Full Name: Dedrik Kolinattis
Species: Human
Homeworld: Fondor
Age: 32
Profession: Roboticist, pilot, mercenary
Description: A tall, light-skinned human from Fondor, dressed in the scrappy, functional gear you'd expect from a gearhead and mercenary. Always accompanied by a green-colored T-series tactical droid.
Major Strengths: Robotics--Dedrik has been a gearhead almost as far back as he can remember. Something of a quiet, reserved kid, his natural intelligence lent itself to technology, and he found friendship among droids from a young age. It isn't that he dislikes humans or other biological species--he's actually pretty egalitarian--but he seems to prefer the stoicism and straightforwardness of non-organic beings. Consequently, he can perform like an elite neurosurgeon on a droid.
Piloting--He's a damned good one, having lived much of his life since leaving Fondor on one starship or another. And while he doesn't approach the elite levels of piloting like certain Jedi from the Clone Wars, he could honestly give a some of them a run for their money for a few minutes.
Slicing--Like robotics, it goes hand in hand for Dedrik. He's a hacker extraordinaire, though probably somewhat lower than his skill in working on droids.
Minor Strengths: Blasters--he can pretty much fire anything with a trigger, even if he doesn't always hit what he aims at. Good at tinkering with 'em too, squeezing every last ounce of performance out of 'em.
Underworld contacts--with his money and his frequent travels, Dedrik has gotten himself known by a lot of unsavory characters. He's done a lot of favors here and there, and with those who he hasn't pissed off with his ranting about droids' rights, they know he's a more-than-competent roboticist and mechanic who finishes his jobs on time and with little to no fuss or questions asked.
Sense of honor--which keeps him from sinking too far into depression over the state of the galaxy. Dedrik knows he's only passable as a combat merc, and without TN by his side would have bought the farm many times over. Of course, TN would say that his buddy had saved him from numerous overheatings, meltdowns, and core crashes, so they're even on that scale.
Minor Weaknesses: That same sense of honor--it just won't let him give up when he probably should.
Criminal record--Stealing from his parents hasn't been his only bad deed. A lot of it he's done in the name of helping the underdog. It isn't just droids he hates to see enslaved, after all. He's incurred the wrath of more than one slave or droid owner on many worlds. The Empire knows of him and considers him a middling criminal--not worth enough to hunt for, but definitely one they'd shoot dead rather than try in court if he was caught again.
Major Weaknesses: Alcoholism--there's a lot to drink over for Dedrik, and he goes on binges when he's particularly in a dark mood. He's not constantly drunk, but when he's on a bender, he's useless to anyone.
Fanatacism for droids' rights--it's hard, even now after all his experiences, to let a sleeping dog lie. He'll grumble and complain, if not outright sabotage someone's restraining bolts on their astromech, just to put a little more freedom in the galaxy. He's not above stealing a droid and then setting it free, though he does this less than he used to, once he realized that a lot of droids had no idea how to survive on their own, not being programmed for such, and the process of giving them enough personality to be able to do so was occasionally above his ability to perform.
Occasional paralyzing depression--all that carrying of the droids' woes on his shoulders, as well as the things he's done in his life, both grey and dark, will overwhelm him at times. It isn't enough to tell himself the ends justify the means, because sometimes they simply don't.
Possessions: Dedrik uses a tried-but-true DC-17 blaster pistol from the Clone Wars days, kept in a shiny, immaculate condition
Various mechanic and slicing tools, mostly on his and TN's ship, but also affixed in various places on his clothing.
A Kessemer Dockyards
Altrua-Class troop dropship, with many,
many non-factory improvements. This functions as Dedrik and TN's home, work office, and transportation. It's a lot tidier than the average mercenary ship, as Dedrik tends to be a neat freak.
Personality: Dedrik is a romantic when it comes down to it. He still remembers the tales of Jedi when he was a kid, and idolizes their good points in many ways. He won't let go of his dream of helping free droids, and it is this primary driving force in his life that has led to his depression and alcoholism. Honestly, if it wasn't for the steadfastness of TN, he probably would have guided his ship down a star's gravity well by now. He's not in any way a lady's man, but he isn't an oaf, either. He can be a sucker for a pretty face. TN has kept him from getting the wool pulled over his eyes before in that regard as well. His penchant for the hopeless cause has seen him side with a lot of rebel groups and underdogs over the years, and while he's pretty well jaded, he still keeps the torch burning, even if he seems unconcerned with anything much of the time. It just takes some work to get him to express it.
Background: Dedrik grew up on Fondor, the scion of a moderately successful shipbuilding family. His family were sympathizers of the CIS during the Clone Wars, and while Fondor stayed with the Republic, his parents entertained various CIS bigwigs, and they even got him a chance to tour a
Munificent-class frigate when he was 14. This only fueled his already-strong interests in robotics, but it also killed his sympathies for the CIS, as he befriended a T-series tactical droid that was attached to him as a guide and chaperone, named TN-426.
At some point during a prior combat, TN had taken some damage to his head, and it had affected his circuits in a way that actually modified his personality. He'd kept this a secret from his superiors, and in the month-long period of time Dedrik spent on the frigate, the teen not only came to call TN a friend, but wanted to take up his friend's cause--independence as a free, conscious being. He promised to try to keep in touch once he returned to Fondor.
Unfortunately, the war dragged on, and when back on Fondor, Dedrik became increasingly withdrawn and antagonistic towards his parents. They didn't have his perspective on droids, nor on clones for that matter, as Dedrik had now become convinced that both sides were essentially using slave warriors to fight their battles for them. He buried himself in his study of all things robotic and technical, believing that someday he would be able to lead both clones and droids to their deserved freedom.
Things took a decided turn for the worse at the end of the Clone Wars. Not only were the clones retained as slaves in his eyes, but the droid armies of the CIS were deactivated and scrapped, which was nothing but genocide to Dedrik. If he'd disliked the Republic and the CIS, he despised the new Empire. He'd had a few too many fights with his parents, and he saw them as a cog in the corrupt system the galaxy functioned as. Using his slicing skills, he stole several million credits from their bank accounts, and went offworld with a Mandalorian mercenary team that needed a good droid mech. That didn't last long, as he soon found out they were only using the droids as cannon fodder anyway, and he found himself left on Atzerri, among Gotal who were both sympathetic to the Empire, and droid-averse due to their discomfort around complex electrical systems.
Fortunately for Dedrik, he happened to run into TN-426 on the next world he traveled to, Affa, trying to get some upgrades from the Cybot Galactica Corporation without success. The droid had escaped being scrapped by jumping ship just as his fleet was standing down near Ryloth. Being the only two beings who trusted one another, they formed a team and decided to work together towards droid freedom.
The next 16 years saw no improvement in droid conditions, though it did see he and TN traveling extensively across the galaxy, getting into and out of a multitude of jobs, scrapes, and disasters, although they always seemed to come out on the other side, a little worse for the wear but wiser. Both the human and the droid were now quite skilled pilots, as well as passable mercenaries, though neither would have said they were in it for the fighting. After so much time futilely battling for droid rights, Dedrik had taken up drink, and found himself more often than not in run-down corners of the galaxy, even though he still had a significant amount of his parents' credits to live off of.
TN had mellowed much with the passage of time, becoming more philosophical, as his circuits had essentially given up on the dream he had of seeing his fellow droids free. He hadn't lost his sarcasm that was typical of T-series droids, but tempered it more with a world weariness. The two of them had only seen their friendship grown stronger, and it was rare to see the two ever argue about something more serious than what bar they were going to hang out in. Most recently, they found themselves in Smuggler's End, after finishing a significant repair job on a pair of Corellian smuggling ships' hyperdrives.
