EmKay
Well-Known Member
BASIC INFORMATION
NAMETACHON ZUR-KSI
SPECIES
IRIDONIAN ZABRAK
AGE
22
SEX
MALE
HEIGHT
193CM
WEIGHT
86KG
EYE COLOUR
VIOLET
SKIN COLOUR
TAN
NO HAIR
FACTION
THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE
RANK
NAVY LIEUTENANT
FORCE SENSITIVITY
POSITIVE
APPEARANCE
Tachon is a fine specimen of a Zabrak. As a proud Iridonian, he takes care of his physical condition and makes sure he is trim and resembles the sinewy grace of a predator. His height is average for his race, but compared to most Human races, he is very tall. His skin is a healthy tan complexion, laced with carefully designed full body tattoos that represent the fateful choice of his past. He is hairless, taking after the more common gene of Zabrak anatomy. His violet-hued eyes are keen and sharp, always scanning over his next target of attention, and never losing their piercing quality. Finally, his crown of ivory horns is clean, sharp, and renders his race unmistakable.
EXPANDED PROFILE
ATTRIBUTES
+ GENETIC PERFECTION
While Tachon was subject to the trials and experimentation that took place in his past, he was administered multiple serums and boosters that complemented an exercise regiment that no one of his age should have gone through. Despite the cruelty, he came out of the ordeal with a greater ability to retain his natural Iridonian physique through inactivity. Additionally, with immunity boosters and metabolism regulators, he finds getting sick, drunk, drugged, or otherwise intoxicated very difficult to accomplish. His strength and speed are proportionate to his self, and can be improved with training as with any individual, but he has greater stamina than an average Zabrak.
+ MIDI-CHLORIAN AUGMENTATION
The point of the experiments that Tachon endured was to generate a Force Soldier. So while his physical condition was an essential part of the programme, the focus was honed on Force use. The intent was to replicate the creation of individuals such as Anakin Skywalker into a normally-born Force Sensitive. The results were fatal in most cases, for one reason or other, but their success was Tachon. While he does not possess the extreme midi-chlorian count of a Skywalker, he does have a greater attunement to the Force and a more innate understanding of it. This heightened connection affords him a pseudo-naturally accelerated healing where minor injuries could heal in a few hours rather than a few days, and light wounds would heal in a day as opposed to a week. Additionally, he is more responsive to training and education, and will likely figure things out himself both related and unrelated to the Force. In the unlikely event that someone would attempt to sever his connection, it would be undoubtedly possible, but also difficult and potentially painful to both parties involved.
+/- THE ANTI-FORCE
[Experimental/Controversial -- If you have any issue with this, PM me. It is only useful on NPCs or with explicit permission from a writer.]
Tachon's engineering caused an anomaly nobody foresaw. Around Force Ghosts and dying Force Users, Tachon has the ability to rend perceived reality into a metaphysical realm, where anything is possible and the only deciding factor is sheer willpower. The victor absorbs knowledge on how to use, but not total mastery of, the strongest ability from the other, and the defeated is torn apart and transmuted into Force energy. It is a permanent death. Two souls enter, one soul leaves, and there can be only one. This ability also requires complete focus and concentration. The outside world ceases to exist, leaving both parties involved entirely vulnerable.
In addition to this unique ability, Tachon has an inherently deeper understanding and interactivity with the Force. He learns just like anyone else, but the more he fights with Force Users, the more he can understand the nature of the mystical weave. He can comprehend how to counter the Force, and eventually come to understand individual powers used against him. After great exposure, Zur-Ksi can learn powers simply by observation and combat.
+/- IRIDONIAN
Being a Zabrak of Iridonian descent, there are several inherent traits of his psyche that, if left unchecked, would make Tachon a very dangerous person. He has a thirst for war and blood that puts Mandalorians to shame and a love for combat that makes Echani cringe. He has learnt control, however, and has developed a spin-off of Jedi Meditation that allows him to focus his primal instincts into a state of healing and regeneration. These aspects have their trade-offs, and one of Zur-Ksi's internal conflicts is inner balance.
- AFRAID OF MYNOCKS
Sometimes the most hardy people have the most irrational fears. In this instance, Tachon is irrationally afraid of Mynocks. If asked, he would explain that there is something about their mouths that he finds unnerving. He would rather avoid Mynocks altogether, but if pressed will viciously annihilate any and all Mynocks in his vicinity. He really hates those things.
- SELFISH
A roadblock in relation to many selfless acts is Tachon's selfishness. He has to find some way to benefit from a situation, or he will abandon the cause as pointless. He sticks up for Number One first, and everyone else comes second. The only thing in the known universe that Zur-Ksi would put before himself is his personal ship.
BIOGRAPHY
Tachon was raised on Iridonia by a hardy clan who adhered to traditional customs. The mantras of combat and bloodshed shaped his early life. These conditions served to impart to him an even stronger willpower than most of his species. When his horns began to show and his coming of age ceremony neared, he was given a life-altering choice: He could become one of the clan warriors and see glory in battle until the end of his days, or he could take an even higher calling off-world, where only a select few were permitted to go. Pride and honour obligated Tachon to take the latter choice. He was etched with the tattoos of his position in a ceremony that spanned the course of three days, then he was taken away by mysterious off-worlders who wore entirely concealing uniforms. They took him to a planet called NCW-86; more commonly known by its name of Demonsgate. The shuttle did not land on the planet's surface, but rather on a station floating in orbit. Once aboard this place known as Arbega Station, he was joined by ninety-nine other individuals, all about the same age as he was. They were all directed into groups of ten, and from there they were led down halls with strange symbols etched above their entryways. Their guides explained the various symbols, and the one that Zur's group was entering was known as Ksi. The guide also explained that they would receive this name as an addition to their existing names, and that their records would show this amended accordingly. This invasion of his heritage was unwelcome in Tachon's eyes, but he submitted to the action. He was not only bound by honour of his clan, but he had little other choice in the matter. The hall ended in a hub where they were given maps and freedom to explore. By the end of the day, they were regrouped and shown to the dormitories. Each had their own small room with a bed, a refresher, a closet, and a food pantry. The doors were shut and locked, and there they stayed until morning. Before sleep, Tachon felt his first moment of curiosity in a long time. The question was where fate would take him now.
They were all taken to testing chambers the next morning. Even though the chambers branched off from Ksi's hub, this section's walls were transparent and showed the members of the other sections. These others were known as Gamma, Delta, Theta, Iota, Lambda, Sigma, Phi, Psi, and Omega. They were all following the same routine, and all were divided into the only enclosed places in this whole space: the medical rooms. Once every individual was settled, a 'Technician' entered and performed several tests. These tests not only consisted of physical examinations and inoculations, but also DNA sequencing and genome examination. Blood was drawn after the preliminary examinations, and the technicians left the participants alone. They all waited a long time, then three of the participants were taken away from the group before anything else happened. These three were never seen again. By Tachon's reckoning, they were the weakest and the most like prey among the group. The rest of them received a single, painful injection. They called it “Booster One-Seventeen-Dash-Jenth” and passed it off as another vaccine. In reality, this serum was the one hundred seventeenth test formula for the Genetic Enhancement and Perfection Project (GEPP), Division Ksi, Version J. A few minutes passed, then the participants began to react to GEPP-Ksi-117-J. Two suffered seizures and died, their bodies taken away immediately. One suffered seizures and recovered, though she appeared to be dazed for awhile and didn't recover for the rest of the day. Two were unphased, and accepted that it must have been a vaccine. One died instantly, with no outward signs, and was taken away in a different direction than the others. Tachon Zur's experience was painful, but he refused to let that pain throw him into convulsions as it did the others. His muscles tensed, cords showed in his neck, and he bared his teeth. A long hiss escaped between them as the serum drove through his system, which culminated in a roaring bellow that shook the walls around him. A more fragile instrument in the room shattered. When the pain finally abated, he relaxed slowly. He felt… different. The technicians returned after they had all overcome their reactions, and did a second check-up before discharging the participants.
A week passed as 'free time', which just meant that they weren't subject to any more tests or examinations as far as they were aware. Various avenues of entertainment existed. All of them were only able to be performed by an individual, and the technicians insisted each of the four remaining survivors participate in each activity for at least a whole day. Once their week ended, they were evaluated based on performance in their recreational activities and assigned training schedules based on their strengths and weaknesses. Tachon was proven to be a powerful combatant and excellent tactician, but he lacked in multiple aspects of the mind and needed temperance. He was educated in all fields that any resident of the civilised galaxy should know, and given lessons in managing his primal instinct. At first, he was reluctant to participate in his classes; but as he paid attention and learnt more, he found that his hunger for knowledge nearly met his thirst for blood.
Those first few days set the stage for the first few weeks, and the first few weeks set the tone for the next few years. For the next three years, simple activities grew in complexity, educational standards grew, and every six months a new injection was administered to them. The girl who suffered seizures the first time died on the third injection during her sleep, and then there were only three left. Ksi was apparently more violent of a strain of the project than the others, for they all ranged from four to six live participants remaining, with Iota at the lowest mortality rate. A week after Tachon's fifteenth birthday, he completed his education. He was apparently learned to the level of most residents of the Core Worlds, which would serve as a strong foundation to build upon. Now, they were called to the first central chamber they entered, and were told that this would mark the first day of an annual even called the Culling. One member was randomly drawn from each of the ten Sections, and they were sent to the world's surface with one mantra: adapt, overcome, survive. Tachon was not selected this year, but the chosen member of Ksi was one of the first to die. The death struck Zur hard, for in the time he had been there he had grown to view those of Ksi as his new clan, and seeing one of his family butchered only made his Iridonian blood boil. Over the next year, he set himself to bettering himself in every way he could. He only rested at night, and otherwise would do anything and everything he could. He pored over books, he sparred regularly with anyone who would entertain fighting the savage from Iridonia. However, during all of this, he felt something strange inside him. Teachings came faster, memories were retained sooner, knowledge he took in stayed with him almost instantly, and in the background there was a sound. A dull hum that gave unspoken voice to his desires. His progress impressed the technicians, and they were eager to see him participate in a Culling. When the next drawing came, they made sure his was the 'random' name.
Tachon Zur-Ksi and members of every other Section were put onto a shuttle and sent planetside. The shuttle hovered over a crater, and they were instructed to jump. Tachon did not hesitate. He pushed past the others, and was the first whose boots met Demonsgate's ashen surface. An arrogant member of Iota was next, for he was loath to be outdone by the Savage of Ksi. The rest emerged in no particular order, and then they were all given a single instruction: Run, before you're engulfed in lava. They all scrambled up the sides, just as the ground trembled and the middle cracked open. Lava began to flow in to fill the crater, and Tachon knew that he had to be faster. He strained hard to grip the ash and sand. He drove himself ever upward. In a burst of power, he launched himself up the nearly vertical wall of the crater and clung desperately to the rim. He let out a yell as he heaved himself up onto the plateau above, and coughed hard when he inhaled a lungful of dust. From his vantage, he could see the others squirming their way up. The arrogant one from Iota slid down every time he made headway. Others had found their own ways to climb up. One even seemed to be moving unnaturally fast. As the lava rose, a member of Sigma who was the lowest was incinerated. This drove the others into a panic, but those of Gamma and Omega died before they had escaped the well of fire. Once there, a fight ensued between rival Sections. Naturally, that meant that the boy from Iota charged Tachon like a bull. The wind was knocked from his lungs, but his entire visage was instantly twisted into the vicious form of an enraged Iridonian. Despite the struggle to breathe, Tachon drove his elbow into the neck of his assailant, driving them both into the ground. Similar fights took place all across the rim of the filled crater, and it was now their arena. Tachon and Chiss Iota traded blows for what seemed like hours, rolling across the ashen floor and driving to tire the other out. Ultimately, the discipline and bloodlust of the Iridonian overcame the Chiss. With a blood-curdling roar, Tachon head-butted his opponent. The spikes of his head cracked into the skull of the blue-skinned individual, and left him dazed. Zur pried himself away from the tussle, and gripped the Iota by the throat. His fingers dug into flesh, blood welling around his nails, and he dragged the limp, dazed boy to the edge of the lava. He must have felt the heat, because he began to yell and thrash. He was desperate for escape, but there was none. The rage had set in. With a choking squeeze for grip, Tachon hurled the screaming, drowning Chiss into the lava pool. The surface churned and boiled before accepting the body. Others had watched, and now feared the ferocity that the Ksi Savage had shown. They fought on against one another, leaving Tachon to tend to himself, but there was ultimately only one left; and there could only be one victor. The remaining participant was a girl from Psi. She was small, but quick and lethal. Hard to hit. They met in their middle ground, paid their respects to the other, and commenced their brawl. It was a shorter but tougher fight than against the Chiss. Each blow was hard or precise, and both moved around the others to prevent a grapple, but when the girl tripped, they both knew he'd won. From size alone, he was able to grab her by the hair and hurl her into the lava to join the other fallen. That was it. His sixteenth birthday celebrated in blood. As was the custom of his clan.
The next year he recovered, and the technicians brought in a strange robed man to sit down with Tachon. This man explained that he was born with a gift, and that he needed to temper himself in order to control it. The next few months were spent with this old man, learning about something called meditation, and how to centre himself. The lessons went well, since Zur's hunger for knowledge allowed him to take his lessons to heart. If nothing else, he gained control of his inborn bloodlust and it could no longer dominate his being into a carnal, primal state. It was enough to sate the technicians and directors, and the man was sent away. As those teaching evolved into something more, Tachon would often pace while cooling himself, which also seemed to reinvigorate his person so he could move onto the next task. This only gave him a more predatory look in the eyes of the other Sections, but his only remaining partner knew that Tachon had come a long way since then. As far as native Iridonians were concerned, Tachon Zur-Ksi was an intellectual. He never stopped training, learning, or coming to the fullness of what he could be. That was the task he had assigned himself when he came here, and he would see its completion.
The next year, there was no Culling. Instead, they were subject to another injection. This one killed off all but one member of every Section. The technicians acted surprised, though Tachon doubted that this killing was unintentional. It allowed them to focus resources on the most promising member of each Section, and that's what they did. For the next whole year, the ten were sent into the bowels of Arbega, where they were placed in what appeared to be bacta tanks. Inside, they were tethered to cables and tubes, and the tanks were filled. The Overseer attended this activity, and before the fluid covered their ears, he announced “Welcome to the final Culling”. They were all immediately rendered unconscious, and entered a dream-like state.
All ten of them were standing in a blank space, only aware of themselves. As they tried to see, their vision expanded. First, behind each of them, they could see their homeworld. They could see where they came from. Tachon saw the bloodied lands of Iridonia, with its savage wildlife and faceless Iridonians fighting. Then, they saw their present. He saw the station, all he'd learnt, his interactions with the robed man, his kills. Then they became aware of each other. They all had a different colour, and floating above them was the symbol that represented their section. Finally, they became aware of a warm glow in the centre. The promise of a future, but there was only one. Tachon started first with his heightened awareness, but the one from Psi who started a fraction of a second later was faster. A late starter from Omega inexplicably tripped them both, and was making headway before he was struck by a bolt of energy and overtaken by the member of Sigma. This went on, until Tachon realised they were attacking one another, and he was able to press forward. There was a tell when one of them would move. He could see it, and he could feel it, and he could avoid it. He skipped over a tripping wave, rolled past a bar of electricity, and dashed when the faster ones were tripped up. He reached out in a desperate last lunge, and took that warm ball for himself. He clutched it tight and fell to the floor. The others all tried to attack him for it, but their substance was dissolving. They all dematerialised, their essences flowing into Zur-Ksi. He felt the most horrible pain he'd felt since that first injection. He screamed, both in the dream world and in reality, until his very bellows were engorged with the energy he'd just consumed. The tank around him shook, cracked, and he absorbed that warm ball. His eyes snapped open, and the tank around him exploded with force. He knew now, what they were doing. What they had done. Each one of them was a part of a whole. As they died, their essences were imparted onto the remainder. When they were culled down to one of each Section, they were the perfection of each aspect of what they were creating. The victor of this final confrontation was the one worthy to wield the power they had generated. Now they had created a monster.
His nature begged to rush forward, but Tachon had disciplined himself. He let out a low growl as he took a few steps, and he focused his new power into himself. He closed his eyes and let out a claming sigh, then stood straight. He went up to the door, and pressed the button to open it. Nothing happened. He tried again, still nothing. He frowned and went to pull the door open, and suddenly it snapped open and crammed into the door frame. He looked at his hands, and then up to see a contingent of security guards flanking the Overseer. He explained that he was to return to the room and await sedation, for his perfected body was to be overtaken by a person much more important than Tachon. That statement didn't go well with the independent, wilful Iridonian, and he released years of honed aggression. In the moments that followed, blood stained the walls of the station. Hull breaches sucked out people, shredding them into nothing but red bits. Zur-Ksi pressed to the hangar, where he boarded the Overseer's vessel: a custom Firespray called the Night Avril. The vengeful Iridonian pulled the ship down to the repulsors keeping the station in orbit and fired. The lasers struck the unshielded station true, and the engine rooms blossomed in a cloud of fire that worked its way up the entire station, until all that was left was debris.
So closed the first chapter of Tachon's life, where he was born as a creature meant to be perfected both physically and in the Force. Though he was still raw, unfocused, and now without any home, he had the hope that he would discover what the galaxy had for him. As he flew, he felt that rage subsiding. He felt his power diminish, becoming dormant. There was no longer a juggernaut of power, but rather a finely tuned instrument to contain all the knowledge and experience he possibly could. He was made to be great, now he needed to attain that greatness. This is where his true story began. His next chapter, however, found him. While drifting through space, he was accosted by a band of pirates. After fighting and killing half the crew, the captain halted the fighting and offered Tachon a job. Regular pay, double duty, and he kept his ship. At first, Tachon was going to suggest he just kill them all and take the bigger ship, but he decided to concede to the terms. He could learn more here. The next three years were filled with work. He scrubbed floors, learnt to tinker with weapons and engines, learnt how to repair hull damage, learnt how to read astrogation charts, learnt how to slice a computer, to pick a lock, and all measure of piracy. If it was illegal, he likely knew how to do it. Possibly not very well, but the knowledge was there. He learnt the language of most hyperdrive systems, and he gained a kit more befitting a spacer. Rough trousers, a good shirt, a solid pair of boots, a blaster, and several hidden knives. By the third year's end, he took his own way. Nobody complained. As with anyone who spent a long time in Tachon's company, they came to like him as their familiarity grew. Wanderlust tugged on the Iridonian's heart strings, and he took his leave of the band.
He wandered for a year after that, seeking his fortune or his niche. He performed odd jobs, took out the occasional bounty or two, and made a decent pile of credits. He learnt the way the galaxy works from the brigand's perspective, and felt the galaxy was his oyster. Underneath it all, the thrum of the Force still shook his hearts, and he knew that some day he would know what it was like to wield true power. Things took a fateful turn when he was assigned a job that was built to be a frame. He killed a corporate head's competitor and ended up locked up in prison. By chance or fate, a young woman named Ruby Rose found him, offering him a place in the Galactic Alliance and a chance for vengeance, freedom, and change. He took the offer, weighing it to be better than prison, and signed on for the Alliance.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Tachon is left-handed, has never been wholly fond of alcohol but will drink if offered, does not smoke, and is heterosexual.
INTER-PERSONAL INFORMATION
PLAYER CHARACTER KILLS- NONE TO DATE
BOUNTIES COLLECTED
- "THE BOTCHED JOB"
COMMISSIONER: ALSTAR HALCYON [NPC]; TARGET: KYLE VOSH [NPC]; OUTCOME: PRISON
TEACHERS/MASTERS
- NONE TO DATE
STUDENTS/APPRENTICES
- NONE TO DATE