Rahm Kota

"According to Imperial records, Master Rahm Kota was a respected general in the Clone Wars."

- PROXY

Rahm Kota was a Human male who served as a Jedi Master and General during the Clone Wars. Born on a war-torn world, Kota fought in the trenches during the planet's internal conflicts from the age of ten. At the age of eighteen, Kota met the Jedi Mace Windu, who had been dispatched to the planet to end the conflict peacefully. Discovering Kota's Force-sensitivity, Windu took Kota back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi. Despite being well over the traditional age of acceptance, Kota was schooled in the Force by Master Yoda. His forthright and blunt nature earned him few friends in the Order during his training, but Kota's courage and loyalty to the Jedi and the Republic were without question. He took Falon Grey as his Padawan sometime before the Clone Wars, training him to Knighthood. During the Clone Wars, Kota was made a general in the Grand Army of the Republic. He did not believe that clone troopers were fit for battle, however, and refused to lead them. Instead, he commanded his own militia comprising of volunteers. The militia served with distinction during the war, operating as both a line unit and special operations force.

In 19 BBY, when Order 66&mdash;an emergency contingency that ordered the clone forces to terminate their Jedi commanders, who had been deemed a threat to the Republic&mdash;was issued, Kota survived the slaughter of his fellow Jedi since there were no clone troopers serving with him. Going into hiding with his militia, he maintained ties with fellow Purge survivors Kazdan Paratus and Shaak Ti and allied himself with Alderaanian Senator Bail Organa. Kota began striking at Imperial targets, taking interest in the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader and hoping to draw him into a confrontation. This culminated in a mission to seize a TIE Fighter Construction Facility in orbit of Nar Shaddaa. Kota believed that he could draw Vader out with the strike but was instead confronted by the Dark Lord's secret apprentice. The two dueled in the facility's command center; Kota was beaten and blinded but managed to escape the confrontation.

With his confidence shaken&mdash;and his connection to the Force seemingly gone&mdash;Kota turned to drinking and went into hiding in Cloud City on Bespin. He was discovered by the apprentice he had dueled on Nar Shaddaa, who wanted his help in fighting the Empire. The apprentice&mdash;who had been tasked by Vader to create a rebellion with which to oppose Emperor Palpatine&mdash;wanted Kota to instruct him in the Force. Kota suspected that the young man before him was the same man who had blinded him, but&mdash;through the Force&mdash;sensed a bright spot within him that gave him hope that the apprentice could be turned away from the dark side. Kota reluctantly agreed to help the apprentice and assisted him in making contact with Senator Organa, Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila, and Senator Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia through a series of missions. Together, they pledged to form the Alliance to Restore the Republic to fight against the Empire. During this time, Kota recovered much of his former self and restored his connection to the Force.

During the subsequent meeting of the Corellian Treaty to formally create the Rebellion against the Empire, Vader attacked the assemblage with Imperial forces. The apprentice&mdash;who had come to renounce his ties to Vader and the Empire&mdash;had attempted to keep the meeting secret but had been discovered. Kota attacked Vader but was easily beaten and captured, along with the gathered senators. Taken to the Death Star battlestation under construction in the Horuz system, Kota was to be interrogated and executed by the Emperor himself. The apprentice&mdash;who had been left for dead on Corellia&mdash;infiltrated the superweapon and fought his way to the prisoners. After engaging and beating Vader in a duel, the apprentice rescued Kota from a Force lightning attack by the Emperor. While the apprentice held off the Emperor, Kota and the senators escaped the Death Star aboard the apprentice's ship, the Rogue Shadow. Regrouping on Kashyyyk, Kota joined in the Declaration of Rebellion, an official proclamation of the group's intent to oppose the Empire's rule. As a Rebel, Kota was responsible for the recruitment of X2, a Force-sensitive clone of his former Padawan Falon Grey, into the Rebel Alliance.

Early life
Born and raised on a war-ravaged planet, Rahm Kota fought in the brutal trench warfare that devastated his homeworld from before the age of ten. Eventually, the Jedi Mace Windu was dispatched to the planet to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Windu met and befriended Kota, now aged eighteen, and found that he was strong in the Force. After completing his mission, Windu sought to have Kota return with him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to train in the Jedi arts. Despite the fact that he was well past the traditional age of acceptance for new apprentices, Kota was inducted into the Jedi Order and trained under Jedi Master Yoda himself. During his training, his gruff and forthright personality earned him few friends. After attaining the rank of Jedi Knight, Kota often questioned the Jedi High Council's decisions and voiced his opinion that the Order should adopt a more forceful approach when dealing with criminals or negotiating treaties. Yet, no one doubted Kota's commitment and loyalty to both the Republic and the Jedi, or his courage, as he always chose the most dangerous and hazardous assignments.

At some point, Kota took Falon Grey as his Padawan and trained him as a Jedi. Grey was badly injured some time prior to 22 BBY, and Kota landed on the planet Kamino for medical assistance. The native Kaminoans healed Grey but took a genetic sample from him without his knowledge or consent. Unbeknownst to Kota and Grey, the Kaminoans&mdash;who were renowned cloners&mdash;used the sample to create two clones designated X1 and X2.

The Clone Wars
"Master Kota was a military genius, but felt the clone soldiers were unfit for battle. Instead, he relied on his own militia."

- PROXY

By the beginning of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, Kota was a Jedi Master and was appointed as a Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic alongside his contemporaries. However, Kota believed that the clone troopers produced by the Kaminoans were not fit to be soldiers and refused to lead them into combat. He did not believe that clones could be as creative or as intelligent in the field as non-clones. Instead, he organized and trained his own militia, comprising dedicated beings from across the galaxy, which included members of local planetary militias, mercenary groups, and even Separatist prisoners-of-war. Kota and his Militia served with distinction, fighting as both a regular unit and a special operations force on several fronts, including several successful offensives in the Outer Rim Territories. Kota began to grow weary of watching his troopers and friends killed in the war and firmly believed that the conflict would eventually see the destruction of both the Jedi and the Republic and the rise of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

Three years after the start of the war, Palpatine issued Order 66 to all clone units, which stated that the Jedi had become a threat to the Republic and thus had to be eliminated. Palpatine was actually a Sith Lord operating under the name Darth Sidious, and the entire war was part of an elaborate plan to destroy the Jedi Order and have the Sith rule the galaxy. Palpatine named himself Emperor and reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Kota's decision to lead his own troops spared him the fate that befell most of the Jedi commanders in the Grand Army by the simple fact that he had no clones under his command. A squad of Antarian Rangers serving with Kota learned of the order and immediately took him and his troops into hiding. Stealing a Republic cruiser, Kota and his forces disappeared into the Outer Rim, his fears having become reality. Following his disappearance, Kota was officially listed as dead in Imperial records, although Lord Darth Vader, Palpatine's new Sith apprentice, was aware that he had survived.

Striking back at the Empire
Kota fled to the Outer Rim Territories, where he decided to dedicate his life to opposing the new Galactic Empire. After Kota established a number of small bases, new recruits flocked to his banner as the Empire tightened its grip on the galaxy. Kota and his Militia remained hidden, emerging only to strike at Imperial targets in well-executed and carefully planned raids. Kota allied himself with Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, who was fomenting rebellion within the halls of the Imperial Senate and secretly assisting fugitive Jedi who had escaped Order 66. Organa began feeding Kota data on Imperial targets, allowing the general to strike deep at the Empire's war machine. Through Organa, Kota was able to maintain communications with other Jedi, including Ylenic It'kla, who was serving as the Senator's aide; Shaak Ti, who was in hiding on Felucia; and Kazdan Paratus, who had taken refuge on Raxus Prime. While conducting his rebellion, Kota took an intense interest in Darth Vader himself, attacking targets that appeared to have some level of importance to the Dark Lord, such as assaulting a factory that he had recently visited and stealing a shuttle that Vader had used as a personal transport. Kota's main aim was to finally draw Vader into a confrontation with himself so that the Sith Lord could be eliminated once and for all.

Drawing out the Dark Lord
"A boy? Months of attacking Imperial targets, and Vader sends a boy to fight me?"

- Rahm Kota, to Darth Vader's secret apprentice

In 3 BBY, using information gained from Organa, Kota struck at a TIE Fighter Construction Facility in orbit over Nar Shaddaa, hoping that the bold action would finally force Vader to face him. Kota and his Militia boarded the station, engaging its stormtrooper complement and placing explosive charges throughout the facility at strategic points. As Kota's Militia secured the command center, a vessel was detected on approach to the facility. Kota believed that the ship was bringing Darth Vader to face him and ordered the containment field on hangar twelve to be lowered so that the Dark Lord could board the facility.

Kota waited in the facility's command center for Vader but was surprised to find that the intruder was not the Dark Lord of the Sith, but rather a young man who was Vader's own secret apprentice. Despite his shock, Kota engaged the apprentice in a lightsaber duel and found the boy stronger in the Force than he had thought. Unwilling to let the apprentice live, Kota used the Force to detach the command center from the construction facility, continuing to battle the darksider as it plummeted toward the surface of Nar Shaddaa. The two continued to duel, but the apprentice was stronger, and Kota began to tire, taking several hits that reduced his robe to a smoking ruin and caused one of his shoulder pads to glow red hot. Kota was caught in a chokehold by the apprentice and battered with flying debris until he was knocked to the ground. Vader's apprentice brought his lightsaber blade down, engaging the general in a saber lock. Kota received a glimpse of the apprentice's future as the combatant's blades were forced closer to his face, sensing that Vader would not always be his opponent's master and that he had not been turned fully to the dark side of the Force. He was also astonished to see that the apprentice's future included himself. In that moment, the apprentice pushed the locked blades toward Kota's eyes, blinding the general.

In agony, Kota sent out a wave of Force energy that shattered the viewports of the command center, dropping his lightsaber in the process. Wind howled through the command center as debris was sucked out due to the drastic change of pressure, and Kota followed, dropping spread-eagle into the Vertical City below. Vader's apprentice retrieved Kota's lightsaber, taking it as a trophy of his victory.

Fall from grace
Although blinded, Kota survived the fall from the command center, landing on a transport, and went into hiding on Nar Shaddaa. Falling into despair, the general found his connection to the Force severely diminished and believed that he had lost the connection completely. In response, he turned to alcohol to ease the loss. He also used a bandage to cover his blinded eyes. Several weeks after the incident, he was found by Bail Organa, who wanted to recruit him in a mission to rescue his adopted daughter, Princess Leia Organa. The princess had been sent to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, ostensibly as a Senatorial Observer and the guest of Captain Ozzik Sturn, who was supervising the construction of a skyhook above the planet. In reality, Leia Organa was being held as a hostage to stop her father from speaking out against the Empire in the Senate. Kota refused to help Organa, feeling that his condition made him useless for such a task. The Senator arranged transportation for Kota to Cloud City on Bespin via Ziost, informing him that he intended to seek help from Master Shaak Ti on Felucia instead. Although Kota warned him against that course of action, Organa went anyway.

An unlikely apprentice
"We need to rally the Emperor's enemies. And I need to find someone who can teach me the things that Vader couldn't&hellip;''" "Sounds like we're still hunting Jedi." "And I know one that might still be alive." "General Kota?" "''Yes. When I fought him, he said he'd be part of my future. Well, let's hope he was right. Head to Nar Shaddaa."

- Galen Marek and Juno Eclipse

On Cloud City, Kota took refuge in the Vapor Room, a bar that catered to Ugnaught miners, paying for exclusive use of a table. Ignoring the galaxy at large, Kota let his appearance degrade; his hair became greasy and ill-kept, and his robes were loose-fitting and stained. Despite Kota's attempts to keep a low profile, word of the presence of a blind man who could nevertheless pour a glass of Corellian brandy without spilling a drop reached the ears of the Empire.

Months after his encounter with Vader's apprentice over Nar Shaddaa, Kota was woken from a drunken stupor by a Force-sensitive individual requesting his help. Kota pointed out that he was of no use due to his injuries, although the young man countered by informing him that he needed his mind and experience in fighting the Empire, not his eyes. Through his weak connection with the Force, Kota suspected that the individual in front of him was the same man who had dueled and blinded him over Nar Shaddaa. Feeling that Vader had not turned the man completely to the dark side, Kota found something within the apprentice&mdash;a single bright spot that burned within him, that gave him hope and to which he clung. The apprentice, however, was still in league with Vader, who had mandated him to create a rebellion through which the two of them could depose the Emperor.

At that moment, Imperial forces, tipped off to Kota's presence by a local informant, raided the Vapor Room. The apprentice fought his way out of the bar, covering Kota while the blind and drunk Jedi Master attempted to navigate his way out of the watering hole. During the ensuing battle, Kota became separated from the apprentice, making his own way to the balloon dock where the young man had arranged a rendezvous with his ship. Despite having come to believe that the Empire was unbeatable and nothing that they could do would ever defeat it, Kota agreed to help the apprentice, noting that he had a friend in the Senate who could use his lightsaber. When he asked the young man if he had a name, the apprentice told him that he had none.

Gathering allies
"It's a fool's errand, boy. The Empire's army is infinite. You'll eventually be killed&hellip;or worse. And nothing will have changed.''" "Wouldn't you rather die on your feet than drown in some cantina?" "''I don't know. But I do have a contact in the Senate who could use your lightsaber."

- Rahm Kota, to Galen Marek on Cloud City

Once aboard the Rogue Shadow, the apprentice's vessel, Kota met with the other members of the crew&mdash;the pilot, Captain Juno Eclipse, and the droid PROXY. Given access to a communications console, Kota attempted to contact Bail Organa but failed to do so. Remembering that Organa had attempted to recruit him to rescue his daughter, Leia, he reasoned that extracting her from Kashyyyk might make the Senator more liable to listen to the mysterious young man. Kota directed the ship to Kashyyyk, telling his new companions that there was something of value to the Senator on the surface and that retrieving it would be in their best interests, although he neglected to mention that it was Organa's daughter. On approach to the Wookiee homeworld, Kota questioned Eclipse over the vessel they were in; the former Imperial pilot told them it was stolen and tried to forestall any further conversation in case she gave away that the ship was the same one that had ferried the apprentice&mdash;whom she knew by the codename "Starkiller"&mdash;and herself to Nar Shaddaa. Kota told her not to worry, as they were all fugitives. Kota stated that he was not about to turn Eclipse in to the Empire.

While the apprentice fought his way through Imperial forces on Kashyyyk, Kota continued to refuse to tell him exactly what he was looking for, telling him that he would know it when he found it. When the apprentice did eventually find the princess, she refused to go with him, telling him that she could not leave until the skyhook that was being constructed in orbit was destroyed. The apprentice agreed to attempt to destroy it so that the princess would take her shuttle and leave planet. En route to the tractor beam mooring that kept the skyhook in orbit, the apprentice stumbled across a hut that he was drawn to and asked Kota for advice. Kota warned him off from entering it, telling him that there were some things that he was not ready to learn, and that if he entered, he had to face whatever was inside alone. The apprentice ignored Kota and entered. Through his weak connection to the Force, Kota felt something of the apprentice's experience, causing him to sag against the control panels. The hut had been the apprentice's former home, where he had lived with his father when he was a child, and the young man received a vision of his father's death at the hands of Darth Vader.

Eventually, the apprentice destroyed the skyhook and returned to the Rogue Shadow, where he demanded to know the identity of the woman he had just rescued. Kota filled him in on her identity and that of her father, and the apprentice demanded to speak with Organa. Kota admitted that he had been unable to reach Organa since they left Bespin and that Organa had gone to find Shaak Ti. Before Kota could reveal that Felucia was their destination, the apprentice revealed it himself. Kota commented that he must have been strong in the Force in order to read his thoughts, although the truth was that the apprentice had been to the planet previously and killed Shaak Ti. Before heading to Felucia, however, Kota accompanied the apprentice to Coruscant, the Imperial capital, so that the young man could infiltrate the ruins of the Jedi Temple and find information on his father and the vision he had on Kashyyyk. Kota guided the apprentice through the ruins by comlink. The apprentice found what he was looking for and returned to the ship.

On Felucia, Kota refused the apprentice's offer to join him in retrieving Organa, stating that he was basically useless in his current condition. The young man succeeded in his mission, defeating Shaak Ti's corrupted apprentice, Maris Brood, in the process, which led to a reunion between Kota and Organa. Organa revealed that Shaak Ti was dead, and Kota commented that her killer was probably the same individual who had blinded him. In return, he revealed to Organa that he could not contact Kazdan Paratus on Raxus Prime and feared the worst. In a conversation between them and the apprentice, the young man brought up the concept of open rebellion against the Empire. Kota commented that they would need a victory&mdash;a big target&mdash;to convince potential allies that they were not just talking but were prepared to take action. The apprentice told them that he would meditate on the matter and eventually returned to Kota with a target in mind&mdash;a new Imperial shipyard that was producing Star Destroyers that had been established in orbit over Raxus Prime. In truth, however, the target had been suggested to the apprentice by Vader himself.

On the way to Raxus Prime, Kota sensed that Eclipse&mdash;who had discovered that the apprentice was still in contact with Vader and the two were conspiring to bring down the Emperor&mdash;was troubled about something. In addition, he almost discovered that she and the apprentice had been to Raxus Prime before when she slipped up, sarcastically mentioning that it was good to see the planet again. She covered it by claiming to have made dumping runs to the planet in the past. In reality, she had ferried the apprentice to the planet to kill Paratus, a task at which he had succeeded. As Eclipse laid out a plan to destroy the shipyard&mdash;by commandeering the ore cannon on the surface of the planet and using it to destabilize the facility's orbit&mdash;Kota inquired if there had been any word from Paratus since they arrived, only to be told that there was no sign of him.

As the apprentice made his way across the surface of the planet toward the ore cannon, Kota retired to the cargo bay of the Rogue Shadow. While he was sequestered away, PROXY, who was attempting to slice into the planet's Core computer so that he could assist the apprentice in adjusting the aim of the ore cannon, was infected by the supercomputer's intelligence. The Core convinced the droid to carry out his primary programming&mdash;attempting to kill his master&mdash;while the apprentice was engaged with the mission. To this end, PROXY temporarily incapacitated Eclipse, overrode the Rogue Shadow launch codes, and left the ship.

Shortly after reprogramming the ore cannon and firing three shots at the orbiting shipyard, the apprentice became aware that one of the Star Destroyers that was under construction was falling out of orbit toward the planet. Contacting the Rogue Shadow, the apprentice frantically ordered Eclipse to take off immediately. Instead, he got Kota, who had discovered PROXY's actions. With no option to fly the ship out of danger, Kota told the apprentice that he would have to use the Force to pull the Star Destroyer into the cannon itself. When the apprentice expressed disbelief, Kota told him that size did not matter to a Jedi. As he told the apprentice what he had to do to save them all, the drunken slur in his voice disappeared, and he recovered some of the confidence and bearing of the seasoned general that he had once been.

As the apprentice used the Force to grip the Star Destroyer and bring it down into the cannon itself, the resulting impact sent shockwaves through the planet's massed trash heaps. The waves rocked the Rogue Shadow, forcing Kota to hang onto the co-pilot's seat as the ship bucked underneath him. As the waves stopped, the general called for the apprentice over comlink, desperate to make sure he was still alive. Finally assured that he was, Kota told the young man that PROXY had incapacitated them and left the ship to go after the apprentice. While Eclipse and the apprentice were worried about PROXY's state of mind, Kota reminded them that the droid had been infected by an Imperial computer and that the droid had been carrying all the plans for the forthcoming rebellion. PROXY was a security risk that had to be taken care of, one way or the other. The apprentice dealt with the droid, defeating him in lightsaber combat, and returned him to the ship.

As the apprentice recovered from pulling the Star Destroyer down, Kota informed him that he had set up a meeting with Corellian Senator Garm Bel Iblis on Cloud City. Traveling there in the Rogue Shadow, Kota told the young man to find Lobot, the city's cyborg administrator, who was able to give him Bel Iblis' current location. The apprentice learned that Bel Iblis had been captured by the bounty hunter Kleef, who was working for Chop'aa Notimo, a Mandalorian in turn working for the Black Sun crime syndicate who was attempting a takeover of Cloud City. The apprentice managed to rescue Bel Iblis, who agreed to join the rebellion and suggested that they meet further with Bail Organa.

Following the apprentice's rescue of Bel Iblis, the Senator joined with Organa and Mothma in a series of meetings in Organa's Cantham House residence. While the three dissident senators hashed out the basic plans for an Alliance to Restore the Republic, Kota, Eclipse, and the apprentice went to ground on the planet Rhommamool. Located in the Outer Rim, Rhommamool's location close to the Corellian Trade Spine meant that HoloNet transmissions were readily available, but its remoteness ensured a low level of Imperial activity.

During their enforced wait, Kota attempted to learn more about the apprentice; specifically, who had taught him in the ways of the Force and of the lightsaber. Kota was unable to recognize the style and told the apprentice that if he knew who his original teacher was, it would help him to understand him better. The apprentice asked who needed to understand him; Kota replied that Bel Iblis definitely would need to. To Bel Iblis, the apprentice was an unknown quantity, and that made him a possible military threat. The apprentice was evasive in his answers but related his experience with Maris Brood on Felucia. When Kota inquired if his original master had suffered the same fate as Brood, the apprentice refused to answer. Frustrated, Kota returned to his private musings. After eight days at Rhommamool, Kota received word from Organa that the meeting to formalize the creation of a rebellion against the Empire was planned to take place on Corellia. Eclipse set a course for the planet, and the Rogue Shadow left orbit.

Forging an Alliance
"I will join his rebellion, too, if I'm welcome.''" "I thought you were still passed out in the cargo hold." "''I finally came to."

- Kota and the apprentice, at the meeting on Corellia

En route to Corellia, Kota continued the transformation back into the seasoned general he once was, a process that had truly begun when instructing the apprentice in his Force usage on Raxus Prime. Kota spent the time polishing his boots, cleaning his robes and generally tidying his appearance. He even discarded the cloth that covered his eyes. The apprentice believed that Kota was still in a depressed mood, especially when the general did not join them in attending the meeting between the senators inside a ruined building in Corellia's arctic wastes. As the meeting progressed, Kota made his entrance, declaring his intent to join the fledgling rebellion. The apprentice was surprised at his appearance, commenting that he thought Kota had been passed out drunk in the cargo hold of the Rogue Shadow. Kota replied that he had finally come to his senses.

As the assembled senators pledged their commitment to create a rebellion against the Empire, Imperial troops, under the command of Darth Vader himself, attacked the congregation. As Imperial soldiers battled against the security forces that each senator had brought, Kota used the Force to take the apprentice's lightsaber and launched himself against Vader. The Dark Lord telekinetically caught Kota with the Force, choking him until he offered no more resistance, then tossed him toward a group of waiting stormtroopers to be taken prisoner.

With Kota down, Vader turned his attention to the apprentice. It became clear to the senators that the Dark Lord and the young man knew each other, although they believed that the two were in league to expose their rebellion. While that had been their original plan, the apprentice's experiences and time with Eclipse and Kota had changed his mind about his allegiance to Vader. He had come to love Eclipse&mdash;although he was not aware of it for some time&mdash;and Kota had shown him that the dark side of the Force was not necessarily more powerful that the light, and that anger and hatred did not have to rule his life. Vader attempted to kill the apprentice but was interrupted by the droid, PROXY, who took on the holographic form of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight from the Clone Wars. Although Vader defeated the droid easily, it gave the apprentice time to escape the confrontation.

Prisoner
"He's beaten. Let it go&hellip;''" "It's a trick! He's more powerful than you know. And he deserves to die for what he's done to me." "''Maybe so. But, if you kill him now, out of hatred, then you will be right back where you started."

- Kota and the apprentice, regarding Palpatine

Captured by Imperial forces, Kota was taken to the Death Star, an enormous battlestation being built over the planet Despayre in the Horuz system. Along with Organa, Mothma, and Bel Iblis, Kota was taken before Emperor Palpatine himself for interrogation and eventual execution. Before the Emperor could enact his plan, the apprentice&mdash;who had infiltrated and fought his way through the Death Star after being recovered from Corellia by Eclipse&mdash;came to their rescue. After the apprentice dueled and defeated Vader, Palpatine attempted to sway the apprentice back to the dark side, telling him to kill Vader and take his place at the Emperor's side. Kota used the Force to grab Palpatine's lightsaber from his belt, killing two of the Emperor's Royal Guards who were standing watch over the prisoners, then lunged at the Emperor. Palpatine responded by electrocuting Kota with Force lightning. Organa pleaded with the apprentice to help Kota rather than slay Vader, who had been wounded in the duel. Using the Force, the apprentice sent a wave of transparisteel and debris toward the Emperor, forcing him to cease his lightning attack on the general.

As the apprentice stood over the defeated Emperor, Kota knew that the young man wanted to kill Palpatine for all he had done to him. Kota told him that if he surrendered to the dark side now, all the good work he had done would be lost, and he would be right back where he had started. Although he hesitated, the apprentice stood down and prepared to leave with the senators on the Rogue Shadow. The Emperor, however, was not prepared to let them escape and unleashed more Force lightning at Kota, striking him in the back and knocking him to the ground. The apprentice moved to block the attack, taking the Emperor's lightning into his own body and then redirecting it back at Palpatine. Locked together, the apprentice told Kota and the senators to get out. Kota and the senators boarded the Rogue Shadow, although the general hesitated, watching the conflict between the Emperor and the apprentice before being urged to board by Organa. As Imperial reinforcements arrived, the apprentice opened himself fully to the Force, releasing a massive wave of energy that resulted in an explosion that destroyed much of the Death Star's observation deck, injured Vader and the Emperor, and killed the apprentice himself. The Rogue Shadow escaped the Death Star just prior to the explosion, ferrying Kota and the senators to safety.

A declaration of Rebellion
"You always knew who he was, didn't you?''" "I suspected, yes." "Then why did you help him? After all the things he had done?" "When he came to me in the bar, among all his dark thoughts, I glimpsed one bright spot. One beautiful thing he held onto, even at the end." "What?" "''You."

- Juno Eclipse and Rahm Kota, discussing Galen Marek

Aboard the Rogue Shadow, Kota reiterated the events of the apprentice's death to Eclipse, telling her that he had willingly sacrificed his own life to allow the general and senators to escape. At his insistence, Eclipse set a course for Kashyyyk. On the Wookiee homeworld, Kota finally learned the name of the young man&mdash;Galen Marek&mdash;after Organa did a thorough search through all available records. He was the son of two Jedi and had been born and raised on Kashyyyk until Vader had kidnapped him as a boy after slaying his father, Kento Marek. At a later meeting in the hut where the Marek family had lived, Senator Organa, his daughter, Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma, Eclipse, and Kota formally formed the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Marek family crest was taken as their own symbol, honoring Galen Marek's sacrifice. Following the meeting, Eclipse confronted Kota, asking him if he had always known that Marek had been the one who had blinded him. Kota told her that he had indeed suspected as much. When Eclipse asked him why he had helped them, knowing what Marek had done, Kota told her of the bright spot burning within the young man that he had felt in the bar on Cloud City&mdash;and that it was her.

At some point after the formation of the Rebel Alliance, Kota disappeared suddenly while on a mission to the planet Cato Neimoidia in the Colonies. He was listed as "missing" by Alliance High Command. Kota had been captured by Baron Merillion Tarko, and was rescued by a clone of Galen Marek, who used the codename "Starkiller". Kota, who had developed a fatherly attachment to the original Marek, refused to believe Starkiller's statement that he was a clone, telling him to be the Jedi that he knew he could be.

A new recruit
"Who are you?''" "I am Kota, one of the few still bold enough to call themselves a Jedi. Look, clone, if you're even half the man that Falon was, the Rebel Alliance could use your help." "And what makes you think I care about the Rebel Alliance?" "The Force resonates in you. Yet here you are, "tending the land," while the entire galaxy suffers around you." "''&hellip;what do you want me to do?"

- X2 and Kota meet for the first time

As a member of the Rebellion, Kota was tasked by Alliance High Command to travel to the planet Dantooine to recruit his former Padawan, Falon Grey, into the fledgling resistance. Arriving at the world in his starship, Kota discovered that Grey was dead, killed during the subsequent Jedi Purge that had followed Order 66. Instead, he found the clone X2, Grey's genetic "son," living as a simple farmer. Grey had been killed years earlier by X1, the other of Grey's "sons," and X2 had been wounded by his brother while attempting to save Grey. Grey's last act was to heal X2's wounds before dying. Kota was disappointed to find a clone who was a mere reflection of his former Padawan and told him that he was a fool for living as a farmer when the galaxy was suffering under the heel of the Empire. Despite this, Kota sensed that the Force was with X2 and felt that Grey would have wanted him to look after the young man. As a result, Kota offered him a place in the Rebel Alliance, which X2 accepted.

While X2 served as a Rebel agent, Kota watched over him, offering him guidance and assistance on the missions the clone undertook. To this end, Kota ordered X2 to infiltrate Desolation Station, an Imperial base where components of the Death Star were being created and then transported to the construction site. As the Alliance was aware of the existence of the battlestation, they had begun an active campaign to destroy the superweapon. During the mission&mdash;which resulted in the destruction of Desolation Station&mdash;Kota relayed intelligence to X2 regarding the location of Wookiee slaves on the station, then later sent several Incom Corporation T-65 X-wing starfighters to cover X2's extraction. Sometime later, Kota learned that a Rebel strike team had been captured on Geonosis while attempting to infiltrate an Imperial base on the planet. The Jedi Master planned to rescue them and contacted X2 to assist him in the effort. Kota left for Geonosis ahead of the clone, informing X2 that he would leave a speeder bike at the landing zone so that X2 could follow him. As the clone arrived in orbit around Geonosis, however, he encountered the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who had traveled to the planet to claim the bounty that the Empire had placed on Kota's head. The pair fought in the asteroid belt around Geonosis, and Fett intended to capture X2 and use him as bait to draw out Kota. Ultimately, X2 managed to best Fett and rendezvoused with Kota at the Imperial base. The pair liberated the imprisoned strike team; the individuals were grateful to X2 for their rescue and pledged to serve him as a military unit. On Kota's suggestion, the newly formed unit was christened as Grey Squadron in honor of Falon Grey.

Death Star campaign
"The Death Star is a fearsome invention indeed. We must find a way to destroy it!"

- Rahm Kota

Armed with the location of the Death Star, Kota's group organized a mission to infiltrate the superweapon with the intention of recovering intelligence on the station's capabilities and rescuing any prisoners held in its cells. X2 volunteered for the mission, and Kota assisted him, guiding the clone via comlink. During the mission, X2 first infiltrated a Star Destroyer guarding the station, using the ship's own weapons to destroy several defensive emplacements on the Death Star, which in turn allowed X2 to slip aboard the facility. Once on board, X2 followed Kota's advice to use the Death Star's superlaser to destroy the Star Destroyer that was guarding the station. The general was amazed at the firepower that the station commanded and told the clone that it was vital that the information on the weapon reached Alliance High Command. X2 managed to rescue several prisoners and collect vital information on the station before withdrawing. X2 and Grey Squadron regrouped with Alliance High Command at the main Rebel command base on the moon Yavin 4. While at the base, X2 received a recommendation from Kota that a bounty hunter named Shara would be a good addition to Grey Squadron. X2 concurred, trusting the veteran general's judgment. Shortly thereafter, the Empire launched an attack on Yavin 4, and the Rebel Alliance was able to destroy the Death Star when Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker fired two proton torpedoes into a small thermal exhaust port that triggered a chain reaction, resulting in the station's destruction.

Personality and traits
"I'm no Jedi now. Not since this.''" "''I don't need your eyes, just your mind. And everything you know about fighting the Empire."

- Rahm Kota and the apprentice on Cloud City

Rahm Kota was a hardened soldier who was noted as being an excellent tactician and combat commander. Regarded as cold and militant by his fellow Jedi, Kota always advocated the use of aggressive force in punishing those who disrupted law and order. Nevertheless, Kota was loyal to the Jedi Order&mdash;despite his disagreement with some of their policies&mdash;and was committed to the stability of the Galactic Republic. He gained a reputation for never abandoning those in need, and during the Clone Wars, his leadership style instilled confidence in his troops. Yet, as the war dragged on, Kota came to the belief that the conflict would see the end of both the Jedi and the Republic, and he grew weary of seeing soldiers and trusted friends killed in battle.

During his enforced exile, Kota employed reckless tactics in an effort to draw out Darth Vader, although the missions were always well-planned. Confident of his own abilities and skills, Kota was certain that he could face the Dark Lord and defeat him in single combat. Cocky to the point of arrogance, he was humbled when he was beaten and his sight was taken from him during his duel with Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek.

Following the loss of his sight while dueling Vader's apprentice, Kota became disillusioned in his planned attempts at defeating the Empire, coming to believe that challenging the Emperor's war machine was a "fool's errand." Adopting a defeatist attitude, the aging general began to see the conflict in terms of numbers, stating that it did not matter how many stormtroopers were killed because there were thousands more waiting to take their place. His defeat at the hands of a "boy" shook his confidence, and Kota came to see himself as useless without his sight. His connection to the Force was severely weakened, and the general believed that he had been cut off from it, although he continued to demonstrate some abilities&mdash;such as probing the apprentice's thoughts on Cloud City to determine his intentions, and feeling the aftermath of the young man's experiences in his former home on Kashyyyk.

During his time on Cloud City, Kota turned to drink to ease the loss of his sight and his Force connection, wanting nothing more than to be left alone and forgotten. Kota allowed his appearance to fall into disrepair; his usually immaculate hair was allowed to hang loose, his robes became stained, and he left dirty the bandages that covered his sightless eyes. Even after being recruited by the apprentice to assist in building a rebellion against the Empire, Kota often requested alcohol and became disappointed and withdrawn, since there was none available to him.

Kota's journeys with the apprentice&mdash;and witnessing his attempts to forge an alliance to bring down the Empire&mdash;helped him to rediscover his fighting spirit and confidence. By the time of the mission to destroy the shipyard over Raxus Prime, Kota began to act more like his old self, issuing orders again like the seasoned general he was, and counseling the apprentice on how to use the Force to pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky&mdash;an act that the general, in his previous defeatist frame of mind, would have previously considered impossible. When the apprentice met with the three senators to form the Rebel Alliance on Corellia, Kota appeared at the meeting having laid his ghosts to rest, being neat, sober, and confident&mdash;and with his connection to the Force seemingly reestablished when he was able to confidently walk to the meeting table as if he were able to see clearly. In a conversation with the other members at the meeting, he revealed that he considered the apprentice to have saved him.

Kota always suspected that the apprentice was, in fact, the Darksider who had blinded him. Nevertheless, he sensed that the dark side did not hold sway over the apprentice as much as he thought. Resolving to help him, even if he felt he could offer no practical assistance to the young man, Kota was confident that the apprentice would do the right thing. Kota supported him through the assembly of the dissident senators and was sure that the apprentice's arrival on the Death Star signaled his intent to start the rebellion. During his travels with the apprentice, Kota became a surrogate father to the young man, which surprised the battle-hardened general.

As a member of the Rebellion, Kota returned to his role as a confident general, although he took to wearing a black cloth across his sightless eyes. He was bold and proud to call himself a Jedi, even during a time when admitting that fact was tantamount to admitting he was a rebel and opposed the Empire. Kota recruited and guided X2, a Force-sensitive former clone trooper, after sensing that he was strong in the Force despite his personal feelings about clones lacking the necessary skills to be effective soldiers. This was partially done out of respect for his former Padawan, Falon Grey&mdash;who was the genetic template for X2&mdash;and because Kota felt the Force within X2.

Powers and abilities
"Vader thinks he's turned you. But I can sense your future. And Vader won't always be your master. I sense only&hellip;me?"

- Rahm Kota sees a vision of the future

Kota was a skilled lightsaber duelist and was a practitioner of the lightsaber combat form Juyo. Unlike most Jedi, who hung their lightsabers from their belts, Kota kept his in a sheath on his back. Despite being trained in the most aggressive of the seven forms of lightsaber combat, Kota preferred to adopt a defensive stance in combat, using the Force to protect himself until he could launch a counterattack.

Well-trained in the use of the Force, Kota was able to use telekinesis to move objects or deflect incoming attacks and projectiles, and to throw his lightsaber with extreme accuracy. He was also able to use the Force to snatch both the apprentice's and the Emperor's lightsabers from them during his encounter with Imperial forces on Corellia and on the Death Star, respectively. He employed telekinesis to hurl objects at enemy combatants or repel them from his presence and had enough mastery to detach the command tower from the TIE Fighter Construction Facility over Nar Shaddaa and send it plummeting toward the planet. He possessed training in farsight and had received at least one vision of the future during his duel with Vader's apprentice when he sensed his future and his opponent's would be intertwined.

Behind the scenes
Rahm Kota was introduced in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a 2008 multimedia project created by LucasArts, in collaboration with Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey, LEGO, Hasbro, and Palace Press. Kota was one of the main characters and featured in The Force Unleashed video game, novel, and comic. Kota later gained mentions in Wizards of the Coast's The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. A toy was also made of the character, released as part of The Force Unleashed toy line. In 2009, Kota was included in both the PSP and Nintendo DS versions of Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, which was a release of the original game with several added levels. While the majority of the new content in the Ultimate Sith Edition was non-canon, the Jedi Temple level was first released as downloadable content and takes place with the storyline of The Force Unleashed. As there is nothing to suggest that the level is non-canon, unlike the Tatooine and Hoth levels, this article assumes it is part of the "proper" storyline.

Kota is voiced in The Force Unleashed video game by actor Cully Fredrickson, whose likeness was also used as the basis for the character's appearance. Fredrickson was the first actor cast for the game. One of several actors who read for the part, Fredrickson felt the audition was akin to a theatrical audition, as he was given a longer time to prepare for the role than he would have had if he were reading for a film part. LucasArts also provided Fredrickson with the script, character breakdown and concept artwork of Kota before the audition. Fredrickson approached the reading fully in-character, which initially made the casting director believe that the actor may be standoffish and difficult to work with. However, it was soon realized that Fredrickson was just being Kota. Fredrickson, however, had a different take on the audition, believing that he hadn't "walked in as Kota". Impressed by the team at LucasArts, and how seriously they took The Force Unleashed project, Fredrickson felt that the team wanted him to succeed, and their attitude made him comfortable during the process. The actor felt that the team was able to bring Kota out of him, remarking that "it was like the collaboration had already begun before I was ever given the part." Fredrickson later told his wife that the audition had been one of the most gratifying he had ever attended.

Fredrickson's convincing audition, combined with the actor's physicality and his ability to produce a wide range of facial expressions, convinced the production team to hire him as the gruff general. Fredrickson was described as the "consummate professional," and "a lot of fun to work with." Fredrickson enjoyed making the game, believing that the collaboration of the actors and crew was vital to the project since they were all eager for it to succeed and to produce the best game they possibly could. One element that Fredrickson positively commented on was the fact that, during recording sessions, the entire cast for that scene would record their lines together, allowing them to act against one another. This was in contrast to other voice-over recording sessions Fredrickson had been involved in where he had just delivered his lines by himself with the director reading for the other characters. This method allowed for more believable chemistry between the characters.

Kota, as portrayed in the video game version&mdash;both in-game and in promotional shots&mdash;of The Force Unleashed, has brown eyes. In the novel of The Force Unleashed, however, his eyes are referenced as blue just prior to the apprentice blinding him with their locked sabers.

Alternative storylines
In the Nintendo Wii, PSP, and PlayStation 2 versions of The Force Unleashed, Kota is found in a bar on Nar Shaddaa instead of Cloud City. Also, as Marek receives the vision of his father following the completion of the Trial of Spirit in the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant rather than in his former home on Kashyyyk, he attempts to discuss his experience with Kota prior to the mission to the Wookiee homeworld. Kota is not interested in talking about it, however. In the cell phone, N-Gage, and iPhone/iPod Touch versions of the game, Kota is killed by Marek during their encounter on the TIE Fighter Construction Facility. In the cell phone version, Marek states that Kota "fell into the chasm," although this is not shown in the cutscene. In the N-Gage/iPhone/iPod Touch versions, Marek Force-chokes Kota to death following their duel. The storyline then continues without Kota's involvement.

In the game, despite losing his lightsaber to Marek following their duel aboard the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, Kota still has one when he joins the apprentice on Cloud City. During the level, Kota can engage and fight Imperial soldiers while following the apprentice. He also has the lightsaber during the cutscene when Vader interrupts the Corellian Meeting and uses it to try and fight the Dark Lord. In the novel, Kota loses his lightsaber during the duel on the TIE Fighter Construction Facility, and it becomes Marek's own; part of the plot involves the apprentice further refining the weapon to become better attuned to him. This article assumes that the novel version of events take precedence over the game events and that Kota did not have a lightsaber following his duel with Marek on Nar Shaddaa.

Due to the different depictions of Kota's actions during The Force Unleashed that are presented in the various console versions of the game, this article complies with the Lucasfilm statement that the novel is the definitive "true story." This article presents a consolidated account wherein events in all versions of the game are incorporated as long as they do not conflict with the canon established in the novel.

Alternate dark-side ending
At the conclusion of the game, the player has the option of two paths to follow to complete the adventure. The branch point comes directly after the duel with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star; there, the player has the choice to either face Vader again, killing him, or engage the Emperor in a duel to save Kota, who is being electrocuted with Force lightning. The canonical ending involves fighting the Emperor and saving Kota. If the player takes the option to kill Vader, however, the Emperor attempts to sway the apprentice back to the dark side by persuading him to kill Kota. The apprentice attempts to strike the Emperor down instead but is beaten back. With the apprentice down, the Emperor uses the Force to pull the Rogue Shadow into the observation dome in which they are located. The resulting explosions and debris kill all those present, including Kota.

Conception and creation
"If anything Kota only became tougher because Cully Fredrickson, who plays him, is so big and imposing, and he came in already in character."

- W. Haden Blackman

During the development of The Force Unleashed, once the concept of having the player control a character that was Darth Vader's secret apprentice was settled on, it was realized that Jedi opponents would be needed for him to go up against. Concept art for various Jedi was drawn up, including one that was described as a "Samurai Jedi." At the same time, the production team was looking to add a character that would act as a second mentor to the apprentice, one who could give him instruction in the Force that he could not receive from Vader. Originally, the concept called for the disembodied spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, preserved in the Netherworld of the Force, to fulfill this role. However, George Lucas did not approve of this concept, since he wanted a completely new cast of characters for the game.

Ideas for the character were explored, including a hermit Jedi in the tradition of Yoda, and even bringing back the character of Darth Plagueis in some form. However, in order to streamline the process, it was decided that the mentor role would be filled by one of the Jedi opponents originally designed for the apprentice to face early on in the game. W. Haden Blackman, the project lead on the game, and the production team decided that they wanted a Jedi who was different from the established Jedi Master mentor characters already established in the Star Wars universe. Instead of the mystic Jinn, or the nurturing Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mentor was meant to be "less Gandalf and more Army General."

With this in mind, the developers turned their attention back to the original concepts. Artist Amy Beth Christenson returned to the original concepts and found the artwork of the Samurai Jedi. She redesigned the character, creating one who was armored, wore a topknot, and carried his lightsaber on his back. In addition, he was scarred from combat. The original concept art went through several revisions but did not evolve much from the original drawing. With the basic appearance of the character established, the script evolved and a downfall was introduced. This played into the concept of the Ronin&mdash;a Samurai who has lost everything that he once held dear, such as his master, his honor and duty, and sense of worth&mdash;and Kota was shown to be at his lowest point, becoming a drunk, feeling worthless, and unable to use the Force. His experiences with the apprentice help Kota to regain his pride and connection to the Force, in turn returning him to the path of the Jedi. When Fredrickson was cast in the role, Blackman noted that the character actually became tougher than originally scripted due to the actor's imposing physical stature.

Appearances

 * The Force Unleashed novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II comic