| Japanese name: |
マクシミリアン・フォン・カストロプ |
Maximilian von Castrop was an Imperial noble who ruled the planet Castrop. He is notable for having rebelled against the Empire in 796 UC.
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Family life
Maximilian von Castrop was born into the noble family of his father, Eugen von Castrop. The elder Castrop had served as secretary of the treasury under Kaiser Friedrich IV, and had accumulated substantial wealth via the funnelling of Imperial funds into his own coffers. In addition to their monetary resources, the Castrop family held dominion over the Castrop Starzone, and, most importantly, the planet Castrop.
Rebellion
Upon the elder Castrop's death, the Galactic Empire sought the return of the money he had stolen; however, the younger Castrop defied these orders.
In an effort to fortify the family's territory against Imperial attempts to physically reclaim his treasure, Castrop purchased and implemented an Artemis Necklace system from Fezzan. These artificial satellites were the same as those which protected the Alliance capital, Heinessen, and were claimed to be impenetrable. Indeed, Castrop's Necklace handily repelled an attempt by an Imperial fleet of 3,000 under Admiral Schmude to take the planet in the early months of 796 UC.
Following Schmude's failure and demise, the newly promoted Fleet Admiral Reinhard von Lohengramm was tasked with completing the job, and he dispatched Rear Admiral Siegfried Kircheis, with a fleet of 2,000, in his stead.
Castrop openly mocked the small size of this fleet. However, Kircheis had a plan to destroy the Artemis Necklace: He ordered engineering ships to be launched towards the planet, just out of range of the defence system's weapons, and expel Seffle particles in the direction of the individual satellites. Once a sufficient concentration was achieved, Kircheis ordered his ships to move forwards — inducing the satellites to fire and, in turn, igniting the Seffle particles and destroying the Necklace system. This caught Castrop by surprise as directional Seffle particle generators were a new technology that had not been used in battle before.
Death
The planet then defenceless, Kircheis advised Castrop to surrender. However, Castrop believed this to be a trap, and instead sought to place the blame on his subjects and take refuge on Fezzan. When his retainer pointed out that this would be unlikely to succeed, Castrop ordered him to incinerate himself, hoping to deceive the Empire into believing the body was Castrop's own.
However, realising that the end was in sight and that their own lives may be spared, Castrop's subordinates turned against him. The elder retainer, followed by five others, stabbed him through the chest, killing him. Following his death, the planet was immediately turned over to the Empire.
Relationships
Castrop was a cruel ruler who regularly abused those around him. During his revolt against the Empire, he routinely struck his retainers, often for no reason. He treated his female subordinates as objects, and scorned those who tried to help him. After Franz von Mariendorf, an advisor and friend to the family, had warned him against defying the Empire, Castrop had him detained. He later sought to take Mariendorf hostage in a bid to escape to Fezzan, but this plan was not realised.
Voice actor: Hideyuki Hori
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