Afsheen Makati

Afsheen Makati was a Human male and one of twelve members of the Imperial Navy elevated to the rank of Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine during the New Year's Fete Week ceremony in 2 BBY. Makati's service record was no more distinguished than numerous admirals in the Imperial Navy and his appointment was considered a surprise by many. In the final years of the New Order, Makati commanded the Imperial Star Destroyer Steadfast. During his service to the Empire, a shadowy Imperial group known as The Secret Order led Makati to a Rebel base on the planet Thila. After Makati's first officer made a snide remark about the dress of the Order's members, the Order's leader, Supreme Prophet Kadann, lashed out at Makati with Force lightning and ordered him to control his subordinates, leaving the Grand Admiral badly injured. Makati went on to harbor a great deal of hatred for Kadann after the incident. Along with Grand Admirals Nial Declann, Miltin Takel, and Osvald Teshik, Makati was present on the second Death Star during the Battle of Endor. He was able to escape the battlestation before it was destroyed by the Alliance and retreated from the ensuing chaos back to Coruscant. After Palpatine's death above Endor, Makati remained loyal to the Empire, continuing to defend his territories while awaiting instructions from whoever succeeded the Emperor. He was the subject of a New Republic information raid on an Imperial library on Boudolayz during the nascent government's hunt for the surviving Grand Admirals.

When Kadann's impostor claimed the Imperial throne for himself, Makati believed him to be the real Kadann, and his feelings of hatred resurfaced. Makati refused the impostor's call to return to Coruscant to help him take over the planet and requested permission from Imperial Intelligence Director Ysanne Isard, the current head of the Empire in opposition to the impostor, to hunt him down. Makati searched through Imperial Intelligence files and located Kadann's embittered former pupil, Azrakel, who also believed the impostor to be genuine. At Makati's command, Azrakel provided details on the Lost City of the Jedi, where the impostor had been trapped, and Scardia Station, headquarters of the false Prophets. Using this information, Makati was able to wipe out the false Prophets and trap the false Kadann, who had recently escaped the Lost City with the help of the mutant Triclops, on Scardia Station. Makati announced his victory over the impostor on the station's comm system, mocking his sparkling robe. Using every turbolaser at his disposal, Makati destroyed the station and killed the impostor, fulfilling his revenge. Makati met his own end soon after while fighting to keep the Corporate Sector in Imperial hands, and was able to gain some measure of true vengeance post-mortem, as Azrakel was later able to track down and kill the real Kadann on Bosthirda.

Rather than turning warlord, as several of his colleagues did, Afsheen Makati remained loyal to whomever controlled Imperial City under the banner of the Empire. He was persistent in his vendetta against Kadann and his intense hatred for the Supreme Prophet after the incident at Thila nearly consumed the rest of his life. He began his quest for vengeance once the false Kadann laid claim to the Imperial throne, believing him to be the real Kadann. Makati was relentless in his search for the impostor's whereabouts, and once he located Azrakel, he was ruthless in disposing of the impostor and the other false Prophets, mocking the impostor just as the real Kadann had mocked him on Thila.

Makati was first mentioned in a throwaway line in Timothy Zahn's novel, Vision of the Future, published in 1998. He was later eventually given a full back-story and a first name in the Star Wars Insider 66 article Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals, by Abel G. Peña and Daniel Wallace. He was given a further expansion in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Initially cut from Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals, Daniel Wallace indicated that Makati's Star Destroyer was named Steadfast, a ship from the Star Wars: Crimson Empire comic book series. This was later canonized in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. According to Abel G. Peña, the circumstances of Makati's death were deliberately left ambiguous in case Timothy Zahn, who created the character, wished to describe Makati's death himself.

Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals was originally intended to be published in an issue of the Star Wars Gamer magazine under the name Dirty Dozen: The Imperial Grand Admirals. However, the magazine was discontinued, and the article was instead published in Star Wars Insider, albeit containing less information than the original and lacking any roleplaying game stats. Makati's entry in the original article was intended to tie in with the fall of the false Kadann, and it identified Makati's subordinate as Commander Vivant from Crimson Empire. The original article also contained an adventure seed titled "Raid on Boudolayz" that described the New Republic's hunt for Makati, an event that was first referenced in Vision of the Future. Among the cut material was a campaign led by Makati to retake the Corporate Sector; this campaign was later mentioned in 2012's The Essential Guide to Warfare.

Makati disciplined Vivant after Kadann punished the Grand Admiral for his subordinate's comment concerning the Secret Order's sparkling regalia, though Makati's disgust at being humiliated in front of his crew remained with him for years. Makati was one of many Grand Admirals targeted by the New Republic after the Empire's fragmentation at Endor. Lieutenant Judder Page and Commander Wedge Antilles led an information raid on a special information storehouse on Boudolayz in the Corporate Sector to gain data crucial to the Makati campaign. However, Makati was slowly reasserting his control over the Corporate Sector, which the Empire lost a year after Endor. He began his conquest of the Corporate Sector with Boudolayz and entered into conflict with the New Republic forces. When Makati died, he held no regrets, at peace with the knowledge that Imperial City still remained in the Empire's control.

• The Essential Chronology
• Rebellion Era Sourcebook
• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• "Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals" — Star Wars Insider 66
• The New Essential Chronology
• Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties on Hyperspace
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Galaxy at War
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 67
• The Essential Guide to Warfare