Kardue'sai'Malloc/Legends

"The fellow had obviously heard of my reputation: Labria the drunk. The half bright, half sly, half sober. He barely glanced at me. 'Oh, yes. Jabba's least favorite spy.'"

- Kardue'sai'Malloc's recollection of the time he introduced himself to Figrin D'an

Kardue'sai'Malloc, also known as Labria to residents of the city of Mos Eisley, was a male Devaronian. The third person to bear the name in the Kardue family line, he was a war criminal, information broker, and enthusiast of alcohol and music.

Biography
Malloc joined the Devaronian Army to continue his family's sixteen generation-old military tradition. He found that the army lifestyle suited him&mdash;in spite of his distaste for the policy of putting Devaronian troops under Imperial command&mdash;and rose up through the ranks to captain.

The Butcher of Montellian Serat
"I don't suppose it took us five minutes that afternoon to execute the Rebels, start to finish."

- Kardue'sai'Malloc

Malloc felt that his military career did not end when he resigned; it had ended when Rebels took shelter in the ancient Devaronian holy city of Montellian Serat, a decision that he considered to be tactically foolish. He spent a night shelling the walls of the old city and in the morning called for the Rebels to surrender. They surrendered&mdash;seven hundred in total&mdash;and were herded into a hastily constructed holding pen, after which the order was given to shell Montellian Serat into rubble so as to make potential sympathizers think twice before giving shelter to the Rebels.

Malloc's unit received reports that another group of Rebels were still fighting about half a day's march south of Montellian Serat on the morning of the surrender. At noon they were believed to be heading north and Malloc was given the order to intercept them and not to leave any of his forces behind to guard his prisoners. He decided that this was an order to kill the captured Rebels and acted accordingly.

At mid-afternoon, Malloc pulled the guards back into a half circle and ordered them to open fire upon the prisoners. After five minutes, he was certain that all seven hundred were dead and organized his forces the march south to the next battle. There was no time to bury the slain Rebels. Among those who sympathized with the Rebels, Malloc gained a new name&mdash;The Butcher of Montellian Serat.

The rebellion on Devaron was put down about half a year later and Malloc decided that this was an opportunity to resign from his commission. He knew full well that he would either be killed by those on his home planet or by the Galactic Empire for treason when he submitted his resignation. Malloc recalled that he didn't much care what the outcome would be. Ultimately, the Empire decided not to kill him, but as a result of his resignation Malloc lost any protection that the Empire could grant him from the five-million credit bounty that had been hung over his head after the massacre at Montellian Serat.

Labria


"The closest Devish woman is on the other side of the Core. Just the thought makes my horns ache."

- Kardue'sai'Malloc, on the drawbacks of being safe.

Malloc fled from Devaron, along with his "reason for living"&mdash;his music collection&mdash;leaving his wife and daughter. He spent the following years chasing music artists that he fancied across the Galaxy. During this time he took up "Labria" as his name&mdash;a particularly vile swear in the Devaronian language that when translated to Basic meant "cold food."

Labria spent about five years chasing one artist&mdash;a Human vandfillist named Maxa Jandovar. Each time he got to a port, he would learn that he had just missed a performance by her, sometimes within a day. Finally, he just missed her on Tatooine and heard that she would be visiting Morvogodine. Labria began to get ready to travel to Morvogodine but canceled his plans when he heard that Jandovar had been arrested and had died in Imperial custody.

Labria remained on Tatooine because the virtues of staying there ultimately outweighed its drawbacks. Though he thought of it as a "nasty, useless, little planet," he had to admit that the fact that it was halfway across the galaxy from Devaron meant that bounty hunters would be less likely to look for him there. It also had very few Devaronians due to its climate. Besides himself, Labria knew of only two other Devaronians who lived on Tatooine&mdash;Oxbel and Jubaal&mdash;neither of whom seemed to recognize him as the Butcher of Montellian Serrat, but in the interest of keeping his old identity from being discovered he would keep well enough away from the two of them. This, however, did not prevent Labria from enlisting Oxbel's aid in attempting to scam some Humans by pretending that the two of them were brothers.

He settled in the city of Mos Eisley and frequented the Mos Eisley Cantina&mdash;which claimed to serve his preferred alcoholic beverage, Merenzane Gold. Though he found the drink to not be Merenzane Gold and could not tolerate the sounds that emanated from most of the bands that the cantina hired, he became a frequent patron who always was the first person to come in when the bar opened. Labria found a simple solution to his problem with the musicians by wearing ear plugs. He also became friends with Wuher, one of the bartenders.

Though Labria entertained himself by becoming drunk at the cantina, he also used it as his place of business. He started a career in information brokerage. The methods that he utilized in procuring information usually involved getting his sources intoxicated. Other times, he would feign drunkenness so that his marks would let their guard down. However, he quickly gained a reputation as the worst information broker on that side of the Dune Sea. The remainder of Labria's income, that wasn't spent on alcohol or music, was deposited into a bank account under the assumed name of "Airbal."

Despite his reputation, Labria was the main source of information regarding Jabba Desilijic Tiure for a far more reputable spy named Garindan. As a result of this Garindan never had much success when dealing with the crime lord. Oddly enough, Labria eventually learned through Garindan that Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes were coming to Tatooine to play for Jabba the Hutt. Due to his belief that Jabba had poor musical taste, Labria decided that the band's days were numbered. He immediately hatched a plot so that he would be able to listen to what he considered to be the best jizz band in the Galaxy.

Labria would recommend to Jabba that he should hire a Moorin mercenary, Obron Mettlo, that Jabba could employ as a guard. When he proposed this to Jabba, Labria suggested that the he could accompany Mettlo to a meeting with Jabba (suggesting that having a band playing during the meeting would make Mettlo more agreeable), Jabba disagreed, saying that he'd rather that Labria send Mettlo to him. Much to his surprise and dismay, Labria later learned that Jabba had a new favorite.

Five days of mourning followed. On the fifth day, Labria drank too much and was later accosted by thieves in the back alley of the cantina. He spent weeks in his apartment regaining his strength. When Labria ran out of food, it was time to go into the outside world once again. He stopped at the cantina, learning among other things, of a space battle that had occurred the other day, and that Mettlo had been fed to Jabba's rancor.

Upon learning that Lady Valarian, Jabba's rival in the area, was getting married, Labria hatched another, more successful plot to see Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. He suggested to the Whiphid that the Modal Nodes were far superior to Max Rebo's band, which had been originally hired to perform at the wedding. She initially blanched at the suggestion, but she was eventually sold on the idea of hiring the Modal Nodes. This would enrage Jabba, who would attempt to sabotage the wedding. In the middle of the confusion, Wuher and Labria would save the band and in their gratefulness, the band would play at the cantina.

On the first day that the Modal Nodes played at the cantina, Labria and Wuher struck a deal: Labria would get seven free drinks a day until the band ran away. Labria managed to ensure he would benefit from this arrangement for a while by enticing Figrin D'an into playing a rigged sabacc game with him. D'an ended up gambling away all of the band's equipment, except for Doikk Na'ts' Fizzz. Thus, they would need to keep playing for the cantina until they were able to buy back their instruments.

The hunt for Adar Tallon


A short time after the Galactic Empire's defeat at the Battle of Yavin, a large number of bounty hunters began to fill the streets of Mos Eisley. Labria eventually learned that it was not he that they were looking for, but a man named Adar Tallon, who had served in the Galactic Republic's navy during the Clone Wars. He eventually came into the employ of a group of hunters led by Jodo Kast.

Eventually a group of Rebels showed up in Mos Eisley asking questions about Tallon. Labria came into contact with them and informed them that Slag Flats&mdash;whom he asserted was his employer&mdash;was desperately trying to make contact with anyone who could help her old friend. Playing the drunk, he led the team to the water silo of Tower Ridge, where Slag Flats would ostensibly meet with the Rebels.

Labria quickly made himself scarce after bringing them to Tower Ridge for what awaited them was among other dead, the corpse of Slag Flats, a contingent of bounty hunters, and a death trap inside the water silo.

After learning that the group of Rebels had escaped the ambush, Labria sent a message to the Rebels, telling them that Old Arno&mdash;a local who knew where Tallon was living&mdash;wanted to meet them at the Mos Eisley Cantina. He had been instructed by Kast once again to lead the Rebels to the cantina and positively identify them, thus allowing Puggles Trodd and many other bounty hunters to spring an ambush upon them there.

Labria was struck by a number of the blaster bolts that were intended for the Rebels, but he would survive them. After he had fully recovered, Labria tipped off the local Imperial Prefect&mdash;Orun Depp&mdash;and IG-72 to the fact that the Rebels had landed their freighter&mdash;the Alabak's Gold&mdash;in Docking Bay 94 and would likely try to make their escape from there.

Labria joined Depp&mdash;who had arrived with his personal garrison of six stormtroopers&mdash;at the entrance to Docking Bay 94. Tallon and the Rebels eventually showed up and a firefight ensued. Labria managed to survive the the altercation, though it is not clear whether this was an act of mercy on the part of the Rebels or not.

Apprehension
"By the Cold, I can't believe I got caught by a nerf herder like you."

- Kardue'sai'Malloc to Boba Fett, shortly before returning to Devaron.

Seventeen years after the Battle of Yavin, on a seemingly normal day, a group of four mercenaries entered the cantina. One Devaronian among them recognized Labria for who he really was before Malloc promptly killed all four of them. He vanished to the planet of Peppel and settled in a cold swamp. He erected a hut there. He spent many long months there with his music collection, Merenzane Gold, and his food. Shells, bones, and bottles accumulated on the floor of the hut.

Two years later, after he had made his nightly trip to his makeshift outside toilet, with blaster rifle in hand, an arrow came screaming out from nowhere and hit him high in his back. He attempted to run, but the bounty hunter that had shot him was too fast.

After bringing Malloc to his house to deactivate the electronic defenses surrounding the area, the bounty hunter was annoyed that Malloc didn't recognize him, but considering that the bounty hunter was not wearing his trademark helmet, Malloc could be forgiven. Before he was escorted to Boba Fett's ship, Malloc made sure that Fett would dig up his hidden music collection and sell it at a fair price to an individual that he specified.

In the orbit of Devaron, Malloc was given a short reunion with his daughter, Mika'sai'Malloc, though she was only present for identification purposes. After payment of the bounty, he was transferred to a ship that took him down to the surface of Devaron. He was taken to the Justice Field, which laid in the shadow of the ruins of Montellian Serat. He was to be executed by a pack of hungry quarra, a practice that had kept the planet from entry into the New Republic. Before he was disemboweled, Malloc noticed the beauty of the Devaronian trees that he had long since missed.

Behind the scenes
"I have heard a few stories that suggest Labria is more than he appears, but he didn't strike me as particularly bright."

- Voren Na'al

Voren Na'al's assessment of "Labria" originally appeared in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope where the Devish was portrayed as a seemingly harmless drunk. In the RPG adventure Tatooine Manhunt, Labria showed his sinister streak by leading the players into traps set by the antagonists. Empire Blues: The Devaronian's Tale showed Labria to be a pseudonym for Kardue'sai'Malloc, a war criminal in hiding. Kardue'sai'Malloc met his ultimate fate in The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett, rendering his possible death in Tatooine Manhunt non-canonical.

The on-set nicknames of the character who would eventually be named Kardue'sai'Malloc were "Louie" and "the Devil".

In one scene of The Star Wars Holiday Special an as-yet-unnamed Devaronian appears in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It is possible that this individual could have been Kardue'sai'Malloc, but the possibility remains that the individual was Oxbel, another notorious Devaronian drunk who resided in Mos Eisley at the time.

The character was portrayed by an un-named female staff member who worked on the cantina sequence of A New Hope.

Appearances

 * A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale webstrip
 * Smuggler's Blues
 * Death Star
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Empire Blues: The Devaronian's Tale
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Hunger
 * The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett
 * Star Wars: Chewbacca