Igni Irae
Pictured: Warned by a Jedi vision, the valiant Inquisitors purge a group of 'heretics' and 'Sith agents'. Sadly, the darksiders refused to recant, but now they will sin no more.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Codify a group established in rp. This group will mainly serve as an antagonist for Elpsis and friends. Inspired by various historical organisations, the submission explores themes of totalitarianism and how often the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is also a typical case of how those using the Force can fall to the Dark Side, while still believing that their intentions and actions are good. Comparisons can be drawn to C'baoth, Atris and the Jedi Covenant from Legends.
Image Credit: Here. Here. Images are not entirely true to life, since lightsabres are extremely rare on Tephrike. Most of the Dominion's Jedi use Force imbued blades. However, pictures of Jedi with swords are hard to find.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Tephrike, Cassius, Jedi Covenant, Disciples of the Vader, Republican Guard, Firemane Industries, Temple Guard, Diona, Elpsis, Unchained, Inheritors of the Light Father, Heroes of Purity.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name: The official name is Harmonious and Compassionate Inquisitors of the Public Wellbeing for Defence Against the Depredations of the Dark Side and all its Manifold Evils. This is usually shortened to Jedi Inquisition because the Dominion makes everything so damn long.
Classification: Secret police.
Affiliation: Dominion of Light, Battlemaster Mahtara, Tephrike.
Organization Symbol: The heraldic symbol consists of a sword, an all-seeing eye and a shield. The eye represents the Inquisition's vigilance. The shield is there to efend the Dominion's enlightened society, and the sword to strike its foes.
Description: Ostensibly the Dominion is an enlightened society. Governed by wise Jedi Masters, it arose to save Tephrike from a Dark Age. Its government is committed to good governance, harmony between all species and social classes and economic equality. It seeks to fulfil the principle from each according to his ability to each according to his needs. In the utopian society envisaged by the Dominion, no one will go hungry, be unemployed or suffer from discrimination. All will live in harmony under the Light.
That is the message. To a degree, it lives up to it. Unlike the Disciples of the Vader, it does not exterminate or enslave people on the basis of their racial makeup. It also does not murder children for being mentally or physically disabled and has elements of a welfare state. Citizens are taken care of from cradle to grave...whether they want it or not. It is also a stultifying, totalitarian, extremely conformist Jedi theocracy governed by collectivist principles. Opposition is not tolerated. The media and the means of production are controlled by the state. There is no privacy. But there are always those who dissent from the one true way. The dark side is always there, and its tendrils run deep. Those poor souls who have fallen prey to its temptations must be dealt with. Ideally, they will be redeemed and see the error in their ways. But some are too far gone and must be eliminated before they can further stain their souls.
The Inquisition is an investigative and punitive body that monitors the ideological purity of both members of the Windian Jedi Order and citizens of the Dominion as a whole. No one is above suspicion. The ever-vigilant Inquisitors monitor, unmask and punish dark side corruption throughout the nation. Moreover, they run the Dominion's prison camps for heretics and political prisoners. The Inquisition's minders are responsible for interrogating these individuals. Officially, the Inquisition aims for rehabilitation, not destruction. Their credo is to purify the sinner and save the soul.
Where 'gentle persuasion' does not work, they will use invasive mental procedures to recondition a detainee's mind so that they can be reborn in a state of grace and return to the community. The Inquisition maintains a dedicated body of Jedi investigators. The Inquisition runs a number of prison camps and penal colonies spread across the Dominion. In that regard, it also performs an economic function, as the prison population can be mobilised for engineering and construction projects.
Examples would be mining, canal and road building as well as toiling in factories set up near the prison complexes. However, the agency deals with political crimes and matters of faith. Normal felons are left to the Wardens of the Eternal and Just Light, the police force of the Dominion of Light. Thus the Inquisition does not have complete control over law enforcement or the Dominion's convict labour system. Indeed, the Dominion's new government has pulled the plug on many of the Inquisition's vanity projects.
Some people consider its methods too radical, but the Inquisitor claim that lack of vigilance is to blame for the outbreak of the Gulag Virus and the destruction of galactic civilisation. For far too long have Jedi adopted an attitude of permissiveness. Too many fallen Jedi have been allowed to return to the fold without any real punishment after committing horrible crimes. For this reason, the Inquisition serves on a check on the Order itself, as well as on the military, the ministries and provincial governments.
The Inquisition is a very secretive branch. Dominion propaganda presents it as an omnipresent, omniscient group that is constantly monitoring public and private life throughout the nation. This is, of course, not the case because it is thoroughly impractical. Indeed, many areas there is one secret police officer for approximately every ten thousand citizens of the Dominion. In certain areas the ratio is even less in the agency's favour. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, the majority of the Inquisition's members are Non-Force-Users and thus not capable of reading a citizen's thoughts or manipulating their memories. Many of the Dominion's citizens are clones. Although the Dominion regards family units as bourgeois, clones of the same line tend to amount to the same thing. Thus when one clone is being watched, the same applies to their siblings and template.
The Inquisition is a key institution of state terror. Like every secret police agency, the Inquisition relies upon a network of informants. These are ordinary citizens who pass on information on their neighbours, family members, co-workers and friends to the Inquisition. The information may be based on rumour or suspicion rather than fact. Informants report on all sorts of undesirable activities, such as anti-Dominion sentiment or words, Republican Guard or Vaderite activity, black market trading, concealment of Force-Sensitivity, dark side use, hoarding, listening to enemy broadcasts and so on.
While the Dominion is not speciesist, it is not multicultural. All its citizens must be subsumed into the extremely conformist culture of the Dominion, and so the regime done its best to eradicate the culture and customs of the people it rules over. It calls this policy The Three Togethers: Eat together, live together, work together. Everyone must be the same. For instance, a Mirialan who has the traditional tattoos of her people would be regarded as a deviationist and may face persecution. Things have become more relaxed in that regard, but it can still get a citizen into trouble. The Dominion is fond of forcibly relocating ethnic groups it does not entirely trust and resettling their homelands with loyalists from other areas. The Inquisition usually orchestrates these mass deportations. An example would be the Mon Calamari Operation.
The Inquisition has also made a contribution to science and arms development in the Dominion. When a scientist or engineer is arrested in the Dominion for a political crime, they are usually placed in a special prison. There they live under more comfortable conditions than an inmate in a standard concentration camp. They continue their work in prison under the Inquisition's supervision. The Inquisition works with the Ministry of Enlightenment to censor cultural life in the Dominion. Artists, journalists, filmmakers, actors etc. who do not toe the line face persecution.
The secret police has a say in promotions to positions of importance within the Dominion. For example, a negative report could theoretically block the appointment of a doctor to a hospital or the transfer of a provincial bureaucrat to a job in a government ministry. Of course, the Inquisition's influences in such matters is not unlimited. For instance, if any of the aforementioned people have a very influential patron, the Inquisition will have to take the political realities into account. A powerful Jedi Master or minister may very well have the pull to override a negative evaluation or make things difficult for an Inquisitor who crossed him. Moreover, the secret police only has limited manpower and the sheer volume of requests means that in practice many are rubberstamped. Nonetheless, it impacts the lives of many people.
The Dominion has abolished hard currency and instituted a harsh command economy. This means informants are compensated on the basis of favours. For instance, they might special coupons, gifts, the privilege of shopping in the 'special shops' reserved for the elite, better housing, access to higher quality healthcare, a promotion at work etc. Informants are constantly evaluated by their handlers. By the same token, Inquisitors are monitored. This even applies to members who have left the organisation.
It is pertinent to note that the Inquisition is not constantly spreading terror throughout the nation and persecuting citizens. Indeed, most of the Dominion's citizens are left alone. However, it has played a vital role in creating a culture defined by fear and conformism. Its hand is the most brutal in more remote regions, where the Dominion's grip is less secure, and during times of crises. And the Dominion has never been tolerant of dissent. It regards itself as the last bastion of light in a world consumed by darkness. This means that defiance is not just a political matter, but a question of salvation or damnation. In some ways, the Jedi Inquisition draws inspiration from the ancient Jedi Covenant, a group of extremists willing to go to any lengths to prevent a resurgence of the Sith.
While many members of the Inquisition are Non-Force-Users, it maintains a solid core of Force-Users. However, the nature and extent of their abilities vary. The Inquisition is primarily an investigative organ, and the Force abilities of many of its adepts reflects that. Extrasensory, empathic and persuasive powers are common. Senior members of the body may be able to utilise abilities such as Shatterpoint, Psychometry, Force Illusion, Memory Rub and Mind Probe. The Inquisition's minders specialise in reading the minds of captives, unearthing secrets and altering memories. Broadly speaking, Force-Sensitive Inquisitors tend to be Jedi Consulars or Sentinels.
Not all aspects of coup-proofing come under the Inquisitors' umbrella. The Temple Guard is not controlled by them. The Guard is tasked with protecting the Grandmaster, the High Council, the Jedi temples, along with strategic buildings in Nexus City and all access roads to the capital. Likewise, the Confessors, who act as political commissars in the military, do not answer to the Inquisition.
Until recently, the Jedi Inquisition maintained its own combat troops. Officially they were supposed to be limited to quelling internal disturbances, providing rear echelon security in combat zones, combating insurgents and safeguarding critical installations such as government buildings, industrial centres and transport lines. But the ambitious Grand Inquisitor Antonius expanded them until they constituted an alternate army that outside of the military chain of command. The relationship between the Inquisition and the Grand Army of Light, the Dominion's military, was one of rivalry.
The friction was not only centred on fundamental aspects, such as the function of the militarized units and the status of Inquisitorial academies but also on other levels, such as spying by the Inquisition on army units and the recruitment by the Inquisitorial combat troops on army units. Moreover, both groups squabbled over resources. The Inquisition suffered heavy losses during the war with Firemane and was purged when Battlemaster Mahtara initiated Operation Apotheois.
As a result, the Inquisition has been shorn of most of its military capabilities. Most of its remaining combat troops have been integrated into the Grand Army itself. The reformed Inquisition retains security forces to guard strategic facilities, government buildings, prison camps, and penal colonies, and deal with large-scale riots, partisans and internal revolts. It also has a counterrorism branch. Inquisitorial task forces can be assigned to operate in territories occupied by the Grand Army of Light to deal with partisans and 'unbelievers'. Its internal troops fall under the Grand Army's command while in the field.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Headquarters: Nexus City, Tephrike.
Domain: The Inquisition does not rule any domain and is limited to operating on Tephrike. However, it is deeply embedded in the society of the Dominion of Light, which claims to be the legitimate government of Tephrike, though it is not uncontested. The Inquisition has a presence throughout the entirety of the Dominion. This means it has a strong presence on Tephrike. Its headquarters lies in Nexus City, the Dominion's capital, and it has offices in the Earthen Rampart. It is also present in the half of the City of Harmonious Industry/Vortanstad that is controlled by the Dominion. This once-proud industrial city is now a war zone, which makes the secret police's presence crucial to keep order and administer Commissar justice. Select Inquisitors can be found at the Temple of Fallen Grace and are tasked with ensuring the hidden temple remains a secret.
It makes extensive use of surveillance technology to monitor people in Dominion-controlled cities. It also collects biometric data such as fingerprints, DNA samples and blood types. The Inquisition presents the image of being an all-seeing, all-knowing secret police. This is, of course, deceptive, but it can rely upon an army of informers recruited from the local population. Since it is a native group, it recruits its members from the local population. The use of cloning means that some Inquisitors have been part of the Inquisition for virtually their entire life, as have their 'siblings' and templates.
Citizens of the Dominion are taught to regard the Inquisition as vigilant defenders of the light, but also to fear it. A secret police is seldom loved, after all. The Dominion is a totalitarian dictatorship, so there is no rule of law. The Inquisition has the power to place suspected opponents of the regime in 'protective custody'. This does not require a legal warrant. At the same time, the Inquisition strives to present itself as the defender of the public. Honest, law-abiding citizens, so the party line says, have nothing to fear from it, only enemies of the Light. Overall, the Inquisition relies heavily on public cooperation. Its system of state terror is brutal, but it has many helpers among the public. Plucky rebels who suddenly show up in the Dominion to stir up resistance will are likely to be denounced.
Broadly speaking, the Inquisition presents a brutal face to those the Dominion has labelled as enemies, such as non-believers, non-Windian Jedi, Sith, 'nationalists', democrats, rebels etc., and a more professional, friendly one to the 'loyal' Dominion citizen. However, scratch the surface, and one uncovers the nasty side of the Dominion. The exact details of the Inquisition's atrocities may not be known to most members of the public, but the broad ones are. Many a Dominion citizen knows of people who suddenly 'disappeared' in the middle of the night, and in some cases returned with a radically different personality - or never returned at all. But it is not something people talk about.
A complex system of rewards ensures that Inquisitors receive special privileges. This is quite pertinent because the Dominion has a command economy where all property has been nationalised. One's residence is, for instance, dictated by the state. But the punishments for disloyalty, incompetence or desertion are equally draconian. The Inquisition maintains a series of branch offices in Tephrike's cities. Moreover, it runs a number of penal colonies, prison camps and black sites.
Notable Assets: The Inquisition controls a number of prison facilities, penal colonies and black sites. Economic enterprises such as factories and mines are attached to some of them. One facility of note is Tranquility, officially called the Tranquility Vocational Education and Training Centre. It is a re-education and forced labour camp.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Hierarchy: The Inquisition is governed by a strict hierarchy. The organisation is led by an official with the title of Grand Inquisitor, who is always a Jedi. In the past, the Grand Inquisitor has usually also been the Minister of Harmony. This department performs the functions typically associated with an interior ministry - policing, internal security, emergency management, registration, oversight over local governments etc. However, following the recent upheavals, the two offices have been separated. In the past, the Grand Inquisitor generally had a seat on the Jedi High Council, which governed the Dominion.
But as part of her coup, Battlemaster Mahtara dissolved the Jedi Council and replaced it with a smaller, more compact war council for the duration of the emergency. The present Grand Inquisitor is not a member of this body and thus does not have voting rights, though he will attend meetings when the matter at hand requires his expertise. The next-highest rank is that of High Inquisitor. These can be equated to generals or senior department heads. A High Inquisitor will commonly head a main department in the centre or be responsible for running a provincial branch of the Inquisition. In the case of the latter, they are essentially the Grand Inquisitor on a regional level. Not every provincial branch is led by a High Inquisitor though.
In practice, High Inquisitor is the highest rank a Non-Force-User can reach. Beneath them are the Chief Inquisitors, the Senior Inquisitors, the Inquisitors, Junior Inquisitors and the Novices. Inquisitors who serve in the Inquisition's combat troops will also receive a military rank in order to make cooperation with the Grand Army easier. It is worth noting that most of the administrative staff and muscle of the Inquisition is composed of Non-Force-Users and fairly average or weak Force-Sensitives. Members of the combat formations of the Inquisition receive military-style ranks like Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Colonel and so on.
The Inquisition is organised into several departments responsible. Division One represents the classical political police. It handles counterintelligence, investigations and the suppression of political enemies. It is charged with upholding Mace Windu Thought. It also handles surveillance of the Windian Jedi Order. This is the most important task of the Inquisition, but since theoretically all Jedi are pure and devoted they do not like to advertise it by giving it a formal department.
Division Two monitors the army. Division Three represents the internal administration of the Inquisition. It is responsible for funding and maintains the files of the organisation. The fourth division is responsible for transportation security, Division Five for censorship of the media and combating ideological deviation in the sphere of the arts in general. To this end, it works closely with the Ministry of Enlightenment. Moreover, it keeps a watchful eye on the education system, schools and the like. This includes monitoring government nurseries for clones.
Meanwhile, Division Six handles economic and industrial security. This extends to combating corruption and the black market. Division Seven provides protection to senior government officials and certain critical government installations. Eight handles signals intelligence, cryptography, communications security and interception. It has the duty to monitor all forms of communications transmission and routinely bugs electronic systems. Mass collection of biometric data, such as voice samples and DNA, is one of its activites. The fact that many Dominion citizens are born in conditions controlled by the government is beneficial in that regard. It uses its resources to identify, profile and track citizens. This is seen as a way to filter people so that those with traits harmful to the state can be detected and separated from the rest.
Division Nine administers the prison camps and penal colonies. There has long been a rivalry between the One and Nine. One has the authority to place suspects in protective custody, sends suspects to prison camps or decrees their release. However, the organisation and administration of the camps is Nine's responsibility.
The newly-created Division Ten has been founded because Tephrike is no longer as isolated as it used to be. The Dominion has made a secret deal with a shadowy corporation called Archangel Research and Design, but does not trust the enigmatic droids. Here and there, smugglers also find their way to the hermit kingdom. Thus the Tenth Main Department is responsible for ensuring that foreign nationals only see what they are supposed to see and only have contact with Dominion citizens they are supposed to have contact with. It also acts as a clean-up crew if something related to contact with foreigners needs to be covered up.
The Inquisition also has a directorate for the border guard, an alchemy, science and technology division and a counterrorism bureau. A Social Research Division monitors public opinion and keeps tabs on the population's morale. To this end, the division conducts opinion polls. Of course, it is common practice for anyone - someone in a position of authority - who makes a poll to manipulate poll options in such a way to get the results they want. This not only applies to institutions and individuals in authoritarian systems, but also democratic ones. A special department that answers directly to the Grand Inquisitor supervises allied partisan cells, spy networks and stay-behind organisations in territories that have been occupied by the enemy.
Moreover, the Inquisition controls the Guidance Patrol. This policing organisation acts as a vice squad and has the mandate to 'promote virtue and suppress vice'. In addition, the Inquisition maintains a paramilitary unit called the Guards Regiment Mace Windu. Its mission is to suppress rebellion and unrest. Aside from its central organisation, the Inquisition maintains branch offices on the provincial, district and municipal level. By and large, their organisational makeup replicates that of the centre. The Inquisition has a top-down hierarchy, though local offices are empowered to take the initiative in combating enemies of the Light.
Membership: The Inquisition is comparable to say the ISB in function, but operates on a planetary scale rather than a galactic scale, and is thus smaller. A member must be a Tephriki and a citizen of the Dominion and be loyal to the latter's principles. Force Dead are not accepted, as they regarded as demons. The Inquisition maintains its own training programme. Prospective recruits may be monitored over an extended period of time, before being approached with an offer. The agency is composed of a mixture of Force-Users and Non-Force-Users. The Dominion is not speciesist, and so alien Inquisitors serve alongside humans. Indeed, the former tend to outnumber the latter due to Tephriki demographics.
The Dominion has taken totalitarianism to its logical extreme by attempting to exert total control over its people's reproduction. The Inquisition is not allowed to maintain its own cloning facilities, as these are run by the Ministry of Health. However, the Ministry allots a certain number of clones to the Inquisition and also clones the latter's most accomplished officers for it. The Dominion has a habit of cloning noteworthy soldiers, engineers, police officers and so on. This is called the Blessed Lineage Project. The Jedi do not quite understand or acknowledge that just because someone has the same DNA as, for example, a famous soldier does not mean they will be one, too. Other members are drawn from the ranks of the police force, the Windian Jedi Order etc. These can be volunteers, but also people who have been approached by the secret police.
Moreover, the Inquisition runs several orphanages for war orphans. These represent another recruitment pool. Regardless of their origins, prospective recruits must pass a series of tests to gauge their aptitude and loyalty. They are subjected to extensive background checks.Training courses include physical security training, personnel security, search and surveillance techniques, physical fitness, interrogation and methods of debriefing casual contacts. Force training is also part of the curriculum. However, it focuses more on how to use Force skills in a manner that supports the tasks of the Inquisition. All Force-Sensitive Inquisitors are members of the Windian Jedi Order and thus will have received their basic training in it. A good number of the Inquisitors are professional police officers with a detective background.
It would be easy - and in a way comforting - to label the Inquisitors as psychopaths or power-hungry hypocrites who do not actually believe their ideology. Such members exist, but they are not representative of it. 'Ordinary men' can be found alongside ideological zealots. Throughout history, some of the worst atrocities have been committed by people who were convinced they were doing the right and that building utopia required the annihilation of those their ideology had branded as enemies.
Aside from the actual Inquisitors, the Inquisition maintains a network of informants. These informers and collaborators are vital to maintain the loyalty of the population. They come from all walks of life in the Dominion and are supervised by a handler. The Inquisition is a multi-species institution. While the Dominion is responsible for many atrocities and plain insane policies, it is not speciesist. Humanocentric speciesism is looked upon very poorly. It helps that the Vaderites, one of the foes of the Dominion, are human supremacists who treat non-humans as lesser beings fit only to be enslaved or eradicated.
Climate: Cameraderie is paired with suspicion, paranoia and fanaticism. Inquisitors receive all manners of privileges, such as access to priority housing. High-ranking Inquisitors can also purchase wares in the special shops reserved for the elite. Those who reach the top of the ladder are important stakeholders in the Dominion. However, the Inquisition also cultivates a climate of deep suspicion. They regard themselves as the sword and shield of the Dominion. It is their duty to discover, root out and eliminate supposed heretics. Inquisitors are under a lot of pressure to perform in that regard. Inquisitors are constantly evaluated and monitored by their superiors.
The working environment is strict, regimented and formal. Members are expected to adhere to security protocols mandated by their position, location and security clearance. Failure to comply with these regulations will lead to punishment. There is an element of hypocrisy, since on the one hand the Dominion is regarded as an enlightened, benevolent society, yet on the other it is a totalitarian dictatorship and the Inquisitors are its enforcers. Not every member of the Inquisition has participated in atrocities, but even those who do not enable them.
The Inquisition has been responsible for internment without trial, political assassinations, mass shootings, torture, persecution and annihilation of religious minorities, forced population transfers, and many other crimes. At the same time its members are trained to regard themselves as the first line of defence against the forces of chaos and injustice. It is pertinent to note that while the Inquisition has been the author of many purges in the Dominion, it has also been their victim. The secret police chief is always a useful scapegoat for 'excesses'. Like the Dominion as a whole, the Inquisition admires Mace Windu. The Dominion is regarded as the natural end state if Windu had deposed Palpatine and killed him, and then asserted direct control of the Republic. Their perception of the ancient Jedi Master is extremely warped.
Members of the group enjoy a variety of amenities. Loyal service in the Inquisition entitles the Inquisitor to a greater level equality compared to normal citizens. An example would be priority housing and superior healthcare. This is particularly pertinent because the Dominion has abolished private property and instituted a command economy. As is common for major organisations in the Dominion, the Inquisition has its own sports team.
Grand Inquisitor Antonius had a reputation as a good manager. From the perspective of the Inquisition, he was a great boss who secured resources and good working conditions for his minions. He was also a cruel, lecherous, duplicituous schemer with no qualms about falsifying evidence, blackmailing or murdering his rivals and brainwashing minions who did not comply. His death has cast a shadow over the organisation and the new chief is an outsider who has been put in charge to bring the spooks to heel. Many senior members of the Inquisition have been transferred, demoted, arrested or shot. The organisation remains formidable, but its wings have been clipped.
At present, the Inquisition is greatly concerned with ensuring that nothing undermines the war effort. 'Defeatism' - a very broad and ill-defined concept - can be punished with detention in a concentration camp. The methods used by the Inquisition to conduct investigations and obtain information include blackmail, infiltratin, extortion, sleep deprivation and harassment. If this does not work, it will restort to torture and planting evidence. Of course, it will apply the thumbscrews a lot earlier if it is dealing with an individual who belongs to a group that is considered a clear enemy of the Dominion. The Inquisition's state terror is not mindless. This means it does not need to spy on every single citizen. It just needs to cover certain elements of society and create an image of omniscience and omnipotence. Another factor is cooperation with external bodies such as the Wardens and the judicial organs. Overall, the Inquisition is effective at doing its main job, namely coup-proofing.
Reputation: The group is very poorly-known outside of Tephrike. Firemane knows of and loathes it, since the Inquisition tortured one of its junior officers. The Inquisition plays a prominent role in 'Heroes of Purity: A Firemane Film'. As the name implies, it is a Firemane propaganda movie about the Tephrike campaign. The Inquisition - and the Dominion as a whole - does not know about the movie. If it did, it would disapprove strongly since its depiction is extremely negative.
The Unchained hate the Inquisition, since they are composed of former inmates of two of its prison camps. On Tephrike, the Inquisition is feared and hated by the Vaderites and the Republican Guard. The former are Sith who worship Vader and have human supremacist beliefs, the latter is a secularist revolutionary movement that sees itself as the heir of the Rebel Alliance and has radical anti-Force-User beliefs. Inquisitors captured by either group are likely to be tortured or summarily executed.
That said, the Vaderites will sometimes make an attempt to sway an Inquisitor to their side. This, however, only applies to human Inquisitors, since the Vaderites despise non-humans. Within the Dominion itself, the Inquisition is generally regarded as a necessary institution, but also feared. No dictatorship can do without a secret police, but a secret police officer is seldom loved. Major power brokers are well-advised to say on the agency's good side, but its knowledge and power breeds distrust.
Indeed, it has not been uncommon for common citizens to blame 'excesses' on the secret police or individual bigwigs, while claiming the Grand Master has been kept in the dark. In short, it is the good king, bad advisor syndrome. However, at the same time the general public assists the Inquisition in tracing opponents. To be frank, the Inquisition would be unable to be anywhere near as successful as it is without the widespread, willing collaboration of many common citizens. The secret police may be feared, but the average citizen sees rebels and nonconformists as dangerous terrorists. Moreover, members of the public are aware that they can use the Inquisition to settle personal scores. Sentient nature being the way it is, people take advantage of this.
The Inquisition takes an active role in shaping public perception of it. Its propaganda has fosted the view that the Inquisition is a huge organisation with spies everywhere in the Dominion and even beyond it. In truth, many of the Inquisition's branch offices are understaffed and overworked. A city with 750 thousand inhabitants might have only 69 Inquisitors. In some small rural towns and agritultural collectives, there are no Inquisitors at all. Contrary to its public image, the average, run-of-the-mill Inquisitor is not capable of magically reading the mind of a citizen or rewriting their memories. Most Inquisition cases begin with a denunciation by an ordinary member of the public. The Inquisition keeps detailed files on its 'unofficial collaborators'. This means that these informants have a vested interest in the maintenance of the system, as they would be at risk of being punished, arrested or even killed should the Dominion's enemies prevail and their collaboration come to light.
Within the heartland of the Dominion, the Inquisition is eager to project the impression that it is on the side of 'loyal citizens' and only operating against 'enemies of the people'. It also stresses that its camps serve the purpose of rehabilitation. Of course, it is an open secret that the Inquisition tortures and murders people, but this is not something people talk about. The Inquisition is at its most unrestrained and savage in border territories, areas that have been recently conquered by the Grand Army and during times of crises.
Curios: A badge which denotes their status. It is shaped like an eye. They also receive a little book that contains an interpretation of Mace Windu Thought. It points out what is and what is not a crime. Force-Sensitive members of the group who have graduated to become full Inquisitors have a Force-Imbued Blade. It is a symbol of their authority and the standard weapon of a Windian Jedi. However, Inquisitors are investigators, not frontline warriors. As a result, overall only a comparatively small number of Inquisitors actually use their swords in combat. All Inquisitors are issued a sidearm.
Rules:
"There is no emotion, there is calm.
There is no ignorance, there is obedience.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is order.
There is no death, there is the Light."
This is the Code that is taught to members of the Windian Jedi Order - and to Dominion citizens as a whole. It forms the basis of Mace Windu Thought. The Inquisition is charged with enforcing the purity laws of the Dominion and thus its operatives are expected to be fervent defenders of the faith. Inquisitors must display absolute loyalty to the Inquisition and the Dominion's leadership. Cover identities must be maintained and it is forbidden to blather about one's work. Inquisitors must always remain vigilant against the enemy withing as well as the enemy without. Above all, members of the Inquisition are expected to do what must be done to ensure the security and continued prosperity of the Dominion of Light.
The Inquisition is not shy about using 'enhanced interrogation' as well as outright brainwashing and torture in order to sway subjects in its custody. Officially, the agency stresses that the focus should be on rehabilitation and to an extent it actually practices that. However, its idea of rehabilitation involves plain brainwashing. The Inquisition cultivates an atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion. They are also expected to be relentless in prosecuting corruption within the Dominion.
The Inquisition regards all Jedi who do not follow the Dominion's brand of Jedism as darksiders. All Force-Using Inquisitiors are required to be members of the Windian Jedi Order. Indeed, the body is charged with unmasking Force-Sensitives who have slipped through the cracks or run away from the Order's embrace. The Inquisition has the authority to investigate, arrest, try and sentence any citizen of the Dominion, including Jedi Masters. Of course, in practice this authority is more limited the higher one is in the hierarchy.
A simple Inquisitor is not going to walk up to Battlemaster Mahtara and put her under arrest. The Inquisition is a bureaucracy, and so an Inquisitor is accountable to their superiors. They must also take the balance of power and instructions from the Inquisition's political matters into account. The Inquisition is supposed to be the tool of the Council, but not its master. As a rule, Inquisitors are closely watched. This also applies to anyone in their circle, such as clone siblings. Even Inquisitors who have left the organisation remain under surveillance.
Some crimes the Inquisition used to prosecute are no longer punished, though the corresponding laws have not been abolished. They are simply not enforced due to wartime pressure. For instance, until recently sexual intercourse was treated as a serious crime, as lust leads to the dark side. Instead the miracle of life was supposed to take place in a laboratory in a medically sanctioned. This law has been put in abeyance for the duration of the emergency, though the young should still be raised by the government. Certain members of the leadership want to get rid of it completely, but if that ever happens, it is a long way off.
Under its new leader, Jedi Master Bekk, the Inquisition has underwent a series of reforms. Informants are no longer supposed to be rewarded without clear evidence. If they rumour monger, they are supposed to be punished. The agency has has reemphasised its role as an internal security force and punitive organ that hunts down real enemies of the Dominion rather than chase phantoms. However, this has not changed the nature of the organisation. It has simply cut away the fat, made it more efficient and less unpredictable in its terror. The Inquisition is extremely unforgiving of treason or consorting with enemies of the state.
Goals: To uphold the rule of the Dominion and suppress political and ideological dissent within its boundaries. To monitor the population and keep the Dominion's leadership informed of resistance to its rule. To discover and combat dark side corruption within the Windian Jedi Order, unmask spies, saboteurs and terrorists. In short, the Inquisition is the Dominion's thought police and aims to crush all internal resistance.
MEMBERS
Jedi Master Bekk (NPC) is the new Grand Inquisitor and thus the leader of the Inquisition. He was put in charge after Battlemaster Mahtara took control of the Dominion. Given her troubles with the late Grand Inquisitor Antonius, the Battlemaster wanted someone reliable in charge of the political police. For this she needed an outsider who was not a nutcase, but could administer Commissar justice where needed. Bekk is a male Zabrak and a newcomer to the Inquisition, but no stranger to investigative work and politically sensitive cases. He started his career in the Dominion's youth movement before briefly serving in the Grand Army. He helped organise partisan groups during the Netherworld War, mobilising workers against the invaders. Then he climbed the bureaucratic ladder of Windian Jedi Order and the Followers of Light. As an inspector, he was responsible for adjudicating personnel cases, including breaches of discipline and appeals against expulsion from the Followers. He also scrutinised the administration of state-owned enterprises.
He headed the Council of Reassignment before being put in charge of the Council of Reflection and Understanding. Officially, the latter division is supposed to mediate disputes between Jedi as well as provide assistance to those who are experiencing temptation. It also watches over the mental health of Jedi. However, it has a darker side, since it covers up incidents that would embarrass the Windian Jedi Order.
Mahtara sees him a reliable candidate due to his background outside of the state security apparatus. He also has a good reputation as a administrator. Bekk disdains informants and refuses to reward them without proof. If they rumour monger they get punished. He has a reputation for orthodoxy and is a proponent of collective leadership. The new Grand Inquisitor has pulled the plug on many of the Inquisition's vanity projects, such as the construction of a huge canal, economic enterprises and most of the brainwashing camps. Instead he has reemphasised its role as an internal security force and punitive organ. Bekk has been busy consolidating his control over the state security forces and quietly installing his allies in important posts in the Ministry of Harmony and the judiciary to fortify the Dominion against internal enemies.
A few of Bekk's lieutenants are detailed below. In the Dominion, citizens are assigned occupational surnames based on their job. A member of the army has the surname 'Soldier', while a police detective is called 'Investigator'. Members of the Windian Jedi Order forego surnames. Their given name is simply preceded by 'Jedi'.
Aayla Investigator (NPC): A rather unobtrusive and frail looking Twi'lek who is pragmatic, and utterly ruthless. Aayla heads Division One. She is a stickler for duty and discipline and approaches every task with utmost dedication. It is said that she never takes a vacation and can be reached at any hour of the day. Aayla is a frighteningly efficient investigator who excels at her job. She holds the rank of High Inquisitor and acts as Bekk's deputy, overseeing the political police. Though most of her job consists of being a 'desk perpetrator', she is not afraid to do the killing herself. Aayla is a Non-Force-User, but extremely strong-willed.
She played a key role in organising the so-called Mon Calamari operation - the mass roundup and forced resettlement of Mon Calamari considered suspect - and unmasked a network of Vaderite agents within the Dominion. She is a true believer in the need to destroy the Dark Side in all its manifold forms. Aayla used to be a protege of Antonius, but grew disgusted with him. Thus she had little problem adjusting to the new regime. Due to her notoriety she is used by the Vaderites and the Republican Guard as a bogeyman.
Gilean Investigator (NPC): A Non-Force-Using Muun and the chief executioner of the Inquisition. Gilean was already a member of the Inquisition under Antonius' predecessor. He leads a special detachment of executioners that have carried out and organised various mass killings. Though this cannot be verified, it is claimed that he personally executed approximately seven thousand Republican Guard prisoners during the Marawe Grove Massacre. He used a Vaderite pistol to ensure plausible deniability.
Gilean is no clone, but was born into a peasant family. He joined the secret police at an early age and worked his way up. He has a pugnacious attitude, but is considered an expert in wet work. This encompasses assassination, interrogation, torture, blackmail and clandestine executions. In addition, he is in charge of the Inquisition's in-house prison at its headquarters. He has not only overseen executions, but personally pulled the trigger. Indeed, he has been responsible for executing several high-profile prisoners of the Inquisition. For instance, he personally shot Grand General Korsun Soldier, one of the Dominion's top generals and military theoreticians.
Gilean sees the world in numbers and efficiency, and thus has few qualms about condemning thousands to their deaths. However, his grisly work has still taken a psychological toll on him, and so he has become an alcoholic. The Dominion has banned liquor, but his efficiency has made him untouchable so far. Gilean is not a believer in Windian Jedism specifically, but in the Dominion.
Jedi Shoana (NPC): Shoana is a female Iktotchi Jedi and works in Division Nine. Thus group monitors all forms of communications transmission, bugs electronic systems and carries out mass collection of biometric data. She has telepathic and precognitive abilities and a talent for mechu-deru. The latter comes in handy since her job focuses on monitoring through technological means. Her powers are more cerebral than martial, which makes her a good fit for the secret police. Fittingly, she is a bit of a technologist.
Shoana was not associated with Antonius' regime. The Grand Inquisitor had her arrested under a pretext. He used her relationship with another Jedi to frame her for various crimes. In truth, he did not like her predictions. Durng her imprisonment, she endured two mock shooting ceremonies where she was taken out at night by a firing squad, but then returned to prison. She also suffered beatings for refusing to sign a confession. Shoana was eventually released without explanation, but kept under surveillance.
She was rehabilitated after his fall. The experience has made her suspicious of many of her old colleagues, as they obeyed Antonius' decrees until he was toppled. Thus she has secured some secret files just in case she needs them. Bekk has taken her into his confidence because she is not tied to the old guard.
Shoana is a contemplative, reclusive woman. Secretly, she has some sympathy with elements in the Dominion who believe the country needs change, though her reasons are practical rather than idealistic and have a lot to do with self-preservation. Shoana does not particularly believe in Windian Jedism or the Dominion. However, it is her home and she likes the authority her position gives her. Moreover, she hates the Republican Guard because she lost family in a terrorist bombing carried out by its partisans.
Jedi Vaska (NPC). Also known as Jedi Blank: Head of Division Nine. Xer gender is unknown to most. Xe is a Clawdite and thus capable of shapeshifting. Xe runs the camps and penal colonies. This also makes xer responsible for the Inquisition's economic enterprises and engineering projects. Xe holds the rank of High Inquisitor. Xe likes to perform special inspections in different guises at random hours. Most people do not know who xe is as xe can take the form of even low ranking guards, bureaucrats, commissary officers and other Jedi.
Sometimes the camp figures it out and tries to pander to 'Jedi Blank' but this is ruthlessly punished. All are equal in the Dominion of Light after all, and special treatment is actually worse than poor treatment. The shapeshifter is a powerful Force-User. This enables xer to use complex mind tricks, illusions and Dominate Mind as well as shroud xer Force presence, but also further perfect xer mimicry.
Jedi Diona is a human female and former member of the Inquisition. Born as a clone of a martyred Jedi, she was inducted into the Windian Jedi Order and trained as a warrior. She served the Dominion in many battles. In the process she committed horrible actions, forcing herself to suppress her conscience and become a living weapon dedicated to defending her country by any means necessary. Eventually she joined the Inquisition. It was she who captured Elpsis and served as her jailer. Over time the two bonded. Unable to continue serving her masters, Diona rebelled and helped the Firemane operative escape. She has fallen with Firemane, though her focus lies on atoning for her crimes. The Inquisition considers her a traitor.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Like the Dominion of Light as a whole, the Jedi Inquisition is the product of the chaos caused by the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. When the Gulag Virus ravaged the Galaxy, Tephrike descended into chaos. Isolated from the rest of the Galaxy, the planet regressed technologically and socially. When the virus reached the planet, millions perished. The death toll was further increased by infighting between rival factions. Tephrike's fragile, multispecies democracy unravelled. A coalition government proved unable to restore order, contain the plague or provide shelter, food and protection to millions of displaced fleeing the fighting. Many died from disease, starvation and the civil war-like conditions across vast swathes of the planet.
The Jedi were called upon to assume a protective stance. After government soldiers shot unarmed protesters who had come to parliament to deliver a petition, the Jedi decided that it was their duty to intervene and take control. The radical Duros Jedi Master Zaras Dant was the ringleader of the coup. With the support of renegade elements in the army, they took control of the capital Palmyra, arrested Tephrike's prime minister and disbanded parliament. However, they soon faced opposition from rebel forces, such as the Alliance of Democratic Forces.
What was supposed to be a provisional emergency junta turned into a dictatorship without end. Racial tensions between Tephrike's people triggered pogroms and the Jedi came under fire when they tried to put an end to the violence. Faced with enemies on all sides, the Jedi had to militarise. They became soldiers and generals like during the Clone Wars. Except this time they were also control of the government and thus had no one to answer to. When Parliament opposed her coup, Zaras denounced the lawmakers and declared the body dissolved.
Zaras assumed the title of Jedi Lord. Their authoritarian tendencies were intensified by betrayal within their ranks, Tephrike's economic and social collapse as well as the rise of the anti-Force-User Republican Guard and the human supremacist, Dark Side worshipping Disciples of the Vader. In place of the failed federation, they created a totalitarian theocracy. The Inquisition traces its origins back to an investigative body founded at the behest of Zaras. Back then it had the bland name Office of Special Investigations. However, the Inquisition came into its own under her successor, a Devaronian Jedi Master Tiyan Kree. Tiyan was a fanatical zealot who came to power after Zaras was assassinated by the ADF and traitorous Jedi Knights.
Unbeknownst to all, including herself, she had fallen to the dark side. Tiyan was a paranoid, authoritarian woman. Unlike Zaras, she did not just conceive the Jedi junta as an emergency dictatorship and a necessary evil, but as the start of something new. Galactic civilisation had collapsed and all attempts to reconnect with the rest of the galaxy had failed. Indeed, the Jedi had failed, for they had not prevented the dark age. The only thing that could save Tephrike was unwavering faith and fanatical commitment to the Light.
This also meant that the new regime needed a new type of state security force. It could not contend itself with investigating political crimes. Instead, it had to extend its reach to prosecuting enemies of the faith. The Office of Special Investigations had already disregarded legal norms and utilised the extralegal mechanism of protective custody, but it had still been bound by a vestigial rule of law. It had also implemented draconian measures to quarantine infectees, which included cordoning off entire areas communities. But now it radicalised even further. The organisation was accused of incompetence, if not sabotage, and thoroughly overhauled so that it could serve as the sword, shield and all-seeing eye of the Dominion.
Babur became the first leader of the Inquisition. In an ironic twist of fate, he was a Mon Calamari. Babur had been captured by the ADF and subjected to torture. When he was freed from imprisonment, he was in ill health, but fierce. Regarded as a hero by his peers, he assumed responsibility for security of the new regime's headquarters. Babur wrote poetry and dreamed of a world free from of oppression, but his methods to attain this 'paradise' were brutal. He soon made himself a name for his relentless pursuit of supposed enemies of the Light. The Inquisition became notorious for taking hostages and conducting mass shootings. The Brown Terror had begun. 'Iron Babur', as he was nicknamed, said that an Inquisitor must have 'a cold head, a warm heart and clean hands'.
Dominion propaganda later used this saying to romanticise the image of the Inquisitors as valiant knights. Tiyan's remark that for every good man ten bastards had to be hired was closer to reality. As even Babur admitted, the terror boiled down to the annihilation of enemies of the Light. But this was romanticised as a holy task only the most stalwart of believers could perform. In many ways, the Inquisition acted as a fireman for the Dominion. Where there was a breach, Inquisitors were dispatched.
They supervised the requisition of grain to feed the cities and repressed recalcitrant farmers, organised quarantine measures to contain the pandemic, shoot deserters, looters and political enemies. They also took over transport. To give it some muscle, the Inquisition set up internal security troops. These also provided a check on the army. For a while, the Inquisition was responsible for security at the clone facilities the Dominion had set up to give it the manpower to fight its manifold enemies, such as the Vaderites, the Republican Guard and the rebels.
The betrayal of Cade Seward, a rogue Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side and proclaimed himself the heir of Vader, triggered a purge within the Dominion. When the Dominion was driven to the brink after setbacks on the front, the Inquisition set up blocking squads to shoot deserters. Here it is pertinent to note that the Grand Army of Light, the Dominion's regular army, was also heavily involved in atrocities. Thus it would be inaccurate to make a clear distinction between a 'clean army' and an 'evil Inquisition'. Indeed, the Inquisition was often dependent on the military for manpower and logistical support. During Babur's tenure, the Inquisition also set up the first penal colonies.
When Tiyan died from a heart attack during the siege of Red Coral City, Babur was one of the most powerful figures in the Dominion. Some suspected - and feared - he would seize power. However, Babur lacked the ambition. Moreover, his earlier imprisonment and his frenetic work pace had left him a physical wreck. A deeply ill man, he conducted interrogations while lying on a couch and needed a hoverchair to move around.
The Inquisition was still needed. It presided over a reign of terror during the Battle of Palmyra. The conclusion of the battle heralded the end of the Vaderites' dark crusade, though it was in many ways a Pyrrhic victory. At this point in time Babur had reached the height of his power. He served as Minister of Harmony, setting a precedent for future Grand Inquisitors, initiated an orphanage construction programme and worked with the Jedi healers to lead the struggle against the Gulag Virus. For a while, he ran the national economy. His understanding of economics was, however, dismal. However, his infirmity meant that he had little time to enjoy his power.
He suffered a stroke while giving a rambling speech to the Jedi Council and died. Battlemaster Mahtara eulogised him as a true knight. A city was named after him. At the same time the government used the chance to clip the Inquisition's wings. Officially, the time of struggle had passed and the organisation was supposed to act with more restraint. Some members of the leadership even tried to rein in the secret police by subjecting its power to place suspects in protective custody to judicial oversight. However, these efforts came to naught and were soon seen as reactionary.
The Dominion did not settle down. Its post-Palmyra thaw proved to be short-lived. The militant Republican Guard initiated a campaign of asymmetrical warfare, using infiltration, terrorism and partisan tactics. This required a different type of war than the Dominion's military was used. Moreover, the Vaderites were licking their wounds and trying to spread their Sith dogma. Corruption was endemic. The new men and women who came to power had known nothing but the Dominion and its totalitarian system. Thus the Inquisition got a new lease of life, shifting its focus to counter-intelligence, counter-insurgency and general repression.
It also took an active role in enforcing the Dominion's moral purity laws. Cloning, once seen as a provisional solution, was expanded. Because intercourse was regarded as sinful, it was decreed that citizens would be sterilised after mandatory sperm and egg harvesting. This would allow the miracle of life to take place in a medically sanctioned way inside a clean laboratory, without the risk of citizens being tempted by lust. In the process family units were abolished. Instead all young citizens would be raised by the government. But conditions were poor in many of the nurseries. Worthy citizens would be cloned to preserve their talents across the generations.
Citizens from towns considered disloyal were relocated to the countryside, where they performed manual labour. Shortages of consumer goods, technical failures in war machines and famine were blamed on saboteurs instead of being attributed to the deficencies inherent in a command economy. Free enterprise had been abolished in favour of a system without incentives. Inevitable failure was blamed on Sith saboteurs and lack of right consciousness.
Repression reached a high point Grandmaster Tsal Te Mong, who vowed to achieve utopia within his lifetime. But his programme of mass collectivisation and industrialisation, the Great Enlightenment, was a catastrophic failure. It was supposed to create a world of plenty, but spawned just the opposite. Things came to head when he unleashed the Blue Guards, a paramilitary social movement composed mostly of students, Padawans and young Knights. They saw it as their duty to dismantle Tephrike's pre-Dominion past and crush all opposition to its rebirth as a theocratic utopia. Backed by the Grandmaster and the so called Gang of Three, they unleashed a wave of terror. They proclaimed it was their goal to smash the Four Olds (old culture, old thinking, old habits and old customs). Tsal's followers promoted a new variant of Basic that was supposed to make it impossible to express anti-Jedi ideals. People were encouraged to converse and think in this 'newspeak'.
Ironically, the Grand Inquisitor at the time was disenchanted with these developments. Babas was a clone of 'Iron Babur', but very different from his template. This is not to say that he was a closeted liberal or a reformer. He had falsified cases, ordered extrajudicial executions, overseen the use of forced labour and directed battalions of Inquisition and armoured vehicles to crush peasants. In short, he had plenty of blood on his hands. He was corrupt and never dissented from the Grandmaster.
However, he balked at the idea of a mass purge. Perhaps because he knew how destructive and self-defeating it would be. Or because even a butcher had his limits. Babas maintained discree contacts with moderates in the Order, but refused to take action. Nonetheless, Tsal grew dissatisfied with his performance. His disgruntlement grew after one of Tsal's political allies was murdered and Babas failed to connect the assassin to a fictitious conspiracy involving the Republican Guard, the Vaderites and the Grandmaster's critics in the Dominion's government. Such a conspiracy was, needless to say, absurd. Moreover, Tsal was disgruntled about Babas not having censored a play called Rai Hui Dismissed from Office, which the Blue Guards attacked as being secretly critical of the regime.
At first, Babas was shunted off to a government department responsible for transport. Then he was arrested. He was charged with corruption, diamond smuggling and treason, for it had been revealed that he had worked as a Vaderite agent for decades. The first two charges were true, the third was not. The Vaderites had spies and saboteurs in the Dominion, but none of them were even remotely this prominent. A number of his lieutenants denounced him to save their own skin. This did not work out as they had hoped. The new boss was an outsider with close connections to the Blue Guards.
Her name was Dree Annora. She was a Rodian who go down in history as Tsal's Bloody Dwarf. Dree was not a clone, but shed her family name as a sign of her commitment to the new way. Prior to her appointment as secret police officer, she had not been involved in political repression. Ironically, this led many to believe that she had been put in charge to put an end to the widespread corruption and abuse. A regime insider described her as a modest, friendly and rather agreeable person. It would hardly have been the first political U-turn for Tsal. However, these hopes were dashed. Babas was the first Dree put to death, but far from the last. Before executing him, Dree accused her predecessor of attempting to assassinate her and the Grandmaster.
The new Grand Inquisitor had a background in the field of Force research and experimentations. She believed in absolute collectivism, denouncing individuality as selfishness. If all citizens of the Dominion were literally of one mind, greed, hatred and other negative desires would cease to exist. Thus a collective consciousness would revolutionise society and redefine what it meant to be sentient. No citizen would ever be alone or stand apart from the people. In keeping with this, she enthusiastically promoted 'newspeak' and had a working group write a dictionary for it. Dree threw her support behind the Blue Guards, extolling them as the vanguard of a new Tephrike. The purges did not leave the Inquisition unaffected. Dree was the perfect Grand Inquisitor for Tsal because she came from outside the Inquisition and thus had no attachment to its old guard. No sphere of society was spared. Dree is said to have personally tortured prisoners in order to force them to sign confessions. Many old Inquisitors were replaced with Blue Guards, who posted armed members at its headquarters.
However, the Cultural Revolution was getting out of hand. Officials accused of sinful conduct were persecuted. Museums were ransacked and pieces of art, holomovies and books destroyed. The Blue Guards also tried to secure weapons from the army and take control over military units. Some soldiers and militias defected to them, others resisted. The Blue Guards also initiated a 'Criticise Mahtara' campaign and drove one of the retired Jedi's Padawans to suicide. Conflicting directives from Tsal only intensified the chaos. One moment, the Grandmaster urged moderation, the next he spurred the Blue Guards on and ordered them to occupy the Jedi Temple.
He had lost control over the monster he had created. A cabal of Dominion leaders decided it was time to put an end to the madness. By this time Dree had increasingly lost touch with reality. Her attempts to combine Force Meld and alchemy to create a collective consciousness of sorts had failed, leaving her even more suspicious of saboteurs. Indeed, one experiment impaired her connection to the Force. Some saw this as the judgement of the Light or found it convenient to believe that. Secretly, senior members of the Inquisition began to plot and joined the conspiracy. By the time the coup took place, Tsal had grown suspicious of Dree. For a while her post was vacant, but the senior Inquisitor in Nexus City threw in her lot with the putschists and made sure that the Grandmaster did not hear about it until it was too late.
Loyal Army of Light units were mobilised to disarm the Blue Guard. Mahtara and her allies snuck into Nexus City. There she rallied the soldiers of the First Legion. The clone troopers seized key installations and helped rebellious units enter the city. Officially, they acted in accordance with the will of the Grandmaster, who had ordered them to purge the Dominion of closeted Sith. In actual fact, Tsal was placed under house arrest after being severed from the Force.
When he refused to give a speech legitimising their actions, the putschists used an impostor. When some of his allies tried to free the captive Grandmaster, the clone troopers strangled him. The putschists kept up the charade that Tsal was still alive for the rest of the year, using 'his' authority to eliminate the Gang of Three. In the aftermath, the Jedi Council convened to elect a new Grandmaster. Or rather confirm the one that had been chosen for them by Mahtara and a generals' clique.
This might have been the moment for change. However, the clique had no faith in freedom. Thus they moderated the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, closed many of the camps and issued an amnesty, but did not change the substance of the regime. Instead its totalitarian nature was refined. In the future, there would be order. All citizens of the Dominion would be raised and moulded by the state. They would each have a place and remain in it for their entire life. Creating a harmonious society would only be possible by growing citizens for specific roles. Citizens would be fed, clothes and cared for. But from the moment they were decanted, their future would have been all but ordained. Their names, their work place and their place of residence would be chosen for them by the state. Choice opened the doors to chaos.
This is the period that saw the Inquisition evolve into its modern form. It began to present a more urbane face to the people in the heartland of the Dominion. For the most part, mass roundups were limited to the periphery of the Dominion, where its brutality was thoroughly unrestrained. But very few inhabitants in Nexus City would ever come into contact with an Inquisitor. In the heartland, random terror was replaced with a more sophisticated, but no less deadly form of state surveillance and intimidation. The Inquisition began to collect biometric data on a massive scale in order to ensure that citizens could be identified, categorised, profiled and tracked. Citizens considered untrustworthy were subjected to a higher degree of surveillance and social restrictions. These could also affect people in their 'circle'. Thus people were encouraged to distance themselves from someone who had attracted the attention of the security forces. These measures had the effect of incentivising the public to police itself. However, things were a lot more brutal on the 'frontier'.
The Inquisition took a leading role in the so-called Mon Calamari Operation. Tephrike had always had a significant Mon Calamari community. But not all followed the Dominion. A number had been able to remain neutral. One of them was New Ackbarea, an underwater city-state that had been able to remain independence. Mayor Aruunzeb tried to pursue a policy of neutrality and isolationism, believing that getting dragged into the war would only bring harm to his people.
However, the Dominion wanted to unite all under the heaven. So it declared the city a terrorist camp. After a few skirmishes, the Dominion offered peace talks. But this was a ruse. By the order of Jedi General Kennobi, the Dominion's navy deployed depth charges and submarines to destroy the settlement. Aruunzeb survived and swore vengeance on the aggressors. He and his surviving comrades conducted a relentless guerilla campaign. In order to bring the region better under control, the Dominion began carrying out population transfers by 'resettling' entire communities into areas they could control. It also implemented a comprehensive surveillance system. This was justified on the grounds that the region was infested with bandits threatening the lives of peaceful citizens.
This led to the foundation of Tranquility. Officially it was a 'vocational training centre', not a prison. Here, citizens who had gone astray were being cured of bad thoughts and being taught about their duties as responsible, law-abiding citizens. It was located twenty kilometres away from Nexus City. This was far away from New Ackbarea and thus out of the reach of the partisans. The rebels could attack convoys in an attempt to free prisoners, but not the facility itself. Repression intensified after Aruunzeb and his followers joined the Republican Guard. Officially, however, Tranquility was not a detention centre.
Aruunzeb and his partisans fought on, but they were outnumbered and outgunned. So they joined the Republican Guard. Aruunzeb and his rebel frogmen inflicted a terrible defeat on the Dominion's navy at the Battle of Ironbottom Sound. The Dominion's leadership decided to carry out a mass ethnic cleansing operation to relocate the 'traitorous' Mon Calamari. It is to be noted that this 'national operation' was not genocidal in nature. In short, the goal was not to exterminate the Mon Calamari as a species, but to cow them. This stands in contrast to the anti-alien policies of the Vaderites, who unleashed a war of extermination that was explicitly genocidal in nature.
However, the death toll was still staggering. Most of those who perished died from starvation, disease and inadequate living conditions in their new 'settlements'. The operation also included a crackdown on Mon Calamari who held positions in the state or Order. This is darkly ironic when one considers that the first Grand Inquisitor was a Mon Calamari. Many of the Dominion's citizens knew little of this operation. The Ministry of Enlightenment kept a tight lid on things and described it as a voluntary relocation. However, citizens obviously noticed when people started disappearing in Nexus City, Harmonious Industry and other urban centres. But it was not talked about. The Inquisition had learned from its past experiences.
Tranquility was conceived as a model institution. In keeping with this, the Ministry of Enlightenment made a propaganda movie that lauded Tranquility's staff and guards for their 'kind' and 'compassionate' treatment of the 'pupils'. Of course, it is an open secret that inmates held without trial, tortured and abused. Just like it is an open secret in Vaderite territory that the Vaderites exterminate or enslave aliens and murder the physically and mentally disabled. But while the people know what is actually going on, it is easier for them to believe that people are simply being 're-educated'...or sent somewhere far away to 'be among their people and not bother us'.
Around this time, the Inquisition set up a black site codenamed Serene Springs. It was a propaganda gulag for heretical Force-Sensitives, such as Jedi who had succumbed to 'bad thoughts'. Ironically, one of its inmates was a Nautolan refugee who had at first been incarcerated by the Republican Guard due to being a Force-Sensitive, then escaped with the help of the Jedi Shadows, who lured her to the Dominion. For a while the Jedi used her for propaganda, but then she was locked up when she saw the true face of the Dominion and no longer wanted to play her part. Her name was Phoebe. She would eventually lead a prison uprising during the war with Firemane. The Inquisition returned to its true form during the Netherworld War. Like virtually every world in the Galaxy, Tephrike was affected by Second Akala Crisis. The mass raptures triggered panic and social unrest.
The Inquisition was badly weakened by the loss of so many experienced members. Moreover, the Force was thrown out of balance. Disgruntled citizens took to the streets, staging a mass protest in Nexus City's Square of Heavenly Peace. The shortstaffed secret police found itself overwhelmed. The Dominion deployed the army and security forces to crush the protests. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of protesters. The memory of this event is widely associated with questioning the legitimacy of Jedi rule. It remains one of the most sensitive and widely censored topics in the Dominion.
However, the Dominion had more serious enemies than unarmed civilians. The Republican Guard did not use Force-Users, so the Force being thrown out of balance did not affect it. Urged on by aggressive commanders such as General Aruunzeb, the rebels launched a great offensive. Their aim was to instigate a general uprising and crush the Dominion. Many Jedi temples and Inquisition facilities were bombed. After a brief civil war that resulted in the short-lived ascendancy of a faction of 'Light Sith', the Vaderites joined the invasion as unofficial co-belligerents.
The Dominion was driven to the brink. Battlemaster Mahtara took command. What followed was a gruelling campaign characterised by great brutality on both sides. The Dominion implemented a scorched earth campaign, trading space for time. Hostilities between the Guard and the Vaderites also played into their hands. Nonetheless, its eventual victory was hard-fought. The Inquisition was involved throughout the war.
It helped organise partisan movements, carried out requisitions and executions, evacuated and murdered prisoners. It was the punitive organ that steeled the resolve of the regular soldiers through commissar justice and carried out acts of sabotage against the enemy. The crisis also led to the expansion of the Inquisition's combat arm, which saw action in many battles. Grand Inquisitor Antonius rose to power during the crisis. In the aftermath, he emerged as a rival to Mahtara. Secretly the chief witch hunter did not believe in the Dominion's ideology, seeing it as a path to power and nothing more. However, he was good at exploiting the internal rivalries in the Council and befriending those who felt that the Battlemaster had been in her position for too long and amassed too much power. Grandmaster Aegus, who had been marginalised by the Council and reduced to being a figurehead, came to trust the witch hunter.
The Grand Inquisitor used embezzlement and blackmail as leverages to gain support. The Battlemaster was unable to prevent Antonius from being permitted to expand the combat troops of the Inquisition. He depicted them as an army of the faithful that would quell any internal disturbances and fight for the Light. But in truth they were an alternate army. This led to a turf war between the Grand Army and the Inquisition, as both squabbled over resources.
Mahtara had some success at keeping Antonius from giving his troops a strong tank arm by limiting his access to clone tank troopers, modern engines, fuel and spare parts, citing shortages. In response, her rival accused her of monopolising power and depriving the faithful of the means to fight the enemies of the Light. Meanwhile, the Inquisition had to combat a schismatic sect called the Inheritors of the Light Father. This was a remnant of the Light Sith, who had lost power to orthodox Vaderites. The Inheritors rejected the dark side and venerated the redeemed Vader. At first certain elements in the Dominion thought they could use them, but the Inheritors were opposed to the theocracy.
Rather than raise armies or wage a terrorist campaign, the Inheritors used subversion and subterfuge, relying on a clandestine cell system. For a while, they 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, the leader of the Inheritors, it turned out to be an illusion. In the light of the fact that the Supreme Leader of the Vaderites had supposedly killed the Illuminator, some postulated that he or she might actually be a group of people, or a projection. The Inheritors could not hope to topple their enemies and had to remain underground, but equally the Inquisition had little success in eliminating them.
The Grand Inquisitor was able to bring the Temple Guard under his influence, which strengthened his position in the capital. Things would have come to head between him and Mahtara sooner or later, but the arrival of Firemane served as a catalyst. The High Council was divided on how to respond to the outsiders. After centuries of isolation, they had come to believe that they were lone in the galaxy. Some wanted to go to war against the infidels, others advised moderation. The Battlemaster was in the latter category. Though suspicious of the outsiders, she also saw their arrival as an opportunity. Moreover, she deemed it vital to stop them from making common cause with the Dominion's enemies. Jedi Master Airla was charged with negotiating with them. The Grandmaster was not informed, having been distracted with exaggerated news of a great victory over the Sith.
However, Grand Inquisitor Antonius conspired to sabotage the talks. When a Firemane delegation landed at Nexus City, they were received by Airla. The initial talks between her and the Firemane diplomat were amicable, but tense. They came to a premature end when soldiers dispatched by the Grand Inquisitor opened fire on the delegation. A fierce fight ensued. Regular Dominion trooper, believing that the outsiders had attacked their comrades, joined the battle. Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, the adoptive daughter of Tegaea, was captured by the Inquisition and spirited away to a brainwashing camp.
Mahtara was outraged, but the balance of power had shifted. Riding a wave of religious fervour, the Grandmaster took control, declaring that the outsiders were Sith who wished to destroy the Dominion. Firemane's demands for the return of the prisoners were rebuffed. In response, the corporation declared war. Mahtara was wise enough to leave the Temple after Firemane started bombing the shield generator of Nexus City. This turned out to be a wise choice as the shield fell and the Temple was levelled. Firemane bombed communication centres, Jedi academies and military installations. The Ministry of Harmony was bombed. The Grandmaster and the Grand Inquisitor retreated to a bunker, while Mahtara defeated assassins sent by the Inquisition. Realising the folly of her superior's actions, Mahtara linked up with her allies and went underground. There she plotted to remove the 'tyrant' and ordered her agents to find and secure the captive Elpsis, who was being held at Serene Springs and brainwashed by the Inquisition.
The Dominion retaliated by deploying powerful strategic missiles against Firemane's fleet. These represented their strategic reserve, only to be used in the direst of circumstances. Mahtara's agents were able to secure two of the missiles, but the others were launched. One destroyed a Firemane corvette, the other was stopped by tractor beams before it could do the same to their command ship. Firemane made an uneasy alliance with the Republican Guard and landed ground troops to take Fortress Purity. At the same time a task force was dispatched to locate and rescue - or avenge - the lost Elpsis. Ironically, Mahtara was trying to secure her as well and so both task forces ended up clashing. Elpsis was eventually able to overcome her brainwashing and killed the Grand Inquisitor, inciting a prisoners' revolt. Jedi Diona, a remorseful Inquisitor, helped her overcome her captors.
Meanwhile, a brutal battle was fought at Fortress Purity. There the fanatical General Kennobi led the defence. Eventually Firemane and the Republican Guard prevailed, though at great cost. The rebel army was commanded by Aruunzeb, who finally had the satisfaction of defeating the man who had laid waste to his home town. The Grandmaster was apoplectic when he heard of the defeat. However, before he could order a counter-attack, he was assassinated by the Council. His death was blamed on a 'Firemane Sithspawn air strike'.
Forces loyal to Mahtara initiated Operation Apotheosis. Ironically, it had originally been drafted as an emergency continuity of government operations plan issued to the Reserve Army to execute and implement in the event of a catastrophic event or a general breakdown of civil order, such as a nuclear war, a mass uprising or the outbreak of a new Gulag Virus level plague. Now it was used to unseat the government while maitaining the facade of loyalty. The Battlemaster addressed the nation, explaining that the Grandmaster had been murdered by Sith.
Grand Inquisitor Antonius was branded a closeted Sith, who had been responsible for the Dominion's woes and deceived the kindly Grandmaster. The Inquisition's facilities in the capital were occupied by the putschists. The High Inquisitor of the City of Harmonious Industry refused to acknowledge the new government. However, after his attempt to create a counter-government failed, he tried to defect to the Republican Guard, which was marching on the city.
All of a sudden, he had been opposed to the Dominion all along. It did not go well for him. The Republican Guard took his staff into custody and paraded Jarix' story as a sign of corruption and infighting in the Dominion. Then they put him away under protection 'for his own safety' against retribution. He was later found dead, 'murdered by a Jedi assassin'. However, most Dominion leaders remained loyal. As the partisans advanced into the city, loyalist Inquisitors and Dominion troops committed acts of sabotage to destroy infrastructure. The Inquisition also liquidated its prison - in other words, executed political prisoners en masse to keep the Guard from freeing them. The Dominion rushed in troops to halt the rebels' advance. The battle left most of the city devastated and culminated in a stalemate, leading to a divided city.
By now Mahtara had dissolved the High Council and consolidated her new regime. It was a coalition of hardliners and pragmatisrs ready to fight a war to the knife. As part of a general reshuffle, she appointed Jedi Master Bekk as the new Grand Inquisitor. Bekk was an outsider and a far more reliable character than Antonius. Under the new regime, the Inquisition has been shorn of most of its combat arm and several of its enterprises. However, it is still a powerful force. In many ways, the recent defeat has forced it to focus instead of chase phantoms or pursue self-aggrandising schemes. This applies to the Dominion as a whole.
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