Catius Branigan

### Full Name

[Rescinded] Decanus Hastati Medica Rorarii Branigan Catius Legion 47 Rubrum Raptorae - GBC DSS LLSS [Rescinded]

### Occupation

Diplomatic advisor to the Forum of the Democratic Mandate

### Born

May 11th, 3130

*"War is a Noble’s Delicacy, and I've no taste for it”*

Catius is the former leader of one of the affiliate groups within The Democratic Mandate. He is a vetran of the Imperial Legion that now finds himself following a new path within the Democratic Mandate. He is an ardent supporter and proponent of a serf’s right to self determination. He believes completely in the ideals of The Democratic Mandate and is as willing to compromise with his desentors as he is willing to aggressively defend it from those who would threaten it.

## Intro

Catius was born on Diomikato, he was the eldest of five children born into serfdom. He Joined the Imperial legion at 14 and served in both the war against the synthetics and at the Battle of Diomikato with the 47th. His sister and brother are both currently active in the Imperial Legion. Catius left the legion shortly after the 47ths evacuation to Aomori and traveled to Yakiyah to participate in what he thought was a democratic rise of the serfdom. Unfortunately that's not the story history will tell. He and a group of like-minded serfs banded together and helped with the evacuation of those fleeing the collapse of the UPC. From there the group and refugees traveled to Ias chasing a rumor of a less violent and chaotic Democratic Mandate.

## Traits and appearance

Catius is tall and grim looking from a distance. But those who know him well enough know him as a grinning and jovial fellow. Quick with a joke and a word of encouragement. And stoic and stalwart in times of high stress. Casius keeps the Flagship of the Stewards of Democracy in a meticulous state of readiness. Catius’ decades of service as a Medica in the imperial legion hasn’t dulled his compassion for the people that ask of his emotional labour. If any of what he has seen weighs on him he deals with it privately. Catius wears a simple and practical wardrobe when on duty and working with most anyone of the general population. However, when he is required to show up to DeMand functions and Diplomatic missions the old influences of Legion 47 poke through. He attends these functions in finery and regalia that might cause him to be mistaken for a Noble, if everyone didn’t already know him. Catius wants desperately for Serfs to be recognized as equal contributors to society with all the privileges and responsibilities that come with it. But he also has a deep understanding that the chain of command should be followed for very good reasons. He wants an orderly transition to a better, more democratic world, and he is willing to put in the time and effort needed to see it happen.

## Biography

*“My Sister? It’ll take me 12 minutes to tell you her full name." he says wearing a slight smile that slowly turns into a grimace.*

*“And she’ll die with less freedoms than I have if we fail here.”*

*He chuckles and brightens up a bit. “But let’s get back to this proposal you want to bring to the kurahl.”*

- Catius meeting with a farmhand at a SoD Outreach Office

### The Branigan Family

The Branigans are Serfs from Rosatiago in the Beacon Spur on Diomikato. Catius was the Eldest of five siblings. Both of his parents and two of his three sisters were killed in the battle of Diomikato. His youngest brother is on active duty in the Imperial Legion in the 47th last he checked. His sister is a highly decorated Triarri who recently earned the title Constituio. He has not spoken to either since he left the Imperial Legion.

### Early life

Catius’ early life was uneventful save for the constant cold and threat of starvation. He joined the imperial legion at 14 both to escape the dark and cold of Beacon and with the hope he might be able to help support his family. He was registered as a grade 4 serf and joined the Hastati as a Medica.

### War against the Artificials

Catius was in his late 40’s when the Synthetics embedded in the 47th turned on their comrades. Catius was a Decaus at the time responsible for eight other human legionnaires and one attached synth. The number was three before they realized what was happening and put the Synth down. The shock and surprise gave way to a brutal and protracted war on the soil Diomikato. It took Catius and the three other legionnaires months to link up with the rest of the 47th. Everything was chaos, and everyone had the same look in their eyes. But they did what the 47th did best and re-deployed into the urban areas and fought the synths, and then re-deployed into the towns and villages of the green belt, re-deployed to the twisting crags of the volcanic hot side, re-deployed to the valleys of the dark side, to the ashmarshes of Proxima Reach, the fighting seemed endless.

### Aftermath of the War against Cygnus

Catius came out the other end of the war, not, as one might suspect, with a hatred of synths. But instead a new found understanding of the Nobility. It was after all the most Noble of the Nobility that ordered the synths to massacre those they once stood beside in battle. It was the Nobility that devastated Gats, it was the Nobility that lost his trust and earned his skepticism. He came to see the Synths as unwilling pawns in a game Nobles played for sport without a care for the consequences. The Synths had no choice much like the Serfs had no choice.

### Battle of Diomikato

Catius was already considering finding a way to leave the Legion and House Aquila when the Battle of Diomikato broke out. This time the aggressors were some fools who thought they were nobility. The 47th didn't do the majority of the fighting during the battle of Dio but they were, with the help of the Navalis Legions, instrumental in helping the evacuation of civilians to Aomori. His sister however earned her Aquilan Shield of Ascension after saving the head of an important Noble Family who subsequently sponsored her for the award. That news would come with the bitter news that both his parents and his two younger sisters died during the battle of Dio. They survived almost two decades of fighting just to freeze to death during a power outage because they were not considered high value evacuees.

### The Yakiyan Question

After arriving on Aomori disillusioned and broken, Catius began working on how to get out of the Legion and his role as serf in House Aquila. He managed to get himself a medical discharge and used his contacts within the Legion to have his name taken off the rolls of both Imperial Legion and ASCE registry. And within a few weeks Decanus Hastati Medica Rorarii Branigan Catius Legion 47 Rubrum Raptorae - GBC DSS LLSS was no more. And with that Catius slipped away to Yakiyah chasing stories of Serfs who had risen up and become the rulers of an entire planetary government.

What he found again was chaos. Dozens of voices screaming to be heard, with no clear leader. They had no Unity despite their name. But there was something there under all the noise and calls for blood. A little seed of democracy, fragile and struggling to sprout forth. But it was not to be, not here at least. These people were blinded by a lust for vengeance and justice. But he found others on Yakiyah, individuals with the temperance and forethought to realize that radicalization and violence is not what this little seed needed. But they were in the minority, and they knew what was coming.

### The Beacon Spur and the Flowering of Democracy

*“Democracy flowers through quiet discourse and impassioned debate, not vitriolic screaming and blood letting.”*

Catius and his new group were ready when the metaphorical boot heels of the nobles came down on the UPC. They procured several ships in the chaos and helped evacuate all those that were willing, including many of the synthetics from the various sub-factions. Catius couldn’t stand to see them hunted down but also knew the dangers of taking them on as refugees.

And so the The Beacon Spur Flotilla made their way out of the system chasing a new rumor of democracy blossoming on Ias. In the Months following the destruction of the UPC Catius and his group made contact with the forming Democratic Mandate and joined them for the Signing of the Formal Charter as the newly formed Stewards of Democracy.

*“I know we’re tired of our lives being a line item in some Eridanii ledger, I know they don't take their vow of stewardship seriously."*
*"*What happened on Yakiya was the snapping of a branch under 3000 years of oppression, It was Chaotic, Violent, Cathartic, and over before anyone could take notes."

"*We have to learn from the Mistakes made on Yakiyah, We have to make all that death count for something."*

"*When the seed of Democracy blooms, we need to be ready; to be the Stewards that the Almighty designed us to be.”*

 - Catius helping the Stewards quell an uprising in an Ias industrial sector

### USEPT Aomori

Following the abandonment of the USEPT campus on Aomori and the subsequent loss of the Dont Dance in Darkness and its crew, Catius stepped down as the Leader of the SoD and a new leader, Emília Juhász, was elected.

Catius now spends his time working within the political machine of the Democratic Mandate to help further the cause of serf equity.