Raviston Tressen

" 'I’m surrounded by cowards and men who cower from responsibility, it seems.' - General Striker on Ilum. "

Early Life
The man who would become General Striker was born as Raviston Meji on the world of Ossus in 59 BBY. His parents, two artifact hunters who made a living selling artifacts and thrift goods, were named Garu and Kashi Meji. Garu Meji's life began on Ord Mantell, his family being one of traders that had lived on the planet for generations. Kashi Meji was born Kashi Tressen, to a pair of academics from Carida, a military world. Kashi Tressen's parents were obsessed with archaeology and the past of the Galaxy, instilling that into their oldest daughter, but not their son, Maragon. Maragon Tressen was a sturdy built young man, prone to wild outbursts of anger, so much so that his parents were sometimes afraid of him. To help the young boy control his anger and outbursts, the Tressen family sent him to the prestigious Carida Military Academy. Later in life, Maragon Tressen would attend the Judicial Academy on Coruscant, rising through the ranks to eventually become an Admiral in the Judicials. Life was difficult for Garu and Kashi Meji, their livelihood revolved around traveling and exploration of different planets, as well as bartering and trading. They had times of great success and times of great poverty and strife. Early in their marriage, the two attempted to search for goods on the former Jedi holy world of Ossus, hearing about the possibility of untold treasures from the Old Republic lying under the sands and in abandoned temples. The two found nothing but broken pottery and rusted away lightsaber parts, for nearly a year they worked on finding whatever they could, eating scraps and barely surviving the planet's harsh environment. The situation was more complicated in the fact that Kashi was pregnant. Although their first child, a boy, was healthy at birth, they knew their present financial situation would make caring for a young child nearly impossible. The two made the hard decision to give the baby to Kashi's older brother, Maragon, who by this time was a rising star in the Republic's Judicial Fleet. Without a wife of his own and no children, Maragon was eager to have a son as a protege. With that, Raviston Meji would leave his parents and become, officially, Raviston Tressen.

Young Raviston's life was difficult, he knew nothing of his birth parents, as his "father" Maragon explained that he was adopted. Maragon Tressen was not a nuturing or loving father, he was a strict disciplinarian who often resorted to military-style punishments when his son did things incorrectly. By the time that Raviston reached the age of schooling, he knew that he wanted to eventually join the military, following in the footsteps of his father. By this time, Maragon had retired from the Judicial Forces with the rank of Admiral, an impressive feat as the Judicials were, more or less, only engaged with pirates and the occasional planetary separatists. The retired Admiral had taken a position as the castellan of another academy, this one being on the planet of Corulag, moving Raviston and himself there, he began teaching at the institution. Once his son was old enough, Maragon began llaying the groundwork for his son to join the academy for specialized instruction after basic training at the Judicial Academy on Coruscant.

Life in the Military
Raviston Tressen was a bright young man, and his curiosity and mental affinity continued as he grew older, despite a few moments of medical emergency while at the Judicial Academy on Coruscant. Tressen was nearly killed during a training accident early into his second year at the academy, while engaging in a training scenario concerning how to put fires out on ships. He was in a coma for nearly a week, and his father was furious, nearly assaulting the head teacher of the Academy in a rage, nevertheless, Raviston soon was back to his studies after a month of medical recuperation. The young man had a few scars from the accident, but his most noticeable injury was his memory lapses, he would have forgetful moments that required medicine to help repair damaged parts of his brain. Despite the injuries he sustained, Raviston Tressen would graduate top of his class from the Judicial Academy in 38 BBY, after this he was accepted for further studies at the facility on Corulag where his father was still an instructor. Four years later, Raviston graduated from advanced studies at the Academy, surviving brutal training that his aging father put him and other cadets through. Now commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Republic Judicial Forces, Raviston Tressen, now aged 25, began to journey into the greater Galaxy. Through his own drive and determination, as well as a written letter of recommendation from his now bedridden father, Raviston was assigned to the Republic's elite Special Task Force. This group was a rare part of the Galactic Republic, comprising of elite members of the Judicial Forces whose sole task was to hunt down and engage space pirates throughout the Galaxy, Lieutenant Tressen was assigned as a weapons officer on the Republic Consular-class cruiser Steadfast under the command of Captain Bardel-Tor Maseena, a Cerean tactician who had served under Raviston's father for nearly a decade. For seven years, Raviston served under Captain Maseena on the fringes of the Outer Rim, battling pirates, assisting Republic-aligned factions on warring planets, and engaging in security for diplomats and occasionally Jedi. The year of the fated Raxus Address, a speech given by former Jedi Count Dooku denouncing the Galactic Republic and establishing the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Raviston Meji, now ranked Commander, was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Judicial Forces and given command of his own ship. With increased tensions between the Republic and this new group of disenfranchised systems and peoples, the Judicial Forces were given more supplies, greater weaponry, and an increased budget. This led to Raviston commanding the newly christened Rendili Dreadnaught Star of Coruscant, for nearly two tense years Raviston and his crew would survey the borders between the Republic and the newly created Separatists, and more than a few times the growing forces of the Confederacy would goad the Star of Coruscant into open conflict, each time Raviston would use his craftiness and resolve to avoid conflict. Soon however, conflict would be unavoidable, when in 22 BBY the Separatists took hostages, two Jedi and a Senator. With this brazen act, the Supreme Chancellor declared war, establishing the Grand Army of the Republic through the Military Creation Act the Senate passed. For all intense and purposes, the Judicial Forces were reorganized into the Republic military, and so was Raviston Tressen. Despite being dead for nearly a decade, Maragon Tressen's accomplishments still rang throughout the halls of the Judicial Forces and the Senate, with this, as well as his own accomplishments, Raviston was given a commission as a Commander in the Republic Army, the paperwork of which was signed by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine himself.

The Clone Wars
Commander Raviston Tressen would serve in the regular army during the opening stages of the Clone Wars, taking part in many early campaigns and earning letters of commendation from both the Republic Army and the Jedi Order for his bravery and tactical brilliance. Within four months, Tressen was transferred from the regular army to an elite detachment of the Republic Army: the Advanced Recon Force. Those who served in the ARF were acknowledged for their survival capabilities and short-range scouting of enemy positions, and their numbers were primarily made up of specialized Clone Troopers bred of the same genetic template. Tressen was given the position of Commanding officer of Advanced Recon Forces squadron 828, nicknamed Trigha Squad, on the orders of Republic General Gariset Zeneva, who was schooled by Raviston's own father decades before the war.

The squadron almost immediately faced problems. Commander Tressen often butted heads with Lieutenant Targo, the highest raking clone trooper in the squadron, over anything from strategy to when the soldiers would arrive for roll call. One time, it got physical, the two fought hand to hand until both men fainted from fatigue, after that moment the clones began to respect Tressen more. After that confrontation, the soldiers were sent to the agricultural world of Qiilura on a dual mission: protect civilians and scout for secretly dropped Separatist soldiers attemtping to cause chaos. It was in that battle that Tressen and Trigha Squadron would fight side by side with a Jedi for the first time, Keisha Farlander-Darklighter, a Jedi diplomat who was sent by the order to also protect civilians. During one scouting mission on the planet, Trigha also learned of two more squadrons of Clone troopers on the planet, namely the commando squadrons Vod and Cresh.

The skirmish on Qiilura led to the capture of not only the Jedi, but of Tressen, Trigha squadron, and the others. Eventually, the group was able to escape the Separatist vessel they were on before it got to its destination: a Separatist penal colony. Returning to Coruscant, Tressen gained an admiration for the courage of the Jedi, and he was given another commendation for the intelligence gathered about a possible Separatist plot to use rare metals to create lightsaber-resistant battle droids. This commendation was unique however, in that this would be the first time he would meet face to face with the leader of the Republic, Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.

By the end of the Clone Wars, Tressen had been promoted to the rank of Colonel, and his position of Commander of Trigha Squadron replaced by Targo, now promoted to Clone Captain. In 19 BBY, Tressen and Trigha Squadron were a part of the Outer Rim Sieges, specifically in combat with the Separatists around the world of Zaadja. It was in that battle that the order was passed down to Trigha Squadron's clone troopers to eliminate the Jedi. Although Tressen did not recieve the same order, he was nevertheless informed of the Jedi's treachery, and Trigha proceeded to execute three Jedi who worked with them during the siege of Zaadja. Trigha Squadron lost over half of their men to the Jedi, including Targo, but the squad was commended by High Command for a job well done. It was around this time that something would happen to Tressen that would change his life, while fighting the Jedi, he was almost struck by one of their blades, but as he stuck his hand out to hopefully protect his head, the Jedi moved backwards slightly. Tressen, confused and his body shaking from adrenaline, passed out after slicing the final Jedi's neck open with a combat knife. With that, the war was over, all that was left to do was mop up the remaining Confederate forces and the traitorous Jedi. A year later, while in the hospital recovering from his injuries, an emissary from the Emperor himself visited the location. While speaking with the individual, Tressen told the story of what happened, along with the mysterious event that saved his life. Shocked, the emissary left the building, returning a week later with a demand from the Emperor himself for Tressen to come to the Imperial palace and explain what happened to him in person.