Ransolm Casterfo

Ransolm Casterfo's childhood was defined by suffering and indentured servitude under the hand of the Galactic Empire. He described it as "slavery in all but name." His homeworld of Riosa was annexed and its industrial facilities were commandeered for the manufacture of parts and components for the construction of the first Death Star. His childhood was spent in an Imperial work camp and his father had a position of some authority over the laborers. Casterfo witnessed numerous visitations of Lord Vader to his homeworld. On one occasion, he saw his father being punished for failing to meet quotas set by the Empire for production.

His being able to grow up with his parents nearby was apparently a special privilege afforded to his family for their position, as most parents were not allowed to bring their children with them into the work camps. Although he harbored an admiration for the concept of centralized power and the grandeur of the Empire, his family's suffering led to a deep resentment of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader. His father and mother both died within a year of the founding of the New Republic due to the effects of hard labor and working without safety equipment to filter out the toxic gases they were forced to breathe.

After the loss of his parents, Casterfo had a period of difficult survival. Fortunately, he was taken in by a wealthy off-world family who took in several other war orphans. Provided with food, education, and safety, he was able to survive into adulthood. When he turned eighteen years old, Casterfo served on Riosa's planetary security force for two years. During that time, he learned how to fly a starfighter and to operate his first blaster. Despite his initial expectations, Casterfo encountered fewer battles and spent most of his time issuing citations for violating docking procedures. Due to his experiences in the planetary security force, Ransolm came to believe that improving Riosa's fortunes lay in embarking in a political career. Casterfo believed that Riosa need better political and economic management to rebuild his homeworld.

By the age of thirty two, Ransolm had become a Centrist senator in the New Republic's Galactic Senate for the planet Riosa. As a junior senator, he was considered to be a charismatic and attractive politician. Casterfo supported the Centrists' strong stance on law and order and helped reintroduce the death penalty to his homeworld of Riosa, which still had not fully recovered from the deprivations of Imperial rule. The Centrists were one of two factions in the Galactic Senate. While they supported a stronger central government and military, their Populist opponents believed that sovereignty should reside in the member worlds. By the time that Casterfo had assumed office, the Galactic Senate was deadlocked by infighting between the two factions.

Due to his work as a senator, Casterfo was allocated an office in the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime, which was currently hosting the Galactic Senate and the New Republic government. Following a ceremony to dedicate a Jelucani fogstone statue to the late Senator Bail Organa, Ransolm and his Centrist colleagues mingled with their nominal Populist opponents. The following day, Casterfo attended a session at the Galactic Senate where the Twi'lek emissary Yendor of Ryloth raised the threat posed by the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's crime cartel to commercial traffic in his planet's sector. The leading Populist Senator Leia Organa, Bail's adopted daughter, volunteered to travel to Bastatha to investigate Rinnrivin's cartel.

When the Centrist politician Lady Carise Sindian raised concerns about Leia's objectivity, Senator Casterfo volunteered to accompany Leia in order to ensure that the mission was a bipartisan one. Later, Senator Leia visited the junior senator's office to gain Ransolm's trust. While Leia was disconcerted by the presence of "Old Empire" relics in Casterfo's office, the two senators were able to develop a travel itinerary. During their first meeting, Casterfo suggested that not all aspects of the "Old Empire" were bad and that the Empire failed because it had the wrong Emperor in charge. Casterfo's views struck a raw nerve with Leia, a former leader of the Rebellion and a veteran of the Galactic Civil War.

The following day, Casterfo boarded Leia's ship Mirrorbright with Leia and her entourage including C-3PO, Korr Sella, the pilots Joph Seastriker, and Greer Sonnel. During the journey, he tried to make conversation with Korr but she departed on the pretext on having to review her work. He then managed to chat with Greer about racing. Later, he apologized to Leia for his perceived lack of tact during their first meeting in his office. Leia told him not to worry about the past and to instead focus on their work.

Upon landing on Bastatha, they were greeted by Magistrates Tosta and Xun, with the latter complimenting the new senator. Bastatha was an arid, inhospitable desert world and most of the population lived in underground tunnels. The magistrates invited the New Republic delegation for a banquet at a casino, which was intended to showcase their efforts to market Bastatha as a gambling destination. Casterfo expressed disapproval with Leia's decision to mingle with the locals by playing Sabacc and buying the other patrons some drinks. However, he reluctantly accepted her rationale about "winning hearts and minds."

While walking back to Mirrorbright, Ransolm and Leia argued about the Rebellion's tactics and Leia consorting with smugglers and "lowlifes" like her husband Han Solo. Leia told Casterfo that he did not understand the Empire and dismissed him as a "spoiled brat." Greer managed to calm the two of them before the argument escalated further. Later, a private delegation of Nikto "businessmen" visited the Mirrorbright and kidnapped Leia. They took her on their hovercraft for a private audience with Rinnrivin Di in his subtarranean headquarters. However, Casterfo managed to plant a tracker on Leia's cloak and was able to rescue her from Rinnrivin.

Together, the two senators escaped on a hovercraft. As a result of the adventure, the two gained each other's respect despite their philosophical differences. Both agreed that the Populist approach to leadership was flawed due to its reliance on a strong charismatic leader who depended on consensus rather than legal authority. Ransolm also learned that the former rebel starfighter pilot and Jedi Luke Skywalker was Leia's twin brother. After Leia's team examined the data from Rinnrivin's headquarters, the two senators discovered that the crime lord ran a vast crime network that rivaled the Hutts. Both suspected that another party was secretly propping up Rinnrivin's cartel.

After returning to Hosnian Prime, the two senators addressed the Galactic Senate. Several Populist senators claimed that Castero had put Organa's life in danger while their Centrist opponents accused Leia of withholding information from Casterfo. After an Ithorian representative moved to "table the discussion" on the Rinnrivin investigation, the Centrist Lady Carise gave a speech urging the Senate to abolish the office of Chancellor and replace it with a new position called First Senator that would exercise authority over economic and military matters. Due to Carise's reputation as a vain, frivolous, and shallow Senator, her proposal failed to sway the Senate.

However, Casterfo managed to win support for the First Senator motion by pointing to the deadlock and indecisiveness that had paralyzed the Senate. His appeal to the greater good struck a chord with the Senate and managed to sway the independents into voting with the Centrists in favor of the motion. As a result, the motion to establish the post of First Senator passed with a solid majority. Ransolm's charisma won him the respect of both Lady Carise and Leia. As a result, the Populists were forced to change their strategy by endorsing Leia as their candidate for First Senator in order to prevent a Centrist from occupying that office.

Leia later arranged a meeting with Ransolm at Hosnian Prime's Hanging gardens to discuss Joph and Greer's finding on the Amaxine warriors, an alleged race of warrior people who had a base on the planet Daxam IV. The two pilots had found some evidence that the Amaxines were working for Rinnrivin and that they were operating in Centrist worlds; leading Leia to suspect that the Centrists were harboring them. Regarding Ransolm as the only Centrist politician she could trust, Leia solicited Casterfo's help in investigating the Amaxine presence on Daxam IV. Casterfo also expressed admiration towards Leia for personally killing Jabba the Hutt and compared her favourably to her Populist counterparts, who were seen as "soft" on crime.

During the dinner, Ransolm discussed his harsh childhood growing up on Riosa. Castefo revealed that he harbored a deep hatred towards Darth Vader for exploiting his homeworld's people and resources to build the Death Star. Ransolm recounted how his parents had died due to prolonged exposure to toxins. Finding a kindred spirit, Leia revealed how Vader had tortured her following her capture over Tatooine and forced her to watch the destruction of her homeworld Alderaan. Due to their shared experiences and beliefs in working for the common good, the two became allies. However, Leia omitted to mention that she was Vader's daughter; a decision that would have significant repercussions for their friendship.

Ransolm was present during the Napkin Bombing, which destroyed half of the senatorial complex's conference hall. The bombing killed and wounded scores of senators. Casterfo survived the bombing and helped a wounded Togruta woman towards the medcenter. His ally Leia also survived the bombing after finding a note telling them to "Run." Following the bombing, both the Centrist and Populist factions accused each other of staging the attack for political capital. Ransolm refused to entertain any conspiracy theories and discussed his suspicions with Leia that the bombing was intended to halt their investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel.

After reading Greer and Joph's intelligence report on the Amaxines, Casterfo arranged to meet with a seller of "historical artifacts" based on Daxam IV. Greer had also found information that Rinnrivin was channeling funds to Daxam IV. To assist Leia's investigation into the Amaxines, Casterfo agreed to travel with Greer to the planet under the cover of buying an Emperor's Royal Guard helmet from the dealer. Meanwhile, Leia, Joph, and the rest of her team would travel to Ryloth to look for information about Rinnrivin Di. With Greer posing as his pilot, Ransolm traveled to Daxam IV on a small Jeconne courier he had rented. Casterfo had chosen the vessel because it was modern and stylish but also commonplace.

During their journey, Casterfo learnt about Greer's past as a professional racer before joining the New Republic Defense Fleet. After exiting hyperspace, Casterfo informed Greer that the seller he had arranged to meet went by the pseudonym Crimson Blade. Upon landing, Casterfo and Greer met the dealer at a teahouse and learnt that she was a former TIE fighter pilot named Arliz Hadrassian. Ransolm learnt that the Royal Guard's helmet had once belonged to Arliz Hadrassian's brother, who had perished during the Battle of Jakku. For the next two hours, Casterfo took the opportunity to win Hadrassian's trust and also pretended to be an Imperial sympathizer.

Greer was uncomfortable with Casterfo's company but the Senator tried to reassure her that he did not worship the Empire. While Ransolm stayed at a hotel for the night, Greer took the Jeconne courier for a reconnaissance flight and discovered that the Amaxine warriors were a paramilitary organization with several starfighter squadrons. Back at the hotel, Castefo contacted Joph, Korrie, and C-3PO and informed that Rinnrivin was operating spy satellites above Ryloth. After slicing into the satellites, C-3PO discovered that Rinnrivin was hiding on the watery Expansion Region planet of Sibensko.

The following day, Casterfo and Greer traveled to Hadrassian's compound which lay in the cold, desert wastes of Daxam IV. There, Hadrassian introduced the visitors to her Amaxine warriors, who were working on their starfighters. Hadrassian also trained her warriors how to fight with Force pikes, the weapons of the former Royal Guards. After collecting the Royal Guard helmet, Ransolm agreed to duel with one of Hadrassian's Amaxine warriors. Casterfo had studied the techniques by watching the old holos but had never wielded a force pike before. However, Casterfo was also familiar with Hosnian martial arts and quarterstaff combat. While duelling with the Amaxine warrior, Casterfo was haunted by memories of his harsh childhood at the labor camp on Riosa. Despite besting his opponent in combat, Casterfo spared his opponent per Hadrassian' instructions.

Following his second meeting with Hadrassian, Ransolm discussed the information he had uncovered about the Amaxines with Greer. He revealed that the Amaxine warriors had at least five or six bases scattered throughout the galaxy and that their main base of operations was on Sibensko. While Hadrassian commanded a thousand Amaxine Warriors on Daxam IV, these were only a fraction of the entire group. Ransolm and Greer gained each other's respect with the latter commending the former's combat skills. Unable to contact Leia due to radiation interference, Casterfo contacted his fellow Centrist Lady Carise, who was undergoing a coronation ceremony on the planet Birren. She discounted Casterfo's reports of a rogue militia and counselled him not to focus on the upcoming First Senator elections. Unknown to Ransolm, Lady Carise was a secret agent of the First Order, an Imperial splinter faction, and had ties to Hadrassian and her Amaxines.

After returning to Hosnian Prime, Casterfo shared footage from his Daxam IV visit including the force pike duel with Senator Organa while snacking on spicy Ivarujari noodles. The two deduced that while Rinnrivin's cartel was connected to the Amaxine Warriors, they did not see eye to eye on the Napkin Bombing. While Rinnrivin felt threatened by the Napkin bombing, the Amaxines felt emboldened. Both suspected that the Amaxines were behind the Napkin Bombing but realized they were unable to proceed further since their investigation had initially focused on Rinnrivin's cartel. While Leia promised to steer the official investigation towards the Senate bombing, Ransolm agreed to investigate his Centrist colleagues.

Knowing that several Centrist senators were avid collectors of Imperial artifacts, Casterfo threw a party in his office to celebrate his acquisition of a Royal Guard's mask. During the party, Ransolm heard several of the guests including Senator Ormes Apolin of Kuat, Senator Fatil of Orinda, and Lady Carise's chief of staff expressing pro-Imperial and anti-New Republic sentiments. While Casterfo learned no new information about the Amaxine warriors or any other pro-Imperial militias, he realized that many of his Centrist allies admired Darth Vader and the other elements of the Empire that he disliked. As a result, Casterfo began to grow disillusioned with his own party.

Later, while sparring with his quarterstaff in his private training chamber, Casterfo was contacted via hologram by Senator Organa, who invited him to join her, Joph, and Greer on their upcoming trip to Sibensko. Earlier, Joph and Greer had secured a smuggling run to Sibensko. The two then discussed the complications involving their trip to Sibensko. Ransolm pointed out their trip to Bastatha had been sanctioned by the Senate and that their subsequent trips to Ryloth, Harloff Minor and Daxam IV were authorized albeit unofficial trips. However, he added that it was illegal under New Republic law to use Republic pilots and ships to undertake illegal work on dangerous, crime havens like Sibensko. While realizing the illegal nature of their Sibensko mission, the two senators hoped to uncover evidence that would sway the Senate. During a meeting with Leia, Joph, Greer, and C-3PO, Casterfo speculated that Rinnrivin and Hadrassian had a source in the Senate; not realizing it was his ally Lady Carise.

Shortly later, Casterfo greeted Lady Carise while ordering a shipment of Riosan liqueur in the Senate complex. Before parting company, Casterfo talked about his friendship with Leia and her staff. Unknown to Ransolm, Carise had uncovered sensitive information about Senator Organa's true parentage on Birren. Leia was the daughter of Darth Vader, who was reviled by many in the New Republic including Ransolm. After conferencing with Arliz Hadrassian about Ransolm's visit, Lady Carise decided to sow a wedge between Ransolm and Leia. The following day, Lady Carise visited Casterfo and told him the truth about Leia's parentage.

Due to his hatred for Darth Vader, Ransolm Casterfo was deeply hurt by Leia Organa's perceived indiscretion. Feeling betrayed, Senator Casterfo upstaged a Senate hearing into Senator Organa's nomination as the Populist candidate for First Senator by revealing her true parentage. When the Populist Varish Vicly denounced Casterfo's revelation as a lie, Casterfo furnished the keepsake chest and music box that Lady Carise had supplied as evidence. After the Senate listened to an audio recording of Bail Organa confirming Leia's true parentage, Leia admitted that her father was indeed Darth Vader. This news threw the Senate into uproar and destroyed Leia's political career and credibility.

Following the revelation, Casterfo was praised by several of his Centrist colleagues including Giller and Orris Madmund for discrediting a powerful Populist politician. However, Ransolm felt no pride in his actions and was tormented by the guilt of having betrayed a friend. He gave instructions for his staffers and droids to refuse all calls and to keep away any visitors. After retreating to the sanctum of his private office, Casterfo threw up into his rubbish bin and reflected over the motives for his actions. While Casterfo tried to justify his actions, he was unable to ignore the fact that he had betrayed Leia's trust.

The following day, a guilt-stricken Casterfo refuse to grant any interviews or take any meetings to discuss the revelations about Leia with the media. He also ignored all calls and messages from his fellow Centrist colleagues. While trying to put his mind at ease by reading on the proposed new water purification systems for New Republic ships, Ransolm was visited by a furious Senator Organa, who felt betrayed by Ransolm. Casterfo countered that he had been a fool for sharing his most personal and painful life stories with Leia, never guessing that she was Vader's daughter. When Leia revealed that she had not shared her true parentage with her son Ben Solo, Casterfo countered that he was no longer a child but a man. After destroying one of Casterfo's glass display cases and knocking a noodle carton out of a servant droid's hands, Leia stormed out of Casterfo's office. When the droid asked whether its master wanted to report Leia for property damage, Ransolm insisted on leaving his former friend alone.

Despite his new-found prestige among the Centrist caucus, Ransolm felt guilt-stricken for betraying Leia's trust and friendship. When Leia addressed the Senate to withdraw her nomination for First Senator and to seek leave prior to her trip to Sibensko, Casterfo did not join his Centrist colleagues in attacking Leia's credibility. Two weeks later, Leia, C-3PO and her pilots traveled to Sibensko where they discovered that a mysterious entity was funneling considerable funds into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxine warriors. Despite escaping Rinnrivin and the Amaxines, the Amaxines blew up their underwater base and spaceport; destroying most of the evidence apart from the banking records in C-3PO's data banks.

Following her trip to Sibensko, Leia announced that she would address the Galactic Senate to discuss her findings. While most of the Populists supported Leia, the Centrists bloc with the exception of Ransolm opposed her request. Later, Ransolm attended the Centrist Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor's hearing on military appropriations. During the meeting, Casterfo voiced his dissent to Ro-Kiintor's proposed bill to redirect government funding towards planetary defenses. Casterfo countered that the New Republic was in a state of peace and that its military already had sufficient resources to defend its member worlds. After Ro-Kiintor openly mocked Leia, Casterfo decided to vote in favor of Leia's request for a hearing.

The following day, Casterfo attended the Senate hearing where Leia gave a speech outlining her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Napkin Bombings. She also highlighted the threat posed by the Amaxines to the New Republic's peace and security. After Leia concluded by presenting the evidence that C-3PO had uncovered on Sibensko, Casterfo spoke up in Leia's defense. He talked about how they had worked together to investigate Rinnrivin Di and the Amaxines. He also offered to share visual logs of the Amaxines' Daxam IV base and weapons. Ransolm then concluded that the Amaxine leaders had spoken openly of war and their admiration for the "Old Empire."

Casterfo's speech corroborated Leia's testimony and regained Leia's respect for her former friend. While many of the Senators took Casterfo's revelations seriously, his actions angered his nominal ally Lady Carise, who was furious that her potential protege had spurned the opportunity she had given him. Lady Carise then made arrangements to eliminate Casterfo. Following the Senate hearing, Leia met her former friend and complimented him for having the courage to put the greater good ahead of his own political ambitions. With her reputation in tatters, Leia counselled Casterfo to build up his own allies in the Senate in order to prevent a war with elements hostile to the New Republic. She also advised him to leave the Centrists. Before leaving Ransolm resolved to do his duty.

Unwilling to have a dissident Centrist who did not share her faction's zeal for power, Lady Carise hired Arliz Hadrassian to assassinate the Populist Senator Tai-Lin Garr, who had nominated himself as the new Populist candidate for First Senator. She then fabricated visual evidence framing Senator Casterfo as the mastermind behind Hadrassian, who was officially tied to the Amaxine warriors, the Napkin Bombing, and Tai-Lin Garr's assassination. Using the footage from Daxam IV that Casterfo had publicly shared with his colleagues, her slicers doctored footage of Casterfo shaking hands with Hadrassian as he gestured towards her starfighters. While circumstantial, the footage presented him as an enthusiastic backer of the Amaxines who had led a double life.

As a result, Ransolm was promptly arrested by the New Republic authorities on the grounds that he had supplied intelligence and assistance to the Amaxines. Per Senate policy, Casterfo was scheduled for deportation to his homeworld of Riosa where he would be imprisoned, tried, and sentenced for his alleged crimes. The Centrist faction took pains to disassociate themselves from Casterfo while many of his Populist opponents, with the exception of Leia and her team, believed that he was a master deceiver who had been playing everyone. Leia and Greer realized that Casterfo had been framed and the former decided to meet him in the main hangar prior to his deportation to Riosa.

Leia encountered a disheveled Casterfo as he was being led by New Republic soldiers aboard a prison transport and managed to secure permission from the guards to talk with her former friend. Ransolm complimented Leia for her friendship and expressed his regret for helping to reinstate the death penalty on Riosa. Leia offered to help his trial by calling for an independent investigation. However, Casterfo was pessimistic that she would succeed since she had lost many of her former political connections on account of her parentage. The two rekindled their friendship and Casterfo told Leia that she had been his only true friend in the Senate. He also apologized for betraying her and urged Leia to continue for fighting for what was right. Before Casterfo was led away, Leia apologized for her initial assumption that he was an Imperial loyalist and added that he would have fought with the Rebellion.

Following Casterfo's deportation, Leia took action against Lady Carise for manipulating Ransolm into revealing her parentage and framing her friend. She managed to convince the Elder Houses to pass a resolution stripping Carise of all her titles including the governorship of Birren. While she was unable to help Casterfo, Leia believed that this was just punishment for Carise's actions.

Imprisoned by the First Order as Prisoner 876549C, Casterfo was transferred to an occupied Corellia shortly after the Battle of Crait. Being forced to do labor there, Casterfo was rescued by Wedge Antilles and a Resistance team. Casterfo had been told Organa was dead, but Antilles informed him that she was alive and that she wanted him to come with them. He became a member of Leia's Resistance efforts after this rescue.

During his escape, Casterfo offered Executive Records Officer Winshur Bratt a chance to come with them and defect from the First Order, but the dying officer decided to stay behind and be alone. When the Resistance reunited at a safe house supplied by the Collective, Casterfo and Organa reunited.

Ransolm Casterfo was a tall, handsome human man who often wore fine clothing. He was a charismatic, young senator who supported the Centrist faction's tough stance on law and order and believed that the New Republic needed a stronger central government. Despite his philosophical outlook, Casterfo was not dogmatic and was able to work constructively with Populist senators like Leia Organa. Growing up in the last years of the Galactic Empire, Casterfo had mixed feelings towards the Empire. While he hated the Emperor and Darth Vader for exploiting his homeworld Riosa and working his parents to death, he admired the order and stability that the Empire had brought. Casterfo's admiration of the Empire's positive qualities led him to buy Imperial artifacts including helmets and banners.

Casterfo was a courageous man who once put his own life in danger when he rescued Leia from the crime lord Rinnrivin Di. In combat, he was not a skilled but honest combatant who did not enjoy bloodlust. Casterfo believed that both his Centrist colleagues and Populist opponents needed to put aside their differences and work together for the greater good; a sentiment that was reciprocated by Leia but was not appreciated by his nominal ally, Lady Carise. Casterfo grew disillusioned with his fellow Centrists due to their admiration for the authoritarian aspects of Imperial rule and their self-serving political ambitions. Like Leia, Casterfo wanted to work for the greater good of the New Republic. Despite their political differences, Casterfo forged an unlikely friendship with Leia which ultimately withstood the test of politics and intrigue. Even after being imprisoned for years, Casterfo remained a kind man, offering help to a First Order Records Officer Winshurr Bratt, who had been cruel to him, in his dying moments.

Casterfo was also able to use his charm and interest in the Empire to pry valuable information out of Arliz Hadrassian, the leader of the Amaxine warriors, a militia that threatened the Republic. Casterfo managed to gain Hadrassian's trust. However, Lady Carise realized that he was working for Leia and used information about Leia's true parentage to drive a wedge between the two friends. Feeling betrayed, Ransolm exposed Leia's true parentage to the Galactic Senate, destroying his friend's political career. While Casterfo won the praise of his Centrist allies, he was tormented by the realization that he had betrayed his friend's trust. This guilt led Casterfo to make amends by supporting Leia's account of their investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines. In the end, Casterfo's efforts to protect the New Republic put him at odds with Lady Carise, who was a secret agent of the First Order seeking to subvert the Republic.

Due to his harsh childhood, Ransolm Casterfo developed an interest in Hosnian martial arts and quarterstaff combat. In his free time, he studied old holos of force pike battles and practiced in various forms of martial arts and melee combat. Casterfo's combat skills allowed him to improvise during a force pike duel with one of Arliz Hadrassian's Amaxine warriors.

Although Ransolm Casterfo first appeared in the 2016 novel Bloodline, written by Claudia Gray, the character existed, in various forms, in the earliest versions of the 2015 sequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, although according to Phil Szostak, as far he recalls, no design nor concept art for Casterfo was produced. Casterfo's name is pronounced "RAN-som CAS-ter-foe."

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