I don't care about any cause. I don't care who's in the right and who's in the wrong. I'm in it for the pay. But the spilling of blood makes this contract all the sweeter.
—Durge
Durge was an infamous male Gen'Dai bounty hunter trained in Mandalorian martial arts who was active throughout galactic history for more than mere decades. Encased in a silver-gray intimidating armor painted with red and blue marks, equipped with a vast arsenal of technological combat gadgets and notoriously hard-to-slay, he participated in several wars as a gun-for-hire and collected a multitude of bounties. Throughout his career he earned a reputation as a proficient Jedi killer, with more than one Padawan's lock having ended as one of the small trophies displayed on his belt.
Reviled as a top mercenary for all the major underworld operations, Durge had also been once a soldier of fortune acting in the interests of Sith Lord Darth Krall - the namesake of his modified personal NovaSword-class space superiority starship, the Krall. Most notably a century later, he found himself tempted by the dual-edged profitability of the Clone Wars: an opportunity to cash in a lot of credits by renting out his services to the lucky highest bidder and to make sport of preying on Jedi Knights. Bestowed upon the honorary rank of "commander", the mercenary led the droid forces in countless victories, as well as performed key missions for Sith Lords Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus, often partnered with Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress. Although sought out by the Judicial Department to answer for the atrocities he had committed, the freelancer evaded arrest.
He eventually resumed his bounty-hunting career into the age of the Galactic Empire, taking on jobs on insurgent cell leaders, deserters and any Jedi Knights that had outlived the purge of the order. Years after his disappearance he was still remembered as one of the deadliest bondsmen in the galaxy, surpassed only by Boba Fett or Cad Bane.
Biography[]
Early career[]
Give me the job and I'll see that it's done.
—Durge
An unnaturally resilient and belligerent creature, even for a Gen'Dai, Durge left his homeworld of Gen'dalore (or Gen'dayaim as called by the Mandalorians) to venture into the larger galaxy at a relatively young age. Proud of being able to trace his heritage to some of the first warriors to embrace the Mandalorian creed, he set out to make a name for himself by becoming immersed in the ways of bounty-hunting and matching the fighting prowess of the legendary crusaders who once battled the Jedi Order.
He trained under some of the very best bounty hunters out there, including an instructor called Jaing, who taught him all that was required to know in the field of Mandalorian tactics and combat skills. His first jobs were as a hired-gun for crime lords primarily on Nar Shaddaa and Nal Hutta, guarding these nefarious figures from any and all threats, tracking down live targets or silencing the unwary that got in their way. One such commission from the vile Vantos Coll had Durge up against Jedi Padawan Jodo Kulier, who had recently been interfering with the kingpin's spice operations overseen by the Pyke Syndicate. The Gen'Dai followed the Force-attuned Human who had stumbled upon illicit black market merchandise in Coll's safehouse and leaped onto him from behind once he was inside. Though Fulier was able to cut Durge's twin blaster pistols to pieces, the freelancer outmaneuvered his inexperienced opponent using his brutish strength and broke his lightsaber, before proceeding to beat him to death with his fists. Vantos Coll rewarded him with a bonus and some claimed the bounty hunter kept the Padawan's braid and hilt-shards as reminders of his earliest encounter with a Jedi.
Durge eventually broadened his horizon to other planets eaten up by mobsters though, in spite of his success rate, he chose to keep his independence from the Bondsman Guild that regulated the bounty-hunting trade. The small fortune that he quickly amassed he spent on updating his specialized equipment, increasing his chances in apprehending or eliminating fugitives. Moreover, his duel with Jodo Fulier sparked his taste in Jedi as a particular prey, enjoying the fight they put up, and he started taking on assignments that would see him taking on even fully-fledged Knights whenever the occasion presented itself.
New Sith Wars[]
I was once buried alive—for 60 years! If that didn't kill me… if the Jedi and the Mandalorians and the Bloodboilers of Kragis couldn't kill me—then nothing will kill me!
—Durge
As the galaxy was engulfed in the New Sith Wars, Durge seized the opportunity to fame by joining the resurgent Sith Empire as a volunteer commander in its armed corps, which were overseen by the dreaded "Brotherhood of Darkness". The soldier of fortune faced more than a dozen Jedi Knights, learning better and better their techniques and developing effective counterattacks to their moves, becoming even more experienced at slaying them. These uncanny abilities garnered the attention of the Sith Lord Darth Krall, who would sometimes make use of the intimidating bounty hunter to harry those that incurred his wrath - he also threatened to call on this deadly enforcer when reprimanding failed subordinates. When the Mandalorian clans led by Mandalore the Unyielding entered the fray on the side of the Old Republic, Durge was dispatched by Lord Krall to assassinate the leader in hopes of dealing a demoralizing blow to their enemies' newest allies. To help him on this fateful mission, he was supplied with an experimental NovaSword-class space superiority starship manufactured by Sublights Products Corporation which he used to bypass the blockade above Mandalore. Stealthily sneaking into the private sanctum of Mandalore the Unyielding, Durge stabbed him from behind with a hidden vibro-blade in the midst of a holographic transmission and escaped the enraged guardsmen.
Durge's respite was short-lived, as he found himself in hot pursuit from a Jedi-Mandalorian task force that sought to bring him in for judgement and interrogation on his involvement with the Brotherhood of Darkness. Shot down above the primitive world of Kragis, the mercenary was captured not by his hunters but by the murderous Bloodboilers who tortured him for years, driving him slowly past the edge of sanity. Darth Krall's successors, the Sith Lords Darth Ruin, Darth Rivan and Darth Kaan made no attempts to extract him, either being more focused on managing their army for the conflict at hand than on the retrieval of a singular asset or simply unaware of his fate. Eventually, the Jedi caught up with Durge on Kragis and were able to wrestle him out of the Bloodboilers' hands. Unable to peer into his mind, the Jedi Order relinquished custody of the Gen'Dai to the vengeful Mandalorians, who did their best to break him through years of suffering a treatment no less cruel than what he had endured on Kragis. But the slayer of Mandalore the Unyielding endured the pain and when the time was right, he broke free of his shackles and fled his captors. However, it would take a century for the tormented Durge to heal, sixty of those years spent hidden underground.
Separatist Crisis[]
So much time I've lied low, taking a nap. I say, it's good to be finally back Let the coin and the blood flow!
—Durge
By the time the Separatist Crisis was unfolding, Durge was once again at large, no longer a priority of the Jedi Order since the Sith were deemed extinct and no longer harried by the Mandalorians who had mostly embraced pacifism. He quickly moved to reforge his gruesome claims to fame as a lethal bounty hunter and Jedi killer, lending his blasters to the Hutt Cartel, Black Sun and the Pyke Syndicate. Durge distinguished himself soon as one of vile crime lord Jabba Desiljic Tiure's go-to mercenaries, often carrying out jobs for him and being welcomed to his palace on Tatooine. He also resumed his bloodlust against the Jedi, his sadistic techniques disturbing even the cruelest minds of the underworld.
Durge's proficiency at slaying Jedi, caught the eye of the hidden Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious and his apprentice, Darth Tyranus - known to the wider public as the face of the secessionist movement, Count Dooku of Serenno. The two approached the bounty hunter with an offer he could hardly turn down: to be awarded the rank of "military commander" in the Confederacy of Independent Systems, lead its droid armies to triumph over the Galactic Republic and dispatch anyone who stood in the two Sith Lords' way. Knowing that this recruitment would have him likely test himself in battle with multiple Jedi Knights and that much coin would flow into his pocket, the Gen'Dai eagerly accepted. At his request, his new masters also had his ship, the Krall - named after the long fallen Darth Krall - heavily modified to ferry the bounty hunter on his missions in the upcoming conflict.