Raskta Lsu

"Go find Masters Raskta and Worror. They also served with Hoth on Ruusan. They will join us in our cause."

- Valenthyne Farfalla

Raskta Lsu was an Echani female Jedi Master, and soldier in General Hoth's Army of Light. Named after the legendary Raskta Fenni who was the greatest warrior of her time, Lsu aspired to equal and then surpass the renown of her namesake. Thus, her entire Jedi career was spent honing her martial skills exclusively, and with time she became peerless in her mastery of the lightsaber. Her prowess was such that she was granted the vaunted title of Weapon Master of the Jedi Order. Lsu displayed her talents during the New Sith Wars, fighting in many battles against the Sith's Brotherhood of Darkness.

Ten years after the final campaign which ended the war on the planet Ruusan, Raskta Lsu was part of a team of Jedi selected by Lord Valenthyne Farfalla to embark on a mission to the fabled Jedi birth world of Tython, in attempt to eliminate the last two remaining Sith Lords in the galaxy, Darths Bane and Zannah. Upon arriving and landing on the Deep Core world, Farfalla's Jedi team engaged the Sith, and Lsu once again displayed her unmatched skill with the lightsaber. Lsu fought valiantly, and was the only one of the five Jedi to match Bane's own power with the blade. However, she was undone by the wiles of Darth Zannah, who sneaked up behind Lsu and impaled her, thus ending the Jedi Master's life.

Facing the Sith
Named for the legendary Echani warrior Raskta Fenni, Raskta Lsu was also an Echani, a race of beings whose culture was centered on perfection of oneself through physical combat. Lsu indeed followed the tradition of her people, and devoted her entire life to the fight; as a youth, Lsu aspired to become like Fenni, who was heralded by many as the greatest warrior of her time. As a Force-sensitive, she was accepted into the Jedi Order, and eventually achieved the rank of Master. During that time she spent little time strengthening her Force powers; however, she had instead mastered the use of a lightsaber. Her skill was such that no other living duelist was her equal. Her fellow Jedi recognized the unmatched abilities of the Echani woman, and bestowed upon her the coveted title of Weapon Master of the Order. In the Temple, Lsu was tasked with training all Padawans in lightsaber combat. One in particular, sought to follow in Lsu's path to mastery of the Jedi weapon. As such, the Echani Jedi personally trained Sarro Xaj exclusively in the use of the double-bladed lightsaber.

When Lsu's fighting skills were called upon to serve in Lord Hoth's Army of Light during the final campaign of the New Sith Wars, her Padawan, Xaj, accompanied her. She wielded two blue lightsabers in battle alongside Hoth against Lord Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness. She was the bane of many Sith, and by the war's end, it was believed that as many of their Lords had fallen victim to her blades as had perished from the thought bomb.

After the war
"But there will be those who doubt the totality of the Sith extinction. There will always be whispers that the Sith survive, hints and rumors that somewhere in the galaxy a Dark Lord lives. And if the Jedi ever find proof of our existence, they will be relentless in hunting us down."

- Darth Bane

Three years after the end of the war, Lsu completed Sarro Xaj's training, and deemed him Jedi Knight. She continued to fulfill her training duties as Weapon Master of the Temple, while maintaining her own skills. They would be called upon Seven years later, when rumors began to surface of surviving Sith Lords from Kaan's Brotherhood still being active in the galaxy. A Jedi Knight named Johun Othone, had encountered a young man named Darovit, who claimed to have proof of at least two living Dark Lords. Othone immediately reported this to his former Master, Valenthyne Farfalla, and the latter was determined to investigate. He sent for Master Lsu and the Ithorian Master Worror, both of whom Farfalla had served with on Ruusan, to aid him in his mission. Accompanied by Sarro Xaj, Othone, Worror, Farfalla, and Lsu made haste for the planet Tython on board her personal attack cruiser, the Justice Crusader, with intentions of destroying the Sith.

Mission to Tython
"Let's see where this takes us. Sarro, keep your trigger finger ready."

- Raskta Lsu, upon entering Tython's atmosphere

Despite her expressed reservations about the using the potentially dangerous hyperspace route to Tython, Lsu was appeased by the Ithorian Master Worror, who was serving as the Crusader's navigator. With the coordinates he provided, Lsu piloted the vessel, with Sarro Xaj acting as the ship's gunner, and Farfalla providing operational support for all three. Upon entry into Tython's atmosphere, the Jedi noticed two other starships parked near a massive fortress as they scanned the building for life-forms, of which they found three. The Crusader landed via autopilot, and Lsu and her companions entered the fortress straightaway. Seeing two doorways, Knights Othone and Xaj were ordered through one, while Lsu and Farfalla went through the other, the plan being to eliminate the possibility of escape on the part of the Sith. Worror remained in the doorway behind his fellow Masters, and was to provide support for the whole team through his talent with Jedi battle meditation. The two Sith, Darths Bane and Zannahl, were ready and waiting, and immediately engaged their foes in combat.

Bane attacked the Masters, charging towards them with such ferocity that both Lsu and Farfalla had to evade him to avoid being run down. Lsu's skill with the lightsaber was far greater than any of her other Jedi companions, and she engaged Darth Bane first, only to find that he was covered in an impenetrable orbalisk armor. Bane met Lsu's next attack with a Force wave, the strength of which would have crushed her, had Farfalla not thrown up a shield-wall in the Echani's defense. She fell upon Bane again, displaying her mastery of both the lightsaber and physical combat, being the only one of the five Jedi to force the Dark Lord into a defensive position. As she fought with Bane, Farfalla continued to provided protection for Lsu by shielding her with the Force from the Sith's attacks. On one occasion, Bane hit Lsu with such strength that she was sent flying across the room. Her saving grace was the Force shield her fellow Master surrounded her with. As she got her bearings, she noticed that Bane dueled with a curved-hilt weapon, one that would give him a critical advantage over an unfamiliar opponent. She shouted this to Farfalla who adjusted accordingly; however, the force of Bane's attack was enough to disarm the Equine Jedi, who would have surely met his end had Lsu not been there to save him yet again. She was killed, however, when Darth Zannah approached her from behind and impaled her, ending her life.

Powers and abilities
As the esteemed Weapon Master of the Jedi Order, Raskta Lsu's greatest talents were in lightsaber combat. Her Echani ideals of perfection through mastery of one's physical self were incorporated into her Jedi training, and she eventually became the greatest duelist of her time. A master of all forms of lightsaber combat, Lsu's preferred style was Jar'Kai, one she implemented with two blue blades. Lsu was so proficient in battle with her blades, that she was able to switch between dueling styles seamlessly; a tactic that often confused her opponents. She was able to duel a single adversary with several partners, playing off of their unique styles to maximize the effectiveness of her own. Lsu was also adept with the double-bladed variant as well, which she trained her Padawan, Sarro Xaj, in the use of. She was even familiar with the hooked-handle lightsaber, to the point of being able to immediately recognize it while in the thick of combat. In battle against a user of said weapon, Lsu was able to modify her own technique to compensate for the slight variance that resulted from the curved-hilt's usage.

In matters of the Force, however, Raskta Lsu was virtually inept. She had exchanged all study in the ways of the Force for exclusive devotion to training with lightsabers. Though, her melee skills mostly compensated for her Force-talent impotence. In battle, Lsu had to be shielded by others while she cut down her foes.

Appearances

 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two

Raskta Lsu