Padgett

"Old Man" Padgett was a male Human living on Aquilaris during the New Sith Wars. The Jedi Knight Kerra Holt knew him from her childhood and met Padgett again when she come back on the planet alongside Devil Squadron. He was only forty years old in 1,032 BBY but was considered an old man because in that time period was rare for Humans to survive to that age. He was one of the few Aquilarians not to become addicted to Deluge spice, a narcotic that had been deliberately distributed throughout the Grumani Sector by Grace Command as part of an effort to weaken the Sith warlords' war engines. Due to his age and his sound state of mind he was also the de-facto leader of the Seacroppers' Guild. Despite his pessimistic outlook, he developed a working relationship with Kerra and Captain Jenn Devaad of Grace Command's Devil Squadron. During the Aquilaris campaign, he played an important role alongside fellow Aquilarian Joad Kreel in rescuing survivors of an artificial global flood unleashed by the Hutt crimelord Zodoh.

Sith Rule
"You listen to old Padgett this time. I told you, the flood's got 'em."

- Padgett describing the effects of Deluge spice on his Seacropper crew

Padgett was a native of Aquilaris who lived in Capital Cay, a major maritime port. He was a member of the Seacroppers' Guild who harvested algae and fleek eels on that planet's vast oceans. He was also a close family friend of Joad Kreel who looked up to him as his elder. He survived the Massacre of Aquilaris and the subsequent Sith occupations by various Sith Lords, with the latest being Lord Daiman's Daimanate. Daiman exploited the planet as a source of seafood to feed his military forces. The Sith occupation brought extreme poverty and starvation for many Aquilarians since the Sith recquisitioned much of the population's food resources. The Seacroppers were forced to hand over much of their catch to the Sith and left with meager rations. Many subsequently became addicted to the spice Deluge which was able to alleviate hunger pangs and depression at the expense of reducing them to a state of apathy and disorientation.

Consequently, seacropping operations were severely hampered by the poor health of its manpower who were unable to meet their work quota. Many Seacroppers were also unwilling to work in the rain and the poor conditions of its submersible and eel traps contributed to non-existent productivity by 1,032 BBY. This drug was illicitly distributed by the pro-Republic Grace Command for the purpose of undermining the Sith war effort. While many of his fellow Seacroppers including Joad succumbed to the drug, Padgett was among the few who refused to use the narcotic. As the oldest and most mentally-sound of the Seacroppers, Padgett had assumed de-facto leadership of that organization.

Cold Reunion
"You're insane, is more like it. A Jedi. Are you invading this time?"

- Padgett greeting Kerra

In 1,032 BBY, Joad Kreel sent a distress signal requesting more Deluge. This signal was intercepted by several different parties with their own vested interests in Aquilaris including Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, Hutt crimelord Zodoh, and Grace Command. As a Jedi Knight, Kerra wanted to evacuate several Aquilarian refugees back to the safety of Republic space. As an Aquilarian, she also wanted to liberate her homeworld from Sith rule. Meanwhile, the Hutt Zodoh was seeking to expand his crime empire into the Grumani sector, traditionally a domain of the Sith. He intended to intimidate his Sith competitors by testing his Stormdrivers on Aquilaris, capital ships equipped with mechanized vaporators capable of creating artificial storms. Finally, Grace Command wanted to distribute more of their Deluge narcotics among populations in Sith-occupied worlds as a means of indirectly sabotaging the Sith's manpower without committing substantial resources. Captain Jenn Devaad of Devil Squadron was dispatched to the planet under the guise of anti-Sith liberators providing relief assistance.

During the Battle of Capital Cay, the Daimanate garrison was overwhelmed by Zodoh's forces. Kerra infiltrated the port aboard an empty food transport and killed the garrison commander before he could flee. She then headed to the Seacroppers' Guild building and announced her plans to evacuate the Seacroppers in the food transport while Daiman's forces were still preoccupied fighting Hutt forces. Padgett responded negatively, deriding the lone Kerra as insane for coming alone. Due to the drug-induced state of the Seacroppers, Kerra was unable to convince them to cooperate with her. Padgett then explained to the young Jedi Knight that the men had become addicted to the Deluge spice. He also outlined the poor state of the Seacropper's harvesting operations and submersibles which had resulted in malnutrition and poverty. Kerra also quickly learnt from Joad Kreel that the distress signal had in reality been a request for more Deluge spice.

Kerra subsequently manage to destroy one of Zodoh's Stormdrivers with the assistance of Jenn's Devil Squadron which had just arrived from hyperspace. Zodoh ordered his strike force to withdraw from Aquilaris since his Stormdriver had gathered sufficient data on Aquilaris' atmosphere that was necessary for flooding the planet's surface. Besides his advance force, Zodoh had a larger fleet of Stormdrivers that he intended to use to create an artificial global flood.

Padgett was present when Captain Jenn and her squadron landed in Capital Cay and announced their plans to distribute free food and medicine to the impoverished population. Over the following days, Grace Command routed the remaining Sith forces on the other islands and began a massive distribution of food and medical supplies at Capital Cay. While Devil Squadron was publicly warmly received by the populace, they aroused some uproar when they evicted the Seacroppers from their barracks for their own accomodation needs. Later, Joad learnt about Grace Command's secret agenda while eavesdropping on their meeting.

The Deluge
Having completed their food and medical drop, Grace Command departed Aquilaris for another offensive against Sith Lord Malakite. Enroute, they were intercepted and captured by Zodoh's fighter carrier in the Aquilaris system. Only Kerra escaped back to Aquilaris where she quickly learnt about Grace Command's conspiracy to inundate Sith territory with Deluge spice. Having learnt of Zodoh's plans of testing his Deluge superweapons on Aquilaris, she attempted to convince the Aquilarians to evacuate to higher ground. She faced a major logistical problem because most of the boats had been destroyed by the Sith and the few remaining airspeeders would be unable to operate in stormy conditions.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 6: Deluge, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 7: Deluge, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 8: Deluge, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 9: Deluge, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Knight Errant 10: Deluge, Part 5