Kodo Tarkal

Kodo Tarkal is a Xexto male explorer who's lead a troubled life. The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Kodo has sought for a life of solitude away from the politics and division which cost his family and friends their lives.

Early Life
Although Kodo was born on Troiken his family spent little time on the Xexto homeworld. His parents were starfarers and fringers, spending their time on leased cargo haulers and freighters. To many, his childhoold wouldn't be viewed as wholesome, living aboard different ships, making your home in the various berths, but to Kodo so long as his family was together he was content. As an aspiring pilot himself, there was nowhere else Kodo wanted to be than aboard a starship and learning from the best, his father Mazer Tarkal.

The Family Business
Mazer Tarkal, a former champion podracer, had found a niche business for his family, offering the services of a skilled crew for various vessels. Whether it be the Imperial Government or other charters, putting together a good crew was time-consuming and costly. Larger dray-haulers were easy enough to secure but Mazer's Chartering could fill that gap and furnish a trustworthy and reliable crew. In total, all fifteen of the crew were related in some fashion to Mazer. Cousins, siblings, uncles, and even his wife and child made up his modest company. It was a humble business, Mazer was quite aware that they were being unpaid by the Imperial Contracting Officers largely due to his non-human business status but it kept his family fed and a few credits in his pocket so he didn't protest. Kodo took after his father and leaned into the business in every way he could. He helped his uncles with the repairs, learned to cook and clean in the galley, and spent time with his father in the cockpit learning how to fly.

A Life in the Stars
Given the nature of the family business, Kodo spent most of his time offship in start ports and terminals waiting for his family to secure their next deal. Given the liberty to explore, Kodo became fascinated with the histories and cultures of their various destinations. He began passionately tracking where they had been, the galactic features and anomalies on their route, and the trade lanes and paths they had forged throughout the stars. He had a small datapad with all the places he had visited and often could be seen wistfully looking into the stars for their next magnificent destination.

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
Kodo's life changed quite abruptly one fateful journey. His family was hired to move a load of supplies for an Imperial Garrison trying to bolster their presence on the mining colony of Castell. The Commerce Guild had requested Imperial aid when their workers rebelled. What began as a small labor dispute rapidly evolved into a planetary civil war. The workers outnumbered the Commerce Guild security forces three-to-one but the Commerce Guild had ensured their security was aptly armed. With the firepower of a small militia, the situation on Castell was a thermal detonator rigged to blow. The Empire had done it's diligence in quelling and rumors or news on the insurrection. Rebellions were beginning to spark all over the Empire and the Empire didn't need a regional economic breadbasket to compromise their already tenuous position. For that reason, when Mazer and his family signed the contract, they had no idea the conflict and turmoil they were flying in to.

It erupted two days before they arrived. A protest was getting particularly violent and one of the more junior Commerce Guild security guards got nervous and slipped the trigger. A quick hail of blaster bolts into the back of a young woman was all it took. The planet erupted into all out warfare. Thousands died within the first few hours of the conflict before both sides took a step back to regroup and plan their next attack. Mazer and his family arrived in an Imperial Hauler the following day. The laborers, now rebadged as the Free Miners' Coalition, had rapidly overtaken the Commerce Guild in space. When an Imperial Hauler showed up on the scanners, they assumed it was Imperial reinforcement to back the beleaguered forces. Without warning, they shot the hauler out of the sky and sent it careening to the planet below. The vessel wasn't equipped to have such a large crew, typically piloted by droids with a small watch keeping crew, so their were only a few escape pods. Most had been damaged or destroyed in the brutal attack. Mazer was grievously wounded and his wife had died in the initial attack. With his last bit of strength, he collected Kodo who had been knocked out by an exploding bulkhead and placed him in the escape pod - jettisoning it before the entire hauler broke up in it's fiery descent in the atmosphere.

Alone
Kodo awoke alone and afraid. The escape pod had crash landed in a rocky expanse of Castell, miles from the closest settlement. He stayed in the pod for nearly a week, trying to ration out the consumables and stay warm during the cold desert nights. He was waiting for his parents to arrive or someone from his family to come help him. Two weeks passed with no sign and Kodo's supplies began to run low. A day before he ran out of water, a landspeeder approached. A woman arrived and introduced herself as Hethan Romund. She was a scholar and was here to study a nearby set of ruins. She saw the crash and was tracking the emergency beacon on the pod. She offered him food and shelter and a way out of the wasteland. Kodo was hesitant but realized he had little options. Reluctantly, he joined her and they began the path back

Powers Unknown
As they journeyed back, Hethan began to grow worried. Had used the beacon to navigate herself to his location but hadn't mapped out her return. They drove long into the night and the landspeeder's dash began to signal low fuel. Hethan was about to panic but a sudden calm washed over her. She looked at Kodo, who appeared distant and glassy-eyed, he told her quietly where to go and she followed the directions. Within an hour they were back at her camp. This was the first time Kodo had actively used his powers. Hethan thanked him and offered him a place to stay while she completed her studies.

He had always been better at things than some others. His mothers always asked him to find things for her that she misplaced and his father used Kodo's recollection for shipping lanes more than he did his navicomputer. Kodo had never considered the possibility that he had some kind of power, he had just figured he was good that sort of thing. Hethan, a scholar of the fallen order of the Jedi, sat with him over the next few months and explained to him what his powers represented, how he could harness them, and other aspects of the order. Kodo was fascinated, he had heard of the Jedi in the past but little more than rumors and passing anecdotes from pilots and captains in the starports. To consider the possibility that he possessed powers akin to these fallen sentinels of justice was almost too much to bear.

An Apprentice Scholar
Hethan was far from an easy host. Kodo was put to work right away, cleaning and cataloging every finding from the ruin. She quickly realized the Xexto's mental aptitude and fantastic recall so she used him as a portable encyclopedia. His force powers also helped them in finding small trinkets and even a hidden chamber in the ruins which she had previously missed.

After months of study, Hethan's operation was coming to a close. She began to tear down the camp and she could see Kodo becoming more anxious as he saw his only potential friend in the galaxy stepping out of his life. She was unable to take him with her, the Imperial Institute did not look highly on non-humans and it would affect her ability to continue to research. She did; however, have many friends due to her extensive travels. She made a few calls and arranged for Kodo to be hired by one of her peers, a Corellian pilot named Bren Novar. He had recently been dismissed from CORSEC and was flying escort for merchant charters. Kodo was assigned as a shipmate and crew to Novar's squadron, so long as he had the skill to fly; little did Novar know he would be greatly surprised.

A Call for Help
After years of flying with Novar, Kodo was now a skilled pilot in his own right. He specialized in the larger ships and often would pilot gunboats or even freighters within the convoys. He was spending the evening in the berth, waiting for their orders to move, when suddenly a voice called out to him. It was different though - it was distant and in his mind. He recognized the voice as his old friend and rescuever, Hethan Romund. It had been years since he'd seen her but he recognized the voice all the same. She was calling for him, begging for his help. She sounded in pain and desperate. Kodo tried to reach out but wasn't sure how to reach her, his mind unable to form the words. He finally received a small vision, a flash of a mountain top and knew where she was: Spintir. Kodo went to Novar and explained what he had seen. Novar was unable to leave to assist, as he was already en route to meeting a new potential client near Fondor, but he transferred sufficient credits to cover the journey and wished him luck.

Emboldened and resolved, Kodo departed in search of his savior and friend.

Trivia
Hethan is afraid of lothcats after a brief but harrowing encounter in the Lothal starport.