Unidentified Royal Guard (Onderon)

"He was one of the chosen who had been on Onderon with the Emperor. Left for dead by the Rebels after the Emperor's shuttle was attacked, he followed our enemies to their fortress. Though he was too late to save Palpatine, he overheard the Emperor's physician being interrogated by the Rebels&hellip;"

- Kir Kanos

A Royal Guard accompanied the reborn Galactic Emperor Palpatine to the planet Onderon during an attempted abduction of the young Anakin Solo in 11 ABY. The guardsman flew alongside Palpatine to the surface of Onderon and was stationed at Palpatine's shuttle when it came under attack by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his allies. The guardsman engaged the young Jedi trainee Rayf Ysanna in one-on-one combat and lost, but he survived and made his way to the Kira Fortress to help the Emperor, although the latter had already been killed.

Instead, the Royal Guard became witness to the New Republic's interrogation of the captive Emperor's physician, who admitted his involvement in a conspiracy against the Emperor on behalf of Carnor Jax and members of the Imperial Ruling Council; a conspiracy that was instrumental in Palpatine's ultimate demise. The guardsman successfully escaped from Onderon and eventually made his way to the planet Yinchorr, where he revealed what he knew to his fellow Royal Guard gathered there. An attack by Jax's forces followed and slaughtered the guardsman and nearly all of his kin, with the exception of one Kir Kanos, who swore to carry out vengeance against traitors to the Empire.

Servant of the Emperor
During Operation Shadow Hand, a male individual served the Galactic Empire among the ranks of Emperor's Royal Guard. In 11 ABY, the guardsman accompanied the ailing clone of Galactic Emperor Palpatine to the planet Onderon aboard the Eclipse II.

The Emperor, who was recently left without his supply of clones into which he could transfer his spirit, hoped to intercept Jedi Leia Organa Solo who was on the way to Onderon with her newborn son, Anakin. The Emperor planned to transfer his spirit into the boy's body and thus preserve his life in order to continue ruling his Dark Empire. After the Solos evaded the Eclipse II tractor beam and successfully landed on Onderon, taking shelter with Modon Kira, the Emperor decided to follow them there. He traveled to the planet aboard a Lambda class shuttle, accompanied by his personal physician, two darksiders, several stormtroopers and two Royal Guards, including the guardsman.

Battle at the spaceport
"We had trusted to the skills of Skywalker and his Jedi to dispatch the two members of the Imperial Guard who were with the Emperor on Onderon&mdash;but even there our plans went awry. The inexperienced young Jedi merely wounded the guardsman he fought."

- Carnor Jax

After the shuttle landed at Iziz spaceport, the Emperor left toward the Kira fortress, accompanied by his physician and the darksider T'iaz, while the guardsman and the rest of the Emperor's cohorts were left behind at the shuttle to create a ruse of the Emperor still being aboard. Soon enough, New Republic reinforcements, led by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, arrived on Onderon to apprehend the Emperor. Believing that the Emperor was still aboard the shuttle, they assaulted it and engaged the Imperial forces.

The guardsman and his comrade engaged Skywalker and his young Jedi trainee Rayf Ysanna. The other guard was killed by Skywalker, but the guardsman was merely wounded by the inexperienced Ysanna, who mistakenly believed that he had killed him. After the Jedi found out that the Emperor had already left the shuttle, they promptly left toward the fortress to confront Palpatine and assist Organa Solo.

Having regained consciousness, the guardsman also made his way to the citadel, hoping to assist his Master, but he was too late. The Emperor had been killed&mdash;his clone body shot by Han Solo, while his spirit had been dragged to the void by the dying Jedi Empatojayos Brand. Of the two companions that were with the Emperor one&mdash;the darksider T'iaz&mdash;had been slain as well, but the Emperor's physician had been taken prisoner by Skywalker and his allies. From a hiding spot, the guardsman listened in as Skywalker and Solo interrogated the physician.

Learning the truth
"The weakest of the Emperor's contingent, the physician, should have been the first to die. But Skywalker and his kin failed to act as we anticipated. Instead, they spared his life so that he might tell them the story of his treachery. Worse, his confession was overheard by one of the Empreror's Guards!"

- Carnor Jax Much to his shock, the guardsman listened to the physician's confession. The man had been bribed by the Royal Guardsman Carnor Jax and members of the Imperial Ruling Council to sabotage Palpatine's supply of clones, causing them to deteriorate so quickly and ensuring that a supply of unaltered clones could not be produced. Having learned of such treachery from one of his own kind, the guardsman was able to slip away from the fortress and leave Onderon. Pursued by Imperial forces loyal to Jax, the guardsman was determined to tell the truth to his brothers-in-arms.

Ten days after the Emperor's death, the man arrived on Yinchorr, the training center for the Royal Guard, where the surviving members of the elite cadre had gathered to mourn Palpatine's passing. The bruised and battered guardsman revealed his knowledge of Jax's treachery to the others, and all the guards swore revenge on the traitors. However, at that very moment, the training center was assaulted by Jax's loyalist stormtroopers. The Royal Guard put up a valiant fight, but nearly all of them, including the survivor of Onderon, were slaughtered by the enemy. The only survivor who was able to escape was a man named Kir Kanos.

Personality and traits
"On the tenth day of our mourning, another one of our brothers joined us. He had made his way to Yinchorr at great peril to his life."

- Kir Kanos

The guardsman was fiercely loyal to his Emperor. After being severely wounded in battle with the young Ysanna, his first instinct was to come to Palpatine's aid. After learning of the physician's treachery, he made it his personal mission to inform his fellow members of the Royal Guard of what he had heard. The guardsman risked his own life to evade Jax's agents and reach Yinchorr with his knowledge.

Skills and abilities
"Further, your own troops failed to prevent the guardsman from making his way back to Yinchorr&mdash;"

- Carnor Jax, berating his general Redd Wessel

A member of the elite Royal Guard, the individual was one of the two guardsmen chosen to accompany Palpatine in his final mission to Onderon. The guardsman was outmatched by the rookie Jedi Ysanna in a duel. However, he later displayed great skill in defeating the forces that hunted him after his escape from Onderon.

Equipment
The individual wore the standard red fatigues of the Emperor's Royal Guard. On Onderon, he wielded a double vibroblade and he also made use of a blaster pistol.

Behind the scenes
A duo of Emperor's Royal Guards were briefly seen in Empire's End 2: Rage of the Emperor engaged in battle with Luke Skywalker and Rayf Ysanna. The follow-up series Crimson Empire expanded on the fate of one of those guardsman, portraying him as the catalyst for Kir Kanos's quest for vengeance against Carnor Jax.

Appearances

 * Empire's End 2: Rage of the Emperor
 * Crimson Empire 0
 * Crimson Empire 1
 * Crimson Empire 3
 * Crimson Empire audio drama