Sarasu Taalon

"I told Luke he couldn't trust anyone who puts High Lord before his name."

- Lando Calrissian

Sarasu Taalon was a male Keshiri High Lord of the Lost Tribe of Sith around the time following the Second Galactic Civil War. A native of the planet of Kesh, he sat on the Lost Tribe's Circle of Lords by 43.5 ABY. In 44 ABY, Taalon led a group of eleven capital class ChaseMaster frigates, along with his flagship, the Black Wave, to retrieve the Sith apprentice Vestara Khai and a group of dark side Nightsisters from Dathomir.

He then entered into a feigned alliance with Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker to confront the dark side being in the Maw named Abeloth. The Sith intended to betray the Jedi and force Abeloth to join them, but the mission failed, as Skywalker survived the betrayal and apparently killed Abeloth. The alliance was repaired afterward, although they soon discovered that Abeloth had not actually died. Taalon was later killed by Vestara Khai after beginning to transform into an Abeloth-like being. As the Sith were unaware of the transformation, they subsequently saw Khai as a traitor.

Early life
"I am High Lord Sarasu Taalon, commander of this force."

- Sarasu Taalon, to Luke Skywalker

The male Keshiri Sarasu Taalon hailed from the remote planet Kesh. A Force-sensitive, Taalon joined the Lost Tribe of Sith on Kesh&mdash;descendants of a group of Sith that had been isolated on the world for millennia. By the time following the Second Galactic Civil War, Taalon had become a High Lord, earning him a seat on the Tribe's ruling Circle of Lords. In 41 ABY, the Sith Meditation Sphere Ship arrived on Kesh and informed the Sith there of the galaxy's current state&mdash;the Sith had been defeated and the Jedi were growing in number and power. Ship soon after learned of an s18 light freighter en route from the planet Eriadu and ordered for five Sith to accompany it in attacking the freighter. Taalon was chosen, alongside Lady Olaris Rhea, Rhea's apprentice Vestara Khai, and the Sith Ivaar Workan and Ruku Myal. Ship took the Sith offworld and attacked the freighter, forcing it to land. The Sith then embarked on a hunt for the surviving crew, breaking off into two groups&mdash;Taalon and Rhea in one, and Khai, Workan, and Myal in the other. Khai, Myal, and Workan soon killed two of the crew members, while Taalon and Rhea cornered the other four. The Sith were successful in their hunt, and Taalon called them back to the freighter to take inventory.

Ship continued to take members of the Tribe offworld, allowing them to leave Kesh for the first time in thousands of years and helping them form a new armada from the vessels they captured. After two years, the Tribe's armada numbered over two dozen ships. However, the Meditation Sphere deserted the Tribe soon after, and the Sith sent a strike team, commanded by Rhea, to recover Ship and kill Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker.

The Tribe on Kesh eventually received a hypercomm message from Vestara Khai, learning from her that the strike team had been defeated during the ambush of Skywalker. She also informed them of Abeloth&mdash;a dark side entity who had managed to trick the strike team and hold them for a time on her planet in the Maw, and who was also causing a psychosis among various Force-sensitives throughout the galaxy. Taalon was then put in command of a fleet of elven ChaseMaster frigates, including his flagship, the Black Wave, and dispatched to recover Khai and confront Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben. The Sith planned to feign an alliance with the Jedi with the pretense of wanting to eliminate Abeloth, while they actually intended to force Abeloth to serve the Tribe and then kill the Skywalkers.

Alliance with the Jedi
"We do have a common goal. It would be better to work toward it together rather than getting in each other's way. But don't think that I will not be expecting treachery at every turn. There are fewer enmities more ancient than that of Sith and Jedi.''" "''This thing we both fight might be older than that."

- Luke Skywalker and Sarasu Taalon

Upon arriving in orbit around Dathomir, where Khai had found refuge among the Raining Leaves Clan of Dathomiri Witches, a convoy led by Lord Viun Gaalan landed to retrieve Khai and capture a group of dark side-wielding Nightsisters. The Nightsisters were taken to Taalon's fleet in orbit, but Gaalanw as attacked by the Skywalkers and forced to flee without Khai. Khai was captured by the Jedi and taken aboard their ship, the Jade Shadow. As the Jedi left Dathomir, however, they were confronted by Taalon and his fleet of ChaseMasters. Taalon ordered the Jedi to enter a parking orbit, and, realizing that they were completely outmatched, the Skywalkers complied.

To the Jedi's surprise, Taalon proposed that they form an alliance for a mission to destroy Abeloth, lying that she was using her powers to influence the Tribe's apprentices as she was the Jedi Order's Jedi Knights. The Jedi were dubious at first, but they agreed to the proposal under the circumstances that Khai remained aboard the Jade Shadow. Luke Skywalker also suggested that they enlist the assistance of his friend, Lando Calrissian, in navigation of the Maw, and Taalon agreed. The allied forces then stopped at the planet Klatooine to wait for Calrissian to arrive with his asteroid tug, the Rockhound.

While on Klatooine, Taalon's second-in-command, Leeha Faal, learned of the Fountain of the Ancients, a scared and beautiful fountain of wintrium in the Derelkoos Desert on Klatooine. Taalon was intrigued by the fountain, and overcome with a desire for it. The Jedi discovered that the Sith were planning to betray them&mdash;learning that what Taalon had said about the Tribe's apprentices was a lie&mdash;and Skywalker suggested that they move the fleet to await Calrissian just outside the Maw. Taalon agreed, and convinced the Jedi to allow him to leave two frigates behind on Klatooine in case any problems arose. Taalon then elevated Faal to Captain of the Winged Dagger, demoting its previous captain, Syndor, to her second-in-command, and ordered her to retrieve wintrium samples from the Fountain. She passed on her orders to Vyn Holpur, captain of the other ChaseMaster that remained on Klatooine, the Starstalker, and he carried out the raid after Taalon and the rest of the fleet left the system.

The raid was successful, although the Sith were caught and Holpur and his crew were condemned to death. Faal and her crew escaped the same fate by claiming that Holpur had acted of his own accord, and they returned to Taalon and the fleet outside the Maw alongside Calrissian and Jedi Knight Jaina Solo. Skywalker convinced Taalon to make a brief stop at Sinkhole Station&mdash;a space station in the Maw where the Skywalkers had encountered Abeloth, and where the Tribe's strike team had attacked the Jedi&mdash;but they found the station to be completely destroyed. The allied forces then traveled straight to Abeloth's planet.

Abeloth's planet
"It seems too obvious. Even if Abeloth was unaware that we placed a tracking device on Dyon, which I doubt, she knows that this is the place Vestara first encountered her. Why would she wait here to be attacked?"

- Sarasu Taalon, on the likeliness of finding Abeloth in the cave

Upon their arrival there, Skywalker suggested that they walk beyond shadows&mdash;a realm of the Force that consisted of locations corresponding to real locations on Abeloth's world&mdash;in order to locate Abeloth. Despite Khai's warnings against it, Taalon agreed to the plan, bringing with him Faal and Khai's father, the Sith Saber Gavar Khai. Once beyond shadows, they arrived at the Lake of Apparitions; Luke Skywalker warned the Sith of the danger of stepping off the path, but Faal was dragged into the fatal Depths of Eternity to her death nonetheless, to Taalon's great distress. Soon afterward, after speaking with his deceased wife, Mara Jade, Skywalker decided that they needed to return to the real world instantly. Immediately after leaving the realm, they found that Vestara Khai had let the Skywalkers' friend, Dyon Stadd&mdash;a Force-sensitive who had fallen under Abeloth's influence&mdash;escape from his restraints aboard the Jade Shadow, so that they could follow him to Abeloth.

Taalon chose twenty-one other Sith, including the Khais, to join the Skywalkers in the search for Abeloth. They found Stadd in a cave in a volcano where the strike team sent to recover Ship had first encountered Abeloth. He reported that Abeloth had attempted to consume his life energy, but had fled upon sensing the Sith and Jedi. Luke Skywalker led the allies down a tunnel at the back of the cave, leading them out to a courtyard. Abeloth showed herself and attempted to trick Skywalker into believing that she was actually his long-lost lover, Callista Ming, but Skywalker deduced that she had merely consumed Ming, just as she had attempted to do with Stadd. While the two conversed, the Sith began weaving a control web&mdash;a Force power they had learned from the captured Nightsisters&mdash;over the courtyard. Abeloth prepared to attack Skywalker when he refused to join her, and Taalon, the Skywalkers, and the Khais charged the entity.

Abeloth incapacitated Vestara Khai, and Ben Skywalker quickly left the action to tend to her. Taalon, Luke Skywalker, and Gavar Khai were all held at bay by Abeloth's Force lightning and telekinetic powers. She then disappeared, leaving her assailants accidentally attacking each other for a moment, before she reappeared at the far end of the courtyard. Taalon, Khai, Skywalker, and one other Sith resumed the attack, beginning to wear her down. Khai suddenly feinted a strike at Abeloth before redirecting it at Skywalker, beginning the execution of the Sith betrayal as the rest of the Sith lowered the control web onto Abeloth. Skywalker deflected Khai's blow and turned to continue dueling Abeloth while his son returned to confront the Sith Saber. Taalon and the Sith continued trying to capture Abeloth, but despite their overwhelming numbers, Luke Skywalker gained the upper hand in the battle. Abeloth finally repulsed all of her assailants with a giant telekinetic blast and fled the courtyard. The Jedi and Sith quickly recovered and followed her back up the tunnel to the cave, where Skywalker attacked and apparently killed her.

Pool of Knowledge
"But trust me, it would be better for everyone if you just forgot we ever found this place.''" "''It's too late for that, Ben."

- Ben Skywalker to Vestara Khai on the Pool of Knowledge, interrupted by the arriving Sarasu Taalon

Taalon suggested that they should examine Abeloth's body to learn more about her, and the Sith and Jedi tentatively repaired their alliance in order to investigate more into Abeloth. While searching ancient ruins on the planet, Taalon and Luke Skywalker encountered the Font of Power, and High Lord heard voices coming from the Font. Taalon also recognized the symbols on the ruins as those affiliated with the Destructors, a race in Keshiri mythology who were said to wipe out galactic civilization every few eons. Soon afterward, the allies witnessed Abeloth's dead body morph into that of Dyon Stadd, and realized that she had somehow switched bodies with him before Luke had killed her. Following a three-hour standoff, the Jedi convinced the Sith to accompany them back to their ships, where they had left Abeloth, whom they had thought was Stadd. However, they found that she had fled.

As they bean to search the planet for Abeloth, Ship returned, and the Sith lied to the Jedi that they had called the Meditation Sphere back&mdash;in reality, the vessel was under Abeloth's control. Ship convinced the Sith that they needed to visit the Pool of Knowledge in order to find Abeloth, and agreed to take them there. It dropped the allies off nearby the Pool, and they split into two groups&mdash;Taalon, Gavar, and Luke in one, Vestara and Ben in the other&mdash;to find it. Vestara and Ben found the Pool first, and the apprentice called her fellow Sith to her through the Force. At the Pool of Knowledge, Ben gazed in and saw Abeloth fleeing toward their vessels, and realized that Ship's move had been a ploy to get them out of the way so that she could escape. However, the image soon after changed to show Kesh, and Gavar believed that the Jedi were trying to learn the location of their homeworld. Luke threw Gavar back with the Force to prevent him from attacking Ben, but Taalon ignored the occurrences around him&mdash;inside the Pool he saw the Throne of Balance, whereupon sat a Jedi queen. Fearing that this was an omen that this queen could prevent the Tribe's takeover of the galaxy, Taalon demanded to know who she was. The Jedi did not answer, and instead chose that moment to attack, but Taalon dove into the Pool before they could stop him.

As he reemerged from the Pool, he was hit by Vestara, who had been sent flying backward by Ben. He punched her in fury, and Luke quickly engaged the High Lord in combat. However, the Grand Master soon used the Force to send Gavar tumbling into Taalon and Vestara, and cut off the Sith Saber's forearm. Luke was knocked away by Force lightning, but the Jedi fled the grotto, collapsing the entrance behind them. Taalon was certain that the Jedi knew something important about the queen he had seen on the Throne in the Pool, and thus devised a plan for Vestara to learn more about her. He beat Vestara and then sent her off to find the Jedi, hoping to make it appear as though she was escaping his punishment. He and Gavar chased her back to the beach where they had left their ships, and upon their arrival there, Taalon blasted her with Force lightning. Luke suddenly opened fire on the two Sith; both dodged for cover, but two bolts clipped Taalon. He and Gavar then returned fire, and Luke retreated down the bank to find Vestara. As Taalon and Gavar moved forward, however, they came within proximity of a thermal detonator planted by Luke, and the resulting explosion stalled them, allowing the Jedi to escape with Vestara in Taalon's personal shuttle, the Emiax.

Transformation and death
"When our work together is done, I'm very much looking forward to killing you.''" "''We all need a dream, Lord Taalon."

- Sarasu Taalon and Luke Skywalker

Following his dive in the Pool, Taalon began to change in appearance; he started becoming more and more like Abeloth. He lost all taste for the foodstuff normally enjoyed by the beings of the galaxy, causing him to grow weaker due to starvation. Along with Gavar, he left the world in Ship and met up with other members of the Sith armada&mdash;which had continued expanding and was now posed to begin an invasion of the galaxy. Soon, a message from Vestara came via a relay post on Boonta; she reported that the Jedi had tracked Abeloth to Pydyr, a moon of Almania, and that she suspected they had already called for reinforcements. The Tribe decided to send Taalon, Gavar, and several other Sith to Pydyr aboard the Kondo-class assault shuttle Obuuri. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the moon was beset by a plague, forcing them to wear hazard suits. Taalon, meanwhile, was conflicted&mdash;he desired to learn from Abeloth what exactly he was becoming, but he needed the Jedi's help in finding her. Thus, when Gavar and Luke determined to start a fight upon meeting on Pydyr, he ordered the Sith Saber to stand down and swore to the Jedi that he would help kill Abeloth.

Taalon, Gavar, and fifty more Sith joined Luke, Ben, and Vestara, aboard the Jade Shadow as they traveled to the Fallanassi village on Pydyr, with more Sith in the Obuuri following them. Luke told the Sith that wearing hazard suits would not protect them from the plague&mdash;which was in actuality an illusion put forth by Abeloth via the White Current, the Fallanassi's perspective of the Force&mdash;reporting that Ben and Vestara had worn hazard suits, and they still showed signs of the disease; although he lied that the Jedi had a technique to resist it. Gavar was furious that Luke had not protected his daughter and began to threaten him, but Taalon cut him off, insisting that Luke was just trying to get them infected by convincing them to take off their suits. Suddenly, Ship appeared on the Jade Shadow tactical display, but Fallanassi illusions made it appear to be a full fleet of Sith meditation spheres. Taalon still claimed that the spheres were under Sith control, but as they neared, the Obuuri opened fire on them. Skywalker, however, the only being present who could access the White Current and see through the illusions, piloted the Jade Shadow straight into the fleet.

Soon afterward, the Obuuri crashed into a cliff veiled by the White Current and was destroyed. Taalon began to demand that they land and await reinforcements, but Luke suddenly dove down to the island, and the illusion blocking it from view was broken. Upon landing at the village, they were met by several Fallanassi, who agreed reluctantly to help heal the Sith from the plague. However, Taalon finally realized that the plague was just an illusion, although the rest of the Sith remained unconvinced. Taalon demanded to know where Abeloth was, and he began to question the Fallanassi Akanah Norand Goss Pell as three more shuttles of Sith arrived on the island as reinforcements. When Pell was not as forthcoming as Taalon wished her to be, he signaled for Gavar to hold another Fallanassi hostage. Pell answered his next question&mdash;that Abeloth was staying among the Fallanassi because she was a Fallanassi&mdash;but when Luke asked whether that meant she had always been one, or if she had recently joined, Pell declined to reply. Taalon then signaled Gavar, and the Sith Saber killed his hostage. Pell grew angry, saying that he could not intimidate her, and drove Gavar to madness with visions in the White Current, until Vestara finally knocked him unconscious.

Pell&mdash;who was actually Abeloth in Pell's body&mdash;released the visions onto all of the Sith, save Taalon and Vestara. She then invited Taalon into a gathering hall to converse with him, but the Skywalkers and Vestara followed. Luke tried to convince the Sith High Lord that Abeloth was attempting to play the Jedi and Sith against each other, but he desired too greatly to learn what he was becoming. Taalon opened the battle before Luke could move into the optimal position from which to attack. Luke managed to defeat Abeloth, killing Pell's body, before turning to battle Taalon and Vestara, but Abeloth suddenly returned in the form of Callista Ming. She overpowered Luke, but prevented Taalon from killing the Jedi Grand Master, expressing her desire that he suffer as much as she and Taalon did; and the High Lord agreed. She knocked Luke unconscious and Taalon trapped Ben in a Force net, and they also brought Gavar into the hall, though he remained unconscious. While conversing with Taalon, Abeloth revealed that the reason he could not eat was because mortal food could not satisfy the kind of being he had become. She then began feeding him dark energy from her tentacles.

Luke, however, finally returned to consciousness, and he caused a distraction by making the ceiling collapse. In the ensuing confusion, Vestara, whom Taalon had abused for being a mere apprentice long ago, jumped forward and killed the High Lord; she did not want to allow him to become another Abeloth, as she recognized that threat that Abeloth posed to the galaxy. The Force net around Ben disintegrated, and the Jedi fought off Abeloth, forcing her to retreat. When Vestara tried to take the Jedi captive, Luke awoke Gavar as he praised the apprentice for killing Taalon. Gavar, believing her daughter to have betrayed the Sith, began to attack, but was knocked out by Vestara. Vestara was then forced to flee with the Skywalkers as the rest of the Sith on the planet&mdash;who had finally recovered from their visions&mdash;presumed that she had betrayed the Tribe and killed Taalon.

Personality and traits
"&hellip;There is no reason we can't be civilized about this."

- Sarasu Taalon to Luke Skywalker

Sarasu Taalon was a lavender-skinned Keshiri male who spoke with a beautiful and melodious voice. He valued power and was not afraid to let those who did not live up to his standards die. He had a predilection for things of beauty, particularly glass. He was intrigued by wintrium, his interest piquing when he learned that the substance had properties very similar to glass. He expressed fascination and wonder upon the sight of the Fountain of the Ancients, Klatooine's largest concentration of wintrium.

Behind the scenes
Sarasu Taalon was first introduced at the end of Aaron Allston's Backlash, the fourth novel in the Fate of the Jedi series. He was then featured prominently in the fifth and sixth novels, Allies, by Christie Golden, and Vortex, by Troy Denning, respectively.

Taalon is the sixth Legacy era Sith Lord of the Lost Tribe to be named. He is also the second Keshiri Sith Lord to be identified thus far, as well as the second High Lord to be named, the first being Takaris Yur.

Appearances

 * Backlash
 * Allies
 * Vortex
 * Vortex

Notes and references
Sarasu Taalon