Dr. Xerces

Although one of the shortest lived enemies of the Crusaders, Dr. Xerces was also one of there most dangerous. Back to index

Biography
Very little is known about the man known as Xerces. Where comes from, his family or even what planet he was born on or how he came to power is unknown. All that is known about him is that he was extremely manipulative and extremely dangerous. The Terrorists were an galactic crime syndicate and, although it had no clear leader at first, most of it's members reported to Xerces in some way. under his direction, the Terrorists grew from A loss group of criminals to A series threat on A true galactic threat. Although he enjoyed his position of power and schemes, xerces rule of terror would not last nearly as long as he would hope. in 33 AC Fredrick, the first Crusader in centuries, was brought in by the P.T.D to combat this new threat. Although his actions were comparatively small scale, Xerces attention was immediately brought to them and his to him: Although he and his allies did not know who he was at first, they did constantly hear rumors and catch bits of information on the most powerful Terrorists. This lead to the Explorers confronting him and his top operative, The Hand, on there world of power: Despite being surrounded by the best armies the Terrorists had to offer, the clash ended with Xerces trapped in an exploding skyscraper and the Explorers escaping. However, the brutal crime lord had survived, albeit just barely, with the physical trauma and injuries driving him insane and permanently scarring his appearance, forcing him to walk around bandaged up like A mummy. Now obssesd with revenge, Xerces spent the next ten years neglecting everything else in an attempt to get revenge on the Explorers. Finally, almost A decade later, he made his move and kidnapped the Explorer P.s, A close friend of Fredrick. This forced him and his allies to come out of temporary retirement and begin pursuing him. Xerces evaded capture for over A month, torturing P.s physically and mentally, before his pursuers managed to catch up with him and rescue there friend. Although Xerxces initially escaped, he was sold out by The Hand (Who was disgusted by his brutal actions) and Fredrick took him into custody. When Xerces denied Fredrick's offer of mercy and forgiveness with A snarl, the fed up Mercenary kicked him out of The Explorers airlock, permanently killing him.

Odds & Ends
Professor Xerxes combat skills were...minimal at best. He was never physically powerful, had no skill with martial arts, no connection with magic, etc. In short, he was completely reliant on The Hand and other such subordinates to protect him. What made Xerxes the official 'Big Bad' for Horizons: Genesis his intellect and manipulative schemes. Even when in the throes of madness, he was A extremely intelligent individual who could easily play his enemies against each other while staying at A safe distance: The only reason he was defeated at all was because of The Hand's betrayal and his on underestimation of the Explorers. Not only was he directly responsible for the Terrorists actions (Even after his death) up until The Hand became there new leader in 'season 3, but it is also heavily implied that he came up with the plot that all but destroyed the P.T.D, backed the Shadowmen and Box, etc. In short, the only foe faced by the Explorers NOT rumored to be taking orders from Xerxes in some form was the War Droid Empire. Fredrick described Xerxes as "The worst man I ever met" and he more than lived up to this statement: he ordered his men to slaughter innocents, personally triggered A genocide, he.....'enjoyed' torture way to much and many other evil acts, which eventually turned most of his men against him. 'season 1' he controlled just about everything behind the scenes, 'season 2' transpired pretty much as he planned it to (except for his own death) and even 'season 3' was heavily influenced by his lasting presence. In short, although the War Droid Empire and Lord Ahab were probably the bigger and more common threat, the Explorers were most personally affected by A simple mad crime lord.

Professor Xerxes was A aging male member of an unknown species, although it is likely he was either Human or Eternal. After being caught in an explosion, Xerxes required heavy alchemy and cybernetic augmentation to survive, changing his appearance into A scarred visage that Mike Sanders derisively referred to As A 'Mummy'. Xerxes intellect was considerable, as he devised countless powerful weapons, engine systems, starships, power armor and many other technology advances that allowed the Terrorists to rival the considerably powerful P.T.D and there Explorer allies.