Falin SkirataFrom MercsWiki
SynopsisFalin Skirata was a Mandalorian of the Clan Skirata during the Legacy Era of Star Wars, approximately 130 years ABY. Unlike much of Clan Skirata, Falin was not a decendant of a Clone that defected during the Purge of Order 66 at the beginning of the Dark Times. Falin is said to be a direct decendant, possibly great grandchild, of Kal Skirata. His name was derived from Kal's birth name, Falin Mattran.
Falin served under Hondo Karr, both staunch supportors of, and assigned to the personal unit of Mand'alor Chernan Ordo, his Ori'ramikad. Falin headed up the Heavy Assault and heavy Weapons divisions of the Shock Infantry Brigade. Upon the "death" of Hondo Karr and Chernan Ordo at the Battle of Botajef, 127 ABY, Falin rose to the rank of Captain, filling Karr's role. Under the new Mand'alor Yaga Auchs, the Ori'ramikad was disbanded and the Mandalorians were ordered back to Mandalorian space to stay out of galactic affairs. Later, upon the return of Hondo Karr... Falin, Hondo and Hondo's wife Tes Vevuc usurped Yaga Auchs. During the ensuing battle, Karr and Auchs both fell. Falin claimed the Kre'bes, the mask/crown of the Mando'ade (which was recovered years earlier by Baelin Halo Mand'alor the Reclaimer, and became Mand'alor the Reconciler. Physical AppearanceFalin was a large man. Much larger than the typical Skirata stock. Standing nearly 2 meters tall and a meter wide, Falin was an imposing warrior clad in his heavy beskar'gam. Falin had blond hair and blue eyes.
PersonalityFalin was a mixture of two men. On on hand staunch, militant and disciplined. On the other fun loving, caring and playful. He lived by the Mandalorian mantra: Aliit ori'shya tal'din - "Family is more than blood." Falin had 5 children. Two of his own and 3 adopted. Falin was of the typical Skirata "mold", believing it best for the Mandalorians to look out for their own and stay out of galactic polictics and battles. The Mando'ade should not be dieing as fodder in other's wars. However, Falin was staunchingly supportive of his Mand'alor Chernan Ordo and would follow him to the end of the unknown regions. This "looking out for their own" belief later led Falin, then Mand'alor the Reconcilor" back into the galactic war between the Republic in exile and the Loyal "true Imperials" and the Sith Empire in order to exact revenge upon the Sith for wrong doings against the Mandalorians. LifeFalin was born at the Skirata Bastion on Mandalore in the year 99 ABY. During the time of relative galactic peace and well beyond the time the survivors of the Clone Wars needed to hide, the Skirata Clan became much less isolationists and more integrated into Mandalorian society. Falin held no will will towards Mandalorians that wanted to take on jobs off world but, felt it best for the military of Mandalore to remain in Mandalorian space protecting Mandalores interest, not fighting and winning wars for offworlders and outsiders. Early in life, Falin joined the ranks of the Mandalorian Protectors. The organized military wing of the Mandalorians who served the Mand'alor and protected Mandalorian space. Falin soon rose the rank of Lieutenant, under Captian Hondo Karr. Both were Ori'ramikad of Mand'alor Chernan Ordo and close friends and confidants of his. The Battle of Botajef
Little did Ordo know, the Republic never requested Mandalorian assitence. A Sith emisary, posing as Republic Ambassador made the request of the Mandalorians. News of the invasion had not even reached the core worlds. The Mandalorians were requested to hold Botajef until Republic reinforcements arrived and the Imperials, who were being manipulated by the Sith, could be pushed off world and back into Imperial space. Yaga Auchs, who was on the payroll of the Sith, helped convince Chernan Ordo it was best for the Mandalorians to assist. Chernan Ordo personlly led the Mandalorian counterassualt on Botajef. The Mandalorians were seperated into two distinct battalions, once led by Yaga Auchs, the other by Hondo Karr. Falin was in command of the shock infantry brigade, ground pounders in heavier than typical armor or with heavy anti personnel and anti small craft weaponry. The Mandalorians fought well for several days. Although the superior warriors with superior weapons and armor, they were out numbered 10 to 1.
Falin's shock infantry soldiers fought hard and well. They pushed forward and were pushed back. With support from the spec ops and battlefield engineers they fought hard against overwhelming odds. After a week of fighting, it became clear to Chernan Ordo the battle was not going to be won and his hopes that the Republic troops were coming dwindled. Chernan dispatched Hondo Karr to Yaga Auchs posistion, as they had the only operable offworld communication emplacement. Upon arrival, Karr found Auchs in the process of dispatching his own men. Auchs was surprised by Karr's presence and had to put him down. It was later learned that Karr escaped death and Botajef. Afters years of infiltration among the Imperials and the Republic, he was later rejoined by his wife, Tes Vevuc, and reborn as a Mando'ad. With his communication emplacement destroyed by his own hand, Auchs ordered his battalion to retreat and went to hunt Chernan Ordo. When Auchs arrived at Ordo's position he found Falin administering emergency treatment to Ordo. Ordo has taken an errant blaster deflection to the throat, burning through his sealed vac suit. Ordo was still alive but terminal. He would later die alone on the battlefield. Auchs reached down to Ordo's helmet and removed the Kre'bes from it's face, placing it over his over helmet. Having claimed the title and crown of Mand'alor, Auchs ordered the Mandalorians to wihdraw from Botajef. Falin refused to leave Ordo while he still had a breath in his body. Auchs, planned to dispatch Falin at that time knowing being a supportor of Ordo he may present problems in the future. However, a well placed mortor round scattered the men. Falin, who had his helmet removed to administer aid to Ordo was unconscious. As Mando'ade ran past to the dropships, Auchs ordered Falin left behind as he was "dead". However, a battlefield medic checked Falin and found he was merely unconscious. He was evacucated and the Mandalorians left Botajef. Mandalore post BotajefSith puppet Mand'alor Yaga Auchs now "ruling" the Mandalorians, ordered his army back to Mandalore. Mandalorians were still allowed to seek out independant works as mercenaries, bounty hunters, security personnel, assassins etc. However, they were encouraged to stay in Mandalorian space and "rebuild" their home front. Many still went. The order of the Ori'ramikad was decommissioned. Auchs understood the men and women, while loyal to the Mand'alor, were more loyal to the man. Being a puppet head of state he could not risk the Ori'ramikad being unified and discovering his dealings. The standing army of Mandalore, the Mandalorian Protectors, were reduced in number to small planatary police and defense forces. Auchs elevated Falin to the rank of Captian within the Protectors, essentially replacing his longtime friend Hondo Karr, to help reduce any suspicions about him.
Falin remained on Mandalore as captain of the guard, where he could keep a close eye of Auchs. Falin had known Auchs for years and things simply did not add up. Auchs had always had more tradional mindset of ruling the stars and those who did not know him well often whispered rumors of "Deathwatch" in his attitude. His sudden change in policy and stance, as well as the unexplained death and dissappearance of Karr and the leaving behind of Chernan Ordo never sat well with Falin. He followed his Mand'alore begrudingly by obligation, never with his heart. The Legacy EraInto the Legacy Era, the Mandalorians continued to stay at home. Falin and his Protectors dealt with a variety of small uprisings within Mandalorian space and any border disputes. Mandalore ramian secure and secluded from the rest of the galaxy.
Falin leading a strike team against an Imperial incursion on the edges of Mandalorian space. The Sith overthrew the Empire and force Roan Fel and his loyalists into hiding. The Jedi order was once again crushed and the Republic was broken and scattered. Throughout it all, dispite desperate plea's from both Roan Fel Imperial remnant and the Republic remanant, the Mandalorians stayed out of the conflict, per Auchs agreement with his Sith masters. The Clan Councils continued to follow Auchs decree of no miltary involvement in the waging war, although several Mandalorians did hire out their services during the time, although they openly contested his decision fearing the Sith would invade Mandalorian space next. It was during this time Hondo Karr resurface and rumors of his return made it back to Falin. Falin was able to track down Karr and meet with his old friend. Karr relayed the events on Botajef and what he had doen since. Falin relayed what Auchs had been doing for the last several years. Karr and Tes continued their search for concrete evidence while Falin remained with the Protectors and rallied the disbanded Ori'ramikad who remained loyal to the true Mand'alor, Chernan Ordo. Hondo and Tes completed their mission finding everything they needed to link Auchs to the failed mission at Botajef, and consequently the death of Chernan Ordo, Auchs betrayals and his dealings with the Sith.
Falin brought Hondo and Tes before the Clan Council to expose Auchs. Their words were accpeted but, the Clans had grown lazy and lost their fire. Although they disagreed with Auch's policies they had no intention or desire to overthrow him for deeds many no longer remembered. Without the physical support of the clans, the opportunity for Hondo Karr to challenge Auchs to one on one combat for the Kre'bes was no longer an option. Additionally, Falin learned loyalists within the Clan Council had notified Auchs of Hondo's return and the allegations of Auch's treachery. Auch's immediatly prepared to stop Karr, labeling him a traitor and imposter. Knowing Auchs would not touchable without a full scale assault, and not having an army (Falin was immediatly removed from his position leading the Portectors when Auch's learned he was involved) Falin rallied the 63 remaining Ori'Ramikad of Chernan Ordo to their cause. The 66 stormed Clan Auch's compound which had now been fortified with 500 of Auchs most loyal footmen. A battle waged with the intent, regardless of the odd, to remove Auch's from command. During the battle, many Mandalorians needlessly died. The 63 remaning Ori'Ramikad were decimated down to 21. However, they knifed their way to Auch's stronghold. The 21 remaining Ori'ramikad and Tes Vevuc blockaded the exterior of the building and held their ground so Hondo an Falin could find Auch's. Auch's was located in his meeting room and was alone. Hondo challeged Auch's to one on one combat to which Auch's replied by opening fire on both men. Hondo was struck on the side and the right leg above the knee. Falin was pinned down and unable to go to Karr's aid. Auch's circled the room pouring fire towards falin keeping him pinned in an outcropping. He worked his way to Karr and, for the second time in his life tossed a grenade to finish him. Although disabled, Karr was able to throw the grenade back at Auch's. However, halfway to Auch's the grenade detonated. Auch's was staggared and Karr was t hrown across the room and disarmed. Falin took the opportunity to advance. He poured rifle firing at Auch's, peppering his beskar'gam and pushing him back, away from Karr. Auch's was able to seek cover until Falin had to reload. Auch's acting immediatly charging Falin, the two collided with enough force to move mountains. Auch's attempted to stab Falin through the throat, the blade skidde off Falins armored collar and into his helmet seal where it was stuck. Falin took the opportunity to eject the vibroblades from his gauntlets and drive them both between the the armor gaps in Auch's armpits. Auch's collapsed dead on Falin. Mand'alor the ReconcilerFalin pushed Auch's from him as Tes and the remaining Ori'Ramikad burst into the chamber. Reinforcements from the various clans arrived and turned the battle. Auch's loyalist surrendered to their brothers. Falin stood and removed Auch's helmet from his body. He took it Hondo Karr who was being helped up by his wife. Falin handed the the helmet to Karr. Karr took the helmet, ejected his vibroblade and pried the kre'bes from it's face. He discarded the bucket and stared into the mask. Karr handed the mask back to Falin and said "You earned this. You made things right." Falin held the mask for a moment and stared into it. He replaced his own helmet and placed the mask onto it's face sealing it. He didn't say a word. Falin led the injured Karr, Vevuc and warriors out of Auch's stronghold and into the courtyard where the clans had assembled. Karr pointed to a large rock in the courtyard and nodded at his friend. Falin scaled the rock and stood over those assembled looking around at all of them. After several moments of looking and not speaking Falin activated the voice amplifier on his helmet and said "I have made things right here today. There are more wrongs we must right yet. From this day on, I will be known as Mand'alor the Reconciler!" Legacy: WAR!With a strong leader in place, the Mandalorians charged headlong back into galactic conflict. Falin reestablished the Ori'Ramikad and the standing Mandalorian Protector army with Hondo Karr as his captian. The Mandalorians joined forces with the Republic and Imperial remnants to push back the Sith Imperials. The war eventually won and lost on both sides by 2 men. But, that's someone else's story... Equipment and weapons"We Mando boys like to show we've been in action. Anyway, this is top-grade beskar—full density, two percent ciridium, no fancy lamination or carbon-alloy."
Falin's beskar'gam Falin wore armor fashioned in the typical Legacy style, a lyrica style armor. Falin's armor was heavier than the typical armor of the time. In addition to the typical armor loadout, Falin wore an armor collar (rumored to have belonged to his great grandfather, Kal Skirata), elbow armor and enclosed greaves. Falin prefered the "walking tank" style armor being a front line ground pounder.
Falin's buy'ce Falin's Mandalorian helmet recorded video and played it back on command, dispensed water, compensated automatically for low or high light conditions, picked up on minute sounds and amplified them and could connect with the onboard computer of his ship, assuming the transmission wasn't blocked. The helmet also had the capability of sealing to compensate for pressure changes, and holding 5 to 10 minutes of air, though damage may have disabled this feature at some point. Like most Mandalorian helmets, it had a T-shaped visor. Falin could control weapons and sensors with verbal commands. His helmet's HUD (heads-up-display) featured information on the surrounding environment as well as a 360-degree field of vision. The HUD's data streams could be controlled by eye movements and blinking. In addition, an advanced penetrating radar allowed his HUD to provide information on nearby rooms, and could be used to scan the HoloNet and connect with databases, allowing him to perform tasks which would normally require a computer terminal. The macrobinocular viewplate could be magnified to allow Falin to see great distances, and was equipped with, among other things, an infrared scanner that could be magnified up to 50 times. The infrared scanner magnified light up to 100 times or displayed heat gradations. The helmet's broad band antenna was capable of intercepting and unscrambling comlink and starship comm transmissions. Also, with assistance from his ships computer, jamming transmissions or sending fake transmissions, even while not in his ship. At the top of the antenna was a rangefinder capable of tracking up to 30 targets from a distance of 100 meters. The rangefinder fed data to a display overlay inside the helmet showing range and movement for targets in a 360 degree radius. The overlay also linked to Falin's weapons systems to display fire vector and range data. The rangefinder could be deployed horizontally or vertically. Weapons
The EE-3 carbine rifle was a blaster that was modeled after the E-11 blaster rifle used by Imperial Stormtroopers. The rifle consisted of a small handle attached to a long circular barrel. An alternate version of this model features a modified scope mounting and hand grips that run the length of the barrel. Although the target system on A'dens EE-3 was slaved to his HUD, he prefered to use the physical scope and take aim himself. Falin's EE-3 rifle was customized to his design specification by Mandalorian weapon smith Tahl Taab.
Falin carried two sidearms, a piar of custom blasters.
The crushgaunt (or shuk'orok in Mando'a) was a gauntlet designed to augment its wearer's strength. Developed by the Mandalorians, the armored glove used an unknown technology to enhance the natural hand-arm strength of its wearer. Its name was earned from the wearer's new ability to crush bone, metal or any other material with relative ease. Made of micronized Mandalorian iron, a crushgaunt was difficult to damage or destroy. Crushgaunts were used to collapse throats, crush skulls and shatter bones. Also, due to the unique properties of the micronized Mandalorian iron, the user of a crushgaunt could easily catch and hold a lightsaber blade in his grasp, or summarily block an opponents blade. The crushgaunt was later outlawed by the Mandalorians themselves at least 250 years before the Battle of Yavin, although it was brought back into use by the Mandalorian Death Watch. Falin's gauntlets were equipped with diagnostic readout lights, retractable vibroblades and flamethrowers. Behind the scenesIn real life, Falin is portryed by PJ Reindel. He is the Personnel Officer for the Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club and a member of Skirata Aliit, the MMCC's San Bernardino and East End Riverside County based Clan.
In 2007, he was so impressed with the character Null ARC Jaing/Mandalorian Jaing Skirata that he built a set of armor to costume as him. After becoming an Official Member of the MMCC and later the Personnel Officer, he upgraded the Jaing armor for his first trooping event at the Mandalorian Wedding at SDCC 08. Luckily, with the help of Novall Talon and Bevin Verhayc from the DSG Mando's, h was able to have Karen Traviss, Kar'buir, sign the Jaing helmet. After referring to him as "My Jaing!", Karen Traviss signed the helmet "To Jaing, Kaminoans make great gloves. Karen Traviss." At that time, Jaing was retired by him as a costuming character. He have since built A'den Skirata (Jaing's Null brother in beskar). There is no canon description of A'dens armor to date. The design shown is purely that of his imagination in combination with the influences and character descriptions provided by Karen Traviss.
He has 2 wonderful boys and step son that costume with him as Official "Verd'ika" with the MMCC.
Interesting FactoidsFalin made Lucas McCoy's Top 10 Mercs: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=485281337953&id=23202875 To see the evolution of Falin's armor from Jaing Skirata to A'den Skirata to Falin Skirata, see here: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=207500895932283 See Falin's retired "A'den Skirata" wiki here: http://mercs.firespray.net/wiki/index.php5?title=A%27den_Skirata See more at | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
