Celeste Morne

"She's devoted, Zayne, not evil. Just like—" "Just like you."

- Celeste Morne and Zayne Carrick

Celeste Morne was a Human female who was a Jedi Knight serving the Jedi Covenant as a Shadow. As an agent for the Covenant, the records of her identity were erased from Jedi Order rolls so that she would give her whole effort in service to the Covenant's cause to prevent the rise of the Sith. She consented to this life of full dedication to the Covenant's mission largely because she had lost her home and family ties in the Great Sith War.

In 3,963 BBY the Covenant assigned Celeste a mission to retrieve an ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman and to kill Jedi Padawan fugitive Zayne Carrick. However, in the course of this mission she came to doubt Zayne's culpability in the Padawan Massacre of Taris, for which he had been blamed by the members of the First WatchCircle of the Covenant.

As she fought through the obstructions to her mission, including the unexpected outbreak of the rakghoul plague on the planet Jebble, and her own doubts about Zayne, Celeste fell under the possession of the Muur Talisman. In order to protect the galaxy from herself, Celeste allowed Zayne to seal her in Dreypa's Oubliette. She would remain there in stasis until 19 BBY, when the Sith Lord Darth Vader obtained the oubliette and released Celeste.

She emerged haunted by the spirit of Karness Muur and discovered that the Sith ruled the galaxy in the new era she found herself in. Enraged at this discovery, Celeste dueled Vader and used the Muur Talisman to force him into retreat. For about nineteen years afterwards she lived secluded on a desolate moon.

Early career
"I couldn't have selected a better agent."

- Lucien Draay



The devastation left in the wake of the battles of the Great Sith War shaped Celeste Morne's early life. After the destruction of Ossus in 3,996 BBY, Celeste's family became homeless and wandered the galaxy for years until eventually falling apart. However, Celeste found herself a new family when she joined the Jedi Order and became a Shadow for the Jedi Covenant, a secret organization within the Order devoted to stopping the resurgence of the Sith in the galaxy following the end of the Sith War. The Covenant erased Celeste's identity from Jedi Order rolls so that she would dedicate herself solely to the Covenant and thus, Celeste gave her whole life's effort towards her role as a Shadow for the Covenant, fulfilling missions aimed towards recovering and sealing away Sith relics before they could cause any danger to the galaxy. Among Celeste's accomplishments as a Shadow were the destruction of the last copy of the Epistle of Marka Ragnos and the recovery of Jori Daragon's amulet and the Eye of Horak-mul on behalf of the Covenant.

In 3,963 BBY, the three Consular's of the Covenant's First WatchCircle, Xamar, Feln, and Q'Anilia received a vision of widespread destruction caused by the Muur Talisman, an ancient artifact created by the ancient Sith Lord Karness Muur which could transform certain beings into mindless mutants known as rakghouls that the user of the Talisman could control. Four Humans also appeared in the vision, former Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Cade Skywalker, although the Covenant members did not know the identity of latter three. In response to the vision, Lucien Draay, another member of the Covenant's First WatchCircle, contacted Celeste and gave her the task of finding the Muur Talisman on Taris and killing Zayne Carrick. Unbeknownst to Celeste, the First WatchCircle of the Covenant had the year before acted on an earlier prophecy which had led them to believe that one of their own Padawans would fall to the dark side. Thus, in what would come to be known as the Padawan Massacre of Taris, they killed the students to prevent the presumed return of the Sith.

However, Lucien Draay's own apprentice, Zayne Carrick, escaped. To prevent the Covenant from exposure, the WatchCircle placed the blame for the Padawan Massacre on Zayne and ordered his elimination. Both Zayne and the Talisman were now on Taris, putting Celeste in the position where she would be able to end two threats to the Covenant simultaneously.

Taris
"I thought I knew all the Jedi on Taris, but I've never seen you&hellip;" "For which I count myself lucky."

- Zayne Carrick and Celeste Morne

In the Tarisian Undercity, Celeste came to the aid of Sector Constable Noana Sowrs under attack by rakghouls, deformed, mindless mutants which could transmit a namesake plague through their bites. Celeste killed all of the rakghouls before they overwhelmed Sowrs, but discovered that Sowrs had become infected with the rakghoul plague. Consequently, she was forced to cut Sowrs down as she mutated.

Shortly afterwards, Zayne Carrick and his companion, the fugitive Snivvian crime-lord Marn "Gryph" Hierogryph, rushed past her, fleeing from another horde of rakghouls, which Celeste also quickly dispatched. From there the duo followed her in the hopes that she would lead them off-planet and provide a route to their friends on the Moomo Williwaw. Despite Celeste's disdain for their company, Zayne and Gryph accompanied her and engaged in conversation where Celeste soon learned Zayne's identity. However, she placed the Muur Talisman's priority above the fugitive's arrest, and continued to search the Undercity, but soon afterwards the group fell into a cavern occupied by Mandalorians, who had just acquired the Talisman themselves.

Jebble
"I've got a job to do&hellip; and it just got a lot harder!"

- Celeste Morne

So that they would not lose sight of the ancient Sith artifact, which was now in the possession of Mandalorian Neo-Crusader and former scientific intern Pulsipher, Celeste, Zayne and Gryph stowed away on board the Mandalorians' ship, the Mar'eyce, which was destined for the planet Jebble.

From her hiding place, Celeste tried to convince Pulsipher to throw the Muur Talisman out of the airlock by using a Jedi mind trick, but he resisted. At that moment she witnessed the Talisman attach itself to Pulsiper's arm and kill one of the Mandalorians from his team. Once the Mar'eyce landed near the Mandalorian staging area on Jebble, she tried to separate herself from Zayne and Gryph in order to follow Pulsipher, but Zayne found Celeste and informed her that the Mandalorians were planning a raid on Alderaan.

Gryph, disguised as a Mandalorian, convinced Celeste and Zayne to pretend to be his captives&mdash;Joam and Hettie Hierogarl, the so-called Taris Techno-Terror Twins&mdash;to allow the trio to pass the guards and enter the Ice Citadel, which had been turned into a temporary war forge and the center of operations for the Mandalorian invasion force. Inside, Celeste decided that Zayne should warn Alderaan about the upcoming attack while she retrieved the Talisman. However, Gryph accidentally discharged his weapon, causing a cave-in which sent him careening down to a lower level of the citadel and alerted the Mandalorians on the Mar'eyce to their presence.

Before Celeste and Zayne could be taken hostage, one of the guards transformed into a rakghoul, forcing the others to fire on their former comrade before transforming into rakghouls themselves. Celeste noted the evolved characteristics of these rakghouls, which could use weapons and appeared smarter and more organized in comparison to the rakghouls of Taris. After defeating the rakghouls, Celeste and Zayne tried to find a way out of the citadel. In the process, they discovered that Jebble was not just a local war forge or training center, but a staging area for invasion. Thus, all of the Mandalorian recruits from the Outer Rim present were about to become infected by the rakghoul plague.

Sending out communication
"We've waited long for your report agent&hellip;"

- Lucien Draay

After sliding down the mountainside to escape, Zayne informed Celeste that the Jedi Masters and Jedi Covenant members had framed him for the Padawan Massacre of Taris. Celeste pretended to be ignorant of the Covenant's existence, but her lie was exposed when she let slip its name&mdash;which Zayne had not mentioned to her. He realized that she had knowledge of the clandestine organization, though fortunately for Celeste he remained unaware of her connection to it.

Before Zayne contacted his friends on the Moomo Williwaw, Celeste contacted Lucien Draay to inform him about the impending invasion of Alderaan and the rakghoul plague. Lucien ordered her to stop the attack and to kill the fugitive Padawan. Celeste questioned the order to kill Zayne, but Lucien reminded her of her family's past and of the Sith War. While Zayne's back was turned, she activated her lightsaber to kill him, but stopped when he made contact with the Mandalorian commander Cassus Fett, currently in route to Jebble with transports for the invasion, to warn him and his troops off-planet about the plague. Celeste realized that Zayne was trying to save both citizens of the Republic and Mandalorians, which made it difficult for her to justify killing him while he performed such a selfless act.

After completing the transmission, Zayne, followed by Celeste, went to rescue Gryph from the War Forge. Once inside, rakghouls ambushed Zayne and brought him to Pulsipher's lab, where the Mandalorian scientist restrained the former Jedi Padawan and interrogated him regarding the further secrets of the Talisman which Pulsipher now utilized to control the rakghouls. Pulsipher also suspected that Zayne had other companions, but Zayne refused to reveal Celeste even when Pulsipher threatened to encase him in a nightmarish Sith artifact known as Dreypa's Oubliette. His interrogation was interrupted when the Talisman detached itself from the Mandalorian and the rakghouls turned on Pulsipher, killing him. At this point Celeste entered and found Zayne, under attack from the Muur Talisman itself, because of the Talisman's allure to Force Sensitives. Celeste attempted to pry it away from Zayne, but he protested, suggesting that he might be able to stop the plague from spreading if he controlled the Talisman. Instead, Celeste ordered it to come to her, informing it that she was a Jedi. The Talisman released itself from Zayne and attacked Celeste, binding itself to her neck. Celeste encountered the spirit of the Talisman's creator, Karness Muur, who informed her that he was the future and that she was under his power. When Celeste managed to climb to her feet, she discovered that she commanded the rakghouls.

Possession
"I can feel the change inside me. Please, Zayne&hellip; end it now."

- Celeste Morne

It quickly became obvious what was happening to Celeste. She became corrupted by the Talisman and used its power to manipulate the rakghouls, sending them to kill the Mandalorians and cause further infection. Zayne was appalled by her indifference as the rakghouls tore the soldiers apart. Gryph, entering the scene, revealed to Zayne that Celeste was an agent for the Covenant and Lucien's mother Krynda Draay. Celeste became enraged at the duo for questioning her devotion to the Draay family and the Covenant and turned on them.

Zayne, however, informed her that she was only assisting the Sith, the faction from which she and the Covenant had sworn to protect the galaxy, by expanding the growing rakghoul army. Celeste managed to break free from the Talisman's control long enough to ask that Zayne strike her down. However, he found he could not kill her, remembering that another solution to their problem existed.

Zayne took Celeste to Pulsipher's laboratory to have her temporarily sealed inside Dreypa's Oubliette, which would place her into stasis and contain the Muur Talisman's influence. Celeste willingly did so and asked him to take her to the Sanctum of the Exalted on the planet of Odryn. She hoped that Covenant researchers and experts in Sith artifacts there might be able to help her. Before the oubliette was sealed, Celeste told Zayne that she believed that he had not killed the Padawans on Taris and asked him to tell Krynda Draay about the true version of the Padawan massacre in order to end the Covenant's corruption.

After closing the oubliette, Zayne and Gryph managed to make their way to higher ground, but rakghouls surrounded them before the Moomo Williwaw, carrying Jarael, Alek Squinquargesimus, Rohlan Dyre, Slyssk, Shel Jelavan, and the Moomo Brothers, made a timely arrival and rescued them.

However, Zayne was not yet ready to leave, insisting that they return and retrieve Celeste inside the oubliette. Just then, Cassus Fett's fleet arrived in the system. At first, Zayne believed that the ships were about to land, but they instead fired nuclear warheads onto the surface, destroying the citadel with Celeste still inside. Zayne was devastated at the loss of Celeste, but felt newly motivated to stopping the Covenant. The first course of action would be to travel to Odryn and use the key Celeste had given him, with Jarael posing as Celeste to gain access to the Sanctum. Upon discovering that Celeste had in fact not returned to Odryn with the Muur Talisman, Lucien Draay and Covenant member Jedi Master Feln believed that Zayne Carrick killed her.

Emergence from stasis
"How long? How long were we&hellip; was I&hellip; inside?"

- Celeste Morne

However, Celeste was not dead, but still in stasis inside the impregnable oubliette, where she remained for almost 4000 years. The oubliette was first discovered by ice miners on Jebble and passed by blood and trade through many hands until, by twist of fate, it came into the possession of the crew of the Uhumele in 19 BBY. The captain, Schurk-Heren, originally planned to sell the oubliette to the crime boss Haka Hai on planet Mimban. After being double crossed and tortured by the crime boss, the crew fled and made a second attempt to sell the oubliette, this time to historian Fane Peturri on a moon; however, Peturri had informed the Sith Lord Darth Vader of the deal, who seized control of the oubliette before the transaction was completed. Without hesitation, Vader opened the oubliette and Celeste awoke, disoriented and confused, with the Muur Talisman still attached to her neck and the presence of the spirit of Karness Muur. Upon questioning Peturri, Celeste learned that the Sith, not the Mandalorians, had overthrown the Republic and now ruled the galaxy. In her rage, she engaged in a duel against Vader, who told her to embrace her anger, fear, self-loathing and the dark side.

Eventually Vader disarmed Celeste and offered her the chance to become his apprentice. Karness Muur encouraged Celeste to hand over her life so that Vader could unleash the power of the Muur Talisman. Celeste knew two choices lay before her: give in and use the power of the Talisman to defeat Vader and lose her soul in the process, or let Vader claim the Talisman and let loose its horror upon the galaxy. She choose the lesser of two evils and used the Talisman to transform Fane Peturri, all of the stormtroopers, and the only human member of the captive crew of the Uhumele, Crys Taanzer, into rakghouls, while in the meantime the remaining crew of the Uhumele escaped. Finding himself overwhelmed by Celeste and the mutant warriors Vader retreated to his shuttle in defeat.

Celeste now lay stranded on the moon with only the mutant rakghouls and the enraged Karness Muur, who once again had his plans dashed. Although she realized that there was likely no escape from her condition she felt content that Karness was also a prisoner until the possible day when she would encounter another being.

Galactic Civil War
About twenty years later, Vader's thoughts drifted back to Celeste, wondering if she was still alive. Hoping to use her as a weapon against the Rebellion, he sent a convoy to investigate the moon. Although the convoy found Celeste, she reached out with the Force and transformed the pilots into rakghouls, causing the ships to crash. Celeste's mind was twisted by the Muur Talisman and she would once again meet Vader and his children, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, both currently members of the Rebellion against the Sith led Galactic Empire.

Personality and traits
"Zayne, leave murdereena alone."

- Marn Hierogryph

Celeste's constant dedication to the Covenant's goals and her visits to many of the galaxy's nastier places were central to the formation of her rough personality. She found the presence of Zayne and Gryph highly annoying and regularly threw insults their way. However, Celeste began to doubt her orders when she witnessed Zayne go out of his way to protect Cassus Fett's Mandalorian army from the rakghoul plague.

Celeste quickly became enraged when, upon emerging from the oubliette, she discovered that the Sith ruled the galaxy and thus her mission had failed. In her following duel with Darth Vader she expressed her anger as she vigorously attacked the Sith Lord.

Powers and abilities
Members of the Jedi Covenant considered Celeste Morne as a young, but talented and amazing Jedi who had proven herself through many successful missions in the recovery of Sith artifacts.

When the Muur Talisman attached itself to Celeste's neck the spirit of Karness Muur deemed her a suitable host, but Celeste did have enough willpower to momentarily resist the corruption of the Talisman.

Behind the scenes
Celeste is a name derived from the word caelestis of Latin origin, meaning "heavenly".

'Celeste' and 'Morne' both appear in the random name generator for the Jedi Exile in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

The character Celeste Morne was created for the role of heroine of the Star Wars Vector arc.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Vector
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Exalted
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Turnabout
 * Star Wars Dark Times: Vector
 * Star Wars Rebellion: Vector
 * Star Wars Legacy 28: Vector, Part 9
 * Star Wars Legacy 29: Vector, Part 10

Notes and references
Celeste Morne