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Gaan be Ordo
Hand of Ordo
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33 ABY to Present
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Clan Ordo
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- Special Operations
- Soldiers of Fortune
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- Estimated: Unknown
- Confirmed: Army (Mixed)
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Undisclosed
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Cuy'val Dar
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Classified
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Taakur
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Hren Vau
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- "Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur."
- ―The Hand's Standard Operational Proceedure
Gaan be Ordo or the Hand of Ordo is a notorious armed forces branch of the Mandalorian Clan Ordo. While only spoken of in hushed whispers and rumours, the Hand is a highly specialized division of the Clan's military utilized primarily through various brokers as soliders of fortune. This band of hardened mercenaries have effectively been operational since the Battle of Mandalore, though even this information is hard to confirm as the unit has served quite often in Black Operations. Recently they have been in discussion with the rogue Jedi Master Michael Halcyon, deployed to assist the overwhelmed Jedi of House Odan-Urr for what is speculated to be quite a hefty sum.
Unit History
Rise of a new Te Taylir
Hraawwn, modern day refounder of Clan Ordo
At nearly a hundred years old, the Wookiee Hraawwn has seen more than his fair share of conflict. Born in the capital city of Sundari on Manda'yaim to an ordinary ship mechanic, Hraawwn grew up during a time of relative peace and stability, back when New Mandalore, as it was then known, was ruled by the peaceful New Mandalorians who had turned their backs on their people's nomadic, militaristic past. This all changed with the Clone Wars. With the galaxy having been thrown into turmoil, and Mandalore itself the center of much of the fighting, Hraawwn began to lose faith in the Galactic Republic, specifically the ability of the Jedi to protect them after his brother was killed during the infighting between the Jedi and members of Death Watch. In his grief, Hraawwn consequently joined up with the new Mandalorian Protectors to uphold the ancient resol'nare that he acknowledged had long been the guiding spirit of Mandalorian culture, and which had been forgotten by Jedi, Separatists and Death Watch alike.
Hraawwn fought alongside the Mando Cabure for several years, but like many others, he began to question his loyalties after the Protectors were nearly wiped out after they were betrayed by the man who would shortly after declare himself the new Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Fortunately for Hraawwn, he had not been one of the doomed team of Protectors who had been massacred on on Norval II; however, this changed little, for he had now experienced first hand the failure of both the Jedi and the Sith to protect his brothers. Hraawwn's allegiance was sealed after the Empire sided with the Trandoshan slavers and sanctioned the enslavery of the Wookiees of Kashyyyk. No longer seeing a future for the Mandalorians in what were now Fenn Shysa's mercenaries, Hraawwn split off to form his own clan, adopting the name Ordo in memory of Mandalore the Preserver, who had once restored the Mandalorians' honour thousands of years ago after the Jedi Civil War.
Preservation and ba'slan shev'la
While now a splinter group, Hraawwn's Ordos were in no way enemies to the other Mandalorian Protectors and enjoyed a working relationship throughout the Galactic Civil War; indeed, having adopted the old principle of ba'slan shev'la, or strategic disappearance, the Hand of Ordo, as Hraawwn called his people, largely kept out of the other Mandalorians' way. Hrawwn simply saw Shysa's on-off relationship with the Empire as questionable, believing that Shysa had forgotten the Canons of Honor that had formed the core reasons behind the Resurrector forming the Protectors to begin with. Though it was sometimes tense, for example when Shysa sided openly with Leia Organa during the Nagai invasion, the two groups relationship remained reasonably workable.
After Boba Fett assumed the role Mand'alore in 23 ABY, Hraawwn had hoped the former bounty hunter would take after his father and devote himself to the restoration of the True Mandalorians. However, Fett seemed to want little to do with the Mandalorians as a whole, and had little interest in restoring their people's honour. Early in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the new Mand'alor sided with the invaders, valuing credits about his people's safety. Hraawwn nonetheless did what he could, the Hand of Ordo working alongside Fett as much as they could, believing that all Mando'ade needed to stick together. Indeed, Hraawwn saw a glimmer of hope in Fett when he led his Mando Ori'ramikade to Manda'yaim's rescue when the New Republic failed to help. In the end, though, it was Fett's growing relationship with the new Galactic Alliance that became the final straw for Hraawn, making him realise that the Mand'alor cared not about the Mandalorians, but his own interests. Hraawwn had seen the Mandalorians betrayed before and didn't wish to see another.
For this reason, Hraawwn ultimately decided against reunifying Clan Ordo with Fett's people. It was not because Hraawwn disliked the Jedi as such, but because he had seen the galactic government go through so many transformations during his life that he saw nothing to be gained by tying the Mandalorians to one particular faction. Like Canderous Ordo had known, the Jedi and the Sith would always be at each other's throats, so the best thing the Mando'ade could do was keep out of it and remain on the sidelines - that was why the Mandalorians had been nomads. Many of Fett's commandos agreed, being uneasy at the Mand'alor's willingness to work alongside Skywalker's New Jedi Order, and summarily split off, joining up with Hraawwn when Clan Ordo once again disappeared into the shadows.
Family and survival are the same thing
In the end, even the greatest warrior's day must come, and for Hraawwn this was during the recent tensions out in the Gyuel system, when a team stood their ground against the Killik swarms, helping to evacuate twelve thousand Chiss before their position was overrun. However, in his death, Hraawwn showed exactly the kind of courage that has come to embody the core beliefs that drive his vision of Clan Ordo. As it said in the Supercommando Codex, a true Mandalorian can be any creature, regardless of species or gender, so long as they follow the Resol'nare and dedicate their lives to the preservation of the Mandalorians' honour. Time and time again, the Mando'ade have throughout history proven themselves the best of the best, ready to fight that neither armies nor Force-users have been willing to fight. Like the lone Wookiee that refounded it, the Gaan be Ordo may be few in number, but their Ori'ramikade have repeteadly shown themselves capable of what ten thousand New Republic marines were not. Its warriors have all proven themselves worthy of the name Ordo, not because of their species or midi-chlorian count, but by technical aptitude and combat prowess, leading to the creation of such notable squads as Shuk'orok and the Orar Kom’rk. Beside these warriors stood the Hand of Ordo, now led by the Trandoshan Taakur, who hopes to do his predecessor proud - their normally rival species of no consequence to the pair whose blood ties always came second to their adopted family ties.
Notable Members
Taakur
- "Kiss my sssshebs, chakaar!"
- ―Taakur
Taakur, leader of the Hand of Ordo
The de-facto leader of the Hand of Ordo due to his commanding presence and ferocious melee combat skills, Taakur is a fearsome warrior. Brought up on a prison colony, his youth was hard and brutal, with the Trandoshan forced to fight for every scrap of food and to establish his place in the hierarchy. The result was to breed in him a ferocious warrior instinct and a deep, burning anger for his captors. However, a way out of his harsh life came from an unexpected source- Mandalorian mercenaries from Clan Ordo, who attacked the colony in order to free one of their brothers, held within. The young Trandoshan took advantage of the confusion to escape and stole onto the Mandalorian ship.
He was soon found, but the Mandalorians were amused by the young Trandoshan and offered to drop him off at the nearest habitable planet. Encouraged by the first signs of compassion that he'd received since birth, he quickly tried to make himself useful to the Mandalorians, seeking to learn their language and customs and begging them to let him stay on the ship. Over time, the Mandalorians came to see him as one of their own, and the Trandoshan was granted a full suit of armour and formally recognised as a Mandalorian of Clan Ordo, taking the name Taakur.
Taakur's fierce fighting instinct served him well, and he was soon assigned to the Hand of Ordo under the command of a Mandalorian named Hraawwn Ordo. During a recent mission to the Gyuel, their squad was overrun by Killiks and Hraawwn lost his life, holding off the endless swarm. Taakur took charge of the unit and led them out of the ambush- for his success, the rest of the unit marked him as their new leader.
Medic
- "Touch my patient and see how fast I burn you down Chwaratta-Head..."
- ―Sorlatte Ordo
Sorlatte, unlike most Combat Medics, is not a man trained in first aid. He was at one point a fully licensed trauma surgeon from Corellia, but that was another lifetime ago. (more soon)
Galt Harlan, Lead Engineer
- "I'm only half as old as I used to be."
- ―Galt Harlan
Galt Harlan's extensive cybernetic reconstructionPractically a piece of equipment himself, Galt Harlan serves as the Hand's chief engineer and mechanic. Galt rarely talks about his past, and while he refuses to give his age, he often jokes that at least he's only half as old as he used to be, in reference to his extensive reconstructive surgery. Something of an old fashioned womaniser, some members of the team have speculated whether he lost the right half of his body during a row with an ex-wife, however Galt has refused to comment.
His past aside, Galt is devoted to his Mandalorian brothers, who he now regards as his family for unintentionally helping him out after he got into an argument with the port authorities on Nar Shaddaa. The local Hutt official, Blozog the Magnificent, had accused Galt of certain indiscretions with one of his Bothan dancers, but fortunately for Galt, Taakur, the Trandoshan who was to become his commander, was on a assassination job to take out Blozog for a rival official.
On the battlefield, Galt is the man - or some would argue droid - with the Big Karking Gun. While the rest of the Hand is busy setting up a perimeter or going after the small targets, Galt is the one keeping back and setting up the manned artillery. Never short of a spanner or a screwdriver, if he's not on his back underneath something trying to get it running again, then he's on his feet, bludgeoning someone to death with his socket wrench. While not a pilot himself, Galt is the shipmaster who's more at home down in the engineering deck, and if he's not working on himself to improve his own body functions, then he's trying to find a way to overclock the ship's hyperdrive and beat his own time on the Sisar Run.
Shorty, Lead Slicer/Pilot
- "Short? Who're you callin' short? I'll show you short! "
- ―Shorty
The Sullustan known only as Shorty was a pilot once. He met a group of the Mandalorians in a cantina. One insulted his height and the next thing they knew he was face down with a blaster in the back of his head. Rather than kill Shorty outright, the Mandalorians offered him a spot on their team. He agreed, and in celebration surprised them all by holding down more alcohol than anyone else could.
Since then, Shorty has served as the team's slicer and pilot. He can get into tight spaces when necessary. He's also ferocious in close-quarters combat, especially if someone mentions his height. Though he allows his comrades to call him 'Shorty', if anyone else does so he will usually go into a rage and try to kill them. He has a tendency to hack his enemy's legs off at the knee with a large knife, drawing surprised stares from even his own allies.
Shortly after joining, he hacked into the Hand's computer systems and changed everyone's height to half of his own. The discrepancy was not noticed for several weeks, until an order for leggings showed up to those specifications. After the initial bar fight - which Shorty was winning before Taakur broke it up - the other members of the Hand added the miniature leggings to their personal collection. Shorty took great pride in this, but when he offered to order more equipment sized as such, the commanders calmly turned him down. Since then they've spoiled him about his height, and so far the computer systems haven't been edited - at least not in obvious ways.
Jaina, Recon Operative
- "When you think someone is following you, it's already too late."
- ―Jaina
Jaina standing inside one of the many estates she stoleJaina, as only a few know her as, is one of the best recon operatives for the Hand of Ordo. Like most epicanthix, Jaina is stronger than most females and stands 1.9 meters tall. Born and raised in the Coruscant Underworld, Jaina had a rough childhood. Her father was an imperial spy killed by the very people he worked for a few years after she was born. Her mother was forced to raised Jaina by herself teaching her daughter how to survive in the crime-ridden underworld. By the time Jaina was thirteen years old she had killed at least three people and stolen countless things. Her mother would died when she was seventeen.
A Mandalorian bounty hunter found her one day and took her from her life on Coruscant. Although she helped the Mandalorian from time to time she felt more like his slave or his tool for pleasure than anything else. After years of being this Mando's toy, Jaina killed the bounty hunter and took his armor, weapons, and ship. From that day on Jaina became a mercenary servicing any organization that need information or someone killed, as long as they paid the right price. She would eventually run into a Trandoshan by the name of Taakur, who offered her a spot on his team. Jaina's allies used to think that Taakur recruited her just to improve the Hand’s moral, but that assumption is far gone after years of seeing just how heartless she is.
Jaina is very good at sneaking around and persuading people. While she has no official training as a scout sniper or a spy she can do them better than anyone her allies know. Her weapon of choice is a custom version of the DC-15x sniper rifle.
Trivia