Plod Neergoss

Plod Neergoss was born and raised on Ord Zathuun. He was a poor farmer from the village of Darsh’aan and eventually became a member of one of the Separatist terrorist groups on his homeworld. Later, he married and inherited a farmstead near the outskirts of Kerrsh. Many years after the Clone Wars, he allowed one of his former commanders and some of his associates to stay at his farmstead but was killed hours after they left by Imperial Stormtroopers. When Plod Neergoss was born, his family was the only Aqualish family in his village. Later, other Aqualish families from the larger urban areas of Ord Zathuun moved into the smaller villages but, by the time they reached isolated Darsh’aan, Plod had begun causing trouble and spent much time in the local jail. His actions caused the other villagers to mistrust his people in general so he was an outcast by other the Aqualish as much as by the humans, Twi’leks, and Sullustans who made up the population of Darsh’aan.

Shortly after the Clone Wars began, a two month long battle was fought over Ord Zathuun. Although a CIS outpost was built near the village, the population never saw any fighting. At the end of the Battle for Ord Zathuun, the CIS abandoned their outpost. One day, an obviously lost Columi came to their village and Plod’s father took him in. Plod, who lived next door, heard screams coming from his parents’ house and he saw the Columi coming out their door with a bloody scalpel in one hand and a blaster in the other. The killer shot at Plod but missed and so Plod killed him with his own blaster. A few days later, a Tarasin Jedi came to the village and told the elders that a riot had occurred in the nearby prison camp, Triong Re’e, and that they needed to be on the lookout for strangers. The elders told the Jedi about the killing and the Jedi identified the body as belonging to the escaped prisoner, Icronult eth Bac.

A few weeks later, a human named Tull Strayfiend came to town and began to talk about how the Republic did not care about Ord Zathuun and they should convince them to leave the planet alone. The village elders warned him to be quiet but he spoke all the louder and many, Plod Neergoss included, were impressed with the young man’s audacity. Plod asked what could be done and Strayfiend said they must fight. Hearing this, the elders demanded the human leave town and he complied but not before pleading with all patriotic souls to join him. Plod and several of the younger villagers joined him.

For the next several days, they joined up with other young fighters and trained in fields and caves on how to fight and strike fear in enemies and how to hide. After two weeks Plod was sent to the city of Benk. He was introduced to others in his cell and immediately they took him on a mission to test him. A local Aqualish politician had denounced the rising number of pro-Separatist guerrillas as terrorists. Since Plod was Aqualish, the best way to prove his loyalty was to participate in the kidnapping and brutal assassination of the politician. He not only was the one who would haul the target into the speeder, but he would also be the one to pull the trigger when it came time for the execution. Plod succeeded. For a long time, Plod continued obediently kidnapping, killing, and intimidating the supporters of the Republic. However, in 19 BBY a Republic commando team arrived on the world and hunted down and killed Zareedo, the Rodian in charge of all of the Ord Zathuun terrorists and decimated the ranks of their cells, killing most of the leaders. Plod settled down and worked in Kerrsh, waiting to hear further orders from one of his superiors. The Clone Wars came to a close and Plod did not expect to hear anything else so he settled down and married the daughter of an Aqualish farmer near the outskirts of Kerrsh. In 13 BBY his father in-law died and he inherited the farmstead. And by 14 ABY, his children were all moved away and his world had been a member of the New Republic for two years.

When Tull Strayfiend contacted him in 15 ABY he was shocked. Not only had he never expected to find his former commander alive but he had never believed he would be contacted by him. Strayfiend needed to find a place near Kerrsh to rendezvous with twenty or so sentients and Plod immediately offered his farmstead. The members of the group arrived intermittently over the course of about sixty hours and then left. Strayfiend left Plod and his wife with a thousand credits and a few stories about his smuggling adventures.

After the team left for their secret destination Plod and his wife went to bed even though the planet’s twenty hour day was beginning. After about six hours they rose to a heavy knock at the door. Plod answered and was shocked to see five Stormtroopers. They questioned Plod and his wife about where Strayfiend and his group had gone, searched the house, and then killed Plod and his wife.