- "Humans are shameless creatures that carelessly ignore any misfortune which does not befall them directly. They can--and often do--turn a blind eye to all manner of wickedness so long as it does not touch them or their kin. We are Human."
- ―Soren
Master Tactician and Strategist, twenty-seven year-old Human Colonel Soren was the Deputy Commander of Scholae Palatinae’s Praetorian Regiment, but now commands Plagueis' Intelligence Division as the Directorate General. Soren is renowned for his cold, calculating personality, his bluntness, and the ruthless efficiency of his tactics.
History
The Rhymel Mercenaries
In the year 4 ABY a small group known as the Rhymel Mercenaries led by their Commander, a veteran Human soldier named Rhymel Qualsiri, were hired for a rather low paying job of investigating and shutting down the headquarters of a small pirate organization near the city of Salis D’aar, Bakura. While the Rhymel Mercenaries totaled only a mere eight in number, the briefing they had received informed them that the pirates they targeted didn’t have much more.
The Rhymel Mercenaries completed their mission without any casualties. However, the presence of a small and mysterious child looked to make this mission far from the ordinary. The child, less than a year old, was only identifiable by the name tag in his clothes, ‘Soren’. After a brief discussion, they decided to take the child in and care for him. Perhaps he could become useful. ‘Useful’ turned out to be a horrific understatement.
The young Mastermind
By the mere age of five, everyone in the group had seen the young child’s potential. Soren wasn’t strong; in fact, he was rather weak and frail. While agile and nimble, Soren lacked the stamina to really be able to use it usefully. Quite simply, the kid was a genius. In terms of mathematics, logic, understanding of emotions, mastery of Galactic Basic, no-one had seen any child progress so quickly.
As he reached what the mercenaries had called his sixth birthday (a date made up out of no better option), Deputy Commander Sigrun began teaching him battle tactics. With Soren, this was hardly a chore for the woman. To her, the only disappointment was that by the time Soren reached the age of ten, he had surpassed Sigrun in terms of battle tactics, and at such a young age, he was planning real battles, working with her to invent real, effective strategies for the missions of the Rhymel Mercenaries.
A change of pace
Sigrun was killed in battle when Soren was fourteen, leaving him in charge of the Rhymel Mercenaries’ battle tactics and strategies entirely by himself. From that point on, for the next nine years, the Rhymel Mercenaries never lost a man or failed a mission.
It was in the year 27 ABY that the Rhymel mercenaries took on a curious task from a planet no-one seemed to have heard of. A Dark Jedi clan known as Scholae Palatinae had heard the rumors of a perfect band of mercenaries, and sought them out in the reclamation of their homeland, Judecca, over-run by Yuuzhan Vong. Their first task was simply to take a moderately important building that was under Yuuzhan Vong control. None of the group had ever faced such an opponent, and yet only one member of the group was killed, the first in nine years, thanks mainly to the meticulous planning by Soren.
Proconsul Lucien Kaeth personally recognized the skill, valour and courage of the Rhymel Mercenaries, and offered them a permanent job (with a rather lucrative contract) in the clan’s military. Thinking this would be more interesting, and better paid, than completing small time tasks for however many more years, Rhymel Qualsiri accepted their offer, and they were assigned to the Praetorian spec-ops regiment, where each of the group played a similar role to what they had played for years.
Rapid climb in prestige
- "Those without further use are disposable, you're a Dark Jedi, not a Humanitarian."
- ―Soren justifies his strategies to a member of the Praetorian Regiment
However, Soren himself wouldn’t be able to stay with the group for long, his successful strategies had earned him promotion after promotion across the next two years. By the year 29 ABY, Soren had reached the rank of Colonel. He had been assigned Deputy Commander of the entire Praetorian regiment, under the command of Lieutenant General Impetus M’Nar.
Since the twi’lek was too busy fighting with Souls of Darkness to be a constant presence in the Praetorian Regiment, Soren took personal command of the unit, relaying Impetus’ orders to the rest of the regiment and combining them with his own strategies to make the Praetorian Regiment one of the most effective special operations forces in the Galaxy.
Soren during his time in Clan Plagueis
A Leader Worth Dying For
Soren and Impetus established an exceptional working relationship while he was her deputy commander, with a vast amount of mutual respect between the two. Impetus and Soren's command over the Praetorian Regiment became luminary, an ever-growing success story with every campaign. Unfortunately, however, the political climate on Judecca would cause the story to stop sharply.
Impetus left Scholae Palatinae near the start of the Rise of the Rebellion, during a meeting with the Praetorian Regiment. The ten divisional directors of the organisiational structure Impetus had invented scattered, some remaining in the military, others pursuing other life paths. Soren maintained exceptional loyalty, not the Scholae Palatinae, but to Impetus, who he considered worthy of unquestioned trust. He traveled with her to Plagueis, where he would serve alongside her in the Intelligence Division as a First Lieutenant.
Another Rapid Climb
During the Ninth Great Jedi War, Soren’s efficient, ruthless, calculating, but more importantly, his innovative mind had earned him many glowing references from both peers and superiors. It became apparent that he was far more capable of the First Lieutenant position he had been assigned to, and his position was swiftly revised barely half way through the war, when he made an unprecedented jump to the position of Brigadier General, and assigned the command of the Mirror Mirror saga while the rest of the clan were fighting in the war.
His decision to assign co-ordination of the search team to the Givin mathematician Koor’fen was instrumental in determining the thief of the Mirror of Anor to be High Lady Vexon, and hence discovering the location of both the High Lady and the Mirror of Anor. Soren went on to guide the team of six Dark Jedi who were sent to infiltrate Vexon’s Gallery and reclaim the Mirror, playing the role of both Commander and Support Operative. With Soren’s life in the Plagueis Intelligence an ever-growing success story, and the clan in need of a Directorate General, he was the obvious choice.
Profile
Personality
- "The nastier the truth, the blunter he gets"
- ―A former ally of Soren.
While often quiet, Soren’s calculating mind and blunt manner of speech build to his reputation as cold and heartless. Soren doesn’t really care who he offends or insults, believing clothing a harsh message in sweet words will do little to hide its bitterness. He very rarely displays outbursts of anger, although his words are known to become even more blunt when things take a turn for the worse. However, despite the common view that his words are without care or tact, it is his carefully chosen timing, and the manner with which he delivers information that has contributed to his rapid climb through the ranks of any military organization that he has entered.
Supremely intelligent, and creative while retaining efficiency, there is very little that Soren’s cold mind wouldn’t consider when it comes to battle plans. His heart is with his job as Directorate General, and there is little that he wouldn’t consider as expendable to aid Plagueis as a whole.
Appearance
Soren would never strike anyone as an imposing individual. Small and frail, Soren’s body looks as if it belongs to a much younger man. His eyes shine with an odd crimson, the same color as the strangely shaped mark on his forehead, a mark that predates his earliest memories. Soren rarely smiles, neither does he show any sign of any other emotion.