- "'That's the beautiful thing. We were all created for a role we'd already failed at before we were even born. We can only go up from there."
- ―Nat
NAT-19 - BATCH 01, MODEL 06, also known as Nat, is a female Trandoshan / Barabel hybrid. The result of an initiative by the Collective to form a caste of artificially birthed technologically adept slaves, the project was cancelled and rejected shortly prior to the birth of even the first batch. Pressed instead into working as salvage operators in high risk operations, their task was to fuel the Collective war machine by raiding lost battlefields. While utilising the armed freighter Scorpio, the group encountered Nikora Rhan and the Free Droid Enclave and were able to defect to Clan Odan-Urr.
Character History
From the Clay
In the years leading up to its offensive against the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, the Collective ran a large number of experimental ventures to give it an edge against all Force users. While seeking to capitalise upon the ongoing unrest between the Dark Council on Arx and the survivors of its genocidal campaign against the Clan homeworlds, most understood that they had a shrinking timeframe to operate within before one side emerged as a victor. Nat and her ilk were the result of one such experiment. Taking the biological data of several hundred species across the galaxy, developmental arms of the Technocratic Guild sought to form a servitor race to operate as expendable pilots, operators, and salvage crews. Intended to be more capable than the average droid and freeing up resources for frontline duties, their creator planned to emulate several strengths found in Kaminoan clones, while further enhancing their biological baseline.
The final result of the experiments were a promising but deeply flawed series of creations. With many having undergone genetic tampering or even splicing between species, there was a high rejection rate, leaving to only a relative handful of survivors. This was only made far worse by the flash-grown methods the Technocrats attempted to utilise, to create a tank born workforce who could be birthed fully grown and pre-programmed with all relevant knowledge. Of those who did survive and remain, several required cybernetic implants to counter genetic flaws or correct missing functions. The end result was a promising and skilled workforce, but one which was nevertheless unreliable. With each prototype intended for a future cloned template falling short of the Collective's narrow expectations, the group was universally rejected and the project closed down.
Nevertheless, unwilling to simply scrap an asset outright, the prototypes were grouped into a single crew and granted an aging Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette refitted for salvage duties. With Nat having emerged with a talent for piloting and leadership qualities during their trials, she was given the de-facto role of leader among their group. Nicknaming themselves the Dead Ends in a gallows joke of their fate, they were tasked with salvaging battlefield wrecks and hunting for highly specific supplies.
Between the Suffering and the Will
Both to their benefit and detriment, the Dead Ends were largely left to their own devices. While strict time schedules and reports were required of them, the Collective expected them to operate autonomously and return only when needed. For the most part reports from the Collective came in the form of target locations and a list of equipment they needed to salvage from their target. A few among their number believed that the lack of guards was some sign that the Collective held some trust in them, but Nat understood the real meaning behind it. The Collective was throwing everything it had into its war efforts, and they had been deemed expendable. If they died they would simply be replaced and the group would move on. Although she kept such thoughts to herself, Nat was able to quickly check and then confirm this information for herself by intercepting a series of ongoing reports between ships.
Even with this understanding, the Dead Ends quickly made the most of their relative freedom. The first four missions went without incident or issue, with the group arriving, taking what they needed, and then departing at speed. Yet the fourth target, a pleasure yacht which had been found embedded in an asteroid, offered a few bonus opportunities. Recognising the relative luxuries within the ship, Nat made the order to strip out far more than they needed for their own needs. Along with the main power core and engine assembly, a wealth of furniture, beds, and creature comforts were pillaged from the ship and set up on the Scorpio. Having accomplished their objective far ahead of time and typically operating on the ship for weeks or even months without pause, the small luxuries were a welcome addition to the crew and a morale boost. Unfortunately their handlers did not see the benefit of this. On the vague objection of tonnage limitations, the Collective dispatched a security team to seize and confiscate their salvaged goods. The excessive search of the ship put them rapidly behind schedule, but the true meaning was obvious: The Dead Ends were Collective property and nothing more, and any moment in which they forgot that fact would see them punished.
Fighting to make up for lost time due to the searches and irked at their treatment did not have the desired effect on Nat. Although willing to bide her time, she helped to rebuild morale by simply telling her crew that they "Would do a better job next time". This soon led to a search of the vessel and identifying areas in which they could hollow out without creating technical issues. A large number of smuggling compartments were added to the vessel over time, and established areas which could serve as private lounges or drinking dens, and hidden away when they returned to port. Even unshielded, the odd structural changes could be easily written off as a result of the ship's aged state and damage from prior missions.
Nat learned quickly and began to pick out potential ways to make life easier, and even benefit from their indentured servitude. Rather than fighting other scavengers on sites, Nat opted to take an easier approach of brokering various deals with them. Only fighting when needed, she more often than not made a push to trade, negotiate, and broker various partnerships which would benefit them both. Although this sometimes meant that they ran short on their operations, it took little effort to modify their vessel's records to indicate battle damage on their chosen target or even short engagements against other scavengers who had been there before them. Having since initiated its war against the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, the Collective was given little time to pay full attention to such a minor asset. With their opening decapitating strike having failed, and the Brotherhood having quickly overrun Nancora, the Dead Ends were little more than an afterthought. So long as they were careful to cover up their actions and disguise their efforts, the Collective paid little attention to the group.
Fortuna Holds no Dominion Over this Coin
In the following years after Nancora's loss and the Brotherhood's capture of Meridian Prime space station, Nat was able to better push a more entrepreneurial mindset in running her ship. Quietly making arrangements with a handful of scavengers and pirates she felt could be trusted within reason, Nat worked to make a growing number of trades and even sales of excess equipment. Sometimes spare power converters the Collective supplied would go missing, with an excuse of having burned out due to excessive hyperspace jumps. At other times they would retrieve far more durasteel than required from a wreck, and meet a waiting client along their journey back home. This gave Nat better experience in handling people than her creators had ever intended, and she quickly proved adept at selling, bartering, and making deals whenever possible. Such operations were far from save, but the Scorpio's relative firepower was usually enough to dissuade most attempts at double crossing trades. When it came to more face to face matters, Nat was usually able to rely on the more physically imposing members of their kind to quickly deal with such foolishness.
For several years Nat was able to run this operation on the outskirts of conflicts. Avoiding becoming embroiled in the Dark Nest Crisis or the Second Galactic Civil War, she was able to capitalise on the opportunities which arose by selling to the desperate and the poorly supplied factions that had been pushed to the Outer Rim. This would remain just as true during the lesser conflicts which followed and the dissolution of galactic government as individuals driven by short sighted greed picked over the bones of fallen civilisation. Some of these secondary missions saw Nat being hired to do everything from smuggling long forbidden texts recording scientific and historic accomplishments out from the core, avoiding those who sought to set the past to the torch. Others would be to help ferry those seeking to escape the madness which had gripped the galaxy and deposit them on worlds most claimed no longer existed.
All throughout the chaos, Nat was able to command the Scorpio and avoid the worst of any conflict that arose, but it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out.
In the wake of the Final Order's extremely abrupt collapse, Nat's crew were given a wealth of new salvage to hunt down and strip. Most of the Star Destroyers they had found had been killed by far inferior forces, some against corvettes or even small resistance groups which had somehow crippled the vessels. Nat made a point of studying the databanks of any retrieved ships, noting with curiosity how such a powerful faction had been repeatedly defeated so easily, when any sane reading would have led to a slow and gradual defeat at worst. Recognizing each Star Destroyer's over-reliance upon brute firepower and use of fear above all else, she noted an inflexible thinking that reminded her all too well of what she had seen among the Collective. Yet this growing interest in asymmetrical warfare would not be enough to avoid falling prey to similar threats.
During an operation to find and strip a derelict Resurgent-class Star Destroyer which had fallen into orbit over a gas giant, the Scorpio made several sweeps of the system and scanned for potential threats. Nat's desire not to remain too long at one site urged haste in their efforts, and the Dead Ends overlooked the trap waiting for them. Moving in close to the derelict to strip away the weapons systems they had been tasked with finding, the Scorpio was struck by several detonating ion mines, crippling its systems. A follow-up attack by a flight of gunships damaged its main hyperdrive system and power core, knowing exactly where to strike and bypass the corvette's armour. A combination of clever maneuvering from the deployed salvage teams and venting atmosphere from an abandoned level pushed the corvette toward the Star Destroyer, managing to hide within the hull. Although still in a poor position, they were able to partially the ship to have its light turbolaser batteries cover the entrance, driving away the gunships before they could finish the job. Yet with no means to quickly repair the damage to the ship, both sides were stuck in a stalemate, unable to finish the other. The Dead Ends made a few probing efforts to explore the Star Destroyer, but Nat urged caution given how their attackers were clearly more familiar with the wreck and had likely trapped other areas.
Salvation would come from a surprising source, with the arrival of another salvage vessel by the name of the Yastobaal jumping into the system. Using a tightbeam transmission to message the arriving vessel and warn them, Nat first urged them to flee. Then, when they refused and offered help, she guided their approach from a likely blind-spot, to avoid alerting the gunships to their presence. Although initially elated at the opportunity for an allied means of escape, the Dead Ends were shocked when they were met by members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Thankfully before either side could open fire each spoke up. Nat voiced the fact they were operating alone and with limited oversight from the Collective while Nikora Rhan, the Nautolan leading them, stated they were acting independently rather than at the behest of the Dark Council. Although uncertain, they were able to steadily explain all that had taken place and the threat they faced. An alliance was made, with each agreeing to assist the other, at least until they could flee from the pirate forces.
As the Dead Ends worked alongside the droids from the other vessel, they learned of the Free Droid Enclave they had formed. Nat in particular spoke at lengths with Orion, a security droid who until recently had served as the group's de-facto leader, and detailed in turn the odd appearance of the Scorpio's crew and their origins. Over the next two days of repairs, the groups proved to get on surprisingly well, building a level of trust between them. When the time came and the Scorpio's systems had been repaired, the trust was enough to transfer weapons to the Yastobaal and initiate their plan. Using the Scorpio's heavier armour and Nat's superior flying skills they would draw out and distract the enemy ships, while the Yastobaal would follow up and wipe them out after their attention had been gained. The stunt worked with extreme success and, despite taking heavy damage, the Scorpio survived the confrontation. However, a complication was soon added due to when the Super Tactical Droid commanding the Yastobaal, Wolf, mutinied against Rhan. However, this did not go fully as planned. The majority of the droids on both ships held not nearly enough ill will against Rhan and the other organics to outright mutiny against them, and in working with the Dead Ends they had seen the Collective crew as being closer to the droids they tried to liberate than any oppressor. Several of them, Nat in particular, had already been offered membership within the Enclave and an opportunity to break away from the Collective.
Although Nat made several potential plans to either flee or overcome the now far more heavily armed transport, an agreement was quickly made. A large number of droids allied with Wolf had done so out of concerns for their faction's survival, after they had so often been caught in the crossfire with the Brotherhood's other enemies. After Nat offered the Scorpio as a new base of operations, Wolf's faction would depart for Tatooine to join up with other droids there, to form a second group away from the politics and wars of Force users.
And Unmoored Souls May Drift On Stranger Tides
Severely damaged and desperately requiring repairs, it was a miracle that the Scorpio was able to arrive in the Vatali Empire, and a greater miracle that it would arrive without being destroyed by the local navigational hazards or defense forces. While Nikora Rhan explained the situation to House Sunrider and Clan Odan-Urr, Nat organized the Dead Ends into long term repair teams. Using the salvage they had left and planning out a series of upgrades, efforts were made to first stablise the vessel and turn it into a temporary space station while its entire systems were overhauled and fixed. Nat would admit later on she regretted both the extreme measures this required and having to adjust to a new way of life, but it was preferable to the alternative to eventually dying on the whim of the Collective.
The group took no risks during the journey. Along with fabricating evidence of the Scorpio's loss in battle between debris, a fragmentary emergency message, and the destructon of its IFF beacon, the droids established a fabricated signal jammer about the hull. This was utilised during the journey, both to disguise its passage, but also to limit the risk to the defecting crew. Nat had known for years that obedience machinery lurked within her cybernetics and the same was true with many others. For long portions of the journey she was rendered unconscious and operated on by the Enclave's medical droids, extracting and disabling various parts and suicide chips. There proved to be many more than anyone had estimated, and even the ship had several they had never uncovered. Nikora's powers proved to be essential in uncovering them, though Nat was skeptical of her power to "talk" to machinery.
After the ship's arrival in orbit over Kiast, a series of awkward negotiations and messages were made. None had been forewarned of their arrival out of any risk of the Collective uncovering them, and Clan Odan-Urr were certain that this was a deception at first. However, those who sided with them spoke in their favour and the group was accepted with some suspicion. However, with the damage inflicted upon the Scorpio, the ship had to be reconfigured into a state where it would undergo continuous repairs, replacing damaged parts and stabilising what was left. Although an offer was made to have the clan repair the vessel in its shipyards or even to do so from the world's surface, Nat refused this. Along with the irritation she and the crew shared in being bound to a single world for too long, they needed a project to unite them following their new direction. So, the vessel remained in orbit as the Dead Ends, and whatever help the Enclave were willing to offer, slowly replaced the vessel's aged parts and began to piece it back together.
Physical Description
A stocky and rotund individual, Nat's mixed Barabel and Trandoshan heritage has resulted in an odd blend of reptilian qualities. With a broad frame and power thickset limbs reflecting an easy familiarity with manual labour, her legs ending in the three-toed talons typical of Trandoshans and both arms in four fingered claws. A muscular tail extends out behind her, usually moving to assist with her balance.
Nat's pale grey skin is bereft of scales due to a quirk of her creation. Several points across her body are dotted with the hardened metal of nanomachine injection ports, and cybernetics to help stabilize her body's genetics. A number of medical scars further highlight locations where obedience devices and machinery were removed. The words NAT-19 - BATCH 01, MODEL 06 are tattooed across Nat's right arm, marking her original designation. Both eyes are of a pale blue complexion and, combined with Nat's broader snout and far less pronounced fangs, serves to give her features an oddly mammalian quality.
Personality
In stark contrast to her hulking and predatory appearance, Nat is both highly outgoing and very friendly to all she meets. Having effectively been little more than a slave for much of her life and isolated to remote parts of the galaxy, she is more than welcoming to anyone she meets and highly personable. Although drawn to the subject of ships and engineering above all else, a natural curiosity means she is very open to listening, learning, and holding a conversion through asking the right questions even without an immediate basis to refer back to. Even if this means that she has little more to do than make mental notes and query someone else for details, she can keep another person occupied in conversation for hours at a time.
Although it would be easy to accept her pleasant behaviour as being a sign of naivety, this friendly optimism is something which has endured in spite of harsh experiences rather than flourishing due to a lack of them. A dangerous life has seen friends die, flee combat with superior warships, and have to think their way free of traps on more occasions than she would care to admit. Rarely approaching a situation without several backup plans in mind, she has surprised both ally and enemy alike with a capacity for forethought and being ready for worst case situations. Combined with her force of personality, it is one of several factors which has given Nat a capacity as a leader which was never expected of her, and a surprisingly skilled trader when it comes to bartering for items.
Having grown up in an environment of bare utilitarianism with minimal supplies, subjects like art, literature, and any creative endeavor has become a point of interest. Although rarely having time to properly study the arts or even practice them herself, a deep rooted appreciation for visually fascinating works. Yet in spite of this, she feels little connection to any world. Less appreciative of even the most verdant planets or gleaming metropolises than the experience of flight, Nat rarely remains for long on any world. Favouring instead constantly travelling and exploring what lurks beyond the next system, she is far more concerned with taking advantage of her newfound freedom than remaining on a single world.
Equipment
Left with only what she could salvage by the time of joining the Brotherhood, Nat's equipment consisted of little more than an environmental suit and a modified DL-44 blaster pistol that she upgraded and enhanced. Although a poor shot and not intended for combat, Nat found it to be useful when dealing with less scrupulous individuals in trade negotiations. One more unique upgrade is her technocratic implants which makes her hardy in combat and limits the effects of harm to her body when under stress.
Powers and Abilities
Leader
By far the skill in which she has the most pride, Nat's abilities as a leader were something she was never intended to possess. Although both a highly proficient pilot and engineer, Nat was originally intended to be subservient with little more freedom or capacity for initiative than a droid. Being pressed into leading the Dead Ends forced her to rapidly evolve and take charge, learning to both mediate situations and when to put her foot down. Much of this was formed and built upon her natural knowledge of logistics, and used to both help keep the group alive and the Scorpio operational far beyond the Collective's ability to support them. While middling as a tactician and relying more upon force of personality to help get her way, Nat does possess a detailed understanding of naval tactics along with a wide array of trade and diplomatic methods. This grants her abilities beyond the average person on the street or untrained individual, but against others it's usually an uphill battle.
Pilot
Nat's talents as a pilot are half formed from birth and half by experience. Programmed with a near instinctive database in her mind of flight stratagems, astronavigation charts, and systems operations knowledge, her role was intended to help ensure the successful retrieval of any profitable salvage. To this end, her skills focused primarily upon establishing clear escape vectors, being able to avoid incoming threats, and withdraw with minimal damage. Although clearly meant to avoid conflict and any risk, Nat was able to steadily adapt these skills in a far more offensive manner. Thanks in part to the Scorpio's ability to be helmed by a single pilot, utilised the corvette as effectively a gunship in multiple battles, performing strafing attacks on targets or hit and run engagements. Favouring performing an attack and then escaping at high speed over high intensity turn fighting, she was able to steadily adapt her in-built knowledge to a far more offensive means. This relies upon either speed or surprise to keep the enemy on edge and avoid incoming fire, but it has proven highly effective. With a deep respect for any ship she is given, Nat has an exceptional ability when it comes to making the most out of any ship and playing fully to its strengths while behind their controls.
Engineer
Although secondary to her other abilities, Nat's broad knowledge of engineering talents and technical skills were a core part of her past life. While the crux of this stems from a broad database of technical skills and an inherent understanding of machinery programmed into her mind, a significant portion of this has evolved thanks to past experiences. Having to all too often jury-rig quick repairs and make do with sub-standard supplies, she has learned to adapt to flawed circumstances and simply work with whatever is on hand. Although certainly skilled with almost any technology, Nat has an especially noteworthy aptitude for working with ships, usually working faster and far more effectively with such vessels over other mechanical constructions. Naturally, such knowledge is just as easily applied to taking apart machines and repurposing other technologies, as was her intended role.