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The Phantom Shard
200 BBY to 119 BBY
The Pellucidus hive
Kaiburr was born into the dominant Pellucidus-Hive, located in the center of Orax and home to its most wondrous and acclaimed crystal formation, in approximately 3783 BBY. Formed at the edge of one of Orax's many hot springs, the giant cluster of crystals was the largest silicon based crystalline lattice in the galaxy, and it housed the largest hive of Shard on Orax. Known throughout the planet as its finest philosophers and thinkers, Kaiburr was raised by the hive-mind as one of its great scholar-priests thanks to his special gift. Blessed with more than just the electromagnetic senses of his race, Kaiburr was touched by the gods and was one of the rare such Shard on the planet. Part of the hive-collective and yet also strangely apart, Kaiburr was able to retain his own identity and will inside the large group thanks to his special connection. Little did he know that he was in fact a highly attuned Force-sensitive, and it was this gift that enabled him to keep his identity and self-consciousness inside the vast Shard hive-mind.
Growing up as a prospective Scholar and sage shaped Kaiburr into an inquisitive and highly intelligent young Shard and he anxiously followed - and as his knowledge and skills grew, also participated in - the great political, philosophical and even whimsical debates of his brethren and elders. As his mind matured Kaiburr found that he had a frightening ability that sent shock-waves through the hive-mind and began a debate that would hold frightening consequences for the young adult. As an immobile and quite primitive race, especially one as long lived as the Shard, their entire world view - and indeed the very basis for their entire civilization - was based upon the fact that the world was untouchable and immobile to the crystalline race. And yet here was one of their own. Able to touch the world. Affect it. Change it. Even with their limitations.
Attack of the Corporations
119 BBY to 90 BBY
A human mining settlement
The great debate was cut short and shoved to the background as Orax was discovered by the Galactic Republic in 119 BBY, an event that saw many Humanoid species arrive on the planet intent on plundering it for profit. The pristine and unmarked world was quickly found to hold massive deposits of rare minerals and further metallurgical surveys found that the planet was seeded with vast veins of different ores. The greedy corporations of the Galactic Republic were astounded at this discovery and soon the planet was swarming with new settlements and mining operations. The once primal and beautiful world was soon covered with festering wounds as numerous mines were founded and hordes of labor droids were imported to work the mines.
Unfortunately for the Shard species, the Republic was late to discover the races sentience and in the span of a few years the Shard population was drastically cut down and reduced in number. Like the Tsil colonies onNam Chorios, the Shard were found to have unique properties in electronic and droid technology and massive operations were mounted to mine as much of the precious "stones" as could be. Further destruction and despoiling was prevented only through the hard fought efforts of a small group of bio-mechanical engineers and nature activists, who petitioned the Senate, successfully, to preserve the natural beauty of Orax as they watched with morbid disgust the horrific transformation taking place on the planet. Little did they know that they were responsible for saving the Shard race and as the time went by, a new discovery stunned the galaxy. The discovery of the Shard sent waves through the Republic and numerous HoloNet documentaries were created to preserve their legacy. In a bid to help the Shard race assimilate into the rest of the galaxy, furious research was instigated into the problem of their immobility and soon enough breakthroughs in droid technology enabled a Shard to be placed inside a droid host.
Revenge of the Shard
90 BBY to 60 BBY
Eagerly accepting a droid body and the means to finally move around and explore the galaxy that had so fascinated him, Kaiburr underwent the training necessary to couple his unique electromagnetic energy with droid technology and thus integrate the two entities into one whole being. Assigned to a fairly battered protocol droid as a starting point, Kaiburr was fascinated and enthralled with the new opportunities that his new "host" afforded him. Despite the deep debate that now raged about the moral and cultural impact that the new technology had introduced to the slow and deeply traditional Shard society, Kaiburr embraced the new concept of time and space that the organic races seemed to view the galaxy with and worked hard to assimilate himself into galactic society.
Joining the planetary government that was soon created to help the Shard integrate into the Senate, the Republic and of course - commerce, Kaiburr made it his mission to work towards the recovery and preservation of all Shard colonies on Orax. Dealing with the numerous corporations and private concerns that flooded the newly made Government opened his eyes to the dirty backdoor politics and shadowy deals that permeated the corrupt and ineffective Senate, and with mounting concern he watched as money slowly eroded all of his hard work and the planets despoiling resumed its grim march. With a burning rage and growing anger at the Republic’s ineffective policies, Kaiburr organized like minded Shard into a small and tightly knit group and started to wage a covert war on the Corporations destroying his dear planet. Calling themselves 'Protegat' they eschewed violence and other destructive means of retribution, Kaiburr and his organization struck back using legal loopholes to entrap and obstruct mining operations; creating soul numbing bureaucratic procedures and filing systems that sent legal attorneys scrambling madly back and forth; and generally causing as much havoc as possible using non-violent means.
A New Hope
60 BBY - 50 BBY
An Iron Knight using the body of an Uulshos Justice droid.
The arrival of exiled Jedi Master Aqinos brought a ray of hope to the beleaguered Shard and his subsequent discovery of a select few Shard as Force-sensitive underscored the burgeoning sense of Justice that crept into the collective consciousness. Taking the few Shard able to touch the Force under his wing and training them to fully wield their powers, the resourceful Sunesi Master realized his dreams of blending technology with the Force. Using various class IV droid hosts such as Juggernaut war droids, FLTCH series droids, and Uulshos Justice droids as their hosts many Iron Knights took as their name that of lightsaber crystals, reflecting both their connection to the Force and their crystalline bodies. Earning themselves the sobriquet "Iron Knights" during the Arkanian Revolution, the name reflected their Jedi powers and philosophy, and yet the strong metallic bodies that Aqinos created.
The formation of the Iron Knights and their initiation into the Jedi Order was seen by most of the Shard community as the longed for sign of Republic and Jedi support and recognition. Long bereft of hope and slowly drowning beneath what seemed an endless wave of credits and corruption, a new vision for the future of Orax was reborn. New legislation swept the planet, as longstanding rivals united in common cause against the foreign companies. Celebration and cries of support for the Republic were displayed in the HoloNet, and a special place of honor was given to Aqinos in the Shard homeworld. But it was not to be. Little did the Iron Knights know that their Jedi training, organization and induction in the ways of the Jedi, was an unauthorized experiment by the unorthodox and radical Jedi Master.
The Arkanian Revolution was a turning point in the Iron Knights chapter, and despite the ten years that Jedi Master Aqinos had spent teaching the Shard knights prior to the conflict - not to mention their invaluable aid in quelling the mutated and horribly transformed cybernetic soldiers of the Rebels - the Jedi Council, with Mace Windu foremost among them, excommunicated and exiled the free thinking Sunesi. Leaving the Order in disgrace and gathering about him his stunned disciples, Jedi Master Aqinos took the Iron Knights to the planet Dweema where they founded a small base and continued to train any Force-sensitive Shard who reached them.
The Protegat Strike Back
50 BBY to 25 ABY
- "There were some Shard, however, that were still more persecuted than the rest, for they were a menace in yet another sense. For not only were they aliens, and not only were they droids, they were Jedi."
- ―Tam Azur-Jamin
Members of Nebula FrontBetrayed and stunned beyond all measure by the harsh decision of the Jedi Council, a disgusted and now bitter Kaiburr declined the invitation to join his brethren on Dweema and instead set out to find a new path for himself in the galaxy. Adopting the persona of a droid servant to mask his presence, Kaiburr wandered the galaxy looking for new purpose and direction. Letting his natural born patience and foresight take him where he would, the Shard traveled through many planets and experienced many cultures during his search.
Throughout his entire journey, the now jaded and cynical Shard found that wherever he went suffering and destruction was the norm. Corrupt politicians abused constitutional powers to line their own pockets, powerful gangsters and crime lords ruled the shadows from a dark web of intrigue and violence, and worst of all – the greedy corporations that had despoiled countless worlds in search of profit rose above them all, untouchable. Even the so called guardians of light themselves - the Jedi Order - were inept and corrupt, as they blindly enacted the will of the Senate and mindlessly defended the bloated Republic from any challenges to its rule. Thousands of citizens upon the various planets in the Republic starved to death and lay homeless and destitute while the stalwart defenders of “peace” ignored their plight and sat in grand palaces and glittering temples.
Making his way through the Mid-Rim on the border between Senex sector and Hadar sector, Kaiburr soon found his way to Asmeru and a certain Journalist who shared the same political and moral viewpoints. Using his prior experience running a clandestine organization to good effect, as well as his formidable Jedi born powers, Kaiburr soon impressed Havac and was inducted into Nebula Front soon therewith. Working as an odd-job man, he was committed to Nebula politics but not particularly active, until the Republic won the Stark Hyperspace War, turning the Stark Commercial Combine leader Iaco Stark, and capturing the Combines flagship - the Raptor.
Nebula Front asked him to choose a nom de guerre, and he chose the name Mordamen Bast utilizing his newly commissioned HRD droid body to assume a secret persona. He was described by those who knew him at the time as a well-organized leader, not a guerrilla; during fighting between the Combine pirates and Supreme Chancellor Kalpana's troops, he stayed in his office instead of joining his brethren. He moved to Eriadu, setting up a trading company called Impex. Impex became a front for Nebula, serving as a meeting place and conduit for funds. This became a hallmark of Kaiburr's career. Companies controlled by the NF made him a rich man by engaging in legitimate business deals, while acting as cover for arms deals and mercenary activities. Eru Matalis appointed him in 45 BBY as the Nebula Front representative in Xozhixi, Thyferra, then (at Kaiburr's insistence) to the same position in Yag'Dhul in 44 BBY, two months before The Stark Hyperspace War, when over 10 days of fighting the Galactic Republic's army drove the Combine pirates out of Troiken, with the loss of thousands of lives. Shard journalist Seale writes that Kaiburr's absence from Thyferra during this period, when it was clear that the Republic was about to act against the pirates, raised suspicion within the movement that Kaiburr was interested only in saving himself.
- First Operation
Shortly after the Stark Hyperspace War, Kaiburr began accusing the NF of cowardice over his Voice of Orax HoloNet station in Yag'Dhul for having agreed to a ceasefire with the Republic. During Nebula Front's Third Congress in Asmeru in 40 BBY, Kaiburr joined Nebula activist and writer Jalan and Cindar (leader of the Nebula Elite responsible for the Caprioril Massacre), calling for greater democracy within Nebula Front and revenge against Supreme Chancellor Kalpana. In 32 BBY Cindar was arrested in Coruscant for an attempt on Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum's life. This led to Kaiburr's first operation, using the name Al-Iqab ("the Punishment"), when five gunmen entered the Sullustan embassy in Sluis Van, took 15 hostages and threatened to blow up the building if Cindar was not released. The gunmen flew two days later to Eriadu, still holding five hostages, then to Yag'Dhul, threatening to throw the hostages out of the aircraft. They surrendered and released the hostages a month later. Cindar was released from prison two weeks later; Seale writes that the Eriadu government paid Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum 12 million credits for his release.
On the day of the attack, 56 heads of state were meeting in Giju for the 4th conference of the Non-Aligned Movement. According to Seale, the Sullustan Embassy operation had been commissioned by Yag'Dhul's Dodecien, Vul Shushin, as a distraction because he was jealous that Giju was hosting the conference. Seale writes one of the hostage-takers admitted that he had been told to fly the hostages around until the conference was over. Kaiburr had carried out the operation without the permission of Nebula Front. Cindar (Eru Matalis's deputy) and Jalan flew to Yag’Dhul to reason with Kaiburr that hostage-taking harmed the movement. Cindar told Seale that a Yag'Dhul official at the meeting said: "Why are you attacking Kaiburr? The operation was ours! We asked him to mount it for us." Jalan was furious and left the meeting with the other NF delegates. From that point on, Seale writes, the NF regarded Kaiburr as under the control of Yag'Dhul.
- Expulsion from Nebula Front
Two months later, the Protegat hijacked KLM Flight 861, this time using the name Shard Nationalist Youth Organization. Nebula Front had been discussing convening a peace conference in Eriadu; and the hijacking was intended to warn them not to go ahead with it. In response, in 31BBY, Eru Matalis expelled Kaiburr from Nebula Front. One month later Kaiburr reformed the Protegat, calling it Nebula Front: The Revolutionary Council. That year a Nebula Front court sentenced him to death in absentia for the attempted assassination of Eru Matalis. Seale writes that it is unlikely that Kaiburr had intended to kill Matalis, and just as unlikely that Nebula Front wanted to kill Kaiburr. He was invited to Asmeru to discuss the death sentence, and was allowed to leave again, but it was clear that he had become persona non-grata. As a result the Givin gave him Nebula Front's assets in Yag'Dhul, including a training camp, farm, newspaper, HoloNet station, passports, overseas scholarships and 15 million credits worth of weapons. He also received Yag'Dhul's regular aid to the NF: around 150,000 credits a month and a lump sum of 3–5 million credits.
Return of the Iron Knights
25 ABY to 29 ABY
- "In the light, there is a darkness and in the darkness, a light. It is the way with us all. Be a prisoner of neither Bogan nor Ashla. Strive to live in balance. As Tython itself teaches us, it is dangerous to do otherwise. And the danger is there—always."
- ― Ketu
The emergence of the Yuzhann Vong threat brought the