Kael (officer)

"Follow me, Lieutenant. That's a direct order."

- Captain Kael, to Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes

Kael was a captain in the Royal Naboo Security Forces during the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY. He and his subordinate, Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes, escaped from the capital city of Theed, organizing a resistance against the invaders and rescuing several civilians from the Federation's battle droids. Kael and Sykes eventually allied with an influential smuggler, Borvo the Hutt, who supplied them with N-1 starfighters. Determined to strike back at the enemy, Kael and his men performed a daring raid on a Trade Federation base, stealing a Federation gunboat.

Guided by Kael, Sykes used the gunboat to infiltrate a Federation mining operation on the banks of the Andrevea River and rescued a number of slaves. Borvo, however, later enslaved the rescued prisoners by himself. Kael fell victim to the Hutt's treachery, and was killed by him. Before dying, though, he managed to inform Sykes of what had happened, and the Lieutenant defeated Borvo. Sykes went on to play a crucial role in the liberation of Naboo, helping to take down the Federation's droid control ship and free the planet.

Biography
"Sykes. The Hutt be&hellip;trayed us.''" "And the rescued prisoners?" "''He'll use them&hellip;as slaves. Rescue them. Good luck. Ah."

- Captain Kael's last words to Sykes

Kael was a Human male native of the planet Naboo, who joined the Royal Naboo Security Forces at a very young age. Possessing clear characteristics of leadership, he was quickly promoted to an officer and was assigned to train new troops. Kael seldom left Naboo, instead spending time sharpening his survival skills in the swamps. Eventually, Kael rose up in rank to captain, with Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes under his command. At some point prior to 32 BBY, Kael, Sykes, and the RSF leader, Captain Panaka, acted as an escort to a Naboo delegation, traveling to the galactic capital of Coruscant. Once on the planet, though, the delegation was attacked a mysterious starship&mdash;which was, in fact, the Sith Infiltrator piloted by the Sith Lord Darth Maul&mdash;and Sykes had to pursue the ship. After a chase through the streets of Coruscant, Sykes successfully drove away the attacker. In 32 BBY, Naboo was invaded by the Trade Federation as an act of protest against the Galactic Senate's taxation of trade routes to the Outer Rim star systems, and the Federation droid army attacked the capital city of Theed. Kael, who was riding a Flash speeder at the time, was pinned down by droidekas near the RSF headquarters. His speeder was damaged and the weapons systems malfunctioned, so Kael was forced to call in Sykes, requesting assistance. Sykes rescued Kael, and the two made their way through the city, soon finding two parked Trade Federation Heavy STAPs. After Sykes destroyed the enemy forces guarding the vehicles, he and Kael traded their speeders for the STAPs and left Theed for the countryside.

The two helped local civilians fight off battle droid attacks, but the Trade Federation greatly outnumbered the officers. Kael then decided to go to the nearby village in the swamps and find some help from traders who lived there. Kael and Sykes switched to N-X Police Cruisers and soon arrived at the village, which had already been attacked by the Federation. In the midst of the battle, the village leader, Rohan Wayside, tried to rescue his people on houseboats and requested aid from Kael and Sykes. Responding to the call, they repelled the attack and rescued the village's police officer, Vedd Deviss, who had been pinned down at the far end of the village by droid starfighters. In gratitude, Wayside told them about an influential smuggler somewhere in the mountains who could help them in their cause; the village leader then sent Deviss to escort Kael and Sykes to the smuggler.

When they approached the mountains, however, Sykes's craft was shot down by a droid starfighter patrol, and the Lieutenant was forced to land and take a Flash speeder. The group then had to split&mdash;Sykes went to search for the smuggler in the northern passage, while Kael and Deviss took the eastern passage. Eventually, Sykes found the smuggler&mdash;Borvo the Hutt&mdash;and rescued him from a Federation attack. Borvo agreed to help the resistance and asked the officers to escort him to his base in the mountains. Sykes did not trust the Hutt, but Kael believed that they should try their luck with Borvo. Kael, Sykes, and Deviss escorted the Hutt to his base&mdash;which contained an N-1 assembly site&mdash;and repelled the Trade Federation attack on it. With N-1 starfighters now in their hands, Kael and Borvo devised a plan to strike back at the Federation. They decided to raid one of the Trade Federation's bases on the planet, which was controlled by an orbital satellite designated Comm 4.

Kael, Sykes, Deviss, and two of Borvo's pilots&mdash;Adela Tyché and Kol Kotha&mdash;flew into space to take down Comm 4. However, they soon discovered that Comm 4 was protected by a powerful shield projected by three slave satellites nearby. Sykes was able to destroy the three satellites, and the group successfully took down Comm 4. Returning to the planet, the five pilots attacked the disabled Federation base, hoping to destroy all enemy craft and equipment located there, and capture a Trade Federation gunboat for the resistance. The base, however, was soon reactivated, so Kael and the others had to fight their way through to the gunboat launch site, where Sykes stole a gunboat. Kael, believing that the enemy would mistake the Lieutenant for a retreating Neimoidian, ordered his subordinate to go up the Andrevea River to recon what the Federation was up to there. Kael was soon contacted by Sykes via a comlink. The Lieutenant had spotted an enemy patrol and panicked; Kael calmed him and ordered to proceed further. Sykes then found a Federation mining camp on the bank of the river and liberated some Naboo slaves held there. Borvo provided transports to evacuate them, and Sykes proceeded to another camp to rescue more prisoners. Dispatching Deviss to assist Sykes, Kael and another resistance pilot, Lutin Hollis, set off in N-1 starfighters to escort Borvo's transports to a safe location.

On their way, though, they were ambushed; Kael was shot down and crashed his starship, while Hollis managed to escape. Kael survived the crash, but was gravely wounded and remained near his craft. He realized that the ambush was orchestrated by Borvo, and that the Hutt was planning to enslave the rescued prisoners. Soon, the Trade Federation located Kael and started bombing the surrounding area, hoping to finish him off. The attackers, though, were dispatched by Sykes, who had been informed by Hollis of what had happened and located Kael. Revealing to Sykes that Borvo had betrayed them and had enslaved the Naboo people, Kael urged the Lieutenant to rescue the slaves. After wishing Sykes luck, Kael succumbed to his wounds and died. Sykes went after the Hutt, forced him to retreat to Nal Hutta, and liberated the slaves. The Lieutenant continued to fight against the Federation, participating in the final assault on the enemy droid control ship and helping the Force-sensitive Anakin Skywalker to destroy it, thus liberating Naboo.

Personality and traits
"What if he's leading us into a trap?''" "''It's a risk I'm willing to take. The Hutt might have the weapons we need to recapture Theed."

- Kael made the fatal choice to trust Borvo despite Lieutenant Sykes's warning

Since a very young age, Kael displayed great leadership skills, which helped him to quickly rise in rank in the Royal Security Forces. As an officer, he was tough to his troops, but they respected him, and Kael enjoyed training them. Kael was fond of his home planet and was determined to liberate it from the Trade Federation, but he also kept his head cool, trying not to underestimate the enemy, calming Sykes when he panicked, and telling him to return to the mission when the latter got sidetracked to rescue some farmers on one occasion. Believing that Borvo would help them to liberate Naboo, Kael made the mistake of trusting the Hutt. Even on the brink of his death, Kael was worried for the people enslaved by Borvo, and he told Sykes to rescue them.

Behind the scenes
"Sykes, take out those fighters! They're all over me!"

- One of Captain Kael's frequent cries for help

Kael was created for the 2000 video game Star Wars: Battle for Naboo as a supporting character and was voiced by Bruce Robertson. He was later referenced in the twenty-ninth issue of The Official Star Wars Fact File and received an entry in the 2008 The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, compiled by Stephen J. Sansweet and Pablo Hidalgo. Due to his frequent tendency to fall under enemy fire and ask the player to save him, Kael was nicknamed "Captain Klutz" by the Nintendo Power magazine. The magazine mocked Kael throughout its walkthrough of Battle for Naboo, naming the section describing Kael's death "Good Riddance."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Battle for Naboo