- "The Krath seek knowledge. Many say knowledge is power. The Obelisk seek to perfect themselves physically. A strong body is a physical manifestation of power. Everyone seeks power. Only the Sith follow the pure path."
- ―Nikola Valtiere
Character History
Birth and Childhood
Nikola was born to a pair of spacers that made their living undertaking long-freight work. He was born and raised on the freighter for four years, clambering about heating ducts and storage containers like his own personal playground.
His childhood died when the slaving gangs from Port Ol'Val descended on the freighter. Nikola hid in the workings of the ship that had been his playground, keeping quiet as his parents were killed for fighting back. Huddled down as he was, he did not notice the tiny probe droid working it's way through the ship. It latched to the nigh on imperceptible sounds of the child's whimpering, leading the cruel slavers right to the boy. Where his parents had fought, Nikola only went limp, defeated.
In the great hollow asteroid that held within some of the dankest dregs of society, Nikola was sold into indentured service to a salvage company, tasked with cleaning out the Kas tunnel of the wrecks of ships piloted by those without the skill to navigate such a complex entrance. Nikola was only a child, and so was tasked with attaching the lines of the tugs to the wrecks, swaddled in a space suit. After years of manual labour, Nikola was practiced at moving in the void effortlessly, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness and freedom offered in the vacuum. He could forget about the squalid living conditions of the slaves, of the beatings by the company enforcers, themselves former slaves.
Valtiere never grew to be an enforcer, his anger at being made a slave becoming more and more prominent as time grew on. More and more, he would be beaten and locked away for striking out against enforcers and employees of the company. He became harder and harder to control, pushing the limits of his owners more and more every day.
His luck changed when the Quaestor of Galeres crossed his path. Zandro Erinos was on a refuelling run, having to use the facilities of Ol'Val as the Yuuzhan Vong war raged. While there, Zandro felt a presence in the Force, an untrained mind, capable in the Force. Hunting down the presence in the Pride of Corellia district, Zandro came across the teenager sullenly eating the thin nutrient paste slaves were given. Motioning for the the boy to come with him, Zandro told him of the power he held, and what he could become if he joined the Dark Jedi. Nikola happily followed him, glad to leave his pathetic existence.
Enforcers tried to stop Zandro, claiming he was taking company property. Zandro was silent, not moving as he drew on the Force, crushing the enforcers against walls and the ceiling.
Being the Quaestor of Galeres meant that Zandro himself could not take on Valtiere as a student, leaving him in the capable hands of the instructors at the Savric Flight Academy, where he learnt the skills that would make him and excellent pilot.
Valtiere split his time between the Shadow Academy and the Flight Academy, training his Force powers while on leave. It wasn't until he was a fully qualified pilot that Nikola began to learn the true path of the Force.
Nikola excelled as a pilot, throwing himself into battle and pushing himself to his limits. To improve himself, he had his legs removed just above the knee, replacing them with limbs of durasteel, meaining his body could withstand higher gee forces than normal, as blood could not rush away from his head. At that point, Nikola began an infatuation with prosthetics, stating that flesh was a weakness, an obstacle in the path to power.
Ascendancy
Once Valtiere was accepted into the Brotherhood after seven years of combined training and flying with the starfighter corps of the Arconan armed forces, he was moved around a few different masters for a couple of years, seeming to be unable to tame Valtiere’s fury to make it into something to be wielded and ruled over. He languished in the Shadow Academy, learning piecemeal from the impatient masters.
Finally, the son of the man who freed him took up Nikola as an apprentice. With Nadrin Erinos Arconae as his master, Nikola rose through the ranks within the Brotherhood rapidly. From his master, he learnt how to shoot, along with skills in assassination and hand to hand combat.
Nadrin, himself strongly attuned to the Force, taught Nikola important force techniques, helping him guide his power into useful applications rather than blurts of potential. Steadily, Nikola began to improve his skills, and overcome his combat fury, to some degree.
Horizons
In the year 36ABY, the Horizon plague swept through the Dark Brotherhood. It ravaged the Dark Jedi, stealing the Force from them, turning them into mindless savages. When the Horizon plague ravaged the Brotherhood, Valtiere was one of the first brought low. He suffered a wound at the hands of his master as the Force fled him, leading to his eye requiring replacement.
Valtiere regressed to a mindless animal, driven wild by his power being taken from him, destroying the medical bay he was rushed to. He had truly believed his master had somehow stolen his power to supplement himself. Due to the importance Nikola gave power, the theft was even more galling, driving him further into rage.
It took two higher level dark Jedi to subdue the beast. However, Nadrin, who also fell foul of the disease, convinced his student that it had been an Entar plot by Timeros Caesus Entar Arconae to take down the Erinos, freeing him while on a sandspeeder on Antei.
Before the two could act, the cure was found, and power restored to the journeyman. After that day, he developed a respect for his master, who had shown the ability to turn situations to his favour and gain power.
Avenger II
Following the Horizons plague, Nikola had a new attitude about his powers, about what they meant. Having them stolen showed how much the Force could enhance an individual in all aspects.
On the Avenger II, he was able to see exactly what the Force could do. The other members of the team he was deployed with used the Force in different ways, some using it to empower themselves, while others used it to strike down their enemies without touching them. His eyes opened to the true myriad of powerful methods he could use his gift. Not just as a way to enhance himself physically.
The lesson that struck his core, however was what brutality, and the resulting fear caused by it, did. It could paralyse foes, giving one an opportunity to exploit a tiny window to end a fight. It could cause rage in others, all their tactical acumen leaving their mind. There and then, he focussed on the application of fear, and what it could do to his enemies, how it could open up the path to power.
Krayiss II
The first world Valtiere had fought over for the Brotherhood, Krayiss II was a host of new experience. With the guiding hand of his Master, Nikola managed to ensure Void did their work well above the planet, reaping a good tally for Arcona. However, being a new commander, used to simply being given orders and let loose, Nikola had some teething problems. More than once the Jedi Hunter forgot he had a whole unit to lead, pursuing his own attacks with minimal communication.
Following the poor results for Arcona, Nikola realised his errors, pushing to ensure he would be able to lead Void in the next campaigns in the war, to help win worlds under the banner of Arcona.
Knight
- "Fear. It is the most potent weapon in any man's arsenal."
- ―Nikola Valtiere
File:Nikola Valtiere Knight.jpgNikola following knighthood
Nikola's final mission before knighthood brought him back to where he had begun: Port Ol'Val. A criminal tyrant by the name of The Accountant made the fatal error of killing members of Qel-Droma. Nikola and Nadrin were deployed to root out this criminal.
After spreading fear and discord through the gangs under the Accountant's command, Nikola finally came upon the infamous gang leader. He had found that the man was in fact a former Knight, who had fled the brotherhood because they did not agree with his imperious views. Nikola managed to fight and kill the man, but lost his arm in the process. During the mission, Valtiere learnt the power of fear. Fear could destroy foes better than a show of might or any weapon.
Nikola faced gruelling trials before he could ascend to knighthood, pushing his limits to ensure he had the mettle to rise to knighthood. He had to battle a master while suspending an orb to show his skill; place his hand in a trap to show courage; endure great pain to show he was not weak in the flesh; Overcome his inner daemons to show strength in his spirit, and overcome an illusionary puzzle to show he had insight. Valtiere showed he had what it took to become a knight, to craft his lightsaber.
Basing the weapon around the crystal he took from the lightsaber of the accountant, Valtiere constructed his weapon, the handle longer than an average saber, due to his size, with a deep orange blade. With it, he was knighted by his master, Nadrin, and a group of his peers, taking another step on the dark path.
Dark Crusade
Valtiere spent all of his knighthood fighting in the long war dubbed 'The Dark Crusade'. The Dark Council, suffering an embarrassing attack at the hands of the One Sith, reacted by razing their territories, taking their worlds in the heart of what was once the Sith Empire.
Early on in the campaign, Valtiere led Void Squadron in multiple victories, spearheading a new award initiative for his pilots, a motivation that pushed them to new heights of skill and drive. They fought as one cohesive unit, their signature mind-link making them act in concert more completely than any other piloting unit ever could. They would clear the space of the planet for Arcona, the silent vanguard of many assaults.
The Crusade was a long war. It ground down all those who fought, all members of the Brotherhood coming out changed in some fundamental way. Valtiere was tempered from a raging dervish to a more controlled, cold individual. He developed a hatred for pointless politicking and the manoeuvring of those that sought favour for their own sakes.
Equite
- "There is only one unforgivable lie. That is the lie that says, this is the end, you are conqueror, you have achieved it, and now all that remains is to build walls higher and shelter behind them. Now, the lie says, the world is safe. All emperors are liars."
- ―Lahek Burchi to Nikola Valtiere
As an Equite, Valtiere began to learn constraint. He began to spend time with his foster-parent, Lahek Burchi, in the Savric flight academy, as a calm man, not an angry boy. Something Burchi had taught the boy to focus his mind was the use of the Tulwar, a curved blade suited to mounted combat, but deadly on foot as well. It had been his callsign in Void squadron, but his knowledge in its use had dulled as he learnt the ways of the Force and lightsabre.
He spent his time with Burchi learning the art again, and hunting, far from anyone, living only off what they killed. The old man imparted his wisdom to his adopted son. He learnt about fear, that it was a tool, like pain, or ambition, or greed, that could be used, not the only thing. You could not chisel rock with an arrow, as Burchi said.
It is important to never stop, Burchi said. Once a man stopped, another would come and take what he had. As a leader, he had to move forward, to be the centre others built around. If he got complacent, he would become weak, and fall. Then those he led would be sacrificed for his mistake.
When he returned to the Brotherhood, fresh and ready for War, it was as a changed man, no longer obsessed with sowing fear and distress, but as a strategist with a mind that ranged steps ahead of others, quiet and distant from his fellows.
Aedile
Nikola aboard the BAC Shadow as Aedile of Qel-droma
Personality
Nikola is a quiet individual, not wasting time with many words, succinct and to the point. This can appear dismissive or brusque to some members of the Brotherhood. One of the things that Nikola thrills in most is combat. His joy is especially in quickly striking an opponent, crippling them. The thrill of a hunt is also almost intoxicating for the Sith. He finds true joy studying tactics and histories, working out new ways to prosecute attacks on foes. His fury of the past is still present, but it is colder, controlled. He hates those who attempt to rise for the sake of power, not working towards something. It has caused him to be cold to leaders and subordinated he sees as too interested in personal gain rather than having a point to the power they accrue. He sneers at any of the political subterfuge in the Dark Brotherhood, seeing it as a weakness that leads to pointless waste of resources.
Appearence
Nikola is imposingly tall, towering above most of his fellows within the Brotherhood, giving him a habit of seeming to bore down on an individual. Though tall, Nikola is slender and long limbed. He moves with the gait of one used to lower than standard gravity, stepping lightly, pushing forward more than upward with each step, making him move fluidly. He has a shock of dark brown hair atop his head, kept relatively short due to his having to wear a full face helmet when flying. His pale skin is marked by a few scars, relics of combat. One of his eyes is pale green, while the other glows icy blue, an obvious prosthetic, for while Nikola could afford a facsimile, he prefers to flaunt his augmentations. His lower legs are wrought of durasteel, a sacrifice to ensure he could withstand the Gee forces of extreme flight, allowing him to outmanoeuvre other pilots more easily. Following his battle with the accountant, Nikola lost his right arm above the elbow, having it re-crafted in metal, with hidden blades in the fingertips, to make use of his hand-to-hand skills. During the crusade,the rest of the right arm was lost.
His usual attire is his flightsuit, worn with pride, sometimes a sleeveless robe thrown over the top.
Fighting Style
Originally, Nikola fought without regard for his personal safety, throwing himself at the enemy, hammering away at their defences, using his anger to keep him going beyond the point at which others would falter.
However, with training under Nadrin and some select hand-to-hand masters, Nikola began to learn how to turn attacks against the foe, tricking foes by presenting false weaknesses, incapacitating limbs, and attacking weak points enemies present. Each strike has fury behind it, but it is cold, precise, controlled. Nikola is most proficient with Jeswandi, the Bothan style of combat, revelling in trapping and incapacitating foes as their strikes are directed away uselessly.
Along with Jeswandi, Nikola has also turned his skills to Verdanaian, the Anzat martial art, suited to it's fluid motions and redirection of strikes, turning them on the attacker.
While fighting, Nikola uses the power of the Force to instil fear in his foes, causing their focus to slip, or to create tiny openings for the Sith to exploit to deadly effect with his skills at targeting important areas with quick, direct strikes.
Nikola Valtiere's Force Wraiths
As an Equite, Valtiere has begun to develop his powers, forming a second wraith alongside the shrike. Though many Equites form three, Valtiere instead calls forth two more potent Wraiths.
The Shrike
The Shrike
In creating his first Wraith, Nikola worked hard to create something that could instil fear. A being born to strike fear into the hearts of the staunchest adversaries, and then tear them apart.
A creature of nightmare, The Shrike stands almost thirty centimetres taller than Nikola himself, with four arms ending in long, wicked claws. The whole creature seems to be a mass of twisted spikes and barbs, wrapped about each other to form the facsimile of a humanoid. It is wrong, moving disjointedly, limbs too long for its body. It regards the world with pits of darkness, ever expressionless, making no noise at all as it moves and kills those about it.
The Raptor
When Valtiere rose to becoming an Equite and Aedile of Qel-Droma, he began to craft a new wraith, funnelling power into a new aspect of his soul: The quiet hunter, the observer, the strategist. The Force being he crafted became known as The Raptor, a simple name describing the hunting hawk with an unnatural intelligence glittering from yellow eyes. When Valtiere is on his long hunts, it will be ranging far, scouting for the Equite. In combat, rapier-sharp claws rake flesh, while wings bat at the face, blinding and distracting opponents while he moves in for the kill. Out of combat, the hawk sits on his shoulder, staring sullenly at all about him.
Equipment
Nikola's knife
R9-S6
R9-S6, 'Swift', is Nikola's astromech droid, an R9 unit. Having flown with Nikola for years without a memory wipe, Swift has picked up some behavioural quirks. Quick to launch into battle, Swift has a penchant for pulling tight manoeuvres and performing hit and run attacks.
Knife
Nikola uses his hands mainly for melee combat, however, in some cases, he will use his finely wrought long knife, a gift from one of his flight instructors, Lahek Burchi. It measures a foot and a half in length, and two inches wide. On the base of the pommel is a small carving of an unassuming looking bird.
Stealth X
The StealthX is a modified X-wing, suited for stealth operations. Nikola flies it as a former part of Void Squadron.
DJB Facts
Positions Held
Commander of Void Squadron 36 ABY-37 ABY.
Aedile of House Qel-Droma 37 ABY - Present
Outstanding Achievements
Achieved Dark Maven of flight as an Acolyte.
Trivia
Interesting or important facts that do not fall under the other two categories.