The crime lord Uro Gruul is an underworld figure of significant influence and power in the Outer Rim systems across which he operates. Whilst not capable of directly opposing the power of the larger Hutt cartels or other crime syndicates—or even his purported nemesis, Sorrek of Nath—as an independent operator his reach is impressive.

Gruul is the overlord of the famous pirate hideout and black market trading facility, Kron’s Lock, which is known across several sectors as a hub for a great deal of criminal activity. The Lock orbits the dead world of Grutoka, which is uninhabited.

Those in Gruul’s employ are said to be drawn to him thanks to his personal prowess and skill, rather than his remuneration or charisma. In fact, much of his purported “legend” rests upon a number of inconsistently-told rumours and tales, some of which are certainly true but almost all of which vary far too much to be accurate. While few take most of the stories at face value, amongst his followers, at least, they are taken to be true in spirit if not in fact. The most famous of these tales is that he was capable of assaulting and wrestling the Nebulon B-class escort frigate Harbinger from its previous owners… single-handedly. Whatever the truth of the matter, he renamed the frigate the Star’s Menace and now commands the vessel as his flagship.

Gruul is a short, stocky Snivvian whose porcine features are somewhat crude, and his manner is consistent with this appearance. Rarely one to indulge in formality, he is known for straight-talk and expressing clarity about his intent and his desired outcome. Infamously, he entertains almost no tolerance for failure, and seems not to shy away from corporal punishment for those who fail to meet his expectations. Other stories have surfaced of even harsher punishments, particularly those deemed repeatedly incompetent or, even worse, disloyal.

Gruul’s attitude is generally accepted as a symptom of his desire to take action by his own hand, and to expect the same of himself as he does of others. Despite his brutality, Gruul inspires a great deal of loyalty in his more competent underlings, who thrive under his guidance. Uro Gruul is very much viewed in underworld circles as a leader who leads by example, for his oratory and even much of his tactical nous is primitive and not usually deployed with much in the way of care.

While he did cleverly engineer the Crisis at Veloma and the corresponding power shortage in the sector—in turn hoping to exploit this crisis by offering his own resources to the Imperial governor as a solution—he did not anticipate that the deal would be thwarted. His plans were discovered and infiltrated by agents of his great rival, Sorrek of Nath, and agents in his enemy’s employ ultimately defeated his plan. It currently remains unknown to what extent Gruul’s organisation has been suppressed thanks to this encounter, for the Star’s Menace was almost destroyed in combat with Sorrek’s far more powerful armada.

Let me tell you the story of how Gruul acquired the Menace. It’s written in legend now… but I know how it really happened. Because I was there.

You do not, Brax, and you were not.

I do, and I was, so shut up and let me tell the story. The “Menace” was once called the “Harbinger”, and Gruul lured it away from the convoy it was escorting. Some say that convoy was slaves, and Gruul had some interest in them.

It was tibanna, and there were more—

—let me tell the story! Anyway, Gruul knew the convoy was going to get hit, by pirates. He knew, you see, because he had been offered the job himself. But he had turned it down. So he knew he had to draw the Harbinger away—

—from the other Nebulon Bs. You always forget that, you idiot.

It was only the Harbinger, my friend. That was his target. The Nebulon B.

No, there were four, remember: the Harbinger, the Harpy, the Dedicated, and the Shrill Whisper. There were three other frigates there, and he had to deal with all of those. You really under-sell the achievement, Brax. Don’t ever let Gruul hear you mess up his story like this.

Anyway, let’s say you’re right. He had to lure the Harbinger away from the others. Does it even matter how many there were? No. He was only intent on this one. So anyway… the point is that Gruul had created this ion device, right? Brilliant design, it could short out—

—it wasn’t the ion device got him on board, and you know that full well. He gave himself up.

Are you insane, Tion? It was an ion device he had made—by those Lutrillian techs out on Vespilla III. Everyone knows that! It disabled the ship’s critical systems and he went in with the assault shuttles.

I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but that’s not how it happened. The ion devices were for the other three frigates. Gruul didn’t even use one himself. He had a different plan for that. Your memory is terrible!

Oh yeah, well then you tell me, wise guy, how did he take the Harbinger, without those ion devices? How did he even get past the ray shielding? What were all those other assault ships for? Remember, that freak Karnath was part of the crew, so was Glaw, and so they must have been there. There had to be shuttles.

That’s right, they were; they distracted the other Nebulon Bs. The ion devices damaged their shields, and a few of the assault shuttles got through. They were there as a diversion. In the meantime, Gruul offered his surrender to the Harbinger. Flew right in there on his Lambda-class shuttle. Unaccompanied. He took the ship on his own, remember. There weren’t no assault shuttles on the Harbinger. Just him. Just Gruul.

That’s… that’s crazy. Even I don’t believe that.

Believe what you like. That’s how it actually happened.

So how come all the soldiers from the shuttles swore that oath to him? Weren’t they on the same ship? They were fighting beside him!

No, they were on the other ships, which agreed to withdraw… after Gruul took the bridge of the Harbinger and executed the commanding officer. Those knuckle-draggers were so impressed by his courage that they swore allegiance to him on the spot. Why do you think Slossk, insane as he is, doesn’t actually make any trouble for Gruul on the Lock?

Yeah, that’s true. He kills a lot of people, that guy, but never anyone Gruul needs. Well, all that might be true, but you still haven’t explained how he managed it. There are well over fifty troops on a Neb-B, not to mention almost a thousand crew. Tell me how he single-handedly got past all those…

—Tion and Brax discuss the “Taking of the Harbinger”