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- "'You can develop all the fancy stunts, tricks, and tactics you like. They won't mean a damn thing unless you have someone around to make sure that your ships fly and your guns can shoot."
- ―Rhan
Nikora Rhan is a Nautolan female serving Clan Odan-Urr. Raised by a pair of smugglers operating on the Outer Rim for much of her childhood, she was eventually recruited into the Jensaarai Order as her blossoming powers became increasingly difficult to control. This affinity with machinery led to her becoming a defacto weaponsmith within their organisation, serving to keep the Ring Defenders in operation and maintaining equipment. This emphasis on engineering and maintenance meant that she was one of several who voiced in favour of the Reclaimer experiment to seek out lost battlegrounds and recover salvage for the Jensaarai to use. This activity led to her frequently butting heads with those among the Jensaarai who believed that secrecy and isolation were needed in order to survive.
Rhan became increasingly disillusioned with the Order's leadership as they pushed for ever-greater seclusion from the galaxy. This finally led to her breaking with the group entirely following a discovery that the elder Jensaarai were hoping to avoid possible annihilation by the likes of the First Order by erasing past records. After being tasked with arresting Ka Tarvitz during his reappearance on Susevfi, Rhan instead opted to follow him into exile and sided with the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.
Character History
The Nomad (6 ABY - 13 ABY)
The Engine of Souls
Like many children born among the Outer Rim, Nikora Rhan was someone who came into existence without a home. Unlike most this was because she was bound to no single world. Born during a hyperspace jump between planets, Rhan grew up surrounded by machinery and listening to the constant thunder of ships' engines. Both of her parents were smugglers, seeking to make their fortunes by profiting from the ongoing Galactic Civil War and the infighting among Imperial warlords. With so many battlefields left behind from the Clone Wars and other conflicts littering old battlegrounds, there was no shortage of profit to be made by reclaiming everything still operational. Although it carried with it no shortage of dangers, the work at least avoided the more typical risks associated with smuggling such as dealing directly with the Hutts, or some planetary authorities. Favouring selling their supplies to small planetary governments and the New Republic, they were able to gain some degree of legitimate backing for their ventures and even direct support when needed.
The constant need to jump from world to world, system to system, meant that Rhan became accustomed to making only fleeting friendships with others. Her parents' operations could drag on for months or even weeks at a time, and she was frequently left to entertain herself while they worked to free their prizes. It was perhaps because of this state that Rhan's abilities manifested as they did, with the Force granting her an innate connection with machines. These things were subtle at first, with Rhan claiming to "hear" when the engines were complaining of constant strain or when droid motivator was coming to the end of its life. Coming from a child, her parents laughed this off at first, largely accepting this as her way of comprehending the world. Yet as time drew on, her efforts in listening to equipment became more pronounced and accurate. She was able to briefly bring technology back to life simply from being in close proximity to her, and her crude repairs to simpler machines worked almost in spite of her errors. Nevertheless, they worked.
As Rhan grew older, her idiosyncrasies about the souls and emotions of machines became less tolerated. Her parents became increasingly infuriated at Rhan's refusal to abandon what they regarded as a childish misunderstanding, even as her technological aptitude expanded. She was repeatedly encouraged to abandon her ideas, and reprimanded when she was caught holding conversations with their ship's engines, or her own creations. This was the subject of ridicule more than once, among the few times that she did remain on a world long enough to hold a conversation with others, especially those of greater experience. The fact that she could break their creations with little more than a gesture, or seemingly give them minds of their own, was overlooked in the face of mockery. However, Rhan remained adamant that she could listen to the words of machines and correct them without needing access to even the most basic tools. It would be several years before she was able to definitively prove this skill.
Derelict of Ages
By 12 ABY, life was becoming increasingly difficult for Rhan's parents. With many past battlefields picked clean and the New Republic itself backing Operation Flotsam under the newly appointed Historical Battle Site Preservation Act, they were relying less upon freelancers to carry out its salvage operations. Even without that, the brief peace which had emerged with the Empire's fractured warlord states had permitted larger powers to strip old derelicts bare of goods. Driven from more profitable ventures, they were gradually pushed to pursue less likely leads in order to fund their lifestyle. After months of raiding the sites of old skirmishes and planetary crash sites, they were doing little more than maintaining their funds. Yet one yielded an unexpected reward. The aging cockpit of a Trade Federation gunship carried with it an active and up to date navicomputer. Severed from the main fuselage, exposure to vacuum had killed the pilots instantly but it had left the machinery within undamaged and unwiped; an act which had prevented its automated functions immediately wiping the machine.
The navicomputer was code-locked but, after working past its defences via older CIS codes that they had previously produced, Rhan's parents were able to examine the data within. The information was decades out of date, speaking of locations known to many scavengers and sites picked clean. One, however, proved to be of immense interest. The vessel that the gunship had been seconded to was noted to have been located within a nearby nebula, and logged communications indicated that it had suffered significant damage. More importantly its name, the Merciless, was listed as one of the few Lucrehulk-class battleships which was still listed as missing. Having never been confirmed as destroyed, integrated into the Rebellion, or even sighted flying under a pirate flag, its fate had been one of the mysteries surrounding the final days of the Clone Wars. More importantly, it was the sort of haul that no salvage hauler could afford to overlook.
Following the last listed location, they were able to follow the gradual drift of the vessel and locate it within a dense pocket of the nebula's gasses. Its engines had suffered severe damage, and the hull plating was blackened under multiple impacts. Yet even with this damage, the ship's hangers and central sphere seemed remarkably intact. Noting the number of missing escape pods on the ship's surface, Rhan's parents soon elected to investigate the ship. If nothing else, they would examine the main hanger, confirm its status, and then take proof of their find. Either they would be able to sell its location to the New Republic or, if possible, to begin harvesting the hardware and selling it off in smaller deals. Unfortunately for them, the battleship was far from abandoned. A small group of pirates had discovered the vessel and had utilised one of its massive hangers as a base of operations. Upon detecting the smugglers' approach, they waited to ambush the new arrivals and claim their ship.
No sooner did either of Rhan's parents step free of the ship than forcefields locked into place behind them, blocking any avenue of escape. Tractor beams activated, holding the ship in place and armed figures emerged about the ship. Most came out firing, driving the smugglers from the warship as they sought cover. Rhan, out of curiosity, had followed them and was quickly pinned down. Instinctively reaching out in fear with the Force, she hunted for anything which might keep them alive. Boosted by her heightened emotions, a trio of red Photoreceptors burst into life amid the darkness. A Destroyer Droid, partially disassembled and long disused, dragged itself free from a pile of broken droids. With its power core sputtering and only a single active cannon, it seemed to be little more than scrap metal. However, as its shield sparked into life and blasters screamed through the air, it proved to be more than a match for the surprised pirates. By the time it halted in its rampage and shut down, not a single pirate was left standing.
This act proved without a doubt that Rhan's abilities were far more than mere childish fancy, but this only made her parents more wary of her.
Keepers of a Bygone Era
For the following months, the smugglers stripped the Merciless' complement of fighters for spare parts. Ignoring the larger warship, the far smaller and more manageable groups of Scarabs and Vultures filled their cargo holds, ferrying spare parts and raw materials back to New Republic worlds. However, Rhan found herself isolated at this time. Even after the shock of her seemingly bringing machinery to life through sheer force of will had worn in, neither of them could look at her in the same way as before. Rhan was still their daughter, the one they had loved and raised for years, but her abilities were an understandable cause for concern. Neither of them was certain that, in an outburst, that the event might be repeated with themselves or even an innocent figure being caught in the crossfire. These concerns were shared by Rhan herself. It had not been will or even concentration which had pushed her powers to new heights but raw fear tinged with rage. Yet a solution was soon to present itself.
In one of their later visits to the Merciless' wreck, they were greeted by several waiting figures in the hanger. Clad in stylised metalwork and with swords at their belts, they were clearly warriors and yet they made no move to threaten the smugglers. Cautiously giving the group the benefit of the doubt, the smugglers met with them. Their leader, an aging Nikto by the name of Kylun, spoke with the smugglers freely and enquired of the pirates' fate. Rather than being allies or a rival group of corsairs, the warriors had been hunting them after they had pillaged their world. In particular, a selection of crystals mistaken as precious gems had been stolen by these groups. While effectively worthless to most of the galaxy, the warriors regarded them with great value. The smugglers had found these among the pirates' belongings, hidden within a safe that Rhan had coaxed into unlocking for them. While her parents tried to avoid mentioning Rhan's role in either the pirates' deaths or her later efforts, Kylun rapidly picked up on the fact that they were hiding something. When pressed, they first tried to claim that they had accomplished Rhan's feats themselves. When this effort failed to shield her from their interest, they then tried to pass it off as a third member of their group who was not present. Neither occasion worked to dissuade Kylun, as he quickly picked up on the deception. It was only when the warriors became increasingly suspicious, to the point of near hostility, that Rhan stepped forward.
Rhan's parents first objected to this, trying to still hide her role in the hopes of sparing their daughter the warrior's attention, or even to make matters worse. Yet rather than accusing them of another falsehood, Kylun showed genuine interest in her abilities. Rhan was shy, worried that the hulking figure in plate armour might choose to simply slay her parents and take her as a slave if he deemed her abilities as useful. To her surprise, Kylun spoke of things that Rhan had always been half-aware of in her life. He asked about energies she felt but no one else could pick up on, or the imprints of lives on objects which others claimed held no life to them. Gradually, he was able to coax answers from her and gain a better picture of how her abilities were manifesting. In return, he displayed some powers of his own: Casting lightning from his fingertips and moving objects with his will. He claimed that what she was experiencing was an extremely strong connection to the Force, and that it was both a blessing and a curse.
Kylun spoke to both Rhan and her parents as the hours wore on. He outlined what the Force was, how its practitioners - near-mythical among the galaxy's outer worlds even with the steady rebuilding of the Jedi Order - could often be divided into two groups of recruits. Some only had their powers manifest in small ways, requiring training and self-discipline to gradually focus their energies in any conscious or substantial form. Others retained them in a far stronger but less controlled manner, displaying connections through either constant passive actions or sudden outbursts. While both ultimately held the same potential for control and growth, the latter group could easily find their lives ruined as their powers overwhelmed them or developed in a way that controlled their lives. Rhan was one of these people, or so it seemed to him. Without training, her ability to listen to machinery could slowly overwhelm her, or her emotions could more easily lean toward the Dark Side. Kylun offered her an opportunity to train with a group of similarly gifted individuals, to control her powers and avert this fate. As he spoke, all that Rhan could think of was her emotions when she had indirectly slaughtered the pirates, and the fear that still clung to her. To her, the choice was an easy one. The two groups left the derelict as one, traveling to the moon of Susevfi to show Rhan just what her future might hold.
The Defender (14 ABY -24 ABY)
The Domain of the Hidden Truth
Rhan remained with her parents during the long flight to Susevfi, each talking over their concerns, hopes, and problems. As the first time that any of them had been able to speak to one another about Rhan's skills without disbelieving her or fearing what it could bring, it offered a hundred possible implications. The most pressing matter was to gain further knowledge of Kylun's group and what her training would require, but also how it might change Rhan herself. Even after seeing their powers manifest first hand, the mysticism that the warriors shrouded themselves in seemed ridiculous. In the end, Rhan herself pushed to at least listen to them. She hungered to explore and develop her skills now that they were being taken seriously. Even if Kylun had lied about everything else, his own abilities made it clear that he had some understanding of the Force and how to control it. It seemed like a singular opportunity to fully explore her abilities.
After landing on the planet's sole spaceport, near to the coastal city of Yumfla, the trio were led to the former Governor's Palace. The world had only just repelled and freed itself from an Imperial splinter-group, with help from the Jedi no less. Having claimed the palace and now operating in the open, the Force users - now freely calling themselves Jensaarai - had begun moving more openly in the nearby systems. The Jensaarai themselves were typically a secretive and isolationist group, but Kylun went to great lengths to explain and detail all he could about them. If ever a question was asked, even if it was typically taboo, he made a point of answering it in full. His reasons for doing so were simple: Rhan's affinity with machinery was rare and most Force users were typically trained from near birth. He openly admitted that he wished for her to develop those skills, but not specifically for the benefit of the Jensaarai. In his eyes, allowing her abilities of wither or go unused would be to rob the galaxy of a rare skill.
After several days of talks - and watching training sessions - Rhan agreed to stay on the moon. Her parents could not remain on the planet, their lifestyle simply would not permit it, but it was agreed that they would visit as often and frequently as possible. From there it would be up to Rhan to decide if she continued to move up the ranks within the Jensaarai or return to the life of a scavenger. After one final night to say their goodbyes, Rhan watched her parents depart for the stars once more, and began the long process of honing her powers.
The First Step into a Larger World
Rhan's lessons began the very morning after her parents departed. Old by the standards of their favoured recruits - who were typically inducted into the Order from near-birth - her tutors instead favoured using a staggered series of concentrated tests to examine the limits of her abilities. Once they were certain of the extent of her skills, and her shortcomings, she was quickly subjected to continuous trials and lessons to bring her up to speed with other Apprentices. Rhan chafed under some of these lessons, particularly those relating to lightsaber combat and Force powers beyond simple telekinesis. She was continually set targets, trials, and goals to achieve in almost every session. No single one seemed to emphasise the more expansive and detailed explanations of the Force that she had hoped to find. Isolated from other students and seemingly being set tasks with the expectation she would fail at them, Rhan began to regret her choice in remaining among the Jensaarai. As much as she wished to speak out, she felt as if any objection might mark her down as a failure in their eyes. Rhan's mood was hardly improved when, through eavesdropping, she learned that this method of training had been devised based upon the failings of a similarly late starting apprentice: Ka Tarvitz.
Infuriated at the Defenders' methods, Rhan eventually sought out Tarvitz personally. Driven by sheer frustration, and blaming Tarvitz for her treatment, she was all but ready to pick a fight with the other boy over these lessons. Undaunted by the fact that he was twice Rhan's age and substantially larger than the nautolan, an outright fight was only averted thanks to Tarvitz's unwillingness to do more than dodge her blows. Talking Rhan down, and learning of her frustrations, Tarvitz offered to instead help her. He did not deny that his own failings were numerous and felt sympathy for Rhan, but his own experiences offered him a greater perspective on why she was being subjected to such a rigorous series of tests. The ability to utilise Force stemmed from strength of purpose, will, and determination as its foundations, and the Jensaarai favoured aggression focused through total self-discipline. The tests were to build her sense of conviction and encourage creative thinking rather than to have her directly overcome them, mimicking how his own means of catching up with other students. Tarvitz offered to help her at least gain some even footing in facing their challenges, and to overcome tests on her own terms.
Tarvitz's advice went a considerable way to improving her performance, with Rhan typically working around any challenges through outside means or loopholes to accomplish her goals. Lightsaber training duels would often turn into brawls with both weapons discarded, and she would often use her powers to enhance machines to help with certain tasks. This at once both set her as an infuriating and promising individual in the eyes of her peers, as Tarvitz had partially misunderstood their intentions, but they would not deny Rhan her successes. Even with concerns that her over-reliance upon mechanical Force powers was a flaw, Rhan was soon permitted to join broader groups of apprentices and continue with a more conventional means of tutorship.
By the Saarai-kaar's Word
Now better grounded in her understanding of their ways, Rhan dedicated herself entirely to the lessons of the Order's Defenders. Kylun, while limited in his contract with her, frequently took to personally training Rhan in lightsaber combat; a move which was made in response to one too many black eyes following training matches. The older Nikto was bemused by her antics, but nevertheless did his best to encourage a superior level of swordsmanship and appreciation of lightsaber combat, teaching her Niman so not to be limited to blunt and brutal attacks. Rhan listened to his words, but largely found herself doing so simply so she could better exploit a lightsaber's flaws in battle. For all the artistry and skill in mastering a form of combat, Rhan found that the simplest means to overcome an enemy was to deny them their chosen weapons.
Although Rhan proved to be adept in channeling the Force and the essential skills required of a Defender, she had a natural edge when it came to creative outlets. Machinery and engineering had long been a major part of her life, and Rhan's abilities to judge, manipulate and "jinx" complex mechanisms only grew with time. However, even without her connection to the Force, she was capable of forging complex designs and rebuilding items from little more than a memory. Others that she was gifted were frequently reworked and rebuilt, with upgrades or custom modifications when needed. With Kylun's backing, her duties as an Apprentice monitoring the streets of their city were scaled back, and she was instead given time to better familiarise herself with the small fleet of snubfighters that occupied their hangers. This left her in frequent contact with Tarvitz, and the two entered into an odd sort of rivalry for a time, each trying to outdo the other. The fact that few to none of their skills overlapped meant that the results of such contests were typically inconclusive.
Rhan's lessons were punctuated by infrequent visits from her parents, still finding work even after their concerns. Their presence served as a stabilizing factor during Rhan's training, anchoring herself and giving her a deadline by which to accomplish her next series of goals. While wishing to hear more of their daughter's life there than offer news of the wider galaxy, their stories nevertheless served as a reminder to Rhan of the greater galaxy beyond the Jensaarai's moon. While they lived in an era of relative peace now that a treaty had been signed between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic, Rhan valued their tales and the greater events that they outlined. Knowing of them was more important than even participating in them, and Rhan even went so far as to construct a datapad to note down the general details that her parents passed on to her.
While others might have chafed under being kept within the palace, Rhan found a degree of personal joy in applying her skills to various mechanical systems. Each was a chance to truly experiment on just how far her abilities had developed, and to apply herself to something that was truly her forte. As she found ways to keep fighters operational with substandard parts, reworked the palace's aging machinery and took the time to repair the other Defenders' equipment, Rhan applied herself to reinforce the Order as a whole through her abilities. Any one of them could pick up a lightsaber, fly their ships or repair their own equipment but, with their new homes and territories and equipment, they were in desperate need of others to keep the lights on and the plasma furnaces running. Because of this Rhan found herself granted the rank of Defender far sooner than she might have otherwise expected, allowing the Order to permanently assign her to the palace as a de-facto engineer. The change was so sudden that - without greater inspiration - Rhan chose the Devilsquid of Mon Calamari as the inspiration for her armour out of the simple desire for additional limbs to carry out her tasks.
Despite her newfound role, Rhan was ordered by the Saarai-kaar to still join street patrols several times per month. Even with the benefits that she offered the Order, their leader still decreed that they were an organisation of swordsmen before all else, and she did not wish for Rhan's skills to decay while trapped within the palace. Rhan did not object to this, but she quietly chafed under the more regimented schedules and objectives that this placed upon her. Her training had been similar in many regards, but that at least had been leading toward something greater. Without the freedom to choose her tasks and approach them as she desired, her duties gradually wore away at her enthusiasm. Seeking distractions or excuses to frequently disrupt the daily schedules put before her, Rhan began voluntarily taking on additional work of any form. From patching up armour plating, enhancing the palace's power generators, or even attempting to convert some wrecked fighters into combat effective uglies, Rhan attempted to distract herself through any means available to her.
Childhood's Nightfall
Susevfi had long been a safe harbour for its populace. Largely unknown to the greater galaxy and absent from most major star maps, the moon and the Suarbi system as a whole were ultimately unremarkable in almost every regard. However, to some its relative isolation made it a far more tempting target than more prominent worlds. Viewing the moon as a potential source of slaves for Nal Hutta's auctions, a pirate band named the Confederated Suns infiltrated the system. With their cruiser disguised as a civilian freighter, the pirates were able to land just beyond the capital city's outer limits and swarm its streets en mass. The attack blindsided the Jensaarai. While they had sensed the impending attack, any premonitions led the Defenders to believe that it would originate from within Yumfla itself, and had dispersed their numbers to prevent possible riots, not to engage enemy raiders. Most Defenders were sluggish in their responses, with fights breaking out in multiple running battles rather than on any coordinated front.
Having been unable to escape her tasked duties in patrolling the streets, Rhan was among those caught up in the opening wave of pirates. Along with a few others present on the outskirts of the city, she worked to blunt the initial wave of attackers. Utilising her skills to stall the engines of the raiding vehicles favoured by the pirates, she was able to force a substantial number of them to halt and engage the Defenders before they could breach the city. Unprepared for substantial resistance, or the presence of multiple lightsaber-wielding figures, their presence was enough to force some to break. Others were determined to press their attack, threatening to overwhelm the group with sheer numbers. It was in this battle that Rhan slew her first opponents. As efforts to drive them back or render them unconscious failed thanks to their sheer numbers, she finally resorted to killing them to prevent their position from being overwhelmed. It was only sheer adrenaline and the intensity of combat that prevented her from fully absorbing the shock of her actions, or their consequences. Driven by a subconscious desire to stave off that same realization, Rhan was among the first Defenders to pursue the pirates when their assault finally broke. Claiming one of their landspeeders, she and several others set off in pursuit of the raiders, ensuring that any who considered turning or rallying their comrades would see a band of Jensaarai at their backs.
Managing to drive them back to their ship, Rhan's group barely arrived in time to see it initiating lift-off. Having heard of the Invids occupation years before from the others, and knowing that letting them flee would see them return in greater numbers, Rhan concentrated her powers on the vessel's great engines. Reaching out with the Force, she pushed herself to the absolute limit, shorting out the vessel's reactor for a brief time, preventing it from departing the moon. Repeating this effort several times over the course of the following hours allowed the Jensaarai to gather in strength and board the vessel, eventually seizing the ship with few casualties on either side. While this was seen by some as a great victory, others regarded it as a failing, adding their voices to long-standing criticism of the Order's isolationist policies. For Rhan herself, it was a realisation of just what their duties required. Even with her training, knowledge and appreciating the Jensaarai ideological tenants, and dueling more students than she could count, the act of taking a life nevertheless stunned her in the aftermath of the battle. Both Kylun and the Saarai-kaar consoled her over her actions, but she was nevertheless disturbed by memories of her lightsaber carving through flesh and eyes staring at her in shock as the life faded from them.
The Reclaimer (25 ABY - 31 ABY)
A Return to the Stars
The Preserver (32 ABY - 37 ABY)
The Warsmith (38 ABY - ? ABY)
Physical Description
Personality
Equipment
Powers and Abilities