Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Dominion.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: The Temple Guard is a praetorian guard force for the leadership of the Dominion of Light.
Permission: N/A
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Tephrike.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Temple Guard. The formal name is 'The Guardians of the Sacred Temple and the Holy Person of the Wise Council".
Affiliation: Dominion of Light, Battlemaster Mahtara, Tephrike, The Guiding Strictures of Ashla and Mace Windu to Lead to Correct Thought and Belief, Windian Jedi Order, Ecclesia of the Followers of the Divine Ashla in Her Beatific Form as Mistress of Hope and His Glorious Form as Master of Victory.
Classification: Infantry.
Description: Coup-proofing is the first order of business of any authoritarian or totalitarian régime, especially if it came to power through use of force. It is a common phenomena of totalitarian systems that they set up parallel military structures to reduce the influence of the regular army - and have an instrument to thwart potential military coups. Régimes create parallel militaries to counterweight the regular armed forces, as these could be used against the régime in a putsch. Because the purpose of a parallel military is to protect the régime, it must be bound to it through special loyalties and social relationships.
The Temple Guard performs this function for the Jedi-led Dominion of Light, a totalitarian theocracy. Its primary task is to protect the Grandmaster and the High Council, Jedi temples, strategic buildings in Nexus City and all access roads. The Dominion of Light is a garrison state that - correctly - regards itself as under siege by forces that seek to destroy it. Thus the Temple Guard is expected to always be vigilant against threats both within and without. While its primary role is to quell domestic unrest, crush rebellions and suppress coups, it can also be deployed against external enemies on the frontlines.
The Temple Guard is officially recognized as a component of the Dominion armed forces. It is separate from, and parallel to, the Grand Army of Light, the conventional military of the Dominion. The Temple Guard maintains its own aerospace units. However, these are small and their designs are extremely old because Tephrike has been isolated for centuries. Certain members of the regular army's officer corps consider the existence of an independent Temple Guard aerospace arm to be an extravagant luxury and a resource drain. Both services have often squabbled over resources.
Temple Guards are better trained, equipped and disciplined than the regular soldiers of the Dominion. They receive bonuses, new vehicles and better housing. Every single soldier of the corps has been bred for service, for the Temple Guard is composed solely of clones. They regard themselves as successors of the clone troopers who once constituted the Grand Army of the Republic that fought under the command of Jedi Generals. Like them, the Temple Guards have been conditioned for unconditional loyalty and obedience, though they have a broader pool of donors. The Republican Guard, a secular rebel faction on Tephrike, considers them to be a slave army.
The Temple Guards are indoctrinated into the principles of the Light Side, as the Dominion sees them. They are taught to revere the Light and regard the Dominion as a beacon of righteousness in a Galaxy that has been consumed by Darkness. All those who defy the Dominion have been corrupted by the Dark Side and must be smote. This is an act of compassion because it prevents them from further tainting their twisted souls. They are closely monitored for signs of ideological deviation and heresy. Outside of direct combat, the Temple Guards wear blue robes over their heavy armour. The robes resemble the ceremonial attire of the Senate Guard of the Old Republic. One imagines the Senate Guards would disapprove of the appropriation. Their faces are masked, strengthening their image as anonymous sentinels.
The Temple Guard enjoys a strong sense of elitism that is reflected in the semiannual evaluation forms created for its officers. The form has a balance sheet of positives and negatives with regard to administration, training, technical ability and leadership. In addition, there is a section about the psychological characteristics of the officer, such as his emotional state, work-life balance, and attitude towards his superiors and juniors. Needless to say, the form has all the other comparable aspects of questionnaires developed by the régime: the officer's political leanings and associations, the opinion of the confessor of his unit, his contribution to major battles and so on.
The corps features prominently in Dominion propaganda. Projecting unity and strength, it reminds citizens that the Order is always vigilant. By contrast, the Republican Guard depicts the Dominion's clone troopers as a slave army - an inhumane practice that turns free people into disposable killing machines who are denied choice and live only to serve the whims of Jedi masters. The Temple Guard's preferential access to better equipment and housing has aroused jealousy from regular army formations. The competition can be healthy, but also manifests in form of unfortunate rivalries on the battlefield. The Temple Guards are all Non-Force-Users, as these are both more numerous and not able to seize the position of Grandmaster.
However, while they cannot claim the highest office in the state for themselves, they have a lot of influence regardless. There have been instances where the Temple Guards toppled Grandmasters. Though they are dwarfed in size by the regular army, they have a strong presence in the capital city and guard the most crucial installations that would have to be secured in order to successfully stage a coup. They also guard the dictator. It is the paradox of autocratic rule that the seemingly all-powerful autocrat risks becoming the prisoner of the institutions he created to protect himself against attempts to overthrow him. Usually the solution is to purge the praetorians and replace them with minions who are seemingly more loyal or set up more parallel agencies to watch the watchers.
Confessors act as political commissars who supervise political education. They are supposed to instill ideological conviction, be on guard against thoughtcrime and reinforce combat morale through training lessons and teaching. The Confessor has an influential role since he is supposed to ensure that the unit commander does not deviate from ideological orthodoxy. The Temple Guard has also been subjected to purges. Soldiers whose ideological purity is considered insufficient are sometimes forced to undergo self-criticism sessions, where they confess their errors and affirm their renewed belief in the party line. This is also employed to reinforce group cohesion. Family units have been abolished in the Dominion, so instead of family names citizens have occupational surnames, such as Carth Pilot or Cody Soldier. This obviously applies to members of the Temple Guard, too. As a sign of their special status, Temple Guard clones are given the surname 'Guardian'.
The Guard is thoroughly unable to challenge the hegemony of the Windian Jedi Order. Practical hazards aside, it would undermine their own legitimacy by going up against the group that sustains it and gives it purpose. However, they can influence it. Individual Clone Commanders of the Temple Guard have managed to rise to high positions in the state. The relationship between the Temple Guards and the Jedi Masters has become a symbiotic one. The protection of the régime has been given to the Guards in exchange for status, prestige, and economic well-being. The social and economic advantages that membership in the Guard entails are particularly pertinent because the Dominion has a command economy.
Izzaka Guardian, a human female, is one of the old guard members of the corps. She is one of the 'generationals', which means that she comes from a long lineage of clones that have served the Temple Guard for generations. One of her ancestors was involved in a coup against a Grandmaster who wanted to step out of the gilded cage. Izzaka is corrupt, but was smart enough to change allegiance at the right moment when Mahtara and the Council staged their coup. Well-educated and trained for leadership, she has made herself indispensable to the new regime, but there are still lingering suspicions over her loyalty. A fellow clone from her lineage was executed by her for not falling in line.
Thapsis Guardian is a Togruta male and a new arrival to the corps. While a clone, he was not born into the corps, and is thus regarded as an outsider by old guard members. Indeed, he started as a common clone trooper who used to be called Thaspis Soldier. Thaspis is one of the clones who have been promoted to join the Temple Guard for their assistance to Mahtara. There is some lingering tension between the old and new guard.
The Temple Guards are given extensive melee and ranged weapons training. Tephrike has been isolated for many centuries and blasters are more difficult to maintain in the jungle than slugthrowers. As a result many Tephriki have devolved to using projectile weapons. Out of the three biggest factions on Tephrike, the Dominion has the largest manufacturing basis. However, while the Temple Guard is far better equipped than the typical militia on the planet, the designs they use are still very old compared to the galactic standard. They are also trained in Teräs Käsi and drilled in the Hijkata martial arts discipline.
They train extensively in combat styles employing close quarter weaponry and unarmed combat. Teräs Käsi teaches them how to close their minds to Force-Users, thereby protecting themselves from mental attacks. Their conditioning makes them extremely resistant to mental manipulation, mind tricks and so on. This gives them the strength to watch, guard and if need be judge Jedi who have been corrupted by the Dark Side. The Guard has a reputation for being rather merciless in combat against perceived heretics.
To be captured by the enemy is treated as shameful. Indeed, Temple Guards are brought up in the belief that it is preferrable to launch a suicidal attack instead of surrender. For the same reason any member of the Guard who was captured by the enemy and later managed to escape or was liberated by allied forces would be treated as a potential traitor. This is not surprising given how politicised the unit is, as they are subjected to even stronger forms of indoctrination that regular Dominion clone troopers. However, there is also a practical side to their zealotry: their economic and social privileges are tied to them being unwavering sentinels of the Light.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Large
Unit Availability: Rare
Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment:
Armour:
Melee Weapons:
Rifles:
- Slugthrowe Assault Rifle
- Lightbow
- J-301
- A280
- Verpine Shatter Rifle
- Scattergun
- Heavy Repeater
- Concussion Rifle
- Flechette Launcher
- Riot Gun
- Arc Caster
- SH-9
- Enforcer Pistol
- Adjudicator
- Submachine Gun
- Ripper
- FWG-5
- Verpine Shattergun
- Hammer Slugthrower Pistol
- DX-2
- ATA Pulse Wave Blaster
Misc:
Vehicles and Transports:
- Armoured Personnel Carrier
- Ground Assault Vehicles on par with those used on Haruun Kaal.
- Z-95 Headhunter
- Turbostorm-Class Gunship
Moreover, by galactic standards many of their weapons are rather old. Tephrike has been isolated for several centuries. They are quite reliant on slugthrowers and projectile weapons. These tend to be high-calibre and armour-piercing, but Tephrike's comparative backwardness can still be a disadvantage if they go up against foreign forces. Depending on the type, their slugthrowers may have difficulty penetrating heavy body armour unless they hit a weak spot. Similar to Haruun Kal, the jungles of Tephrike are home to some nasty fungi with an appetite for metal. Slugthrowers are easier to maintain in the jungle than blasters. The natives deal with these issues by rubbing weapons and electronics down with portaak amber to prevent fungi from degrading them.
Surgical enhancements performed upon the clone troopers leave them with strength, stamina, and reflexes superior to non-augmented, baseline members of their species. They also gain some increased resilience and resistance to disease and infections. Moreover, their augmentations grant them greater than average sight and hearing. They can see further in the dark and pick up on noises that others might miss. This does not make them invincible supersoldiers or grant them supernatural capabilities, but it gives them an edge in combat.
The Temple Guard wear sealed suits of armour based on Clone Commando Armour. This offers decent or good protection against a variety of conventional attacks. However, they are vulnerable to lightsabres. Their armour offers minor resistance to lightsabre strikes, but duraplast does not have the tanking ability of say phrik or beskar. Lightsabres are incredibly rare on Tephrike, and Force imbued weapons are more common among the native Jedi and Sith. However, it represents a possible vulnerability should they encounter outside forces. The Guard lacks tanks or heavy artillery, which makes them dependent on allied support forces.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): N/A.
Strengths:
- Well-armoured and equipped (for Tephrike). They are skilled, incredibly brave, courageous and fanatical.
- They are trained to fight Force-Users.
- Surgical enhancements performed upon the Temple Guards leave them with strength, stamina, senses, and reflexes superior to non-augmented, baseline members of their species with their stature and athleticism. They also gain some increased resilience and resistance to disease and infections.
- Limited access to vehicles and those they have are of older design and better against infantry and light vehicles than heavy armoured fighting vehicles. Suffer against heavy armour. They are meant to be bodyguards after all, not take on tank formations.
- They have a certain stubborn and unimaginative mind set. Their fanaticism causes them to attack head on and hold the line when a tactical withdrawal might be more advised. This is something a canny foe could use against them.
- Their enhancements grant them some advantages. However, using them for extended periods, places a great deal of pressure on their bodies which will cause injury to him, such as pulling tendons or ligaments, or straining joints to the point of damaging them. Their augmentations grant them greater than average sight and hearing. But they also make them more susceptible to disorientation caused by loud noises or bright flashing lights.
The Temple Guard is intrinsically linked to the Dominion of Light, the Jedi-led theocracy that controls most of war-torn Tephrike. 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.
The Jedi were called upon to assume a protective stance. After government soldiers shot 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. But relying on Jedi shock troops was not enough, even after imposing conscription on all Force-Sensitives. Like in the days of yore, the Jedi became Lords and Generals. The Temple Guard was formed in an effort to consolidate several paramilitary forces into a single force loyal to the new government and to function as a counter to the influence and power of the regular military, initially seen as a potential source of opposition. At first the Guard was a purely secular organisation comparable to the Antarian Rangers. The soldiers were supposed to guard crucial installations, help the Jedi keep order in the capital and fight rebel forces. Zaras was an authoritarian ruler, but troubled by her own actions and did not see herself as a religious leader. However, in the hour of victory she was assassinated by traitors.
Tyian Kree, a Devaronian Jedi Master, emerged as the new Jedi Lord. A charismatic, fierce woman, she shared Zaras' belief that it was the Jedi's duty to take control. However, she took things a step further. Zaras had been a reluctant ruler and ruled as a largely secular military dictator. By contrast, Tyian was a theocrat. She had also unknowingly fallen to the Dark Side. Obsessed with the idea that the Plague had been a Sith conspiracy and that agents of darkness lurked everywhere, she saw the uprisings sparking across the planet as confirmation. The infrastructure for a dictatorship had already been put into place by Zaras, but Tyian finished what her predecessor had started by implementing a totalitarian theocracy. For it was the only way to ensure that the Light would not be eclipsed by the forces of Darkness. Her rule was opposed by remnants of the ADF, secessionists, Jedi who believed her authoritarian policies were a step too far and various dark cults. Ultimately many of these opposition forces would be united under the banner of the Republican Guard and the Disciples of the Vader. With the economy in shambles, quasi-socialist policies were enacted. The Guard was one of the instruments the new régime used to enforce them. The greater good demanded sacrifices.
Tyian expanded the Guard, turning it into a corps of the faithful. It was given the responsibility of preserving the Jedi Revolution itself. It was intended to protect the Revolution and to assist the Jedi in the day-to-day enforcement of the new government's revolutionary beliefs. The Revolution needed to rely on a force of its own rather than borrowing the previous regime's tainted units. As one of the first revolutionary institutions, the Temple Guard helped legitimize the Revolution and gave the new government an armed basis of support. It became a common sight in Nexus City, the Dominion's new capital. Although the Temple Guard operated independently of the regular armed forces, it was soon considered to be a military force in its own right due to its important role in the defence of the Dominion. When regular army soldiers mutinied, the Temple Guard was dispatched to suppress the uprising.
Though originally intended to be a mere guard force, the threats the Dominion faced compelled it to deploy the Guard on the frontlines and in counterinsurgency campaigns. As attrition set in, the Dominion began to supplement natural-grown soldiers with clone troopers, using the cloning infrastructure left behind by medical companies that had operated on Tephrike prior to the collapse. Often given only basic flash training and fed a heavy dose of propaganda, the new clone troopers proved to be fanatical soldiers, though also prone to acts of suicidal bravery. Confessors were introduced to maintain discipline, acting as a check on the authority of officers.
The Temple Guard played a prominent role in the Battle of Palmyra, perhaps the bloodiest fight in Tephrike's history. There they faced the dark legions of Darth Menace, the self-proclaimed Dark Lord of the Sith and Master of the Disciples of the Vader. This was a dark cult that worshipped Vader as a god and believed he had unleashed the Gulag Virus to cleanse the Galaxy. Once Menace had been a Jedi called Cade Seward, but the horrors of war broke him and he fell to the Dark Side. The battle was a brutal one on both sides. Morals were discarded in favour of efficiency. Chemical weapons, white phosphorus, improvised explosive devices and tactical ballistic missiles were used in the battle. Population centres were shelled with artillery. The Dominion was driven to the brink when the Sith conducted a ritual to conjure a huge Deadly Field and then raised many dead as zombies.
Temple Guard forces fought fanatically, defending the Jedi Temple against invaders. A Temple Guard company was all but wiped out when it threw itself at a Vaderite bunker complex that was blocking Dominion troops. The soldiers advanced through mines, mortar shells, and heavy machine gun fire, the soldiers advanced and succeeded in their mission. Then they proceeded to hold their position, even after being cut off from reinforcements and being assaulted by Vaderite soldiers, Sithspawn and even at one point gas. By the time reinforcements arrived, only three heavily wounded members of the company remained.
Surviving Temple Guard units fought on in the catacombs of the Temple, using traps and explosives to extract a high tribute in blood. Te Jedi Archives were blown up by a couple young Temple Guards to prevent them from falling into the hands of traitors. The fighting was still ongoing when Jedi General Mahtara made the desperate decision to drop a Force nuke on the city, after hearing rumours that the Sith planned to open a gateway to the Netherworld. Not all Dominion forces could be withdrawn in time before the bomb was dropped. The results were apocalyptic, for Palmyry was turned into a wasteland. The staggering death toll and huge Force explosion created a dark side nexus, tainting the city. Deeply troubled by her actions, Mahtara resigned from command and put down her blade. The Sith had been defeated, but at a tremendous cost. The dead Temple Guards were declared martyrs.
With the Dominion seemingly secure against serious external threats, the Guard settled down, returning to its original duties. Its doctrine now emphasised protecting the régime against internal threats. Like all totalitarian régimes, the Dominion's leadership saw itself as besieged from all sides. They were children of the apocalypse. Most of the new men and women who took the reins of power barely remembered the time before the Collapse or had been born after it. They knew a world that consisted of long queues of people waiting for bread, of angry mobs tearing each other apart for a little food, of seemingly never-ending slaughter, of destroyed cities, sickness and disease. It was a world where only iron discipline, ruthlessness and unyielding faith in the Light promised salvation. Paranoid about infiltrators and treasonous plots, they defined the Guard as the guardian of the Dominion. The unit was heavily politicised. As time passed, natural-born soldiers were phased out in favour of an all-clone force. Over time, the Dominion would criminalise sexuality entirely, stipulating that the miracle of life must take place in a medically sanctioned way in a laboratory. Not only would this eliminate the risk of disease spreading through intercourse, it would also ensure that citizens could not be temped by lust. All citizens would be moulded by the Order from cradle to grave.
It was supposed to be an utopia of the Light where no one would go hungry or want for anything and the trains ran on time. Yet the wars continued. Repression bred resistance, which in turn created more repression. Factional infighting intensified. The Guard was used as a tool to crush opposition within and without. In time it came to realise its own power. Their moment came during the Cultural Revolution. The Blue Guards, a mass paramilitary social movement led by students, Jedi Padawans and young Jedi Knights, plunged the nation into chaos in the name of revolutionary purity. Their campaign against the 'Four Olds' received the personal support of Grandmaster Tsal Te Mong, who was under fire in the Council after his collectivisation policies had produced disaster. They sought to destroy all vestiges of Tephrike's pre-Dominion past. The government was very permissive of the Blue Guards, and even allowed them to inflict harm on people viewed as dissidents. The movement quickly grew out of control, coming into conflict with authority and threatening public security. Their actions helped the Republican Guard and the Vaderites recover lost ground, enabling them to emerge as serious threats.
Things came to head when the Blue Guards tried to take control over the military and attacked students of the retired Jedi General Mahtara. A cabal of clone commanders and Jedi generals came together to put an end to the madness. Mahtara was one of their leaders. The Temple Guard sided with the plotters. Its support was deemed crucial. It controlled the access roads to Nexus City, guarded the Jedi Temple, spaceport and strategic buildings. Cody Soldier, Commander of the Guard, was able to use this as leverage. He was incentivised to back the coup because he was afraid of being purged by Jedi Jana, the Sword of the Jedi and icon of the Blue Guards. Across the Dominion the army forcibly disarmed the Blue Guards. Some of the plotters would have been content with this and intended to call a Council meeting where the Grandmaster would be presented with a fait accompli, for they were hesitant to topple the head of state.
However, Mahtara believed this did not go far enough. Only removing Tsal from power would suffice. So she mad a deal with Cody. Mahtara and her closest associates were smuggled into the capital. There she rallied the clone troopers of the First Legion, a battle-hardened unit whose members were clones of a Zabrak soldier who had once been her mentor in the art of warfare. Acting in concert with the Temple Guard, they took over Nexus City. Access to the capital blocked, lines of communication cut and the Jedi Temple was occupied. The Grandmaster was placed under house arrest. When he refused to make a declaration legitimising their actions, the plotters used an illusionist instead. When his followers tried to free the imprisoned Grandmaster, he was put to death. Order was reestablished. Every citizen would be given a place in society and be safe within their roles - and never leave them. From this moment on, most Grandmasters were pliable puppets of the oligarchy. Those who refused to be compliant were toppled. The Temple Guard was rewarded for its actions. They received better housing, privileged coupons and better gear. Officially, the Temple Guards had to adhere to strict discipline and live in practically monastic conditions. They were expected to remain celibate. Of course, over time these rules began to be flouted.
The Dominion had abolished conventional currency and maintained a socialist command economy where the state exercised total control over the means of production. Due to their closeness to the new state, the Temple Guard came to play a prominent political role. Through the practice of secondment, individual Temple Guard officers assumed managerial roles in the state-controlled conglomerates, even though this went against the spirit of their vows. This gave them opportunities for advancement, graft and patronage. They grew used to power and authority. Grandmasters who defied the army were routinely deposed and the Guard made sure it gots its due. However, this also turned it into an increasingly factionalised institution. Influential Temple Guard officers pulled string to ensure that clones of their own lineage would admitted into the Guard without going through the original training period. Unsurprisingly, their combat effectiveness suffered.
When Grandmaster Kalija came to power, she was determined to break out of the gilded cage. Her reform initiatives unnerved the oligarchs. She also wanted to put an end to the Temple Guard's excesses. Outraged at having become a captive of her own servitors, she tried to disband them. Having heard rumours that the Grandmaster was plotting against them, the Guard threw in its lot with the oligarchs, and helped them take the Grandmaster captive and imprison her. She was never heard of again. To physically separate future Grandmasters from the Windian Jedi, a palace was built to serve as their residence. Few Grandmasters ever left it without being closely supervised.
The Guard's support was crucial for anyone who wanted to rule the Dominion, but it had no formal role in government administration. Force-Sensitives were barred from joining the Guard and Non-Force-Users could not rule the Dominion. Nonetheless, an ambitious clone called Sejanos managed to conceal his Force-Sensitivity and rise to the position of Clone Marshal Commander of the Guard, expanding its numbers considerably. In addition, he brought the Chosen of Windu militia under his control. He used his position to render himself essential to the junta, gathering damaging information he could use as blackmail materiel. Not content with this role, he sought to become Master of the Order. To this end he manipulated the paranoid, secluded Grandmaster. In the end he gambled too high, was tried for heresy and re-educated, which turned him into a brainwashed 'Repentant'.
Then came the Netherworld Event. Like virtually every world in the Galaxy, Tephrike was affected by Akala's insanity. Given the natives predisposition towards apocalyptic beliefs and zealotry, it obviously led to bloodshed. The Dominion believed the disappearances were a Dark Side conspiracy. Both the Jedi and the Sith were gravely weakened by the Force being thrown out of balance, as it became risky to draw upon its power. The Republican Guard used its chance to mount a grand offensive against the Dominion. The Vaderites joined the attack after going through a civil war that saw the 'Light Sith' ascend to power. This threw the Dominion into a state of crisis. It had to mobilise for total war, while still dealing with internal unrest. Protests and riots had broken out in Nexus City. Temple Guards and security forces gunned down protesters in the capital.
The Temple Guard was deployed to the front. There Dominion soldiers faced a superior Republican Guard force commanded by General Aruunzeb at Battle of Laszika Swamp. There a crack force of 12 thousand Dominion troops, commanded by Jedi, was led into an ambush and slaughtered by the Republican Guard, though the rebels suffered heavy losses. According to the Ministry of Enlightenment, the Temple Guards selflessly held back savage hordes of Yuuzhan Vong barbarians. There is some truth to this. The Temple Guard did indeed fight to the last man. However, they were not the only ones holding the line. Moreover, the defeat was the result of hubris and overconfidence. This was glossed over by Dominion propaganda, which chose to focus on their noble sacrifice and the enemy's trickery and savavery.
Battlemaster Mahtara implemented a scorched earth policy to deny the invaders the resources of the land they managed to occupy. Canny intrigue on her part helped split the unnatural alliance between her enemies, leading to infighting. The Republican Guard doggedly pushed on, but experienced great difficulties supplying its troops, especially after the Dominion blew up dams to cause floods. Their offensive was broken at Fortress Purity, where the fanatical General Kennobi defeated them. The Temple Guard was among the defenders, leading a furious charge against the rebels. By then the Republican Guard's logistics had been stretched to the breaking point; many partisans had little food or ammunition.
A new Grandmaster was chosen by the Council. Aegus was a mild-mannered, compassionate fellow, but he was troubled by millennial Force visions that drove him to madness. The Council sought to isolate him and keep the reins of power out of his hands. However, Mahtara's influence was the cause of envy among many of the oligarchs in the Dominion. Her power invited challenges. This allowed Grand Inquisitor Antonius to rise to power. Oligarchs who resented the old Yodaling saw him as a useful counterbalance. The Marshal Commander of the Temple Guard pretended to be loyal to Mahtara, but played a double game. Despite the losses the Dominion had suffered, it remained the dominant power on Tephrike. Neither the Sith nor the Republican Guard were in a position to topple it.
Then the Dominion's whole world view was put into question when Firemane ships appeared in orbit. For centuries the Tephriki had been convinced that they were the only ones who had survived the apocalypse. The Council was divided between those who favoured diplomatic negotiations and those who saw the outsiders as abominations who needed to be fought. Mahtara belonged to the first camp. However, the Grand Inquisitor conspired against her. A Firemane delegation was attacked by extremists. A Firemane operative, Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, was captured in the melee. The result was war. At first Firemane conducted bombardments, then it entered an alliance of convenience with the Republican Guard and deployed ground troops. A bloody battle was fought at Fortress Purity, which eventually fell to the invaders.
The Temple Guard sided with the Grand Inquisitor, who had gained the support of the Grandmaster. Aegus believed the final battle between Light and Dark was at hand. Several of Mahtara's allies were liquidated by the Guard. But the Battlemaster managed to evade assassination. After going underground, she rallied her forces for a coup. Aegus was assassinated by a cabal of Council members, including his own apprentice Cassius. His death was blamed on an air strike conducted by the outsiders. Treasonous Inquisitors were accused of being involved in his murder. Antonius had been conveniently slain by Elpsis after she managed to overcome her brainwashing. This made the Grand Inquisitor and his followers convenient scapegoats. Mahtara tricked the Temple Guard into thinking she wanted to treat with them, then executed those responsible for the killings or forced them to join penal units. The ranks of the depleted Temple Guard were filled with loyal soldiers who were outsiders to the toxic politics of the capital.
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