Ganner Krieg

"I am Ganner Krieg&mdash;Knight of the Empire! You have betrayed my Emperor, sullied the Empire, killed my friends, and struck down she I have sworn on my life to protect! I will leave your bones for the beasts to crack."

- Ganner Krieg to the Sith on Vendaxa

Ganner Krieg was a male human master within the Imperial Knights during the Second Imperial Civil War. As a Knight of the Empire, Krieg was loyal to and mindful of the oath he had sworn to Roan Fel, Emperor of the Galactic Empire and later the Empire-in-exile, as well as to Fel's daughter, the princess Marasiah Fel. Willing to obey orders, Krieg was nevertheless very mindful of the Imperial Knights' policy stating that they only served an Emperor who himself served the light side of the Force. Krieg was the trusted friend of fellow Imperial Knight Antares Draco, and was more often than not paired with him on missions during the war. As a more level-headed foil to his friend's brash actions, Krieg possessed certain traits that Draco did not, such as respect for the abilities of Jedi.

In 137 ABY, Krieg accompanied Fel as he retook the world of Bastion from the Sith Lord Darth Krayt’s Imperial forces, a world that, along with the rest of the galaxy, had been wrested from Fel’s control following the conclusion of the Sith-Imperial War seven year prior. Soon after, Krieg accompanied Draco to Vendaxa in a daring attempt to rescue Marasiah from the clutches of the Sith. Escaping on the Mynock, a ship belonging to the bounty hunter Cade Skywalker, Krieg and Draco were able to return the princess to Bastion, but at the expense of their Emperor's trust, as Fel had expressly forbade them from rescuing her.

Krieg would later accompany Draco on missions to the Wheel, the Hidden Temple, and Had Abbadon; the latter mission saw Krieg doubt orders issued from his Emperor which he saw as skirting the dark side of the Force. Krieg stood by his convictions, refusing to attempt to obtain the ancient Sith amulet known as the Muur Talisman, despite the conflict that they brought him into with Draco. Following the conclusion of the mission, Krieg was sent by Fel to retrieve fellow Imperial Knight Azlyn Rae from Kiffex.

Rescue at Vendaxa
At some point prior to 137 ABY, Krieg completed his training as an Imperial Knight and earned the title of master.

After seven years of conducting hit-and-run tactics on the fleets of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire, Roan Fel, former Emperor of the Galactic Empire, returned to the Imperial stronghold of Bastion, which Krayt had claimed shortly after the conclusion of the Sith-Imperial War. Krieg accompanied Fel as he arrived on-planet, along with fellow Imperial Knights Sigel Dare and Krieg's trusted friend Antares Draco. 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. Fel refused to let his new base be discovered, even to the point of forbidding Draco from rescuing his daughter, princess Marasiah Fel, who had been reported missing on Socorro. Krieg reminded his friend that they had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Emperor, but Draco wondered if loyalty was the same as obedience. With his love for the princess forming the basis of his convictions, Draco secretly departed Bastion, and was accompanied by Krieg.

The two Imperial Knights made their way in 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 Jedi Knights Wolf Sazen and Astraal's brother, Shado Vao. Arriving at the site of Skywalker's grounded ship, the Mynock, their fighters were shot down by a Sith Fury-class fighter, but Krieg and Draco managed to escape the flaming wrecks of their ships. They arrived on the scene simultaneously with Darth Talon, Darth Nihl, and a legion of other Sith, who had been pursuing Marasiah since her escape from Socorro. Along with the Jedi and the princess, Krieg and Draco 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. A short time into the battle, Marasiah was cut down by a Zabrak Sith while protecting a derelict Skywalker.

Believing that the person they had sworn to protect had been cut down, Krieg and Draco fought the Sith with renewed vigour; Krieg managed to kill a Nautolan Sith. Draco soon realized that the princess was alive, and rushed her aboard the Mynock; Krieg, Skywalker, and the Jedi soon followed. Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue, respectively the ship’s co-pilot and mechanic, managed to get the ship off the ground and away from the surviving Sith. Krieg stayed by Marasiah’s side as Draco instructed Syn and Blue to set a course for Bastion, and told his friend that she was on her way to death. A very reluctant Skywalker, reminded of his healing powers, offered to help; his offer was disrespected by Krieg and Draco, even earning a punch in the face from the latter. As Shado Vao prevented a fight from ensuing, his sister convinced Krieg and Draco to let Skywalker heal Marasiah. After the bounty hunter used his powers to bring her back from the edge of death, the Mynock safely arrived at Bastion.

Mission to the Wheel
"We're going to win back the Emperor's trust."

- Antares Draco, speaking for himself and Krieg

Shortly after Skywalker and the Jedi departed Bastion in the Mynock, Fel summoned Draco and Krieg, and berated them for having disobeyed a direct order. As he rued having let Skywalker escape at Marasiah’s request, Krieg asked if homing devices had been placed on the Mynock. Fel informed him that they had, but had all been discovered and disabled by Skywalker. Regardless, he believed that the Sith had likely tracked the ship to Bastion, and that he now had a stalemate with Krayt’s Empire. Expecting a serious punishment, Krieg and Draco were shocked when Fel told them that they would be receiving medals. He was retroactively approving their mission to Vendaxa, rather than having news of their insubordination undermine his authority. Their punishment was thus that they were being declared the Empire’s foremost heroes, and thenceforth being tasked with its most dangerous missions. He then sent the two on their next mission --- escorting Captain Mingo Bovark to the Wheel, where Bovark would be discussing a possible alliance with Admiral Gar Stazi of the Galactic Alliance Remnant Fleet. Fel needed allies, and, having met Sazen and Vao, doubted that he could find them among the Jedi. Krieg and Draco's mission was to ensure Bovark's safety at all costs, and to see that the negotiations went smoothly.

Aboard the Wheel, Stazi and Bovark met in a conference room, with each's set of guards required to wait outside. Krieg and Draco, despite having been required to leave their lightsabers aboard their ship, smuggled them aboard the space station. While the talks were happening, Imperial Spies Morrigan Corde and Jor Torlin, also aboard the station, 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. Angry, Stazi drew a vibro-shiv on Bovark, while outside the conference room, a firefight erupted between the Imperial Knights and the Galactic Alliance guards. Krieg held off the guards while Draco burst into the room to retrieve Bovark. 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.

Journey to the Hidden Temple
"In the name of the true Emperor, Roan Fel, we come bearing greetings to our Jedi cousins."

- Marasiah Fel

Several weeks later, Fel received word of Cade Skywalker’s escape from the Temple of the Sith on Coruscant, and, regretful of his decision to allow Skywalker safe passage from Bastion, enacted a plan to hunt him down. Summoning Krieg and Draco to an audience, a summons that only Krieg answered, the Emperor lamented his earlier decisions, to which Krieg reminded him that Skywalker had saved his daughter’s life. Worried that Skywalker had divulged Imperial secrets to the Sith, Fel sent Krieg, Draco, and the recently-knighted Marasiah to the Iego system; their fellow Imperial Knight Azlyn Rae had been previously sent to locate Skywalker and had tracked him to said system. Undercover, Rae confronted Skywalker as he visited his uncle "Bantha" Rawk&mdash;formerly the Jedi Knight Nat Skywalker&mdash;on Iego, and claimed to be a bounty hunter. Owing to 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, she relayed its coordinates to Krieg, Draco, and Marasiah, who waited nearby in a ship of their own. Although both Krieg and Draco suspected that she might be setting them up, the three Imperial Knights set a course for the Hidden Temple on Taivas.

Cloaking their ship, the Imperial Knights followed the Mynock to the Hidden Temple and landed at the base behind their quarry. Krieg, Draco, and Marasiah disembarked just as the Mynock’s crew was being greeted by Wolf Sazen and Shado Vao, Krieg and Draco 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; Krieg duelled Vao and asked him if all visitors were welcomed with swinging lightsabers. 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 Krieg and Draco across the hangar. In response, Marasiah ignited her own lightsaber, informing Skywalker that the Imperial Knights had come on a mission of peace. Krieg stood by as she told Sazen that they had come to open discussions with the Jedi about a possible alliance between them and Roan Fel’s Empire.

After tensions between the Imperial Knights, the Jedi, and the crew of the Mynock had died down, the Imperial delegation was permitted to see the Jedi Council. Accompanied by Skywalker, they appeared before Jedi Masters K’Kruhk, Tr'a Saa, and Tili Qua; Saa believed that the Force had allowed them to come to the Hidden Temple for a reason. Krieg stood by as Marasiah gave a long speech, revealing that her father had not ordered the Massacre at Ossus, and calling on the Jedi to open talks with him so that they might cooperate 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 were taken aback by Skywalker's proposal, the Imperial Knights were impressed by it --- Krieg posited that if the Sith were to fight for the throne amongst themselves, an alliance between Emperor Fel, Gar Stazi, and the Jedi could potentially defeat the Sith Empire. Ultimately, the council did not support the mission, but Skywalker decided to proceed without their assistance. Marasiah assigned Krieg, Draco, and Rae to accompany him on his mission, while she would stay behind to continue negotiating an alliance with the Jedi. Skywalker’s astromech droid, R2-D2, opened the cargo bay doors of the Mynock and allowed Krieg and Draco to load their TIE predators into the ship’s hold. With their fighters already aboard his ship, Skywalker reluctantly allowed them to join him on the mission. Vao joined the strike team as well, as the sole representative of the Jedi.

Mission to Had Abbadon
"As Imperial Knights, we obey the Emperor but only as long as he serves the light side of the Force."

- Krieg, questioning the Emperor’s new orders

Skywalker formulated a plan to lure Krayt to the planet Had Abbadon. En route, Krieg and Draco watched Vao practice lightsaber technique against a remote in the ship’s cargo hold, before the Mynock 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. After the Mynock was locked in a tractor beam, and Vao and Skywalker sensed the presence of a Force-user on the ship, the crew set out to explore the derelict vessel. Skywalker ordered Krieg and Draco to explore the corridors connected to the hangar bay, where they found several bones, some of which had been gnawed on. After Skywalker, Rae, Vao, and Jariah Syn were attacked by Rakghouls, Krieg and Draco were joined by Deliah Blue and located Syn and Vao in front of a locked door, along with several tame-seeming Rakghouls. Morne was able to control the beasts with the power of the Muur Talisman, an ancient Sith amulet that housed the spirit of the Sith Lord Karness Muur. Before anyone could force their way into the door, it opened suddenly, 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 their newest passenger, the Mynock arrived at Had Abbadon, a planet that was under the control of Krayt’s Empire. In a ruse, Draco and Krieg piloted 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 its Imperials. The base was clear, and as Draco reported to Fel via the holonet, Krieg found some quiet time with Rae, where the two discussed the feelings they harboured for one another. The tender moment was interrupted by Draco, who brought new orders from their Emperor: Obtain the Muur Talisman. Realizing the evil of the Sith device and disgusted by the order, Rae stormed off, prompting Draco to remark that he would have to kill her if she compromised the mission. In a moment of defiance to his trusted friend and the leader of the mission, Krieg told Draco that he would have to kill him first. Tension 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. Four of the five Sith Lords confronted Morne and Skywalker, before Krieg, Draco, Rae, and Vao emerged from hiding, having managed to conceal themselves in the Force. The six members of the strike team attacked the Sith, aided by Morne's army of Rakghouls, who ended up cutting the Imperial Knights off from the battle. Krieg and Azlyn were ordered by Draco to take care of Krayt while he attempted to obtain the Talisman; Rae protested, but was angrily Force-pushed away by Draco, who was in turn physically restrained by Krieg. A frustrated Krieg bid Draco go confront Morne while he and Rae dealt with Krayt.

Distracted by the rest of the battle, Krayt was stabbed through the chest by Rae, and Force-pushed off of a cliff by Morne, before being killed by his own servant, Darth Wyyrlok. The Force lightning produced during the confrontation scattered most of the combatants, including Krieg, and mortally wounded Rae; Skywalker was able to destroy the Talisman and kill Morne, but could not effectively heal Rae with the Force. As the crew of the Mynock prepared to depart for Kiffex with Vao and Rae, Skywalker refused Krieg and Draco passage, as he knew that they had tried to secure the Talisman for their Emperor. The Mynock left the planet, and Krieg, watching the ship depart, questioned the meaning of his duty.

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. Krieg commented on the devastating powers of the Talisman, which he had seen turn stormtroopers into monsters, and was then sent by Fel to retrieve Rae from Kiffex. Krieg journeyed to the agricultural planet, and found a physically and emotionally exhausted Rae, who was being kept alive in a life preserving suit designed by "Bantha" Rawk and his wife Droo. Extending his hand to her, Krieg informed her that he was taking her home.

Personality and traits
"We serve with honor and if we are asked to sacrifice our honor as our duty, then we are betrayed."

- Ganner Krieg to Antares Draco

As of 137 ABY, Ganner Krieg was a master within the Imperial Knights; the title indicated that he was one of the organization’s highest-ranking members. . As an Imperial Knight, Krieg was mindful of the oath of loyalty he had sworn to the Emperor, but also placed stock in friendship; his dedication to his trusted friend Antares Draco saw Krieg disobey a direct order from his Emperor when he accompanied Draco to Vendaxa in an effort to rescue Marasiah Fel. Noted for his calm and serious demeanor, and a more level-headed foil to the brash actions of Draco, Krieg had reservations about killing Imperials serving Darth Krayt’s Empire, and was far less critical of the Jedi than his friend, to the point of praising Shado Vao’s skills with a lightsaber. Krieg saw the folly of Draco’s arrogant dismissal of the Jedi, and was willing to point it out, telling his friend that if he were to negotiate with the Jedi, it would likely start a war.

In addition to his oath of loyalty to the Emperor, Krieg was dedicated to his having sworn to protect the princess, and fiercely fought legions of Sith after they struck her down on Vendaxa. He also believed in the value of promises, reminding his Emperor that Marasiah had promised Cade Skywalker safe passage from Bastion, and that Fel had honored that promise.

While it was said that the first loyalty of the Imperial Knights was to the Empire as personified in the Emperor, Krieg maintained that it was ultimately the Force that the organization owed their allegiance to. He was very mindful of the policy which stated that they only served the Emperor if he himself served the light side of the Force, and was very sceptical of being asked by Fel to obtain the Muur Talisman, an ancient Sith device that held devastating powers. This scepticism, coupled with his allegiance to the Force, saw him verbally quarrel with a dissenting Draco, who he saw as letting his feelings for the princess cloud his judgment.

Although he harboured feelings for fellow Imperial Knight Azlyn Rae, Krieg was willing to consider the possibility that her loyalties were divided between the Imperial Knights and the Jedi. His feelings for Rae did, however, lead him to question the meaning of his duty as an Imperial Knight following the Battle of Had Abbadon.

Azlyn Rae
Krieg had romantic feelings for Azlyn Rae, a former Jedi Padawan whose training had been completed by the Imperial Knights following the scattering of the Jedi Order in 130 ABY. During the mission to Had Abbadon, Rae informed Krieg that she was aware of his feelings, and that she cared for him too, but felt that their duty as Imperial Knights would always keep them apart. Despite her doubts, Krieg went on to defend her from Antares Draco; when Draco suspected that her actions might compromise their mission, he remarked that he would have to kill her, prompting Krieg to tell his trusted friend that he would have to kill Krieg first. Krieg later restrained Draco from physically attacking Rae during the ensuing battle with the Sith, although unbeknownst to him, Rae had recently rekindled her old romance with Cade Skywalker. Later, Krieg retrieved Rae from Kiffex, and warmly extended his hand to her, seemingly indifferent to the fact that she had been placed in a suit of life-preserving armor.

Powers and abilities
As an Imperial Knight, Krieg was part of an organization that was said to be among the most talented and dangerous Force-users in the galaxy. He proved the claim on several occasions, such as on Vendaxa, when he aided in holding off a legion of Sith; Krieg managed to kill a Nautolan member of the order. Krieg also showed some prowess as a pilot, having flown a TIE predator at Had Abbadon.

Behind the scenes
Ganner Krieg 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’s Issue 0, released in June 2006. He would go on to make his first appearance in the third issue of the series; Krieg has played a prominent role as a major character in Legacy since.

Krieg’s appearance was based on Costumer Thomas J. Spanos, who modeled for the character and later constructed a Krieg costume of his own. Photos of Spanos in costume, requested by Duursema, were later used as a reference for Krieg’s appearance in the Loyalties arc of Legacy.

Figures
In 2008, Krieg received his own miniature figurine, as part of the Legacy of the Force set of Star Wars Miniatures. Although Krieg’s likeness was used, the figurine was simply called “Imperial Knight”. Later in the year, Krieg also received his own action figure. Hasbro, as part of its Legacy Collection comic packs, released Krieg and Antares Draco as 3 ¾ inch action figures, packaged with Issue 6 of Legacy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Legacy: Broken
 * Star Wars Legacy: Trust Issues
 * Star Wars Legacy: Loyalties
 * Star Wars Legacy: The Hidden Temple
 * Star Wars Legacy: Vector
 * Star Wars Legacy 35: Storms, Part 2