Ryluk Shouja

"Hey, I'm a bounty hunter, not a poet."

- Ryluk Shouja to his fiance, Lymie Chamna

Ryluk Shouja was a bounty hunter that lived during the Rise of the Empire/Galactic Civil War era. He was considered one of the most competent bounty hunters ever in his prime.

His career spanned five eras, beginning late into the Rise of the Empire era, continuing into the Galactic Empire/Rebellion era, moving through the New Republic era, and finally dying sometime in the early Legacy era after living a full life. During that time he married Lymie Chamna and gave birth to a son, who was kept a secret by his parents so that he would not be a target of assassination attempts.

Ryluk disappeared with his wife and child into the deep Outer Rim for several years, only reappearing three times over seventeen years before emerging from the Outer Rim with Lymie and returning to live a relaxing life on Coruscant. They became good friends with many young people, creating the perfect cover to visit with their son, whose identity remained a closely guarded secret. Ryluk died of old age three years after the death of his wife, Lymie, in 102 ABY at the age of 149.

Early life
Ryluk Shouja was born on J't'p'tan to Karla and Skylkan Shouja in 47 BBY. Both Karla and Skylkan were born Corellian, so it followed that Ryluk would become a Corellian citizen as well. It turned out that Skylkan was not the greatest father figure, being a smuggler and con artist and keeping his true occupation hidden behind the job of a trader, even to his family. He was killed when Ryluk was still only a toddler of two, and Ryluk was brought up under the impression that his father's death was an unfortunate accident.

Life on J't'p'tan was hard for the boy. His mother tried to teach him Corellian culture, all the way down to the Corellian Gambit version of Sabacc, which remained his preferred system of Sabacc throughout his life. He was harassed for being a human by his peers and the locals of J't'p'tan, and especially by a retired Trandoshan mercenary. The merc would beat Ryluk extensively whenever the boy was unfortunate enough to cross his path. When Ryluk was fourteen, the Trando merc pulled a vibroblade on the boy and slit him from left hip to right shoulder, leaving the boy for dead and laughing as it walked away. Ten minutes later, a visitor to the planet, Lymie Chamna, the daughter of the honest Coruscanti trader, Akak Chamna found the unfortunate boy and took him to her father. The kindly trader adopted Ryluk and took him offworld, where he healed his wounds. The only mark that remained on Ryluk was a thin, white scar from his hip to his shoulder.

Ryluk had four years of peace until Lymie's father died of a rare, untreatable heart disease. The two of them mourned her father's loss, Ryluk just as much as Lymie, as Akak had been just as much a father to him as to her in the last four years. Akak left a sizable amount of credits to the pair, who had fallen madly in love in the four years they had been together. Ryluk, a tall and strong young man decided to pursue the exciting career of bounty hunting. He bought a wreck of an old Pursuer-class enforcement ship and fixed it up, adding his own modifications as he did so. He named the ship the Lymie. He also invested his remaining credits in the Corellian Stock Market, making shrewd investments and becoming a powerful force in the economic world.

He started off as a small-time bounty hunter, and would have found it hard to survive had it not been for his business investments. But as he grew older, he grew more experienced. By the age of nineteen, he was a major force to be reckoned with. His sharp mind and lightning-quick reflexes served him well, and by twenty-one he was the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy. He bought a very expensive nearly one-of-a-kind, custom made fireworm-scale armor suit, able to stop a heavy blaster bolt. While still attached to the fireworm, the silicon armor plates were rumored to be able to stop a lightsaber. However, when the fireworm died, its scales lost some of their strength, so if Ryluk's armor could really stop a lightsaber was never proven.

The Bounty Hunter
"You're impossible." "I pride myself on it."

- Lymie to Ryluk

As a bounty hunter, Ryluk did very well. He scored several major bounties throughout his career, earning himself a strong name in the Hunting field. Many bounties trembled at the thought that Ryluk might be coming after them.

Aside from Hunting bounties, Ryluk also had to hunt Lymie. Being the love of his life, she was constantly threatened with kidnapping by some evil or another, and several times was captured by crimelords or exceptionally resourceful criminals in an attempt to gain some leverage with Ryluk. All they gained was death.

One attempt on Lymie's life was foiled by Ryluk's personal Tac-Spec FIII Footman droid Erudite. The droid was able to kill the invaders before their mission could be completed.

Ryluk was forced to give up large-scale bounty hunting during the Clone Wars when he took a job for the CIS to sabotage the Clone production facilities. He succeeded in planting the detonators, but he enjoyed the freedom given to him by the Republic, so he removed the detonator pins from the bombs and returned to the CIS headquarters to collect his bounty. The CIS gladly paid him, as their sources in Tipoca City had told them that Ryluk had successfully contacted him and Ryluk left. The CIS found only after he had left that the detonators would not work. The result of this act was the First Battle of Kamino, in which the CIS source was killed.

As for Ryluk, he got away scott free, except for the massive bounty put on his head by the Separatists. When he returned to Corellia, he immediately sold his house to Lord Fenron, the alternate identity that Ryluk had made in case he ever had to hide out. The Lymie went into storage in a secret vault beneath the mansion and the Pilot's Delight, Ryluk's second ship, took its place on the landing pad.

Lord Fenron was a notorious hermit, and officially, it was only him and his droids that lived in the Mansion, which remained called the Shouja Mansion long after Ryluk "left."

The Businessman


As well as a bounty hunter, Ryluk Shouja was a major businessman. He originally invested in the Corellian Stock Market, and made his first million in his early years, shortly after Akak died. This offset the grief of the death somewhat, giving both Ryluk and Lymie something to celebrate after the tragedy of Akak's death.

Ryluk owned quite a bit of stock in the Corellian Engineering Corps and several other large Corellian companies. This he bought early in his life and kept until he needed money, then sold. This contributed to his record as a shrewd businessman to go along with his record as a bounty hunter.

Ryluk was also the owner of several corporations in his later life. The first company he purchased was the Parable Corporation, once a major shipbuilding corporation. Once it was purchased, the bounty hunter started a new line of high-quality blaster weapons, although he preferred the BlasTech DP-12 himself. He also owned several smaller mining corporations and food industries, which supplemented his income considerably.

As a Lord
In 21.8 BBY, Ryluk was hired by the Confederacy of Independant Systems to sabotage the Cloning Facilities on Kamino. He placed the detonator but removed several key parts and returned to Cato Neimoidia to collect his fee. The CIS paid him before they found out about the sabotaged sabotage, so they placed a massive bounty on his head. To avoid being Hunted and killed, Ryluk sold the Shouja Mansion to himself under the alias of Lord Fenron and disappeared.

When Ryluk became the reclusive Lord Fenron, he adopted many habits of the ficticious lord. He did become somewhat of a hermit, in his private life. No one ever saw him coming or leaving, and in fact he didn't come or leave for the first month of his life as a lord.

During that month, Ryluk, Lymie, Vakanem, and several specialized droids dug a tunnel out of the Shouja Mansion and to a small warehouse just outside the grounds of the mansion. The storehouse belonged to the company Parable Weapons, a small weapons manufacturer that Ryluk owned.

The Mukhabarat
The Mukhabarat was a little-known but exceptionally efficient Assassin's Guild that operated out of the Happy Skies Casino and Yuhanna Arms, both owned by the leader of the guild, Justin Rettik. In 21.5 BBY, Ryluk tracked them down under the guise of Lord Fenron and asked if he could join. At first the recruiter scoffed at him, but Ryluk knocked him flat and had the recruiter's vibroblade out in an instant. "Just to prove my skills to the unbeliever," Ryluk said.

The recruiter took him to Rettik, who recognized the bounty hunter for who he really was. Ryluk's life stopped being boring shortly after that.

The bounty hunter was quickly promoted to Captain due to exceptional reputation that was too good to waste as a mere foot soldier, and he became the Chief of Secuity of both Yuhanna Arms and Happy Skies Casino, which put him in a very powerful position in the organization.

Despite the influence he had over the other six Captains, Ryluk refrained from abusing his power, securing his position in the guild by making wise decisions that earned him the respect of his peers. He also took on several assassination missions, but only the ones he deemed justified.

He left the Mukhabarat about one year later to join the Liberators Pirate Organization, although he would eventually come back to take over leadership of the guild.

Hunting as a Lord
Ryluk did not do nearly as much Hunting when he was the reclusive Lord Fenron as he had in his previous life, but he did do a little bit on the side. He cast of the fireworm-scale armor that had made him famous and adopted a three million credit suit of armor manufactured by Parable, as well as two fifty-thousand credit blaster pistols. He mostly went after small but difficult bounties, as he didn't want to attract attention to himself, and didn't need the money but still enjoyed the thrill of the Hunt.

The end of the Lordship
During the middle of the Clone Wars, Ryluk was commissioned by the Liberators, and he sold the mansion back to himself before taking off to the edge of known space. The CIS didn't dare send a full attack force to Corellia, and Ryluk bought almost one hundred top-line battle droids, including several JK-13s to protect his house while he was gone.

With the Liberators
Ryluk's first mission under the Liberators was to distract a wealthy land owner, Chin Chaldak while the Liberators leader, Tesh Vohore slipped into the mansion and rescue his daughter and Lymie. They had been captured by Chin after he had discovered Ryluk's presence on Najiba. Ryluk ordered to charge the house, evading canon blasts. Ryluk managed to approach within feet of Chin and had a chance of killing him, but was called off by the sound of Chin's alarm. The alarm was the signal that Tesh had succeeded in retrieving Alura and Lymie.

Ryluk's next mission was to track down and retreive a Korun mercenary named Ethe Ertes. Ryluk found him on Clantaano III and brought him back to Kinyen, where Tesh was waiting. Ryluk found out that Ethe was the mercenary responsible for taking Tesh's wife. Along the way, Ryluk was placed in charge of the Liberators, temporarily, as Tesh traveled back to Coruscant. Tesh warned him not to blow up the only dreadnaught in his fleet, seeing as Ryluk had a "record" for it. Shortly thereafter, Ryluk journeyed with Tesh to Hjim, where he helped Tesh free his wife. Ryluk continued fighting along with Tesh untill shortly after the second Xian Uprising. After that Ryluk left, with Lymie, to go do his own thing.

Post-Liberator life
After his brief period alligned with the Liberators, Ryluk decided to return to Corellia and take up his position with the Mukhabarat. When he returned he was awarded his old position as Head of Security of both Yuhanna Arms and the Happy Skies Casino and his old lieutenants transferred back under his leadership. Ryluk mostly managed security issues, which he excelled at, as his back was giving him more and more trouble as the years went on, and his eyes were not as good as they once were, even with his retinal correction implant.

The bounty hunter did, however, pursue several bounties just for the love of the Hunt, and was trusted with more than twenty-three high-profile assassinations over the next fourteen years, a record for the guild. At the end of his time there, Justin Rettik was assassinated by a rival guild, a remnant of the GenoHaradan bounty hunter's guild in an effort to topple the Mukhabarat from the seat of power that the GenoHaradan had occupied for centuries.

They failed, and Ryluk went on one last assassination mission and destroyed the GenoHaradan leadership, setting them back centuries before leaving the Mukhabarat for good.

Personal life
After leaving the Liberators, Ryluk settled down in his mansion with Lymie, who was finally his wife, and was now pregnant. They lived in the mansion for a year, waiting until the baby was six months old before leaving for an anonymous life in the Outer Rim, away from the Empire and Rebellion, and unacknowledged by the Yuuzhan Vong invaders.

Death of the Hunter
After returning from the Unknown Regions after his son had grown to seventeen and as strong as his father, moving back to Coruscant. Ryluk died of old age in 102 ABY at the age of 149. His will was left to an anonymous youth who inheritted his wealth, Parable Weapons, and his arms and armor. The will was read by a trusted priest who saw the fortune left in the hands of the rightful owner, Ryluk's son.

Equipment
"You're well enough equipped to take on a Republic battle army from the Great Sith War."

- Lymie Chamna

His equipment was Ryluk's pride and joy. His ship, the Lymie, named after his lovely fiancé was equipped with many upgrades not available on the open market, including prototype weapons stolen from design manufacturers. His armor was the best money could buy, and the weapons were top-notch and modified to be even better.

Armor
Ryluk has a custom-made suit of fireworm-scale armor. The fireworm scales were made of a silicon crystal, and while on the worm were strong enough to block most of the power of a lightsaber. Off the fireworm, the scales were never tested against a lightsaber, as there were only a limited amount found on the dead fireworm that were still intact enough to use for armor.

The scales fit together perfectly, creating a nearly impenetrable suit of armor, even stronger than the legendary armor of the Mandalorian warriors. His helmet was plated with the same scales, giving it a squarish look. His jetpack was the only part of his armor that was not plated with the scales, as when he had the armor made, having a jetpack had not occurred to him. The jetpack itself was made of a red durasteel with a compressed hydrogen-fuel chamber that occupied the entire rocket, giving the bounty hunter enough fuel to boost himself two hundred feet vertically or one kilometer horizontally at a maximum speed of 120 km/hr. There were small maneuvering jets on the sides of the jetpack, but the only way to slow down was for him to run into something or to turn away from the direction he was going and fire the jets until he slowed.

Ryluk also had an alternate set of black battle armor that he used when performing incognito.

Weapons
Ryluk had a large selection of weapons, both ranged and melee.

Blaster Weapons
Ryluk's main weapon of choice was his DXR-6 disruptor rifle, which was illegal on most worlds and got Ryluk into trouble more than once. It did, however, get him out of trouble more than it got him in trouble, so he kept it. He customized the disruptor to have a single-second recharge period instead of the average ten-second period, and was able to increase the power efficiency to get fifteen shots out of a clip instead of the normal ten.

His pistols were customized BlasTech DP-12 heavy blaster pistols. The pistols had 100 shots per clip by modification and were capable of penetrating durasteel armor plating at high power. The recharge rate between shots was cut down to half of a second by major modifications by Ryluk, making them effective semi-automatic weapons, even if they cost 15,000 credits a piece, plus modification costs.

As a backup, Ryluk generally carried two 22T4 holdout blasters tucked away in his armor, in case his weapons were ever confiscated or if he was ever away from his weapons and needed a blaster. When in his alternate armor, Ryluk carried a Model Q4 holdout pistol.

Vibroweapons
Ryluk owned several vibroweapons of various sizes and functions. His main vibroblade that was almost always with him was an eight-inch vibroblade made by Ryluk himself while he was a boy growing up on J't'p'tan. Ryluk later modified it and made it much more efficient and powerful.

Ryluk also often used his wrist vibroblade which was permanently attached to his armor. The blade was a mere three inches long, but it came in handy when Ryluk was unable to reach his other weapons in hand-to hand combat. The weapon extended when Ryluk closed his fist and sensors on his glove touched sensors on his hand. The blade retracted when the fist opened and the sensors lost contact.

One of Ryluk's more subtle vibroweapons was his three-inch vibrostiletto. When retracted, it was little more than a small handle tucked into a belt pocket in Ryluk's armor, worth little or no investigation. However, when activated, the blade would shoot out quickly, becoming a short but lethal weapon. The vibrostiletto was a perfectly-balanced throwing weapon, if Ryluk had misplaced or was unable to reach his blasters.

The last two vibroweapons Ryluk used regularily were gifts given to him by Hojs Ceray after Ryluk saved his life. The weapons were Kray dragon pearlhandled and studded with Durindfire gems. Each blade was ten inches long, and the pair worked well together when used one in each hand.

Explosives
The Bounty Hunter also carried either twelve custom-made A-grade thermal detonators or 6 custom-made A-grade thermal detonators, 3 EMP grenades, and 3 EC detonators. Ryluk was also equipped with 3 Baktoid AA-33Q armor-piercing charges.

The Shouja Mansion
Ryluk's property, the Shouja Mansion, as it was unofficially named on Corellia was an ancient house built in ages past. The architecture was so archaic that the manual doors had to be modified to allow for electronic entry and passcode confirmation locks.

The house itself was three stories high and filled with works of art, a testament to Ryluk's success as a businessman. The house had an extensive kitchen/cellar area as well as over a hundred bedrooms. There was a full droid staff, but only Ryluk, Lymie, and Vakanem lived there.

The house had a security system with cameras in nearly every room, all wireless. The system had a HoloNet transmitter that Ryluk could access from anywhere in the galaxy, and it also had a radionics transmitter that sent the information to a system in the house. Because radionics could not have a limited broadcast, like the HoloNet, the outside walls of the mansion had a lead core to prevent the transmissions from escaping.