Dranor Kargak

"'Instructor Kargak...you are getting better at these speeches, from a lone wanderer in the Galaxy to one of the foremost experts of covert work and assassination in the Republic military, and I thought the clones grew fast.' - A Kaminoan cloner speaks to Dranor Kargak, 19 BBY"

Early Beginnings
Dranor Kargak was born on Phindar to Kru'delor and Zera Kargak, two Mandalorian warriors who were banished from their home world before the official start of the Mandalorian Civil Wars. Their family were in a long line of traditionalists, but their ideology split from that of the official opposition to pacifist factions on Mandalore, the Death Watch. Unofficially, these splinter groups formed the basis for the umbrella-term of Old Mandalorians. Their ways could not align with the extremist views of the Death Watch, nor could they lay down their arms with the New Mandalorians. Kru'delor Kargak had been a warrior of the utmost renown, even gaining an audience with the Mand'alor himself after skirmishes against Hutt Cartel raiders. Zera Kargak was born under the given name of Kezinon, a minor clan under the auspices of Clan Rook. The armor passed down from the Kezinon family carried the same colors Clan Rook warriors fought under: yellow and purple.

Young Dranor's life would change forever with the start of the Mandalorian Civil Wars, with the sect he lived in secret with throwing their helmets into the ring to decide the fate of the warrior peoples. Unfortunately for them, they were caught up in a devastating bombing raid during a battle on Mandalore's surface that reduced the area to a crater, the only thing remaining of Kru'delor and Zera Kargak were their armor. The lucrative armor was stolen as prizes of victory and spoils of war. When Dranor, not barely fifteen, found out, he began searching for the lost armor, determined to gain revenge for what had happened to his family, and to reclaim the stolen armor, a symbol of his family. Dranor Kargak was already a crack sniper by this point, preferring to use his large, muscular build to climb to high perches and take aim there. He rarely used a jetpack, only when needed, preferring to boost his physical strength by walking, running, and climbing to areas he needed to go. He would soon track down his armor on Concordia, where the Death Watch had been exiled to, there, he ran into someone with information related to his armor. A bartender, nodding when the color of the armor and style of the certain type of heavy armor was explained to him, pointing to a group of Mandalorian warriors in the very same bar.

The young Kargak was lucky, while he did not have the traditional beskar armor of his forefathers, he did have a set of lighter armor made from the same strong metal. It was a suit of armor hundreds of years old, always remaining as a trophy in his father's war room as a warning to all those who entered. Like a steel sentinel, two sets of ancient Mandalorian armor from the Old Republic era, golden in their appearance and masked with the dome of a Neo-Crusader. Men were astonished when they saw the young Dranor, strolling in as if he was out of the pages of a holo-drama centuries before. Kargak probably could have continued to use the ancient armor, but he was determined to bring his family's piece back into his possession, or die trying.

The duel wasn't quick, both warriors engaging in hand to hand combat with vibroknives only. It was brutal and extended out of the bar, Dranor went up against a truly formidable foe, ver'alor Kaizar Hozen, one of the right hand men of the Death Watch leader himself. The man was skilled, but the thing that young Dranor had on his side was his youthfulness, with Hozen being nearly into his sixties by this time. Kargak suffered severe injuries, but he was able to kill Hozen and take his armor back. Had he not had the Kargak family chain code memorized, and able to access it in the stolen armor, he would have more than likely been killed by the Death Watch comrades of Hozen. However, he was not only spared, but he was nursed back to health by the Watch on Concordia, this would be the first time he would meet a significant figure in his future: Artoria Eldar.