Chik Apla

Chik Apla was an Imperial commando from Coruscant and a former member of the Emperor's Royal Guard. While in service, Apla had an active career, eventually receiving a distinguished scar that ran down from his right temple. He wore the armor that was reminiscent of the Guard's Master Instructor and maintained the suit well into the dominant days of the New Republic. After the fall of the Galactic Empire and the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty, Apla retired to the planet Dolis 3 to spend the rest of his days.

Around 19 ABY, Apla was recruited by Moff Derran Takkar and was instrumental in his plan to ruin the highly publicized wedding of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. However, Chik Apla's attempt to assassinate the bride-to-be met with disaster. Chik Apla was soundly defeated by the fully-fledged Jedi Knight and taken into New Republic custody.

A new beginning


Chik Apla was an experienced Imperial veteran who at some point in his career served as a Royal Guard. However, Apla's military days came to a close after the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty. With the total collapse of the Empire, Apla took up residence on the planet Dolis 3. Apla was bar buddies with several men on the planet, but money was hard to come by, and most of the men were in debt to each other through favors and loans. Apla and his friends frequently gathered in the bar to complain about the state of the Empire and to get status updates on galactic politics. Besides hanging around the bars, Apla was also marginally involved with the local Moff, Derran Takkar. Unknown to Takkar, Apla was carrying on an affair with his wife, Anlys.

Around 20 ABY, Apla and his bar buddies received word that Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker were planning an elaborate wedding on Coruscant. At news of the wedding, the men began to assess their situation, with one man declaring that the New Republic was now "untouchable". However, Moff Takkar disagreed. Walking into the bar, he proclaimed to the men that they could still do much to change their situation and that of the Empire's. Takkar asked the men in the bar to join him in striking a blow at the New Republic. The men&mdash;while unimpressed with Takkar's arrogance and condescending manner&mdash;agreed to join the Moff's cause.

Infiltrating Coruscant
"I get it, we're better than swoopie scum. We have honor&hellip;"

- Iry Danta

Takkar gave Apla and three other men, Chala Venan, Banner Sumptor and Iry Danta, a meeting place on Coruscant. The group pooled their resources to get off Dolis 3 and rented a low-quality apartment in the slums of the city. After arriving on Coruscant, Apla began to act more professionally, quieting the men and telling them not to speak their real names out loud. Takkar eventually made contact with the group and gave them their assignments. Apla was assigned a surveillance job, and he immediately began spying on Mara Jade, following her movements and eavesdropping on her conversations. Finding the site of the wedding, Apla and his compatriots staked out the area, locating the best places of attack.



After a long day of work, Apla went with Danta and Sumptor to the Red Rancor cantina. Ordering drinks, the trio occupied a booth near the back of the bar to talk about their upcoming work. Unknown to them, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were throwing a bachelor party for Luke Skywalker in the main area of the cantina. Surveying the situation, Apla and the group witnessed Skywalker and his companions get involved in a widespread bar fight. During the fight, a drunken Trandoshan almost crushed Skywalker with a heavy table. Sumptor stopped the Trandoshan by tripping him before he could slam the table onto the Jedi. Apla and Danta were annoyed with Sumptor for "saving" Luke, but after the young Imperial explained that having the Rebel hero die in a bar brawl didn't make a sufficient statement, Apla agreed that they had an Imperial standard to uphold. Unfortunately, Moff Takkar didn't see it the same way and reprimanded the men for not taking the initiative to eliminate Skywalker.

Final assignment
"Leave that to me. I'll find it, I'll find her. Then Chik will kill her and this will all be done."

- Anlys Takkar



After this incident, Apla was assigned to Takkar's wife Anlys. Anlys was planning to eliminate the dressmaker for the wedding, which would throw the event into disarray. Throughout their work together, Anlys was very flirtatious with the former Royal Guardsman, suggesting that if he succeeded in accomplishing her goals she would love to "celebrate" with him. However, Apla doubted her ability to find their target and dismissed any chance that they might have of locating the mysterious dress designer. Anlys proved more capable than Apla realized, and she used her talents as a slicer to quickly uncover the identity of the important designer, Jari'kyn. Equipped with the target's identity, Apla found the address of the Twi'lek and waited for Jade to arrive for her fitting. Dressed in full Royal Guard armor, Apla watched as Mara Jade arrived. Breaking into Jari'kyn's headquarters, he attacked the former Emperor's Hand with a double-bladed vibroblade, declaring that she needed to die for betraying the Empire. Unfortunately for Apla, Jade reacted with incredible speed, parrying his attacks and destroying his weapon.

Her counterattack knocked Apla unconscious, and he was taken into Republic custody. Apla suffered from internal injuries including a ruptured spleen and a bruised liver. His armor had little effect in protecting his body, and he was also victim to a fractured skull and broken ribs. Luckily for him, bacta healed all of Apla's injuries, and it is likely that he suffered no long-term injuries. After news of Apla's fate reached the rest of the group, Anlys became inconsolable, crying for her lost love. Takkar and the group continued with the plan to ruin the wedding, but their attempt was grossly unsuccessful. Apla likely remained in Republic custody.

Talents


Chik Apla was a talented knife thrower and weapons expert. Apla was able to pierce a beetle at some distance with a throwing knife, and was well versed in military procedure. He also seemed to be in excellent physical condition, even after several years out of active service. He was able to jump from an adjacent building outside Jari'kyn's apartment to instigate a fight with Mara Jade. Apla had also retained a full suit of Royal Guard body armor complete with vibroblade, but the suit showed its age with the cape suffering several holes in the fabric.

Personality and traits
"You betrayed the Empire, Mara, now you must die."

- Chik Apla

Chik Apla was a simple man, and a dutiful soldier. He took orders well and tried to maintain a semblance of professionalism during his exploits. However, Apla's retirement from active service had fostered a minor sense of laziness, and he needed to be reminded of the required professional attitude during the mission for Takkar. Along with his sense of duty, Apla was also generally respectful of rank and authority and treated his fellow comrades with respect. However, during his final mission for Takkar, Apla formed a romantic attachment with the Moff Takkar's wife. It is unknown if Apla carried on this romance to spite Takkar's less than honorable record, or if he was just easily swayed by Anlys Takkar's advances. In any case, Apla's professional attitude and demeanor was unable to overcome the talents of a Jedi Knight, and even the element of surprise was insufficient to give Apla the advantage over Mara Jade.

Behind the scenes
Apla's body armor is reminiscent of Carnor Jax's guard armor. Jax's armor and helmet were supposed to be reserved for the Master Instructor of the Emperor's Royal Guard. .

Apla was created by author Michael A. Stackpole and artist Robert Teranishi for the comic miniseries Star Wars: Union.

The likeness for Chik Apla is most likely based on actor Jack Nicholson. Union also portrayed a number of other characters as similar in appearance to real-world actors.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Union