Nefta

"Palpatine should have known&hellip;we can't wait indefinitely. The throne cannot sit empty or the Empire will collapse!"

- Nefta

Nefta, a Humanoid male, was a Dark Side Adept loyal to the Galactic Emperor Palpatine and a member of the Imperial Ruling Circle during Palpatine's reign in clone bodies. After Palpatine was killed by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Nefta&mdash;along with another darksider Sa-Di&mdash;decided to take his place instead of waiting until he returned in a new clone body. The adepts attacked and destroyed the Emperor's clones that had survived an attack attempted previously by Skywalker. Palpatine's loyal Executor Sedriss, however, witnessed Nefta's and Sa-Di's treachery and killed them for it.

Biography
"One less future Emperor&mdash;one death closer to power over the galaxy!"

- Nefta, while destroying the clone tanks

Nefta was a Humanoid male member of the Imperial Ruling Circle and a Dark Side Adept serving the Galactic Emperor Palpatine, who had been reborn in a clone body after his death during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. In 10 ABY, Palpatine launched an assault on the Rebel Alliance, but was killed by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, who also destroyed Palpatine's clones stored in the Emperor's Citadel on the planet Byss. Skywalker, however, was not aware that Palpatine had an additional hidden storage of clones in that same citadel. Following the Emperor's death, Executor Sedriss&mdash;a member of the Dark Side Elite, the select cadre of Palpatine's Dark Jedi&mdash;assumed command of the Imperial forces, hoping that one day Palpatine's spirit would inhabit another clone and he would return to rule the Empire once more. Nefta, however, thought that the Emperor's return could occur many years later, and without a leader, the Empire could collapse beforehand. Nefta and fellow darksider Sa-Di wanted to take the throne themselves and decided to ensure that Palpatine would not come back to stand in their way. The two first spread rumors of the Emperor's permanent demise, and later, when Sedriss departed to discipline the recently rebelled planet of Balmorra, made their final move. Nefta and Sa-Di, armed with a lightsaber and an axe respectively, assaulted the secret storage of clones and destroyed all cloning tanks one by one. Just as they finished, however, Sedriss returned from Balmorra and witnessed the results of their work. The Executor immediately decided to kill the two for their treachery and attacked Nefta with his lightsaber. Nefta blocked the first blow with his own weapon, but was then quickly slain by Sedriss, who later executed Sa-Di as well. Unbeknownst to all three, Palpatine had in fact already taken a new clone body and had been watching the entire scene from the shadows in a corridor. After Nefta's and Sa-Di's deaths, the Emperor revealed himself and acknowledged Sedriss's loyalty toward him.

Personality and traits
"One powerful individual must rule&mdash;but certainly that won't be you!"

- Sedriss to Nefta

Nefta was an ambitious individual, who was willing to rule the Empire. Although considered to be one of Palpatine's closest friends, Nefta betrayed him by destroying the clones, a task he found most distasteful, but necessary.

Powers and abilities
"What's the matter Nefta&mdash;is your magic of no use to you against a dark-side warrior?"

- Sedriss

Sedriss was able to handle the lightsaber, using it to destroy the clone tanks. He also apparently possessed some Force powers, which Sedriss referred to as "magic," although neither Nefta's skill with the lightsaber nor his powers were enough to defeat the Executor.

Behind the scenes
Nefta first appeared in the first issue of the Dark Empire II comic book series, written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy.

Nefta is the name a village in Tunisia where scenes from A New Hope were filmed. (see also Tunisia for other Tunisian-inspired names)

Appearances

 * Dark Empire II 1: Operation Shadow Hand

Notes and references
Nefta