Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/October 13, 2009

Makezh was a Human male from the planet Danoor in the Kathol Outback, an isolated sector of space in the Outer Rim Territories. Abducted by the Aing-Tii, a race of mysterious, Force-using aliens from the Kathol Rift, Makezh was brainwashed and implanted with the compulsion to retrieve a sacred artifact for them. The artifact, known as the Codex, was located within the Kathol Rift, on an alien construct that the Aing-Tii viewed as sacred ground, and were forbidden to set foot on it by their own religious beliefs. The procedures they used left Makezh mentally scarred and amnesic, but with the uncanny ability to accurately navigate the Rift by "listening" to the "voices" within it.

Returning to Danoor, Makezh plied his trade as a navigator of the Rift, catering to scientific parties. His navigational methods were instinctive, and they often made his passengers feel ill at ease, but he was considered to be the best Rift navigator on the planet. However, despite his skills, he struggled to earn a living, and was forced to steal food from a local market. Caught and jailed, government scientists began to take an interest in him and his abilities. He was eventually released, but the attention he had received, combined with a series of murders aimed at other navigators, frightened Makezh into believing that he was next in line to be killed. Around the same time, the New Republic vessel FarStar arrived at Danoor, looking to hire a navigator to guide them through the Rift. Representatives from the vessel were directed to Makezh, who initially believed that they were there to kill him. Convinced of their good intentions, the young navigator agreed to assist them as he saw it as an opportunity to leave the planet.

Makezh guided the FarStar safely though the Rift, although his methods alarmed and frightened his fellow crew. They realized that, while his flying style was erratic, it was reliable and conceded that they probably would not be able to navigate the Rift without him. As the ship penetrated deeper into the Rift, the compulsion to retrieve the Codex within him grew stronger as he neared the site of the alien construct. Discovering the construct, a landing party from the FarStar retrieved the Codex from it while attempting to free the ship from the station's malfunctioning automated docking system and brought the artifact aboard the ship. The mental programming instilled into the navigator to steal the artifact steadily grew, threatening to drive Makezh mad. When the ship reached the planet Demonsgate on the edge of the Rift, Makezh finally snapped, stole the artifact and an X-wing and went to the surface. There, the Aing-Tii waited to claim the item, and took Makezh with them against his will.