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[b]Name[/b]: Aleko Gordan

[b]Age[/b]: 35

[b]Species[/b]: Human (Naboo)

[b]Appearance[/b]: Standing at a solid 185 cm (6'1"), Aleko was blessed with an even boy build as he did not have to sacrifice dexterity over strength or vice-versa.

[b]Force Abilities[/b]: 
[list]
[*][b]Basic force abilities[/b] - While he did not combine force abilities into his duels, he had a passable amount of skill within the telekinetic arts of the force.
[*][b]Mind Trick[/b] - Aleko had spent enough time planting suggestions into people's minds to become highly successful with avoiding conflicts, helping him to escape from numerous tight situations. Only once did he successfully coerced a mercenary into friendly fire.
[*][b]Tutaminis[/b] - Aleko was known to have absorbed blaster projectiles and bursts of electricity into his body with his non-dominant hand and diffuse the energy away completely. He was confident that he could even parry a lightsaber strike with his bare hand, so long the contact wouldn't last for more than one second. After extended use, his entire left arm would go into a painful paresis, rendering it completely useless for a variable amount of time.
[*][b]Calming Aura[/b] - His presence within the Force was notable for being a peaceful one. Those who would stand in his proximity would be calmed down and comforted.
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[b]Non-Force Abilities[/b]: 
[list]
[*][b]Lightsaber combat[/b] - Prominent user of Form V Djem-So subbranch, his main philosophy in lightsaber combat was to take full advantage of every opportunity to break or reach behind an opponent's defenses in order to end the fight. His overall stance in a duel, however, was a defensive one, thus he comfortably resorted to Form III, giving him the chance to observe his opponent's strategies and quirks; once he was confident that he could turn the tide of the fight, he would instantly switch to Form V by surprise. He would punish every tactical mistake of his opponent, whittling them down to the point they would collapse due to exhaustion, he would disarm them, or get away. 

In other words, Aleko would wait for his opponent to believe they have the upper hand, while he would observe their movement, ticks and tactics; as soon as he had completed a repertoire of his enemy's combat abilities, he would parry and riposte, deflect and retaliate. One of his preferred tricks was to hold an opponent in a blade lock hard enough so that they would respond with a harder push, only to give in to the pressure and let the opponent stumble so that he could take advantage of the opponent's mistake.

As previously mentioned, Aleko was an avid practitioner of Tutaminis and would he had been force to use this ability often, his left arm would become useless. As such, he was forced to take a crash course in Form II so that he would be able to properly duel until his arm would recover from the shock. While he wasn't a very versed Makashi duelist, he could do enough to survive.
[*][b]Unarmed combat[/b] - Although he preferred to keep both of his hands on his lightsaber hilt, he had a knack at integrating kicks and elbow jabs in his combinations to stun and throw enemies off balance.
[*][b]Intuitive tactics[/b] - While he did not delve too deep into military strategies, Aleko was able to devise plans in the middle of action, working best while under stress.
[*][b]Expansive mind[/b] - Aleko keeps his eyes and ears open to his surroundings and registers everything occurring around him so that he could use the terrain to his advantage and change the dynamics of his plans according to the situation.
[*][b]Basic piloting[/b] - He knew how to hold the controls of a ship, how to fly it and how to dock it. Not very proud of his limited skill.
[*][b]Field medic[/b] - While he did not cultivate his Force Healing abilities, he found passion in studying first aid and emergency medicine and was able to stabilize most wounds with the proper materials. He was knowledgeable of human, kel dor and twi'lek basic physiology.
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[b]Personality/Motivation[/b]: Aleko's good nature drove him to become a protector, loyally serving those who were in desperate need of his aid. He wanted to become a good example of the Jedi Order from the very first years of instruction, striving to become a prominent figure within the order. He even dreamed of joining the Jedi Council once he had proven his worth to the Order through his actions. Ever since he found this inner motivation, everything he studied was in favor for those around him and much less for his own personal gain; for the same reason, he preferred to take up a more tame combination of lightsaber dueling forms, which also perfectly matched with his calm presence and his more straightforward way of thinking.

He was a patient, stoic and stubborn human, but even if he had a more stern attitude throughout his later years, he was more than willing to help anyone that had the courage to approach him. He kept his mind open to change and adaptation and followed the rules as best as he could: if he had to break a certain rule in order to accomplish something for himself, he would refuse the thought, but if he was doing it for someone else, he was glad to step over some boundaries to make them happy. Diplomacy would be the very first weapon to pull out from his arsenal in any given situation and would resort to more drastic measures only in situations that demanded him to take action.

Paradoxically, Aleko suffered of loneliness. He found that his peculiar devotion to the force and the order had pushed him away from most of the Jedi practitioners; within this loneliness, he found motivation to learn more about the force, but at the same time, was struck by sadness, a strong emotion that left him cold and every so often make him question his true motivations. But, every time he would land his gaze upon aspiring young students and the unfortunate, he could shake off some of those emotions and continue with his work.

[b]Biography[/b]

[hider=Early life and Initiate years]Aleko was born in 54 BBY to a lonely mother that served as a chef for His Royal Highness, King Bon Tapalo of Naboo, the ruler of Naboo at that time, and his family. The woman had some adventurous moments with one of the Monarch's guards, which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy; soon enough, wild rumors spread throughout the Royal Palace of Theed like fire, accusing the young mother of committing a great sin by seducing the king himself and have his child. Unwilling to draw negative attention to himself, especially from Darth Plagueis, he stripped the woman of any rights and exiled her from the palace, leaving her and her unborn child at fate's mercy. The final nail in the coffin was that the real father played along, refusing to admit the wrongdoing that turned the chef into a common beggar.

Forced to live in a small house with her dying mother, Alyana was too scared to abort the child, but couldn't see herself raising it either; thus, she was stuck in a constant moral conflict that lasted even after Aleko was brought to term somewhere near the end of 54 BBY. Struck by a severe form of postpartum depression, the woman was unable to take care of the infant, refusing to nurture, feed and bond with it; the responsibility fell on Alyana's mother, who could barely stand on her own feet, let alone move at all. Half of the responsibility also fell on a very old R2-D5 that carried and fed the child. Aleko was rather malnourished for his age and very disconnected from his mother, but greatly loved his grandmother and the droid. Luckily enough for him, his sensibility for the force had drawn Jedi Master Plo Koon, who was tasked to reach Naboo on a diplomatic mission; Alyana was quick to give up the young boy, the grandmother allegedly died very soon after Aleko was taken by the Kel Dor to the Jedi Temple Coruscant. The council, appalled by the boy's condition, nearly refused taking him in, but in the end, agreed to have Plo Koon train the boy by the time he would have become a padawan.

Although he was mostly deprived from social contact, Aleko managed to keep up with the other initiates and display normal behavior; thanks to the more consistent meals, he was able to grow into the tall and strong man would be known by the beginning of the clone wars. He adored the rather boring life of a jedi initiate, perceiving everything as child's play; he especially loved swinging the training lightsaber during the early Shii-Cho training drills, showing potential through his heightened reflexes. Every now and then, Master Plo Koon would take the young Aleko aside and teach him a few basic Djem-So drills, which proved to fit the boy's fighting style like a glove. He rarely had to readjust the boy's emotions, since he could only feel joy and playfulness in him; he only hoped that such emotions would mature into seriousness and devotion and one day, to surpass him. Aleko had no problems facing the initiate trials and proved to be a serious contender for the annual Apprentice Tournament. More than eager to have the child under his wing, Plo Koon claimed Aleko as his own apprentice.[/hider]

[hider=Padawan years]Starting at the age of 12, it would take Aleko 10 years to be eligible for the Jedi Trials, as his master was adamant on teaching the lad patience through hard work and physically and mentally demanding drills. Aleko picked up from his master as much as he could and haphazardly applied them during his training. To augment the practical side of becoming a proper Jedi Knight, the lad was urged to sit down and study the records of previous Jedi Knights and padawans and all of their accomplishments throughout the various eras. Aleko was especially attracted by the tales of the Old Republic, intrigued by the mysterious Darth Revan, who would in the end redeem himself and throw off the mantle of the feared dark side. Much like every other padawan, he was taught to antagonize the dark side in and out, although he couldn't stop being fascinated about its dangerous influence over the weak-minded. At that time, he couldn't understand why some would resort to powerful, destructive emotions to manipulate the force, as it seemed a very inefficient way to harness the mystical power. 

While there was a certain difficulty adapting single saber techniques on his own old saberstaff borrowed from the armory, he managed to coalesce an early version of his fighting form: Soresu was very easy to couple with the defensive nature of the saberstaff, but the more physically demanding powerful strikes within the Djem-So form were rather difficult to pull off with limited mobility. Limited in the sense that Aleko outright refused to perform any acrobatic moves to augment his range and preferred to keep his feet on the ground with no fuss and spins and jumps. His fights looked like a blocky, clunky mess at first, but through the patience and stoicism Plo Koon was hardwiring in his apprentice's mind, Aleko was able to keep up with students adept within the Ataru lightsaber form.

His first lightsaber was a simple-looking saberstaff constructed with practicality over design, thus, it looked more less like a double exhaust port with two buttons on each end. The lad was pleased with his creation, Plo Koon half-expected to see a very simple design coming from a straightforward-minded apprentice. The master did appreciate the boy's way of thinking during his tasks, as the padawan always chose to talk out of several situations, with him having only to teach the young one several courtesies he was yet aware of. Aleko learnt to refine his persuasive skills, while Plo Koon kindly recommended him to study the arts of mind trickery, thinking it would suit him well; the padawan soon discovered that he could learn certain skills all by himself, only needing someone's intervention when the texts would be too interpretable. It was then he started studying the art of Tutaminis, a skill that seemed very useful for a Jedi, but rather difficult to apply at more powerful scale. Just as stubborn as his master, Aleko started reading through the manuscripts left behind by several masters that were able to diffuse tremendous amounts of thermal or raw energy through their bodies through the use of the force, which at first seemed as reliable as a fairy tale; still enchanted by the mystical aspect of the ability, he soon started to practice by trying to stick his hand into fire while trying to redirect the heat through him. Needless to say, he managed to burn and mangle his left hand, but even with Plo Koon's stern retorts, Aleko stubbornly refused to give up on something he wanted to learn on his own.

It soon became obvious that he would become rather inefficient with the saberstaff as he ritualistically sacrificed the skin off his palm in order to master an ancient form of force arts, thus, he started looking into a one-handed oriented lightsaber form. He borrowed his master's single-bladed lightsaber, that felt very awkward in his hand, and attempted to learn the basic few tips within the duel-centric Makashi; caught by the master himself, instead of lecturing the student, he tried his best to unveil the secrets of the more detail-ridden form and its subtle differences from Djem-So. Since his understanding of the form was also rather limited, Aleko could only estimate what he should do when forced to duel with a single hand, the only thing left to do was to try to improve further and pray that one day he wouldn't have to resort to it. Only too late did the padawan realize that, in the event of him losing the mobility of his offhand, he would fight with a [i]saberstaff[/i] in a [i]single hand[/i]; Plo Koon did not want to tell the mistake and instead, left the boy figure out on his own what he was doing so wrong. Thus, Aleko was forced to choose: either give up on advanced Tutaminis or construct a single-blade lightsaber.

Aleko came up with the solution: he cut the saberstaff in half and kept both ends, in case he lost one of them. Plo Koon could only admire the lad's diligence and feel half-amused by his rather rash decision of nearly destroying his own blade just so that he could study both arts all by himself. The master kept telling him that should he continue being so brash, there would be little to no chance for him to be accepted among the ranks of the Jedi Council; to which Aleko would wittingly point out that, despite all odds, his master was part of the Council even though he was rather stubborn himself.

"To be stubborn is one thing, Aleko. To be a diligent, patient man is a whole other matter. Everyone in the Council is stubborn in their way, sure enough. But they all respected their master when they were told not to turn their hands into steaks."

Eventually, the day arrived when Plo Koon believed that he taught his padawan everything that he could have passed down to him: he could keep himself alive, he knew the basic applications of the force and cultivated a set of bonus skills, one of which save his master's life from a well-placed blaster shot to the head. Indeed, the 22 year old Aleko managed to successfully absorb the shot without instantly carbonizing his palm and for once, the master was glad Aleko pursued that certain force ability. The young man even formed a hybrid dueling form between forms II and V and successfully applied it during several scuffles against battle droids and mercenaries. The trials themselves though, changed Aleko from a dreamy, aspiring young fellow to a fully responsible adult who had lost his innocence in a tragedy. 

The Trial of Skill presented no problem for him, although he enjoyed the challenge. The Trial of Courage had him on the edge, but he managed to recover and pull his mind away from the thoughts of being exiled by the council and managed to defeat what seemed to be a mock-sith apprentice that looked a lot like himself. The trial of flesh had him nearly begging for a break, for mercy; but using what he had learned through the study of Tutaminis, he overcame his pain and in an exhausting effort managed to drag himself through the trial of spirit. It was there, Aleko's innocence was broken by visualizing the events within his past that brought him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant; it was there where he realized how humble his beginning in his own life was and how what sort of negative impact his sheer existence had on others. He came to regret being born, as he was rather convinced that he was nothing else but dead weight, a useless particle on a speck of dust lost in space. No one wanted him or his aid, no one wanted to have anything to do with him and even worse, everyone wanted him to leave forever. He saw himself mourning over the loss of his own apprentice, which he failed to protect; he felt very cold and ashamed of his failure, knowing the council would frown upon him. In the end, he found strength in the last glimmer of hope that remained in the dark-infested world that became his spirit, a hope that he would redeem and best himself, just like Revan has done before him. His joyous attitude died inside that chamber and was left to rot as Aleko made his way out towards the Trial of Insight, where his observational and force attunement was tested to find the real Plo Koon from a sea of impostors that challenged him to lightsaber duels. He had to decipher what the impostors were telling him and try to pinpoint the location of the "real" master and decode what he had to say in order to escape the final chamber. A task that seemed dull compared with what he had to face previously.

Finally, he emerged victorious and was awarded a night's respite for him to meditate in complete silence, when he made peace with himself, with the identity that he had to shave off and leave behind. He wasn't a hopeful orphan anymore, for he became a Knight of the Order. He wasn't from Naboo, he came from the Jedi Temple. He was no son of a whore, he was the child of the Force. Aleko emerged a calm, collected Jedi Knight that beamed an aura of inspiration, a man ready to take on the galaxy and its darkest corners, for he was a Jedi Knight.[/hider]

[hider=Knighthood, Clone Wars and the Great Jedi Purge]Now a knight, Aleko attended several diplomatic tasks across the galaxy's inner and outer rims, representing the Council's interest within the developing situation. He would often use his persuasive skill, backed by the passive aura he was emitting, to try to make ends meet and bring peace before a conflict could erupt. No often was he forced to take a more invasive attitude and coerce one of the parties by using mind tricks; if even that would not work, Aleko was stubborn enough to find other ways to reach an agreement, but if there were hostilities against him, he did not shy away from drawing his lightsaber and using it to defend himself and, on the long term, the innocent who would've suffered from any disagreement. But this rank came with a painful price: he would often find himself extremely lonely, stricken by sadness, as if he had lost something very dear to him. He knew what it was, but he did not want to believe that it was true. He faced it once before during the trials, why would this old wound want to open again?

For a while, he ran solo on his missions, but he did leave an imprint on the galaxy due to his understanding, but firm nature. He was called to the Jedi Temple in order to be reminded that he had to take an apprentice and educate them; seeing no way out of the situation without loosing the possibility of joining the Council later in his life, he went ahead and studied the progress of the initiates that were struggling with their own trials, trying to pick one that would most likely follow his orders. That did not prove to be too difficult, as a female twi'lek initiate immediately approached him to ask if he knew a good Soresu instructor, other than Jedi Knight Kenobi. Enchanted by her honesty, Aleko followed her progress until she managed to pass through the Trials and instantly took the girl as his padawan. 

The synergy between the two was no secret as she would adapt to Aleko's demanding training routines and Aleko would change the dynamics of his training in order to force the girl to think out of the box and use the power of the force in order to find smart solutions for tricky situations. He tried to teach her the ways of diplomacy, but it would seem she was more interested in the combative aspect of being a Jedi. Aleko could only conform to her needs and tried to present to her a small taste of each lightsaber form, save for form VII which he preferred not to delve in. It soon came apparent that she was most interested in Ataru, much like the other padawans her age, as it was a highly attractive form based on agility; Aleko did provide her with the teachings, but he also pointed out the many flaws of Ataru by managing to swat her down midair or just as she would land, the most vulnerable moments during an Ataru stunt. She soon picked up Aleko's advanced mastery of Soresu to compensate for her highly aggressive style of combat.

Years passed with them growing together as an inseparable duo, a diplomat that made for a perfect father figure for the padawan, whilst she was the rebellious youngster arrogant enough to believe she had the galaxy at her heels. He did not feel alone anymore, but he could still feel some sadness, which would soon go away as the ever-eager Tasha Yagbina would show up with some interesting discovery she would make within the Jedi Archives. By the time the Clone War arrived, she was experienced enough to hold on her own, but Aleko knew that there was enough room for more training, especially since he managed to become better and better with Tutaminis, constantly practicing for nearly 15 years. It soon proved to be a very useful skill during the battles he partook during the beginning of the Clone Wars, along with form V's focus of blaster deflection. During this crisis period, Aleko took up some first aid courses for three alien races, so that he could tend to the wounded clone troopers, to his colleagues and of course, Tasha. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, despite the fact that he felt that this whole affair was nothing but a proxy war, especially since there had been confirmed rumors about the return of the Sith. He hoped that the day of encountering a Sith would never arrive, realizing that the rather comfortable years the order lived through could not have properly prepared anyone against another saber-wielding force sensitive, let alone a Dark Jedi.

A different sort of nightmare came true. In 19 BBY, he and Tasha commanding several squads of Clone Troopers were tasked to search for a possible enemy outpost hidden on the frozen planet of Hoth. It was there, alone and cold on that star-forsaken planet, where the knight and his padawan were caught during the execution of order 66. They were separated. Aleko, he knew he survived, albeit having a shoulder grazed by a blaster bolt and his left arm searing with pain. His new and balanced lightsaber emanating an emerald hue through the clouds of ice and cold of Hoth, constant streams of steam resulted from melting snow rising from the blade. Surely, she would have survived and she was on her way to reunite with her master. After all, she could sense his comforting presence within the force, no? But to him, it would seem that the very specific, gentle presence that Tasha had was gone. Now, Aleko was truly alone.[/hider]

[b]Secrets[/b]: Aleko was plagued by the thought of resorting to murder to end a fight. He did not know how such a dark thought crept up in his mind, but he was very troubled by it; this thought would emerge whenever he would fall in one of his depressive episodes. On other occasions, he would feel frustrated during some combat situations and wanted nothing more but to end the life of those he was fighting against, so that they wouldn't torment the innocent again some other day. The Jedi Code allowed for a life to be taken in very special circumstances, but by his standards, he never found himself in such circumstances. He even refused to eliminate the squad of clone troopers that turned against him, even though their betrayal deeply affected him. He did experience a strange fascination with death and wished to see one day how it feels to take a life away.

He kept his depressive state of the mind to himself and went great lengths to cover his feelings up, as to not trouble those around him. He only wished to spread calmness and generosity and to not leave his own weights on his comrade's minds.
[b]Relations[/b]: 
[list]
[*][b]Plo Koon[/b] - Aleko's master and mentor, he respected him greatly and even found a lot of his own traits within him.
[*][b]Tasha Yagbina[/b] - Aleko's former twi'lek padawan, was defeated soon after the Jedi Purge was ordered by Darth Sidious.
[*]To be completed
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