Chelli Lona Aphra

"I'm a woman who doesn't believe in sure things."

- Doctor Chelli Aphra

Chelli Lona Aphra was a human female archaeologist recruited by Darth Vader after the Battle of Yavin. Aphra, along with her assassin droid companions, 0-0-0 (Triple-Zero) and BT-1 (Beetee), fulfilled several missions for the Sith Lord before falling out of his favor.

Family issues
"Mom's dead in a ditch on that alien world she took us to when she left you for being obsessed by old dumb stuff! Oh&mdash;the psychologist says I may have some issues. Fair to warn you."

- Chelli Aphra, to her father

Chelli Lona Aphra was a human female who was born to her father and mother, Lona Aphra&mdash;whose name of "Lona" Chelli took as her middle name&mdash; a few years before 22 BBY. The Aphras retained a house on a peaceful world, free from the strife that had broken out throughout the galaxy after the flirtation of war during the Separatist Crisis was replaced with the Clone Wars.

Around this time, Chelli's father, a dedicated scholar who specialized in researching the ancient Ordu Aspectu&mdash;a nearly-forgotten group of spiritual believers who disappeared with little trace millenia before Chelli's birth during the Republic Era&mdash;became extra involved in his work, which led to him neglecting his wife and child. Young Chelli&mdash;known affectionately as "boop" to her father&mdash;often observed her father's work, hearing him speak about an extinct species known as the Massassi, and their Massassi piece crystals. Chelli was also versed in the history of the Jedi Order, a group of spiritual followers of the Force who had served as the primary peacekeepers of the Republic for thousands of generations. However, Lona struggled in her relationship with her husband due to his obsession with locating and his belief that he could bring back the Ancient Aspectu and the Jedi and bring back the light to the galaxy which the Clone Wars had darkened, eventually provoking Lona Aphra to split with her husband, take Chelli, and move to a homestead on a forest world in the largely primitive Outer Rim Territories.

At some point, a group of raiders took advantage of the chaos and attacked Chelli and Lona's homestead. Chelli ran and hid when they attacked at Lona's urging. Later, Chelli returned and was grieved to find her mother's lifeless body lying in a ditch. Angry in mourning and all on her own, Chelli eventually made her way back to her father's home with the help of the Republic's successor state, the totalitarian Galactic Empire. The Empire came to power in 19 BBY when the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine proclaimed the Empire's rights when the Clone Wars were brought to an end and the Confederacy leadership was disbanded. Chelli saw a psychologist who diagnosed young Chelli as having mental issues&mdash;but that didn't stop her from attempting to burn down her father's house and all his research with it. Chelli was stopped when her father saw the fire, and began putting out the blaze while expressing his surprise at Chelli's unannounced return. Chelli screamed at him that his wife had been killed while the senior Aphra distractedly patted out the flames to save his life's work.

University years
"Aphra, you are a flash. Archaeology isn't about flash. [&hellip;] All those years mocking me, you never thought to ask me why I selected you for my doctoral supervision. Because I was never going to let someone like you become a doctor. Not because of my standards. Not because your work is sloppy. Just because I hate you."

- Sava Toob-Nix, to Chelli Aphra

Chelli began studying galactic history and ancient civilizations in the hopes of pursuing the archaeological field as a career, and as a result of her passion and work, received a grant by the Empire to enroll at the University of Bar'leth on the planet Bar'leth in the prestigious Core Worlds region. The young Aphra excelled in her classes under the tutelage of the university's Sava, the Ugnaught Korin Pers. Aphra made several friends during her time at the university, including Sana Starros and Susina. Some time later, Korin Pers, who studied and respected the near-extinct Jedi, was replaced with a new Sava, Toob-Nix. Toob-Nix held a strong opinion on what qualified an archaeologist; an opinion Aphra didn't share. Over the next few years, Aphra and Starros engaged in many misadventures with other cadets and eventually found themselves as a couple. Meanwhile, Aphra consistently antagonized Toob-Nix while in his classes, but Toob-Nix, curiously, bestowed upon Aphra the honor of being personally supervised by him in order to gain her archaeological doctorate.

Some years into her schooling at the university, Aphra continued to mock Sava Toob-Nix on a self-described weekly basis. On one occasion, Aphra sat in with a class of the Sava's undergrads, and when Toob-Nix inquired as to why Aphra, a senior doctoral candidate, was sitting in with the less-experienced students, Aphra sliced into the classroom's holoprojector and made the two holographic historical beings kiss, rather than stand still. Toob-Nix angrily expelled Aphra from his classroom. Aphra later told the day's events to Susina, who urged Aphra not to antagonize the Sava, for Aphra needed his approval to graduate and receive her doctorate. Aphra, however, wasn't worried about receiving Toob-Nix's approval because her graduation project, she believed, would be too important for the Sava to dismiss.

Aphra's project was to travel to a backwater world of farmers, Boothi XII. There, Aphra hoped to find evidence of a precursor race in a subterranean vault. Unfortunately for the aspiring archaeologist, when Aphra later explored every centimeter of the vault in her archaeological gear&mdash;a leather hat, greatcoat, flashlight, and blaster pistol&mdash;she found nothing but an empty cave system.

After returning to Bar'leth, Aphra wrote a report on her underwhelming findings on Boothi XII. Toob-Nix confronted Aphra after reading the report and sarcastically chided her for "finding an old shed on a planet known as being full of old sheds." Aphra retorted that she believed Toob-Nix a far inferior Sava compared to the former Korin Pers, and instead of replying with another insult, Toob-Nix lead her to a secret room in the university where he stored several abersyn symbiotes which he had collected over decades, and made quiescent by exposure to plasma venting. Horrified that the Sava was concealing the highly illegal mind-controlling parasites, Aphra listened as Toob-Nix revealed to Aphra the true reason he had chosen her for his personal supervision: not because he saw Aphra as a poor student who cared more about excitement than archaeology, but simply because Sava Toob-Nix hated Chelli Aphra. Cadet Aphra threatened to blackmail the Sava, but he assured her that her inexperienced word wouldn't be able to touch his professional reputation.

Aphra knew Toob-Nix was correct, so she instead comlink called Sana Starros and enlisted the aid of one Starros's alien friends who owned a lot of "hardware." Within the next two days, Aphra, with the help of Starros and her alien friend, sliced into Toob-Nix's secret room, preventing alarms from sounding due to the hack, and removed all the dormant abersyn symbiotes in their respective capsules, returned to the empty vault on Boothi XII, and placed the symbiotes in the vault; making it appear that the symbiotes had been left untouched for thousands of years. Aphra soon published her findings, and her "find" was hailed as the greatest find in archeoxenobiology in centuries.

After the "discovery," per Imperial protocol, the symbiotes were disintegrated posthaste in order to prevent them from reactivating and becoming a threat. Susina was the first to inform Toob-Nix of the "find," and when the Sava found his secret room empty, Aphra reveled in her new position to blackmail the Sava into giving her the doctorate she did not deserve. Toob-Nix was furious, but he could do nothing to expose Aphra without being exposed himself, so he let Aphra's "find" overshadow his own work. Shortly, Susina expressed her excitement at Aphra's find, and proclaimed to spend her life's work in the Boothi XII vault in order to discover what made the symbiotes sleep without waking for what she believed to have been millennia. Aphra wished her "good luck."

Adventures on Dantooine
"If you're feeling philosophical, you'll add something like, 'All innocence died that day', and people will nod, and know that just because you did this really bad thing, it doesn't make you a bad person."

- Aphra to a stormtrooper

Aphra was staying in Dantoo Town while trying to reactivate and upgrade some war-surplus droidekas. In need of a 3.23 colicoidic pulse modulator, she attempted to loot the abandoned rebel base on Dantooine, believing it to be salvage-rich. While working her way through a stripped central comm, Aphra was alerted by the Ark Angel to the presence of TIE-fighters. While retreating to the Ark Angel, Aphra encountered three stormtroopers doing a perimeter sweep in an area that she had covered in a layer of micromines. Knowing that escaping the nearby Star Destroyer would be difficult, coupled with not wanting to let people die and reluctant to abandon the droidekas she'd been working on, Aphra decided peacefully surrender herself to the stormtroopers.

The stormtroopers questioned and searched Aphra, before bringing her into the new Imperial base on Dantooine. The stormtroopers presented Aphra to General Cassio Tagge, and informed him they were looking for Aphra's hidden speeder, which she had lied to them about to keep them from discovering the Ark Angel. Tagge questioned Aphra about why she had been at the Rebel base, not believing that Aphra was simply scavenging for supplies. Aphra attempted to persuade Tagge of her innocence. Aphra stated that she was unaware of a Rebel base on Dantooine, because, due to the planet's primitiveness, no one there would think to resist the Galactic Empire. Amused, Tagge then revealed to Aphra that the Death Star had recently destroyed Alderaan. Curious as to how the Death Star's weapon worked, Aphra enthusiastically questioned Tagge about it, though he did not reveal any details. Tagge then declared that he did not think Aphra was a Rebel, but that she was "trouble", and sentenced her to execution.

Tagge assigned a stormtrooper to take Aphra out into the woods and execute her, while they continued to search for her alleged hidden speeder. To buy herself time to plan an escape, Aphra conversed with the stormtrooper. After asking him if it was his first execution, Aphra spoke with him about how firing squads on some worlds and the Death Star were the same; as they involved a variety of people, no one person would have to shoulder the responsibility for taking people's lives—there was no one person to pull "the trigger". Aphra then attempted to guilt-trip the stormtrooper, by illustrating the true horror and historical impact of the destruction of Alderaan, saying the stormtrooper would always remember it as the day he executed Aphra.

While distracting the stormtrooper with her talk, Aphra was able to secretly able to jam the frequency on his Imperial-model blaster for a few seconds; because of this, Aphra was able to disarm him and steal his blaster. She informed the stormtrooper that while he had never shot anyone in cold blood, she had. Threatening to kill him, Aphra ordered the stormtrooper to remove his helmet. Aphra stated that it was easy to kill a stormtrooper, but harder to kill another human. Aphra then philosophized that the Death Star did indeed have "a trigger", as it was easy to kill a planet because it was more abstract than personal. Although Aphra had always defended the Empire—believing it brought peace and order to the galaxy—she realized that what had happened to Alderaan changed her opinion.

Aphra decided to release the young stormtrooper, asking him to tell his superiors that he followed through on his orders. Abandoning the blaster, Aphra was able to successfully board the Ark Angel and get into orbit. She then managed to avoid the Star Destroyer before jumping into hyperspace.

Servant to a Sith Lord
"That was fun. Let's never do it again."

- Aphra, after narrowly escaping Vader's attempted execution

Enlisted by Darth Vader
"You&hellip;are even more interesting than I could have hoped, Sir Vader."

- Aphra to Darth Vader

Sometime after parting ways with Starros, Chelli Aphra reactivated and customized a pair of Clone Wars-era Separatist droideka security droids with missile launchers. Aphra then sold them to a small group of Crymorah Syndicate-funded pirates who operated from a space station in the Outer Rim. However, in the year 0 ABY, the pirates gained the attention of the Galactic Empire and were hunted down and eradicated personally by Darth Vader. Vader was a member of the ancient Sith Order, and second in the Imperial hierarchy only to the Galactic Emperor himself, Sheev Palpatine. Having accessed the pirates' main computer while aboard, Vader learned of Doctor Aphra's involvement in upgrading the droidekas&mdash;which he was very impressed by. As such, the Dark Lord of the Sith set out to recruit her to his secret list of allies.

Aphra, meanwhile, was hired by the Droid Gotra, which was a militarized organization of Separatist battle droids who were not disabled by the droid shutdown order at the conclusion of the Clone Wars. Aphra, as an archaeologist who specialized in droid and weapons technologies, was hired for work on several missions; which included stealing the ancient Triple-Zero protocol personality matrix, to locate and activate the unique BT-1 assassin droid "Blastomech" prototype, and to recover a forgotten portable droid factory on the desert world of Geonosis.

Aboard her prized ship, the Ark Angel, Aphra located the "Blastomech" prototype, designated BT-1. BT-1 was floating in space near the remains of an Imperial-built Tarkin Initiative base, where BT-1 was kept before he destroyed it. However, BT-1 had gone dormant and would not wake up&mdash;the only languages the droid spoke were seemingly lost to history when the Tarkin Initiative base was destroyed. Aphra's next stop was a large asteroid-turned-space station: Quarantine World III in Kallidahin Space&mdash;which was where the Triple-Zero matrix was held in quarantine.

Aphra stealthily made her way into the quarantine facilities and located the safe where the droid matrix was kept. Fearing security measures, Aphra released a cloud of stealth microdroid dust, which revealed a web of lasers that would trigger and alert the facility to Aphra's trespass if eclipsed. The doctor crawled prone to the safe and disconnected the personality matrix and stowed it on her person without incident. However, on her return journey crawling under the lasers, she fluked, and triggered them. Aphra was forced to sprint to the hangar of the quarantine world as the facility self-destructed around her. After outrunning a shielded droideka and diving under a closing doorway, Chelli Aphra was confronted by Quarantine World III's curator and her old adversary, Utani Xane. Aphra was unsurprised to see the Kallidahin working at the facility, and handed over her blaster pistol and the personality matrix to Xane's handful of B2 super battle droids without argument&mdash; though, as Aphra was placed in stuncuffs, she did insist that the Triple-Zero matrix should be in an armory, not left stagnant in quarantine or a museum for centuries. Before Aphra could be escorted away back to prison, an uninvited TIE line starfighter approached and released none other than Darth Vader. Mouth agape at the arrival of Vader himself, Aphra watched as the dark lord systematically eradicated the B2 battle droids using the Force and his red-bladed lightsaber. Aphra took advantage of the chaos and tackled Xane, who was attempting to flee with the personality matrix. In the tumble, Aphra barely managed to catch the matrix and herself as she and it went over a large ledge and nearly into a deep chasm. Vader helped the doctor back up after killing Xane and let the doctor know why he was present: he wanted Aphra's help.

Shortly thereafter, Aphra returned to the Ark Angel, where Vader's TIE Advanced fighter docked with the ship. As the two conversed, Aphra admitted to being a huge fan of Vader's. Vader then explained that he had encountered the droidekas Aphra had supplied to the Crymorah-aligned pirates and that they had impressed him. Aphra thanked "Mr. Vader" and inquired as to how Vader had found her, before coming to the realization that she probably didn't want to know all the bloody details. The archaeologist then explained to Vader the dangers of the Triple-Zero matrix, and that she intended to activate it in the body of a spare 3PO-series protocol droid. However, the matrix was locked and unable to be used, and Aphra perceived that she would need hours to slice into it.

Vader, however, ignoring Aphra, used her computer and unlocked the matrix in seconds. Aphra was impressed, and installed the personality matrix into the head of the gunmetal plated protocol droid and awoke him. The Triple-Zero matrix-powered protocol droid came alive and introduced himself as 0-0-0&mdash;or Triple-Zero, appropriately. After Aphra imprinted herself and Vader as Triple-Zero's new masters, she told the droid to speak the R&D language that the Tarkin Initiative created and wake up the BT-1 prototype. After BT-1 was awakened, he took immediate hostilities to Vader and Aphra, but was calmed down by Triple-Zero, who informed the nefarious "Blastomech" that Aphra and Vader were his new masters.

Relieved, Aphra sank to the floor and admitted to Vader that she felt out of her league working with the infamous Sith Lord and asked what it was Vader really wanted from her. Vader revealed that he had been unceremoniously demoted by the Emperor, and therefore planned to build private, secret resources without his master's knowledge. Aphra picked herself up and came to the conclusion that Vader was more worthy than the Droid Gotra, so she turned ownership of BT-1 and Triple-Zero over to him and explained that he could find troops of unquestioning loyalty on Geonosis in the form of the portable droid factory that she was hired to obtain for the Droid Gotra as well. The new allies set course for the Geonosis system immediately, where Vader chaffed Aphra that it would be unwise to disappoint him.

Building forces for Darth Vader
"You know, you can trust me, but you shouldn't. I'm a walking talking stupid risk. You need to win, Lord Vader. This is for a higher cause. When you need to do it, do it. And lightsaber, please."

- Aphra willingly surrenders her own life in order to further Vader's agenda

A short time later, after Vader enlisted the aide of one of his own personal starships, a J-type 327 Nubian starship from Naboo, the Ark Angel set down in the midst of an old Clone War battlefront on the red-desert world near the cave system where the droid factory was believed to be hidden under the watchful eye of a native Geonosian queen, Karina the Great. Karina had survived the Imperial sterilization of her homeworld years earlier. Doctor Aphra then sent the two assassin droids into the queen's subterranean lair while she and Vader followed behind, taking note along the way of the wreckage of modified B1 battle droids, whom were disabled by Aphra's assassin models. Aphra informed her employer that the B1 droids confirmed that the factory was present and still operational. Aphra and Vader caught up with BT-1 ("Beetee") and Triple-Zero and the entrance to the queen's chamber, where Aphra added that with the unusual changes, such as mechanical wings, to the battle droids, that Karina the Great viewed the droids not as simply mechanical soldiers, but as her own children.

Intimidated by the sight of the Geonosian queen using the droid factory as a cybernetic womb, Aphra inquired as to whether Vader still thought barging into the insectoid queen's domain was not foolhardy. Vader replied simply "yes" and put the heist into motion; he cut Queen Karina from the portable factory and fought off the attacking B1 droids with the assistance of Beetee, while Aphra attempted to attach a homing beacon to the roof of the chamber. After jumping down to Vader's position and getting him to use the Force to get the beacon to the ceiling without a second thought, Aphra called in the Ark Angel via voice command. The starship fired on the location of the beacon, dropping mounds of rock to the chamber floor. Vader protected himself and Aphra from the cascade using the dark side of the Force. The archaeologist connected a crane lowered by the Vader's J-type 327 Nubian to the factory and held on while the heavily modified yacht lifted Sith Lord, archaeologist, and factory to the safety of the sky. Triple-Zero and Beetee followed utilizing the latter's rocket boosters.

Aphra and the team soon got the factory loaded onto her ship, and after some testing and slight modifications contributed by Triple-Zero, the portable factory began producing an army of artificially intelligent and nimble BX-series droid commandos to add to the dark lord's growing forces. Seizing the moment of down time, Aphra somberly inquired as to when Vader was going to kill her&mdash;not a doubt in her mind that he would spare her life after her usefulness to him had ended. Vader, pleased that Chelli Aphra had thus far been entirely loyal and resourceful, stated that he would not end her life until he saw fit. Satisfied with his logic, Aphra risked requesting that when Vader came to kill her, to do so with his lightsaber, and if she did not earn a quick and painless death, then to be ejected into space to freeze and suffocate to death; something she had always had nightmares about.

Immediately thereafter, Triple-Zero interrupted Aphra and Vader's delicate conversation with news that a bounty hunter whom Vader had hired from Jabba the Hutt of the powerful Hutt Clan had arrived with his bounty in tow. The bounty hunter, the disowned, outcast Wookiee Black Krrsantan of Kashyyyk, quickly brought aboard the Ark Angel the yet-to-be-identified scientist Doctor Cylo, whom Vader then tasked Triple-Zero with torturing and identifying.

Later, Aphra's team traveled aboard Vader's chromium-plated Nubian to a secret research base maintained by Doctor Cylo's Cylo Directive located in the Crushank Nebulae of the Outer Rim. Upon arriving in the nebula and seeing that the base was actually a Whale-Ship Fleet, Aphra admitted she was impressed&mdash;Vader, though, determined that it was only impressive if one was "fond of abominations." At Vader's word, Aphra began the illegal boarding mission: she launched an ion charge, which disabled Cylo's Flagship's systems, before wishing Vader an old Jedi saying: "may the Force be with you." Before Aphra landed the Nubian on the cyborg whale-ship so Triple-Zero and Beetee could gain access to the base with a dozen commando droids, Vader ejected himself into space and cut his own way to the base through the flesh of the whale-ship. Aphra proceeded to analyze the base plans after Beetee provided them from slicing into the bases's computer system. From the schematics, she provided the locations of possible resistance on the base, so Vader and the commando droids systematically cleared the living vessel of Cylo's marines before half of the commando droids were lost in "the dojo." Vader, therefore, made his own way to the dojo with his half of the battle droids, where Aphra lost contact with her employer, too.

Triple-Zero and Beetee returned to Aphra at the ship with no information on why Vader was out of contact. As time went on, Aphra became increasingly worried at Vader's safety, eventually deciding to arm herself and go in after the seemingly lost Sith Lord. While waiting, the other bounty hunter Vader had hired, the no-nonsense Boba Fett, called, having caught up with his bounty. Just before Aphra planned on leaving the ship, Vader returned in a state of fierce anger. Aphra informed Vader that Fett had information, so Vader piloted the Nubian to a Star Destroyer of the Imperial Navy where he had a meeting with the bounty hunter.

Vader returned after the meeting with orders for Aphra to travel to the the desert planet Tatooine in the Arkanis sector with him aboard the Ark Angel. Upon arrival in Tatooine's Dune Sea region, the group located the homestead moisture farm previously occupied by the Lars family before they were killed weeks before during a Rebel Alliance mission to Tatooine. There, Vader revealed to Aphra only that the Rebel Alliance pilot who destroyed the Death Star had lived at the moisture farm before the family was killed by the Empire. Aphra found it ironic that since the long-standing Imperial Senate had only recently been dissolved by the Emperor when the Lars family had been killed, prompting the future pilot who destroyed the Death Star, to leave and join the Rebellion; believing that revenge was what had motivated the pilot to damn so many Imperial souls. Vader agreed.

Next, Aphra and the others traveled several kilometers away to the Jundland Wastes to a small home where Fett had engaged in a duel with the pilot just days before. At Vader's order, Aphra waited outside while Vader examined the interior of the structure, guided by the dark side of the Force. Vader reemerged and Aphra detonated a molecular purge bomb within the structure, which erased all forensic evidence that anyone had ever occupied the building. Vader then told Aphra that he had to return to his legitimate duties within the Empire as punishment for not preventing the Death Star from being destroyed, so Aphra was dismissed from his service&mdash; though Vader had a new mission for the doctor already in mind.

Thieving against the Empire
"Now&hellip;we have a droid factory. We have the bounty hunters. We have the money to pay the bounty hunters. What next? Is it a holiday? I think I'm due a little holiday time."

- Aphra, to Vader on Anthan 13

Just as Vader had promised, he soon contacted Aphra with a new mission: steal a fortune's amount of credits from an Imperial Arquitens-class light cruiser while it was in transit to the Anthan system. The credits, recently acquired by the Empire after raiding and killing the Rodian leader of the Son-tuul Pride criminal syndicate on the jungle planet Son-tuul. In order to enact the robbery, Aphra herself traveled to Son-tuul, where in a local cantina, she gathered a group of bounty hunters to help her. The five bounty hunters&mdash;Black Krrsantan, IG-series assassin droid IG-90, armor-clad Beebox, and the very experienced Trandoshan Bossk&mdash;agreed to her terms, and together aboard Aphra's ship, they headed to the Outer Rim Anthan System. However, per a secret plan of Vader's, Aphra did not inform any of the hunters besides Krrsantan, whom was in on the plan due to his already having already impressed Vader with the capture of Cylo, that Vader was behind the raid, and that the plan was not for themselves to get rich, but for Vader to have funds to expand his forces.

As soon as the Imperial light cruiser emerged from hyperspace in orbit over Anthan Prime, Aphra began what would come to be known as the Son-tuul Pride robbery. She blew up a large asteroid with previously installed explosives and asteroid thrusters, which, when detonated, created a small asteroid belt that quickly engulfed the Imperial cruiser in the unexpected collision. Seizing the time bought by the asteroids, Aphra fired an ion charge into the cruiser; giving Aphra and her crew&mdash;except for Krrsantan, who was waiting, hidden, for his part in his Auzituck anti-slaver gunship nearby&mdash;five minutes to board the vessel and steal the mounds of credit chips. Donning space suits, Aphra, Bossk, IG-90, and Beebox, left the Ark Angel through its airlock and spacewalked onto the underside of the Imperial light cruiser where they boarded the vessel and circumvented any Imperials to the ship's vault, defeated a trio of Viper probe droids guarding it, planted a homing beacon on the vault, and then hastily retreated back to the Ark Angel, which allowed Krrsantan to do his part: slingshot an asteroid into the cruiser in his gunship, which cracked open the vessel at the vault, spilling the millions in credit ingots into space. Beetee was there on the hull of the vessel and managed to lasso a portion of the ingots using magnets&mdash;though, as per the secret plan Vader concocted, Beetee let a majority of the credits float away, seemingly lost. Krrsantan, gathered, up the rest of the credit ingots in his gunship and dropped them off on Anthan 13, one of Anthan's primes many moons.

Aphra later gathered the credits Beetee had gathered into boxes and split them up five shares, one for Aphra and each hunter. Krrsantan, acting his part to fool the other bounty hunters, sided with IG-90 and Beebox, who were disdained that the amount of credits promised was still huge, but not nearly as huge as promised. Aphra managed to brush off their grievances and agreed to pay up front if she ever asked to work with them again in the future. Later, Aphra gave Krrsantan five times his promised share on Anthan 13 and promised to help him find the individuals responsible for "cutting him up" in his previous forced career as a gladiator. Aphra added that she and him were in deep together, in crossing three bounty hunters. After Krrsantan departed, Vader emerged from the shadows of the crystalline caves of the moon and gave her a datachip with her next mission detailed inside. Darth Vader warned that if she did not contact him with new information within a month, he would contact her. Something the doctor would not enjoy.

The mortician of Naboo
"If you're not a strong queen, good doesn't mean anything. And strong and order beats good but weak on every planet in the galaxy, from now until the end of time.''" "Amidala was good and strong." "''Not strong enough."

- Aphra and Commodex Tahn discuss the former queen, Padmé Amidala

Within the span of a few days, Aphra returned to Anthan Prime, this time, however, she had business at the Anthan Spire, a floating city in the cloudy storms of the gas-filled world. Aphra was directed to the Spire's lower class Tradesman's Entrance due to the outward appearance of her "heavy-lifter" starship, and paid a quick visit to an old friend and associate, "the Ante," a Givin information broker at his Spire base. The Ante quickly decrypted the information, supplying that the subject of the data was Commodex Tahn, a long-retired former mortician from the idyllic Mid Rim planet Naboo. Aphra paid the brilliant Givin a sum of credits that the Ante deemed excessive, but accepted them nonetheless&mdash;the Ante's methods were far more discreet than using the public HoloNet, Aphra deduced. Aphra then returned to the Ark Angel with her two assassin droids, and the trio made way to the Naboo system.

Aphra stealthily piloted her starship into Naboo's capital city of Theed, and along with Triple-Zero, Beetee, and a squadron of seven commando droids, assaulted the luxurious villa of the retired mortician. With orders to take Tahn alive in order to interrogate him, the droids attempted to stun Tahn into unconsciousness when he took up arms against them. Beetee, however, shot Tahn's clone trooper-issued DC-15 blaster rifle out of his hands, drawing blood and upsetting Aphra. Aphra ordered the droids to take valuables from the villa in order to make the home invasion look like robbery. Aphra then turned her attention to Tahn. She reaffirmed in him what she already knew; that Tahn had prepared former Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala's body for burial upon her death at the very end of the Clone Wars. A patriot, Tahn stood firm, insisting that he would never betray Amidala&mdash;not even her memory. Tahn argued that Amidala had been a good queen, which was why he would not betray her. Annoyed with Tahn's unwillingness to comply, retorted that a strong queen would have beaten out Amidala's good queen act in the end. Looking at the upper class quality of life in Theed, of which Tahn was a part, Aphra read a romanticized version of her memories of how her mother had been killed during the Clone War after her parents had split up, how Aphra had killed a group of raiders with an "awesome cannon" she found, and how her father had returned thereafter; a happily ever ending that did not occur. Feeling pity for Aphra, Tahn digressed his pity for her loss.

Aphra brushed it off, adding that a galactic war had been happening&mdash;everyone had lost someone. Getting back to business, Aphra brought down on Tahn that if Amidala had been both good and strong, she would have avoided her fate, believing that the Empire was both good and strong; which was why she served in the regime. At Aphra's word Triple-Zero began his interrogation of Commodex Tahn. Aphra, meanwhile, walked the man's house, where she came across a holovid of the Tahn family. She, in her own way, apologized for having to end Tahn's life, finding comfort that Tahn had lived a good life. Triple-Zero appeared, having violently coerced Tahn into answering Aphra's inquiry. Aphra easily got the battered Tahn to confirm that then-Senator Amidala had given birth to a son who had been taken by a pair of Jedi Knights&mdash;Jedi Masters Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi &mdash;just before she died. Satisfied, Aphra told Triple-Zero to "finish up" so they could depart; the protocol droid electrocuted Commodex Tahn to death and the team fled Naboo, happy that Vader could now know the full story. Back on Anthan Prime, Aphra reported all she had learned to Vader. Appeased, Vader gave Aphra her next mission: locate the boy who had destroyed the Death Star before another could first, namely Imperial agent Commander Karbin.

Close call on Anthan
"I am surprised to see you here, Aphra." "I send you a message and run, and you'd hunt me down and kill me. I figure the only chance of me surviving is showing that I'm trust-worthy. I want to work for you. I've shown you what I can do. I can't do anything for you when I'm dead. You'll keep me alive. Hopefully." "The past few days have given me an appreciation of your talent. Do not make me regret this."

- Vader and Aphra come to an agreement over Aphra's blunder on the Spire

A short time later, Aphra paid another visit to the Ante at his Anthan Spire base. After releasing Tripe-Zero and Beetee to partake in games of holochess at the Ante's holochess parlor, the Doctor met with the Givin crime lord in his suite for a private business meeting. During the meeting, Aphra explained to the Ante that she needed to know the whereabouts of the Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker, famous for making the Battle of Yavin a victory for the Rebel Alliance. The Ante, unexpectedly, had already invested time into investigating Skywalker, and was in the process of selling the information to various other organizations, at a price much higher than Aphra anticipated. For her part, Aphra, using the stolen credits from the hijacked Son-Tuul Pride, paid the Ante up front with more than enough credit chips. The Givin infochant deduced that Aphra was responsible for the recent robbery of the Son-Tuul Pride's treasure, but nonetheless revealed to Aphra that Rebel pilot Skywalker was on the planet Vrogas Vas.

Immediately after, an alarm sounded, warning that an Imperial strike force was inbound to the city. Acting quickly, Aphra commed her two droids and ordered them to return, as she was, to the Ark Angel. Aphra dodged blaster fire from stormtroopers while patrons of the Spire fought back against the forces of Imperial Inspector Thanoth and Darth Vader. Vader made sure the Ante was killed in the firefight so he could incriminate neither Vader or Aphra in their involvement with the Son-Tuul Pride robbery. Aphra reached her docked ship, only to be met by Vader himself. Aphra was caught well off-guard when the Sith Lord activated his lightsaber and grabbed her by the neck in a Force choke, ready to kill her. The Doctor eked out that she had, in fact, learned the location of Skywalker, and Vader released her. But Aphra, essentially blackmailing Vader, said that should would only tell her "boss" later&mdash;ensuring her survival for at least a little longer. With Inspector Thanoth and his troopers not far behind, Vader let her board the Ark Angel and escape out into Anthan Prime's gas storms with her two assassin droids. However, a blockade of Imperial ships put in place by Thanoth prevented Aphra from escaping the system, forcing her to brave Anthans beautiful-but-dangerous storms of lightning and wind in order to hide.

Co-leading the mission with Thanoth, Vader persuaded Thanoth to let the Ark Angel escape "Imperial justice" in order for the Imperials to assault the subterranean base of the Plasma Devils, a Rebel Alliance cell who operated from the Thanteen Substrata on the moon Anthan 1&mdash;a time sensitive issue, because the Plasma Devils would certainly evacuate their base upon hearing that the Spire had been compromised by the Empire. Thanoth agreed with Vader's reasoning (thus saving the Empire face in the propaganda game), and left his pursuit of Aphra, a "common thief," in order to annihilate the rebels; which allowed the Doctor to escape to one of Anthan's moons and wait there to report to her employer.

With Triple-Zero and Beetee at her side, Aphra waited nervously for Vader's presence, well aware that he might kill her for her close call with Thanoth and the Ante. When Vader soon arrived, Aphra first told Vader Skywalker's location on Vrogas Vas, and second, that she had decided not to run and hide from the Dark Lord in order to prove to him that she was trustworthy. The last several days of espionage around Anthan and Naboo had given Vader an appreciation of Aphra's abilities, so he decided that he would spare her life for the time being and made preparations to intercept Skywalker at Vrogas Vas.

Around this time, Aphra heard word that "the last the Jedi" was scheduled to fight gladiatorially on Hutt Clan-controlled Nar Shaddaa, the "smuggler's moon," in the Palace of Grakkus the Hutt. The "last Jedi" turned out to be none other than Skywalker himself, who had been kidnapped by Grakkus's forces and forced to fight against Kongo the Disembowler, a massive roggwart from the dolovite mines of the volcanic world of Mustafar. Doctor Aphra expected the outmatched Skywalker to perish in his duel with the massive rogwartt, so she bet credits that Kongo would prevail over Skywalker in the ensuing duel, but Skywalker was rescued by his team of Rebel compatriots before he could lose, and as a result, Aphra lost the credits she gambled in favor of Kongo. Concurrently, Vader, after a short mission on the Mid Rim mining world Shu-Torun, made a stop on Nar Shaddaa in order to learn what he could about Skywalker, then turned his attention to Vrogas Vas.

Captured on Vrogas Vas
"So, boss&hellip;you just cost me my ship. Am I back in your good graces?" "All rests upon the boy." "Great."

- Doctor Aphra and Darth Vader, after the Ark Angel was sacrificed

Over a comlink call, aboard her Ark Angel, Chelli Aphra revealed to Lord Vader intelligence relevant to Vrogas Vas: the desolate, gaseous world housed an ancient Jedi Temple, as well as that Commander Karbin had been dispatched by Emperor Palpatine and Doctor Cylo to hunt down Skywalker&mdash;though she believed the Mon Calamari commander had not been able yet to identify Skywalker and would not interfere with Vader's own hunt. Vader soon emerged from hyperspace in Vrogas Vas's star system in his TIE starfighter where he was met with three unsuspecting Rebel Alliance starfighter squadrons&mdash;Blue Squadron, Red Squadron, and Yellow Squadron. Caught off guard, Vader suspected Aphra had set him up to be killed, but Aphra insisted otherwise. Aphra urged Vader to flee the several dozen Rebel X-wing starfighters, but Vader refused&mdash;he sensed through the Force that the Ante had been correct; Skywalker was near. Due to the ensuing skirmish, Aphra lost contact with Vader's TIE Advanced starfighter. Determined to prove her worth to the Sith Lord, Aphra made up her mind to attempt a rescue mission after learning from intercepted Rebel Intelligence transmissions, that Vader had crash landed on Vrogas Vas.

The archaeologist contacted Black Krrsantan and requested that he join her on her mission, and he accepted&mdash;as long as he would be compensated. Triple-Zero and Beetee, having researched Skywalker on the journey, explained to Aphra who they might encounter on the world below: Rebel leader-Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, the smuggler Han Solo&mdash;who was wanted by the Hutt Clan&mdash;R2-series astromech droid R2-D2, Skywalker's personal mechanic, and a protocol droid of the same chassis model as Triple-Zero, C-3PO. With new knowledge of her adversaries, Aphra set the Ark Angel down near the ruins of the Vrogas Vas Jedi Temple. Aided by macrobinoculars, Aphra spied Skywalker and R2-D2&mdash;"Artoo"&mdash;in the temple grounds, and knowing that killing Skywalker was not an option, and that Skywalker owned a Jedi lightsaber that he had fought off Boba Fett with, decided instead for a more delicate approach in her attempt to kidnap the Jedi in training: she painted Tripe-Zero's armor plates gold with an airbrush, thus disguising her droid as Skywalker's gold-plated C-3PO&mdash;"Threepio."

Golden Triple-Zero attracted the attention of Skywalker and, when close enough, routed an electric shock into him, knocking him unconscious. Aphra and Triple-Zero watched as Beetee fought R2 until he retreated. Later, Aphra had Triple-Zero carry Skywalker, however, they were confronted by Captain Solo. While Solo's copilot Chewbacca attacked triple-zero, Aphra got into a firefight with Solo. Despite getting pinned down by Solo, Aphra was able to shoot a hive Wasp-worms. However, the wasp-worms knocked both her and Solo out. Aphra was revived by Beetee and triple-zero, and she had them follow Skywalker and to keep him alive. Meanwhile Aphra returned to her ship and used it to assist Lord Vader in defeating Karbin, but she was forced to eject from it. Aphra ordered Beetee and Triple-Zero to laid a mine field around the Millennium Falcon. She then tried to force Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca to drop their weapons, but she was punched by Princess Leia and taken aboard the Falcon. With Aphra captured, Lord Vader had a bounty placed on her alive or dead. Beebox tried to collect the bounty on her by claiming he disintegrated her, but Lord Vader saw through his lie and Force choked him.

Escape from Sunspot Prison
Aphra was then taken aboard the Volt Cobra, where she was able to free herself from the binders. However, Leia and her escort kept her at gunpoint. When she tried to get past Leia and her guards, Aphra was knocked out by Starros. She was then taken to Sunspot Prison where she was interrogated by Alliance Intelligence for weeks. Aphra tried to bribe Starros to get her out, to no avail. Later, Aphra came under attack by an IG-RM droid but was saved by Leia and Starros. Aphra was then given a blaster by Leia despite Starros' concerns.

Together, Aphra, Leia, and Starros fought another IG-RM droid and made their way through the prison and into IG-RM droids. After taking out the last droid, they came upon R2-D2 and C-3PO in the prison's command center. They then went to the hangar where a bounty hunter had captured Solo and Skywalker. The bounty hunter demanded that Leia shoot Aphra, who was then held at gunpoint by Starros, but Leia told Starros not to shoot her. The bounty hunter, former rebel spy Eneb Ray then started a count down to kill them. However, Aphra and the others were saved when R2 turned off the prison's gravity. Aphra was then strangled by Starros until she apologized for leaving her, and was then tossed by Starros away from her.

After bumping into Ray, Aphra made her way to the prison's escape pod. However, she was confronted by Leia, who warned her that Vader was dangerous. She was then pushed into the escape pod by Starros and was warned not to come back to the prison.

Aphra's capture
Aphra made her way to the Cosmatanic Steppes and sat at a bar where she was found by Beetee, Triple-Zero, and their commando droids. Aphra told the droids that she had not revealed anything to the Rebels, and convinced them to stop eliminating witnesses. Aphra tried to ask Krrsantan for help, but to no avail, as she was taken to the bounty hunter's ship. She was then taken to Lord Vader's new flagship at Kuat.

After landing in the Executor's hangar bay, she was handed to a pair of stormtroopers. As she was being escorted, Aphra was able to give Beetee and Triple-Zero a new priority order to get her out. The two droids rescued her from her imprisonment and the group made their way to Black Krrsantan's gunship. However, she knew Vader would not let her get away. With Krrsantan, her droids, she then fought Dr. Cylo's forces and was ultimately brought before Emperor Palpatine.

Following Lord Vader's victory over Dr. Cylo, Vader met Palpatine and Aphra. She told the Emperor of their missions together, which the Emperor found impressive. After the Emperor left, Aphra told Lord Vader that she had revealed their partnership to the Emperor to prove herself. Vader pushed her into a airlock, despite his promise to use his lightsaber on Aphra, and she was jettisoned into space, with Vader believing her death.

However, Aphra was rescued by Black Krrsantan, Beetee, and Tripe-zero, and was brought onboard Krrsantan's gunship. She had anticipated that Vader would kill her and was able to use the equipment from the Son-tuul Pride robbery. She was then taken to a Bacta tank to heal.

Historical art rush
Aphra returned to the Cosmatanic Steppes. There, she acquired an artifact from Ulbik Tan after killing him, and then took a speeder to Fulan Ro, where her new ship the Ark Angel II was nearing completion. After meeting up with Black Krrsantan and her droids, Aphra was approached by Soo-Tath and his two Gigoran bodyguards. They demanded a payment or the artifact from Aphra. She refused knowing they planned to sell it for a higer place, and instead tried to fight back, but was knocked out by one of the Gigorans.

Aphra was saved by Krrsantan and she offered Soo-Tath a deal; if his bodyguards defeated Krrsantan, she would double her payment. Soo-Tath accepted the deal but loss when Krrsantan defeated the Gigorans. After the combat Aphra assured Soo-Tath that he would get his payment from her after she sold the artifact. Then, she and her crew went to Archaeo-Prime where Aphra tried to sell her artifact, but was unable to due to her doctorate being suspended. As she left, Aphra was approached by none other than her own father, who knew she had lied about discovering the abersyn symbiotes on Boothi XII. Her father told her that she could get her doctorate back by finding her "spiritual salvation".

Aphra listened to her father's offer to study the Ordu Aspectu. She then took him to the Ark Angel II. There, Aphra pulled out her blaster and demanded that her father cleared her name. Her father saw she was bluffing until Aphra asked Triple-Zero and Beetee to do it for her. However, she could not go through with it. Instead Aphra agreed to listen to her father's stories of the Ordu Aspectu, which they both debated their versions of.

Raid at Yavin IV
Aphra, her father and her crew traveled to the Yavin system, where her father told her to go to the fourth moon. Upon arriving, they found the Great Temple occupied by Imperial Stormtroopers, AT-ATs, and AT-STs. Aphra was surprised her father did not know that the Rebels had used the Massassi temple as their base, nor what really destroyed Jedha City and the Temple of the Kyber. Aphra, her father and her crew then came up with a plan to distract the Imperial forces.

As Black Krrsantan distracted the storm and scout troopers, Aphra and her father had the droids infiltrate the temple. The two of them then used Beetee's cables to climb into the temple. There, they inserted the Massassi pieces into the key holes. At first, the pieces did not appear to work and Aphra blamed her father for things such as her mother running away. However, the temple was then activated.

As her father took readings, Aphra told Krrsantan to prepare the Ark Angel II to leave. Meanwhile, Aphra knocked out an Imperial officer and had Beetee and Triple-Zero to slow down the stormtroopers. The group made their way through the temple's throne room firing her guns at several stormtroopers. Aphra, her father and the droids were then confronted by an AT-AT, Captain Magna Tolvan, and her remaining stormtroopers who forced her to drop her guns. As Tolvan ordered her forces to open fire on her, the AT-AT was destroyed by the Ark Angel II. Aphra, her father and the droids jumped onto the Ark Angel II and left Yavin IV. Aphra then agreed to go with her father to the Citadel of Rur. Together, they found it.

The Ordu Aspectu's twilight
Once in the CItadel of Rur, as her father examined the remains of the Jedi, Aphra was able to gather several lightsabers from the remains. Aphra and her father then found a door and used their last Massassi piece to open the door and access the Citadel's logs on the immortal Rur. As they entered, Aphra, her father and Krrsantan came under attack by several snowtroopers who were under the command of Captain Tolvan. As Krrsantan held off the snowtroopers, Aphra and her father attempted to find a safe place for the Ark Angel II to pick them up. Together, they found and crossed a Force bridge. They searched for the Citadel's computer core, but Aphra and her father were abandoned by Krrsantan and the droids.

After taking out several snowtroopers, Aphra and her father found an elevator that took them to the core. There, they found the remains of Rur. However, the core was not functional and they realized it was missing a crystal. Aphra searched over Rur's remains while she and her father talked about how he was the worst parent and husband, and eventually she found a crystal. With the crystal Aphra reactivated the computer core. When the core was reactivated, a voice came, claiming it was Rur. At first, they pair refused to believe until the voice reactivated one of the Citadel's droids.

It demanded to know what year it was and threatened to torture Aphra and her father. Aphra was able to make deal with Rur in exchange of knowing what happened. After hearing of Rur's efforts to copy himself into the computer core, Aphra told Rur that it had been over a thousand years since the Ordu Aspectu's Doom. Rur then decided to punish the leaving starting with Aphra and her father. Aphra shot one of Rur's droids, and was ordered by her father to destroy the console and take the crystals. She was able to do so with one of her salvaged lightsabers despite Rur's warning about destroying the Citadel. Aphra then took one of the Citadel's crystals.

Aphra tried to get Tolvan and her snowtroopers to follow them back to their ship. Aphra, her Father and Tolvan were then able to make it to the shuttle. As they made their escape from the Citadel, however, they were attacked by the shuttle's RA-7 protocol droid that had been taken over by Rur. Eventually, Rur lost control of the droid, and Aphra, her father and Tolvan were able to escape the Citadel's destruction. Tolvan demanded to know who Aphra was until her father wounded her and knocked her out with one of the salvaged lightsabers. Aphra and her father left Tolvan and her protocol droid on a planet in the Outer Rim. Despite Aphra's belief that the crystal was Rur and could be used, she agreed with her father to take it to Quarantine World III for safekeeping. After leaving the crystal, Aphra and her father agreed that it was in a safe place. She told her father they had to get rid of the stolen Imperial shuttle so she could get her doctorate back and return to Cosmatanic Steppes.

After getting her doctorate back, Aphra was able to sell the lightsabers for profits and returned to the Cosmatanic Steppes bar. There, Aphra payed her debt to Soo-Tath's brother and was reunited with Black Krrsantan and her droids. She revealed that she had kept the crystal and had a fake planted at Quarantine World III instead.

Meeting on Ktath'atn
Aphra travelled to Horox III, where she met up and got into a brawl with Luke Skywalker, which was finished by Black Krrsantan's intervention. Aphra got Skywalker to come with her and Krrsantan aboard the Ark Angel II as she told Skywalker about the crystal that came from Rur's citadel and how she believed he could reactivate it. Luke wasn't able to reactivate the crystal, and Aphra decided to take it to one of the meetings of the Queen of Ktath'atn as alternative.

Aphra, Skywalker and her crew then landed at the Ktath'atn's Citadel. There, Aphra and Skywalker were met by Ktath'atn's people who asked for food and Aphra responded asking Krrsatan to bring them some food. They group then was stopped by the Queen's guards, who told Aphra Wookiees were not allowed at the Queen's meeting. As they were taken to quarters, Aphra told Skywalker how she had found him after leaving a message for Starros at the Horox III rebel outpost.

Aphra and Skywalker changed their clothes to attend the meeting. Then, they went to the Citadel's throne room, where they met the Queen. After the other attendants to the meeting presented their items to the Queen, Aphra showed Skywalker as her present. At first, the Queen rejected him until Skywalker force-pushed someone and Aphra and Skywalker were then told to meet the queen in the morning so she could hear their request. The next morning, Aphra and Skywalker joined the Queen for breakfast, where Aphra spoke of how she had captured him. Meanwhile Aphra watched as the Queen ordered Vespinax to threaten Skywalker into using the force. Aphra then told the Queen about the Ordu artifact.

Aphra watched as Skywalker moved a tray to hit Vespinax and made their escape from the Queen and several abersyn symbiotes. She then called Triple-Zero to get them out, but the duo came under attack by several of the Queen's zombies. When finally Aphra and Luke made it to the Ark Angel II, they were met by Solo, Leia, and Starros. Starros tried to shoot Aphra, but Skywalker prevented her from doing it. After Skywalker chose to follow Aphra, she started examining more of the symbiotes until her and Skywalker were confronted by the Queen and her guards.

As Leia, Starros, and her droids espcaped, Solo was captured and taken by the Queen, with Aphra left behind to deal with her. Aphra was confronted by the Queen who asked her to leave and gave her the Rur crystal which had been activated by the Queen. Aphra asked what would be the future of Skywalker but decided to leave despite his pleas. She was then given a ship to leave. Aphra listened to Rur's voice who counseled her on abandoning Skywalker. Aphra heeded Rur's words and rescued Skywalker from the Queen. She intentionally infected Skywalker with a parasite in order to turn him into the hivemind's king, capable of challenging the Queen.

Aphra watched as a possessed Skywalker confronted the Queen, and then watched as Skywalker freed himself and killed the Queen with the help of the crystal. After Han disbanded the zombie hive, Aphra told her droids to burn the Citadel and suggested they contact the Empire to contain the symbiotes. Before leaving, Aphra spoke with Starros about what had gone wrong with each other. She then offered to give Skywalker access to the Rur crystal, though he knew Rur was not a Jedi. Aphra, Black Krrsantan, and her droids then left aboard the Ark Angel II.

Auction of Rur
Some time later, Aphra infiltrated the Isolate-4 Lab to activate the Rur crystal. Using the alias "Sulan Do" and posing as Black Krrsantan's "agent", Aphra arranged for two journalists, Dixnet Dat and Domthro Rus, to meet with Black Krrsantan so that they could learn the story of Black Krrsantan's origins. Unbeknownst to the journalists, their meeting with Black Krrsantan was a distraction—Aphra broke into their ship and with the help of Triple-Zero and Beetee, used it to transmit hundreds of messages on the undervine. The messages advertised the auction of a rare alien artifact.

Several weeks later, Aphra held an auction to sell off the Rur crystal. As Aphra showed the Auction's guest the crystal and its abilities, Rur tried to kill her again by possessing a droid. However, Aphra was saved when Krrsantan shot the droid down. Aphra spoke with Yonak and showed him her security systems to relieve his concerns. Then, she told her guests that she would speak with them individually and made sure that her two droids would not murder anyone without her orders.

The auction was reinstated and Aphra listened as her guests such as Thomas Toov tried to out bid others. Aphra showed her guests how she would repair several of them. Aphra was then approached by the Ezaraa Dominion, who offered her 0.00001% of her Imperial revenue for her and ten of her descendants. She then met with the Shadow University, who offered to let her continue to have access to the crystal in addition to a fortune. However, when she was blackmailed by them, Aphra turned down their offer. As she spoke with Papa Toren, Krrsantan had a confrontation with the Kthoo-Ra, which was stopped by Beetee on Aphra's orders. She then turned Kthoo-Ra's employers, the Xonti Brothers' offer down.

In the medical bay, Aphra was strangled by Krrsantan out of anger. However, she was able to convince him to let her go. Aphra was then told that the Shadow university had increased its bid. She then went before her fellow guests and told them that the Shadow University had bought the crystal. However, Rur had taken over another droid, and attacked Aphra's guests. Aphra protected the Shadow University's guests from Rur, and then figured out that someone else was controlling the guns. Unfortunately, Aphra and her droids were unable to deactivate the guns. In the mean time Krrsantan still wanted to kill the Xonti brothers. Aphra fought Rur's possessed droid and was almost killed by it until Beetee and Triple-Zero used the guns on it. Aphra then joined her droids, who revealed that Lord Vader had arrived.

As Vader arrived, Beetee and Triple-Zero revealed to Aphra that they had contacted him in order to force her to remove her leashes from them. Aphra agreed and removed their leashes from them. After Beetee and Triple-Zero left, Aphra was joined by Krrsantan. She joined what remained of her guests, who wanted to use her as bait for the Imperial troops. Aphra attempted to escape by tricking the Xonti Brothers into thinking she was double-crossing Krrsantan. In reality, Aphra rigged a nearby droid to explode, killing the Xonti Brothers and allowing Krrsantan to board a ship. Despite having the opportunity to escape, Aphra decided to go back for the Shadow University's ship instead. Aphra ran when she came face-to-face with a droid possessed by the spirit of Rur; in doing so, she led Rur to Darth Vader and his troops. Aphra hid while Rur and Vader battled in a Lightsaber duel.

Due to Vader and Rur being distracted by their duel, Aphra was able to escape. Upon discovering some of her remaining guests, Aphra used Sutha as a human shield, which eventually resulted in Sutha's death. After Vader disabled and defeated Rur, Aphra was able to escape on the Shadow University's ship. Although Vader sensed her presence, he did not investigate further, considering it to be of little matter. Following her escape, Aphra returned some of the priceless artifacts to the Shadow University and the others to the Museum of Bar'leth in order to double her profit. Afterwards, Aphra retreated to the planet Zeltros to vacation and celebrate her liberation from Triple-Zero, Beetee, Krrsantan, and Darth Vader. While relaxing on the beach, however, Aphra was confronted by a man named Tukan, who wanted to bring her to trial for her murder of Dukan. Aphra casually fired at Tukan, killing him, only to discover Tukan was not alone, and she was outnumbered.

Raid on Someilk
"I won't do it! This is it! I'm bad, but I'm not that brand of evil."

- Aphra expresses regret while working for Triple Zero

After managing to escape from Dukan's old clan members, Aphra was coerced into working for Triple-Zero, who had become a crime lord after taking over the Son-tuul Pride base. Triple-Zero threatened to alternatively kill Aphra or alert Darth Vader to her whereabouts if she refused to work for him. Under Triple-Zero's orders, Aphra helped lead an attack on an Imperial base at Someilk. Upon arrival, Aphra was surprised to discover that Magna Tolvan was at the base. When Tolvan attempted to commandeer Aphra's crew's ship, Aphra took her hostage at gunpoint. While Aphra waited for her team to complete the mission, she made small talk with Tolvan and the two tentatively bonded. Not wanting to disclose her true identity, Aphra gave the name of "Joystick Chevron" when prompted. Aphra reiterated her attraction to Tolvan; when Tolvan pointed out her deformations, Aphra explained that it reminded her of her own electro-tattoos, stating that it made them both "interesting". After learning that Tolvan was demoted due to Aphra's past actions, Aphra apologized. Due to her loneliness and crush on Tolvan, Aphra decided to merely stun Tolvan rather than kill her, stating that she was fine with being captured by Imperials as long as Tolvan was the one who caught her. Aphra left an unconscious Tolvan on the base's landing area. Aphra was shocked when, following her crew's departure, Rexa Go destroyed the entire Imperial base. The act filled Aphra with regret, though she was forced to keep working for Triple-Zero.

Mission to Skako Minor
Under Triple-Zero's direction, Aphra retrofitted some "weird" droids for unknown use. She also experimented with a relic splicer rig, which resulted in a cloned and modified Tooka, which Aphra named Flufto. Triple-Zero then ordered Aphra to take a crew of mercenaries with her on a mission to Skako Minor. Before the trip, Aphra clashed with Triple-Zero and Beetee, stating that the droids would not risk sending Imperial troops her way and arguing that she could just run away.

Aphra evaluated her crew of mercenaries, which included among them Tam Posla. When Aphra attempted to depart for Skako Minor, she was informed that she would have to decide which crew member to leave behind. Aphra conferred with Rexa that they would be better off figuring out what Triple-Zero's plan was or finding a bigger ship. After stating this, Aphra discovered that Triple-Zero was listening in on her. As punishment for doubting his threats, Triple-Zero directed Imperial troops to the "stolen" ship, forcing Aphra to chose someone to abandon in order to escape. Aphra reluctantly chose to leave Viscount Rabael Dir Glorio behind.

While traveling to Skako Minor, Aphra correctly deduced that Triple Zero was intending to raid the personal workshop of Wat Tambor of the Techno Union. Thinking the Empire was unaware of the location of the workshop, Triple-Zero hired Hallio Bas, a Skakoan, to lead Aphra and the others to it. However, it was revealed Hallio had previously made a deal with the Empire, promising to turn over any looters to the Empire in exchange for the end of the Empire's occupation of Skako Minor. As the Imperial troops prepared to execute Aphra and the other mercenaries, Aphra handed over Flufto to Hallio, stating that it wouldn't be fair for Flufto to die. Unbeknownst to everyone, one of Aphra's modifications to Flufto was the ability to explode once Aphra used the codephrase "snugglebum oogiewoogie". Flufto exploded, killing all Imperial forces.

Following the explosion, Aphra revealed that she had an entire crate full of shrink-frozen Tooka clones that were all enabled with the same verbal code for self-destruction. Aphra led the way into Wat Tambor's workshop, with the goal of locating all files relevant to the Triple-Zero matrix. Aphra explained to Rexa that it would not be an easy task, due to the workshop containing multiple defensive droids and being built around a Hellhulk station from the Hundred-Year Darkness. Aphra advised her crew not to touch the "pointy sparkly thing" (an ancient techo-totem that controlled a Chthonic worm god, which guarded the workshop), stating that the workshop was likely full of traps.

Unbeknownst to Aphra, her location had been tracked down by Magna Tolvan, whose ship crash-landed inside the workshop, damaging the tecno-totem. Tolvan ordered her stormtroopers to fire on Aphra's crew; however, the damage to the techno-totem caused the worm god to awaken. As the worm god wrecked havoc on Aphra and Tolvan's crews, Tolvan and Aphra briefly held each other at gunpoint before the worm god disarmed them. Tolvan and Aphra were able to take shelter in a mechanical shaft after they used one of Aphra's Tooka clones to create an explosive diversion, however, the worm god continued to pursue them.

Tolvan and Aphra argued while they were trapped inside the mechanical shaft. Aphra blamed Tolvan for accidentally awakening the worm god, while Tolvan stated that it was Aphra's fault Tolvan had lost her rank and had nearly been executed. Tolvan stated that Aphra was "the worst thing alive" and that she would see Aphra incarcerated. The two shared a laugh when they suddenly realized the ancient techno-totem had ended up in the shaft with them. Aphra then remarked that they were going to die. With the worm god nearly upon them, and believing it to be their last moments, Aphra and Tolvan shared a passionate kiss.

One of Aphra's droidekas, Dek-Nil, accidentally caused a stormtrooper to misfire; the misfire struck the workshop's ceiling and the worm god was crushed under the falling debris, thus saving Aphra and Tolvan. Tolvan asked Aphra to tell her her name. Tolvan explained to Aphra that Aphra's file was marked in the Imperial records and Tolvan was afraid someone higher up would eventually step in. Aphra stated that Tolvan was just afraid of being murdered herself, as that was how the Imperials operated, though Aphra also admitted that her own field of work worked the same way. Aphra replied that Tolvan should stay away from her, for her own safety. She advised Tolvan to leave, but the two were spotted by Rexa. Aphra then shot Rexa and allowed Tolvan to escape unnoticed.

Aphra restored the techno-totem to its rightful place and commanded her crew to loot the workshop. Back on her ship, Aphra informed Triple-Zero that Wat Tambor had acquired the Triple-Zero matrix nearly a century ago, with the intention of studying it. However, Wat Tambor had found the Triple-Zero matrix to be too dangerous and sent the matrix off to quarantine, where Aphra later stole it. Aphra explained that while Wat Tambor had kept all of Triple-Zero's memories, the separatists's R&D had been siphoned up by the Empire following the Clone Wars. Aphra continued to explain that all data was now housed in Hivebase-1, part of the Tarkin Initiative, and one of the biggest archives ever built. Aphra stated it was impossible to even approach without a clearance pattern, and that Hivebase-1 was the gravity anchor for a billion strong swarm of acid larve. Despite this, however, Aphra realized that Triple-Zero indeed intended for Aphra to attempt a raid on the base. She resigned herself to thinking up a plan for the raid.

When questioned by Triple-Zero as to if the Skako Minor mission had incurred any casualties among Aphra's mercenary crew, Aphra lied that there had been none. After ending her communications with Triple-Zero, Aphra went back to check on her crew. Unbeknownst to Aphra, Tolvan had been able to sneak aboard Aphra's ship by disguising herself by wearing the skin of murdered Glahst Ombra, one of the other mercenaries.

Capturing General Syndulla
Aphra and her crew found out where the Lucrehulk Prime was located. The Lucrehulk Prime had become the Rebel Alliance's flight school. There, she and her crew poised as new recruits. Aphra also had Flufto with her. They were accepted and waited for the recruitment assessment to begin. Aphra had "Ombra" melt into the shadows aboard the ship. During the tour, Aphra released the Tooka which had bio explosives in it's genes.

Aphra ran into General Hera Syndulla, who shot Flufto. Aphra and her crew revealed themselves to be mercenaries rather than new recruits for the Rebel Alliance. Syndulla and her crew surrounded Aphra and her crew. They were taken to the brig. There Aphra, was approached by "Ombra", who revealed herself to be Tolvan. Aphra tried to convince Tolvan to join her, but still refused. The two kissed each other, but Tolvan demanded that she reveal her name or be shot. Aphra was saved when Dek-Nil stunned Tolvan and Tolvan inadvertently deactivated the brig's shields. Aphra had Tolvan placed back into the vent. Aphra and her crew stayed in their cells.

Aphra and her crew were taken to the hangar, where Syndulla gave them their ship so they could leave. Aphra offered Syndulla counter proposal; that she and her crew could get them into Hivebase-1. As Syndulla thought about this, Aphra signaled Bog to give Sister Six her blasters. Aphra had Syndulla taken aboard her ship. When Posla saw that they were kidnapping Syndulla, he decided to quit. Aphra, despite this, allowed Posla to continue with them. Aphra contacted Hivebase-1's officer and offered to give the Empire Syndulla.

Aphra ran a diagnostic on Bog and attempted to contact 0-0-0 and BT-1 to no avail. She learned about Bog's surgeon, Dr. Cornelius Evazan, his experiments, and how Posla lost his badge in his attempt to capture Evazan on Jedha prior to Jedha City's destruction. As their ship approached Hivebase-1, Aphra revealed to Syndulla that she knew about the tracker in her rank patch. Aphra offered to un-jam Syndulla's signal. When the Lucrehulk Prime caught up with her ship, it came under attack by a Scaraphyte swarm.

After landing ship on the base, Aphra and her crew went deeper into the base to snoop around. Aphra had Posla stay with Syndulla, saying she had done her bit. Aphra, her crew and Syndulla saw the many rejects of the Tarkin Initiative. Aphra was enamored with many of the obscenities, much to the disgust of Syndulla. Aphra compared it to being no different then the Rebels recruiting farmboys. During this time, Tolvan subdued the Lucrehulk Prime 's crew and took control of the ship from the rebels. Aphra contacted her and was able to convince her just to capture the ship and its crew, despite Commander Yewl's orders. However, Tolvan betrayed her and alerted Yewl to her crew's presence.

Personality and traits
"I'm not sick! I just... I get things wrong. I'm selfish. I... I use people. But... I don't expect to sleep well. Ever."

- Chelli Lona Aphra

Having gone through a difficult childhood, Aphra was fairly detached from other people and was primarily concerned with her own needs and self-preservation. Aphra frequently made reckless decisions (usually motivated by greed), which often resulted in bad situations for her, such as when she attempted to auction off Rur to various criminal organizations. Aphra's first and foremost concerns and loyalties were to herself, and while she often double-crossed her allies, at times she felt compelled to assist others. When Aphra abandoned Luke Skywalker at the hands of the Queen of Ktath'atn, Rur saw inside Aphra's mind and saw she was wracked with guilt. Rur stated that this was an "unusual occurrence" for Aphra. Aphra struggled to make friends and meaningful connections, due to her un-trustworthiness and strong disloyalty to anyone but herself. At one point, Luke referred to her as his friend, though his feelings changed after Aphra betrayed him. Aphra confessed to Magna Tolvan that working for Triple-Zero made her lonely, and that she missed having someone to talk to.

Aphra was homosexual. She at one point had a relationship with Sana Starros, though their relationship ended poorly due to some unknown actions of Aphra. Sana was so angered by what had happened that she attempted to murder Aphra on more than one occasion. Aphra once remarked on the attractiveness of mercenary Sister Six. She continuously expressed an attraction to and romantic interest in Tolvan, an Imperial officer, with whom Aphra had run into on two different occasions; Aphra's feelings appeared to be requited; Aphra and Tolvan later kissed while on Skako Minor, when they believed they were going to die.

As a criminal, Aphra appeared to be well-known throughout the galaxy. When she confronted Han Solo on Vrogas Vas, he recognized her as being a formidable opponent and noted her intellect. Even Darth Vader expressed appreciation for Aphra's talents. Aphra admitted to her father that she had considerable experience with breaking into places to steal artifacts. Aphra was a highly clever and capable individual; she demonstrated extremely adept survival skills when she was able to avoid her own death at the hands of Darth Vader after being thrown out of an airlock.

Behind the scenes
Chelli Lona Aphra was created by writer Kieron Gillen for the Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series, which spawned an spin-off comic book series entitled Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. According to Gillen, Aphra was conceived as the archaeological antithesis of Indiana Jones, the title character of Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Indiana Jones franchise.