Nioman Dakara

'''This article only contains information regarding the Canon iteration of Nioman. For non-canon content, see Nioman Dokoora.'''

Nioman was born in 74 BBY, during the waning years of the Old Republic. He was taken in as an infant by the Jedi Order. From a young age his skills were exceptional, but he was skeptical and did not easily subscribe to Jedi dogma. At age twelve he was chosen as a padawan by [Doliq|Reesa Doliq] and began to pursue the Jedi path of a Sentinel. Nioman became very close with Reesa and was heavily affected by her death on Tartania five years into his apprenticeship. He spent the rest of his time until knighthood training under High Councilor [Batrorio|Ramo Batrorio].

As a young Jedi Knight, Nioman chosen [Unduli|Luminara Unduli] as his padawan learner and became closely associated with High Sentinel [Cerulian|Thame Cerulian]. It was Thame who taught Nioman about the dark side and convinced him that the Sith were not extinct as the Jedi taught. Much of the rest of Nioman's Jedi career was filled with a search for evidence of the Sith's existence. Despite considerable findings, the High Council paid no heed to Nioman's warnings and after a diplomatic incident where Nioman perceived the Council as making the morally wrong choice in order to appease the Senate, he parted ways with the Jedi Order. A year later, after the death of Qui-Gon Jinn revealed that the Sith did in fact still exist, Nioman petitioned the Council to allow him to help them against this threat, but was dismissed. During that time he continued his investigations and took on an apprentice, failed Jedi initiate [Nakim|Rendo Nakim], while amassing a fortune and building his influence in such places as Karmathia and Taldornadi, where he founded a pirate-based military organization known as the [of Justice|Fist of Justice]. He also partnered with assassin and tech expert [Blood|Major Blood] and helped him found the Blood Corps.

Nioman then became interested in partnering with the budding Confederacy of Independent Systems, only to learn that its leader, Count Dooku, was a Sith apprentice, and that the Trade Federation had once been in business with a second Sith. Ultimately Dooku found out about Nioman's meddling, forcing him to flee. When the Clone War broke out, Nioman focused on profiteering and building his own reach until 20 BBY when the Jedi tracked the Fist of Justice and the Blood Corps to Telmaros and defeated them there, forcing them to retreat to Taldornadi. Meanwhile, he had been having trouble with Rendo and ultimately denounced him upon discovering that he had acquired synthetic red crystals in pursuit of being more like a Sith. Shortly after Nioman's flight, Rendo was besieged on Naboo but Nioman refused to send aid, allowing him to die at the hands of [Teesa|a Jedi].

Nioman spent the reign of the Galactic Empire hedging his defenses on Taldornadi, refusing to meddle much in galactic affairs lest he catch the Emperor's attention. During this time he became concerned with passing on his legacy and took on [Ostobel|Sironne Ostobel] as an apprentice. She failed to meet his expectations and was eventually replaced by [Holvin|Gareth Holvin], the son of one of Nioman's [Holvin|former colleagues]. After the Battle of Endor, Nioman officially took Gareth as his apprentice and flew to Ilum to train him there. They were soon joined by former Jedi Master [Neuko|Teuch Neuko] and his padawan [Bark|Jorum Bark]; while Gareth and Jorum became fast friends, Nioman remained at odds with Teuch throughout their stay. While on Ilum, it was Nioman who cleared the Imperial base, massacring the garrison after offering a chance to surrender. When Gareth ventured into the Crystal Cave, Nioman was assaulted by visions of his past and a dark future, but he would not let that dissuade him.

After a few months on Ilum, Nioman returned with Gareth to Taldornadi and then to Coruscant, where he crushed the Rebel Alliance assault before it could begin, having secretly coordinated with the Imperial Navy. After that, he launched a coup against grand vizier and acting emperor Sate Pestage and assumed control over the Imperial Palace as First Citizen of the Unified Galactic State. He remained there solidifying his power until receiving reports that the shield generator protecting Taldornadi had been sabotaged and rebels were besieging the city. What followed was a brutal siege that lasted several weeks, during which Nioman's own palace was razed and Major Blood was killed, with his son [Bloed|Talon] defecting.

The siege still raged when Nioman received word of false information spread by Talon Bloed and [Organa (Caleb)|Leia Organa] on Coruscant that he was dead. Knowing that his imperial support would crumble, Nioman abandoned Taldornadi and traveled to Coruscant with a small escort where he faced off against Talon's Blood Corps agents, Leia's Casaya Team, and three Jedi: [Reyven Bark|Mihra Reyven], [Bark|Jorum Bark], and his own former apprentice Sironne. Confident in his abilities, Nioman told the stormtrooper forces to withdraw so he could have a more clean fight, but his arrogance cost him, as the combined forces subdued and defeated him, imprisoning him on a ship above Coruscant until the planet could be liberated. While Talon and Leia, with help from the rebels, fought for Cosurcant, the Jedi remained watching over Nioman, with Sironne speaking with him about the destruction on Taldornadi and countering his idea that it was his responsibility to rule the galaxy. But Nioman was not ready to give up, and soon Gareth arrived to rescue him, killing Mihra in the process, and delivering a Sith crystal that could be used to amplify Nioman's power. However, with the crystal in his possession, he saw clearly all the evil that had come of his actions and how much more would come if he continued down this path. With this crystal he could achieve total dominance, but at the cost of all he had sought to preserve and protect. He would become the Sith he had spent a lifetime opposing. And so he relinquished the crystal and tasked Gareth with ensuring that the rest did not fall into the hands of those who would abuse them, then he allowed Sironne and Jorum to take him to Ilum where he could die peacefully.

Information
Born: 74 BBY; unknown.

Died: 8 ABY; Ilum.

Affiliation: Jedi Order, [of Justice|Fist of Justice].

Jedi Path: Sentinel.

Weapon: Yellow Lightsaber.

Lightsaber Form: Niman.

Masters: [Doliq|Reesa Doliq], [Batrorio|Ramo Batrorio], [Cerulian|Thame Cerulian] (mentor).

Apprentices: [Unduli|Luminara Unduli] (Jedi), [Nakiim|Rendo Nakim], [Ostobel|Sironne Ostobel], [Holvin|Gareth Holvin].

Showdown on Coruscant
Nioman was still entrenched on Taldornadi when he received reports of a broadcast from the old Imperial Senate building on Coruscant in which Leia Organa, who had been presumed dead or captured, had issued a call for rebellion and claimed that Nioman himself had been killed. Knowing that time was of the essence if he was to maintain the measure of stability he'd achieved with the Imperial Remnant, Nioman abandoned Taldornadi and, with a small escort of guards, slipped past the rebel blockade and made haste to Coruscant, where he planned to deal with Leia and her allies directly. With his guards he entered the senate building, where Leia was holed up alongside Casaya Team, Talon Bloed and several of his agents, Jorum Bark, his mother Mihra, and Sironne. It was a formidable force, but Nioman was confident in his and his guards' ability to crush them, and so ordered all stormtrooper forces to withdraw and allow for a cleaner fight.

Nioman entered the fight dramatically, telekinetically wielding his lightsaber to cut down any rebels and former Blood Corps agents in its path. Then the Jedi converged, forcing him to keep his attention on them, but using his telekinetically wielded saber to keep them at a distance. But as Talon's agents joined the fray and Nioman had to employ Tutaminis to ward of their blaster bolts, he was forced to return his lightsaber to his hand and duel more traditionally. But despite his advanced age, he held his own against the inexperienced Jorum and Sironne and out of practice Mihra. Any time they threatened to take the advantage, Nioman would use an array of Force techniques to keep them back, or would leap through the crowd, using rebels and agents as props to hurl between himself and the Jedi, maiming Commander Me-Dari Callo in one such instance. At one point he isolated Mihra and disarmed her, but Jorum rushed in before he could finish her, only to himself be distracted by Nioman's guards while NIoman took on Sironne. Talon attempted to intervene, but was blasted away by Force lightning. However, in that moment of distraction, Sironne summoned Nioman's lightsaber to her hand. Nioman quickly made to pull it back to him, but was forced to also hold Jorum and Mihra in place as they tried to approach him. As Nioman drew his lightsaber slowly closer to himself, another distraction appeared in the form of Talon Bloed re-emerging. Nioman again hit him with Force lightning, but Talon was only a diversion, as his sister Khlorinne managed to get a shot through Nioman's defenses, injuring him. Angry now, Nioman tossed the Jedi away, retrieved his lightsaber, and made to kill Talon and Khlorinne for good, but failed to sense Bestine Holvin approach him behind him, where she was able to get close enough to stun him before he could slaughter her children. And with that, the fight was over.

Personality and Traits
From a young age, Nioman was a deep thinker and very skeptical, and had a hard time accepting the Jedi teachings as unquestionable truths. He had a thirst for knowledge and never took anything at face value, traits that were encouraged by Thame Cerulian and demonstrated by Nioman's incessant search for the truth about the Sith.

Nioman was pragmatic but also moral and valued not only the lives, but the wellbeing of the people around him. He was fiercely loyal to the people close to him, but very sensitive to perceived betrayals. He had a tendency to become reclusive and was not easily trusting, and thus highly valued the people he deemed trustworthy. He was also ambitious, and always pushed himself to greater heights of swordsmanship and proficiency with the Force.

Powers and Abilities
Throughout his life, Nioman was a skilled swordsman. He was a practitioner of Form VI, Niman, which incorporated a varied arsenal of lightsaber techniques. Nioman believed he could push the form to its limits, and thus master all methods of lightsaber combat and give him a technique that was both unpredictable and lacking in any major weaknesses. Indeed Nioman did become a fearsome swordsman and even more capable duelist. At the height of his power there were few who could best him.

In addition to this, he was strong with the Force. One notable indication of this is when he conjured force lightning against Dooku on Tartania while still a padawan learner. While, in his Jedi career, Nioman put less focus into his Force training, he was still capable and could integrate various powers into his fighting style, as was common for practitioners of Form VI. These abilities only grew as he aged and allowed more time for study of the Force in all of its aspects.