Makaera Tor

Jedi Master Makaera Tor was born on Shili in 21 BBY She was only a baby during the Clone Wars, and with all of the galactic upheaval, she was overlooked by the Jedi Order. When Order 66 happened, one of the Jedi that survived came to Shili to attempt to lay low. It was there that the Jedi came across Makaera and found her to be strong in the ways of the Force. As Togruta work well together in tribes, it was decided to bring the Jedi into the tribe and have him teach Makaera within the confines of the tribe. From what her parents understood, the Jedi had known Shaak Ti and had been close to her and that was one of the reasons why he had come to Shili. During the dark times, Makaera Tor was trained in secret and that was how it had to be maintained for safety’s sake. As she grew up, Makaera learned how to channel the ways of the Togruta, the pack mentality, into her lessons on the Force. A treat for Makaera were visits from Jedi Master Shaak Ti, who journeyed from Felucia to her homeworld of Shili. She personally instructed Makaera in lightsaber combat, while also teaching her the ability to channel the Force into her lightsaber and how to commune with the natural fauna of an area. Another Jedi that visited a few times was Jedi Master Rahm Kota

When she was sixteen, or five years before the Battle of Yavin, Makaera Tor began undergoing the trials, while still on Shili. She and her master had so far managed to escape the attention of the Galactic Empire. Her master and her had gained a name for themselves on Shili as true keepers of the peace, and people who could be trusted to properly mediate a problem. However, all was not well, and some of the people who felt that the two Jedi had been unfair to them, went to the Empire to tell them that there were Jedi on Shili. The Empire responded in true fashion, sending a pair of Dark Jedi to Shili to apprehend the two Jedi.

With stormtroopers given orders to crack down on the people, Makaera and her master had to make a decision on whether or not to stay and cause more harm or whether to leave and find safe haven elsewhere. Before they could act on their decision, which was to stay, the two Dark Jedi found them. Up until this point, all of her knowledge of lightsaber combat had been theoretical, her practice simple duels with the blades powered down. But this, this was true fighting. Makaera did not do that well and was injured, taking a stab wound to her right shoulder. However, her master was able to defeat the two Dark Jedi on his own. He put a message out to Rahm Kota that they were in dire need of help.

Kota was unable to respond to the call, and by the time he was able to, the Emperor had received word of what had happened to his two Dark Jedi and had decided to up the ante. An Imperial Inquisitor was sent to deal with Makaera and her master. With the Inquisitor’s Victory-class Star Destroyer in orbit on “routine patrol”, the Inquisitor had free reign on the ground below. When he found Makaera and her master, this time they were not so lucky. Her master was killed and she was captured by the Inquistor who decided that she was not too far gone to be turned to serve the Emperor’s will.

Tortured on board the Victory-class Star Destroyer, Makaera tried to resist as best as she could. Before her spirit completely broke however, the Force helped and intervened. The people of Shili, who had respected her master and her had informed Obi-Wan Kenobi of what had happened. He reached out to an old friend, another Jedi who he kept in touch with, Carsis Masi, of the Masi family. Carsis staged a rescue mission and the Jedi Knight saved Makaera while she was in transit to Coruscant for further mental and Force torture. Masi brought Makaera to a safe location, to a place called Ord Mantell. There, they were able to blend in with the riff raff, the bounty hunters, and the mercenaries. Scared and confused, Makaera was unsure of what to do next, but Carsis Masi insisted that she needed to finish her Jedi training. Her training was finished when she turned twenty, accelerated by the Jedi Knight so that she could help fight against the Empire, as revolt was brewing on a number of different planets around the galaxy.

As Starkiller was putting together his Rebellion, Makaera Tor became a Jedi Knight.

She started to move around the galaxy, reaching out to those who needed help and to show them that the Jedi were still around, even if they weren’t as strong as before. Makaera mediated where she could and dodged the Empire. All the while, she honed her lightsaber skills, slowly rising up the ranks on the Empire’s list of enemies of the state. She fought various Dark Jedi and members of the Inquisitors. Shaak Ti had taught her a skill on how to infuse her lightsaber with the Force to send tremors through the ground, a skill that Makaera refined and perfected over time. She learned from various sages and hermits throughout the galaxy, but not necessarily knowledge of the Force. More had to do with knowledge of self and knowledge of people than of anything truly regarding the Force.

To Makaera, a Jedi’s purpose was to help, to observe a problem and find the best possible solution. In order to do that, the Jedi needed to understand people. The Force was a mysterious entity and to her, the Force helped the Jedi so that they could serve the people. She assumed a false identity and keeping her use of the Force as minimal as possible, went to the Mrlsst Academy where she studied extensively. She learned much of philosophy and “how” to think. When her studies there were concluded, she went to the University of Byblos and garnered more knowledge and wisdom. By the time she was done with all of her studies, the Battle of Endor was over.

She decided that it was time that she stopped hiding in the shadows stirring up trouble by encouraging the youth of the universities to speak out against the Empire and out right fight against those who had an iron grip on the galaxy. So at the age of twenty seven, five years after the Battle of Yavin, Makaera Tor joined the New Republic. She received a commission and went to work on board a Mon Calamari cruiser as an officer on the bridge. She slowly rose through the ranks until she was commanding the vessel, an MC-40. During her time there, she met Calis Misaar and the two worked together multiple times. When Luke Skywalker met with and recruited Misaar, he also spoke with Makaera. To the Togruta, who had heard many stories of the Jedi Order of old from her now long deceased master, this was an exciting opportunity to better help the galaxy.

Because she had a few years of experience of Misaar, Makaera was appointed as her master. It didn’t take long for the Near-Human to complete her training and Skywalker approved of Calis being knighted. When the New Republic regained control of Coruscant and the Jedi Temple was reestablished, Makaera took up residence as a Jedi there and taught classes. While there, she was master to another padawan, one like her who had been found during the twenty or so years between the end of the Clone Wars and the Battle of Yavin and who’s training had already started. Makaera was able to finish that padawan’s training and had a second Jedi to her name. She worked with Derek Muir and his brother Erik Muir amongst others and was present on Coruscant when the Jedi Academy there was attacked by the Empire, thirteen years after the Battle of Yavin.

Makaera was one of the Jedi to flee Coruscant with the Death Star III in orbit. She went on the run, and in a mistake that she considers one of her greatest, she reacted instinctively. All of her life, she had been on the run or hiding from the Empire. Most of her training had been in secret. Because of this, fear gripped her when she saw the new Death Star and instead of fighting off planet, she ran and went underground. Thankfully, she was able to ensure the safety of a number of padawans and Jedi artifacts in the process. While she was underground, she continued the padawans’ training and learned much from the artifacts, in a way starting a very small minor Jedi Temple, onboard a cruise liner that traveled throughout the galaxy. A little while later, she received the all clear and she came to Onderon where the Jedi were building a new temple.

She helped to construct this new temple but when it was decided to add to the Jedi Council, she declined any and all nominations, withdrawing herself from the pool of available candidates. A Jedi that she had mentored in the past, Derek Muir, tried to speak with her to convince her not to do such a thing, but she did not feel worthy of being on the Council, as she had opted to run and not fight.

However, her chance at vindication would come soon enough. The Xen’Chi had arrived in the galaxy. She was given her old NR Navy commission back, though bumped up a few levels. Put in charge of a small task force, her mission was to counter attack the Xen’Chi where she could, while working on a weakness. She did her best and more than once fought against the Xen’Chi Chosen Priestess named Shan Tslav. At the end of the war, Makaera resigned her commission and opted to return to Onderon to continue teaching in the Jedi Ways.

There she would remain for the next year or so until Aaralyn Blackthorne and Darth Trayus attacked the Temple at Onderon. Makaera was among those who left for Ossus. It was the second time that she was fleeing because of an impending evil, and she was not happy that it had to be that way. She wasn’t at Ossus for long before the current Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Adam Sage, stepped down. To Makaera’s total surprise, she was elected not just onto the Jedi Council, but to the position of Grand Master of the Jedi Order to replace Sage.

Force Powers
Makaera Tor has been trained in a number of different Force techniques and practices. Because her master was a member of the Old Jedi Order, she had the luxury of being taught in the old ways and more importantly, of being taught a number of techniques that were thought lost to the Jedi for years because of the Purge. Her master and she used to meditate, which sometimes also involved movement. In order to better heal herself, Makaera worked on healing powers. Many times practicing this involved garnering a better manipulation of breath.

Tor learned a number of advanced skills, ones that she has taken a long period of time to properly master. Since she has been on the run and has had to hide in the past, she needs to better senses, better memory, make use of her environment. Shaak Ti instructed her on a method of channeling Force energy into her lightsaber and then impaling the ground with her weapon, creating Force tremors that shot out through the ground.

A particular triumph of hers is her use of the Art of the Small as well as Crucitorn.

Makaera is an extremely powerful and well trained Jedi. Outside of the above skills and powers, she possess a natural talent for telepathy and telekinesis. Many of her skills ‘‘can’’ be used in a combat situation and she has used them to great success before. But what makes her different than the warrior Jedi is that she doesn’t wish to fight, only when she absolutely has to. Because her skills are well suited for combat, it makes her a dangerous foe when provoked.

Lightsaber Combat
Trained in lightsaber combat by her master, and by Rahm Kota and Shaak Ti, Makaera Tor is well versed in lightsaber fighting. She has acquitted herself quite well against forces of the Empire, Dark Jedi, and Xen’Chi Chosen, amongst others. She possesses mastery of Makashi and Ataru, as well as a proficiency in Juyo. Her master wished for her to learn Jar’kai because when one has disarmed an opponent, some times it is better to utilize their lightsaber in order to keep control of it at all times. Furthermore, when faced with multiple enemies, it is always good to have an extra blade.