Red Key Raiders

Red Key Raiders
General information
Organization type	Criminal syndicate
Leader(s)	Lorgan Movellan
Sub-group(s)	Mining Collective
Location(s)	Tatooine Nakadia Adratharpe 7
Other information
Affiliation	Black Sun Ivax Syndicate Five Crime Syndicates

"You're with that new mining company."
"Hm? Oh. Yes."
"The Red Key Company, isn't it?"
"That's the one."

―Cobb Vanth and Adwin Charu

The Red Key Raiders were a criminal syndicate that emerged following the Battle of Endor. Its members included Adwin Charu, Lorgan Movellan, and Bivvam Gorge. Following the death of Jabba the Hutt, Red Key attempted to establish a presence on Tatooine by posing as a mining company called the Red Key Company. This brought them into conflict with Cobb Vanth, the mayor and sheriff of Freetown. Later, Red Key conspired with the more established Black Sun to prolong the Galactic Civil War by coercing and bribing five senators into opposing Chancellor Mon Mothma's resolution to intervene on Jakku. Their conspiracy was foiled by a team led by Han Solo and the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus.

History

Entering Tatooine

The Red Key Raiders were an upstart criminal organization that emerged shortly after the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. The Mining Collective was an extension of that group. In the period after the events on Endor, the Red Key started a presence on the desert planet Tatooine by posing as a mining organization called the Red Key Company. Their goal was to appear legitimate while the Empire and New Republic were distracted in the war, and the Hutts distracted by the power vacuum left by Jabba. The end objective was to establish a new age of mining barons.

Cobb Vanth, defender of Mos Pelgo and enemy of the Red Key Raiders

As part of their efforts, the Red Key Raiders took credit for the death of Jabba for the better part of a year. In the immediate aftermath of Endor, the Raiders' Mining Collective sub-group attacked and occupied the small town of Mos Pelgo, but one local named Cobb Vanth managed to escape with valuable crystals he stole from the attackers. Finding his way to a group of Jawa traders, he used the crystals to purchase a set of Mandalorian armor that once belonged to the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Before he departed, a Red Key operative named Adwin Charu tried to procure the same Mandalorian armor the Jawas. However, he was shot by Vanth, who claimed the armor and returned to Mos Pelgo with the gear on his person. With a blaster pistol and the armor, he was able to single-handily liberate Mos Pelgo from the Mining Collective.

In 5 ABY, two Red Key Raiders including Bivvam Gorge ambushed Jabba Desilijic Tiure's former Beastmaster Malakili near Mos Pelgo, which had been renamed Freetown. The gangsters were killed by Cobb Vanth and the Twi'lek woman Issa-Or. Vanth subsequently recruited Malakili into his community and hired him to tame a pair of rontos and to look after a Huttlet named Borgo. Vanth soon incurred the wrath of the Red Key mob boss Lorgan Movellan, who wanted to exploit Tatooine for its dilarium oil, silicax oxalate, and slaves.

Lorgan's forces invaded and occupied Freetown, taking Vanth and the town's inhabitants prisoner. Movellan planned to sell the Huttlet Borgo to the Hutts and kill Vanth. However, Borgo at Malakili's signal let out a loud cry which gave the signal for a group of Tusken Raiders to attack. Vanth and Malakili had earlier forged a pact with the local Tuskens for protection in returning for supplying them with water and a pearl from a krayt dragon's belly. Most of Movellan's henchmen were killed during the attack. Despite Movellan's threats that his masters would come after them, Vanth carved a message on Lorgan's head with his knife.

Alliance with the Black Sun

The Galactic Civil War came to its end with the Battle of Jakku despite the efforts of the Red Key and Black Sun.

The Red Key Raiders later forged an alliance with the more established Black Sun crime syndicate to prolong the Galactic Civil War. They bribed the New Republic Senators Rethalow, Dor Wieedo, and Ashmin Ek into opposing Chancellor Mon Mothma's resolution to send New Republic Defense Force forces to the Inner Rim world of Jakku, where most of the Galactic Empire had retreated to. They also blackmailed Senators Grelka Sorka and Nim Tar by kidnapping the former's pet jerba and the latter's child. This conspiracy was unmasked by Sinjir Rath Velus, Han Solo, Temmin Wexley, Jom Barell, and Conder Kyl.

Despite Red Key kidnapping Conder, Jom captured Rethalow and managed to extract a confession from him. The Red Key and Black Sun gangsters kept Tar's child and Conder at a warehouse near the Quarrow Senate house on Nakadia. They, however, sold Sorka's jerba to black market butchers. Conder used his transceiver tooth to transmit the coordinates of the warehouse to his comrades. Solo and his team landed the Millennium Falcon in the warehouse and attacked the gangsters. Following a brief gun battle, they freed Conder and Tar's child. Posing as an advisor to the Chancellor, Sinjir then managed to convince the five senators to change their vote in favor of Mothma's resolution by offering them pardons and political favors. As a result, the New Republic was able to send military forces to Jakku, foiling Red Key and Black Sun's plot to prolong the war.

First Order era

Sometime after Supreme Leader Snoke's assumption of leadership within the First Order, the Red Key Raiders were sought out by a thief named Riley. She admired them for their work in gutting the Hutt Syndicate and wished to work in some capacity with them. She sought out the Gabdorin named Quiggold who she believed could have some connections to the Red Key Raiders. Quiggold instead referred her to the Gray Gundarks for work in exchange for a satchel which contained the Smuggler's Guide. Shortly after, Quiggold, who served as first mate to Sidon Ithano and his crew, went on a job to Adratharpe 7 to locate the treasures indicated in the Guide. There, they encountered and fought members of the Red Key Raiders. The Raiders' underboss, Magnus the Bloodsoaked, managed to take possession of the Smuggler's Guide after the ensuing chaos. He later noted that he wished to share the contents with their boss Movellan. Sometime afterwards, the Droid Gotra ambushed and destroyed a Ubrikkian Freighter commanded by the Red Key Raiders. While sweeping the wreckage, they found the Guide.

Behind the scenes

The Red Key Raiders first appeared as secondary antagonists in Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, which ran between 2015 and 2016.

Appearances

• Aftermath (and audiobook) (First appearance)
• Aftermath: Life Debt (and audiobook) (First identified as Red Key Raiders)
• Aftermath: Empire's End (and audiobook)
• The Mandalorian — "Chapter 9: The Marshal" (In flashback(s))
• The Mandalorian Season 2 Junior Novel (In flashback(s))
• The Mandalorian – The Graphic Novel of Season 2 (In flashback(s))
• The Mandalorian Season 2 1 (In flashback(s))

Sources

• Star Wars Helmet Collection 37 (Databank A-Z: Luggabeast–Malakili)
• Star Wars: The Rebel Files
• Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide
• "Din Djarin and Other Characters of the Underworld" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
• "Crime and Punishment" — Star Wars Insider 209

Notes and references

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