composed of Zero Command, Black Sword and Defense Fleet elements (24 I-SDs deployed in the Deep Core).
Pragmatic and ruthless, Caul enjoys taking calculated risks, which has earned him a reputation of tactical brilliance. He is aware, however, that he lacks the certain military genius some believe him to have and tries to compensate this by extensive study of both history, strategic codices, and works of military theory. The new tactics he and others of his generation employ, have led to the older rank and file to consider him unorthodox and dangerous. Not seeing the calculation behind his decisions, Caul has more than once been condemned for a dangerous brute. This stumping of his ambitions fuelled his rancour towards the old guard.
Though indeed no stranger to brutality, Caul has come to consider it –and his notoriously savage rages- as a tool, one of the personal weapons in his arsenal. Alternatively imposing or charming, his quick mind always usually resorts to violence of a psychological sort, whereas previously his abuse was considerably more traditional. His intelligence and impressive rhetorical skills allowed him to ascend the Imperial hierarchy in spite of opposition of more conservative superiors. Indeed, Caul’s true talents lie within the fields of organisation and oratory, both of which spill over into tactics and inspiring the troops. While not an impressive pilot, Caul Bylvers is apt at handling his men.
Admiral Bylvers is loyal to the Army and the Fleet as prestigious institutions, seeing them as the best bet to ensure the Empire’s survival. Additionally, he is grateful for the lessons his military career has taught him. Most importantly for tempering his ferocity and enabling his guile, recognising self-restraint was the truest mark of a man. This insight has, nonetheless, led to a lot of pent up frustration and aggression.
Palpatine and Vader might be gone, but the order and honour of the imperium will live on. As a military man he has a duty to uphold, though he is recently in dubio as to what this duty exactly is and to whom his allegiance belongs. In this time of chaos, Caul adheres to the values of discipline, efficiency and respect and trusts these will maintain stability.
Born just before the start of the Clone Wars (23BBY), Caul grew up as a child of Emperor Palpatine’s New Order. For Caul Bylvers, violence was an exquisitely effective, practical means toward attaining a desired end. His introduction to its virtues came during his childhood, when he was forced to burn down alien farmlands with his intolerant father on Corulag. Bylvers Senior was a man whose drive and ambition exceeded his qualities, which turned him into a pathetic figure in Caul’s later years.
Initially, being younger than ten years of age, Caul had trouble with placing the wanton viciousness towards non-humans his family exposed him to. Despite his clearly racist upbringing, he took a more pragmatic approach towards employing violence. Especially after his own record started to outshine his unapologetic ‘speciesist’ father. Nevertheless, Caul was foisted with his sire’s aspirations for political and military prestige.
Then, in his Imperial Academy days attending the Corulag Imperial Military Academy, competing in the close-combat arena, his brutality earned him accolades as the intramural champion. His military education provided him with much needed refinement, the discipline giving him the means to shackle his early-taught ruthlessness, encouraging the increasingly pragmatic view of life he was adopting. The young Corulag native later transferred to nearby Anaxes, as to receive further formation at the War College there.
Shortly after his graduation, Caul broke entirely with the idea of ‘high-human culture’, deciding being a proper and loyal Imperial had little to do with one’s racial background. In such a colourful universe, that was a reality one could not aspire to. Uniformity would not be lost. Instead, he measured others by their devotion to the New Order, as well as their skill and efforts in pursuit of their goals.
His initial deployment saw him hunting seditionist cells throughout the Mid and Outer Rim. He was dismayed by the outcome of the Battle of Yavin 4, and had the greatest trouble giving credence to the efficiency of the Rebel Offensive ensuing it. Large chunks of Mid Rim territory were lost to the Rebel Alliance, and pirate raids were able to pierce through the Imperial defence lines. Given insufficient means to repel either Rebels or pirates, Caul Bylvers nevertheless managed to pull several victories out of the fires engulfing the Mid Rim.
In 3ABY, Caul participated in the Battle of Hoth, serving under Admiral Piett who had orders to sequester the system. Captaining his Victory II-class, Caul was commended for his service. Supposedly the apex of his career on the front lines, he was shortly after recalled to the Galactic Core on baseless charges. By now it was becoming increasingly clear to the young officer, that Palpatine was taking leave of reality, letting sycophants and libellers call the shots. Caul Bylvers felt cheated from his deserved glory, being redeployed in safe sectors for patrol duty; something he saw as little more than forced retirement.
However much he hated policing docile systems, he remained diligent in his tasks, and even put down an uprising and thwarted a Rebel deep strike directed at the energy-supply world of Sarapin. This new mandate, though, would not last very long.
For Caul Bylvers, following the Emperor’s fatality at Endor, he was shocked at the almost total collapse of the Imperial chain of command. In the ensuing chaos, many Imperials turned on one another, resulting in a disastrous loss of apparel, personnel, ships and cohesion. Nevertheless, the debacle at Endor increased the need of competent officers, and so the fracturing of the Galactic Empire also opened higher tier ranks for those capable. His redeployment after Hoth had in fact safeguarded him from perishing at either Yavin or Endor, and in the chaos that ensued Caul started to look around to make his own way. The Imperial Civil War broke out soon after central command fractured, and Caul tied himself to Sector Zero’s authority. After all, he brought with him a veteran cruiser squadron which Imperial Center (and Ysanne Isard) was only too happy to enlist.
After a profound purge of Sector Zero’s officer’s cadre, Caul found himself promoted from Senior Captain to Fleet Admiral. A failed stunt by his predecessor saw him elevated again by Blitzer Harrsk, to High Admiral. This supposed recognition of his talents illustrated the need for competent officers in the higher echelons of a post-Endor command. These promotions brought with them a ship transfer, leaving Caul in command of his own
Praetor Mark II-battlecruiser.
Harrsk had suffered a cranial injury at Endor, though, which caused a personality split. Harrsk, Cruel and megalomaniacal, carved out a territory for himself in the Deep Core and Core Worlds. The warlord broke from many of his contemporaries in keeping watch on events outside his fiefdom, forging relations with Sate Pestage, Ysanne Isard, and many disaffected Imperials seeking new allegiance. Bylvers had seen what madman the Lord High Admiral had become and staged a coup of
Zero Command. Having taken control of Harrsk’s former dominion, he allied himself with the Imperial Ruling Council, merging Sector Zero into the struggling Imperial Center of those who still proclaimed loyalty to the Empire. The government on Coruscant still best represented the continuation of the Empire.
Bylvers’ primary loyalty being to the fleet, he had little difficulty in making the switch to serving the martial Imperial faction sprouting up in the Core. Caul believed strongly in the ability of the Empire, and especially its military, to bring order and stability where the Rebel Alliance and New Republic could not. The only viable future for him and his faction, was one where the Imperial State imposes order. Nevertheless, he opposes the growing influence of the Intelligence Bureau as well as the ineffective Imperial Ruling Council. The Empire did not fall with Palpatine and Vader. However, with it so fragmented it was paramount to regain control as well as possession over lost sectors lest the New Republic be victorious. Imperial Reunification, to Caul, was the only way forward and it had to happen sooner rather than later. The ever growing number of warlords constituted a bigger threat than anything the Rebel Alliance and New Republic could throw at them.
Currently High Admiral Caul Bylvers is juggling mobilisation in the Imperial Ruling Council and military action in the Core and Deep Core against the warlords there. Though he has to contend with several others, Bylvers is one of the strongmen of the Council and a proponent of a universal, Galactic Empire under its auspices.
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