Kassius Konstantine

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**Kassius Konstantine** was an Admiral of the Galactic Empire who was dispatched to Lothal where a rebellion began. After the Spectres joined the rebellion, Konstantine continued to hunt them alongside the Inquisitors and Agent Kallus of ISB. Despite their efforts and resources, the rebels proved elusive for Konstantine. His failures in defeating the rebellion led the Lothal Governor Arihnda Pryce to request help from Grand Admiral Thrawn, commander of the Seventh Fleet. Kassius ended up becoming the Grand Admiral's subordinate and was sent on missions on behalf of the Chiss, which made him quite envious. During the Battle of Atollon, he chose to defy the Thrawn's orders, an action that cost Konstantine his life as Jun Sato rammed his own ship into Konstantine's.

## Biography

### Service to the Empire

#### Early Hunt for the Rebels

In the years before the Battle of Yavin, **Kassius Konstantine** led a fleet from the Imperial Star Destroyer the *Relentless.* He aided the Grand Inquisitor in his search for the rebel ship the *Ghost*. After rebels had rescued Rodian fugitive Tseebo, and breached Imperial security around Lothal's capital, Kassius commanded the *Relentless* in the pursuit of the rebels. With Tseebo's help, the rebels escaped. While Kassius thought of shifting the blame for the rebels' escape to the Inquisitor, he declined to since the Sith agent had succeeded in planting a tracking device onto the hull of the *Ghost*. When Konstantine said that they were receiving a signal from the tracker, The Inquisitor merely commented that he would sense the Jedi Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan learner Ezra Bridger.

In response to the Inquisitor's comments, Konstantine stifled a laugh, as he believed that the Empire had wiped out the Jedi years ago during the Jedi Purge. He was personally skeptical of reports that the leader of that rebel cell was a Jedi. However, the Inquisitor read his emotions and scowled back at the Admiral. Fearing that his career would end if he did not capture the rebels, he vowed that they would succeed. Meanwhile, the crew realized that there was a tracker device planted onto the *Phantom*. To prevent the Imperials from capturing Tseebo, Kanan and Ezra separated from the *Ghost* and flew the *Phantom* to the asteroid PM-1203, which hosted a former Republic base called Fort Anaxes. As planned, the Imperials took the bait. The Grand Inquisitor then took a small unit of Imperial Stormtroopers to the PM-1203. The Grand Inquisitor's troops were quickly dispatched by Fyrnocks, fearsome predators that resided in the asteroid. Despite The Grand Inquisitor's skills and powers, the Jedi escaped; leaving both The Inquisitor and Konstantine empty-handed.

#### Serving Under a Grand Moff

Kassius was at the helm of the *Relentless* when one of his crew took interest in a VCX-100 Light Freighter approaching Lothal. This freighter turned out to be the *Ghost*. However, the *Ghost* Crew managed to trick the Imperials by using a signature modulator to disguise the *Ghost* as the Tontine; a legitimate vessel traveling between Boz Pity and Lothal. The *Ghost* was transporting the "galactic entrepreneur" Lando Calrissian, who was trying to smuggle a Puffer pig into Lothal for an illegal mining operation. The rebels almost made it through the blockade undetected but Ezra accidentally disturbed the puffer pig; causing it to throw Garazeb Orrelios off balance onto the ship's control console. This effectively deactivated the signature modulator and exposed the *Ghost* to the Imperial authorities. Konstantine then dispatched four TIE Fighters after the *Ghost* but the rebels managed to lose their Imperial pursuer's in Lothal's cloudy skies. After The Grand Inquisitor captured Kanan sometime later, Konstantine was temporarily reassigned to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's flagship, the *Sovereign*, while over Mustafar. After a Lightsaber duel between Kanan and The Grand Inquisitor destroyed the Sovereign's engines, the ship was evacuated. Konstantine later participated in the blockade over Lothal.

#### Serving with Dark Side Adepts

When his officers picked up multiple signals from the same Sentinel-Class Shuttle the rebels stole, he ordered them to send TIE Fighters to destroy them. By the time the Imperials realized the transponders had only been a decoy, the rebel shuttle had already cleared the atmosphere and escaped into hyperspace. Admiral Kassius then reported the escape to Darth Vader in Capital City. Vader had his TIE Advanced x1 prepared to pursue, knowing of the tracking beacon aboard the stolen shuttle. After Vader found the Rebel Fleet and crippled their command ship, Konstantine arrived with a group of Star Destroyers to cut off the rebels' escape. Vader had separated the *Ghost* from the rest of the rebel fleet and was chasing them towards the Star Destroyers. Konstantine attempted to capture the freighter in his tractor beams, but the ace pilot Hera Syndulla managed to outsmart the Imperials and jumped just as she came into range, causing the tractor beams the Star Destroyer to capture Vader's ship instead. Konstantine hastily deactivated the tractor beams and put the blame off on one of his officers. After the *Ghost* Crew had escaped from Vader, Konstantine continue his command of the *Relentless* which was still hunting for the rebels.

He was joined by Agent Kallus, who also had experience dealing with rebels. Under instructions from Ahsoka Tano, the rebels had traveled to the desert planet of Seelos to make contact with several retired Clone Troopers. The rebels hoped to win them over to their cause. Commander Wolffe, distrusting the rebels, secretly sent a message that was picked up by the Imperial Star Destroyer *Relentless*. Kallus sent a probe droid to Seelos to investigate. Prior to its destruction, the droid was able to sabotage the *Phantom* and confirmed there was a rebel presence there. While the Agent led a assault with three All Terrain Armored Transports, Konstatine remained aboard the *Relentless* to render support to Agent Kallus' forces. However, the clones and rebels put up a fierce fight and succeeded in immobilizing Kallus' AT-AT walkers. The Admiral was unable to render air support because Vader had ordered him to rendezvous the *Relentless* with his shuttle in space. Instead of meeting Vader, Konstantine received another Inquisitor, and when he raised his concerns that the diversion might have cost Kallus' mission, the Fifth Brother merely replied that his struggles were of no concern to him and pledged to stop the rebels himself. Following the events at Seelos, Konstantine continued serving the Fifth Brother.

Kassius and Kallus were present aboard the *Relentless* when his crew picked up a energy surge triggered by members of the *Ghost* Crew. These rebels had been searching for medical supplies for Phoenix Squadron. In response, the Fifth Brother informed the Admiral and Kallus that he was visiting the station alone. There, Fifth Brother and another of the Inquisitors known as the Seventh Sister almost succeeded in apprehending C1-10P, Ezra, and Sabine Wren. However, due to Zebs' quick thinking, the four rebels managed to escape the two Inquisitors. Later, Konstantine and the two Inquisitors were present when Kallus suggested that the Imperials pool their resources together for a strike on Garel. Following an earlier incident on Takobo, the Inquisitors had learned that the rebels were hiding on Garel. Under Kallus' orders, Konstantine and the Imperial fleet departed from Takabo and traveled to Garel. Despite surrounding the rebels on both the ground and air, several rebel ships including the *Ghost* and Jun Sato's Alderaan Cruiser, the *Liberator* still managed to escape into the skies above Garel City. Commanding the air assault, Konstantine ordered the crew of his Star Destroyer to deploy their tractor beam projector. His forces also succeeded in shooting down at least one ship.

*Relentless's* tractor beam trapped the *Liberator*. However, Hera used the *Ghost* to ram into the tractor beam projector; knocking it out of action. The damaged projector collided with a TIE Fighter. This distraction enabled the rebels to make a hyperspace jump. When Kallus, demanded a status on the position of the rebels, Konstatine reported that he and his men were also wondering the same thing. Despite exposing one of the Phoenix rebels' hideouts, Konstantine and his colleagues failed to crush the rebels. Konstantine and Kallus later held command of a light cruiser which attempted to capture the *Ghost* above Nixus. Despite their efforts, the *Ghost* was able to jump into hyperspace. Earlier, the rebels rescued two Lasat refugees named Gron and Chava, who were searching for the legendary Lasat home of Lira San. With help of the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, the Imperials tracked the *Ghost* down to a collapsed star cluster in Wild Space. The Imperials attempted to pursue and destroy the *Ghost* but were forced to retreat due to the gravitational pull of the star cluster. Konstantine later commanded an Imperial assault on the rebel fleet from the *Relentless*. Later, the rebels escaped to Atollon with the help of the inventory droid AP-5 who informed the rebels of a trap in the Yost System.

### Arrival of the Grand Admiral

Dissatisfied with Konstantine's handling of the rebels in the Lothal Sector, Governor Arihnda Pryce met with Tarkin and secured the services of newly-appointed the Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Seventh Fleet. Later, Konstantine met with Tarkin and Kallus and tried to make a case to Tarkin that Pryce was overestimating the threat posed by the Phoenix Cell and dismissed them as a localized insurgency. At that point, Grand Admiral Thrawn interjected and expressed his hopes that the insurgency would remain that way. Konstantine was present when Thrawn theorized that the Phoenix Squadron was planning to raid Reklam Station in the planet Yarma. Later, Konstantine, Pryce, and Kallus commanded a Destroyer that intercepted the rebels and their stolen Y-Wing Starfighters. He expressed surprise when the Grand Admiral ordered the Imperials to allow the rebels to escape with their "meager rewards". However, Pryce reassured him that Thrawn had a much larger objective than the destruction of a single rebel cell. Later, Admiral Konstantine was aboard the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer with Pryce and Kallus. He informed Pryce that his crew had detected an encrypted distress signal from the planet Agamar. Pryce then dispatched Imperial forces from the nearest garrison to investigate Agamar.

#### Tested by Admiral Thrawn

Under orders from Grand Admiral Thrawn, Konstantine reluctantly departed for Mykapo with a single light cruiser and two *Gozanti*-Class cruisers. Thrawn had tasked the Admiral with eliminating a local rebel cell called the Iron Squadron. When Konstantine offered to send his squadron, Thrawn replied that a man of his talents should have no difficulty with eliminating the rebel cell with one light cruiser. By the time Konstantine had arrived, Phoenix Squadron had evacuated the rebel sympathizers among the population. Upon arriving, Konstantine's subordinate sighted a single YT-2400 light freighter. The Admiral believed that Thrawn had overestimated the threat posed by the rebel cell and dispatched fighters to attack the ship. The ship's captain Mart Mattin launched an attack on Konstantine's light cruiser, overestimating the Admiral. Meanwhile, his fellow crew and Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, and Chopper escaped aboard the shuttle *Phantom II*. Mart released his cargo of explosives but Konstantine neutralized them by unleashing his ship's forward batteries. Mart attempted to flee but the TIE fighters disabled his engines. Konstantine's forces were unable to stop the rebels from escaping aboard the *Phantom II*. One of Konstantine's bombers attached a Magno-mine to the *Sato's Hammer*.

Konstantine allowed Mart to send a distress signal to the rebels before jamming it, intending to lure Mart's rescuers into a trap. However, the Spectres saw through his trap and devised a counter-strategy. When the Spectres returned aboard the *Ghost*, Kassius ordered his subordinate not to trigger the mine until he gave orders. He wanted to destroy the rebel ships with one fell swoop. However, the rebel droids Chopper and R3-A3 detached the magno-mine and put it in one of the *Sato's Hammer*'s cargo boxes. When the *Ghost* undertook a pick-up of Mart's ship, Kassius ordered his subordinate to trigger the mine. Konstantine's plan was complicated by the arrival of Mart Mattin's uncle Jun Sato aboard a CR90 corvette. Sato's reinforcements destroyed one of Konstantine's *Gozanti* cruisers and several TIEs. Konstantine panicked and called for help. The *Ghost* then flew over Konstantine's light cruiser while ferrying Mart's ship. Mart then dislodged the cargo box at the same moment that Konstantine's officer triggered the mine. The resulting explosion destroyed the forward compartment of Konstantine's light cruiser. Konstantine and the officer survived blast but their vessel was badly damaged. At that point, Thrawn arrived and allowed the rebels to flee following a brief talk with Commander Jun Sato.

#### Hunting a Rebel Informant

Thrawn contacted Konstantine, and asked him whether he had contacted him for assistance, Konstantine tried to save face by claiming that he had called to inform him that the rebels had been driven from system. However, he saw through Konstantine's obfuscation and replied that he had assumed that the rebels had escaped. Konstantine bowed his head in embarrassment. During Thrawn's investigation into the rebel spy known as Fulcrum, Konstantine was later stationed aboard the Grand Admiral's Star Destroyer *Chimaera*. He introduced Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to Thrawn and the Imperial Security Bureau Colonel Wullf Yularen. Konstantine was present at a meeting where Thrawn briefed the others about his plan to screen Imperial sector command staff for rebel affiliations. Kassius was also privy to Thrawn's plan to hunt down the Phoenix Squadron's base in the Lothal sector. When he asked about Thrawn's tactics, the Grand Admiral replied that he had calculated the possible locations of the rebel bases based on their proximity to attacks on Imperial ships and facilities, and the planet Lothal. After Kallus had apprehended Lyste, acussing him of being the rebel spy, he was present at a meeting with Pryce, Yularen, Thrawn and Kallus. There, he expressed congratulations to Kallus.

#### Hunting Senator Mothma

Later, Konstantine attended a briefing with Pryce and Thrawn to discuss plans to capture the Senator Mon Mothma, who had incurred the wrath of the Emperor for denouncing the Ghorman Massacre. When Pryce volunteered for the "honor" of silencing the rogue Senator, Thrawn assigned both Konstantine and Pryce with intercepting the rebel ships outside the Archeon Nebula. Thrawn's plan was to use his prototype TIE Defender and two TIE Interceptors to flush the rebels out of the nebula so that they could be captured by Konstantine and Pryce. For that mission, Konstantine and Pryce commanded two Star Destroyers. When the rebel ship *Ghost* exited the Archeon Nebula, Konstantine informed Pryce that the rebel ship had sustained damaged to its core systems. After Pryce rejected Mon's demands, she ordered Konstantine to activate the ship's tractor beam. When the Y-Wings piloted by Ezra and Jon Vander exited the nebula, Kassius ordered his gunners to shoot them down. Despite believing the rebels arrived "too late", Hera outmaneuvered the Imperials by convincing Ezra and Jon to fire their proton torpedoes into the Archeon Nebula, causing the stars to explode and Konstantine and Pryce's Star Destroyers were damaged . With the tractor disabled, the rebel ships fled.

#### Defying Thrawn and Death

When Thrawn discovered the location of Phoenix Squadron's base on Atollon, he commanded Admiral Konstantine to deploy the Seventh Fleet to the system. Placed in command of an interdictor cruiser, Konstantine prevented the rebels from escaping the system. When Commander Sato attempted a Danan tactic, Thrawn ordered Konstantine to hold back until ordered otherwise. Dismayed, Konstantine protested and expressed his desire to use overwhelming force instead. Thrawn reminded Konstantine that he had studied the rebels and was familiar unconventional tactics. When Sato flew *Phoenix Home* towards the centre of the Imperial formation, Kassius attempted to intercept the carrier. Thrawn then ordered him to return to his assigned coordinates but Konstantine, desiring personal glory, expressed his tiredness with Thrawn's "games". Jun Sato's ploy proved to be a trap as he intended to draw the interdictor out of position and then surprise the admiral with a suicide run. Realizing his mistake too late, Konstantine frantically ordered evasive action but was too late to prevent the destruction of his ship. He not only perished for his reckless insubordination but his actions undermined the outcome of Thrawn's plans by allowing Ezra and Chopper to escape into hyperspace to seek help.