Black Mist

The Black Mist was a sentient creature born from the Dark Side due to Imperial experiments on board Imperial Research Station 13. It had the ability to possess any living being by simply moving "into" them. This was in fact how it fed, and it required at least one life per month for it to survive. The only chance a being had of not being possessed (and thusly killed) by the Black Mist was if they were Force-sensitives skilled in the Control aspect of the Force, particularly if they had studied the Force power Force of Will. When the black mist was "born" upon the Imperial reasearch station, it proceeded to kill all beings on board the craft, always switching to a new body whenever its previous one was destroyed. Eventually, however, the crew of the ship sabotages both its sublight drives and hyperdrives, causing the Mist to become trapped on the ship. During this period with nowhere to go, he learned to reprogram the ships compliment of R2 and 3P0 droids and armed them with blaster pistols and blaster rifles. It was not until the Sidewinder dropped out of hyperspace while on its way from Tegrat to Tatooine that the Mist had any hope of escaping. He immediately fired upon the ship with the research station's turbolasers, disabling the Sidewinder's sublight drives also, and brought the ship into the research station's hangar by means of the tractor beams on board. The group aboard the freighter then boarded the research station so as to shut off the tracto beam holding them in place. The Black Mist lay in wait, allowing the group to enter into the depths of the station, sending the occasional R2 or 3P0 droid against them. Eventually he appeared to the group in the body of the last crewmember from the station. Though the group attempted to capture him, the moment they touched him his corporeal body fell forward and as his head struck the ground it broke apart in a shower of dry, crusty fragments. The mist immediately transfered into one of the group and ran back to the Sidewinder, hoping to repair these engines and escape. Unfortunately, the group managed to fire the research station's turbolasers at the Sidewinder, once again trapping the Black Mist but also stranding themselves. It is thought that the Mist must have died with its lack of nourishment.