[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/35/e3/48/35e34847c63503425aa6c8c27c726169.jpg[/img] [color=f7941d][h1][b]K O R E N G R A E F F[/b][/h1][/color] [color=fff200][h2][b][sup]F O U N D E R O F T H E G O L D E N E X C H A N G E[/sup][/b][/h2][/color] [/center] [b]Species:[/b] Human [b]Age:[/b] 45. [b]Faction:[/b] [i]The Golden Exchange[/i] [b]Equipment:[/b] 2x DL-18 Blaster Pistols, 2x R-1 Recon Droids (Personal), 1x Personal Energy Shield. [b]Skills:[/b] [list] [*][i]Combat Trained[/i]: Having been an Intelligence Officer in the CIS, he is profficient in short/mid range combat and hand to hand. [*][i]Intelligence Gathering[/i]: It was his living for the CIS, and even now in CIS his living demands his knowing things. His organisation was built by him from the ground up, and he has an extensive network of agents throughout Hutt Space and even some beyond. [*][i]Politics[/i]: He's a seasoned veteran at navigating deals and working with conflicting parties. Allowing his base of operations to become a neutral zone. [*][i]Charismatic[/i]: Links to politics, however he's generally a well liked and respected individual. He is a smooth talker who has a way of putting people at ease. [*][i]Psychological Student[/i]: Before he went on to become an Intelligence Officer he studied at Reena University and left with a degree in forensic psychology. [/list] [b]Weaknesses:[/b] [list] [*][i]Age[/i]: With age comes experience, though in potentially hostile and combat ridden environments the body slowing down and aching isn't a good thing. While he's still a good shot, his eyesight is worse, reaction times slower and he's not as agile as he used to be. [*][i]Well Known[/i]: He's one of those figures that stands out in a crowd, not due to his actual appearance but simply because in the criminal underworld his is a household name. [*][i]Lack of power:[/i] As the leader of an organisation in Hutt Space his currency is information, and money, there are many organisations that may even not be as well known as his with substantially more combat capability. Meaning he relies heavily on deals in order to stay alive. [*][i]Untrusted:[/i] No-one in the criminal world trusts anyone else, least of all someone who deals in other peoples secrets. [/list] [b]History:[/b] [hr] [b]Childhood[/b] Koren was born in a time before the Clone Wars in the Outer-rim. Like many worlds during this time period his was one that was growing increasingly agitated at the Republics continual 'core world first' policies. Where everything seemed to be about the importance of the Core, and as such tensions on Raxus grew they shaped Koren into who he would become in later years. That said he always had a knack for finding out things, people told him their secrets and confided in him. As he grew up he honed his skills at reading people, though he didn't know it yet he was studying their body language and their tone of voice. He was picking up on cues to how they were feeling without even knowing it. His parents, being Law Enforcement agents always wanted a similar line for career for their Son. He never really cared for the idea of helping people however, and was in fact far more manipulative. He only cared about how other people thought in order to further his own agenda, at fifteen he blackmailed another individual for the first time. A fellow student at the private school he went too, a rival from from another high ranking family who was [i]seeing[/i] someone from a poorer district. The rival pretty quickly fell in line to what Koren wanted him to do for fear of reprecussions if his family ever found out he fell in love with a commoner. Towards the end of school he decided to study away, a course that would both benefit his ability to understand and manipulate people and keep his parents happy. So he was off to Reena. [hr] [b]Secession[/b] Shortly after he completed his studies the seccession crisis happened, as systems splintered away from the Galactic Republic finally fed up of their mistreatment, and the corruption in the senate. Raxus was one of these planets and the Separtatist Alliance was formed. While not officially recognised by the Galactic Republic, nevertheless it started the formation of it's own Parliamentary Assembly, Military and Intelligence Agencies. Seeing an opportunity not presented to him before hand Koren joined the newly formed Separatist Intelligence Agency. He was trained in methods of combat, infiltration, subtrefuge, information gathering and torture. Like many agents he was sent to other outer rim and mid rim worlds ahead of a representative of the Separatist Alliance in order to gather information on the local feelings towards the Republic, and if necessary help emphasis the feelings of discontent towards the Senate on Coruscant. Koren and agents like him helped to fuel the growth of the Alliance in its early days before the onset of the Clone Wars. [hr] [b]Clone Wars[/b] The Clone Wars were a turbulant time, Information was almost as important as ships and soldiers in the battlefield. Misinformation could cause the loss of a strategic planet while the perfect secret could be the key to victory in battle. Koren expanded his arsenal during this time, while many intelligence operatives preferred to rely on droids due to their reliability Koren placed himself in the middle of politics. Organic contacts were his currency, Senators Aides, Janitors in military complexes, waiters in officer clubs and clubs frequented by clones. He became well known in the Intelligence Community both on the side of the Republic and the Confederacy for someone who used anything at his disposal, crossing lines that others may not necessarily cross. Blackmail, torture, coerscion, scandals. He placed people where he wanted them to be, and if they crossed him he would remove them from power just as fast as he had put them there. As the fire that was the Clone Wars burned he gained more renown, more power in the Intelligence Community. He gained rank, respect and power. All that was taken away by the death of Dooku. As Dooku perished and the war made a swift turn around, from a faulty attempt at capturing the Chancellor of the Republic which he felt was foolish, General Grevious took control of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Many systems loyalty began to falter and fade as they doubted Grevious' ability to lead the Separatists to victory, and true to a fault the war moved from stalemate to the Separatists loosing ground. It wasn't long until a shut down order disabled all the droids in the Separatist military, the Galactic Empire stepped in and [i]peace[/i] was brought to the Galaxy. Knowing there was no place for him in the newly announced Galactic Empire, and that the Separatist holdouts could not last forever Koren managed to reactivate a T-Series Tactical droid about the Providence-class Destroyer [i]Vanguard[/i]. Inserting new protocols into the droid he took control of the ship and fled towards Hutt space. [hr] [b]Hutt Space[/b] Piracy would have been the obvious solution to gaining power quickly and efficiently. Though he knew better than to do that, while he had droids work on the interior and exterior of the [i]Vanguard[/i] now named [i]Paradise[/i] he left the ship in an uncharted system and went out into Hutt Space to work on gaining contacts. While initially it was slow going, so many intelligence networks already existed within Hutt space. With competitors at eachothers throats almost constantly he eventually got a substantial number of Organic and Mechanical contacts throughout the sector. Then the hardest part came. He waited. For two years he gathered information, while some of it had to be acted upon quickly he didn't rush into things. He knew enough about the Hutt Cartel to know that if he sought power, and to thrive he needed to be patient and make sure he had enough influence to dissuade anyone of simply trying to capture or kill him. Then two years after the formatin of the Empire he appeared in [i]Paradise[/i] above the trader world of Ilos Minor. The ship transformed from a warship into a vertiable resort, complete with luxury suites and casino rooms. A cruise ship for the most elite of the criminal underworld, a neutral zone to conduct business free of scrutiny. Since then he has struck deals with many of the important players within Hutt space to allow [i]Paradise[/i] to be a neutral zone, with weapons not permitted outside of the hangar. Security is tight, fighting is taken very seriously and most of the patrons know not to break the rules when in [i]Paradise.[/i] As the Galactic Civil War turned from a spark into a raging fire the Rebellion discovered Korens past and tried to approach him in order to get him on their side during the conflict, though he saw little value in it for him. He never really held true to the beliefs of the Confederacy just as a means to an end. It was during this formation that he met his future bodyguard Ballick, who when they first met was beating up a drunk dug with a gambling problem for crossing him. While initially the partnership was difficult for Koren, he has come to know Ballick as the closest thing he has ever had to a friend. [hr] [b]Out with the Old[/b] AS the Emperor fell, Jabba fell and the New Republic rose things took a drastic turn within Hutt Space. The Hutt Council, designed to prevent infighting between Hutts faltered and failed. With Boonatta taking control Koren was quick to pay homage, offering her a week in the royal suite aboard [i]Paradise[/i] free of charge. Her every need, and desire, catered for. After all she rose quickly to power, and reshaped the Hutt Council as it had been for centuries into her own court with her sitting firmly on top of the pyramid. Though he was sure to pay homage to the Imperial [i]Moffs[/i] in Hutt Space, not that they had ever been incorrupt or in any real position of power other than as a figurehead between the dealings between the Empire and the Hutts. Though they had become an unpredictable variable, as while they had been content with their life of luxury and no rebel activity in Hutt Space with the fall of the Emperor and the disintigration of the Empire with lack of a leader there was the risk of them lashing out like caged animals. He has also been taken into account the presence of a New Republic Task Force near the border of Hutt Space. Times are changing, though he isn't worried. Power changing hands is good for business, as people tear eachother apart they are always in need of information.