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- "'You treat war like Chess, a game with identical units and laws set in stone. Did you honestly think Essik would play by rules you dictated?"
- ―Lyccane
Essik Lyccane was a Gand male of the lungless subspecies serving in the fleet of Clan Odan-Urr. A career officer, Lyccane spent almost his entire life in one battle or another throughout the myriad of conflicts which shook the galaxy to its core; several of which were against enemies so terrifying that many refuse to accept they ever existed. First serving in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars, he quickly sided with the Rebel Alliance following the purge of all non-humans with the rise of the rise of the new order. While both loyal and extremely diligent, he vehemently disagreed with what he saw as mistakes by both the leaders of the New Republic and Resistance, which saw him sidelined and stripped of power. Worse still, much of the galaxy's timeline was purged or rewritten to serve its new rulers, as propaganda was prized above learning from past mistakes.
Initially leading an ad-hoc force of ships against the First Order during the outbreak of a new war, he was stripped of his rank and dishonourably discharged after refusing to surrender or simply accept that the New Republic was dead. This proved to be a transparent ploy by others to gain control over his ships, seeking to profit from the renewed chaos. Tired of watching blind men leading the galaxy to ruin, he was only stopped from returning to his homeworld by a communication from Ka Tarvitz. After being convinced that there were still those who could use his experience, he joined the White Lotus Resistance. Serving in various roles for Clan Odan-Urr, and a teacher at The Fang until its destruction, he sought to use the Clan as a means to rectify some past errors.
After spending years in the service of Clan Odan-Urr, and assisting with the founding of the Templar Jensaarai and Free Droid Enclave, Essik would meet his end during the battle against the Shadow in the Force in 42 ABY. After the Dark Side entity had stormed the group's base of operations, Essik was mortally wounded. He remained behind to halt the base's self-destruct mechanism, stalling it long enough for a full evacuation to be made and distracting the Shadow before it could butcher everyone within the facility.
Character History
Clone Wars (20 BBY - 19 BBY)
One of the rare few Gand who opted to associate themselves with the wider galaxy over their isolated homeworld, Lyccane rose to prominence during early 20 BBY. He was initially tasked by his Pocket Colony with assisting the traders which visited their backwater planet, but a growing fascination with the ships of foreign powers led to him breaking away from his home within a matter of months of accepting the role. Serving first as an adjutant on a sprint-trader travelling between the core worlds of Coruscant, Corellia and Chandrila, Lyccane's natural talent for tactical countermeasures and quiet pragmatism soon marked him as officer material. Lyccane's capacity to pick out inherent weaknesses prevented the freighter's capture by CIS aligned privateers on no less than two occasions and directly contributed to crippling a vastly larger enemy vessel during a boarding action. Under most circumstances this would have merely suggested some ingenuity on the crew's part and he would have languished in the duties of a freighter officer. However, word of these actions reached Republic Military command on Chandrila. Two years of relentless warfare had sapped the Republic Navy of skilled personnel, and Lyccane found himself unexpectedly conscripted into the war effort.
Although resistant at first, Lyccane's mind was soon changed upon realising the benefit of this recruitment and the opportunities it would provide in the wake of the conflict. He was rushed through training and taught the essentials of fleet warfare, during which he displayed promise in the vast majority of combat scenarios. Lyccane lacked the inherent familiarity of warship designs or Republic equipment, but his capacity to pick out patterns within larger formations and unconventional use of their units granted him an edge most recruits lacked. Thanks to these qualities, he eventually found himself serving in the Chandrila Defense Fleet under the command of Hiram Drayson.
Due to his history, Lyccane retained a basic grasp of the chain of command and discipline but lacked the finer points of mechanical detail and operating within a larger standing force. This typically left him relying more on personal guile or opting for unorthodox strategies to win the battles he supported. On the few occasions that he did not serve as an officer under a more experienced superior, Lyccane opted to use everything but direct methods of confronting enemy forces. This mentality led to a surprisingly beneficial outcome during the Cyphar skirmishes. During a disastrous initial assault, the Republic task force was destroyed while attempting to rush the linchpin world in the enemy defensive network. Gathering the survivors on one of its moons, Lyccane led an ad-hoc battalion of Clone Troopers and militia volunteers to repeatedly harry a much larger Confederacy force.
Opting to shadow them but always maintaining a tactically superior position on the terrain, he limited the capacity for one side to attack the other. The few strikes they made were to limit their ability to defend their bases, forcing the enemy Commander to draw on defensive platoons on the surrounding worlds in an effort to drive off the Republic units. Lyccane never pressed the advantage when given it, nor did he ever fully meet the enemy invasion force in battle, and instead opted to push them to consolidate as many units as possible on their position. This weakened Confederacy defences throughout the system, leading to a swift series of counter-offensives by another Republic taskforce and retaking the system with relatively little bloodshed. He would later tell the defeated enemy Commander that "Lyccane wins because you didn't."
This willingness to set aside any and all personal glory in favour of more beneficial outcomes earned Lyccane little recognition, and his smaller scale victories were constantly eclipsed by the more successful engagements by the Jedi led armies. Typically winning singular battles rather than benefiting overall campaigns, his accomplishments were often attributed to another superior and his defensive actions were rarely reported on. Lyccane himself simply believed this due to the scale of the war and the benefit of more experienced superiors. His respect for the few Jedi he was permitted to serve under, notably Rahm Kota, was enough for him to accept he was a small cog in a much larger machine. More than once, however, he was surprised to find that mention of his actions were erased from public propaganda or even limited his involvement. During the final Outer Rim Sieges of the conflict, his success in bypassing and then destroying the Confederacy's heavy orbital defenses the Battle of Triton proved critical to their final victory. The fortified planet had repelled three previous invasion attempts utilising a network of long-range batteries and torpedo launchers to cripple incoming ships. Yet records glorified only the accomplishments of the crews whereas he went nameless as an "enlisted officer" who opened the way for the Clone Troopers. Lyccane himself would reflect upon this in years to come, regarding it as the first sign of cultivated anti-human resentment that would blossom under the Galactic Empire.
By the time the war drew to an end, Lyccane had found himself promoted to Captain but was pushed further and further away from the frontlines. Eventually pulled back to Chandila itself, he spent the final months assisting with ship maintenance and fleet logistics until word came of the Confederacy's defeat and promotional holonet broadcasts announced the purge of the traitorous Jedi Order.
Rebellion (18 BBY - 6 ABY)
Rebel Sympathiser
With an end to hostilities thanks to the dissolution of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the rise of the Galactic Empire, Lyccane found himself serving a very different government. Rather than the victory they had been promised, the galaxy seemed to become a far darker place which emulated the very things they had been fighting against. The Chandrila Defense Fleet was effectively dissolved as part of the new regime, and the role of defending the planet was given to Moff Kohl Seerdon. A number of crewmen were integrated into the new Imperial Navy, but Lyccane found that most alien crewmen had been unceremoniously discharged. Worse still, rumours arose of mysterious deaths even among those accepted into the new order. Individuals who respected the Jedi or even questioned the new policies such as Jace Dallin were executed or seemingly disappeared without a trace. Knowing that there was little he could do, Lyccane attempted to return to a life of serving aboard civilian freighters for a small shipping company. Eventually, between the increasingly tyrannical methods used by planetary governors and word of a growing Rebellion being spearheaded by pro-Republic loyalists, Lyccane opted to align himself with those resisting the Empire.
Rather than wholly returning to military service, Lyccane utilised his knowledge of the hyperspace lanes to supply the fledgling resistance movement. Initially focusing on making low-level supply runs to smaller cells, the Gand privately sought out essential supplies from surplus sources and criminal enterprises alike, often funding them with his personal fortune. Utilising a small network of drop-off and collection points, Lyccane would collect and then drop the supplies during his journeys. As the months wore on, he slowly began to work to create further support with a wider number of contacts.
Upon being given command of his own vessel, Lyccane gradually replaced its crew with other disillusioned figures who had fought in the Clone Wars, thus allowing him to make larger long-range drops and even entire runs in secret to major Rebel groups. While often requiring them to completely wipe segments of the navigation logs and even disguising their losses by faking pirate attacks, they were able to readily strengthen several groups when supplies were desperately needed. He was often forced to rely upon unsavoury means or burning through old favours to ensure he could meet requirements, but the experience gave him a much-needed perspective on logistics in guerilla warfare which would serve him well in the years to come.
His efforts meant that he risked discovery more than once, but Lyccane was able to gradually use this to his advantage. Framing his pro-Imperial employer for treachery against the Empire, he was able to ensure that one of his older comrades succeeded him following several arrests. This benefitted them considerably, allowing them to slowly build up a smaller fleet of loyal captains to provide essential resources to the war effort and more direct long-term support. When the company was forced to scrap a number of its GR-75 Transports, they made sure that they would fall into Rebel hands. Upon having several of its assets seized by order of the Empire, every effort was made to create blind spots and vulnerabilities for the Rebels to raid and capture facilities and ships alike. However, it was clear that these minor acts would only work for a time. Lyccane knew that one suspicious act too many would eventually draw infiltrators or more likely a direct raid by Imperial Intelligence, and began preparing to cut and run at a moment's notice.
Moving the vast majority of essential assets onto the freighters in dummy cargo containers, they began moving them as far from the Core worlds as possible on a series of long-range supply runs to defunct contacts. When the Imperials were able to begin moving against them following unusual flight patterns which might have suggested meeting with Rebel ships, Lyccane tied them up in red tape long enough to broadcast a warning signal to every vessel within the company before quietly departing himself. All eighteen freighters owned by the company defected en masse, using a series of false IFF signals and sensor scramblers to disappear into the Outer Rim territories.
Rebel Agent
For all their efforts not everything went as planned. Three ships were lost amid random jumps, caught either by Imperial patrols or pirate raids and destroyed before they could escape. The survivors eventually regrouped at Polis Massa, where Lyccane announced his plan to openly defect to the Rebellion. Most had been open to the idea, and those who had been wavering on the act of open support were eventually swayed into agreeing with the move. Only two ships and a handful of crewmen objected to this, and instead departed for regions unknown further toward the Outer Rim. With the matter otherwise settled, Lyccane used his contacts to meet with Hiram Drayson to offer their services. The multitude of freighters and experienced crews was a boon to Rebel fleets, allowing them to ferry tons of material between hidden bases. Under the direct control of the Support Services, Lyccane served for over a year in this capacity while occasionally lending his assistance to Ordnance and Supply in gathering Clone Wars era equipment.
Often having to make use with whatever they had on hand, Lyccane put his mind to reworking existing equipment or even vehicles to cover blind spots within the arsenal of several Rebel cells while remaining one step ahead of Imperial Intelligence. Simply targeting and raiding disassembly yards would have led to an easy ambush, and so instead he opted to focus upon building links with groups which had suffered due to the rise of the Empire. These were figures too morally upstanding to tolerate the tightening iron grip of Imperial doctrines, settlements which had found themselves placed under martial law, and even the odd corporation under threat of liquidation to benefit the Empire's war machine. Many refused, either out of fear of reprisal or the inability to believe that the Rebellion might succeed, but the few who accepted conveniently mislaid certain shipments which inevitably ended up in Rebel hands.
Lyccane's ploys worked for some time, but one too many near discoveries and a lack of support from the Rebellion often put any established deal into question. Inspired by the Mon Calamari capacity to refit their cruisers into warships, he began considering how best to rework his own GR-75 freighter, the Yastobaal, to suit these needs. Eventually salvaging the prow heavy turbolaser cannons of a Munificent-class star frigate, he installed them and two sets of torpedo launchers within its superstructure. With these weapons hidden beneath the freighter's sensor reflective shell and a multitude of fake cargo pods, he used it as a q-ship to draw out Imperial privateers and provide some limited protection for wavering supporters.
These combat modifications came at the cost of the Yastobaal's cargo capacity and the lack of military-grade shielding meant that it was an ambush predator rather than a true warship. Nevertheless, it proved to be an effective method of quickly silencing hostile threats attempting to raid vital supply lines. When word of this broke out following the successful destruction of a Guardian-class light cruiser and two escorting Imperial Customs Frigates, Chief of Ordnance and Supply Ral'Rai Muvunc motioned to have Essik reinstated in a military role rather than to continue serving as a logician. It was never substantiated, but a long-standing rumour afterward was that Lyccane had never requested permission to refit his vessel and Muvunc did not wish to deal with the possible fallout of his actions.
Rebel Captain
Seconded to the newly aligned Atrivis Sector Force, Lyccane was one of several figures dispatched to smooth over the transition of power now that they were an officially recognised subsidiary of the growing Rebellion. Given the rank of Captain once more, he immediately set to work analysing the group's greatest threats and possible organisational shortcomings. Lyccane spent weeks examining reports, structural details and indications of possible security leaks, only to find few to no flaws with their operations. Against all odds, the turbulent foundation of the resistance group had not led to any truly notable security risks, and the losses incurred by its predecessors had burned most loose ends which could have been used against them. Even after examining the few survivors' histories he could find nothing substantial which might have indicated they were relaying information back to the Empire, or even times which provided the opportunities to do so.
Eventually, Lyccane determined that the greatest risk to the Sector Force was its own accomplishments. A string of successful skirmishes, raids, infiltration efforts, and propaganda acts had made them a visible target. Rather than limiting their efforts so the Empire might mistake them as a minor resistance group, their growing power was enough that the Imperial Navy would likely send a full fleet to crush them completely. Knowing that Imperial tacticians were likely attempting to narrow down Artivis Rebel outposts based upon combat data, Lyccane began studying information of these previous victories to see how this might be averted. Eventually, he brought forward a plan to draw the Imperials away from their main outpost by faking the intent of their attacks.
For the last two years, the Imperial Navy had been forced to step up their patrol and counter-piracy missions in an effort to quell resistance, focusing their efforts on the systems directly attacked by the Rebels. This had not stretched their numbers thin, but these concentrated efforts had limited their capacity to effectively respond to attacks against several prominent targets. One of which was the twin Deepdock support facilities for the Noonian sector. This was one of the few locations in that region large enough to fully support the Empire's largest warships. Its destruction, combined with several attacks in surrounding areas on major sensor networks, would make it seem as if their previous actions had been an elaborate feint to pull off a massive offensive in the neighbouring sector. Lyccane argued long and hard over the point, both to colleagues and his superiors, but he was denied the capital ships they required to make the plan such an effective strike. Instead, he was granted a detachment of marines and a full Y-Wing squadron to see his plan to fruition. This was only a small fraction of the numbers he needed but Lyccane quietly accepted this offer and went about adapting his plan as best he could.
Without the benefit of turbolaser equipped vessels, any frontal assault was entirely out of the question. As such, Lyccane risked one final raid on Imperial shipping, utilizing the ion cannons of the fighters and a loaned transport to capture a single Gozanti-class cruiser bound for their target. Boarding it and taking control, the Rebel troops were able to claim the vessel before it could activate a distress signal. After dealing with the crew, Essik's forces refitted the transport with proton bombs from the Y-Wings with the plan to use it as a gigantic missile. After using the cruiser to ram the enemy main docking arms, the marines would break clear and begin to attack other areas of the gigantic framework, crippling its vital facilities. The other group, in their unarmed transport, would initiate a similar attack on the second Deepdock before both would fall back to escape pods and utility ships to flee the enemy facility. Essik knew the plan was risky to the point of being little more than a suicide mission, but as reports came in of growing enemy activity in the Atrivis sector, he knew they had no time to plan another operation.
The plan was a partial success. The stolen cruiser was picked up as a possible hostile within minutes of entering the system due to signs of residual damage the Rebels had been unable to repair, while the second transport's security codes failed. Under heavy fire of the enemy defensive guns and fighter escorts, the cruiser managed to ram its target and disgorged its payload of marines. Of the five squads deployed onto the first Deepdock only two achieved their objectives, and most were lost under the heavy assault. The attack on the second frame destroyed several vital fuel pumps and control bridges, but a heavy counter-assault drove the Rebels into total retreat within a matter of minutes. Of the fifty marines who participated in the assault only eight survived the engagement, including Essik. Five were able to escape via a troop carrier, but Essik and the two remaining Rebel troopers departed in an escape pod.
While the detonation itself was delayed due to a malfunctioning timer, it proved to be far more effective than Essik could have ever predicted. Rather than scuttling the larger frame, the explosion triggered a chain reaction across the massive mobile shipyard leading to a reactor breach. The entire Deepdock was ripped apart by the sudden explosion, taking with it a multitude of smaller maintenance ships vital to the smooth operation of the local fleet. The second, too slow by far to avoid the debris, was pelted by hyper-accelerated metal fragments before being skewered by one docking arm and crippling it beyond repair. Their effort had not simply limited the ability to support Star Destroyers across the sector, but to rearm and refuel any Imperial ship larger than a corvette at a safe location.
Follow-up attacks by the Y-Wings on several communications facilities and the use of torpedoes loaded with IFF transponders gave the impression of a massive Rebel uprising within the Noonian sector. In response, the forces which had been dispatched to sweep through the Atrivis sector were rapidly withdrawn to counter this supposed new threat. However, Essik showed little joy in their accomplishment as the cost had been far too high for his liking. He grew to resent both his actions and the Alliance commanders who had denied him the means to a far less costly victory.
Rebel Leader
Essik and the survivors of the first group were eventually rescued by an Imperial support shuttle seeking out survivors, which the Rebels promptly hijacked and claimed for themselves. Regrouping with the others who had taken part in the operation, he spent several days reviewing local reports and enemy ship sightings. Hunting for even the slightest indication that the local Imperial governor may have picked up on their distraction, he made every effort to confirm that the operation had been a success. It was during this that word reached him of an unintended side-effect of his actions.
Images of the Deepdock attack had spread across the Holonet, and were promoted as an act of unprovoked terrorism against the ruling government. As was often the case with such actions, this only inspired further acts of resistance from the downtrodden populace. Combined with the heavy-handed response from law enforcement officers, within a matter of days riots and open protests had broken out across several worlds. It was obvious that these acts were by civilians and determined amateurs rather than the mix of criminals, combat veterans and resistance fighters which made up the Rebellion, and many ended in no small amount of blood being shed to restore order.
Already shaken by those lost under his command, the news of these uprisings was too much for Essik to ignore. His orders were to return to Atrivis, but he instead opted to remain there to assist with the groups and at least offer them some chance of success. Of the Rebels who had joined him, four Y-Wings remained with Essik along with the Yastobaal. Using the transport as a makeshift command carrier he began contacting local resistance leaders and supporting them by any means within his power. From making supply drops to silencing enemy informants and officiating military oversight on group formations, Essik became a link between these disparate groups and served to gradually unite them as a single movement.
Despite Essik's best efforts, most cells were rooted out and annihilated shortly after their inception, he made sure that those left would remain a thorn in the Empire's side for years to come. Essik himself remained there for several years, posing as a trader and doing everything in his power to stall attempts to bring him before the main Rebel fleet. This eventually led to his promotion as a resistance leader coordinating efforts across several systems. Managing to acquire a small fleet of raider vessels, the movement was able to successfully raid Noonar itself, and initiate several attacks on Imperial supply convoys. Their presence proved to be a hindrance more than a true threat, but the resources diverted from nearby sectors to contain them bolstered Rebel efforts elsewhere, and Essik's leadership ensured that they never overplayed their hand.
Unfortunately, when the cells voted to formally align themselves with the larger Rebel Alliance, Essik was called to task for the abandonment of his post. While his successes saw that he was not removed from the Alliance entirely, initiating what was seen as a personal crusade drew criticism from several members. As a result, he was required to step down from his position as overall leader of the Noonian cells, and demoted to Flight Officer to prevent further rogue actions on his part.
Rebel Soldier
Tasked with maintaining stores and assisting with the quartermaster of Home One, Essik was able to learn of recent developments within the greater galaxy. Misinformation and rumours were rife among them, but it was becoming clear that the Empire was utilising the Rebellion's existence as an excuse to gain further power. The already increasingly obsolete Senate was being bypassed at every turn, and while several Rebel movements had seen success in the Outer Rim, many had been rooted out or destroyed in concentrated attacks. Essik ignored this for the moment and instead focused on his duties, diligently maintaining supply schedules and fighter transfers. He might have languished in this post, were it not for an offer from one of the very officers who had condemned him over his insubordination. The Rebellion was seeking to establish a number of bolt holes and secondary outposts along with a world worthy of establishing a headquarters. Knowing that he would need effective officers, he had petitioned Rebel command to return Essik to a frontline position.
Essik was eventually placed in the far end of the Ison Corridor along with a garrison of thirty soldiers. Using a derelict star cruiser as a base of operations, the group hid within the nebula, establishing a listening post and sensor suite to cover ship movements throughout the area. Reconstructing a large damaged section of the station into a makeshift hanger and refuelling station, Essik was soon able to maintain it as a watchpoint. With some liberal "misunderstandings" of his orders, he was even able to launch minor raids on singular Imperial cargo shipments and liberate replacement parts for ships visiting the station.
Essik himself saw little action during this time. He diligently drilled and maintained the small force in its role, but he understood and accepted that his duty was to ultimately maintain a secret outpost and relay intelligence back to Alliance Command. This hardly stopped him taking advantage when the right moment arose. Upon learning of a larger Imperial group patrolling the region in its hunt for pirates Essik prepared for a battle, knowing that the Ison Corridor's infamous reputation would draw this battle group to their position. The station was hidden from general sweeps of the area by jaded or indolent Imperial captains, but each of the Rebels knew that a thorough search would likely uncover them. Opting to engage them on his terms, Essik intentionally drew the enemy flotilla deep into the corridor with a mixture of sensor ghosts and signal bounces. Once they were far enough into the debris field, a combination of proton bombs placed with the wreckage and sensor jamming he succeeded in destroying much of the fleet and even captured the Nebulon-B frigate which served as the group's command vessel.
The act both demoralized Imperial forces and secured the corridor from other threats for a time, along with granting the Alliance a new capital ship. Unfortunately, Essik's prior actions worked against him. While they were jubilant in his success Alliance Command did not wish to encourage such reckless behaviour in its subordinates. As a result, news of this victory was stifled and his competence was used as an excuse to keep Essik garrisoning this position. He would remain there for several years, working as best he could and learning only of several major galactic events through second-hand sources. These included Garm Bel Iblis' decision to break away from the Alliance, the existence and then the destruction of the Death Star, and annihilation of Alderaan. It was only with the loss of Yavin Base that he was granted a more active role.
Rebel Privateer
The Skyfire The destruction of the Death Star and the loss of Alderaan had been rallying cries to those who opposed the Empire. Rather than enforcing discipline as Tarkin had predicted, it only encouraged further insurrections. The Rebellion needed to capitalize on this even as it reeled from the loss of its major headquarters, both to train and further bolster such efforts before they could be crushed. Essik was one of a multitude of officers selected for this task as, his insubordination aside, no one could deny that he had proven himself to be an effective leader in this capacity. To this end, Essik was given command of the Skyfire, a bulk freighter refitted into a light carrier. With a list of systems to support and several contacts, he was told to act as he saw fit.
Essik would spend much of the continued war focusing on his own efforts of building a larger attack force and assisting resistance cells wherever they emerged. This was much to their benefit and many of the tactics he had utilized in the Noonian sector served him well, but as the conflict drew on he began to reinvent them. Along with harassing supply routes and weakening enemy garrisons, Essik began to build a network of spies throughout production facilities and decommissioning centres. This helped to allow the odd crate of blaster rifles or even entire starfighters to end up in Rebel hands, along with replacing enemy freighters when required. The Empire ran like a well-oiled machine, set to timetables and standard schedules. Yet those same inflexible routines made them often easy to exploit and target for supply raids.
Using the ship in a manner akin to that of the Yastobaal, Essik took full advantage of the Skyfire's ability to bypass Imperial patrols to repeatedly deploy units in seemingly impossible locations. Following a successful Y-Wing assault on a military parade that killed several prominent Imperial officials and decimated the Stormtrooper garrison of a system, he began even using the reputation of his victories as a weapon. To divert Imperial attention away from actual resistance cells and maintain their freedom of movement, he fabricated rumours of a legendary Rebel force striking at will throughout the sector. Often pinning his own victories on this group via informants and double agents, he continually made falsified sensor readings of larger ships moving in and out of Imperial space, and even established abandoned bases via leftover equipment to solidify this ruse. These acts ensured that a number of prominent Imperial patrols were often dispatched to hunt down this phantom force, and his own efforts were written off simply as a lesser threat to be dealt with at a later date. Dubbing the nonexistent group Phoenix Squadron, Essik even went so far as to spread rumours that a famed military commander had once even been dispatched to personally hunt them down.
Throughout this time, Essik concentrated his efforts on low-level support of resistance groups while the main Rebel forces won substantial victories. His efforts were made to weaken, destroy and deprive fleets of resources required to resist Rebel activity, leaving them open to attacks by the smaller Rebel force. This meant that he never participated in the likes of the Battle of Hoth, yet he was often responsible for a number of secondary battles and essential minor victories. This only changed during the Assault on the Second Death Star, where his force was recalled along with other groups to reinforce the main Rebel fleet during its assault. Essik personally argued against committing such a substantial force to an engagement, but he nevertheless complied with his orders nor would he deny the effect their victory had in destabilizing the Empire for years to come.
The battle proved to be a costly one to all Rebel groups involved, and Essik found that many pilots under his command had lost their lives engaging TIE squadrons. Over two-thirds of the force he had spent years leading had been killed in a single conflict and many more remained missing in action. As the Alliance celebrated its victory on the forest moon Essik remained with his ship, recording and remembering those lost. For many, this proved to be a turning point long promised by the Rebellion. Yet for Essik this was one loss too many. While many saw little difference, those who had served him for long years began to note that he had become oddly distant and even colder than before; as if unwilling to associate himself with others.
Rather than being dispatched to take advantage of the Empire's growing disunity, Essik was instead kept with the main Rebel fleet to assist with its rebuilding. He was briefly considered to lead the small force dispatched to combat an enemy incursion at Bakura and later Kashyyyk, it was ultimately decided that he would best serve the fleet in speeding its recovery. He was eventually pushed back into service in time for the Battle of Glom Tho, where he assisted with the capture of several foundries during an airborne drop. This was to be his final battle as a member of the Rebellion, as the Alliance formally renamed itself the New Republic. The name had been bandied about almost since the night of their victory of Endor, and the fleet had undergone a steady reorganization, this cemented their status as a true government over a resistance movement.
Republican Liberator
After being transferred officially to the New Republic First Fleet, Essik accepted the position of a flag officer serving on board the flagship. He often actively sought out reasons to serve on its escorts thanks largely to his preference for smaller ships, but he nevertheless proved to be a skilled leader. Essik's approach was often one of diligence tempered with caution, and displayed an unwillingness to simply throw his vessels headlong into a conflict. Realising that a multitude of the tactics the Rebellion had developed to fight the Empire would not effectively serve an official state of government, many of his methods became far more conservative in nature and developed a habitual point of explaining himself to subordinates. Following the loss of his crew at Endor, this led to the widespread belief that the Gand had lost confidence in his own abilities. Instead, it was borne of the simple desire to pass on the few viable lessons he retained from his time in the Republic Navy. Unfortunately, this was rarely taken seriously and only served to fuel hearsay surrounding both his nerves and capabilities. Those who did take such words to heart were among the few he made a point of retaining during crew rotations, gradually formulating a small cadre of subordinates that he could rely upon to know when and when not to risk their lives in the name of a cause.
The Empire's base of power had fractured, with warlords splitting off to fulfill their own ambitions of victory, and yet it did still retain vast fleets of warships under its command. The authority of Sate Pestage, the highest-ranking surviving member of the Imperial Court, was a certainly tenuous one but he still commanded loyalty within many of the Emperor's followers. Whatever victory was accomplished could have easily been turned against them had he been given time to consolidate his forces. Because of this, Essik typically utilized his skills in battles to minimize casualties among fleets he was a part; simultaneously emphasizing inflicting lasting damage on Imperial capital ships over outright destruction. With the Empire's limited resources and their crews relying on inexperienced Commanders as a result of defections or dereliction of duty, forcing a ship to withdraw from frontline engagements for extensive refitting was more harmful than a total loss. The tactic proved to be a viable one in many conflicts, forcing the Empire to withdraw orbital support from minor systems they viewed as unnecessary as they regrouped their power. It proved to be especially effective against Warlords or lone Captains who had sought to claim a planet for themselves, as the smaller groups typically lacked the infrastructure to support full refittings of their ships. Nevertheless, the gains made through such tactics were still minor. It would take both external pressure and multiple betrayals among his command staff to see Pestage removed from power, and for Ysanne Isard to usurp him.
Most of the gains made in the final months leading to the capture of Coruscant were attributed to Rogue Squadron's efforts. Conflicts such as the capture of Balmorra and the infiltration efforts to take the Imperial Center were left to far more talented commanders by far. However, Essik was held in reserve during the Liberation of Coruscant, and saw action as part of General Tantor's in breaching the defences surrounding the Imperial Palace. Essik expected that this would be his final role in the conflict but soon found himself corrected. Coruscant had been a poisoned chalice, and Isard had left a biological weapon known as the Krytos virus to hinder Republic efforts to hold the planet.
Humans were immune to the Krytos' effects, but the virus was a virulent and extremely dangerous airborne contagion which targeted a wide variety of other species. Prominent races which had assisted the Rebellion such as the Bothans, Mon Calamari and Sullestians were among these groups, along with Twi'leks, Trandoshans and Shistavanens. This both weakened the New Republic's fragile internal economy and quickly fanned the flames of anti-Humanism among the more extreme elements of the populace, a matter hardly helped by the actions of Provisional Councilor Borsk Fey'lya. Essik proved to be extremely resistant to the virus' worst effects. Whether this was thanks to a lack of familiarity with his species' bizarre physiology on the part of the virus' creator or a lack of lungs was unknown, but it provided the New Republic with a non-human face on the surface. Essik continued to keep the peace and root out possible Imperial sympathizers, but he was typically deployed to locations where anti-human sentiment was greatest. The sight of a Gand commanding human troops and Essik's own natural skills as a diplomat proved to be enough to diffuse several potential riots.
Even following the creation of a cure to the Krytos Virus, Essik remained stationed on Coruscant to help maintain security on the planet. He typically served as an advisor and a local devil's advocate. He was one of a multitude of officers tasked with devising plans to exploit security weaknesses and then suggest ways to correct them. For a time he believed that this was to be his final role in service to the New Republic. With only quarreling warlords left and the New Republic gaining ground on all fronts, the threats he fought against were coming to an end, and with that, he would be able to retire from the military. He was soon to be proven wrong.
The Unsung Wars (7 ABY - 29 ABY)
Sins of a Galactic Empire
For a time the New Republic was granted a short reprieve from true threats, and yet the wars never ended. No sooner did one fall than another would rise, consolidating power and attempting to crown themselves as a new Imperial ruler. Victory after victory was attained, with the Republic advancing on every front, and yet total annihilation of their old enemy was never a guarantee. There was no swift end, no abrupt final battle which would turn the tide in their favour, and many within the New Republic counted their blessings that the Imperials were just as prone to turn on one another as their old enemies.
Essik himself was part of a task force which took advantage of one such war between Imperial bandit kingdoms, as he came to call them. Following the deaths of Grand Admirals Danetta Pitta and Josef Grunger during the Battle of Tralus in late 6 ABY, the New Republic found itself with an unexpected advantage. The conflict had not only seen the removal of two governing officers of the Imperial elite, but both a Torpedo Sphere and Super Star Destroyer along with the bulk of their military might. Infighting, conflicts and rivalries in the months which followed had disrupted unity between the remaining Imperials, but that was quickly dying down. With the New Republic desperate to reclaim and quickly shut down as much of their military infrastructure as possible, Essik was one of a small task force whose mission it was to capture or destroy as many enemy installations as possible before a new hierarchy could be established and another warlord might rise. Essik, as per usual, went with the simplest approach possible.
The Republican taskforce was small and his one, in particular, had been formed with scouting duties and lightning raids in mind over a full campaign. As such, he opted to destabilize the worlds he engaged; cutting off supplies and damaging ships until he could identify the personality traits of the officers who made up the remnants of each power. Those whose crimes were too great were assassinated or killed in abrupt attacks, each serving as displays to weaken the Imperial image over the worlds they controlled and incite rebellion within the local populations. The more stable and pragmatic ranking underlings were quietly approached by other means. Putting his skills as a diplomat to work, he appealed to their sense of personal wealth, self-interest or even basic facts, offering them amnesty or employment within the New Republic if he felt that they could be trusted. Those who felt that the Empire was dead, or even that no regime could uphold the values that the Empire had supposedly supported, were gradually swayed to Essik's side. Those who still resisted were quietly eliminated. Famously, Essik's creativity led to the capture of Pitta's shipyards without firing a shot, when no less than six Star Destroyers which had aligned themselves with the Gand arrived and quickly forced the local Commander to surrender his holdings. As a result of his actions Essik was one of a select few who managed to not only return with no losses, but more ships than he had departed Republic space with.
Unfortunately, few victories proved to be so easy. After Issard's apparent death, Zsinj came to power with the backing of a Super Star Destroyer and a substantial portion of the Empire's military might. Even after he met his end over Dathomir, other remnants such as the Pentastar Alignment and Ciutric Hegemony staunchly resisted efforts to oust themselves from their holdings. Matters were only made infinitely more complicated when a living legend returned to unify the scattered remnants of the Empire and restore them to a single unified power.
Tyrants and Legends
For a brief period, Imperial activities lessened in their conflicts with the New Republic. While the odd skirmish or operation would be launched between the two territories, the near-constant warring slowed until the two fleets barely met on the field. When news of this reached Essik, he believed that this was an indication that the Empire had been united under a single leader. He had hoped that whoever replaced them might be willing to negotiate an end to the war. He only proved to be partially correct when the Imperial forces launched a massive counter-offensive into Republic space, with their efforts guided by Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Thrawn himself had only been a half-known figure typically left in the shadows of the Empire. His acts had been recognized and news of this one non-human Palpatine permitted among his elite were hardly closely guarded secrets, yet research had rarely offered anything of true substance. There was little information available to help gauge the Grand Admiral’s actions or commanding style until the two sides met in battle. Thrawn himself turned multiple opening battles into a complete rout, utilizing tactics and command methods that re-wrote the way battles were waged overnight. Thrawn was far from infallible, but his ability to mitigate his losses and remain one step ahead of his enemies made him an extraordinarily difficult opponent to combat.
Essik’s role in the war against Thrawn’s unified Empire was initially one of internal security. First, he was tasked with ensuring that the Imperials who had joined the New Republic stayed loyal to their cause, or were prevented from aligning with Thrawn. Essik found himself forced to investigate the same men he had so recently convinced to turn against their masters and was forced to imprison a multitude of them as a precautionary measure. Then, as the campaign continued, he was placed on planets recently inducted into the Republic and tasked with reworking their defensive measures. Those initiated or drawn up by the Imperial governments were too uninformed and easily countered by the Empire, forcing a complete reworking of their strategies. This at least slowed the Imperial advance into several planets, and forced them to redirect more substantial forces to claim large regions.
As the Dreadnoughts of the legendary Katana fleet were added to the Empire's armada, Essik was pushed toward defending a number of secondary objectives. With the New Republic constantly regrouping, assembling fleets and initiating delaying tactics, he was offered only a meagre force of escort vessels and fighter squadrons to accomplish this goal. The worlds themselves did not directly support the war effort, but boasted a high food production output. Any shortfall would result in starvation across several systems, weakening the morale of the Republic and giving the impression that they could not defend their own territories. Drilling his men and improving each world's defences as best he could, and waiting for the Empire to strike. When it did, it moved on his position with overwhelming force. The Republic fleet was outnumbered almost eight to one, with three enemy Star Destroyers among the enemy armada. Any open conflict would have been seemingly hopeless, but Essik had two advantages: Subterfuge and the heavy defensive shielding of each world. This led to him gambling victory on initiating an open battle before his hand was forced.
Traditional tactical doctrines decreed that once a superior enemy fleet had been sighted, ships should remain in close orbit to the worlds they defended. Instead Essik opted to go on the offensive. Splitting his fleet into six individual squadrons, he sent them off to major defensive locations and vital areas across the nearby sector. Seeing an opportunity to wipe them out in a single attack, the enemy commander mirrored this action, breaking up the armada to confront each one in turn. Yet the locations had been specifically chosen for more than one reason. Some were distant enough that a secure scan was difficult at the best of times. Others were hidden by the shadow of background energy anomalies, and some even activated IFF transponders fixed to probes in order to disguise their true positions. As such, once the enemy force had broken apart to confront them, Essik recalled the majority of his ships to his position and initiated a full attack on the largest group of warships. Detecting that Essik's flag vessel was among one particular group, two of the enemy Star Destroyers had been dispatched in a single force. When Essik's group fell upon them, they found themselves completely outnumbered and heavily outgunned. By the end of the conflict, Essik had lost three frigates but the entire enemy force at this position had been eradicated.
Essik's battles on this front would continue this pattern of deceptively repositioning his fleets and feeding the enemy false information. It allowed him to gradually whittle them down, but the action did come at a cost. In the final days of these battles, the Imperials ignored his group entirely and initiated a full-scale assault on a single planet under his protection. Essik was able to dispatch the last of their ships in a furious battle directly above the world, but not before almost thirty thousand troops were deployed planetside. With only a small number of voluntary companies under his command and few trained soldiers among them, Essik was tied up for months attempting to prevent the enemy legions from completely taking hold of the planet. For all his successes in orbit, all he was able to accomplish was a stalemate until New Republic reinforcements could be dispatched to his position.
It was only during the final days of the war that Essik joined the conflict in earnest, commanding the Tyrant’s Bane assault frigate as a New Republic armada made its attack on the Bilbringi Shipyards. The battle itself proved to be surprisingly brief. Though the Imperials saw through the feint which might have predicted them an easy victory, the two sides were evenly matched. Yet, as the battle reached a critical moment, the Imperials abruptly retreated without any true warning. For a time many believed that this was some part of a grander strategy until it was learned that Thrawn had been assassinated by his own bodyguard. It was an abrupt end to the campaign, but after so many losses and false victories, the conclusion was welcome. The forces under Thrawn withdrew to a multitude of locations, with many seemingly disappearing entirely from known star charts. As the New Republic licked its wounds and reclaimed the territories lost during Thrawn's battles, Essik was one of the many officers given the duty of uncovering their fate. While he was given no definitive answers for his efforts, he was not left waiting long before he uncovered their fate.
Suddenly and terribly a vast Imperial armada emerged from the Deep Core and initiated a devastating series of battles against the New Republic. Thrawn had fought with genius and conservative estimations, but these new fleets opted to utilize total war. Where they traveled, worlds burned, cities were reduced to ash, and ships were scattered. With the vast bulk of the New Republic Defense Force engaging and destroying the fleets of Admiral Krennel, they were caught flat-footed. A strong rearguard had been stationed in defense of the Core, but no one could have predicted the firepower arrayed against them. With four Executor-class dreadnoughts, five Mandator III-class dreadnoughts, and three Vengeance-class dreadnoughts backed by countless smaller Star Destroyer and escort classes, the New Republic had come face to face with more firepower than much of the Imperial warlords combined. Worse still, as many of the Executor-class dreadnoughts were thought to have been captured or destroyed in the following years - and suspected to be small in number - the New Republic fleets were left with no effective counter against the titanic warships.
World after world was lost to this renewed onslaught. Kaikielius, Corellia, and Alsakan were among the first to fall. While the New Republic scraped together an assembled fleet to make a stand at Metellos, it was utterly annihilated when several vital support ships were caught out of position. Anaxes and Borleias were reclaimed by the Imperials soon after this, leaving the way open to Coruscant itself. As the entire enemy navy closed on the world and bombarded it from orbit, Mon Mothma ordered a total evacuation. Essik was one of those present at the time, and followed the lead of Garm Bel Iblis as they made multiple attempts to run the blockade. Most ships were destroyed, with only a few escaping and many major governmental figures within the New Republic found themselves trapped on the capital world. The New Republic resorted to guerrilla fighting amid Galactic City, and for three days they held against growing numbers of Imperial drop troops and armoured divisions. On the fourth, the Empire completely smashed all opposition; overrunning the city and claiming the world for themselves. The fighting would continue for some time, with Coruscant reduced to a depopulated ruin, but it was clear that the planet was once more in Imperial hands. After so many long victories, after so many strides to solidifying their new government and beating back the vestiges of the Empire, everything was falling apart. In the face of this, Essik's usual pragmatism carried an undercurrent of bitterness, a stubborn desire to deny the Empire any true triumph.
Essik's private war on the planet carried on for the first several weeks of what would become known as Operation Shadow Hand. During this time, his efforts focused upon breaking the impression of total Imperial victory, targeting propaganda centres and monuments as much as vital enemy facilities. The galaxy needed to see that the New Republic still opposed the Empire, even in its darkest hour. No less than three assassination attempts were made against Alix Balan, the General who had led the reconquest of Coruscant, but none succeeded. The New Republic regrouped in Hutt Space about the world of Da Soocha V even as Essik kept fighting. It was only once Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles' reinforcements arrived to buy time for those left to fully disengage from the battle that Essik departed the world. He was the last to board their awaiting transport, gazing out at the ruined skyline and vowed to return and drive the Empire from its surface for good.
'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.' Arriving at Da Soocha V, Essik began bringing himself up to speed on all that had taken place. New Republic Intelligence had learned that the Empire was now backed by infrastructure superior to anything which had previously supported their fleets. Hidden away in the Deep Core, massive shipyards were churning out wave upon wave of new war machines and doomsday weapons, taking the Empire's emphasis on victory through power to an entirely new level. Worse still, the vying factions which had barely been unified under Thrawn were once more governed by a powerful Imperial Court, one led by a being claiming to be Palpatine reborn. Essik was given little time to fully process this when word came that Mon Calamari itself was under attack by a vast enemy fleet of new superweapons: The World Devastators. Mon Calamari itself had been a prominent member of the Rebellion and remained a steadfast element of the New Republic. Its ships were identified as those of the Republic's main fleet, and the annihilation of its people would have broken what faith remained in the Republic's government. Essik was among the first commanders to volunteer for its defence, reinforcing the fleets attempting to hold back the Devastators.
Barely arriving in time to assist with the planet's defence, Essik took command of the shattered remnants of several battle groups. They were able to inflict severe damage to the enemy fleet's rearguard on arrival but the New Republic forces soon became embroiled in a bitterly one-sided conflict against the Empire's new weapons. For every ship they destroyed the World Devastators could easily replace them, churning out wave upon wave of highly advanced droid TIE fighters or even new Devastators in their rampage. Ripping apart both the Republic fleet and local cities as fuel for these monstrous factories of war, it was evident that without a major breakthrough Mon Calamari would be lost. Essik was able to draw away enough forces for Rogue Squadron to initiate a series of attacks on smaller Devastators in new V-Wing fighters, crippling them and giving time for civilian evacuations across a heavily populated archipelago. The arrival of new E-Wing attack squadrons also allowed Essik to turn the tide against others, finally drive back the droid TIE fighters screening the Devastators and was able to bring down another with the use of robot ram ships. Yet these were only superficial victories and had little impact on the flow of battle. It was only when a coded signal shut down the Devastators that the Republic was able to overcome the enemy fleet. The cost had been high in both military and civilian casualties, but they had held the line.
Having barely survived the battle after the bridge of his ship was raked by turbolaser volleys, costing him an arm in the process, most expected Essik to wait out the conflict in recovery. Instead, he accepted only a Bacta cast before returning to work, stating that he was not about to watch defeat from a hospital bed. After spending days hunting down and mopping up damaged ships which had attempted to flee Mon Calamari back to safer harbours, Essik returned to Da Soocha V just in time to board a new ship and participate the pyrrhic Battle of Pinnacle Base. With his loss, Palpatine had taken matters into his own hands. Arriving with his new command ship, the Eclipse, the Emperor began to lay waste to the New Republic military, even as Luke Skywalker turned on him and engaged the Sith Lord in a duel. Essik was only able to save a number of crews by ordering them to turn tail and simply flee from the battle as Palpatine summoned a Force Storm of titanic proportions. Hundreds upon thousands of naval crewmen died in that inferno before it consumed the one which summoned it. While the Empire's leadership had been beheaded, the cost had been staggering and any hope of facing the Imperial military on even terms quickly died out.
Seeking to take advantage of Palpatine's apparent end, and weaken the authority of its new leader Executor Sedriss QL, Essik proposed an operation to make the various factions of the Empire turn on one another. Such strategies had served them well in the past and, without a uniting figure, several strategists felt that they could be provoked into another civil war with the correct targets. Driven by a sense of unyielding hatred for the Empire, Essik immediately volunteered to see the riskiest of these operations to fruition. His main targets were the organizations which helped to secure the Empire's internal stability and counter-infiltration efforts - the Inquisitorius, COMPNOR, and the Imperial Security Bureau. Each had well-defined jurisdictions and entirely different goals of countering Force users, supporting the new order through propaganda and Humanocentric rhetoric, and espionage respectively, but it had not prevented rivalries from arising between them. Each hungered for greater power and control, and Essik's acts only heightened that envy. To some he would hand seemingly easy victories or essential information which humiliated the other two, even encouraging them to infringe upon their duties. In other cases he would initiate industrial sabotage, leaving just enough hints to allow paranoia and envy to make them act against the others. Essik left most of the real fighting to the Imperials, and his strikes were always carefully planned and their targets were well chosen.
Amazingly, Essik's actions and those of others proved to be enough to make the Empire turn on itself, triggering a series of skirmishes and infighting which destabilised their hold on the galaxy. Soon, not only was the Empire's internal affairs departments rounding on one another but even the Ruling Council, the Moffs, and the Fleet commanders had begun to participate in a barely disguised six-sided war. While united against the external threat of the New Republic's remaining ships, each saw their supposed comrades as the greater threat, often overlooking their hated foe as the lesser opponent and giving them much needed time to regroup and heal from the costly battles prior to then. Palpatine's return did little to stem the flow of blood, seemingly deeming it an essential part of culling the weak from his new order. So long as each pledged overall loyalty to him, he was unconcerned with just who they chose to kill. It was a typical practice which the Empire and Sith dynasties had encouraged, but it also permitted the New Republic to exploit these rivalries for its own ends.
Essik would not return to any major New Republic outpost until the end of the war. He had vowed to hurt the Empire, to drive them back and prevent history repeating itself, no matter the cost. He would disappear for weeks if not months on end, deep within enemy territory with only a few reports of surprising battles or raids hinting at his presence, before briefly returning to one outpost or another. The small flotilla he commanded would only wait until they had been repaired and rearmed, before leaving once again to continue their war. His crews protested continually against this practice, and some were driven to the brink of despair by relentless fighting, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise. Essik constantly made sure to pick and choose his battles carefully, and famously lost only eight crewmen for the rest of the war. They were not present for the costly losses at the hands of the Galaxy Gun, nor the uprisings which turned world after world against the New Republic. Furthermore, his actions constantly weakened the Empire's hold on its outlying territories, targeting munitions plants, shipyards, and support facilities over directly engaging their military. As such, when Byss was destroyed along with a substantial portion of the Empire's newfound strength and infrastructure, the Imperials had nothing left to support their ships in many regions. Due to his actions and the loss of so many essential figures among their chain of command Essik was promoted twice during the conflict, first to Commodore and then Rear Admiral.
With the Empire's political and military heart having been torn apart, Essik finally began to directly attack military vessels. His ships would leave minefields in the wake of military hyperspace jump points, specifically those used by damaged ships seeking quick access to the shipyards they had crippled. When a fleeing Star Destroyer or battle group was found Essik would fall upon it with every ship he had, making multiple passes and raking the more intact ships with cannon fire before withdrawing again. Some he would personally return to destroy, while others were left as easy pickings for slavers or pirates to finish off. In his mind it was a fitting end for all that they had done, and they deserved no mercy for their actions. Essik's vengeance would only halt once the New Republic was poised to retake Coruscant, and followed through with his promise to return to the capital world. Driving the occupying Imperial forces from its surface, Essik's prior experience during the New Republic's first assault were used to drive back the Imperials and rapidly reclaim the world. Rather than allowing the Imperials to slip away or withdraw, Essik ensured that every Stormtrooper, officer, and pilot was only given two options - Surrender and face trial, or die in battle. It would take three months to completely reclaim much of the planet, and longer still before they could truly begin to rebuild the world.
Hard Lessons and Lesser Evils
The aftermath of the Galactic Empire's resurgence had been a harrowing experience for all factions involved. The Empire fragmented, with various warlords returning to their previous territories or even attempting to offset the shift in power. Much of their newfound strength had been spent or had been lost at Byss, and they could not call upon the supreme naval might they had once relied on. Even the most powerful remaining warlord, Admiral Teradoc, only commanded a total of seventy Victory-class Star Destroyers, and the Pentastar Alignment had been reduced to relying heavily on its fortress worlds for protection. Yet planets did not flock to the banner of the New Republic. Palpatine's actions had both driven the government far from the Galactic Core and worlds now feared association with the New Republic thanks to the Empire's onslaught. A few opted to return but the Republic's membership had been reduced to barely ten thousand worlds, and its most secure bases of operations were located in neutral self-governed territories such as Hutt Space and the Corporate Sector Authority. Even taking Coruscant only offered limited benefit thanks to its ruined state.
Rather than persecuting a new campaign against the Imperials, Essik opted to assist with the rebuilding of Coruscant. Requesting a leave of service, he used his knowledge and personal skills as an administrator to speed the planet's recovery. The damage had been severe but many essential facilities thankfully remained intact, with both most of the solar mirrors and major water distribution facilities having survived the occupation. However, even as military units and civilian labourers pushed to rebuild the world, they found themselves battling against the thick debris field in orbit. It would take the New Republic Defense Fleet months to clear a path through it to allow ships to come and go on a regular basis. Essik, for his own actions, opted to cut out the middleman and began using it as a resource to supplement reconstruction efforts. Unfortunately, while a number of key areas were restored within a year of work, many lower levels of the city remained largely unaffected by the operations and only benefitted from limited support. Essik did all he could for them, but he was unable to gain the authority or manpower to truly make a difference.
The year of rebuilding was enough to offer Essik time for self-reflection, but it did little to truly change him for the better. Essik had repeatedly considered leaving the military on multiple occasions, and yet this brought home one fact to him: There really was nothing left for him beyond his service to the New Republic. He had not stepped foot on Gand in decades and was as much a stranger to his family as any outsider. Coruscant was the closest thing he had to home now, and yet it meant little to him. He was devoted to its reconstruction out of a sense of obligation but he had no real love for the world. As a result, he elected to find greater purpose within his life and to accomplish more than simply fighting in its name. Because of this, Essik returned for a time to Chandrila, where he was offered a post at the military academy in training new officers to replace the tens of thousands lost during the last two major campaigns. Essik did all he could to encourage each student to learn of both the Rebellion's hit-and-fade tactics along with the strategies of foreign powers. He prioritised a traditional baseline understanding of the naval methods utilized by the New Republic navy, but he was ever ready to reward ingenuity over someone pigeonholing themselves into a single way of thinking, or simply mimicking others in an effort to imply skill over actually having it.
The Nebula-class would become one of the Modernization Program's greatest successes. During this time, Essik learned of the other battles taking place against Admiral Daala and new superweapons such as the Sun Crusher. However, he felt he could do far more good in a position of teaching rather than standing on the bridge of a warship. This proved to be highly beneficial both to himself and those who learned from him, as he continually examined previous losses by the New Republic and the successes of the Empire. It soon became clear that neither their technology or the skill of their officers were at fault, but the classes of ships they fielded were inadequate. There was no class effective in combating the vast star dreadnoughts which had been arrayed against them. Mon Calamari cruisers were a reliable backbone to their navy, but a substantial number were still refitted civilian vessels or retained design concepts that benefitted star liners over true battleships. Because of this, Essik became a major proponent of the New Class Modernization Program and military development over the course of the next several years. He did not wish for the New Republic to fall prey to the same failings which had led to the Empire's rise but, without a strong military, they simply could not survive.
Essik himself was allowed to participate in the Program following the Senate greenlighting the ambitious effort. Although he was neither an engineer or designer, his experience was seen as a major asset. He was one of several officers who offered feedback on key warship designs and even pushed for the inclusion of carrier classes among them. These ships had fallen out of favour thanks to the CIS' limited successes during the Clone Wars, but he argued that the Republic's vastly superior quality of pilots and ships would be enough to overcome these problems. Essik would remain in these roles even following Daala's unification of the warlords into the Imperial Remnant, and several victories against the New Republic. In his mind, he had to be certain that the government would not be dependent on aging soldiers such as himself, and that the next generation could be relied upon to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. It would eventually take Gilad Pellaeon's promotion to Fleet Admiral and the Orinda campaign for Essik to return to active duty. Pellaeon's skills as a Commander backed by three previously unknown Super Star Destroyers were simply too great a threat for anyone to ignore, as were his successes along the Republic's border worlds.
The Lusankya engages the Reaper. Essik was given command of an MC80B Star Cruiser, the Nomad, and ordered to support the newly refitted Lusankya and the first of their new Endurance-class fleet carriers. With this might, the New Republic hoped to turn back the advances into their space, but the battle ended in disaster. The battle proved to be a trap, with multiple Immobilizer 418 cruisers and enemy reinforcements arriving soon after the battle had been joined. To make matters worse the Endurance's commander, Admiral Areta Bell, refused to launch her E-Wing fighters until they were given a true opening, which resulted in their destruction while the ship was blown apart under a heavy assault. Realising that the battle was a loss, Essik directed the Nomad to assist Rogue Squadron with breaking through the enemy blockade and overwhelming the Immobilizers, allowing them to eventually escape. This would be the first of several painful losses during this period, with the Battle of Barison following it later that year, allowing the Imperials to regain a foothold within their territory. It would take both the Battle of Nam Chorios and a series of successes which led to the Battle of Celanon to turn the tide back in their favor. Essik was personally present for the latter conflict and assisted with the destruction of the Star Dreadnought Reaper in the closing hours of the battle. He was able to flank the huge vessel and directly attack its main engines. The New Republic did little to regain its lost territories, yet it did blunt the Imperial Remnant's advance and triggered an undeclared truce between the powers for the next four years.
Many of the major threats which followed in this period consisted of terrorist groups or extremists, such as the Empire Reborn and the Disciples of Ragnos. Skirmishes would continue for some time, but there were no major battles of note between the two powers and it allowed for a time of peace. Essik once more returned to Coruscant, largely to assist with the mass production and testing of new ship designs. The Endurance's loss had been attributed to a poor decision under Admiral Bell who, despite her fine record and long service, had been pushed into a scenario where there was little chance of a true victory. As such, it did little to hinder the upgrades to the New Republic Navy. This proved to be a fortunate turn of affairs, as a new crisis emerged in the form of an unknown threat.
New Rebellions
Every government eventually faced its rebellions, and the New Republic was no exception. While its rule had been a just one, and the ideals of its founders had earned it a strong group of supporters, there were those who would seek it deposed for their own ends. The first among these new threats emerged in 16 ABY, shortly after an astounding discovery had been made by scavenger groups. The wreck of an Imperial vessel held an intact data core listing a full Order of Battle for the Empire prior to the Battle of Endor, the contents of which highlighted a number of missing vessels. Chief among these was the mysterious Black Fleet, a massive force of Star Destroyers which had been constructed and yet has never been used in any battle. While a few groups put this down to possible destruction in the wake of so many conflicts, the Fifth Fleet was dispatched to chart a number of territories the New Republic was unfamiliar with - Largely areas where it was thought the elusive fleet might lurk. At the same time, a new power of isolationists made contact with the New Republic, calling themselves the Duskhan League. Dominated by the Yevetha species, they initially made overtures of peace, pushing to forge an alliance against the major Imperial strongholds along the Core.
The true mission of the Yevetha was eventually revealed to be an effort to judge the New Republic's capabilities. The species was ruthless, hateful, and regarded all other life as little more than vermin. With an uncanny ability to process new information and withstand far more punishment than the average human, to them the New Republic was seen as little more than an unworthy power. The Fifth Fleet was wiped out by the Yevetha forces when it approached their territories, and the act was used to accuse Chief of State Leia Organa Solo of warmongering. Weary of the continual wars and with a multitude of powers vying for control, the Republic's senate fractured and underwent turmoil as arguments and power plays broke out among various groups. This worked to the Yevethans' advantage, and while the Republic's attention was focused inward they initiated a massive expansion into new territories. In what would become known as the Yevethan Purge, they began wiping all other life from the Koornacht Cluster, using the missing Black Fleet as the basis of their power. The fleet had apparently been stationed and constructed over their world, only for the Yevethans to take control of it following the Emperor's fall.
While the Yevethans attempted to spin the act into one of self-defence, the New Republic prepared itself for war and deployed a full fleet to the colony world of Doornik-319 just beyond the League's new borders. Commanding one of the new Republic-class Star Destroyers, the Reptavian, Essik assisted in attempting to form a blockade about the League to halt its advance. The act proved to be a disaster when the League revealed that it had access to their communications systems, and began broadcasting the pleas of captured prisoners within the holds of ships to the enemy vessels. It was enough to give many crews pause and the blockade failed, forcing the Republic fleet into retreat. Matters were only made worse when it was revealed that a Super Star Destroyer was among the captured ships, and Commodore Han Solo was captured performing a deep range reconnaissance mission to confirm this information. Several senators pushed for a Vote of No Confidence against the Chief of State, even as scouts uncovered vital information relating to the enemy war effort. Hidden by the dense star clusters nearby, the system of ILC-905 was being used by the League as a staging area and jump point for new attacks. In a brief but bitter fight, the patrol group of Commodore Brand engaged and destroyed the shipyard along with multiple thrustships. This both gave the Republic a morale-boosting victory it desperately needed and information on how to combat Yevethan designs.
Open war was declared soon after the skirmish, and Essik was dispatched once again as part of a larger group to engage the enemy fleets. With many of his own fighters seconded to the depleted squadrons of other vessels and reinforcements still hours away, Essik opted to accept a multitude of mercenaries into his service. Among these was a mysterious figure named Ka Tarvitz. As the two fleets engaged one another in the Battle of N'zoth, Essik used his ship in a flanking maneuver during the opening volleys. Keeping his distance from the enemy Thrustships which moved to attack him, Essik used his vessels' powerful forward guns to disable and slow approaching ships, leaving them open to strafing runs by allied squadrons. Nevertheless, the Reptavian was struck multiple times as more vessels moved to engage it, even using their fighters to initiate kamikaze runs on Essik's group. The Rear Admiral was able to engage and destroy ship after ship even as they closed in, but sheer attrition was rapidly taking its toll on his forces. The tide only turned when a group of Imperial prisoners used override codes to retake the Black Fleet and jump away from the battle, removing the backbone of the League's navy. Hell-bent on ensuring that the New Republic's victory would be as bitter as any defeat, the Yevethans began using suicide attacks in an attempt to inflict mutual annihilation on their enemies. The Republic won the day, but it was only with a massive loss of life.
During the final minutes of the battle, the mercenary Tarvitz was driven to use his previously hidden Force powers to save a crewman's life from falling debris. Although most missed this spectacle in the heat of the conflict, Essik witnessed it on the security feed broadcast to the bridge. Tarvitz proved to be unwilling to divulge any further information on the subject, only clarifying that he was neither a Jedi or Sith to the confused Rear Admiral. Essik was eventually swayed into omitting any details of Tarvitz's presence from his final reports and even proved to be willing to pass on details of the Jedi Order when Tarvitz spoke of them. Tarvitz confirmed that there was little he could divulge on any matter for the moment, but thanked Essik nevertheless.
When the following Almanian Uprising further exploited the more regimented thinking of the New Republic navy and the fleet's growing reliance on droids, Essik began taking notes of possible failings under the new structure. While he played no part in the conflict itself, its impact was undeniable and the reports of General Antilles following the Battle of Almania confirmed that the Republic had lost the experienced edge the Rebellion had always taken for granted. The fact that Kueller, the uprising's leader, had threatened to defeat the Republic with little more than a paper tiger of a fleet, made it clear that change was needed. He was almost ready to return to the Chandrilan Academy and put new regimens into practice when the Empire initiated another series of attacks against the Republic. With much of the Black Fleet having reinforced their failing numbers, and Admiral Natasi Daala returning from the Deep Core with the so-called replacement warlords at her command, they were in a far stronger position than they had been in years. As such, when an overture of peace was mistaken as a prelude to invasion, the Empire opted to launch another major offensive against their old enemy.
Empire's Endgame
For all the years of conflict, for all the battles, strife and worlds annihilated, the Empire's final conflict was barely worthy of being remarked on. Rather than any true pitched conflict worthy of a saga, the entire campaign was an unmitigated disaster for the Imperial forces. Daala's new fleets struck out of the Deep Core, hoping to force the New Republic to split their forces and wage a battle on two fronts. Yet the tenuous authority she held over the warlords gave way as each allowed greed to govern their efforts and they quickly overextended their reach. They were counted by the Fourth fleet under bel Iblis during the Battle of Columus which initiated a series of perimeter campaigns and counterstrikes against each individual battlegroup. They were rapidly pushed back, eventually drawing Daala herself into a direct engagement before being quickly overwhelmed. Daala herself was almost captured, only for her to escape in a blind jump and leaving her troops to die.
Comparatively, the ships under the command of Pellaeon accomplished a series of victories against previous Imperial targets. After two failed efforts he was able to invade and conquer Adumar, before doing the same to Taris and Champala in attacks across the Hydian Way. Pellaeon had thrown every ship the Imperials had left to this engagement, and through this he was able to push all the way to the Core Worlds. Yet, with Daala's failure, the New Republic was free to send the bulk of their own Defense Force to counter them. Essik was among those answering and took command of the Reptavian once again at the Second Battle of Champala. Essik's assigned group spearheaded a surprise attack on the massed Imperial fleet as it entered engagement range of the combined groups of Ackbar and Bel Iblis, forcing them to split their fire between major targets. Surrounded and at risk of being overwhelmed, Pellaeon attempted to withdraw only for a multitude of his ships to be caught in the gravity well projectors of New Republic ships and destroyed.
Calling in his trump card - the Star Dreadnoughts Dominion and Megador, along with a powerful experimental Star Destroyer which had been part of the Black Fleet named the Rakehell - Pellaeon made his stand at Anx Minor. The battle was furious as the Imperials utilized the heavy guns of their larger warships to bombard the New Republic fleets as they came within range, and bogged down their snubfighter squadrons with wave upon wave of TIE fighters. Essik's own ship was crippled part way through the conflict, as a torpedo barrage struck the main engineering deck and crippled its maneuvering capability. Unable to directly bring all of his cannons to bear against effective targets he resorted to hitting multiple smaller escort ships, thus opening the way for allied vessels to target main warships. Drawing as much fire as he could from the nearby enemy capital ships, the Reptavian successfully destroyed three enemy Nebulon-B frigates and gave the rest of its battlegroup time to punch through the Imperial battle lines on their right flank.
For a time it seemed as if both sides would be trapped in a bloody stalemate with neither able to gain the upper hand, before Ackbar was able to exploit a flaw in the Rakehell's design. Concentrating fire on its main engine assembly, the ship was torn apart in a vast antimatter explosion which inflicted heavy damage to all surrounding vessels, including the Megador. With the core of his main force wiped out, Pellaeon withdrew once more back into Imperial space with what remained of his ships and began fortifying them about the planet Bastion.
This was to be the last major engagement against the Imperials Essik was to participate in. Aside from playing a minor role as part of Ackbar's reinforcements during the final minutes of the Starbuster Plot, and remaining on alert during the Caamas Document Crisis two years later, he played no part in any other battle against the Empire. The later threats of the Second Imperium and Diversity Alliance were settled with far less fanfare and required military might. With a peace treaty signed with the Imperial Remnant, no further indications of rebellions and the last of Palpatine's loyal followers finally put to the sword, Essik believed that this was the end. He finally returned to Chandrila ready to retire at long last.
First Retirement
In 23 ABY, Essik resigned from his post and used it to purchase a small apartment in Hanna City. While he busied himself mostly writing down his exploits for personal records, he mainly served as a contact to Tarvitz, offering information on the Jedi when asked and updating him on galactic affairs. He had little else to do now, and in stepping aside to allow the younger generation to take their place in history, he was just glad to have something to occupy his time. He was still suspicious of Tarvitz for quite some time, but he eventually earned enough trust to learn that his guest was a Jensaarai - a member of a minor Force sect which had escaped Palpatine's purge - and was attempting to rebuild their knowledge of the old Order. Essik's personal experiences were undeniably limited, but he did all that he could to answer the man's questions and correct him on any seemingly inaccurate information.
On a few rare occasions, Essik returned to the academy on Chandrila to serve as a supplementary instructor or offer feedback on future plans but, for the most part, he maintained little contact with the military until early 25 ABY. For the first several years it seemed as if they were entering a new age of peace, but storm clouds were gathering over the New Republic and it was clear that the fleets would need skilled officers once more. At the request of Admiral Traest Kre'fey, Essik took command of the Reptavian once more and was told to prepare for war. One not against the Imperial Remnant or any other power they were familiar with, but a vast battlefleet of warships from beyond the galactic rim.
A War to End All Wars
Despite Kre'fey's actions, Essik found that he was given little in the way of true information at first. The few reports that he was given access to specified that the enemy they faced was a previously unknown foreign power. Combat simulations depicted them as having an overwhelming advantage in numbers, but anything further was unavailable to him. There was no point of origin for the species, no psychological profile on its leaders, nor even a list of possible territories to strike in order to blunt their advance. It seemed he was expected to fight ghosts, and that was on the few occasions New Republic intelligence operatives would even admit to their existence. It seemed that most figures of substantial influence within the Senate wished to downplay their possible threat or even refused to acknowledge them entirely. Eventually, Essik was able to at least prize a name from a few figures he remained on positive terms with: The Yuuzhan Vong.
With little else to go on, Essik was tasked with taking a small flotilla to patrol the far end of the Myto's Arrow trade route, both to combat possible pirate attacks and keep watch for actions by the invading force. For the first two weeks, he saw no activity, not even a scouting effort by this elusive new enemy until he received a message from Admiral Bylsma ordering all ships to converge on the Shramar system. Bylsma cited the willing blindness of the New Republic's current Chief of State, Borsk Fey'lya, and his unwillingness to directly protect the peoples of the Outer Rim. Essik agreed to this if only to gain further information on the events playing out. Bylsma was a leader unfamiliar to him, and the fact that he spoke out against those Essik was sworn to serve immediately made Essik suspicious of his intentions. The fact that he was encouraging all ships to break with the chain of command and gather above a world within the Imperial Remnant hardly helped. Nevertheless, he cited the presence of Vong ships within the system, and that offered an opportunity to gain some much-needed information on the capabilities of these foes.
Essik answers a call to arms. Joining with an ad-hoc force of Imperial ships, pirate groups, and refugees, Essik participated in the Battle of Shramar, taking the Reptavian into a defensive position over the evacuating forces. Meeting the Vong forces in battle, Essik mistook them as vast asteroid formations at first before realizing that they were bio-organically engineered creations. Favouring close-range assaults, these ships could withstand a staggering amount of punishment and utilized technologies wholly unlike their own. Utilising miniature black holes in place of shields and powerful plasma-based weaponry, the Vong were natural brawlers that excelled in broadside engagements. Essik's ship was only saved thanks to its heavily reinforced armour plating as its shields were quickly stripped away during the engagement, and he soon found that utilizing strike craft in close range attack runs against them was both a costly and futile venture.
Essik managed to initiate a series of delaying tactics, stalling their advance until a captured slave ship was used to ferry those trapped on the surface into orbit and allowed them to withdraw. As the ships regrouped on the fringes of Wild Space, the leaders of each major faction formed the Outer Rim Alliance, seeking to protect and defend other planets beyond the New Republic's borders. During this Queen Nina Galfridian, leader of the Artorias refugees, revealed herself to be a Vong defector who opposed her people's will. This triggered a split among the factions there, and some immediately swore off any participation in future actions with the group. Ironically, this had the opposite effect on Essik, as it encouraged him to remain a part of the Alliance for as long as was needed. The battle had proven that conventional tactics would not be effective against this invading force, and Galfridian was a unique asset whose inside knowledge of the Vong could offset their lack of viable intel. While he made it clear that he would be passing on their movements and any useful data to New Republic commanders, he would remain with the Alliance for as long as he possibly could.
Over the next two years, Essik fought under the Alliance's banner, falling back on hit-and-fade tactics in an attempt to keep the Vong off balance. His capacity to make full use of practically anything on hand served the group well, but they lacked many of the weaknesses in the Empire that he had taken for granted. Glory hungry generals could be tricked but lacked the typical capacity for infighting he would have expected, and their biotechnology proved to be far more adaptable than he would have predicted. Ships healed from battles at an astounding speed, while the telepathic link forged between warriors thanks to Yammosk controllers meant that they could answer threats far more effectively than typical naval crews. Essik was given the unenviable task of developing tactics to counter their influences, while also assisting in organizing the varied groups into a more cohesive fighting force. The information Galfridian offered him was often sparse, and occasionally vague when it came to specific weaknesses, but she proved to be invaluable in more than one battle. Essik continually relayed any possible breakthroughs back to the New Republic, but he never learned how much of it was used by them.
As they continued to fight, the word of loss after loss continued to reach them. Aside from the betrayal at Ithor and devastating losses incurred at Fondor, the New Republic seemed to be retreating on all fronts. Half of the Senate seemed to downplay the threat posed by the Vong, and those few who did recognize it were more concerned with the fate of their worlds over the greater galaxy. Worse still, the leaders of the Republic's Defense Force sought only for a single decisive victory over their enemy. Every time the Vong advanced, the New Republic would conserve and consolidate its forces in the hopes of engaging a foe exhausted from their relentless advance. The flaws to such a plan were obvious to Essik, as in doing so the Republic was sacrificing every advantage which had allowed the Rebellion to overcome the Empire. There were no concentrated raids against facilities, no assaults against supply lines, no feints to draw off enemy units into other sectors. Only a few independent forces, the Alliance among them, were poised to take advantage of such openings and their impact had been minimal at best. Worse still was that the Jedi, the New Republic's greatest asset in the conflict, were being all but openly hunted down by the very galaxy they were fighting to defend.
Perhaps the only debatably positive news was that, in their desire to eventually reach Coruscant, many secondary powers had been ignored. Through this, the Alliance was able to find safe harbour in the likes of the CSA, Hapes Consortium and even the Imperial Remnant. This gave them locations needed to rearm, repair their vessels, and to find replacements for the casualties they had taken. In order to keep them in fighting condition, Essik called upon a number of the contacts who had previously assisted them against the Black Fleet, with Tarvitz among them. One of the few truly effective soldiers who had fought the Vong on even footing had been the Jedi, and Essik hoped that having a Force user with their fleet might go some way to evening the odds against their more talented warriors. He was unable to utilize Tarvitz to single out infiltrators or perform covert strikes as the Jedi had, and yet the presence of anyone carrying a lightsaber was enough to boost morale. A further asset came in the form of several disassembly yards which had been overlooked by the Vong. The Alliance stumbled upon them by sheer fortune rather than planning, but many retained material and Clone Wars era ships to augment their fleet, with droid starfighters and CIS light cruisers among them. These proved to be effective as both self-guided kamikaze attackers and decoys to draw the technophobic Vong away from their more valuable organic pilots.
Realising that the Vong themselves often fell into a similar pattern of direct charges, relying on Yammosks to permit their soldiers a tactical edge, Essik continuously reworked his tactics to turn his enemy's strengths against them. Tracking the movement of smaller attack groups, Essik would shadow them until they descended into low orbit to sack a world. Then, using several of the droid ships they had managed to refit for combat, he would have them move in and withdraw, thus using the Vong's hatred to ensure that they would follow. The moment that they exited the planet's gravity well, the remainder of Essik's force would jump in from hyperspace, bombarding them at long range and crippling the fleet before they could enter a true combat formation. Essik used variations time and time again, often with homing beacons allowing his fleet an unparalleled level of precision when making its jump. It eventually proved to be so effective that Essik developed a version he nicknamed The Hunter's Net, where ships would jump in from multiple vectors and surround the enemy fleet in a half-sphere and prevent their defences from blocking all but a single angle of attack. This was typically executed while a second group targeted and destroyed the Yammosk in question, destroying their capacity to coordinate attacks and never with larger attack groups. There was always far too much of a chance that a keener strategist would exploit one of several weaknesses in its use.
Ground battles were an ever more costly affair, and Essik constantly made a point of avoiding them. Save for deploying small scouting units or assault teams, his response would be to constantly rob an army of its orbital support before using precision bombardments to thin their numbers. With no means to confront the larger warbeasts on their own terms, these units were used to achieve their objective and then pull out at the earliest opportunity. One single order was made clear above all else: They were not to take risks, and they were not to hold ground if confronted by a larger group of warriors. Even with this approach, there were still heavy casualties, and the planets they encountered were often so warped by the Vong terraforming technologies that reclaiming them would have been a pointless endeavour. Essik kept such thoughts to himself, knowing that revenge and reclaiming their homes was the only thing keeping most of the enlisted refugees going. Their presence was needed both to maintain their warships, and offset the growing number of pirates which had steadily increased with the annexation of Hutt Space by the Vong.
Essik finally parted ways with the Alliance once word reached him of the massed engagement in the Black Bantha Nebula. The New Republic had deployed a massed group of nine hundred vessels, scoring a seemingly significant victory against a Vong fleet of comparable size. More importantly, a Jedi group had even succeeded in capturing a Yammosk, allowing them to research a countermeasure to their enemy's greatest asset. With much of the fighting now concentrated on the Core worlds, Essik made it clear to the other leaders of the Alliance that his oath of service bound him to return and assist the Republic with the conflict. He knew that his actions, and the more liberal interpretations of his orders in order to remain with the Alliance, would likely see him court-martialed but he had still given his word. Taking the Reptavian and the few remaining ships of his battlegroup which had survived the past two years of combat, he raced for Coruscant with all haste. He expected to find a massed group of New Republic ships ready for war. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a planet under siege. The Battle of the Black Bantha had been a ruse, and now the heart of the Republic was under attack by tens of thousands of warships.
To Essik this sight was akin to a recurring nightmare. He had seen Coruscant fall twice before to the Empire, first by infiltration and then by strength of arms. Neither compared to this conflict and, even with over half of the New Republic Defense Fleet engaging it on multiple fronts, the Vong armada was simply too large to overcome. They had mimicked the League's tactic of using refugee-filled vessels as shields to avoid damage, and as they plunged through the atmosphere the invaders began to level everything. Hovering platforms plummeted from the air, kilometre tall buildings were ripped in half by titanic monsters and the skies burned orange with the sheer carnage at work. With no alternative, Essik's ships followed one of the planetary fleet groups as they led a fighting retreat back to Borleias. While confirmation of it would not reach him until weeks later, Essik knew that this was effectively the end of the New Republic.
Deferring almost entirely to General Antilles' authority in the weeks that followed, Essik did little more than follow orders and relay commands from above. For so many decades, the New Republic's foundation and then securing its future had been his only goal. Bound entirely by his sense of duty to it, the government's annihilation had all but broken him and there was little more than a deeply ingrained sense to obey his superiors which kept him active. Even the heavy losses inflicted as they pulled back from the world barely seemed to register with him. A number of voices suggested his removal on seeing this weakness, as even crewmen who had supported his actions with the Outer Rim Alliance could see that the sheer resolve which had kept him fighting for so many decades was gone. He was seconded to defensive duties over Mon Calamari as the fleets were gathered and reorganised, but it would take both news of the Victory at Ebaq and the formation of the Galactic Alliance for him to regain his previously indomitable resolve. Nevertheless, he still found himself held in reserve, and would only face the Vong again during the Defense of Mon Calamari.
Essik's contributions in the final days of the war proved to be relatively minor. While he participated in the remaining three battles which led to the Recapture of Coruscant, he largely deferred to the decisions of his superiors, and their battle plans. Save for downing a score of Vong capital vessels through his precision tactics and the skill of his crew, and a later role in hunting down rogue elements who refused to surrender, his role in the conflict ended without fanfare. Yet despite both this and his advancing age, he opted to remain active as part of the Galactic Alliance's naval forces. Finding satisfaction in his service while others retired and passed on the baton, he remained in order to see what the dawn of the next age would bring.
Many of Essik's actions were typically focused toward the Outer Rim, as he assisted the Outer Rim Alliance with retaking their planets and recolonization projects. With the galaxy in a state of renewal and recovery, many of his missions typically amounted to relief efforts and anti-piracy operations against opportunists. Essik considered it a welcome change from the relentless battles against warmongers, and did all that he could to ensure planets that the Galactic Alliance would not repeat the New Republic's mistakes. This may in part explain why there are few records of his involvement in the Swarm War and Second Galactic Civil War, or his operations in the ten years between the two conflicts. A more likely reason is thanks to the purges which followed.
The Death of Hope (30 ABY - 35 ABY)
Murdering the Past
Save for the conflict between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance, for the first time in living memory the galaxy was granted a period of true peace. Wars would continue between smaller factions, and crises would rock the foundations of the new regime more than once, but never to the degree as before. Planets were not sundered by vast superweapons, nor were vast legions of fanatics invading worlds and seeking to enslave their populations. Through this, figures were able to come into power who had been shielded from the experiences of past decades and missed the developments made in that time. They had seen nothing of the New Republic's struggles nor the efforts made to take back all that had been lost to the Empire, and many had been raised only on rose-tinted tales of the Rebellion's war against Palpatine's Empire. As a result of this, as more and more of those who remembered the prior conflicts moved on, those who took their place in positions of power viewed the galaxy with suspicion. Their narrow definition of reality did not fit with all that came before them, and as such, they fought to correct the galaxy's supposed error.
By this point, Essik had largely isolated himself from galactic affairs and wished to merely focus on his duties. As such, he was unaware of many changes taking place within the Triumvirate until word reached him of a near-unanimous vote to reform the New Republic, doing away with the Alliance's government. Essik was baffled at this, but as the past Republic had stood for ten thousand years on the same basic systems, he did not openly voice his opinions against the decision. Any opportunity to redeem the name of the government he served would be a welcome one, and yet as he took note of this stranger news began to arrive. For seemingly no reason, the galactic calendar was to be reset from 44 ABY to 30 ABY, reversing and restarting all over again. The supposed reason was to correct an error, bringing the timeline to a status better recognized by the wider masses and their histories. With the events of the past two wars, it would not have been surprising to think this was some effort to correct a wide scale administrative error caused by the last two major conflicts. Yet, as he returned to Coruscant, Essik found that far more than the date alone had been reset. Entire events, eras, and battles were being purged from galactic databases, with datapads containing such information being put to the torch en mass. Wars, developments, revolutions, even planets, and whole sentient species were destroyed in concentrated efforts.
Essik cited confusion at this act more than once, but was only greeted with nebulous messages of "Let the past die, kill it if you have to" and "Unlearn all that you have learned". More than once he was openly threatened with violence when he attempted to continue his investigation, and on one occasion due to being part of a sub-species which officially no longer existed. Worse still was that many allies he would have previously turned to had abruptly disappeared, not merely purged from records but quietly erased from existence. He attempted to track down Kre'fey, and even members of the older guard such as Bel Iblis and even Drayson. Yet, for all intents and purposes, the New Republic itself had deemed them unpersons and quietly removed them. Even those who remained were notably changed. The histories of major figures who had fought for the Rebellion were radically altered, with whole decades of service omitted and then rewritten. In their efforts to supposedly correct the galaxy, those in power had opted to re-write its entire history. Nostalgia for the Galactic Civil War dominated this fabrication of past events, altering it until it was the only defining conflict of the Republic's history. While it was offered a few brief mentions, the Clone Wars itself was regulated to being a mere prelude and little to nothing of the Old Republic was preserved. The government's thousand-year history, its battles, revolutions, and victories were snuffed out in a moment, until it was a mere footnote barely worthy of mention. Many of those who opposed this were dismissed as fools too mired in the past or were quietly taken away, never to be seen from again. For some months Essik hoped that this would be it and that, in time, preserved records might permit them to restore all that had been lost in this act of insanity. Sadly, it was not to be so.
Lessons Forgotten
As the New Republic's sweeping alterations were passed through the Senate one after another, they began to issue radical alterations to the very structure of power. History, it seemed, was not merely being altered to suit a limited worldview but to support previously unpopular acts, especially in regards to their military. In one night almost the entire Defense Force was scrapped, selling off its ships to the private fleets of the worlds that held sway in the Senate, typically focusing on the most advanced of their kind. When others objected, not only were they removed but history was rewritten to show that the late Mon Mothma had pushed for a near-universal demilitarization, and attempted to claim that it had been in effect for decades. When the New Republic found itself stuck with failed designs such as the Starhawk and severely undergunned creations such as the MC85 Star Cruiser, victories were invented which grossly exaggerated their capabilities to ludicrous degrees. The former especially was all but credited as defeating the Empire in a poorly penned account of something called the Battle of Jakku. It was a story of logical errors and extremely questionable tactics over a world which until that day had never existed, treating the Empire as if it had been defeated in a single battle, not decades of bloodshed and war. Even as every ship constructed under the New Class Modernization Program was sold off, and the program itself erased from history, what had once been a strong military had been effectively gutted in one night.
The K-Wing was just one of many casualties of the Senate's culling To Essik this was simply too much, and all too easily resembled some of the greatest mistakes he had seen in his life. Not only were many internal revisions so closely resembling actions taken by the Empire in its first days, made to solidify its place in power, but externally it was falling prey to the error which had almost destroyed the Old Republic. A limited military presence may have been a good choice in times of peace, but the New Republic was not the only power left in the galaxy. No matter how its leaders attempted to re-write history, that did not change the fact that the Imperial Remnant, Hapes Consortium and a multitude of other minor powers equaled them in terms of naval power; nor that the few fleets left to them were simply not enough to defend the New Republic's member worlds. Throwing caution to the wind, he spoke out against this action time and time again, citing how this was an act of pure insanity at best and self-sabotage at worst. Desperately, Essik tried to sway any other senator to see reason, or even to think of what their actions might bring. Yet, for all the skill he had as a leader in war, Essik was far from an adept politician. His words were typically laughed off, and he was treated as a failure for refusing to adhere to the new regime's revised history. When he tried to cite anything, and major event of consequence to prove his point or mentioned the harrowing conflicts of the past thirty years, others merely rolled their eyes, hand-waving away the battles as mere legends unworthy of memory.
Knowing that this would get him nowhere, Essik eventually opted to return to Chandrila and its military academy. Even if he could not improve the New Republic through words, his hope was that he could at least ensure that those who crewed its ships were still talented and capable individuals. In training new recruits he maintained the same rigorous, diligent and incorruptible attitude which had served in well in the past. Yet this was a new age, and these qualities were deemed as problematic. The military academy itself was no longer there to effectively train soldiers. Instead, it now served as little more than a means to allow the sons and daughters of senators to jump up the ranks quickly or push favoured individuals into the most desirable positions. Even were this not the case, the same historical revisionism worked against him once again. Cadets had been taught only to know of the Battle of Yavin IV, the Escape from Hoth and the Battle of Endor as events worthy of memory, until those in power invented some new addition to their new history. Many seemed incapable of comprehending three-dimensional combat when engaging other ships, and any time he attempted to pass on a tactic used in his battles, it was laughed off as a simple work of fiction. As a result of this, Essik himself was granted only a short stay, and was eventually removed for attempting to teach students about the strategies used in the Thrawn Campaign. Because, as with most things, that conflict had been deemed unworthy of existing along with any knowledge others might benefit from it. Essik would later learn that New Republic archivists were attempting to claim that Thrawn had simply disappeared during the early years of the Galactic Civil War, carried away by space whales. Essik never did find out if that was a joke or not.
Old Mistakes, New Faces
As the years stretched on, Essik did all he could to try and hold the New Republic together. Time and time again he attempted to change things for the better, even as the Senate slowly slit its own throat. Propagandists began demonizing most other powers and gradually isolating itself. With its role in assisting the end of the Vong threat gone, Imperial Remnant was treated by Republican propagandists as the Republic's great enemy, a singularly repulsive entity which all but openly worshipped Palpatine in its streets, and was ever ready to support acts of terrorism. Others, previously erased from all records, were added back to star charts but were treated as little more than a minor group unworthy of mention and holding little relevance in galactic affairs. Those who did attempt to correct this were once again quietly removed, and the few too valuable or well protected to erase were subjected to smear campaigns. Deemed overgrown children, they were depicted as simply opposing the new rule out of humanocentrism, misogyny or, most ironically, a view entirely detached from reality. Loyalty to the regime was decreed as paramount, and even questioning a decree from the Senate was viewed as sedition. Even the most insane actions, such as the economically catastrophic act of changing the New Republic's capital world on a year by year basis were not to be opposed in any way. As it continued to try and support itself by inventing or forging outside enemies, it even turned on the Jedi Order, succeeding in forcing the group to sever ties with the Republic entirely. They were soon written off as extinct as a result, creating a new villain by adapting elements of various figures the New Republic had opposed over the decades by the name of Kylo Ren.
As the world about them continued to regress back to eras past, Essik fought to prevent skirmishes between New Republic units under his command and Imperial forces. As one had been taught only to view them as tyrants worthy of slaughter while the other had been given every excuse to seek open war, it took every ounce of skill he had as a diplomat to avoid battles. Yet, it was only a matter of time before one went too far. Following an alleged exchange of fire between two patrol groups, a large number of Imperial naval commanders and Stormtrooper brigades broke away from the Remnant, declaring themselves to be the First Order. The group was ill-equipped for isolated operations, and were openly decried by the Council of Moffs even as they announced themselves, but this was what the New Republic had desired all along. It continually portrayed the First Order as a titanic power, a new Empire capable of seizing the galaxy for themselves and enemies of freedom. Using fear of them to solidify its hold of various member worlds, the Senate began using them as a weapon of propaganda to keep civilians in line. Groups it was forced to eventually recognize such as the Corporate Sector Authority were treated as thugs supplying the First Order with finances and armaments, while companies which had once supported the Empire such as Kuat Drive Yards were accused of secretly supplying them with new warships. Eventually, matters became so bad that Essik suspected that many groups had begun to do just this, perhaps out of spite or perhaps out of the simple desire to see a saner group in power. Out of little more than base nostalgia, the New Republic had weakened itself to the point of collapse and forged a new foe possibly capable of doing just that.
On several occasions, Essik petitioned his superiors to send a task force to hunt down and end the First Order's threat. He was convinced that a single decisive strike could end the conflict before it began, or perhaps even end this without bloodshed, but he was instead stonewalled at every turn. The New Republic needed its villain, and it couldn't allow someone to possibly ruin that dynamic. Yet, Essik's actions were noticed. Upon returning to his home one day, he found a message waiting for him stating that other groups believed that he was right. It outlined that the First Order was a threat and it needed to be opposed by any means. If he sought to accomplish that, then he was encouraged to meet with a contact on the outskirts of Hanna City.
While naturally suspicious, Essik felt he had few other choices and that any ally who opposed the Senate's decrees was worth at least listening to. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst, he arrived at the meeting point late at night and was greeted by a ghost. A Mon Calamari stepped out of the shadows dressed in a uniform he did not recognise, claiming to be Admiral Ackbar and that he needed Essik's help. Essik, for his part, almost ended the conversation there and then. He had seen Admiral Ackbar's corpse, watched news of his death and even served under him during two major engagements. Whoever this was, their features had been modified to resemble the dead man, but he was certainly not him. "Ackbar" nevertheless continued that elements of the New Republic opposed the Senate, and that they were completely out of control. Blind to the threat they posed, a number of older officers had opted to move against them. Most were leaders who had fought during the Rebellion or others who had claimed their names, and cited that they needed to split from the New Republic in order to save it.
Essik's disgust mounted with every passing word as he outlined the role of this Resistance, before finally snapping. The normally cordial Gand raged against this new arrival, citing again and again how they had failed in their duties. So many of those involved were ones who could have helped keep the New Republic in line, to offset the blindness of this new generation and allowed them to truly build toward something new. Instead, they had resorted to the easiest and least effective option of mimicking the Rebellion in a new age. He accused them of taking the easiest option, the simplest method, regardless of the damage it would inflict and failed to even consider what better alternatives that there might have been. Their path was one without a future, bound to repeating history over and over again with no hope to break from it. The Mon Calamari attempted to convince them that their way was right, simply ignoring most of the points brought up against him, but Essik turned and left, unwilling to waste another minute on those as blind as the Senate.
The Second Empire
For the next several years, Essik continued, fighting to somehow restore the New Republic any way he could. The cause was a lost one, and he ultimately knew it. Yet, what else was there to do? He had spent decades in service to the Republic in one form or another and to have those years simply erased out of a shortsighted need for control galled him. It was ultimately better to fight against such a thing rather than surrender to it. Yet, it was not to be his last campaign. Instead, suddenly and terribly, the New Republic was struck by a weapon of unimagined power, lancing out across countless light years and erasing its capital system in the blink of an eye. Fuelled by those the New Republic had shunned but failed to declaw, the First Order had constructed a vast superweapon mimicking the capabilities of the Death Star. Within hours, First Order ships were racing across space, attacking key Republic installations and overwhelming its already weakened military. Promoted out of loyalty to the Senate's doctrines over skill, many Republic military leaders were unable to effectively respond to this threat, often simply retreating time and time again. In one case at Thyferra, a fleet Admiral refused to accept that First Order ships were approaching them on attack vectors until they had entered orbit. Then, as they had begun to land troops, he had destroyed his own ships rather than allow them to possibly fall into enemy hands.
Essik's ad-hoc fleet engages the First Order Essik was patrolling the Mid-rim worlds of the Mytaranor sector at the time, but reacted like lightning when word of this attack reached him. With only twenty ships under his command, and most of them outdated cruiser variants, he sent word to other commanders to regroup as they raced toward the nearest of the main First Order battlegroups. By the time they had arrived, his fleet had almost doubled in size, and with good fortune, the first group he engaged was in the midst of a boarding action against a major trade station. Essik's fleet engaged them from the rear, targeting their engines first and quickly dismantling them under a series of concentrated attacks. By focusing their fire on one ship at a time, Essik quickly found that the First Order's main battleships - the Resurgent-class - had tough but brittle shielding and that combined fire from multiple positions could easily open holes for torpedo strikes. Without smaller support ships to cover and guard against such attacks, all eighteen Star Destroyers were lost within the opening six minutes at the cost of just one of Essik's own vessels.
Knowing that the First Order was likely calling for reinforcements to take the position, Essik withdrew so would not be caught in an ambush. Yet, as he readied to jump to hyperspace, long-range sensors caught sight of another enemy group of five enemy transports heading for the opposite jump point. Essik's vessels did not even consider sparing them, unleashing salvo after salvo into the squadron before they could react. Only one managed to escape the battle, heavily damaged and barely operational. For the next eighteen hours, Essik repeated the action over and over again, targeting and destroying groups as they tried to sack Republic worlds. While they had firepower on their side, Essik soon realized that the First Order had done little more than mimic the Empire's war machine. They were able to field vast groups of new Star Destroyers, but without frigates or true escort vessels, they were vulnerable to both high-speed bombing raids and smaller ships that could remain outside of their firing arcs. Their tactics were the same, emphasizing a single rushing attack against a focused target and doing little to guard themselves against strikes from other vectors. All that they had was power, and when fielded against someone who had fought the true Galactic Empire at its zenith, that made them easy prey for Essik.
As a number of First Order commanders took notice of his efforts and deployed their ships against him, Essik was able to liberate several Majestic-class heavy cruisers and Nebula-class Star Destroyers from where they had been mothballed. With these, he was able to launch strikes against First Order installations which were being rapidly established in their new territories, demolishing orbital command posts even as they were brought online. This was finally too much for the First Order to ignore, and Essik soon found himself pursued by a force of eighty enemy Star Destroyers. Outnumbered almost two to one, Essik did all he could to stall them as he desperately considered his options. The two fleets chased one another across the hyperspace lanes, playing cat and mouse as Essik examined every star chart he had before finally deciding on an action. He ordered them to set course for Onderon to make a stand there. Arriving with hours to spare, Essik arrayed his ships in orbit of the planet, facing outward, carefully arranging each of them and counting the hours. Caught within the planet's gravity well, they were not far enough to race for hyperspace if needed and the fleet would be easily trapped if caught there. That was exactly what Essik needed the First Order to think.
As the enemy armada closed on them, he ordered his ships to begin a fighting retreat back across the fringes of its atmosphere and to keep their fighters docked within their hangers. For half of an hour, they weathered multiple attacks, drawing the Star Destroyers in and relying on nothing but armour plating and anti-fighter guns to repel swarms of TIE variants. The second wave of ships Essik held in reserve jumped out of hyperspace, falling toward the back of the massed group, targeting its lead most ships and forcing them to turn against them. The First Order fleet began to break up, turning in against itself as some ships tried to counter the new arrivals while others pressed ahead. It was then, at this moment, that Dxun began to pass over the First Order fleet. At the height of each summer on Onderon, the moon passed close enough for the planets to share an atmosphere, and Essik had so very carefully drawn the enemy battlegroup into exactly where he needed them to be. For the next four hours, TIES were ripped apart as they were caught in the gravitational flux of the two worlds, smashed against one another or dragged into uncontrolled reentries. Star Destroyer slammed into Star Destroyer as the First Order crews attempted to maintain control of their ships, while the Republic fleet crippled and finished off key targets from a safe range. By the time the enemy fleet escaped the effect, Essik's group was long gone. He had lost five ships to enemy attacks, but the conflict had cost the First Order a full thirty-seven Star Destroyers with many others being damaged beyond repair.
Victory Denied
Hours after the engagement over Onderon, as the crews celebrated the successful battle, Essik was contacted by Senator Vas Shalhes of Corellia. Without bothering to even recognize his actions, he immediately ordered Essik to make for Corellia with all haste. Essik queried this, as First Order ships had yet to make it so far toward the Core, but Shalhes insisted that they regroup with his personal fleets to defend his world. Every argument Essik made to continue fighting was ignored or turned aside, until he finally pointed out that his fleet belonged to the Republic and not Corellia. At this Shalhes delivered the news that the New Republic was no more and that all those left in power were dividing its fleets among themselves. Essik was aghast at this action and pointed out that the loss of a single world did not equate the loss of the Republic. They could continue to repel them, and with a few more ships even begin initiating counterattacks. This was repeatedly overruled by Shalhes who insisted that the Resistance would deal with such threats and that he was required to obey those he served. Essik refused, bluntly, only for Shalhes to contact others within the fleet issuing a widespread message. Citing a protocol order which allowed any member of the Senate to relieve any military commander of his rank, he ordered every captain within the fleet to strip Essik of his command and promptly subjected him to a dishonourable discharge.
Even after he had achieved the impossible, even after he had saved so many of their lives, none objected to the Senator's commands. Essik was escorted to a single escape pod and fired toward Onderon. Landing on the outskirts of the capital city, Iziz, he looked up in time to see his fleet departing under its new leadership. The New Republic he had given everything to defend had been slaughtered out of greed, and then had abandoned him without a second thought. Essik awaited on Onderon for further news of the galaxy for a year following the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order, gradually earning his way off-planet.
The White Lotus Resistance (36-41 ABY)
Second Chances
With nothing left to him, Essik prepared to return to Gand. He knew he would be a stranger there, likely ostracised for his lack of contact, but he had no other home. Any former New Republic world would likely be soon subjected to First Order attacks, or their leaders would exile him the moment he was found. Yet, as he prepared to make the journey, he was given an unexpected message by Tarvitz. The younger man had learned of Essik's fate, and after confirming that he wished to remain in service, offered him a position of service within Clan Odan-Urr. Essik knew nothing of the Brotherhood he spoke of, nor the leaders involved. Yet upon learning that it would be a chance to follow the Jedi into battle once again, and of the foe they faced, Essik agreed, hoping to find leaders worthy of his loyalty at last.
Using the moon of Nar Shaddaa as a rendezvous point, Essik was able to bribe and convince a small group of thugs to serve as a personal bodyguard until Tarvitz arrived. Watching and waiting for the Jensaarai, Essik caught sight of a number of mysterious figures departing quickly for the undercity. Although the moon was a haven to all those who did not wish to be found, they were clearly not smugglers. Most were clearly heavily augmented, and moved with a measured regimented discipline that he could immediately equate to soldiers.
When Tarvitz arrived, Essik learned that he was not simply here to recruit him, but also to show him the foe they faced. He spoke of The Collective, a fanatical power seeking to annihilate all Force-sensitives, which had seemingly built its power up from nothing. The Jedi had recently learned that the moon's undercity might have housed a recruitment ground for their troops, using the desperate and the dispossessed as fodder for their armies. Upon learning of their nature, Essik spoke of those who had passed him by and indicated the direction they had moved in. Even with the benefit of local knowledge, two were ambushed as they attempted to descend deeper into the planet by a substantial portion of the enemy detachment. Refusing to listen to reason or offers of surrender, Tarvitz swiftly culled their numbers, until only a few survivors remained, either fleeing or unconscious.
After using a captive to gain a better understanding of who they faced, the two agreed to split up. Tarvitz would move further into the undercity, while Essik drew away as many soldiers as possible. Using a mixture of mocking comm. messages and explosive traps, Essik managed to thin their numbers and slow their advance to the surface. This bought him enough time to pick out the armed freighter that the Collective had arrived in and trick the pilot into abandoning his post, stunning him as he left the ship. Locking him in the cargo hold, he waited until the remaining Collective soldiers arrived on the surface, before turning the ship's guns on them.
Shortly after this victory, Tarvitz arrived back to the surface with an urchin child. Badly wounded and on the verge of collapse, he remained upright long enough to pass on a brief outline of what had happened below, before falling into a healing trance. The Collective had been beaten, and they had been hunting the child due to his telepathic abilities. Offering up the weapons and equipment of the Collective to his hired thugs as full payment, Essik piloted the ship into orbit before making the jump to the Kiast System. The child, seemingly with no name or means to communicate beyond telepathic images, was distrustful of them both. Essik decided to offer images of the Jedi from the Clone Wars, showing them as figures who served others and upheld peace, with each using their powers to end wars and save lives.
Only In Death
Essik's arrival at Clan Odan-Urr's stronghold was far from the welcome he would have expected. Tarvitz spoke in his favour and his assistance in ending the threat on the Smuggler's Moon was recognised, but it quickly became clear that Tarvitz had acted ahead of orders. He had informed the clan's ruling body of Essik's worth and had even been granted permission to interview the Gand, but they had not greenlit his recruitment into their organisation. By right, Essik should not have even been permitted to know that the Jedi still existed in the galaxy. Essik spoke several times with their leaders personally, but in the end, no definitive verdict could be reached. Even here the historical revisionism of the New Republic caused him trouble, as his victories and the enemies he fought were deemed mere myths or urban legends rather than a true part of history. Essik was permitted to travel about Solyiat as he wished, and would not be detained if he opted to permanently depart the planet, but he was denied an official position within their ranks.
Burned out, tired by the proceedings and quite disgruntled, Essik spent several days in Baime, trying to use the city's bustling tourist attractions to distract himself. Unable to find solace in this and uncomfortable with the entertainment these locations offered, Essik eventually opted to visit the quieter historical locations of the city and used the opportunity to think. It was during this time that he received a message from his family, announcing that his descendant (the closest a Gand equivalent a great-granddaughter) had been deemed worthy of speaking with her foremost name. He had been invited back to his home for her ceremony, but the language used made it clear that he was an outsider to them. It was less of an effort to reach out than it was a mere formality. Nevertheless, Essik seriously considered the offer. The mistakes of his superiors overshadowed his every action, and he was feeling age finally catching up to him. As he considered this in the shadow of a ruined theatre, armed guards swiftly entered the courtyard.
As Essik had been pondering the future, a family of nobles had been standing some distance away, seemingly considering renovation plans for the location. As he watched, the guards surrounded them, each holding positions as they encircled the other group. The figure at the head of the guards, a Sephi clad in durasteel armour confronted the matriarch of the group, and quietly began to address her. To most this would have seemed like an urgent matter, perhaps an arriving escort ready to bring the nobles elsewhere. Essik, however, still remembered the actions of the Inquisition and COMPNOR agents as they quietly removed the populace from street corners and hid them from the public eye. Deciding to damn the consequences, Essik intervened.
Loudly making a fool of himself and barring their path, Essik made as much commotion as possible, drawing attention from passers-by and disrupting the quiet abduction that the guards had sought to perform. Stalling them, he began to play upon the nerves of the Sephi leading the guards, undermining his authority and then using the few scraps of information he was granted to make his subordinates question their motives. While risky, the move ultimately worked, and Essik was able to gradually sway the majority of the guards into switching sides. After stunning their leader and those who remained loyal to him, Essik asked the others to escort the nobles - those of House Keldra - to escort them out of the city and ensure their safety. With his sense of purpose renewed and feeling young for the first time in decades, Essik spent the next several days using ever more creative ways to disrupt similar efforts from across the city. It would be a full two weeks before he learned of the motives behind them - or their identity as turncoats of the Vauzem Dominion - and similar events which had played out across the entire system.
In light of Essik's successes, and with enemy troops initiating false flag operations while disguised as Odanite troops, Essik was sworn into the Clan's military as an advisor, and given the rank of Commander. Rather than commanding troops in battle, Essik's duty was to analyse enemy actions and predict possible actions, events and weaknesses on both sides. With little information on offer to them relating to the Dominion short of a name, Essik was instead tasked with evaluating the capabilities of the Collective and how the war with the Brotherhood would play out. Using any and all information available to them, Essik examined reports, statistics and combat logs to examine their overall threat. In a relatively short period of time, Essik was able to identify crucial failings within the Collective structure and confirm the likelihood that their victory would ultimately be a pyrrhic one at best.
Presenting his findings before Alethia Archenksova, Aura Ta'var and Len Iode, Essik cited his belief that Clan Odan-Urr should remain outside of the war. With the bulk of the Brotherhood's military intact, the Iron Navy was a considerable threat to the Collective and far from helpless. Instead, he voiced the idea of having the two wage a constant war against one another, bleeding one another dry and slowly sapping their strength. Odan-Urr could work to limit collateral damage, and to weaken any side which appeared to be gaining the upper hand. His reasoning for this was simple - The Collective could not sustain itself. The sizable military it had amassed would have bankrupted any corporation, or even most galactic powers, before going onto a war footing. Rather than conserving their strength, the Collective was pouring constant men, money, and material into their war efforts to win through sheer numbers or superweapons. The fanaticism they inspired prevented them from withdrawing or even calling a ceasefire, as doing so would likely trigger revolts, desertions, and insubordination among their troops now that they had been driven through sheer hatred for Force users. He also doubted that the shareholders for Capital Enterprises would turn a blind eye to such a financial drain for long, and would seek to counter the actions of their CEO. Every detail added up to one simple fact - The Collective was powerful, but it was living on borrowed time.
The Brotherhood was in an equally precarious position, as the foolhardy and arrogant actions of Darth Pravus had only succeeded in weakening the government as a whole. Internally it might have seemed stable, but all it had taken was one minor outside source to threaten his entire regime. The new Grand Master was now desperately attempting to repair the damage inflicted now that Pravus had fled his throne in the face of an enemy who could fight back, if only to avoid fighting a war on two fronts. That left them open to disruptive efforts and raids by Odan-Urr; all the more so if they could prolong the war.
Essik's words were taken into consideration, but they were given little to act upon them before the war took a new turn.
The Meridian Conflict
Events in the surrounding war led to the Collective capturing Vance Kodrall, and Archenksova regarded this as an opportunity. In another meeting Essik was asked for his opinion of the current situation, and voiced that they should focus on the war at home first and foremost. Archenksova accepted this, but after citing Kodrall's value for his knowledge of the Inquisition and their possible involvement in the conflict, Odan-Urr joined efforts to recapture him. The outcome of their rescue efforts soon proved beneficial to the Brotherhood as a whole, as Kodrall's information led to them discovering Meridian Prime space station. A major hub in the Collective's power network, it served as a command centre, prison, harbour and place of commerce all in one. It was a vital component that the Collective would find difficult to operate without, and this made it a vital target.
Devising a means to use the Meridian's very mass against itself, Essik was able to put forward a battle plan in which the fleet jumped into close proximity of the station and used its mass to draw them out of hyperspace. Assisting with commanding efforts from the Solari, Essik guided Odan-Urr's portion of naval support as they quickly overwhelmed the station's defences.
Home Guard
With the loss of the Meridian space station, the Collective was forced onto the backfoot. Withdrawing from the Brotherhood's territories, they offered a reprieve from the fighting and a chance to rebuild their strength. Yet as the Brotherhood licked its wounds, Clan Odan-Urr underwent a change, with Archenksova's departure and Aura Ta'Var's rise to the position of overall Consul. As the Clan was restructured with members changing positions, Essik found himself promoted to Aedile of House Hoth. While this gained him an official rank once more, it was both a victory and loss at once. He now carried with him the voice of authority, but his estimates and advice needed to be more actively backed by full reports and intelligence briefing. He could hardly offer theories for the basis of their actions, or general advice that others could consider whether or not to act upon. It was a level of responsibility that felt somehow alien in Odan-Urr's more chaotic culture. Combined with the Vatali Empire openly declaring war against both the Collective and Dominion, it was evident that interesting times were ahead for them all.
Even with his misgivings, Essik continued to perform his duty to the best of his ability. Using his experience of counter-intelligence to the Clan's benefit, he assisted in blocking further Dominion incursions into Vatali space as the Empire mobilized its forces for war. Locked into a stalemate and with no group holding a clear advantage, the Dominion sought new avenues to undermine the Empress' rule. Among these was a series of uprisings against the nobility by the Quorahi, which seemed to be bolstered by both underlying contempt for the ruling class and outside support. With Foothold, one of the larger ports, at risk of open rebellion Essik was dispatched to investigate a series of murders which had been blamed upon the nobles.
Working alongside the town's mayor, Essik was able to determine that the murders had been committed by a beast of some form and even pinpointed the rough time of death by several clues. Awaiting in ambush for their enemy the following night alongside the town guard, they were able to locate two cybernetically augmented gundarks being dropped from an airship. Utilised as attack dogs to fulfill the bloody murders, the group brought one low only for the other to escape into a warehouse, butchering most of the guards in its retreat. As Essik and the mayor pursued it, the creature was able to take the mayor briefly hostage, before a series of shots from the both of them finally brought the creature low. While their controllers were never found, it dispelled the misconception that the nobility had been responsible for the murders thanks to a number of bizarre markings and off-world technology used in their creation. Even as other Quorahi towns turned more hostile, it at least ensured that one port remained a safe harbour in the months to come.
A Short-Lived Promotion
In the wake of a reorganization within their ranks, Essik found himself increasingly frustrated with his role. While he had welcomed the promotion to Aedile initially, the rank had soon proven to be far more of a millstone about his neck than any asset. It was ultimately intended to be a supporting role of a full leader, and yet both of those that he had served had either departed Hoth or had disappeared entirely. Rather than finding a replacement, Essik had simply been expected to pick up the slack. Worse still was the lack of any true organisation, or even guidance. As such, Essik was typically left with little idea of what he was supposed to be doing, how to accomplish the nebulously defined role, and expected to carry out the workloads of superiors, despite not being granted their authority, resources or even basic information. A loosely linked command structure carried certain benefits, and Essik had initially felt some fondness for Odan-Urr's less rigid hierarchy, but by this point he could see little benefit in their lack of focus. The Dark Council proved to be little better, seemingly regarding them with distrust despite the supposed end to hostilities in the wake of Meridian, and delayed offering even basic updates. He was effectively Quaestor and Aedile at once, but benefitted from neither rank's strengths and was held back by all of their shortcomings.
Even with the constant trouble that the role offered him, Essik continued to try and maintain his duties and improve the House wherever possible. This led to a substantial number of updates throughout their records, several new policies and an effort to enhance communication between the Clan's elements. While Essik was not a part of Operation: Vanguard and the end it brought to the current Dominion threat, he was responsible for reorganizing and reworking the two existing Houses into House Sunrider. As the Vatali were claiming most of their fleet, Essik was one of those who proposed alternative task force formations and even developed the initial draft of its final fleet. This was based upon Republic battle fleets, seeking to make use of both the Clan's emphasis on fighters and ships with effective point-defense systems to counter enemy ordinance.
Essik was attempting to push a rework of the House through the increasingly sluggish and needlessly bureaucratic elements of the Brotherhood's Dark Council when the Thirteenth Great Jedi War broke out. A diplomatic meeting between representatives of the Brotherhood, Collective and an Imperial splinter faction known as the Severian Principate was being held in the Lyra-3K-a system. While Essik would have been content to let the Brotherhood play their power games and leave his Clan in peace, the event quickly devolved into outright conflict. Supposed rogue elements of the Iron Navy abruptly attacked the meeting, bombarding the nearby colony. As part of their agreement with the Brotherhood, Odan-Urr was required to come to their aid.
Already displeased that the very power he had been recruited to oppose had become their overlords once more, Essik took a dim view of this turn of events. The Iron Navy itself possessed more ships than the Clans combined, yet it saw the need to use them as fodder in their wars. Even after it had waged entire wars to wipe out Clan Odan-Urr and performed acts of outright genocide without remorse, regret nor even an effort to make amends, it now had the nerve to demand their total obedience. A nonsensical peace had been won between them only by turning the Clan into the Brotherhood's minions.
Along with its other members, Essik opted to perform damage control and offer humanitarian aid over directly engaging enemy forces. Leaving the bulk of the fighting to the others, a small Odanite task force approached the mining complex on Thillon. Caught amid the battles, the Odanites worked to establish a perimeter about the main buildings and provide air cover. As small groups of Jedi, soldiers and others moved to rescue and then gather the miners and their families.
The operation met with some degree of initial success, rapidly locating and protecting civilians amid the infighting, along with holding the nearby airspace against initial attacks. However, as the battle drew on, attrition began to take its toll. The Odanite force had been small for reasons of speed and the initial plan had relied upon the Brotherhood holding the attention of the enemy forces. As more fighters targeted the mine, with some Severian groups even joining attacking the Brotherhood, the perimeter gradually collapsed. The main transport that the Odanites had relied upon to coordinate efforts and evacuate groups was targeted and destroyed, with Essik barely evacuating before a reactor breach tore the ship in half. The Odanites were forced to make a fighting retreat deeper into the complex, and a reprieve eventually only came in the form of a diverted Arconan transport.
For Essik, this had been enough to cement his views on the Brotherhood. For all their claims, they had not changed at all. They were happy to demand that they fight in their name, but they would offer even basic support once the Clans had engaged their enemy and were being overwhelmed. No matter what their new Grand Master and his lackeys might declare, it was evident that they were still following the same mantra and warped mindset as his predecessor.
By the time of late 37 ABY, Essik elected to step down. Feeling that the Clan required someone who could better understand their roles and a full leadership over-relying upon a single person to carry out the tasks of a full command staff, he instead regulated himself to a more advisory position. House Sunrider required improvements and restructuring, but that could not be accomplished while he tried and failed to continue in a position that would only inflict far more harm than good in the long run.
A Clandestine Little War
After his retirement from the role of leader, Essik considered taking time away from his duties as a member of Clan Odan-Urr. In the wake of all that had happened, he felt that he needed a clear head and time to consider just how to move forward. Because of this, Essik opted to build upon his talents as a detective and advisor in matters of security. Renting out a small apartment in the Voraskel Palace, he spent several months away from military service while dealing with the trials and problems of various noble groups. Essik found the challenges it offered to be cathartic, without the problems which had limited his opportunities within the New Republic. Even when internal politics did rear its head, it was typically in a manner which Essik could freely use as leverage against others, or note as possible evidence while investigating a crime.
Essik was eventually called back into service when word came of possible disturbances on the surface of Kiast. There had been an unusual level of activity between the Quorahi clans which had not resulted in violence or any obvious forms of communication. The scale of these activities had set the nobles on edge, and Essik was requested to assist a small team in uncovering the truth behind what was going on.
Accompanying Tarvitz, Sirra and a newcomer by the name of Nikora Rhan, the group visited Foothold as its starting point. Essik's familiarity with the location and his friendship with Jalan gave him a noted edge in this environment. After meeting with the de-facto Mayor, he was able to quickly confirm that the other man was on edge, and that he was hiding details from Essik. Given his typically open nature, this quickly placed him as a possible suspect, and Essik predicted that whatever was taking place likely had some form of extended presence in Foothold. Through further investigations and asking the right people - along with some liberal use of telepathic scanning by some individuals - they were able to pinpoint the location of a meeting in a warehouse on the edge of the township. Supposedly a meeting between various prominent leaders of their divided communities was to take place there, pushing for a new reform among the tribes.
In the hours before they could move, Essik spoke with Rhan at length on every subject, finding something of a kindred spirit in the woman. They debated at length on various details of history, and the impact that certain decisions had upon the wider galaxy. This proved to be a far more entertaining distraction than either of their other members could offer, and found himself simply enjoying being able to converse about subjects that most would pass off as myths.
When the meeting began after nightfall, infiltrating and gathering information on the event proved to be a simple matter. Using Sirra's talent for moving unseen and the telepathic link that she and Rhan could maintain, they were able to openly spy on the event. The meeting itself proved to be a discussion among the more prominent Quorahi leaders of formulating a push for unification. A series of possible laws were laid down among their kind, and with it a push for independence. Most were in agreement that a better standing against the Vatali nobles would benefit them greatly, but some were using it as an opportunity to push for everything short of open war against them. Realizing the magnitude of what this could mean for the Empire, Essik organised a withdrawal to a hidden building on the outermost districts of Foothold, before departing for Odan-Urr's holdings at first light.
Along with Revak Kur and Tistito Kingang, Essik served as a representative as they approached Empress Kaltani with word of this new development. The Empress herself treated the news as a largely trivial matter, all but openly dismissing the concerns that they brought before her. After several minutes spent with little headway on the matter, the Odanites opted to instead investigate and keep watch on Quorahi activities, preparing to initiate peacekeeping efforts if required. For his part in this, Essik was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given temporary command of the Sentinel Network in order to behead a possible war before it began.
The Simplest of Solutions
With the threat posed by the Quorahi, Clan Odan-Urr opted to carry out a multi-pronged response. Rather than fighting them openly, they sought to undermine and limit the impact of the possible revolution by denying them resources and even essential individuals. It was a far less bloody alternative to police action, and in Essik's eyes the appropriate response. Ironically, the only point he disagreed with was his own task: Finding and destroying multiple resources on Foothold and actively spreading propaganda. While those found in the likes of Cainstead were more vital to a violent uprising, those found in Foothold were better suited to everyday life. Grain silos, meeting houses, and airship docks which could not be so readily rebuilt.
Considering the alternatives, Essik was able to persuade the team tasked with initiating the strike to let him go in first. Waiting in Jalan's house, Essik jumped the Mayor and seemingly held him at gunpoint following a Quorahi meeting. Then, after confirming he was alone, he handed his weapon over to the Zeltron. The two spoke at length over possible threats, the needs of their people, and even the opportunities each could take by quietly killing their opposite. What ultimately changed the decision was Essik's past actions in solving previous murders and the fact that the blaster was never loaded, meaning that Essik had effectively been helpless from the start. Between these factors and the point of how a violent uprising would only lead to a bloody conflict that the Quorahi were ill-suited to win, Essik was able to sway Jalan into turning a blind eye to their actions.
Quietly departing the town once more, Essik was able to direct the team to dispose of areas reserved to support the revolution and two vital meeting houses. Each was done without any great damage inflicted on the town, save for replacing pro-Quorahi propaganda with those discouraging support for the movement.
With this done, he began to widen his focus to other possible targets. A series of initial strikes had hurt the uprising, and barred them from starting an armed revolt and further information prevented each from attacking via an unexpected vector. This had bought the clan time to prepare for whatever would follow, and turn their attention toward outstanding problems. A major one among these was the risk that local criminal elements posed. With the hole punched through the nebula surrounding the system, activity had been steadily rising. For a time this had been only minor incursions and an increase in smuggling activity, but they had been growing ever bolder. The latest effort had been a strike against Kiast itself, where a minor slaving group had successfully abducted an entire Quorahi tribe. Seeing this as both an opportunity to gain a more positive reputation among the Quorahi and prove Sunrider's worth, the House initiated a rescue operation targeting the slaver facility on Felucia.
The operation proved to be a success, recovering the vast majority of the tribe without any great difficulty and breaking the back of the slaver group. The facility was taken intact, allowing for them to pour through the details of the larger operations. Essik made the choice of quietly leaking details to larger planetary governments and groups which had been affected by the slavers, along with any major crime power rival to the slavers. He kept this action largely to himself, knowing that his superiors would likely object to such a ruthless option. Even so, he justified it personally by viewing it as a means to have future problems resolve themselves, and to keep the slaver guild tied up in other battles than risk a reprisal against the Jedi. Yet it was not only Information that Essik uncovered from within the compound, a KX-series security droid, an uncommon model, had been among the slaver's command centre. Disabled in the fighting, it had been left in a recoverable position, but Essik was surprised to find the coded cypher signals of a Rebel program within its systems. Deciding that the droid might be of value, Essik took the droid before donating it to Nikora Rhan, for repair and use in her fledgling stronghold.
Sunrider continued to initiate further peacekeeping operations throughout the galaxy, moving from the slavers onto a paramilitary action against a Perlemian Cartel drug production facility on Dorumaa. Essik kept to the background during this, managing recon information and limiting knowledge of their presence while leaving the true planning and fighting to the others. This was in part due to a desire to make sure that Clan Odan-Urr would not become overly reliant upon his strategic acumen, but also thanks to an alarming discovery. Through a few old allies, Essik had found that his entire history had been re-written. What little would be acknowledged by the Republic marginalized his efforts and depicted him as a blowhard prone to false memories. His every battle against the First Order had quietly been erased, save for the engagement over Onderon. This only existed to present him as an arrogant fool who nearly destroyed his own fleet through sheer incompetence, forcing Vas Shalhes to personally take charge of the group and remove him from command.
Although not prone to bouts of fury, this outraged Essik beyond words. Not only had his name been blackened, but many now long dead comrades had been erased from records entirely, or their histories re-written to suit the current governments. Only his sheer devotion to duty above all prevented Essik from abandoning the clan to deal with his matter personally, and he swore to correct this defilement of the past no matter the personal or financial cost to himself.
Unfortunately for Essik, a far more pressing conflict soon emerged before he could act upon this oath.
Fourteenth Great Jedi War
Once again seemingly overcoming its losses with little to no effort and emerging with new technological nightmares, the Collective launched a renewed assault upon the Brotherhood. Targeting the very heart of its power - Arx - a vast battlegroup of enemy warships was somehow able to bypass every defence in their path and besiege the capital. Upon hearing this news Essik was sorely tempted to urge Clan Ordan-Urr not to answer the call to arms but, upon hearing how badly the Iron Navy was losing its battle, he withheld such comments. As morally corrupt and dangerous as the two groups were, their war at least prevented them from extending their influence out into the wider galaxy.
After clarifying that Odan-Urr's efforts would focus upon recovering non-combatants and rescuing civilians, Essik helped to plan out the operation. First helping to break through the blockade, the clan's fleet was able to evacuate one of the planet's orbiting satellites before performing similar actions throughout Eos City. Essik utilised strategies typical of the New Republic's evacuation efforts, focusing upon misdirection accompanied by fast airborne assaults, and displays of firepower to demoralize their enemy. The Collective had focused upon attempting to herd those it wished to slaughter into killing zones. Those on the Nesolat platform had been trapped once the hangars had been taken, while those in Eos City had been driven into burning city blocks in an effort to burn them alive. Blunt, direct, and powerful, each method had nevertheless been easy to counteract. They were intended to form a perimeter against small arms fire, not an assault supported by airbourne firepower.
The lightning raids helped to break each assault and evacuate those they were seeking to abduct, then to withdraw before the Collective could muster an effective counter-attack. Essik was among those in the first attack wave to the city, and among the first to withdraw back to the Sunrider. Organising the marines in defensive cordons about the hangar, Essik arranged for makeshift medical posts to be established about the area and for constant monitoring of activity. Despite their alliance, he knew that the Brotherhood would likely not pass up an opportunity to weaken the Jedi, or for the lies spread to their citizens to encourage potential acts of sabotage.
As more transports withdrew back to the Sunrider, Essik even made plans to bombard Eos City from orbit. He knew that repurposed derelicts could be as effective as meteors if hurled into the atmosphere. With both the Grand Master and the other clans gathered in one place, and the Collective landing the bulk of their forces on the planet, they would have no better opportunity to break both the Brotherhood and Collective's power. With the civilians evacuated, no innocent blood would be spilled despite the devastation. The only thing that eventually stayed his hand was their High Councillor's willingness to stay and fight, keeping the bulk of Odan-Urr's forces situated in the city.
With his plan disrupted, Essik instead contented himself with the naval battle in orbit. Taking command of the clan's fleet, he initiated a series of attacks to overwhelm and down a number of enemy Dreadnoughts, further weakening the Collective's foothold in the area. Even as they broke and withdrew, Essik pressed the attack, targeting and destroying any ship that could be held back from escaping the area. It was a far smaller victory than what he had hoped, but with the Iron Forces' flagship destroyed and their capital world in ruins, it was the best he could do to further weaken both sides.
Scattering the Ashes
Having taken few casualties in the conflict, Odan-Urr's military forces required little time to recover from the previous battle. Essik continued to order and manage the fleet in the wake of the conflict's end, but much of his attention was drawn instead to counter-intelligence efforts while simultaneously gathering details upon their allies. The unity that the Collective offered as an opponent was tenuous, and Essik was certain that they would need every advantage to benefit their cause once the conflict ended. Equally, many of those rescued from Eos City had suffered from views warped by the same propaganda that had plagued his life, and several had attempted various acts of sabotage on the very ship that had offered them sanctuary. Others, he was certain, were likely Inquisitorius spies that had been inserted into the populace to keep watch on them and were attempting to take advantage of this situation. These Essik had quietly removed and isolated until they could be properly interrogated.
The majority of the civilians were returned to Arx following the conflict, and Essik made sure that certain acts were witnessed that undermined their old propaganda. Displays of mercy, a willingness to help others, and even actions that directly countered the lies spread under past leaders of the Brotherhood were all shown. It was enough to perhaps open their minds to the truth rather than what had been beaten into them, and allow for the slow spread of questions to start undermining the Iron Throne. Although he did not believe it would offer any substantial impact, the chance of future benefits could not be ignored.
With this task done, Essik took time to focus upon the growing spread of misinformation surrounding his last few days of service. Utilising a number of Odan-Urr's assets, he was able to quickly narrow down the list of suspects to Shalhes himself. The former Senator had attempted to better reinforce his status by using Essik as a scapegoat, and had gone so far as to cover for a number of other naval mistakes by pinning it upon him. Apparently determined to establish a new Corellian Empire, he was in the process of joining a number of other former powers in dismantling the Republic's infrastructure and transferring it to himself. Calling himself emperor in all but name, he was ruling the surrounding territories with an iron fist. He had survived the onslaught by declaring himself in favour of the First Order, and his own government served as little more than a servant state under their authority. Even with the First Order's questionable future, there was no clear opposition to his efforts in grabbing further power. Odan-Urr had its own battles to fight, and even without that it lacked the immense number of ships under Shalhes' command. The desire for retribution, to restore any part of the New Republic and its history, was eating away at him. Yet even that would not push him to sacrifice those he served in an unwinnable battle.
Essik instead found purpose in a surprising source. Speaking with Rhan of the growing number of resources she had purchased and apparent deals with the locals, he learned of The Fang and the growing project there. Essik had known of the Jensaarai presence and had assumed it was simply a stronghold they had claimed for themselves, but he soon learned that their intention was to found a far grander project. Inspecting it for himself, he was amazed to find how much that she and Tarvitz had recovered, and of the various items, relics, and historical documents that had been purged from the galaxy. Eagerly offering his services to them, Essik was swift to point out how both his remaining contacts might help them in reclaiming what had otherwise been destroyed in previous purges, and his knowledge of military engagements would benefit their recruits. This part of the galaxy was hostile to any who did not align directly with the Sith or Collective, and they would need every advantage that could be mustered. Rhan proved to be harder to win over than Tarvitz, but his offerings eventually swayed her into accepting his help in an advisory role. More importantly, he was given complete access to their historical archives and permission to add any item he found of value. Contributing a number of volumes on the past wars and strategies erased from the galaxy's wider network of knowledge, Essik even went so far as to pen a number of his own works on less conventional means of battle that had benefited the Rebellion and other powers.
Lessons of the Past
Throwing himself into this work, Essik took a leave of absence from Odan-Urr to focus upon new training regimens and lessons. Spending some time delving into the philosophical aspects of the Jensaarai and the history of the Jedi avoiding military service, he worked to create a balance between the more militant focus of the Order with risks of falling to the Dark Side. Often speaking in lengthy sessions with Rhan, Tarvitz, and a number of Force users more experienced with the Force's darker aspects, he revised the concept time and time again. He further delved back into history, looking at both the original Jedi Order and its reformed state; using examples such as Dal Konur's experiences as a warning in terms of how military backgrounds can easily clash with restraint common within the Jedi. Even with the differences in focus that the Jensaarai offered, he still worked to minimize thought processes which would see stress, casualties, or the inherent aggression of their teachings push members toward darker lines of thought. Eventually, Essik was able to settle on a mix of elements that would work best, and allow them to operate effectively among the galaxy.
Even as the first groups of students were taught, Essik continued to revise any concept put forward and tweak the format behind them. Emulating SpecForce and GAR doctrines, the small groups that the students were divided into were continually subjected to team-building exercises and thought processes which would foster loyalty with one another. If one member showed signs of stepping too far, others were encouraged to pull them back from the brink. At the same time, the Jensaarai code served as a means to guide the group as a whole against potentially falling to the Dark Side, giving them clear mantras, willpower strengthening techniques, and a means to resist following Sith lines of thought. Once he was satisfied that a group was ready, Essik began testing them under various means. Pushing them into high-stress situations, offering temptation, and placing them in positions where they would be at risk of falling. This was done in association with Rhan, who would watch for risks, and identify those most at risk of falling. While the teachers would step in when needed, these tests were made to encourage and then ensure that the students could work without oversight.
All throughout this, Essik would teach these groups of combat methods and further lines of thought more commonly left to rank and file soldiers or resistance fighters. Close-quarters combat tactics, means of infiltration and sabotage, resisting interrogation, escaping captivity, guerrilla warfare, wilderness survival, and resource acquisition were all among the lessons given to new members. Further training outlined the use of weapons beyond lightsabers, with many offering detailed sessions covering blasters, slugthrowers, explosives, blades, and hand-to-hand engagements. Anti-Jedi and Anti-Sith strategies were both covered, for use against certain foes and to help establish countermeasures against such attacks. Most importantly, each was also taught how to gather information, diplomacy, avoid fighting entirely, and to stack the deck in their favour if a fight was unavoidable. Large sections of the Fang's library were soon given over to extensive training documents on various subjects, giving the students clear written guidelines on each lesson.
Aspects of the Force, lightsaber training, and piloting, were all left to the other residents of the Fang better suited to such tasks, but Essik found joy in teaching others without constraint or being able to divide his focus among various tasks once more. With the time given to him, and thanks to a lack of such activities within the castle, he even soon took to teaching various students how to play sabacc. This helped to give a new pastime for those in desperate need of a distraction within the remote building, but also helped to improve qualities that Essik felt benefitted those with leadership material. Essik even took to training most of the Fang's droids in the game's finer points, an act born of both personal amusement and a desire to better integrate the droids into the castle's developing society.
The Wanderer's End
Although content with his role and the opportunities given to his position, Essik recognised that both Tarvitz and Rhan would see difficulties in shifting to a more static role within the Fang's walls. Both had spent decades living a nomadic life without the same responsibilities as him, or the concerns of leading so many people let alone students. Although he attempted to more passively teach them the required mindset of their new duties without directly confronting either Jensaarai, this nevertheless resulted in an abrupt conflict of interests. Rhan departed with Sirra, both to gain vital equipment to further strengthen the Fang's facilities, standing with previous agreements that some of them would be present to teach and continue their lessons at any one time. Although this had been accepted, it nevertheless put a strain on continued lessons and various duties. The problems of this were only further enhanced as Tarvitz abruptly disappeared, seeking to pursue an abrupt opportunity to gain further relics for their hidden library.
Without the needed connection to the Force to continue the lessons most students relied upon, Essik was hard-pressed to maintain the same routines they had been falling into. He was left with his own readings to fall back on, or to extend the fields that he was most familiar with. When both groups returned in quick succession, Essik called a private meeting among them. He could tell that their efforts had been undeniably successful, and that they were almost certainly vital to their cause. However, he made it distinctly clear to both of them that they could abruptly not act in this way again. To do so would be to risk not only disruptions but a vital source of experience that could not be readily replaced, and to risk another invasion attempt. To their credit, neither one of them opposed his points. Both were quick to see the wisdom within them, save for the point that some would still occasionally need to depart the Fang on operations. There were too many threats, opportunities, or missions that would need to be fulfilled to keep each of them on-site at the same time.
The subject instead soon moved onto aspects that might allow them a degree of freedom or at least to avoid disruption when they were forced to leave on missions. The point was soon made to both further enhance the castle's defensive capabilities and certain facilities, giving the students the freedom needed to explore and act on their own in all fields. The library assisted in one regard, but they were still reliant upon their teachers in all others. To kill two birds with one stone, Essik pushed for them to further enhance the practice halls. The area was in desperate need of renovation, and the limited weaponry they had utilised thus far relied entirely upon Tarvitz or Nikora's presence in lessons. Rhan's visit to the graveyard had given them enough material to restore much of the halls, and raiding a Trade Federation ship had even allowed them to salvage a MagnaGuard to serve as a secondary combat tutor.
Tarvitz was ironically the most vocal opponent to action, even though he stood to benefit from it, as doing so would deplete a credit supply that had been set aside for an improved shuttle. He was only swayed when it was both pointed out that it would take years to gain the finances they required for a substantial ship - thus further extending the time in which the Fang remained in ruins - and its role as an evacuation vessel would be limited if they came under attack. Tarvitz expected Essik to support his viewpoint given his experience in retreats and attacks on strongholds, but he instead argued against it. While there was no denying that having an escape route was valuable in any venture, they currently had other responsibilities and resources to call upon. Clan Odan-Urr already served as a more substantial defence and naval support than anything they could muster, and in buying the ship would be forsaking revitalizing a much-needed resource while ignoring an already present ally. Eventually agreeing to their points, Tarvitz offered up a substantial portion of his personal armoury as training weaponry for students; even going so far as to buy a pair of training remotes as a means to support lessons.
Having settled on a path forward, Essik left Rhan and the droids to press forward with the improvements. Outside of suggesting materials for the MagnaGuard - which had taken the name Vega as part of some private joke - to help in expanding its combat protocols and how to teach methods of combat over simply killing opponents, he focused instead upon building the doctrines he had integrated into their lessons, and considering a future problem. Although his initial ventures had proven successful, he noted that Force users were required to devote a considerable amount of time to learning the ways of the Force and even the more general means surrounding attaining the mindset to begin learning. While their powers offered opportunities that other groups could not utilise and were a vital boon in engagements, it also served as a limitation. Rhan was a talented engineer, but she was a Jensaarai Engineer first and engineer second, and had a few noted shortcomings to a dedicated expert in that field.
The Silver of Old Night
While travelling Kiast to gain further resources and support for their operation, Essik found his skills in high demand. Both his resolution of the murders at the Lock and Key and later on Foothold had given him a positive reputation among the planet's populace. Having looked back ever more bitterly over his services and sacrifices in the wake of news from former Republic worlds, this offered him a means of escape from his personal demons. These efforts delayed his return to the Fang for some time, but he made use of each in fostering a better relationship with the populace for the Jensaarai group they were founding. In the Quorahi township of Shindlegeist, he was urgently approached to help resolve a growing crisis. The town's mayor, a Duros by the name of Cirwel Laantin, had sent a letter all but begging Essik to discover the reason behind a multitude of mysterious killings.
Visiting the mayor's personal chambers, Essik was shown the latest victim, held in an unnatural coma on the brink of death. Cirwel informed him of a shade that had been stalking her every step, and of his own sighting of the creature. It had been sighted in similar instances, weakening and then killing its victims while seemingly inflicting no harm upon them. With his curiosity piqued, Essik asked for the documents on any matters surrounding this, and sat guarding the room while he researched the murders. Mere hours later, Essik's efforts were rewarded by a sighting of the killer itself - a monstrous skeletal creature that was more bone than flesh. Humanoid and somehow animated despite its desiccated state, it easily overpowered Essik and killed a guard, before a more substantial force drove it into retreat. Having failed to prevent one murder, Essik was left with only one small victory to offset the disaster. Snatched from the decaying remnants of robes it wore, he had seized a medallion that displayed a stylized variation of the Jedi Order's sigil.
Contacting the Fang, Essik was forced to break his own rules and sway Tarvitz, Rhan, and Sirra to help the investigation. Upon their arrival, Essik's research and Sirra's skills were used to help hunt the creature. Rhan clarified to Essik in private that they believed they knew what it was, but hoped that they were wrong. Their worst fears were soon confirmed upon finding a corroding escape pod held in one seemingly abandoned part of the salvage docks, and after destroying it they withdrew back to the chambers to discuss the matter in full. Rhan explained that the creature was once the Jedi Knight Tel Angor. A member of the extremist offshoot known as the Order of the Silver Jedi, they had sought to use a variation of Alchemy to empower themselves while combating the Sith. Few efforts offered anything beyond minor advantages, forcing their experiments to delve into darker territories. Angor, their champion, was subjected to a ritual that might turn him into an avatar of the Light Side. This backfired entirely, not only tapping directly into the Dark Side, but giving him the power to sense and consume anything with a substantial link to the Force. The Silver Jedi dubbed the creature a vampire, and were destroyed while attempting to end the threat it posed to the galaxy.
Using a combination of Psychometry and Telepathy, they sought to uncover how Angor had survived his apparent death at the hands of a Republic strike team decades earlier. In doing so they learned that the vampire had not survived, but somehow had metamorphosed after engorging itself on a vast number of souls. The escape pod had been found by a salvage team, only for Angor to awaken from its hibernation and consume them one by one. As the group awoke they found Tarvitz, who had been left to guard them, locked in brutal combat with the vampire itself. Having followed them from the salvage docks, it had attempted to kill them while they were delving through its history. Tarvitz had landed multiple mortal blows on the creature, only for it to constantly regenerate and arise once more. Rhan and Sirra were able to see it off, but Tarvitz was so badly wounded that he needed to be placed in a bacta tank.
Realising that, in its damaged state, the vampire would seek to repeat its metamorphosis by consuming thousands of souls at once, Essik and Rhan led a number of town guards into the engineering levels of Shindlegeist. They soon discovered signs of its activity. It had left dismembered corpses in its wake and an effort to destroy multiple control systems that could prevent a reactor meltdown. Essik came up with several plans, but Rhan could only be swayed into pursuing one: Denying the vampire a clear means to attack the reactor or finishing its work, and engaging them in a disadvantageous battle. This proved to be flawed, as the vampire was able to soon corner Essik alone on a control platform. Apparently playing for time, Essik was able to goad it into talking. Once he had its attention he claimed to have had Rhan rig the area with explosives, seemingly holding up a detonator. As the vampire rushed him, learning too late that the detonator had been the medallion, Essik hurled them both over the platform's edge.
The two of them landed heavily on the township's main repulsorlift disc, with bursts of electricity sparking overhead. Using a combination of the medallion, damage from the fall, and his walking cane, Essik was able to channel artificial lightning into the vampire. Too damaged to regenerate and weakened in the face of such energies, the creature was finally destroyed once and for all. Essik soon succumbed to his wounds from the fight, but was saved from death by the late arrival of Sirra. His species regenerative powers and a substantial amount of bacta were enough to restore him back to health in a matter of days, though the recklessness of his actions damaged his friendship with Rhan.
As soon as both Essik and Tarvitz were able to walk, the group made to return to the Fang, only for Clan Odan-Urr to contact its current and former members, informing them of a crisis arising on Myrkr.
Best Laid Plans
The group was able to arrive on the Solari and quickly learned of what the cause of this crisis was. For months now, Clan Odan-Urr had been funding and protecting a variety of archaeological digs across the galaxy. Targeting various important sites and locations implied in recovered texts, they had pinpointed the location of a culturally important relic on Myrkr. Known as the Desired One, it had been supposedly created prior to the Jedi and Sith Orders, but held importance to both. Worse still was that it was supposedly extremely powerful, meaning that any others that knew of it would wish to take it for themselves. Knowing that the other clans would likely seek it for their own ends, Odan-Urr was amassing a task force to clain and guard it against potential abuse by the Sith.
With their standing agreement of leaving the Fang guarded against threats, it was decided that only two of the four would go. Opting to select their number by chance, the end results saw both he and Tarvitz joining the task force. Rhan was incensed at this move, citing how they were both wounded and recovering from their recent fights. Both were healing quickly, but it took a great deal of effort to talk her down in the end, with each making a number of concessions to ensure she agreed with the result. Once both Rhan and Sirra moved to return home via one of the clan's shuttles, Essik began familiarizing himself with what had taken place since the group's temporary departure. For the first few hours of the journey via hyperspace he judged and examined possible threats, only for a message to arrive and put his plans on hold.
While seemingly just a Holonet spam alert, the message itself held a single hidden term - Invigilator. It was an older coded term, unused for decades and only briefly favoured during the early days of the New Republic. However, it carried two essential meanings: The sender was under threat and likely observation, but important information needed to be passed on. Going back through further documents, Essik was able to piece together a series of coordinates alluding to a forgotten system among the Core Worlds; one of those few that had quietly been erased from galactic records.
Gathering up a number of the droids present on the ship and excusing himself from participating in the Myrkr mission, Essik too the Bug to investigate the site. He arrived to find the moon forgotten and abandoned save for a few outlying settlements, but also discovered examples of espionage vessels in the local vicinity. Further scans indicated debris and a recent skirmish, with official reports downplaying it as a hyperspace collision. Essik was forced to avoid approaching the planet at all, but managed to have several droids covertly deployed to examine distant parts of the wreckage. In a stroke of good fortune, they were able to pinpoint and recover a series of hidden data crystals that had been disguised as nova crystals.
After several near misses and eventually confirming that there were no tracible energy signatures on the crystals, Essik was able to retrieve the items and escape. However, he was forced to fake damage after one ship confronted them, mimicking an explosion on the Bug's outer hull, before jumping away. The damage became significantly worse during the return flight, until the shuttle was barely able to land at the Fang. Requiring a full structural refit, the shuttle was retired until it could undergo a major overhaul.
Using the Fang's makeshift facilities, using both a computer disconnected from the Holonet and after further examinations for possible tracking methods, Essik was able to examine the crystals in detail. Consisting of a mix of standard data crystals and optical information crystals, each one outlined the general movements and shifts among the Core Worlds. Political attitudes, police actions, visual proof of information centres being destroyed, each was a clear sign that things had not improved since Essik's departure. If anything, the destruction of the First Order and Final Order had only hastened the growing authoritarian attitudes among major powers. Corellia was proving to be the worst among them, with past histories and lessons being burned away wholesale and falsified alternatives that benefitted the ruling party being introduced as fact. The last crystal ended with a request for a meeting in person, issuing a location and time, some months from then.
In the Cards
Essik's activities over the following months proved to be largely uneventful despite the worrying content of the data crystals and lack of any original source. Although it took long months for the Bug to be brought back into service, Rhan was able to broker a series of deals with old associates, thus giving them access to better ships and equipment. Largely concentrating upon teaching during this time, he noted a series of improvements among certain students, but also that Sirra was falling behind in terms of overall performance. Essik would pass this on to Rhan, citing worries over her physical health. This would prove to be accurate, as lifelong malnutrition had finally started to take its toll, and she was physically struggling to keep pace with those she had once surpassed. The solution to this came through means associated with the Force and, while Essik did his best to understand their concerns, he was nevertheless heavily reliant upon the others for information. Although a ritual means was utilised by Sirra's adoptive father to correct the damage to her body, the means in which it was utilised left them ill at ease.
While keeping any words to himself, the ritual and the willingness in which the Jensaarai broke their own laws unnerved Essik. His experiences with the vampire had left him regarding any alchemical practices with extreme caution, and the growing worry that he was out of his depth despite his experiences in the Fang. While valued for his own skills and understanding that the others were better suited to tackling matters of the Force, Essik nevertheless began to consider further possibilities and risks, feeling that he might have overlooked a number of potential hazards. While investigating the information surrounding the data given to him by the mysterious informant, Essik began to widen his search into a number of other matters and data that had become available following the Final Order's apparent defeat. When Tarvitz disappeared to participated in the conflict on Dandoran it was treated as an opportunity to claim further resources, but they were horrified when he returned with news of nightmarish threats that had been fielded in the battle. Not only had the Severian Principate brought forward creatures made with dark secrets of Sith alchemy, but another faction had emerged to control them and abduct a member of the Revenants.
News of the battle and visuals of the creatures shook Essik to his core, and he realised that his estimates had been woefully ill-made. In a time of relative peace or even where the larger powers fought one another while overlooking minor factions, their plan to create a multitude of small enclaves would have been effective. Yet with so many cults, horrors, and powerful beings appearing at a constant rate, and Force users being in demand, Essik realised that attrition would steadily render the structure impossible. In a private meeting with Rhan, he outlined this risk and cited a number of past conflicts in their discussion. This outlined both how past wars had seen Jedi and Sith avoid destruction through attrition, but also how the galaxy had changed following their initial plan. As such, Essik put forward his solution - To train non-Force users as infiltrators and investigators, give them knowledge of how to identify and combat arcane Sith arts, and to call in bands of Jensaarai as strike teams after they had gathered recon information. Rhan initially opposed this, even laughing at his suggestion of making them Defenders, but Essik was able to sway her on the viability of this argument. His ability to easily cite past events where this would have significantly helped, where the Brotherhood had dabbled with such means, and even admitting that he was of little use as a military leader rather than a detective, helped to change her mind.
However, in this discussion, Rhan made it clear that she was aware how Essik was attempting to convince her before putting it before their small council. As such, she accepted to help convince the others on one single condition: Given the growing uncertainty of their safety and the fact that the Iron Throne had made two separate attempts to annihilate the Jedi meant that Rhan wanted multiple fall-back plans. A Site Besh and hidden enclaves, to help regroup and retreat entirely from the system, or additional caches to help store some of their most dangerous relics. Rhan cited the idea of purchasing then hiding a larger freighter, and though Essik believed that it would be beyond their finances, he accepted that it would be a vital part of ensuring their survival.
Honour Among Exiles
In the following months both Rhan and Tarvitz took students on a multitude of expeditions, starting shortly after their discussion over future plans. This proved helpful, both in distracting Tarvitz so that Essik could privately converse with Orion and sway the droid to their plans, and also proving the effectiveness of their training. The opening expeditions proved to be a trial by fire, with one supporting an Odanite expedition to Myrkr and another assisting the smugglers that Rhan had made a series of deals with, but they returned with no casualties. Further field operations proved that the students could hold their own in battles, operate unassisted in environments requiring survival skills, and cover their tracks following operations. While still concerned about the long-term effectiveness of their structure and the need for a wider range of members, this did allay at least some concerns Essik felt in terms of their training. Unfortunately, when he, Rhan, and Orion, brought their plans forward, it was also the point that Tarvitz leaned on the most when arguing against them. To their surprise he had no problems with Rhan's plans for secondary sites or possible retreat schemes, but introducing members that were not Force-sensitive as Defenders seemed insane to him. Many points he was not against and even saw the logic behind them, but he argued for some time that they could be governed by different leaders in order to avoid conflict or potential unfair treatment of either side. It took a number of concessions and examples to finally push him into at least accepting the concept, and permitting Essik to attempt a trial run.
Tarvitz's approval for a trial was the final stage that Essik needed to push forward with one potential plan. He had pinned down the likely source of his information and, bringing a number of droids with him for support, went to visit them in person. The meeting was arranged between several systems, at an outlying point on the Mid-Rim. Essik arrived to find a passenger liner waiting for them there, utilising a short-range location beacon. The damage had been faked on a portion of the hull, making it appear as if any arriving ship was simply arriving to offer help. Docking the Bug with the liner, Essik entered the ship and was greeted with a number of familiar faces. Former NRDF officers that had been removed from service and even galactic records, a number of intelligence officers, and those disgraced by the New Republic senate. Although they introduced themselves, Essik had already assumed their general plan and objective even before it was voiced. The members were all loyal to the New Republic despite its destruction, and none had agreed with the decisions of its political leaders in its final years. Most had been dishonourably discharged for that reason, and those that had only were only rewarded by watching it slide into destruction by senators looking to snatch power. They had attempted to contact Essik after he had been forcibly removed from command, but joining Tarvitz had allowed him to disappear entirely. Too few in number to initiate a full-scale rebellion or even an open opposition movement, they had nevertheless been pushing to form a group capable of resisting and restoring what had been lost, and remove dangerous figures from power.
The immediate example they cited was of no surprise to Essik: Vas Shalhes. The former Senator, now Diktat, had been among a core group that had pushed to immediately dissolve the New Republic after its losses, and shut down any active resistance cell within their power. Rather than organising the government to oppose and fight the First Order, their interest had lain in snatching any and all power for themselves and trying to form their own powerbases while appeasing the neo-Imperial leaders. Entire histories had been re-written to treat recent changes as the new normal, taking even more dramatic shifts than those seen in the New Republic's dying days. Corellia's history books burned in mass pyres, while their new records told that the planet's new hellish state as a massive shipyard had always been its default status, even as its standards of living plummeted and the populace slid into poverty.
The group ultimately wanted Shalhes removed to trigger infighting among his group, or a less competent figure to take his place. While far from fixing the problems, it would be a start to restoring much of what had been lost, and the gradual reintroduction of ideas that had previously been outright banned. While unspoken, they clearly believed that Essik had been working to establish a military organisation in his absence, perhaps even a full army. Although not directly confirming or denying this, Essik opened up the possibility of joint operations and recruiting from those that were not on the best of terms with any government. Both might offer the possible addition of new members to their group, or at least access to a wider pool of men with the right talents for what Essik wanted. A series of agreements were soon established, along with plans for further communications among a more secure channel. With that done, Essik's droids performed the apparent repairs needed to the ship, and the two groups departed, with Essik making an apparent journey to one of the Severian Principate's protectorate worlds before returning back to Kiast.
Fear to Tread
Returning to the Fang, Essik chose to keep his negotiations with their potential allies to himself. Knowing that both the Jensaarai and droids could react with hostility if he was even considering opening up their support to a wider group and potentially dragging them into a war, he instead opted to secure what they had. Although he communicated a number of times with figures interested in open resistance, many hours were spent instead delving into changes across the Core Worlds and new possibilities in the wake of the Final Order's destruction. Examining both the wealth of classified documentation and the growing hearsay in the wake of the governmental collapse, Essik divided his findings between unconfirmed but likely possibilities and almost certainly outright falsehoods in an effort to pinpoint the overall status of the galaxy. Minor powers were in play as suspected, and multiple worlds were seeking to expand their influence, but a number of the most powerful groups were holding back on extending their reach across new systems. There was yet to be a single conquering leader from the Core or even a power grab by the Hutts, resulting in some temporary stability on a wider scale. Yet many other points confirmed a growing build-up in military resources among certain planets, and a growing increase in piracy. With no clear advantage, it seemed that the galaxy was likely to slip into the warlord state he had feared would follow the First Order's opening salvo.
As he continued his research, Essik pinpointed a multitude of possible fall-back sites in forgotten systems, or places that were too far out of the way to be dragged into potential major conflicts. A few others were picked as they were the eye in a proverbial storm; a place of relative peace amid more violent surroundings, either due to potential dangers or simple lack of interest. Some were even lesser-known Rebel installations largely forgotten, such as the installations inside the Rishi Maze, although even with support Essik was unable to dispatch agents to confirm their status or potential viability. Instead, with Tarvitz and Rhan utilising the relative peace to expand their efforts to field training, Essik passed on a number of these locations for them to investigate. While efforts were made to continually hide their presence or intent, Essik also left a multitude of false trails and ensured that those the Jensaarai visited were those most likely to be uncovered first should other powers attempt to hunt them down. Some were potentially beneficial, but were too easily pinpointed to be of any use besides a decoy. Other locations were picked out within the Kiast system as fall-back points, either as temporary bases or regrouping points before withdrawing entirely from Odan-Urr's territories.
Another effort was made to find and communicate with figures with the right skill and disposition for their needs as a spy network. The absence of the Jedi for several years and no open Sith influence had allowed for certain powers to run unchallenged. What Essik had experienced among the Quorahi was hardly an isolated event and, while rare, some had found themselves rooting out cults and forgotten powers in equal measure. Though most of his initial efforts led only to conspiracy theorists and extremists at first, a few potentially viable figures arose. A few former New Republic Intelligence members and law enforcement officers arose, each with a history of dealing with odd circumstances or situations that verged upon the supernatural. Essik made a point of meeting several through his contacts, operating either through associates, droids, or pseudonyms through various circumstances. A few showed potential, but it would take time to properly evaluate and then sway them into joining either the Jensaarai or Odan-Urr's new Consular Conclave.
The Lion's Den
For some months, Essik was able to balance his multiple duties against one another, and saw some success on multiple fronts. Identifying and communicating with several promising figures for his planned support organisation, Essik was able to direct them to speaking with Clan Odan-Urr directly. Those that proved to be ruthless enough for other needs while maintaining a moral backbone were instead quietly introduced to his friends attempting to help restore the Republic. These were little more than individuals of an investigative nature, but Essik knew that they would need such figures before they could begin hiring a wider array of specialists. Nevertheless, it was a step forward and a sign of improved support, and one that led to an unexpected reward. Believing that Essik's slow nature in contacting and communicating with them was possible the result of distrust, the group took further steps to prove their competence and resources. In another dead drop contact, they left a series of coordinates, revealing the hidden location of the Yastobaal. Long since discarded by the Rebellion and stripped of its upgrades, the vessel was nevertheless relatively intact and flightworthy. After several examinations to confirm it was free of traps, explosives, or tracking devices, Lyccane piloted it to a location within the Kiast system. Anchoring it onto one of the asteroids blown free of the nebula surrounding the Vatali Empire, he buried the ship and left it as a possible safe house should the worst come to pass.
With this work done, Essik communicated with Tarvitz and Rhan in improving their facilities with a wider supply of weapons and possible texts. Each suggestion was born from experiences in the field, and alterations to better prepare for their way of battle. Although minor, a number of suggestions arose, indicating weapon types that they have otherwise overlooked due to their exotic nature. As with all things involving the group, it would take time and effort to fully implement, especially with so many ongoing projects. Seeing this as an opportunity to accomplish two goals at once, Essik began expanding his detective work to other worlds. While his cases had been relatively few, several high profile investigations among the Vatali Empire's nobility had earned him a positive reputation among the wealthy, while his willingness to support the Quorahi had granted the Gand friends among the lower classes. This was easy to lever among the right worlds, and soon enough he had his new target: Corellia.
Working with several of the shipmasters supporting the local construction yards, Essik was able to investigate and successfully resolve a number of suspected murders in a very short space of time. Although most had been accidents staged to try and dodge unsafe worldplace laws that had yet to be stripped from the world, others had been union leaders among the gangs silenced for speaking out too much. Essik's work required him to placate both groups to pin down the true culprits, but at the same time quietly turned events in his favour by disgracing or removing certain figures among the shipyards that would be harmful to those building the ships. Essik's behaviour soon led to him being noticed and held on several charges after Vas Shalhes learned of his presence. But having deleted Essik's history, his retirement from service, and with the Gand helping the local law enforcement, there was little to truly charge him with. Even trumped-up efforts on falsified documents fell short thanks to Essik's constant ability to back up and retain copies of any conversation or major detail, thus swiftly destroying any cause brought up against him. Openly he was committing no wrong, and in fact he had no greater aim than arriving to resolve the murders in exchange for pay and a more beneficial status among the populace. However, the reaction of the government was enough to confirm Vas Shalhes' status and likely paranoia given the knee-jerk response to his simple arrival. Satisfied for the moment, he departed one more to the Kiast system, desiring some relative peace to help consider his next actions. It was a hope that would soon be dashed.
The Future that Was
Essik returned but sensed that something was amiss even as he settled down on Solyiat. There had been no messages from the Fang for some time now, and his own efforts to communicate his arrival had been met with static. Taking a transport back to Trepus, he intended to wait in Steepmouth until one of the Fang's ships came within range. Upon his arrival, he found that the entire populace of the Fang had been evacuated into the town. Shocked at this greeting, he was even more dismayed to learn that the Fang was now lost to them. The castle had come to life, summoning creatures to attack its inhabitants and turning its esoteric qualities against those dwelling within its walls. While casualties among the organics had been light, in defeating it the Jensaarai had discovered its nature as a prison created by Dark Jedi in a war all but forgotten to the modern galaxy. The group had opted to abandon it and, when Essik questioned if retaking it was even possible, it was soon made clear that none were willing to risk re-entering its walls.
Both Tarvitz and Rhan had been seeking to find a way to continue but, even having salvaged much of their equipment from the castle, it was clear that the volume of students was a problem they could not easily deal with. The ships offered little beyond basic shelter, and there was no immediate place that the group could find and then occupy. Essik made several efforts for the group to remain together until they could better formulate a solution, but Rhan saw only one immediate way to ensure their safety - Merging the majority of their group with another Jensaarai faction that had split from the original Order, and giving the students to them in order to strengthen at least one group. Essik tried to make them think of other ways around this but, with Tarvitz's own efforts to find another means around it failing, he was unable to convince them to remain. While the Yastobaal might have helped to house several of their number, there were simply far too many of them for the vehicle to house long-term, and even then it was a transport rather than a true major operations base.
As Tarvitz and Rhan came up with their own solutions, Essik approached Orion and spoke to him of the hidden ship. The droids had taken heavy casualties in the retreat, and Orion fully supported any means for them to quickly bounce back from the defeat. Upon learning that the ship's internal computer core could house the minds of those critically damaged, the droid fully backed his decision to recover and present the ship as their major base. Once Rhan and Tarvitz were done, the group spoke of their future. Rhan would take their existing ships to transport the students to the other faction, while Tarvitz helped to house those who wished to remain on Trepus. Essik and Orion, upon revealing the Yastobaal's existence would recover the ship and modify it for their use. Joining the transports and making a minor detour to the asteroid where it was hidden, the droids reactivated the ship and piloted it back to Trepus. For the next several months they laboured to rework the ship into one better suited to long-term operations, welding a variety of transportation modules into place and linking them up. While the effort did not influence its overall carrying capacity or expand the number of passengers it could ferry, by the end it more easily suited their needs as a mobile HQ than anything they previously fielded.
Essik took some time to reflect upon what could have been during this time, bitterly considering how easily they might have clawed back some degree of power and might have started to truly help efforts to rebuild the New Republic. With many debts to pay off and much work ahead of them, their future was now more uncertain than ever, and he was once more a leader fighting to maintain an ad-hoc ship with any resources he could lay his hands on.
The Chains of Command
With their focus shifted from building toward a future toward simple survival, Essik found that much of his time was spent as little more than a ferryman. Limited largely to the Yastobaal's decks during his time there while the others pursued their own goals, he found that he took much of a backseat in regards to any actions. Channelling his bitterness into a guide of being limited to the ship's interior, he took the time to instead maintain a series of long-distance communications with his allies opposing the leadership on Corellia. These consisted primarily of dead drops and message beacons hidden within trash jettisoned from the vessel while in flight, as he updated them on his group's much-reduced status and situation. With this knowledge, they were instead forced to consider possible alternatives to help oust Vas Shalhes. Military action was clearly no longer an option, and he was too well guarded against most conventional espionage methods. However, Essik suggested to instead play upon Shalhes' fears, citing the man's apparently paranoid nature and tendency toward rash actions when Essik was present. The man's mental state had been clearly degrading for some time and, while that almost certainly made him more of a threat, it would also offer them an opening to overcome him.
It was also during this time that Essik was approached by Marl Gondor to become a ranking member of Clan Odan-Urr's leadership. With the dissolution of House Sunrider into two separate groups, the Guardian Corps was lacking an Aedile to help maintain leadership duties. Essik accepted this, recognising that it presented both an opportunity to carry out his goals and also to pass on the teachings he had written while a member of the Fang, putting them to at least some good use. As this required him to be present on Kiast and Daleem for much of his time, Orion was instead granted overall control of the Yastobaal, to command and control the vessel as the droid saw fit.
It was during this time that the Corps would become embroiled in the Streets Painted Crimson affair, in which the group investigated a series of suspicious murders, starting with a distant member of the Vatali Royal Family. Although similar to a number of cases that Essik had been part of, and suspecting that his history as a detective might have motivated the Vatali to approach them for help, he opted to have the others do the bulk of the work and judge their effectiveness in deciphering clues as each was uncovered. Through a group effort and their own areas of expertise, most were able to pin down a series of key clues as to the nature of the killing, and also some disturbing implications behind what motivated it.
The Merrivale Affair
During a relatively quiet period in his work, Essik rejoined the Yastobaal during one of its transportation runs to the Outer Rim colony of Merrivale. A more developed area on an undisclosed planet, it showed signs of rebuilding and expanding upon the trade networks that had been shattered thanks to the New Republic's destruction. Essik's contacts had indicated some outside influence was playing a part in this, but their exact nature and origin was unclear. Knowing that it would need to be investigated to deem it either a threat or a potential asset, Essik worked through members of the Free Droid Enclave to scout out the location and clarify its nature. This worked to turn a small group of the local droids to their side, but they proved unwilling to directly join, and each suffered from noted gaps in their memory. When Essik was able to speak with the harbourmaster and lever his influence into examining local records - claiming that those he represented would be very open to a more solidified trade route that would benefit them, provided his word was true - similarly odd gaps arose from place to place, particularly when it came to certain vessels.
The cause behind it was only made clear later, when a group of unknown individuals attempted to raid the ship, only to be seen off by Vega and the small cadre of security remotes. Similar attacks had played out on the others, and while Rhan was able to escape it, Sirra was forced to free herself from captivity, and Tarvitz escaped from a concerted effort to either capture or kill him outright. Part of this was discovered to be thanks to Merrivale's efforts to hide how it was trafficking slaves of specific skills to buyers, but also that a group insisted that the Yastobaal be targeted and its crew subdued days before their arrival. Essik attempted to gain knowledge of this group first from a member brought low by Vega and then the Harbourmaster, but both suffered from a violent fit as they were on the verge of breaking under interrogation.
What proved to be most concerning wasn't simply the foreknowledge, but the fact that they seemed to know of the relics that the Yastobaal guarded, and the nature of its crew. Such detail could have only come from among their droids or the organics occupying the vessel, as no one else had been permitted within since its refurbishment and relaunch. Staying some days to see that the settlement was given over to a proxy ruler of the New Republic reconstruction group Essik supported, they eventually departed without further incident but with many questions left unanswered.
A Ghost of alliances Past
"This would have been done by now if it wasn't for people like you! You cling to the past, you stand in the way of things, you block us constantly! This would all be done by now if you'd just give up and die!"
"Senator, all you have convinced Essik of is that you are not truly a leader, or even a usurper. What you are is extraordinarily desperate."
- The last exchange between Vas Shalhes and Essik Lyccane
Essik's negotiations and efforts with the crew continued for some months, but the events on Merrivale continued to hand over them. The lack of complete answers and revelations surrounding the encounter had left each of them with a sense that they had gained the attention of some outside sources they could not pinpoint. The matter was hardly helped when they confirmed that certain groups were shadowing their movements, unassociated with the Brotherhood or its usual enemies. Essik was frustrated by this turn of events, and sought to use the Free Droid Enclave as a means to offset it, actively supporting and bolstering their numbers on every world they found. After nearly two months with no clear progress, Essik was almost thankful when an actual enemy made themselves clear - Corellia's intelligence service. The Gand had known for some time that Vas Shalhes had dispatched forces to watch them, moving far outside of the system's jurisdiction and had even interfered with local law several times. The encounter was only further confirmed when Orion and Rhan took two agents captive as they attempted to plant trackers on the Yastobaal. Each tried to turn any negotiation against their captors, trying to leech details from them. While they were held, Essik was able to use this to his advantage, learning that Vas Shalhes apparently thought he was building support among the Outer Rim for some reason.
Knowing that the Corellian Senator would only become a far greater threat over time and the Brotherhood would not directly step in should matters turn violent, Essik accepted that he would need to deal with the matter personally. Releasing the two intelligence agents, Essik asked them to pass on a simple message - Remember Onderon. From there he waited some weeks, contacting both members of the Enclave and his own allies resisting Vas Shalhes's rule in attempting to restore the Republic, and initiated a plan. It was clear by now that Vas Shalhes was suffering from increasing paranoia, to the point of hounding Essik when he had made no contact with any opposition elements for months. Further twisting the worst aspects of the former Senator's warped mind, Essik worked with each to make the senator steadily fear his own shadows. Droids were set up with holographic display units to appear throughout Coronet City and about the Senator's daily duties, giving him occasional fleeting glimpses of Essik as they momentarily took on his guise before moving on. At the same time, Essik's allies planted vague information and innocent reports that would only make Vas Shalhes all the more determined to see a hidden plan as a possible threat and be ready for Essik's attack. This would prove to have been something he had feared for years, ever since removing the former Rear Admiral from power, and believed that Essik would return with a vengeance rather than moving on.
Essik's final act was to ensure that Vas Shalhes' paranoia would see him removing most of his close bodyguards until they were outside of his apartment, before using an infiltration droid to adopt his guise. Appearing in front of Vas Shalhes desk late into one evening, Essik conducted a momentary meeting with Vas Shalhes through the droid and a remote holocommunicator, where the former Senator screamed and raved at Essik about what he was planning, demanding to know of his movements and yelling that his threats were holding back the future of Corellia. Essik continued to poke the man's nerves, hoping to finally push him over the edge, and succeeding. A few choice words citing Vas Shalhes self-delusions sent the human into a screaming fit, drawing a blaster from his desk and firing repeatedly into the droid. Several shots went wide, triggering the gas leak that Essik had previously set up, hoping to frame Vas Shalhes' breakdown as the result of chemical poisoning. The explosion destroyed the former Senator's apartment along with several surrounding buildings, unfortunately along with the droid.
The act was enough to behead Corellia's government, and the resisting elements were enough to move on and take over the right elements to conduct a slow but steady collapse of Vas Shalhes' powerbase. Knowing that they could not completely wipe out his history overnight, they opted to instead start slowly reintroducing corrections to his altered history and bring it back onto track, along with building toward the basis of what might once be a resurgent Republic or Galactic Alliance. Essik, however, decided that his part on this was over. Although he considered joining them in this venture, his distaste for politics and the fate of Clan Odan-Urr ultimately came first. He did, however, leave them on good terms and promised to offer aid if it was ever needed.
Even so, Essik remained concerned about one point above all others. In his final screaming rant, Vas Shalhes had yelled that "he" had promised to removed Essik and his allies, and that they would no longer be a problem. That "he" had helped show him how to correct mistakes and bring back the galaxy to a better place. This indicated to Essik that the previous attacks were not associated with his old enemy at all, but an associate or ally. Deeply concerned that this would leave them open to potential future threats, Essik asked that the Enclave establish a chapter in the system both to further its efforts and keep in touch with future potential threats.
The Fifteenth Great Jedi War and the Hollow Mountain
Essik returned to Kiast once more, and found that he had been promoted again in his absence, this time to Quaestor of the Guardian Corps. Silently thanking the good fortune that had pushed him into moving against Corellia's corrupt dictator before learning of this revelation, it was evident that his previous long-range operations would be entirely impossible to justify. Leaving the captaincy of the Yastobaal to be decided among the others, or at least who would take over his role in handling the paperwork, Essik headed to Sky Breach Base to deal with matters involving his appointment. The event would rapidly prove to be a trial by fire, as long-range sensors had detected what was likely an enemy force moving through hyperspace toward the system's edge. Not fully knowing the capabilities of the group or even their intentions, Essik dispatched Tarvitz to one of the Clan's outlying space stations to confirm and prepare its battle readiness. Rhan was unfortunately out of contact, and opted to leave a message for her, while organising and preparing the Corps' operations for battle. Tasking them with garrisoning essential locations across the planet, and then ordering their fleet assets to enter a close defensive orbit of the world, Essik prepared for the worst.
His efforts would prove to be flawed. Managing to somehow force their way through the Paleoxis Cloud, the enemy fleet made a bee-line toward Kiast itself, and began actively attacking the Jedi Praxeum on the planet. Forgoing any and all potential targets save the Jedi academy, their focus was utterly fixed on trying to annihilate the Jedi. Realising that there were no enemy forces coming, Essik ordered their ground troops to hold position, but dispatched their ships to begin raiding any transports intended to help support the initial sledgehammer of the enemy attack. Although strongly tempted to join the effort, Essik remained at Sky Breach Base to coordinate efforts and try to get into contact with the wider Odan-Urr fleet. This left him largely sidelined during the battle, and would only learn of details involving the conflict long after it was gone. Even after urging Rhan to check through their libary for records on the Children of Mortis and any associated groups, they could find nothing that fully matched the variant of technology their attackers had utilised, or a definite reason behind the invasion.
Essik overviewed their defenses in the following days and continued efforts to bolster the presence of the Guardian Corps across the planet, but was interrupted by a surprising matter. The Streets Painted Crimson case had been reopened, following news that several major suspects (all of who were not associated with one another or had even fully communicated previously) had banded together and abruptly opened an auction house for a series of unknown items on Daleem. This coincided with the abrupt creation of an illegal mining operation on Solyiat by one of the three nobles backing the effort, established during the Children's invasion, and odd interest from groups outside of the typical Vatali nobles. Working with the Consular Conclave, both groups gathered any members who could be found and sought to investigate and infiltrate each area. Essik took command of the group visiting the auction house, and was alarmed at what lurked within. Not only were a number of bidders from groups such as the Black Sun, but the items being auctioned off were relics of the ancient Sith Empire, each clearly newly recovered and with no clear origin.
Not wishing to let relics fall into the hands of such groups or allow them to operate freely on Odanite soil, the clan members present were given little time to formulate any actions before the bidding started. Even as it did, it took only a short time for the event to descend into chaos. Though the original source was unknown, shooting began within the auction house, triggering mass violence as the nobles' guards and auctioneer bodyguards tried to target the source of the threat. As the brawling intensified, several banners caught fire, which quickly spread throughout the building. As items were snatched up and groups began to fight their way clear, most of the Odanites attempted to intercept and bring down as many targets as possible. This was met with limited success thanks to their relatively few numbers. Although Sentinel Network assets had worked to sabotage several Black Sun ships, the vast majority were able to flee the planet without being intercepted. It was quickly confirmed that Vun, Tann, and Mehl were not among the few that they were able to capture.
The only major victory they saw was thanks to the efforts of Lizuni Kotra Heraga, Celevon Werd'a, and Benn Nevis. By some miracle, they were able to retrieve and drag a sizable number of Sith relics free from the building, moments before something vital was caught in the flames and it was lost in an explosion. This at least granted Odan-Urr some research subjects, and potential clues as to the nature of these recent items.
They would later learn of similarly problematic efforts on Solyiat to bring down operations there, but also an alarming discovery. The group there had attacked the camp, only to find it abandoned recently by all those present. The members there had spread throughout the camp in search of any clues to where they had gone, and soon gained their answer. Footprints led to a break in the mountainside, and a tunnel within. Within the mountain itself, within a cavern that should not have existed, lurked a Sith Temple none until now had known of. After several efforts by droids to try and uncover information or any sign of the archaeologists who had operated the camp, the Odanites opted to make no further push into the temple and instead guard it for the time being.
Shattered Legion
In the quiet months that followed, Essik attempted to pin down the Black Sun's movements or even reasons for their rising interest in the system. Even with the help of the Sentinel Network there were few obvious answers, and many of the faces taken from records of the fighting were either minor members with no fixed territory or those who had actively expunged all records. Interrogations and investigations into the recovered relics did not help matters, as it was clear any efforts would take some considerable time to produce results.
With little he could do and nothing save for a minor celebration with Clan Arcona on the horizon and one brief meeting with the Clans on a resort planet, Essik turned his attention back to their private projects once more. Even with efforts to adjust and rework their standing, progress in forming the small force that Essik desired had slowed considerably. While recruitment of possible interested individuals had brought up a number of potentially essential specialists from military, judicial, and even some criminal backgrounds, they lacked the support network needed to bolster them. Equally, as they were tied largely to the Yastobaal's flight and more concerned with recovering the droids held in the ship's AI core, recruitment into the Free Droid Enclave had slowed to a standstill.
However Essik judged it, they simply lacked the standing needed to fully strike out on their own at that moment. The armory was diverse but had been built with teaching in mind over equipping a miliary force. The droids bolstered a relatively strong mechanical and medical area, but security was largely left to two individuals. They were still limited to one repurposed transport and a fighter, with no other ships, ground units, or even speeders to improve their mobility. With this in mind, Essik turned his attention more toward funding efforts and bolstering their finances, setting aside whatever was possible in either physical goods or long term vaults. At the same time, he established several new shell companies under names, with some using either properties that he retained ownership over as old Rebellion-era safehouses, and in one case even his own office on Kiast. This was done in the hope of giving them a start to begin funding and supporting what they needed. At the same time, this was done to adjust his plans based upon what he had seen of the Guardian Corps. Maintaining a very decentralized and hands-off approach, the Corps emphasised the highly individual nature of many members. Rather than a rigid miliary, what it offered was a means to support and help the multitude of agents acting alone, only recalling them in a time of crisis. Otherwise they were trusted to be left to their own devices and follow their objectives.
It was also at this time that Essik considered further expanding the library they held. Although extensive and offering many texts they needed, especially in training soldiers or agents and tracking threats from groups associated with the Force, there were areas they lacked. As such, following Rhan's departure with their vessel to carry out a potentially profitable trade agreement, he began investigating the potential of creating several intelligence documents. Each one dedicated to Brotherhood's Iron Legions, its Clans, and their enemies, detailing the histories, strategic and tactical methods, and then their weaknesses.
The Board is Set
In the process of writing the first book while examining the Brotherhood's past leaders, wars, supplies, doctrines, and support structure, Essik was asked to help with issues involving both Rhan and Tarvitz. Having been using the Sentinel Network in an effort to track down and then pursue her leads, Rhan had been able to gather some information but the trail had grown cold. Seeing an opportunity both to test the Guardians' own assets and also test the skills of a potential recruit he had previously met, Essik dispatched several agents to look into the matter. The recruit, John Blackwood, returned first even with the head start granted to the Guardians. Having tracked Rhan's target to Tatooine, Blackwood quickly passed on the information and was almost as quick to leave. Having little interest in being tied to a group, Blackwood did nevertheless confirm that he had run into no small number of odd events and cases linked to the Force over the years, and a sizable number of his own investigations had led to links with the Sith or other Force users. More importantly, he outlined something that Essik had long suspected - Another unnamed group with some notable degree of power was also directly involved with matters of the Force, and had caused no end of trouble for them.
Leaving Rhan to deal with her own matters, Essik opted to help Tarvitz next before following up on the confirmation of other organisations invested in the Force besides the Brotherhood, Jedi, and Children of the Force. Tarvitz, although not speaking of it openly, did indicate he had similar concerns. He spoke of the instances on past locations they had visited, and also how they had been tracked by unknown groups. Essik was reminded strongly of Vas Shalhes' last words, and the mysterious "he" that he kept referring back to. As such, when Tarvitz asked to access S.E.E.R. in order to probe the Force, Essik agreed. He believed that it would help to pinpoint anything that was directly watching them, or even confirm if it was the Children of Mortis rather than another group.
Essik was delayed in joining Tarviz's findings, and trusted the Jensaarai to record any findings quickly. However, when he joined Tarvitz at last, the Jensaarai was seemingly on the verge of suicide. Aiming a weapon against his head and on the verge of pulling the trigger, Essik rushed to pull the S.E.E.R. from his head, allowing the man to collapse. Visibly exhausted and burned out. Tarvitz was only able to fully confirm that something else was watching their every effort and it was powerful before he needed to recover, almost falling unconscious on the spot.
Unlikely Allies
Essik attempted to keep in contact with Tarvitz over the concerns, but matters of running the Guardian Corps drew him away too easily. They exchanged words several times, but Tarvitz could only online the risk of an unknown presence in the Force that had attempted to fight him. The two agreed that Rhan was needed to help fully go through the information Tarvitz had been able to gain during the encounter, and Essik asked that they keep him in contact with any further developments while he handled duties for the Corps.
The shift in focus came at an essential time, as the Corps was met with an abrupt breakthrough in its hunt for answers following the events on Trepus. The most surprising development stemmed from the fact it came from a volunteer, a member of the Black Sun, seeking them out to deal with a mutual problem. After several days of forewarning of his arrival, the contact arrived and outlined the threat they faced, citing that it was not the Black Sun themselves. The criminal group was more than happy to engage in various underworld activities, but matters involving Force users were always more trouble than they were worth, especially Sith relics. However, there were other groups who did, such as a strange group they had previously met known by many generic names. The closest that they had to a full title was the Erebus Pact.
The Pact dealt with various arcane items, and had been expanding its influence following the decimation of the Jedi and the seeming destruction of the Sith. With neither group ever regaining their strength following the events of the Great Jedi Purge, the Pact had come to stay in the shadows, but had spread far and wide across the galaxy, trading in relics and knowledge like an information broker. Elements of the Black Sun had been approached by the Vatali nobility in an effort to increase their wealth, and had seen an opportunity to expand their standing. Ignoring the unspoken rules of not dealing with the Pact, they had come to approach it, and had made several deals, using the auction either as a means to seem legitimate on short notice or draw out similar rival targets.
The contact cited that he could offer them the location of a Erebus Pact storehouse he believed the rogue Black Sun members were attempting to raid in order to gain something from the failed plot. In exchange, he asked that the Guardians destroy both groups at once. With only a limited window of opportunity and recognising that the Pact were likely a much greater threat than Black Sun, Essik summoned the Guardians' flotilla and jumped to the coordinates. The group found the storehouse already under siege by the Black Sun and joined in the battle.
A Greater War
After the events in fighting the Erebus Pact, Essik would step down from his position of authority in charge of the Guardian Corps. Although a substantial part of this was due to ill ease in taking a commanding role once more, it was also paired with concern over developments relating to Tarvitz. Both the Jensaarai faction they had created - now known as the Templar Jensaarai - and even members of their family had encountered entities similar to those they had faced not too long ago. Furthermore, Essik's fledgling web of informants and agents had faced concentrated opposition from unknown factions, seemingly prepared to oppose them. Essik could tell when there was an invisible war underway, and everything pointed to one being waged against them. Deciding to focus upon this, Essik rejoined the Yastobaal and assisted with their efforts to build their numbers. With both the Free Droid Enclave and the Templar Jensaarai growing in number, they fought to rebuild their strength to the point where it had been before the Fang had been lost to them. However, even here they found themselves assailed under mysterious circumstances. A flight of police gunships in the Elrood Sector went rogue and attacked the ship while it was refueling, and Rhan encountered a group of Dark Side aligned assassins as she attempted to make contact with her allies among the smugglers.
Essik was able to make some communications with the group attempting to rebuild the New Republic but, against the wishes of his friends, asked that they keep their distance rather than making use of their knowledge. Essik was forced to point out that they could offer little direct help, and was adamant that he would not risk the best chance and restoring some sanity to the galaxy for the sake of their own war. In an effort to make up for this, Essik would soon bring forth a number of assets he had kept hidden for years in order to better assist them, and further distance themselves from relying upon Clan Odan-Urr or other friends. Although not substantial, one surprising development was the addition of a Super tactical droid by the code designation of Wolf, an old enemy that Essik had subdued and then reprogrammed during the closing days of the Clone Wars. Essik admitted that he could have reactivated Wolf far sooner, but felt he would be a poor influence on the Free Droid Enclave and seek to take command. Yet, needing every asset, desperation had now forced his hand.
This would lead to some benefits, however, upon one of Essik's contacts bringing up a lead on Coruscant, in the partially rebuilt undercity. A lab had been uncovered by the damage inflicted by the Vong, and the rebuilding efforts had avoided it. Although this lab proved to be genuine and linked to the old Empire, it too proved to be a trap, with the group assaulted by rogue Inquisitors. This finally offered some indication of just who they opposed, however, as each of them had been physically enhanced and reworked on a genetic level by Sith sorcery. After defeating them and taking one body for analysis, Rhan was quick to suspect that one old enemy, Arani, had been behind this or even that the Children of Mortis were involved. Yet nothing indicated that either group had been part of this, as the link was far more subtle than the blatant experiments expected of either foe.
Needing a lab to better work on understanding their enemy, the group took shelter in an old research base that the New Republic had long abandoned in its forced downfall. Taking it for their own use, Rhan worked to upgrade and repurpose much of the internal machinery, hoping that some of it could be utilised to develop a weapon against the Shadow in the force they fought. While attempting to gather supplies for this purpose, the group encountered a manifested form of the Shadow directly. A physical rift in space and time, near formless and howling, it seemed not to know them despite its previously spoken enmity for them all. Although they are able to fight it to a stalemate and drive it off, Essik is concerned as to how it could not know them, but also as to what it was doing there. Rhan identified that it had been trying to destroy local records, most of which related to biological data and enzymes of various bloodlines.
The Shadow Offensive
With some basic knowledge to work from, Tarvitz advocated a more open offensive to hunt the Shadow in the Force over waiting for it to appear. Rhan was in agreement with this but pointed out that they needed more resources, and likely knowledge from groups they otherwise opposed. As Essik drew upon all information from his contacts and anything that might assist them, Rhan was sent to broker an agreement with the Saarai-kaar for the remaining records held by the orthodox Jensaarai, while Tarvitz spoke with the Shadow Academy and sought to access their historical data prior to past purges. With some luck, all three were successful, and managed to begin pinpointing repeated appearances of the Shadow across centuries, with it drifting in and out of major galactic events. There was no clear pattern or approach to this, and its very existence seemed to be extremely sporadic. Several efforts were made to try and pinpoint its next likely location and head it off, hoping that an ambush might offer they edge they needed to beat the Shadow in battle or even take it prisoner.
Sirra eventually comes forward with a solution. The Shadow had attempted to find and kill her in the past, and that made her a natural bait. Essik proved to be the only one fully opposed to this, but both Rhan and Tarvitz backed her, and as such he proved to have little opportunity to fully oppose it. Seemingly giving Sirra over to a Cadre of the Templar Jensaarai for her own safety, they were able to draw out a large number of individuals allied with the Shadow as it assaulted Sirra directly. However, the Shadow underestimated Sirra, not gaining the upper hand and soon proved to have a desperate fight being pushed against it. This allowed the trap to be sprung, with large numbers of droids allied with the group to capture the individuals trying to support the Shadow. Although seemingly successful, this was met with a failsafe of sorts, as the individuals began convulsing and killing themselves in a frenzy; something Rhan would later identify as a kind of psychic backlash or withdrawal. However, word came from Tarvitz that his own efforts had been more successful. Remaining behind on their ship in case of a potential attack, he had countered a smaller group of assailants and had been able to carbon freeze them by leading them into a storage bay. This had seemingly anchored the entity within their bodies, and was now unable to free itself.
Rhan and Sirra both immediately began working to run an analysis the nature of the enemy as best they could, probing the psychic nature of the figures and their mysterious link to the Force. However, this required bringing them back to their base. Most were against it, but Essik pointed out that the only alternative was to bring it back into Brotherhood space. Even if they did not wish to put their allies at risk, there was every chance that the Sith or the Brotherhood's enemies might learn of the Shadow in the Force. The last thing they needed was the Brotherhood trying to weaponise it, or one group or another attempting to even ally themselves with the nightmarish entity.
An End to All Things
"He said he would hold them for a few minutes. He was still firing when we were finally forced to depart, May Essik Lyccane find peace in the Force he was denied in life."
- From the journal of Ka Tarvitz
Between working through the powers of the Force users present and the analytics droids of the Enclave, the group was able to see several breakthroughs in understanding the nature of their enemy. It was clear that the Shadow was partially present in each of them, working through some strange symbiotic relationship which became parasitic over time, merging with living beings in various aspects. Although this would gradually destroy those it was linked to, it nevertheless boosted their strength and skills, and even offered a stronger connection with the Force. At Essik's prompting they remain cautious, especially after it appears that the Shadow is adapting to their presence somehow. After several weeks Rhan believed she had found a breakthrough, only to realise that the Shadow had been biding its time. All of them agreed to evacuate the facility immediately before any trap could be sprung, signaling an immediate evacuation order. However, this proved to be too late, as hundreds of Shadow entities began manifesting within the base.
Seeking to deny the Shadow any advantage, Essik destroyed all copies of any records held within the base, leaving only the few kept on the Yastobaal. Further damaging several Shadows through means Rhan had devised as potential weaknesses, Essik worked to help a fighting withdrawal. However, upon realising that the Shadows had triggered the base's self-destruct mechanism, a device Essik had insisted be installed to deal with worst case scenarios, Essik and several others fought to hold it back. Although successful, Essik was badly wounded by one Shadow, and left impaled against the deck plating by a length of metal. Although Tarvitz was able to jury-rig a stalling mechanism to halt the self-destruct countdown, Essik could not be moved without further harming him. Already knowing that his wound was mortal, Essik quietly reflected on how badly it had all gone and asked for a blaster. As Tarvitz and the others retreated, Essik held the room against the Shadows, giving them the time they needed to successfully withdraw from the base.
Essik was the last living being on the base as the Shadows surrounded him, including a figure he believed was the dominant of their kind. Attempting to make use of his information, Essik kept his comlink open, trying to goad information from the Shadow and broadcast it to the others. When it was unwilling to offer more than a few token words, Essik attempted to kill the entity by triggering the self-destruct mechanism, but was executed before he could activate the device.
Legacy
It would be some months after the Shadow in the Force, later identified as Lord Perdurabo, was annihilated that Essik's body was recovered. Granted a quiet funeral on his homeworld of Gand with the respect and remembrance he had been denied in life, both Rhan and Sirra made sure that his family was made aware of his tale. Although marked by many failings and haunted by his inability to halt the corruption and destruction of the Galactic Alliance and then New Republic, Essik saw success both in attempting to restore each organization and founding several smaller groups to preserve the knowledge which would otherwise have been destroyed. Instrumental in the creation of the Templar Jensaarai, strengthening the Free Droid Enclave and responsible for commanding Clan Odan-Urr's houses during several crises, he was remembered by each with his names and deeds recorded in detail. Even so, Essik's rank and service record earned across the Clone Wars, Galactic Civil War, Thrawn Campaign, Operation Shadow Hand, Black Fleet Crisis, Yuuzhan Vong War, and many others besides, was never restored to him.
Essik would appear one final time in the world of the living during the annihilation of Lord Perdurabo. As they fought to finally drive the insane sorcerer into oblivion, Essik was one of countless souls that manifested, driving the Shadow entities he had spawned from himself back into the Dark Side and holding them there until they dissipated into nothingness.
Physical Description
A short and notably portly figure, Essik Lyccane was someone to whom frontline combat was little more than a distant memory. His light grey carapace was carefully manicured and kept free of dirt, with white cosmetics applied to highlight its ridges. Like most Gand of the lungless subspecies, his forehead was dominated by a set of unblinking compound eyes. Tinged green and mildly reflective, combined with his quietly disciplined posture they grant his expressionless features the impression of being ever watchful of his surroundings. In the lower middle of his face was set a pair of short mandibles, obsidian black in colour, which were typically polished to an almost mirror shine.
While used to wearing the uniform of the previous government he served, Essik more often than not favoured clothing with formality and finery. Much of this was influenced by his years spent living on Chandrila and Coruscant, most notably in the form of a bowler hat that frequently adorned his head.
Personality
Along with his appearance, Essik's personality was hardly one that could ever be associated with a typical military commander. Often exaggerated the habitual Gand politeness to the point of near absurdity, he would remain unfailingly civil to enemy and subordinate alike. He would treat the order to initiate a torpedo strike on an enemy cruiser with the same tone and reverence he would order dianogan tea, and when combined with his seemingly more buffoonish qualities, he appeared to be the quintessential example of a poor leader. However, this was a mask to ensure that others underestimated his abilities, and to judge new recruits before they were taken into battle. Playing towards the stereotype of an officer and a gentleman, he created the impression of someone who would put honour before pragmatism; only to subvert it when the time was right. In these moments Essik displayed a sheer ruthlessness and lack of mercy which was completely at odds with his usual attitude, and he would offer his foe no quarter until they surrendered or were driven back in a rout. This applied as much to personal meetings with enemies as it did any battle that he might command, either by talking his enemy into surrendering or making a rash action that undermined their position entirely.
Essik's calculating nature and drive to carry out his appointed duty affected every part of his life, and he confessed that he had little life beyond his career. Despite having a family on Gand, he had only retained a few distant communications with his blood relatives, and contact with him was treated as a mere formality. Many of those he knew in his youth were long dead, and those who had taken his place had never met Essik in person. To Essik, defending the New Republic and restoring what had been lost always came first. Neither group felt any true kinship with the other, and he had largely been left to make his own way in the universe. Even then, there were few individuals indeed that Essik could even consider friends. His habit of judging anyone and everyone as a possible threat ensured that few relations ever passed beyond being mere acquaintances, and even those few exceptions were kept at arm's length. Having seen and known so many people killed under his command, beneath his openly polite and expressive mannerisms he automatically kept himself emotionally distant from others.
In his twilight years and long past the point where he should have retired, Essik remained thankful that others had found a use for him. Having repeatedly attempted to retire from active service only to fail, he confessed to having a pathological drive to remain active, and a hunger to be useful to others. Although happy to serve in any capacity Odan-Urr's superiors deemed worthy of him, he was effectively incapable of being left without a task to complete. This may have helped to answer just why he continually analysed and re-examined situations, both on a personal and large scale level.
Views on the First Order
Essik regards the First Order as little more than a bad joke being played on the galaxy's populace. Only sheer fortune, an almost inhuman level of incompetence by its rivals, and fate itself seemingly shielding them from countless threats, has allowed it to stand for as long as it has. Its victories are laughable, its policies nonexistent and the ineptitude of its leaders would not allow them to last a day against a skillfully led power of half its size. To Essik, the very idea that they plan to rule everything is laughable.
Essik would commonly cite the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer as exemplifying the First Order's failings. Without a true administrative infrastructure of governors, political systems, and a bureaucracy to control its territories, the First Order falls back on military power. Their supposed plan for domination amounts to little more than burning down the galaxy and ruling its ashes, an approach which Essik has seen fail time and time again no matter the scale on which it is attempted. Whatever his failings, the Emperor at least understood how to usurp its predecessor. He took control, one law at a time, turning the very rules of the Republic to his advantage before twisting it inside out. The First Order merely annihilated the New Republic's capital world, without any plan to follow up such a victory.
The First Order's attempt to remain in power by pressing a gun against the head of every person living under their banner will only incite chaos. Rather than rebuilding, any resources it might have will be spent attempting to put down rebellions until it runs out of soldiers to carry out its will or ships to command. Essik simply regards them as a horde at best, knowing only how to kill and without the slightest concept of what could amount to long-term stability. Instead, it merely has a nebulous concept that the galaxy will be better because it will belong to them.
In his studies of their doctrines, ideologies, and imagery, Essik has come to believe that they are a mere cargo cult; a power that believes it can attain the Empire's might by mimicking its outward imagery and methods without ever truly understanding them. If they do truly come into power, annihilating all of their opponents, he would not be surprised if they fragment into a system of feuding warlords like the Empire before them. He still believes that this will ultimately be the fate of the few survivors following the Final Order's destruction. Unless a leader with enough ruthlessness to cull their rivals and threaten the other forces into line, they will likely merge with the Imperial Remnant or disappear into the Unknown Regions. In any case, without a government to oppose them, they will remain a threat for some years to come. Essik now fears the uncontrolled devastation which will follow, as they attempt to cling to power.
Views on the Resistance
To Essik, the Resistance is the ultimate failure of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the New Republic that followed it. Its existence was not only unnecessary but actively harmed the very government it sought to defend and was a monument to the greatest mistakes of the veterans who defeated the Empire. Rather than protecting and reinforcing it from within, the Resistance's formation bled the New Republic of its greatest individuals, pulling them away from positions that could have allowed them to correct the mistakes which brought the New Republic to an end. In their place, the witness, the narrow-minded, and the unsuited took power and drove the galaxy into the ground for their own satisfaction. It would have been a harder path, a difficult task requiring skill and exceptionally hard work to achieve. Yet, rather than doing just this, those who founded the Resistance fled from their duties and chose to try and relive their glory days.
The Resistance itself was little more than a recreation of the Rebel Alliance, founded in an age where it was no longer needed. In Essik's mind, its leaders were motivated more by nostalgia for the time they had helped topple a vast enemy power, and were more concerned in reliving that moment than truly maintaining a newly restored democracy. Those who joined them were of a similar mindset, but at least had the excuse of being fed lies and rose-tinted visions of the past. Each taught to treat galactic history as irrelevant save for the victories at Yavin IV and Endor, along with the occasional mention of Hoth. As a result, they never learned from the mistakes, lessons, and victories of past decades. To them, each has been learned anew from another event often accompanied with unnecessary bloodshed, strife, and deaths. They are attributed to only these events, and a blind glorification of a heavily censored past leads them to shun any contradiction to this.
Essik's worst fear is that, should they win their war against the First Order, it will only cement this mentality. It will trap the universe in a continual cycle of repeating the past, emulating the Galactic Civil War and glorifying it even as any inconvenient contradictions to this view are quietly erased. The presence of so many warships coming to the Resistance's support, in spite of their failure to formulate an allied fleet or even rebuild after their near-annihilation, has only supported this view. It only proves to him that the galaxy has become dangerously obsessed with the concept of a noble rebellion.
Views on the Brotherhood
In his analysis of their history, Essik has come to the conclusion that the Brotherhood has survived largely through a mixture of fortune and having a few talented people in the right place. Its organisation is highly chaotic, and the instabilities inherent in any Dark Side cult are rife within its ranks. Internal feuding and conflicts have helped to inspire some level of dedication and sense of duty among its members, but such thoughts are typically focused upon their immediate superior over the Brotherhood as a whole. In his opinion, this has created a number of problems in terms of power struggles and potential rebellions, while serving to foster resentment of the Iron Throne itself. Were it not for a number of outside threats, Essik has thought that the Brotherhood might have long since annihilated itself in a bitter civil war.
A more pressing issue stems from the Brotherhood's central leadership, whose emphasis on power and control has carried with it the typical failings of the Sith. Their requirement for obedience and the unquestioning ability to follow orders limits the creativity of those who emerge on the Council. This carries with it the traditional problem of promoting bootlickers into positions of authority, who will follow another member's cause to the letter until given an opportunity to stab them in the back and try to claim further power for themselves. This matter has hardly been helped by the frequent use of the Iron Navy by Grand Masters as little more than a cudgel to beat down others over defending its existing territories, and an adamant refusal to learn from their mistakes. If anything, it only serves to amplify the Rule of Two's worst aspects and, as a result, the Brotherhood's successes have often come about despite its leaders rather than because of them. While Essik himself is ultimately loyal to Clan Odan-Urr's cause, the Brotherhood as a whole is little more than an empire tenuously held in check by only the flimsiest of disciplines.
Views on the Collective
Since learning of its existence, Essik has put considerable time and effort into examining the Collective on both a psychological and strategic level. Looking through fleet movements, profiles on their leaders and the messages spouted by their propagandists, he has come to only one conclusion: They are simply a violent mob given true power. With no more structure, ambition and direction than the average riot, it is merely a group of opportunists and self-interested businessmen utilising fanatics to benefit their own position. While the constant crimes and mistakes of the Brotherhood are flaws that need to be addressed, and Essik wholly agrees that the galaxy would be a better place without the Sith, the Collective's approach to combat them is a simple chaotic mess. Rather than combatting this element and removing the Sith from power in a quiet, direct and effective means, its leaders instead opted to initiate a crusade to garner attention to themselves. This accomplished little overall, even with several abrupt victories which seem to be the work of the Force than any competence on the Collective's part, save to help their rallying cry reach new ears.
The Collective's actions in the wake of Nancora and Meridian have ultimately done far more harm than good. Their inability to simply select one group to pick a fight with has only weakened their position, while their choice of battlegrounds has only accomplished harming those that they claim to be defending. Ultimately, they seem more determined to initiate wars in areas where civilian casualties are a serious risk in order to claim that the Brotherhood is committing war crimes. The only ones truly benefitting this are the relative few in power, with Capital Enterprises gaining new opportunities and the Technocrats benefitting from a larger budget to create new machinery. In every battle plan than Essik has reviewed, those that they recruit seem to be little more than chaff, thrown into the guns of their enemy and sacrificed in place of their more valuable assets.
Yet more than anything else, Essik has come to the conclusion that the Collective's time is limited. Even with the output of Capital Enterprises and the support of various powers, the fleet that it so abruptly assembled is too expensive to fully maintain. Enterprises' output is simply not enough to keep building more ships, recruiting more troops and maintaining various superweapons, and by this point it should be haemorrhaging credits. With the loss of so many vital assets, any sane leader would have sued for a ceasefire. However, the Collective cannot do that. The very zealots that they trained would turn upon their leaders if peace were suggested, ready to murder anyone who might elect any choice besides the wholesale genocide of those connected to the Force. With the war dragging on and without a means to withdraw from it, Essik believes that the Collective will ultimately collapse in upon itself within a matter of years.
Equipment
Due to his role as a commander over a frontline soldier, Essik rarely carries weapons or dons armour. Outside of a ELG-3A blaster pistol intended for personal protection under the worst of circumstances, his attire and equipment are those more suited to commanding battles from a vehicle than leading frontal assaults. Besides a code cylinder signifying his rank and a set of electrobinoculars, he is frequently accompanied by a series of datapads and comlinks programmed to scan and update for information on the nearby area. These are either done through holonet updates or being slaved to the sensor suites of orbiting ships, and are used to gather details on everything from weather patterns to orbital traffic.
A number of items are a small handful of items Essik was able to retain after being forcibly discharged from his position, including a New Republic Admiral's uniform, which he has refused to part from despite his new role.
Droids
SP-4770 is an SP-4 series Analysis Droid, programmed to pick out for anomalies and irregularities within streams of data. Purchased only a short time after settling within the borders of the Vatali Empire, Essik found that the droid was useful in further bolstering his analytical skills and quickly recovering minor factors in any recovered information. While lacking the inherent benefit to experience or the drive needed to accomplish such tasks alone, 4770's studious qualities and close attention to detail has proven to be highly valued in both resolving crimes and keeping track of battlefield reports.
Powers and Abilities
Tactician & Strategist
Essik's mind remains his greatest asset above all others. Between his proven capabilities as a battlefield commander and the lessons learned over a long career in service to the Republic and its successors, he has fought countless foes of varying origins and methods. As a result of this, he is not nearly so hidebound to conventional tactics or simple numbers as many typical commanders, and his true talent lies in breaking down a battlefield to a series of predictions, moves, and estimates. The longer he is given to analyse, dissect and categorize an environment, foe or opposing army, the more flaws he will piece together to exploit; allowing him to quickly establish countermeasures and a means to a rapid victory. Even without this, Essik is more than capable of thinking on his feet, and will typically always leave himself in a position to rapidly devise new plans even while under heavy fire. Sometimes this can even be from the very ashes of his original plans, and the sheer volume of countermeasures always allows him to fall back on some additional scheme. Essik will often subject his own plans, units and himself to such rapid analysis to pick out potential flaws, allowing him to cover for them if not overcome them.
As almost every war Essik has fought in has been against a far superior foe, Essik rarely relies on sheer strength of arms for his victories. Instead, he has become a veteran of utilising hit-and-fade tactics, rapid strikes and attrition based engagements to wear down his foes. Even then, these will rarely favour conventional approaches, and his capacity to turn almost anything into a personal advantage has led to him overcoming seemingly unwinnable battles. However, Essik's greatest strength is his lack of ego. So long as is fighting for a cause he deems worthy, that is enough for him, and he is more than willing to forsake personal glory in the name of ultimate victory. While he is experienced enough to comprehend when his soldiers require a victory or offset strategy against basic morale, he will not risk the lives of his troops in the name of personal glory. This has frequently allowed him to succeed where other commanders fail, holding off on singular pitched battles or efforts to win wars in single engagements in favour of ways that weigh the odds of the war in their favour.
Essik also has some experience with espionage thanks to his service to the Rebellion and can typically view events both from the perspective of a military commander and spymaster at once. He previously used this to undermine efforts by enemy agents to infiltrate his command structure and to close off potential weaknesses before they could be exploited. This skill also allows him to predict and understand just how dedicated guerilla fighters and fanatics will approach combatting him, and the mindsets of fanatics fuelled by propaganda.
Diplomat
With his long and bloody history of taking lives, it can be surprising to see that Essik considers violence as a simple means to an end. It is something to be employed when required rather than openly glorified, or even favoured as a method of resolving conflicts. Even though Essik will always consider violence as one possible option, and will even plan first strike attacks to rapidly remove a threat, his skills with words have won a remarkable number of battles without firing a shot. This is largely accomplished through analysing those that Essik communicates with, the wider situation that they are part of, and the ultimate needs of each side. Although a basic and direct means to such a goal, it serves as an effective foundation to branch out from. It was in this means that Essik was able to sway a number of formally loyal Imperial commanders to defect to the New Republic, and to much later convince a loyal group of Dominion soldiers to switch sides when they were on the cusp of victory.
When more nuanced and detailed means are required, Essik will pay far closer attention to the cultural standing of each individual. This can create more openings beyond typical reasoning and personal speech, sometimes even offering a method in which a people's ideology can be turned against them in a conversation. More often than not these are very generalized and circumstantial, and Essik has found that outside of some specific exceptions it is not nearly the instant victory some people mistake it as being. It's vital to consider and cover the basics but certainly not a means to instantly overcome someone's thought processes.
As with many of his abilities, Essik will commonly find ways to employ this alongside his other skills. A number of battle plans and even counter-intelligence actions have been formed with the intent of forcing others to the negotiating table and weakening their resolve to continue fighting at all. In others, Essik will openly offer an enemy a way out or an apparent escape, and use that as a crux to undermine their position when it comes to fighting. This has proven to be especially effective when faced with the darker forces of the galaxy and their servants, who more often than not share one small weakness beneath their seemingly unbreaking views: That their unshakable resolve might have been placed in the wrong system.
Detective
With a talent for minor details and a keen eye for minor details, Essik's analytical skills were long placed in fields relating to his career. Picking out the intricacies of battle plans, predicting enemies, and picking out unseen actions were all required to be an effective leader of his rank. It was only following his forceful discharge from the New Republic military that Essik found himself employing these skills in a new field: That of crime.
While pushed into the task out of the requirement for a swift solution over finding a true expert, Essik found that it was no harder than any task he had previously attempted. The role simply required him to take the same overall approach as a wider battle plan while adjusting his focus from groups of hundreds of individuals to smaller groups, and predicting their plans in reverse rather than as they played out. Even the greatest challenge, utilising the information and clues left behind in cases, was an easier task than expected as it was a case of examining listings of information over battle maps and logistics. Even when pushed into field work, Essik has proven himself capable of quickly detailing and judging the information of a wider scene and its implications. Assisted by the typical Gand benefits of his compound vision and a personal Analysis Droid, Essik has proven himself capable of quickly gleaning deeper meanings from small oddities and possibilities left at certain crime scenes.
Spymaster
Essik's talents as a spymaster are something that evolved in parallel to his more conventional skills. With the Rebellion's need for secrecy and later the multiple risks that the New Republic took when it was pushed to the brink of annihilation, the discovery from spies was a major risk. First understanding the nuances of recon information, then sleeper agents and hidden assets, and finally psychological warfare, he soon came to terms with how great of a risk ignoring such shadow games were. As such, his strategies rapidly evolved to consider and accept them, while his tactics were adapted to rapidly blunt any impact they might have had on his operations. This left him expanding his talents into counterintelligence actions and misinformation, utilising both to deny his enemies the ability to better deflect threats posed by the likes of the ISB or other groups.
While the actual methods that Essik utilises are highly varied, their chief strength is considering individuals while accounting for battle plans on a wider spectrum. Keeping tabs on the individual views, traits, and quirks of those that follow him means that he can best consider more general reactions among his crews, and judge which ones will respond in which way to certain events. This accounts for everything from carrying out certain orders to the action of his foes, and which might be open to recruitment from enemy agents. Even without this, he has learned to gage and track the reactions of certain individuals in response to events, and mentally keep a tally of who might be operating against any possible plans. Even those that might not be fully aware that they are backing the opposing side can be provoked into revealing themselves if given the correct number of opportunities and circumstances.
Besides the risks of enemy infiltration, many of Essik's talents would typically concentrate upon eliminating potential weaknesses within his command structure and means of communications. Focusing primarily upon the element of communication and prediction above all else, his various contingency plans exist with the intent of rapidly adapting to the risk of the enemy listening in. Even then, much like the point above, these work with an underlying effort to push groups into exposing themselves or even working with the wrong information. If the individuals listening in are not even people but remote coding programs and droids, the shifting multiple keywords and meanings based upon lesser-known linguistic dialects can help to disrupt their efforts to pass on accurate details.
Each of these has naturally been made with the intent of repelling enemy spies over utilising espionage to directly attack an enemy. In this area, Essik understands that he is not nearly as skilled as many others. As such, he typically leaves such duties to subordinates or superiors more talented with such operations, while utilising his plans to create openings for their missions. His role is to defend against such threats and defeat the enemy in battle, largely limiting his skills to counter-intelligence over true espionage.