Sate Pestage/Legends

"Asking permission is easier than asking forgiveness."

- Sate Pestage

Sate Pestage was a long-time advisor to Palpatine, and one of the few people who truly knew him. After Palpatine's first death at the Battle of Endor, and as the highest surviving member of the Imperial hierarchy, Pestage assumed control of Coruscant.

Biography
Pestage was a staff aide to Palpatine when he was a senator, and even before that when Palpatine was a minor functionary on Naboo. There were many longstanding rumors of uncertain accuracy that the two men were related; some saying that Pestage was a clone of Palpatine, another that he was Palpatine's illegitimate son or another family member. However, it was known that Pestage had a large family of his own, residing in the Ciutric Hegemony.



After Palpatine was elected Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Pestage controlled the executive agenda. He also covered up Palpatine's secret assassinations, and knew Palpatine's secret identity as Darth Sidious. During the hunt for Darth Sidious, Mace Windu suspected Pestage might actually have been Sidious, discounting Palpatine as he was Chancellor. Even before Palpatine overthrew constitutional government, Pestage made many enemies, drawing up a reputation as a thug who had no knowledge of legislative processes. The latter, at least, was probably incorrect.

When Palpatine became Emperor, Pestage was appointed to the Imperial Inner Circle and originally acted as a sort of enforcer for the new Empire, coordinating between it and the self-governing systems. Shortly after the Empire's rise, he ordered Moff Marcellin Wessel to compile a report on Order 66 for Palpatine. During the Great Jedi Purge, he fabricated numerous records to justify the Jedi executions, often accusing them of the very war crimes they were struggling to prevent.

Pestage eventually became Grand Vizier, his daily tasks ranging from managing Palpatine's schedule to tasting his food to see if it was poisoned. As time went on, Pestage gained more power. Pestage became a member of Palpatine's Inner Circle, along with Janus Greejatus, Sim Aloo, Ars Dangor, Kren Blista-Vanee and others; some even accredit him with creating the "Human High Culture" concept of the New Order (possibly due to the Naboo's cultural dislike of the Gungans, or as a means of elevating himself above his non-Human rivals in Palpatine's cabinet, such as Sly Moore and Mas Amedda).

By the Battle of Hoth, Pestage was actually running the Empire day to day. Only Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader held more power than him.

Soon after the Battle of Endor, the spirit of the Emperor took possession of the body of Jeng Droga, an Emperor's Hand. Palpatine called out to Sate Pestage, who rescued the broken body from Kaal and returned it to Byss. It is believed that Pestage was replaced by an insane clone around this time.



In any case, he assumed control of Imperial Center until Ysanne Isard betrayed him by compelling him to leave the crucial trading planet Brentaal IV inadequately defended against the New Republic. Isard successfully played Pestage against elements of the Emperor's Ruling Council and a group of former advisors who called themselves the Cabal. Convincing both sides that she was their servant, she fooled the vizier into a strategy that was intended to weaken the influence of the Cabal but actually convinced them that he was criminally incompetent. Anticipating Isard's betrayal, Pestage opened up talks with Princess Leia Organa detailing an offer to leave Imperial Center undefended in exchange for amnesty. The Grand Vizier did not count on a surprise raid on Axxila by the Moff-turned-pirate Leonia Tavira, who leaked his plans to Ysanne Isard. Isard, of course, did not hesitate to inform the Tribunal that governed the Empire after Pestage's deposition.

His credibility gone, Pestage fled to his private holdings in the Ciutric Hegemony. Consequently, Isard sent Admiral Delak Krennel to kill Pestage even though a previous attempt to capture him on Axxila had failed due to the intervention of Baron Soontir Fel. Despite a rescue attempt by Rogue Squadron, Pestage was unwilling to be transported in the same shuttle as Ibtisam, a deceased Mon Calamari pilot. He subsequently evaded his own saviors and offered part of his vast wealth to Admiral Krennel in exchange for his life. Krennel, however, strangled the crafty vizier in order to express his contempt for this sort of "weak" bargaining. Krennel then murdered Pestage's entire family.

Yet the circumstances of Pestage's death are uncertain. Krennel's strangling appeared rather fatal, but Pestage was never seen dead. Furthermore, he was seen later with the reborn Palpatine. It was mainly believed that the Pestage killed by Krennel was an insane clone. The Pestage seen on Byss was believed to have died when the Galaxy Gun destroyed the planet.

Behind the scenes


The character of Sate Pestage (originally called Sate Molock) was meant to appear in the film The Empire Strikes Back. Pestage was to be in scene 286 as a "shimmering holographic image" who warns Darth Vader of the Emperor's foul mood. According to the film's shooting schedule, this scene was shot on June 18, 1979, but never made it into the movie's final cut. Kenner toys even produced a Star Destroyer playset featuring a toy hologram apparently intended to be Sate Pestage. An enclosed instruction sheet reads, "Darth talks to the Grand Vizier with the pretend viewing screen."

In a Q&A session on StarWars.com, Sate Pestage is listed as a member of the Inner Circle, however, he is not among the robed Imperial dignitaries in the accompanying picture, nor one of those accompanying the Emperor in several scenes during Return of the Jedi.

Sate Pestage was apparently killed by Delak Krennel in the Mandatory Retirement story arc of the Rogue Squadron comics. This occurred contrary to previously published material that stated Pestage surviving until at least the destruction of Byss. Although most fans believe that the Pestage killed in the comic was a clone, no real explanation has ever been given to explain this error. This is further confused by Pestage's entry in The New Essential Guide to Characters (which says that he is believed to have grown a clone of himself on Coruscant, but it is unknown whether he sent his clone to Byss or went himself) and in The New Essential Chronology and The Official Star Wars Fact File (which both state that Krennel killed the original Pestage; however, the Chronology makes no mention of the Pestage later seen on Byss). According to Abel Peña, the official LFL explanation is that the Pestage killed by Krennel was a clone.

The Dark Empire Sourcebook gives Pestage a different backstory: instead of being "killed" by Isard after half a year of rule, he was censured and impeached by the Imperial advisors several weeks after the Battle of Endor, and voluntarily went into retirement on Byss to avoid execution.

Appearances

 * The Monster
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Jedi Trial
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Evasive Action: Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:24
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Dark Times: The Path to Nowhere
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: In the Empire's Service
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Masquerade
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Dark Empire
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Dark Empire

Notes and references
Sate Pestage