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Knights

The Photon Knights

Born of the fusion of three ancient monastic orders during the early Empire, and officially sanctioned by Imperator Hari II in its heyday; supremely skilled in the art of manifesting ki; well trained in starfighter combat and platoon-level leadership both; the Photon Knights have been a force of law and order in the galaxy for more than five hundred years.

It's important to note that "law and order" does not necessarily mean "good". The Photon Knights are responsible for stopping dozens of wars before they escalated past one planet, and if the stories are to be believed -- and a good eighty percent should be -- responsible for stopping dozen more before they started. However, in the Periphery they are also known for enforcing Imperial law swiftly and brutally in the aftermath of a number of peasant revolts, and have even been known for involvement in strike-breaking within strategic industries.

The Photon Knights are one of the institutions who do not formally recognize the division of the Empire; the split simply means that they will "collaborate at their discretion" with either Imperial Remnant or Imperium forces, generally aiding them against smaller powers -- who they consider insurgents -- and staying out of the way when it comes to any truce violation between the two rump states. At their best, they are heralds of peace and scourge of Black Lancers and petty planetary dictators; at their worst, they are judge, jury, and executioner in a way that resembles the worst excesses of the Zardoz judges.

An individual Knight will often act independently, or with a squire, in pursuit of whatever quest the elders in one of the half dozen fortress-monasteries have determined that they are best suited for. Unlike other knightly orders, all Photon Knights are errant, with said fortress-monasteries being the only territory held in allodium (and both de facto and de jure extraterritoriality). Some Knights will pay their way across the galaxy; others will requisition what they need regardless of their host's ability to cash in an Old Imperial IOU code. Rumors of Photon Knights having turned robber barons are likely exaggerated, although adept ki users posing as members of the orders for their own purposes is not unheard of. Impostors posing as Photon Knights are all but guaranteed to be hunted down by the real thing with extreme prejudice if they emerge from obscurity.

Imperial, Imperian and Kalradian demesnes will recognize mutual hospitality and nobility's obligations, and provide supplies -- and sometimes right of passage -- for Photon Knights with few questions asked.

Unless their particular quest dictates otherwise, Photon Knights will usually be coldly corteous to Kalradians, help either Imperial Remnant, share intel with Zardoz judges, be neutral to most anyone else, and consider Black Lance installations, as well as those of the various Dark Lords, targets of opportunity.

Most, but not all, Photon Knights are humanoid; the order does not discriminate, and selects members on the basis of ki aptitude and moral clarity -- not surprisingly, a large number of Zardoz initiates join, but many flunk during training due to the radiotrophic species' poor endurance in the wild. The leadership is thought to be primarily humanoid.

Photon Knight leadership is significantly more image-conscious than they were when the Empire was united, and will go out of their way to assign knights to escort humanitarian convoys, medical missions, and the like. They make no mystery of the fact that they are working to help the Empire reunite, and they also make no mystery of the fact that they don't care which of the two rump states comes out on top in the process.

The order is governed by a Round Table of seven elders, one each in charge of a fortress-monastery, and a general-emeritus whose official job is to confer with the Emperor and break ties (or cause them, effectively exercising veto power) in the assembly but has ranged from being a sinecure to the general-emeritus in practice dictating Order policy almost completely. The current general-emeritus has held post since just after the Scourgelord's assassination and the Old Empire's cleaving, is extremely old, and has allowed each elder wide autonomy, with the intent of strengthening the Order's soft power and avoiding a hot war between the two rump empires.

Photon Knights belonging to different monasteries can, and do, come into conflict should the objective of their quests clash; the resulting duels tend to be spectacular, leave a lot of collateral damage behind, and make a lot of money for those brave enough to film them and be healthy enough at the end to be able to sell cassettes afterwards. Taking out a Photon Knight without the backing of a fighter wing or an infantry brigade is enough of a remarkable feat that any who achieve it should expect accolades or commensurate mercenary fees, if they can prove their feat. Of course, they will usually also make an enemy of the Order as a whole.

Thanks to their mastery of electrokinesis, Photon Knights can perform feats such as operating a thermal lance from a battery small enough that it fits in the handle -- which makes it agile enough to be used in swordfighting -- commanding electrically operated bulkhead doors to open by touching them, even shorting out robots at a distance. Some specialize in raw power, letting them arc energy between their fingers and become living batteries, or using boot spikes as ion engines to change their momentum in low orbit using what little atmosphere there is. Some specialize in finesse, to the point where they can read and even alter neural currents, giving them what has been called, perhaps fancifully, instant hypnosis.