Knire Dark

"Knire Dark is really throwing his [sic] weight around on the track!"

- Dax Gazaway

Knire Dark was a female Syboona Podracer pilot and smuggler. Hailing from the Outer Rim planet of Syboona, Dark raced and operated around 24 BBY, during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. Dark used Podracing as a front for her illegal activities, such as smuggling contraband from world to world. Despite this ploy, she held enough racing skill with her Serabyss Howler 1165 to promote herself as the track favorite for the the Ballast Complex racetrack on the planet Mon Calamari, despite her lack of any speed records for the course. Her smuggling activities were later uprooted by 22 BBY when her contraband storehouse was raided by Republic authorities.

Biography
"The city's engineers assure us: the race won't have any effect on the city's safety, even if something should go wrong during the competition."

- Dax Gazaway describing the Ballast Complex, the track that Knire Dark would achieve fame on

A Syboona female from the Outer Rim planet of the same name, Knire Dark worked primarily as a smuggler, operating around 24 BBY during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. Needing to avoid Republic authorities, Knire Dark purchased a Serabyss Howler 1165 Podracer and entered the new Podracing season, using the sport as a new front to transport her contraband. She entered herself into the Podracing Open tournament, a series of four courses that went along the Outer Rim. She also raced a few of the courses from the more aggressive Hutt Championships. However, even with her pilot disguise, Dark was generally on edge when visiting any world that hosted Republic authorities, and her nervousness was clear on the track, generally avoiding conflict with the other racers and often straying from the pack in attempts to find hidden paths in order to avoid being noticed. However, if threatened she would defend her position. At some point she even managed to knock another racer out of a race on a Mon Calamari course known as the Ballast Complex. Whether due to the knockout or due to her own growing skill, Dark eventually became the Ballast Complex's track favorite, even though she did not hold any known speed records for the course. She was third on the chart for total knockouts on the track, however, standing with one total knockout.

Even though Podracing was only a front, Knire Dark nonetheless began attaining actual racing skill, and topped the best lap and best race speed records on the Ryloth course named The Brightlands, with speed records of 00:52.65 minutes and 02:59.38 minutes respectively. She also became increasingly aggressive on track, also achieving the third position for most knockouts on the Gamorr course Ruins of Carnuss Gorgull and on the Mon Calamari course Grand Reefs with a total of two knockouts and one knockout respectively. She achieved further success on Gamorr during the Citadel course, achieving the second top position for best lap. Returning to Ryloth, she achieved the second top positions for the course Nightlands for both best lap and best race, with a time of 01:17.38 minutes and 03:47.78 minutes respectively. However, her growing Podracing career was not to last and was eventually brought to an end and arrest. By 22 BBY the Republic authorities had finally caught up to her trafficking, raiding one of the Syboona's storehouses. The authorities uncovered hundreds of kilos of contraband in doing so, and the scandal was one of several podrace related scandals that put the sport's future in question.

Personality and traits
Knire Dark was a paranoid individual, ever on the constant lookout for anyone who wanted to end her smuggling operation. This nervous quirk showed on the track when she tried to avoid contact with other racers, though she would defend her position when necessary. Her occasional aggressiveness caused her to knock other pilots out of a race.

Knire Dark had violet colored skin and orange eyes. Her arms had more of a blue skin tone than the rest of her body.

Skills and abilities
As a pilot, Knire Dark showed notable skill on the Podracing courses, racking up both speed and knockout records during her career, having the keen reflexes and agility that allowed her to successfully traverse the hazardous obstacles and terrain that professional podracing courses often presented. Dark was also able to maintain a smuggling operation for at least two years without being detected.

Behind the scenes
Knire Dark first appeared in the PlayStation 2 video game Star Wars: Racer Revenge as one twenty-three playable characters. The game was developed in a partnership between LucasArts and Rainbow Studios, and was released in February of 2002. Players could play as her after placing above her or knocking her out of the Ballast Complex track. Knire Dark's species and some of her backstory was fleshed out in the game's companion guide, Star Wars: Racer Revenge: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, that was published alongside the game. She was later mentioned in an edition of the HoloNet News published in March of 2002, only one month after the release of the game. In-game, the race announcer, Dax Gazaway, refers to Knire Dark as a male, as he reuses the same soundbites over and over, only substituting in different names. Knire Dark's voice was provided by Nick Jameson, who also provided the voice for Aldar Beedo in the game.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Racer Revenge