Tamlok

Tamlok was a Mineti Centurion of the Order of Keltrayu and a Royal Guard of the Golden Empire. Sharing an interest in piloting with his protectee Tariun Sakaros, Tamlok rose to prominence during the Vagaari War by serving first as deputy commander, then commander, of the elite Redblade Squadron.

Recruitment and training
Born on Wemod in 114 ABY, Tamlok's parents were laborers in a hoversled manufacturing facility; his mother was a line supervisor, having been forced out of her career in law enforcement on a disability pension. He was the third child and only son in his family. Unlike the majority of Novices, he was recruited almost immediately after birth into the Order of Keltrayu. Rin Sakaros and her brother Tariun were visiting Wemod with their retinue as a favor to Osibom of Wemod, who had just debuted his masterpiece "The Fall of Keltrayu". The two Sith Lords found Tamlok's family and identified the boy as a Force-sensitive; hardly needing another mouth to feed and holding to the traditional Mineti desire for female children, his parents willingly submitted their son to service in the Order.

Like all Novices, Tamlok spent the majority of his early life in the Citadel aboard the Sith Star, learning to use the Force and a lightsaber. Outgoing and personable, he made friends easily and became something of a leader in the group of Novices around his own age. He was one of the first friends of Breek Zagrev when the girl was recruited from Sanduluc in 124. In his spare time, Tamlok (often called simply "Tam" by his friends) took an active interest in piloting and spent many hours in training on various starfighters. He had a friendly rivalry with his fellow Novice Maliya, who also enjoyed piloting. Noticing the pair's interest, Tariun Sakaros (himself an pilot) occasionally took the time to work on piloting technique with Tam and Maliya, even allowing the Novices to practice in real Hadragos.

With his cocky and somewhat flashy personality, Tamlok desired to find a distinctive approach to lightsaber combat. The broad, somewhat showy movements of appealed to him immensely, and he adopted it as his form of choice. However, seeking to further distinguish himself and test his fighting limits, he opted to use a, and spent many years training to master the use of the complicated weapon. Despite having been raised in the Order, the effort needed to develop his skills with the unusual weapon meant Tamlok did not become a full Centurion until 137 ABY, when he was twenty-three.

Centurion service
Tamlok flew with a Hadrago squadron briefly in the Conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy, and when it was done his commanders sent him back to the Order with mixed views. They could not deny his prowess in flight, but they felt he was far too interested in his own kill counts than working as a team member. After some deliberation, Tariun sent Tamlok to over a year of training at the Officer Training Institute for the Royal Starfighter Corps on Varga. After extensive training with the program, Tam emerged a much better team member, as well as technically holding an officer's commission.

Tamlok spent the remainder of 138 ABY and the beginning of 139 ABY on law enforcement assignments, until, at the suggestion of both Breek Zagrev and Tariun, he was placed in the Royal Guard. Usually preferring to serve as one of Tariun's protectors, he became one of a quartet of "Tariun's guards", along with Breek, Jira Seezhli, and Khoro`ly`ooho`sh`lyhoo. As such, he accompanied Tariun to late in 139 and was one of the first agents of the Golden Empire to meet Nagarian Sakaros.

In late 140 ABY, Tamlok accompanied Tariun, Maliya, and Breek to Lebyool, intending to ambush a convoy of pirates. Tariun opted to fly his customized Hadrago, leaving Breek in overall command and taking Maliya and Tamlok as his wingmates. Reinforcements arrived, however, in the form of a full fleet, and the Battle of Lebyool became a disaster; Tariun was captured and Maliya killed, and Tamlok barely made it back to the command ship before Breek reluctantly ordered a retreat.

Tam spent several weeks depressed and bitter, alarming friends used to his buoyant and flamboyant personality. He blamed himself for both Tariun's capture and Maliya's death, despite the fact that Rin held neither Tam nor Breek responsible for what had happened. Rin put him on a temporary leave from duty, sending Vem in his place to Nar Shaddaa with the rest of "Tariun's guards" when she sensed danger to her brother. After hearing that Breek and Jira had nearly been killed there, Tam felt even guiltier, but this new weight on his conscience drove him to struggle to pull himself together.

When Rin, Sorrik, and the Prime Fleet captured the enemy fleet and Rin had the enemy commander and the gunner who had killed Maliya executed, Tam recovered himself, especially when he could see for himself that Tariun was relatively well. Almost immediately thereafter, however, the Golden Empire was drawn into the Vagaari War. In one of the first engagements with the, Redblade Squadron lost two pilots. Arguing with Rin for several days, Tariun finally received her consent to install Tam as second-in-command of the elite squad.

The Mineti Centurion took to his new assignment with considerably more success than his piloting service during the conquest of the Chiss, and quickly bonded with his teammates. The Redblades remained with the Prime Fleet during the Ssi-ruuvi Incursion, though Tariun deployed them briefly during the height of the Chiss Rebellion. Tamlok was shot down during one particularly vicious exchange in 142 ABY, breaking off his left horn and leaving him injured. He recovered aboard the Sith Star and was back in service before the end of the war.

At some point, the commander of Redblade was killed in action, and Tariun promoted Tamlok to leadership of the squadron. After the Vagaari were defeated, Tamlok retained command of Redblade at least through the Nightmare War. He flew in the Battle of Dolomir.

Powers and abilities
Like all Centurions, Tamlok received extensive training in both and. Due to his use of Ataru, he also dedicated a great deal of effort to using the Force to and  his movements. As a result, his abilities with the mental aspects of the Force were comparatively low on his priority list, though he had as strong of mental shields as any other Centurion.

Tamlok was one of the best Force-sensitive pilots in the Golden Empire, having studied directly from Tariun Sakaros. He had well-honed and a good  for where others were in relation to himself, especially threats. By 141 ABY, his skills were sufficiently advanced that both Tariun and the Umdal Legate Sorrik felt it was wise to place Tamlok in the elite Redblade Squadron, widely viewed as the most prestigious and talented fighter unit in the entire Empire.

Between specializing in Ataru and choosing to use a double-bladed lightsaber, Tamlok had a fast, flashy, and aggressive combat style which incorporated a good deal of spinning and jumping. His heavy emphasis on piloting, however, meant he spent less time training with his lightsaber than some of his siblings in the Order of Keltrayu. While he was capable of handling his unusual weapon and as good a swordsman as the average Centurion, he could not rival the best bladebeings in the Order, such as Kieran Sapphire, Rajj-Yo, and his friend Breek Zagrev. However, he sometimes won practice duels because his siblings were unused to his weapon, and exploited the saberstaff's two blades for this purpose.

Appearance and personality
Tamlok was 1.78 meters (5'10") tall, not including his horns. He had khaki skin, pale yellow eyes, and dusty brown hair which he kept close-cropped to his head.  Due to the demands of Ataru, he had a fairly muscular frame.  He preferred wearing informal clothes (combat pants and a tank top, a flight suit, etc.) rather than his Centurion's uniform whenever possible, though he consistently wore the Royal Guard uniform while serving in that prestigious unit.  His double-bladed lightsaber had yellow blades, and was of the "saberstaff" length, rather than the more archaic Sith design of a shorter handle.

Tamlok had a boisterous and outgoing personality, and was something of a show-off, though he kept the tendency in check around Rin Sakaros. When sitting on the ground, he had a habit of leaping into the air with the aid of the Force instead of simply standing up. He was very confident and bragged occasionally, although practice duels with Breek Zagrev kept him from bragging about his lightsaber prowess around her.

Because of his generally agreeable disposition and outgoing nature, Tamlok made friends quickly and easily. However, he could occasionally give in to vanity, as during his service in the conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy, when other pilots accused him of being more interested in his kill counts that unit cohesion. Attending pilot training with the officers of the Royal Starfighter Corps did much to make him work better with others, and Tarzg Sav'lir mercilessly suppressed any show of self-importance during the Mineti's service in the Royal Guard. Nonetheless, Tariun Sakaros was somewhat indulgent of Tamlok's braggadocio, partly because he was hardly the picture of humility himself.

After the Battle of Lebyool, Tamlok's confidence was briefly shattered by his perceived failure to protect either Tariun or his friend Maliya. He gradually recovered, but service in the Vagaari War and watching numerous other pilots die around him left an indelible impression. Rin Sakaros remarked that Tamlok had not been a casualty of the Vagaari War, but his carefree attitude had.