Walon Vau

"You can't breed soldiers with flash-learning and simulation. They must come face to face with death itself."

- Walon Vau

Walon Vau was one of the Mandalorian mercenaries recruited by Jango Fett to join the ranks of the Cuy'val Dar and train the Clone Army. He wore a black-colored armor.

Early life
Walon Vau was born into wealth, the son of the Count of Gesl, a domineering brute and religious fanatic. As a youth Vau was beaten mercilessly by his father, but not all of the emotional feeling was removed. When Vau was a young man he attempted to join the Imperial Irmenu Navy when his father was an Admiral but was told by his father that he was not good enough to join, possibly resulting in Vau's leaving his family and home to join the Mandalorians. After Vau became a Mandalorian, he was disowned by his family and his rightful inheritance was passed to his cousin.

Vau trained the commandos in Delta Squad, and gave RC-1262 his nickname ("Scorch") after an ordnance accident that left them both without eyebrows for a time. Walon was extremely violent, once siccing his pet strill, Lord Mirdalan, on a young Ordo. Also on Kamino, he allowed Mird to hunt which resulted in the death of a "menial" and "genetically inferior" Kaminoan, causing Vau to feel much the same way about the Kaminoans as Skirata.

Clone Wars
"You have to know the limits of your physical and mental endurance, so you can recognize them and pass beyond them. This is why I will push you beyond any suffering you can imagine. You will not give up and die like lesser men; you will not crack up like lesser men; you will not lose heart in the direst circumstances like lesser men. And you will be the last men standing when the weaklings have opted to do the easy thing and die."

- Sergeant Walon Vau, addressing junior clone trainees on Kamino

Like Kal Skirata, he believed that the clones he trained should be brought up to be Mandalorian warriors. However, he took a different approach. Instead of treating the clones like sons, he taught the Mando way through discipline, and often violence. To teach his clones to be tough, he would often pit one against the other, for melee or even live-fire exercises. He gave them a choice: fight each other or fight him. Only one clone named Atin ever chose Vau, and Vau put him in a bacta tank for a month. Vau also believed his men had to know pain to be able to learn how to withstand it, and withstand interrogation. Vau took this task upon himself, refusing to pass on the dirty work of training to others to salve his own conscience. He asserted that it was for the clones' own good, and not out of any sadistic tendencies, that he trained them so brutally. It was for this training philosophy, among other things, that caused a deep-seated hatred between Skirata and Vau, though unknown to Skirata, Vau greatly cared for the clones he trained, merely showing it in other ways. Whether or not one agreed with his methods, Vau had an excellent record; after a year of the Clone Wars, only three of the commandos he trained had died, as opposed to fourteen of Skirata's. He blamed the high casualty rate on the Galactic Republic, and specifically the Jedi for using commandos like normal soldiers in the Battle of Geonosis. Vau was not without sympathy, however - after the death of Jango Fett, he felt sorry for Boba Fett and believed Boba would turn into the hardest, most bitter and messed up shabuir around.

Upon completing his contract as a Cuy'val Dar, Vau returned to civilian life. A year after Geonosis, he was recruited by Kal Skirata in his black op to destroy the CIS terrorist cells operating on Coruscant. He was selected due to his excellent interrogation skills. This mission put him back in close proximity to Atin, the commando who chose to fight him. His face scarred by Vau, Atin had vowed to kill Vau one day, but he set aside his hatred temporarily for the sake of the op.

In the final showdown between the terrorists and Skirata's men, Vau teamed up with Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan to neutralize the terrorist leader, Perrive. Vau proved his sniper skills in a clean kill, and then used Lord Mirdalan to retrieve the body (and datapad it held). They then returned to the greater battle, and were responsible for the neutralizing of a fleeing terrorist.

After the op's success, Atin chose to take his revenge. He attacked Vau and the two fought furiously. Atin nearly killed Vau, but before he could do so the two men were broken up by Jedi General Bardan Jusik. The matter between Vau and Atin seemed to be resolved. When the time came for the team to go their separate ways, Vau and his strill returned to civilian life.

A few months after his successful mission to Coruscant, Vau joined Delta Squad on Mygeeto where he used Delta to aid him in breaking into the Dressian Kiolsh Merchant Bank in order to steal back his inheritance and several other family items from his family's secure box. To hide which box was his target he stole from several other boxes, acquiring more than fifty-three million credits worth in stolen goods, which except for what was rightfully his he gave to Skirata. This unexpected genorosity caused Skirata to change his view about Vau. During the escape from the bank, Vau fell into a crevasse and nearly froze to deaty, but was rescued by Skirata and Ordo in Aay'han.

Vau joined later Skirata and Ordo on Mandalore and was awakened one night when Etain went into labor. He was present for the birth of her and Darman's son Venku Skirata (later named Kad). During this time Vau confronted Skirata about the clones and wondered if he would have raised them all Mandalorian had they not been clones of Jango, something Skirata denied. Also during this time, Vau began to wonder what would become of Mird after he died after being asked how long Strills lived by Null-10. Vau expressed his desire to leave Mird with someone who would treat it much the same way as he did, and offered Mird to Jaing, who agreed to take it when Vau died.

After Etain returned with Delta and Omega Squad after a stalemate on Haurgab, Zey asked Vau to keep an eye on Skirata, since he was suspected of treason. But later on, Vau secretly told Skirata about Zey's being onto him and swore never to reveal anything behind his back.

During the following months, Vau was instrumental in helping Kal Skirata liberate adopted members of Clan Skirata from the Republic army. He helped Ordo free Jilka Zan Zentis, Besany Wennen's best friend, from prison after Gurlanin spies had framed her to throw suspicion off of Besany (Ordo's wife).

After the Battle of Coruscant, and Order 66, Vau joined Skirata in his escape and defection mission, taking many clones that had joined Clan Skirata to Kyrimorut on Mandalore. Once there Vau and Skirata declared that their enmity was over, and they would start anew with a clean slate, and be the friends they knew they technically already were, because each of them saw how much the other cared about his troopers.

Rise of the Empire
"I hate it when you get moral."

- Vau to Kal Skirata on Coruscant

He attempted to find Sev on Kashyyyk, but was unsuccessful in finding him because the Empire was enslaving the Wookiees at that very moment. He lived in Kyrimorut and was content, but when Kal Skirata began to bring in fleeing Jedi he became angry with Kal. His anger came from the idea of Jedi - the very people who used his boys - being allowed to utilize an escape route made for clones. He could understand why they took in an ancient Kaminoan Jedi who they could use for research into the aging process, but not for saving Scout and Arligan Zey. Walon said Kal was getting soft and didn't stick to his principles but instead let his emotions influence his judgement. Kal did not have the guts to kill the Jedi even if that would make it much safer. He even punched Kal in the face but Kal, who knew Walon was right, didn't act on it.

Personality and traits
Vau was described as being tall and cadaverous. He seemed to be sociopathic, seemingly showing no empathy or sympathy for his trainees or fellow sentients. It seemed that the only living thing he truly loved was his pet strill, Lord Mirdalan, whom he affectionately called "Mird." He kept his true emotions hidden to remain "strong" in front of his soldiers. He trained them to be strong so they would survive, but did not tell them directly that he cared for or loved them. However, Vau's sadistic behavior could be attributed to the harshness of his father; in effect, Vau possibly would have been less sociopathic had his father not frequently abused him. His cold, deliberate and calculated demeanor attributed to his proficiency in both hand-to-hand combat and interrogation. Jedi such as Etain Tur-Mukan and Arligan Zey commented on how he left little impression in the Force, and was even able to fool Jedi mind scans by careful wording and strict, almost unnatural, control over his emotional state.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Republic Commando
 * Republic Commando: Hard Contact
 * Omega Squad: Targets
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Imperial Commando: 501st