Xandel Carivus


 * ''"The man is a pampered bureaucrat, a slave to the system. He has no vision...and no spine."
 * &mdash;Norym Kim''

Xandel Carivus (? &mdash; 11 ABY) was the last Imperial ruler to claim the title of Emperor.

Carivus and Nom Anor
Xandel Carivus was a pompous bureaucrat from the planet Ord Cantrell, deep within Imperial territory. Xandel was part of a wealthy family on the planet. When Nom Anor came from Yuuzhan Vong space, he recognized Carivus as a perfect person to complete his aims of weakening the galaxy at large. Frightening Carivus into servitude, Nom Anor advised Xandel to invest a large portion of his wealth into Carnor Jax's cause. With Carivus' money and several other high up Imperials, Jax bribed the Emperor's personal physician into sabotaging Palpatine's clones, leading to an early death for the Emperor.

On the Interim Ruling Council
With Palpatine out of the way, Jax was quick to move in on the throne. Jax placed everyone that had financed his plan into the Interim Ruling Council with himself at the head. Now a part of the head of the Empire, Xandel kicked back and relaxed, earning the disgust of many people on the council.

Unfortunately, mere months after Jax had established himself as the new Emperor, he was killed by Kir Kanos in a duel on Yinchorr. From reports by Imperials under Jax at the time, the council knew that Kanos had killed Jax for his role in the death of the Emperor, and that he had vowed to kill everyone that had supported Jax's plan. This threw the Council into an uproar; few on the council believed that one man would be able to do such a feat, but many members believed that they would not be able to hold power after the death of Jax. The council established Burr Nolyds as their head and looked for a place to temporarily convene. At the behest of Nom Anor, Carivus offered his estate as an acting place for the council to meet.

Nom Anor knew that the rest of the council despised Carivus as an idiot and a coward. If he could make them believe that the position of head of the council was a dangerous one, they would most likely place the most hated person there. Using an explosive that carried the crest of Kir Kanos from his days as a Royal Guardsmen, Nom Anor killed Burr Nolyds. Nom Anor's plan went perfectly, knowing that the head of the council was now a target, Carivus was voted resoundingly as the new head of the council.

As Head of the Council
Carivus believed that Nom Anor wanted to rule the Empire with his people replacing the council as the new leaders. Nom Anor's plan was far more sinister. He hoped to cause a civil war between human and alien species within the Empire. Nom Anor killed two more human members on the council, Admiral Banjeer, and General Immodet, to increase tension between the human and alien members of the council.

One of the human members of the council, Feena D'Asta, who feared for her own safety, called for a vote of no-confidence in Carivus after these assassinations. Although the vote failed miserably (no one else wanted to put themselves in any more danger than they already were), Carivus held a lasting grudge for Feena.

Following the assassinations, and on the orders of Nom Anor, Carivus arrested every non-human member on the council. However, Carivus also had Feena D'Asta arrested on his own initiative for her role in trying to remove him from power.

Clone Conspiracy
Days after expelling the non-human members from the council, there was an assassination attempt on Carivus. The attempt was put down, but Imperial troops discovered that a clone of Carivus had been with the assassins. Unbeknowest to Carivus, the Feena D'Asta that he had arrested had been a clone under the power of Black Sun. When he arrested her, Black Sun was blind to the council's dealings and had planned to replace Carivus with a clone.

After the assassination attempt, Carivus began to believe he was more important than Nom Anor had initially made him believe. Under his own initiative, Carivus disbanded the rest of the council and declared himself Emperor.

Nom Anor leaves
This did not fit in with Nom Anor's plan at all. Instead of the aliens holding a grudge against the humans, they blamed Carivus exclusively. Carivus had inadvertantly made himself the scapegoat for the misdealings of the Empire and had actually united the rest of the Empire against him.

Confronting Carivus, Nom Anor showed his outrage at Carivus' actions telling him that his masters had made new plans, ones that no longer included him. In his final statement, Nom Anor warned Carivus that Kir Kanos was in the building and was coming to kill him. Secretly, Nom Anor had also poisoned Carivus as a back-up plan should Carivus escape.

Carivus' death
Imprisoning Feena proved to be Carivus' biggest mistake, Baron Ragez D'Asta, enraged by Carivus appointing himself Emperor and imprisoning his daughter, arrived at Ord Cantrell to rescue his daughter. Using his entire fleet, Regez broke through Carivus' defenses and asked for an immediate audience with Carivus. Secretly Kir Kanos was within the Baron's landing party with the intention of killing Carivus, but with Nom Anor's warning, Carivus knew that Kanos was probably with the Baron. He called to his personal Red Guards (different from the Emperor's Royal Guards) to kill everyone in the Baron's landing party. Trying to make a hasty retreat out of a back entrance, Carivus was caught by Kanos and quickly executed for his part in the death of the Emperor.

Ramifications
Carivus was the last person to attempt to claim the title of "Galactic Emperor"; as such, his death could be considered the dividing line between the Galactic Empire proper and the Galactic Empire as referred to as the Imperial Remnant.

Appearances

 * Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood