Rawk

"Family takes care of family."

- "Bantha" Rawk to his nephew, Cade Skywalker

Nat Skywalker was a Human male that served as a Jedi Master during the Sith-Imperial War. Born into a family that was strong in the ways of the Force, Skywalker was a descendant of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, the older brother of Jedi Council member Kol Skywalker, and uncle of Kol's son, Cade. During his time as a Jedi, Skywalker married the Kiffar Droo and adopted her children Ahnah and Skeeto. When the Sith-Imperial War began, Skywalker helped the Jedi Order find a suitable planet, Taivas, to build a Hidden Temple. After leaving the Order, Skywalker adopted the alias "Bantha" Rawk, with his family taking the surname as well. In 130 ABY, after the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt's Sith-Imperials massacred the Jedi on Ossus, Rawk assumed that Cade had perished during the attack.

Rawk eventually reunited with Cade Skywalker, now a bounty hunter, and helped him build the starship Mynock. During this time, Rawk became a chief mechanic of the Selonian Shipyards and adopted the Cathar Micah after rescuing him from slavers. In 137 ABY, during the Second Imperial Civil War, agents of the Black Sun criminal organization attacked Rawk's home on Iego, and Rawk and his family were assisted by Cade and the Mynock crew in defending their home against the mercenaries. When the Imperial Knight Azlyn Rae later arrived on Iego and attacked Cade, Rawk confronted Rae and defeated her in combat, but invited her into his home when Cade recognized her as a former Jedi Padawan. An Imperial scouting party then landed on Iego and interrogated the Rawks and Rae, but left after Rae used the a mind trick on them. The former Jedi Master revealed the Hidden Temple's location to Cade when his nephew expressed a desire to assassinate Darth Krayt, and then guided Cade's crew and Rae to Taivas to meet with the reconvened Jedi Council as his nephew presented the Council with his plan to kill the Sith Lord. The Council ultimately refused, and Rawk bid his nephew farewell as Cade left with his crew to assassinate Krayt.

After Cade and his team successfully killed Krayt, he met Rawk and his family on Droo's homeworld Kiffex and asked for their assistance in healing Rae, who had been grievously wounded during the mission. Rawk and Droo were forced to encase Rae in a life-preserving suit which Rawk had built for the Kiffu Guardians. When he discovered that Rae had not wanted them to heal her, Rawk gave Cade and his crew two days to repair the Mynock and leave Kiffex. Sometime after Cade and his crew left the Rawks, the Sith Lord Darth Wyyrlok&mdash;who had assumed control of the Empire&mdash;ordered the execution of the Final Protocol. The Sith forces on Dac infected the planet's oceans with viral spores that would eliminate all life on the planet within one week. Rawk assisted the Galactic Alliance Core Fleet in the evacuation efforts, helping to save twenty percent of Dac's surviving population.

Early life
"He understood the Force in ways I never could, natural-born leader&mdash;what folks look for in a Skywalker."

- Rawk, speaking of his brother Kol Skywalker

Nat Skywalker, a Human male, was born into the Skywalker family, inheriting the Force potential of that bloodline. Eventually, Skywalker grew into a powerful Jedi Master in his own right. However, he felt he could never live up to his family name, especially in comparison to his younger brother Kol Skywalker, who was a natural leader and a member of the Jedi Council. Skywalker was aware of his brother's secret marriage to the Imperial spy Morrigan Corde, although he never understood why until Kol brought his and Corde's son Cade to the Jedi Praxeum on the planet Ossus. Skywalker raised Cade on Ossus, since Kol had to remain on the galactic capital Coruscant to tend to Jedi affairs. Kol eventually brought Cade to Coruscant. During this time, Skywalker married a Kiffar named Droo, and adopted her children Ahnah and Skeeto.

When the Sith-Imperial War began in 127 ABY, the Jedi Council ordered the creation of a hidden Jedi Temple. Skywalker scouted the Rim for a world suitable enough for the creation of such a temple, and came across the planet Taivas, located in the Zhar system. Skywalker and his family helped the Jedi build the Hidden Temple. At some point during the war, Skywalker left the Order, revealing his reasons for doing so only to his wife. In order to hide the fact that they were Skywalkers, he and his family changed their surname to "Rawk", with Skywalker taking the alias "Bantha". In 130 ABY, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt's Sith-Imperial forces attacked the Ossus Jedi Praxeum, killing Kol Skywalker and all of the Jedi on the planet and scattering the rest of the order. Rawk believed that Cade had died with his father on Ossus, but Cade was in fact rescued by the pirate Rav, and joined the Feeorin's crew aboard the Crimson Axe.

At some point after the Massacre of Ossus, the Rawks rescued a young Cathar named Micah from a group of slavers. During the rescue, Micah lost his legs, and Droo tried her best to heal him. Rawk built and attached a pair of cybernetic legs to Micah, adopting the Cathar. Rawk eventually became a chief mechanic at the Selonian Shipyards. He also maintained a side business creating and modifying weapons for bounty hunters and other individuals who needed reliable weaponry. Eventually, Rawk and Cade, who was now a bounty hunter, reunited. Rawk helped his nephew and the Zeltron Deliah Blue, a member of Cade's crew, build the starship Mynock. Rawk also supplied his nephew with weaponry, building a modified double-barreled blaster carbine called the Rawk chopped special. At some point, Rawk attacked the Mynock as they were leaving Rawk's home, because Cade's friend, Jariah Syn, had tried to seduce Ahnah.

Visit from Cade Skywalker
"So, let me get this straight. You get mixed up with the Imperial princess, run into your former Master, help the princess escape some Sith, and end up on Bastion with Roan Fel. Oh, and half the galaxy knows you're a Skywalker and a Jedi. And you decide to invade the kriffing Sith Temple to rescue a Jedi you'd sold for the bounty, get caught, and nearly get turned Sith yourself. That purty much it?"'' "Pretty much." "Just how many different kinds of idiot'' can you possibly&hellip;!"

- Rawk and Cade Skywalker

By 137 ABY, Rawk and his family had relocated to the planet Iego in an home nicknamed "Rawk's Nest". Rawk mantained a friendship with the Shipmaster Ure'monbarak on the planet Dac, which supported his family. Members of the Black Sun crime syndicate attacked Rawk's Nest, and the Rawk family were defending their home from the mercenaries when the crew of the Mynock arrived to help the Rawks. With their assistance, Rawk and his family managed to drive off the attackers. Four days later, during a pool party, Rawk and Cade had a conversation in the nest's workshop. Cade told his uncle of his recent exploits, which included assisting Imperial Princess Marasiah Fel in returning to her father, deposed Emperor Roan Fel, and invading the Sith Temple on Coruscant to rescue the Jedi Hosk Trey'lis.

During Rawk's and Cade's conversation, the bounty hunter mentioned that he trained under the Sith before escaping their temple. As Rawk began to berate his nephew, Cade mentioned that he had met his mother, Morrigan Corde, during his escape, and used Rawk's former name. Rawk reminded his nephew that he had abandoned his former identity when he left the Jedi, and told Cade to leave Iego if he were to tell Rawk's children their father's reasons for leaving the Jedi. Rawk then gave his nephew information about Corde and his father's relationship with her. Before they rejoined their family, Rawk apologized to Cade for never having told him about Corde, and asserted that family meant everything to him.

As Rawk and Cade rejoined their family at the party, Skeeto told everyone to watch a holovid that was airing. Rawk and his family watched in disgust as images were shown of Sith-Imperials on Dac executing the Mon Calamari, and also watched as the Dark Lord Darth Krayt decreed that the surviving Mon Calamari in the galaxy would be placed in work camps. The holovid showed an image of Cade, and called him by his full name. Cade confirmed his identity as a Skywalker to his cousins, and Rawk began to scold his nephew. The two attacked each other, but quickly managed to calm down. Rawk ordered Skeeto to turn on the long-range scanners for Imperial activity, and told everyone not to panic. Later in the night, Cade was attacked near the Mynock by a masked figure. After he was temporarily incapicitated, Rawk snuck up on the attacker and used the Force to pull her blaster out of her hand. She gained the upper hand and held her ignited lightsaber near Rawk's chest. However, Rawk managed to overpower her, and she revealed herself to be Azlyn Rae, a Padawan who had survived the Massacre at Ossus. They brought her inside and she explained to the family how she had survived the massacre, before the long-range sensors picked up Imperial Star Destroyers entering the system and heading towards Iego. Rawk instructed his nephew and his crew to hide.

Searching for Cade, a scouting party led by Imperial Captain Gurlok arrived at Rawk's Nest and interrogated Rae and the Rawks. Rae told Gurlok that she had assisted Rawk in defending his home against the Black Sun mercenaries, but the Imperial captain doubted her and ordered his stormtroopers to kill Rawk's children unless either he or Rae told him the truth. Rae used a mind trick to convince Gurlok to leave, and the Imperials went back to the Star Destroyer and left the system. Two hours later, Rawk gave Cade another Rawk-chopped special, and commended Rae for her actions. He advised Cade to change his appearance, name, friends, and ship, and also advised against using the Force. Cade disagreed, and told Rawk of his intentions to assassinate Krayt. When Cade mentioned that he could not find the scattered Jedi, Rawk revealed to his nephew that there was a hidden Jedi Temple.

The Hidden Temple
"I keep turning it over and over in my mind. Cade Skywalker bothers me."'' "His solution is what bothers me. Assassination. My nephew's gotten darker. No debatin' that. I don't know as his idea's wrong, though. Back in the Clone Wars, Jedi got themselves roped into being generals. More'n a few lives got took that way!" "The Jedi got into that war and it nearly destroyed the Order. I myself gave into aggressive feelings. I know how dangerous they are no matter how justified they seem." "''Different time, different war, Master K'Kruhk! Krayt's committing genocide and the Mon Cal are just screamin' for help! The Jedi gotta act!"

- Jedi Master K'Kruhk and Rawk discuss Cade Skywalker's plan to kill Darth Krayt

Before Rawk, Cade, and his crew left Iego to locate the Hidden Temple, Rawk instructed Droo to relocate the family to her homeworld of Kiffex. During the trip to Taivas, Rawk recorded a message for Droo, and voiced his concerns over his nephew and the crew, as well as a recollection of how the Hidden Temple came to be. After landing at the Hidden Temple, Rawk, Cade, and the Mynock crew discovered that the Imperial Knights Marasiah Fel, Antares Draco and Ganner Krieg had followed them to the Temple. Cade and the Jedi Knight Shado Vao attacked the Imperials, but stopped when Cade's former Master, Wolf Sazen, ordered them all to put away their weapons. Cade realized that Rae had led the Imperials there, and when Fel explained that Rae was an Imperial Knight, Cade tried to attack them, but was restrained by Rawk. Tensions died down, and Rawk, Cade, and the Imperial delegation were permitted to meet with the reconvened Jedi Council, led by Masters T'ra Saa, K'Kruhk, and Tili Qua. Cade presented the Council with his plan to assassinate Darth Krayt, and they indicated that they would meditate on the matter.

During the night, Rawk and the Council discussed his nephew's plan. Rawk felt that his nephew probably had the right idea to assassinate Krayt, even if he was slipping towards the dark side of the Force. However, the Council decided not to support Cade's plan. Rawk bid his nephew farewell as Cade, his crew, Shado Vao, Rae, Draco, and Krieg departed to carry out the plan regardless. Rawk returned to his family on Kiffex.

A desperate plan
"There's nothing more that I can do for her, Bantha. It's like she's fighting me&mdash;like she doesn't want to live. To save her, she'd have to be constantly bathed in bacta&mdash;maybe for the rest of her life. We have to let her go."'' "''Made a promise to Cade, Droo. Boy's seen too many of those broke."

- Droo and Rawk

Eventually, Rawk informed Sheyf Zharia Vos, a leader of the Kiffu Guardians, that the suit of prototype armor that he had been working on was finished. After Cade's crew successfully killed Darth Krayt, they rushed to Kiffex so that Droo could try to heal Rae, who had been grievously injured during the battle. As Rawk finished talking with Vos, Syn contacted him over Rawk's comm system and asked Rawk to transmit the compound's coordinates to the Mynock navicomputer. After sending the coordinates, Rawk and Droo met Cade and his crew outside their home. Cade, who was using his healing ability to keep Rae alive, gave Rae to Droo, and Rawk promised Cade to do whatever it took to save Rae.

When Cade attempted to help heal Rae, Rawk refused, citing his nephew's usage of the dark side in conjunction with his healing ability. Droo tried everything she could, but Rae&mdash;who had been placed in a bacta tank&mdash;was pushing her attempts away. Droo believed that they had to let her die, but Rawk disagreed, stating that Cade had seen too many promises broken in his life. Despite hesitance by Droo, they placed Rae in the life-preserving suit that Rawk had developed for Sheyf Vos. Aware that Cade had lied about Rae wanting to live, Droo wanted him to leave and to perhaps never return to the Rawks. Rawk gave Cade and his crew a deadline of two days to make repairs to the Mynock and leave. Two days later, Cade and his crew departed Kiffex without saying goodbye to Rawk and his family.

Evacuation of Dac
"Don't nobody push. We'll keep coming back&mdash;long as we can, long as it takes."

- Rawk to a number of Mon Calamari refugees.

Evantually, the Sith Lord Darth Wyyrlok, who was the new ruler of the Empire, ordered the execution of the Final Protocol. The Sith scientist Vul Isen infected Dac's oceans with viral spores that would eliminate all life on the planet within seven days. Three days after the Final Protocol's execution, the Galactic Alliance starfighter squadron known as Rogue Squadron discovered that millions of beings had died, which prompted Admiral Stazi to initiate a massive evacuation of the planet. Rawk joined the Galactic Alliance Remnant's evacuation fleet, and piloted his CR90 corvette to the docks of the recently-captured city of Heurkea. He pledged to come back as many times as needed. Rawk and the evacuation fleet managed to save approximately twenty percent of the planet's population.

Personality and traits
"Gotta enjoy what we got while we got it&mdash;be around those who we care about and who care about us."

- Rawk, to Cade Skywalker

The Human male Nat Skywalker felt that he could not live up to his family's name. He felt that his brother, Kol Skywalker, was a natural leader and what people looked for in a Skywalker. When Nat met Cade's mother, Morrigan Corde, he felt she was secretive and was not easy to get a sense of. After Kol brought Cade back to the Ossus Jedi Praxeum, Nat was willing to take care of Cade while his brother attended to Jedi business.

Rawk would often berate his nephew when he felt that he had done or was going to do something stupid. When he spoke with the Jedi Council about his nephew's plan to assassinate Darth Krayt, Rawk opined that it was not a bad idea, even if Cade was slipping further towards the dark side. Rawk also felt that to ignore Krayt's genocide of the Mon Calamari was wrong. When Cade brought the injured Rae to Rawk after his successful assassination of Krayt, Rawk promised to his nephew that he would do whatever it took to save Rae's life. He was determined not to fail his nephew, encasing Rae in a life-preserving suit. After finding out that Cade had lied to Droo about Rae wanting to be healed, Rawk told his nephew to leave Kiffex in two days' time.

Rawk's family meant everything to him. He adopted Droo's children Ahnah and Skeeto. After he and his family saved the Cathar Micah from slavers, Rawk adopted the boy as one of their own. When Jariah Syn tried to seduce Ahnah, Rawk attacked Syn, going so far as to shoot at the Mynock as Syn, Cade, and Blue fled Rawk's home. He believed in using caution and implored Cade to exercise this; however, he was still willing to help his nephew out by taking him to the Temple. Rawk was unafraid to speak his mind and was known for being boisterous, traits that his family shared. Rawk understood a variety of languages, including Galactic Basic Standard, Bocce, and Huttese. He possessed a blaster carbine and a blaster pistol that had both been modified, and also owned a comlink.

Powers and abilities
"Youth and skill, old timer&hellip;""Ain't got nothing on my experience."

- Azlyn Rae and Rawk

Like most members of the Skywalker lineage, Rawk possessed a deep connection with the Force. Even after years of not using the Force, Rawk managed to overpower Imperial Knight Azlyn Rae, despite the fact that Rawk was unarmed while Rae had her lightsaber to his chest. Rawk was skilled with telekinetic Force powers, although his ability to use mind tricks had diminished, since his wife Droo forbade Rawk from using mind tricks on their children.

Rawk was a gifted mechanic, as seen by his construction of his adopted son Micah's legs after Rawk and his family rescued Micah from slavers. Rawk also helped construct his nephew Cade Skywalker's ship, Mynock. Rawk designed a life-preserving suit intended for use by the Kiffu Guardians, he used the suit when he and his wife Droo saved Azlyn Rae's life. He constructed the Rawk-chopped special, a modified double-barreled blaster carbine which was Cade Skywalker's weapon of choice. Rawk supplied his nephew with upgraded versions of the carbine.

Behind the scenes
"Bantha and his family are the closest thing to family for Cade. [&hellip;] I see the Rawks as another layer in Cade's life where he can go when things get too hot."

- Jan Duursema

"Bantha" Rawk was created by John Ostrander, the writer of the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. A sketch of Rawk was featured in Star Wars Legacy 0&mdash;a resource comic which gave basic information on some of the characters, locations, and organizations of the Legacy series&mdash;although the character himself was not identified. Rawk was first identified in the later resource comic Star Wars Legacy 0½, and received an entry in the Legacy Era Campaign Guide. He was first identified as the former Jedi Master Nat Skywalker in the twenty-third issue of Legacy.

Rawk appeared in the Loyalties, The Hidden Temple, and Storms story arcs. He was later featured in The Fate of Dac, the series' forty-seventh issue. Rawk was drawn by Jan Duursema in all his appearances in Star Wars: Legacy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy: Loyalties
 * Star Wars Legacy: The Hidden Temple
 * Star Wars Legacy 29: Vector, Part 10
 * Star Wars Legacy: Storms
 * Star Wars Legacy 39: Tatooine, Part 3
 * Star Wars Legacy 43: Monster, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 47: The Fate of Dac