The Shattered Balance - Cassian Valeris

Name: Cassian Valeris
Species: Human
Age: 46
Homeworld: Aris Minor
Occupation: Retired Senatorial Aide
Former Office: Administrative staff of the Parmel Sector Senator in the Galactic Senate
Current Status: Independent traveler quietly seeking contact with the Alliance to Restore the Republic
Starship: Personal SoroSuub Personal Luxury Yacht 3000

Background

Cassian Valeris comes from one of the quieter noble families of the Outer Rim.

The Valeris household was never among the great dynasties of the Core Worlds, but in the modestly settled Parmel Sector, their name carried respectable weight. Merchants trusted them. Governors tolerated them. Administrators relied upon them.

From an early age Cassian was groomed for public service.

He studied political administration on Coruscant, where he learned the proper arts of diplomacy, etiquette, and bureaucratic maneuvering. In time he secured a position within the office representing the Parmel Sector in the Senate.

For nearly twenty years Cassian worked as a Senatorial Aide, coordinating trade petitions, infrastructure requests, and hyperspace navigation disputes from the distant worlds of the sector.

It was respectable work.

Parmel was a sleepy region of the Outer Rim—systems like Vohai system, Fobaris, and a scattering of mining colonies rarely demanded the Senate’s full attention. Cassian spent most of his career ensuring cargo tariffs were fair, mining guild contracts were reviewed, and occasional relief shipments reached struggling frontier worlds.

Politics, he believed, should be orderly.

Civilized.

Predictable.

Then Palpatine crowned himself Emperor.

The Empire

Cassian never believed the transition from Republic to Empire would last.

Surely, he thought, the Senate would reassert itself.

Instead, year by year, the institution hollowed out.

Sector governors gained military authority.
Trade regulations bypassed senatorial approval.
Entire systems were placed under direct Imperial oversight.

The Senate chamber on Coruscant remained open, but everyone in the administrative corridors understood the truth.

The Senate was becoming irrelevant.

Cassian grew increasingly bitter.

To him, Palpatine represented the worst sort of political opportunist: a provincial climber who had wrapped the galaxy around his ambitions through manipulation and fear.

Privately he called the Emperor “that scum from Naboo.”

The Valeris family shared his opinion.

Still, Cassian continued his duties until three years ago, when he quietly retired from the Senate staff.

Officially he cited personal travel and family obligations.

In truth, he simply refused to continue participating in what he viewed as a political farce.

The Decision

Retirement has suited Cassian reasonably well.

He travels aboard his Personal Luxury Yacht 3000, The Silent Mandate, a sleek SoroSuub vessel designed for comfortable long-distance journeys. The ship contains:

• A private study filled with Senate records and sector maps

• A respectable wine cellar sourced from Core and Mid Rim vineyards

• A well-appointed salon suitable for civilized conversation

Cassian spends much of his time drifting between Outer Rim systems.

He visits old administrative contacts.
He observes Imperial expansion.
He listens carefully.

Rumors circulate constantly now.

Secret bases.

Insurgents.

A rebellion forming somewhere beyond the Empire’s control.

Cassian has no interest in becoming a soldier.

But the thought of the Empire ruling the galaxy indefinitely is simply unacceptable.

Someone of breeding must surely do something.

A Lead

Several months ago, during a discreet dinner aboard a transport liner, Cassian overheard something intriguing.

A merchant captain mentioned a world where Rebel agents sometimes pass quietly through local society.

A place where the Empire’s reach is… complicated.

The Bothan homeworld.

Bothawui

Apparently, a contact there—someone connected with Bothan intelligence circles—has quietly helped individuals make introductions to the growing rebellion.

Cassian has decided to investigate.

Not commit, mind you.

Certainly not.

He simply wishes to see what sort of organization these rebels actually are.

One must perform proper due diligence before aligning oneself with revolutionaries.

COMING Soon to The Mystic Syndicate