Crys Taanzer

"That was the lowest moment of my life. I had lost my husband and failed my son."

- Crys speaking of her son

Crys Taanzer was the female human pilot of the vessel Uhumele.

Wife and mother
Before the Clone Wars, Crys was living on Nadiem with her husband and her son Kennan Taanzer. However, the planet came under attack several months after the Battle of Geonosis. According to Crys, the planet was merely caught up in the middle. With nothing of military value to offer to either side, Nadiem was attacked by the CIS mainly because the Republic pledged to defend it. It was both sides that were at fault as far as Crys was concerned. Her husband was killed, her home was destroyed, and the chances of evacuation for her and Kennan were slim as the droid armies advanced.

However, a Jedi healer was treating a wound Kennan had received and asked his Padawan to test the young boy's blood. It was revealed that Kennan was Force-sensitive, and the Jedi gave Crys the option of handing over Kennan to the Jedi Order to become a Jedi himself. If so, Kennan would be prioritized for evacuation. Seeing no other options at the time, Crys agreed and Kennan was whisked away by the Padawan. Moments later the defenses shattered and the droid armies overran the area. The Jedi healer, whose name Crys never learned, was killed fighting them. However, Crys herself survived.

Crys spent some time scraping by, doing whatever she could to survive, until she got into trouble with a crime lord from Columus. That was when she met Schurk-Heren, who rescued her and taught her to be a pilot for his ship, the Uhumele. But through all this she knew that at least Kennan was safe and that she might yet get to Coruscant to see him again. But then she learned that the Jedi had revolted and been wiped out, including the younglings like Kennan. And so she hated the Empire for killing Kennan and the Jedi for failing to protect him.

The Uhumele
Following the Battle of Half-Axe Pass, the crew of the Uhumele was grounded upon the planet New Plympto by Imperial order. Survivors of the battle, fugitive Jedi General Dass Jennir and Nosaurian Bomo Greenbark attacked Taanzer after she discovered them in the Cadgel Meadows landing port. After she was released, the captain of the Uhumele, Schurk-Heren allowed the two to stay aboard.

Soon afterwards, the crew of the Uhumele was responsible for a mass escape of starships from the landing port. The ship was flown to Orvax IV so that Greenbark might find his captive family. Upon arriving on the planet Taanzer stayed upon the Uhumele with the captain, Jank, and Sniffles while Mezgraf, Ko Vakier, Ratty, Jennir, and Greenbark went on a search for the missing Nosaurians.

While Jennir was attempting to discover the location of Greenbark's missing daughter, Crys stopped Bomo from going after the General.

After Jennir shot Dezono Qua, the human man who had purchased and eaten Greenbark's daughter, Bomo was furious that Jennir took his chance to get revenge. In his rage Bomo openly called Jennir a Jedi in front of their friends that didn't know this of him.

Taanzer, who has a dislike for the Galactic Republic and Galactic Empire both, was shocked to find out that Dass Jennir was a Jedi.

Foul deal
Following the failed operation to rescue Bomo's daughter and Jennir's departure from the group, the Uhumele set about trying to sell its cargo, which Schurk-Heren kept secret. While the captain and the rest of the crew hid the cargo as insurance, Crys tried to keep Bomo company over a cup of caf. She ended up revealing the reasons behind her dislike of the Republic, the Separatists, the Jedi, and everyone involved with the war.

After telling her story, Bomo tried to tell her that the Jedi had not revolted, that they had been betrayed themselves and it was not their fault that Kennan was dead, but she refused to forgive the Jedi for taking her son away. She had no idea, and couldn't possibly know, that Kennan was still alive and in exile with Jedi Master K'Kruhk.

Later, the crew visited Mimban to sell their cargo to Haka Hai. Haka promptly turned on them, but in a strange twist of fate his lackey Lumbra turned on him immediately afterward. As things boiled over Crys joined the rest of the Uhumele crew in trying to blast their way out. But they were captured. She and Meekerdin-Maa were put to work as the others were interrogated as to where a crate was. Crys was put in as a slave waitress to the thugs. When Haka went off to search for an escaped Bomo, taking with him a number of his men, Crys was able to escape and met up with Bomo who she almost shot. To free the others, they headed to the armory to get weapons. Then suddenly, a big thug comes in and fights Bomo. He pleads her to shoot the thug. With fear, Crys pulls the trigger, killing the thug. She is overwhelmed that that is her first kill. Bomo tells her not to fret yet and they used the thug's grenades to blow the door open, alerting Hai top their location. After freeing Ratty, they start planting the grenades. Bomo then tells them to get the others and leave. But Crys straps on a number of blasters and gets into her regular clothes to assist Greenbark.

Final mission
Later, Schurk-Heren and his crew were heading for Aridus, eager to dispose of the mysterious crate and it's content, but Bomo, Ratty and Crys were reluctant to follow him into another situation that could end worse than the last. This time, he was assured it will go smooth because he knew the buyer, Fane Peturri, a historian without ties to criminal organizations. Although he couldn't figure out where his resources came from, he was surprised to see that he was in league with the Sith Lord Darth Vader. The trap was sprung and Crys and her crewmates were taken prisoners by the Dark Lord's clone troopers. A few moments later, after Peturri's examination, they found out that they were, in fact, carrying Dreypa's Oubliette, a pre-Republic era made Sith contraption.

Against Fane's warnings about the Muur Talisman and its power to create rakghouls inside, Vader sliced it open, revealing a dormant Celeste Morne. When Peturri informed her that the Sith had taken over, she immediately attacked Vader and a fierce duel begun between the Dark Lord and the Knight of the Old Republic. They stood and witnessed the climatic battle that ensued.

During the long duel, when everyone's attention was focused on the two Force users, Schurck-Heren managed to knock out a trooper, take his blaster and free his crew. While everyone was distracted, they escaped and headed to their ship. Fane Peturri transformed into a rakghoul, despite wearing a special suit, and died as he tried to attack the Sith Lord. Moments after his death, a desperate Celeste Morne made a choice and unleashed the power of the talisman, turning Vader's troopers into rakghouls and against him.

Unfortunately, the Sith magic's effects also affected Crys, the only human member of the Uhumele crew. In that short period, to everyone's surprise, Captain Schurk-Heren made an inevitable decision and, with tears in his eyes, had to shoot her before she could turn against them, reducing the crew members' number once again.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Dark Times: The Path to Nowhere
 * Star Wars Dark Times: Parallels
 * Star Wars Dark Times: Vector
 * Star Wars Dark Times: Blue Harvest, Part 1

Crys Taanzer