Keleman Ciro

Keleman Ciro, a male Human, was born on Dolomar before the Clone Wars. He spent his formative years in one of the planet's subterranean cities with his brother, Noell. Initially, Ciro envisioned a tranquil career as a programmer, working with computer systems. He was a student when the Galactic Empire began to exert greater control over Dolomar. Consequently, Ciro and his brother joined a local resistance group, engaging in guerrilla attacks aimed at Imperial forces. Shortly following the Battle of Endor, the resistance achieved success in removing the Imperial Governor from his position of power.

Once his homeworld was liberated from Imperial dominance, both Ciro and Noell enlisted in the New Republic military. While Noell pursued training as a pilot, Ciro embarked on an intensive course focused on commando operations. Upon completing his training, Ciro was assigned to the New Republic forces operating in the Brak sector. Due to his outstanding combat performances during various operations throughout the sector, he was transferred to the Katarn Commandos in 6 ABY. Ciro rapidly became a highly valued and respected member of this elite unit, consistently demonstrating his capabilities. By 8 ABY, he had achieved the rank of sergeant and was part of the New Republic task force dispatched to liberate the planet Kal'Shebbol from the Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne. Information had reached the New Republic indicating that Sarne possessed a potent new weapons technology, which he had already employed to secure victories in several incursions into the adjacent Minos Cluster, although his forces were ultimately repulsed.

Prior to the arrival of the main task force, a small group of Katarn Commandos received orders to infiltrate Kal'Shebbol. Their mission was to disable the shield generators protecting the main continent, including Sarne's headquarters. The team utilized a Ghtroc 720 freighter, posing as a simple merchant vessel. As the New Republic task force arrived in orbit and initiated their assault, the freighter attempted to blend in with the other freighter traffic, appearing to flee the attack. However, instead of heading towards a designated landing field, the pilot, Syla Tors, commenced an approach towards Sarne's headquarters. Lieutenant Judder Page, the squad commander, hoped that the large number of freighters attempting to escape would mask their true intentions. Unfortunately, an Atgar 1.4 FD P-Tower mounted on the Imperial Government Complex detected their approach at the last moment. The resulting laser blast destroyed the freighter's starboard repulsorlifts, causing the ship to crash, skidding through the undergrowth and breaching the perimeter death fence.

Ciro and the squad then met with Lilla Dade, the unit's pathfinder, who had been independently inserted onto the planet three days earlier. She guided them to an underground armored tunnel, part of the Imperial Government Complex, which had a meter-wide section exposed to the outside, allowing the squad to access the base. Upon reaching the nexus control room at the tunnel's end, they engaged in a brief firefight, eliminating five of Sarne's troopers and gaining access to the base's computer systems. Ciro, utilizing his computer expertise, accessed the main computer and located the main energy shield control room. However, it was situated halfway across the complex, with the main garrison positioned between them and their target. Page expressed his hope that they could find a more convenient alternative. Ciro then re-entered the computer system and discovered that Sarne had a personal bolthole located closer to their position. Unlike other boltholes, which typically contained a landspeeder or shuttle, Sarne had stored the Carrack-class light cruiser Ambition there for his personal escape. Ciro and Page realized that Sarne must have also included a cut-off switch for the energy shields, hidden either in the bolthole or the cruiser itself. Page divided his unit into two groups: one consisting of himself, Ciro, Vandro, and [Gottu], would proceed to the bolthole in an attempt to disable the shields and potentially capture Sarne. The other half would head to the detention cells to free any prisoners being held by Sarne.

Ciro and the rest of the unit hurried to the armored tunnel leading to Sarne's private hangar, only to discover that Sarne had already arrived. The Moff, realizing that the planet was lost to the New Republic, had decided to evacuate rather than be captured. After commandeering several of his personal guard, he intended to use the Carrack-class light cruiser to escape the planet, leaving the base personnel to continue fighting while he fled. The commandos and stormtroopers exchanged fire until Sarne employed a piece of DarkStryder technology known as a mindwarper module to incapacitate the commandos. Ciro was overwhelmed by the effects of the module, which acted like a form of stun gas, causing confusion and hindering his ability to function properly. Collapsing to the floor, he felt light-headed, detached from his surroundings, and forgot exactly what he was doing, although he knew he was doing something important. Despite this, he recovered from the effects more quickly than his teammates and began crawling towards the hangar in an attempt to stop Sarne. An accidental discharge from Page's weapon shocked the rest of the squad back to normality, and they regrouped and recovered their senses. Proceeding down the corridor, they entered the hangar just as the Carrack-class light cruiser was taking off. Ciro quickly located a control panel in the hangar and noted that Sarne had programmed the shield to deactivate only long enough for the ship to pass through it, then reactivate. Ciro waited for the shield to deactivate, then used a beamdrill to freeze the entire circuit in the off position. Page informed the task force that the shield was down, allowing the New Republic to liberate the planet.

With Kal'Shebbol secured by the New Republic, attention shifted to the problem of Moff Sarne. Ciro's experiences in the tunnel had been documented, confirming the rumors of a new type of exotic technology in Sarne's possession. The former Imperial Moff had escaped into the Kathol sector with the majority of his fleet and was still considered a threat to regional stability. Lieutenant Page received authorization to dispatch a mission to pursue Sarne, track him down, and neutralize the threat he posed. Due to limited resources, Page was forced to utilize a CR90 corvette that Moff Sarne had been extensively modifying within a shipyard hidden in the Sorbiss Valley. The ship, renamed the FarStar, was crewed by a combination of New Republic personnel and civilians recruited from the planet. To his surprise, Ciro was assigned command of the mission and the ship. He initially protested, arguing that Kaiya Adrimetrum, a fellow member of the Katarn Commandos who would serve as his first officer, possessed more command experience, having been a resistance cell leader on her homeworld. Page countered his argument by reminding him that Ciro had recovered from the effects of Sarne's weapon faster than he had, leading him to believe that Ciro had a greater resistance to it, which would prove useful during the mission. Reluctantly, Ciro accepted command of the mission, but was pleased that his brother, who was attached to the task force orbiting the planet, would also join the crew. With the commissioned rank of captain, Ciro was given twenty-eight hours to prepare the FarStar for launch.

Ciro initially planned for the FarStar to undergo a shakedown cruise, allowing the engineering staff to resolve any issues within its hastily assembled systems. However, while still in orbit of Kal'Shebbol, Darryn Thyte, the ship's Operations Officer, received a distress call from the planet Kolatill. The planet had been assaulted by Imperial forces, and its capital city, Domaz, was engulfed in flames. Ciro immediately canceled the shakedown cruise and ordered the FarStar to proceed to Kolatill at maximum speed. Monjai, the New Republic official in charge of Kal'Shebbol, promised to send medical aid as soon as possible.

Upon arriving at Kolatill, Ciro immediately initiated relief operations, and his officers met with representatives of the Kolatill Council, who informed them that their capital had been attacked by TIE bombers. Kolatill had rebelled against their Imperial Governor, Tetrum, after hearing that Kal'Shebbol had fallen to the New Republic. The Council insisted on meeting with Ciro as soon as possible to reassure the population of Kolatill that they were in control and the situation was under control. While they were willing to meet with him on the FarStar, they insisted on a meeting on the surface of the planet so that it could be broadcast to Kolatill's other cities as a morale booster. While Ciro was in transit between the planet and the FarStar in a diplomatic shuttle, the Ton-Falk-class escort carrier Kathol Protector, which had launched the TIE bombers that had previously attacked Domaz, dropped out of hyperspace for another attack. During the engagement, TIE fighters from the vessel herded the shuttle towards the escort carrier, and it was ensnared in a tractor beam and brought aboard the vessel. The Kathol Protector then jumped to hyperspace once its bomber force had been defeated by the FarStar's starfighter complement. During the engagement, Ciro's brother Noell sacrificed his own life to stop a TIE bomber deploying a pathogenic bomb.

Ciro was transported to the Q'Maere Research Facility located within the Kathol Rift, a dense and volatile region of constantly shifting nebulaic material and lightstorms that made navigation extremely difficult. He was placed under the care of Langstyn Kraay, the administrator and Doctor of the facility. Originally a scientific outpost, Moff Sarne had converted the facility into a penal colony and re-education center. At the same time as Ciro's arrival, Sarne stripped the facility of its security troops and weapons, and damaged the only hyperspace-equipped ship capable of leaving the Rift. Ciro was stranded on the planet, along with the other prisoners and facility staff that Sarne deemed useless. Subjected to interrogation and torture by Kraay, Ciro's body was severely battered, bruised, and burnt, leading him to retreat into a catatonic state. He was placed with the general prison population in Dome Four and left alone for several weeks, receiving some treatment for his injuries. However, he retained some automatic functions and could walk with assistance.

Several weeks later, the FarStar itself arrived at Q'Maere, seeking to replenish its food supplies, which had been ruined by a bacterial agent native to the Kathol Rift. Doctor Kraay, seeing an opportunity to escape the planet, took the FarStar's landing party hostage and held them for ransom. The landing party was placed with the general prison population, where they encountered Lowen Chase, a captive New Republic pilot. Chase recognized the FarStar mission patch on the landing party's uniforms as being the same as the patch on Ciro's clothing, and led them to him. While they were surprised and pleased to learn that Ciro had survived, they were shocked by his mental and physical state. The FarStar landing party collaborated with the prisoners to engineer a jailbreak and seize control of the facility.

Ciro was taken aboard the FarStar, where his wounds were deemed treatable using intensive bacta therapy. However, his mental condition was expected to take longer to heal, and he was confined to the medical bay. Ciro remained in the medical bay on the FarStar throughout its adventures in the Rift, remaining in a catatonic state. Shortly before the FarStar exited hyperspace near the planet Kathol, Ciro finally succumbed to his injuries and died.

Keleman Ciro was a nondescript man of medium height with dark hair. In his early thirties at the time of the FarStar mission, he was in good physical condition, surpassing the fitness levels of men a decade younger. He was an effective commando and guerrilla fighter, although he lacked the bravado often displayed by other New Republic special forces operatives.

Ciro felt uneasy about being assigned to lead the FarStar mission, doubting his limited command experience and believing that his First Officer, Kaiya Adrimetrum, would have been a better choice as commander. However, Lieutenant Page's confidence in him provided strength and the conviction that he would succeed. One of the primary reasons Page assigned Ciro to command the FarStar was that he had demonstrated a higher degree of resistance to the effects of at least one piece of DarkStryder technology during Sarne's escape from the planet. Page hoped that this resistance would give him an advantage when facing Sarne.

Ciro, a stern disciplinarian, believed in the importance of the chain of command and expected his orders to be carried out immediately and without question. He understood that the only way to ensure the mission's success was to build a focused and dedicated team, a task made more challenging by the diverse backgrounds of the crew. He was also willing to listen to the opinions of others and carefully consider them before issuing his commands. Despite Ciro's misgivings, Kaiya Adrimetrum noted his genial and gentle command style, often wondering what Ciro would have done in her place had he remained in command of the FarStar.

Keleman Ciro was confident in his abilities, particularly his computer skills, which proved invaluable during the liberation of Kal'Shebbol. He was trained in the use of blasters, both personal and vehicle-mounted, as well as melee combat, and possessed some climbing skills. Ciro could operate repulsorlift vehicles and ride domesticated beasts when necessary. He had some interest in alien species, other cultures, and planetary systems. Ciro's commando training provided him with the ability to command others, infiltrate enemy positions, and operate explosive devices.

Ciro typically carried a blaster pistol, comlink, and datapad, and wore a blast vest. In combat situations, he would arm himself with a blaster rifle.

Keleman Ciro was created for The DarkStryder Campaign by West End Games, published on July 17, 1995. He made his debut in the short story "The Saga Begins" by Timothy Zahn. While much of The DarkStryder Campaign, including its supplements The Kathol Outback, The Kathol Rift, and Endgame, can be adapted to suit the playing styles of individual gamemasters and players, Ciro's capture at Kolatill, subsequent imprisonment, and eventual death are essential parts of the storyline, allowing Kaiya Adrimetrum to assume command. The remaining adventures in The DarkStryder Campaign series are written under the assumption that Adrimetrum is the commander of the FarStar.