Shadow C'tan

"Brothers! Today is our day of glory! You are soldiers of the Republic! Although short, your entire life has been devoted to this one moment. Men, even as we speak, Confederate Scum hold our allies in their grasp! But we, we shall liberate them! Alongside the Jedi, we fight! Grab your weapons, check your armor, pray for your comrades! The Republic is strong! You are strong! By the blasters in our grasps, the grenades on our belts, we shall save our allies, and deliver our enemies to their graves! Brothers! For Kamino! For Mandalore! FOR THE REPUBLIC!"

- Shadow C'tan to his elite Clone Forces, prior to the Battle of Geonosis.

Shadow C'tan was a Mandalorian Soldier, Mercenary, and Bodyguard during the last days of the Republic, and the Galactic Civil War.

Early Life
Shadow's life as a child was a fairly normal one for a Mandalorian. Born on the planet of Foravar, to Kal and Shaina C'tan, Shadow was trained in the arts of the warrior since the time he could walk. His father, a legendary soldier amongst fellow Foravarians, taught him to field strip a blaster rifle and clean it before the boy could read or write. After the retirement of his father, he assumed a sort of apprentice-master relationship with his father, which continued on into his teenage years. At twelve, in the tradition of the C'tan family, Kal took his son to the capital city, to enlist within the Foravarian Planetary Defense Youth, a militia of male and female Foravarians from ages 12 to 15. Saying goodbye to his mother, he went, being accepted without trouble, in part because of his skills, but also due to his father's fame.

For 3 years, Shadow served in the militia, gaining much experience dealing with the occasional pirate or raider who managed to get on the planet. However, life soon became boring, with the now young man finding little joy in fighting such common scum.

Enlistment and Kamino
On his 16th birthday, Shadow C'tan enlisted into the Foravarian Planetary Defense Force, the planet's standing army. Thanks to his term as a Youth trooper, and being a C'tan, he was trained as a Commando. Through training, he surpassed his comrades in skill, and it quickly became apparent he was meant to be much more then a follower. Following Commando Training, Shadow received a commission as a Lieutenant in the PDF Commando Company.

For three years, Shadow served as first a officer of a platoon, then a detachment, and finally, the company. Upon his promotion to company leader, he was given the rank of Captain. Despite his young age, he was respected by his men, as his calm demeanor and skill in combat was very different from a typical youth's energetic and outburst prone personality.

During his 4th year as a commando, his second as Captain, the twenty year old Shadow received mission commands of a very unusual sort. He was to take a platoon of his best men, and meet his immediate superior, the SpecOps Commissioner, at the capital's space port. He set out with his men, and arrived at the space port. Here, the SpecOps Commissioner looked over his men with strange concentration, as a group of strange beings watched. Aliens were not often seen on Foravar, and they were the focus of many a man in the platoon.

Adding to the strangeness of the events, the SpecOps Commissioner dismissed all but 9 commandos, before instructing Shadow and the other 9 to follow him with the aliens into the Starport Admin building. Here it was explained that the aliens were from the planet of Kamino, and were searching for instructors for a top secret project. Although he did not reveal the extent of the mission, the Commissioner did tell that were Shadow and his men to accept to go with the aliens and take part in the project, it would bring great glory to the planet. Needless to say, all ten accepted, and left Foravar with the aliens.

The Grand Army of the Republic
The aliens took the commandos to Kamino, where their mission was revealed in truth. Shadow, his men, and a number of other Mandalorian men, were to be the combat instructors of an army of Clones. As soon as the clones developed to the point of being ready for training, it began. Shadow and a select number of the Mandalorians were given a small group of soldiers, different from the rest. Although most groups were about four small, and trained as commandos, Shadow was given a secret task. He was to train a platoon of men any way he saw fit, with no restrictions. And so the Iron Fist was born.

The Iron Fist were trained to be a mix between the ARC trooper and the commando. Specialized, yet able to fight by themselves without weakness, these men were divided into ten men squads, five squads forming the platoon. Each was worth a squad of Commandos by himself, and were as lethal as they could be. They were devoted to Shadow, who they looked up to as a father figure. However, this small platoon of men was to be shortlived, indeed.

The Battle of Geonosis
Following the revelation of the Clone Army by Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi, the Kaminoans were contacted by the Order, and received a visit from Master Mace Windu. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been captured, along with Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala on the planet of Geonosis. As a high ranking member of the Jedi Order, he informed the Kaminoans that their original contractor, Sifo-Dyas, had died, and that the clones were needed by the Jedi. The Kaminoans accepted, and so the Army was launched into its first battle.

Mobilized immediately, the Clone Army was sent to Geonosis, with members of the Jedi Order. Their orders were simple: Engage Separatist Forces around the landing zone, and support the Jedi as they extracted the three captives. The commando units were given various missions as well, and the Iron Fist was no exception. Shadow was to take his platoon of fifty deep into the surface of Geonosis, and find plans for a weapon of power the Separatists were supposedly developing.

The mission started out smoothly, with Shadow and his platoon making their way to a tunnel entrance unopposed. Once inside, however, it was a different story. Through the tunnel, down and deep into the crust the platoon went, encountering stiff resistance along the way. Although their skills were amazing, many men were lost, killed by the sheer number of adversaries. Battle Droids, Genonosian Warriors, they all came to stop the Iron Fist from reaching their objective.

But reach it they did. The final chamber the Iron Fists reached was their destination. However, instead of the plans they had thought they would find, they were instead met by a group of ten Dark Jedi. These Jedi, trained in the dark side by Count Dooku, attacked the Iron Fist and Shadow, who fought back the best they could. Although they had th advantage of numbers, and extreme skill, the clones had a tough time of defeating their enemies. As the smoke cleared, only Shadow and two Clones still stood, bloody and battered.

These three men forged their way through the gore filled corridors and tunnels, before arriving at the surface. A LAAT Gunship extracted them, one of the last transports to make it off planet. The battle over, the three survivors rested, and mourned their fallen brothers. To Shadow, it felt as if he lost his entire family, as the clones were as close as that. To the others, they had quite literally lost their brothers, friends they had known since their creation.

Upon the arrival of Shadow's ship to Kamino, the Kaminoans were to find the bodies of the two Clones, dead by their own own hand, and Shadow curled up in a corner, silent.

The Clone Wars and Mandalore
Following the battle on Geonosis, Shadow disappeared. His involvement in the Clone Wars is disputed. Some say he fought as a mercenary for the Republic. Others say he returned to Foravar. Even others say he betrayed the Republic, instead joining the Separatists in their campaign. Whatever the truth, it is known that he resurfaced near the end of the Clone Wars as the Chief Advisor to the newest Mandalore.

In addition to his position as advisor, Shadow was one of Mandalore's premiere tech experts and his personal pilot, flying a number of combat missions for his leader. From his skills in these positions, it is inferred he spent his time during the Clone Wars studying the arts of technology and piloting. In these positions, he was a crucial man in Mandalore's quest to re-establish the clans.

Mercenary
For reasons unknown, the Mandalorian involvement in galactic affairs virtually disappeared, Mandalore and the fleets vanishing in a heartbeat. Without a job, Shadow convinced several of the remaining Mandalorians, as well as various mercenaries working for them, to join together to stay alive. Agreeing, the small group of men and women began working as mercenaries and smugglers.

After being hired for a job by a crime lord on Tatooine, Shadow and his men tracked their target to Korriban, while here, they discovered a holocron about the man known as Revan. Once a Jedi, a Sith, and then a Jedi again, Shadow and his mercs were fascinated. From this small holocron, they learned many things about Revan, and soon, within hours, came to respect him and his exploits.

Eventually, they found their target, killed him, and returned to the crime lord for payment. As any self resecting crime lord is going to do when he needs to pay his lackeys, the crime lord double crossed Shadow and his mercs, and attempted to murder them in cold blood. However, his plan was foiled, when Shadow and his merc team blasted through his palace, slaughtering his guards and killing the crime lord with his own blaster. Taking the money, various items of loot, and the crime lord's ship, the Ebon Hawk, the mercs fled to Coruscant. It was here they began research on Revan, intent on finding everything they could about him. Eventually, they found out that the Ebon Hawk once belonged to him, and the blaster they had taken from the crime lord's palace was actually a blaster both Cassus Fett and Revan once used. This amazed them.

For months, the mercs travelled the galaxy, getting odd jobs here and there, but never forgetting Revan and the things they had learned about him. Finally, they set up a permanent headquarters on a uncharted planet beyond the Outer Rim, X-27. After staying here for a month, they made contact with a Jedi named Alene Onais. Injured, extremely close to death, the Jedi never would have made it had Shadow not taken her in. For a time she stayed, resting until she was healed. It was then she asked for one favor: To be taken to Coruscant. Shadow agreed, and his crew flew her here. Once there, they bid her farewell, and went their separate ways.

Revan's Return
Not long after Alene left the planet, the Mandalorians had an even bigger surprise. An unknown enemy infiltrated their base, and, defending it the best they could, fought against the enemy. However, halfway through the gunfight, Shadow got a good look at his adversary. Recognizing him from the holocron on Korriban, Shadow was astonished to see the very man he aspired to be like: Revan.

Laying down their arms, the mercs surrendered to Revan. Impressed with their bravery and skill, Revan spared them. Asked to tell his story, Revan obliged, in exchange for the return of his ship, his original motive for coming to the planet. The Mandalorians agreed, and listened in awe as their idol told how he came to be alive three thousand years after his slated death. After he finished, they took Revan to the Ebon Hawk, and returned the blaster from the crime lord as well. However, the ship was meant to be crewed by more then one man. Revan was strong but he needed a crew. Luckily, the perfect crew was before him, and Revan asked the Mandalorians to join him. They accepted, and, now Revan;s personal crew, left the planet.

The Black Hand, and Mustafar
Shadow and the mercs trekked with Revan through many systems, in a search for items owned by the former Sith Lord. During this quest, Shadow and his crew began to refer to themselves as 'Revan's Black Hand.' The name stuck, and so they became known as such on the planets they spent time on.

One planet in particular was Mustafar. It was here that the crew suspected a assassin droid named HK-47 to be hiding, thanks to the stories of a group of spacers. Arriving on the planet, the crew dropped Revan off at a factory, and supported him with battlefield data from the ship. Shadow followed Revan through the factory in stealth mode, cleaning out the rooms Revan went through of all available information. As Revan slaughtered droids that attacked him, Shadow returned the data to the ship, augmenting the ship databanks.

Revan eventually made contact with HK-47, and revealed his presence. After HK's surrender, Revan and his crew, now joined by HK, met together in a hall of the factory. It was here Revan revealed HK-47 to be his droid, made years ago in the days of the Old Republic.

Hoth: Home Only to Exiles
Info to come......

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The section above is a part of an ongoing thread, and will be updated as needed. --Jasten und Revan 21:50, 7 May 2009 (UTC)