Tuu’Ruk Echaaron

Hess Merreli and his pregnant wife Katalina stopped for repairs at Tuu’Ruk as their ship’s hyperdrive generator was beginning to malfunction. The repairs were an outrageous price, but Hess agreed to pay. The repairmen discovered that Hess could not pay only after they had completed the work (as bad as their workmanship was) and they were naturally upset – or in this case infuriated. They beat Hess and demanded he give them his ship. Hess pleaded with them and talked them into being allowed to be payed half of the money now and work off the rest of the fee.

The repairmen ‘graciously’ allowed the Merrelis the live aboard their ship. Hess cruelly forced his pregnant wife to work. He occasionally let his anger out on her also. Two months into their time at the platforms and Katalina had a son, which they called Grem – Hess named the child after his favourite fighter in the death matches. The Death matches were gladiatorial battles held at the platforms, and Hess was a frequent spectator.

After three more months Hess couldn’t stand it any more; While he stealing from a ship in the main hangar (as per Keblar the Hutt’s orders), he broke open a locker in the cockpit and found the ship’s ignition codes and key. Before anyone knew what was happening, the ship in question, the YT-1210 light freighter ‘Wanderlust’ was exiting the hangar, racing away into space, and before anyone could react, entering hyperspace.

Now Katalina was faced with an even larger debt, one she could never hope to repay – She was virtually a slave. Grem lived a harsh childhood, as soon as he was 6 years of age he was working just as hard as his mother was. He was very close to his mother, but she always seemed melancholy – Less so of course when her son was near. Her son was similar, depressed and unfriendly except when he was with his mother.

At around the age of 10, odd things starting occurring. For instance, a drunken man was harassing his mother, he closed his eyes and shouted at the man, and when he opened his eyes, the man had flown across the room and smashed into a wall. When he was 14, he began controlling his powers slightly, such as being able to slide a small piece of durasteel across a table. At age 16 he overheard some star-pilots discussing the force, and it was then he realized he was a gifted human being, who was ‘force-sensitive’ –as they put it.

A few months later Grem decided he would earn him and his mother some credits by entering the death matches. It took several days of persuasion to convince his mother not only to allow him to enter the ring, but to spend all of their savings on a weapon. Grem purchased a mediocre second-hand blaster and so, began his dueling career.

His first match was against a Rodian in a similar position to him, Grem had to start at the bottom of the ladder after all. Grem bested him fairly easily –with the aid of his force-powers his aim was superb -, and took the prize money, which unfortunately was not a great deal within the lower ranks. Grem gave some money to his mother and spent the rest on a new scope for the blaster. This was the pattern he repeated throughout all of his matches; Give a proportion to his mother, and the rest goes towards new equipment or repairs etc.

By the time he was aged 18 he was a crowd favourite, and poised to take the position of champion from the current champion, a Wookie called Warrg. By this stage he had quite an arsenal, some torso armour, two modified blaster pistols, a blaster rifle, a blast helmet and a belt, which usually carried two stun grenades. When Warrg was on the ground, injured, a gun pointed at his head and at Grem’s mercy, Warrg pleaded for clemency: Grem shot him in the head four times. It was now the Dark side had a firm grip on Grem. A few days later a mysterious man in a brown cloak challenged the new champ. Grem thought this would amusing and accepted the elderly man’s proposal. It was the hardest fight Grem had ever faced. The man fought with such skill, and his weapon of choice was a lightsaber. But Grem was also an adroit fighter. At one stage the man’s lightsaber was knocked from his hand by a grenade blast, the man lifted out his hand to retrieve the weapon with the force. To his astonishment the weapon began to move towards Grem, who had his hand outstretched in the same gesture. The man pulled harder with the force, but so did Grem. Grem gave the man a malevolent grin as he grasped the saber in his hand. With this new weapon, Grem defeated the old man. Grem began to practice with his new lightsaber (which had a blue blade), and soon became even more deadly.

Several months later his mother died. Even though she was very ill, a fat Twi’lek man had forced her to work too hard. The Twi’lek would regret it. The Dark side flowed through Grem with much power. He cut his way into the Twi’lek’s office, and decapitated him. He then decided it was time to leave this dump. His actions had upset certain people, and before he knew it bounty hunters, guards and the like were attacking him. He fought his way to the main hangar and set his eyes upon a red-painted Assault Gunboat. As he approached the craft, a man in black robe moved into his way. His robe hood was up, and so his face was unable to be seen.

“That would be my ship you are attempting to steal.” The man had said calmly. The man explained he was impressed with how young Grem had easily dispersed Keblar’s guards and bounty hunters, and would gladly take Grem to wherever he wished to go. Grem rejected his offer and shouted harshly that he would simply steal the craft. He ignited his blue lightsaber and to his astonishment the black-robed man produced a lightsaber of his own from under his robes and ignited it, the red blade humming ominously. After a brief melee with the man, the man pushed Grem to the floor with ease. Then he used the force to take his lightsaber as Grem stood back up in amazement. As the black-robed man handed Grem his lightsaber back, Grem humbly accepted the man’s request and said he would be honoured to travel in his company.

During the assault Gunboat’s hyperspace voyage to Iridonia- where the man’s home was, although he was not Zabrak (the natives of Iridonia)- he explained that his name was Centra Echaaron, and he had sensed the Dark side was strong within Grem. He had also watched one of Grem’s matches, and was impressed. He promised he would train Grem, to become more powerful than he could imagine. Grem eagerly agreed. It was then he changed his name form Grem Merreli to Tuu’Ruk Echaaron.

Centra’s home was a millennia old Sith temple ruins, in the jungles of Iridonia. There Centra trained Tuu’Ruk in the arts of the Dark Side and lightsaber combat. To Tuu’Ruk’s delight the local wildlife was perhaps even more challenging to combat than the gladiators at the platforms. Tuu’Ruk’s training was coming along nicely when for no apparent reason, Centra told Tuu’Ruk that he must leave immediately on an ‘errand’, and would be back after a couple of weeks. Then, taking the only transport (The red Assault Gunboat) Centra left. After about two months, Tuu’Ruk realised his master would never be returning. Tuu’Ruk could only imagine that Centra had been for some reason killed.

Tuu’Ruk continued to train himself for several years, when one year, an Imperial class ship landed in the make-shift landing pad the gunboat had once stayed. A women, whom Tuu’Ruk sensed to be strong with the force exited the craft. It appeared she was alone. Tuu’Ruk thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test his powers, so while the women was studying the temple hieroglyphics, he attacked her. They fought for some time before she finally bested him, using the force to propel a rock at Tuu’Ruk’s head, before he could react the rock hit him and knocked him unconscious. The women used her force powers to keep him in a state of unconsciousness and brought him before her master, Sith Master Kell-Doqu. He was a loyal follower of Lord Admiral Mallagant, leader of a prominent yet secretive Imperial fraction.