Shava Vessker

Usually known only by her surname, Shava Shael Vessker is a little known Sith Acolyte, fallen from grace since dismally botching her first command.  She is still ambitious, and has quietly begun a second attempt at climbing the ranks.  She can commonly be found in the Institute training rooms.
==Appearance==
Vessker is a pale, dark-haired, athletic woman of average height - by her account, she looks like one of those sickeningly fit personal trainer types.  She bears a strong resemblance to Mareina Nirn, the holovid darling of classics such as My Fair Twi'lek, and has disguised herself as such in the past.  Avatar image from deviantART, used with permission.
She tends to dress modestly in civilian garb, and keeps her clothing in good repair.  On missions, she wears a dull grey combat suit, and is armed with a double-bladed lightsaber and powerful blaster pistol.  She only dons traditional Sith robes on formal occasions, which don't crop up very often.
==Personality==
A shrewd actress, Vessker tailors her demeanor to suit her circumstances, with survival and advantage being her priorities, in order.  She is outwardly respectful of her Sith superiors, and even inwardly, she is very careful about what she thinks.  In her deepest nature, Vessker is not malicious, but she is too selfish to make a good Jedi.  The Sith were a better fit, and she suffers no undue qualms for having joined them.  Relative to her peers, she is extremely cautious and even-tempered, but by the same token she makes a more genuine friend to a few.  Vessker has few close attachments, but defends her own fiercely.
Outside of the Sith Empire, Vessker has made a living in commerce, actually making more money than she presently spends.  She enjoys the game of it, and is a very good player, because she appreciates the value of dull efficiency over exciting risk.
==Biography==
Vessker was born on Nar Shaddaa, to a couple of dignitaries of a minor crime lord. Their varying successes led her to discover she much preferred the comfort of the wealthy ship owner, to the excitement and desperation of high-stakes smuggling.  Her father became the perfect example of ambition taken too far, when his behaviour drove a collegue to engineer his death. 
Vessker’s mother gradually rebuilt a network of contacts, and was delighted to find how much her daughter’s Force-sensitivity helped in establishing where the most reliable balance between profit and risk lay.  With the ultimate goal of living a long and comfortable life, Vessker embraced her mother’s philosophy fully, learning to pull strings and reap reasonable reward, without ever getting in over her head.  She is very wealthy, but her credits are largely tied up in her business, a combination of shipping and wholesale of prefabricated habitats (all strictly legal in the technical sense.)
After progressing through the Institute, Vessker was apprenticed to Ahashra Vitriarius, and made some progress as a Sith Acolyte.  Unfortunately she was called away, when her business dealings nearly collapsed, following the untimely death of a competitor.  While Vessker was on Nar Shaddaa, avenging the assassination of her head of security, among others, the Axiom came under a broader attack.  Ahashra, by then renamed Darth Abraxas was killed, and despite Vessker's last minute participation in the defense of Nogatan, she retained almost no influence among the Sith.  What little remained was undercut by Vessker's mediocre performance on her first mission in a position of leadership, and subsequently, she disappeared into the background.
In the many months following, Vessker quietly honed her lightsaber skills and Force manipulation, to finally reach a level of skill comparable to lifelong students.  Her mastery of Juyo has progressed considerably, and she is almost ready to start climbing the ranks again.
==Relationships==
===Key===
 
A Cathar halfbreed and intermittent Mandalorian, Key (born Rukiya) is Vessker's partner in every sense of the word, and business manager, who spends most of his time aboard the Chevron, her ridiculous, personal space yacht. Key was born into slavery, not that you'd ever guess by meeting him.  His dress and manners are very consciously unlike those of the beggared people he grew up among. Athletic, but not conventionally handsome, Key has the yellow eyes and striped skin of his mother's kind.  The pigmentation is subtle enough that it wouldn't stand out if he didn't shave his head around his short, braided ponytail. He doesn't don his armor very often, and prefers to keep his moderate martial skills private wherever there are witnesses. Key has taken it upon himself to serve as a foil for all the galaxy's preconceptions - he will play ignorant, or cultured, thuggish or sophisticated, whatever contradicts the expectations around him. In reality he is quite cynical, but firmly resolved to be happy, and cares even less about what people think of him than Vessker does.
Key is Vessker's husband, and oldest, closest friend, but their relationship is based on an unusual foundation.  Having both experienced the lows of Nar Shaddaa, they are very cynical of their chances of living to a ripe old age together.  Instead, they buck the romantic adage of "I can't imagine life without you", and do imagine just that.  It has to happen sometime, but until then, they have each other's backs, and make each other very happy.
===Prissy===
 
A battered GE3-series protocol droid, PC-32 is at least 80 years old, and her memory banks simply will not retain the updated version of the Academy's roster. She is a faded purple color, and is in very good condition for her age.  Vessker had her reactivated as a service droid, but since being repaired, she has developed an alarming capacity for independent thought.
===Veera Shael-Vessker===
Veera is Vessker's mother, and only surviving parent.  She is also one of the only people to call Vessker by her first name.  Her husband was killed - the not so proverbial rancor pit - after falling heartily out of favour with their Hutt boss, Rosco, when Vessker was fourteen.  Veera took over their remaining enterprises, steering towards lower-stakes freight and wholesale. Her only child strongly resembles her, but did not inherit her stupendous chest.  The two get along well, and were business partners from Vessker's initiation until Veera's recent retirement.  Veera now lives quietly on her own yacht, usually parked planetside for months at a time, wherever she feels like being.  Unofficially, she also assists with Vessker's business from time to time.
===Ahashra Vitriarius===
 
Ahashra was Vessker's first instructor among the Sith, before the Academy was destroyed along with her Chamber of Dark Wisdom.  She later took Vessker on as an apprentice, which, while nervous, was a reasonably amiable association.  The apprenticeship was to be short, as Vessker chose to leave Nogatan, when her organization came under attack.  Ahashra was killed during the Rakata invasion, before they could meet again in person.  In the aftermath, Vessker discovered the petite Alderaanian had endured as a spectre, haunting the devastated Temple grounds.  For a time, it appeared their relationship would continue in secret, but Vessker ultimately failed her postumous master, and hasn't dared return to face the Force Ghost.
==Skills and Equipment==
Although she prefers to manoeuvre her way out of trouble without violence, Vessker is an increasingly competant fighter.  She favours the Juyo lightsaber form, and augments it with small usages of Force Deflection and Throw.  While she is proficient in 'Jedi mind tricks', she rarely attempts to use them outside of practice.
Vessker is a fair pilot, and can manage her space yacht alone.  She is fluent in Basic and Huttese.
===The Chevron===
Vessker's personal space yacht was essentially a gift from the actress Mareina Nirn, purchased at an extravagant discount.  Shaped like a curved 'V', with the cockpit at the point and the drives at the end of the arms, it is uniform pale gold all over (not real gold), including the viewports which are essentially one way glass. The seams between panels are subtle, except for the area around the newly installed weaponry (a small laser cannon and launcher). It is about 40m long, and has two decks. The cockpit and living areas are all on the upper. The lower deck has space for cargo, and cargo-movers, and the massive shield generators.
===Weaponry===
Vessker owns two red, double-bladed lightsabers, neither of which she built herself.  The first is the ancient weapon of the Dark Lady Pleo Adaasin, retreived from her tomb on Korriban.  After considerable effort, Vessker has restored it to working order, but prefers the infinitely more reliable replica built by an Imperial Requisitions team.  Since acquiring it, Vessker has worked steadily on the replica, modifying it to her tastes.  The casing is spartan compared to the ornate original, but it is decoratively crosshatched for grip.
Her secondary weapon is a compact blaster pistol, powerful and accurate for its size.  Vessker's marksmanship is adequate, and the firearm still sees use.
==Timeline==
*Born 3666 BBY
====Academy Days====
*Chamber: Dark Wisdom - Vessker makes her Sith debut, in the domain of Ahashra Vitriarius
*The Initiate - Vessker is sent to Korriban by Ahashra, to claim a historic lightsaber for her own
*A Warm Meal - Darth Cideon orders lunch a la carte
*A Parting Gift - A former student of the Academy tries to take his revenge (NON-CANON)
*Investing in the Future - Vessker is invited to attend a group training session at the Temple
*Shyrack Shuffle - In Jesck's arena, Vessker takes on a swarm of shyracks in the dark
*Enter Talos, the Grand Reaper - Also in the arena, this time up against a formidable champion (UNCOMPLETED)
*Fighting Pain - Jedi and Sith compete for a wanted criminal (UNCOMPLETED)
*Nefarious Devotion - Vessker graduates from the Academy, and becomes apprentice to Ahashra
====A Temple Apprentice====
*Coming to Grips - Sephlyl Sejo instructs Vessker and Ahashra in the form of Juyo (UNCOMPLETED)
*A Fashionable Gathering - Ahashra and Vessker travel to Delaya for recreational purposes (UNCOMPLETED)
*The Imperial Ball - The glittering Nogatan illuminati attend Emperor Trajan's ball
*Darkest Darkness 2 - A Sith ritual gives Jesck Ke'saan a new lease on life
====An Epic Return====
*The Defense of Ravenspire - Vessker makes an explosive return at the close of the Rakata invasion
*Reckoning - ...and is promptly bullied into playing chauffer for two Darths, and a Librarian
*Re-membering - Prissy finally gets a new arm, thanks to Initiate Sirra
*Voluminous - Vessker stumbles into a crowded practice session uninvited (cameo role)
*Vessker's Chamber - Contains a few bridging pieces
*Whispers in the Dark - Vessker is reuinted with her Master under sinister circumstances
*Legacy of Lords - Unexpectedly in charge, Vessker leads a doomed effort to recover the Black Lotus (UNCOMPLETED)
*Under the Radar - Months later, still in disgrace, a comeback is set in motion
*Testing the Waters - Vessker and Lady Karnok talk business (IN PROGRESS)
*Funeral for a Friend - A good man is laid to rest, and Vessker and Prissy pay their respects (IN PROGRESS)
*Interviews - Verrin consolidates his power base (IN PROGRESS)
*Convocation of SSV Modular Building Solutions - The path to the dark side is paved with hardship (IN PROGRESS)