[hider=Toryn Dral]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/O7x3R5c.png[/img]
[b][color=orangered][h2] [u]Toryn Dral[/u] [/h2][/color]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie9eQfX-2aQ](Have some mood music)[/url][/b][/center]

[b][color=orangered][u]Species:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b] Human [/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Gender:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b] Male [/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Age:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b] 23 [/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Appearance:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b] In true Mandalorian fashion (according to almost every Coruscanti holo-vid ever made at least), the most striking thing about Toryn looks is... well, [i]how little most know about it,[/i] what with how downright [i]shy[/i] the Mandalorian is to be seen outside of his armour. Though a brief glance at the report drafted up by the Academy's medical examiner upon his arrival may provide some insight into exactly why this is; the dispassionate, clinical record noting the presence of scarring from blaster fire, shrapnel and vibro-weaponry throughout much of his body, with a not-insignificant amount of metal fragments still lodged in the Mando's torso in areas where they'd be risky to remove surgically. Additionally, the good Doctor describes at length a series a chemical burns traveling up Toryn's right arm into his shoulder— the apparent legacy of an inopportune breach in his armourweave in the middle of an Imperial gas attack during the Mandalorian Revolt— and that his left eye is, in fact, a cloned replacement; a procedure of [i]questionable[/i] legality at best owing to it's chances of unforeseen complication. 

What most [i]do[/i] know, however, is that Toryn stands at around 5'9" and though not shaped like a bodybuilder or powerlifter, [i]must[/i] be built with incredibly [i]dense[/i], potent musculature with how he carries himself and what can be gleaned through the shifting and flexing of his apparent uniform— that being his usual combination of armourweave, Jedi robes and beskar'gam. And, of course the sight of his scarred, sometimes stubbly mouth and chin on those occasions where he tilts his helmet up slightly to eat something. Often with a wry little smirk if he catches someone staring as he does so. [/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Rank:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b] Apprentice [/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Personality:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b]Reserved, [i]extraordinarily[/i] clever and strong-willed, Toryn at first comes across as a consummate— if dispassionate— professional. That's not to say he's in anyway [i]cold[/i] or unfriendly, mind you, and can in fact be almost [i]charming[/i] in his own fashion, in spite of how he wields his bone-dry wit like a weapon. More that the man in question is an extraordinarily private person; rarely talking about himself nor sharing what he's thinking or showing what he's really feeling at any given moment and responding to any questions about any of the above with either a well-timed joke to change the topic or as laconic a response as possible to end the conversation right there. Seemingly preferring instead to focus on whatever task he has at hand in the moment and generally treating his (albeit, brief) time at the Order up to this point as just another job and wanting to keep some measure of professional distance himself and his peers. 

...Though that doesn't quite tell the whole story.

For while he rarely shares much of himself, Toryn [i]never[/i] disparages others for doing so and is [i]always[/i] willing to listen patiently and, more importantly, [i]help[/i] if needed. Asking nothing in return and more often than not, without actually being [i]asked.[/i] Then there's his service history to consider, both during the war and what little record exists of his mercenary activities thereafter; the former, where he'd developed a reputation for nigh-suicidal charges into harm's way to save his comrades— Mandalorian or not— and the latter, where he became known for only taking on [i]very certain kinds of jobs,[/i] often for less pay (or [i]none at all[/i]) to put some mad warlord or depraved crimeboss into the dirt. 

These things speak to a deeper well of compassion than Toryn will likely ever admit. And provide vital context to how, even if he never asks or is ever asked to be, he always seems to know his role— as the unbreakable rock that can always be relied upon to do what needs to be done. Or die trying.

...Even if people like [color=00aeef][i]Kada Vaa[/i][/color] would note with concern that he was a much happier and less closed-off man when they first met two years ago. 

Also a whole lot less shy about taking off his helmet.    

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[b][color=orangered][u]Lightsaber:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b]Standard single-hilt with an orange kyber crytal. Though he [i]has[/i] at least drawn up some blueprints for a crossguard design in his free time.[/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Skills:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b][u]Veteran Supercommando:[/u] Trained since the day he could walk in armour and hold a blaster like all good Mando boys and girls, Toryn was— to put it bluntly— extremely, alarmingly, damn-well [i]terrifyingly[/i] good at his old job. Which, though his career has taken a rather drastic turn recently, still grants him a unique well of experience and talents to draw from amongst the majority of Luke's New Jedi Order.

[u](Slightly Modified) Form VI Niman:[/u] During his short time at the Academy, Toryn's main focus in regards to lightsaber training has been in the Way of the Rancor, valuing it for it's versatility and flexibility over the more rote and automatic movements of the more [i]'aggressive'[/i] styles. He's also found it to be more open than others to some level of adaptation, and has been quietly experimenting with incorporating techniques from Mandalorian swordplay into it to truly make it his own.

[u]Efficient Armourer/Weaponsmith:[/u] "A Mando that doesn't know how to take care of his own kit is a Mando that ain't gonna live very long."; a lesson Toryn took to heart at a very young age. Being not only skilled at taking care of his own gear, but also being capable of something approaching [i]Mandalorian Murder Sorcery[/i] if left alone at a workbench with rudimentary tools, half his weight in coffee and of course, [i]malicious intent.[/i] 

That's not to say this talent of his exists exclusively in the confines of a workshop, however. For Toryn [i]does[/i] have a bit of a reputation for improvising in the field; being known for shenanigans ranging from jury-rigging an improvised thermal detonator from a half-dozen tibanna gas cylinders, a wooden stick and some duct tape to things like blowing out a mainframe on the other side of a building by ripping the fuse out of an ion grenade and shoving it into the right place inside a wall panel.

[u]Decent Pilot:[/u] Having grown up on and around starships most of his life, Toryn's not too bad behind the controls of most craft. Though, he'll be the first to admit that there's better pilots out there.

[u]Ad-Hoc Ship Mechanic:[/u] As the note above, Toryn has a pretty good handle on how to keep most starships up and running or, failing that, knows enough that he can figure it out most of the time through some brief trial and error and just a [i]liiiitle[/i] bit of redneckery. Though if someone comes along who's an [i]actual[/i] mechanic by trade, he's more than happy to let [i]them[/i] take the lead and just be the extra set of hands or the guy holding the light.     

[u]Sketch Artist:[/u] A talent picked up over the war years when there was an excess of 'Hurry up and wait'. Honestly, [i]he's actually pretty good at it;[/i] not just with blueprints for weapons, but people and [i]especially[/i] scenery and architecture. Though he hasn't really had the spark to do it in a while.

[u]Culinary Skill:[/u] Among his own people, considered a [i]pretty good cook.[/i] Though it's also worth bearing in mind that the Mandalorian flavour palette can fall anywhere between 'Very Spicy' to [i][u]'HELP ME I AM MELTING',[/u][/i] so Toryn's cooking [i]might[/i] also count as just a bit of a warcrime when served among the wider galaxy.  
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[b][color=orangered][u]Equipment:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b][u]Beskar'gam:[/u] Toryn's signature armour. Passed down unto him from his grandfather, who in turn had received from his own in a chain of hand-me-down going back generations, to which it owes it's somewhat 'vintage' appearance. Still, includes all the necessities for modern operations; a visor with multiple vision modes, a comms suite built into the helmet, the ability to seal itself atmospherically to protect against hostile environments or the void of space, magnetic hook-ups on the back for a jet-pack and on the soles of the boots to latch onto a hull or deck in the void if the need arises, etc...

[u]Vintage Mandalorian Pistol:[/u] Another relic from his grandpa's day— a blaster pistol made for killing [i]other Mandalorians.[/i] Hits like a damned [u][i]truck,[/i][/u] though the recoil takes some getting used to...

[u]Lightsaber:[/u] Exactly what it says on the tin, a good ol' trusty lasersword.

[u]Kal:[/u] Mandalorian fighting knife. Usually hidden in a boot.

[u]Red Scarf:[/u] Hand-woven from a comfortable, fire-proof armourweave-based fabric by his mum. He's very rarely seen without it.[/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Personal Effects:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b][u]The Beskar'[i]Ham:[/i][/u] A cute little plushie of an anthropomorphic pig wearing Mandalorian armour; a gift from a little twi'lek girl he encountered during the Liberation of Taris. Has a place of honour on the desk in Toryn's quarters.

[u]Bes'bev'ika:[/u] Traditional woodwind instrument among his people, similar to an ocarina. A memento from Toryn's childhood, it sits next to the Beskar'Ham on his desk.

[u]Assorted Others:[/u] A few photos on his desk of Toryn's family and Aliit'ika. A few more featuring some other wartime friends (often in the middle of [i]doing some silly shit)[/i] either on the desk or hanging on the wall. A few sketchbooks he's been doodling in since he was a boy, stuff like that.

[u]Box o' Memories:[/u] Where Toryn keeps mementos from the war, including but not limited to; a tattered, stained Imperial banner stolen half out of spite and half to make an improvised field-dressing. Some bits of shrapnel that tried and failed to kill him, a few medals from the New Republic he's still not entirely sure how to feel about and a war-journal. Kept under his bed, out of sight and out of mind.[/b][/color][/indent]

[b][color=orangered][u]Weakness:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b][u]Mandalorian Complications:[/u] As a Mandalorian, Toryn already stands out almost immediately in any given crowd. Couple that with the reputation his people have developed over the course of a few thousand years and the post-war friction between Coruscant and Mandalore and he will most assuredly at best be [i]incredibly unwelcome[/i] in most parts of the Core Worlds and the subject of constant suspicion, even amongst his fellow Jedi.

[u]Old Wounds:[/u] One doesn't spend almost half their life at war and come out completely unscathed, and Toryn is no exception. From the grievous scars cover much of his body, the painful (and loud) cracking of his bones in the morning and a few times throughout the day and the occasional migraine brought about by his transplanted eye, it's pretty easy to surmise that the man is almost [i]always[/i] in some kind of physical pain. 

This does not tell the entire story however, as the Academy's medical staff have discretely noted down and passed on to the Knights and Master Skywalker that— even with all that Toryn has been through— much of this pain appears to be psychosomatic in nature. Coupled with frequent nightmares and the relatively recent appearance of an intermittent tremor in his hands whenever he's idle or left to let his mind wander (yet curiously vanishes when he's under stress or given something to do) which point to a much more [i]alarming[/i] problem, one that is only compounded by his outright refusal to talk about it, if he's even aware of it at all.    

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[b][color=orangered][u]Background:[/u][/color][/b]
[indent][color=A1A1A1][b]Born to a House of Mandalorians that chose exile to the stars in the years after the Civil War as opposed to sharing a broken moon with the Death Watch— whom they viewed with a special kind of disgust— or throwing down their weapons and armour and joining the so-called [i]'New Mandalorians'[/i] in Sundari, who had preached and screamed about peace the entire conflict but hadn't lifted a finger to help anyone that didn't immediately buy into their ideals. Toryn's childhood was... actually kinda [i]normal[/i] for a Mando kid, all things considered; despite growing up on a nomadic flotilla of Clan ships instead of anywhere in the Home Sector, him and his [i]Aliit'ika[/i] (lit: 'Little Clan', his closest friends growing up) still went through the same beats as just about any other would— albeit, probably with a bit more intensity given the circumstances and the need of the Clans to have as many many hands working as they could.

About thirty seconds after he could walk, talk and hold a blaster (just enough time for mum and dad to stop cheering and his big sister to stop hugging him) he began to learn how to fight. By the age of six, he was apprenticed to an Armourer, repairing and maintaining gear for the teams that'd be sent out on Merc Detail to earn the House money and supplies in addition to his regular training. By twelve, he and his Aliit'ika were finally put out into the field on Recon Duty to [i]'Learn the Ancient Art of [u]Sneak-and-Peak'[/u][/i] as his grandpa put it and by sixteen him and the whole lot of his friends were finally inducted into the [i]Ori'ramikad; [u]The Supercommandos.[/u][/i]

[i]Juuuust[/i] in time for the rise of the woman who'd become known as [i]Mandalore the Liberator.[/i] Who, enraged by the state of her homeworld— ruled by a brutal Imperial Collaborationist regime under the remnants of the Death Watch, disarmed and enslaved by Zygerrian slavers given free reign to drag anyone they pleased out of their homes to work until dead in the mines to fuel the Imperial war-machine or off-world to Zygerria itself where an even worse fate awaited them— would rally the disparate Nomadic clans scattered across the galaxy (those of Toryn's House included) and come home with sword in hand and [i]wrath in her heart.[/i] Where she and the Nomads would link up with Fenn Shysa and his insurgent [url=https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mandalorian_Protectors/Legends?so=search]Mandalorian Protectors,[/url] and together form the nucleus of an organized [i]Mandalorian Army.[/i]

Thus began the [u][i]The Great Mandalorian Revolt.[/i][/u] 

A short, but brutal affair that would see not just the homeworld, but the entire [i]Mandalore Sector[/i] erupt in flames. Where the Imperials (still reeling from the loss at Yavin), the Collaborator Regime and the Zygerrians would go blind with [i]absolute panic[/i] trying to quell the uprising. Even resorting to terror-bombing and gas attacks on their labour camps, mines and whole [i]cities.[/i] Only to find that not only did that not work— in fact, it only seemed to make the Mandos [i]fight harder—[/i] but that it also caught the attention of the wider Rebel Alliance who were [i]more than happy[/i] to run all kinds of guns into the sector, raiding any Imperial shipping going in and out of it and watch with all kinds of glee as the Empire suffered all kinds of consequences for sticking their proverbial schlongs in the [i]Mother of all Hornet Nests.[/i]              

This would be Toryn's trial by fire. Well, one of many as Mandalore— now free and [i]very heavily armed[/i] thanks to smugglers from the Alliance, the seizure of all the arms and armour previously confiscated by the Death Watch and the discovery of a [i]colossal vein of Beskar[/i]— aligned itself to the Rebel cause, joining the left flank of the Hydian-Perlemian campaign; both to tie up Imperial resources in the Galactic North and away from the Rebellion advances further south but also to relieve pressure on the vital shipyards of Mon Calamari. So, for the next two years, Toryn and his Aliit'ika would be constantly on the move and constantly [i]fighting;[/i] in places like Taris, which rapidly devolved into a close quarters, three-dimensional slog as they took the city-planet room by room by blasting through walls and floors, or the dense forested highlands of Serenno or the open plains of Telos.

Or Mirial, which our boy remembers quite fondly for the fact that by the time they all got there, [i]the Imps had already bugged the hell out.[/i] Allowing him to spend basically an entire week just napping and another after that acquainting himself with two of what would become some of his favourite words in the entire Galactic Dictionary: [i]Mirialan Barbeque.[/i] 

He'd need that reprieve before his next destination—   

[i]Zygerria.[/i] Where the Imps he had meant to be fighting on Mirial, and most other Imperial forces in the region had pulled back to, rather alarmed at the idea of all those slaves on the planet— who had [i]more than enough reason to hate the Empire—[/i] suddenly getting free on the literal doorstep of the factory planets of the deeper corporate sector. And so, with the remnants of the Empire's northern forces digging in for one last stand, both prongs of the New Republic campaign converging on the system with an army drawn from across the Galactic Northeast and beyond, brand new warships straight from the driveyards on Mon Calamari and the Mandalore herself assuming overall command in the absence of someone like Ackbar— who was busy fighting his way into the core— the stage was now set for the final, bloody climax of the entire Rimward Front.

If Toryn rarely speaks about the war, then he very specifically speaks of the [i]Burning of Zygerria[/i] even less. The savage fighting, the decision of the Imps to begin 'Liquidating Living Assets' across the world and the subsequent reprisals by outraged Mandalorian and New Republic soldiers leaving a bitter taste in his mouth for the rest of his days. It also made the medal they stuffed into his hands afterward feel like a slap in the face... but he managed to stomach it at the time as he knew that after a slog like that, he was likely to be on leave for a while as their forces reorganized and resupplied. And by the way things were going, it was entirely likely that the whole damned war'd be over by then. 

...That was right up until Toryn, now an [i]Alor'ad[/i] (the rough equivalent of a Captain) in charge of a Company was called up by the Mandalore directly who informed the young man that she was [i]voluntelling[/i] him and his commandos to grab their shit and get ready to move; as a New Republic Admiral by the name of Renkar had been asking for them [i]by name[/i] for operations in the coming [i]Battle of Jakku.[/i]    

Within a week, they'd be linking up with elements of the 10th Mountain Division from Corellia, the Tarisian 2nd Airborne and a unit of SpecForce shocktroopers, most of them Alderaanian. The batshit plan the Admiral had gathered them all together for? To be inserted into the atmosphere while the Imperial Fleet was busy duking it out with Ackbar in orbit, ride low and fast to within a mile of the [i]Kiras Plateau—[/i] a huge rock formation absolutely [i]bristling[/i] with AA and orbital defense batteries, sneak up to it, climb a sheer rock wall for a few kilometers, seize the base and then hold it while every AT-AT, Stormtrooper and Imperial army grunt in the same timezone started saturating them from all sides. And also start taking pot-shots at the Imperial Fleet above with their own damned guns, if they had the time.

[i]'Operation: Mynock'[/i] the Mirialan Madman had called it. And [i]hoooo [u]boy,[/u][/i] was it a helluva time; with the facility itself falling quickly, but their expected relief being delayed by the dogged Imperial resistance above. Leaving them all— a few hundred effectively trapped there on the surface— trading fire from all sides and repelling whole [i]divisions[/i] of the Stormtrooper Corps and Imperial Army coming up the gentler slope up the one side of the plateau they'd specifically [i]avoided[/i] on the way there because they knew the Imps'd be watching it like hawks. 

But on they held— despite a casualty rate approaching [i]ninety percent.[/i] Until finally, the New Republic fleet managed to break through and without the batteries on the Kiras Plateau to worry about, had free reign to deploy fighter squadrons and landingcraft [i]en masse[/i] for miles around it. Finally bringing relief to the beleaguered defenders, who were cycled out on the first available ship.

Fighting would continue for months afterward, of course. But for Toryn and those on the plateau? The war was effectively over. Toryn and his Aliit'ika (what was left of them, anyway) would largely begin to part ways over the months following the official peace treaty, some staying, most of them going into civilian jobs, a few of them into teaching or private contracting and one or two just seeming to vanish altogether. Toryn for his part, would stay on with the Mandalorian Army— as, by that point, it was damn near the only thing he knew— eventually reaching the rank of Al'verde (Major) and spending much of the next three years either operating in Mandalorian Space itself, loaned out to the New Republic as a mercenary to [i]'Solve Problems'[/i] when they came up and every once in a while popping down to Anaxes with a few Supercommandos to play OpFor during military exercises; traumatizing an entire generation of New Republic recruits as the 'Scary Guy in the Woods' despite being not that much older than most of them and actually [i]younger[/i] than a few.

Honestly? It was a life that suited him. He was out there actually [i]helping the damned Galaxy,[/i] in his own little way and, despite a cooling of relations between Coruscant and Mandalore caused by some Senators from the former calling for the annexation of the latter and not being particularly impressed by the Mandalore's official reply of an actual paper note with the words [i]"Fuck Off."[/i] written upon it in cursive High Galactic text, actually felt pretty damned good about it.

...But then one day, Toryn simply [i]vanished.[/i] Him and his team seemingly dropping off the radar completely for nearly two years, until he was found— alone— at a bar on [i]Terminus[/i] of all places by a Jedi recruiter chasing a funny feeling in the Force. Now a much colder and more reserved man than he'd been before his absence and not at all forthcoming about where he'd been, where his team was or what he'd been doing all this time.

He [i]did,[/i] however, agree to hear said recruiter out. But only on the condition that he be allowed to travel home first to see his folks, to let them know he was alive, to pick up some of his things and also to make his report to the Mandalore— Who, upon hearing that he was being scouted by the Jedi Order, ordered him to go anyway.

In the months since, he's lived as an Apprentice among the Order. Studious, hard working and with a whole lot less incident than many thought would be the case with a [i]Mandalorian[/i] enrolled in the academy, but still [i]very closed off[/i] about where he'd gone and why they'd found him at the very edge of the [i]Unknown Regions[/i] of all things.     

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