Zare Leonis

"I will enter the Academy, say the right things, and succeed. I will learn how the Empire works. I will find Dhara. And I will wait for the resistance to develop, for someone to rebel. And then I will help those rebels bring the Empire down."

- Zare Leonis

Zare Leonis was a male Human Imperial cadet at the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal who, despite joining the Galactic Empire, worked as a spy for the rebels on the planet. Leonis joined the Imperial Academy to discover the truth about what happened to his sister, Dhara, who vanished from the Academy. The Empire claimed that Dhara ran away, but Leonis did not believe their claims. At the Academy, he struggled to present himself as a model Imperial cadet. Secretly, he aided rebel activities and searched for any information that could aid his search for his sister, assisted on the outside by his girlfriend, Merei Spanjaf. With the help of Spanjaf, his family and friends, and a daring group of rebels known to them as "the Spectres," he succeeding in rescuing his sister and escaping the grip of the Empire.

Early life
Zare Leonis was born on the planet Uquine in 3258 LY, around the inception of the Galactic Empire, to agricultural scientists Leo and Tepha Leonis. He was raised along with his elder sister Dhara by his parents and the family nanny droid Auntie Nags. The Leonises moved around a lot due to the nature of their parent's occupation, and Zare spent most of his childhood living aboard space stations, such as Hosk Station. During his childhood, Zare and his family would live on several worlds including Moorja and Viamarr. The Leonis family was sympathetic to the Empire, seeing it as a great improvement over the slow bureaucracy of the Republic and the corruption of the Trade Federation.

A New Home
At the age of fourteen years, Zare and his family immigrated to Lothal, a backwater planet in the Outer Rim Territories. His parents found work at the Ministry of Agriculture's Lothal branch and settled down into an apartment in Lothal's Capital City. His sister Dhara, who was a year older than him, enrolled at the Imperial Academy on Lothal. A month after his family's relocation to Lothal, Zare attended a function organized by his parents to celebrate his sister's acceptance into the Imperial Academy. During the function, Zare socialized with a few Imperial officials including Lieutenant Piers Roddance, Ames Bunkle, and Governor Arihnda Pryce, who extolled the purported progress of the Galactic Empire. Near the end of the function, Zare and Dhara promised to keep in touch while she training at the Academy.

Since Zare was too young to enroll at the Imperial Academy, he became a student at the Junior Academy of Applied Sciences during Lothal's autumn season. He also joined the school's grav-ball team, the AppSci SaberCats, and became the team's centre striker. Zare and his team were coached by the Duros Coach Ramset, who was known for his conservative methods. During his time with the SaberCats, Zare also befriended the team's kicker Merei Spanjaf, a teenage Corulag girl who became his girlfriend and the team's fullback Beck Ollet, a Lothal Human boy who was the son of jogan fruit farmers. While Zare excelled in grav-ball, he found agricultural science boring and loathed his Current Events class. His Current Events teacher Tralls used the class as a platform to disseminate Imperial propaganda. When Leonis questioned the official Imperial account of the Trade Federation's crop engineering program on Chrona, which contradicted his parent's recollections, Mister Tralls chided the youth for stepping out of the Imperial party line.

During a successful grav-ball match in Lothal's Fall season, Zare led the SaberCats to victory over the rival West Cap City Carvers by a margin of 38–36 despite ignoring Coach Ramset's strategy. Following the match, Leonis learned from his fellow team-mate Beck that AppSci's athletic director Janus Fhurek was using his school to identify prospective recruits for the Imperial Academy. Beck's jogan fruit-growing family had recently moved from the Westhills to Capital City after the Imperial Agricultural Collective had purchased his family's orchards and farms for a substantial sum. Unlike Zare, Beck was suspicious of Imperial intentions towards Lothal. Despite their differences, Zare and Beck remained close friends.

An Education in Life
During the autumn season, Zare readily adjusted to his new home and surroundings on Lothal. Following the match, Zare conversed with his sister Dhara via datapad and updated her about his activities at school and his new friendship with Beck and Merei. During the conversation, Zare learned that his sister was taking officer-training classes at the Academy and planning to pursue an internship at Imperial headquarters. Dhara quickly worked out that Zare had a crush on Merei. The following day, Zare met up with his friends Merei and Beck after his Crop Management class. Merei used her computer hacking skills to locate Beck's old farmstead only to discover that the Imperial authorities had classified the area for some unspecified excavation project. Beck was upset since this land had traditionally been used for jogan-fruit harvesting but Merei believed that there was a glitch on the Agricultural Ministry's database.

After a match between the SaberCats and the Green Dragons, Zare and his two friends traveled to Beck's former family orchards. While visiting Beck's old homestead, the three friends were startled by a group of neks, fearsome yellow-furred creatures with sharp teeth. However, they were saved by a Human guard, who had been sent by the Imperial authorities to guard the land from trespassers. After Beck revealed that this farm had once been his home, the man relented and revealed that he too had to leave his land in Kinpany Gap after the Imperials had requisitioned it for mining. The man also revealed that droid pickers were now being used to pick jogan fruit; something which distressed Beck because the droids were incompetent at their work.

During a home game between the SaberCats and the East City Brawlers, Zare and his team had to contend with the opposing team's two burly fullbacks and their unpredictable coach, who utilized unpredictable strategies to frustrate the SaberCats. Zare's coach Ramset tried to reason with the opposing coach, who insisted that the game was played rougher on Lothal. During the game, Zare's fullback Beck lost his temper and assaulted one of the Brawlers, leading to his ejection from the game. Zare advised his friend not to lose his temper but Beck protested that he could not tolerate a rigged game.

Later, Zare and his family visited his sister Dhara during the Imperial Academy's Visiting Day. As an Imperial Cadet, Dhara was required to reside at the Academy. At the insistence of his mother and Auntie Nags, Zare donned his formal Imperial tunic. During a private moment with Dhara and his parents, Zare related his friend Beck's predicament with the Agricultural Ministry reclassifying his family land for mineral extraction. When Zare expressed concerns about the effect of the Empire's industrialization policies on ordinary people, his parents conceded that some things had to be sacrificed for the well-being of the galaxy. On a more lighter note, the four family members joked about Lothal's obsession with grav-ball; which the family's droid Auntie Nags regarded as a "dangerous and dirty" sports.

Due to Zare's athletic and leadership skills, he eventually attracted the attention of the school's athletic director Janus Fhurek, who attempted to court the young man's favor by offering to speed up his admission to the Imperial Academy. However, Zare came to distrusted Fhurek after the latter derided the team's Aqualish member Hench Sina as nothing more than a "brute-force" fullback. When Zare defended Hench, Fhurek lectured the youth that a leader could not allow his affection for his players to blind him to their shortcomings. Despite his disagreement, Zare did not argue with the athletic director. Later, the SabreCats defeated another rival team called the Thrashers by 44 to 18 points.

Growing Dissent
As Zare spent more time on Lothal, his disillusionment with the Galactic Empire grew. Following the grav-ball match, Zare and his two friends Beck and Merei visited Beck's old family orchards, which had been turned into an Imperial mine. They also discovered that several anti-Imperial insurgents had attached detonators to several Imperial seismic surveyor droids. Zare contacted the Imperial authorities with his comlink. When Imperial stormtroopers arrived, Beck told the authorities that the insurgents had fled north; when in fact they had actually gone south. This gave Zare a hint that his best friend was somehow connected to these insurgents. Following the failed bombing incident, Zare was visited by Lieutenant Piers Roddance from the Security Ministry. Zare told the lieutenant everything but omitted Beck's act of misleading the stormtroopers.

During that winter, Zare's dissatisfaction with the Empire's land expropriation policies reached a new level. The young Leonis found himself increasingly at odds with his father Leo Leonis, who fervently supported the Empire's policies and viewed the growing insurgency on Lotahl as a disease. While Zare saw the attempted bombing of the surveyor droids as a protest action by frustrated farmers who had lost their lands and farms, his father regarded them as troublemakers. Leo acknowledged that the Empire made mistakes but that it had good intentions. Zare's mother Tepha understood the farmers' grievances but accepted the Imperial line that protests and civil disobedience would only lead to violence and anarchy. Zare concluded that his parents thought that the best way to fix the Empire's mistakes was to serve it and show people a better way.

Following the winter exams, Zare and his SaberCats team competed in a home match against the South Capital City Volunteers; beating the visiting team by twelve points. However, their victory was bittersweet since Zare was annoyed with Beck's unwillingness to follow the rules. While traveling home on his jumpspeeder, Leonis encountered his sister's friend Ames Bunkle, who was a stormtrooper cadet at the Imperial Academy. Zare noticed a profound change in Bunkle's character; the youth had abandoned his name in favor of his operating number DX-578 and took a humorless view of life. This brief incident only heightened Zare's growing distrust of the Empire. However, Zare was later relieved to learn that his sister Dhara had not experienced the same brainwashing that Bunkle had endured.

On the eve of his team's tenth season tournament, Zare was summoned to a meeting with his school's athletic director Janus Fhurek. During that meeting, Fhurek ordered the removal of the SaberCat's two Alien members&mdash;the Rodian Frid Kelio and the Aqualish Hench Sina due to their non-Human physiognomies. Citing the lack of any league rule banning non-Human players, Leonis refused to comply with Fhurek's wishes and kept the two non-Humans on his team. Zare related the incident to his parents, who while sympathetic to Leonis, advised their son not to antagonize Fhurek since that could jeopardize his plans to join the Imperial Academy. During the tournament, Zane led the SaberCats to victory over the rival Mavericks by thirty-two points; which qualified his team to compete in the league championship. In retaliation for Zare's insubordination, Fhurek transferred Sina and Kelio to the Technical Institute for Agricultural Research, a less reputable institution than AppSci.

That winter, Zare's dissatisfaction with the Empire heightened after his friend Beck revealed that the Empire had begun strip-mining several outlying former farms and orchards. The Imperials utilized giant construction droids which created extensive pollution. This incident greatly disturbed Zare and forced him to question his long-cherished view that his beloved Empire would never do anything wrong. During a home visit by his sister Dhara, Zare related his concerns about the Empire's policies to his big sister. In response, Dhara defended the Empire by arguing that the best way to reform the Empire was to work from within and that the status quo was preferable to the chaos of the Clone Wars. Despite their differences, the two siblings respected each other and Dhara helped Zare to submit his application form to the Imperial Academy by vouching for her brother's "good moral character." Unknown to Zare and his parents, this would be their last meeting with Dhara prior to her mysterious disappearance.

Later, Zare found a way to get back at Fhurek when his friend Merei discovered that Fhurek had made a bet that the SaberCats would win by eight points during the final grav-ball tournament match without alien help. Using this information, Zare carefully guided his team to victory over the Kothal Roughnecks by a margin of six points; causing Fhurek to lose his bet. Zare's act of defiance only angered Fhurek who sought every opportunity to make life difficult for Zare. The following week, the athletic director issued the young grav-ball center-striker with several demerits for trivial misdemeanors. Fuhrek also tried to sabotage Zare's application to study at the Imperial Academy by sending a letter questioning his fitness for Imperial service.

The Spring of Discontent
Two months after his quarrel with Janus Fuhrek, Zare's discontentment with the Galactic Empire reached a new crescendo due to two major incidents during that spring. Firstly, Zare and his friend Beck Ollet witnessed Imperial stormtroopers shooting a peaceful gathering of farmers in the Westhills. These farmers had gathered to confront an Imperial government official over the loss of their homes and farms in the orchard-lands. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the Imperials deployed stormtroopers and AT-DP walkers. When the farmers refused an order to disperse, Lieutenant Roddance ordered his troops to open fire on the gathering. Zare and Beck managed to flee on their jumpspeeder but were greatly traumatized by the incident. Zare was further distraught by a HoloNet report that the farmers had provoked the shooting by destroying mining equipment and attacking surveyors.

Secondly, Zare and his family were greatly distraught to receive the news that his sister Dhara Leonis had allegedly ran away from the Imperial Academy during a training exercise in the Easthills. The only consolation that the Academy's Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko could offer the Leonises was that the Imperial authorities were committing all their resources to search for the missing Cadet. Despite these assurances, Zare suspected that the Imperials had covered the true reason for his sister's disappearance. While his father Leo accepted the official Imperial story and blamed himself for not recognizing Dhara's perceived distress, his mother Tepha shared Zare's suspicion that the Empire was not telling the truth.

The following day, Zare received news on his datapad that his application to study at the Imperial Academy had been accepted. However, the previous two events had disillusioned the young Leonis so much that he deferred his application. During a meeting with Merei, Zare vowed to find out what really happened to his sister. Later, Zare punched the athletic director Fuhrek in the eye after the latter taunted him with the remark that disloyalty ran through the Leonis family. During the late spring, Zare formally graduated from his school but found little joy during the graduation ceremony due to his family's circumstances.

During the summer holidays, Zare's family received no news about Dhara's whereabouts. After delays in contacting his Lothal friend Beck, Beck turned up unexpected in a service alley outside the Leonis family apartment. Knowing that the Imperials were monitoring HoloNet, Beck had wanted to contact his best friend in person. According to Beck's parents, their son was spending the holidays riding jumpspeeders around Lothal with his cousin prior to starting work as a harvest supervisor. In reality, Beck had joined an underground anti-Imperial resistance group in Lothal. Zare learned that Beck was an insurgent when they visited an Imperial mining camp and Beck began planting detonators under the Imperial heavy machinery.

Shortly later, an Imperial troop transport arrived at the minefield but Beck managed to escape on a landspeeder. Zare tailed the transport on his jumpspeeder and narrowly avoided blaster bolts from the vehicle's dorsal cannons. Beck and his associates managed to cross a nearby bridge and escape their Imperial pursuers due to the tremors created by the exploding detonators. Zare fled the scene before the Imperials could notice his presence. The following day, Zare and Merei received a message from Beck to meet him at his old school's grav-ball grid. During their meeting, Beck revealed that the Imperials had traced his landspeeder. Beck and Merei both encouraged Zare to infiltrate the Imperial Academy so that he could fight against the Empire from within. In the end, Zare decided to go to the Imperial Academy in order to discover the fate of his sister.

Later, Zare shared this idea with his mother Tepha and also related the incident with the unarmed farmers that led to his disillusionment with the Empire. His mother reluctantly acquiesced to Zare's plan but warned her son that they could never tell his father, who was still a fervent supporter of the Empire. Zare and Tepha resubmitted his application to the Imperial Academy which was promptly accepted. While visiting the market to buy more jogan fruit for his household, Zare witnessed Imperial stormtroopers raiding a shop and arresting three suspected insurgents including his classmate Beck. One of the Stormtroopers participating in the raid was his sister's friend Ames Bunkle, who was now only known as DX-578. This incident further convinced Zare to persevere with his plan to infiltrate the Academy. Later, Zare was present at a ceremony organized by his mother to celebrate his admission to the Imperial Academy and to perpetuate the ruse that her son was a loyal Imperial subject.

Admission
The time came for Leonis to be admitted into the Imperial Academy. His intake officer had a female human, Sergeant Currahee. Currahee told him that his tests had shown that he had a superior reaction time and field of vision, but would need to work on his initiative in selecting targets. She asked him where he imagined himself in Imperial service and he amused himself with the idea of telling her his true reasons for being at the Academy before stating that he simply wanted to serve the Empire. Regarding the tactical issue, he suggested that he simply needed to learn to select targets better. She noted his leadership qualities and asked if serving as a stormtrooper would be beneath him, but he replied that he just wanted to do his part. She then moved on to the issue of his sister, stating that she had abandoned her Academy training. Keeping himself neutral, he simply asked if there had been any news about her because he and his family were worried. She asked him if he ever dreamed about her. He replied that he did, but they were "just dreams," wondering why she was asking. She said she was simply curious, then recommended him for the standard orientation and welcomed him to the Empire.

The Imperial Academy
During his time at the Imperial Academy, Leonis was pitted against fellow cadet Dev Morgan—who was really young Padawan Ezra Bridger working undercover for the Lothal rebels—in an obstacle course that required the two cadets to navigate floating platforms to reach a blaster pistol, the winner being the first to claim the pistol and use it to stun their opponent. Morgan seemed to possess incredible skill at predicting the location of the floating platforms and beat Leonis in the exercise. Leonis conceded the match with good sportsmanship, but vowed to himself to keep an eye on Morgan.

Leonis aided Bridger, one of the rebels, when Bridger arrived to rescue fellow cadet, Jai Kell, from the Inquisitor, who intended to take Kell prisoner. Bridger, Leonis, and Kell hijacked an All Terrain Defense Pod and fought their way out of the Academy, though Leonis stayed behind to find out what happened to his sister. While at the Academy, he became a spy for Bridger and the rebels by providing them with inside information about Imperial Command.

Maintaining the charade
Following the incident with Kell, Leonis was forced to walk an increasingly shaky tightrope as he tried to maintain his facade as a loyal Imperial cadet while seeking to advance his mission to rescue his sister from the clutches of the Empire. During a morning training sessions with his fellow cadets, his nemesis Nazhros Oleg expressed that he thought he was a "fraud" and that he didn't believe his story regarding what happened in the incident in which "Morgan" and Kell escaped. Though Leonis maintained a defiant front, Oleg swore that he would one day prove that he was lying.

Troubled by recent events, Leonis began experiencing nightmares regarding the possibility of discovery. In one such nightmare, he was awoken by Captain Roddance and brought directly before the Inquisitor, who questioned openly his claim that he knew his sister wasn't dead because he had always been able to sense her. He tested Leonis by ordering him to lift a cup using only the power of the Force, then called him a liar when he was not able to demonstrate such a skill. Leonis's nightmares were in some ways not far from reality, as that very morning it was announced that all cadets at the Academy for Young Imperials were to be questioned individually regarding recent treasonous events. Stories soon began to circulate throughout the Academy that such interviews were happening all over Lothal and that certain cadets had already confessed to treason and been taken away by stormtroopers. Leonis, however, dismissed all of these as rumors to his fellow cadets, but when he was again confronted directly by Oleg, the two fought. The incident was described as an "accident" by Leonis and his fellow cadets, but Lieutenant Currahee warned that any further such as "accidents" would result in a full investigation. After she left, Oleg warned Leonis that he needed to get his story straight, as his fellow cadets wouldn't be there when he was questioned.

The time eventually came for Leonis's questioning and he was relieved when he discovered that his questioning was to be handled by Lieutenant Chiron, as Chiron had always expressed a very favorable opinion of him at the Academy. Indeed, Chiron handled the questioning with a light touch and it seemed as though the session would proceed as little more than a formality when it was suddenly interrupted by Captain Roddance. Roddance insistently dismissed Chiron and then proceeded with a far more intense line of questioning, calling into suspicion everything Leonis's actions during the incident with "Morgan" and Kell to his behavior at the Junior Academy of Applied Sciences. Roddance described it as being very "convenient" that Leonis was connected to so many people apparently involved in seditious activity who couldn't be questioned, but was forced to let Leonis go, as he had no hard evidence. Before doing so, however, he forced him to participate in an exercise, one whose purpose he didn't understand. Leonis, however, understood it all too well, as in the exercise, he was shown a monitor with an image of a cup, a starship and a speeder. The screen was then turned around, and Roddance asked him to tell him what was now on the screen.

Not Much of a Break
Sometime not long after his interrogation session, Leonis had the opportunity to speak with his girlfriend, Merei Spanjaf, via comm. Both, however, knew that there was a strong chance that their conversation was being monitored by the Empire, thus neither could say the things they really wanted to say to each other. Leonis was startled by the deep bags under Spanjaf's eyes and how her hand shook as she reached for her datapad's screen. Both were limited to terse statements of facts, Leonis briefly relating the curious exercise that he had been made to undergo, as he felt it would seem suspicious to anyone listening in if he left it out. He signed off reassuring Spanjaf that it wouldn't be long until winter break.

It was indeed not long before Leonis found himself waking up with a start at 0545 in his own bed at home, relieved that there were no Imperial officers shouting at him. Instead, there was only the nanny droid Auntie Nags offering him a cup of hot chocolate, which he gratefully accepted. That morning, Leonis's father nattered on about the state of lawlessness on Lothal. When Leonis asked what they were doing that morning, his mother told him that they thought he'd want a day without being told what to do every single minute. Leonis pretended to agree to this, but secretly felt adrift without a schedule to keep. He decided later that morning to go on a morning run with Merei Spanjaf, but she was aghast to find him dressed for the cold morning in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts. As he ran while she kept pace alongside him on her jumpspeeder, he related to her a series of exercises and drills until she couldn't take it anymore, wondering if he was ever going to ask her what had been happening with her. He apologized and agreed, but then became panicked when he learned the truth of her recent activities: working with the Gray Syndicate in order to keep away suspicion regarding the snooper program she had used to dig up information on his sister, Dhara. He was upset that her efforts to help him had placed her in such great danger, but she was determined to see things through.

On the final day of his break, Leonis was relieved to have a chance to speak with his mother, Tepha, alone. A few blocks from a marketplace, both admitted to each other that they were worried. His mother's greatest fear was that her son would make it to Arkanis, only to end up disappearing just like her daughter. As Leonis reiterated that it was the only way, they observed a group of stormtroopers marching through the marketplace with a Faust in binders, also stopping to arrest an Ugnaught. Back at home, Mr. Leonis happily reported that the Empire was conducting a crackdown on dissent and sedition on Lothal, and that all military personnel were to be involved.

Imperial justice
Back at the Academy for Young Imperials, the cadets learned quickly that "all military personnel" included cadets of the Galactic Empire. Captain Roddance, dressed in field armor, informed them that there were to be no more training exercises for the foreseeable future. Their training was to instead be in the field, detecting and eliminating illegal activity, their performance measured by how many violations of Imperial law they uncovered. They were to work in pairs, each assigned to a grid of city blocks, to go door-and-door checking registrations and asking citizens about any illegal activities they may have observed. Even questioning the need for such activity was considered a violation of the law to be recorded and reported. While Oleg smiled at the news, Leonis had to fight to keep himself from throwing up on the spot. He was then dismayed to learn that his partner for the exercise was to be Oleg. Though both of them protested, Lieutenant Chiron told them that Roddance had requested the pairing personally. As the groups prepared to move out, Chiron held eye contact with Leonis, and Leonis knew that he was trying to give him a warning.

As the two started out on their mission, Leonis stated that he would take the lead, to which Oleg immediately objected. When he pointed out that somebody had to take lead, Oleg replied that they'd take turns. Leonis could think of no good counter for this and therefore grumpily agreed, but again tried to assert himself by saying that they should keep their faceplates raised so as not to scare people. Oleg again objected, stating that they would respect the face of the Empire, and lowered his faceplate. Leonis told him to have it his way and rang the buzzer of their first house. The woman inside told him that she was making breakfast and would have to come back later, then clicked off. Oleg sneered that Leonis was letting the woman treat him like a door-to-door salesman. He reached for the buzzer, but Leonis told him it was still his turn. He told the woman that she was required to answer by order of the governor. The woman, a Sullustan, came to the door, and he asked her if she knew of any illegal activities. She said it was a quiet block and her neighbors seemed like good people. Leonis thanked her for her time and let her head back inside.

Oleg asked him if he had finished being useless and the two moved on to their next house, where Oleg buzzed insistently and told the man who answered that he had sixty seconds to come outside. Upon his arrival, Oleg immediately asked if everyone in his family was registered with the Empire. He said that he was registered automatically, being a worker for Sienar Fleet Systems, but his wife and son hadn't gotten around to registering yet because they'd been working double shifts, but he had been told that there was a grace period for new residents. Oleg replied that the grace period was at the discretion of the authorities, which meant him. He said that he might allow him the grace period, if he gave him something, such as information on neighbors that had broken the law. When the man wasn't forthcoming, Oleg started to mime putting down "failure to register" on his datapad, resulting in the man giving him information on a bar down the street whose barrels of ebla didn't have tax stamps, delivered by a Dug who arrived at closing time. Oleg continued interrogating the man for a time, ending with a warning that the Empire would check up on his family's registrations. Afterwards, he turned smugly to Leonis, but Leonis was not impressed. He noted that the man was already a loyal citizen who spent his day helping the Empire build TIE fighters. He mocked Oleg's efforts, but Oleg reminded him that they were now to be judged on results, and he was already behind.

The two returned to the Academy, where Roddance praised their results, but noted that it seemed that Cadet Oleg deserved most of the credit. Leonis was startled, as he knew the only way that Roddance could have known this would be if Oleg was communicating with him privately. Oleg reported on how they had found a number of instances of evasion of customs taxes. Chiron commented that as these customs duties were new to Lothal, Governor Pryce had felt that education was a better approach than fines and arrests. Roddance asked if Chiron was condoning such violations and Chiron replied that he only hoped that Roddance would explain which violations of the law were most important to uncover. To this, Roddance replied that every violation was important and that there were no victimless crimes. Though Chiron nodded at this, Leonis could tell that he had been pushed to his breaking point. Meanwhile, as Leonis continued along Chiron's line of questioning, Roddance emphasized that the strength of the Empire was loyalty and that there would be "no allowances made for anything short of absolute loyalty to our Emperor and unquestioned devotion to our cause."

A transfer
The next day, Leonis decided to pay a visit in private to Lieutenant Chiron. He was growing increasingly troubled and felt he needed to talk with someone. When, however, he reached Chiron's office, he found that it seemed to be Chiron who wanted to talk with him. He told Leonis to come with him, saying that he had an answer to Leonis's question about troop-transport maintenance, but it was easier to simply show him. Upon reaching the plaza outside the Academy, however, Chiron felt that they were finally free to talk openly and asked Leonis about his day. Leonis explained that they had been made to take away children, the children of fugitives with warrants for their arrest. The children's were frightened and they had to arrest frantic guardians. Chiron assured him that he was as appalled as he was about the whole situation. He said that he was foolish that for challenging Captain Roddance the day before and that he was trying to protect him. He told Leonis that his transfer to Arkanis Academy had been approved and urged him to hang in just a little longer. Though still unsure, Leonis forced himself to look Chiron in the eye and nod.

Leonis felt guilty, as Chiron's efforts on his behalf were based on a lie, the lie that he was the perfect Imperial cadet. Furthermore, he was beginning to wonder if the suffering of innocents was justified by his quest to save his sister. As his time at the Imperial Academy continued, he found himself waiting with dread for an order that he would refuse to obey. Following Supply Master Lyste's investigation into the evasion of customs duties, the order was sure to come down any time to raid the warehouse, with Oleg in charge and Leonis ordered to assist. Although he didn't like it, he seemed nevertheless determined to get some satisfaction, needling Oleg about what a great service they were doing for the Empire, looking for tax stamps. Oleg replied that the only fair system was one in which the law was absolute, with neither fear nor favor. Leonis shot back that Captain Roddance couldn't have said it better himself, hoping to rattle Oleg by showing that he was aware that Roddance was monitoring their communications. They proceeded with their operation and found that, as suspected, none of the goods in the warehouse possessed the required tax stamps. Oleg ordered the arrest of everyone within, only to receive a sudden shock. Some of men within the warehouse were, in fact, his uncles. Upon seeing this, he said there was a mistake and ordered the stormtroopers to release them. Confused, they turned to Zare Leonis, who lowered his faceplate and issued an order of his own. He told them the men, having broken Imperial law, were to be taken into custody, and Oleg relieved of duty.

The morning after this, Leonis was shaken awake back at the Academy for Young Imperials, informed by Lieutenant Currahee that Captain Roddance wished to see him in his office immediately. Leonis arrived in the office, to find a wary-looking Roddance standing beside his desk and the Inquisitor standing behind it. He was immediately reminded of his nightmare. Roddance, after a brief glance at the Inquisitor, lectured that what happened the day before was a lesson in loyalty, a test that Oleg failed. Despite his dislike of Oleg, Leonis couldn't help but replying that he didn't know the truth about his uncles. Roddance replied that it didn't matter, as his uncles were a weakness, and one needed to purge oneself of all weaknesses to serve the Empire. Leonis asked if this included compassion. This got the Inquisitor's attention and he stated that compassion was the most insidious weakness of all, but that they weren't there to discuss that. What they were there to discuss was that Leonis's time at the Academy for Young Imperials was at an end, as he was being transferred to the Officers Academy on Arkanis, effective as soon as it could be processed. Leonis, stunned, managed to reply that he was honored to serve the Emperor. The Inquisitor asked who could doubt that commitment, but as he was forced to gaze into the Inquisitor's terrifying red eyes, Leonis sought desperately to make himself think of nothing. Following the meeting, Leonis spoke outside with Currahee, who informed him that he was being upgraded to a class three intel/courier clearance, something that he would need on Arkanis. Handing Leonis a code cylinder, she quipped that he shouldn't lose it, as "the replacement forms are a nightmare." As Leonis headed back to the barracks, he was bumped from behind by an astromech droid that he recognized as "Dev Morgan's droid." The droid was carrying a message asking Leonis to meet him outside that evening with any information he could provide about imminent Imperial actions, as the situation was life and death. Leonis was startled, and even more startled when he heard a voice calling his name from behind. It was Chiron, who told him to be at ease, as he hadn't meant to startled him. He asked about the droid, and Leonis lied that it had simply stopped him because he had dropped his code cylinder. Chiron congratulated him on his transfer, pleased that others had noticed what he had seen in him from the beginning. As the two parted, Leonis was simply glad that he would no longer have to lie to the one man at the Academy who'd always been kind to him.

The next morning, Leonis found himself alone in the barracks after enduring the good-natured taunts as well of congratulations of his classmates. As he was awaiting transfer, his lessons at Lothal's Academy for Young Imperials were over. He trained to convince himself that having passed the Empire's tests, his remaining concerns were simple paranoia. Leonis met with Ezra Bridger, the rebel he knew as "Dev Morgan", at sunset. Leonis informed Ezra that he had gained access with his new privileges, stating that Agent Kallus was preparing for a massive operation at the Old Republic Senate Building, though he assumed it was a drill. Bridger insisted it wasn't and turned to leave, but not before Leonis informed him about his transfer to the Arkanis Academy. Bridger then attempted to tell Leonis his real name, only to be interrupted by a squad of stormtroopers. Bridger was forced to bolt, elbowing Leonis in the chest to throw suspicion off him. He claim to the stormtroopers that he had caught the "loth-rat" selling black market goods. He joined in the chase, but Bridger escaped. Afterwards, Leonis caught sight of movement. A barrel fell over, and he was confronted by a wild-eyed Nazhros Oleg, wearing civilian clothes. He said that he seen Leonis with Morgan and was going to tell everyone. Leonis replied coldly that nobody would believe him and Oleg attacked. Leonis, however, won the fight and said that he had gotten what he wanted; "an Empire of blind obedience to the law, without fear or favor." He warned Oleg that he had no idea what he was capable of, but would find out if he ever saw him again. Oleg fleed and Leonis emerged from the alleyway where the scuffle had taken place, warning a stormtrooper commander that there were criminals everywhere in the marketplace and suggesting that they should run a full sweep.

Shortly following this, Leonis's girlfriend, Spanjaf, was surprised to receive a comm from him at a time that normally wouldn't be approved, very late in the evening. In the message, he informed her that he was being transferred to Arkanis, one step closer to their goal. He said he was sorry for messing up what they had, sorry that he hadn't expressed more appreciation for everything she had done for him. He promised that he would succeed in what they had worked for, no matter what it took, and signed off. Spanjaf, concerned, decided to risk logging on to the Empire's network using her forged ISB credentials and found a new notation in Leonis's file: "TRANSFER: IMMEDIATE TRANSFER TO ARKANIS APPROVED PER INQUISITOR'S ORDERS RE PROJECT HARVESTER AND MORGAN INVESTIGATION." At this, Spanjaf made a hasty exit from her home to the Leonis residence, where Leo Leonis was delighted at the news about his son's transfer. Tepha Leonis, however, knew something was amiss and got her coat to go for a walk with Spanjaf. Just steps away from the apartment, Spanjaf told her the grim truth: Leonis's transfer was no reward. Believing him to be connected to the rebels, they had sent him to Arkanis to break him. In the cold air, Tepha Leonis despaired. She had lost her daughter and her son was now gone as well.

Before traveling to Arkanis, Leonis was interrogated by Potalla, an imperial assessor looking into the Lothal insurgency and particularly the officers Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint, due to the repeated incidents at the academy, among other issues. She singled Leonis out for attention because of his involvement in the incident with the AT-DP. Maintaining his charade, Leonis prasied both Aresko and Grint as excellent officers who helped mold him into an outstanding cadet. She pressed him for details regarding the AT-DP incident, suggesting that if she didn't know better, she might believe that he was helping the rebels. He reiterated that he had been threatened and was taken by surprised, but did everything he could. Potalla was satisfied and revealed that she had never seriously suspected him of being a traitor, but rather wished to learn if he lived up to the glowing reports he had received. She called him a fine future officer and wished him well on Arkanis.

Arrival on Arkanis
Leonis was delivered to Arkanis on an Imperial shuttle by a grumpy pilot who was concerned with keeping his schedule. Upon arriving at Arkanis, he was greeted by a lightning storm and startled by the sudden appearance of a droid with feminine programmed called DDM-38. The droid took him to his dormitory, answering his questions along the way, such as about when the Academy was established and how prior to its founding, a native species had created a fortress on the planet. He spotted a stone tower, which the droid told him was forbidden to cadets. She also warned him to stay off the beach, as it was dangerous. She showed him his bunk and dormitory, ignoring his plea for her to turn off her light, which was disturbing the other cadets. He was told that breakfast was to be at 0600 and despaired, as it was already 0400 on the planet, but only late afternoon on Lothal. The unsympathetic droid told him only that "Officers deal with far worse hardships" and left.

Leonis took a moment to consider his situation, how he was there because the Empire had taken his sister, Dhara. He worried that it might be too late to save her, but then shored up his resolve, determined not to think that way. As he pulled on a t-shirt, he was greeted by a fellow cadet, Orman le Hivre. He apologized for waking everyone up, but the cadet shrugged it off, blaming it on the droid. He told Leonis to not bother drying to dry off, as it was always wet on the planet. Even when it wasn't storming, there was always drizzle or fog and sometimes sleet. He told him to get some sleep because it wouldn't do to die in the day's live-fire exercises. After a very brief rest, Leonis took porridge at breakfast and then tried to sit down at the same table as le Hivre in the mess hall, only to be told he couldn't sit there because he wasn't "one of them." Though they treated him nicely, he was forced to find somewhere else in embarrassment. He was summoned by a boy with read hair named Penn Zarang and sat with him, as well as the cadets Tigard Manes, Bedal Cerroux, Chan Harra and Anya Razar. They fell to discussing their homeworlds and during the discussion, Razar mentioned that she wouldn't be sitting at that table much longer, eyeing the table Leonis had been forced to abandon. Penn explained that the table was for a group known as the "Commandant's Cadets," but in order to join the group, you had to be invited and pass a mysterious test, one they didn't talk about. Razar cut him, saying that Penn would never know anything about it because he couldn't stay off academic warning.

Following this first breakfast, Leonis attended his first class at the academy, Strategy and Tactics with Colonel Julyan. Leonis quickly found the class to be more intense than anything he had experienced in Lothal's Academy for Young Imperials, but stimulating nevertheless, despite his exhaustion, until he remembered why it was that he was there. Even so, he found himself on the spot when Julyan asked him to recall his time as center-striker on the grav-ball team at the Junior Academy for Applied Sciences. Julyan wanted to know what Leonis had learned in that role that would make him a better Imperial officer and he replied that he had learned to improvise. When pressed on the question of why some would succeed while others would fail, he said that some of it was luck, but it was also the quality of the players in combination with the leadership shown. Julyan liked Leonis's answers and continued with an example of how what Leonis had said applied to the leadership of the Imperial General Romodi. As he did, Leonis noticed his fellow cadets' looks of respect and realized he had passed a test.

Deadly exercises
Leonis's training at the Arkanis Academy continued and he found himself, as part of one of these exercises, riding an unusual insect-like creature called a diplopod. He soon got the hang of it, though his compassionate side was repulsed by having to use an electro-prod to control the creature. For the exercise, his squad leader was Anya Razar, who told him not waste time on Xan Lanier, a fellow cadet who was generally regarded as the worst in the class. Leonis didn't like this idea, but again reminded himself of what he was there for. During the exercise, however, Lanier was killed by live fire, again with his dipolopod. To his shock, when he reported the incident, he was told that he was still showing "status green" and he should advance to the next objective. Then, after the exercise was completed, he was told that there would be no inquiry into the death of his fellow cadet, simply that the droid who had met upon arrival at the academy, "DeeDee," would let him know if more information was needed. That evening, Leonis discovered a group of cadets taking Razar to a secretive area known as "the tower." Razar told him it was alright, but he sensed an opportunity and tried to follow. He was shortly intercepted by Deedee, however, and told that he would be given demerits for being out of bed. The next morning, he arrived at breakfast to find Razar sitting at the table with the other Commandant's Cadets.

Leonis's demerits came with a punishment&mdash; to clean out the academy's diplopod stables. Other than this, however, the incident involving Lanier was not referred to again. He did, however, start paying closer attention to the Commandant's Cadets and noticed various interactions between them. He began to think of them as a cell, a sort of secret academy. During one of his classes, Julyan lectured about counterinsurgency operations, leading him to think of the rebels he had encountered, and wondering if it was it was really impossible to defeat the Empire. He also wondered if it might be possible only if you didn't know it was impossible. Following the afternoon's training exercises, the cadets were lined up for a special assembly. An important visitor was arriving at the academy, landing at a secret area known as Area Null. Leonis's fellow cadet, Penn, said that if you believed everything you heard, the Emperor himself had a throne room there. When Leonis asked if this was really, true, however, Penn froze up, saying it wasn't something they talked about. After the cadets assembled, the visitor was marched in by the droid, DeeDee, and it turned out to be the Inquisitor. Leonis wondered if the Inquisitor was there for him, or Dhara, but tried to remain calm, figuring it was possible it was for an entirely different reason. Then, however, the Inquisitor looked straight in his eyes, and DeeDee ordered him to join the Inquisitor on the commandant's balcony.

After some brief words of welcome, the Inquisitor came straight to the point, wanting to know why Leonis had tried to enter Area Null. He lied and said he was trying to help his fellow cadet, but the Inquisitor called him out for lying and asked if he had sensed something. Leonis decided to take a gamble, pretending again to be sensitive to the Force. He claimed that there was something in the tower that he was meant to find, but he didn't know what it was. The Inquisitor then asked him if Dev Morgan had ever mentioned the tower to him, or Project Harvester. Leonis again expressed befuddlement and the Inquisitor bared his teeth and advanced on him, but before things could go any further, DeeDee interrupted with a message, a priority encrypted communication from Lothal. The Inquisitor had to leave, but promised Leonis that he would soon capture Morgan and his companions and all would be revealed.

With the Inquistor gone, Leonis fell back into the rhythm of attending classes at the academy as he continued to search for ways to advance his agenda to help his sister. He continued to shine in classes such as Julyan's, hoping that his strong academic performance would attract the attention of the Commandant's Cadets. Three days after the Inquisitor had left, Penn asked him if he wanted to join him in Scaparus Port. Leonis hadn't heard of it before, and Penn explained that it was a couple of clicks up the coast and about the only place the cadets could go for any sort of fun. Leonis was wary, especially since being with Penn wasn't likely to advance his agenda, but agreed because Penn had been kind to him. They discussed their history, Penn explaining that he joined the Empire to try to protect people from things like pirates and slavers.

Personality and traits
"All I ever wanted was to be a servant of the Empire&mdash;to make the galaxy a better place. But then I saw the Empire for what it really was."

- Zare Leonis

Leonis was a teenage human male. Born and raised in a family that served the Galactic Empire, he was raised on the idea of Imperial loyalty from an early age. While it was always expected that he would attend Imperial Academy and serve the Empire, events on Lothal and the disappearance of his sister forced him re-examine his worldview. Leonis possessed strong leadership qualities and a strong sense of justice. He was well-built and physically fit, able to excel in the sport of grav-ball and later during training at Lothal's Academy for Young Imperials. Despite his many talents, Leonis was not Force-sensitive like his sister. He did not possess his sister's talent that would have allowed him to sense his sister's presence, like she was able to do with him. Leonis possessed a shrewd sense of judgment and secrecy, able to mask his true intentions at the Academy from many. Leonis was tenacious and willing to face tough odds to achieve his goals. If at all possible, he would continue fighting even when it seemed like all might be lost, using his wits and the strengths of those around him to overcome adversity. If necessary, he was willing to die for what he believed in, but not before speaking his piece.

Appearances

 * Servants of the Empire: Edge of the Galaxy
 * Servants of the Empire: Rebel in the Ranks
 * Servants of the Empire: Imperial Justice
 * Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy
 * Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy
 * Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy
 * Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy