Some Imperial characters are very one dimensional. Cardboard cutout villains with the most basic motivation- taking over the world(insert M. Bison Clip) others are delightfully complex motivated by hidden agendas, regret and obsession. Such is the character of Sander Delvardus.
Very little is known of Delvardus early life. Whether by design or coincidence no information exists about where or when he was born. What is known is that very early in life he managed to secure a marriage with a powerful Tarkin family heiress tying his fate to that of the high class of Eriadu. Since it is very unlikely a commoner would be able to achieve this we can assume Delvardus was from the upper class of Eriadu with the appropriate connections to arrange the marriage to further his career and the ambition to pursue these goals ruthlessly. From an early age Delvardus seems to have embraced the idea that to gain supremacy in life one needed overwhelming power that couldn't be countered. The strong ruled and the weak died, that was the way of the universe- he also never accepted surrender as an option in life. As such he sought to tie himself to the most powerful family in the Outer and Mid Rim no matter the cost- the Tarkins. To Delvardus however his wife was never more than a way to further bolster his position, he never held any love or affection for her and stayed away nearly the entirety of their marriage. Delvardus joined the Imperial Navy shortly after his marriage recognizing that the Imperial Navy was the fastest way to power after his marriage. A Star Destroyer posting was achieved in very short time and his captaincy confirmed, it should be noted however that not once during his official career was Delvardus noted as taking part in any major offensives against enemies of equal strength-he remained untested in battle. Delvardus was not satisfied with mere power without perks and quickly developed a reputation as a womanizer. He was rumored to have a woman in every port. Delvardus might well have remained as such for the rest of his life had he not met a refugee worker named Seledra Zin. In perhaps the most unlikely pairing in SW history a ruthless Imperial noble fell deeply in love with a refugee worker who specialized in Aliens and she with him. he even secured a posting for his ship just to be closer to her. He gave up womanizing for her and had he not already been married might well have settled with her. However likely due to their separate outlooks on life and politics as well as treatment of others Delvardus and Zin argued constantly and one fateful time it exploded into violence. In a blind fit of rage Delvardus struck Zin without thinking knocking her into a coma.
For the very first- and perhaps only time- time in his life Delvardus was overcome by deep regret and grief at his actions. He had struck down the one person he cared about in the entire galaxy other than himself-with his own hand. Tormented by this and unable to accept she would never wake up again, Delvardus had her moved to his personal quarters on his ship in stasis. Believing that if he amassed enough power and rank he would have access to the very cutting edge of medical technology Delvardus threw himself into every possible advantage he could gain, tactically, strategically and politically he strove to be the best, he used his Tarkin connection and intense nature to climb to the rank of Admiral in a staggeringly short amount of time under Grand Moff Ardus Kaine. His every waking moment became devoted to the revival of his love. Her restoration became his one and only obsession. Yet no matter how he tried the cure eluded him. Frustrated at the seeming dead end to his rise and by extension his dead end pursuit of Zin's cure Delvardus was given what seemed to him a heaven sent opportunity-the Emperor died and the Empire shattered. Delvardus found himself in control of the fleets for Ardus Kaine in the Outer Rim and when Kaine abandoned the Rim for the New Territories Delvardus abandoned him. Seizing control of the abandoned territory with the forces unwilling to abandon their home sectors with kaine Delvardus promised to protect Eriadu in exchange for being the leader of the splinter faction. The Eriadu Ruling classes, wanting it's assets protected were all too happy to agree, thus Delvardus assumed rulership of the splinter faction he would deem the Eriadu Authority. As it's ruler he publicly took the stance of hard line Imperial out to secure his territory and protect Eriadu. Privately he used every campaign as an excuse to absorb, steal or conquer new Medical technologies from worlds near him. Now with no oversight he could pour as many millions into saving Zin as it took. During this time Delvardus captured hundreds of ATATs and seeking to legitimatize his new dictatorship and differentiate himself from his rivals like Moff Utoxx Prentioch- who blocked some of his rimward expansions, Delvardus invented the title of 'Superior General" for himself. This alienated his army commanders and led to General Maximillion Veers leaving for the centralized Empire in the Core. Veers was just the first to jump ship...he wouldn't be the last.
When the worlds he held didn't yield the cure he sought Delvardus turned his eyes coreward. He planned a daring series of attacks to seize the Rimma trade route as a preliminary to attacking the Core- where Delvardus had become convinced a cure for Zin would be found. This notion horrified the Eriadu Ruling families who thought Delvardus was gambling their entire state in a potential war with both Coruscant and the Ruling Council withdrew all support to the Warlord. Shea Hublin the legendary ace TIE pilot, disgusted by what he saw as Delvardus abandoning Eriadu for the Core also left his service. Undaunted and confident in his own prowess he had begun secret construction of a supremacy weapon called the Night Hammer- an Executor class SSD unlike any other. It would have stealth armor over standard hull plating both giving it added protection and making it nearly invisible to sensors, he further had managed to through automation and efficiency reduce the need for crew from 250,000 to just 100,000. This ship would also house much larger hangars and capacity than it's standard sister ships who could carry 144 fighters and bombers the Night Hammer could carry over 1,000. Delvardus believed if he gained the resources of the Core he could finish this monster and use it as both deterrent and a weapon that could not be rivaled to quickly gain dominance as well as unable to accept he would have to remain in the Outer Rim as that would doom Zin to eternal rest, Delvardus attacked anyway pushing as far as Yag Dhul before running out of steam. Now stripped of his leading ground commander, starfighter pilot and financial backing events began to spiral rapidly. Delvardus had been marked as one of the first targets by the NR for destruction due to his antagonistic offensives all around him and his largely exposed territory. Veteran admiral Firmus Nantz led the NR into Delvardus territory and lured the Flagship - the Praetor II class Battlecruiser Thalassa of the Superior General into an ambush and destroyed it with coordinated Y wing swarms and B Wing Frigates. Nantz then hit Delvardus again and again besting the Warlord in each encounter through superior tactics and the dissension in Delvardus's ranks. Delvardus Eriadu Authority was poised on a knife's edge. The Ruling families had abandoned him, he had not won a single battle against Nantz making him appear vulnerable to the other Warlords around his border and he was unable to replace capital ship losses after Sluis Van was taken or finish the Night Hammer in his territory. Delvardus decided to double down and risk it all on attacking Sullust. He would seize the Rebel facilities there and press the Sullustians into slave labor to finish his new flagship, he even briefly regained Hublin's aid. Delvardus attacked in a reckless all or nothing way and was soundly defeated by a relative newcomer named Sien Sovv-who would one day become the NRs supreme commander-utterly shattered at Sullust Devardus was given no breathing room as the NR fleet led by Nantz and Calrissian pushed into his territory from both flanks, Eriadu backed the NR in exchange for amnesty and the Superior General's Eriadu Authority dissolved in the blink of an eye, even his own wife deserted him remaining on Eriadu.
This should have been the end for Delvardus, but amazingly it was not. He escaped taking Zin along with sufficient forces including the unfinished Night Hammer into the Deep Core where he established himself on Kampf dubbing his new Kingdom the Kampf Authority he warred with the likes of Harrsk, Kosh Teradoc, Pakith and others for dominance in the Deep Core in bitter internecine warfare that convinced him that the other Warlords were just obstacles to his glory, always in his way, he developed vendettas and deep hatred of each, gradually slipping into obscurity from the larger galaxy. Then one day he received a communication from Byss- the Emperor was reborn and made an offer sensing Delvardus heart of hearts that the Warlord could not refuse-if Delvardus would just swear fealty to him Palpatine would use the power of the Force to grant the Superior General's one desire when the NR was crushed-Seledra Zin would LIVE again! Delvardus eagerly accepted and turned his entire kingdom's forces over to Palpatine's cause. Along with the other Deep Core Warlords Delvardus joined the offensive to take back the Galaxy. The years of warfare had hardened Delvardus, no longer was he the inexperienced commander of the first year after Endor, he burst back onto the Galactic scene at Metellos where he swept the defending NR fleet from space and then orbitally bombarded the world until it surrendered-killing over 10 million in the process. He took part in the reconquest of Coruscant poised seemingly to stand victorious with the rest of the Imperials-then it happened- the Imperial mutiny, a senseless orgy of destruction and hate filled madness. Already bitter and hateful of his fellow Warlords from years of warfare with them Palpatine's dark side manipulations found easy purchase in Delvardus who joined in the destruction and faring better than many of his fellows. When it was over though Delvardus had lost much of his strength like the other Warlords-they now truly had no recourse but to serve the Reborn Emperor's massive shadow forces. Still Delvardus was hopeful-he was in the Core, the Emperor was back, the NR driven to the edges of the galaxy. Soon Palpatine would restore Zin to him! Then it all went straight to Hell. Palpatine was betrayed by Carnor Jax and slain by the NR, Byss, the Eclipse I and Ii and the Galaxy gun were destroyed along with the Shadow Hand Fleet. In the blink of an eye Zin had been snatched away from him again by the NR, who had also snatched his kingdom at eriadu years earlier. He blamed this partly on them and partly on the other Warlords for failing to prevent it's occurrence. Delvardus pulled all support from the Empire, refused any offer of alliance or reconciliation and was determined to kill every other Warlord then with their united forces destroy the NR and save his love. He had by this time descended quite possibly into complete self delusion and all consuming hatred. He funneled every credit he had or could steal into the Night Hammer in absolute secrecy- convinced with this vessel he could achieve both complete surprise and complete annihilation of his two largest rivals in the Deep Core- Harrsk and Teradoc.
However as he finished the SSD he received a surprising invitation to unite with the Warlords from Vice Admiral Pellaeon at Admiral Daala's request. Scornful of the other Warlords and Daala, but unwilling to pass up a potential chance to get them all at once Delvardus agreed to go.
Delvardus arrived in his custom dress uniform with all his medals on. While the other Warlords wore equally pretentious vanity pieces Delvardus's were actually for another purpose entirely. Since his time in the Deep Core Delvardus had learned the value of secrecy, of duplicity better than any other Warlord. Alone among the Warlords Delvardus disguised his Stronghold as his center-while the Night Hammer actually was it's center, he had built a custom SSD in complete secrecy that could be dropped on these squabbling fools as soon as this meeting was over and they had NO idea it even existed. Finally, Delvardus alone among the Warlords had smuggled in a weapon. Disguised as medals it was actually an assembly knife that he was proficient in using. After hearing the opening to the meeting and likely predicting the useless nature of trying to negotiate with the other Warlords-all of whom he hated deeply Delvardus rose to leave only to be sealed in with his rivals. Over the next three hours Delvardus and the other Warlords argued, threatened and re declared vendettas. It is likely Delvardus planned to bring his trump card into play as soon as the meeting was over-which was why he had sought to leave early- he could bombard the station into atoms with Night Hammer before any of the enemy fleets could do anything, seizing power in one master stroke with a weapon that was supreme. It was in keeping with his nature. However it was not to be. Sickened by the display Daala gassed the Warlords. Delvardus alone among the Warlords did not panic, instead realizing he was going to die he resolved to take his killer with him. Assembling his medals into their deadly dagger he advanced on Daala determined to take her with him for foiling his ambitions one last time. However the nerve gas worked too quickly and Delvardus died a mere step from Daala.
His flagship the Night Hammer was taken by Daala-who never knew of the secret chamber that house the still comatose Seledra Zin in stasis and both were destroyed in the gas giant of Yavin. Delvardus had been obsessed with two things his entire life believing them intimately linked- Unrivaled Power and Unattainable Love. His pursuit of them had dictated every move he did after childhood and his all consuming obsession with them destroyed him. It's ironic in that had Delvardus been anyone but who he was he might well have lived a simple life with Zin, but his inability to let go of power cost him his love, then his pursuit of reclaiming that bit of himself that he killed with that hammer led him to an empty life of power without love or comfort. It could be said that Delvardus himself died with Zin all those years ago and what was left was a pale shadow eating itself every waking moment pushing the man to sacrifice everything to get back that one bit of himself he had lost. In some ways Delvardus is a deeply flawed and selfish man looking for salvation by trying to change the past but never realizing he was going about it the wrong way and it was pursuit of that way that had robbed him of his shred of humanity long ago. Such is the tragedy of Sander Delvardus, a man who made his own Hell and drove himself ever deeper into it in blind obsession.
Topic: Character Study Sander Delvardus (Read 5083 times)