Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: NPC antagonist.
Image Credit: Here.
Role: Sith warriors. NPC antagonist.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: KEC, The Valkyrie's Diary, Dominion of Light, Republican Guard, Into Darkness, After Darkness, Glorious Conflict, Firemane, Amidala Corps, Adlerberg, Hope Falls, Castle Maysaf, Academy of the Scions of the Vader, Sentinel's Rest, Palmyra's Wail, Tephrike.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Unit Name: Chevaliers of the Black Helm. Nicknamed the Black Hats.
Affiliation: Disciples of the Vader, Humanist People's Party, Darth Lachesis, Tephrike, Darth Eisen, Government of the Greater Sith Imperium.
Classification: Dark Side Warriors
Description: The Chevaliers of the Black Helm are knights without fear or blemish, warriors of high repute and peerless honour who boldly ride dragonmounts into battle. A military order composed of Force warriors of irreproachable human ancestry and blessed with the power of the Dark Father Vader, they are an implacable foe of the enemies of the glorious Imperium. They are famed for their fearlessness, devotion to their code of honour and utter fanaticism in combat. Chevaliers have never broken on the field of battle. A Chevalier would rather die than suffer the dishonour of captivity. The Supreme Leader alone can grant membership. 'Anyone' can become a Disciple. Well, anyone who is a Force-Sensitive human, survives the brutral training and embraces Humanist tents, but only the 'best' can become Chevaliers.
Each Chevalier has sworn holy vows to fulfil their sacred duty, and represent living exemplars of the pinnacle of knightly virtues. For this reason, the Chevaliers are the most prestigious order of chivalry in the Imperium, with Sith knights chosen in recognition of their service to the Imperium. That is the official story (human) schoolkids are taught throughout the Imperium. Being honourable is diligently doing what the state commands.
There is not a single Chevalier who has not been an active participant in or complicit in war crimes, and other atrocities. Or looked away and let them happen. Somehow, serving an evil, genocidal regime is not a blemish on one's so-called honour. Blindly obeying the orders of tyrants is the path to honour. But then honour is a social construct and not identical to being a good person.
Some allege that Chevaliers hold power over life and death over all commoners in the Imperium. This is, however, not quite correct. A Chevalier does not possess the authority to do as he sees fit with an Imperial citizen, with no recourse of justice against him. The key point is Imperial citizen, for the Imperium defines citizenship on the basis of blood. Only humans can be citizens and they possess legal protection, as far as a totalitarian state acknowledges legalistic niceties such as rule by law. Non-humans, on the other hand, cannot be citizens and are considered assets and production factors at best, but never people with rights. As a result, a Chevalier is taught he has no need to feel shame about murdering them. Thereby, he is 'absolved' of guilt and able to function as a member of society, which heaps honours upon him. Such methods are a far more effective way at getting people to commit atrocities than forcing them at gunpoint or brainwashing them. Chevalier privilege inevitably leads to violent abuse against 'lesser beings'.
Chevaliers only accept recruits who are Force-Sensitive and have a pedigree illustrious enough to fit their classist standards. A good number of them are second or third sons of influential Sith families who have joined the Chevaliers as a chance to make a name for themselves. Others are Force-Sensitives born to 'respectable' Non-Force-Using parents, such as the sons of officers, landowners and civil servants. Each Chevalier must have attained membership of the Disciples of the Vader. They recruit their knights from the ranks of the 'great and good of society', and only accept those who have proved themselves in various martial trials. Women may not join the brotherhood. The honorary title 'Tan' is bestowed upon every Chevalier.
Actual combat training for a Chevalier is intense, as they are schooled in the ways of combat and the Force to turn them into fighting machines. They must also tame a war beast. It is a ruthless process of Darwinian selection, but also involves training in small unit tactics so that they can function as a cohesive force instead of uncoordinated, individual combatants. This goes hand in hand with ideological indoctrination to teach them that they are part of a racial elite that must defend mankind from a myriad threats - Jedi, xenos, liberals, socialists et al. On the battlefield, a Chevalier is easily recognisable - clad in ornate armour and armed with an alchemised blade or another type of enchanted melee weapon. The irony is that for all their martial prowess and skill, the cruelty Chevaliers are encouraged to indulge in inevitably creates even more enemies for the Imperium, making it not just evil, but self-defeating.
Chevaliers will be rewarded for their 'noble service' with land grants in order to root them and their progeny to the soil. They may also receive forced labourers to toil on the land for them and their clan. This often happens in rural frontier areas or lands that have been newly conquered by the Imperium and still need to be 'civilised'. Chevaliers and their families also benefit from discounts at supportive businesses. Their children are given preferred enrollment at universities, and they have opportunities to secure financial loans from banks and credit institutions associated with the Sith. Moreover, the group offers intangible social benefits through networking and social prestige. Chevaliers gain renown by participating in tournaments, fighting to win the acclaim of the (human) masses, generate social capital and perhaps acquire a patron.
Chevaliers do not swear vows of celibacy. Indeed, a Chevalier who desires to be chaste would be viewed as very strange at best, and refusing the call of duty at worst. However, this doesn't mean they are free to love or wed whoever they like. Instead, their private lives are regulated by the Vaderites' utterly absurd human supremacist, eugenicist ideology. A Chevalier who wishes to marry must apply for a marriage permit three months in advance, so that the prospective bride and her parents can be evaluated to certify their purity and health. A bride who is of 'immoral character', questionable health or 'dubious racial purity', has a family with a 'history of hereditary diseases' or mental disabilities, or is considered too old to bear children will be turned down. Ideally, a Chevalier should set a good example for 'prodigious breeding'.
A marriage that has remained childless for five years must be dissolved, and the Chevalier will be instructed to find a new spouse to continue his bloodline with, since a childless marriage is not of the slightest interest to a state that is concerned with the procreation of as many 'genetically valuable' children as possible. If he has trouble finding a suitable partner, there is a veritable legion of racial experts who can assist him in this quest. Indeed, the Supreme Leader himself might offer him counsel or even arrange a marriage for him. Marriage functions as a way to strengthen family lines and birth heirs, not a personal matter.
The Chevalier may also receive permission to take a second wife if he has rendered 'exceptional service' to the state, thereby 'proving' the strength of his genes. Courtships are facilitated by military officials in order to optimise power within the 'chosen' bloodlines. During a wedding, the wrists of a bride and groom are bound by ribbons passed down from the groom's father's side of the family.
It is considered very bad form to wed a human woman who is not Force-Sensitive, for the Disciples have 'scientifically determined' that the mating of genetically valuable Force-Users will produce stronger, Force-Sensitive offsprings. Here it is to be noted that the Vaderites' chauvinistic ideology produces very skewed results. Assuming one takes the above precept seriously, the logical thing for a Sith to do would be to pursue a union with a Force-Sensitive human female of equal strength. However, the Vaderites are chauvinistic and it is obviously very difficult to make a female Sith accept a subservient role, so a Chevalier will often take a wife who is Force-Sensitive, but weaker than him.
It is a mark of shame when the child produced by a worthy union turns out to be as Force-Sensitive as a plank. Vaderites don't understand science well. Chevaliers who marry despite having been denied marriage certificates will be stricken from the order; they are given the choice of withdrawing. Because they are evidently 'genetically superior specimen', Chevaliers are also encouraged to spread their genes by producing offsprings out of wedlock with racially acceptable partners. One can imagine that this has led to awkward situations. They can take advantage of a network of state-sponsored maternity homes whose purpose is to look after genetically valuable expectant mothers and their offsprings.
The brotherhood hosts fellowship evenings featuring copious amounts of music, poetry and liquor to allow Chevaliers to bond. There are all manners of rituals featuring outrageous costumes: Midnight sabbaths to commune with the Dark Side and meditate upon supposed artefacts of the Great Vader, prayer services for the Dark Father, jousts, mock tournaments and 'battles' against 'xenos'. Initiation into this exclusive order is accompanied by participation in all manners of archaic ceremonies. These verge from the practical to the absurd to the inhumane and cruel. Young squires are routinely brutalised to 'toughten them up'. This fosters aggression, and they are given an outlet through manifold opportunities to in turn abuse 'xenos' and 'criminal scum'. As an initiation challenge, a knight must prove himself in martial combat against his peers, complete a twenty mile ride on an Orbak in less than an hour, drink a bottle of champagne in one gulp and to hunt down and slay a dangerous xenos.
The 'dangerous xenos' in question is almost inevitably the innocent inhabitant of a squalid alien ghetto. The point is to teach them to 'close their hearts to pity' for 'hereditary enemies of mankind'. Young squires are 'bloodied' by killing prisoners together: there is one blade, and one after another a squire takes it and stabs the poor prisoner. Murdering an innocent, unarmed person cements a young squire's place in the group and sets the stage for his real training because only within the group does this action
'make him a man'. To turn his back on the group is to convert this act from a rite of passage to an act of pointless, barbaric murder. Very few people anywhere have the moral wherewithal to accept such a truth and so the final act of violence compels them to live the lie. As part of his training, a Chevalier will go on a pilgrimage to a dark side nexus. He may only wear light armour, carry a blade and some meagre supplies. Forced to face the dangers of such a cursed place, not all make it back. The Vaderites view it as pilgrimage to a holy site of the Great Vader.
Initiation into the brotherhood is a spiritual matter. It is tradition for a future Chevalier to stand vigil in a shrine of the Dark Father and the Divine Padme the night before he is inducted into the order. He holds vigil before a statue of the Dark Father. During the formal ceremony, the Leader touches subject the new Chevalier on the right shoulder with his sword, and speaks solemn words, exhorting him to be brave, chivalrous and faithful in the name of the Dark Father and the Divine Padme and be an unrelenting defender of mankind. The sword used during the ceremony is a lightsabre instead of an alchemised sword. This is of particular relevance since lightsabres are incredibly rare on Tephrike, and thus viewed with a sense of awe. The new Chevalier repeats the oath, swearing by the two gods, the sword is moved to the left shoulder and he arises a Chevalier. Typically, the formal part will be followed by a feast. Sometimes this leads to the sadistic murder of 'inferior xenos' after the knights have consumed plenty of liquor.
Classist, violent, speciesist and Forcer supremacist, the Chevaliers are the perfect embodiment of the Imperium. Their ideology is a mixture of . Its a mixture of class supremacy, cultural supremacy, religious supremacy, and human supremacy. They are, in effect, bullies who wear fancy suits of armour that give them power, and receive thunderous applause for valiantly 'serving the greater good'.
One thing that makes the Chevaliers distinct from the typical Sith Warriors is that they fight together, rather than each warrior fighting for himself. They will not admit it, but this is a practice they have copied from the Windian Jedi Order. Sith ideology has always made it difficult to harness collective strength, since it is all about the exaltation of the one at the cost of the whole. Even among the Disciples, most Sith do not actively train in small unit tactics.
The Chevaliers regard themselves as a brotherhood and fight as such. This principle is crucial to their identity, and instilled into them from the moment they are inducted into the order, and constantly hammered into them throughout their training, fellowship evenings and missions. It also ensures that the order is, in effect, self-policing. Indeed, the order is largely free from the backstabbing typical among Sith groups. Chevaliers are taught they must all stand together...and cast conventional morality aside. For having a 'moment of weakness' is not only a cause of shame for oneself, but for one's brothers in arms, too. The other side of the coin is that a Chevalier who refuses to participate in a massacre is shamed for having 'let his brothers down'.
Moreover, they benefit from cybernetic enhancements to boost their physical qualities. They also have the side-effect of making them closer to their idol. Upon succeeding in his trials, a Disciple completes his spiritual journey by losing his right arm. Thereupon it is replaced by a cybernetic arm. In the case of the Chevaliers, they are able to afford a prothesis that's actually quite powerful instead of cheap and baseline. When on duty the Chevaliers don an ornate suit of armor covering their entire body, similar to those worn by Imperial Knights of the Fel Empire, complete with a helm to cover their face and protect their from chemicals, and a fancy cloak.
Chevaliers are indoctrinated to regard capture as deeply shameful. A Chevalier who 'allows' himself to be taken captive by the enemy has lost not only his honour, but stained the honour of his whole bloodline. It means his wife, his children, and his entire family has been forever shamed until an 'act of heroism' wipes away the stain of his dishonour. If he is not able to regain his honour in his lifetime, the burden will pass on to his son. Failure to regain one's honour constitutes social death.
The house of a Chevalier guilty of 'cowardice' is struck from the ranks of the order, stripping all his family of their lands, benefits, and honours, barring any future descendants from joining the order until they have atoned sufficiently. No matter their talent, his children will be barred from higher education. This social practice has driven some Chevaliers to suicide, either by their own hand or by death charging the enemy. In one case, a Chevalier was banished for ordering his soldiers to surrender rather than fight to the death in a doomed battle they could not win. So far nine members of his family have died fighting against truly daunting odds, but it still hasn't erased the shame.
Tan Gerasimos Athanou serves as overall commander of the Chevaliers. He is nicknamed Gerasimos the Fearless. Every schoolchild in the Imperium has heard of his daring exploits. Wherever he goes, he is feted by the human masses. He has won more tourneys than any other Chevalier; he single-handedly defeated a champion of the Windian Jedi in combat and led an outnumbered Vaderite force to victory; he went on a daring rescue operation to save a Supreme Leader from traitors and succeeded against all odds. Time and again, he has placed service to the Imperium as a whole over personal ambition and Sith infighting. Despite his advanced age, he is a fierce, implacable fighter. He is indeed a talented warrior, but also a morally bankrupt, narcissistic hypocrite.
The stories say nothing about his involvement in atrocities against innocent people. He has, on extremely rare occasions, counselled his Leader against 'excessive' cruelty...but he has never ever tried to stop them because defying an order would be dishonourable. He stood by while innocent people were burnt alive or crucified. Words such as honour and duty are constantly on his lips. Imperial society regards him as honourable because he blindly obeys every Supreme Leader. Essentially, Gerasimos is a man who believes his own press, and is obsessed with retaining his vaunted reputation as a knight without fear or blemish. His obsession with keeping his honour untarnished extends to his leadership of the Chevaliers. He loves to be in a position of authority and prestige, and enjoys playing the role of the 'badarse' grandpa young men and boys look up to.
For this reason, he is intolerant of anyone he perceives as staining the reputation of the Chevaliers, such as disobeying an order, as he views this as an affront not only to the brotherhood, but to himself. Essentially, he views the brotherhood as an extension of himself. As is typical for senior Disciples, Gerasimos owns slaves, though he gets prissy when people call them than that instead of using the more politically correct term 'indentured assets'. He is a strict disciplinarian who drives his slaves hard and cruelly punishes infractions or 'laziness'. When three of his slaves were caught in an escape attempt, Gerasimos ordered them whipped, and that their wounds be doused with salt water to increase their suffering. His cruelty as a slave master is not confined to physical punishment. He has broken up every slave family on his estate but one, hiring them off to plantations and factories. The trauma of rupturing families lasts lifetimes for the enslaved.
Somehow, he has always managed to survive every power struggle and seamlessly move from one Supreme Leader to the next, even if it means accepting pardons from 'usurpers'. He claims he serves the 'throne'. But for someone who calls himself 'above politics', he displays remarkable flexibility when it comes to determining who the 'true' Leader is...and for staying out of succession struggles when the waters are...muddy. But every Leader he has served know that he will never rebel or make a play for the throne, and he is popular with the human masses, despite being a classist snob, so keeping him around is good for public relations.
Pyrros Skleros is of a far younger generation, but has gained notoriety as a fighter. Headstrong, mercurial, incredibly selfish, and impulsive, he is quick to anger, petty and prone to violence. His tongue is as quick as his blade. Prone to japing, he is a notorious troll towards friend and foe alike. Pyrros is the younger son of Darth Thrul, and grew up as Sith nobility. He chafes under the domination of his father, but is loyal to his house and convinced his noble lineage entitles him to privileged treatment. He has fathered two bastards on two different women and is very open about it. He callously abandoned his former lovers because he no longer found them attractive. Pyrros sees no reason why married life should prevent him from keeping a mistress at his house. He is prone to challenging those who slight him to a duel, and doesn't respect those who back down. He is popular among soldiers for ensuring they receive good equipment and displaying bravery in battle.
For all his narcissism and virulent sexism, Pyrros is quite popular. He excels at tourneys, and knows how to pander to the crowd, playing the role of the 'gallant' knight. Many a naive maiden swoons over him. But sometimes he lets the mask slip. Those who actually interact with him on a personal level come to learn he is an incredibly arrogant, petty bully. He will commit vile atrocities against civilian populations, and not feel any remorse. Pyrros is contemptuous of Gerasimos, viewing him as a hypocritical coward.
COMBAT INFORMATION:
Unit Size: Medium
Unit Availability: Unique
Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment:
Armour:
- Armour, complete with a helmet to cover their face and protect them from chemicals and toxins, and an overly fancy armourweave cloak. Synth-Leather gloves, belt, and boots. The helm features a voice modulator and other basic systems.
- Sith Sword or Force-Imbued Blade. Alternately a similarly alchemised war hammer, mace or polearm.
- Vibroknife
- SE-14r Light Repeating Blaster
- ATA Pulse-Wave Blaster
- DC-17 Hand Blaster
- Ripper
- DX-2 Disruptor Pistol
- FWG-5 Flechette Smart Pistol
- Various stimulants - stimulus injectors built into their suits.
- Utility belt.
- Grenades
- Adrenal Implant
- Artificial Lungs
- Subdermal Armouring
- Cyber Reaction System
- Navardan Regenerator
- Cardio-Muscular Package
- Mechno-Arm equivalent
Combat Function: A Chevalier is a tank, combining brute strength with martial prowess and a strong command of the Force. On the battlefield they will lead from the front, leading the charge against strong defensive positions of the enemy or seeking out high-value targets such as Jedi or Yuuzhan Vong. Their presence in the fury of combat is an inspiration for Vaderite forces that causes morale to soar and animates the soldiers to fight ever harder. Of course, a retreat or defeat will have the opposite effect. All Chevaliers are dark side Force-Users, drawing upon the destructive aspects of the Force, and augmented by cybernetics to boost physical attributes such as strength, endurance, speed, durability etc.
In contrast to some Sith Warriors who prioritise individual glory, Chevaliers fight as a unit rather than on their lonesome. This is the result of intention, rather than a product of happenstance or circumstance. The Chevaliers regard themselves as a brotherhood and fight as such. As a result, they are capable of utilising small unit tactics. The Chevaliers are not a particularly subtle unit though. They lack support forces such as snipers, slicers, gunships and the like. All that is beneath them. Their combat tactics are geared towards brutal force, hammering through the lines of the enemy. They are particularly dangerous in close quarter combat.
The Chevaliers are fond of disparaging allied Vaderite formations such as the death squads of the SPTF for not being real warriors. This should not, however, be understood as a condemnation of brutal massacres against prisoners of war and civilian populations. Chevaliers are prone to making 'salient examples' to cow a population suspected of rebellion into submission. Indeed, it is standard policy to butcher entire 'xenos' villages for the death of a single Chevalier at the hands of a partisan. An 'uppity xenos' may be killed or beaten over a minor slight for 'disrespecting the Great Vader's chosen'. True to their self-conception as 'knights without fear or blemish', the Chevaliers are fond of riding into battle on powerful mounts. Dragonmounts are popular, as are Uvaks. A mount is regarded as bonded to their rider, so this is not standardised. But each Chevalier must dominate a beast in order to prove his 'natural supremacy'.
Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): All Chevaliers are Force-Users, with Force training and skill set analogous to that of classical Sith Warriors. They have a potent grasp of telekinesis and its various sub-applications, which they can utilise to deadly effect on the battlefield. Moreover, they are adept with auxiliary skills such as Consume Essence, Control Pain, Battlemind, Beast Control and physical enhancement abilities allowing them to numb their pain receptors, push past their physical limits through sheer will or boost physical attributes such as strength or speed. Some can utilise Force Drain.
Strengths:
- Dark side warriors. The Chevaliers are highly talented, tenacious duellists, wielding their blades to great effect in melee. Moreover, they possess considerable strength in the dark side of the Force. Their skill in the dark side of the Force and their martial abilities make them a formidable force in battle.
- Moreover, their physical capabilities are enhanced by cybernetic implants, boosting traits such as strength and resilience.
- Sith ideology is not really conducive to teamwork, as it is about exaltation of the self at the cost of everyone else. However, the Chevaliers are bound by brotherhood. Each of these warriors is dangerous on their own, but the Chevaliers train to fight together as a unit and draw strength from each other. The brothers don't face their foes alone, but fight (and commit brutal atrocities) together.
- Disdain long range weapons and are also not equipped with heavy weapons such as anti-tank missile launchers and the like. This can be a problem in all-out battles. Their distinctive armour and insistence on leading the charge makes them obvious targets for enemey snipers and artillery and poor at stealth, too. They lack support forces in general.
- Cybernetic augmentations make them more susceptible to powerful EMP and ion weaponry, as well as electricity-based Force techniques.
- Proud, fanatical and arrogant. Chevaliers are drilled to regard retreat as dishonourable and that they should fight to the end, which is a problem when a tactical retreat would be the wiser course of action. Moreover, they literally regard themselves as superior beings...which can cause them to potentially fatally underestimate a foe they regard as inferior on account of their genetics, gender or species.
The Chevaliers of the Black Helm trace their origins back to Labraxus Aeolias, Sith Lord and one of the dark apprentices of Darth Malitia. However, his history has been heavily distorted by propaganda. If the order's panegyrics are to be believed, he was the scion of a long line of Imperial Inquisitors who fought a shadow war against the 'xenos Jedi-Yuuzhan Vong conspiracy' that had supposedly taken control of the government, business and media and was using fake news to enslave the minds of the human masses.
The truth is a lot more prosaic. Labraxus father was a corrupt, racist cop responsible for the murder of an interspecies couple and a human trans woman for 'violating moral decency'. He was later killed by a Twi'lek self-defence militia because his colleagues had covered for him. This lineage was obviously not glorious enough for Labraxus or his hagiographers, so he imagined that his father had been part of a shadow war against the galactic xenos conspiracy. Labraxus was a Jedi radicalised by far-right humanist ideology, and pledged allegiance to Malitia's 'holy crusade' to save mankind from the 'xenos Jedi plague'. Within the greater Humanist movement, which was characterised by intense rivals, the Chevaliers viewed themselves as a small elite group.
They viewed the KEC, at the time a glorified cultist militia, with disdain, but also looked down on former national guard soldiers and policemen who joined the cause. Labraxus was firm in his conviction that power belonged exclusively to those who commanded the Force instead of being commanded by it. It was the sole right of the Sith to rule over all life by their nature as masters of the Force. At the same time, he had rather unorthodox views for a Sith, for he believed that they should be a true brotherhood. In many ways, the Chevaliers were conceived as a dark mirror to the Windian Jedi Order.
Like the Jedi, they would comport themselves with discipline and view each other as comrades in arms. But they would religiously follow the tenets of Vader worship, human supremacy and the inferiority of non-humans. He scoffed at the infighting and petty rivalries, and preached that the Sith must unite...for a campaign of genocidal violence against the supposed lesser beings.
His acolytes took these lessons to heart. As the KEC expanded their numbers, the Chevaliers kept themselves a small and enclosed group of elites. Styling themselves as the Companions of the Supreme Leader, they fought on the frontlines of the first crusade against the Dominion. The annals of the Chevaliers speak of their 'heroism', such as when 'brave' knights held the line against a Jedi onslaught during the battle of Camaron. The fanatical zeal of the Chevaliers, who were outnumbered, but refused to surrender, conceived a certain mystique. The Chevaliers also led the charge on the Jedi Temple during the Battle of Palmyra, fanatically throwing themselves into enemy fire and creating a breach in the defensive lines and fighting their way into the inner sanctum.
They do not speak of the manifold atrocities against civilian populations, alien Younglings and prisoners of war. It is bad form to mention such things. Labraxus survived the cataclysmic destruction of Palmyra, rallying Sith acolytes during the chaotic retreat after the detonation of a preternatural nuclear weapon foiled Malitia's dark ritual, at the cost of turning the city's ruins into a cursed hellscape. Suffering from radiation sickness, he used his strength in the dark side to survive...and by draining captives of their life force. The Chevaliers led many a brave rearguard action during the Arduous March. They also torched villages of 'inferior xenos' to acquire loot and slaves.
When Malitia perished during the March, Labraxus tried to aggrandise himself. Ironically, he honestly mourned his mentor, believing his vision had been betrayed by faithless allies. For his skill in battle and fanatical commitment, Labraxus had become a legend among many martially inclined Sith, but his views were subversive for the Vaderites. In his eyes, those who could not wield the Force were not entitled to power. The Sith must dispense with any illusion that Non-Force-Users had value other than as resources to power the Vaderite war machine.
He lost the power struggle to Darth Vengeance, another dark apprentice of Malitia. While as virulently racist, and genocidal, he was willing to accommodate the aspirations of human Non-Force-Users who were eager to sign up for the cause of humanist imperialism if they were given a measure of power and allowed to trample on the 'racially inferior'. Outplayed by his rival, Labraxus came to consider the fledgling Imperium degenerate, but was distracted by the Republican Guard's offensive. Rallying his knights, he took to the field during the Battle of Synorostad.
Led by their supreme commander Sinya Kairn, a Twi'lek clone who had once been a slave-soldier of the Dominion, the rebels led a grim struggle against the Vaderite. The partisans managed to seize large parts of Synorostad in a lightning strike, but as the Vaderites pushed them back, the city became a war zone. Having failed to beat the Vaderites conventionally, the partisans switched to unconventional urban warfare. The battle was a meat grinder. What was left of the city was devastated during the slaughter. Chevaliers and their allies carried out savage massacres against non-humans, not even sparing children. However, they suffered heavy casualties from Republican Guard snipers and mines. Frustrated, they took out their anger on those who could not fight back.
Sinya was slain by Labraxus, who hung her corpse from a tree to demoralise the enemy. By his command, entire districts were levelled by indiscriminate shelling or gassed. However, her death had served a purpose, as she had died leading an assault unit to secure a breakthrough for her beleaguered troops. The Vaderites took out their anger on the immobile wounded and nurses, tearing them apart with kath hounds. Labraxus met his end here, too, though not in 'glorious battle'. He was taken out by a Republican Guard suicide squad. The Chevaliers embellished his end to make it look more 'heroic'. The battle was a severe loss for the rebellion...but also became a rallying cry. The savage conduct of the Chevaliers and other Vaderite troops assured that the Republican Guard would not lack for recruits.
The Chevaliers were recognised as 'heroes' of the Imperium. Though Labraxus was dead, they remained steadfast in following his tenets. The order fetishised loyalty, which the Supreme Leader was quick to take advantage of once the disruptive element had been removed. The Chevaliers were mythologised for their role in the battle of Cerama, when less than a hundred knights defeated a 'vast horde' of '50,000 Jedi and xenos scum'. The true story though is that they attacked a rebel city recklessly but the defenders were mostly unarmed. So with sword, gun and the Force they ravaged the city, killing thousands of nearly unarmed civilians and claiming the husk as a conquest for the Vader.
The Chevaliers' zeal was rewarded when a Supreme Leader granted them a colony called Leuctra for them to set up an agrarian paradise with slave workers, white picket fences and weekly hangings of slaves by lot to make sure they did not get uppity. In this racial utopia, men would be warriors, women would be mothers and the racially or genetically 'inferior' would be slaves. When they were participating in campaign of subjugation, the Chevaliers were encouraged to go on quests to slay 'monsters' and recover lost relics. During the course of one incursion, they came across what purported to be the 'glove of the Vader' while they were in dire straits and rallied to win a miraculous victory. Or more accurately to slip away from overwhelming Yuuzhan Vong numbers. When open hostilities once again erupted with the Dominion, the Chevaliers were responsible for conquering a light side nexus that had been a centre of pilgrimage for the Ashlanites across the Dominion.
It was promptly despoiled and twisted by Sith sorcerers to consecrate it as a dark side nexus, for myths claimed that it had once been the site of a shrine of the Vader. It was christened the Wellspring of the Dark Father's Majesty. Pilgrims from the cult of the Dark Father who ventured here to receive his blessing soon manifested...problematic behaviour. The Netherworld Event was the cause of a new period of turmoil across Tephrike. The discovery of a lost tome that told the true story of Vader's redemption triggered a civil war.
A radical Sith faction denounced the Vader as a pretender who had forsaken the true path, proclaiming that Sidious was the true Sith'ari. At the same time, a faction of reformist Light Sith rose in revolt, declaring that like Vader the Vaderites must atone for their sins and promising freedom to the slaves. At the same time, nominally loyalisth Sith Lords schemed against each other, leaving the Imperium weakened. Briefly, Lord Salus, leader of the Light Sith, took control. The Chevaliers found themselves divided as brother fought brother. A small group of 'Loyalist' knights fled fled the Light Sith, but then were able to gather forces and strike back, purging them...and killing prisoners of war and civilians deemed to be 'traitors'. Their leader was censured for this, not for killing non-combatants...but for killing human non-combatants because that sort of thing should only be done to the 'impure'.
After Firemane's bombardment of Castle Maysaf killed Supreme Leader Furcht and much of his inner circle, riven Vaderite factions fought a brief civil war. Led by Tan Gerasimos Athanou, the Chevaliers largely stayed until Eisen had consolidated power. Officially this was because 'brave' Gerasimos stood above politics and was loyal to the Imperium above any man. So he secured the Imperial capital to 'keep the peace' and 'maintain law and order'. Detractors called him Gerasimos the Bystander behind his back, though never to his face. Not all were willing to 'prioritise the greater good'. At the behest of his lord father, Pyrros Skleros murdered a Sith lord he had been assigned to guard for refusing to follow the 'true Supreme Leader'. In the aftermath of Skywalker City's fall, the Chevaliers swore allegiance to Darth Eisen, recognising him as Supreme Leader.
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