- "Too cautious gets people just as dead as too bold."
- ―Nick Rostu
Nick Rostu was a Korun male who fought in the Summertime War, the Clone Wars, and the Galactic Civil War. He was a nidôsh (clan-child, or orphan) of Ghôsh Rostu. Like all Korunnai, he was Force-sensitive.
Biography[]
Summertime War[]
Rostu, alongside Liane Trevval and Mace Windu on Haruun Kal
Rostu spent most of his childhood in Pelek Baw, where he lost his native Korun accent and learned to speak Basic flawlessly. His experiences there led him to join the Korunnai partisans in the Summertime War, earning enough combat experience to eventually be enlisted into the Upland Liberation Front formed at the beginning of the Clone Wars.
Rostu was dispatched by Depa Billaba to find Jedi Master Mace Windu after Windu arrived in Pelek Baw. Along with Lesh, Besh, and Chalk, Rostu rescued Windu from an ambush and took him upcountry into the jungle. After battling militia gunship attacks, fever wasps, and other hazards, they reached Billaba's camp. Rostu was later appointed by Mace Windu to be his aide, an arrangement that would later annoy both of them.
Nick Rostu had planned to leave Haruun Kal and become a mercenary, this being his main reason to accept Mace Windu's appointment, as he had told this to Mace Windu.
Rostu served in the Battle of Pelek Baw and the Battle of Haruun Kal with distinction, manning heavy weapons emplacements and fighting with two slug-throwers. In the final engagement, although severely wounded by a vibroshield wielded by Iolu, he stopped Depa Billaba from killing herself. Rostu was taken back to Coruscant with Mace Windu. Although Windu only appointed Rostu to the rank of Brevet Major, a recommendation was put to the Galactic Senate to have it confirmed and to also nominate him for a Medal of Valor for his actions on Haruun Kal.
Resistance fighter[]
Rostu served with the Grand Army of the Republic throughout the war, leading the 44th Division that under his leadership became known as Rostu's Renegades, seeing action on Ando, Bassadro, Atraken, and several other fronts. Rostu would always remember the fear, hardship, and extreme conditions of each fight. He had looked forward to a comfortable retirement at the end of the Clone Wars. However, with the rise of the Galactic Empire, he was warned that he had to swear fealty to the new regime or face execution. Having learned of the fate of Mace Windu earlier the same day, Rostu refused, killed the officers, and made his way into the Coruscant underworld, and was nearly killed on his first night there by a street gang.
Jax Pavan and Nick Rostu meet in Coruscant underlevels.
Six weeks later, Rostu saved the life of a wealthy Kitonak merchant. The merchant turned out to be part of the Whiplash, an underground resistance movement. Rostu was asked to join, and, with no pay, little rest, and a lot of danger, he saw no difference between the movement and the Upland Liberation Front. Having no where else to go and wanted for murder, he agreed to join.
Leading a group of resistance fighters, Rostu witnessed the death of Even Piell in an abandoned casino in Coruscant's Crimson Corridor, and promised to convey his last mission to Jax Pavan.
After helping Jax Pavan escape from stormtroopers in the Blackpit Slums, Rostu told him that he had to find a droid named "Bug-Eyes," that was supposedly carrying vital information for the Whiplash. Later, back in the Zi-Kree Sector, he got involved in a game of shronker, specifically Hot Bespin with a Yevetha. After he defeated the Yevetha, he was captured by two smugglers and brought before Darth Vader.
After being mentally tortured by Vader, he was ordered to bring him Jax Pavan, and if he did not, Vader would destroy Rostu's ghôsh on Haruun Kal. He felt he had no choice and accepted. Strangely, it was seeing Rostu filled with such fear that made Haninum Tyk Rhinann decide to leave Vader.
Rostu would agonize over his choice, especially when he met up again with Pavan, now partnered with the droid I-5YQ, the Sullustan reporter Den Dhur, and the Twi'lek Gray Paladin Laranth Tarak. He was eventually spared from having to make the decision. When he encountered the Black Sun members Xizor, Kaird, and Bug-Eyes in Coruscant's Factory District, Rostu was lured in by Xizor's pheromones. When all his allies were captured, Rostu used the command code for Bug-Eyes to gain control of the droid and attacked Xizor.
Xizor easily defeated him, and he was impaled on a piece of shrapnel, that sliced him in the opposite direction from his scar from Haruun Kal. In the ensuring duel between Pavan and Xizor, a reactor below the district was damaged. As Rostu felt he was dying, he told Pavan why he had done what he had done, and also felt he could see Mace Windu. Rostu, Pavan, and their allies escaped on the Far Ranger. After the damaged reactor exploded, Vader believed that Pavan was dead, and abandoned his search.
During their escape, I-Five noticed that Rostu was still alive, and he later stabilized him on the Far Ranger during their escape.
Servant of Blackhole[]
- "Anything worth hitting is worth hitting twice."
- ―Nick Rostu
Blackhole, also known as Shadowspawn, who Rostu was forced to serve
Sometime after leaving the company of Jax Pavan, Rostu would meet and enter a relationship with Aeona Cantor. As a Force-sensitive, Rostu would attract the attention of Imperial Agent Blackhole and was captured and brought to Mindor as part of the latter's plot to capture Luke Skywalker. This caused Aeona to organize a resistance movement on Mindor in an attempt to rescue Rostu.
Rostu, under the influence of Blackhole's Shadow Crown, a device which effectively rendered Rostu an extension of Blackhole's will, became the most powerful of his Pawns, becoming Lord Shadowspawn—a title Skywalker would later discern to be a pun, referring to Rostu as "Shadow's Pawn" rather than as the "Spawn of Shadows." After being forced to fight a theatrical battle against Skywalker, his meltmassif hat was inadvertently damaged by Skywalker without setting off the fail-safe, which would have resulted in Rostu's death. The damage allowed Luke to free him from his enslavement, and he would aid the Jedi in rescuing Leia Organa and Han Solo, who had been captured by Blackhole using the body of Rostu's old nemesis, Kar Vastor, when they arrived on Mindor in an attempt to rescue Skywalker.
While working to rescue Organa, Rostu was reunited with Cantor, and the two would commandeer Blackhole's personal shuttle to track down the Imperial's true body. They returned to rescue Skywalker and Vastor, who had been stranded when Mindor was destroyed as part of Blackhole's plan. Rostu would then part ways with Skywalker and, along with Cantor and Vastor, continue to attempt to track down Blackhole, who had vanished during his attempt to escape.
Personality and traits[]
Mace Windu, Jedi Master to whom Rostu served as aide
Nick Rostu spent much of his childhood in Pelek Baw, the experiences there later making him a good officer in the ULF. Despite this, Kar Vastor frequently insulted him for his actions that Mace Windu perceived as noble.
Rostu generally had an irreverent aura. He was frequently taunting and sarcastic and often asked Windu if he was crazy. However, he could be a ruthless fighter and cheerful companion. The Summertime War was hard on him; Chalk, the girl he had hoped to marry, was killed while he and Windu tried to apprehend Kar Vastor.
Rostu began his career an admirer of Vastor's. However, after spending his time with Windu, he had on multiple occasions expressed a desire (and even attempted) to shoot Vastor.
Powers and Abilities[]
Nick Rostu, being a Korun, had at least a mild connection to the Force. He was also an excellent shot with a blaster pistol, to the point of being able to shoot a lightsaber out of Depa Billaba's hand without hurting her. On Mindor, he was able to shoot torpedoes from TIE bombers out of the sky, a feat that Luke Skywalker could only achieve with the Force.
Appearances[]
- Shatterpoint (First appearance)
- Shatterpoint unabridged audiobook (First appearance)
- Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
- Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows (Mentioned only)
- The Last Jedi (Mentioned only)
- Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Sources[]
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Reader's Companion (First pictured)