Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/June 11, 2011

Oron Kira was a Beast Rider leader and King of Onderon who played a pivotal part in his homeworld's history, reigning as monarch during the onset of the Great Sith War. A Human male, Kira grew up during the turbulent period known as the Beast Wars, when the Beast Riders, prisoners cast out of the Onderonian capital of Iziz, went to war with the great walled city. The son of Beast-Lord Modon Kira, Oron Kira secretly traveled in and out of Iziz for years, trading with the political underground. On one trip, he met the love of his life, Princess Galia, heiress to the Onderonian throne. Galia reciprocated Kira's feelings, but the circumstances of the war would never allow a Beast Rider and the Princess of Onderon to marry. Kira and Galia formulated a plan to circumvent their dilemma in 4,000 BBY; Kira and a fellow Beast Rider, Gobee, would break into the Iziz Royal Palace and "kidnap" Galia, bringing her back to Kira's fortress beyond Iziz's borders so they could be wed. The plan went off without hitch, and their marriage soon began. However, the ceremony was interrupted by three Jedi Knights&mdash;Human brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, and Twi'lek Tott Doneeta&mdash;sent by Queen Amanoa to retrieve Galia. The Jedi nearly made off with the Princess, but, after she protested and professed her love for Kira, she was returned to her betrothed. Kira and his family then revealed the dark side corruption of the Onderonian monarchy to the Jedi and enlisted them in the campaign to end the Beast Wars once and for all.

After peace negotiations with Amanoa failed, Kira fought with a massive Beast Rider army in a final assault on Iziz. Although Amanoa's dark magic took a heavy toll on the Beast Riders, Kira's forces finally took Iziz, thanks to the battle meditation of newly-arrived Jedi Master Arca Jeth. Amanoa died at the end of the battle, and Kira became the new King of Onderon. As monarch, Kira soon faced another crisis, the Freedon Nadd Uprising, during which Sith cultists, led by former King Ommin, rose up and waged war on the new Onderonian regime. Although the Iziz Royal Palace was destroyed and Kira and Galia were briefly forced out of Iziz, they retook the city with help from the Jedi and put an end to the rebellion. Kira also fought in several more battles in the next few years; he lent his Beast Riders to Jedi forces in an engagement on Empress Teta in 3,997 BBY, an attempt to retrieve Ulic Qel-Droma, who had begun to fall to the dark side, from the Krath cult on the planet. The next year, Kira and his fellow Beast Riders successfully defended Onderon from an army of Mandalorian invaders during the Great Sith War. His descendants went on to hold the Onderonian throne for more than four thousand years.