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Approved NPC Leonina Varkathras

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent:
To further flesh out Firemane's Force-using branch a bit. This character is meant to assist in faction roleplays, but can be utilised in PvP if needed, hence the writeup to document what the character can and can't do.
Image Credit: Cathar character in 'The Old Republic'. Found here on ravalation.blogspot.de by Ravanel Griffon.
Role: Order of Fire equivalent of a Jedi Guardian, swordmistress, instructor. 2IC of the Order.
Permission: N/A
Links: Into Darkness, Soteria, Darth Libertas, Master and Apprentice, Communion,
Promotion.

PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Age:
Late thirties.
Force Sensitivity: Master
Species: Cathar.
Appearance: Leonina is a tall, fit Cathar female with yellow eyes. She belongs to the Juhani subspecies, and so her feline features are less prominent than those of the baseline Cathar. However, she still has fur, feline eyes and the retractable claws her species is known for. These claws are razor-sharp and can thus be used to inflict damage in hand-to hand combat. Her reddish-orange fur resembles that of a tiger. By the standards of her people, she has a pretty if somewhat scarred face. Regarding attire, she usually wears Order of Fire robes or a Firemane unifom when on duty, while donning a suit of battle armour when she knows she is going into battle or a potentially risky situation.

SOCIAL INFORMATION
Name:
Leonina Varkathras

Titles:

  • Master
  • Brigadier
Loyalties: Siobhan, Firemane, House Kerrigan-Alcori, Order of Fire.
Wealth: Modest. Like every member of the Order of Fire, Leonina receives remuneration from Firemane in return for her services. The pay is on a sliding scale based on experience, rank, reward and so on. Being a Master, Leonina should be able to enjoy a comfortable though not luxurious retirement when her service ends. While not a spendthrift, she has become more materialistic since leaving the Jedi and no longer adheres to a vow of poverty.
Notable Possessions:

  • She carries an engraved Hold-out Bolter that was a personal gift from Siobhan Kerrigan.
  • Leonina possesses a suit of Centurion Battle Armour.
  • She owns a crossguard lightsabre with an intense blade, dual phase mode, bifurcating cyclical ignition and other standard lightsabre systems.
  • She also owns a holocron made by her old Jedi Master. Aside from her master's personal thoughts, the holocron contains information on Jedi teachings, history and the core Force powers. Leonina mainly keeps it for sentimental reasons and to remember the woman her master was before she turned traitor and embraced the path of the Sith.
  • Collection of medals and valorous decorations.
  • The lightsabre of her Jedi Padawan, who started as a naive flower child, then fell to the Dark Side, turned into a murderous psychopath and had to be killed. Leonina keeps it as a reminder.
Skills: Leonina is a competent duellist and skilled in several Force abilities, though she is not a powerhouse. In melee, she is knowledgeable in the first five of the classical forms of lightsabre combat: Shii-Choo, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru and Djem So/Shien plus Jar'kai. She often wields a single bladed lightsabre in her primary hand and a shoto in her off-hand. She is also knowledgeable in the New Jedi Order Fast, Medium, and Strong styles. While a capable Force-user, when it comes to offensive skills she focuses more on her bladework than on esoteric abilities. She is a capable organiser and battlefield commander.

As a Force-user, she does not possess the raw power to make her exceptional. Rather, her skill set in this area is focused on inspirational and defensive powers, allowing her to act as a buff when she plays a support role. By contrast, her offensive Force powers are rather limited, especially at long range. In short, she is primarily a defensive buffer and healer. While she is good at tanking, her limited offensive skill set can put her at a disadvantage against Force-users who possess more hard-hitting or exotic powers, especially at long range.

Leonina has a skill set that resembles that of a classical Guardian. She is skilled in Battlemind, Force Stasis, Tutaminis, Protection Bubble, Force Healing, Force Valour, Force Body and Force Resistance. She is also very good at using the Force to enhance her physical characteristics, augmenting her strength, endurance, resilience, speed, reflexes, pain tolerance, ability to hold her breath and endure very hot or cold environments. Moreover, she can enter into a hibernation trance. She can utilise Telekinesis, but her skill with is classical rather than exceptional and she has trouble applying it effectively at beyond medium range. Leonina is a very skilled lightsabre duellist. She can also utilise ranged weapons such as blasters and slugthrowers, conventional melee weapons and is good at hand-to-hand combat. On the non-combat front she is trained in first aid and is a decent though not exceptional pilot.

Personality: Leonina is driven, passionate and brave. She spent much of her life in the service of the Republic's Jedi Order and was thrust into the Republic-Sith War as an early age. Her experiences during this conflict hardened her. While she is still opposed to Sith and the like, she is very jaded when it comes to Jedi. If one were to ask her, she would say that she left the Jedi behind her because she got tired of gridlock, conclaves and civilian mass deaths. As far as she is concerned, she has the chance to do more good outside of the confines of the Jedi than within them.

Leonina was deeply affected when her Jedi master, whom she believed to have died in the war, turned out to be alive - and a traitor. She was unable to bring her to justice during the Sith War, but has sworn to find her one day and do what must be done. She has strong opinions on personal responsibility and the so-called revolving alignment door policy. Having seen many ostensibly repentant Sith 'return to the Light' only to relapse again, she believes reformed Sith should answer for their crimes like any other criminal, instead of being given a few pious words about redemption and set free. When their deed calls for it, Force-users who committed crimes should be given the death penalty.

The Cathar is confident, and not the type to meditate about the uncertain future. Instead, she lives in the here and now, preferring direct action. Leonina conducts herself professionally and has a reputation for following the rules, though not to the point of being an inflexible martinet. She has a code of conduct that she follows rather strictly. The Cathar has high expectations of her subordinates, but is quick to reward merit and makes a point of being available to them. She maintains a tight regime of physical fitness and expects the same from those beneath her in the chain of command. Due to this, one of her training methods includes making students fight while within a ysalamiri field, since this forces them to rely on more than their Force powers. Partly this is because she herself was caught off-guard when duelling a Mandalorian mercenary who used beskar armour and Voidstone tech, resulting in her being seriously injured and lucky to survive the confrontation.

As a Jedi, her views on the Force were very orthodox. There was Light, and there was Dark. One stood for good, the other for evil. Her disillusionment with the order and her exposure to the Order of Fire and other Fringe groups have mellowed her opinions. These days, they are close to Potentium. On the political front, Leonina has a low opinion of the Silver Jedi. This stems from her perception that they refused to take action against the One Sith during their rampage. Likewise, she has has a grudge against Mandalorians. This is partly due to the historic enmity between the Cathar race and the Mandalorians, partly due to events such as an attack on an unaffiliated Jedi enclave on Ilium, which resulted in the deaths of several Padawans. Despite her disillusionment with the Jedi orders, Leonina is still in touch with Jedi Master Phylis Alince, an old friend from her Jedi days. Unsurprisingly, the librarian politely disapproves of her new choice of employment and believes that her friend's standards are 'slipping'.

As is common among members of the Order of Fire, Leonina has both an Order rank and a military rank. As an officer she is serious and rather by the book, but not a martinet. She values initiative and quick thinking, but expects discipline. Gloryhounds, cowards and blood knights get short shrift from her. The same applies to sadistic, bigoted and cruel beings. The Cathar does not glorify war, but views it as necessary to avert greater evil. She accepts that no war is a clean, sanitised affair where the good guys beat the bad guys and the lines never blur. However, she regards those who use it to commit atrocities as abhorrent. She realises that innocents die in war, but draws a distinction between collateral damage that is an unfortunate byproduct of war and willfully massacring civilians and the like. This is connected to her experiences during the Republic-One Sith War.

While Leonina has given up on Jedi orthodoxy and now espouses views that are closer to Potentium or certain Grey Jedi beliefs, she still stays away from the darker aspects of the Force. She regards the Dark Side as something that is more internal, rather than being some of kind of demon that pounces on naughty Force-users. But this does not mean that darkness does not exist. Her views can cause friction with the more darksided members of the Order. However, Leonina is not preachey or a missionary, she simply expects her subordinates to comport themselves as professional soldiers and disciplines those who do not. She stresses personal responsibility on all levels. Leonina is a soldier, so she will kill in battle. However, she kills in hot blood, not in cold blood. She has a by-the-book approach and holds herself and others to high standards. Her overall alignment could be categorised as Lawful Neutral. She will follow the rules even when it is difficult, but will refuse unlawful orders. Leonina does not like the political arena, but regards the idea of an 'apolitical officer' as not just unrealistic, but also harmful.

COMBAT INFORMATION
Weapon of Choice:
Lightsabre, conventional melee weapons. As a fighter, Leonina is a duellist. Her skill with a lightsabre gives her the ability to function as a one-on-one duellist or against multiple enemies. She is able to dual-wield, but for practical reasons carries a shoto instead of a second full-length blade in her off-hand when she employs that technique. It is useful against multiple opponents, or to gain an edge against a single one since he or she would have to watch both blades. She's also very skilled in the use of conventional bladed weapons such as vibroswords, Force pikes or the Eldorai Sarix. Though not a bad shot her skill with ranged weapons lags behind her abilities as a duellist. She still carries a sidearm, in case she might need it at close range. While solid in defence, she is comparatively lacking in offensive Force powers and weaker on that front.

Combat Function: Leonina's is a powerful Guardian and a battlefield commander. In the past her primary role was to face the enemy head-on, utilising her skills as a lightsabre duellist and ability to buff herself with the Force and support her allies. However, she is a general officer now. Hence her primary role is to provide command and control for her troops. In short she is a leader, not the type of person who would be the first to storm a trench. Leonina is not a military genius, but a solid, tenacious leader who is well-versed in combined arms tactics and able to adapt quickly on the battlefield.

However, while her primary role now lies in leadership, she is no slouch in combat. She trains very hard to keep herself in shape and is not afraid to participate in the fury of combat if needed. She is a very good lightsabre duellist, agile and dexterous. Her mental barriers are very strong. Moreover, she is a good buff on the battlefield, which allows her to boost her allies in the field. Force-wise she focuses on defence, healing and general support. However, she is comparatively weak in offensive Force powers and not very proficient in the use of heavy weapons. Leonina is stubborn and rather direct. The Cathar Force Master is very good at shielding her mind against mentalism, but has little talent for mental attacks herself. She can perform basic mind tricks, but that's it.

Strengths:

  • Force warrior. Leoina is a very tenacious, capable fighter of the Guardian type. She is very good duellist, powerful defensive buff and support player.
  • Experienced battlefield commander. She has an aura of authority, a keen intellect and an ability to pick up new concepts quickly. She has good instincs on the battelfield, exudes confidence and knows how to seize the initiative to outwit an enemy.
Weaknesses:
  • Her Force skills are more focused on protection, buffing herself and others. She is comparatively lacking in direct offensive Force powers. Her telekinesis is decent, but not exceptional. Think Original Trilogy Master. Exotic stuff such as elemental abilities, Force Illusions, Electric Judgement and so on are not powers she can use. Her more conventional Force skill set can be a disadvantage against Force-Users with more exotic powers.
  • Focused on melee and close quarter combat. She is no sniper or long ranged combatant.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Leonina was born into a relatively affluent, middle-class family in Republic territory, many years before the collapse of that galactic commonwealth. Her ancestors had been refugees who fled the Battle of Cathar at the start of the Mandalorian Wars. While her family had assimilated well into the human-dominated society, they tried to keep some of the ancestral traditions alive, such as travels to the homeworld to participate in the hunt, though these were increasingly seen as quaint.

Leonina enjoyed a rather carefree childhood, but this came to an end when her Force-sensitivity was discovered. Her Force powers manifested when she accidentally used telekinesis on a fellow Cathar kid who accused her and her family of no longer being real Cathar. The surge of rage she felt shocked the little girl. Shortly thereafter, a recruiter from the Jedi Order showed up at the family's doorstep and she underwent a standard Midichlorian test. Her parents were reluctant to let their daughter go, but in the end gave in because they believed the Jedi were the best way for their girl to learn how to control her powers. Moreover, they were patriotic Republic citizens and membership in the Jedi Order was seen as something like a privilege. Time would put all of these assumptions to the test.

Adjusting to the Jedi's monastic way of life was not easy for the girl, who started out as a poor student. At the same time she did not want to disappoint her family, though she was resentful of being separated from them. Yearning for adventure, the more formalised classes and emphasis in rote learning in them bored her. However, while she did not excel at the intellectual side of things, she showed promise with a lightsabre. Things took a turn for the better when she was assigned a master at the age of twelve. She was apprenticed to a Togruta called Shakkara Kalon, a veteran of the battles of Roche, Ossus and O'reen.

While rather stern and authoritarian, her master was a practical type who believed in direct action. Leonina devoured stories of Jedi like Lord Hoth, Mace Windu and Jaina Solo. With her master there was little of the traditional training routines with remote droids firing stun bolts and such. Rather it was all about going out into the galaxy and helping people directly, sometimes without Council knowledge. Over time, Leonina developed feelings for her master, but these remained unrequited. The two had many adventures together. One of them included breaking up a sentient trafficking ring on Coruscant, which exposed Leonina to the deplorable conditions the residents of the lower levels of the Republic's capital lived in. It affected the girl's idealism a bit. Her master became increasingly radical and obsessed with rumours about the resurgence of the Sith.

Said rumours turned out to be true when the One Sith invaded Coruscant, catching the Republic off-guard. Padawan Leonina fought bravely against the invaders, battling Sith and their minions. However, the battle was lost and the Jedi Temple destroyed. It was a great shock to the girl. She was also disgusted by the comportment of those Jedi who in her opinion had abandoned the Republic's people and their mandate as a Jedi by not taking action. An example would be Jedi who belonged to the Silver Jedi Order and the Levantine Sanctum. Over time, it would embitter her against them. Ironically, she would eventually end up leaving the Republic to its fate as well, which might make her views a bit hypocritical, though she would insist that her reasons were different and more honourable. However, right now there was only the war against the Sith. Having been driven from her home, she dedicated herself to fighting them. Leonina became more aggressive, participating in various battles and raids. While her aggression raised concern, her bravery and dedication was noticed.

She was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight after the Second Battle of Alderaan, when she took down a powerful Vong warrior. However, her happiness was marred by the fact that the Republic's attempt to drive the Sith from the planet ended in defeat. Things soon took a turn for worse when she, her master and some resistance fighters launched a raid on a Sith weapons' factory. While the mission was a success, it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory since the two were separated, her master ended up being left behind and was captured. Wracked with guilt, Leonina blamed herself for what had happened. Since the mission had not been authorised by the Council, she was reprimanded. The Republic continued to lose ground, and then the Netherworld event sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. The crumbling Republic struggled to remain afloat. As a Jedi, she fought on, but grew more and more distant. Amidst all the battles with pirates, separatists and Sith, she suddenly received a distress signal from her old master, who claimed to be alive and in need of her aid. In the transmission, Shakkara implied that they might have been betrayed by a mole in the Order, urging Leonina not to tell anyone.

Foolishly, the Cathar threw caution to the wind and covertly travelled to the rendezvous point her former master had mentioned. However, it was a trap, for Shakkara had been persuaded to join the One Sith by Darth Libertas, the Twi'lek Sith Lord who had been in charge of security at the facility. She was now Darth Soteria. Betrayed, Leonina was captured and taken to a prison camp. There, she was savagely tortured in an attempt to break her resolve and turn her to the Dark Side. However, though Shakkara played on the resentment and anger inside her former apprentice, Leonina resisted. She was able to escape the prison with the help of a rogue camp guard, freeing a few captive Padawans in the process.

However, the daring escape was interrupted when she ran into Soteria. Once again the Togruta made an attempt to sway her old apprentice to her side, also appealing to the feelings Leonina secretly had for her. However, the Cathar would not hear any of it, and attacked her with all her rage. A furious duel ensued, as the Jedi Knight unleashed her anger. Leonina was seriously injured during the fight, but was able to inflict severe wounds on her master in turn. During the course of the duel, the roof above them collapsed and Leolina, believing her master to be dead, fled. Sith troops were in pursuit, so she was lucky to escape alive with the help of the captives she'd freed and her friend Hikari Saito, an anti-Sith rebel. It was only later that she would learn Soteria had in fact survived the fight.

Understandably, she was censored for her reckless actions, though the captives she had saved remained grateful to their liberator. Her injuries prohibited field duty, which left her frustrated. While she recovered, she was assigned a Padawan called Oberan Tifwilla. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a total mismatch because Oberan was a pacifist flower child who refused to grow up and believed attacking the Sith was immoral. Once he was exposed to the horrors of war, Oberan soon snapped. He fell to the Dark Side and became a sadistic murderer. His rampage came to an end when Leonina killed him. She refused to take on another student. Attending one of the many Jedi conclaves, she was left frustrated.

The Republic first fell under the control of a Communist dictatorship led by Prime Minister Lasedri, then civilians were vented into space at the Second Battle of Roche. Leonina a decided enough was enough and went rogue...ironically like the Jedi she had so disdained in the past. Adrift, she was drawn to a militant Jedi sect called the Order of the Blazing Light, before realising they were hypocritical fanatics. When their leader tried to 'cleanse' a 'darkside tainted' village on a planet he sought to claim as Jedi Lord, Leonina slew him. Discarding the theatrical name, she led the remaining vigilantes, fighting the good fight on her own terms. When the Galactic Alliance was founded, she joined its offensive on the One Sith, though she did not join formally join the New Jedi Order's ranks. She had another encounter with Darth Libertas and crossed blades with the Twi'lek, but the duel ended inconclusively. With the collapse of the One Sith, the Cathar was a soldier without an enemy to fight, though she continued her search for her traitorous master.

The pair had a reunion during the Omega War. Like many warriors, both light and dark, Leonina fought the Rogue Sith. Her former master had joined them. However, Leonina was not the only one who wanted to bring Soteria to justice. Than Gotral, her teacher's teacher, had come to end the student he had been unable to save from the darkness. The two teamed up.
By then Soteria had broken with Libertas. The Twi'lek was a member of the coalition of the willing. Ironically, this put her on the same side as Leonina and Than. When they encountered each other, Leonina was overcome by anger and attacked the Sith who had corrupted her master. Than defused the situation, forcing her to stand down. Reluctantly, Leonina did so, though she vowed to kill Libertas when this was over. Than coldly informed the Sith that Shakkara was his business. Libertas was happy to let them charge in.

And so Soteria faced her former master and ex-student. She had contempt for Than, whom she considered a coward for, as she put it, running away and hiding in Wild Space while the Galaxy burnt. But she still felt affection for Leonina, considering her a great but misguided student. The three fought relentlessly. Soteria was at a disadvantage because it was two versus one and suffered several injuries, but she was a juggernaut. Finally, she was able to separate them and strike Than down, running him through with her blade. But Leonina charged her once more, even though her traitorous master was stronger than her.

Soteria would later say that her apprentice had never fought better. Soteria defeated her apprentice, and once again gave Leonina a chance to join her. But the Cathar refused. The station going critical put an end to the duel. Soteria let her maimed apprentice go. Explosions rocked the station. She narrowly managed to escape it. The Rogue Sith had collapsed. They had forced the Galaxy to unite against the cleansing storm, but the unlikely coalition of the willing died with them.

Leonina had no doubt that Soteria had survived. However, the Cathar was now adrift. The trail had gone cold and there were no visible enemies to fight. By chance, she ran into her family again and got time to reconnect with them. Then war broke out between the First Order and the Galactic Alliance. Leonina was not there for the Battle of Kaeshana, but heard about it on the holonews and soon came in contact with Eldorai refugees. The Cathar wanted to rejoin the fight, but not as a Jedi. Coincidentally, her brother was employed by Firemane Industries as a starship engineer and suggested that she give the company a try. Here and there, Leonina had encountered Firemane mercenaries during the One Sith War, but not given them much thought.

She was wary about becoming a corporate employee, especially since their leader was a Dark Jedi. However, she appeared at one of their recruitment offices and soon secured a job interview. Surprisingly, she encountered Siobhan Kerrigan herself. While Leonina never became an uncritical fan of the Countess, the two found common ground, having experienced similar frustrations during their time as Jedi Knights in service of the Republic. And so Leonina joined the Order of Fire, Firemane's Force-using branch. Subsequently, she served in the war with the First Order until it came to a close with an armistice following the Galactic Alliance's failed assault on Hoth. By then she had been named a Master. Leonina continued to serve in the Order of Fire's ranks, having found a place amongst its members.

Leonina rose through the ranks of the Order of Fire and Firemane to become an officer with the rank of Colonel. This made her one of the Order's most senior officers, right after Siobhan Kerrigan herself. She supervised many of the day-to-day affairs of the Order and became one of its visible leaders. While she did not possess the raw power of some other Mistresses of the Order, she was a constant, steady and level-headed presence. She worked long hours and has a good eye for detail. Her new role also broadened her horizons, enabling her to develop her skills as a commander. She led Firemane contingents in several combat operations against Kraal, Rogue Sith and in Tygaran brush fire conflicts.

Siobhan trusted her, regarding her as loyal and competent. While being a senior officer means that Leonina spent more time behind a desk than she would like, she commanded field operations in person whenever practical. Although she had adjusted to military life and did not wish to return to the Jedi, she remained in contact with her friend Phylis. Recently, she led the Order of Fire contingent during Firemane's expedition to the lost planet of Tephrike. This was supposed to be a peaceful exploration, but turned out to be anything but. Tephrike had been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy ever since the outbreak of the Gulag Virus.

Pervasive strife between riven factions had turned it into a post-apocalyptic, broken world. Three factions vied for power: Jedi zeaots, slave-driving, chaotic Sith and rebels with a radical anti-Forcer-user agenda. The last of the three was the most sympathetic. Firemane attempted diplomacy with the Jedi-led Dominion of Light, a totalitarian theocracy. However, extremists within the Dominion's government assaulted the Firemane delegation with the approval of the Grandmaster, who opposed a group of moderates led by his own Battlemaster. Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori held off Dominion militia and Jedi warriors to ensure the escape of the delegation, but was captured by the Inquisition. In response Firemane declared war. The Dominion's capital was bombed and the Jedi Temple was levelled. The Dominion retaliated by launching missiles against Firemane's ships. One of Firemane's corvettes was destroyed.

Leonina supported Tegaea with tactical and strategic advice on the conduct of the campaign. She was given tactical command over a Firemane task force charge with punishing the Dominion by seizing a major fortress. This was supposed to be a joint operation with the Republican Guard, an anti-Force-User rebel faction. Leonina was given a mixed force composed of Firemane Regulars, Cataphracts, Vashyada scouts, Qadiri elementalists, Order of Fire warriors as well as a squad of Resistance members. She proved herself capable of turning these diverse groups into a cohesive force.

Before landing ground troops, Firemane hammered Fortress Purity with air and artillery strikes. The Republican Guard had been routed when it tried to take the citadel during the Netherworld Event, but the fortress had not been designed to withstand firepower the likes of which Firemane was unleashing. Destruction rained down upon Purity. But its defenders did not run. Their leader, General Kennobi, was a fanatic and willing to accept extreme casualties if it meant bleeding his enemy white and causing Firemane to back off. Dominion troops were dug into trenches and underground tunnels, and held their ground. Despite Firemane's technological superiority, the battle was a bloody one.

The Dominion's tech was primitive, but they used kamikaze fighters and a weather control machine to negate Firemane's air power. Firemane lost several transports and gunships to the storm caused by the machine. Moreover, they utilised suicide bombers, sharpshooters and large numbers of Force-Users. Leonina coordinated the advance of her forces from the rear area, directing artillery strikes. However, she was forced to wade into combat when Dominion troops ambushed them. Drawing her lightsabre, she led the Order of Fire into battle, slaying a Dominion Jedi Master in a duel.

On the ground Firemane and Republican Guard troops faced fanatical resistance. Many Dominion units fought to the death. A crack Firemane unit called Reaper Squad, led by Freya Solveig, linked up with Viper Company, a force of Republican Guard anti-Force-User specialists led by a Yuuzhan Vong called Mezha Krazhmir. Having been cut off from the rest of Firemane, the Reapers teamed up with them to take out a Dominion artillery battery and turn its guns on the enemy. However, an enemy counterattack forced them to retreat. Cornered, they held off a Dominion infantry and heavy armour assault before being swarmed. Elsewhere, Firemane troops were locked in intense combat with Dominion elite troops, militia and Jedi.

Coordination between the allies was difficult. General Aruunzeb, commander of the Republican Guard forces, distrusted Firemane and had refused to commit the bulk of his forces. This led to a tense scene when Colonel Leonina Varkathras, commanding officer of the Firemane ground troops, marched in his command post and demanded the Guard commit or Firemane would leave. The fact that she was a Force-User did not help. The Mon Calamari was wary, but then agreed, reasoning that it was their best chance to strike a blow against the Dominion.

The deployment of Republican Guard regulars stabilised the front line, but fighting remained intense. Viper Company and the Reapers discovered that the Dominion's bunkers were part of an underground complex, after taking a bunker that been concealed by an illusion. Upon learning of this, Leonina ordered the Reapers to stand their ground with the partisans and dispatched reinforcements. Fierce fighting ensued in the tunnels and upon a hill held by Dominion troops.

Leonina deployed the Celestial Dragons, a sect of Qadiri elementalists, to turn the raging storm against the enemy. She worked with Sergeant Saito, leader of the Silencers, to provide them with coordinates to strike at. Qadiri pilots from Mirage Squadron were among the few who could fly in the hazardous weather conditions. Eventually Firemane and Republican Guard troops were able to break through the Dominion's defences. It was a rout. When all seemed lost, General Kennobi ordered a brigade of Younglings to conduct a suicidal death charge while his officers retreated and he committed seppuku. Their futile charge turned into a massacre. Fortress Purity fell to the combined forces of Firemane and the Republican Guard, but victory had come at a cost.

In the aftermath of the fight, Leonina visited the battlefield. She met up with Saito, who had led the Firemane attack on the hill. There she also saw the bodies of the dead Younglings, who were being buried by Firemane troops. The sight filled her with anger. She also ran into General Aruunzeb, who was a lot more conciliatory now. The two had a brief moment of bonding. Entering the command bunker, she found Freya, Mezha and Synthia Vao, another partisan, standing over General Kennobi's corpse. The four had a brief chat. Firemane and the Guard had entered the battlefield as unwieldy allies, but now it was open whether they would leave it as that as well. Kennobi's suicide disgusted Leonina, who considered him unworthy of the name of a true Jedi.

When she left the battlefield, she had a strong feeling of melancholy. Time and again, Jedi had fallen short of their principles. Those on Tephrike were an extreme case of having lost their sense of proportion, but not the only one. She decided to fully give up on the idea of the Jedi, deciding that their time had past and those who believed that the Galaxy could not do without them had succumbed to hubris. Lady Kerrigan was pleased with Leonina's conduct and promoted her to the rank of Brigadier. In the aftermath of the campaign, Leonina also assumed a mentoring role for young Elpsis. However, Darth Soteria has also reentered her life. Leonina's traitorous Master was led to Dahomey under false pretense, believing that her old apprentice was there. When she found Siobhan instead, Soteria decided to humble Firemane's leader. The two engaged in a ferocious duel. Soteria was severely injured, but managed to best Siobhan. However, Elpsis managed to ambush the Sith. Though unable to defeat her, she was able to drive her away, as Firemane reinfocements were on the way. The Sith escaped, though Firemane pursued her. Leonina is determined to find her former Master and bring her to justice. She accepts that such a confrontation can only end in death, for whatever her teacher used to be, now she is a traitor and a war criminal.
 
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[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

As always an elaborate submission with plenty of detail for people to interact with. She is a Master, but more of the classical vein and is at a distinct advantage when out of her niche... that is completely reasonable in my book.

Enjoy!
 
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