Hyobu Sulloran

Hyobu Sulloran was one of many Force-sensitives captured for Emperor Palpatine to be trained as a Dark Jedi.

Born a simple farmer to loving, old-fashioned parents much the same as Luke Skywalker had been, Sulloran was a restless person full of wild stories and images of space travel. Although in time he would have inherited his family's farm and settled down just as his ancestors had done, taking a simple but honest life full or pride and strong values, he wanted none of that. During his childhood he would sneak off to a nearby spaceport and listen to the cargo traders and alien merchants talk about the adventures they had had. However, when he was 18 he decided that he wanted to be a romantic adventurer and travel to distant star systems making vast fortunes. He became desperate, ready to do anything he had to to get off his homeworld even if it meant stowing away on another spaceship.

Unfortunately for him, his parents objected to this as Hyobu was their only child and sole heir to the estate. Because more than five hundred years of tradition rested on Hyobu's shoulders his parents first demanded, then pleaded for him to stay. This had no effect on Hyobu, however, as nothing could stop him from wanting to leave which they soon realized. Eventually they concluded that it would be best to let their son roam the Galaxy for a while so that he could discover himself. They reasoned that he would mature enough in this time, come to his senses and return to them. Hyobu agreed to this, promising that he would come back in a few seasons, though he in fact had no intention to honor his word.

Years passed and Sulloran educated himself on how to be a space merchant. He happened upon a Sullustan mentor by the name of Gybellom Osa, a trader with a coarse personality and a heart of gold. The two of them travelled together for some time, making many profits and encountering things most human and Sullustan eyes would not usually see. Hyobu was happy with this life and content for the first time he could remember. Though he was content to travel with Osa, he had his own plans of buying his own ship one day. He had vowed that a day would come when he would have the power to decide his own destiny; a day that unfortunately never came.

While the two friends were on a routine cargo run, their ship was stopped by an Imperial Star Destroyer for a standard customs inspection. Though the Imperials were very thorough in their search, they found nothing incriminating on the ship. They were about to let the ship leave when the officer conducting the search received a message on his comlink. They immediately arrested Sulloran without informing them why and threw him in the brig. Though Gybellom was left on his ship, he was not so lucky as a volley of blaster fire soon destroyed the ship completely.

When he awoke in his cell he was met with an extremely intimidating figure; Darth Vader. Vader named Sulloran his new apprentice, claiming that he had felt Sulloran's presence ever since he left his homeworld. And so Sulloran's first lesson in obediance began. Although Sulloran struggled valiantly, Vader was simply too powerful for him. Soon Sulloran became enslaved to the Dark Side of the Force, one of many Dark Jedi in service to the Galactic Empire. After months of basic training and much brainwashing, Vader presented his prize to his own master, Emperor Palpatine.

Although Palpatine was most impressed and wished to continue Sulloran's training, other matters had deteriorated for the Empire which required his attention; the Rebellion was growing stronger by the day, Luke Skywalker was becoming a serious threat and the second Death Star was demanding more and more of both Palpatine and Vader's precious time. Before any more Dark Jedi could be trained, these problems would have to be resolved and so Sulloran continued to be contained and managed until the Rebellion had been crushed and Skywalker was either converted or killed.

And so Sulloran was sent to an Imperial training facility to be "conditioned" and transformed into an efficient killing machine. This conditioning gave him the skills, power, and indeed ambition to become just what Palpatine had wanted him to become; a loyal soldier, another destiny which never came to be. The battle of Endor and the effective end of the Empire also ended Sulloran's imprisonment. Because there was nobody to stop him, Sulloran used his growing Force powers to escape. Though he was physically free, the Dark Side had taken an unbreakable grip on Sulloran's soul. No longer the curious explorer he had once been, he had now become a mechanical, cynical, evil person who simply wanted power and control just as his former masters had wanted. He also wanted revenge against those who had both wronged and tormented him. The Dark Side latched onto these feelings, slowly sucking his soul dry.

By the time the growing New Republic learned of him, Sulloran was "empire building", always looking for aspiring Force talent to form a Dark Jedi cult which made a lot of powerful people nervous. The Republic put a bounty of 70,000 credits up for the capture of Sulloran, one which many bounty hunters tried and failed to receive; Sulloran proved to be a very difficult acquisition as his connections and mental powers made him very difficult to reach, not to mention the fact that he had developed his own Force power in order to hide: Alter Image. He also rarely stayed in any one place for 24 hours, meaning that when he had been found he would generally have left by the time the hunters arrived.

Though the dangers of joining his group of thugs were numerous, the pay was steady and morale was high, especially when Sulloran was around. However, whenever a member of the group made a mistake, the full force of Sulloran's Dark Side abilities would be brought upon them. Because he was also offering training in the Force, Force-sensitives with a darker nature tended to find his purpose appealing. He was once known to have sent his goons to kidnap the brightest children of a small community, children who were in fact Force-sensitive, which caused the community to call for outside help. Though these simple people could not offer much of a reward, the group agreed to do it simply for their gratitude and thanks.

Airen Cracken himself left a note on Sulloran's bounty, stating that he thought Sulloran could perhaps be reformed. He wished Sulloran to be captured quickly as, if left alone, his power would rival that of even Jabba the Hutt.