Zule Xiss

"Our angry sister protects herself in armor of fire."

- Vaabesh

Zule Xiss was a female Falleen who served as a Jedi Padawan during the waning days of the Old Republic. Aggressive and headstrong, she was apprenticed to the Human Jedi Knight Glaive prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars. Several weeks after the Battle of Geonosis, she and her master were dispatched to the Naboo system with fellow Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in response to a loss of communication with the Gungan colony on Naboo's moon of Ohma-D'un. Upon arriving on Ohma-D'un, the Jedi and their clone troopers found the Gungans dead, the victims of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' swamp gas biological weapon. Before Xiss and the Republic forces could warn Naboo of the threat posed by the gas, they were assaulted by Durge and Asajj Ventress, agents of the Confederacy. In the ensuing skirmish, Ventress killed Glaive and sliced off Xiss's arm. The Falleen was able to escape Ohma-D'un alongside Kenobi, Skywalker, and ARC clone commando Alpha-17.

Xiss, now bereft of a master, joined the "Padawan Pack," a group of Jedi Apprentices whose masters had been killed over the course of the war. A year after the genocide on Ohma-D'un, the Padawan Pack was dispatched to the embattled world of Jabiim. Command of the Republic army on Jabiim fell to Xiss and her fellow orphaned Padawans as all higher ranking Jedi had been either captured or killed by the Jabiimi Nationalists. After weeks of fighting, the Padawan Pack pulled their forces back to Cobalt Station where they were assaulted by the army of Alto Stratus, the leader of the Jabiimi Nationalists. The conflict at Cobalt Station lasted for several days and Xiss gradually began to slip to the dark side of the Force, becoming more and more brutal on the battlefield. On the forty-first day of the Battle of Jabiim, Zule Xiss was crushed by a damaged Republic AT-AT while attacking enemy forces. Except for Anakin Skywalker, every other member of the Pack was killed by the end of the battle and the Republic was forced off the world only days later. The surviving Republic forces fled to New Holstice, where Skywalker added Zule Xiss's name to a memorial for fallen Jedi.

Troubled Padawan
"Many have tried to train her, but only Master Glaive truly taught her the ways of the Jedi."

- Vaabesh

Zule Xiss was a female Falleen who served the Galactic Republic as a member of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. Xiss was known to be headstrong and quick to anger, becoming a difficult student that was shifted between several Jedi Masters during her time as a Padawan. At some point, her rogue attitude lead the Jedi High Council to predict that she would some day die in a bar fight. She was eventually apprenticed to Glaive, a Human Jedi Master with a rough disposition. During her training with Glaive, she became familiar with the Gand Vaabesh, a fellow Padawan. Vaabesh admired Glaive's instruction of Xiss, but the Falleen would later claim that she despised her master. Following the Battle of Geonosis and the start of the Clone Wars Xiss and her master joined the Grand Army of the Republic in its fight against the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Tragedy on Ohma-Du'n
"How did you lose your arm?''" "''Same way my master lost his head."

- Vaabesh and Xiss

Ten weeks into the conflict, the Gungan leader Boss Rugor Nass lost contact with a colony of Gungans on the moon of Ohma-D'un, a moon of their homeworld of Naboo. Naboo's Queen Jamilla, believing disgruntled spice miners were behind the loss of communication, contacted the Jedi Order to request an investigation team. The Jedi Council believed that the loss of contact was in fact caused by a Confederate attack and so dispatched Zule Xiss, Glaive, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker to the moon. The four Jedi traveled to the Naboo system alongside a contingent of clone troopers and Advanced Recon Commando Alpha-17. Upon reaching the system, Xiss and her companions were briefed on the situation by C-3PO, a protocol droid in the service of Queen Jamilla. The Jedi, Alpha, and several clones then descended to the surface of Ohma-D'un in a single LAAT/i gunship and began to search for the Gungans.

Xiss and the Republic forces soon came upon a massacre, discovering that every Gungan in the colony had been killed. The Jedi engaged several Confederate battle droids that were examining the Gungan bodies, concluding that the massacre was not the work of spice miners. The true culprit, the Confederacy's Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge, soon revealed himself and confronted the Republic force. During the melee, Xiss was able to stab Durge directly in the abdomen, however this did not kill him, as his Gen'Dai physiology allowed him to sustain heavy wounds an remain standing. Durge struck Xiss across the face, rendering her unconscious while Glaive attacked the bounty hunter. An overwhelmed Durge called for reinforcements in the form of battle droids and the swamp gas which had killed the Gungans. While Kenobi and Glaive struggled with the gas and Skywalker and Alpha searched for hostages that had been taken by Durge, the Gen'Dai bounty hunter found Xiss's unconscious body and lifted off the ground by her hair. Glaive attempted to mind trick Durge into releasing her, but she was instead saved by Kenobi, who attacked the bounty hunter from behind. Glaive was killed shortly after in a surprise attack from Asajj Ventress, the Dark Acolyte and Confederate commander behind the Gungan genocide.

Durge and Ventress nearly killed Kenobi, but the Jedi Master was saved by a revived Xiss as she drove her lightsaber into Durges back. Although the strike should have sliced his spinal cord, Durge's lack of a central nervous system allowed him to continue fighting and tackle Xiss to the ground. He smothered the young Falleen and began cutting her face with a large blade, but before Durge could kill her, Xiss grabbed the blasters from his holsters and shot him in the chest. As she rejoined Kenobi, Durge left to hunt down Alpha and Skywalker while Ventress remained to finish off Kenobi and Xiss. She used the dark side to reanimate many of the dead Gungans in order to keep the two Jedi off-balance during the fight. Xiss recovered her lightsaber that she had lost while fighting Durge, however before she could use it against Ventress, the Dark Acolyte cleaved off her left arm. Weakened by the poison gas and wounded by Ventress, Xiss was nearly killed before Skywalker and Alpha returned to aid her and Kenobi. Outnumbered, Ventress and Durge abandoned their mission and fled Ohma-D'un. Alpha helped Xiss onto their LAAT/i alongside Kenobi and Skywalker, and the group left the moon to warn the Jedi Order about the new swamp gas weapon threat.

Blood and rain
"Zule is slipping into darkness!''" "''Does it really matter? At least she's on our side!"

- Mak Lotor and Vaabesh

In the wake of the genocide on Ohma-D'un, Xiss received a cybernetic arm to replace the one she lost to Ventress. She eventually joined a group of padawans whose masters had also been killed over the course of the war. This group, colloquially known as the Padawan Pack, consisted of Xiss, the Aqualish Windo "Warble" Nend, the Sullustan Elora Sund, the Zabrak Kass Tod, the Humans Tae Diath and Mak Lotor, and Xiss's old acquaintance, Vaabesh. The Padawan Pack was eventually assigned to the embattled world of Jabiim, where political unrest had resulted in a civil war. Jabiim was a Republic world that had been largely ignored by Coruscant and was left to deal with local problems without the assistance of the Jedi or the Republic's Judicial Forces. Alto Stratus, a vocal Jabiimi politician, called for the succession of Jabiim to the Confederacy and killed most of the pro-Republic members of the Jabiimi Congress after making an alliance with the Confederacy's Head of State, Count Dooku. However, before Stratus could use the Confederate droids and arms provided by Dooku to finish off pro-Republic forces, the Grand Army of the Republic invaded the world to aid Captain Orliss Gillmunn and his Jabiimi Loyalists in their fight against Stratus.

Xiss once again fought alongside Alpha-17, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as Kenobi had been assigned as theater commander for the Jabiim conflict. By the thirtieth day of battle, eighteen Jedi and nine thousand clones had been killed. Kenobi and General Sirrus were presumed to be among the dead, adding Skywalker and Sirrus's apprentice Aubrie Wyn to the Padawan Pack. General Leska, now the highest ranking Jedi on Jabiim, ordered the Padawan Pack to avoid the front lines and protect a supply convoy headed towards Cobalt Station, as she refused to send more Padawans to their deaths. While guarding a convoy of AT-XTs and AT-ATs, the Padawans were attacked by Stratus's droid forces. Xiss followed Skywalker and several other members of the Pack into battle against the droids while Wyn and Nend remained with the convoy. Using a tactic Skywalker had developed with his master, the Padawans were able to destroy their attackers and get the convoy moving once more. Despite the victory, Xiss remained pessimistic of the situation, citing that even the most advanced Padawan, Mak Lotor, was inexperienced in war. Later, Windo Nend attempted to make conversation with Xiss, but she quickly became annoyed and threatened the Aqualish. Vaabesh explained to Nend that she was only defensive as a result of the loss of her master on Ohma-Du'n, who Vaabesh believed to have truly taught Xiss what it meant to be a Jedi.

On day thirty-four of the battle, the convoy protected by the Padawan Pack walked directly into a minefield set up by Alto Stratus's Nimbus commandos. Unable to safely navigate the field, the trapped convoy was quickly attacked by Stratus's forces. Although Kass Tod insisted that the convoy stay stationary in order to avoid the mines, Xiss and Skywalker insisted that they fight back against their attackers. After Mak Lotor passed out from over exerting himself in the force while remotely detonating several mines, Xiss aided him in moving to cover. The Jabiimi Nationalists soon retreated, allowing the convoy to continue on to Cobalt Station. Once there, Xiss and the Padawans witnessed Confederate reinforcements landing on the planet while enjoying a brief break in the rain. During a communication with Orliss Gillmunn, the Padawans were informed that General Leska had gone missing and that they were now the highest ranking members of the Grand Army of the Republic on Jabiim. Cobalt Station was the last remaining Republic fortification on the planet, and it stood between Stratus's approaching forces and Monsoon Mesa, the evacuation site for the remaining Jabiimi Loyalists and clone troopers.

Death on Jabiim
"You're going to die, madman!''" "''So are you, monster..."

- Zule Xiss and a Nimbus Commando, shortly before they are both crushed by a damaged AT-AT

Despite the likelihood of their defeat, all of the Padawans agreed to remain at Cobalt Station in order to buy time for the escaping Republic forces. Xiss was initially reluctant to commit herself to what would be an almost certain death, but ultimately decided to stay and fight. While preparing for Stratus's assault, she armed herself with a DC-15S blaster rifle. The Confederate's eventually attacked and found the defense of Cobalt Station to be far stronger than they had anticipated. Xiss spent time in the station's trenches with Windo Nend, encouraging her allies to push their attacks. On the second day of the assault, Xiss was running about the battlefront, using both blaster and lightsaber to assail her enemies. By this point, her aggression had begun to worry her fellow Padawans, with Mak Lotor going so far as to say that she was falling to the dark side.

Embracing the anger her masters had long warned against, Xiss was able to kill many members of the Nimbus Commandos. Fighting in the shadow of one of the Republic's few remainging AT-AT walkers, Xiss maimed a Nimbus and prepared to execute him. However, before she could, the AT-AT was hit by heavy fire fell to the ground, crushing Xiss and the commando.

Legacy
"May the Force be with the others..."

- Zule Xiss's last words

Personality and traits
"Warble, if you talk the entire trip, I swear I'm going to use my rusty fingers to rip out your tusks."

- Zule Xiss to Windo Nend

Xiss denied Glaive's influence on her, even going so far to say that she hated the man and wished she had killed him herself.

Powers and abilities
"I haven't been trained to use any of this...''" "''Neither have I. Just rely on instinct."

- Elora Sund and Zule Xiss on using weapons other than a lightsaber

Behind the scenes
The script of The New Face of War identifies Zule as a Falleen, despite her appearance indicating otherwise. She does not exhibit many characteristics found in both male and female Falleen, including small scales all over the body, slightly clawed fingers and toes, and prominent facial and spinal ridges. Zule's species has not been mentioned in any other source. Some fans have interpreted her red skin as an indication that she was a Zeltron, although Falleen are known to be able to change their skin pigmentation to other colors. There are other species that appear identical to Humans except for skin a similar shade of orange, the Bornecks and Gamandar.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War
 * Star Wars Republic 56: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 2
 * Star Wars Republic 57: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 3
 * Star Wars Republic 58: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 4

Notes and references
Zule Xiss Zule Xiss