Tarash Grainer was a male Human Imperial Knight from Borosk.
Biography[]
Young Knight[]
Identified as a Force-sensitive shortly after birth, Tarash was given to the service of Roan Fel and taken to Bastion for training. He was apprenticed to the senior Imperial Knight Rand Ko, and accompanied his master on numerous missions on behalf of the Empire. When the Sith-Imperial War erupted, Tarash redoubled his efforts in training to make himself of use. He was knighted shortly after his twenty-second birthday, just before the Massacre at Ossus.
When Darth Krayt betrayed Roan Fel and usurped the throne of the galaxy, Tarash remained near Roan Fel as a bodyguard except when he was dispatched on missions to support Imperial stormtroopers under siege by Krayt's forces.
The doomed mission[]
In 134 ABY, Tarash was assigned to journey into the Unknown Regions, searching for the Empire of the Hand and any resources the Empire could use against Krayt. He was joined by Axelia Solios and a third Imperial Knight. The three set out into Wild Space.
The mission went wrong almost immediately. The Knights' ship was attacked by Blazing Chain and all three Knights captured. They quickly escaped and killed their captors, but their ship's navicomputer had been damaged, and they had no way home. Resigning themselves to the pirates' craft instead, they ventured farther into the unknown.
Over the following twelve years, the Knights became increasingly lost as they wandered from one planet in the Unknown Regions to another. One of the Knights was killed on a Vagaari-held world, leaving Axelia and Tarash to carry on alone. Neither had any intention of giving up, but they came to rely on one another for strength and support as months turned into years. Both became somewhat embittered toward the Empire which was obviously not coming to rescue them, but they soldiered on for fear that they would end up in despair if they quit.
Imprisoned[]
In 146 ABY, Tarash and Axelia were set upon by a predatory group of aliens. They managed to escape, but their ship was damaged and they were forced to crash-land on Kachee. Wounded and disoriented, even the two together were no match for Shalach Hal-Razab when the Dark Jedi engaged them.
Taken to Hal-Razab's castle by his Yarowai slaves, Axelia and Tarash were kept prisoner in the Ho'Din's castle. A former Jedi Padawan, Hal-Razab had been out of touch with the galaxy even longer than the Knights, and was intrigued by the news they told him after being brutally interrogated. Some Yarowai were sympathetic, but after Hal-Razab torturously executed two Yarowai he caught helping the Knights, they were on their own.
Tarash and Axelia grew closer during their captivity, and both became more vocal about their resentment of the Empire. They wondered if they would even return to the Empire if they ever escaped.
Retirement…[]
The year after their capture, Axelia and Tarash sensed a fight in the castle above them. Though Hal-Razab triumphed over his attackers, his victory opened the door to his defeat. He had killed the Centurion Khoro`ly`ooho`sh`lyhoo, and a vengeful Rin Sakaros, Queen of the Golden Empire, sent Te`net Organi to avenge his brother. While Organi and Hal-Razab dueled, Vem and Aria Nikina broke the surprised Imperial Knights out of captivity. The four watched from a distance as Hal-Razab and Organi demolished the castle and part of the mountain before the Qua Centurion finally slew his enemy.
The two Knights were brought before Rin Sakaros, whom Tarash was startled to learn was Axelia's cousin. She shared the news that Roan Fel and Darth Krayt were dead, the One Sith defeated and on the run, and Marasiah Fel's Empire now part of the Galactic Federation Triumvirate. Rin admitted she could not allow them to return to the Empire with their knowledge, but offered them safety in her own Golden Empire. Axelia became a Centurion herself but, feeling all his struggles and losses were now without meaning, Tarash simply retired as a private citizen of the Empire.
In retirement, Tarash lived on Vall`to on a modest pension from the Royal government. He kept in touch with Axelia from time to time, and found himself lonely without her around. Though his neighbors were friendly, Tarash felt distinctly out of place in the Empire. He was deeply concerned when news of Axelia's injuries in the Battle of Quadia reached his ears, and was surprised by how much it eased his worry to communicate with her and be assured she was all right.
…But not really[]
In 151 ABY, Rin passed the 65 Reforms and authorized the creation of the Household Guard. As a former Imperial Knight, Axelia was selected to join the group planning Household Guard training regimens. Tarash was surprised when she showed up at his door inviting him to assist, and reluctant to become involved in militant affairs again. However, the deeply-ingrained desire to serve and his affection for Axelia led him to ultimately accept.
As they worked together planning, Tarash and Axelia found themselves more comfortable and reassured together than they had been apart. Both thought they had simply formed a Force-bond in their dozen years of journeying, but as time went on they realized it was more than simply the Force binding them together. They consummated their relationship in early 152 ABY and began living together while still working on the Guard regimen. Axelia gave birth to their only child, Athena, the following year, and Tarash finally met Axelia's brother Jarek and his family around the same time.
Powers and abilities[]
Like all Imperial Knights, Tarash was trained in both Praetoria Vonil and Praetoria Ishu, and was a deadlier combatant when fighting alongside an ally than he would have been alone. Nonetheless, he was an able enough swordsman to equal his comrade Axelia Solios and received praise from his master, Rand Ko, for his skill with a blade and the Force.
Tarash showed skill at Control Pain while a captive of Shalach Hal-Razab, enduring brutal interrogation without providing more than scant information. Both Axelia and Rin Sakaros considered him expert enough in bodyguard protective techniques to make him an advisor to the Household Guard, protectors of the Royal Family of the Golden Empire.
Appearance and personality[]
Tarash had fair skin and dark hair, which he kept cropped short whenever possible but which grew long and thick at times during his long mission to the Unknown Regions. His hair began to gray by the time he joined the Household Guard advisory committee. Initially clean-shaven, he adopted a full but conservatively cut beard and mustache while journeying with Axelia. He stood 1.85 meters (6'1") tall and had a broad-shouldered build. He had pale gray eyes. As an Imperial Knight, he wielded the silver-bladed, standard-issue lightsaber of the group.
Calm, cool, and somewhat remote, Tarash was dedicated to the service of the Empire. He initially chided Axelia for her flagging devotion during their mission, but eventually admitted that he, too, would have expected more support from their fellow Knights. Losing his faith in Roan Fel and the Imperial Knights rattled him deeply, and his close bond with Axelia helped him remained focused and resolute when he might otherwise have given up.
In the Golden Empire, Tarash was even more remote from neighbors and acquaintances. He respected the Order of Keltrayu for the martial ability of its Centurions, but had no desire to join the group. Axelia remained his only real friend, and their friendship evolved into a relationship slowly; both were trained to be stoic and think of duty first, and admitting their personal feelings took time.