Grann Gustiov the Third was a rare human-miraluka hybrid who lived and served under various galactic governments until starting his own. He was known for being the only miraluka to reach the rank of high admiral.
HISTORY[]
Early life[]
Grann was born to Reithan and Janeria Nelthon Gustiovs in 48 BBY on Dantooine. Though he could hardly remember her, he was greatly cherished by his human mother. However, tragedy struck in 44 BBY during the Stark Hyperspace War when she and most of her squadron were killed in an escort mission. His father, once a proud servant of the Judicial Forces, was driven to a state of guilt-filled depression over not being able to save his wife and her squadmates. As a result of this, Reithan started to become physically and even mentally abusive when he was present in his son's life. This would continue even into his second marriage to Valernia Lesser Gustiov, a muun banker and former Intergalactic Banking Clan Security Force captain, though she did manage to pacify Reithan after a while.
Valernia was one of the few positive influences in the young Gustiov's life, helping him with both social interaction and with mathematical skills. She also encouraged him to practice his Force Sensitive abilities which had started to manifest around the age of six. His first major usage of it was to telekinetically communicate with his new mother when he was being harassed by his classmates at school for his lack of eyes. In 40 BBY, the Gustiov Residence was visited by the infamous Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth, a man known for his extreme methods and outlook on the Force. He sensed great Force potential in Grann and wanted to recruit him, but rather than following standard Acquisition Division procedures, Jorus attempted to take custody of the young Grann without his parent's consent, only stopped by his father's authority. This was just one of many things that lead to Grann's hatred of the Jedi Order, a hatred that would only grow in time.
Due to his rather rough upbringing, Grann was not a very sociable person, instead spending his time focusing on his education. An upside to this was that he held very high grades in all of his classes, which helped him graduate at the young age of sixteen. This is believed to be a result of his Force Sensitivity, which he would use to slow down his mind in order to concentrate on his work more. Little did he know that this ability would help him in the future. Though wanting to pursue a career in Hyperdrive engineering, he was pressured by his father to join the Judicial Forces Academy, even going as far as to actively sabotage any attempt to attend a higher form of education.
Early Military Career[]
Despite his initial reluctance, the young Gustiov eventually decided to cave in to his father's attempts to coarse him for two reasons: His disgust at the incompetence of the Republic at the Battle of Naboo as well as a desire to spite his father by becoming a greater strategist and tactician than he, for Grann believed that his father had ruined his life. After completing a one year training program, Grann stayed at the military academy in order to receive warrant officer training. Grann used his education to his advantage, especially his knowledge of mathematics and physics.
Grann finished his training in 30 BBY and was assigned to the ''Dreadnought''-class Heavy Cruiser ''Firebird'', captained by Lythan Jerrjerrod. He served as a gunnery officer and used his Force Sensitivity to the advantage of his crew. Utilizing his newly found Battle Meditation and precognitive abilities, he drastically boosted the efficiency of his crewmembers. While serving on the Firebird, Grann developed feelings for a young Republic officer by the name of Talya Dehnna, feelings that were reciprocated by her. However, his emotions for her clouded his mind and often came at the cost of combat efficiency. Grann tried to suppress his feelings at first, but this only worsened his efficiency, for he often focused on trying to suppress his love for her rather than trying to focus on combat. Luckily for the two of them, a perfect opportunity arose when the Firebird went under refits after being damaged in battle. As a result, the crew were offered leave time, an offer he and Talya accepted.
During their leave, their feelings for each other continued to blossom and eventually resulted in their move to Arkanis-based space colony A-0122 as well as their marriage in 25 BBY. Grann also sired two children, Grann Gustiov the Fourth and Janeria Gustiov the Second. While Grann the Third, now chief warrant officer of the Firebird, returned to his military duties, Talya decided to extend her leave to focus on her children. Unfortunately, tragedy struck two years later in 23 BBY when a pirate raiding party lead by Gir Kybo Ren-Cha attacked A-0122, which resulted in the death of Talya and the kidnapping of Janeria. Though the younger Grann managed to survive by hiding in an air vent, his father was devastated by the loss of his wife and daughter. He started to see himself as a shadow of his father, an idea which haunted him. In order to prevent this, Grann sent his child to his paternal grandparents, though he lamented the fact that he could not be there to raise him.
The events that unfolded resulted in Grann developing a hatred for pirates and slavers, hatred that would fuel him during the upcoming Clone Wars due to the Separatists' use of piracy and slavery. Shortly before the outbreak of the war, Grann was promoted to first officer aboard the Firebird.
The Clone Wars[]
During the early stages of the war, the various military branches of the Republic were merged into the Republic Military, which included the Judicial Forces. As a result, the Firebird was assigned to lead the Subgroup Heavy Attack Line no.1#Subgroup HAL-01 of the Tolonda Rapid Response Squadron, a small fleet lead by then Admiral Maarisa Zsinj. However, the taskforces within the TRRS were often split off and assigned to partake in battles independent of the larger fleet. Grann fought in several infamous battles in and around the Tolonda Oversector, including the First Battle of Geonosis, Battle of Kamino, the Decimator Campaign, Battle of Christophsis, Battle of Ryloth and the Second Battle of Geonosis amongst other conflicts. The most notable battle that HAL-01 partook in was the Defense of Rothana, where Grann took control of both the Republic and KDY Defense Forces after the death of Commodore Jerrjerrod and the local commanders. Using his precognitive abilities, he predicted the movements of enemy vessels as well as where they would enter realspace in. He also used his tactical thinking to trick the Separatist commanders into sending their droid fighters and bombers into traps involving larger capital ships equipped with anti-fighter weapons, something that was becoming increasingly less and less common as the war continued.