Nick Rostu

Biography

Summertime War

Rostu spent most of his childhood in Pelek Baw, where he lost his native Korun accent and learned to speak Basic perfectly. His experiences there prompted him to join the Korunnai partisans during the Summertime War, giving him sufficient combat experience to eventually be enlisted into the Upland Liberation Front established at the start of the Clone Wars.

Depa Billaba sent Rostu to locate Jedi Master Mace Windu after Windu arrived in Pelek Baw. Together with Lesh, Besh, and Chalk, Rostu rescued Windu from an ambush and escorted him upcountry into the jungle. After enduring militia gunship attacks, fever wasps, and other dangers, they reached Billaba's camp. Mace Windu later appointed Rostu as his aide, an arrangement that would eventually irritate them both.

Nick Rostu had intended to leave Haruun Kal and become a mercenary. This was his main reason for accepting Mace Windu's appointment, as he had told Mace Windu.

Rostu served with distinction in the Battle of Pelek Baw and the Battle of Haruun Kal, operating heavy weapons emplacements and fighting with two slug-throwers. In the final engagement, although severely wounded by a vibroshield wielded by Iolu, he prevented Depa Billaba from killing herself. Rostu returned to Coruscant with Mace Windu. Although Windu appointed Rostu only to the rank of Brevet Major, a recommendation was submitted to the Galactic Senate to confirm it and also nominate him for a Medal of Valor for his actions on Haruun Kal.

Resistance fighter

Rostu served with the Grand Army of the Republic throughout the war, leading the 44th Division, which became known under his command as Rostu's Renegades, and saw action on Ando, Bassadro, Atraken, and several other fronts. Rostu would always remember the fear, hardship, and extreme conditions of every battle. He had anticipated a comfortable retirement after the Clone Wars. However, following the rise of the Galactic Empire, he was warned that he must swear fealty to the new regime or face execution. After learning earlier that day of Mace Windu's fate, Rostu refused, killed the officers, and entered the Coruscant underworld, where a street gang nearly killed him on his first night.

Six weeks later, Rostu saved the life of a wealthy Kitonak merchant. The merchant proved to be a member of the Whiplash, an underground resistance movement. Rostu was invited to join, and, with no pay, little rest, and considerable danger, he saw no difference between the movement and the Upland Liberation Front. With nowhere else to go and wanted for murder, he agreed to join.

While leading a group of resistance fighters, Rostu witnessed Even Piell's death in an abandoned casino in Coruscant's Crimson Corridor and promised to relay his final mission to Jax Pavan.

After helping Jax Pavan escape from stormtroopers in the Blackpit Slums, Rostu told him that he needed to find a droid named "Bug-Eyes," that was supposedly carrying vital information for the Whiplash. Later, back in the Zi-Kree Sector, he joined a game of shronker, specifically Hot Bespin, with a Yevetha. After defeating the Yevetha, two smugglers captured him and brought him before Darth Vader.

After being mentally tortured by Vader, he was ordered to bring him Jax Pavan; otherwise, Vader would destroy Rostu's ghôsh on Haruun Kal. Feeling that he had no choice, Rostu accepted. Strangely, seeing Rostu overcome by fear led Haninum Tyk Rhinann to decide to leave Vader.

Rostu agonized over his decision, particularly when he reunited with Pavan, who was now partnered with the droid I-5YQ, the Sullustan reporter Den Dhur, and the Twi'lek Gray Paladin Laranth Tarak. He was eventually spared from having to choose. When he encountered the Black Sun members Xizor, Kaird, and Bug-Eyes in Coruscant's Factory District, Xizor's pheromones lured Rostu in. After all his allies were captured, Rostu used Bug-Eyes's command code to take control of the droid and attack Xizor.

Xizor easily defeated him, impaling him on a piece of shrapnel that sliced him in the opposite direction from his Haruun Kal scar. During the ensuing duel between Pavan and Xizor, a reactor beneath the district was damaged. Believing he was dying, Rostu told Pavan why he had acted as he did and also felt that he could see Mace Windu. Rostu, Pavan, and their allies escaped aboard the Far Ranger. After the damaged reactor exploded, Vader believed Pavan was dead and abandoned his search.

During their escape, I-Five realized that Rostu was still alive and later stabilized him aboard the Far Ranger.

Servant of Blackhole

"Anything worth hitting is worth hitting twice."

Sometime after leaving Jax Pavan's company, Rostu met and entered into a relationship with Aeona Cantor. As a Force-sensitive, Rostu attracted the attention of Imperial Agent Blackhole, who captured him and brought him to Mindor as part of a plot to capture Luke Skywalker. This led Aeona to organize a resistance movement on Mindor in an attempt to rescue Rostu.

Under the influence of Blackhole's Shadow Crown, a device that effectively made Rostu an extension of Blackhole's will, Rostu became the most powerful of his Pawns, taking the name Lord Shadowspawn—a title Skywalker would later recognize as a pun, referring to Rostu as "Shadow's Pawn" rather than as the "Spawn of Shadows." After being forced to fight a theatrical battle against Skywalker, his meltmassif hat was inadvertently damaged by Skywalker without activating the fail-safe, which would have killed Rostu. The damage enabled Luke to free him from his enslavement, and Rostu helped the Jedi rescue Leia Organa and Han Solo, who had been captured by Blackhole using the body of Rostu's old nemesis, Kar Vastor, when they arrived on Mindor in an attempt to rescue Skywalker.

While helping to rescue Organa, Rostu reunited with Cantor, and the two commandeered Blackhole's personal shuttle to track down the Imperial's true body. They returned to rescue Skywalker and Vastor, who had been stranded when Mindor was destroyed as part of Blackhole's plan. Rostu then parted ways with Skywalker and, together with Cantor and Vastor, continued trying to track down Blackhole, who had disappeared while attempting to escape.

Personality and traits

Nick Rostu spent much of his childhood in Pelek Baw, and those experiences later helped make him a capable officer in the ULF. Despite this, Kar Vastor frequently insulted him over actions that Mace Windu regarded as noble.

Rostu generally had an irreverent aura. He was often taunting and sarcastic, and frequently asked Windu whether he was crazy. However, he could also be a ruthless fighter and a cheerful companion. The Summertime War took a heavy toll on him: Chalk, the girl he had hoped to marry, was killed while he and Windu attempted to apprehend Kar Vastor.

Rostu began his career as an admirer of Vastor. However, after spending time with Windu, he repeatedly expressed a desire—and even attempted—to shoot Vastor.

Powers and abilities

As a Korun, Nick Rostu had at least a mild connection to the Force. He was also an exceptional shot with a blaster pistol, capable of shooting a lightsaber from Depa Billaba's hand without injuring her. On Mindor, he could shoot torpedoes launched by TIE bombers out of the sky, a feat that Luke Skywalker could accomplish only through the Force.