Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Flesh out a codex location.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: Blanket permission for anything made by Val here. Can use Archangel stuff because I own the company.
Links: Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, Republican Guard, After Darkness, Firemane Industries, Into Darkness, Archangel Research and Design, Mahtara, General Aruunzeb, Force-Dead, Jedi Inquisition, The Guiding Strictures of Ashla and Mace Windu to Lead to Correct Thought and Belief, Republican Guard, Popular Front, Provisional Revolutionary Committee, Grand Army of Light.
SETTING INFORMATION
Structure Name: The Skypiercer/Ascension of the Harmonious Spirit. The first is the original name. Dominion followers use the second.
Classification: Skyscraper/Arcology.
Location: Vortanstad/City of Harmonious Industry, Tephrike.
Affiliation: Tephrike, Dominion of Light, Windian Jedi Order.
Accessibility: Very well-known locally, but located in a war zone on a very remote, obscure and war-torn planet. Much of Vortanstad/The City of Harmonious Industry has been devastated by war and the city is being actively fought over. Moreover, the Dominion maintains a harsh, totalitarian regime. Access to Ascension is effectively limited to authorised security personnel, government employees and certain members of the social elite who have stayed here because it is still safer than elsewhere in the city or they're still clinging to the dream. The building is guarded by soldiers.
Description: To approach or to live in the Ascension of the Harmonious Spirit is a deeply surreal experience. Located in the Dominion zone of the divided city of Vortanstad (or City of Harmonious Industry, as Dominion followers call it) it is the tallest building in the city. The battered skyscraper still stands tall, while being surrounded by ruins and detritus. The skyscraper was conceived as a mixed-use building that would blend cultural, residential, commercial and institutional purposes. Back in the day it served as a hotel, but also provided office and commercial space.
The tower was virtually self-contained in regards to energy, amenities and waste reclamation. After the outbreak of the Gulag Virus cut off Tephrike from the rest of the Galaxy, offworld tourists stopped arriving, so its use as a hotel declined. Instead it became living space for the social elite of the Dominion, which expanded on it considerably. The designers installed a life support system, a countermeasure against Vortanstad smog, and boasted that it is able to catch rainwater for internal use and recycle a portion of its wastewater.
Each level had its own atrium and the inhabitants had a panoramic view of the city. The inhabitants also had their own special shops. Those who resided here were as close to nobility as one could get in the supposedly egalitarian Dominion, especially those who were not Jedi. This was also a way for the secret police to keep an eye on the 'great and good' of society. At the same time, various departments that managed the city had their offices here, and the building was used as a broadcasting tower for propaganda.
But now its glory has faded. Many of apartments and even entire floors are deserted or in a state of disrepair. A visitor must be on their guard as they cross the streets, and take care to heed the sound of the air raid sirens. The presence of flak cannons on the streets and in the courtyard is a stark reminder of this. Many of the soldiers operating said anti-aircraft guns are teenagers. Here and there, one hears bombs falling in the far distance. Sometimes a mobile patrol passes by on a speeder ot a groundcar with weapons mounted on it. Greenspaces that lie outside not far from the tower have been turned into networks of earth works for Dominion soldiers to use as defensive positions.
But some residents still cling to the dream. It is very much an 'emperor has no clothes' situation, where the people living there have to and/or choose to ignore the destruction, the death of other residents, the squalour and lack of facilities. Parts of the building have totally fallen apart and are in a state of complete disrepair, others are clean, shiny and well-maintained, by Tephriki standards. The ground floor is the best since there's no working elevator in the tower and it's the best structurally...but some residents kid themselves into wanting to get a high story 'for the view'. This annoys Dominion soldiers because they have snipers on top, but they also don't want to remove them since their propaganda is that all is well.
The local senior administrator has 'humbly' chosen to live on the first floor on the rear side...because it's the safest. The tower features a greenhouse that actually still produces food. The self-contained waste reclamation doesn't work that well anymore though. Solar electricity window panels covering the building provide power, though not enough to cover all its needs. The city's power grid was unreliable on a good day...and that was war before war came to the City of Harmonious Industry. The remaining residents have learned to improvise.
Today, most members of the elite have fled the city. Others were murdered by partisans, criminals or in some cases shot by Dominion troops for desertion. But others remain. They have do without many of the creature comforts of the past, but then there is still the black market and with sufficient connections they get preferential treatment. Besides, it is still safer than many other areas in a divided city under indefinite martial law. Sometimes the denizens throw parties with loud music and liquor acquired through illicit channels. This is rather surreal, considering the thunder of artillery can be heard, and the building is an obvious target for insurgents. Such a celebration may be interrupted by an air raid siren and they have to run to an underground shelter. And Dominion militia steal the leftovers. Underpaid or jealous Dominion soldiers may blackmail residents for favours.
The Dominion uses parts of the spire as a field hospital or to store equipment. Very accomplished and loyal workers have been settled in vacated apartments. The Ascension still houses government offices. Some of the special shops are still open, though their shelves are often empty. Likewise, it continues to serve as a broadcasting studio for the Ministry of Enlightenment, whose employees have installed a powerful transmitter. The top section has broken off, but it is used as a sniper and signal platform for the bold and/or desperate. Several levels are in a state of disrepair. This is partly due to neglect or shoddy maintenance, but also because rebel terrorists tried to blow up the building. They failed, but caused notable damage. Inhabitants are advised to use the stairs.
For obvious reasons, the Ascension features prominently in propaganda produced by the Provisional Revolutionary Committee's agitation and propaganda department. The Republican Guard's propagandists depict it as the manifestation of Windian Jedi greed, callousness and hypocrisy, contrasting its grandiosity with the poverty many commoners live in. Some residents do sympathise with the rebel movement and try to secretly disseminate its propaganda or even commit minor acts of sabotage, but the rebels often distrust them. And, of course, the consequences of discovery are fatal.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Infinity Stair - a broken staircase. There are staircases in each corner, but only three function. This one is open to the sky and cut off from the floors above. Needless to say it's a bad idea to use it.
Reservoir - A simple name, but funny since that's decidedly not what it was. The pool now collects rainwater for use when the water mains don't work. There's also one of those tanks on the roof.
Enlightenment Distribution and Transmission Centre 43 - a propaganda broadcasting studio that is used by the Ministry of Enlightenment to obviously enlighten the population and ensure they interpret news correctly. The tower is equipped with a, by Tephriki standards, powerful transmitter. In the past, the propaganda was reassuring and downplaying any danger. But now it has begun to shift to 'total war' language under the direction of the 'Voice of Judgement'. The spectre of a return of the 'Firemane Star Sithspawn' is used to rally the population and threaten the faithless. Access is restricted, and security is strict because the people who work here are obvious targets for rebel terrorists.
The Consistory of the Celestial Alignment/Constellation Steakhouse - originally called the Constellation Steakhouse. Before war came to Vortanstad it was a glamorous restaurant. Today, it is a soup kitchen, much to the grumbling of members of the nomenklatura who miss the steak and dislike having proles around. Originally it had a pattern of stars and their names on the ceiling. This is much faded and some of the labels have been...corrected...to better reflect Windian orthodoxy. Did you know that you can see Coruscant, Corellia, Yavin, Illum and Ossus from Tephrike and they all form a single constellation called the Jedi Master? Well...they don't and you can't, but they say they do.
Apartment 606 - Due to an artillery strike this room does not exist. If you open the door you will fall six stories to your death, past the ruined stairwell. It's become a grim joke among Dominion soldiers that if you get a 'Promotion to 606' you're going to have an 'accident'. The Inquisition disapproves, but the local head Inquisitor has decided they have more important things to punish people for.
Spirit of Harmony Reclamation Works - A 'high-end' recycling/waste reclamation facility buried deep in the depths. In its heyday it took in all the waste produced in the mega-tower, broke it down to its base components, recycled them into food or pumped them to various factories. Unfortunately, the facility doesn't work so well anymore.
Harmonious Restoration Centre - this used to be a residential area, but the original residents fled, and so the apartments have been converted into a field hospital. It is anything but harmonious, but far enough from the frontlines to send wounded there. Tephrike has been isolated from galactic markets for centuries, and so the medical staff must rely on conventional medicine and the occasional Jedi healer or low-level Force adept from the church.
Authorised Ministry of Enlightenment Presentation Centre 86 - a theatre meant to provide wholesome and uplifting entertainment to the residents, and anyone else who can get authorised access. These days much of the entertainment is focused on patriotic plays and operas meant to strengthen the audience's faith in Mace Windu Thought, though they also sometimes lighten things up with non-political content. They also perform shows for soldiers, especially the wounded and those who have been awarded meritorious decorations. It's not a bad gig for the performers...because it keeps them from being drafted. But there is still the risk of being framed for immorality by a petty, self-righteous apparatchik, Cennobite or thug from the Patrol for the Promotion of the Public Good and the Prevention of Sin for 'immorality'.
Harmonious Domiciles of the Diligent and Faithful - The remaining living areas in the mega-tower are a mixed bag. They range from dilapidated and looted to abandoned and shiny. Theoretically, every residential sector is supposed to have all manners of amenities and services, with furnishing provided by the state. In practice there was always a high degree of social stratification. Apartments located on the top floors were the domain of the elite, receiving superior furnishings and priority services, while those located on the ground floor were far less exclusive and reserved for administrative drones.
Moreover, living areas were stratified by caste, with randoms receiving inferior treatment compared to clones from prestigious lines. Today, the situation has changed in amusing ways. The areas where the less privileged dwell in are safer now. Some of the old elites who haven't fled have relocated and tried to force out their less privileged counterparts, or stubbornly cling their old apartments even when they are unsafe and only being irregularly serviced.
The apartment classes have graded, but these are obtuse and seemingly illogical for an outsider: the standard grades are 1-5, but lower is better. But there's grade 0 which is the worst, and a grade 6 which is for 'special rooms' and which is the best. But the grades have not been updated for a long time. Clerks responsible for sorting everyone into the appropriate grade tend to be unhelpful when a resident complains about being misassigned.
Room 3b - officialy a perfectly mundane room located underground and used to store things. Rumour is that it used to serve as a torture chamber for the Blue Guards. Now it secretly is a gambling den with a night club attached to it. Gambling and consumption of liquor are banned in the austere Dominion, just as it has officially done away with credits and class barriers, but the elite finds ways to get past the nation's puritanical morality laws. Access requires a secret pass code and a recommendation from an established patron, who vouches for the newcomer. Patrons use specie rather than 'Units of Fundamental Exchange'. 'Happy pills' also trade hands and black market deals are made here.
Shrine of the Divine Ashla - a place of religious worship dedicated to Ashla Soteria, the mistress of hope, and Ashla Niketas, the master of victory. Maintained by the Followers of the Divine Ashla, the shrine is rather plain. There is no altar, but tablets with the commandments of Asha.The Ecclesia forbids making imagery that portrays Ashla in the likeness of a living being, but it is allowed to depict the Divine Ashla indirectly through imagery of salvation and victory. Hence one can see imagery of the divine light smiting the wicked, or illuminating the land for the faithful, blessing crops and the like.
Mynock's Nest - The top section of the mega-tower has broken off, but it is used as a sniper and signal platform for the very bold. The sniper's nest is well-camouflaged. The heighest point of the peak of the tower offers an excellent vantage for a sharpshooter.
Greenhouse - one of the key facilities of the mega-tower that actually works without issue. Some of the food is stolen and sold on the black market though, which represents a serious violation of the Guiding Strictures of Ashla and Mace Windu to Lead to Correct Thought and Belief.
SECURITY
Medium. There are guards, heavy, reinforced doors, security cameras and a private alarm system. Moreover, there are flak cannons nearby to ward the block against air strikes. The top of the building is a common hideout for snipers. As a result it's hard to get in, but a determined assault could breach it because it is not a military installation, and located in a part of the city that is comparatively calm. However, getting there is not particularly easy because the city is under martial law and still a war zone.
The guards tend to be low echelon Dominion paramilitaries who 'protect the streets' as well as members of the military police. Soldiers from the Grand Army who have been wounded in battle and are fit enough for duty, but not in full combat shape yet, may be sent here for guard duty and to supervise the militia. However, there will usually be one or two Inquisitors present to investigate threats. Archangel has provided some Stecher Wasp Droids for surveillance purposes both within and outside the tower, as well as some old battle droids for guard duties. In a way, the damage the structure has sustained also provides a form of security. It can impede defenders...but unlike outside intruders they know which rooms and staircases aren't safe.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
There was a time when Tephrike was not a war-torn hellhole of a planet divided between riven factions. When many of its cities did not lie in ruins, and many of its people were not impoverished, malnourished and forced to toil under warlords and totalitarian regimes. The Skypiercer was built during Tephrike's heyday, which coincided with the so called Golden Age. The outbreak of the Gulag Virus was still many centuries away. Vortanstad had become a major industrial hub on the planet, attracting significant foreign investment as well as migrants from the countryside, who hoped to make good in the big city. In effect, the Skypiercer was a small arcology. It was conceived as a mixed-use building that would blend cultural, residential, commercial and institutional purposes. Back in the day it served as a hotel, but also provided office and commercial space.
The tower was virtually self-contained in regards to energy, amenities and waste reclamation. When the Skypiercer was complete it was Tephrike's tallest buildings. Critics on social media called it a vanity project, but the architecture form responsible for design and construction boasted that the Skypiercer had redefined the role of tall buildings in Tephriki cities and raised the bar for urban planning. According to them, the design adhered to best practices in sustainability and high-performance design, weaved the structure into the fabric of Vortanstad and drew community life into the building. The Skypiercer utilised green architecture and the sustainable design was certified by the Tephrike Green Building Committee.
Environmentalist groups pointed out that the money invested in the megatall skyscraper could have been better spent on fixing the planet's ecological problems. Moreover, the project led to protests from renters' rights advocates because the project had encouraged nearby landlords to increase their rents. Gentrification and displacement were the inevitable results, and community activists organised protests. Small businesses also suffered. Moreover, contrary to initial promises, only 12% of the suites rather than 20% were set for below-market housing. No low income, co-operative or social housing was proposed. Rather the residential areas were dominated by luxury condos. The mega-complex had the effect of shooting up nearby property values, taxes and rents on small businesses. Community activists protested the construction of the mega-tower. Spokespeople demanded that the municipal government should prioritise housing for the city's lowest-income residents to combat the homelessness crisis.
Ironically, while the tower itself abided by the principles of green architectre, traffic increased significantly around the megatower, as there was only enough underground parking for around a third of the suites. In principle, this was supposed to encourage transit use, many megatower residents, unwilling to give up their groundcars or speeders or pay the parking premium, clogged surrounding residential streets with their parked vehicles.
Soon allegations surfaced on the 'net that certain members of Vortanstad Municipal Council's Planning and Land Use Commission were benefiting financially from the project. However, construction went ahead regardless. The completion of the tower led to a heightened police presence, drawing criticism from activists about police brutality against poor people and the implementation of measures to push out homeless. Private security guards and police cleared out a nearby building to forcibly evict a group of activists and homeless who had been squatting and using it as a community space. The building had been derelict for ten years. The eviction was carried out with disproportionate violence.
Ironically, the Skypiercer had trouble attracting sufficient tenants, leaving entire floors empty for a long time. Winston Stakes, real estate moghul and notoriously corrupt, thuggish politician, tried to purchase the building. When his bid failed, he threw a tantrum and built the incredibly gaudy Galactic Stakes Tower in Palmyra instead. The Skypiercer did not have gold-plated toilet seats, but it was an incredibly expensive building. The designers installed a life support system, a countermeasure against Vortanstad smog, and boasted that it is able to catch rainwater for internal use and recycle a portion of its wastewater. Its tenants included banks, technology companies and law firms as well as private citizens who could afford to pay the outrageous prices.
However, as social tensions intensified on the planet, it became a symbol of the elite's ignorance and indifference. Indeed, the workers responsible for maintaining the enormous tower went on strike due to poor working conditions. Moreover, the building suffered from major water leaks in several floors, which inflicted serious damage on office equipment and electronics. The outbreak of the Gulag Virus cut off Tephrike from the rest of the galaxy. Offworld tourists stopped arriving on the planet, while others now found themselves stranded at the tower with dwindling savings. Money was no shield from the virus, and the plague decimated the inhabitants. Residents fled or hired private security companies to protect them against looters. Parts of the tower fell into complete disrepair. For a while some of the floors were used as a hospital and later a quarantine centre.
When the Dominion took control of Vortanstad, they soon nationalised all businesses. The large ones were the first to be seized. Many members of the elite were purged. The Skypiercer aroused the ire of Dominion radicals, who viewed it as a sign of inequality and the greed of the upper classes. Parts of the tower were used as a hospital for wounded, others to house government organisations. One of the popular measures of the regime was 'kicking out the fat cats'...even though most were gone by then.
The Skypiercer sustained serious damage during the Vaderite uprising in Vortanstad. Backed by humanist militias and gangs of armed thugs, the Vaderites tried to seize control over the cuty. The fierce fighting was accompanied by savage pogroms against non-humans as well as humans who had 'shamed their species by consorting with xenos filth'. Parts of the Skypiercer were stormed, among them the hospital. Nurses and patients were brutally bayonetted by Stormtroopers and Humanist militias, and people were publicly hung outside the building. The terrorist Xenophon Aratesis commanded the Vaderite force in the city and used the mega-tower's powerful broadcasting equipment to release videos of the beheadings of 'blood traitors' and 'xenos'.
However, the Vaderite insurgency was crushed after several days of bloodletting. The Dominion surface navy took control over the waterways, and a Vaderite attempt to drop paratroopers into the city ended in failure. Aratesis fled into a tunnel network under the mega-tower, disguised as a civilian. But he was cornered by military dogs and committed suicide by swallowing cyanide in order to avoid capture. Vaderite relief forces were instead ordered to make haste for Palmyra, abandoning the insurgents to their fate. The battle of Palmyra ended in a Pyrrhic victory for the Dominion, for the city was turned into a tainted hellscape. With the Vaderites in retreat, the Dominion's leaders began the reconstruction. This went hand in hand with the creation of a theocratic police state. Vortanstad was one of the cities that would be rebuilt to be a shining light of the Ashlanite ideology and an industrial powerhouse. The Skypiercer was housed for government purposes.
Officially, there were no class distinctions in the Dominion, for Mace Windu Thought was vigorously opposed to capitalism and reaction. In practice, while all Dominion citizens were equal, some were more equal than others. Such favouritism aroused the anger of the Blue Guards, a paramilitary mass movement composed of students, Padawans and young Jedi kights. Formed with the blessings of Grandmaster Tsal Te Mong, who was under fire for the disastrous failure of his collectivist economic policies, they sought to usher in an egalitarian utopia by smashing the 'four olds'. The young revolutionaries viewed themselves as the vanguard of a new age.
The Blue Guards were suppressed by the military once their revolution grew out of hand. What followed was a return to normalcy defined by rigid caste barriers and totalitarian controls of private and public life. Every citizen would have a place in the Dominion - and stay there. The Skypiercer, now renamed the Ascension of the Harmonious Spirit, was thoroughly rennovated and refurbished. It would not house rich capitalists and celebrities, but bureaucrats, engineers and functionaries who constituted the nomenklatura, as well as artists favoured by the regime. An increasing number of them were clones who came from prestigious lineages. Of course, here and there a model worker was granted permission to reside here.
The Ascension featured prominently in local Dominion propaganda, which never ceased trumpeting how environmentally friendly it was, and that it provided housing and amenities for model workers. Of course, only a few honest proletarians ever got to live here. Instead corruption blossomed. The Ascension became a place for wheeling and dealing, where members of the elite were able to purchase wares in special shops and even indulge in pleasures forbidden by the puritanical Dominion. The Netherworld Event led to many residents being raptured, and many of the services provided by the building collapsed.
In the aftermath of the crisis, Jedi Thea, a senior Inquisitor favoured by the regime, was dispatched to serve as governor of the city due to a rise in unrest and terrorist activities. Her term in office was inaugurated by a phase of open state terrorism. However, she could wield the carrot as well as the stick, winning over the clone labourers with partly genuine, partly simulated concessions. To that end, she had the Ascension with its many manifold amenities and cultural programmes opened up to the working people, and actually received their representatives.
In a well-publisied anti-corruption campaign, several prominent residents of the mega-skyscraper were arrested and tried for hoarding and corruption. Others were arrested by the Punitive and Pious Patrol-Force for the Promotion of the Public Good, Decency and Right Appearance and Thought for all Ashlanites and the Prevention of Sin under the regime's 'blasphemy laws' for not observing strict Ashlanite dress codes, gambling, possession of 'heretical literature and music'. Eight young residents were put on trial for 'spreading corruption on earth' because they had alleged that no one was infallible, not even Nomi Sunrider, Mace Windu and the founders of the Dominion. That way the Jedi lord pursued a dual-track strategy of repression and social populism by painting those who were being repressed as 'elitist, bourgeois nationalists'. However, Thea eventually died in an accident.
Meanwhile, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon. War came to the City of Harmonious Industry when Republican Guard, bolstered by Firemane aid and their recent victory at Fortress Purity, marched on the city. The Jedi governor, who had found himself on the wrong side of a power struggle following a palace revolution in the capital, had initially invited them. But the legitimate Dominion government rushed in loyalist reinforcements. What followed was a brutal slog that left vast swathes of the city in ruin. Whether by mistake or design, the block the Ascension lies in was struck by Firemane air strikes even though it was a civilian area. The mega-tower was damaged by the bombing. Internally displaced people streamed into the tower.
But the Ascension still stood, even as parts of the city around it were levelled by shelling or air strikes, and the building itself took damage. Officially, everything was fine. A bureaucrat who moved in but wanted to leave was compelled to remain living there. To do otherwise was to deny the 'truth' that all was well. In the past, it had been a mark of status to get a room with a view. But now the best places to live were on the rear of the building because it didn't face the river and the Republican Guard, as well as lower down. An engineer who had spent over two years solidifying the foundations and preventing the building falling over was denounced as an enemy spy because he had dared to suggest that more work was required.
He was sent to a labour camp for processing but due to a tragic accident his clone was sent instead, leaving him to desert to the Republican Guard with detailed plans of the tunnel system. The rebels used this to carry out a raid and murder a prominent government official. A visiting inspector had noticed that one of the groups living in there was avoiding the main room with the view because there was no glass and enemy snipers took shots.
There was nothing to fear they declared and strode in, only to be shot dead. Certain rooms and floors were repurposed to be put to use for the war effort. The fancy restaurant became a soup kitchen, and a field hospital was set up to provide care for the wounded. This also had the effect of, to a degree, undermining the strong social stratification of the Dominion. The Ministry of Enlightenment used the Ascension's powerful transmitter to play patriotic music and broadcast propaganda, urging citizens to give their all to defend their city and promising swift punishment for heretics. For the duration of the emergency, certain morality laws were unofficially no longer enforced, but remained on the books and the Patrol for the Promotion of the Public Good and the Prevention of Sin was still watching. Some residents found the faith, others tried to act as if everything was fine, indulging themselves and dancing on the metaphorical volcano.
A Dominion sniper engaged in a sniper duel with a Republican Guard sniper on a building across the river. After four days finally the Dominion sniper prevailed and killed his opponent, an elite Republican Guard partisan who had been responsible for assassinating several Dominion officers and even a Jedi. But then, when leaving the roof part of the floor fell in and he fell to his death. It was reported that he had died valiantly in battle after killing eight enemy snipers.
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