Kassav Milliko

Kassav Milliko was a Weequay male individual who was one of three Tempest Runners in the pirate organization known as the Nihil during the time of the High Republic. He commanded the corvette New Elite. Kassav was a cunning and vicious leader, considering leaving the Nihil organization with his loyal followers on multiple occasions. However, he remained loyal to the Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro until Ro betrayed him and allowed Kassav to sacrifice his Tempest during the Battle of Kur. Nihil member Klinith Da hoped that succeeding in her mission to sabotage the starship Steady Wing would lead to her being promoted and potentially reporting directly to Kassav.The High Republic: A Test of Courage
==Biography==
===Early life===
Kassav Milliko was a Weequay born on Sriluur. Milliko never knew his parents and speculated he may have been a bastard. He eventually became a member of the Nihil, a group of anarchist marauders, and eventually became a Tempest Runner alongside Lourna Dee and Pan Eyta. He and his Tempest were considered to not be very smart and were instead reckless, thrill seeking, and considered more powerful than the other Tempests put together.
===The Great Disaster===
In 232 BBY after the Great Hyperspace Disaster, he and Dee's Tempests assisted Eyta's on a raid on Ab Dalis and were mostly successful. Eyta hosted a celebration in honor of this at the Great Hall of the Nihil in No-Space. After this the Runners and the Eye of the Nihil, Marchion Ro, had an important meeting. Ro explained that access to the Paths would be restricted until the Galactic Republic quit their search for those behind the destruction of the Legacy Run. Milliko reluctantly agreed after failing to threaten Ro into rescinding this order.
===A new disaster===
The Nihil began to extort planets for credits and in exchange would destroyed incoming Emergences. Milliko anticipated extorting the planet, Eriadu, with his Storms: Gravhan, Dellex, and Wet Bub. He and his crew were onboard the New Elite as he attempted to extort the governor, Mural Veen. She payed him the amount of credits he demanded but the Tempest failed to destroy the Emergence and Eriadu's inhabited moon was destroyed. Veen swore revenge and Milliko was shocked at the deaths brought by this failure and the fact he made a powerful new enemy.
Milliko reunited with the Eye and and the Runners in order to discuss what happened since the Republic and Eriadu had the Nihil in their sights. Ro, in a display of dominance, attacked Milliko by beating him severely. He attempted to retaliate but Ro threw vibro-stars that severed most of Milliko's right hand before he could grab his Blaster pistol. Milliko defeatedly obeyed Ro's command to travel to the Kur Nebula.
===Battle of Kur===
While waiting for the Republic to arrive, Milliko began to contemplate his future in the Nihil. Milliko decided to desert and that he and his Tempest would start anew in a new area in the galaxy. Milliko voiced this to his people, but his Storms held him at blasterpoint in response. They revealed that they were ordered by Ro to kill him if he went against the Eye's command to remain at the Nebula. Milliko reluctantly agreed despite his ever-increasing hatred for Ro. The Republic and Jedi forces arrived soon after this happened.
The battle began and seemed to not be in his favor until Milliko received a message. Ro had responded to Milliko's call for a Path to escape but was instead questioned whether or not he killed Ro's father, Asgar. This confused Milliko, but Ro assured him it did not matter because all of the suspects, the Tempest Runners, would meet a fate like Milliko's. Ro had sabotaged the entire Tempest's Path engines, which caused most of the Tempest to be destroyed by colliding with Republic ships. Eriadu forces led by Veen herself stormed the New Elite after all the destruction. Milliko tried to save his own life by offering information on the Nihil but was killed by Veen after she rejected his offer.
===Legacy===
Marchion Ro had lied to the surviving Nihil about the circumstances around Milliko and his Tempest's deaths. Ro framed them as martyrs and used their "sacrifice" to unite the Nihil under his rule and promised to expand their operations throughout the galaxy and defend their way of life from the Republic and Jedi. The Republic naively believed they destroyed the Nihil with Milliko and continued their business as usual.
==Personality and traits==
Kassav Milliko was a cruel person who perfectly embodied the Nihil. He did not take their laws very seriously and was so reckless he was even willing to kill Marchion Ro, whose position and knowledge was the key to the Nihil's success. Milliko did not personally care about strategy and just wanted to simply raid with his Tempest and gather plunder. He and his Tempest were all addicts who would ritualistically use drugs such as spice and smash while listening to wreckpunk before a raid.
Milliko's wrath did have its limit given how upset he was with the billions of innocent people he had killed when he accidentally destroyed Eriadu's moon. He also cared for and respected his Tempest and always tried to look out for their best interests. Despite his bloodthirsty nature, Milliko always knew when it was time to stand down and look out for himself. Examples being that he knew to back down after he was beat from fighting Ro and trying to negotiate with Veen before being killed. He had a very cynical attitude and viewed the Republic and even the Nihil as organizations that served to fill the coffers of those in charge. He considered anything fancy, such as Pan Eyta's demeanor, to be disgusting and contradictory to Nihil values.
==Equipment==
Kassav Milliko, like all Nihil, wore a mask that protected his identity as well as himself from the poisonous gases the organization frequently used. His mask resembled a plain sheet of metal with slits for his eyes, nose, and mouth. He wore a fur cape which hid a blaster pistol that he was considered to be extremely skilled with.
==Behind the scenes==
Kassav Milliko first appeared in the 2021 novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, written by Charles Soule as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative. Soule stated that Milliko was among the most fun and easy characters to write. In the 2021 audio drama The High Republic: Tempest Runner, Milliko was voiced by Neil Hellegers.
==Appearances==
*The High Republic: Light of the Jedi 
*The High Republic: A Test of Courage 
*The High Republic: The Rising Storm 
*The High Republic: Tempest Runner 
*The High Republic: Eye of the Storm 1 
*The High Republic: Eye of the Storm 2 
*The High Republic: Tempest Breaker 
*The High Republic: Tempest Breaker script 
==Sources==
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*Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi
*Star Wars: Timelines
*Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:Males
Category:Members of Kassav's Tempest
Category:Tempest Runners
Category:Weequays