Tiberius Carruthers

Tiberius Imperator Carruthers was born January 14, 849 MY, to Claudius Carruthers and an unknown mother. Following the arrest and execution of his father, Tiberius and his sister Claudia were raised by Marcellus and Isabel Thomason on Remus. He would become president and CEO of Carruthers Heavy Industries in 864 MY, and would be noted for his disinterest in politics. He would marry Jennifer von Renstadt in 865 MY, though rumors would persist that he had a second wife in secret. Chosen as Prime Minister by Rauschning II in 898 MY to oversee the Second Division of the Terran Imperium, he would remain in office until his execution on the orders of Rauschning III.

Early Life

Tiberius was born to the Emperor Claudius II and an unknown concubine of the Imperial Harem. It was widely rumored at the time that the mother was executed immediately after the birth to prevent any connection whatsoever between mother and son. Claudius took a keen interest in raising his son, keeping him with him as much as possible, to the point of holding him in his lap while attending meetings. The emperor would hide nothing from Tiberius, exposing him at a very early age to the management of government, even asking him as a toddler what he thought should be done as a way to humiliate government ministers.
  Raised from birth to be an absolute ruler governing by divine right, if not semi-divine himself, the young Tiberius was expected to be as calculating and sadistic as his father. The emperor would turn the prince's birthday into a state holiday, arranging public festivals and spectacles in his name where the public was expected to pay homage to the future ruler. Claudius would also allow Tiberius no trace of innocence in either the Imperial Harem or the secret torture chambers under the palace, where he was often required to participate.

Coup and Exile

Emperor Claudius II would be arrested on his return from the command ship Imperious and charged with treason by the Convention of Houses on June 5, 854 MY. Though only seven years old, Tiberius would also be arrested and held in an adjacent cell in the imperial prison. Among the papers found on the emperor's desk was the draft of an imperial edict indicating that Claudius intended to abdicate the throne and serve as regent for Tiberius within a few weeks. Marcellus Thomason would intervene with the Convention of Houses to spare Tiberius and his older sister Claudia from execution and the complete destruction of House Carruthers. The Convention would agree at the last moment, but not before Tiberius was forced to view his executed father's body and be told he was next.
  Marcellus Thomason would immediately take the children of Claudius to Remus, and while he made it clear to them that they were in exile, they were in no danger under his care. They were not made prisoners and were raised with just as much attention as Marcellus and Isabel's natural children, and much attention would be paid to remedying the upbringing Claudius had exposed them to. Tiberius would spend most of his time with his personal tutor Frederick von Schlosberg, who would focus on educating him in business.
   

Dissolution of Houses

Tiberius would find his exile lifted with the move by Emperor Rauschning to solidify his rule through the marriage of his son Albrecht to Claudia Carruthers. While choosing to remain on Remus under the care of House Thomason, he would see his title of prince and all imperial rights restored as the head of House Carruthers. When the Imperial Houses were dissolved in 861 MY, Tiberius was allowed to keep his title as well as uncontested ownership of Carruthers Heavy Industries. This came as House Thomason was forced to relinquish their title and Rauschning launched a series of lawsuits to attempt to force the break up or dissolution Thomason Holdings. Tiberius would not be able to pass the title along to his children, however.
  Tiberius would take over as president of Carruthers Heavy Industries in 864 MY, marrying Jennifer von Renstadt the next year. He would oversee the restructuring and expansion of the Carruthers businesses, eventually surpassing even Thomason Shipbuilding's production capacity.
   

Prime Minister

In the cold war between the two Antoskan Wars, it became obvious that the Terran Imperium could no longer sustain the administrative costs of its territory. Emperor Rauschning II began planning for a peaceful division of the Imperium and the separation of a number of territories, as well as a division of the fleet among the new powers. Empress Claudia insinuated that he would need a Prime Minister of exceptional abilities to manage such a division and suggested her brother for the position. Tiberius would accept and successfully managed the division of imperial territory and administration with such skill that most citizens barely noticed the changes in government.
  When the Second Antoskan War broke out in 909 MY, Emperor Rauschning II needed to focus his attention on the war effort and keeping the Galactic Alliance together. He would grant Tiberius additional authority to manage domestic affairs, essentially sharing imperial power with him as co-emperor in all but name.
   

Execution

Tiberius would continue as Prime Minister under Rauschning III until the abrupt announcement on October 15, 912 MY that he had been charged with treason and executed. Evidence would be presented that the Prime Minister had conspired with a number of foreign powers, supposedly with the intention of ousting Rauschning and making himself emperor, but most would dismiss this evidence as fabrication after the fact. Many would go on record after the fall of the Imperium to describe a very different set of circumstances.
  A number of former imperial attendants would state that Rauschning III sought to rule as sole emperor and acting as his own Prime Minister. The powerful Tiberius clearly stood in his way, and the emperor sought any excuse to be rid of him. Rauschning began meeting with the Prime Minister while sitting on the throne to emphasize his position, with government ministers present, where he would treat Tiberius as just another government official. This would culminate in a meeting where the emperor demanded to know why fleet production had been halted in defiance of his orders. The Prime Minister explained that the Imperium could not afford the construction projects with its weakened post-war economy.
  Several former Ministers who were present at the meeting described Rauschning openly berating and belittling the Prime Minister, ultimately threatening him with imprisonment. Tiberius finally snapped back "You don't scare me. My father would make you piss yourself, little boy." Rauschning immediately ordered his execution. Tiberius would be dragged to an airlock where he was stripped and ejected into space.
   

Kandix Connection

Rumors would persist throughout his life that Tiberius had a second family on Kandix Prime. He first travelled to the world with his father when he took several vacations on the pleasure world. It was well documented that he would frequently spend several months a year on Kandix, beginning in 863 MY. It is virtually impossible to gain any information on what activities anyone participates in on Kandix, but Tiberius was often seen in the company of Sybelle, the third daughter of Empress Nafti. She was known to have had several children by an unknown father, and following the mysterious death of her two elder sisters would become Empress of Kandix herself. More recent travellers have noted a striking resemblence of the current Grand Prince to the Carruthers dynasty, but Kandix Prime does not allow outside access to their records to be able to verify any possible descent from Tiberius.
   

Missing Files

During the period of the Imperial Houses, each House was known to keep extensive files on their opponents, detailing all their personal interactions, investments, activities and resources. This was especially useful for blackmail purposes, and the three Royal Houses were known to have vast collections going back generations. When the Imperial Houses were dissolved, much of this material found itself in the possession of Prime Minister Black, who used it as part of his propaganda campaign against the Houses. However, no trace of the files of House Carruthers has ever been identified. When later questioned on this, Victor Carruthers stated that he was unaware that such files even existed. Many suspect that Tiberius hid the files somewhere, most likely on Kandix Prime, as he was unlikely to give up such valuable intelligence.
   

Plan Aeterna

History records Emperor Claudius II as a mad emperor, bent on total power and possessing a sadistic willingness to exact revenge. Following the fall of the Imperium, many records were unsealed leading to a revisionist appraisal of Claudius. They see his near total destruction of House Gerard in the face of an inactive House Thomason as a method of solving the long standing succession crisis. Key to his long term goals was Plan Aeterna, an attempt to either obtain or duplicate Galatian nanotechnology. Numerous experiments were carried out, both on animals and humans in his effort to obtain the technology.
  The unsealed documents show he was well aware of the life extending properties it granted, but did not intend them for himself. Rather, if imperial scientists had been successful, it was his intention to give them to Tiberius. The combination of the crushing of all opposition by Claudius, and the education of a nano-augmented Tiberius as an absolute ruler governing by divine right would have potentially created an almost immortal god emperor, permanently ending the succession crisis.
     

Full Title

Among the documents found amidst the papers on the desk of Emperor Claudius at the time of his execution was the draft of the imperial title to be used by Tiberius when he took the throne. While his full imperial name may have been more modest than his predecessors, the titles included novel innovations and callbacks to the previous Mykentian Republic.

His Serene Imperial Majesty, Tiberius Imperator Aeterna, Lord of House Carruthers, Master of Houses, Hilt of the Sword of the Terran Imperium, Lord Grand Admiral of the Fleets, Source of Justice, Bringer of Mercy, Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds, King of Solaria, Lord of Eridu, Possessor of Omnos, Master of Kandix, Lord Protector of Jerusalem, king of kings, prince of princes, Lord of Mankind, eternal and absolute sovereign of the Terran Imperium and all its subjects.