Hergan Yaris

Hergan Yaris is not an imposing man. Short and dark-haired, his face is bland, with no particularly memorable features. In civilian clothes, he would be almost indistinguishable from the crowds jamming Tadath's streets. Despite his outward appearance, however, Yaris is more than qualiifed for a role in Stalker Squad.

History

Born in the remains of the city Heris on the war-torn world of Gurva in the Outer Rim, Yaris was orphaned by the civil war that has raged on the once-pristine city-world since the outbreak of the Clone Wars. Growing up, he quickly learned to move quickly and quietly, avoiding the military patrols, gangs, and insane survivors that roamed the streets of the ruined cities. There was no real off-world presence on Gurva beyond a small, ray-shielded base with a moderate garrison. For the Imperial troops stationed inside was a rare event, and usually in response to some factor that would shift the balance of power on the world.

Hergan would first see stormtroopers at the age of ten, when a task force was deployed to raid the headquarters of the Gurva Liberation Front and destroy an Old-Republic stache of atomics left over from the Scouring. The faction had discovered the weapons in the ruins of a Clone Wars-era arsenal and intended to restore and utilize the weapons. Watching the white-armoured figures as they rode through the streets in troop carriers and atop Juggernauts, Hergan silently resolved to one day become one of as the seemingly-invunerable, confident soldiers. He followed the troops at a distance, for once heedless of the inherent danger of walking in the streets, watching as they pushed through attacks by squads of Liberation Front fanatics and gangs intent on looting their equipment. The assault on the Front headquarters took two hours, but by the time the last stormtrooper walked out of the ruined shell of their headquarters, the Front had effectively ceased to exist, with their commanders killed to a man and the majority of their equipment destroyed. Hergan's fear and admiration of the Imperial troops only increased.

Several days later, his luck would run out. Having abandoned his former hideouts in favor of hanging around the miltary base, he was trying to get inside for the seventh time when he was captured by a passing group of gangers, members of the Heris Tribunes. These quasi-military organizations had spread over the decades since the war's start, and were one of the few sources of authority in the cities. The group which had found Hergan was a "recruiting" gang, a common practice on Gurva. Hergan was taken back to the gang's camp, herded into a pen with dozens of other unfortunates and told that he was now a Tribune. Any attempt to escape would be met with torture followed by execution.

What followed was a period of training in various skills, among which were weapons usage. Like every other Gurva survivor, Hergan was already capable of using a variety of crude weapons, but the Tribune training gave him access to modern-grade blasters, the likes of which he had only seen in the hands of the stormtroopers. Hergan's initial fear and desire to escape quickly vanished. The Tribunes were well-equipped, and fed their members well. Hergan would participate in a recruiting foray of his own a year later, and become a full-fledged gang member soon afterwards. The gang logo, a circle with two horizontal lines, was branded on his right arm and is still faintly visible.

Hergan would participate in various gang activities over the next six years, becoming first a combat squad member, and then the leader of an infiltrator squad. His inflitrator squad, called "Shades" in gang slang, would play a vital role in the destruction of the Tribune's most hated rival, the fanatics of the Order Nihilus. Overloading the shield generator protecting the insane cultists's fortress, Hergan would then go on to lead his squad into the private chambers of the Order's priesthood. The cult leaders were cut down before their bodyguard could reach them, causing their followers to lose heart and flee. The constant raids and purges conducted by the Order were at an end, and their torture buildings were razed. For his role in the attack, Hergan gained much prestige, and many predicted he would go far in the Tribunes.

Fate, however, had other plans. Massive troop ships appeared over the skies of Gurva, escorting a kilometer long Star Destroyer. The Imperial base had been abandoned years ago, and had since been looted for what little equipment had been left behind by the evacuating garrison. Now, however, the area surrounding the base was occupied, and the prefab structures themselves were restored and expanded. Green-armoured figures marched through the streets, led by white-armoured squads. Almost a decade after it had left, the Empire had returned to Gurva.

Hergan was torn between a desire to join their ranks and a sense of loyalty to the squad. The decision was made for him when the gang leader died in a suspicious accident. The Tribunes sank into inter-factional warfare, as his chosen successor had also been killed in an "accident", and Hergan felt none of the candidates were worthy. Surrendering to the first stormtrooper patrol he encountered, Hergan soon found himself on a shuttle headed off-world, to a training camp on somewhere called "Tadath"...

Gurva

Once a city world on the same scale as Trantor and Coruscant and home to uncounted billions, Gurva would be torn apart from the inside. Tensions had been building for centuries among the political groups in the massive hive cities