Gerd

Gerd was a Human male miner who lived during the time of the New Sith Wars. Gerd worked in a cortosis mine on the Outer Rim planet Apatros, where he stayed for nearly twenty years. He was good friends with a miner named Hurst and often bullied Hurst's son, Dessel. In 1003 BBY, Gerd, drunk on Corellian whiskey, got into a fight with Dessel over the right to mine a cortosis vein. Even though Dessel was tired from working six hours in the mines, he defeated Gerd after having a flash of Force precognition. Dessel anticipated one of Gerd's attempted strikes and bit off the man's thumb.
==Biography==
Gerd, a Human male miner, worked in an Outer Rim Oreworks Company cortosis mine on the Outer Rim Territories planet of Apatros nearly a millennia prior to the fall of the Galactic Republic. During his time at the mine, Gerd became good friends with another miner named Hurst. Hurst's son, Dessel, began working in the mines at age thirteen. He was often tormented and bullied by some of the bigger, stronger miners, Gerd included. However, the bullying eventually stopped when Dessel grew older and became just as strong as the others. In 1008 BBY, Hurst died of a massive heart attack, leaving Gerd as one of the more senior miners in the Outer Rim Oreworks mine. By 1003 BBY, Gerd had worked in the mine for nearly twenty years, and the physical toil of working in the mines had turned his body into a mass of hard, knotted muscle. Due to debt accrued over his time working for Outer Rim Oreworks, Gerd, like many others, was stuck working in the mines until he could get enough money to pay them off.
In 1003 BBY, on the five-year anniversary of Hurst's death, Gerd went to work for his six-hour shift in the mines while he was drunk on sour Corellian whiskey. He came across Dessel working a cortosis vein deep in the mine, and saw the man's mining equipment fail. As the custom in the mine was that someone else was allowed to move in on a vein if the being currently mining it stopped working, Gerd ordered Dessel to move out of the way. When Dessel didn't budge, Gerd berated Dessel for having no respect for his father by not referring to him as "Dad." Dessel tried to ignore Gerd, but the argument quickly turned into a fistfight when Gerd tried to force Dessel to move. Dessel, who was tired from working in the mines, was able to gain the upper hand on Gerd, flipping him to the ground, but he quickly collapsed due to sheer exhaustion.
Gerd taunted Dessel for trying to fight after having worked six hours in the mines, but Dessel was able to get up, and their combat turned into a wrestling match on the mine floor. Gerd obtained the upper hand this time, and attempted to gouge one of Dessel's eyes out. However, Gerd's opponent had a flash of Force precognition, allowing Dessel to sense what Gerd was going to do before he did it. Dessel anticipated Gerd's move, and bit off Gerd's thumb, ending the fight. The on-site medic was able to reattach Gerd's thumb with a vibroscalpel and synthflesh, and with kolto treatments, he was able to return to work within a few days. Dessel was suspended without pay until Gerd was healed and returned to work. Dessel would soon leave Apatros and join the Sith army fighting in the New Sith Wars against the Republic. Dessel later became Darth Bane, one of the most important and influential Dark Lords of the Sith in galactic history.
==Personality and traits==
Gerd was a callous man, one who did not have problems bullying and tormenting a thirteen-year-old boy like Dessel. Corellian whiskey was a favorite of Gerd's, and he was drunk on it when he fought Dessel. He was good friends with Hurst and was angered when Dessel disrespected his friend.
==Behind the scenes==
Gerd appeared in Drew Karpyshyn's novel Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, published in 2006.
==Appearances==
*Darth Bane: Path of Destruction 
==Notes and references==
Category:Apatros residents
Category:Humans
Category:Males
Category:Miners