Ninth Sister

"You're dead, Sixth! This won't stop me&hellip;and then you're dead!''" "''Keep the clones busy for a while, will you, Ninth Sister? Good luck. You were always my favorite."

- The Ninth Sister and Sixth Brother, after the latter amputated the former's leg

The Ninth Sister, formerly known as Masana Tide, was a female Dowutin who served as an Inquisitor during the early stages of the Galactic Empire's reign. She accompanied Darth Vader, the Sixth Brother, and the Tenth Brother to the planet Mon Cala to hunt an enemy of the Empire.

Fallen Jedi
Originally a member of the Jedi Order, Masana Tide, later known as the Ninth Sister, used the Force to empathetically connect with others and detect their emotions. Eventually, she became a member of Emperor Palpatine's Inquisitorius program and was trained alongside the Seventh Sister, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, and Eighth Brother by the Grand Inquisitor in the Inquisitorius Headquarters on Coruscant. They soon fell under the command of Darth Vader when Darth Sidious introduced the Inquisitorius to Vader, who continued their training in the ways of the dark side of the Force. During her training with Vader, the Ninth Sister lost her left eye as a lesson of loss.

Trap on Cabarria
"I should be here by myself, checking it out, sending back a report."

- The Ninth Sister questions Vader's presence for the mission.

Sometime later, the Ninth Sister accompanied Vader to investigate claims that an individual had used the Force to get out of a bar fight on Cabarria. Before entering, the Ninth Sister asked Vader why he was investigating this, as there had been many recent Jedi reports that had turned out as misjudgments. She exclaimed that she should have been the one checking it out and sending back a report. Vader told the Ninth Sister that she should be pleased with his assistance and in their following trade of words, she deduced that Vader was there in case they got lucky and found a Jedi.

Vader told the Ninth Sister to remain outside the bar unless he called upon her. However, once Vader entered the bar, a family of bounty hunters attacked the Dark Lord. They had taken a bounty on Vader unknowingly placed by someone from the very of the Republic Executive Building on Coruscant. They set off an ion grenade and destroyed Vader's lightsaber, leading Vader to contact the Ninth Sister to request her to bring him her lightsaber. The Ninth Sister, however, ignored the call, blaming the ion pulse for frying her comm.

Eventually, the family was forced to withdraw from the fight as their ray shields would eventually run out, and Vader was killing even the patrons of the bar to prevent them from attacking him. As the family fled the bar, they held the Ninth Sister at blaster point until Ramat Cha acquired and started up a speeder. As the family escaped, Vader arrived and accused the Ninth Sister of attempting to have him killed. The Ninth Sister told Vader that she had not been the one to place the bounty, suggesting to Vader that one of the other Inquisitors may have done so. Vader ordered the Ninth Sister to remain outside the bar until he returned from dealing with the bounty hunters and told the Ninth Sister that he would kill her if she attempted to flee.

Assassination attempt at Coruscant
She then travelled with Vader back to Coruscant aboard his ship, when their transmitter was jammed, halting their ability to send clearance codes to the surface. This caused Coruscant's defenses to mobilized and fire missiles at their ship. The Ninth Sister was unable to shake them off and Vader took control of the ship. They were hit by one of them, and they managed to crash land on Coruscant. Vader then ordered Ninth Sister to stay with the ship whilst he dealt with the matter at hand. Vader uncovered one of the culprits and executed him and four others in front of the other high ranking Imperials.

Mission to Mon Cala
In 18 BBY, Ninth Sister went with Sixth Brother and Tenth Brother to assist Vader on a mission to Mon Cala. Their objective was to investigate whether a possible Jedi had been influencing King Lee-Char's negotiations with the Empire and with them they took fourteen Purge Troopers. Upon their arrival at Dac City, Ninth Sister was confronted by the king's Chief of Security, Gial Ackbar. Ackbar asked of their business and Ninth Sister gave him a writ that legally protected the Inquisitors from harm. Ackbar told her it was an outrage and she told him to take it up with Vader as he approached them. Ackbar continued questioning for their business on Mon Cala until Vader told him they were searching for a possible enemy of the Empire on Mon Cala. Ackbar denied the possibility but as he said that, a shuttle carrying the ambassador exploded, killing all on board. Vader and the Inquisitors passed Ackbar and walked down from the landing pad.

Battle of Dac City
"Landing pad clear, Lord Vader.''" "''Good."

- The Ninth Sister and Darth Vader.

The ambassador's death prompted Governor Wilhuff Tarkin to send Imperial forces down to Mon Cala. The Mon Calamari Guard began defending their cities. The Ninth Sister fought them on the landing pad at Dac City where they secured the area. Ninth Sister asked Vader where they were to go next and he told her that they were heading to the palace. She then asked him if why they would find the Jedi there, to which Vader said they were there for Lee-Char, hoping they could obtain the Jedi's location from him.

After slaying the guards, they entered the palace and took Lee-Char prisoner. Ninth Sister then interrogated him for the location of the Jedi. Before long, a school of large creatures rose through the sea level, generating a wave large enough to rip through the city. The other two Inquisitors attempted to hold it off but even when Vader joined them, the wave was too strong. The Ninth Sister and the others were swept away.

Hunting the Jedi
"The King, then. Is Lee-Char dead?''" "''We...don't know. The King was swept away when the tidal wave hit. But it's not all bad. I got Lee-Char to give me the Jedi's location. We know exactly where he is."

- Darth Vader and the Ninth Sister

The Ninth Sister survived the wave, as did the Inquisitors and all but two of their troopers. They took an Imperial submarine and found Vader in the Great Ungeness Trench under the ocean. Vader asked of Lee-Char and the Ninth Sister said they didn't know but them told him that she had obtained the Jedi's location. They set a course for the location immediately.

As they reached the location, they caught the Jedi and his six disciples evacuating their refuge. The group of them scattered, excluding one who attacked the submarine with his blaster. Vader crushed the acolyte's helmet and they began pursuing the others. Another disciple sacrificed himself to slow them down. The submarine kept going despite this and soon reached Bel City where two more disciples waited to slow the group down. As they marched down the corridors, Vader received a transmission from Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, with a request to capture the King in return for a favor at some later date. Vader acquiesced and ordered the rest of the squad to continue as planned while he went to find the King. The Inquisitors did as instructed and continued to find the Jedi and his last two disciples at a dead end. Sixth Brother cut one of them down and the Jedi came forward to confront them.

After an exchange of words with Ferren Barr, he revealed that he not only knew that they were all former Jedi but knew the role the clones played in the destruction of the Jedi Order. The Ninth Sister rebuffed all of this saying that their past no longer affected them. Barr stated otherwise, saying that despite their turn to the dark side they were still Jedi underneath. Barr then used a mind trick on the clones, telling them to execute Order 66.

Barr's mind trick worked and the clones turned on the three Inquisitors. After Tenth Brother was shot fatally in the chest, Barr Force jumped over the fight between the Inquisitors and clones with his acolyte Verla escaping through the only exit. Wanting to chase after them, Ninth Sister and the Sixth Brother used their combined strength to Force push the clones out of the way, with most of them falling off the deck. As the two began to make their way out, Sixth Brother betrayed Ninth Sister, severing her leg and leaving her behind as a distraction for the remaining clones so he could escape. As the Sixth Brother ran off mockingly wishing her good luck, Ninth Sister swore she would get her revenge on him.

Personality and traits
"You&hellip;You're eager. You want to fight another Jedi. Bad."

- The Ninth Sister deduces Vader's intentions in joining her on Cabarria

A hulking individual, the Ninth Sister was a female Dowutin with brown skin and white eyes, the left had been lost during a training session with Darth Vader. As an Inquisitor, the Ninth Sister was dangerous and imposing. She had two small horns on her chin and her fingers had black claws on the ends. The Ninth Sister was good at reading people with the Force, being able to deduce Vader's intentions of joining her on Cabarria. She later refused to assist Vader when he asked for her help in a fight with bounty hunters.

Skills and abilities
"One gal might be good with a lightsaber. Another could influence even the strongest of minds. Me, though? I'm the sensitive type. I was always good at reading emotions, and now that I'm touching the dark side, I'm even better."

- The Ninth Sister, to Darth Vader

The Ninth Sister was powerful in the force, and possessed extraordinarily empathic abilities to read minds, which further enhanced her mastery on the Force. This ability became even more potent when she converted to the dark side of the Force. However, she lacked the strength in combat that some of the other Inquisitors possessed, although her life surpassed the Tenth Brother during the fighting in Bel City. She was able to successfully to kill all Purge troopers despite losing a leg and survived. The Ninth Sister was able to successfully interrogate King Lee-Char of Mon Cala, for the location of a hiding Jedi, in time as a large wave swept them away soon after. However, while less agile than other Inquisitors, the Ninth Sister utilized her brute strength, massive size and Jedi training to gain any advantage over her opponents.

Equipment
The Ninth Sister's lightsaber was a double-bladed spinning lightsaber, a type which all the Inquisitors, excluding the Tenth Brother, utilized. She wore a black helmet with two red visors covering each of her eyes. The Ninth Sister wore a black, skin-tight body suit which had silver lines trailing vertically down her chest, back and limbs. Around her waist was a kama of six metal armor plates which protected her thighs. On her back, she could attach her lightsaber to keep it within arms reach.

Behind the scenes
The Ninth Sister first appeared in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 6: The Chosen One, Part VI, a comic book written by Charles Soule, and was later identified in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 11: The Rule of Five, Part I. In Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 16: Burning Seas, Part IV, the Ninth Sister and Sixth Brother's former names are revealed to be Masana Tide and Bil Valen, although the comic did not specify which character had which name. The 2018 reference book Star Wars: The Dark Side later confirmed the Ninth Sister to be Masana Tide.

Appearances

 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 6: The Chosen One, Part VI
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 7: The Dying Light, Part I
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 11: The Rule of Five, Part I
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 12: The Rule of Five, Part II
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 13: Burning Seas, Part I
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 14: Burning Seas, Part II
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 15: Burning Seas, Part III
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 16: Burning Seas, Part IV
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 17: Burning Seas, Part V
 * Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order