Appearance
Arden is a fair skin human of average build. His hair is jet black and is cut in a standard military fashion. His only real outstanding feature is his almost unnaturally green eyes that seem to glow with an eerie countenance. As a general rule he dresses in the garb and armor of a regular military officer, especially in battle, in order not to stand out as a force user. He also almost always is seen wearing some sort of mask over his nose and mouth for more than just aesthetic reasons. He also possesses two poorly healed scars running across his face from just below his left eye to just below the tip of his left ear as the result of an encounter with a Corellian sand panther in his youth
Character History
Early Life
A child of Corporate Sector Authority executives, Arden lived a relatively comfortable youth on Etti IV. Despite this though, Arden was always a bit of a troublemaker. His parents, veterans of the cutthroat life that was CorpSec politics, didn't seem to mind but those tasked to look after the young man were somewhat terrified to be around him. Despite somewhat above average intelligence Arden never really succeeded at the standard academic pursuits that would have led him to a good career with a corporation. Though a lucrative business career behind a desk was not in the cards for young Arden, there was one skill that he had even at a very young age.
One day when Arden was slightly short of the age of six his father caught him viewing Old Republic propaganda holos that detailed the exploits of a unit of clone sharpshooters. Despite being chastised for watching something so inappropriate for a boy of his age Arden continually pestered his father about wanting to learn to shoot. Eventually his father relented and to get it out of the boy's system made an arrangement where in exchange for arranging for his disability leave not to be terminated an Espo captain would teach his son to shoot. Arden was amazed at the training range at the Espo academy and marveled at the training blaster that was put in his hand. After getting a cursory lesson on safety and proper sighting Arden was told to line up the training target and squeeze the trigger. A bullseye was the result. The amazed troopers in the range all stopped and turned to watch the kid, some even placing bets as to whether or not he could hit the target again. One lucky Espo walked out of there a hundred credits richer as the 6 year old Arden shot just short of the mark needed for basic weapons qualification.
Finally showing some skill at something, his father stopped holding Arden back and fully embraced his new talent. By the age of seven Arden was shooting in and placing well in sector competitions with kids twice his age. When simple targets weren't enough, Arden's father arranged exotic hunting trips for his son on planets all over the Galaxy with the best guides money could buy. These trips though came to an end when the then twelve year old Arden was mauled and nearly killed by a Corellian Sand Panther. Arden still bears the scars of that encounter.
Espo Career
Once he became old enough, around the age of sixteen in 30 ABY, his parents arranged an officer's commission for him in the Corporate Sector Authority Security Police or as they were called locally the Espos. In his time in brown he quickly garnered quite the reputation as a marksman often making seemingly impossible shots without the aid of any more than a simple optical scope which baffled his fellows as well as his superiors. Most of his time as an Espo was spent on Bonadan policing the spaceports. It was a tough job at times as smugglers, slicers, and all sorts of other criminals came through the extremely busy ports of the key Corporate Sector world. The legend even grew that he had taken out an escaping smuggler from a kilometer away with his eyes closed. The distances were a bit exaggerated and the smuggler had already been wounded but the story was at it's core true. During his time in the Espos he also polished another skill he'd dabbled in during his youth, slicing. Though he'd done it mostly for fun as a kid, in his adult life he got serious. On more than one occasion he arranged for better treatment for those he'd arrested for the illicit practice in exchange for teaching him the tricks of the trade. He became quite good at it.
As it turned out though Arden really wasn't cut out for Espo work. Despite the rather harsh reputation the security police had Arden turned out to have a streak for brutality that shocked even them. His unit had the highest percentage of prisoners that died in custody. His commander, a hawk nose Courscanti named Vosque seemed overly determined to run off Arden and kept sending his unit into situations that were likely to provoke him into doing something stupid. Eventually it worked and Arden was discharged from the Espos in 33 ABY for an incident that even he doesn't talk about to this day
Mercenary Life
Without a steady source of income for the first time in his life, Arden turned to the one thing that he could still do to earn a living. The hard knock life of a mercenary. As it turned out Arden was far more natural in mercenary work than he ever was during his time as an Espo. Working for himself was something he'd always dreamed of always living in the shadows of his successful parents and the constant supervision every law enforcer (if you could call the Espos that) generally chafes under. As it turned out one of his first missions was to help take down Commander Vosque who it turned out was too corrupt even for some of the corporations. Arden took great pleasure in placing a blaster bolt though his skull.
He started out as a freelance corporate "troubleshooter" but eventually fell in with a mercenary company operating out Nar Shaada known as the Jade Dragons. They were the right hands of some corporations that occasionally needed things done that required a bit more muscle then was considered appropriate in polite company. Arden was put in charge of their recon squad and frequently was the first boots on the ground in a combat situation. It was during one of his jobs with the Dragons that he ended up being set on his current direction in life.
Joining the Brotherhood
Arden as a Journeyman
In an odd reverse of normal Sith practice, Arden met his future master by very nearly killing him. He was working on a Jade Dragons mission to take back a research facility from another company of mercenaries that had seized both the compound and the staff. Arden was assigned to the recon team and as he was scouting out the facility he quickly spotted the leader of the opposing band. That man just happened to be Solus Gar.
When the fighting started in earnest, Arden noted Solus rallying his troops and then making a run to execute the hostages. Thinking quickly, Arden took aim at Solus and squeezed the trigger. Solus' skills with the Force allowed him to sense the shot and escape the worst of it. However the bolt still managed to catch Solus in the shoulder. As Solus escaped with his men, his shuttle passed right over Arden's position. When their eyes met, Solus knew immediately that the Force was strong with Arden. The pain in his shoulder further reminded him that Arden was one heck of a shot.
Three months later Solus arranged for Arden to be hired on to a mission that would again put the two in close contact. Arden was led to believe the job was a simple scouting mission when in fact it was a trap designed to capture Arden that went off without a hitch. Beaten and bound, Arden was brought before Solus. Throughout the torture that followed, Arden never called out in pain though Solus could sense the anger building in him. Eventually Arden did what Solus had hoped, he got angry enough for him to tap into the Dark Side and lash out in rage. The rest, as they say, is history.
Brotherhood History
Horizons
When the Horizons crisis began, Arden was at the Shadow Academy taking basic leadership training courses. As the other trainees began to lose their minds and attack anything that breathed, Arden became trapped in the cadet barracks when Headmaster Ronovi Tavisaen ordered them locked down. He took shelter in a lounge that he barricaded with a number of other students who, like Arden, were more in control of their faculties. They had initially planned to hunker down and wait for the crisis to blow over, however this proved impractical as time went on and no help came.
After making brief contact with his master,Solus Gar, Arden decided to lead the group out of the barracks and link up with Solus and Ronovi. After one of the group pointed out there was a service tunnel leading out of the barracks wing that connected with a nearby dining hall, Arden concluded that was their only way out. As they made their way to the dining hall they met opposition in the form of more deranged trainees. Among them was a Wookie, who violently killed one of the group in an attempt to draw him off. Arden brought down the raging Wookie and eventually made it past the other studens and into the maitence duct along with one other from the group.
Making their way down the shaft, lit only by emergency lighting, they emerged from a duct right in the path of Ronovi and Solus. The group fought it's way down into the Academy's reactor control room. There Ronovi stated her intent to overload the the reactor, destroying Academy and killing all within to stop the spread of the illness. As Anshar, who had arrived on the scene with another group delayed Ronovi, Arden worked to restore communications with the outside. After slicing into the controls and re-activating a backup short range communications array, they managed to make contact with the forces in orbit. As Arden brought the control center fully online, information came through that a cure had been found and Ronovi backed down from her plan.
Upon his return to Kaspina, Arden was promptly knighted for his bravery at the Academy.
Fall of Jusadith
His time to rest and recover after the events at the Shadow Academy was short as not long afterwards, Jusadith came under heavy attack by the forces of the now late Zoraan. Arden was quickly sent to the VSDII Instigator to aid in it's defense. Even with the aid of Arcona, and despite Arden's valiant defense of the vessel alongside Eiko, the Instigator fell with the rest of the Plagueian fleet. Arden managed to escape in a stolen enemy shuttle along with Eiko and ended up falling in with the withdrawing Arconan forces.
He would not stay with the Arconans long as word eventually made it to him and the others that had not been on the NSD Ascendancy that the house had indeed survived the attack on Jusadith and was regrouping at a secret location. Arden, along with Eiko and Alaris Jinn made arrangements to meet up with their Saraask'ar allies to transport them to Plagueis new home. The Trandoshans, however, had other plans. Sensing weakness in their Dark Jedi masters, they betrayed the Plagueians and quickly subdued them in preparations for launching a full scale assault on the Ascendancy. The assault was quickly turned back and Arden was rescued and since that point has been treated with an unusual amount of deference by the Saraask'ar.
Departure From Plagueis
During the course of the conflict known as the Dark Crusade, Ronovi was killed by poison, Solus Gar went missing, and the leadership in House Plagueis was thrown into disarray. With many powerful people angling for power and with his major allies dead or departed, Arden could tell his days were numbered. So, he simply vanished one day without a trace, departing for space he knew well and where the Brotherhood was unlikely to find him, until he was ready that is. He made it his goal to track down what happened to his former master and whether or not that had anything to do with Ronovi's death. All he had was a name, Xander Drax, and therefore he had a target. Making contact with the Jade Dragons and buying out their current contracts, Arden now had the resources to go after Drax.
Some time later he was contacted by the then leader of Plagueis, Aabsdu Dupar, with a task that would benefit both parties. He wanted to distract the Republic from a search that might lead to locating Plagueis while Arden saw this as an opportunity to get more information as to the potential whereabouts of Drax. Thus he made a deal that got them both what they wanted, all going according to plan. He wasn't done with helping his former comrades as it became clear that they still had a common enemy.
When Drax appeared again in the battle for Korriban and hijacked Plagueis' fleet, Arden got word rather quickly and rushed to Korriban with a Jade Dragon force and offered his assistance. While Plagueis regained what was theirs, Drax still eluded him. His goals were frustrated again and Arden returned to the shadows.
Physical Drawbacks
Arden has an unusually intense allergy to many forms of mold spores and similar microorganisms. While treatable with antihistamines and other drugs he tends to avoid them since they seem to affect his aim. In order to maintain the peak physical condition for his work as a marksman he generally wears some sort of mask over his nose and mouth in all but the most arid environments or aboard a starship. Simple cloth masks can suffice in most temperate environments though as a general rule Arden prefers to wear something with more sophisticated filtration systems as well as those that are more intimidating in appearance.
Personality Profile
Arden Karn is best described as a cool and calculating individual. As a rule he likes to analyze situations and plot out the best solutions to them. Sometimes that can lead him to costly moments of indecision but only occasionally. He does have a habit of sometimes over thinking a situation but he usually ends up picking the most direct option to solve a problem, especially when it's one his rifle can solve.
Another key personality trait of Arden's is that he doesn't show much external emotion or reaction. This is not to say that he doesn't have strong emotional responses, it's more that he prefers to internalize them rather than act them out. A side effect of this internalization is that he has been known to have a very violent temper which while it proved a curse most of his life now serves him well as a Sith. He a tends to have less expressed reactions to physical pain as well. It would take the most severe forms of pain to get much more than contorted expression or suppressed groan out of him.
Equipment
- "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
- ―Mao Tse-tung
Rifles
- "All sorts of power grows out of the barrel of a blaster rifle."
- ―Arden Karn
Arden's E11-s
Instead of taking up the more traditional Sith weapons like a lightsaber, Arden has instead has been trained to use the Force to enhance his already developed skills with a rifle. Thus Arden will most frequently go into battle carrying some variety of longblaster. Over time he has acquired quite a collection of rifles for use in various situations. His standard weapon is the Blastech E-11s which he prefers in general purpose situations. For cases when something with a bit more penetration power is required Arden will generally resort to the somewhat heavier Blastech A280.
Arden's A280
Pistols
When forced into close range combat, which Arden defines as anything under two hundred meters, Arden does reluctantly carry shorter range blaster pistols. Normally he carries a matched pair of Blastech SE-14C pistols that have been colored in green and silver, the colors of the Jade Dragons. Since they both have a scope mount and can be fired in full automatic mode they are useful tools at "short range". Depending on the circumstances he might also carry an additional hold-out pistol, just in case.
Melee Weapons
As a hold back to his Espo days, Arden sometimes carries a stun baton into battle. However this is only in cases where he expects that he'll actually want to take someone alive. More frequently he'll carry a vibrodagger or the like.
Armor and Other Gear
In battle Arden generally prefers not to draw attention to himself and especially doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that he is a force user. Thus he generally wears simple armor similar to that of a normal scout trooper. Given his usual role in combat he prefers either armor or other gear that allow him to blend into his surroundings.
Noteworthy Accomplishments
- Qualified for the ACC on his first attempt
- Finished 8th in Horizons, which occurred in his second full month as a member
- Awarded a Grand Cross as his first merit medal
- Finished 6th in the 2013 Independance Games, All-star for the "Why So Serious?" Category (Humorous fiction)