eluded his control.
The other group claimed that since Vader had fallen to the light side, Palpatine was the true Dark Lord and it was their duty to destroy the false Sith. Civil war ensued. Impaler hoped to pit both factions against the other, but the leader of the 'Light Sith', Darth Krieg, was able to rally a number of rebellious slaves to his cause by promising them freedom and better living conditions. In the end, Impaler was slain in a duel. The Sidious zealots were purged and Krieg took control. As a sign of his conversion to the new way, he renamed himself Lord Salus. He sought to reform the Sith from the inside and impose liberalisation from above. But many Sith resisted his attempts to overturn the old ways. Some, such as Eisen, went into exile, but others ostensibly swore fealty to the new regime and tried to undermine it.
The Light Sith were soon embroiled in a war with the Dominion, becoming co-belligerents of the Republican Guard. The Dominion was pushed to the brink. But the de facto alliance was an uneasy one as both sides despised the other. Moreover, a number of Vaderites who had bent the knee to the new régime had not really changed their ways. This soured the accord even more, as did the Guard's policy of rounding up Force-users in communities it managed to liberate. Soon sporadic fighting had broken out. The chancellor who had supported the deal was toppled by the Guard after their failed attack on Fortress Purity, a major Dominion citadel.
This left Salus vulnerable and he was murdered. Eisen had used the chance to return from exile, but events overtook him. Radical Light Sith and freed aliens took over Prosperity Quarter, an alien ghetto, and much of Adlerberg. The revolt was led by Commander Ci Nath, a Gungan freedom fighter. For a while freedom reigned. However, Darth Furcht, a bloody-minded despot and the leader of the Knights of the Ebon Claw, invaded the city. Emancipated slaves fought on to the death, knowing what fate awaited them. The Sith had to level parts of Prosperity Quarter through firebombings and artillery bombardment. Some of the fiercest fighting occured at the Altar of Vader, a Vader temple built to resemble a massive Vader mask. In defiance of their oppressors, the rebels had hoisted their flag above it. The enraged Sith threw their legions at it.
The Republican Guard had advised its cells against backing the uprising, rightly believing it was a lost cause, but many partisans disobeyed the order. Exhorted by Furcht to show no mercy and kill anything that moved, the Stormtroopers, humanist militias and Sith systematically murdered over a hundred thousand civilians and captured resistance fighters. Whole families perished. The Sith even murdered patients in their hospitals, along with the staff caring for them. The Sith expected these atrocities to break the morale of the defenders. However, the ruthless massacres only stiffened their resistance and it took months of heavy fighting for the Sith to regain control over the city. As the fighting dragged on, the rebel forces and the civilians faced serious shortages of food and water. They were able to launch breakout attempts to acquire supplies, but the shortages played a role in their eventual defeat.
Furcht re-established Sith power, which helped him become Dark Lord. Finally an order was given to stop the indiscriminate killing of civilians after the new Supreme Leader realised it was decimating the slave population that was the backbone of the Sith economy. One of the humanist militia commander was executed not for committing war crimes, but for 'stealing the property of the Imperium', as the valuables he had stolen from civilian homes were supposed to be delivered to Furcht, but he had kept them for himself. But the bloodletting did not stop there. Furcht's inauguration sparked a series of brutal purges to weed out the disobedient and the faithless. Copies of the 'holy text' of the 'Light Sith' were publicly burned. However, the heresy did not go up in flames with them. The few Light Vaderites who had survived the purge linked up escaped slaves and other dissidents. Forced into hiding, they went underground, vowing one day return from the shadows.
Soon there were whispers about a secret cult. The sect came to public attention when slicers affiliated with it hacked into the Sith's communications systems. Daily propaganda programmes were interrupted by the broadcast of a figure who called themselves the Illuminator. Clad in an all-white version of Vader's armour, this figure denounced the Vaderites, calling for armed resistance against the forces of tyranny. The broadcast was accompanied by a series of coordinated strikes against military targets and infrastructure. Astrae, a rogue Sith, emerged as one of their field agents and made a name for herself. An enraged Furcht ordered the secret police and the army to strike back, sparking a wave of massive round-ups and executions. The Inheritors had struck a blow against the Sith, but also overreached themselves. Their losses were severe. But this had a learning effect.
Eventually the Vaderites' ministery of propaganda reported that the Legions of Dusk had levelled the rebels' base in an air strike and that the Illuminator had been killed by a Force demon summoned by Furcht. The body was presented by the Propaganda Ministry. However, after a period of silence the Illuminator resurfaced again, making periodic propaganda broadcasts. Neither the tone nor their appearance had changed, but the Knights of the Ebon Claw came to realise that the sect had altered its strategy. Whereas it had once focused on propaganda of the deed, now it concentrated on ideological subversion, sedition and infiltration. It targeted ghettos, where it spread subversive literature and helped smuggle the disenfranchised out, as well as Sith academies. They also became adept at exploiting turf wars between the Sith warlords. However, government persecution also led to a schism. A group of radicals split from the sect, believing that the new gradualist approach was ineffectual. They soon turned to extremist terrorist tactics, which gave the Sith ample fodder for propaganda. Some Inheritor branches became vigilantes, focused on meting out justice.
Repeated government crackdowns exterminated many cells, but could not destroy the sect. The Vaderites came to suspect that the Inheritors were being backed by the Dominion. Indeed, for a while the Jedi Shadows considered them a useful pawn. However, the ideologues of the Windian Jedi Order also viewed their message as subversive, since it put the Dominion's claim to be the sole bastion of light into question. Their teachings were also at variance with orthodox Dominion beliefs, which claimed that Luke Skywalker had destroyed the Emperor and Vader with the power of the Light.
Initially the sect had an unofficial safe haven in certain remote Dominion provinces far from the centre, but this changed when their influence was found to be dangerously unorthodox and it became clear they were trying to recruit among the Jedi. For a while the Inheritors were able to exploit turf wars between different departments of the Dominion's government. They were even able to frame prominent Jedi and government officials as closeted Sith. However, eventually the Inquisition was able to insert a mole and eliminate an Inheritor cell in a Jedi enclave, including a senior Master of the cult. However, when Jedi Inquisitors ambushed what appeared to be the Illuminator, it turned out to be an illusion.
Privately, Jedi Cassius, leader of the Shadows, came to suspect that the Illuminator was a group of people instead of one person, or perhaps even just a projection. However, it suited both the Dominion and the Sith governments to have a convenient bogeyman they could use as a scpaegoat. Since they had never bee put down for good, the battle against their crimes must never end. Indeed, some citizens came to suspect that the Inheritors did not exist at all, but had in fact been invented by one of the powers.
Though opposed to the Republican Guard, the Inheritors tried to avoid contact with it. They set up an underground railroad of sorts to help fugitive Force-Sensitives escape the Guard's grip. However, the Guard was useful because it was fighting the Dominion and the Sith. Moreover, the rogues only had limited resources. Nonetheless, the Inheritors became targets of opportunity for a fringe cell that got wind of a meeting. Jedi, Dark Sith, Light Sith - they were all oppressors of the common people. Given how much death and destruction magi had caused, this analysis was actually understandable. Thus the Guard cell planted a suitcase bomb. The Inheritors retaliated against this attack, but their response was measured. They continued to aid fugitives from Republican Guard territory.
The clandestine cell system made it difficult to stamp out the entire sect, but also created coordination issues. Their small numbers, lack of significant resources or an external patron meant that there were limits to what the Inheritors could achieve. Both the Sith and the Dominion still had strong support networks among their subject populations. A few dramatic acts of resistance would not foment revolution. The rebels had to always be on their guard against denunciation.
Ergo they were forced to focus on the micro-scale and play a long game. Though the motives and aims of the Inheritors were different, their methods came to bear a strong resemblance to those of the Banites. Darth Guile had once compared the Sith to a malignant cell, too small to be discovered by scans or other techniques, but capable of spreading silently and lethally through a system. Initially the victim did not feel right, then it fell ill, and ultimately succumbed. Though they would not have phrased it in such terms, the Inheritors sought to apply similar methods and exploit the hostilities between their foes. Subterfuge rather than direct combat had become their weapon of choice. They created a hidden sanctuary in Tephrike's polar region. Far away from civilisation and virtually inhospitable, it was an ideal hideout.
When outsiders arrived in Tephrike's orbit, the Inheritors took notice, as did their foes. Some Vaderites wondered whether the Scion of Vader had returned. In truth, the outsiders were part of Firemane's exploration corps. However, their coming was still fortuitous because the outsiders soon ended up embroiled in war with the Dominion. The Sith rejoiced when the space people bombed Nexus City and levelled the Jedi Temple.
In response to Dominion betrayal, Firemane entered an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard and launched a punitive expedition. It ended with Fortress Purity, a major Dominion fortress, being seized by the allied forces. The Grandmaster, whose paranoia and fanaticism had sparked the conflict, was assassinated by the Council. However, the Dominion reorganised under new leadership. Then, while it was in the process of pulling out from Tephrike, Firemane bombed Castle Maysaf. Furcht and many members of the Vaderites' Dark Council perished.
The Sith's attempt retaliate by assaulting the Firemane flagship with demons could not prevent Maysaf's destruction. The Inheritors never crossed paths with the space people. Indeed, some of their people inadvertently perished in the conflagrations. However, their foes being dealt a bloody nose please them. Some Inheritors began to wonder whether the time had come to play a more active role. A few advocated trying to make contact with the space people, mistakenly believing them to be a light sided power.
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