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- "I might only have a shred of honor left, but I'll hold onto it for as long as I can."
- — Ka'Lo
Ka'Lo, or Ka'Lomera as she was originally known, is a Xen'Chi who was born into the Warrior caste of the Xen'Chi Dominion. She thrives in battle, specializing in bladed weapons, but she's more than willing to fight with whatever is available to her.
Near the end of the Xen'Chi War she was taken prisoner after she was left for dead from being too near an explosion. After the war ended, she was sold into slavery, but continued to prove her worth as a pit fighter and eventually as a full-fledged gladiator.
After an unexpected incident on Nar Kresh, Ka'Lo gained her freedom and ended up on Mandalore. She now finds herself embroiled in a Mandalorian civil war as she continues to seek out meaning for herself as a Xen'Chi bereft of everything she had once believed in.
History[]
Early History[]
Ka'Lomera was born into the Warrior caste of the Xen'Chi Dominion. She was trained how to fight as soon as she could walk and pick up a weapon. She fanatically believed in the honor and glory of serving her people as the first to enter a battle and the last to leave it. Although she was considered a fine warrior, there was nothing particularly exceptional about her that made her stand out from the thousands of other warriors that comprised the forces of the Dominion.
Ka'Lomera would see action in dozens of skirmishes on the edges of Dominion space before news reached her that the legendary Xa'Tieron had been found and would lead the Xen'Chi to a glorious conquest of the rest of the galaxy. Like many Xen'Chi, she idolized the Xa'Tieron and her Chosen and was only too eager to serve as part of the invasion force. She helped to take part in several battles during the war; mercilessly slaughtering any of the inferior creatures who dared to stand against the Xen'Chi Dominion.
As the forces of the Dominion rapidly spread through the galaxy, it seemed as if nothing could stop the Xa'Tieron's mandate of total domination. However the string of victories wasn't destined to last and Ka'Lomera would soon find her faith in the superiority of the Xen'Chi tested in ways she never expected...
The Fall[]
- "Destiny smiles on the Xen'Chi. A few setbacks won't shake my faith in our purpose."
- — Ka'Lomera
The momentum of the war soon began to change for the worse. Ka'Lomera began to see news reports of the enemy rallying and defeating the Dominion's forces at certain locations, she heard rumors of an unstoppable Black Beast appearing on random battlefields and slaughtering scores of Xen'Chi warriors like some kind of demon from mythology, and no amount of propaganda could hide the failure of To'Barren and Warmaster Hell'Kattar to take Coruscant despite a heavy numerical advantage. Still, despite all the bad news, Ka'Lomera remained fanatically loyal to her people and the cause.
She volunteered to be part of the force that was being assembled to take the planet Mandalore, eager to pit her skills against such a skilled warrior culture. Instead she found herself assigned to a different campaign to secure the northern Hydian Way and open up the Corporate Sector for conquest. As it turned out, Ka'Lomera's time in the war would end during an ill-fated battle to try and take Telos IV. During the battle, the Dominion forces were unexpectedly ordered to withdraw and help reinforce the defenses of Chil'a'Chin.
Being forced to retreat was already disgraceful enough, but Ka'Lomera was caught near an explosion while trying to reach a transport and knocked unconscious. When she came to, she found herself a prisoner of the Empire. Once it was clear she had no useful knowledge to give them, she was placed in a work camp and forced to do hard labor until the end of the war.
When news eventually reached Ka'Lomera that not only had the Xen'Chi Dominion been defeated, but that the invincible Xa'Tieron had been killed and her homeworld had been devastated by orbital bombardment, it nearly broke her spirit completely. She became resigned to the idea of being cursed - all but dead to everyone except for a small spark of hope that she could one day reclaim her lost honor somehow. She became nearly useless as a prisoner and was sold to the Zygerrian Slavers Guild in an attempt by the Empire to get some last bit of worth out of her.
Finding New Purpose[]
- "She's still in surprisingly good shape for a captured Xen'Chi. Most either take their own lives or get themselves killed to fulfill their warrior code. It's rare to find one that decides to persevere. I'll take her!"
- — Dorval Trinivii Jian, before buying Ka'Lomera
The Zygerrians quickly discovered that the greatest use they could get out of Ka'Lomera was as a pit fighter. She was sent to battle all manner of opponents in some of the dingiest arenas imaginable, but she thrived when allowed to let loose. Once word got around the underworld that there was a Xen'Chi pit fighter, she began to amass a following of regular spectators eager to see her fight and lose as some kind of recompense for the war her kind had inflicted upon the galaxy. The pits had few rules or regulations, if they had them at all, so Ka'Lomera frequently fought for her life with the odds stacked against her - which appealed to her ingrained belief in the superiority of her race.
However, the longer she fought and triumphed, the more the hate from the crowd started to turn into grudging respect and even admiration. After a few years in the pits, she became a popular draw to bring in audiences. It was at this point that her reputation caught the attention of Dorval Trinivii Jian, who was looking to make a name for himself and his kajidic at the biggest and most influential fighting arenas in all the galaxy: the gladiatorial games on Nar Kresh. Dorval was able to buy Ka'Lomera from the Zygerrians and she became part of his newly assembled elite group of gladiators that he dubbed his "Pawa Goba", or "Power Seven" in Basic.
Facing a Nightmare[]
- "I'm already such a disgrace that it doesn't seem to matter how deep I go now. I survived the war and was too much of a coward to take my own life."
- — Ka'Lomera.
Ka'Lomera kept her distance from the rest of the Pawa Goba at first, preferring to remain aloof and just cooperative enough to achieve what was asked of her and nothing more. She held her own quite well and was able to consistently best most of them in combat. The only exceptions were the veteran Bitthævrian mercenary Giil Ravak Qotan Nak and the nominal leader of the group, the Barabel assassin Skarrek. It was Skarrek that truly interested Ka'Lomera after she determined that he had been the infamous "Black Beast" she had heard about during the war. She determined that the reason she had survived for so long was because her true destiny was to kill Skarrek and avenge all of her fallen comrades.
Ka'Lomera bided her time for the right moment to challenge Skarrek, knowing full well that she stood little chance of killing him while he was full strength. Her chance finally came after a rival gladiator from another kajidic calling himself "Mandalore" nearly killed Skarrek in the arena. The Barabel survived his wounds, but was weakened while he recovered from the match. Wielding a Srraka Blade that had been acquired to make her more "authentic looking" in the arena, she challenged Skarrek to a fight to the death.
Despite his condition, Skarrek accepted and the two engaged in battle. Ka'Lomera fought well at the start of the match, managing to land several strikes on Skarrek, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He unleashed his full fighting potential against her, first snapping her Srraka in half, and then pinning her to the ground with his foot.
Skarrek offered her two choices: surrender or be killed.
Filled with nothing but feelings of disgust at herself and her weakness, Ka'Lomera chose the most disgraceful option and surrendered to Skarrek.
A New Understanding[]
- "You give yourself too little credit, Ka'Lomera. That's your biggest problem. You'll be a formidable warrior once you fully come to terms with the reality of your situation."
- — Skarrek