Name: Nicholaas Sparks
Alias: Lieutenant Sparks, Wolf, and Faolan (A name given to him by his wife, Sionnach, which means "Little Wolf")
Species/Homeplanet: Human/Correllia
Age: Late 20s
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 150 lb.
Hair: Dirty blond, short and parted on one side. Usually clean shaven.
Eyes: Dark blue
Aura: Hazy blue
Clothing: When in the field, he wears standard-issue Antarian BDU's. His casual dress includes black nerfhide boots, tan pants, a black undershirt, and often a black, casual Naval jacket that belonged to his father. Wears a simple, silver wedding band on his right hand, the name "Sionnach" engraved on the inside.
Other distinguishing marks/traits/habits: Quiet and reserved, Sparks often prefers to observe and analyze rather than partake in a conversation -- a holdover from his days as a CorSec officer. His friends know him as being honest and just, yet those that do not know him rarely see his keen intellect through his soft-spoken, even-tempered demeanor. His fellow Rangers know him to be decisive and quick-thinking, able to keep a cool head and a steady hand in a tight spot. Sparks also has a fist-sized tattoo of a wolf on the upper right of his back, and has various noticeable scars on his right hand.
Weapons: Simple, pragmatic lightsaber with blue blade; a gift from Sah'ar Suntoucher. Carries a modified DL-44 blaster pistol given to him by Alcander Caedmon that, while ugly, is extraordinarily accurate and reliable. In the field, he carries a modified slugthrower sniper rifle, useful against shield systems that can detect and block blaster fire.
Discipline: Jedi Knight; Lieutenant in the Antarian Rangers. Former CorSec officer.
Notable Skills: Throughout his life, Sparks has always been an avid martial artist and skilled woodsman. During his time with CorSec, Sparks was trained in all aspects of law enforcement and investigative procedures. He is highly skilled in unarmed Close Quarters Combat, and is an expert marksman with his blaster sidearm. While serving on CorSec's Tactical Team, Sparks became a highly trained sharpshooter and expert in surveillance techniques. In the Antarian Rangers, Sparks was trained to become a master of wilderness survival and navigation.
Bio: Sparks was born the son of a navigator in the Republic Navy and a medical instructor, and was raised in the rural outskirts of the dense Corellian City. As a child, Sparks would take any free time he had and from his schooling and chores to wander the forests near his home. It was in these forests that his sensitivity to the Force began to develop. That sensitivity manifested not as latent mental abilities, but as highly acute senses and reflexes. Early on he had taken an interest in the martial arts, inheriting his grandfather's arm for boxing. It was during his later years of schooling that he met the woman who would be the love of his life, a force-sensitive named Sionnach. When his schooling was completed, Sparks joined the Corellian Security Force, called CorSec. He rose in the ranks quickly, serving as a patrolman and then as an investigator assigned to the underground slave trade. Eventually, he was recruited to serve with CorSec's Tactical Unit, where he trained intensely in Close Quarters Combat, surveillance, and sharpshooting. He served with the unit as a sharpshooter for some time, earning a reputation for having a cool-headed demeanor and uncanny skill with his rifle. He and his wife, Sionnach, lived quietly in a small home far from the city, having much respect and love for the natural world.
He continued to serve as a CorSec investigator and Tactical Team Member until he was approached and recruited by an Antarian Ranger investigating reports that a force-sensitive (rare on Corellia) was working within the Corellian Security Forces. The Corellian Jedi of old were known far and wide as being powerful in the ways of the Force, though were decidedly more subtle in their actions. The Ranger had explained to Sparks that the Antarians were a special ops unit within the Republic, but who answer only to the Jedi Knights, providing military and reconnaissance aid whenever possible. Many of them, he added, were force-sensitives who lacked formal training. For Sparks, it was simply a matter of waiting for the Ranger to finish speaking so he could say "yes." Not a week later, Sparks had filed his resignation papers to CorSec and was on his way to the Ranger training facility deep in the forests of Talus. After his basic training was complete, he was assigned to a reconnaissance unit and became a specialist in deep-wilderness insertion and surveillance. His first assignment was to assist a handful of Jedi from Earth to the planet Atabal, an assignment which nearly proved to be his last.
After Atabal, Sparks parted ways with Sah'ar and Alcander, and was reassigned to Mars, a planet ravaged with civil war. The details of the mission are still classified, but his role in obtaining vital intelligence on the warring factions on Mars, not to mention his covert role in the "disappearance" of known smuggler and slaver Rene Lazlo, Sparks earned the rank of Lieutenant and command over his recon unit. During his time on Mars, Sparks worked briefly with Dan Tam, a Republic Intelligence officer working the back channels of communication with the Jedi Knights in hopes of fending off total civil outbreak.
Because of their previous experience together, Sparks was reassigned to aid Commander Alcander Caedmon, now under contract for the Navy, in obtaining intelligence on Mal'Kith's fringe empire. Sparks and his unit provided the Jedi Commander with in-the-field manpower, relaying intelligence to Caedmon's crack fighter squadron. For his actions in aiding the Republic Navy, Sparks was granted his choice of assignments, and to the surprise of the Antarian brass, he chose to relinquish his command and be assigned to the Jedi Academy on Earth. The brass reluctantly agreed, fearing they were loosing their top recon officer. Sparks assured them that his loyalty lay with the Rangers, and that he would act as a direct link between Ranger HQ and the Jedi Academy on Earth, while also providing the Knights with support and pursuing his own training as a Jedi.
Reunited with his wife, Sionnach, Sparks said his good-bye's to his friends in the recon unit and took up residence at the Academy. The Academy became more than just a school -- it was a place where they both trained as Jedi, yet was also a place where they made life-long friendships, fought many battles for, and learned many lessons from. It was here that Sparks was introduced to the way of the lightsaber by longtime friend Sah'ar Suntoucher, easily one of the greatest swordsman ever. Sparks chose only to develop the most practical and pragmatic of lightsaber styles, Lucasian Basic Lightsaber Style Form I, and has since become quite skilled with a blade in his own right. Though somewhat frustrated with his lack of telekinetic and mental abilities, Sparks turned to spending much time in the simulator and in the cockpit of his Corellian YT-2400, putting his acute sense and quick reflexes to use as a pilot and navigator. With Sionnach, Sparks now teaches wilderness survival to the padawans, though his own training and duties as a Ranger keep him busy most of the time. Every now and then, Sparks travels on assignment for the Rangers, joining up with his old recon unit for certain jobs that need their expertise and experience. Yet, he always return to the Academy, and if he has it his way, always will.
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