Ahri Raas

"And you get distracted far too easily. Focus, Ahri, focus."'' "It's just training, Ves." "It's never'' just training."

- Khai and Raas

Arhi Raas was a Force-sensitive male Keshiri from the planet of Kesh. He was a Tyro in the Lost Tribe of Sith, and trained with the Tribe around the time of the Second Galactic Civil War. After taking part in a competition to win an uvak, he befriended fellow Tyro Vestara Khai. Raas and Khai were present when the Tribe first encountered Ship, a Sith Meditation Sphere, in 41 ABY. In 43.5 ABY, shortly after Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker's presence was felt by the Tribe, Ship abruptly left Kesh. By this time, Raas had been apprenticed to Sith Master Yuvar Xal.

Raas and Xal were chosen to be members of the strike team sent to recover Ship and kill Skywalker. Aboard the Eternal Crusader, they tracked Ship to a planet in the Maw, where they met Abeloth, a strange woman who befriended the Sith and helped protect them from the planet's deadly plant-life. Still, the strike team suffered heavy losses, and Xal began planning to initiate a coup against Rhea, using Raas' friendship with Khai to glean information that could prove useful to the betrayal. Before the betrayal could be executed, however, Ship finally returned to the Sith and took them off-planet. Raas and the team were transported to Sinkhole Station, a space station in th Maw, to ambush Skywalker and his son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker. Xal, however, had given Raas strict orders to betray and kill Khai as part of his coup to take over the strike team from Rhea's command. When Khai threw her grenades at the Skywalkers, Raas, pushed them back at her. Rhea, however, had anticipated this betrayal and had given her apprentice false grenades to throw first. As Raas attempted to apprehend one of the Skywalkers, Khai killed Xal with her shikkar. Raas, distracted by Xal's cry of surprise and pain, was quickly killed by the lightsaber strike of the Skywalker he was attempting to subdue.

Early life
"Ves, that's&hellip;is that a ship?"

- Raas, upon first seeing a Sith Meditation Sphere

Ahri Raas was a male Force-sensitive Keshiri and Sith Tyro. He trained with the Lost Tribe of Sith&mdash;descendants of a group of Sith whose starship, the Omen, had crash-landed on the planet of Kesh around 5,000 BBY, while attempting to transport Lignan crystals to Sith Lord Naga Sadow during the Great Hyperspace War. Raas, who was a member of the planet's native species rather than a direct descendant of the surviving Sith, was born on Kesh around 27 ABY.

Raas began training with the Tribe in the ways of the Sith, and, in 37 ABY, he took place in a competition held among the youth of the Tribe to obtain a personal uvak&mdash;winged reptillian creatures native to Kesh&mdash;by imposing their will on unhatched creatures through the dark side of the Force so that it would "imprint" upon the competitor. Raas and the Human Tyro Vestara Khai picked the same uvak, and, after a battle of wills, Khai eventually won. Raas later became a close friend of Khai, whom he often trained with in lightsaber combat.

In 41 ABY, after one such training session, they saw a ship fly over them, toward the ruins of the Omen&mdash;which had become known as the Ship of Destiny&mdash;in the Sith Temple. Khai called her uvak, Tikk, and she and Raas took the creature to find the ship. They found the spherical vessel in the middle of the Temple courtyard, where many Sith had already gathered, and the ship began to speak to Khai through the Force. The Tribe, having finally acquired a way to leave the planet, began to use the ship to attack and capture starships to form an armada. In 43.5 ABY, Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker touched an Aing-Tii relic, the Codex, sending out a call through the Force which alerted the Tribe to the threat he presented. Shortly afterwards, Ship abruptly departed the planet of Kesh. By that time, Raas had been taken as an apprentice under the Sith Master Yuvar Xal.

Strike team
Xal and Raas were chosen to be a part of the strike team whose task was to recover Ship and return it to Kesh, and hunt down and kill Skywalker. When the team, aboard the warship Eternal Crusader, tracked Ship to a planet in the Maw, Raas and Xal were chosen by the strike team's leader, Lady Olaris Rhea, to be a part of the search party sent down to the planet to find Ship. On the planet they met Abeloth, a powerful being who pretended to help the Tribe, while actually sabotaging their efforts to escape with Ship. Meanwhile, Raas was tasked by Xal with getting closer to Khai and gaining her trust in order to stage a coup against Rhea, so Xal could take over the strike team's leadership.

As the search continued without success, Rhea finally decided that they should just leave without Ship, and Xal decided that it was time to execute his coup. Before either of these could happen, however, the Meditation Sphere suddenly reappeared. As the search party took up pursuit, Rhea was attacked by a siphon reed and pulled into a whirlpool. Khai jumped in to save her master, and as they resurfaced, Raas grasped them in the Force to bring them safely to shore. The search went on fruitlessly, and several more Sith arrived on shuttles from the Eternal Crusader to join the search party until there were no crew members left aboard the ship. Eventually, however, Abeloth discovered Skywalkers location, and allowed Ship to return to the Sith. The strike team left to kill Luke Skywalker and his son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, in Sinkhole Station, a space station in the Maw. There, Raas, Xal, Khai, and Sith Saber Baad Walusari were set up at a juntion in the station which the Skywalkers would have to pass in order to get to their ship in the station's hangar. They were commanded to ambush the Skywalkers with grenades, but Raas was ordered by Xal to betray his friend and push her grenades back at her when she threw them at the Skywalkers. When the Skywalkers arrived on the scene after escaping from their first confrontation with members of the strike team, Khai and Walusari threw their grenades at them, and Raas and Xal quickly pushed the explosives back at them as they threw their own stun grenades. Rhea, however, had expected treachery, and had provided Khai with fake grenades. Meanwhile, one of the Skywalkers pretended to have been knocked unconscious, and Raas prepared to restrain him. Upset by her friend's betrayal, Khai threw her shikkar at Xal, killing him. Raas was distracted by his master's cry of shock and anguish, and was quickly sliced down the spine by the lightsaber of the Skywalker he had been attempting to subdue.

Personality and traits
"Ves, you all right?"

- Ahri Raas

Ahri Raas had a somewhat relaxed outlook on life, and was not as competitive or ambitious as his friend, Vestara Khai. He was also rather compassionate, and cared deeply about Khai; however, Khai shared no romantic feelings for him. He wasn't afraid to speak out among higher-ranking Sith, as he offered his theory to Rhea as to why Ship was allowing only Khai to trick it. Later, Raas was troubled by Xal's orders to gain Khai's trust in order to betray her. However, he was loyal to his master, and carried out his commands, betraying Khai and attempting to kill her when the time came.

Powers and abilities
"Blast. you're getting good, Ahri."'' ''"I'd say the same about you, Ves, except for the fact that that sand-jump messes you up every single ti&mdash;"

- Khai and Raas, during a training session

Raas often trained in lightsaber combat and frequently and effectively used telekinesis techniques. He was not as accomplished in these areas as Khai, however, and he lacked the necessary focus, causing him to fall prey to Khai's use of Dun Möch. During the battle with the Skywalkers, he and his master underestimated the Jedi, believing incorrectly that stun grenades could incapacitate them. Raas was distracted by Xal's cry of pain as he was killed, resulting in his own death.

Behind the scenes
Ahri Raas was created as a minor character by author Christie Golden for Omen, her debut Star Wars novel and the second novel in the nine-part Fate of the Jedi series.

Appearances

 * Imprint
 * Omen
 * Abyss