Name: Harsk
Age: 40
Class: Bounty Hunter
Home Planet: Trandosha (or Dosha)
Species: Trandoshan
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Appearance: Standing at 7 feet even, Harsk is tall for a Trandoshan, on average having a few inches on his fellows. Having recently shed, his scales are free of any marks and scars from a life of slaving, bounty hunting, and mercenary work. He moves with the cautious gait of a predator, footfalls almost instinctively being quieter, and each move with careful purpose, ready to explode into action at a moments notice. The confidence of someone who has survived against the odds time and time again is etched into his bearing, and he is proud of it. He is a survivor and a warrior, and he will do nothing to hide that fact. When he still had scars in his scales, he would eagerly tell their stories to anyone who would listen.
He is almost never seen without his solid black armor, years of hunting in the shadowlands and wandering through some of the more dangerous 'civilized' places the galaxy had to offer making him put prudent caution over personal comfort. His sensitive dark orange eyes, covered by protective googles to prevent things like flash bangs or sudden bright lights from damaging them, are almost constantly scanning an area in an attempt to prevent himself from being surprised.
He has modified pieces of mesh armor so that they can fit over his hands and feet, leaving his claws still visible. While his scales are normally more than enough for walking around, Harks has found himself in one to many cold places, wishing for something to keep his hands and feet warm. Thus, he improvised these 'gloves' and 'shoes' to serve that purpose.
Personality: Harsk is an odd Trandoshan, compared to most. His natural aggression and eagerness for violence is tempered by discipline and caution. He has lived a long time by Trandoshan standards, and has learned many lessons, often taught by the harsh teacher of pain and near death experiences. And so, as he has grown, his eagerness to run into things has been leashed by caution. His tendency to reach for his blaster and solve most problems with violence has been calmed with discipline. He is still an ultimately selfish creature, his primary goal in life to gather enough Jagganth points to be put into the upper echelons of the Scorekeeper's halls, but he has lived long enough to know that there are many ways to gain Jagganth points, and that attempting to murder everything you met was the least effective of those ways. Too that end, Harsk is capable of putting aside his hatreds and his prejudices in the cause of working with others to accomplish a goal, even going so far as to work with the hated (and respected) Wookies from time to time.
In his search for Jagganth points, Harsk also desires to find opponents who will test him and force him to improve or die. Opponents that are either his equals or betters, forcing him to learn in the middle of combat. He believes that you earn more Jagganth points the more challenging the hunt was, and that to die battling a worthy foe is the best death one can hope for. This is mostly why he likes hunting Jedi and Sith so much. They provide a unique challenge every time he faces one, and all are very dangerous. If he succeeds against them, he gets a large increase in Jagganth points. If he dies, he dies a good death at the hands of a worthy enemy. In Harsk's eyes, there is nothing that describes a win-win situation better than that.
A staunch follower of Trandoshan traditions, Harsk believes heavily in the ways that have governed Trandoshan life for millennia. Things like life debts, word of honor, and respecting elders all have great importance to Harsk. He takes these beliefs and follows them even when outside of Trandosha, putting great faith in his loyalty to whomever has his word, and showing reverence to those who have reached the elderly age of their respective species. Perhaps it is just because Trandoshans tend to die before reaching that age more often than not, but he believes all elders are venerable and deserve respect simply for living that long with the galaxy being as harsh as it is. He is also a devout follower of the Scorekeeper, offering praise and prayers to her regularly.
A unscrupulous and accepting person, which is unsurprising given the company he keeps and the jobs he has taken, the only thing Harsk truly detests in others is weakness. He hates the Wookies out of learned experience, having fought and hunted them for five years on their home planet, but he respects them for their strength and power. Being a bounty hunter earned him similar experiences across the galaxy with a variety of species. Every species has strength, whether it be in their bodies, their minds, or other powers. To see a creature wasting that strength by being weak and doing nothing to change it disgusts Harsk. Beggars who won't drag themselves out of their poverty, fallen opponents begging for mercy, creatures giving up when there is the slightest hint of difficulty, these all disgust and aggravate Harsk. The galaxy will only respect strength, and expecting the kindness of others to cover for your weakness will only hurt you in the long run.
Tying in with that detestation of weakness, Harsk hates having his success or failure depending on others. He would rather fail on his own strength than succeed on someone else's, and hates the feeling that he cannot affect or control a situation.
History: Most of Harsk's life has been one of violence. His earliest memories are of fighting and killing, whether it be play-fighting against his three clutch mates, hunting the local fauna of his home, or battling against other hatchling groups. He and his siblings grew rapidly, in typical Trandoshan fashion, reaching adulthood by the time they were fifteen. That same year they would join their first slaving ship, helping their captain pursue a lucrative contract for slaves with Czerka on Kashyyyk. Within the first two years, Harsk would lose all three of his clutch mates to the dark lands of Kashyyyk, and the Wookies who inhabited it.
Their first year began simply, as the Wookies hadn't retreated to the Shadowlands yet. Harsk and his siblings would charge into the village with their crew mates, Slave master carbines blasting first the warriors, then the non-combatants. They would take all they could prisoner, and then burn the village to force the others to either give themselves up or risk the dangers of the Shadowlands. The prisoners would then be secured, collared, and taken back to Trandosha to be sold and recorded as Jagganth points for the crew. One of his siblings would die doing this, catching a bowcaster bolt in the head as they charged into another village. Harsk and his remaining siblings gutted the Wookie responsible, and then burned their fallen family with the village.
As the year wore on, the Wookies grew smart and desperate. They figured they knew the Shadowlands better than the slavers did, and that the beasts would help do their work for them. They were right. Once they were down into the Shadowlands, the hunt became more difficult. Shadows would move just out of their peripheral vision, at times being nothing, at others being a beast moving in for the kill. They would find the Wookies and then lose most them in the darkness, unable to track them through the shadows, and the few they did catch unwilling to sell them out. Often times the slavers would find themselves lost, wandering the Shadowlands until they ran into a Wookie ambush, or stumbled upon a marker back to their camp. This was where Harsk lost the second of his clutch mates, unable to stop a Wookie from cutting his sibling down in the middle of an ambush. There was no time for a burial, a forest beast dragging the corpse off into the darkness before Harsk and his remaining sibling could do anything.
He would lose his last sibling in the middle of the second year, the Wookies launching a surprise attack upon the slavers' camp in an attempt to drive them off or kill them. It failed, but Harsk's sibling would die in the fight to repel them. The body was almost unrecognizable, torn apart by a grenade thrown back at the slavers. Harsk gave his sibling the best burial he could, hoping the Scorekeeper would be generous.
Left alone, with little resources till the ship returned for fresh slaves, and the only choice left before him being to adapt or die, Harsk decided to change tactics and learn from the hated wookies. He didn't hate the Wookies for killing his siblings. They had all died good deaths, in battle, and the Scorekeeper would look kindly upon them. He hated them for making him feel weak. For making him feel like he couldn't do anything but wait and hoped he survived. So Harsk set out to change that, to reclaim control of the situation. With the help of a translator he started learning from the Wookie prisoners they had, offering them freedom in return for lessons on how to survive in the shadowlands.
The Wookies were uncooperative at first, but he eventually found one willing to risk the chance. Upon verifying that what he was told was accurate and helpful, Harsk honored his word and let the Wookie go. Seeing this, and that he hadn't killed or dragged their fellow back into slavery, the other Wookies began to open up more, offering advice and lessons in return for their own freedom. Harsk used this to his full advantage, quickly learning how to survive in the shadowlands. He would let each Wookie go after he had learned what they had to offer, as was his word.
He didn't tell any of them that they had a tracker on them, implanted while they were unconscious. When the ship arrived, over half of their stock had been released back into the shadowlands. The captain was understandably upset, but Harsk assured him they could get all of the lost slaves back, and more. Armed with his newfound knowledge and the trackers, Harsk set out through the Shadowlands. They moved through them far more quickly than they had before, guided by the trackers and prepared for the dangers the shadows hid. They were able to get the drop on entire tribes, surrounding and capturing all its inhabitants. Eventually, as more and more tribes were captured, the Wookies caught on. Those who had returned were carefully examined, the trackers found and ripped out of their bodies.
For the next three years Harsk would hunt the Wookies on Kashyyyk, reveling in the challenge they offered. While he would never see the success he had in his second year, his Jagganth points would steadily increase until he was one of the highest members on his ship. When the fifth year on Kashyyyk finally ended, the contract with Czerka was over and the Trandoshans were replaced by the Sith. They would return home to Trandosha, satisfied with their trophies and the slaves they got to keep. The captain retired, having reached the age of 50 through luck, strength, and cunning. With his slaving run at an end, and still filled with a need to hunt and kill, Harsk would turn to bounty hunting.
For the next 15 years, Harsk would travel across the galaxy, taking any contracts that were offered to him. He would hunt fugitives across dozens of planets. Through the crowded streets of Nar Shadda, the deserts of Tatooine, and the icy plains of Hoth, Harsk would hunt down his prey with a single minded determination, capturing or eliminating them as the Bounty required. His Jagganth points and credits swelled with each successful hunt, to the point where he was able to buy his own X10-D droid and ship (rather than chartering passage, or joining forces with another bounty hunter with a ship), respectively. He earned a reputation as one of the bounty hunter to go to for jobs that no reasonable contractor would take, jobs that were more likely to end with the death of the hunter rather than the prey. It was because of this reputation that Harsk would take on the greatest, and last, hunt of his career; a jedi and his padawn.
The duo had gone to Nar Shadda on some mission for the Council. In the process of completing said mission, they angered the Hutts. They put a size able bounty on the pair, dead or alive, and Harsk eagerly took it. He didn't particularly care about the credits. They would be a nice addition, but were ultimately unimportant. What
was important was the hunt. The challenge of killing two Jedi, and the Jagganth points they would provide.
Harsk tracked them down to Harix, a forest world in the Colonies. It was a simple matter to follow their tracks through the forests, rapidly gaining ground on them. They were Jedi, confident in their ability to handle anything that was thrown at them. Creeping through the woods, he spotted the Jedi Knight. His padawan wasn't in sight, but that was no matter. He could kill her later. Raising his blaster, Harsk prepared to fire when a confusion overcame him. His mind grew heavy, his thoughts clouded. Distantly, he recognized this as a mind trick. He heard a branch snap behind him, and panic shot through the fog in his mind. If he didn't move soon, he was going to be captured by the padawan and all his Jagganth points null and void.
Through supreme effort, Harsk managed to turn around to look at the padawan. The human girl waved her hand again, and Harsk flew backwards and crashed into a tree. His head cracked against the back and he fell unconscious. Waking up on unknown time later he found himself tied to the same tree, the padawan and knight long gone, their trail cold. A fact which paled in comparison to the crushing knowledge that he had been
captured. His Jagganth points, fought for and claimed through brutal combat, all gone. He was
worthless in the eyes of the Scorekeeper.
Shame filled him, and he returned to Trandosha a failure and an outcast. His Jagganth points were recorded as zeroed, and he was derided and mocked as a failure. His X10-D droid was forfeit, and his life was a disgrace. As the consequences of his shame grew and fell upon him, fury began to grow. His shame at being captured warped into a hate filled obsession. There was only one way to fix this. He had to kill the one who captured him. He would kill that padawan and reclaim his Jagganth points, and then he would kill the Jedi Knight and claim his credits from the Hutt. But first he needed to learn how to best them, and avoid their tricks.
To that end, he turned to the ones who were the best at killing Jedi: The Sith. He searched the galaxy until he found one, and made a deal. He would aid them in their quest to destroy the republic, and they would teach him how to best kill a jedi with no force powers of his own. Some of the lessons were shamefully obvious. Don't use blasters. Don't get in close. Don't directly fight them. Harsk scolded himself for being so foolish, or arrogant, as to think he could challenge a Jedi with nothing more than his own skills.
Others were harsh lessons that had to be learned through the old familiar teacher of pain. Don't think about how you're going to kill them, you'll only warn them. Minimize your mind's presence. Project emotions to hide your intentions and thoughts. It was hard for Harsk to learn such lessons. He was used to focusing on his targets with ruthless intent, and had never needed to hide his presence from anyone or anything. He was a Trandoshan, a warrior race of killers who knew no fear. He shouldn't have ever
needed to hide. Still, the shame and fury of losing his Jagganth points drove him on, and he unlearned old habits in favor of new ones.
When he had finally learned the lessons, he gave his word to return, and set about finding the Jedi Knight and his padawan again, to enact his revenge and regain his honor. It took a long time, as finding a pair of Jedi in the growing chaos the galaxy was hard, especially when they had an annoying tendency to keep moving around. But he managed to do it, tracking them down to the ice planet of Atoa. There, Harsk made his plan and prepared to reclaim his Jagganth points.
Laying on an icy hill, he saw the two through the scope of the slugthrower sniper rifle he had bought, he had only had enough credits for one shot after buying the gun. His targets seemed to be arguing about something. All the better for him. Harsk focused on the Jedi Knight. He would be the threat, the true problem. The girl's inexperience made her weak, easier to kill. All of Harsk's thoughts focused on killing the Jedi Knight. The man paused mid sentence, straightening to look around, as if sensing something. At the last second, as Harsk was about to squeeze the trigger, he turned, aimed, and fired at the padawan.
The icy plains echoed with the
crack of the slugthrower as the bullet flew across the frozen land and crashed through the padawan's neck. Messy. Harsk had meant to hit her in the head, but the job was done. He could almost feel all of his Jagganth points returning, his honor, his prestige, the Scorekeeper's love, all of it. Harsk laughed aloud in pure joy and threw the sniper rifle to the side and drew his blaster rifle, firing a few shots at the Knight as he cradled his dying padawan in one arm. Blocked instinctively by the man's lightsaber.
Harsk's voice, mocking and hateful, echoed across the plains of Atoa. "Sensed something too late Jedi! She was such a pretty thing too, so much potential! Nothing more than meat now! After I'm done with you, I might have a snack!" He could practically see the rage boiling in the man's body as he gently placed his padawan down, and charged at Harsk, the Force fueling his limbs. "Come and get me, Jedi!" Harsk crowed, taking off down the hill.
The knight caught up quickly, as expected, his lightsaber slicing off one of Harsk's legs as he tried to run. The pain was excruciating, but Harsk laughed through it. He had been redeemed, and what happened now meant nothing. He laughed as the Jedi screamed something at him. Perhaps a question. He couldn't tell through the elation at being redeemed, and the agony at being crippled. As the Jedi seemed to give up on getting an answer, walking towards him with lightsaber raised for a final blow, Harsk chuckled again, pulling his detonator out of his pocket. "May the Scorekeeper judge us both fairly, Jedi."
Pressing the trigger, Harsk was thrown by the explosion of the mines around them. The last thing he saw before blackness overcame him was the Jedi Knight, illuminated by the flames of the explosions all around them, anguish in his eyes. Harsk thought it was a good image to die to.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Harsk survived the explosions. He woke up feeling somehow even worse than before, but alive. He had some burns, at least a few broken bones, and was missing a leg, but he had done it. He had killed two Jedi, and survived. Dragging himself to each of their corpses, he collected their lightsabers as proof of the kills. The Knight's was ruined, warped and blackened by the explosions. The padawan's, however, was in perfect condition. He resisted the urge to ignite it and swing it around a few times, dragging himself towards where his ship was. He needed rest, and food. Then he would have to rejoin the Sith, and hold up his end of the bargain. After all, it was only through the lessons of the Sith that he had had the ability to kill them at all, and only cowards went back on their words.
When he had finally regrown his leg to the point where he could walk and fight again, Harsk joined the Sith's side, following him across the galaxy and killing those who opposed him. He has been there ever since, his debt long repaid. The Jagganth points the sith provided access to were far to plentiful to turn aside, and the credits were too steady to ignore. Besides, Harsk was having fun, working to take down the Republic with the Sith. Surely the Scorekeeper would look down upon him with even more love if he killed a Republic before he died.
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Equipment:-Slave Master Stun Carbine
-Sonic Rifle
-Trandoshan Assault Blaster Rifle (same design as the normal, only changed to better suit Trandoshan hands)
-Powered Heavy Battle Armor (augmented to increase his speed in the event of direct combat with Jedi. Can only be done for a short period of time before overheating)
-Energy Shield
-Gatling gauntlets (2)
Ammo Types: Large metal spikes, micro-grenades (Stun and plasma), small metal projectiles.
-Land Mines (5)
-Laser Trip Mines (3)
-3HX3 Timer mines (5)
-Sonic Mines (3)
-Thermal Detonators (5)
-Sonic Grenades (3)
Skills: Life Long Warrior: Harsk has been fighting almost since he was born. Unlike most warriors, Harsk received no formal training in combat. He learned from fighting almost his entire life, be it against his fellow Trandoshans or against his prey. Harsk became a skilled killer out of pure necessity, as the only other option to him was to die. While his fighting style lacks finesse, he makes up for it in ferocity.
Tracker: Harsk is a skilled hunter and tracker, capable of chasing prey through almost any environment, be it the crowded slums of Nar Shadda, the jungles of Dxun, or the snow of Hoth.
Jedi Killer: Since his humiliation (and subsequent revenge) upon the first Jedi he killed, and his partnership with the Sith, Harsk has been learning and training all he can to best combat Force users with no power of his own and has become very skilled at it. He is resistant to mind tricks, having trained against Drakran to hone his mind to a steel trap, can hide his presence and intentions from Force users (the former by minimizing his mind's presence, and the latter by projecting a strong emotion and thinking about something else), and knows just how much to plan for his traps. While far from being able to take on a Jedi by himself, if given time, the appropriate resources, and the advantage of surprise, Harsk has a very good chance at killing them.
Abilities granted by being Trandoshan-Great Strength, only bested by Wookies
-Capability of seeing into the Infrared Spectrum
-Strong sense of smell
-Limb and skin regeneration (Slow, takes weeks or longer depending on how much has to be regrown)
-Durable scales (capable of resisting claws, glancing blows from swords, etc etc)
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Misc: Harsk is a member of a sect of Trandoshans who believe that surrendering is different from being captured. If Harsk surrenders, he believes will merely receive a drop in Jagganth points (the number depending on how many times he's surrendered and how close to one another they are) rather than his points being null and void.
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