User:Ifindyourlackoffaithdisturbing/Workbench

"Ulic may no longer have been able to touch the Force, but he understood it more than any of us. He had the heart of a Jedi."

- Vima Sunrider, recorded on the Great Holocron

Early life and Jedi training
"Well done! But keep your thoughts with the Force, Ulic!"

- Arca Jeth, during Ulic Qel-Droma's lightsaber training

Ulic Qel-Droma, a Human male, was born on the Core World of Alderaan, the son of Jedi Master Lien-Tsai Qel-Droma. Qel-Droma had a younger brother named Cay with whom he shared a deep bond, and both were Force-sensitives with great potential. Qel-Droma also had a cousin named Duron, who was also a Force-sensitive and would eventually become a Jedi Knight. However, although their mother taught the Qel-Droma brothers well in many subjects, she did not instruct them in the ways of the Force, as she believed that she could not keep the necessary distance between student and master with her children. Not wanting to commence their training too early, Lien-Tsai Qel-Droma waited until she believed Ulic and Cay had reached the proper age to send them to learn under skilled Arkanian Jedi Master Arca Jeth. In the meantime, Qel-Droma became well-known by the Alderaanian nobility, who largely disapproved of whatever he did and looked upon him with disdain. Qel-Droma, feeling the need to prove his worth, threw himself entirely into his studies and extracurricular activities, drawing the respect of his superiors as he turned his attention from challenge to challenge. However, Qel-Droma neglected his study of the Force in favor of his other pursuits, only focusing on it when all his other options were exhausted. Qel-Droma immediately discovered his natural talent with the Force, and in so gained a new confidence in himself.

Qel-Droma poured himself into his study of the Force and the Jedi way, so much so that his mother worried that he had missed the message of what the Jedi Order stood for and would have trouble if he continued that way. However, Qel-Droma dismissed her fears by quoting from the Jedi Code. Soon afterward, his mother sent both Ulic and Cay to Arkania to learn under Arca Jeth. On Arkania, the two Qel-Droma brothers met their fellow apprentice, Twi'lek Tott Doneeta, becoming fast friends with the Padawan. Ulic excelled in his Jedi training, learning and mastering the lightsaber combat techniques taught to him by Master Jeth before any of the Jedi Master's other apprentices. But Qel-Droma drew concern from Master Jeth due to his relentless efforts and often reckless attempts to prove himself. Qel-Droma was instructed not to act before thinking, and the apprentice vowed to rein in his natural urgings and make sure he was always in control. During his tutelage under Master Jeth, Qel-Droma also constructed his own lightsaber. While in training on Arkania, Qel-Droma and his fellow apprentices often practiced their lightsaber skills on combat-trainer droids, which he considered to be old, slow, and unchallenging.

Trouble on Onderon
In 4,000 BBY, after a particularly eventful lightsaber training session which ended in a stun bolt to the midsection, Qel-Droma and his two fellow apprentices gathered before their Jedi Master, Arca Jeth. Employing a Force illusion, he Arkanian proceeded to tell them the story of the planet Onderon, recently discovered by galactic explorers. Home to vicious and lethal fauna, Onderon also contained native tribes, who protected themselves by building a great walled city, Iziz. Over the years, they began the practice of banishing criminals to fend for themselves in the wilderness, but after some of the outcasts, known as the Beast Riders, learned to survive and even tame the beasts, they fought back at the Iziz aristocracy in a centuries-long conflict known as the Beast Wars. At the conclusion of his tale, Master Jeth informed his three apprentices that he had accepted the post of Jedi Watchman to the Onderon system. Stunned, Qel-Droma asked whether Master Jeth would be leaving them, but Jeth revealed that he was not going to Onderon; the three Padawans would travel there in his stead. After their years of Jedi training, Ulic Qel-Droma, his brother and Tott Doneeta were finally getting their first mission. Making Qel-Droma his chargeman, Master Jeth informed him that their objective was the end of the Beast Wars, and that he should only use weapons as a last resort.

Qel-Droma and his fellow apprentices departed Arkania in Cay's ship, the Nebulon Ranger, with Qel-Droma at the pilot's controls. During the journey, Qel-Droma engaged his friend Doneeta in a discussion of Twi'lek culture. Upon arrival in the Onderonian atmosphere, the Ranger was suddenly swarmed by thirty to forty Beast Riders on their drexl mounts. Although under heavy fire, Qel-Droma was able to fly through the horde without firing a shot, landing safely at the Iziz Royal Palace. Immediately after their arrival at the Palace, Qel-Droma and his fellow Jedi met the Onderonian Minister of State, Novar, who had his men seize Tott Doneeta, a non-Human prohibited from entering the Royal Citadel. But after the Qel-Droma brothers ignited their lightsabers, Novar unhanded Doneeta and led them to meet Queen Amanoa and the young Princess Galia. Amanoa, a Force-sensitive herself, was hesitant to work with such young Jedi, saying that she expected a great Jedi Master instead. Qel-Droma dismissed her concerns, telling the Queen that the whole of the Jedi Order would be at Onderon's service once she embraced the Galactic Republic.

Before their meeting got underway, however, the Royal Palace was suddenly attacked by a Beast Rider strike force, which Qel-Droma deduced was the same group that attacked the Nebulon Ranger earlier. Qel-Droma and his fellow Jedi quickly moved to defend the palace as Amanoa and Galia fled deeper within the building. Qel-Droma fared well in the battle, defeating several Beast Riders and even slaying several of their mighty drexl warmounts. Despite their best efforts, all still did not go according to plan in the defense, as two Beast Rider commandos were able to slip past the Jedi line and make their way toward the royals' hiding place. Cay and Doneeta broke off to chase the commandos, while Qel-Droma was left to battle the Beast Riders by himself. Qel-Droma was able to fend off the attackers, and they soon fled without warning. Victorious in his battle, Qel-Droma went to the royal quarters to check on his brother and Doneeta, only to find that the Beast Rider commandos had kidnapped Princess Galia. Against his partners' advice, Qel-Droma promised the Queen that they would find her daughter, and the three left Iziz in the Nebulon Ranger. During their search above the Onderonian wilderness, the Jedi caught sight of a fortress carved into a mountain, with several Beast Riders around it. However, almost immediately afterward, the Nebulon Ranger was hit by a Beast Rider seeker-torpedo and crashed deep within the forest.

Switching sides
"Together we can bring peace to this chaotic world."

- Ulic Qel-Droma to Oron Kira

Although the Nebulon Ranger was heavily damaged, the three Jedi emerged relatively unscathed, as the ship's deflector shields were able to cushion them from most of the impact. As Qel-Droma and his brother surveyed the damage, Tott Doneeta spied the Beast Rider stronghold farther out in the forest, and used the animal friendship Force power to gain the allegiance of several boma beasts. Through the Force, the boma beasts informed the Jedi that Galia was in the fortress and was about to marry Oron Kira, the son of Beast-Lord Modon Kira. Qel-Droma and his fellow Jedi set out on the boma beasts to crash the wedding and save the Princess, and broke into the citadel while the ceremony was underway. Qel-Droma managed to grab hold of Princess Galia, but she surprisingly protested, saying that she wanted to marry Oron Kira. Qel-Droma unhanded the Princess, and soon afterward accepted an invitation from Modon Kira to speak during the wedding banquet. There, Oron Kira and Galia revealed the Qel-Droma that the Onderon Royal Family were dark side users, Sith cultists who worshipped dead Dark Lord of the Sith Freedon Nadd, who had subjugated the planet centuries before. Qel-Droma was shocked, thinking Onderon too primitive a world to have been touched by the dark side. Modon Kira then came forward with a proposition&mdash;he had gathered the all armies of the Beast Riders together for one final assault, and wanted Qel-Droma and the Jedi to battle the dark side with them. Qel-Droma responded with a different idea&mdash;he, the other Jedi, and the newlywed Kira and Galia would go to Iziz first and try to bring a peaceful end to the Beast Wars. If they failed, then there would be war.

Modon Kira accepted his proposal, and the group left less than a day later after Cay repaired the Nebulon Ranger. Accompanied by a Beast Rider escort, the Nebulon Ranger was initially fired upon by the Iziz defense guns. Although a last-second plea by Cay got them admission to the Royal Palace, Queen Amanoa quickly rebuffed Qel-Droma's offers of peace. Filled with hatred, Queen Amanoa called the power of the dark side down upon Qel-Droma, the other Jedi, Kira, and her daughter. Qel-Droma immediately felt its effects, as his thoughts became clouded and confused and he was filled with fear. Under heavy fire from the Palace security forces&mdash;who were also adept in the dark side &mdash;and oppressed by the dark side, Qel-Droma followed Princess Galia to a secure hiding place in her father's old workshop. However, Qel-Droma soon realized that they had left his brother Cay behind in the throne room, and decided to go back to rescue him. Realizing that his mission of peace had failed, Qel-Droma told Oron Kira to signal his father to send in the Beast Rider troops and begin the battle. By the time Qel-Droma reached the throne room, his brother was grievously injured, and had lost his left arm. After treating his Cay's wounds, Ulic succeeded in rescuing his brother and bringing him to their hiding place, and watched as Cay removed the arm of a nearby droid to use as a replacement for the one cut off during the battle.

Once Cay was done, the Qel-Droma brothers made their way out of the Palace to the city ramparts, where Tott Doneeta, Galia, and Oron Kira were watching the battle. There, Qel-Droma received an update on the conflict's progress from Doneeta, who informed him that the city had fallen to the Beast Riders after a sudden change in the battle's momentum. Suddenly, Qel-Droma spotted Master Jeth's ship, the SunGem, in the planet's atmosphere. Jeth landed on the ramparts, and voiced his disappointment, saying that Qel-Droma had failed the test he had been given. Jeth revealed that he had won the battle for the Beast Riders with the exotic Force power known as battle meditation, and told Qel-Droma that he should have sensed the work of the dark side the minute he arrived on Onderon. After their conversation, Jeth led the group down into the tomb of Freedon Nadd, below the planet's surface, where Queen Amanoa had sequestered herself. There, Qel-Droma watched as Amanoa's dark power fled her, and she died. Soon afterward, Qel-Droma attended the ceremony where Oron Kira and Galia consecrated their marriage under the laws of the Republic, merging the warring tribes of Onderon into one people, becoming the new King and Queen of Onderon, and finally ending the Beast Wars.

Attack of the cultists
"If the dark side could take Master Arca, then it's too strong for us. We're going to need more Jedi Knights&mdash;and the forces of the Republic!"

- Ulic Qel-Droma, after the first battle of the Freedon Nadd Uprising

Although the Beast Wars were over, peace still did not come easily to Onderon. By 3,998 BBY, the planet was once again entrenched in war. This time, Naddist cult members, from the same organization that once claimed Queen Amanoa as a member, were in open rebellion against the new monarchy. Again, Ulic Qel-Droma was called into action, as the Galactic Republic had entrusted him, Master Jeth, Cay, and Doneeta to bring lasting peace to the planet. Once on the planet, Master Jeth ordered that the stone sarcophagi containing the remains of Freedon Nadd and Amanoa be removed from the planet, hoping to reduce the dark side pall still hanging over Iziz. This took on the form of a grand funeral procession through the Iziz city streets, led by Galia and Oron Kira. Qel-Droma, his brother, and Master Jeth marched directly behind them, meeting with the monarchs, Tott Doneeta, and newly arrived Vultan Jedi Oss Wilum after the ceremony was concluded. But as the sarcophagi were being loaded onto their transport, a colossal groundborer machine suddenly emerged through the planet's surface, containing hundreds of dissident members of the Royal Armed Forces now fighting on the Naddist side. Led by cyborg Dark Jedi Warb Null, the Naddist force attacked. While most of the Jedi immediately battled back, Qel-Droma initially stayed behind to tend to Master Jeth, who had been struck and injured by a dark side. Qel-Droma soon joined the fight himself, clashing lightsabers with Warb Null, but the Naddists succeeded in gaining control of the sarcophagi, their real target. Once they had achieved their goal, the darksiders immediately fled the battlefield, nearly dragging Qel-Droma down with them as the groundborer retreated underground.

After the skirmish, Qel-Droma returned to tend to the fallen Master Jeth, who was sure that something terrible was at work. It was then that the newly-crowned Queen Galia spoke up, informing Qel-Droma and Jeth that her father, King Ommin, a dark side master himself, was still alive in a secret subterranean facility and could help them explain the dark side pall over the city. Qel-Droma, Master Jeth, and Queen Galia immediately set out to meet with Master Ommin, who had been confined to the facility after being stricken with a wasting disease that had softened his bones and required a metal apparatus to keep him alive. Their journey led them through pitch-black tunnels, forcing Qel-Droma to use the Force to see where his eyes could not. Qel-Droma's group arrived at the subterranean fortress and met with the infirm Ommin, who spoke cryptic words about Freedon Nadd still being with them. Suddenly, the Force ghost of Freedon Nadd took shape and revealed himself to the Jedi. Master Jeth realized that Ommin had been practicing Sith magic he had learned from Nadd's spirit for years, the cause of the dark side continuing to plague the city.

Ommin then rose, still attached to his armature, and attacked Jeth and smothered him in dark side energy before Qel-Droma had a chance to help his Master. At the same time, Warb Null and a squad of Naddist warriors entered the room, as Qel-Droma ignited his lightsaber and prepared to defend the Queen. Qel-Droma simultaneously battled both Null and the Naddist soldiers, as he witnessed the incapacitated Master Jeth being carried off by King Ommin. Although Null's dark power sapped some of Qel-Droma's strength, the Jedi Knight was still able to kill him and defeat the Naddist force. Having successfully protected Galia, Qel-Droma, suffering from a form of vertigo after his trying battle, escaped the fortress with the Queen. When Qel-Droma and Galia emerged from the underground facility to find that the Iziz Royal Palace had fallen to the Naddists, encountering Oron Kira, Cay, and Oss Wilum among the rubble. Needing to regroup, they retreated to the Fortress Kira beyond the city's walls, while Qel-Droma resolved to call other Jedi to aid them in the coming fight to retake Iziz.

Battle with the dark side
"Ulic&mdash;what's the matter with you guys&mdash;? Why weren't you fightin'?" "The dark side&hellip;it's eating at our life force&hellip;Sith magic is at work&mdash;but for some reason I'm feeling a whole lot stronger now that my fellow Jedi are here!"

- Dace Diath and Ulic Qel-Droma during the climactic battle of the Naddist uprising

Free from the Iziz war zone, Qel-Droma soon placed a call for help to the Galactic Republic, which was received by Minister of Defense Netus. Military aid was granted to Onderon, in the form of a massive force of Republic rocket-jumpers that descended from the atmosphere and led the battle to take back Iziz. Meanwhile, Qel-Droma and the Jedi soon found themselves besieged in the Fortress Kira; with the dark side eating away at his life force, Qel-Droma and the other Jedi were unable to fight. Luckily, the Republic forces, boasting several Jedi Knights themselves, arrived at the right time and were able to track Qel-Droma's radio beacon to the forest stronghold. Led by Knight Nomi Sunrider, the relief forces cut a swath through the Naddist ranks and reached the Fortress Kira, blowing the gates open. Suddenly invigorated by Sunrider's use of battle meditation, Qel-Droma and the other trapped Jedi emerged raring to fight. The combined forces went on to win the battle. Surveying the battlefield after the clash, Qel-Droma came across a prone Nomi Sunrider, who had been felled by a mental Force attack. Sunrider awoke from her stupor when Qel-Droma arrived, and described to him a vision of an emaciated man on a metal armature that she saw during the attack, which Qel-Droma recognized as King Ommin. In the meantime, preparations began for a final assault to retake Iziz and end the Naddist uprising. Qel-Droma personally gave words of encouragement to the still-dazed Sunrider, telling her that all the Jedi had to combine to strike back at the dark side and save the kidnapped Master Arca Jeth.

Once they were ready, Qel-Droma and seven other Jedi&mdash;Cay, Wilum, Doneeta, Sunrider, Dace Diath, Nazzar prince Qrrrl Toq, Miraluka Shoaneb Culu&mdash;joined the battle for Iziz. Taking on hundreds of dark side adepts and war droids, the Jedi force slowly but surely pushed toward King Ommin's lair, relying on their Force sense of Master Jeth's anguish to guide them. In the midst of the conflict, Qel-Droma witnessed his brother Cay's mechanical arm get chopped off and tried to help him, although his brother assured him he was fine and continued to fight. After defeating their Naddist attackers, Qel-Droma and the Jedi pushed deeper into Ommin's fortress, eventually encountering the decrepit former King himself. When Qel-Droma questioned Ommin on the whereabouts of Master Jeth, the darksider responded by attacking the Jedi force with the dark side. Qel-Droma was able to fight through the darkness by drawing upon the light side of the Force, and cut through Ommin's armature with his lightsaber. Without his exoskeleton to support his softened bones, Ommin collapsed in convulsions. Still, even as he was writhing on the floor, Ommin refused to give any information on Master Jeth's location. Suddenly, the spirit of Freedon Nadd appeared at Ommin's side, and ended the old darksider's life. Master Jeth then arrived, having been freed by Ommin's death, and claimed victory for the Jedi; indeed, the Naddists had been defeated in Iziz. However, Nadd, as he disappeared from sight, replied that the Jedi had actually lost, confusing Qel-Droma. With the Naddist uprising ended, Qel-Droma and Jeth's other apprentices began working to fully clear Onderon of dark side influence. Qel-Droma and the other Jedi on Onderon attended the long-awaited entombing of the recovered bodies of Amanoa and Freedon Nadd on the moon Dxun, removing them from the planet.

Rise of the Krath
"You. You will be one of the great ones&mdash;"

- The spirit of Freedon Nadd foretells Ulic Qel-Droma's destiny

After the Freedon Nadd Uprising, Qel-Droma and his Jedi friends stayed on Onderon, finally at peace. During this rather carefree time, Qel-Droma and the other Jedi learned how to fly the Onderonian warbeasts, and he and Nomi Sunrider began to take a liking to one another. However, their happiness did not last, as Master Arca Jeth soon sent them on another mission. There had been a coup in the Empress Teta system, located in the Deep Core, where nobles Satal and Aleema Keto seized control of the system using Sith magic taught to them by King Ommin. Assigned to deal with this problem, Qel-Droma and his fellow Jedi were given their objectives; specifically, Qel-Droma was paired up with Sunrider, to fly to the Empress Teta system and directly lead the joint Jedi/Republic forces trying to save the Tetan worlds still resisting the coup. Qel-Droma was told to wait until Sunrider had completed a lesson in battle meditation with Master Jeth, so he stayed with his brother and Tott Doneeta as they watched some of the other Jedi depart for Ossus. Suspecting that Freedon Nadd was at the heart of this uprising, the two Qel-Droma brothers decided to check out the Sith artifacts recovered from King Ommin's possessions.

Making their way into the Jedi outpost nearby, the Qel-Droma brothers commenced their examination of the artifacts, assisted by a droid called T-12. As Ulic looked around the storeroom, T-12 handed him an unusual Sith amulet. As Qel-Droma put his hands on the amulet, the spirit of Freedon Nadd suddenly appeared. Nadd warned Qel-Droma that the Sith would rise again and told him not to interfere with the work of the dark side. When Qel-Droma challenged Nadd, the former Dark Lord told the Jedi that he would be one of the "great ones". Qel-Droma was confused, and when he questioned the spirit on what he meant, Nadd said that there was one even greater than Qel-Droma. With that, the spirit disappeared, leaving Qel-Droma to ponder his words. Once they were ready, Qel-Droma and Sunrider traveled to the Empress Teta system to fight the Ketos and their dark side organization, the Krath. By a month later, they were aboard the Republic command ship Reliance, working with Republic Captain Orley Vanicus. Their goal was to protect the rebels on Koros Major, the last planet still fighting against the Krath's rule. However, the war effort did not go very well, and Qel-Droma and the Reliance arrived in the Koros Major war zone too late to save the rebels.

Qel-Droma subsequently instructed Captain Vanicus to transmit a cease-fire order to the Ketos. However, they received no response; instead, a massive herd of space grazers, an extinct species that once preyed on space traffic, appeared above the Republic fleet. Although Qel-Droma immediately voiced his fear that the creatures would destroy the fleet, Nomi Sunrider discerned through the Force that the grazers were mere illusions, and that they were being attacked by the dark side. Undaunted, Qel-Droma continued to command the Republic forces as they moved in to attack the Krath command station. As a countermove, a large group of Chaos starfighters emerged from the command station and began a run on the fleet. Although Sunrider saw that these too were illusory, some of the fighters were actually real, and sacrificed themselves by crashing into the Republic vessels. One of the Chaos fighters breached the Reliance canopy, and Qel-Droma was hit and injured by a piece of debris. Although the shrapnel missed any of Qel-Droma's vital organs, he was incapacitated as a worried Sunrider tended to his wounds. Captain Vanicus ordered a full retreat from Koros Major; the Krath had won the day.

The death of a mentor
"I will do this for Master Arca&hellip; for all Jedi Knights&hellip; and for the good of the Republic! Ulic Qel-Droma will conquer the dark side of the Force!"

- Ulic Qel-Droma after the Battle of Deneba

After the defeat at Koros Major, the Jedi Order realized that they were greatly endangered by the existence of the Krath, and called a Jedi convocation at the Mid Rim planet Deneba. With the Krath having recently declared war against the Jedi Knights, the entire Order flocked to Mount Meru, a natural landmark on Deneba where the Jedi conclave was to be held. Qel-Droma did the same, although he was heavily bandaged due to the injuries sustained in the battle at Koros Major. Although his wounds made it difficult to walk, Qel-Droma repeatedly refused offers of help, and climbed up the mountain himself. Walking with Nomi Sunrider, Qel-Droma met his brother Cay and Master Jeth while making the trek up the mountain, and the group finished the trip together. During the convocation, venerable spokesman Odan-Urr called Qel-Droma and Sunrider up to the stage to speak about the Krath. Although many of the Jedi in the audience wanted to respond to the Krath threat with overwhelming military force, Qel-Droma decided to present a different plan. The Jedi Knight postulated that thousands would die in an all-out war with the Krath, and while order may be restored in the Empress Teta system, the Krath would likely survive and the dark side would continue to spread throughout the galaxy. Qel-Droma proposed that one of the Jedi should join the Krath, learn their secrets, and then destroy the conspiracy before it could extend its reach any further. His idea was met with horror and disapproval from the gathered Jedi&mdash; specifically Dace Diath, Shoaneb Culu and Master Arca Jeth, who told Qel-Droma that the path of the dark side would inevitably lead to disaster.

Master Jeth promptly began to address the Jedi assembly on the evils of the dark side, but stopped in mid-speech, hearing a scream through the Force. Jeth instructed Qel-Droma to listen to the sound, which puzzled the Knight, who thought it was of a man being eaten alive. While the convocation stopped to hear it as well, disaster struck. A Krath fleet arrived in the system and launched a barrage of life-pods containing war droids, which attacked the gathered Jedi. At the same time, servant droids among the assembly unveiled hidden weapons and began their own assault on the Jedi. Qel-Droma quickly sprang to action, drawing his lightsaber and battling the droid army. Although Qel-Droma was briefly threatened by a knife-wielding droid which slipped behind him and placed him in a chokehold, Master Jeth advised him on a way to escape, and the droid was destroyed. In the midst of the battle, Qel-Droma thanked Master Jeth for his help, saying that the Jedi Master saved his life. As Jeth told Qel-Droma to always be careful and wary, a previously-unseen war droid shot Jeth in the back. Blaming himself, Qel-Droma cradled the mortally-injured Jedi Master in his arms as he died and passed on to the Netherworld of the Force. The Jedi successfully repelled the droid assault, but Qel-Droma could take no joy in the victory, as he grieved over the death of Master Jeth. Sunrider arrived at his side to comfort him&mdash;Qel-Droma confided that he blamed himself for Master Jeth's death, and vowed to her that he would infiltrate the Krath, destroy it from within, and conquer the dark side. Qel-Droma also decided to take Jeth's Jedi robe, which the Jedi Master had left behind when his mortal body disappeared. Qel-Droma kept the garment as a memento of his teacher for at least one year.

Departure
With his mind made up, Qel-Droma soon began preparing for his mission to infiltrate the Krath. Wanting to know everything he could about the people he would be dealing with, Qel-Droma, with Nomi Sunrider at his side, traveled to the Great Jedi Library on Ossus. There, he met with Neti Jedi Master Ood Bnar, who provided him with a complete history on the Empress Teta system. Qel-Droma expressed his belief that he would be a coward if he passed up an opportunity to battle the dark side, piquing Master Bnar's interest. Bnar subsequently brought Qel-Droma to Odan-Urr, who was the Library's Keeper of Antiquities. Odan-Urr produced a rare Sith holocron, and used it to show Qel-Droma the story of a Jedi Knight who similarly tried to conquer the dark side from within, only to be seduced to the dark path and strike down his own master. Stunned by the images he saw, Qel-Droma lashed out at Bnar and Odan-Urr, proclaiming that they would rather do nothing than try to defeat the dark side. Realizing that he would not be swayed, Bnar and Odan-Urr promptly departed. Qel-Droma went to speak with his brother Cay on the Library's parapets, in what was to be their last meeting before Ulic's departure. Although Cay offered to go with him to Empress Teta, Ulic turned him down, saying that he needed to fight the battle alone. Cay was still uncomfortable with the mission, believing that he would never see Ulic again&mdash;however, Ulic waved off his concerns, and the two brothers embraced.

After a night of study, Qel-Droma prepared to depart for Empress Teta on the Kestrel Nova, a freighter recently captured in a battle with pirates near Taanab. By then, his plan was fully formed&mdash;he would disguise himself as a smuggler to enter the city of Cinnagar, then wait for a chance to get close to the Krath. Qel-Droma made the trip to the freighter with Nomi Sunrider, who wanted to help Qel-Droma in any way she could. Qel-Droma refused to let her follow him, reiterating what he said to his brother. With that, Qel-Droma and Sunrider parted ways with a goodbye kiss. Qel-Droma was able to make it to Empress Teta, but his arrival in Cinnagar did not go unnoticed, as both Satal and Aleema Keto were able to sense his presence in the city. The next day, Qel-Droma went to the city's central plaza, where the Ketos were holding a public execution for carbonite traders that resisted Krath rule. As Qel-Droma watched the display, one trader, Farng, caught a knife thrown to him from the crowd and leapt at Aleema. Covered by a full-on revolt from allies in the audience, Farng made it to Aleema's platform. Realizing that his chance to win favor with the Krath had come, and that his plan would be all for naught if the Krath leaders were killed, Qel-Droma ignited his lightsaber, jumped into the fray and killed Farng as he attempted to assassinate the dark side magician. Qel-Droma impressed Aleema with his skill, and claimed to be a Jedi who had fallen from the way of the light. As Satal Keto continued with the executions, Qel-Droma and Aleema withdrew to the Krath's Iron Citadel; however, he was quickly drugged and incapacitated by his host.

Path of no return
"&mdash;but I need to know more. I need more time. Tell them not to come looking for me. When I have learned everything I need to know about the dark side&hellip; I will return to Ossus. Please understand I must break the power of Keto and Aleema&hellip; they are responsible for the death of Master Arca."

- Ulic Qel-Droma, in a recorded message to Nomi Sunrider

The unconscious Qel-Droma was brought to catacombs below the Iron Citadel, where he was restrained and left at the mercy of a torture droid. Although Qel-Droma repeatedly pled loyalty to the Krath, the torture droid continued to test Qel-Droma's commitment with electric shocks. Satal and Aleema Keto eventually paid him a visit, and Qel-Droma used the opportunity to assert his claim that he was a fallen Jedi who had come to Cinnagar to learn the ways of the dark side. Unconvinced, Satal Keto injected him with a Sith poison, which Keto claimed would kill Qel-Droma unless he could neutralize its effects with the Force. Qel-Droma, pulled out of his delirium by the poison, unleashed a massive outburst of Force energy that freed him from his bonds but ended up rendering him unconscious. Qel-Droma recovered and set about proving his sincerity to the Krath&mdash;one route he took was updating the obsolete weapons that the Krath used in Cinnagar. While giving a presentation to the Ketos and other assembled Krath personnel about their outdated defense turrets, Qel-Droma was informed that another Jedi, a female, had landed in Cinnagar and was taken prisoner. Satal Keto, still skeptical of Qel-Droma's intentions, ordered the captured Knight to be brought in&mdash; to Qel-Droma's astonishment, it was Nomi Sunrider, who had come to Empress Teta in an attempt to rescue him. Keto revealed that Sunrider was to be executed the next day, and asked Qel-Droma to carry it out. Conflicted between protecting Nomi and keeping up his facade, Qel-Droma announced that he would indeed perform the deed, while secretly hoping that Sunrider would find a way to escape.

Although Qel-Droma knew that he could not contact Sunrider through the Force without being found out by Satal Keto, Qel-Droma used a servant droid to carry a message to the imprisoned Jedi explaining his actions and expressing his need to break the Krath's power. During the act, Qel-Droma was visited by Aleema, who expressed her faith in him. Realizing Aleema's desire for him, Qel-Droma seized the opportunity to use that desire for his own gain, and the two made love. Meanwhile, Satal Keto intercepted the servant droid and saw Qel-Droma's holographic message for Sunrider. Angered that Qel-Droma had double-crossed the Krath, Keto sent an assassin, Norgor, to kill the Jedi Knight. Norgor struck just hours before the appointed time for Sunrider's execution, while Qel-Droma was getting dressed and preparing to visit the detention area to verify that Sunrider had escaped. As Norgor crashed through a nearby window, pistols blazing, Qel-Droma activated his lightsaber and swiftly struck the assassin down. Meanwhile, Sunrider was able to break free of her captors and make it to the gates of the Iron Citadel, as Cay Qel-Droma and Tott Doneeta rushed to her aid in the Nebulon Ranger. Krath forces were notified of Sunrider's escape and attacked the Jedi as Satal Keto watched from a balcony. Knowing what was going on, Qel-Droma made his way to Keto's balcony and called out to his brother, proclaiming that Keto was the one who killed Arca Jeth.

A wave of anger rushed over Qel-Droma, as he drew his lightsaber and engaged the Krath ruler in a duel. Drowning in hatred, Qel-Droma dealt a mortal blow to Keto. The dying darksider taunted Qel-Droma, saying that his anger had activated the Sith poison injected in him. As Qel-Droma stood over Keto's lifeless body, he lashed out at the other Jedi with a wave of dark side energy that threw them to the ground. Still seething with anger, the once-heroic Jedi Knight swore that he would kill them if they didn't leave him alone, prompting his brother, Sunrider, and Doneeta to flee in the Nebulon Ranger. As he watched his former brothers-in-arms leave Empress Teta, Qel-Droma realized what Freedon Nadd had told him on Onderon&mdash;that he was on a path of no return.

Destiny fulfilled
"Let it be so, Qel-Droma&hellip; the ancient Sith have spoken. Together we will bring down the galaxy!" "Yes. Let it be so."

- Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma

After slaying Satal Keto, Qel-Droma returned to within the Iron Citadel with his new flame, Aleema. While Qel-Droma recuperated from various injuries, Keto gave him a powerful Sith amulet which had originally belonged to Satal. As he and Keto discussed the Sith artifact and their relationship, they suddenly heard the sounds of a battle in the skies above. A Jedi strike force from Ossus, consisting of four starfighters and a larger transport, appeared in the Tetan atmosphere and attacked the Iron Citadel, prompting an aerial clash as the fortress' security team fought back with defensive laser fire. Startled, Qel-Droma looked on as Dace Diath, whom he had fought alongside during the Naddist revolt, destroyed Krath turrets just outside his window. In the midst of the chaos, the transport dropped several Onderonian warbeasts that broke into Qel-Droma's room&mdash;on their backs rode Nomi Sunrider, Cay, and another fellow Onderon veteran, Qrrrl Toq. As Toq and Cay went off to deal with the guards, Sunrider tried to convince Qel-Droma to leave Empress Teta with her, fending off Keto's dark illusions all the while. However, Qel-Droma refused to go with her and the other Jedi. Although Cay stepped in and pleaded with Ulic to reconsider, Ulic coldly shoved him away, calling him weak. Ulic asserted that he was not under the influence of the dark side, and would continue his mission in the name of Arca Jeth. His mind made up, Qel-Droma told his brother and Sunrider to leave him alone once and for all.

Undaunted, Cay and Sunrider continued their pleas. Ulic became filled with rage, and used the power of the Sith amulet to lash out at the Jedi. The scene became a mad scramble, as Qrrrl Toq tried to grab hold of the talisman while Cay attempted to restrain Ulic. Cay and Toq used the Force to hold Ulic back, but as they moved to strap him to the back of a warbeast, Sunrider ordered them to stop. Sunrider told the Jedi to leave Ulic in the Iron Citadel, as they had been told by the Jedi Masters that he would come with them on his own accord or not at all. Qel-Droma freed himself, and returned to Aleema as the Jedi begrudgingly left him behind. As he watched Sunrider depart on her warbeast, Qel-Droma assured her that he would indeed finish his work on Empress Teta. Qel-Droma did not have any time to rest however, as another Jedi appeared in the room. His name was Exar Kun&mdash;Qel-Droma recognized him as a so-called Sith pretender mentioned to Aleema Keto by the spirit of Freedon Nadd. Although Keto attacked him with Sith magic, Kun easily defeated her. Qel-Droma drew his lightsaber and dueled Kun, but an unexpected development interrupted their showdown. Kun possessed a Sith amulet similar to the one Qel-Droma had, and as they battled, the two artifacts began to glow and envelop the two combatants. The auras combined to form the image of a Dark Lord dead centuries ago, Marka Ragnos. The ghostly image of Ragnos told the duelers to stop, while Qel-Droma and Kun looked on in shock. Ragnos proclaimed that their dark initiation was to be completed, and dubbed Exar Kun the new Dark Lord of the Sith. Qel-Droma was also deemed a Sith, as Kun's new apprentice. With a touch of the dead Dark Lord's hand, a distinctive Sith mark was placed on Qel-Droma's forehead. Ragnos told the new Sith that they would take their revenge on the Republic before disappearing. Now transformed, Qel-Droma and Kun clasped hands, and resolved to bring down the galaxy.

Duel with the Mandalore
"A glorious combat, Ulic Qel-Droma. I cede. My warriors are yours. Kill me." "I am not interested in your death, Mandalore. I have a much better fate for you. A much better fate."

- Mandalore the Indomitable and Ulic Qel-Droma, after their duel

Over the next six months, Qel-Droma and Kun prepared to bring about a new Golden Age of the Sith. During what would be dubbed the Great Sith War, Kun created the Dark Reaper, a large, saucer-shaped superweapon that fired massive bolts of Force lightning and was nearly impossible to defeat. To power the gigantic vehicle, the Sith created the Force Harvester, which would drain the Force from every living organism that came into close proximity with the Harvester, and built it into the center of the Dark Reaper. Key to Kun's plans for destroying the Republic one planet at a time, the Dark Reaper killed thousands during the war &mdash;during one battle on Raxus Prime, Qel-Droma used it to kill hundreds of Republic soldiers. During his service with the Sith, Qel-Droma learned how to counter the effects of the Force Harvester for a short time, allowing him to approach the superweapon without being harmed. He also learned how to defeat the Dark Reaper by destroying its many weapon emplacements and then by deactivating the Force Harvester. As the conflict continued, Qel-Droma and Kun realized that they did not have a large enough army to win a head-to-head war with the Republic. The task fell upon Qel-Droma to gather such an army, while Kun set about to lure more dark side disciples.

Fortunately for Qel-Droma, a suitable army fell right into his lap in 3,996 BBY. The Mandalorian warrior clans, led by their chief Mandalore the Indomitable, arrived in the Empress Teta system&mdash;believing that the system was in chaos, the Mandalore intended to conquer the area. Qel-Droma's defense forces were taken completely by surprise, as the Mandalorians' Basilisk war droids drove them to an early advantage in the battle. Commanding his forces from a Krath yacht, Qel-Droma, in a bold move, contacted the Mandalore and ordered the warlord to surrender. Although the Mandalore refused to capitulate, he countered by making Qel-Droma an offer&mdash;a duel to the death on the plains of Harkul of the planet Kuar, and if Qel-Droma won, the Mandalorians would serve him. Qel-Droma accepted, and even allowed the Mandalore to name the terms of the fight once they reached Harkul. As such, Mandalore the Indomitable wrote the rules to greatly favor himself, as he did not permit Qel-Droma a mount or to stand on solid ground, while he was able to use his personal Basilisk war droid.

In front of a large audience consisting mostly of warriors from both the Tetan and Mandalorian armies, the duel began. Although Qel-Droma was severely disadvantaged, he was able to evade the Mandalore's laserfire, and destroyed the warlord's Basilisk with a stroke of his lightsaber. After that exchange, Qel-Droma and the Mandalore found themselves standing across from each other on a large chain. Mandalore the Indomitable told Qel-Droma to put away his lightsaber, and fight him with the traditional bladed weapon of Mandalorians past. Qel-Droma boldly claimed that he could defeat the Mandalore with any weapon, and briefly let his guard down as he turned off his lightsaber. Mandalore the Indomitable took the opportunity to swing his weapon at the Sith Lord&mdash;although Qel-Droma was able to dodge the attack, he lost his balance and fell from his tenuous foothold. Qel-Droma landed on a Mandalorian spectator's Basilisk, however, knocked the onlooker off his mount, and took his blade. Qel-Droma commandeered the Basilisk droid, and flew toward the Mandalore at full speed, and with one slash of his weapon drove the Mandalore off his perch and to a hard landing on the ground below. The injured Mandalore conceded the victory to Qel-Droma, and asked him to give him an honorable death on the battlefield. However, Qel-Droma refused to take his life, instead making the warlord his lieutenant as he seized control of the Mandalorian forces.

Striking at the heart
"I don't come in the name of the Jedi&hellip; I come in the name of the future, a new golden age for the galaxy&hellip; a future based on the Sith, not the creaking old Republic."

- Ulic Qel-Droma during the Battle of Coruscant

Now with a sizable Mandalorian army, Qel-Droma raided several Republic shipyards and supply bases &mdash;eventually, he turned his attention to the Republic shipyards at Foerost, where the Republic supplied their navies with advanced warships. Qel-Droma gathered a force of attack ships to strike at Foerost, using Aleema Keto's Sith illusions to conceal his approach. His combined Tetan and Mandalorian forces utterly destroyed the Republic military presence at Foerost, working together for an easy victory. After victory became assured, Qel-Droma personally visited the shipyard's command center. In front of a terrified band of shipyard employees, Qel-Droma demanded the operations codes for all the newly completed warships, killing one when he refused to cooperate. After intimidating the workmen into giving him the codes, Qel-Droma was in charge of three hundred of the galaxy's newest warships. Qel-Droma promptly received a message from Exar Kun, who told his apprentice to continue to gather more ships. Instead, Qel-Droma announced his intention to strike at the Republic capital, Coruscant&mdash;as the Republic would expect more attacks on shipyards and military outposts, Qel-Droma reasoned, attacking the government's heart would be the correct move. Although Kun did not agree with Qel-Droma's plan, he knew that his apprentice would not be swayed, and he begrudgingly allowed Qel-Droma to attack Coruscant.

Before departing Foerost, Qel-Droma took the time to leave a diversion to cover his assault on Coruscant. He planted a security recording showing him discussing space station Kemplex IX as his next target&mdash;Republic captain Orley Vanicus, dispatched to investigate the attack on Foerost, happened upon Qel-Droma's message and fell for the trap. Vanicus ordered the main Republic fleet to guard Kemplex IX, while Coruscant was left without vital defenses. Qel-Droma took this opportunity to attack Coruscant, backed by a large strike force of Mandalorians and Tetan troopsA. Republic Minister of Defense Netus rallied a group of remaining Republic soldiers to defend the world, led by a group of Jedi including Cay Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider. Ulic's battle plan was primarily to occupy the Republic war room and crush their central military command. Qel-Droma initially stayed out of the brunt of the fighting, watching the advance teams wrought havoc on Coruscant alongside Aleema Keto and the Mandalore. At Mandalore's behest, Qel-Droma sent a phalanx of Mandalorian troops to seize the Republic's new weapons being manufactured near the war room&mdash;meanwhile, backed by a team of Tetan soldiers and Keto's Sith illusions, Qel-Droma joined the battle himself, pushing towards his enemy's command center. Qel-Droma and his allies utterly destroyed the Republic troops defending the war room, and entered the structure itself.

Upon entering the war room, Qel-Droma found a surviving Republic official. Qel-Droma used the Force to control the man's mind, and ordered him to tell each Republic admiral to deploy their squadrons to a single point in the Vento system, where they would all collide and destroy each other. Suddenly, however, Qel-Droma's forces retreated and left him and his personal guardsmen alone in the command center; unbeknownst to the Sith Lord, Aleema Keto had betrayed him and ordered the Mandalorians and Tetans to pull back, abandoning him to approaching Jedi. Before Qel-Droma could achieve his goal of destroying the Republic Navy, a team of several Jedi, led by Cay and Nomi Sunrider, broke into the war room. Qel-Droma drew his lightsaber and readied himself for a fight, but Krevaaki Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas, Exar Kun's former teacher, immobilized him with a Jedi power. The Republic's Supreme Chancellor, who was present, declared Qel-Droma under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic, and proclaimed that the Sith Lord would face trial and a death sentence.

Schemes
"I don't plead with fools. You are puppets of tradition pretending to be important. The coming golden age has no place for you. Your Republic is an empty, self-indulgent delusion&hellip; signifying nothing. The lost glory of the Sith will turn all of your supposed accomplishments to dust!"

- Ulic Qel-Droma addresses the Senate

Qel-Droma's trial was to be held in front of the entire Galactic Senate&mdash;accordingly, Qel-Droma was kept in a small, dark cell within the Senate Rotunda itself. As the trial began he was led out of his prison by several guards, and faced an audience consisting of hundreds of Senators and Jedi, including his brother and Nomi Sunrider. The legal proceeding was presided by the Supreme Chancellor himself, who charged Qel-Droma with dozens of crimes including destructions of shipyards, raids on supply bases, and enslavement of mercenaries, but most seriously, for breaking his oath of allegiance to the Republic. Still, Qel-Droma refused to repent for his actions, and denounced the Chancellor as an ineffectual puppet. As the audience looked on in stunned silence, Qel-Droma proclaimed that the end of the Republic was at hand, and the new Sith Golden Age was at hand. Mortified by his brother's actions, Cay stormed the Senate floor and pleaded for the Supreme Chancellor to remember Ulic's good deeds as a Jedi, reasoning that Ulic was greatly disturbed and led astray by Master Jeth's death. As the Senate floor began to erupt in chaos, Ulic broke free of his restraints. At that point, Exar Kun, accompanied by the Mandalore and a massive force of Sith Massassi warriors, burst into the Senate Rotunda. As Kun attacked and killed the Supreme Chancellor, the freed Qel-Droma dared his brother and Sunrider to attack him&mdash;however, they could not bring themselves to do so.

As the Sith and the Jedi faced off, their attention was drawn to Vodo-Siosk Baas, who quietly entered the Senate Rotunda and confronted his former pupil, Exar Kun. As Qel-Droma, and the entire captive Senate, looked on, Kun offered Baas a place in his Sith Order. When Baas refused, Kun drew his lightsaber and initiated a duel. In the end, Master Baas was slain, and Qel-Droma left the Senate with his Sith Master. Qel-Droma and his Sith Master went to Kun's stronghold on Yavin 4, where he met with Mandalore the Indomitable to discuss the recent events. There, the Mandalore revealed that Aleema Keto had betrayed him. Infuriated, Qel-Droma resolved to deal with her, but did not let on his intentions after an encounter with her soon after. With the Great Sith War going their way, the Sith were planning their next strike, and Qel-Droma saw a way to put his plan to eliminate Keto into action. Qel-Droma informed Keto that she would lead the next attack&mdash;later, it was resolved that she would do so alongside Cathar Dark Jedi Crado, who was returning from a failed attempt to kill Master Thon. Qel-Droma decided that they would strike at Kemplex IX, an important way-station where they could lure much of the Republic fleet to its doom. Qel-Droma and Kun, aware and approving of his apprentice's plot, gave Keto and Crado command of the Corsair, an ancient warship with massive Sith power.

Although the Corsair was exceptionally powerful, Qel-Droma and Kun had no qualms giving control of it to the traitorous Keto, as its Sith power would backfire on her if all went according to plan. After luring a squadron of Jedi starships to Kemplex IX by attacking the station, Keto utilized the Corsair magnifying power to tear out the core of one of the stars in the nearby Cron Cluster, wielding the radioactive core as a projectile weapon and wiping out the Jedi. However, as planned, the loss of the star's core caused a chain reaction that resulted in the entire Cron Cluster going nova. The Cron Supernova destroyed Aleema Keto and the Corsair, ridding Qel-Droma of his nuisance. In addition, the shockwave, heading directly toward the Great Jedi Library on Ossus, would surely cause the Jedi to evacuate the world. Knowing that this would happen, Qel-Droma and Kun prepared to head for Ossus, to steal the Jedi treasures located in the Library.

Endgame
"I know where to find him. I can take you there&hellip; to Yavin Four!"

- Ulic Qel-Droma, stripped of the Force

As a desperate evacuation commenced on Ossus, Qel-Droma and Kun descended upon the planet. Although the Mandalore and most of the Mandalorian warriors were in battle on Onderon, Qel-Droma carried a sizable group of Mandalorians along with him, while a Massassi force traveled with Exar Kun. Qel-Droma soon launched the Mandalorians as soon as they entered Ossus' atmosphere, to create a diversion while the two Sith flew closer to the Library. However, Cay Qel-Droma, who was planetside assisting in the evacuation, sensed Ulic's presence through the Force and went up to meet him in Nebulon Ranger. Although Cay, joyously thinking that Ulic had returned to the light, contacted his brother, Ulic, flying his own starship, told Cay to leave him alone. Cay still refused to go away, and pursued Ulic through the Ossus skies, targeting laser strikes on Ulic's engines as they both dodged airborne Mandalorian warmounts. However, Ulic was able to maneuver his ship behind Nebulon Ranger, and shot his brother down. Nebulon Ranger crashed, but Cay survived; meanwhile, Ulic landed safely nearby. As his wounded brother staggered out of the wreckage of Nebulon Ranger, Ulic, bleeding from an old Sith wound, ignited his lightsaber. Cay responded in turn, albeit reluctantly, and the two brothers dueled. Their battle brought them through the Ossus streets, and Ulic severed Cay's mechanical arm with a stroke of his lightsaber. Helpless, Cay tried to reason with his opponent, but Ulic would have none of it. Overcome by rage, Ulic rose his lightsaber and struck his brother down.

As Cay's life faded away, Ulic was overcome by remorse and sorrow. Ulic held his brother's corpse and wept&mdash;Nomi Sunrider and Tott Doneeta arrived on the scene almost immediately. Sunrider was shocked and horrified, and although Ulic begged for mercy, she to stripped him of his connection through the Force by imprisoning him in a wall of light. Although Sunrider immediately regretted her action, Ulic Qel-Droma was left to deal with the fact that he was no longer a Jedi. Master Thon and Oss Wilum joined the party soon afterward, and although they understood Qel-Droma's guilt and grief, they prevailed upon him to help them stop Exar Kun, who had absconded with a number of Jedi treasures. Knowing that Kun had returned to Yavin 4, Qel-Droma composed himself and offered to bring them to the moon. Qel-Droma and Doneeta carried Cay's brother aboard Qel-Droma's ship, and alongside Nomi Sunrider and her daughter Vima, they traveled to Yavin 4&mdash;alongside a massive Jedi fleet. The Jedi force, thousands of ships strong, soon arrived at Yavin 4. Qel-Droma was the first to make contact with his former Sith Master, declaring that the Jedi were united against the dark side. As the gathered Jedi created a wall of light to engulf the moon, the jungle below suddenly erupted into a fiery inferno. The size of the conflagration was such that nothing living below could survive. Confident that Kun was defeated, the broken Qel-Droma left Yavin 4 with the other Jedi.

After returning to the side of the Jedi, Qel-Droma realized the danger the Dark Reaper posed on the galaxy, and taught the Jedi the secret of how to bring down the Dark Reaper. Qel-Droma led a group of Jedi to the planet of Thule, where they were able to successfully disable the Reaper. Following the battle, the Jedi detached the Force Harvester from the Reaper and hid the Harvester on the backwater world of Raxus Prime. The Jedi also buried the Reaper under the Thule city of Kessia. Over the next two years, Qel-Droma wandered across the galaxy on an unfruitful quest to discover a way for him to become a Jedi again. In 3,994 BBY, after making a pilgrimage to his brother's gravesite in his newly-renamed ship, Cay's Dream, Qel-Droma returned to the scorched moon of Yavin 4 determined to find out just what happened on that fateful day. Qel-Droma journeyed across the destroyed forest, eventually coming to the Great Temple where Exar Kun had made his headquarters. However, still blind and deaf to the Force, Qel-Droma could feel nothing there, and left.

Self-exile
"I am alone. This place is so quiet, empty&hellip; but still I have no peace. The Force has abandoned me&hellip; I can feel nothing."

- Ulic Qel-Droma

For the next eight years, Qel-Droma continued to wander the galaxy trying to hide from his past. Although guilty of war crimes during his period as a Sith Lord, Qel-Droma was never prosecuted for them, and was left to his own devices. At some point over this time, Qel-Droma scratched out the Sith mark on his forehead. In 3,986 BBY, Qel-Droma decided to isolate himself permanently from the galaxy, and hired a spacer named Hoggon to take him to a place where he could live as a hermit for the rest of his days. Not knowing Qel-Droma's connection to the moon, Hoggon first brought the former Jedi to Yavin 4, which had finally regained its green jungles. Hoggon landed the ship and showed Qel-Droma the great temples of Exar Kun&mdash;not knowing Qel-Droma's identity, he informed his customer of the final battle of the Great Sith War over Yavin 4, and Ulic Qel-Droma's betrayal of the Dark Lord. As Qel-Droma walked through the Sith ruins, he saw a vision of that battle, including a younger version of himself. Abruptly, he turned and told the diminutive Hoggon that Yavin 4 would not do as a hideaway. Instead, Hoggon took Qel-Droma to the icy world of Rhen Var. Still emerging from a recent ice age, Rhen Var was essentially uninhabited, although some artificial structures were still intact. Qel-Droma and Hoggon traveled to a large citadel, almost covered in snow, still standing in the harsh Rhen Var landscape. Qel-Droma approved of the structure as suitable, and sent the spacer on his way.

Although Qel-Droma, having taken up residence on Rhen Var, was finally alone, he still could not find peace. Qel-Droma spent time practicing with his still-operational lightsaber, although he lamented the fact that he was still cut off from the Force and that his blade was now no more than a tool. While walking in the snowy landscape beyond his new home, the ground underneath Qel-Droma's feet gave way, and he fell into a deep chasm. Qel-Droma was trapped there for some time. During his time in that pit, he reflected on his past, deeply regretting his betrayal of his lover Nomi Sunrider and the death of his brother Cay. While he wallowed in grief, Qel-Droma wondered why he could not just die there on the spot, and be rid of his grief&mdash;at that point, the Force spirit of his Jedi Master, the long-dead Arca Jeth, appeared to Qel-Droma. Master Jeth told his former charge that he should not give up on life, and that although Qel-Droma may lack power in the Force, he still had his inner strength. Inspired and grateful, Qel-Droma summoned the power to dig his way out of the hole, and promised his master that he would indeed live on; for what purpose, he did not know.

Second subsection
On one of his first few days on Rhen Var, Qel-Droma was walking through the corridors of his fortress when, through a broken window, he saw a red-haired girl whom he briefly thought was Nomi Sunrider. Qel-Droma believed that he was going crazy&mdash;however, the girl called out to him, revealing herself to be Nomi Sunrider's daughter, Vima. Sunrider asked Qel-Droma to train her as a Jedi, but Qel-Droma refused, on account that he no longer had a connection to the Force. Although the young Sunrider fought him every step of the way, Qel-Droma did not budge and eventually threw her out of his hideaway and commanded her to return home. However, Sunrider, stuck in the middle of a blizzard, could not contact anyone for help. Taking pity on his would-be apprentice, Qel-Droma ventured out into the storm and found her, relying on her Force sense to find them a shelter in the Rhen Var wilderness. The two talked while huddled around a light, and although Qel-Droma warned Sunrider of the cost of being a Jedi&mdash;drawing on his own experiences to do so&mdash;Sunrider still wanted to learn from him, even though he had no connection to the Force. Qel-Droma reluctantly agreed to teach her in the ways of the Force, to complete the training that Sunrider's mother Nomi had neglected.

Although Qel-Droma no longer had any Jedi powers, he taught Vima Sunrider everything he knew. Sunrider displayed tremendous dedication and progressed very fast, surprising Qel-Droma, who remarked that he had never seen such commitment in a student. After some time teaching Sunrider, Qel-Droma decided that it was time for her to build her first lightsaber&mdash;she did so successfully, using Adegan crystals that had belonged to her father, a Jedi Knight named Andur Sunrider. They promptly sparred for the first time, and although he could not feel the Force, Qel-Droma discovered that he still possessed his lightsaber skills. Afterwards, as Sunrider continued to practice with her lightsaber, Qel-Droma abruptly told her that he could not teach her anymore, as he was no longer a Jedi. Qel-Droma compared his situation to being a blinded artist, to which Sunrider replied that he should become a sculptor, to feel his way where he could no longer see. Exasperated by his pupil's logic, Qel-Droma agreed to try sculpture, literally. The two found an ice-covered mountain, and erected a large scaffolding from which to ply their craft. Qel-Droma and Sunrider both began their own works&mdash;while Sunrider using the Force to guide her, Qel-Droma used his own skill. Qel-Droma carved a sculpture of Master Arca Jeth into the mountain, while Sunrider created one of her father. They were successful in making perfect likenesses of their respective subjects, and Qel-Droma felt that he had finally suitably honored his Jedi Master.

Death
During one lightsaber training session with his young apprentice, Qel-Droma took the opportunity to teach Sunrider a lesson on the burdens of being a Jedi, including the life-and-death choices that were inherent with the title of Jedi Knight. Afterward, Qel-Droma and Sunrider returned to the fortress&mdash;as they walked through the door, however, Sunrider sensed that her mother Nomi was coming. Nomi promptly entered, demanding that Vima return with her home. When Qel-Droma turned around, he and his former love were face-to-face for the first time in years. Although Vima resisted and defended Qel-Droma as a teacher, Qel-Droma recognized that it was Nomi's decision and left it up to her to determine what to do with her daughter. Albeit reluctantly, Nomi yielded to Vima's pleas, and decided to give her a chance to show what she had learned from Qel-Droma. Vima took her mother to the sculptures of Arca Jeth and Andur Sunrider that Qel-Droma and her had made together, while Qel-Droma remained behind in his citadel. While alone, Qel-Droma silently thanked Master Jeth for convincing him that he should live, and although the past still weighed heavily upon him, Qel-Droma thought that he could perhaps find peace. However, at that point, Qel-Droma was called to by Sylvar, a Cathar Jedi and the former mate of Crado, who desperately wanted revenge for her lover's death. Although Qel-Droma asked Sylvar to let go her anger as he had done his guilt, Sylvar still attacked him and engaged him in a lightsaber duel.

As the two battled, Qel-Droma refused to be the aggressor, settling for blocking Sylvar's furious blows as he continued to ask her to move on from Crado's death. They dueled their way up to a narrow catwalk, and although Qel-Droma pleaded for Sylvar to bury her past, the Cathar responded that Qel-Droma had not been punished enough for what he did during the Sith War. Sylvar eventually backed Qel-Droma to the edge of a steep ledge, and as Qel-Droma faced death, he deactivated his lightsaber and refused to fight anymore. Although Sylvar, whom Qel-Droma had called a pawn to her own emotions, had a chance to finish Qel-Droma off, she too put away her weapon&mdash;Qel-Droma had freed her from her anger. Suddenly, however, a blaster bolt ripped through Qel-Droma's back. The shot was fired by the spacer Hoggon, who Nomi Sunrider had enlisted to take her to Rhen Var, and who saw his chance to make history by killing who he saw as one of the greatest war criminals in history. Although Hoggon was quickly dispatched by Sylvar, Qel-Droma was fatally wounded. In his last moments, Qel-Droma asked Nomi Sunrider to forgive him&mdash;Sunrider told the dying Qel-Droma to rest easy, as she had already done so. He also gave Vima a necklace that he wore, thanking her for helping him find peace, and calling her a Jedi for the first time. With that, Ulic Qel-Droma passed away, in Nomi Sunrider's arms. Redeemed, Qel-Droma's body disappeared as was the way of Jedi Masters, as he moved to the world beyond.

Legacy
Following Qel-Droma's death, a large mausoleum was built in his honor on Rhen Var, and his coffin was placed within the monument. A number of ghostly Spectral Guardians were stationed in the mausoleum's antechamber, tasked with defending Qel-Droma's remains. Qel-Droma's Force ghost took up residency in his tomb. Over time, the knowledge of the locations of the Dark Reaper and the Force Harvester became forgotten, even among the Jedi. Millennia later, in 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars between the Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Sith Lord and leader of the Separatist movement Count Dooku discovered the existence of the Dark Reaper. Hoping to use the ancient Sith superweapon to destroy the Republic, Dooku had the Separatists capture Rhen Var and Qel-Droma's tomb from the Republic. Upon learning the Force Harvester's location on Raxus Prime from Qel-Droma's spirit, Dooku had the Harvester dug up, and began to charge it using a number of unsuspecting Republic targets.

The Jedi, having learned of Dooku use of the Force Harvester, dispatched Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker, along with a large contingent of the Republic's clone army, to recapture Rhen Var and uncover where the Dark Reaper was hidden so that the Jedi could destroy it. Skywalker managed to fight past the Separatist forces stationed there, as well as Qel-Droma's Spectral Guardians, eventually entering Qel-Droma's tomb. There, Skywalker met with Qel-Droma's spirit, asking the long dead Jedi about where the Dark Reaper was located and how to destroy it. Qel-Droma told the Padawan of the Reaper's burial on Thule, about how to resist the effects of the Force Harvester, and about how to destroy the Reaper. However, Qel-Droma warned Skywalker that resisting the Force Harvester required much power, and might draw Skywalker closer to the dark side. With Qel-Droma's knowledge, the Republic launched an assault on Thule as Dooku began to unearth the superweapon. Piloting a TX-130 fighter tank, Skywalker singlehandedly attacked the Reaper just as it became fully operational. Hearing Qel-Droma's voice as he fought, Skywalker managed to bypass the Reaper's defenses and destroy the Sith superweapon.

Due to his major part in galactic history, Ulic Qel-Droma was remembered long after his death. In 3,980 BBY, his former pupil Vima Sunrider recorded the story of his redemption onto the Great Holocron, the centerpiece of the Jedi Archives. Sunrider went on to become a full-fledged Jedi Master. Indeed, the Archives contained a wealth of information on Qel-Droma for centuries. Qel-Droma's story was taught to Jedi apprentices such as Zayne Carrick and Revan in the time after Qel-Droma's death. During the Republic's war with the Mandalorians several decades after Qel-Droma's time, Republic propaganda used Qel-Droma's defeat of Mandalore the Indomitable in single combat to try to demoralize Mandalorian warriors. Several centuries after Qel-Droma's death, when the Jedi Order and the Republic faced a new threat in a resurgent Sith Empire, Jedi Master Gnost-Dural researched Qel-Droma, Kun and the Great Sith War as part of a timeline of galactic history.

In the year 10 ABY, millennia after Qel-Droma's death on Rhen Var, New Republic member Leia Organa Solo came into possession of the Tedryn Holocron, an ancient device that had existed since Qel-Droma's time and had taught Exar Kun himself. Solo was worried about her brother Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who had, like Qel-Droma, undertaken a mission to defeat the dark side from within. The holocron's gatekeeper, a representation of long-dead Jedi Master Bodo Baas, told Solo the story of how Qel-Droma had tried the same by infiltrating the Krath, and how he fell to the dark side. The story stunned Solo, although she did not have enough time to hear the tale of Qel-Droma's redemption. One of Qel-Droma's descendants, a man by the name of Qaga Lok, took the name Sedriss QL and became a high-ranking Military Executor in the Galactic Empire, before dying at the hands of Ood Bnar&mdash;who had survived the shockwave of the Cron Supernova and lived for four thousand more years&mdash;in 10 ABY. Thirty years later, Jedi historian Tionne Solusar wrote a compendium about the Force, which contained several mentions of Qel-Droma. Specifically, it contained several anecdotes and essays about Qel-Droma, including Vima Sunrider's account of his redemption, and works by the likes of Arca Jeth, Vodo-Siosk Baas, and Jedi Master Tolaris Shim.

Personality and traits
In his younger days, Ulic Qel-Droma was pure of heart and purpose, and completely uncorrupted. Although he came across to some as arrogant, those who were close to him could attest that he simply possessed unbounded confidence. Qel-Droma was also very headstrong&mdash;refusing to back down from his position that infiltrating the Krath was the only way to deal with them&mdash; impulsive, and impressionable. According to his Jedi Master Arca Jeth, he also often let courage cloud his mind. Qel-Droma lacked the ability to ignore the disdainful words of the Alderaanian nobles, which drove him to give his all in his academic and extracurricular pursuits. Easily frustrated when things did not go his way, Qel-Droma always threw himself completely into his efforts, believing that he could do a better job than any of his peers. However, he was very fickle with his projects, quickly becoming bored with them and shifting his attention to something else. Qel-Droma contained a great amount of personal pride, refusing to study the Force in his early years because he didn't want to be seen as having to ride his mother's coat-tails to succeed. When he discovered his talent in the Force, he was delighted, and gained an increased self-confidence. During his Jedi training, Qel-Droma displayed a tendency to act before thinking, and piqued concerns from his mother, a Jedi Master in her own right, that he had missed the underlying purpose of the Jedi Order. Qel-Droma's upbringing outside the Jedi Temple led to his naivete regarding the dark side, which would end up being his undoing.

Qel-Droma could be very inquisitive, and enjoyed asking his friend Tott Doneeta about Twi'lek culture.

After his encounter with the Krath he changed completely; he became a powerful dark side warrior, who led bloodthirsty and militaristic campaigns and spread death and disorder at a genocidal level.

Powers and abilities
In battle, Qel-Droma was a formidable lightsaber wielder, specializing in the Djem So form. Adept in using mind tricks, Qel-Droma improved greatly during his later Jedi training in such Force powers according to his friend and fellow Arca Jeth apprentice, Tott Doneeta. He was also possessed some knowledge of first aid and healing, as shown when he treated his brother Cay's wounds after he lost his arm in the Iziz Royal Palace. Qel-Droma was multilingual, able to speak Galactic Basic, Ryl, Arkanian, and the Sith language.

Behind the scenes
Continuity:
 * Making Star Wars Comics Come Alive&mdash;"There's somewhat of a connection to Luke. As a matter of fact, Ulic is sort of an anagram of Luke. This guy ends up going totally over to the dark side. So the idea is, we take the young, idealistic hero, don't make him look like Skywalker, make him a different person, but the definite type&mdash;the impulsive, young warrior who's very sure of himself." - Tom Veitch
 * Qel-Droma's redemption one of the 20 most memorable moments in the EU
 * Dark Empire endnotes says he was a Jedi Master, but he wasn't in the comics
 * Dark Empire endnotes says he disappeared for "a number of years" when he joined the Krath, but in the comics it was only like a few months
 * TCW: Qel-Droma is a hologram, but CSWE Force Harvester entry says it was his spirit
 * Audio: Ulic and Tott find out that Galia is in the Kira Fortress because the mind-tricked a couple Beast Riders, but in the comic Tott found it out from bomas
 * Audio: Oron Kira flies with Ulic in the Nebulon Ranger, in the audio he doesn't and he taunts Ulic over the comlink
 * Audio: In the battle in the Royal Palace, Ulic realizes later that Cay is trapped in the throne room, in the audio Cay willingly stays behind to cover their retreat, over Ulic's protests
 * Audio: On Ossus, Nomi, Cay and Vodo try to convince Ulic not to go to Empress Teta, but in the comics it's Odan-Urr and Ood Bnar

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon
 * Tales of the Jedi 3: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, Part 1
 * Tales of the Jedi 4: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, Part 2
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising
 * Tales of the Jedi audio adaptation
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith audio adaptation
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Shadows and Light
 * Tales of the Jedi: Redemption
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 8: Flashpoint, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 48: Demon, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Timeline 10: The Exar Kun War
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars
 * Dark Empire audio drama
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * I, Jedi
 * Shades of Gray
 * Darksaber
 * Darksaber