Ransolm Casterfo

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**Ransolm Casterfo** grew up during the time of the Galactic Empire on the planet Riosa, where he experienced hardship and tragedy in his youth. After a rough childhood, Casterfo was adopted by a wealthy family. Even though he had a deep hatred for Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, he admired the Empire's centralization and, in his years as a adult, collected artifacts of the Empire. He became the Senator of Riosa and joined the Centrists, a faction in the Senate which supported greater political centralization and took a tough stance on law and order. Despite the deep animosity between the Centrists and the rival Populists, Casterfo forged a partnership and even a friendship with the Populist Senator Leia Organa, a veteran of the Rebel Alliance. The two worked together to investigate Rinnrivin Di's cartel and the Amaxine Warriors, a paramilitary faction that sought to overthrow the Republic.

Ransolm along with Leia and her political staff agreed with the growing deadlock and infighting in the Senate, and the need for change. Later, Casterfo was manipulated by Lady Carise Sindian into exposing the parentage of Leia as the daughter of Vader. Feeling betrayed by Organa's perceived indiscretion, he revealed her true parentage to the Senate, destroying her political credibility and undermining her nomination for First Senator. Guilt-ridden over his vindictiveness, Casterfo later made amends for his breach of trust by defending Organa when she gave a speech at the Senate highlighting the threat of the Amaxines to the New Republic. As a result, Casterfo regained Organa's trust and friendship. However, Lady Carise, unwilling to entertain a dissenter among the Centrists, had him framed as the mastermind behind the Napkin Bombing, the Amaxines, and the assassination of Senator Tai-Lin Garr.

## Biography

### Early Life

The childhood of **Ransolm Casterfo** was defined by suffering and indentured servitude under the hand of the Galactic Empire. He described it as "slavery in all but name". His home planet of Riosa was annexed and its industrial facilities were commandeered for the manufacture of parts and components for the construction of the first Death Star. In his youth was spent in an Imperial work camp and his father had a position of some authority over the laborers. Casterfo witnessed numerous visitations of Lord Vader to his homeworld. On one occasion, he saw his father being punished for failing to meet quotas set by the Empire for production. His being able to grow up with his parents was apparently a special privilege afforded to his family for their position, as most parents were not allowed to bring their children with them into the work camps. Although he harbored an admiration for the concept of centralized power and the grandeur of the Empire, his family's suffering led to a deep resentment of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. Both of his mother and father died within a year of the founding of the New Republic due to the effects of labor and working without safety equipment to filter out gases they were forced to breathe. After he lost his parents, he had a period of difficult survival.

### Career as a Senator

#### Member of the Centrists

Fortunately, he was taken in by a wealthy off-world family who took in several war orphans. Given food, education, and safety, he was able to survive into adulthood. When he turned eighteen years old, Casterfo served on Riosa's planetary security force for years. During that time, he learned how to fly a starfighter and to operate his first blaster. Despite his initial expectations, Casterfo encountered fewer battles and spent most of his time issuing citations for violating docking procedures. Due to his experiences in the planetary security force, Ransolm came to believe that the improving his homeworld's fortunes lay in embarking in a career as a politician. Casterfo believed that Riosa need better political and economic management to rebuild his home. By the age of thirty two, Ransolm had become a Centrist senator in the New Republic's Galactic Senate for the planet Riosa. As a junior senator, he was considered to be a charismatic and attractive politician. Casterfo supported the Centrists' strong stance on law and order and helped reintroduce the death penalty to Riosa, which still had not fully recovered from the deprivations of Imperial rule. The Centrists were one of two factions in the Galactic Senate. While they supported a stronger central government and military, the Populist believed that sovereignty should reside in the member worlds. By the time that Casterfo had assumed office, the Galactic Senate was deadlocked by infighting between the factions.

#### Meeting Senator Organa

Due to his work as a senator, Casterfo was allocated an office in the New Republic senatorial complex on the capital of Hosnian Prime, which was currently hosting the Galactic Senate and the New Republic government. After a ceremony which was dedicated to the late Senator Bail Organa, Ransolm and his Centrist colleagues mingled with their nominal Populist opponents. The following day, Casterfo attended a session at the Senate where  Twi'lek emissary Yendor raised the threat posed by the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's crime cartel to commercial traffic in his planet's sector. Populist Senator Leia Organa, Bail's adopted daughter, volunteered to travel to Bastatha to investigate Rinnrivin's cartel. When the Centrist politician Lady Carise Sindian raised concerns about Leia's objectivity, Senator Casterfo volunteered to accompany Leia in order to ensure that the mission was a bipartisan one. Later, Senator Leia visited the junior senator's office to gain Ransolm's trust. While Leia was disconcerted by the presence of "Old Empire" relics in Casterfo's office, the two senators were able to develop a travel itinerary. During their first meeting, Casterfo suggested that not all of the aspects of the "Old Empire" were bad and that the Empire failed because it had the wrong Emperor in charge. His views struck a raw nerve with Leia, a former leader of the rebellion and a veteran of the Galactic Civil War.

#### Investigating Rinnrivin's Cartel

The following day, Casterfo boarded Leia's ship *Mirrorbright* with Leia and her entourage including C-3PO, Korr Sella, the pilots Joph Seastriker, and Greer Sonnel. During the trip, he tried to make conversation with Sella but she departed on the pretext on having to review her work. He then managed to chat with Greer about racing. Later, he apologized to Leia for his perceived lack of tact during their first meeting in his office. Leia told him not to worry about the past and to instead focus on their work. Upon landing on Bastatha, they were greeted by Magistrates Tosta and Xun, with the latter complimenting the new senator. Bastatha was an arid, inhospitable desert world and most of the population lived in underground tunnels. The magistrates invited the New Republic delegation for a banquet at a casino, which was intended to showcase their efforts to market Bastatha as a gambling destination. Casterfo expressed disapproval with Leia's decision to mingle with the locals by playing Sabacc and buying the other patrons some drinks. However, he reluctantly accepted her rationale about "winning hearts and minds". While walking back to *Mirrorbright*, Ransolm and Leia argued about the rebellion's tactics and Leia consorting with smugglers and "lowlifes" like her husband Han Solo.

Leia told Casterfo that he did not understand the Empire and dismissed him as a "spoiled brat." Greer managed to calm the two of them before the argument escalated further. Later, a private delegation of Nikto "businessmen" visited the ship the *Mirrorbright* and kidnapped Leia. They took her on their hovercraft for a private audience with Rinnrivin Di in his subtarranean headquarters. However, Casterfo managed to plant a tracker on Leia's cloak and was able to rescue her from Rinnrivin. Together, the two senators escaped on a hovercraft. As a result of the adventure, the two gained each other's respect despite their philosophical differences. Both agreed that the Populist approach to leadership was flawed due to its reliance on a strong leader who depended on consensus rather than legal authority. Ransolm also learned that the former rebel pilot and Jedi Luke Skywalker was Leia's brother. After Leia's team examined the data from Rinnrivin's base, they discovered that the crime lord ran a vast network that rivalled the Hutts. Both suspected that another party was secretly funding Rinnrivin's cartel. After returning to the capital, the two addressed the Senate, with the Populists claiming that Castero put Leia's life in danger while the Centrists accused Organa of withholding intel.

#### Forging a Populist Friendship

After an Ithorian representative moved to "table the discussion" on the investigation, the Centrist Lady Carise gave a speech urging the Senate to abolish the office of Chancellor and replace it with a new position called First Senator that would exercise authority over economic and military matters. Due to Carise's reputation as a vain, frivolous, and shallow Senator, her proposal failed to sway the Senate. However, Casterfo managed to win support for the First Senator motion by pointing to the deadlock and indecisiveness that had paralysed the Senate. His appeal to the greater good struck a chord with the Senate and managed to sway the independents into voting with the Centrists in favor of the motion. As a result, the motion to establish the post of First Senator passed with a solid majority. Ransolm's charisma won him the respect of Lady Carise and Leia. As a result, the Populists were forced to change their strategy by endorsing Leia as their candidate for First Senator in order to prevent a Centrist from occupying that office. Leia later arranged a meeting with Ransolm at Hosnian Prime's Hanging gardens to discuss Joph and Greer's finding on the Amaxine Warriors, a group of warrior people who had a base on the planet Daxam IV. The two pilots had found evidence that the Amaxine Warriors were working along with Rinnrivin Di and that they were operating in worlds allied with the Centrists.

Their findings led Leia to suspect that the Centrists were harboring the criminal activities, regarding Ransolm as the only Centrist politician she could trust, Leia solicited Casterfo's help in investigating the Amaxine presence on Daxam IV. Casterfo also expressed admiration towards Leia for personally killing Jabba the Hutt and compared her favourably to her Populist counterparts, who were seen as "soft" on crime. During the dinner, Ransolm discussed his harsh childhood growing up on Riosa. Castefo revealed that he harboured a deep hatred towards Vader for exploiting his homeworld's people and resources to build the Death Star. Ransolm recounted how his parents had died due to prolonged exposure to toxins. Finding a kindred spirit, Leia revealed how Vader had tortured her following her capture over Tatooine and forced her to watch the destruction of Alderaan. Due to their shared experiences and beliefs in working for the common good, the two became allies. However, Leia did not mention she was Darth Vader's daughter; a decision that would later on have repercussions. Ransolm was present during the Napkin Bombing, which destroyed half the Senate complex's conference hall. The bombing killed and wounded scores of senators. Casterfo survived and helped a Togruta woman towards the medcenter, and Leia survived as well by finding a note telling them to "Run" from the danger to come.

#### Encountering the Amaxines

Following the bombing, both the Centrist and Populist factions accused each other of staging the attack for political capital. Ransolm refused to entertain any conspiracy theories and discussed his suspicions with Leia that the bombing was intended to halt their investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel. After reading Greer and Joph's intelligence report on the Amaxines, Casterfo arranged to meet with a seller of "historical artifacts" based on Daxam IV. Greer had also found information that Rinnrivin was channeling funds to Daxam IV. To assist Leia's investigation into the Amaxines, Casterfo agreed to travel with Greer to the planet under the cover of buying an Emperor's Royal Guard helmet from the dealer. Meanwhile, Leia, Joph, and the rest of her team would travel to Ryloth to look for information about Rinnrivin Di. With Greer posing as his pilot, Ransolm traveled to Daxam IV on a small Jeconne courier he had rented. Casterfo had chosen the vessel because it was modern and stylish but also commonplace. During their journey, Casterfo learnt about Greer's past as a professional racer before joining the New Republic Starfleet. After exiting hyperspace, he informed Greer that the seller he had arranged to meet went by the pseudonym Crimson Blade. Upon landing, Casterfo and Greer met the dealer at a teahouse and learnt that she was a former TIE Fighter pilot named Arliz Hadrassian. Ransolm learnt that the Royal Guard's helmet had once belonged to Arliz Hadrassian's brother, who had perished during the Battle of Jakku.

For the next two hours, Casterfo took the opportunity to win Hadrassian's trust and also pretended to be an Imperial sympathizer. Greer was uncomfortable with Casterfo's company but the Senator tried to reassure her that he did not worship the Empire. While Ransolm stayed at a hotel for the night, Greer took the Jeconne courier for a recon flight and discovered that the warriors were a paramilitary organization with several starfighter squadrons. At the hotel, Casterfo contacted Joph, Korrie, and C-3PO and informed that Rinnrivin Di was operating spy satellites above the planet Ryloth. After slicing into the satellites, C-3PO discovered that Rinnrivin was hiding on the watery planet of Sibensko. The next day, Casterfo and Greer traveled to Hadrassian's compound which lay in the cold, desert wastes of Daxam IV. There, Hadrassian introduced the visitors to her Amaxine warriors, who were working on their starfighters. Hadrassian also trained her warriors how to fight with Force pikes, the weapons of the former Royal Guards. After collecting the Royal Guard helmet, Ransolm agreed to duel with one of Hadrassian's Amaxine warriors. Casterfo had studied the techniques by watching the old holos but had never wielded a force pike before. However, Casterfo was also familiar with Hosnian martial arts and quarterstaff combat. While duelling with the Amaxine warrior, Casterfo was haunted by memories of his childhood at the labor camp. Despite besting his opponent, Casterfo spared his opponent per Hadrassian' instructions.

Following his second meeting with Hadrassian, Ransolm discussed the information he had learned the Amaxines with Greer. He revealed that the Amaxine warriors had at least five or six bases scattered throughout the galaxy and that their main base of operations was on Sibensko. While Hadrassian commanded a thousand Amaxine Warriors on Daxam IV, these were only a fraction of the entire group. Ransolm and Greer gained respect for one another with the latter having commented the former's combat skills. Unable to contact Leia due to radiation interference, Casterfo contacted fellow Centrist Lady Carise, who was undergoing a coronation ceremony on the planet Birren. She discounted his reports of a rogue militia and counselled him not to focus on the upcoming First Senator elections. After returning to Hosnian Prime, Casterfo shared footage from his Daxam IV visit including the force pike duel with Senator Organa while snacking on spicy Ivarujari noodles. The two deduced that while Rinnrivin's cartel was connected to the Amaxine Warriors, they did not see eye to eye on the Napkin Bombing. While Rinnrivin felt threatened by the Napkin bombing, the Amaxines felt emboldened. Both suspected that the Amaxines were behind the Napkin Bombing but realized they were unable to proceed further since their investigation had initially focused on Rinnrivin's cartel. While Leia promised to steer the official investigation towards the bombing of the Senate, Ransolm agreed to investigate his Centrist colleagues.

#### Learning of Vader's Daughter

Knowing that several Centrist senators were avid collectors of Imperial artifacts, Casterfo threw a party in his office to celebrate his acquisition of a Royal Guard's mask. During the party, Ransolm heard several of the guests including Senator Apolin of Kuat, Senator Fatil of Orinda, and Lady Carise's chief of staff expressing pro-Imperial and anti-New Republic sentiments. While Casterfo learned no new information about the Amaxine warriors or any other pro-Imperial militias, he realized that many of his Centrist allies admired Vader and the other elements of the Empire that he disliked. As a result, Casterfo began to grow disillusioned with his own party. Later, while sparring with his quarterstaff in his private training chamber, Casterfo was contacted via hologram by Senator Organa, who invited him to join her, Joph, and Greer on their upcoming trip to Sibensko. Earlier, Joph and Greer had secured a smuggling run to Sibensko. The two then discussed the complications involving their trip to Sibensko. Ransolm pointed out their trip to Bastatha had been sanctioned by the Senate and that their subsequent trips to Ryloth, Harloff Minor and Daxam IV were authorised albeit unofficial trips. However, he added that it was illegal under New Republic law to use Republic pilots and ships to undertake illegal work on dangerous, crime havens like Sibensko. While realizing the illegal nature of their Sibensko mission, the two Senators hoped to uncover evidence that would sway the Senate to further investigate the cartel.

During a meeting with Leia, Joph, Greer, and C-3PO, Casterfo speculated that Rinnrivin and Hadrassian had a source in the Senate; not realizing it was his ally Lady Carise. Shortly later, he greeted Lady Carise while ordering a shipment of Riosan liqueur in the Senate complex. Before parting company, Casterfo talked about his friendship with Leia and her staff. Unknown to Ransolm, Carise had uncovered sensitive information about the truth of Senator Organa's parentage on Birren. Leia was the daughter of Darth Vader, who was reviled by many in the New Republic including Ransolm. After conferencing with Arliz Hadrassian about Ransolm's visit, Lady Carise decided to sow a wedge between Ransolm and Leia. The following day, Lady Carise visited Casterfo and told him the truth about Leia's parentage. Due to his hatred for Darth Vader, Ransolm Casterfo was deeply hurt by Leia Organa's perceived indiscretion. Feeling betrayed, Casterfo had upstaged a Senate hearing into Senator Leia Organa's nomination as the Populist candidate for First Senator by telling everyone the identity of her biological father. When some Populists such as Varish Vicly denounced Casterfo's revelation as a lie, Casterfo furnished the keepsake chest and music box that Lady Carise had supplied as evidence. After the Senate listened to an audio recording of Bail Organa confirming Leia's true parentage, Leia admitted that her father was indeed Darth Vader. This news threw the Senate into uproar and destroyed Leia's political career and credibility.

Following the revelation, Casterfo was praised by several Centrist including Giller and Orris Madmundfor discrediting a powerful Populist politician. However, Ransolm felt no pride in his actions and was tormented by the guilt of having betrayed a friend. He gave instructions for his staffers to refuse all calls and to keep away any visitors. After retreating to the sanctum of his private office, Casterfo threw up and reflected over the motives for his actions. While Casterfo tried to justify his actions, he was unable to ignore the fact that he had betrayed Leia's trust. The next day, a guilt-stricken Casterfo refuse to grant any interviews or take any meetings to discuss the revelations about Leia with the media. He also ignored all calls and messages from fellow Centrist colleagues. While trying to put his mind at ease by reading on the proposed new water purification systems for ships, Ransolm was visited by a furious Senator Leia Organa, who felt betrayed by Ransolm. Casterfo countered that he had been a fool for sharing his most personal and painful life stories with Leia, never guessing that she was Vader's child. When Leia revealed that she had not shared her true parentage with her son, Casterfo countered that Ben wasn't a child anymore. After destroying one of Casterfo's glass cases and knocking a noodle carton out of a droid's hands, Leia stormed out of Casterfo's office. When the droid asked whether its master wanted to report Leia for the property damage, Ransolm insisted on leaving his former friend alone.

#### Making Amends with Organa

Despite his new-found prestige among the Centrist caucus, Ransolm felt guilt-stricken for betraying the trust of Leia and their friendship. When Leia addressed the Senate to withdraw her nomination for First Senator and to seek leave prior to her trip to Sibensko, Casterfo did not join his Centrist colleagues in attacking Leia's credibility. Two weeks later, Leia, C-3PO and her pilots traveled to Sibensko where they discovered that a mysterious entity was funneling a considerable amount of funds into the cartel and the Amaxines. Despite escaping Rinnrivin and the Amaxines, the Amaxines blew up their underwater base and spaceport; destroying most of the evidence apart from the banking records in C-3PO's data banks. Following her trip to Sibensko, Leia announced that she would address the Senate to discuss her findings into the cartel. While most of the Populists supported Leia, the Centrists bloc with the exception of Ransolm opposed her request. Later, Ransolm attended Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor's hearing on military appropriations. During the meeting, Casterfo voiced his dissent to Ro-Kiintor's bill to redirect government funding towards planetary defenses. Casterfo countered the New Republic was in a state of peace and that its military already had sufficient resources to defend its planets. After Centrist Senator Ro-Kiintor had mocked Leia, Casterfo decided to vote in favor of Leia's hearing.

The next day, Casterfo attended the Senate hearing where Leia gave a speech outlining her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Napkin Bombings. She also highlighted the threat posed by the Amaxines to the New Republic's peace and security. After Leia concluded by presenting the evidence that C-3PO had uncovered on Sibensko, Casterfo spoke up in Leia's defense. He talked about how they had worked together to investigate Rinnrivin Di and the Amaxines. He also offered to share visual logs of the Amaxines' Daxam IV base and weapons. Ransolm then concluded that the Amaxine leaders had spoken openly of war and their admiration for the "Old Empire". Casterfo's speech corroborated Leia's testimony and regained Leia's respect for her him. While many Senators took Casterfo's revelations seriously, his actions angered his nominal ally Lady Carise, who was furious that her potential protege had spurned the opportunity she had given him. Lady Carise then made arrangements to eliminate Casterfo. Following the hearing, Leia met her former friend and complimented him for having the courage to put the greater good ahead of his own ambitions. With her reputation in tatters, Leia counselled Casterfo to build up allies in the Senate in order to prevent a war with elements hostile to the Republic. She also advised him to leave the Centrists. Before leaving Ransolm resolved to do his duty.

#### The Frame-Up and Sentence

Unwilling to have a dissident Centrist who did not share her faction's zeal for power, Lady Carise hired Arliz Hadrassian to assassinate the Populist Senator Tai-Lin Garr, who had nominated himself as the new Populist candidate for the First Senator. She then fabricated visual evidence framing Senator Casterfo as the mastermind behind Hadrassian, who was officially tied to the Amaxine warriors, the Napkin Bombing, and Tai-Lin Garr's assassination. Using the footage from Daxam IV that Casterfo had publicly shared with his colleagues, her slicers doctored footage of Casterfo shaking hands with Hadrassian as he gestured towards her starfighters. While circumstantial, the footage presented him as a backer of the Amaxines who had led a double life. As a result, Ransolm was promptly arrested by the New Republic authorities on the grounds that he had supplied intelligence and assistance to the Amaxines. Per Senate policy, Ransolm Casterfo was scheduled for deportation to his home of Riosa where he would be imprisoned, tried, and sentenced for his alleged crimes. The Centrists took pains to disassociate themselves from Casterfo while many of his Populist opponents, with the exception of Leia and her team, believed that he was a master deceiver who had been playing everyone, with Leia and Greer realizing that he had been framed.

Leia decided to meet Casterfo in the main hangar prior to his deportation to Riosa, encountering a dishevelled Casterfo as he was being led by New Republic soldiers aboard a prison transport and managed to secure permission from the guards to talk with her former friend. Ransolm complimented Leia for her friendship and expressed his regret for helping to reinstate the death penalty on Riosa. Organa then offered to help his trial by calling for an independent investigation. However, Casterfo was pessimistic that she would succeed since she had lost many of her former political connections on account of her parentage. The two rekindled their friendship and Casterfo told Leia that she had been his only true friend in the Senate. He also apologized for betraying her and urged Leia to continue for fighting for what was right. Before Casterfo was led away, Leia apologized for her initial assumption that he was an Imperial loyalist and added that he would have fought with the Rebellion. Following Casterfo's deportation, Leia took action against Lady Carise Sindian for manipulating Ransolm into revealing her parentage and framing her friend. She managed to be able to convince the Elder Houses to pass a resolution stripping Carise of all her titles including the governorship of Birren. While she was unable to help Casterfo, Leia believed that this was just punishment for Carise's actions.