Janus Templar
"Truly, I adore mercenaries as a potential asset. Not because they are effective or efficient, necessarily. Because they are - to be blunt - disposable and easy to disavow should they fail at their task."Janus Templar is one of the few operatives for the Lyran Intelligence Corps who actively employs mercenaries instead of internal assets, and tends to avoid turning them into such assets if he can help it. He has been instrumental in setting pieces in motion for the conflict over White Reach, though the unforeseen consequences of so many forces being in play has moved him to choose more cautious moves which are less effective initially and also leave the LIC with less exposure should anything happen.
Furthermore, it is clear he has at least some knowledge of what the various factions are looking for on the planet surface and desperately wishes it to remain unknown to actually exist. To that end he has contracted Priam Company to intervene and seize the objects of interest, before anyone else might uncover them.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Janus keeps himself in fit physical condition, which is to say he is not overweight but neither is he notably muscled. His reflexes and perception are also honed to keep sharp, to prevent him from being taken by surprise. Age has given him only a little bit of slowness to his motions, which he considers a lesser thing to lose since he is not fond of actual physical combat at all.
Body Features
He has a dusky-dark skin tone, along with slightly pale brown eyes. Black hair is usually shaved clean from his head, and he keeps himself quite clean and presentable. Unclothed, there is a single scar in his back which he claims is from his youth and why he learned how to knife-fight.
Facial Features
Janus keeps himself clean-shaven usually, but may sometimes affect a goatee and mustache at a whim. Such tends to accent the lean and drawn face which almost always looks like he's been missing sleep or meals. A few faded scar lines are visible on his cheeks, but the most striking facial feature is a golden tattoo lining one eye and having sweeping curves drawn outwards along his cheekbone. The origin and meaning of this tattoo he claims is "something personal, only having meaning to me".
Apparel & Accessories
Generally, Janus will dress in a well-tailored version of whatever local garb is called for and attempt to blend in as much as he can. In instances where he must act in an official capacity, he chooses to wear a white suit with silver threading on the lapels and cuffs, with a silver pin which shows a mailed fist flanked by two stars. On occasion he will wear slim dark-lens glasses, or a simple gold-and-silver band on the third finger of his left hand.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Very little is known about Janus Templar before he began to ascend the ranks of the Lyran Intelligence Corps, at least as far as can be definitively verified. Where the concrete evidence begins is with a stint acting as an assistant in 3009 to the previous Director of Operations for the Federation of Skye. As he demonstrated very astute observations and made quiet suggestions which proved to be very easily handled, he was recruited to become an analyst.
From there, he established a reputation for being cautious but precise in analyses of acquired Draconis Combine or Free Worlds League communications. When he proved he was capable of deep data analysis, he was given a large data deposit and told to deliver an analysis of the individuals within the records. The result was instrumental in pinning down various rumors concerning relatives of noble houses who were extremely well-connected and yet could be demonstrated to have acquired potential weaknesses for enemy agents to exploit. One such event was taken care of quietly, facilitating the Baron of Carnwath's promotion to a more prestigious (yet dead-end) position in another part of the Lyran Commonwealth in 3024.
A follow-up to this performance was Janus being given a raw data dispatch from the Tamar Pact and being told to have an analysis of it in seven days. Five days later he had issued a memo concerning apparent pirate activity on the Periphery edge of the Pact and noting it bore more in common with strategic choice targets of the Draconis Combine; while told the matter was closed, this proved to be not an unfounded analysis and a second assignment was given to him to begin analysis of potential weaknesses in the Draconis Combine territory near the Tamar Pact. This data was put to use during an invasion attempt across the border in 3028, though the efforts failed due to various elements not performing as expected.
Janus Templar was then assigned to the operations center on Ryde, where his job became to analyze incoming reports and rank them by importance so they could be scrutinized further or acted upon as needed. During this time, he became aware of several discrepancies in information concerning the deployment of the Fourth Legion of Vega when comparing field reports to intercepted communications. He was also made aware of an increase in the mention of White Reach and four other systems in the Virginia Shire in the same reports, and requested special dispensation to assess and acquire assets to put to use investigating this matter. Once he received the approval, he began investigating local mercenary groups and found a report on Priam Company's sanctioned operation against Federated Sun personnel on Carnwath.
From there, he established a reputation for being cautious but precise in analyses of acquired Draconis Combine or Free Worlds League communications. When he proved he was capable of deep data analysis, he was given a large data deposit and told to deliver an analysis of the individuals within the records. The result was instrumental in pinning down various rumors concerning relatives of noble houses who were extremely well-connected and yet could be demonstrated to have acquired potential weaknesses for enemy agents to exploit. One such event was taken care of quietly, facilitating the Baron of Carnwath's promotion to a more prestigious (yet dead-end) position in another part of the Lyran Commonwealth in 3024.
A follow-up to this performance was Janus being given a raw data dispatch from the Tamar Pact and being told to have an analysis of it in seven days. Five days later he had issued a memo concerning apparent pirate activity on the Periphery edge of the Pact and noting it bore more in common with strategic choice targets of the Draconis Combine; while told the matter was closed, this proved to be not an unfounded analysis and a second assignment was given to him to begin analysis of potential weaknesses in the Draconis Combine territory near the Tamar Pact. This data was put to use during an invasion attempt across the border in 3028, though the efforts failed due to various elements not performing as expected.
Janus Templar was then assigned to the operations center on Ryde, where his job became to analyze incoming reports and rank them by importance so they could be scrutinized further or acted upon as needed. During this time, he became aware of several discrepancies in information concerning the deployment of the Fourth Legion of Vega when comparing field reports to intercepted communications. He was also made aware of an increase in the mention of White Reach and four other systems in the Virginia Shire in the same reports, and requested special dispensation to assess and acquire assets to put to use investigating this matter. Once he received the approval, he began investigating local mercenary groups and found a report on Priam Company's sanctioned operation against Federated Sun personnel on Carnwath.
Education
Information on exactly where Janus had his education is both incredibly accessible and obviously false. Public records place him in institutions which claim no record of his presence (even as any known aliases), and often the dates simply are impossible to reconcile with the realistic state of space travel. Despite this, he has demonstrated an advanced grasp of the Inner Sphere's layout to the point of being able to guess at which travel paths would be possible from a given system with a high degree of accuracy. Furthermore, he has demonstrated a fair understanding of higher-level mathematics and physical sciences.
Despite all available records showing he has no experience operating BattleMechs or combat vehicles, he remains aware of several common contemporary models and can reliably predict an outcome of a battle through observing the list of materiel being used. Usually these analyses are shown to also include at least a cursory review of the commanders' usual tactics and their cultural tendencies. This suggests Janus studied warfare somewhere, but there is no sign of such on the public records and attempting to gather this information from him has met with no reliable answers.
Despite all available records showing he has no experience operating BattleMechs or combat vehicles, he remains aware of several common contemporary models and can reliably predict an outcome of a battle through observing the list of materiel being used. Usually these analyses are shown to also include at least a cursory review of the commanders' usual tactics and their cultural tendencies. This suggests Janus studied warfare somewhere, but there is no sign of such on the public records and attempting to gather this information from him has met with no reliable answers.
Employment
Janus Templar is part of the Lyran Intelligence Corps, and has held many different levels of authority within the organization. Currently he is the Director of Operations for the Federation of Skye, a large stretch of coreward space in the Lyran Commonwealth with over ninety populated systems inside its borders. As such he is subordinate only to superiors on Tharkad, though he issues relevant reports to the Duke and Margrave of Skye as needed.
Accomplishments & Achievements
There are many rumors about operations or reports which Janus was involved in which shaped recent major events and ensured they might end in favor of the Commonwealth's interests. Cursory analysis shows these are almost certainly memetic fabrications, and yet there is still the possibility of connections involved. The only verifiable instance was "The Greenfield Incident".
Several rogue operatives of the LIC captured decommissioned civilian and military DropShips and intended to place explosives on board to send over the border into the Free Worlds League and explode transfer stations at Jump Points along the border. Ostensibly, this was to dissuade and damage the potential of enemy incursions at those locations and funnel a counterattack into specific avenues which would be a trap. As there was a staggering potential for collateral civilian damage, Janus acted on his own initiative to leak a few pieces of information to a known League informant who managed to get the information back in time to prevent the worst case success of the rogue operation. After another calculated public leak to ComStar Adepts, the rogue agents responsible for the plan were identified as well as those who had given them the supplies.
Despite a firm reprimand over the choice of method handling this incident, it has become somewhat of a hallmark for Janus Templar to act in this manner to quietly quash operations or projects which analysis shows would do more long-term harm for the Commonwealth than there would be short-term gain. Because of this, Janus is given an extraordinary amount of latitude while at the same time being subjected to a similar amount of scrutiny over his actions and orders issued from the office at Ryde.
Several rogue operatives of the LIC captured decommissioned civilian and military DropShips and intended to place explosives on board to send over the border into the Free Worlds League and explode transfer stations at Jump Points along the border. Ostensibly, this was to dissuade and damage the potential of enemy incursions at those locations and funnel a counterattack into specific avenues which would be a trap. As there was a staggering potential for collateral civilian damage, Janus acted on his own initiative to leak a few pieces of information to a known League informant who managed to get the information back in time to prevent the worst case success of the rogue operation. After another calculated public leak to ComStar Adepts, the rogue agents responsible for the plan were identified as well as those who had given them the supplies.
Despite a firm reprimand over the choice of method handling this incident, it has become somewhat of a hallmark for Janus Templar to act in this manner to quietly quash operations or projects which analysis shows would do more long-term harm for the Commonwealth than there would be short-term gain. Because of this, Janus is given an extraordinary amount of latitude while at the same time being subjected to a similar amount of scrutiny over his actions and orders issued from the office at Ryde.
Failures & Embarrassments
"Would that all our failures disappear from sight as our successes often do. Then this job would be considerably easier."Another incident which has been verified through independent sources covers a failed covert operation undertaken by Janus' underlings to stir up trouble on the Combine border in 3027. The so-called "Operation Renard" was to disrupt DCMS garrisons in the area and render them disorganized enough so Lyran forces could take the planets. However, due to miscommunications (suspected to be intentional by the field agents) the wrong planets were targeted for being invaded after disruption was successful. The result caused a counterattack which almost threatened to take Tamar. On discovering the error and likely causes, Janus secured the identities of the field agents and hired mercenary outfit which had been involved. Under the pretense of this having been an unsanctioned operation, he provided a counterpart in the Combine's internal intelligence division with those identities. A review of his actions in this matter (where Janus refused to elaborate on what data he had gathered concerning motives, if any) drew a formal reprimand, which Janus chose not to protest.
Mental Trauma
According to a few professional acquaintances of Janus, he is extremely careful about ensuring a ship he uses to travel has a clean safety and inspection record. This includes doing a deeper investigation to be sure the certifications are indeed properly earned instead of simply paid for. One source inquired as to this caution, only to be informed there was an incident where a faulty electrical system caused a fire in a ship a relative was using to travel. There were no known survivors, as the ship was leaving a planet's surface at the time and escape pods were not an option. As such, he is demonstrated to always do a thorough check of ships planned to be part of a travel itinerary, despite how it may draw time from official duties.
Morality & Philosophy
"For every action, there is bound to be a reaction. The key to surviving in this business is for the ones acted against to never know it was you."Janus prides himself on integrity, and sees to it he never gives his word on a matter unless he is prepared to follow through. This does, however, mean one must be careful when approached by him with a task. After all, if annoyed or encouraged to treat you as an adversary, Janus will adhere strictly to the letter of the agreement. He also views broad military force to be employed only when there is no other potential solution which would be less disruptive, and prefers peace to war. Only because peace allows him some latitude with operations which war necessarily constrains, by removing a great many options he might employ.
Beyond that, Janus has proven to be very dedicated to ensuring the security and stability of the Lyran Commonwealth in a long-term manner. For him, short-term gains which may not be useful in the long-term are pointless except as publicity stunts or political capital; they have their purpose, to be sure, but it is much more useful to plan ahead.
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Director of LIC Operations, Federation of Skye
Year of Birth
2987
45 Years old
Birthplace
Unknown
Children
Quotes & Catchphrases
"Would you rather be the tool, or the hand which wields it?"
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