Editing Oliver Marik

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| name                = Oliver Marik
| birthdate           = ca. 2663
| died                = July [[2773]]<ref name=HMp24>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 24, ''Oliver the Usurper''</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Marik]]
| profession          = [[Member of Parliament|MP for New Delos]]
| parents             = [[Gerald Marik (27th c.)|Gerald Marik]] (father)<ref name=HMp23>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 23, "Like Father, Like Daughter"</ref>
| siblings            = [[Andrew Marik]]<br/>[[John Marik]]<br/>[[Elise Marik]]
| spouse              = 
| children            = [[Boris Marik]]
}}
'''Oliver Marik''' (born Ca. [[2663]]<ref name=HMp24/> - died July<ref name="HB:HMp31"/> [[2734]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/>), was the leader of the Parliamentarian faction in the [[Marik Civil War (28th c.)|First Marik Civil War]].<ref name=HMp24/>

==History==
=== Prelude to Civil War ===
Oliver Marik was the son of [[Captain-General]] [[Gerald Marik I|Gerald Marik]] and brother of [[Elise Marik]]. Unlike Elise, Oliver didn't love his father, who was a stern and demanding individual, and while Elise was designated by Gerald as his heir, Oliver went on to serve as the the representative from [[New Delos]] to the [[Free Worlds League Parliament]].<ref name=HMp23/><ref name="HB:HMp27">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 27-28, "Descent"</ref> When [[Elise Marik]] assumed the Captain-Generalcy she launched an increasingly paranoid and dictatorial investigation into her father's death, convinced that Gerald had been poisoned as part of a conspiracy or plot. Elise's campaign to find those guilty of treason increasingly infringed on civil liberties and due process and faced a degree of opposition within Parliament. Oliver was perhaps the most vocal and determined of those Parliamentarians who opposed Elise, but after Elise received Parliamentary assent to confiscate the holdings of [[Kazana Thermotronics]] in [[2704]] following accusations of their involvement in a scheme to steal Free Worlds technological secrets made by a single paid informant<ref name=HMp23/> Oliver resigned his seat in Parliament and fled with his son [[Boris Marik|Boris]] to the world of [[Procyon]] in the [[Terran Hegemony]].<ref name=HMp23/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

Elise's purge of the Free Worlds League became increasingly extreme and wide-ranging, as Oliver had feared. With the number of purported traitors being found increasing from hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands, high-ranking government officials and Parliamentary support staff under constant surveillance and businesses and news outlets being shut down on the flimsiest of evidence Oliver found himself being courted as an alternative Captain-General to his sister.<ref name=HMp23/> In [[2724]],<ref name=HMp23/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> at the height of Elise's purge<ref name=HMp23/> a number of influential Free Worlds opposition leaders<ref name=HMp23/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> fled to Procyon<ref name=HMp23/> and attempted to persuade Oliver to declare himself Council Lord, although Oliver was unwilling to do so<ref name=HMp23/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> due to his firm belief in both civil liberties and due process.<ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

By [[2728]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Elise had convinced the majority of Parliament that she was insane,<ref name=HMp24/> and Parliament responded by declaring the crisis to be over and ending Elise's tenure as Captain-General.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Elise responded by declaring that Parliament itself had become a threat to state security, and in February<ref name=HMp24/> [[2729]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> she personally led a crack military force to Parliament,<ref name=HMp24/> dissolving the assembly and arresting a third of the Parliamentarians<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> on charges of subversion. Following Elise's attack on Parliament [[Atreus (FWL)|Atreus]] dissolved into open chaos and rebellion in the streets.<ref name=HMp24/>

=== Civil War ===
Elise's actions in dissolving Parliament proved too much for Oliver; appalled at Elise's abuse of power, he left Procyon<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> six weeks later<ref name=HMp24/> on the 23rd of March<ref name="HB:HMp27"/> along with Boris and the other Parliamentarians who had gone into exile, traveling to the<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Winter<ref name="HB:HMp27"/> palace of the [[Duke]] of the [[Duchy of Oriente]] on [[Calloway VI]].<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Once in place, Oliver summoned the remaining members of Parliament;<ref name=HMp24/> Parliament then confirmed Oliver as the new Free Worlds League Council Lord,<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 31, "Timeline: Serpent in Eden"</ref><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> having used proxy votes for those members of Parliament currently imprisoned by Elise.<ref name=HMp24/> Parliament also confirmed Boris as the new Captain-General.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/>

Parliament's decision sparked civil war within the Free Worlds League; Elise had ten of the twelve regiments of the [[Marik Militia]] available to call on, along with the resources available to [[SAFE]].<ref name=HMp24/> She also had the support of House Stewart,<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> one of whom - [[Aldrich Stewart]] - was Director of Safe,<ref name=HMp24/> and the support of the [[Principality of Regulus]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> through House Schenk, the family appointed to rule the Principality by Gerald Marik. Despite the support for Elise, the two factions were surprisingly closely matched; the two Marik Militia regiments located on New Delos and [[McKenna (planet)|McKenna]] both declared their support for Oliver and the parliament,<ref name=HMp24/> and joining the Duke of Oriente<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> in supporting Oliver and Boris were the [[Duchy of Andurien]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> and the Dukes of [[Carbonis]] and [[Kalidasa]]. Bloody fighting soon erupted on a number of worlds as the local forces divided against themselves.<ref name=HMp24/>

Elise's first military gambit was to dispatch an expeditionary force to attack Oriente,<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> hoping to crush the rebellion at its source; having underestimated the resources available to Oliver and Boris her force was easily repulsed,<ref name=HMp24/> and Boris promptly launched a two-pronged attack on the Regulan front, led by himself and Duke [[Martin Humphreys]], the Duke of Andurien.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

When a large portion of Elise's forces were lured<ref name=HMp24/> to [[Hellos Minor]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> to suppress a native uprising<ref name=HMp24/> forces led by Oliver<ref name="HB:HMp27"/> captured the spaceport on Atreus<ref name=HMp24/> and after thirty-six hours of combat managed to capture Elise and her personal guard.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> The Parliamentarians were unable to turn Elise's capture into a decisive victory, however; her son, [[Bertram Marik|Bertram]], was an experienced military commander in his own right and swiftly rallied the loyalist forces and launched a desert battle on [[Ariel]] that repulsed a rebel invasion force.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

For the next five years the civil war would remain a bogged-down and bloody stalemate;<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> both the [[Capellan Confederation]] and the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] called on the [[Star League]] to intervene to end the crisis, but their calls were motivated by a desire to annex Free Worlds border systems during any intervention, a motivation that [[First Lord]] [[Jonathan Cameron]]<ref name="HB:HMp31"/> saw clearly. Cameron refused to intervene, declaring that the civil war was an internal matter, and the [[Star League Council]] attempted to continue business as usual while keeping the Free Worlds League seat vacant.<ref name=HMp24/>

Boris was a superb commander and was responsible for many of the victories earned by the Parliamentarian forces, but he was unable to hold back the forces commanded by the equally-determined Bertram.<ref name="HB:HMp88"/> The balance of the war shifted in favor of the loyalists in [[2733]], and by February [[2734]]<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Bertram had managed to reach Atreus and free Elise from captivity,<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp31"/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> although it soon became clear that her mind was broken and that she was incapable of resuming a leadership role.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/> Aware of the cost of the civil war and the likely cost of resolving the conflict through battle,<ref name=HMp24/> Bertram sent envoys to Oriente to treat with Oliver and attempt to negotiate an end to the war.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

Oliver was sick of war himself and in failing health; seventy years old, he was unwilling to consign himself to history as the man who destroyed the Free Worlds League, a nation that he loved dearly, and he responded swiftly to Bertram's envoys. Bertram and Oliver traveled to the planet [[Tiber]] in May and began negotiations. The two factions faced a number of difficult decisions; Parliament was adamant that the traditional political structure had to be restored and that the right of individuals to dissent had to be reaffirmed, but the Loyalists were equally determined that their leader be recognized as the rightful holder of the Council seat and that the instigators of the rebellion be punished.<ref name=HMp24/>

Each made painful concessions in the name of peace; the final agreement saw Betram agree to reinstate Parliament, to grant a general amnesty to those who had joined the rebel cause, and to make a public admission that Elise had made mistakes and over-stepped her authority. In exchange, Oliver agreed that Parliament would confirm Bertram as Captain-General and the Star League Council Lord, and that he would surrender himself for trial. Bertram promised limited sentences to Boris and the other leaders of the rebellion, and on the 20th of May the [[Treaty of Verona]] was signed, formally ending the rebellion.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp27"/>

=== Death ===
Oliver was tried and executed in July of [[2734]]<ref name=HMp24/> with his head held high;<ref name="HB:HMp27"/> as the perceived "junior partner" in the rebellion<ref name="HB:HMp88">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 88, "Boris Marik"</ref> Boris was sentenced to imprisonment.<ref name=HMp24/><ref name="HB:HMp88"/> Parliament was reconvened on Atreus that October.<ref name=HMp24/>

== Notes ==
* The period in which Oliver and Boris Marik served as Council Lord and Captain-General respectively marks the only occasion where the two posts were both held by different individuals who operated separately.<ref name="HB:HMp78">''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 78, "The Captain-General"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Handbook House Marik]]''
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''

[[Category: Captain-Generals|Marik, Oliver]]
[[Category: Free Worlds League Characters|Marik, Oliver]]