- "You don't need to be a narcissistic Jedi in order to be good at tactics and strategy."
- ― Travik Korr
Marshal Travik Korr is the commanding officer of the Taldryan Army and is a long serving member of the Taldryan Expansionary Force, having spent virtually his entire adult life as a military officer. Korr's childhood was spent on his home world of Corulag where both his parents were successful business entrepreneurs who traveled across the galaxy. Largely ignored by his parents, Korr concentrated on his studies in school and was accepted to the Corulag Imperial Military Academy where he earned an undergraduate degree in military science. He later served as an Army officer in the newly created Galactic Empire where his superiors noticed his aptitude for strategy and tactics. After quickly rising through the ranks of the Imperial Army, Korr's rising star was stopped when the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire at Endor. He was shuffled from one assignment to the next in the power vacuum that occurred after Endor until he was approached with an offer from an unknown agent who later turned out to be a recruiter from Clan Taldryan. Within a few years after joining the First Clan's military, he was personally promoted to his current command by then-Consul Duga Taldrya Arkarso. Korr continues to serve as the head of Taldryan's Army Service, being one of the most brilliant tacticians affiliated with the Dark Brotherhood military.
Character History
Early Life
24 BBY to 7 BBY
Travik Korr was born into a wealthy family in Corulag's capital city of Curamelle. Despite being an only child, his parents never gave him much attention as their jobs frequently had them traveling across the galaxy conducting business. Travik's only major contact with adults in his early childhood was his family's staff and later his teachers at private school. Having access to some of the best child tutors and teachers on the planet Travik excelled early on in school, frequently testing near the top of his class. As he grew older Travik knew his parents would never really have time for him; he buried himself in his studies hoping that he could prove to his parents that he was worthy of their attention.
Unfortunately his parents never really gave him the attention he craved; they were only around for a handful of days a month and frequently missed important events in Travik's life. As he neared the end of his formal secondary education, Travik realized that no matter how hard he tried his parents would only worry about their work. One day at school Travik was approached by an Imperial recruiter who had taken notice of the talented student and offered him a full scholarship at the Corulag Imperial Military Academy located on the other side of the capital. Realizing this would get him off Corulag and annoy his parents at the same time, he accepted the recruiter's offer: a degree in military science after only three years, and a guaranteed commission of 1st Lieutenant in the Imperial Army.
At age seventeen Travik graduated from his private school - his parents expectantly absent - and without so much of a note he traveled across Curamelle to attend the Academy. By the time his parents realized what he had done it was too late; Travik was an adult by Corulag's law, and the Imperial Army refused to obey their wishes to let him out of his contract. Travik refused to respond to his parent's frequent attempts at contact, thrilled to be on his own and in charge of his own destiny.
In Service to the Empire
7 BBY to 6 ABY
Travik Korr was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Imperial Army following his graduation from the Imperial Academy on Corulag.Although excited at his fresh start in life, Travik did not expect the vigorous lifestyle he would have to endure for the next three years. While in good health, the new cadet never exercised on a regular basis and often struggled through the Academy's daily workouts. Fortunately his academic abilities more than made up for his shortcomings in athleticism, drawing the notice of his professors and superiors. Still, Travik always tackled challenges head first and began spending extra time making up lost ground in his unarmed combat classes and marksmanship drills. By the end of his first year he had won an unarmed combat tournament and placed among the top five percent in his class on the firing range. Travik started his second year of study at the top of his class, particularly excelling in surface warfare strategy and tactics. Despite having a month off in the summer, Travik never visited his parents and still refused to acknowledge their constant attempts at contacting him. Instead he spent his time taking various optional seminars over at the Naval Academy, sharpening his skills in naval warfare and general leadership. What little free time Travik had he spent going out into the city with his fellow cadets, casually drinking at the countless bars Curamelle offered. During his last year at the Academy Travik focused on his leadership and tactics classes, excelling in everything he could fit into his schedule. Due to his outstanding accomplishments inside the classroom - and outside of it - Travik was given the rare privilege of accepting what assignment he wanted once he graduated; numerous divisions and bureaus of the Army attempted to solicit his service within their departments, but Travik only wanted to serve on the front lines of the battlefield. Travik ended up graduating at the very top of his class, but ended up skipping the ceremony when he spotted his parents in the crowd. Wishing to avoid a confrontation, he instead boarded the first transport off world to his first duty assignment.
Now a Lieutenant, Travik's first assignment was with the Imperial Army's 114th Artillery Battery Company as a tactical adviser. Travik did not see much combat as the Galactic Empire's control of the galaxy was tight. His unit mostly participated in live-fire combat training missions on unsettled worlds near the edges of the Core Worlds. It was not until about 2 BBY when he got his first real combat experience against a well trained militia on the planet Darada. Travik's company was deployed to retake a city that was under siege by a group of unknown rebels and dissidents. Despite the lack of urban warfare training, Travik's company was able to restore order to the city with minimal casualties due to an unorthodox strategy proposed by the young officer. The unit later found out this was but the first of a series of events that were occurring all across the galaxy - the newly created Alliance to Restore the Republic had seemingly popped up out of nowhere with the goal of overthrowing the Empire.
Issues came in from High Command to suppress the Rebels wherever they surfaced but it was next to impossible; despite their lack of equipment and large numbers, the Rebel Alliance seemed to be everywhere in small pockets. Travik's company and others were often deployed to root out Rebels on various worlds, but their efforts usually yielded few results as the Rebel Alliance had perfected the art of "hit and run" attacks. Over time, Rebel attacks increased and the dissidents became more efficient and far better equipped to fight the Empire. One day word began to leak through Travik's unit that the Rebel's secret base had been discovered on Yavin IV and that it was only a matter of time before this rebellion had been stamped out of existence. The excitement this rumor provided was quickly crushed as reports surfaced that the Rebel Alliance had destroyed the Empire's newly created Death Star. Over 20,000 Imperial officers perished at the Battle of Yavin along with over one million support personnel and troops. Realizing that the Rebel Alliance was a major threat, the Empire began an aggressive recruitment drive to bolster their numbers and Travik found himself promoted to the rank of Captain for his efforts on the battlefield.
Travik saw extensive combat against the Rebel Alliance which almost always resulted in victory as the Rebels rarely stood up to fight against overwhelming numbers. Despite this, Rebel attacks on Imperial targets increased dramatically following the Battle of Yavin as thousand of worlds flocked to the Alliance's banner, hoping to overthrow the Empire. The newly minted Captain, despite his successes, was not present at the Battle of Hoth but instead was busy participating in a blockade on Chandrila. While the battle initially went well, the appearance of the Alliance's Rogue Squadron allowed the Rebels to gain the upper hand in the end. The Imperial forces, under command of Moff Kohl Seerdon were forced to retreat after heavy casualties. While Seerdon was reprimanded by the Emperor, Travik was awarded a commendation for getting his unit out mostly intact while inflicting the greatest amount of damage to the Rebels out of all the Imperial units present at the battle. After Chandrila, Travik did not see much combat experience as the Rebel Alliance slowly began pulling back on their attacks. It was during this time that Travik was promoted to Major and he learned about the construction of a second Death Star.
Knowing this could lead to nothing good, Travik turned down an offer which would have stationed him on the giant battle station. While he knew the easy assignment would allow him to climb the rank ladder much faster than any other, Travik felt that the Empire was ignoring the lessons of their first Death Star. Instead, the Major requested a position in High Command as a command attaché under then-Colonel Freja Covell who happened to be from his home planet of Corulag. Before Travik could begin his assignment the Rebel Alliance attacked the second Death Star which was being constructed above the forest moon of Endor. While many expected the Rebels to attack the battle station, not a single person Travik knew thought the Alliance could be successful in their attack. The Death Star was destroyed and the Imperial Navy was in complete disarray as both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine perished in the battle. There was complete chaos following the battle, with many senior officers declaring themselves Warlords and breaking off with their own private fleets. In the end Grand Vizier Sate Pestage took control of the Empire although his reign did not last long - he was executed by Imperial warlord Delek Krennel when he attempted to make a plea deal with the newly formed New Republic. Over the next few months many warlords attempted to recruit Travik to their service but he remained steadfastly loyal to the Empire, specifically the one from Coruscant. Unfortunately he was shuffled back and forth between Generals looking to make a name for themselves, although he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in late 6 ABY.
Post-Endor Power Struggle
6 ABY to 22 ABY
Lieutenant Colonel Travik Korr's forces deploy to engage in battle against the New Republic in the Core systems. Despite being highly outnumbered, Korr's forces were able to delay the Rebels long enough to allow the Imperials to properly evacuate the planet. Korr was awarded the Imperial Medallion of Service for the tactics and strategy he employed during the battle.
With Travik's latest promotion, he and other officers began to find themselves being transferred around various commands far more frequently. With Ysanne Isard in control of the Empire things began to stabilize but Travik felt that she was consolidating power for her own purposes. Nevertheless, most senior officers in the military felt that Isard represented the best chance of bringing the quickly expanding New Republic to a halt and re-establishing the dominance of the Empire. Travik himself was assigned to command a brigade stationed on the planet Basilisk in the Coruscant system. The New Republic had set their eyes on capturing Coruscant, and Director Isard had ordered all connecting planets and systems to the capital planet reinforced. The New Republic, spearheaded by Rogue Squadron, did end up pushing towards Coruscant, but chose to launch their attack through Borleias instead. Even when Coruscant itself was invaded no additional reinforcements were requested from nearby systems; instead Isard fled to Thyferra in order to control the galaxy's production of bacta.
Few understood Isard's moves until they learned the horrifying truth; she had unleashed a killer virus on Coruscant that was fatal to virtually every non-Human species. The reactions in Travik's brigade were mixed; most felt that while it was a great move to bankrupt the Rebels, the means to do it were horrifying - even if it didn't affect Humans. With the New Republic ready to secure all systems around their newly won stronghold, Travik's unit was forced to withdraw deeper into Imperial-held territory. Isard's rule of the Empire ended less than a year later when she was apparently killed when a group led by Wedge Antilles ended up invading the planet. Power then shifted to Grand Admiral Thrawn who had just emerged from the Unknown Regions and Travik found himself being transferred to the Imperial Star Destroyer Judicator. Despite an uneventful start, Thrawn was soon pushing the Imperial military towards Coruscant with startling speed. Travik, like many others, were fascinated with the Chiss Grand Admiral and his brilliant strategies. In between battles - which almost always ended in victory - Travik would study reports and battle plans that Thrawn himself had created and try to learn as much as he could. While Travik wished to meet the Grand Admiral himself he never got the chance as Thrawn was assassinated by his own personal bodyguard.
The Imperial Military found itself without a leader yet again - the New Republic quickly regained their lost worlds and began to drive the Empire further and further away from the Core. Travik's next few years were uneventful as he saw virtually no combat - a clone of Emperor Palpatine surfaced and took control of the Empire, but his reign was cut short after the clone was killed by Luke Skywalker and his family. Command of the Empire then fell to Carnor Jax and the Imperial Interim Ruling Council, but that too did not last long. As the years passed the Empire continued losing territory as bureaucrat after bureaucrat assumed control of the Empire, each one worse than the person they succeeded. Still, Travik remained committed to the military and took it upon himself to train other officers and ensure the Empire's continued survival.
Eventually the Empire turned into the Imperial Remnant as Xandel Carivus, the last official Emperor, was killed by Kir Kanos. Even though Admiral Gilad Pellaeon assumed control of the Remnant, it did not expand very much even under his competent leadership. The New Republic was too large, and internal power conflicts within the Remnant constantly weakened it from within. Five years later the Remnant signed a peace treaty with the New Republic, effectively ending all conflict between the two largest powers within the known galaxy.
The majority of senior officers, including Travik, were regulated to training and support purposes as the Council of Moffs drastically cut back on the military budget. The worlds controlled by the Remnant were allowed far more freedoms than ever allowed under the Empire which Travik personally thought was a good thing, but he became bored teaching. He wanted to put his tactical and strategic skills to good use against a worthy foe; what few combat missions he was allowed to plan were against petty criminals and pirates who posed little challenge for the skilled tactician. By 21 ABY Travik was stuck at his current rank of Lieutenant Colonel and left wondering what to do with his life - he had been in the Imperial Army his entire adult life, but could not see what else to do with himself. A year later while Travik was on leave, he was approached by a cloaked individual who offered him a new opportunity that would fully take advantage of the skills he possessed.
A New Opportunity
22 ABY to Present
Travik's artillery brigade was able to destroy several shield generators on Coratua IV during the Invasion of Coratua. When the generators were taken out, it left the pirate base vulnerable to orbital bombardment from the Brotherhood's naval forces. Travik was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Taldryan Army Service for his role in the battle.
Travik took a week to consider the stranger's offer as it was a difficult one to make. He had served with honor in the Imperial Army for his entire career and changing his life based on the word of a mysterious stranger was not one he was able to do with ease. Still, Travik almost felt drawn to the individual, as if accepting the opportunity would be the best thing that would ever happen to him in his life. The stranger didn't mention who he worked for or what he did, but the strange feeling to accept the offer consumed Travik. A week later the cloaked recruiter returned, and to Travik's own surprise he rejected the offer. The cloaked individual merely laughed and pulled back his hood, revealing a Human male who later turned out to be someone named Kir Katarn. Impressed with the army officer's mental ability to resist his beckoning, Katarn revealed who he was, who he represented, and why he was interested in Travik's skills. With this knowledge Travik accepted the Dark Jedi's offer and took off for a set of unknown coordinates located in the Outer Rim territories. While Travik did not know where he was heading, he figured a group of Dark Jedi would most likely be headquartered somewhere far away from the Core systems, probably in some uncharted and heavily guarded system; he would not find out where he would end up for over a year later. When he arrived in the Antei system he was debriefed and interrogated for countless hours by more cloaked individuals. After what seemed like days of mental Force probing, Travik was shoved on a transport for yet another unknown location. The officer knew that he would be torn apart before being put back together because if he leaked word about hundreds, possibly thousands of Dark Jedi organizing in secret, the New Jedi Order and New Republic would clamp down on the Dark Jedi before they could rise to power. Despite the harsh treatment, Travik's curiosity and desire to learn military techniques under the tutelage of Jedi overcame his resentment over the physical and mental abuse. A week later Kir Katarn entered his "cell" and beckoned him to follow. The Consul of Taldryan didn't provide many details as the Dark Jedi claimed he was busy preparing for some major combat in the coming weeks. Travik was provided a room for two nights to recover from his ordeal and told to get ready for his duty assignment in Taldrayn's fleet where he would receive training for active duty combat. The Consul wished the newly minted Taldryan military officer good luck and said his goodbyes. Travik caught up on his sleep, put on his new uniform, and two days later boarded a transport for yet another unknown destination.
The new officer's training lasted four months which included a crash course in the power and capability of the Force. Travik had studied the Jedi while in primary school and while he knew the basic powers of the Jedi, he was amazed at some of their more powerful spectacles such as battle melding and sometimes complete control of another individual. He quickly caught on about planning tactics and strategy with Force users and graduated from the Taldryan Military Institute on Karufr as a Captain; normally new officers would be minted as 2nd Lieutenants but due to his extensive history and service Travik was able to skip two ranks and start commanding one of Taldryan's mobile artillery companies. He was given command of the 86th Mobile Artillery Unit of the Taldryan Army where he began conducting live-fire exercises with his new company. After six months of artillery training with a Force sensitive attaché, Travik was promoted to the rank of Major and assigned to command the mobile infantry of the VSD Dark Prophet. Travik, despite his relative lack of experience with Taldryan, was eager to begin conducting warfare against someone, anyone, to test his new skills. After several months of merely training he realized that a secret organization of Dark Jedi probably didn't pick too many fights lest they expose themselves to the rest of the galaxy. Even battling pirates could result in rumors getting circulated and possible investigations wherever they were.
Travik's desire for combat came in late 23 ABY when the Brotherhood's Dark Council decided to take action against a group of pirates who had taken up residence in the Coratua system. The First Clan was chosen to spearhead the campaign and Travik's brigade was deployed to battle the pirate forces on the ground while the Naval forces battled in the skies above. To Travik's surprise the pirates were very well trained and as a result the Army took more casualties than anticipated. Still, the pirates were no match for well trained Dark Jedi and their respective military; Travik's artillery units were able to destroy a pair of critical shield generators that left the Pirate base vulnerable to orbital bombardment. A day later the pirates' defenses were shattered and the Brotherhood's Clans were able to destroy every piece of evidence - living or not - of their existence and took the resulting spoils. For his role in destroying the pirate's shield generators, Travik was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and control of the entire regiment stationed on the Dark Prophet. During the war with the pirates, Travik saw first-hand how strained the relationships were between the Clans. Another officer told him that the Clans frequently crashed and that battle between Clans was fairly routine. While this news worried Travik, part of him was extremely eager to test his skills against actual Jedi directly.
Two years later turmoil arose all over the Brotherhood; the Clans began accusing others of sabotage and infiltration. Civil war broke out when a clone of Jac Cotelin emerged, declaring himself the rightful Dark Lord of the Sith. When the clone's (Jaac) forces invaded Antei, Taldryan was there to defend the Brotherhood's capitol. While most of the fighting occurred in the void of space, some of the clone's troops managed to make it to the Dark Hall. As the real Jac Cotelin battled his clone for control of the Brotherhood, Travik's forces were part of those who held off the clone's forces from invading the Dark Hall. The forces under the real Jac Cotelin managed to hold off the invading army while Jac defeated his clone in a lightsaber duel. The Brotherhood spent the next year rebuilding its forces and recovering from the civil war that had nearly destroyed everyone. In the rush of post-battle promotions, Travik was elevated to the rank of full Colonel in the Taldryan Army Service.
By this point Travik was getting annoyed at the constant in-fighting throughout the Brotherhood. He thought the Dark Jedi would be organized enough where personal conflicts would be kept to a minimum. Unfortunately the Brotherhood seemed to be exactly like the Galactic Empire following the Battle of Endor; every small faction was trying to be in charge instead of all the factions uniting for the common goal that each faction had. Still, he realized that there was little else to do in the galaxy and that this was the best job for him at this time. Following the civil war, Travik was part of the command staff team responsible for rebuilding the infrastructure of Taldryan's army. A year later the Army's Surface Marshal retired leaving an occupancy that then-Consul Duga Taldrya Arkarso had to fill. The Consul began looking for a suitable replacement that would uphold the Clan's military dominance as he knew the Grand Master, Sarin, was going to begin a series of military exercises and war games. There was a large crop of Generals that were interested in the position, but Duga knew he needed a combat experienced commanding officer and not one who spent the majority of their command career sitting behind the front lines. Duga was discussing the Surface Marshal position with Kir Katarn one day during a lunch meeting when Kir mentioned a Travik Korr who was an artillery commander who had extensive front-line experience as an officer. After checking out Korr's background, Duga announced his decision and pinned the Surface Marshal rank badge on Travik himself, surprising everyone. Travik immediately interviewed the entire Army's command staff and cleaned house, clearing out officers who had become a little too settled and laid back. By the time Sarin held his war games in 27 ABY Travik's command staff was one of innovators and combat-ready personnel. Under his direction the Army forces of Taldryan utterly crushed the other Clans in simulated combat, solidifying Travik's authority in combat strategy and tactics.
Travik could not celebrate his success as the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the Antei system immediately following the conclusion of the war games. Over a course of six days the Vong completely annihilated the Brotherhood, driving what forces that remained into retreat. Travik did not have much to do during this week-long war as virtually all of the battles occurred in space; the Surface Marshal used this time to learn Naval warfare tactics from the bridge of Taldryan's flagship. He even offered a few suggestions to the ship's captain which helped Taldryan prevent from losing even more ships in the engagements. Following the Brotherhood's flight from Antei, Travik and his staff spent countless hours researching tactics and strategy to use against the Vong for the war that was sure to happen ... the war to retake Antei.
Physical Appearance
Travik Korr, despite his age, keeps himself in reasonably good shape and has a decent muscular build. He has pale blue eyes and wears his brown hair very short. A model Imperial officer, Korr is rarely - if ever - seen in public out of uniform and even most of his civilian clothes tend to have a military cut. He is of average height for a Human male from Corulag, and he has the walk of a career military officer. Korr also carries a blaster pistol strapped to his utility belt in case of an emergency at all times. When he was younger, Travik appeared in a few Imperial recruitment advertisements as many of his superiors had remarked that he had the look of an ideal Imperial officer. Korr seldom smiles on duty and speaks in a very matter-of-fact tone.
Personality and Traits
Korr never loses his cool and is always in control of a situation, no matter the circumstances. When on duty he is always business-like in front of lower ranked personnel although he will relax when he's only around senior officers. Korr is a professional first and always put his duties ahead of any personal desires or wishes. Despite always being an officer throughout his entire adult life, Korr has never and will never send men under his command into a situation that he himself would not lead personally. According to his psychological profile, Korr would sooner suffer through torture and death than reveal any classified information that he is entrusted to. The Surface Marshal has no actual opinion on Jedi in general; he respects their ability in combat and other areas, but refuses to believe that they are automatically superior in all areas, especially in areas of tactics and strategy. Korr, despite his high amount of confidence in his abilities, lacks the ego and narcissism that most high-ranking officers and Jedi possess.
Abilities
While not being Force sensitive, Travik Korr is in good physical and mental health for his age and can hold his own against most unarmed opponents. Korr spends an hour every work day on duty practicing at a firing range, and as a result his marksmanship and pistol draw speeds are among the best in the Brotherhood. In addition to being able to hold his own in ground combat, Korr is flight certified in light transports and freighters and could probably pilot most starfighters in a pinch. What makes Korr truly dangerous is his unparalleled tactical and strategy skills in ground combat. He spends many hours a month in simulated combat and live-fire exercises, believing that studying out of ancient textbooks is for fools and that nothing can replace actual experience. There are few weapons that Korr is not proficient at, and on more than one occasion he has led a vastly outnumbered group to victory against a much larger and better equipped force.