Darth Krayt

"I have broken the spine of the galaxy&hellip; Sometimes, things must be broken in order to be rebuilt. As I have bent the Force to my will, so I will bend the galaxy and it will know order. My true work is about to begin."

- Darth Krayt, in his holocron

Darth Krayt, born A'Sharad Hett, was a Human male who served as a Jedi Knight in the waning days of the Galactic Republic. The son of legendary Jedi Knight Sharad Hett, he eventually became the Padawan of Jedi Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi, and later, An'ya Kuro. During the Clone Wars he served the Republic as a General, and established himself as a charismatic leader who often led his troops from the front. He eventually became friends with the young Anakin Skywalker and helped Anakin come to terms with the destruction which had been wrought by the galaxy-wide war. He managed to survive the Clone Wars, and was one of the few Jedi known to have escaped the Great Jedi Purge. He eventually made his way back to his homeworld of Tatooine where he vowed to wage a private war against the new Galactic Empire. At some point he proclaimed himself Dread Lord and Dark Lord of the Sith. As Krayt he became the founder and leader of the new Sith Order c. 130 ABY. In addition, he was the first Sith Lord since Palpatine to rule the entire galaxy. For unknown reasons, perhaps to extend his life, Krayt began wearing Yuuzhan Vong-bioengineered Vonduun armor, and kept his identity secret even from most of his own Sith companions.

As Krayt, he fought with two unique lightsabers that he stored on his back in a cross when not in use.

Early life (47 BBY–22 BBY)
"A dark shadow skirts the edges of the Force."

- A'Sharad reflecting on his feelings



A'Sharad was born on the desert planet of Tatooine, the son of the exiled Jedi Knight Sharad Hett and the Human woman named K'Sheek, who had grown up among the Sand People.

From his earliest days A'Sharad was raised, not only in the ways of the Jedi, but also among the traditions of the nomadic Sand People of his homeworld. While he had grown up informally learning the ways of The Force from his father, A'Sharad's formal Jedi training did not begin until shortly after a Hutt-provoked Tusken war, in which the bounty hunter Aurra Sing murdered his father. At this time A'Sharad was fifteen years old, and upon his father's death he gained possession of his father's lightsaber, which A'Sharad continued to use even after constructing his own. He would eventually become a strong wielder of two lightsabers at once.

Becoming a knight
"I am a Tusken, but no longer one with the desert. I am also a Padawan, seeking to complete his Jedi training."

- A'Sharad Hett to the Dark Woman

Following his father's death, he was initially taken as the Padawan of Ki-Adi-Mundi, and under the Cerean Jedi Master watchful eye he partook in a mission to the planet of Malastare. On this mission he worked alongside various members of the Jedi Council, which included Adi Gallia, his own master, Yaddle, Mace Windu, and Even Piell. The mission itself was launch in response to the insurgents of the planet Lannik who declared that they were finally willing to begin peace talks to end the civil war on their planet&mdash;the location for the peace meeting was none other then the planet of Malastare.



Two years after the Invasion of Naboo, his father's killer, Aurra Sing, resurfaced and A'Sharad accompanied Ki-Adi Mundi and Adi Gallia to track down the Jedi killer to end the threat. They tracked Sing to an uncharted world which had been claimed by Senator Tikkes and his Quarren underlings. Once there, they met up with the Dark Woman, Aurra Sing's former master, who had taken it upon herself to end the threat that her former Padawan presented. With Ki-Adi, Gallia, and the Dark Woman hunting Aurra Sing, A'Sharad was ordered to watch over Senator Tikkes, who was the Sing's most recent target. Sing, though, was able to sneak aboard the Senator's vessel, and A'Sharad found himself engaged in a deadly duel with his father's killer. However, during the fight A'Sharad used his anger to overcome Sing, and was able to knock her unconscious. He was, though, able to regain control over his anger and was able to will himself not to kill the felled bounty hunter. Instead, he turned his prisoner over to Ki-Adi Mundi and the other Jedi Masters.

Feeling immense guilt over giving into his anger, A'Sharad begged Ki-Adi-Mundi to release him from his tutelage and to allow him to go into exile, like his father had before him. Instead, the Dark Woman offered to take up A'Sharad's training and, with Ki-Adi-Mundi's blessing, she became the Padawan's new master. Over the course of the next decade, A'Sharad managed to complete his training under the guidance of the Dark Woman, and ascended to the rank of Jedi Knight. Eventually, he also took a Padawan of his own&mdash;a young male Nikto by the name of Bhat Jul.

The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY)
"All units will converge on this location and defend it as long as possible."

- A'Sharad Hett during the Battle of Saleucami



During the Clone Wars A'Sharad served as a General for the Galactic Republic, and flew his Jedi starfighter in air support during the Battle of Geonosis. He would also fight during many of the ground campaigns of the war, leading clone troopers on worlds such as Metalorn and Aargonar. After Obi-Wan Kenobi's presumed death during the Second Battle of Jabiim, Hett befriended the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker who was in desperate need of guidance as well as companionship.

Following the Second Battle of Jabiim Anakin Skywalker and A'Sharad Hett were on New Holstice helping at the Republic military hospital established there. During one traumatic experience in the trauma ward, Anakin used the Force to massage a dying Jedi's heart, in an effort to try and keep her alive&mdash;however, his efforts only increased the pain that she was suffering. A'Sharad confronted Anakin about this, and realized that Anakin was having a difficult time accepting that death was a natural state of life, and essentially, the Force. To demonstrate his point, he took Anakin to a monument near the hospital which was dedicated to the memory of fallen Jedi. Upon seeing the monument, Anakin could hear a memory moth whispering to him &mdash; he reached into the soft glowing light of the monument and grabbed the memory moth, holding it to his ear. He listened to it as it continually whispered a name in his ear &mdash; Oss Wilum. A'Sharad showed Anakin how to use the memory moth to remember the names of the fallen, thus allowing Anakin to gain some closure over the many friends he lost in the killing fields of Jabiim.

Following their much needed break from combat on together with Bhat Jul, the three led the Republic defense of Aargonar. During the battle, the three Jedi became marooned behind enemy lines after their gunship was shot down&mdash;A'Sharad and Anakin found themselves alone after Bhat died of injuries received during the crash.

Unaware of Anakin's dark feelings towards Tuskens, A'Sharad pointed out to him that the two of them shared many qualities. He even remarked that, had the chance presented itself, Anakin would have made a good Tusken. A'Sharad intended the comment as a compliment, but Anakin took it as an insult, which was influenced by the death of his mother at the hands of Tuskan Raiders.



The differences in rank prevented Anakin from expressing his prejudice and anger towards Hett, and instead he projected his hatred on a group of enemy soldiers. Imagining them to be the Sand People who had kidnapped and tortured his mother, Anakin slaughtered them without pity. In the heat of his rage Anakin even tried to attack A'Sharad, but the elder Jedi defended himself, and managed to disarm the younger Jedi. Shamed over his loss of control, Anakin confessed himself to A'Sharad regarding his deeds on Tatooine. In an effort to try and cure the boy of his anger, and knowing it the only way that they would be able to work together, A'Sharad removed his Tusken clothing and revealed himself to be Human&mdash;just like Anakin. After sharing the private moment with Anakin, he vowed to keep Anakin's secret, hoping that Anakin would resolve the issue himself. Hett also decided to discard his Tusken mask, and decided to be simply a Jedi, rather than Human or Tusken.

Hett later fought in the Battle of Boz Pity, where old time friend and mentor Adi Gallia was killed. Afterwards, he served as part of the Jedi force dispatched to the planet of Saleucami, alongside Jedi Masters Quinlan Vos and Oppo Rancisis. There, he befriended the Jedi Ausar Auset, who would later die in battle. On Saleucami, A'Sharad worked together with his friend, Xiaan Amersu to destroy the Separatist's Planetary Gun, but Xiaan was forced to sacrifice herself to destroy their target. A'Sharad was saddened by her death, though he used it to motivate himself to see the battle through. After a brutal struggle, the Republic was eventually successful in their attempts on Saleucami. A'Sharad was one of several Jedi who managed to survive the campaign.

Post-Clone Wars (19 BBY–)
Following the end of the Clone Wars, A'Sharad was one of the few survivors of the Great Jedi Purge. He returned to his homeworld of Tatooine, and once again took up his heritage and disguising himself as a Tusken Raider. While on Tatooine he silently prepared for his own private war against the Galactic Empire.

The rise of Darth Krayt


Hett eventually came to believe that the galaxy was fractured and weak, and that a single will was needed to make it whole and strong again. Equipped with knowledge gained from Sith holocrons found on the ancient Sith burial world of Korriban, Hett took the name Darth Krayt and reestablished the cult under his leadership and pledged to reunify the galaxy according to the will of the Sith. Unlike the previous incarnation, however, Krayt abolished the Rule of Two, Darth Bane's ancient diktat commanding that there could be only two Sith at any one time&mdash;a Master and an apprentice. Instead, there would be the Rule of One&mdash;that one being the Sith Order itself, under which there would be many minions.

For more than a hundred years, Krayt grew and strengthened, along with his Sith, on Korriban, surreptitiously planning to bring its vision of peace and order to the galaxy. There is some confusion as to how he managed this apparent longevity, although a private conversation (c. 130 ABY) between Krayt and his most trusted lieutenant, Darth Wyyrlok, revealed that he had been in stasis in the past (though there is no way to determine if he did so once, or more than once, or how long that stasis was maintained), which could possibly answer how he managed to live for over a century. Whatever methods he used, they appear not to have been without consequences. Krayt was living beyond his standard lifespan at and his body began to fail him, his condition kept at bay by healing trances. He estimated that whatever was threatening him would consume him within a decade or two, and it is possible that his later interest in Cade Skywalker, motivated by a sense that the young Jedi apprentice in exile had once used the Force to revive his Master from the edge of death, was tied into this fact.

The Sith-Imperial War


At last, in the period of 127–130 ABY, the Sith made their presence known openly under Krayt's leadership, and the result of his machinations was the Sith-Imperial War. Krayt's own holocron contained entries relating how he caused the fall of the Galactic Alliance and the restoration of the new Galactic Empire as the dominant galactic power: "Lingering hatred festered on worlds that had suffered heavily at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. That hatred gave us our opening."

- Darth Krayt

Krayt harnessed that hatred to sabotage a Jedi project that was established for entirely altruistic reasons. The original intent of the Ossus Project was to use Yuuzhan Vong terraforming techniques to restore a barren section of the once-devastated Jedi fortress world of Ossus. When the test proved successful, the response was tremendous. Out of a host of applicants, one hundred worlds were selected for the Vong terraforming process. Yuuzhan Vong Shapers, overseen by Jedi escorts, produced incredible results. But Krayt's agents sabotaged the process; soon, the vegetation withered, and bony growths like those once seen on those the Vong had taken as slaves began forming on the skin of the inhabitants. The Jedi immediately suspected sabotage, but could never prove it. It did not matter; the lingering resentment the galaxy felt towards the Vong, even decades after their defeat and exile, did Krayt's work for him, and soon the Vong were accused of trying to restart their genocidal crusade against the galaxy by other means. "We manufactured a cause for war, making the Vong seem responsible. Split, the Galactic Alliance began to fight itself. And so died."

- Darth Krayt

The results were everything he could have hoped for. The Jedi, devoted to the truth above all, defended the Vong and encouraged the Galactic Alliance to support them. The Empire reacted accordingly; members of the Council of Moffs demanded retribution (quite possibly instructed to do so by Krayt himself) and, invoking the Treaty of Anaxes, declared war on the Alliance. Emperor Roan Fel went along, albeit reluctantly, feeling it was the best course for the Empire in a dangerous galaxy, but never entirely supported it, even keeping his Imperial Knights out of the fighting. In addition to war with the Empire, the Alliance found itself facing dissension from within its own ranks. Worlds that had suffered the most under the Vong now aimed their resentment at the Alliance; many of them refused to support the Alliance and actively sided with the Empire, while others just stood by and watched under the banner of neutrality. So divided, the Alliance was easy to conquer.

In three years, the Galactic Alliance was forced into surrender and the Empire absorbed all its former holdings, even reclaiming Coruscant as the Imperial throneworld. It was a reversal of the galactic order that no one could have foreseen, or believed was possible. But despite the grandeur of this victory, it was but a stepping stone for Krayt. Quite possibly he felt that it would be easier to establish his definition of order over the galaxy under an Empire than under a democratic government, even if that Empire was no longer the absolute tyranny his predecessor Darth Sidious had originally intended.

The consolidation of power
"I know the Jedi from old. They could never share my vision. Two days ago the Jedi Temple on Coruscant fell. Today, at their academy on Ossus, the last of the Jedi will die."

- Darth Krayt



Now that the Empire was triumphant, it was time to remove the last obstacle to the Sith; their ancient enemies, the Jedi. With the fall of Coruscant, the Empire's ruler, Emperor Roan Fel, had called on the Jedi to surrender and submit to the Empire. But the Jedi were now aware of the Sith's involvement in the war and refused to join them. They withdrew from Coruscant, yielding their Temple to their enemies, and holed themselves in their praxeum on Ossus. Krayt dispatched his Hand, Darth Nihl, on a devastating attack against the praxeum. But what came to be called the Massacre at Ossus was not the absolute victory he hoped for. Nihl managed to make several significant kills, especially one of the most prominent members of the Jedi Council, Kol Skywalker, scion of the very bloodline that had proven to be both the greatest boon and, later, the greatest impediment to Sith dominance. But the death of even a good number of Jedi did not make for victory. The Jedi were sent to flight, scattered, but they were not yet defeated.

But the Jedi had still been brought low enough to allow him to take the next step; now that the Empire was triumphant, it was time to claim its throne as his own.

He launched a daring palace revolution, marching with his cohorts straight into the audience chamber of Emperor Roan Fel himself, killing the man who sat on the throne, and seating himself in his place. Noting the confusion and outrage from the members of the Moff Council who were present, he laid out the facts of life for them: "Roan Fel never really embraced the war or the idea of a unified galaxy. He went along with it as a political necessity. That's not what the Empire&mdash;what the galaxy&mdash;needs. The galaxy writhes in chaos and disorder. It requires a man of vision. I am that man of vision. I am the new Emperor."

- Darth Krayt

Faced with little choice, the Moff Council swore loyalty to him. For the first time in more than a hundred years, a Sith Lord held the galactic seat of power. At once he set about imposing order on a galaxy that sorely needed it, but this too was an incomplete victory. The "Emperor" he had killed had been anything but. It had to be a double; the real Fel was a fully trained Imperial Knight and would surely have defended himself, rather than just stand there and let himself be slain. It was imperative that the real Fel be found, before he recruited allies among the Moffs, the military, or those Jedi who had survived.

And there was a further concern that he kept to himself and his lieutenant, Wyyrlok. Krayt knew all too well that his health was failing him; he was ruling on borrowed time. But he had felt a murmur in the Force during the Ossus massacre; someone, a Jedi, had somehow used the Force to heal someone else, bring them back to life from the brink of death. If his reign was to endure, if he was to establish his vision of galactic order, he had to find this Jedi with the power to bring beings back to life, and bend his power to serve the dark side.

Downturn
"Lord Nihilus, you escaped death by containing your consciousness within your armor. How?!?"

- Darth Krayt to a hologram of Darth Nihilus projected from his holocron



With the passage of seven years, Emperor Krayt's grip on the throne was still uncertain. Roan Fel remained at large, and finding him was of paramount importance. He sent one of his newest and most devoted hands, the vicious Darth Talon, on a mission to lure Fel out into the open by capturing his daughter, Princess Marasiah Fel. But Fel refused to take the bait; he had plans of his own. In fact, though Krayt did not know it yet, Fel had succeeded in reclaiming the historic fortress world of Bastion, making it a staging area for the Imperial forces he had spent the last seven years moving into position. Little by little, the ground was being laid for a reckoning between Emperors, between the man who claimed to have a birthright to the title and the man who had taken it from him.



It did not help that Krayt was distracted by his own condition. In an attempt to find out how he could survive being consumed by his Vong-made armor, Krayt traveled to Korriban in an attempt to learn from past Sith Lords how to avoid this fate. Krayt activated the holocrons of Darth Bane, Darth Andeddu, and Darth Nihilus, and asked how he could overcome the limitations of his armor, or at least keep it at bay. The ancient Sith were of no help at all: Bane lambasted Krayt for not adhering to the Rule of Two, Nihilus merely gave a small statement in his peculiar dialect (which neither Bane nor Andeddu deigned to translate), and Andeddu caused Krayt's armor to consume him, transforming him into a creature very much like his namesake. Laughing, the Sith avatars taunted him with what they said was his destiny. The three ancient Sith Lords, declaring Krayt to be nothing but an imposter and his order a mockery of the Sith, taunted and laughed as Krayt's fear nearly overcame him. But Krayt refused to accept it. "No! I take what I desire! I am the living Lord of the Sith! This is not the truth and it is not my destiny! I forge my own way, I walk a new path, and if you will not serve me, be gone!"

- Darth Krayt

In this outburst he was able to focus his anger to the point that he was able to reverse the effects of Andeddu's wizardry. He was determined that if he could get no help from the ancient Sith, he would find other teachings, another way. Again he was directed on a path that was likely to lead to Cade Skywalker, the only being in the galaxy able to bring the dead to life.

Discovery
"I often wonder if I shouldn't have ended the Skywalker lineage when I had the chance. Perhaps it was fated that I did not."

- Darth Krayt

When Darth Talon returned from her unsuccessful mission to capture Marasiah Fel on Vendaxa, she expected to be executed by Krayt for her failure. Her master, however, forgave her when she informed him that one of the foes she faced there was a Skywalker. Krayt mused that it was perhaps fate that had allowed the Skywalker lineage to continue, and ordered Talon to find this Skywalker and bring him to Coruscant. Krayt hoped that this Skywalker's abilities would prove useful in his quest to prolong his life.

All the meanwhile, Krayt sent his Sith minions Darth Maleval and Darth Kruhl to destroy the 908th Stormtrooper Division and eliminate Emperor Fel, respectively. Maleval was shot down by Anson Trask, and Kruhl was shot and killed by Emperor Fel on Bastion.

Skywalker found
"Skywalker is coming."

- Darth Krayt to Darth Wyyrlok

While meditating in the Temple of the Sith, Krayt sensed Cade Skywalker heading in his direction to rescue Hosk Trey'lis. Krayt sent his two Hands, Nihl and Talon, to capture him, which they did.

Behind the scenes

 * The character of A'Sharad Hett was developed by author Timothy Truman and debuted in the Outlander Dark Horse Comics comic arc.


 * A'Sharad's face was not seen until Enemy Lines, almost five years after the character's debut.


 * Darth Krayt's true identity was apparently not intended to remain an open-ended mystery. In the back of Star Wars Legacy 9: Trust Issues, Part 1, Randy Stradley made known that Krayt's identity will be revealed in Star Wars Legacy 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2. Furthermore, in the back of Star Wars Legacy 11: Ghosts, Part 1, Stradley hinted that it might be someone the fans already know or will soon know before Legacy 15 but encouraged readers to be patient until the issue was released.


 * In Star Wars Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2, an individual suffering from exposure to mutated Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology appears in a flashback covered in spines and spikes resembling those protruding from Darth Krayt's armor. It is possible that Krayt suffers from a similar condition as his armor is known to be slowly consuming him.


 * In Legacy 1, he appears to be a user of the Jar'Kai style of lightsaber combat. Additionally, according to comments by Jan Duursema on the Dark Horse message boards, Darth Krayt may be a master of the double-bladed lightsaber, as well as Jar'Kai and a single lightsaber.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: Outlander
 * Star Wars Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hunt for Aurra Sing
 * Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
 * Star Wars Republic: The Battle of Jabiim
 * Star Wars Republic 59: Enemy Lines
 * Star Wars: Obsession
 * Star Wars Republic: The Siege of Saleucami
 * Star Wars Legacy 8: Allies
 * Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 4: Noob
 * Star Wars Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4
 * Star Wars Legacy 6: Broken, Part 5
 * Star Wars Legacy 7: Broken, Part 6
 * Star Wars Legacy 9: Trust Issues, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 13: Ready to Die
 * Star Wars Legacy 14: Claws of the Dragon, Part 1
 * Star Wars Legacy 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 17: Claws of the Dragon, Part 4

Notes and references
Darth Krayt Darth Krayt Darth Krayt