Galactic History
Choosing a career is not something you do lightly. It is something that follows us all our life, except in particular upheaval. Yet there are individuals who are constantly reinventing themselves, like chameleons. Three centuries ago, Atton "Jaq" Rand was a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. But he was also one of the most vivid examples of this kind of life. He was indeed in order: soldier, secret agent, assassin, smuggler and finally Jedi knight. Very atypical, which he was until the end of his last profession. He strove to be a different Jedi, especially from those he criticized in his previous incarnations.
Atton "Jaq" Rand was born on Alderaan, a world of the Galactic Core. Mandalorian attacks did not threaten them directly. However, he was already engaged at the time of the first battles. During this period of defeats, he developed like his comrades a feeling of disgust towards this galactic region from which he was nevertheless originally, but which did the minimum to support them in their fight. The institutions of the Republic and the Jedi Order suffered from this policy. These soldiers saw Revan and his Revanchists as saviors. And it was not for nothing that when their great general became Sith and turned against his camp, the vast majority of them followed him. Including Atton.
In the Republic forces, Atton Rand was known for his flying skills. But it was not these that interested the Sith of Darth Revan. He also had a connection to the Force, not spotted by the Jedi. A potential to be tapped, but not as a lightsaber wielder. Groups of assassins were then formed, developing more spy techniques than studying ancient artefacts. They were becoming more quiet, more lethal without sending lightning through their fingers or strangling from a distance with the Force. Strength they did not know they had. They just knew they were being sent to capture or eliminate Jedi. Atton was good at it. Worse, he liked it. A sadistic assassin who always asked for more blood. Until he stumbled upon a different prey. This Jedi master sought to create a bond between their two minds so that he realized what he was becoming. She succeeded, but he killed her. It was only later that he understood. He got scared, and he fled. He spent the remainder of the war in the fringes of the Outer Rim, hiding from his former allies as from those who might seek revenge. But above all, he was hiding from himself.
A few years later, the smuggler Atton Rand had become was arrested by security at the mining colony of Peragus II. Locked in a force field, he was bored with abandon when the door opened to let a woman in her underwear pass. He recognized Meetra Surik, a former Jedi who had served as a general under Revan during the Mandalorian Wars and then disappeared into the Unknown Regions without participating in the Jedi Civil War. One of the few jedi for whom he still had some respect. They quickly discovered that everyone on the station was dead, leaving only three survivors. Hunted down by bounty hunters and the Sith Triumvirate, the last remnant of Darth Revan's Empire, they allied and prepared to face their adversaries.
During this adventure, Atton's confidence and affection towards Meetra Surik increased sharply. During a stopover on Nar Shaddaa, a world he knew well as a smuggler, this manifested in two ways. First, when he himself offered to serve as a decoy in a cantina when his comrade was to join a secret meeting. Then, when two Twi'lek refugees confronted him with his past, he confessed everything to him. This was the starting point for his training in his new life. Meetra Surik transformed him into a Sentinel Jedi, destined to protect the innocent from threats like those of the Sith assassins. This is how he survived the war against the Sith Triumvirate.
Meetra Surik
The High Jedi Council disowned Meetra Surik after the Mandalorian Wars. After Malachor V's victory against the Sith Triumvirate, she chooses not to return and to return to accomplish a special mission in the Unknown Regions. But his disciples joined the Order, and all became respected masters. Some even sit on the Council. They all helped rebuild after these devastating wars for the workforce. Among them, Atton Rand was the one who embodied the most human face. He was always laid back and irreverent. A smuggler, a thug, who did not seem to consider the rules as essential. But also the closest to the concerns of the people who depended on them. An essential role to guide the young generation, but unfortunately far too infrequently replaced. It is not for nothing that in the collection of heroes' outfits from this period, we find at the Cartel Market the one he wore as a smuggler.
It should also be noted that Atton Rand had found a practical use for one of the talents of the training that the Sith lavished on him. By making lists, keeping his mind busy all the time, he managed to scramble his brain waves so that other Force users couldn't read his thoughts and intentions. Especially when he intended to strike. To train, to prepare but also to hide, he got into the habit of playing pazaak games in his head. Which turned him into a great player. And also as an outstanding bluffer when the situation required it.
