Kul Teska

"My name is Kul Teska. And what I want, you don't have. But I'll settle on seeing the looks on your faces as your precious Clones die."

- Kul Teska, to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Kul Teska was a Skakoan male mercenary active during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Before he took a criminal's path, Teska was a respected scientist in the Techno Union. However, an accident with his pressure suit left Teska disfigured and forced him to leave the Union. With the help of his knowledge in the field of cybernetics, Teska rebuilt his pressure suit, equipping it with a variety of weapons, and became a gun-for-hire. All the while, Teska continued his own experiments with gravity and began construction of the gravitic polarization beam, a superweapon with enough firepower to collapse a star. Teska's experiments soon attracted the attention of Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederacy. During the Clone Wars, Teska came into Dooku's service and was provided with a laboratory on the planet Behpour in the Naboo system, where the Skakoan continued the development of his weapon.

By around 22 BBY, the gravitic beam was complete, and its integral part, the Gravitic Core, was to be delivered to Behpour on a Munificent-class star frigate. However, the crate containing the Core was stolen over the planet Alzoc III by the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane. Hoping to track the Core by the power signature it radiated, Teska assaulted the Republic space station Juma 9 in order to use its scanners. After locating the part on the planet Ryloth, Teska was confronted by two Jedi Masters inside the station, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Plo Koon. The Skakoan evaded the two and headed for Ryloth. There, he met Cad Bane, who had been taken into custody by the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, and was being escorted to his starship, The Sleight of Hand, with the crate.

After a skirmish with the two Jedi and two of their clone troopers, CS-2207 and CC-7567, Teska reclaimed the part and stole Bane's transport in order to reach Behpour. When Teska reached his base, Republic Senator Padmé Amidala arrived on the planet, investigating rumors of a Separatist presence in the system. Teska captured the Senator and held her hostage. Soon, following a message delivered by Amidala, the Republic forces assaulted Behpour. Skywalker and Tano infiltrated the base, and the Skakoan ordered them to surrender, or he would kill the captive Senator. The two Jedi, however, rescued Amidala and engaged Kul Teska in battle in the gravitic polarization beam's core room, while the beam itself built up its power to collapse the Naboo star. Teska was killed, and Amidala sabotaged the beam, causing it to destroy itself and the entire base.

Early life
"Unlike General Grievous, I have no interest in trophies."

- Kul Teska

The Skakoan male Kul Teska worked as a scientist in the Techno Union. He was especially knowledgeable in cybernetics and was considered one of the Union's most brilliant minds. However, an accident occurred with his pressure suit, which left his body damaged beyond repair. Ashamed of his disfigurement, Teska left the Techno Union to focus on his personal experiments with gravity and began developing the gravitic polarization beam, a powerful superweapon capable of collapsing a star. In addition to his research, Teska&mdash;using his knowledge of cybernetics&mdash;rebuilt his suit, equipping it with a vast array of weapons, and became a mercenary. Eventually, Teska's reputation in that field rivaled the likes of the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane, along with his research in gravity technology captured the attention of the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Count Dooku.

Theft and Juma 9
"You and this station are finished, Jedi!"

- Kul Teska, to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Plo-Koon

During the Clone Wars between the Confederacy and the Galactic Republic, Dooku hired Teska and allowed him to continue his research in a Techno Union base on the planet Behpour in the Naboo system. In around 22 BBY, the gravitic polarization beam was finished and ready for testing, and two duplicates of its crucial part, the Gravitic Core, were to be delivered to Behpour on a Munificent-class star frigate. However, Cad Bane infiltrated the frigate in orbit over the planet Alzoc III and stole one of the crates containing the Core. To cover his tracks, Bane made the other crate explode, destroying the starship that was carrying it; the frigate crashed on Alzoc III and created a gravitational anomaly. In order to recover the stolen part, Teska devised a plan to trace the Core by the unique energy signature it radiated. To that end, the Skakoan initiated an attack on the Republic space station Juma 9, which possessed a powerful radar suited for such a purpose. Separatist droid forces under Teska's command fought against clone troopers stationed at Juma 9, and Teska also had the entire station, including escape pods, rigged with explosives. As the battle continued, Teska himself infiltrated the station's communications room and initiated a radar search for the Core. He soon discovered that the Core was located on the planet Ryloth, where the remnants of the local Separatist army were still fighting the Republic.

Teska contacted Dooku, requesting the remaining droid forces on Ryloth to distract the Republic while he retrieved the weapon core. As Teska prepared to leave, however, he was confronted by Plo Koon and Obi-Wan Kenobi, two Jedi Masters who happened to be at the station at the time of the Skakoan's attack. Igniting their lightsabers, Kenobi and Koon told Teska that they were placing him under arrest, but he ordered them not to move and demonstrated his remote detonator that was linked to the explosives. The Jedi complied and lowered their weapons, but Teska&mdash;stating that they were "no fun"&mdash;triggered the explosives anyway and fled farther into the station with his rocket boosters, saluting his adversaries in mid-air. Eventually, Kenobi and Koon caught up with Teska, cornered him inside one of the station's chambers, and sealed the only door to prevent him from escaping. Teska was not willing to give up easily and once again brandished his detonator, threatening to destroy the escape pods, which the clone troopers were using to escape from the exploding station.

At that moment, however, Teska's attention was distracted by the sound of an explosion, which allowed Kenobi to Force-push the detonator out of the Skakoan's hands. In response, Teska attacked the two Jedi with his vast arsenal of weapons. After a lengthy battle, he was defeated and thrown into a glass window; the glass shattered and broke, leaving Juma 9 open to the vacuum of space. Teska was almost sucked out of the station but was able to cling onto the edge with his hand. The vacuum also moved Teska's fallen remote detonator, and it flew toward him. The Skakoan tried to reach for it, but Kenobi threw his lightsaber at the detonator, slicing it in half. Koon then threw his own weapon at a nearby control panel, and an emergency blast door came down; Teska let go of his grasp and was sucked outside the station. His suit allowed him to survive the vacuum, and he veered off toward Ryloth, leaving Kenobi and Plo Koon stranded on the station without their weapons, which had also been sucked outside.

Reclaiming the Core
"Bane? Ha, ha, ha. Forgive my surprise. I didn't think even you were foolish enough to steal from me.''" "''Pity you didn't go down with the ship, Teska."

- Kul Teska and Cad Bane, upon their meeting on Ryloth

On Ryloth, Teska found the Gravitic Core still in the possession of Cad Bane, who had been taken into custody by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. The two Jedi and Bane were on their way to Bane's Telgorn dropship, The Sleight of Hand, which they hoped to use to fly from Ryloth and secure the Core on behalf of the Republic. Teska ambushed them, emerging from a pile of wreckage surrounding Bane's starship and, after exchanging insults with the Duros, ordered him to return the Core. Teska then gripped the crate containing the Core with his built-in grappling hook and pulled it over to him. Skywalker, however, stated that the Core was not Bane's to give and threw the crate into Bane's ship with the Force. Bane then tried to leave the scene, but Tano trapped him under a slab of metal.

Teska attacked the Jedi, and after a brief skirmish he was able to trap them inside an energy field. At that moment, two clone troopers, CS-2207 and CC-7567, arrived and engaged the Skakoan. After a shootout with the clones, Teska decided that it was time to retreat and activated the force field; the field began to shrink, threatening to crush the two Jedi inside. Teska then gave the clones a choice: they could either pursue him or rescue Skywalker and Tano. The clones chose the latter option, and Teska boarded The Sleight of Hand, leaving Ryloth and making his way to Behpour, where he planned to use the gravitic beam to collapse the Naboo star. Meanwhile, Senator Padmé Amidala, following the rumors of a Separatist presence in the Naboo system, infiltrated Behpour and located the Techno Union base there. She was soon captured but had nonetheless delivered a message to the Jedi beforehand.

Death on Behpour
"No one messes with Cad Bane.''" "''A lone gunman."

- Cad Bane and Kul Teska, as the former exacts his revenge

Following Amidala's message and the information they had managed to uncover on Juma 9, the Jedi initiated an assault on Behpour, hoping to destroy Teska's superweapon and free the Senator. After Skywalker and Tano had infiltrated the Techno Union base, Teska contacted them over the comm system and told them to surrender to him under threat of killing Amidala. Skywalker seemingly complied and went to Teska, who had tied Amidala in the gravitic beam's core room and was keeping her hanging from the roof there. When Skywalker arrived, the Skakoan ordered him to surrender his lightsaber&mdash;which Teska wanted to study&mdash;and told the Jedi not to use any "tricks." After Skywalker gave him his weapon, Teska placed it on his belt and proceeded to tell Skywalker that he considered his surrender to be an act of cowardice. Teska told the Jedi that he would normally suspect a trick, but in Teska's opinion, Skywalker was out of options this time. However, Teska then noticed Skywalker glimpsing behind his back and looked back. He saw Ahsoka Tano, who had been trying to move Amidala to safety with the Force while Teska was conversing with Skywalker.

Enraged, the Skakoan shot at Tano with his quad cannon, but she deflected all of his shots with her lightsaber. At the same time, Skywalker leaped forward, grabbing Amidala and moving her to safety before sending her to sabotage Teska's weapon. Moreover, Tano Force-pulled Skywalker's lightsaber from Teska's belt and threw it back to her Master; both Jedi then confronted the Skakoan. As their duel moved closer to the room's central platform, the superweapon's firing system was initiated, and the gravitic beam began to power up for its devastating shot. At that moment, Cad Bane&mdash;who had escaped from the Jedi on Ryloth and had made his way to Behpour&mdash;appeared in the room and fired at Teska's rocket boosters, stranding the Skakoan on the room's central platform.

Having exacted his revenge on the Skakoan, Bane walked away from the scene. Nevertheless, Kul Teska was certain that he would be victorious and continued attacking Skywalker and Tano from the central platform until he was defeated and thrown into the gravitic beam itself. Shattered by the beam's power, Teska's pressure suit malfunctioned and the Skakoan died; his last words were "Jedi fools! you... have.....already lost!" Amidala, however, had been able to sabotage the beam. Instead of collapsing the Naboo sun, it destroyed the Behpour laboratory, moments after the Jedi and the Senator had evacuated the premises in Skywalker's G9 Rigger freighter, the Twilight.

Personality and traits
"I am unbeatable!"

- Kul Teska

Kul Teska was a highly intelligent, creative, and driven individual. A renowned scientist, Teska possessed a natural talent with cybernetics, one that allowed him to build his modified pressure suit. As a mercenary, Teska was known for his ruthlessness and excessive methods. Teska was also arrogant and had a brash attitude with a short fuse. He was not intimidated by anyone and believed no foe, clone, or Jedi could match his strength. He often stated that he was unbeatable and considered Cad Bane's attempt to steal the Gravitic Core from him foolish. During battle, Teska often taunted his opponents, stating that their cause was hopeless and that they would soon be dead, as well as diminishing the Jedi's skills with the Force and their faith in the Republic Clone Army.

If an opponent gained the upper hand over Teska, he did admit to his enemy's prowess to a certain extent like this example,"ah, so you're not completely useless" or this one, "so you have some skill after all" or this,"how clever, you're still alive". Both Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano found this trait annoying and believed that Teska was talking too much. Kul Teska was not afraid of mass slaughter, and he was intent on destroying the escape pods, killing the clones on Juma 9, and collapsing the Naboo sun, which would have had catastrophic effects on the entire Naboo system. He did not possess an interest in collecting any kind of trophies like the Separatist General Grievous did. However, Teska always wanted to examine a Jedi lightsaber. He was self-confident, believing that Skywalker was out of options on Behpour. The Skakoan considered Skywalker's surrender to be a display of cowardice, only to find out that the Jedi had in fact tricked him.

Equipment
"He's resourceful, I'll give him that."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Kul Teska's pressure suit was equipped with a variety of weaponry and tools. His suit itself allowed him to survive the vacuum of space. It was outfitted with rocket boosters, enabling Teska to hover in midair and even fly, a technique he often used in battle. Teska's right arm was outfitted with a rotary quad blaster cannon and a grappling hook. Two rocket launchers were mounted on the suit's shoulders, and a powerful laser beam weapon was located in its chest. Teska was also capable of creating a shockwave that threw all opponents off of him. The defensive systems of the suit included a shield generator, which created an energy shield, protecting Teska from enemy fire.

Although Teska was capable of quickly fixing it even during battle, the suit was prone to malfunction. The boosters in particular were not very reliable, as they malfunctioned when Bane fired at them. In addition to those built into his suit, Teska also used other mechanisms. During the battle on Juma 9, he made use of explosives, which he had planted throughout the station. On Ryloth, Teska trapped Skywalker and Tano inside an energy field with the help of a portable generator.

Behind the scenes
Kul Teska was created as an antagonist for the 2009 video game Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, in which he was voiced by Troy Baker. The game, developed by Krome Studios and published by LucasArts, serves as a tie-in to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. According to the game's assistant producer, Chris Lee, the creation of Teska's character was a collaborative effort between Krome Studios, LucasArts, and Lucasfilm Animation and was aimed at creating a unique and intriguing new villain for The Clone Wars universe. The production team envisioned Teska as a classic villain, albeit the one with his own reasons. The developers hoped to create a character that players could love and hate at the same time, a character surrounded by mystery that would draw interest in finding out more about him.

Teska's fight against Skywalker, Tano, and the clones on Ryloth is omitted from the PlayStation Portable version of the game, as Teska retreats aboard The Sleight of Hand right after Skywalker throws the Gravitic Core there.

Nintendo DS edition
Teska was also featured in the Nintendo DS edition of Republic Heroes, developed by Lucasfilm Animation Singapore. As revealed in the final cutscene, this version of the game is intended to serve as a prequel of sorts to all other versions of Republic Heroes. In it, while preparing a retreat from Ryloth, the Confederacy plans to destroy the city in which they are based with bombers. The Republic tries to prevent the massacre but finds itself unable to contact its fleet and request assistance because of a Separatist tower-mounted jamming device in that city. To this end, Jedi Master Mace Windu infiltrates the city and reaches the top of the tower with the device. Kul Teska suddenly appears, trying to prevent Windu from destroying the jammer. After a short battle, Windu manages to defeat the Skakoan by deflecting his blaster shots back at him with his lightsaber. Teska is forced to retreat, and Windu destroys the jamming device.

Later in the game, General Grievous attempts to overthrow Count Dooku by acquiring a biological superweapon on the planet Mustafar. His plan fails, and the Jedi manage to defeat the droid General, forcing him to flee back to the Separatists. Discovering his treachery, Dooku spares Grievous, stating that the Jedi's preoccupation with Grievous's rebellion gave him time to develop his own weapon on Behpour, hinting at Teska's development of the gravitic beam. The overall Nintendo DS's storyline, however, is rather confusing and contradictory in nature and incorporating it would require too much fan-based speculation. Because of this, this article assumes that the events portrayed in the NDS version are non-canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Notes and references
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