- "Manui Dat Cognitio Vires - Knowledge gives strength to the arm."
- ―Socorra's Creed
Socorra, born as Nim Naja, is from the Bharhulai, a tribe of savage desert nomads of the Black Sands of Socorro. In late adolescence she was exiled from her tribe and taken in by and apprenticed to a failed Jedi on the path of atonement. After his subsequent fall and sudden death years later, she became a member of the Black Bha’lir smuggler’s society. Over time she earned the rank of Master Smuggler and the prestige of an information broker, having fulfilled apprenticeship in everything except smuggling. Years later she traveled to the Shadow Academy on Lyspair to broker a deal on information regarding the whereabouts of Michael Halcyon, during which her Force sensitivity was discovered and she was offered further training in the Force.
Socorra is currently a Sith Battlelord and Herald.
Biography
Black Banshee
Map of Socorro
Typical Desert Nomad
- "They say she is a desert ghost, a savage beauty with the scream of a banshee."
- ―Overheard in a local tavern
Bloodshed was a way of life. From birth every Socorran Bharhulai child was taught to defend his/her tribe and land at any cost. Outsiders that found their way through the Doaba Badlands and into Bharhulai land meant to get there. The rotting corpses marking the Bharhulai territory boundaries spoke of those that weren’t. They were savages- vicious Socorran desert nomads. A young girl named Nim Naja was one among them. Instead of cooking and other feminine tasks she chose to hunt with the men and defend their lands with the horde. Nim joined attack parties on desert intruders and subject cities, and as a female she was only required to cover her face when outside her camp. She had the passion of a warrior and no man stood in her way of joining the horde.
Her warrior skills were not entirely normal, though; Nim had a Force aptitude. Both her and the tribal council didn’t necessarily know what it was, but thought it was a gift from the gods. Though she had very little skill, it was still enough that brought a little reverence..and fear.
Starships, mostly from outlaws on the run seeking to lie low on Socorro, would accidentally land in Bharhulai territory and tribesmen would send a party to eliminate the intruders. Nim was rather skilled in this. Something about it was so.. religious. Seeing the enemy, and watching them cower in fear, or try to run from the savage warriors into the desert only to be hunted down like boars. She took pride in her kills. It had become ritual to allow them to see her face before they died.
On many attacks she nearly forced her way to the front of the horde. She was a vicious teenager. Those that lived could only tell the story of the Black Banshee – the clad female had grown recognition for her savageness and her terrifying shriek in combat, earning that nickname.
Over the years a darkness began to infiltrate her actions, though she knew not what it was. She became too careless and headstrong, and in her rage eventually lost control over herself. On one of the desert attacks, Nim, in her fury, killed one of their own, and had let one of the intruders escape into the desert with memories of her face and the bloody scar on his own.
Apprentice
It was a quick trial. By ending the life of a Bharhulai she broke the law of Aa’kua, of “personal space” and had also revealed her face outside of camp. Nim was tried as a male warrior would have been, as that was the way she lived. The young girl was forced through a gauntlet of her fellow tribesmen and nearly beaten to death. The young Nim was exiled from the tribe and sent into the unforgiving desert.
The broken adolescent was found by one of the few wandering Ibhaan’I shamans and he took pity on the girl. Taking her under his wing he brought her back to full health, giving her his own meager supplies.
He knew instantly of her Force gifts and knew they had been used for violence. She was Bharhulai, what else would one expect? He knew some of the Force; he had been a relatively strong Jedi in his younger years, having come to Socorro to atone for his own dark ways, long before the great Purge. For him, helping the girl was an act of penance for his sins.
Vakeyya, Capital of Socorro
For many years they traveled together all over Socorro. He educated her on what she had lacked from the savage tribe, introduced her to modern technology from the city, and instructed her in different cultures and languages. First and foremost, he felt it his duty to bring her back to the Light. As her master he tutored her in the Force and made it his life’s mission to make a better Jedi out of her than he had become himself.
As Nim grew older she began to separate herself from him and spend more time in the cities on her own. He was reluctant of letting her go and started refusing to. Nim had become his constant companion and he grew to love her much – too much. But the young woman had tasted freedom and longed for it, and longed to learn more than what he could teach her. He became jealous as her nights out grew longer and the days with him grew shorter, until he finally forbade her from leaving him.
It seemed that instead of the master teaching the student of his ways, she had taught him a few of her own dark lessons. His love became destructive and possessive and both began turning on one another. Nim was no longer a young girl, but a woman. She believed she should live her own life, not her master’s, but he began forcing his will upon her, among other things.
She had been banished to the desert for violating Aa’kua, and now was being chained to the desert for another’s violation. Nim Naja repaid him with deadly fury, eventually slaughtering her master in gruesome ways.
Once a Bharhulai, always a Bharhulai.
Aa’kua
Bottle of Raava
Nim wandered the black sands of Socorro for quite a while, frequently spending time in the cities and eventually spreading her visits out and into the galaxy. She became a starport rat and listened to the conversations from the old smugglers and pirates, always enjoying a cup of raava at the counter in one of the local bars. Socorro was a haven for outlaws; the stories that they told were entertaining and seemed to become taller and taller the more they were repeated.
Nim was quiet though; she kept to herself and was content to listen to the information being passed from stool to stool, table to table. She would never have to speak a word but strange men would come up to her and start telling her all about their life. People liked to talk and brag about themselves. Bounty Hunting on Socorro was laughed at with blasters, and those found to be doing so ended up in the same fate as slavers. So outlaws had little fear when it came to laying low on the planet. Socorro meant rest and peace.
But not entirely. One man, years later after her exile, recognized the female. He recognized the Black Banshee. Sitting in her spot at the counter, minding her own business. He remembered, and his friends remembered, as he no doubt had told them some asinine story many, many times of his ‘victory’ over the nomad savages and the facial war scar he had earned. The assault was instantaneous; raven locks flashed from her seat the moment he made the threatening motion, and he was dead within seconds, his blood pooling on the bar floor. No one moved in the establishment.
“Aa’kua,” was Nim’s only word, nodding to the patrons and returning to her raava. Many customers stood stock still, some others turned back to their Sabaac game as if it were routine. Others reached for their comlinks.
Black Bha’lir
Black Bha’lir Sigil
- "Never profit from the weakness of others.
Honor the vyvya.
Prepare the way of the Retribution.
Respect the right of aa'kua."
- ―Nim reciting the Smuggler's Code
The rumors spread spontaneously. Naja was approached by Socorran Black Bha’lir members and was told that the man had been a former Society member. Nim knew of the Society, knew some of the members and its ways, but minded her own business. Smuggling just wasn’t for her. However, that didn’t matter to them. She was brought before a tribunal of Old Guards, where she learned that the one she killed had been marked for Retribution by the Bha’lir and that by killing him she must join the Society herself. She reminded them that she wasn’t interested in apprenticeship. Her interests lay not in smuggling and she refused to waste time learning it.
The members that knew of the Black Banshee spoke of her ‘talents’ from the Bharhulai nomads. Her skills were very useful, in either the Society or its brother crime organizations, such as Abdi-Badawzi. After a discussion the tribunal assigned her to a specific job within the Society. They were going to allow her to do just what she had been there for, to hunt down those that were marked and provide the Rite of Retribution when other Bha’lir members would not. She was to serve in this capacity for one year before reassignment. Nim rather enjoyed it. Part bounty hunter, part assassin, she was still held in high regard as a Society member. It was the only form of bounty hunting that was legal on Socorro. She was given all she required.
Master Smuggler
When Nim obtained the high rank of Master Smuggler, she was given the option of becoming an information broker. She still refused the life of a smuggler, and running her own criminal gang within the Society didn’t interest her. A broker, however, piqued her curiosity. Since her exile from the Bharhulai, she had spent the rest of her life soaking up everything that she could from the galaxy, and she had naturally begun instructing many other members in what she had learned, and sharing her knowledge with the veterans for the benefit of the organization. This opportunity made her brokering official and it quickly became what she was most known for.
In her downtime Nim took on elite contracts outside of the Society, using her income to hire out slicers and infiltrators to garner information which she would disseminate to present to her employers. Her contracts varied between information necessary for bounty hunting to scorned lovers seeking knowledge of their partner’s infidelity. Generally Nim accepted contracts that paid well and interested her, but she was also known for doing personal favors.
Nim used several cover names since becoming a broker, as her Bha’lir activity was illegal in many star systems and during elite contracts she used many known and unknown criminals to obtain information. This garnered her several bounties, which resulted in her relocating many times to avoid prosecution. As she was born a nomad, so did she live as one on her own, a solitary and lonely life devoid of physical friendship and family. She became an information junkie, toiling away endlessly on the holonet, her nose constantly buried in a myriad of datapads wherever she went, soaking up like a sponge as much knowledge as she could possibly obtain to make up for such a primitive childhood.
Yuuzhan Vong Invasion
During the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion, Nim physically kept out of the conflict, but was an integral part of providing and relaying information to and between various organizations on Vong activity. She went by various codenames and used her native language of Old Corellian for covert communication.
Dark Jedi Brotherhood
During her downtime, Nim came upon reliable information regarding the whereabouts of the much-wanted Michael Halcyon. This required her to travel to the Shadow Academy on Lyspair in person to negotiate a price for that information. Once there, the Academy discovered her Force sensitivity and she was offered further training in the Force. Having neglected her Force skills and knowledge ever since her departure from her former master, she found this to be an intriguing opportunity and accepted.
She entered the Academy under the false name of "Socorra" due to her criminal ties and numerous bounties, and in order to have a fresh start; however, the young woman also changed her name due to the fact that the Bha’lir would soon find her to be missing in action, or worse a deserter, and send out their own agents to find her whereabouts. In short, she needed protection.
Arcona
Talos Erinos: Master & Mentor
Soulfire Strike Team
- "Ohna fulle guth!"
- ―Acolyte Socorra challenging Templar Talos Erinos
Upon successful graduation of the Shadow Academy, Socorra was assigned to House Galeres of Clan Arcona. On her shuttle ride from Lyspair to Selen, her shuttle was shot down over the planet Eldar. The ship crashed in the middle of a warzone, killing both pilots but leaving Socorra relatively uninjured.
Upon crawling out of the burning wreckage, her face was greeted by the barrel of the blaster rifle from the young Mandalorian Templar Talos Erinos of the Brotherhood. She had crash-landed in the middle of the Brotherhood counterinsurgency operations against the forces of the Krikella Extraction Company and it was assumed that she was an enemy combatant. After a brief and extremely one-sided spat with the Templar, she was taken into custody by Soulfire Strike Team and brought to the Valour’s Fall for interrogation, where it was made clear that she was a recent graduate on the way to meet her new Clan.
- "I just wanted to say bloody good job thus far."
- ―Sashar Erinos Arconae to Socorra
Socorra quickly rose through the Journeyman ranks, intent on obtaining as much knowledge as possible. At the rank of Protector, she was invited to join Soulfire Strike Team for her myriad of skills and her sharp tongue’s affinity for odd languages. Shortly after accepting the invitation into the commando unit, the Galeres Aedile and honorary Soulfirian Talos Erinos took on the young Journeyman as his Apprentice.
Unlike most other recruits, Socorra did not immediately possess loyalty and devotion to the Clan for several reasons; her extremely analytical mind required processing and logical conclusions, her life as a solitary nomad made it extremely difficult to attach herself to any sort of group or family, and the murder of a member of her own tribe at her hand had instilled a fear in her that she could do so again.
These factors led to her entering Arcona on the eve of the Tenth Great Jedi War with large indifference to the Shadow Clan.
Great Jedi War X
- "Come with me and witness how Dark Jedi prepare for war."
- ―Talos Erinos to Socorra
At the beginning of the war, Socorra was her Master’s shadow, never leaving his side as he prepared Arcona’s Warrior House, Galeres, by rallying in the orbit of the Dark Brotherhood’s throneworld and then finally beginning the invasion of New Tython. She was assigned numerous intelligence tasks by her Master and Aedile, which she took to with great fervor. However, old habits died hard, and she found it extremely difficult to refrain from abusing her privileges to peek into the Brotherhood databases using her Aedile’s access. After hours of illicit information hoarding, followed by long periods of contemplation about her future and of her apprenticeship and friendship to Talos, she eventually decided to forgo any insidious actions and instead focused on her orders...for now.
War Begins
Proconsul Wuntila Entar
- "This is not how war is conducted!"
"With all due respect, Your Honor, your authority was overruled."
- ―Proconsul Wuntila Entar and Jedi Huntress Socorra on the battlefield of New Tython
When they arrived at New Tython, Talos and fellow Arconans Kratus Vahillus as well as Novice Aveira Iraedi and herself flew down to the surface and collected a few lightsaber trophies to present to the Consul. Shortly after, they were called to the Forward Operating Base where Socorra was commandeered by Proconsul Wuntila Entar to assist him in Clan war operations. Upon Master at Arms Korras's orders, Talos left her in the Proconsul’s hands while Talos and the Galeres Quaestor, Celahir Erinos, became loose cannons and accompanied Soulfire Strike Team to retrieve Consul Zandro Erinos and Soulfire Sergeant Sashar Erinos, whom had both been captured by Ge'tal Gaan forces.
The Mandalorians of Clan Ordo
With the Galeres House Summit unable to command its House forces, Wuntila ordered Socorra to mobilize the entire FOB and prepare an assault on the Jedi capital of Menat Ombo, the city itself the capitol of New Tython. There, they would both take to the field as the troops dropped to the Landing Zone and combat the combined enemy forces of the Jedi and the Mandalorian mercenaries that they had hired.
Having felled two Jedi in the onslaught and retrieving their lightsabers, she was given a field promotion from Protector to Jedi Hunter by Proconsul Entar, thereby skipping the rank of Guardian entirely. It was an extremely rare occurrence in the Brotherhood to be double-promoted, and Socorra accepted it with great honor.
After nearly clearing the battlefield, Wuntila once again had his assistant Socorra mobilize the Houses to enter Menat Ombo. Talos and the rest of Soulfire, successful in rescuing Zandro and Sashar from the Ge’tal Gaan forces, arrived in time for a war council meeting. Talos and Socorra reunited and she was invited to partake in the meeting and stay with the Summit for the rest of the war. After the meeting, the pair remained behind with the Galerian forces while Soulfire left to cut off a large contingent of Ge’tal Gaan Mandalorians coming in from the north.
War Ends
- "She's a keeper, ‘vod. Don't let her go."
- ―Sashar to his younger brother Talos
Continent Owyhyee of New Tython
On the top of Ooroo Abbey looking towards the central mountains
Before Sashar left with Soulfire, he bid farewell to the pair, apologizing for not having had the time to properly induct Socorra into his squad, as she had joined it just before war was declared. He promised to remedy this, but would never be given the chance.
The Galerian and Qel-Droma Houses descended upon Menat Ombo and after a near-thorough eradication of the Jedi from House Odan-Urr it was revealed that the rival Houses and Clan had come to steal the Shadow Clan’s honor and as such, Arcona was forced to then clash with them as well. In what would become known as the Visulu Market Bloodbath, Talos and Socorra paired together for the entire ordeal, wielding lightsaber and blaster pistols respectively, and saving one another several times throughout the skirmish using the master/apprentice bond that had been established throughout the strenuous weeks of the Tythonian conquest.
Near the end of the battle, it was revealed that the Ge’tal Gaan forces to the north, where Soulfire had deployed, were far too much for the elite, but small, squad to handle and were being overrun. The Clan and Galeres House Summit immediately mobilized and, leaving the HQD Summit to lead the final cleansing of the Jedi city, quickly left to retrieve the squad...again.
Upon the Soulfire evacuation, it became quickly clear that the Ge’tal Gaan forces were simply too massive an undertaking for the entire clan’s ground forces, let alone Soulfire, and a full evacuation would be necessary. However, the Ge’tal Gaan forces were moving too rapidly into the city, and orbital air support would be necessary for Arcona to pull out in time.
Unfortunately, inbound and outbound communications were being jammed and air support could not be requisitioned. Another emergency war council meeting was established, and Socorra, remaining silent next to Talos, watched as her Clan leader Zandro volunteered himself to a suicide mission to establish communications to the fleet in order to request the air strike that would give the Clan time to fully evacuate. After extremely heavy and emotional debate between the Summit it was decided that not only would he go, but his brother Sashar, her Soulfirian Sergeant, would accompany him.
The two leaders and legends, whom she never had the opportunity to get to know, were dropped off at the Ooroo Abbey to obtain and then protect a holonet transceiver long enough for the Summit to request orbital bombardment. The Summit then rendezvoused with HQD and ordered evacuation. Once the Arconan forces were clear enough of the city, Proconsul Entar had Socorra relay his order for the fleet to open fire as the Mandalorian army swarmed into the city where the brothers Erinos were prepared to hold the Abbey for the fifteen minutes that their beloved Clan needed.
Without pause, she relayed the orders several times to make sure they would be heard through the static. Within a moment’s notice, the fleet engaged the city and without prejudice, obliterated it from orbit, wiping out the rest of the Mandalorian Ge’tal Gaan army.
With this last act, the war was over.
Quest for Knighthood
Surviving the war would be one of the biggest trials that Socorra would face before Knighthood. It left its mark on everyone, including the Huntress, both physical and emotional. She sustained a few war scars from the various battles of Jedi, Mandalorians, and rival Houses, most notably three slashes diagonally across her back from a scourge as well as a small scar next to the edge of her right eye.
Her emotional response to the war was significant. While the loss of her Clan leader and Soulfire Sergeant didn’t have such an impact on her as it would her Master Talos, the Erinos family, and many others in Arcona, their sacrifice would leave its mark. A cynic at heart, created by a lifetime of working for and with criminals, and a solitary, nomadic existence in the galaxy, Socorra believed that honor, love, and loyalty were meaningless words people used so tritely. But she was utterly surprised to find that not only were they possible, but they were physically proven to be right there where she was at - right in the heart of Arcona.
After the war, she had a much brighter outlook on her future in her Clan. She took to her work with great fervor and was excited to become the Consul’s Attaché, where her skills and talents would be extremely useful. Socorra had witnessed first-hand the intelligence and wisdom of Wuntila during the war, and was honored to continue assisting and learning from him after he ascended to the Serpentine Throne.
Personality
Socorra in Port Ol'val attire
Socorra has retained many of her old habits and is quite cynical with a quick wit and sharp tongue. She uses a lot of technobabble as well as holonet references in her speech, regardless of whom might actually understand anything she said. She colorfully cusses in multiple languages but will always fall back on Old Corellian in an emotional state.
Though she is socially awkward, her encyclopedic mind and near-perfect memory allows her to quickly bring up knowledge to the forefront which she uses to adapt to her environment. She is fluent in many languages, and while her encyclopedic knowledge of known species is vast, her understanding is limited mostly to what she's read or seen in holovids or in the archives.
Over the years she was most notably known as Nim Naja and Black Banshee, but known now only as Socorra to the Brotherhood. While she has embraced a new beginning there, it is quite likely that the past she left behind will eventually catch up to her.
Appearance
Socorra & Marick
Socorra is a bronze-skinned beauty, naturally tanned from a lifetime of living on a hot, arid desert world. Her body frame is lithe and feminine and her raven mane reaches her lower back in various lengths. She has pale azure eyes that tend to lock, stare, and haunt far more than a normal social being’s should.
She bears a couple scars from the GJWX, three long diagonal marks across her back from a scourge and a short scar next to her left eye. She gained three scars from the Arcona Family Feud of 35ABY, one across her left temple, breast and thigh during an ACC match with Teroch Erinos. Lastly, Socks bears burns scars on her hands and surgical scars to her chin after intense matches during the CHL. Other than these, she has two distinguishable marks, the sigil of the Black Bha’lir on her right hand and the Soulfire crest on her right shoulder.
Socorra’s attire is urban and sometimes punky, preferring to wear tank tops underneath a short jacket. She wears a skirt with boyshorts underneath with various types of pantyhose or low-slung pants and knee-high boots. Several belts grace her hips with compartments that house her myriad of datapads and tools as well as sheaths for knives and blaster holsters on her thighs. She often keeps a hold-out blaster or two in a back holster. A pair of bracers adorn her wrists with built-in comm and computer.
Combat
Socorra prefers ranged combat. Lightsabers have their place, but if a battle can be ended swiftly without breaking a nail, she will attempt it. However, she is slowly gravitating more towards melee and hand-to-hand, due to the confidence gained from the rigorous and effective combat instruction of her Mandalorian master Talos Erinos. She is always looking for physical or mental weaknesses to exploit and can on occasion become a spitfire when she herself is affronted.
Positions Held
Trivia
- Socorra is an honorary member of Soulfire Strike Team, a rare title bestowed to very few.
- Her various nicknames are Soc, Socs, Soco, and Socks, coined by Marick and Balthier.
- The character name Socorra is a play on her homeplanet name of Socorro, which in Old Corellian means “Scorched Earth.”
- Socorra was the only Journeyman below DJK to have participated in the GJWX ACC competition, winning 7 out of 8 matches at the rank of Protector against EQ1s-EQ4s and coming in 4th place overall. One year later in Horizons she took 2nd in ACC as EQ1.
- She was the only Arconan during GJWX to receive a Field Promotion and is one of the very rare few in the DJB to have been given a double promotion, requested by Wuntila Entar and approved by GM Muz.