Ronan Barec

"So here we are. Face to face. Commander versus commander. We’re settling this battle in the old way."

- Ronan Barec

Ronan Barec was a Mandalorian sniper and special forces commando active under the New Republic and in the early years of the Galactic Alliance.

Early years (1 BBY-12 ABY)
Born on Shogun as the only son to Cayne Barec, former Cuy'val Dar and later instructor at the Imperial Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr, Barec grew up under strict Mandalorian training. He was mostly brought up by his mother in his early years, before his father retired after the Battle of Endor. Shortly after Ronan turned six, his mother died and Cayne made his son's upbrining and training his main focus. The fact that his father had been a more military type of Mando and had been a commando instructor twice made Ronan's combat training a more military one as compared to others, and Barec would later indeed live up to his father and choose a commando career.

Career as a commando (13-22 ABY)
Even before his mother's death, Ronan turned out to have been born with an eagle eye and an unchallengedly precise shot, so the later penchant for sniper rifles would only a natural choice. At the age of 17, Barec joined the Shogun police force and it didn't take long before he was promoted to the Special Forces. He remained with them even after his father's sudden, mysterious death on Shogun three years later (which was rumored to be related to Fenn Shysa's death and Boba Fett's taking up the title as Mandalore), and soon made a reputation as the force's best commando sniper in the last few generations. His father left him all his belongings, as well as his impressive wealth, a small part of which Ronan invested in buying Nemesis from Shogun police, an upgraded Firespray-class patrol and attack craft that been his commando team's operation vessel. In 22 ABY, however, in Barec chose to abandon his successful career and his highly awarded officer rank, and joined the Mandalorian Protectors after being convinced in Fett's leadership.

Yuuzhan Vong war (25-29 ABY)
In the next few years, he, along with many other volunteers, experienced a hard training regimen under Fett himself and became a true Mandalorian warrior, a Mandalorian Supercommando. When in 25 ABY the Mandalore chose to ally with the Yuuzhan Vong, Barec, like many others, struggled to help the extragalactic invaders, and he fought only on very few occasions for them. Concealed from the Vong, Fett even tightened the regimen, causing countless casualties, but when the Vong eventually chose to betray the Mandalorians and attacked Mandalore in 29 ABY, this proved to have been worth it as they more than successfully repelled the invasion. Barec, now battle-experienced, finally got the chance to fight the invaders, and following the Battle of Mandalore, he led a group of commandos to a decisive victory in the Liberation of Dubrillion.

This battle, however, also changed Barec's view on the war, mostly due to the friends he lost there. He acquired a new, more specialized armor and became less talkative and grimmer, but his will to push the Yuuzhan Vong back didn't cease.

After the war (29 ABY- )
Barec survived the following battles and the war, proving to be one of the most experienced and skilled Mandalorian soldiers under Fett's leadership, and he was still with the Mandalorians during the Second Corellian Insurrection.

Physical appearance and traits
Despite his strong build and tall size, Ronan knew well not only to rely on brute force and preferred ranged combat to melee. And while he had a body as trained and steeled as it had to be expected from a Mandalorian soldier, he didn't overdo it and knew if he was too muscle-packed, he wouldn't be as athletic and agile as he used to be&mdash;he relied more on other things, such as intelligence and a more elaborate approach at things. Also, while Ronan had a very modern technique and weapons systems for use, he turned down several features in his armor suit and relied more on his personal feats rather than tech (e.g. he didn't rely on targeting-systems when shooting).

He had striking, penetrative blue eyes and distinctive scored facial features that told of experience, wit and cunning, and was known to be a companionable and cordial man, who cared about his friends and comrades and always had exhilarant and unconstrained lines in patter. After the events of Dubrillion, however, he became grimmer and less talkative, although he still remained sane and lucid&mdash;and somehow, he projected an even more aspiring and thrilling aura to others.

Equipment and gear
In his time with the Shogun Special Forces, Barec had worn a plain black standard-issue Mandalorian armor without markings, an armor he kept after he resigned and joined the Mandalorian Protectors. Shortly after the Yuuzhan Vong War began, however, he repainted it in a matte silver and golden scheme. After the Battle of Dubrillion, he eventually put his old armor away and went to the befriended armor-smith Altair Jiriad to produce a new one. The suit was very expensive, even by Mandalorian standards, and Barec spent nearly all of the remaining money he had inherited from his father on it, but it was more than worth it for him.

Helmet
Ronan's new helmet was of standard Mandalorian design, but the rangefinder and antenna had been removed and replaced by a fixed rangefinder over his left eye, similar to the one used by ARC-Trooper Alpha, although considerably more powerful. Ronan often referred to this as his eagle eye, as this was the only visible feature on his helmet that showed his profession.

Mandatory features were multiple visor modes (night, low-light, infrared, thermal, ultraviolet and Vong-detecting vision), wink-commanded HUD (lacking the standard 360-degree vision, in order to provide better focus and attention in Ronan's natural FOV), enhanced aural and olfactory sensors, built-in A/V-recorder, targeting systems linked to his suit's weapons (not to his rifle or sidearm), rebreather and airfilters (moved to the "inside" of the helmet for aesthetic convenience) and an access on an expansive database (e.g. field guide), as well as a powerful long-range comlink (with a short antenna set on each side of the helmet) that also allowed access on the HoloNet.

Armor/clothing
Barec had a small modular platform on his right shoulder with an installed targeting laser. The standard ammo pack (often grenades were fastened there, too) sitting there could, if need be, also be replaced by a small grenade launcher or a sonic gun. On his left shoulder pad was the traditional Mandalorian emblem.

Next was the standard armor vest with enforced armor plates out of an elaborate alloy of Mandalorian iron, duraplast and a slight amount of laminanium, that was forged by expert smith Jiriad to provide the best protection for an acceptable weight&mdash;still very protective against lightsabers and not near as heavy a pure Mandalorian iron, the alloy found use in Jiriad's own armor and those of several of his clients; or at least those with large pockets. The right chestplate also bore Ronan's personal insignia and that of his clan.

His upper arms and elbows were unprotected by armor plates, but there was a matte black brassard on his right upper arm, the only item from his old armor that had remained unchanged ever since leaving the Shogun special forces; it bore his former unit's badge and served as one of his identification marks. The wrist guards served both as protection and platform for individual arms.

The right gauntlet featured retractable blades on the right (like Jango Fett had them), a whipcord launcher and a launcher for various types of ammunition, utilizing a system similar to a Verpine sniper rifle that provided the possibility to use sand, dust, rocks, nuts, snow (close-range only) or, if underwater, even water as ammunition, provided it fit into the weapon's chamber&mdash;provided on the set mode, the weapon would then either compress the elements (in case of snow, sand, dust, water or gases) and fire them in pressurized form, or simply handle them as Accelerated Charged Particles (ACP); of course, more ordinary ammunition was also usable. Mounted on the left wrist guard was a gauntlet dartcaster, for rocket- or toxic darts, a flechette thrower and an extendable vibroblade. Further on, there was an extending nozzle that could be both used as a syringe for injection of toxins and nerve agents, but also bacta and painkillers, and as a device for spraying gases (like smoke or toxic gases, but also numbing dust for use against enemies up close). Latter feature seemed usual for a sniper to many, but Ronan also often opted as a scout, and taking out hostiles from behind without making any sound whatsoever was something he deemed very useful. Both the multiple-ammunition launcher as well as the flechette thrower could utitilze depleted baradium as highly efficient particles against Yuuzhan Vong materials like voduun crab armor and yorik coral, but that was too expensive for even Ronan.

We wore a traditional kama with pouches for equipment (medpacs, grenades, supplies and other things depending on mission) on the back waist and the right thigh. On his belt, he carried magazines of various ammunition types and power cells for his rifle, a sheathed vibrodagger, a pocket flask for (usually non-alcoholic) drinks and a sidearm in the holster on the left thigh. His vibrosword was fastened on the back, and if backpack or jetpack was carried, it was strapped with a belt from waist to shoulder, that had also space for additional ammo or grenades.

Thighs, knees, and lower legs were protected by armor plates, while a small rocket-dart launcher was mounted on the knee-guards. However the protection was only on the front, with the kama protecting the upper parts and a thicker layer of special armorweave on the jumpsuit's calves. Barec had two main pairs of combat boots, both with the upper parts protected by armor plates, sealable with the rest of the suit and with two punctured spikes on each boots, the only difference being that one pair had zero-g gripsoles and was thus heavier.

He also had two different jumpsuits, a standard one (vacuum-tight, fire and puncture resistant) with thicker protection for the unarmored parts, and a heavier one made out of a sophisticated armorweave that was produced in a diffucult quantal-procedure were every single fiber was sprayed with a thin layer of duraplast and all woven so tightly and multi-layered together that it provides protection against one or two razor bugs. The kama and the armor vest is also made of this special fabric. The real only disadvantage is that it's considerably heavy and unrepairable if it has holes, and naturally coming with a high price.

Weaponry
During the war, he also added several other minor customizations, like kama and jetpack.

Barec's weapon of choice was an old, heavily modified BlasTech EE-23 marksman carbine with a bayonet, perfectly suited for both long-ranged and close combat. He also sported a custom blaster pistol, as well as all the usual hidden weapons in his armor suit, like the dart shooter, grappling wire, wrist-mounted rocket launcher and flamethrower.

Behind the scenes

 * The profile image shows a photomanipulation by me, with Clive Owen's head on a fanmade Boba Fett armor. The EE-3, as well as the coat, are things Ronan does not actually have, I just couldn't replace them. Nevertheless, this is how Ronan about looks like, like Clive Owen.
 * The Appearances listed below are fanfiction stories by Corran_Fett (me).

Appearances

 * Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Honor Guard
 * Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Pariah
 * Rage of the Shadow Warriors: When Few Stood Against Many