Sedriss QL

Sedriss QL, born Qaga Lok, was Dark Side Adept and Military Executor to Emperor Palpatine in 10 ABY. He renamed himself "Sedriss" after joining Palpatine, only keeping the initials of his original name.

Early service
Sedriss was a part of an elite cadre, the Dark Side Elite&mdash;seven warriors empowered with the dark side of the Force by Emperor Palpatine himself. Sedriss held the title and rank of Executor, which meant that he was in total command of the Galactic Empire's armed forces. Sedriss was personally armed with a lightsaber.

Qaga Lok, a distant descendant of the Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, was originally a mercenary hired by Imperial Intelligence. However, his insubordination and killing of a few agents led Intelligence to slate him for execution. The Inquisitorius discovered that he was Force-sensitive, and halted the order. Lok was brought before Emperor Palpatine, who made him a deal&mdash;if Lok could kill him, he was free to go, but if Lok admitted defeat, he would have to serve the Emperor for the rest of his life. Lok eagerly agreed&mdash;then immediately collapsed to the floor, as Palpatine had used the Force to crush his ribs. Lok yielded, but Palpatine continued. Only when Lok begged to serve the Emperor did the Dark Lord of the Sith let go. When Lok could stand up, he bowed before Palpatine. Abandoning his birth name, Qaga Lok became Sedriss, instrument of the Dark Lord. The Emperor sent Sedriss to Byss, where he helped Palpatine regain his strength after the Battle of Endor.

Balmorra
"Beltane&mdash;our troops will land at once to accept your surrender."

- Sedriss QL

When Palpatine died yet again at the Battle of Pinnacle Base, Sedriss, commanding the Dark Side Elite, took over the running of Operation Shadow Hand, and launched a series of strikes against worlds close to the Core Worlds. One such action attracted Sedriss' personal attention&mdash;the disciplining of Balmorra, a world located on the fringes of the Core Worlds. Balmorra was where the Empire's All Terrain Scout Transports had been manufactured, and with the news of Palpatine's death at Pinnacle Base, Governor Beltane, the planet's leader, had begun arming the New Republic. With fellow Dark Side Elite members Vill Goir and Krdys Mordi at his side, Sedriss traveled to Balmorra on the destroyer Avenger. Upon arrival, Goir had the ship and its accompanying fleet hold its fire, and deploy troops for ground assault.

On the Avenger ' s viewscreen, Sedriss was directly contacted by Beltane, who demanded to know what the Executor meant in bringing a fleet to Balmorra. Sedriss, however, saw through Beltane's facade, and gave the governor the opportunity to surrender his operations and be executed. If Beltane would not comply, Sedriss claimed he would attack Balmorra. The governor retorted, claiming that he was still providing the Empire with their most advanced armor. Mordi reminded Sedriss that Balmorra was now producing the cutting edge in battle droids&mdash;the SD-10. The Executor was aware of this, however, and he was confident that the power of the dark side would allow the Imperials to overcome any resistance Beltane could offer. As the Executor landed his troops, he informed Beltane that he would accept the governor's surrender. Beltane refused, however, as he relished the chance to fight off an Imperial invasion with his new war droids.

Sedriss had his forces move into the plains around Balmorra's capital, Bin Prime, in the hopes of luring out the governor's forces. As the Executor predicted, Beltane deployed his SD-10 battle droids. Sedriss' stormtroopers forces were slaughtered by the thousands, and his year-old SD-9 battle droids were easily outflanked by the newer models. Satisfied that Beltane had deployed his full strength, Sedriss had Mordi give the order for the Imperial troops to pull back. The Avenger was carrying a complement of a new type of starfighter, the Shadow Droid, devised by one of Palpatine's top engineers, Umak Leth. Sedriss deployed the fighters, and sent them down to Balmorra, where they decimated the SD-10s. The governor was not beaten yet, though, and he deployed a brand new type of war droid, unknown to the forces of the Empire: the X-1 Viper.

Sedriss was surprised at the turn of events, and demanded that he be put back in contact with Beltane. Although the Executor could have turned his fleet's guns on Balmorra, he chose to admit that Beltane had one the battle on the planet surface, and inquired as to what the governor wanted in exchange for the X-1. Beltane wanted Balmorra's freedom, and claimed that he Galactic Empire could simply buy the munitions from the planet on a contract basis, provided he agreed to the contract. Sedriss was outraged, claiming that he Emperor did not buy weapons from free planets, but Beltane retorted, reminding the Executor that Palpatine was dead. Conceding the point, Sedriss prepared to send down representatives to the planet to negotiate terms. Goir and Mordi wanted to have the planet leveled, but Sedriss refused, as he needed Beltane's weapons as soon as possible. He explained, though, that once he had the war droids and the men who designed them, he would destroy Balmorra.

Return of the Emperor
Meanwhile, back at the Emperor's Citadel on Byss, rumours had begun to circulate amongst the Dark Side Adepts that Palpatine would not take on another clone body. The same adepts that had spread the rumors suggested that Sedriss should be executed for his failure to subjugate Balmorra. Sedriss and five other members of the Dark Side Elite raced back to Byss in their I-7 Howlrunner. Landing at the Emperor's Citadel, Sedriss entered the Emperor's cloning laboratory, to find all of Palpatine's clone bodies destroyed. Present were the perpretrators&mdash;adepts Nefta and Sa-Di. Nefta immediately confronted Sedriss about his failure at Balmorra, and the two adepts attempted to justify their destruction of the clone bodies. The Executor, however, would hear none of it, and quickly engaged Nefta in a duel. In no time, he had already struck the adept down, before slaying Sa-Di.

Sedriss later found them destroying the remaining clones of the Emperor, and cut both down with his lightsaber. At that moment, Palpatine entered the room in another young clone body, and Sedriss bowed and re-pledged his commitment to him.

Death on Ossus
Later, Sedriss sent a Hunter-Killer probot to kill Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar when they landed on the planet Ossus, but was warned by the Emperor to capture them alive himself. He and fellow Dark Jedi Vill Goir attempted to defeat the Ysanna natives, but their armies were defeated. Goir was almost instantly killed by Kam, and Sedriss was hurled backwards by a Force push from Luke.

He grabbed a Ysanna native named Jem, and held her hostage against a tree. However, this "tree" was actually a stationary Jedi Master named Ood Bnar. Bnar stopped Sedriss by using the Force to gather strength from Ossus's core, while Sedriss called out power from electricity in the atmosphere. The two combatants annihilated each other.

He was later replaced as Executor by Xecr Nist.

Personality and traits
"One of the subtleties of military art is using your enemy's resources to defeat him."

- Sedriss QL

Sedriss was pragmatic enough to not resort to total destruction of a valuable world such as Balmorra&mdash;although he disliked Governor Beltane, he realized that it would not be practical to have the planet bombarded, as many useful and valuable factories would be obliterated. Although Sedriss was irate at Beltane's victory in their initial engagement, the Executor saw men like the Governor to be insignificant, compared to adversaries such as Luke Skywalker.

The Executor was confident that the power of the dark side of the Force would aid him in battle, and that it would overcome and superior weaponry he and his fellow Dark Side Elite encountered. He also credited the dark side with his superior combat abilities when dueling the Dark Side Adept Nefta. When in battle, Sedriss would not hesitate to strike down an opponent, even if they were not prepared to defend themselves.

Sedriss commanded what he thought to be considerable foresight as a military commander, and he was willing to sacrifice the lives of his men if it meant he would capture a valuable world such as Balmorra with its facilities intact. When faced with an eventuality he did not prepare for, though, Sedriss did not retailate in rage, and instead chose to negotiate with Governor Beltane.

Powers and abilities
"What's the matter, Nefta&mdash;is your magic of no use to you against a dark side warrior?"

- Sedriss

Sedriss was skilled in the use of a lightsaber, as he quickly out-fenced Nefta, and deftly killed Sa-Di shortly thereafter.

Behind the scenes
In the audio drama version of Dark Empire II, Sedriss was voiced by Jim Ward.

Appearances

 * Dark Empire II
 * Star Wars: Dark Empire audio drama