Antares Draco

"Do you understand?''" "''No, sire. But I will obey."

- Roan Fel and Antares Draco

Antares Draco was a Human male who led the Imperial Knights during the Second Imperial Civil War. A skilled pilot and lightsaber duelist, Draco was fiercely loyal to and willing to die for Roan Fel, Emperor of the Galactic Empire and later the Empire-in-exile. Draco was trained in the ways of the Force by Master Eshkar Niin, and was an Imperial Knight as early as 130 ABY at the conclusion of the Sith–Imperial War, when he fled the Imperial capital with Fel as the Sith Lord Darth Krayt seized control of the Empire and the galaxy, declaring a new order and driving Fel's forces into exile. When Eshkar Niin deserted the Imperial Knights, Draco was sent to kill him and left him mortally wounded after Niin murdered Fel's wife, the Empress Elliah. Draco continued to serve the Emperor, eventually becoming an Imperial Knight Master and the leader of the Order. In 137 ABY, he accompanied Fel as the Emperor retook the world of Bastion and established a fortress world from which he could assault Krayt's forces.

When Draco learned that Fel's daughter Marasiah was being pursued by Krayt's Sith agents on Vendaxa, he defied the Emperor's orders to not mount a rescue attempt, and brought his trusted friend Ganner Krieg to the world in an attempt to rescue the woman he loved from the Sith's clutches. Escaping the planet on the Mynock, a ship belonging to the bounty hunter Cade Skywalker, Draco and Krieg were able to return the Princess to Bastion, but at the expense of their Emperor's trust. Draco hoped to win enough of Fel's trust back to persuade the Emperor to allow him to marry the Princess, and grew very staunch in his willingness to obey orders. Over the next several months, he and Krieg were sent on missions to the Wheel space station and to the Jedi Order's Hidden Temple on Taivas. While at the Temple, they joined a strike team put together by Skywalker to assassinate Darth Krayt on Had Abbadon. The mission saw Krayt nearly killed, but the war continued to rage on. Draco later accompanied Fel to Agamar along with several other Imperial Knights in order to conduct peace talks with the Jedi Order, but the meeting was interrupted by forces of the One Sith.

Draco ordered the Emperor's escape shuttle to ferry Fel away from Agamar and to safety, although it meant leaving Marasiah behind. The Princess was captured by the Sith, and Draco later led a rescue mission on the Sith world of Korriban. The mission was successful, but Draco remained onworld to buy her time to escape. There, he was taken prisoner by Niin, who had become the Sith Inquisitor Darth Havok, and Havok subjected him to agonizing torture in an effort to learn the Emperor's secrets. Draco broke under the torture and told Havok about the Jedi's Hidden Temple. He was then frozen in carbonite and made into a gift for Cade Skywalker, whom Darth Krayt wanted to entice into a confrontation. Skywalker brought Draco to the Temple, and the two joined in its defense as Krayt's forces attacked. The Jedi were evacuated, and Fel and his allies immediately launched a counterstrike at Sith-controlled Coruscant. During the battle, Draco stood aboard the Star Destroyer Jagged Fel at the side of the Emperor, who yet believed in Draco's unquestioning loyalty. Draco's loyalty was ultimately to the Force, however, and he held true to his oath as an Imperial Knight and slew his liege during the battle when the Emperor fell to the dark side and attempted to unleash a deadly pathogen onto Coruscant's surface.

Sith–Imperial War
"Mohrgan&hellip;the others&mdash;!''" "''I felt it too. We will honor their sacrifices and escape."

- Draco and Roan Fel, feeling the deaths of four fellow Imperial Knights in the Force

The male Human Antares Draco was an Imperial Knight of the Fel Empire as of 130 ABY. His service to the Empire saw him follow in the footsteps of his forefathers, as one of his ancestors was a member of the Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius.

Like the rest of the Imperial Knights, Draco was forbidden by Emperor Roan Fel to participate in the Sith–Imperial War, a conflict between Fel's Empire and the Galactic Alliance that raged from 127 ABY to 130 ABY. Instead, the Imperial Knights served as a personal bodyguard to the Emperor. Following the Battle of Caamas, which saw the defeat of the Galactic Alliance and the end of the war, Draco and fellow Imperial Knight Mohrgan Fel accompanied the Emperor to his private chambers on Coruscant as Fel prepared for a meeting with the Imperial Moff Council. Fel planned to arrest Grand Moff Morlish Veed, whom he suspected had disobeyed him by ordering the Massacre of the Jedi Order at Ossus. Fel instructed Draco and Mohrgan to kill Veed if he made any suspicious moves and to keep a close eye on Director of Imperial Intelligence Nyna Calixte. At that moment, Calixte revealed herself to be in the room with them and eavesdropping on their conversation. After being held against the wall by Mohrgan's use of the Force, she informed them that Fel's Sith allies were planning to kill him. Draco advised his Emperor not to trust her, but Fel bid her explain herself, prompting her to point out that his survival was in her interests in addition to his own.

Mohrgan volunteered to lead a contingent of Imperial Knights and accompany Fel's double in appearing before the Moffs, a ruse which ultimately allowed Fel and Draco to flee the planet. Darth Krayt, the leader of the Sith, appeared at the Moff's meeting and slew Mohrgan's entire contingent before striking down Fel's decoy and declaring himself the new Emperor of the galaxy. Concurrent with these events, Fel and Draco made an underground escape from Coruscant through Sublevel 12's maintenance tunnels to a waiting ship that had been arranged by Calixte. As the two destroyed guard droids that attempted to halt them, Draco felt the deaths of his fellow Knights in the Force. Fel told him that they would honor their sacrifices by escaping. Displaced from his throne, Roan Fel and his Imperial Knights were now in exile.

Rescue at Vendaxa
"Is loyalty always the same as obedience?"

- Draco to Ganner Krieg

At some point before 137 ABY, Draco earned the title of Master, and, under the tutelage of Master Eshkar Niin, became the second-in-command of the Imperial Knights. Behind Fel himself, Draco was the highest-ranking member of the organization and was at the head of its disciplined command structure. When Niin abandoned his vows to the Emperor and deserted the Order, Draco was sent to kill him and located him on the rooftop of a city filled with skyscrapers. Niin had himself hunted Fel's wife, Empress Elliah Fel, to the rooftop, and both Draco and Elliah engaged him in a lightsaber duel. Niin ignored their pleas to remember his vows and Force-shoved Draco away before striking the Empress down. Draco attacked and mortally wounded him in retaliation, and afterward believed his former Master to be dead. Niin in fact survived the encounter and joined Darth Krayt's Sith as a Sith Inquisitor.

After seven years of conducting hit-and-run tactics on Krayt's Imperial fleets, Roan Fel returned to the Imperial stronghold of Bastion, which Krayt had claimed shortly after the conclusion of the war. Draco accompanied Fel as he arrived on-planet, along with two other Imperial Knights, Sigel Dare and Draco's trusted friend, Ganner Krieg. After securing the loyalty of the Imperial forces stationed on the planet, Fel believed that his Empire could now become a more potent threat to Krayt, although Draco cautioned him that Krayt would now know where to find him. Fel was then informed by General Oron Jaeger that Elke Vetter, an Imperial Knight and the bodyguard of Fel's daughter, Princess Marasiah Fel, had been killed on Socorro, and that Marasiah was missing. Draco immediately volunteered to take three Knights to Socorro to rescue her but was forbidden from doing so by Fel, who would not allow his new base to be discovered just yet. A distraught Draco told Fel that he did not understand, but would obey. Nevertheless, Draco continued his attempts to convince the Emperor to mount a rescue mission, proclaiming that he would die before revealing that Bastion had been retaken. Reminded by Krieg that they had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Emperor, Draco wondered if loyalty was the same as obedience.

Despite their orders, Draco and Krieg made their way in two stolen Predator-class fighters to Vendaxa, where Marasiah and her companion, Astraal Vao, had been picked up by the bounty hunter Cade Skywalker and had rendezvoused with two Jedi Knights, Wolf Sazen and Astraal's brother, Shado Vao. Arriving at the site of Skywalker's grounded ship, the Mynock, the pair's fighters were shot down by a Sith Fury-class starfighter. Draco and Krieg managed to escape the flaming wrecks of their ships and arrived on the scene simultaneously with the Sith Lords Darth Talon, Darth Nihl, and a legion of other Sith that had been pursuing Marasiah since her escape from Socorro. With his hood up, Draco appeared to the Sith to be Fel himself but revealed his identity and told them to run while they still had the chance. Along with the Jedi and the Princess, Draco and Krieg ignited their lightsabers and engaged the Sith in combat. Despite seven years of tension between the Jedi and Roan Fel's Empire, the Jedi and Imperial Knights were fighting side-by-side against their common enemy, the Sith. Marasiah was angered by Draco's attempt to rescue her, which she suspected had been forbidden by her father. Draco's reasoning was that he loved her, a fact that she informed him she was already aware of. She was soon after cut down by a Zabrak Sith while protecting a derelict Skywalker.

Believing that a person whom they had sworn to protect had been killed, Draco and Krieg fought the Sith with renewed vigor. Draco cradled what he believed to be Marasiah's corpse in his arms until faint signs of life led him to rush her to the Mynock while Sazen covered him. When Sazen attempted to return to the battle, Draco held him back, insisting that Marasiah's life was more important than anyone else's. Sazen was distrustful of Fel's Imperials due to the Massacre at Ossus, but Draco revealed that the said Massacre had happened against the Emperor's orders and managed to convince Sazen to do whatever he could to heal the Princess. Draco rushed back outside of the ship, only to find that it was taking off, with everyone but the Sith aboard. As Talon leaped onto the ship's closing hatch, Draco Force-pushed her off, allowing the Mynock to leave the surviving Sith behind and escape.

On the bridge, Draco pressured Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue, respectively the ship's co-pilot and mechanic, to set a course for Bastion and bid them get there as fast as they could, else he would kill them. When Krieg told Draco that Marasiah was on her way to death, a very reluctant Skywalker&mdash;reminded of his healing powers&mdash;offered to help but was met with a punch to the face by an emotionally heated Draco. Vao intervened and prevented a fight from ensuing, and his sister convinced Draco and Krieg to let Skywalker heal Marasiah. After Skywalker used his powers to bring Marasiah back from the edge of death, the Mynock safely arrived at Bastion.

Vendaxa fallout
"We're going to win back the Emperor's trust."

- Draco while aboard the Wheel

Shortly after Skywalker and the Jedi departed Bastion in the Mynock, Fel requested an audience with Draco and Krieg and berated them for having disobeyed a direct order, accusing Draco of putting his love for the Princess before the needs of the Empire. As the Sith had likely tracked the Mynock to Bastion, Fel believed that he was now in a stalemate with Krayt's Empire. Draco, ready to receive any punishment that the Emperor wished to hand them, was shocked when Fel told them that they would be receiving medals. Fel was retroactively approving their mission to Vendaxa, rather than having news of their insubordination undermine his authority. Draco's and Krieg's punishment was thus that they were being declared the Empire's foremost heroes and thenceforth being tasked with its most dangerous missions. Fel then told Draco to forget the idea of marrying Marasiah and sent the two on their next mission: escorting Captain Mingo Bovark to the Wheel, a space station in the Besh Gorgon system that had remained neutral throughout Fel's conflicts with the Galactic Alliance and the Sith. Bovark would be discussing a possible alliance against Krayt with Admiral Gar Stazi of the Galactic Alliance Remnant, and Draco and Krieg's mission was to ensure Bovark's safety at all costs and to see that the negotiations went smoothly. Before their departure, a ceremony was held in which the two Imperial Knights received their medals.

Aboard the Wheel, Stazi and Bovark met in a conference room, with each participant's set of guards required to wait outside. Draco and Krieg, despite having been required to leave their lightsabers aboard their ship, smuggled them aboard the space station. While the talks were happening, Morrigan Corde and Jor Torlin, spies from Krayt's Empire, managed to cause the Imperial shuttle to fire on Stazi's ship using a Command Override Limpet Droid, prompting Stazi to believe that Roan Fel had betrayed him. A firefight erupted between the Imperial Knights and the Galactic Alliance Intelligence officers, and Krieg held off the guards while Draco burst into the room to retrieve Bovark, Force-pushing an angry Stazi against a bulkhead. Wheel Administrator Pol Temm and several security guards arrived and called on the Imperial Knights to surrender their weapons immediately. Draco refused, and Temm ordered the Imperials off of the Wheel, declaring the station off-limits to all of Roan Fel's forces. Suspecting sabotage, Draco vowed to find and kill whomever was responsible.

Some time later, while on Bastion, Draco felt a disturbance in the Force and rushed to the Pellaeon Gardens, where he found Emperor Fel standing over the corpse of the Sith Lord Darth Kruhl. Kruhl had arrived on-planet aboard the Star Destroyer Dauntless, whose crew had been sent by Darth Krayt under the guise of defecting to Fel's Empire; the ruse allowed Kruhl to mount an attempt on Fel's life. Fel shook off Draco's concerns over his well-being and informed him that he would be sending Krayt a message back. Every crew member of the Dauntless was then killed, save for its Governor, Vikar Dorn, who was spared in order to deliver the message.

Over the next several weeks, acting on the orders of the Emperor, Draco kept mainly to himself and avoided Marasiah Fel in particular as she completed her training and became a full-fledged Imperial Knight. As the Emperor prepared to send Marasiah, Draco, and Krieg on a mission, Draco sat sulking in the gardens of Bastion's royal greenhouses and was approached by Marasiah. Worried about her safety, he intended to counsel the Emperor to replace her on the mission with another Imperial Knight. Marasiah surprised him with a kiss and told him that she had no intention of letting her father run her personal life.

Pursuing Cade Skywalker
"Defend her Imperial Majesty!''" "She wasn't invited, and you Imperial Knights ain't wanted. This is what you get for crashing my party!" "Pirate scum! You speak for the Jedi now?" "I speak for me. Nobody uses the Mynock'' to hitch a free ride&mdash;least of all you stinking Imperials!"

- Draco and Cade Skywalker while dueling at the Hidden Temple

The three Imperial Knights were sent to the Iego system, where their fellow Knight Azlyn Rae had been dispatched to locate Cade Skywalker, whom the Emperor worried had divulged Imperial secrets to the Sith. Undercover and posing as a bounty hunter, Rae confronted Skywalker as he visited his uncle, "Bantha" Rawk, on Iego. Because of her status as a former Jedi and a childhood friend of Skywalker's, Rae was able to learn of the existence of the Jedi's Hidden Temple. As she prepared to follow the Mynock to the temple in her ship, Rae relayed the Temple's coordinates to Draco, Krieg, and Marasiah, who were waiting nearby in a ship of their own. Although both Draco and Krieg suspected that Rae might be setting them up, the three Imperial Knights set a course for the Hidden Temple on Taivas. Their hope was to negotiate an alliance between Fel's Empire and the Jedi Order. Draco relayed the Temple's coordinates to Bastion in an effort to keep the Princess safe.

The Imperial Knights cloaked their ship and followed the Mynock to the Hidden Temple, landing behind their quarry at one of the complex's hangars. Draco, Krieg, and Marasiah disembarked just as the Mynock crew was being greeted by Wolf Sazen and Shado Vao; Draco and Krieg walked out with their lightsabers drawn in an effort to protect the Princess from any potential danger. Misinterpreted as hostility, the move prompted Vao and Skywalker to draw their own weapons and engage the two Imperial Knights in duels. Draco dueled Skywalker in defense of what he perceived to be an attack on Marasiah. Furious that they had hitched a free ride on his ship and realizing Rae's true identity as an Imperial Knight, Skywalker Force-pushed both Draco and Krieg across the hangar. In response, Marasiah ignited her own lightsaber and informed Skywalker that the Imperial Knights had come on a mission of peace.

After tensions between the gathered parties had died down, the Imperial delegation was permitted to see the Jedi Council. In the Council Chamber, Skywalker, Rawk, Sazen, Vao, Draco, Krieg, and Marasiah appeared before Jedi Masters K'Kruhk, T'ra Saa, and Tili Qua. Saa believed that the Force had allowed the Imperial Knights to come to the Hidden Temple for a reason. Draco stood by as Marasiah gave a long speech that revealed that her father had not ordered the Massacre at Ossus and called on the Jedi to open talks with him so that they might join forces against their common enemy, the Sith. Skywalker chimed in, revealing knowledge of Darth Krayt and the One Sith that he had learned during his time as their captive, and proposed a plan of his own: assassinate Darth Krayt. Although the Jedi Council was taken aback by Skywalker's proposal, the Imperial Knights were impressed by it&mdash;Draco deemed it to be the first thing Skywalker had ever said that he liked. Ultimately, the Council did not support the mission, but Skywalker decided to proceed without their assistance. Marasiah assigned Draco, Krieg, and Rae to accompany him on his mission, while she would stay behind to continue negotiating an alliance with the Jedi. Draco was appointed the leader of the Imperial Knights' mission. Skywalker's astromech droid, R2-D2, opened the cargo bay doors of the Mynock and allowed Draco and Krieg to load their TIE Predators into the ship's hold. With their fighters already aboard his ship, Skywalker reluctantly allowed the Imperial Knights to join him on the mission. Vao joined the strike team as well as the sole representative of the Jedi.

Skywalker's strike team
"Your will be done, Majesty."

- Draco, receiving new orders from Roan Fel

Skywalker formulated a plan to lure Krayt to the planet Had Abbadon. En route, Draco and Krieg watched Vao practice his lightsaber technique against a remote in the Mynock cargo hold. Soon, the ship was drawn out of hyperspace by the interdiction field of the Star Destroyer Iron Sun, which Old Republic Jedi Celeste Morne had commandeered ten years before and kept dormant in the Deep Core. Draco observed that there were no TIE Predators meeting them and that the Star Destroyer's hull had taken fire damage from the inside. After the Mynock was locked in a tractor beam, Vao and Skywalker sensed the presence of a Force-user on the ship, and the crew set out to explore the derelict vessel. Skywalker ordered Draco and Krieg to investigate the corridors connected to the hangar bay, where they found several bones, some of which had been gnawed on. Following an attack on Skywalker, Rae, Vao, and Jariah Syn by beasts known as Rakghouls, Draco contacted Deliah Blue on the Mynock and suggested that Skywalker was dead and that the mission be called off. Blue ignored him and rushed into the interior of the ship, and Draco and Krieg followed her. The trio located Syn and Vao in front of a locked door, along with several tame-seeming Rakghouls, beasts that Morne was able to control with the power of the Muur Talisman, an ancient Sith artifact that housed the spirit of the Sith Lord Karness Muur. As Draco and Vao attempted to force their way through the door, it suddenly opened, revealing a weary Skywalker and Rae. Morne followed, and, having just been impressed by Skywalker's healing abilities, decided to join them on their mission.

With Morne as its newest passenger, the Mynock arrived at Had Abbadon, a planet that was under the control of Krayt's Empire. Posing as pilots from the planet's Imperial base, Draco and Krieg flew their TIE Predators after Shado Vao's TwinTail Fighter and blasted grounded TIE pilots before they could get to their ships, helping to rid the base of Krayt's Imperials. With the base clear, Draco accessed the HoloNet and informed Roan Fel of the Muur Talisman's existence. Realizing its power, Fel told Draco to obtain it. With his new instructions, Draco interrupted a tender moment between Krieg and Rae and got into a verbal quarrel with the two of them, both of whom questioned Fel's new order. After Rae stormed off, Draco told Krieg that he would have to kill her if she disobeyed their Emperor and was met with a heated rebuke from his trusted friend: he would have to kill Krieg first. Tensions mounted between the two as they argued over their primary duties as Imperial Knights, and, with the argument unresolved, Krieg walked away.

Lured to Had Abbadon by the bait of the Muur Talisman, Darth Krayt arrived along with four of his most trusted Sith Lords: Darths Stryfe, Wyyrlok, Talon, and Maladi. All of the Sith Lords save Wyyrlok confronted Morne and Skywalker, before Draco, Krieg, Rae, and Vao emerged from hiding, having managed to conceal themselves in the Force. The six members of the strike team attacked the Sith and were aided by Morne's army of Rakghouls, which ended up cutting the Imperial Knights off from the battle. Hoping to ensure the death of Krayt and also desiring the Talisman, Draco ordered Krieg and Rae to find Krayt while he confronted Morne. Rae protested but was angrily Force-pushed away by Draco, who was in turn physically restrained by Krieg. A frustrated Krieg bid Draco to go confront Morne while he and Rae dealt with Krayt. With his lightsaber, Draco cut his way through several Rakghouls and confronted Morne, who engaged him in lightsaber combat, taunting him and telling him that the Emperor was not worthy of the Talisman. She then Force-pushed Draco away, causing him to hit his head and lose consciousness.

While Draco lay unconscious, Krayt was stabbed through the chest by Rae and Force-pushed off of a cliff by Morne before being betrayed and nearly killed by his own servant, Darth Wyyrlok. However, the Force lightning produced during the confrontation grievously wounded Rae. After Krayt's defeat, Skywalker destroyed the Talisman and killed Morne but was unable to effectively heal Rae with the Force. As Draco regained consciousness, the crew of the Mynock prepared to depart for Kiffex with Vao and Rae. Skywalker refused Draco and Krieg passage, as he knew that they had tried to secure the Talisman for their Emperor. The Mynock departed, leaving Draco insistent that he and Krieg return to Bastion to report to Fel.

After returning to Bastion, the two were joined by Sigel Dare in appearing before the Emperor. Fel was not pleased that they had allowed the Talisman to be destroyed, and, without proof, was not entirely convinced that Krayt had been killed. His sources told him that Krayt was in stasis on Korriban, and, as such, he assigned Draco to discover what was happening on Coruscant as rumors spread regarding the Sith Lord's demise.

The captured princess
"And if there is an attack, do you know what to do?''" "My duty will be to get the Emperor and the Princess clear." "And if you can only get one clear? Which will it be, Master Draco?" "''I know my duty, Master Sinde."

- Treis Sinde and Draco on Agamar

Later, Draco was in the Imperial Knights quarters on Bastion observing a sparring match between Masters Krieg and Rae. He joined a contingent of Imperial Knights soon afterward and accompanied the Emperor to Agamar in order to conduct peace talks with the Jedi Order&mdash;Fel and the Jedi had each forged a pact with the Galactic Alliance, and formal cooperation between the Empire-in-exile and the Jedi Order would solidify a greater three-way-alliance. The Imperial Knights made camp for the night on Agamar's grassy plains, which led Draco to feel that his Emperor and Princess were in the open and vulnerable. He held a discussion regarding their situation with Master Sinde that soon shifted in tone to a quandary regarding Draco's responsibility to Fel. Draco assured a skeptical Sinde that his duty to the Emperor outweighed his duty to the Princess.

The following morning, the Imperial delegation met with representatives from the Jedi, led by Master K'Kruhk. Everyone present disguised themselves as Agamarian farmers, and several of the Imperial Knights positioned themselves away from the meeting, pretending to work on a nearby field. After a formal alliance was struck and Fel declared Bastion a safe haven for both the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance, Draco sensed an approaching intruder riding a local animal. Sinde ordered Masters Krieg and Dare to open fire. The two hit the beast with shots from their blaster rifles until Fel recognized the rider as Nyna Calixte, who had been serving Krayt's Empire since the end of the Sith–Imperial War. Calixte hurriedly told the assembled party that the Sith were aware of the meeting and had sent a task force under the command of Moff Rulf Yage to capture or kill the Emperor. As the task force, led by the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer War Hammer, engaged Fel's Dauntless in orbit, she suggested that the Imperial Knights and Jedi run if they wanted to survive.

The Imperial Knights and Jedi were quickly advanced upon by a group of Sith emerging from nearby swamps. Draco and K'Kruhk called on their respective parties to defend Emperor Fel, and all disguises were shed as a battle ensued. At least ten Sith fell to the blades of the Imperial Knights and Jedi, as well as to the blaster of Calixte. Fighting next to Fel, Draco hailed the Imperial Knights' escape shuttle Defender One, which landed near the site of the melee in order to evacuate the Emperor. As Sinde and K'Kruhk began clearing a path toward the shuttle, the surviving Imperial Knights and Jedi boarded, save for Marasiah, Rae, and the Jedi Rasi Tuum, who were too far away. As enemy starfighters began approaching, Sinde reminded Draco of his duty to the Emperor. Draco longingly stared at Marasiah as he gave the order for the shuttle to lift off. Defender One escaped the planet as the Dauntless held a corridor of space open for them, taking the brunt of the War Hammer attack and being destroyed in the process. Fel told Draco that he felt Marasiah in the Force, and although she was not dead, she was in the hands of the Sith. Draco swore to his Emperor that he would rescue the Princess.

Defender One brought the Imperial Knights and Jedi to Bastion. On Agamar, Marasiah was kidnapped by the Sith and taken to Korriban, but Rae and Tuum stole a Sith–Imperial attack ship and returned to Bastion. As the vessel approached the Imperial fortress world, Draco, Krieg, Sinde, Shado Vao, and the Imperial Knights' Master Armorer Hogrum Chalk were roused from their sleep by alarms and rushed to a landing platform. Chalk unsuccessfully attempted to contact the ship, but when Rae contacted Krieg via comlink, Chalk ordered Bastion's defensive artillery batteries to cease firing on the ship. When Rae and Tuum landed, a furious Draco began berating them for not having brought Marasiah with them. When Tuum intervened, Draco Force-pushed the Jedi Master away, but the confrontation was ended when Fel summoned them all to his quarters. Fel worried that Marasiah knew all of the Empire's codes, and gave Draco three hours to form a rescue plan. Unsure of what to do, Draco consulted the holocron of his former Master, Eshkar Niin. Krieg followed him to his quarters and advised him to master his anger, but Draco instead called on old advice of Niin's and chose to focus his anger in order to rescue the princess.

A broken man
"Forgiveness is impossible, I know, my lady. My will was broken&hellip; I believed the Sith had recaptured you&hellip; were about to kill you! It was a Sith illusion, but, I could not allow Eshkar Niin&mdash;Darth Havok&mdash;to kill you as he slew your mother&hellip;"

- Draco prostrates himself before the Princess after being released from Sith imprisonment

With Krieg and Vao posing as his captives, Draco used his anger to help disguise himself as a Sith, also covering his skin with false Sith tattoos and donning imitation Sith armor. The three went to Korriban, where Draco bullied a Neimoidian Sith into allowing them access to the Sith Chambers of Persuasion. Therein, they came across the princess, and seized the lightsabers of several Sith guards via telekinesis. The trio quickly disposed of them, and Draco cradled an injured Marasiah in his arms. She lashed out at him, however, believing that he had known of Niin's survival. Niin, now Darth Havok, had been torturing Marasiah, and Draco was shocked to hear that his former Master lived. Vao forestalled any further discussion by insisting that they return to their ship, a short trip that saw all four of them participate in the massacre of more Sith. When they cut their way through enough enemies to clear a path to the ship, Draco informed his allies that he would remain behind and allow them to take off. Marasiah protested, telling him that she had realized his ignorance of Niin's survival, but Draco had made peace with the idea of dying to protect her. Krieg had to restrain her on their way to the ship as a new group of Sith rushed at Draco.

Draco slaughtered all of his attackers, only to be advanced upon by Havok himself. As they traded banter, Havok remarked that Draco's anger would suit him well as a Sith. Draco was simply eager for the chance to finally kill his former Master, and the two locked lightsabers. Both of them used the dark side of the Force to fuel their attack, and as such, both felt the will of Darth Krayt. The Dark Lord had been presumed dead, but was alive and well and was projecting his will across the galaxy. Havok gave his former student a final chance to join the Sith, but Draco refused, insisting that he would rather die. Havok then shocked him with Force lightning, knocking him out of the fight and severing his presence from the Force. Draco became Havok's prisoner and was subject to the torture inflicted by his former Master. Havok hoped to extract information from his captive, and used the Force to cut Draco's body with shards of transparisteel in between healing periods in a bacta tank. Draco refused to talk, however, firm in his conviction that he would rather die.

Havok was well aware of Draco's vulnerabilities and created a Force illusion that transported his prisoner back to the day that Elliah Fel had died. As Draco relived her death, Havok appealed to his guilt at failing to save her before presenting Darth Talon, made to look like a captive Marasiah due to another Force illusion. Havok claimed that the Princess had been retaken while escaping Korriban and threatened to kill her if Draco did not tell him any valuable information, prompting the Imperial Knight to reveal the existence and location of the Jedi's Hidden Temple. Talon left to relay the information to Darth Krayt, and Havok nevertheless continued to shock his prisoner with Force lightning. Krayt was eager to face Cade Skywalker in combat again and bade Talon to present a broken Draco to him as a gift. Talon had Draco frozen in carbonite and brought him to the Wheel, where Skywalker was meeting with Calixte, now an enemy of Krayt after being outed as Fel's spy. Talon infiltrated the Mynock and placed Draco in its cargo hold before briefly dueling Skywalker and fleeing the space station.

When Skywalker entered his ship, he ordered R2-D2 to defrost Draco. Draco awoke from hibernation and told the Mynock crew about his mission to Korriban and subsequent imprisonment, and revealed that he had given away the location of the Hidden Temple. Skywalker was enraged and threatened to kill him, but he instead contacted Taivas and warned them before taking the Mynock there himself. Marasiah was at the Temple with an Imperial Knight bodyguard contingent, and Krieg and Rae greeted Draco after the Mynock made planetfall before bringing him before the Princess. She castigated him for choosing to talk rather than dying, but, due to the courage he had displayed in rescuing her, she gave him a chance to reclaim his honor by aiding in the defense of the Temple from the inevitable Sith attack.

Redemption
"Forgive me, my Emperor&hellip; but I am not worthy of your trust! The Sith broke me!''" "It was your unwavering loyalty'' to the Royal family that allowed you to be broken. I trust you, Antares, and I know I can count on you to serve my will&mdash;no matter what."

- Draco and the Emperor, aboard the Jagged Fel

Draco, Krieg, and Marasiah once again appeared before the Jedi Council with Sazen, Vao, Skywalker, and Rawk, who had reactivated as a Jedi, by their side. The Emperor and Gar Stazi joined them via hologram and pledged their support to the Temple's defense. Skywalker devised a plan that would lure Krayt's forces into the Temple, thereby allowing the fleets of Fel and Stazi to emerge from hyperspace behind them and seal their naval forces in a trap. When the attack came, the four present Imperial Knights stood with Skywalker and the Jedi in defending the Temple's outer portal from a group of advancing Sith. Draco vowed to fight beside the princess to honor or to death as they cut down the invaders. When Rawk contacted the Galactic Alliance and Empire-in-exile fleets, their warships arrived in the system and sprung the trap. Krayt's secret army of Sith troopers was not far behind, and several of the troopers landed on the ground and surrounded the defenders, who had been pushed back to the Temple's council chambers. The Skywalkers and three additional Jedi Masters remained in the chambers to defend Master T'ra Saa, who coordinated the allied forces with Battle meditation, while Draco and the others retreated. The starships that composed the Hidden Temple then rose from the ground and fled the system, protected by a blast of Force energy that rose with them and by several ships that defected from Krayt's Empire during the battle. After having taken heavy losses from the Sith troopers, the surviving allies retreated to Bastion.

On Bastion, Draco was debriefed by Masters Chalk and Sinde about his time on Korriban. The Emperor forgave him betraying the Hidden Temple's location, but Draco believed that he had betrayed his honor. Three days after the Hidden Temple's fall, the Emperor, Admiral Stazi, and the Jedi Council agreed to strike at Krayt on Coruscant before the Sith trooper army could attack Bastion. Fleet-wide preparations were made, and Draco retired to his quarters on Fel's flagship, the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer Jagged Fel. As he re-donned the Imperial Knight armor he had left behind prior to infiltrating Korriban, Krieg caught up with him, and Draco shared with his friend his doubts about his honor. He also worried that the Sith had programmed him as a sleeper agent, but Krieg urged his friend to find strength in the Force and forge himself anew rather than letting fear and the dark side take hold of him. Krieg, Rae, and Dare then joined a strike team led by Morrigan Corde&mdash;a recent defector from Krayt's Empire who had directed Imperial Intelligence as her alter ego Nyna Calixte&mdash;and brought down Coruscant's orbital defenses prior to the fleets' arrival in-system. Draco, however, remained at his Emperor's side aboard the Jagged Fel. Fel requested the presence of those most loyal to him during the battle, and Draco stood with Marasiah, Master Sinde, and Hogrum Chalk. Draco yet believed that he was unworthy of the Emperor's trust, but Fel assured him that he could be counted on to always serve the Emperor's will.

The Jagged Fel and the rest of the fleets arrived over Coruscant just as the orbital defenses were brought down. During a fierce space battle, Fel ordered Draco to accompany him below-decks, where a half-crazed Darth Maladi was imprisoned &mdash;Maladi had been discovered and taken prisoner by Master Chalk's agents in Imperial Intelligence and had offered to create a deadly pathogen for Fel in exchange for the head of Skywalker, who had mentally attacked her with the Force and left her in her current state. Fel had ordered her to create it after learning of the Sith trooper army, and she now had the pathogen, Omega Red, finished. Draco watched as Maladi gave a shell containing Omega Red to Fel and informed him that it would wipe out all life on a planet within several seconds. Unbeknownst to either of them, Maladi was still serving Krayt and had designed the pathogen to have no effect on any Sith. Fel, prepared to go to any length to defeat Krayt, brought Draco to an escape pod and prepared to drop the pathogen onto Coruscant's surface, ignoring Draco's protests that it would also kill their allies and billions of innocents. When Sinde and Marasiah arrived and added their voices to Draco's, a determined Fel Force-pushed them against a wall and incapacitated them.

Draco recalled the oath he had sworn upon becoming an Imperial Knight: to serve the Force as embodied by the Emperor, and to kill the Emperor if he were ever to fall to the dark side and could not return. He thus refused Fel's order and ignited his lightsaber; the two crossed blades as Fel rued the trust he had placed in Draco to unquestioningly obey his will. While they dueled, Skywalker slew Krayt on the planet's surface, and Draco felt the Dark Lord's death in the Force. Fel claimed it was a trick and punched Draco in the face, but Draco recovered and stabbed his Emperor through the back before Fel could push the button that would launch the escape pod. As the Emperor lay dead, Draco kneeled over his corpse, paralyzed with disbelief of what had just occurred.

Elsewhere in the battle, Krayt's Sith troopers went insane after their Lord, to whom their wills were linked via the dark side, was slain, and the rest of Krayt's fleet fled into hyperspace, ceding the capital to the allies. The surviving Sith went into hiding, and the war was brought to an end. In the battle's aftermath, a funeral was held for the Emperor, and Draco and Krieg stood next to Master Chalk as the Master Armorer delivered a eulogy, ignited lightsabers in their hands. Chalk also announced that Marasiah had been crowned Empress and would join Admiral Stazi and Jedi Master K'Kruhk in forming the Galactic Federation Triumvirate, which would unify the galaxy in the wake of the Sith's rule.

Personality and traits
"My passion is my strength&mdash;my passion is my weakness. So my Master always told me."

- Draco to Ganner Krieg

Draco's position as head of the Imperial Knights was one that he earned through years of hard work, discipline, and loyalty. He possessed unwavering loyalty to the cause of the Imperial Knights and was willing to die for his Emperor. However, his loyalty, though unflinching, was not blind. Draco defied the orders of his Emperor on at least one occasion, when he and Ganner Krieg traveled to Vendaxa to rescue Princess Marasiah Fel from the Sith. This event caused Draco to wonder if the concept of loyalty could transcend obedience. Following this incident, Draco was willing to accept any punishment that the Emperor would hand out and became more willing to obey his Emperor in the hope that it would persuade Fel to allow Draco to marry the princess Marasiah. Draco's loyalty was such that he unhesitatingly obeyed Fel's order to obtain the Muur Talisman from Celeste Morne and dismissed the objections of Krieg and Azlyn Rae that it was an evil Sith artifact which would corrupt their Emperor. On this occasion, Draco insisted that Imperial Knights always served the Emperor's will, but Ganner Krieg speculated that he was letting his desire to marry the Princess cloud his judgment. This occasion also saw Draco verbally quarrel with Krieg, who was normally his most trusted friend.

Although it was said that his personal feelings rarely interfered with his work, Draco was openly critical of the Jedi and remarked on more than one occasion that Shado Vao was no match for an Imperial Knight, despite having bore witness to the Jedi's skills. When meeting with Vao and other Jedi on Agamar to discuss an alliance against the Sith, Draco remained open to the idea of a security leak in the Jedi's ranks. His malice toward those who did not serve Fel's Empire also extended to bounty hunters, members of the Galactic Alliance, and those serving Darth Krayt's Empire. Draco had no moral qualms with killing members of the latter group, although fellow Imperial Knights Krieg and Treis Sinde did. When Marasiah was captured by the Sith on Agamar, it caused Draco a great deal of anger. He was advised by Krieg and Shado Vao to master his anger, but instead chose to use it to disguise himself as a Sith in order to rescue his love. Darth Havok, Draco's former Imperial Knight Master, believed darkness to have always been inside of Draco, and Draco willingly drew on the dark side of the Force when dueling Havok on Korriban. However, Draco refused Havok's offer to join the Sith, insistent that he would rather die fighting.

Draco's dedication to Fel was second to none, yet he knew that instinct and intuition were as important to an Imperial Knight as dedication and discipline. He believed that listening to the Force and heeding one's insights were paramount, and these beliefs helped craft him into a cunning, loyal, and very competent warrior. In spite of his brashness and cockiness, Draco was nearly incorruptible. However, his love for Marasiah could cause him to lose face and control of his emotions. Marasiah's brush with death on Vendaxa prompted Draco to threaten the lives of Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue and saw him punch Cade Skywalker in the face when the bounty hunter offered to heal Marasiah with the Force. When the Imperial Knights were attacked by forces of the One Sith on Agamar, Draco placed his duty to the Emperor over his duty to the Princess, ordering their escape shuttle to ferry Fel to safety when Marasiah had not yet boarded. Although he ultimately chose to go to Korriban to rescue her, he was initially conflicted, feeling that he should perhaps remain on Bastion to help protect the Emperor. During his rescue mission, he was determined to get Marasiah out alive, and was unwilling to fail in his mission. After rescuing her, he chose to remain on Korriban and buy her time to escape. He was willing to die, and believed that the will of the Force would decide his fate. Although he did not die, he became a prisoner of the Sith, and, despite having to endure long periods of torture at the hands of Darth Havok, was unwilling to betray any Imperial secrets. He eventually betrayed the existence and location of the Jedi's Hidden Temple when he believed Marasiah's life to be in danger. Draco did not ask for forgiveness, but he was willing to fight next to the Princess in an effort to regain his honor. He felt himself unworthy of the Emperor's continued trust, but both Fel and Krieg continued to believe in him. When the Emperor fell to the dark side of the Force, Draco held true to his oath as an Imperial Knight and slew his liege.

Marasiah Fel
"That the person I cared about more than my vows as a Knight, than my fealty to your father, more than my loyalty to the Empire was in danger. I was thinking of you. I love you, Sia.''" "''I know."

- Draco and Marasiah on Vendaxa

During the Second Imperial Civil War, Draco was in love with Marasiah Fel, the daughter of his Emperor and a fellow Imperial Knight. On one occasion, Draco claimed that he cared about her more than his vows as a Knight, his fealty to her father, or his loyalty to the Empire. His feelings for her were enough to prompt him to disobey the Emperor's orders when she was in danger and to unwaveringly obey his orders when doing so might convince the Emperor to let Draco marry her. After being told to forget the idea of marrying her, Draco spent weeks sulking and, influenced by the Emperor, told Marasiah that he did not believe that they could pursue a relationship. She, however, had no intention of letting her father run her personal life and made it clear that his feelings for her were reciprocated. When Draco obeyed his duty to the Emperor and ferried Fel away from forces of the One Sith on Agamar, leaving Marasiah behind in the process, it caused Draco a large amount of anger. He rescued her from the clutches of the Sith and was willing to die protecting her, at peace with the knowledge that his death would keep her safe. Draco did not die, but was taken captive by the Sith, and only began telling them information about the Jedi when he believed Marasiah's life to be in danger.

Powers and abilities
"Come, you hounds of the dark! Come to your deaths! Hurl your power at me! I deny you! I defy you! I am a Knight of the Empire, and I am your doom!"

- Draco, while battling a legion of Sith on Korriban

A powerful Force-user, Draco was extremely skilled both with a lightsaber and behind the controls of a starfighter. He was said to be a competent and cunning warrior and proved this claim on several occasions, aiding in fighting off legions of Sith on Vendaxa, Agamar, and Taivas, and singlehandedly cutting down a large group of Sith on Korriban. Draco was skilled with various uses of the Force, including telekinesis, sensing disturbances in the Force, and the Force shield talent. Although he usually fought with a single lightsaber, he was able to effectively use two, even when one had dual blades. He defeated Eshkar Niin in lightsaber combat once, but Niin, by then Darth Havok, bested him in their second duel, subduing Draco with Force lightning. Draco had a strong will and resisted Havok's subsequent torture for long periods of time, refusing to betray Imperial secrets in the face of physical agony.

Behind the scenes
The character of Antares Draco was created by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema for the comic book series Star Wars: Legacy, and, along with the Imperial Knights in general, was first revealed in Legacy Issue 0, released in June 2006. He went on to make his first appearance in the third issue of the series, and played a prominent role as a major character in Legacy throughout the duration of its fifty-issue run. He also had a major role in Legacy followup miniseries, Star Wars: Legacy&mdash;War. Narrative text in Legacy forty-ninth issue refers to him as "Draco Antares", and the introduction to the following issue calls him "Antares Draco Antares".

Although Draco's age has not been confirmed in canon, Duursema has indicated that he was seventeen or eighteen in 130 ABY and twenty-four or twenty-five in 137 ABY. She acknowledged that it was a good question as to why he was the leader of the Imperial Knights at such a young age and indicated that she and Ostrander do have ideas of how to address that question within Legacy story. She has also stated that Draco was trained by Roan Fel, but this too has never been confirmed in canon. Duursema has based Draco's appearance off of model Doug Wangler.

In 2009, the Legacy Era Campaign Guide was published by Wizards of the Coast and mentioned that Draco was the descendant of a member of the Imperial Inquisitorius who served under Palpatine, Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Although the specific familial bond was not identified, the implication nevertheless exists that the ancestor in question was Valin Draco, an idea that has been speculated on by fans.

In 2008, Draco received his own miniature figurine as part of the Legacy of the Force set of Star Wars Miniatures, as well as his own action figure. Hasbro, as part of its Legacy Collection comic packs, released Draco and Ganner Krieg as 3 ¾ inch action figures, packaged with Issue 6 of Legacy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Legacy 8: Allies
 * Star Wars: Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy 6: Broken, Part 5
 * Star Wars: Legacy 7: Broken, Part 6
 * Star Wars: Legacy: Trust Issues
 * Star Wars: Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 13: Ready to Die
 * Star Wars: Legacy: Loyalties
 * Star Wars: Legacy: The Hidden Temple
 * Star Wars: Legacy: Vector
 * Star Wars: Legacy 35: Storms, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 42: Divided Loyalties
 * Star Wars: Legacy 43: Monster, Part 1
 * Star Wars: Legacy 44: Monster, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 45: Monster, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy 46: Monster, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Legacy 49: Extremes, Part 2
 * Star Wars: Legacy 50: Extremes, Part 3
 * Star Wars: Legacy&mdash;War