HOUSE EXCIDIUM TEST
- "No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."
- ―Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
House Excidium is one of two active Houses of Clan Scholae Palatinae, alongside House Imperium. Its members are generally considered wild cards of dubious character, some even outright criminal, but this is exactly what Excidium needs to watch over the Cocytus Empire. The House ensures that the Empire is protected from internal and external threats that the Clan fleet either can’t see or can’t fight due to more delicate reasons, such as politics or public image. As a result, it is publicly disassociated from the Clan itself and its loyalties may appear to be less than dependable, but in reality its fealty is to Cocytus Empire above all else.
History
Origins
- "Arise Excidium with merciless hearts and cold steel!"
- ―Motto of House Excidium
When Scholae Palatinae regained clan status in 32 ABY, its founding members formed two Houses of its own: the militaristic House Imperium and the radically unconventional House Excidium. The burgeoning Empire of Scholae Palatinae faced many enemies, some of which could not be fought head on by the main Clan Fleet for one reason or another. Therefore, Excidium was created to combat especially troublesome threats inside the Cocytus Empire, making use of guile and unorthodox means to eliminate threats. In this role, Excidium has worked closely with the Imperial Scholae Intelligence (or ISI), and generally taken on missions too savage for a civilized state to be associated with.
Excidium got their first chance to make their mark during the Entanglement campaign, where they shined helping the Clan acquire vital intelligence on an ancient threat underground long ago. The rebellions in the Cocytus System were not yet destroyed. Several of its members lived on and had resorted to the most desperate of moves: attempting to wake ancient monsters left behind by a long dead empire. While everyone actively partook in intelligence gathering, it was House Excidium that lead the Clan in creating mayhem for the foolish rebellion. Excidiacs integrated themselves among the rebels and disrupted their plans through any means necessary, while the rest of the Clan coordinated strikes throughout the system in an effort to stop the rebels’ plans. Together they dealt a crippling blow, and seemingly saved the Cocytus Empire from yet another threat. Unfortunately, the rebels were not stopped in time to prevent the summoning of the feared monsters of old. Ptolomea was under attack.
Rising
While Ptolomea was being attacked by monsters, several Exicidiacs were diverted from the critical defense of the planet to hunt for treasure. Clan Naga Sadow was also interested in such treasures as well, so a tense truce was brokered between the two Clans. House Excidium joined the effort in a covert role by sending in unmarked and unassuming trade ships as bait, which the Red Fury pirates immediately jumped on. The rest of the Clan’s forces allocated for this mission, in conjunction with Clan Naga Sadow, quickly jumped into the system and decimated the pirate forces. House Excidium grabbed some treasure for the Clan, as agreed upon by both Clans, and then made its way back home to defend Ptolomea.
Ptolomea was being ravaged by deadly monsters of old, and all available forces, including House Excidium, were called to help defend the planet. In addition, the rebels were not completely destroyed. Emboldened by their successful trial of summoning the ancient monsters, whom they called the ‘Old Gods’, they set about enacting a final ritual to fully awaken the ‘Old Gods’ for good. The House didn’t often fight its enemies head on, but exceptions were made from time to time.
These nightmares represented enough of a threat that the House worked hand in hand with House Imperium to help destroy them for good. While the Imperial Scholae Intelligence worked to initially infiltrate the remnants of the rebellion, the two Houses fought valiantly to protect the people of Ptolomea by attempting to destroy the monsters themselves. House Imperium’s measured approach was paired with Excidium’s unorthodox tactics, which complemented each other well enough to provide a viable defense.
Times looked bleak though, and thankfully another path presented itself: stop the final ritual to make the monsters go back to sleep. The two Houses immediately left for Antenora, and assaulted the last remaining rebel stronghold: the Forgotten Temple. As one, the Clan attacked the remnants of the rebellion in a desperate attempt to prevent the final ritual by killing those performing it. Resistance was stronger than expected, but eventually they managed to breach the temple grounds and stop the ritual. The vile monsters returned to their slumber, but unfortunately the leader of the rebellion was able to successfully flee.
The hunt for the leader of the rebellions continued, but he wasn’t found until it was too late. Left with few remaining options, the rebellion enacted a dangerous ritual that sacrificed the remaining rebels, save its leader, to the ‘Old Gods’ and simultaneously turned them into seemingly undead, horrifying, half-fungal creatures that immediately headed to cause unrest in the heavily populated city of Ohmen. While the Clan as a whole was called upon to defend the capital city of Judecca, the leader of the rebellion made his way unhindered deep into the mountains of Judecca, making his way to a giant ritual chamber. It was here that the final ritual that Scholaean forces had prevented once before was again initiated, except this time there was no one to stop it. The monsters of old awoke and were here to stay. The rebel leader was found shortly afterwards, but he had gone mad and was summarily executed by the Emperor.
Meanwhile, the core worlds of the Cocytus Empire each had to deal with its own monster, requiring House Excidium to split up its resources to four planets: Antenora, Judecca, Ptolomea, and Caina. Much like in the Deception campaign, House Excidium was forced yet again to work side by side with House Imperium, using a similar strategy as last time except with smaller strike teams. While these multi-front operations were taking place, some Excidiacs focused on finding a way to reverse the ritual and finally return the creatures to their slumber for good.
Mayhem was everywhere, and it wasn’t just Excidium. The Empire was taking damage, the conflict needed a swift end. Members of Excidium, along with those from the rest of the Clan, revisited the Forgotten Temple as part of a quick strike team, and found a facility underneath from long ago. The team fought its way through its bowels, where they found an ancient Rakatan alien, by the name of Akazel. Akazel held the knowledge to reverse the ritual, and upon further persuasion by the Emperor was forced to do so. It cost the Rakata his life, but the remaining monsters returned back to their slumber.
There was widespread destruction, but House Excidium had helped the Clan finally defeat the rebellion. The monsters were all dead, and they were no longer a threat. While things slowly recovered and the Emperor played with his new holocron, House Excidium watched and waited for the next threat to present itself. What was once a House that lived in the shadows had now made a name for itself as a loyal supporter of Clan Scholae Palatinae willing to protect it at all costs.
Wounded
Things eventually went back to normal, but not for too long. In a surprising move, the Emperor told House Excidium that House Imperium, whom they had fought alongside for some time now, was plotting to destroy them. Excidium took the threat to heart and gathered its forces for an offensive. Their rage at the fact that Imperium was betraying the Empire knew no bounds, and the ever-watchful House immediately struck back at their former allies. The fight was fierce, but the House did not fare as well as they would have hoped against the military might of Imperium. Thankfully, the Emperor stayed their hand, calling everyone back to the Imperial Palace, and House Excidium was spared from final destruction.
Defeated and licking its wounds, House Excidium listened as the Emperor explained it had lied to both Houses on purpose, sowing seeds of discord among them in the name of ‘testing their mettle’. The damage was done though and trust was broken, hard feelings now existing between the two Houses. In addition, the House was shocked and dismayed that the Emperor would so willing damage his own Empire in order to test his loyal subjects. House Excidium swore to move forward from the defeat and give the Emperor another chance, but would be wary in the future. They lost a lot in this conflict, but there was one silver lining that made things a bit more palatable: gaining intel on House Imperium from someone who claimed to be ‘a friend’.
House Excidium recovered from the damage wrought on them by House Imperium, time mending old wounds just in time for a sudden conflict with Clan Naga Sadow. Precious treasure was discovered on Mygeeto by the Red Fury pirates, treasure that both Clans agreed to acquire by wiping out the pirates for good. The deal with set, and the operation to expel the pirates from their stronghold was successful, but as the operation to recover the loot was underway Clan Naga Sadow got a rude awakening. Clan Scholae Palatinae wouldn’t share any of it.
House Excidium was directed by the Emperor to acquire the treasure by any means necessary, taking out pirate and Sadowan alike if they got in the way. House Excidium fought hard, engaging in both direct and indirect combat. Some of the more trusting Excidiacs worked alongside those of House Imperium, while other Excidiacs pursued their objectives in small strike teams of their own. The House showed off its guile and independent fighting skills by helping to locate the precious artifacts, destroying any opposition, and jointly securing the cache of treasure for Clan Scholae Palatinae. It was eventually taken by the [[Darth Pravus|Grandmaster}}, but Excidium proved itself again as worthy of protecting the Empire’s interests.
Falling Empire
House Excidium got yet another odd request from the Emperor, the request to personally capture the planet Aesirus for the Empire as a new acquisition. The mission itself was not strange, but rather the insistence that the only resources for the mission were the members of the Houses themselves. Every member of the House was required to go, and there were no support troops. Against their better judgement, Excidium followed the Emperor’s order, willing to trust him on what seemed like a routine mission to take over the lucrative mining operation on Aesirus.
House Excidium followed their mission to the letter and warily fought alongside House Imperium, using guile, skill, and a little tough love to take control of the mining operation with relative ease. All went according to plan until they were ordered underground due to an apparent earthquake that threatened to destroy the compound. Unsure of why anyone would go underground during an earthquake, but willing to follow orders, the entirety of House Excidium took shelter with House Imperium underground in the Kyber crystal cave. Sadly, betrayal struck yet again. The Emperor, now revealed as controlled by Darth Fallax, revealed his true intentions: the destruction of the Houses themselves via charges set up in the mines earlier by both Houses. A contingency plan turned into their own grave after the first set of charges locked them inside.
House Excidium stood in shock. They were at the Emperor’s mercy, but strangely the rest of the charges didn’t go off. Everyone was trapped nonetheless, which lead to the House being forced to fully reconcile differences with House Imperium in their bid for escape. Angry and hurt (somewhere deep down), the House reflected on its mistakes as it dug its way out. By the time the House saw the sun again, Excidium had come to one conclusion: don’t trust the Emperor and his office blindly. House Excidium promised itself that this would never happen again, even if it meant protecting the Empire from its own leaders.
House Excidium, along with House Imperium, made its way back to Judecca and the Empire that had been taken away from them. The two Houses worked together to wage war against Darth Fallax and his Order of the New Dawn in an attempt to reclaim their home. As for the Emperor, opinions were mixed as to how to best “save” him. Some Excidiacs wanted to stab him with a lightsaber and others wished to attempt a ritual to draw the presence of Fallax out of him.
The Houses decided to fight both targets at once, against the recommendation to focus on Fallax alone. As a result, the Houses fought a two-front war. One group attacked key infrastructure in the Empire to help cripple the New Dawn, while the other group enacted a ritual to assault the presence of Darth Fallax poisoning the Emperor’s mind. The House used a variety of skills as it assaulted the New Dawn, adapting to the situation at hand to get the job done. This challenged the House’s abilities outside of its usual repertoire, but it also taught the House that it could expand its horizons significantly moving forward.
The fight eventually was won on both fronts, but the cost was high. The Empire took a lot of damage to both infrastructure and its own citizens, including the decimation of Teyr at the hands of a desperate New Dawn. This rallied the Scholaen forces back on the side of the Houses, allowing both Houses to push their advantage and drive a killing blow to both the New Dawn and Fallax. While these Excidiacs won the ground battle, the other Excidiacs had successfully made their way to the Imperial Palace and freed Xen from his mental prison, who delivered the final blow to Darth Fallax.
The rest of the New Dawn fled, and House Excidium assessed the situation as the Clan began to rebuild yet again. The Emperor had disappeared, New Dawn operatives still lived in the Empire, and Judecca was left in chaos. The Cocytus Empire was dealt a major blow all because of one man, and Excidium knew it had to change itself in order to protect it. House Excidium took the lessons it had learned from the Starfall and Midnight campaigns and remade itself into something new. Something that was independent and flexible enough to protect the Empire from any threats, whether they be internal or external.