Venku Skirata

"Interesting to meet you at last&hellip; Uncle Boba."

- Venku Skirata to Boba Fett

Venku Skirata, was the Force-sensitive son of the Clone Commando Darman and the Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan, and thus a biological nephew of Boba Fett. He was adopted by Kal Skirata as his grandson and was raised in Mandalorian culture of his genetic ancestors, and became a farmer on Mandalore, but by 40 ABY, under the name Kad'ika, or "Little Saber" in Mando'a, he was the leader of a political faction who wanted to see a resurgence of the Mandalorian people.

Early life
"Venku, we live in an age of chaos. You're going to change many lives. Maybe this is where you start, saving your father and your uncles before you're even born."

- Etain Tur-Mukan, talking to an unborn Venku

Venku Skirata was born on the planet Qiilura, the son of the Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan and clone commando Darman Skirata; however, Darman did not know that Etain was pregnant with Venku, so Darman was unaware he had a son until a year after Venku was born. Because of the Jedi rules forbidding attachment, Etain's pregnancy was kept secret, and the Jedi Council were unaware that she had a lover and a son. Venku was given his name by his adoptive grandfather Kal Skirata, however a few days later when Omega Squad met the newborn, Darman&mdash;unaware he had a son&mdash;said that he would name a son "Kad". From then on, Venku was referred to as "Kad" by members of Clan Skirata.

Kal Skirata was searching for a way to slow down the accelerated growth of his adoptive clone sons, and shortly before Venku's birth he found and captured the Kaminoan geneticist Ko Sai. Ko Sai was the geneticist responsible for the Fett genome that the clones were grown from, and refused to help Skirata, believing that he would only sell her research for credits. However, Etain bartered with Ko Sai by appealing to the Kaminoan's interest in studying Jedi blood. Etain offered Ko Sai samples of her blood and Venku's umbilical cord from which to study. Satisfied with this exchange, Ko Sai started giving out random bits of information on how to reverse the clone aging process. Shortly after Venku was born, and before she could release all the pertinent information regarding stopping the clones' aging, Ko Sai committed suicide. Ko Sai's data to stop clone aging was eventually completed, although some details remain unclear as to the how, when, where and who completed it.

During the last year of the Clone Wars, Venku was kept primarily in his aunt Laseema's apartment, with Laseema, his aunt Besany Wennen, grandfather Kal Skirata, or uncle Bardan Jusik looking after him. Etain would visit with Venku whenever she got leave from her duties as a Jedi General, and was delighted when Venku called her "Mama" during one of her visits. Later that year, Etain finally told Darman that Venku was his son. Although shocked and hurt at first because this knowledge was hidden from him, he recovered and the three of them enjoyed some family time together, with Etain even recording some family holos of the three of them. When Venku met Darman, he kept saying "Dada" over and over.

During Order 66, Etain was killed by a Jedi while she was protecting a clone trooper from a Jedi attack. Venku felt her die through the Force, screaming for five whole minutes at the moment she died, and after her death he became a more serious child who rarely smiled. Among Etains's possessions were her two lightsabers, which Skirata wanted burned alongside her, but Jusik insisted that Venku keep them. Also among her possessions were a data and comm kit, some data chips containing the family holos recorded earlier, and a small stuffed nerf toy, which Venku put on her funeral pyre. Skirata took the stuffed nerf out after it had been burned a bit, stating that he would give it back to Venku when he gets older.

As a result of Darman refusing to leave a wounded Niner behind, he was stranded on Coruscant and got reassigned to one of the newly formed Imperial commando units, so it fell to Skirata to raise Venku, and Bardan Jusik to further teach Venku how to use the Force. All the members of Clan Skirata, with the exception of Darman and Niner, defected from the Grand Army and relocated to Mandalore after Order 66, and they made their home in the town of Kyrimorut.

Later life
"...There's this guy called Kad'ika that we're all hearing about. Thinks it's time we looked after ourselves—really looked after ourselves. Not just gather in the clans and unite when we're threatened, but build Mandalore itself into something new"

- Goran Beviin to Boba Fett, about Venku Skirata In 40 ABY, Boba Fett, as ruling Mandalore, learned of the political views represented by Kad'ika&mdash;whose real identity he did not yet know&mdash;from his second, Goran Beviin. Fett was curious to know if he wanted to be Mandalore himself, though both Beviin and Fett's granddaughter Mirta Gev said he wanted Fett to be the Mandalore.

Later that year, Boba Fett and Mirta came across a clone with gray leather gloves on Kuat who claimed he fought in the Clone Wars. The clone introduced himself as Jaing Skirata, and Fett asked him if he had Ko Sai's data, which Fett had been trying to track down to use on himself to cure his cloning-related ailments. Jaing said that the research was destroyed after it was used on him and his brothers, and that he no longer had a copy. Jaing stated that if he gave Fett a blood sample, he feared that Fett might sell it to the Kaminoans. However, Jaing did relent and say if Fett would give him a sample of his blood, he might be able to return with a cure. The only condition to this was that Fett would have to go back to Mandalore and follow Kad'ika's advice. Fett agreed, and Mirta took his blood sample for Jaing.

A short time later on Mandalore, Venku introduced himself to his uncle and to Mirta when he delivered a sample of bone marrow from Jaing Skirata as a cure for Fett's cloning-related ailments. Venku was present when the bone marrow cure was injected into Boba Fett, and when he made mention of Mirta's Heart of Fire pendant as he was leaving, she said that she needed a Kiffar to read it. He promised to let her know if he found someone, and true to his word, a short while later he approached Fett and Mirta in the tapcaf and told them a Kiffar named Gotab could read the stone. Gotab read the stone and told them some details about Fett's dead wife Sintas Vel, including her last known location. However, Gotab got tired from reading the stone and Venku took him home.

Venku and Gotab would later come across Jedi Knight Jaina Solo, who was on Mandalore to learn how to fight like a Mandalorian in order to kill her Sith Lord brother, Darth Caedus. Gotab revealed to Jaina that he was not a Kiffar, but a former Jedi Knight named Bardan Jusik, and that Venku was the son of a Jedi and a clone trooper. He admitted that Clan Skirata hid Venku for years because they were afraid that the Empire was either going to kill him for being Force-sensitive or capture and breed a whole new clone army from Venku's DNA. They also kept Venku's existence a secret from Fett, because they were afraid that Fett was going to sell him to the Kaminoans. After Gotab's confession to Jaina, and after hearing his advice on how to deal with her brother, Jaina engaged Venku in a lightsaber duel, with Venku using both of his mother's lightsabers.

Personality and traits
"Kad'ika. Nearest we have to a political agitator. He's the one who's been pushing the Mandalore-First agenda for years. You know, let the galaxy find some other dumb mercenaries to die for it. We'll stay home, look after our own, strengthen the Mandalore sector, and laugh."

- Goran Beviin, about Venku

Venku as a child was always happy and smiling, but after his mother's death he became grave and serious. Having been raised in the Mandalorian tradition by Kal Skirata, Venku was very passionate about his fellow Mandalorians and his planet, and even supported Mandalorian reform so his people could live better lives.

Venku's voice had overtones of Kuati accent, and possible hints of a Muunilinst inflection as well, suggesting that he had spent time in these places. He wore patchwork armor, which he claimed was created from plates of the harness of dead relatives, naming uncles, a cousin, and an aunt as well as his father—an extreme variation on an old Mandalorian tradition. In addition to wearing the armor of his various family members, Venku also carried around both of his mother's lightsabers.

By way of his mother, Venku is Force-sensitive, but he deliberately chose not to use the Force if he could help it. This was possibly due to the way he was raised, having hid from the Galactic Empire on Mandalore, a planet not well known for its tolerance for Force users, during the Great Jedi Purge

Behind the scenes
Even before Venku's identity as the son of a Fett clone was known, fans speculated that he was the child of Darman and Etain Tur-Mukan, as the child was to be taken by Kal Skirata to be raised as a Mandalorian and so would have inherited his attitude towards traditional Mandalorian culture. With the release of Republic Commando: True Colors, the question of whether Venku is Etain's and Darman's son is now closed. Karen Traviss verified that Venku is indeed Etain's and Darman's son. (source: YahooGroup Karen Traviss)

The name "Venku" derives from the Mando'a word vencuyot, which means "future". This version of "vencuyot" means "positive future."

Appearances

 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * Bloodlines
 * Sacrifice
 * Revelation

Notes and references
Venku Skirata