Keleman Ciro

"But me as captain? Adrimetrum's had more experience&mdash;at least she ran her own resistance group for a while.''" "But you're the one who kept moving in that mind-numbing field Sarne threw at us. Not fast&mdash;you were just crawling&mdash;but you were'' moving. That tells me you've got a better than average resistance to these things; and in a tight situation, that might make the difference."

- Keleman Ciro and Lieutenant Judder Page

Keleman Ciro was a Human male from the planet Dolomar. Along with his brother, Noell, he was a member of one of the planet's resistance groups and assisted in the ousting of Imperial forces from his homeworld. Following the liberation of Dolomar, Ciro joined the New Republic military as a soldier, serving with the forces in Brak sector. His service record earned him a transfer to the elite Page's Commandos in 6 ABY.

Two years later, Ciro was a part of the commando squad that infiltrated the planet Kal'Shebbol in order to bring down the defensive shields surrounding the main continent. Despite the successful liberation of the planet, the ruler of Kal'Shebbol, Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne, escaped into the Kathol sector with the majority of his forces. Having learned that the Moff had access to a powerful new form of weaponry, Lieutenant Judder Page assigned Ciro to command a mission to chase Sarne down and neutralize him. Although he was a soldier, Ciro was placed in command of the CR90 corvette FarStar, a heavily modified starship that had once been part of Sarne's fleet.

Ciro was captured by forces loyal to Moff Sarne in the Kolatill system early in the mission. Taken to the Q'Maere Research Facility within the Kathol Rift, he was physically and mentally tortured and retreated into a catatonic state. Weeks later, he was rescued by the crew of the FarStar, but eventually passed away in the ship's medical bay shortly before the ship arrived in the Kathol system.

Early life and joining the New Republic
Born on Dolomar shortly before the Clone Wars, the Human male Keleman Ciro and his younger brother, Noell, grew up in one of the planet's underground cities. Ciro planned to pursue a quiet career sitting in front of computer screens as a programmer and was a student when the Galactic Empire began to tighten its grip on the planet. Ciro and his brother joined a local resistance group and participated in a series of guerilla attacks against Imperial forces. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, the resistance succeeded in ousting the Imperial Governor from power.

With his homeworld free of Imperial rule, Ciro joined the New Republic military, along with Noell. While his brother opted for pilot training, Ciro began an intensive training course focusing on commando operations. After his training was complete, Ciro was assigned to the New Republic forces in the Brak sector. Following exceptional combat performances in operations throughout the sector, he was transferred to the elite Page's Commandos in 6 ABY. Ciro soon became a valued and respected member of the elite unit, proving his worth time and again. By 8 ABY, Ciro had attained the rank of sergeant and was part of the New Republic task force sent to liberate the planet Kal'Shebbol from the Imperial warlord, Moff Kentor Sarne. Rumors had reached the New Republic that Sarne was in possession of a potent new weapons technology, which he had already used to secure victory in several incursions into the neighboring Minos Cluster, although he was eventually repulsed.

The liberation of Kal'Shebbol
"Anyone hurt?''" "''No, sir. I wish you'd teach Tors how to land these things."

- Lieutenant Judder Page and Sergeant Keleman Ciro.

A small contingent of Page's Commandos were assigned to infiltrate the planet before the arrival of the task force and disable the shield generators protecting the main continent and Sarne's headquarters. Using a Ghtroc 720 freighter, the team posed as a simple merchant vessel. When the New Republic task force arrived in orbit and began their assault, the vessel blended in with the other freighter traffic and began fleeing from the attack. However, instead of heading to a designated landing field, the pilot, Syla Tors, began an approach towards Sarne's headquarters. Lieutenant Judder Page, the squad commander, hoped that the mass of freighters heading for safety would disguise their intent. Unfortunately for them, an Atgar 1.4 FD P-Tower laser cannon mounted on the Imperial Government Complex detected their approach at the last moment. The laser blast destroyed the freighter's starboard repulsorlifts, and the ship crashed, skidding through the undergrowth and slicing through the perimeter death fence.

Ciro and the squad rendezvoused with the unit's pathfinder, Lilla Dade, who had been inserted onto the planet on her own three days previously. She directed them to an underground armored tunnel that had a meter-wide section cut out of it, exposing it to the outside. The tunnel was part of the Imperial Government Complex, allowing the squad to access the base. Reaching the nexus control room at the end of the tunnel, they engaged in a quick firefight that eliminated five of Sarne's troopers and gave the squad access to the base's computer systems. Ciro, using his computer skills, accessed the main computer and located the main energy shield control room. Situated halfway across the complex with the main garrison between them and their target, Page expressed his hope that they could find something more convenient. Ciro went back into the computer system and discovered that Sarne had a personal bolthole, closer to their position. Unlike other boltholes, which usually contained a landspeeder or shuttle, Sarne had stored the Carrack-class light cruiser Ambition there to use as his personal escape vehicle. Ciro and Page realized that Sarne must also have a cut-off switch to the energy shields hidden either in the bolthole or the cruiser itself. Page split his unit in half&mdash;one unit, consisting of him, Ciro, Vandro and Gottu would proceed to the bolthole in an effort to bring down the shields and possibly even capture Sarne. The rest of the unit would head to the detention cells and free any prisoners that Sarne was holding.

Ciro and rest of the unit hurried to the armored tunnel leading to Sarne's private hangar, only to find that Sarne had beat them to it. The Moff had realized that the planet was lost to the New Republic and had decided to evacuate rather than be captured. Commandeering several of his troopers, he intended to use the Carrack-class light cruiser to escape the planet, while leaving the base personnel to fight on while he fled. The commandos and stormtroopers exchanged fire, until Sarne used a piece of DarkStryder technology known as a mindwarper module to incapacitate the commandos. Ciro was overcome by the effects of the module, which acted like a form of stun gas, confusing him and rendering him unable to operate properly. Collapsing to the floor, he became light-headed, detached from his surroundings and forgetting exactly what he was doing, although he knew he was doing something important. Despite this, he recovered from the effects quicker that 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 set the shield to turn off long enough for the ship to pass through it, then turn back on. 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.

Command of the FarStar
"With all due respect, sir, neither of us is exactly qualified to command a capital ship."

- Keleman Ciro

With Kal'Shebbol in New Republic hands, attention turned to the problem of Moff Sarne. Ciro's experiences in the tunnel had been reported, and it seemed that the rumors regarding a new type of exotic technology in Sarne's possession were true. The former Imperial Moff had escaped into the Kathol sector with the majority of his fleet and was still considered a threat to the stability of the region. Lieutenant Page was authorized to send a mission after Sarne to track him down and neutralize the threat he posed. With limited resources, he was forced to use a CR90 corvette that Moff Sarne had been heavily modifying within a shipyard hidden in the Sorbiss Valley. Renamed the FarStar, the ship was crewed by a mixture of New Republic personnel and civilians recruited from the planet. To his surprise, Ciro was placed in command of the mission and the ship. He protested at first, claiming that Kaiya Adrimetrum, a fellow member of Page's Commandos who would act as his first officer, had more command experience than he did since she had 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 come in handy for the mission. Reluctantly, Ciro accepted command of the mission, but was glad that his brother, who was attached to the task force orbiting the planet, would also be joining the crew. With a commissioned rank of captain, Ciro was given twenty-eight hours to ready the FarStar for launch.

Ciro originally planned for the FarStar to have a shakedown cruise to allow the engineering staff to work out any kinks and bugs within its hastily jury-rigged systems. While still in orbit of Kal'Shebbol, Lieutenant 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 in flames. Giving the order to belay the shakedown cruise, Ciro ordered the FarStar to make best speed to Kolatill. Governor Monjai, the New Republic official in charge of Kal'Shebbol, promised to send medical aid as soon as she could.

Arriving at Kolatill, Ciro immediately ordered relief operations to begin 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, once they had heard that Kal'Shebbol had fallen to the New Republic. The Council insisted on meeting with Ciro as soon as possible, as they wished to assure the population of Kolatill that they were in control and the situation was in hand. 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 the Kolatill's other cities to improve morale. While Ciro was in transit between the planet and the FarStar in a diplomatic shuttle, the escort carrier Kathol Protector, which had been the ship that 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 starfighter complement.

Imprisonment
Ciro was taken to the Q'Maere Research Facility within the Kathol Rift&mdash;a dense accretion of constantly shifting nebulaic material and volatile lightstorms that made navigation difficult&mdash;and left in the care of the administrator, Doctor Langstyn Kraay. The facility had originally been a scientific outpost, but had been converted by Moff Sarne to serve as a penal colony and re-education center. At the same time as Ciro was dropped off, 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 felt were of no use to him. Interrogated and tortured by Kraay himself, Ciro's body was battered, bruised, and burnt, and he retreated into a catatonic state. Placed with the main prison population in Dome Four, he was left alone for a few weeks and underwent some treatment for his injuries. However, he retained some automatic functions and could walk if assisted.

Several weeks later, the FarStar itself arrived at Q'Maere, and the crew were looking to replenish their food supplies since a bacterial agent native to the Kathol Rift had rotted their stores. Doctor Kraay, seeing a chance to escape the planet, took the FarStar landing party hostage and held them for ransom. The landing party was placed in with the general prison population, where they encountered a captive New Republic pilot, Lowen Chase. 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 know that Ciro had survived, his mental and physical state shocked them. The FarStar landing party worked together with the prisoners to engineer a jailbreak and gain control of the facility.

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

Personality and traits
"I hate when this happens.''" "''You need to cultivate your sense of adventure."

- Sergeant Keleman Ciro and Lieutenant Judder Page.

Keleman Ciro was an effective commando and guerilla, although he lacked the bravado displayed by other New Republic special forces operatives. He was confident of his own abilities, especially his computer skills, which served him well during the liberation of Kal'Shebbol. He had training in the use of blasters&mdash;both personal and those mounted on vehicles&mdash;and melee combat, and had some degree of climbing skill. Ciro could operate repulsorlift vehicles, and ride domesticated beasts when the need arose. He had some interest in alien species, other cultures and planetary systems. Celeman's training as a commando gave him the ability to command others, infiltrate enemy positions, and to operate explosive devices. He typically carried a blaster pistol, comlink and datapad, and wore a blast vest.

Ciro was ill at ease at being assigned to lead the FarStar mission, as he doubted his general lack of command experience and felt that his First Officer, Kaiya Adrimetrum, would have made a better choice as commander. However, Lieutenant Page's confidence in him gave him strength and the conviction that he would succeed in his mission. Despite his misgivings, he was noted for having a genial, gentle style of command by Kaiya Adrimetrum, and she would often wonder what Ciro would have done in her place had he remained in command of the FarStar.

A stern disciplinarian, Ciro believed in the importance of the chain of command and expected his orders to be carried out immediately and without question. He knew that the only way the mission could succeed was by building a focused and dedicated team, a job that was to be made all the harder by the diverse background of the crew. He would also listen to the opinions of others and consider them carefully before issuing his commands.

One of the main reasons Page assigned Ciro to command the FarStar was that, during Sarne's escape from the planet, he showed that he had a higher degree of resistance to the effects of at least one piece of DarkStryder technology. It was Page's hope that this resistance would give him an edge when facing Sarne.

Behind the scenes
Keleman Ciro was created for West End Games' The DarkStryder Campaign, and first appeared in the short story The Saga Begins by Timothy Zahn. Although much of the DarkStryder Campaign, including its supplements The Kathol Outback, The Kathol Rift, and Endgame, can be altered to suit the individual playing styles of the Gamesmaster and players, Ciro's capture at Kolatill, and subsequent imprisonment and death, are required parts of the storyline to allow Kaiya Adrimetrum to assume command. The rest of the adventures in the series are written with the premise that Adrimetrum is commander of the FarStar.