Dak Kaliero

Dak Kaliero was a Dark Jedi who operated during the time between the Invasion of Naboo and the Great Jedi Purge.

Early Life
Dak Kaliero hatched on his species’ frozen home planet of Arnia, from a clutch of six eggs. Perhaps foreshadowing his dark destiny, he was the only one in the clutch to hatch; all five other eggs had inexplicably rotted without hatching.

The Kaliero family was prominent in Arnian society, Dak’s mother being connected to the Royal Family only four generations back. Dak received every amenity possible, but soon grew tired of it and, in the back of his mind, enraged. These servants did not respect him. They respected his name only, his ancestry. Dak was merely an object to pin that ancestry to. He hated them for it. He wanted them to respect him, to bow to him, to fear him.

His chance came when a group of offworlder Dark Jedi, who had hidden on Arnia, destroyed his family while escaping from a pair of Jedi sent by the Republic. The leader of the Dark Jedi, Tyra Manette, felt Dak’s hatred, and his Force potential. Always seeking fresh blood, Manette kidnapped the Arnian boy instead of killing him, and the group made a successful escape off the planet. Dak was told about the Force, and was hungry for the power and respect it could bring to him, gladly becoming Manette’s newest pupil; immersing himself in the Dark Side. Over the next several years, while participating in the group’s mercenary work, Dak grew strong in the Force, particularly in the area of deception. Under Allori Rhen, the group’s best duelist, he learned Niman and followed it into Jar'Kai.

Finally, Dak was rewarded for his years of training when he was tasked with building his own lightsabers. He used two white crystals, to honor the frozen face of his home planet, which he vowed he would one day rule. Rhen asked to see the lightsabers, to make sure Dak had constructed them properly. The Arnian considered this disrespect; after all this time, of course he knew what he was doing! All he had ever wanted was respect, and now at what should be his moment of glory they were tearing him down again! He refused, saying “I already know they work properly.” Rhen angrily ordered that she see them immediately, and Dak consented by stabbing her in the face with one. Manette and the rest of the group drew their sabers, but something had snapped in Dak’s mind. He slaughtered every one, saving Manette for last. After a short duel, Dak chopped both of her arms off at the elbow, followed by her legs at the knee. She fell to the floor, screaming in pain.

Dak roared, “Do you respect me?! Do you fear me now?!” Manette, wide-eyed, could only whisper “yes” before Dak beheaded her.

Greater Purpose
Dak continued the former group’s mercenary work, until he met Larios Kuylen, an ambitious former Jedi who planned to gain the ancient power of the Sith through the legendary Mausoleum of Demnos, hidden at the edge of the galaxy on a planet called Zeiton. Intrigued, Dak joined Kuylen on Nar Shaddaa, proving himself by winning his first duel against a true Jedi, impaling the Geonosian Xeth Tam through the chest. He then stayed with Kuylen’s group of Dark Jedi as they returned to their base on Dordellus, and then to Zeiton. However, just as the Dark Jedi were ready to take the Mausoleum, Dak felt the Force calling him to return to Arnia. Unable to ignore it, he left, with his Zeitonian lieutenant Ker’Raos and fellow Dark Jedi Wraith.

Destined Meeting
On the way to Arnia, the Black Dawn’s hyperdrive broke down. The trio cruised at sublight speed for days, hoping that they would eventually reach an inhabited planet. Finally, they ended up at Rakata Prime. There they sensed others strong in the Force, and found a group of four Dark Jedi: Nume Rand, Gallador Enkidu, Tanic Starguard, and Rianna Xi. Rianna struck the trio as most important to them, as they recognized her name. She had a sizable bounty on her head for killing several Jedi. Wraith, attempting to distract her, hit on her, which led to the woman punching him in the face so hard that his right eye was blinded. Dak instantly drew his sabers, which were met by Rianna’s own two sabers. They battled up the side of an ancient temple, before Dak, overly arrogant, was knocked off balance and kicked off the side of the temple. He decided there were better ways to spend his time, and Dak and his companions left.

Political Expansion and Betrayal
The Arnia Dak returned to was in political upheaval, as a revolution supplanted the Royal Family that had ruled Arnia for time immemorial. Recognizing a path to power, he joined a faction of the revolution. And was the first to actually attack the Royal Family instead of simply dissolving its power. He pulled a decisive victory out of it though some of the Family escaped, and soon became a well-known individual, and then a powerful military leader. Fearing assassination attempts, he quickly established a puppet Council whose strings led back to his claws. Arnia was securely under his control, and he personally commanded the former Arnian Royal Navy. He had fulfilled his personal vow to rule Arnia.

However, Dak grew yet more power-hungry, and decided the time was ripe for the might of Arnia to reach out into the Republic. When he brought this before the Ruling Council, despite his hold on them they steadfastly refused, maintaining Arnia as a Republic world, albeit one isolated from trade and intervention. Later he received information on the whereabouts of the remnants of the Royal Family, and travelled to the planet Phu to eliminate them forever. However, the Royal Family, long-known to be Force Sensitive, had figured out what Dak was, and prepared. The Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables was waiting for him when he arrived. Wraith and Ker’Raos, not wanting to be dragged into Dak’s problem, betrayed him and left for the Unknown Regions, leaving Dak to fend for himself against the Osokans. Narrowly avoiding death, he realized he could not return to Arnia safely, and fled to the Outer Rim. He resumed his old life as a bounty hunter, dishonored and filled with hatred for the Galaxy and everything in it. Then, during a hunt on Bespin, Dak suddenly recognized an old companion from Kuylen’s group: Takuan Soho.

A Second Chance
Kuylen had died during the time Dak was gone. The remains of the group had made a new mountain base on Epireus, a little-known planet in the Unknown Regions. In an ironic twist of fate, Rand's group, including Rianna, had joined Kuylen's band some time before. Dak slowly adjusted to the new life in hiding, which was filled with short tempers, constant arguments, and flying insults.

A few months after Dak had joined them, the group was surprised to find a band of space pirates attempted to steal the base shield generator. They fought back, and fended off the attack, until, quite by accident, one of the pirates' gunships crashed, causing an avalanche that destroyed the shield generator. Unprotected, and with the threat of a massive pirate attack on the base, the Dark Jedi had no choice but to travel to Newhaven, a Dug planet within the Republic.

There, after a great deal of frustration, the group convinced criminal dealers that they wanted to buy a shield generator. While waiting for the scheduled meeting, several of the Dark Jedi, Dak included, went to the marketplace, on a mission to steal several essential parts to maintain the base. It was while on one of these runs that Dak literally ran into an Osokan. It turned out that it was not just any Osokan, but Guildmaster Rogan, the supreme leader of the entire Osokan race. After a short but tense conversation with him, in which he threatened to used Dak's skin for a footstool, the Dark Jedi got away, realizing that the Bureau official with Rogan was Force-sensitive, and that their identity was known. They hurried on their way, tailed by Osokans.

At the meeting place, the criminals produced the shield generator. When asked for payment, the Dark Jedi that had gone to the meeting produced their lightsabers. The massacre was over almost before it began, and the group readied their escape with the generator, only to find it blocked by Osokans. Though they fought hard, they were overpowered, and Dak paralyzed by the Osokans' nerve-damaging neurowhips. They narrowly escaped, and flew home to Epireus, though their ships' transponder codes had been identified.

At their base, the Dark Jedi discovered something terrifying: It had been cleaned. Creeping through the sparkling rooms, they came upon the intruders: nine women, apparently human. One, obviously their leader, smiled and took a step toward them.

"Welcome home."

To be continued...