Alema Rar

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Alem'arar, better known as Alema Rar, was a Rutian Twi'lek Jedi Knight whose hardships in life and inner darkness eventually resulted in a turn to the dark side of the Force. Born into poverty on Ryloth, Alema Rar and her sister were rescued from their bleak existence by Jedi Knight Daeshara'cor; they were then taken to be trained in the ways of the Force on Yavin 4.

When the Yuuzhan Vong War broke out in 25 ABY, the Rar sisters soon rose to fame as the founding members of the resistance movement on the occupied planet of New Plympto. It was following the razing of New Plympto and the death of her sister that Rar began to sway close to the dark side. She fought through the rest of the war on the frontlines with distinction, first as a member of the Myrkr strike team, many of whom died on the Mission to Myrkr, and later as a starfighter pilot.

Six years after the war had ended, however, Rar and the surviving members of the Myrkr team received a call through the Force from Raynar Thul, who had been abducted by Dark Jedi Lomi Plo and Welk during the mission and presumed dead. Travelling to the Unknown Regions, Alema Rar discovered Thul, now leader of the insectoid Killiks, engaged in a border dispute with the Chiss Ascendancy. The Killik hive mind, as it did so many, soon rendered Rar a Joiner.

However, unlike other Jedi who became Joiners, Alema Rar was made aware of the Dark Nest—overseen by Lomi Plo—which was secretly manipulating Thul. Plo, in fact a Sith Master, ensured that Alema Rar completed her fall to the dark side; the Twi'lek Jedi turned against her former allies, becoming the second Night Herald of the Gorog. By the time the resulting Dark Nest Crisis and Swarm War had concluded, Rar had grown mentally unstable. Mutilated through lightsaber duels with Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo, Rar descended into insanity following the destruction of Plo and the Dark Nest.

The Twi'lek was thought to have been killed on Tenupe; she did, however, survive, returning to civilized space two years later. Her continued existence known only to Jagged Fel, Rar was eager to exact her own form of revenge upon Organa Solo and Skywalker. Once she had allied herself with the resurgent Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya, Rar hunted her targets during the Second Galactic Civil War, engaging the Skywalkers and the Solos in a series of skirmishes. When Mara Jade Skywalker was killed, in fact by Lumiya's new Sith apprentice Jacen Solo, Alema was thought to be responsible. A brief dalliance with the new Sith Order, the possession of an ancient Meditation Sphere, even the knowledge of several advanced Sith techniques—all were ultimately unable to protect Rar; the Dark Jedi was tracked down to the late Lumiya's retreat, and died there at the hands of Jagged Fel.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 The Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY–29 ABY) 1.2.1 New Plympto and Numa 1.2.2 Mission to Myrkr 1.2.3 Later service 1.3 Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY–36 ABY) 1.4 Survival 1.5 Investigations 1.6 Death 2 Powers and Abilities 3 Appearances 4 Sources 5 External links 6 Notes and references

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Alema and her sister Numa were born into the ryll dens of Ryloth, where both sisters formed a close bond as they worked as dancers for money to survive. It was there that Alema would learn the grace and dexterity which would aid her in lightsaber combat in years to come, and the feminine charm found alluring by so many males. However, Alema and Numa's harsh life on Ryloth was also where she witnessed much of the cruelty and hardships of the galaxy.^[3] Eventually the Rar sisters were rescued from their hand-to-mouth existence; discovered by Jedi Knight Daeshara'cor, the two Twi'lek girls were taken to be trained at the Jedi Praxeum on the moon of Yavin Four.^[1]

[edit] The Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY–29 ABY)

[edit] New Plympto and Numa

The Rar sisters were affected by tragedy early in the war when Daeshara'cor died fighting the Yuuzhan Vong at Ithor.^[4] Alongside Numa, Alema went on to become one of the founders and leaders of the resistance force against the Yuuzhan Vong on occupied New Plympto, during which Master Luke Skywalker felt she had skirted perilously close to the dark side. The efforts of the Rar sisters were so successful, however, that the frustrated invaders finally decided to raze the planet, wiping all life from the surface and rendering it uninhabitable. The Rar sisters were only just able to flee in time, escaping aboard the cruiser Nebula Chaser with thousands of other refugees. However, the Yuuzhan Vong frigate Gift of Anguish intercepted the vessel. Believing there to be Jedi aboard, the Yuuzhan Vong released voxyn, creatures bred solely to hunt and kill Jedi, into the Nebula Chaser. One of the voxyn soon tracked and found the Twi'lek sisters (the first such encounter between Jedi and the beasts) and was able to spit acid onto Numa's face, eating it away and killing her even as Alema dragged her into an escape pod. Soon after, Alema was rescued by Jaina Solo and Mara Jade Skywalker aboard the Jade Shadow, who had been in the area searching for the two sisters. On their return, while Alema was recovering from her physical injuries in a bacta tank, Luke Skywalker foresaw her fall to the dark side.^[3]

[edit] Mission to Myrkr

Alema later participated in the Jedi strike against the voxyn. Having recovered from her wounds, and with the deaths of her sister, much of New Plympto's population and every refugee aboard the Nebula Chase, Alema saw the mission as one of vengeance. She believed along with Raynar Thul that destroying the voxyn and defeating the Yuuzhan Vong would justify any action they undertook; a stance which caused great controversy among the group, especially with the then-pacifistic Jacen Solo and the strident servant of the light, Zekk. During the mission, Alema began to show an attraction to Anakin Solo, who although the same age as her, in his father's eyes, far less experienced in the ways that Alema had come to be. Her attraction also caused her to be a target of jealousy from Tahiri Veila. She was one of the few Jedi who survived the Myrkr mission. Even so, the loss of her sister coupled with the disaster at Myrkr drove her into near paranoia.^[3]

Alema traveled to Hapes with the rest of the remaining strike team,^[5] but then soon departed with Han and Leia Organa Solo to Borleias. When the Millennium Falcon arrived in the Borleias system they found themselves in the middle of a Yuuzhan Vong fleet and during the ensuing action Alema manned one of the Falcon's gun turrets. Alema assisted in the Battle of Borleias which was technically lost, although it represented a great moral victory.^[6]

[edit] Later service

After arriving at Borleias, she was sent on a mission (recommended by Talon Karrde's organization) on the refugee ship Jeolocas, which was expectedly ambushed by the Yuuzhan Vong. Alema forced the Corellian captain into hiding, who thought her to be Peace Brigade. When the Yuuzhan Vong boarding party arrived, led by Bastori Rak, posing as the captain, she enticed them with the promise of Jedi training materials. When arriving in the cargo hold, she showed her true allegiance with her lightsaber, opening the containers holding YVH droids and killing all the Vong. To celebrate this victory she made a flirtatious offer to Lando, which he politely refused, then told the captain he could come out of hiding.^[7]

She later joined with Admiral Kre'fey's military fleet along with many other Jedi, and helped develop the Jedi mind meld. Alema was also one of the Jedi to be knighted during this time on Mon Calamari. She would then fight in the Battle of Ebaq 9, which saw an enormous victory for the New Republic.^[8] Alema would later bond with seed partners and fly a Zonama Sekotan Fighter to defend Zonama Sekot from the Yuuzhan Vong.^[9]

[edit] Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY–36 ABY)

At the beginning of the Dark Nest Crisis, Alema became a Joiner of the Gorog nest and turned on Han and Leia at Woteba and later, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker. On Qoribu's moon, Kr, Alema's arm was severely maimed by Luke's lightsaber, who let her crawl into a tunnel and escape. Luke would later claim that due to the loss of her sister, it wasn't so much if Alema would turn to the dark side, but when.^[10]

Over the next year Alema continued to serve under the Dark Nest's influence, becoming the nest's new Night Herald. A year following the Qoribu debacle, Alema encountered Luke and Han on Woteba, the new home of the Saras Nest under the leadership of Raynar Thul (now known as UnuThul). She tried to plant seeds of doubt in Luke and Han over Mara's past life as Emperor's Hand in order to hide the presence of Lomi Plo, who was also a Joiner of the Dark Nest.^[11]

Later on, Alema led the Gorog into battle against the Galactic Alliance in the area of the Utegetu Nebula known as the Murgo Choke. After boarding the Alliance cruiser, Admiral Ackbar, Alema encountered Leia, who over the past year had trained in the ways of the Jedi under Saba Sebatyne. The two engaged in lightsaber combat and Alema proved to be a worthy opponent for Leia, beating her to the point of almost knocking her unconscious. Leia, however, was able to sever one of Alema's lekku and the Dark Jedi was forced to flee.^[11]

Alema apparently met her end in the Swarm War during another duel with Leia on Tenupe. While trying to coax a native spidersloth into eating Leia, Alema was caught off-guard by Leia and knocked into the carnivore's path. Before she could properly react, the spidersloth pulled her into its mouth and made off with her struggling form. Her body, however, was not found, and it was assumed that it had been entirely eaten. The Chiss were less than pleased with the Alliance's answer, saying that they "preferred certainties to presumptions."^[12]

[edit] Survival

In 40 ABY it was discovered that Alema survived her supposed death, though she was horribly disfigured after barely cutting out of the spidersloth. It was after her resurfacing that Alema set out to find and kill the entire Solo and Skywalker families for what had been done to her physically and for the destruction of the Gorog Dark Nest. Her first quarry was Jacen Solo, whom she found on Coruscant. Alema tracked Jacen into the lower levels and fired a poisoned dart meant to kill him but it instead hit the World Brain, which would later die. Jacen's life had been saved by Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya, who in the course of a subsequent conversation made it clear that Jacen was her apprentice. This revelation shocked Alema, who wondered if the galaxy had gone mad.^[13]

While following Jacen later, she witnessed a discussion between him and Lumiya and came to the conclusion that Lumiya was manipulating Jacen into becoming a Sith. This pleased Alema greatly since Jacen's becoming a Sith would cause great amounts of pain to Leia, whom Alema hated most and wished to suffer as much pain as she herself had suffered at Leia's hand. Alema referred to this as "the Balance," which was a perverse way for her to justify her dark side deeds. She would later reveal herself to Lumiya when she helped her to kill Jedi Master Tresina Lobi, who had been spying on Ben Skywalker to determine whether Jacen was turning him to the dark side, and who subsequently also witnessed Jacen and Lumiya's meeting. Alema decided to let Jacen live, and she dedicated herself to helping Lumiya and her plan of turning Jacen into a Sith Lord, assisting with assassinations of members of the Bothan True Victory Party.^[13]

Alema secretly accompanied Lumiya to the Hapes Consortium on the GAG Star Destroyer Anakin Solo. She assisted Lumiya in preparing for a fight with Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker at Roqoo Depot, removing explosives from various missiles to be placed in vests and attached to a detonator linked to the wearer's heart. This way, should either Alema or Lumiya die at a Skywalker's hand, the explosive would detonate and kill all in the surrounding area. At Roqoo, Luke and Mara were aware of Lumiya's presence, but not of Alema's. While Luke was engaged fighting Lumiya, Alema had the drop on Mara. But she did not want for Mara to die without Luke knowing it was going to happen just before, causing him greater agony that he had not stopped it and thus better serving the Balance. However, she let her intentions be known to Luke through the Force and, to her surprise, he allowed Lumiya to injure him severely by severing his mechanical hand, so that he could warn Mara in time. Mara and Alema dueled, and Mara knocked Alema unconscious, but could not bring herself to kill an unconscious foe. When Mara searched Alema's body for weapons, she discovered the bomb-vest, and managed to disarm it and warn Luke before he killed Lumiya who was also wearing such a vest.^[13]

Alema then returned to the Anakin Solo and revealed herself to Jacen, who very much wanted to kill her for her involvement with Gorog, and informed him of her and Lumiya's failure at Roqoo. She expressed her belief that Lumiya was dead, but Lumiya's fate was not in reality confirmed. Jacen did not kill Alema for fear of her having set a trap that, should she die, his paternity of Tenel Ka's daughter Allana would be revealed. Therefore Jacen allowed her to leave on the condition that she was to never come near his family again. She agreed, but before she left she sowed the seeds of doubt in Jacen's mind about the innocence of Han and Leia Solo regarding their part in the coup against Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka. She was successful in this final endeavor as Jacen nearly killed his parents, his sister Jaina, Zekk, and apprentice Ben by having the Anakin Solo open fire upon the Millennium Falcon.^[13]

Alema left the Anakin Solo aboard the sabotaged Duracrud and enlisted the aide of its captain, Uran Lavint. After fixing the hyperdrive of the Duracrud Alema and Uran left for the Errant Venture where Alema would again try to kill Han, Leia, Luke and Mara, only to fail again. The Jedi had learned how to counter her Force-flashing and used it against her setting her in a trap while in one of the Venture's casinos where she was confronted by Zekk, Corran Horn, Leia and Jaina. She escaped through a turbolift shaft only to be confronted by Jagged Fel, who shot her in the left shoulder, further mutilating her. Alema knocked Jag down and escaped the Venture by stealing the Duracrud. Alema would return again at a secret meeting on Gilatter VIII and would again engage Leia in a lightsaber duel. The duel ended in a draw with Alema escaping again.^[14]

After Gilatter VIII, Alema followed Lumiya to the Sith ship—which had been recovered from Ziost by Ben—to her asteroid home. There Lumiya challenged Alema with why she wanted revenge on Leia, asking Alema to come up with something more significant than her disfigurement. Alema responded by saying that Leia had isolated Alema, taking away her ability to attract or relate to others in any meaningful way. Leia had also destroyed the Gorog Nest, taking away Alema's sense of belonging. Alema wanted Leia to suffer in retaliation. Lumiya asked Alema to secretly follow Jacen Solo, and to be patient with taking her vengeance on Leia. On Coruscant, Mara tasked Jaina to hunt down Alema and kill her.^[15]

[edit] Investigations

After the death of Lumiya at the hands of a grief-stricken Luke Skywalker, the Sith Meditation Sphere was taken by Alema. Alema infiltrated the Jedi academy on Ossus and downloaded data about the sphere.

After confusing several guards with her powers as well as evading her pursuers Jaina Solo, Zekk and Jagged Fel, she escaped from the planet in the sphere and compelled it to take her to Darth Vectivus's asteroid. Alema was overjoyed with the fact that Jacen Solo was now a full Sith Lord and hoping to achieve full balance, hoped to find some sort of Sith artifact or treasure to help Jacen as she believed that this is what Lumiya had asked her to do.

The asteroid was riddled with booby traps which she was able to disarm and she made her way into the bedroom. All that was found there was nothing apart from some cybernetic replacement parts, strands for a lightwhip and a lot of what she saw as junk. In a burst of anger she hurled these parts to the floor and was hit on the head by a replacement arm. The arm broke and Alema noticed there was a small compartment revealing a data chip.

She played the chip and it contained a message which showed a hooded figure who informs the owner of the chip that the speed of the invaders had taken them by surprise or they would have sent a large escort and that if the recipient survives and cared to reach them on their own then the navigation string attached to the message will guide them at once.

Alema realized that this message had to be from other Sith, although this was in conflict with what she knew from various tales about the Sith, namely the Rule of Two. However, she also recalled that Lumiya’s final words to her hinted that there might actually be more than two Sith in the galaxy and that Lumiya’s survival might not be part of their plans.

She ordered the Meditation Sphere to take her to Korriban where she found other Sith. Upon her landing she met a group of stranded criminals, one of whom agreed to show them the location of the Sith in exchange for passage off the planet. The Sith were located in the Valley of the Dark Lords and Alema was met by a Togorian Sith named Morto who attempted to attack her but was stopped by a shrouded Sith only identified as White Eyes. White Eyes and Alema agreed to trade each other answers for answers and although she couldn't give the Sith anything that they actually wanted except for the interesting news that Jacen Solo had fallen to the dark side, Alema did learn the background of Lumiya, Vergere and their plans.

White Eyes decided to let Alema return to the Meditation Sphere and leave the planet and gave her Darth Vectivus's holocron, which appeared to contain nothing but worthless financial information. This was intended for Jacen Solo, who would interpret the message that he too was worthless in the eyes of the new Sith Order. Alema homed in on Jacen Solo, who was at the time in the middle of a battle at Kashyyyk and fighting off a heavy bombardment directed at him from his former lover Tenel Ka. Alema Rar used battle meditation from her Sith meditation sphere, in conjunction with Jacen's own battle meditation, inducing confusion and disunity in the Bothan fleet so that the remnants of the Galactic Alliance Fifth Fleet was able to break out of the blockade and escape to continue the war.

[edit] Death

Alema eventually based herself out of Darth Vectivus' lair in the asteroid field near Bimmiel and learned how to utilize Lumiya's Force phantom ability.

Using this ability, she attacked Leia and Han on Kashyyyk. She was eventually tracked down by Han, Leia, Jaina, Zekk, and Jag. Alema used her Force phantoms and Ship to harass the team. She had some success when Zekk was incapacitated from all the dark side energy and Jag was badly wounded.

Unfortunately for Alema, Jag tricked her, utilizing a sabotaged blaster pistol that when yanked from his hand, blew off Alema's right arm. Jag then used Boba Fett's Mandalorian crushgaunts to snap Alema's spine, ending her life.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Alema was a skilled duelist, having mastered the fourth form of lightsaber combat.^[2] Alema's skill with a lightsaber served her well during her encounters with such notable Jedi as Leia Organa Solo, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker and Tresina Lobi, though her duels with Organa Solo and Skywalker resulted in her physical maiming.

Rar's presence in the Force was said to be somewhat "slippery";^[2] removing any memory of meeting Alema from the minds of those she encountered, affectively acting as a Memory rub. This advantage coupled with Alema's talent for Jedi mind tricks and Force Flash allowed Alema to be almost untrackable. Alema was a master of telekinesis; notably, due to her dark side leanings, she was capable of using the powers of Force Crush and Force Choke. Rar was also skilled in the use of Force lightning, and later in life, the Force Phantom power.

[edit] Appearances

• Star by Star (First appearance)
• Dark Journey
• Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
• Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
• Destiny's Way
• Ylesia
• The Final Prophecy
• The Unifying Force
• Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
• Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
• Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
• Tempest
• Exile
• Sacrifice
• Inferno
• Fury
• Revelation (Mentioned only)
• Invincible (Mentioned only)

[edit] Sources

• Who's Who in the New Jedi Order
• The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
• The New Essential Chronology

[edit] External links

• NJOE.com (Text for this article used with permission)

[edit] Notes and references