Vestara Khai

"Praise circumstances for the time of your birth, young one. For you will know the honor and responsibilities and delights of being among the first in five millennia to leave Kesh&hellip;and rejoin our brethren, from whom we have been separated for so very long, to take your place in ruling a Sith galaxy."

- Olaris Rhea, upon the hour of Vestara Khai's apprenticeship

Vestara Khai, nicknamed Ves, was a Human female Sith apprentice and the daughter of Sith Saber, Gavar Khai, in the time following the Second Galactic Civil War. Her mother was a non–Force-sensitive woman named Lahka Khai. Vestara was part of the Lost Tribe of Sith, as the apprentice of Lady Olaris Rhea, on the remote planet of Kesh. She was good friends with Keshiri Sith, Ahri Raas.

Early life
In the beginning of her apprenticeship, she received the scar on her face in a training exercise against four rutaros. In 37.5 ABY, ten-year-old Vestara participated in a competition to obtain an uvak. She was successful in that endeavor and named her uvak Tikk.

Under "Ship" guidance
In 41 ABY, Vestara was a 14-year-old Sith Tyro. One day while sparring with her Keshiri friend Ahri Raas, she sensed the approach of Ship, who had flown to Kesh. Ship sensed Vestara's desire to become a Sith Master and offered to teach her. Since Vestara's was the first mind that Ship touched when it came to Kesh, she was summoned before the Circle of Lords, the ruling Sith council. There she was apprenticed to Sith Lady Olaris Rhea, and began her training in the Sith Temple. It was during this time that Vestara also learned that the Sith in the rest of the galaxy had been nearly exterminated and that the Jedi had grown numerous.

Under Ship's guidance, Vestara and other Sith began traveling beyond Kesh to capture other ships and form a Sith armada. Over time, she went from being an innocent who never even inflicted a serious injury on anyone to a skilled killer. During these travels, a battleship was captured and renamed Eternal Crusader, which Lady Rhea would command and on which Vestara would serve.

Strike Team member
Two years later, in 43.5 ABY, Vestara was one of the Sith who felt Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's power in the Force, the result of an Aing-Tii artifact Luke had touched. Vestara was made a member of a small elite strike force that would seek out and eliminate Luke Skywalker, after being taught much about him by Ship. Before it could deploy, the strike team's mission had to be changed to seek and recover Ship, which had departed Kesh without warning.

Using her connection to Ship, Vestara led the crew of the Eternal Crusader to a planet deep within the Maw. There Vestara and the Sith encountered a strange and powerful being named Abeloth. While Abeloth appeared as a beautiful woman to the others, Vestara could perceive Abeloth's true form. Despite attempts to convince her fellow Sith of Abeloth's true nature, Vestara could only watch as most of the crew were killed off.

Vestara survived and along with the other surviving Sith, traveled to another part of the Maw under orders from Abeloth to capture Luke Skywalker and his son Ben. Vestara and the Sith arrived at Sinkhole Station and attempted to ambush the Jedi, but most perished until only Vestara and her Master Lady Rhea remained.

At one point during the Skirmish at Sinkhole Station, Vestara dueled Luke in single combat and managed to slice open a large gash on his cheek before being incapacitated. As Luke used this opportunity to mark Vestara with a blood trail, it is possible that Luke allowed himself to be cut by Vestara.

Vestara and Lady Rhea later battled the Jedi Grand Master inside a large elevator and down into a shuttle hangar. During a moment of distraction, Luke decapitated Vestara's master and, recognizing she was alone, Vestara saluted the Jedi and fled.

On Dathomir
"I will only lie. That or tell the truth."

- Vestara Khai to Ben Skywalker

Vestara managed to locate an abandoned space yacht on the space station and used it to flee the Maw. Convinced that the Jedi would attempt to locate the Lost Tribe by following her, Vestara sought to hide her presence on a world with a large concentration of Force-sensitives. There she could send a secure message back to Kesh and warn the Sith. The planet she ultimately chose was Dathomir, a planet rich with the dark side.

Vestara joined the Raining Leaves Clan to protect herself from the Skywalkers, who had followed her to the planet. Vestara spoke with Luke Skywalker and told him she had left her tribe. Ben Skywalker was instantly suspicious and accused her of lying, and Khai, in an attempt to raise anger in Skywalker, brought up his dead cousin Jacen Solo. Ben flared up again, and was admonished by his father. The Raining Leaves Tribe had seen enough, and forced the Jedi to back off, as they had adopted Vestara into their tribe.

The following morning Vestara had another conversation with Ben Skywalker, in which she continued to frustrate the young Jedi by dodging his questions. Eventually it became apparent that the Nightsisters were trying to prevent an alliance between the Raining Leaves, and a tribe of former male slaves called the Broken Columns Clan. The Nightsisters attacked the two tribes with rancors and their dark powers many times over several days. In one such battle Vestara stole Ben Skywalker's lightsaber and used it to save Luke Skywalker's life from some attacking Nightsisters. Ben thanked Vestara but this act made him more suspicious then ever.

Later Vestara showed that she was still very much with her tribe when she betrayed the Nightsisters she had secretly been allied with. She called in reinforcements from the Sith and they sent Keshiri Sith Lord Viun Gaalan to retrieve Vestara. He and his aides quickly defeated and subdued the remaining Nightsisters. It was around this time that the Jedi learned of Vestara's treachery and they engaged the Sith landing party. Vestara moved to join the battle but by the time she arrived the entire landing party was dead except for Gaalan himself. He back flipped into his ship and left Vestara which forced her to surrender to the Jedi.

Alliance with the Skywalkers
"You are attracted to the Skywalker boy."

- Gavar to Vestara regarding Ben Skywalker

Later, Vestara summoned an entire fleet of Sith warships to assist her as she was held prisoner by the Skywalkers. However, due to the dark threat posed by Abeloth, the Tribe proposed an alliance between them and their targets. The Skywalkers agreed, and Vestara was forced to work with her Master's killers.

During the Skywalker-Lost Tribe alliance, Vestara remained on the Jade Shadow at the insistence of Luke Skywalker to act as a shield against Sith treachery. Throughout her time on the ship, she engaged in flirtatious behavior with Ben, to glean information. After receiving a request, Luke allowed her a visit from her father, Sith Saber Gavar Khai, as a concession that perhaps there was familial love among Vestara's Sith as well as to glean what more information that he could about these new Sith. During a private conversation with her father, spoken in the Keshiri language so the Skywalkers would not understand as they eavesdropped, Vestara provided her father with a layout of the Shadow, accepted a weapon he had smuggled on board for her and reluctantly admitted to a growing attraction to Ben Skywalker. She was at first embarrassed and ashamed of her feelings, but Gavar strongly encouraged them. He surmised that if she actually felt something genuine, then Ben would be able to pick up on it in the Force and thus start to let down his guard with her. At the least, she would obtain valuable information from him and at best she might possibly turn him to the dark side. Vestara felt a rush of excitement at the thought of Ben becoming a Sith, knowing that he would one day be as powerful as his father, and briefly fantasized about what they could become together. Her father stated that he was proud of all that she had accomplished so far, and knew that she would not fail him in this.

After this, it was decided by Luke and High Lord Sarasu Taalon that they would wait for the assistance of Lando Calrissian in navigating the Maw. The Sith Fleet and the Jade Shadow would wait at the planet Klatooine home of the Fountain of Ancients. There, Luke allowed Ben and Vestara to go to the surface of the planet to get supplies under the supervision of Dyon Stadd. Having lived a sheltered life, she was awed by the diversity of activity on the planet and continued her flirtatious behavior which Ben reciprocated. However, she avoided any conflicts of ideologies to not upset even to the point of forcing herself to choke. They were interrupted when Stadd was inflicted with Force Psychosis and was headed to disturb the forbidden one kilometer perimeter around the Fountain. Vestara and Ben pursued him and Vestara, seemingly influenced by Ben, saved Stadd's life rather than letting him die. They were all arrested and sent to a Klatoonian prison. There, Ben and Vestara bonded on a genuine level, talking about their families and Vestara even admitted that there was love in her family. They spent the rest of time in prison with Ben telling her jokes and explaining things that were common throughout the galaxy. Hearing her laughter and knowing that she had saved Stadd, her father was very angry with her when he came to free her from prison. However, she was cleverly able to remedy the situation. They discovered her relationship with Ben and his hopes of turning her to the Light side of the Force. The simplicity and innocence of their relationship was revealed when Gavar asked her if she had "bedded" Ben yet. However, her relationship with Ben would be strained afterwards, with him acting cold towards her. Unknown to her, Ben had seen the translated conversation between her and her father. She admitted that his coldness troubled her. She assisted them as they jumped into the Maw and discovered that Sinkhole Station had been destroyed and Abeloth's presence was missing. She then revealed to them more of her encounter with Abeloth, including her changing nature.

When they arrived at Abeloth's planet, they discovered that Ship was unhappy serving Abeloth. She then was sent to check on Dyon. She was able to play on his paranoia and convince him that the Sith were good and the Jedi were evil. She also agreed to free him so that she could follow him to Abeloth. When they landed on the planet, Luke convinced a few Sith, including Vestara's father to Mind Walk with him. Vestara was wary of this, but used it to her advantage as she let Dyon escape during this time with a tracking device. When Luke returned, they and a few Sith followed him into the same cave where she had first encountered Abeloth. They found Dyon who had been cured of his psychosis. They then followed Abeloth and engaged her in combat. In a ploy to distract Ben, Abeloth attacked Vestara. Vestara used her injury to distract Ben as the rest of the Sith betrayed Luke, including her father. However, Luke was able to kill Abeloth and afterwards Vestara was kept on the Shadow to be treated for her injuries and still as a means to keep the Sith in line.

Personality and traits
"She's the conversational equivalent of a monkey-lizard on too much caf. Here, there, everywhere, and it's impossible to pin down."

- Ben Skywalker, speaking of Vestara's skills in deception

Vestara possessed all the desired physical qualities of a Sith save for a small scar on her lip, which in her society was considered a degrading flaw. However, Lady Rhea told her that she believed the scar was beneficial, giving her the appearance of a constant smirk. Vestara was extremely cunning, and was able to perceive Xal's true motives without the betrayal being mentioned by Raas or Lady Rhea. However, she did seem to have a softer side, as evidenced by the compassion shown for her uvak, Tikk. Ben observed that she is similar to Tahiri, that though she chose the dark side there was good in her.

Powers and abilities
"I am Vestara Khai, daughter of a proud heritage. I have what is necessary to command the dark side and bend it to my will. To use it for the good of the Tribe, and the People."

- Vestara

Vestara possessed a red-bladed lightsaber, the traditional weapon of the Sith, which contained at its core a Lignan crystal. She also carried a Parang, and a Shikkar, which she used to kill Yuvar Xal during the fight on Sinkhole Station. During her stay on Dathomir she demonstrated considerable speed and grace with a lightsaber that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker noted would have been worthy of a Jedi Knight. Master Skywalker also comprehended Vestara’s remarkable potential, due to her exceptionally strong connection to the Force. On Klatooine, the Sith apprentice demonstrated the ability to levitate a speeder over quite a distance with a simple gesture, much to the shock of Ben Skywalker. In addition, she was able to use Force lightning to incapacitate two Klatooinian guards.

She was also said to be perfectly ambidextrous.

Behind the scenes
Vestara Khai was introduced in the Fate of the Jedi series. She appeared on the front cover of Fate of the Jedi: Omen.

Appearances

 * Imprint
 * Omen
 * Abyss
 * Backlash
 * Allies