Ronin Soloki



Ronin Soloki was a Rodian male Jedi master, who lived during much of the events of galactic history.

Early life (55 BBY)
Ronin was born on the Smugglers' Moon, Nar Shaddaa, to a Rodian pirate named Vak and a Rodian dancer called Aliooli Soloki. His pirate father left when Ronin was very young leaving his young mother to look after him. They lived in the slums part of Nar Shadda and never had much money. Even at an early age Ronin showed a love of rain, often sneaking out of their small one room apartment to play in the downpour. Despite the rough times, Aliooli never gave up on her child. Often times taking whatever dreadful jobs she had to, in order to support Ronin. One day though, Ronin’s mother was abducted from their apartment by a band of human slavers, and sold to a Huttese crime lord to be his personal dancing girl. Having hid her child in a closet though, Ronin was spared a life of slavery and torment.

Only six years old, Ronin was orphaned; alone on the cruel streets of Nar Shaddaa. He tried begging for food at first, but most ignored him. “Little thief”, they would call him, and ignore his pleas because they would not trust a young Rodian. With no other way to keep from starving, he began to steal to survive. One day, little Ronin tried to steal from a man wearing a long brown robe. The man sensed Ronin and whirled around. But instead of rebuking or hitting him across the face, the man kneeled down kindly and gave him several credits for food. Later during the same day, Ronin met the man again, only this time in an alley. The man appeared to have been robbed and beaten within an inch of his life. Clutched in his hand was the most interesting weapon Ronin had ever seen. It was cylindrical and emitted a bright glowing blade when ignited.

Ronin helped the strange man, and he later learned that the man was a Jedi Knight. The Jedi sensed the force in Ronin and asked to give him a midi-chlorian test. Finding that Ronin was strong in the force, the Jedi asked him if he wanted to come and train at the Jedi temple.

Suddenly, a group of several Weequayan gangsters returned down the alley. The Jedi drew his lightsaber and managed to take out many of the attackers, but was knocked down by one of them. As the thug set his blaster to kill, Ronin grabbed the Jedi’s lightsaber. Suddenly, he felt like energy was surging through him. With a cry, he leaped on to the Weequay’s back and drove the lightsaber through his head. Impressed, the Jedi and Ronin left for the Jedi Temple on Coruscant where Ronin was taken in to be trained.

Knighthood (43 BBY)
At the age of eighteen, during the year 43 BBY, Ronin was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight. On one of his many travels across the galaxy, he visited the planet Rodia where many of his species come from. While on a mission there, he came across a village in the swampy forest and met a young Rodian girl named Ladria Jesseu. Ladria was the daughter of the clan leader, and only eleven years old.

She had actually been taken to the Jedi temple as an infant, but when she grew older Ladria snuck out of the temple and stole away onboard a space freighter returning home to her parents.

When Ronin discovered this, he contacted the Jedi council right away. They advised him to return her to the temple at once. Still, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl. Unsure of exactly what to do, he stayed overnight at the village in an empty hut. Ronin was unable to sleep though, and even meditation didn’t seem to help. Suddenly, he heard a scream. Running outside, he found the villagers in panic. Ladria and her youngest cousin, Pqweeno, were missing. Most of the clan members were unwilling to search for them though, as the jungle could be a deadly place at night. But Ronin, Ladria’s father, and Pqweeno’s brother spread out searching for the childen. The Jungle was steaming and thick, while the sky itself was pitch black. None of Rodia’s moons were visible through the thick layer of clouds above. Still, Ronin searched on. Suddenly, he stumbled into a nearby ravine. There, right in front of him, Ronin saw a huge Ghest beast. A terrible predator on Rodia, Ghest attacks claimed many lives each year. Nearby the monster were the trembling forms of Ladria and Pqweeno. Ladria stood protectively over her cousin, defending him with a small sharpened stick. With only seconds to spare, Ronin drew his saber and attacked the Ghest. But the creature was faster than he expected, and while Ronin tried to stab it, the Ghest rammed into him knocking his lightsaber aside. Ladria shrieked as the beast turned around and leapt at her and Pqweeno. Just as it was about to tear them apart with its claws, Ronin stretched out his green hand and touched the creature’s mind. It shook it’s head stupidly for a moment, then laid down and started to sleep.

Ladria and Pqweeno seemed paralyzed with fear, but with no time to waste, Ronin carried the young Rodians away from the Ghest’s den and out of the dark forest. Returning the younglings to the village, he discovered that Ladria had run away from her home to keep Ronin from taking her away. Pqweeno had followed her, and the two had become lost. The Jesseu and Hykas families were delighted to have them back, and thanked Ronin repeatedly. Still, as he was preparing his starfighter to leave, Ladria ran up to Ronin and asked shyly if she could return with him to the temple. She had changed her own mind about becoming a Jedi, and her parents had given their consent. Still, she had one condition: that she could regularly return to visit her family. Remembering how much he loved his own mother Aliooli, Ronin promised, and the two returned to Coruscant.

Teacher (37-33 BBY)
The council agreed to let Ronin train Ladria as his padawan despite his age, because no other master had wanted to train her. Most Jedi found her to be a rebellious youngling, and had trouble dealing with her. Ronin understood her though, as her behavior reminded him of his own attitude when he had been trained. In order to get away from everyone else, Ronin took Ladria to the remote planet of Dantooine where they spent many years training. While she seemed distant at first, her anger gradually softened. Ronin learned that his apprentice loved nature and animals, so he would often incorporate the native creatures into his lessons. One thing that she seemed to pick up the most was his teaching that “life is precious”. The two developed a very strong bond, and it was evident in their fighting styles. Whereas Ronin was fast and aggressive, utilizing martial arts along with his lightsaber, Ladria was lithe and defensive, focusing more on using the Force within her. Still, they did not always agree on everything. It was during one of their adventures together that an idea first came to Ronin. They had spent much of the day exploring the ancient ruins of Dantooine, and observed many ancient texts by long lost civilizations. Upon reading one particular inscription, something seemed to click in Ronin’s mind. A philosopher, centuries before, had speculated that perhaps the Force itself was sentient. With that hypothesis, Ronin spent several weeks thinking. Perhaps, he speculated, the Force itself was what created life in the universe. Ladria remained skeptical though, as his theory contradicted most of what the Jedi High Council had taught for ages. “I think you just enjoy challenging authority.” She chuckled.

Despite their disagreement in this though, the two had enormous respect for each other. Ronin treated Ladria less as a student, and more as an equal. Upon their return from Dantooine, the council sent them on many missions ranging from peacekeeping to diplomacy. Ronin despised diplomatic missions.

On the year 33 BBY, the council called them to a new assignment: To investigate a possible threat to the Jedi order. A Dark Side threat. On the planet Byss, a human named Norrek Kaan had started a cult of dark side users that had terrorized citizens and government officials across the planet. Masters Yoda and Mace Windu outlined the plan to them. Ronin and Ladria were to arrive peacefully and surrender themselves to the cult, in a bid to convince their leader Norrek to stop the destruction. Since Norrek had once been an honorable Jedi Knight, the council was sure they could negotiate with him. Arriving on Byss, Ronin had a bad feeling about the mission, but they followed the plan to the letter. Once they were taken prisoner, the cult threw them into a dark palace cell. The cult agreed to take Ladria to see Norrek, but despite his protests, Ronin was left in the cell. Still, he reached out with his mind, and stayed in constant mental link with his padawan.

The cultists brought her before Norrek Kaan, a dark and powerful looking man. Ladria would not be intimidated though, and tried to get the former Jedi to return to the light. But he merely laughed at her pleas. To her dismay, he made his dark intentions clear: He desired to restore the ancient order of the Sith, and rule as dark lord of the Galaxy. When Ladria started to point out the flaws in his logic, and the silliness of his plans, Norrek became increasingly angrier. Ronin smiled to himself as he listened to her arguments. Then, the unthinkable happened. Norrek stood up in a rage. Screaming “For the Sith!” he stabbed Ladria through her back with a long vibrosword. Time itself seemed to stop. Green blood dripped on the floor. Ladria’s shocked gasp reverberated through the mind link, then suddenly nothing. Ronin stood in his cell for a moment, horrified. Norrek laughed and threw Ladria’s limp body over an abyss, to a dark underground lake below his throne.

Then the dark leader told his followers to dispose of Ronin, for they would soon be the masters of the universe. As they approached his cell though, they heard an inhuman scream of pain and rage, and the door was violently blown open by a wave of force energy. With that, Ronin killed the entire cult, and hunted down Norrek. The two engaged in a duel, ending with Ronin using the force to crush Norrek’s throat, and impale him with his own blade. After that, Ronin searched for Ladria’s body, but never found it. Thus he left for Korriban to explore the powers of his newfound dark side. Little did he know that Ladria had survived, and recovered from her wounds with the help of one of the cult members who had not followed Norrek.