Conder Kyl

Conder Kyl was a Chandrilan human male who lived during the rise of the New Republic, the successor government to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was one of the top slicers employed by the New Republic in 5 ABY. Kyl was romantically interested in other men. While helping the New Republic to break into the head of an Imperial interrogator droid during the hunt for Moff Gorgon, Kyl met and fell in love with Sinjir Rath Velus, a former Imperial loyalty officer who had joined the New Republic and hunted Imperial fugitives.

After Velus had returned from a mission to capture Vice Admiral Perwin Gedde, Kyl met up with Velus at a seaside bar off Junari Point, a few kicks away from the Chandrilan capital Hanna City. After chatting about drinks, Kyl proceeded to embrace Velus and reassured him that Chandrila was a safe and open place. Velus was uncomfortable about public displays of affection and tried to dissuade Kyl. However, Kyl was unperturbed.

The two men when soon accosted by two patrons known as Mister Browscar and Miss Scowlface who told Velus that he was not welcome at the bar because he was an "ex-Imperial." When Kyl vouched for his friend, Velus tried to calm the situation. Velus then gave a brief speech saying that the Empire was breaking up and that the New Republic should give ex-Imperials like him a second chance. When Browscar struck him in the head, Velus was about to throw his hot mug of caf at the man when Kyl intervened and advised him that they could leave in peace. Kyl and Velus left he bar and returned to his apartment. While Kyl slept, Velus returned to the bar and exacted revenge on Browscar and Scowlface, beating Browscar unconscious with a mug and breaking Scowlface's nose.

A month later, Kyl was on duty when a New Republic probe droid in the Kashyyyk system transmitted footage of the orbiting Imperial Star Destroyers commencing orbital bombardment of the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. The probe droid also intercepted footage of Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck ordering the Star Destroyers to destroy all life on the planet in response to a Wookiee slave uprising. Kyl informed Princess Leia Organa, who offered to pay him credits in return for his service. However, Kyl told her that this particular job was pro bono. When Organa replied that she owed his credits, he reassured her that she could pay next time.

Following the attack on Chandrila, Kyl undertook freelance work for the New Republic Security Bureau at the recommendation of Princess Leia. He was tasked with hacking into the small inorganic biochips they had found in the brain steams of each of the Ashmead's Lock prisoners, who had involuntarily attacked the New Republic leadership under orders from Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax. Shortly later, his friend Velus returned from Kashyyyk after taking part in the successful New Republic liberation of the planet from Imperial rule.

When Velus remarked that he was "both better now than he was and worse", Kyl held Velus's hands and reassured him that things would be alright. After Velus kissed Kyl, he told Kyl that he had to leave the relationship because he felt that his flawed character made him an unworthy partner for Kyl.

After Senator Tolwar Wartol leaked information about the Imperial presence on the Inner Rim world of Jakku to HoloNet News, Velus visited Kyl at his apartment to seek his help in ferreting a spy bug in Leia Organa's domicile. While Kyl was cold towards Velus for breaking up their relationship, he allowed Velus to explain the reason for his visit. When Velus explained that he believed that there was a spy bug in Leia's domicile, Kyl realized that this was related to the matter of the Empire on Jakku. Velus pleaded with him to help because his friends Norra Wexley and Jas Emari were on Jakku. Kyl also reached out to touch Velus's arm but he pulled away.

Kyl agreed to help after Velus explained why he had left him. When Velus replied that they were done, Kyl remarked that he could have fooled him. Velus replied that he obviously did fool him. Kyl visited Leia's domicile and used a small, hand-machined probe droid fitted with antennae to scan Organa's home. Kyl's probe droid was unable to find any bugs within the building. However, the probe droid detected a listening device on Organa's nanny droid T-2LC.

Following the discovering of the listening bug, Kyl joined Velus, Han Solo, Temmin Wexley, and Jom Barell on an undercover mission to trail five senators who had voted against Chancellor Mon Mothma's resolution to send New Republic military forces to Jakku. Kyl used his slicing skills to hack into the electronic ledgers of the senators' accounts and discovered unusual credit deposits in the bank accounts of Ashmin Ek of Anthan Prime and Dor Wieedo of Rodia. The five agreed to "follow the smoke and find the fire."

The five agents followed the Senators into Izzik's restaurant, which lay opposite the Quarrow Senate house. Kyl was tasked with spying on the Quermian senator Nim Tar. He advised Temmin, who was watching the Askaj senator Grelka Sorka to be patient. Several hours later, Kyl was kidnapped by criminals affiliated with the Red Key crime syndicate, who were colluding with Black Sun to prolong the Galactic Civil War. However, his comrades managed to capture Senator Rethalow, who revealed the full extent of the Red Key and Black Sun's conspiracy. The others then decided to rescue Kyl, Nim Tar's child, and Sorka's pet jerba.

Kyl and Nim Tar's child were held by Red Key gangsters inside a warehouse near the Quarrow Senate house. While taunting his captors, Kyl used a transceiver tooth hidden inside his mouth to transmit his coordinates to Velus and the others. Kyl's captors broke his nose and forced him to kneel with his head down and hands bound. Velus and the other agents flew to the warehouse in Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon. After breaking through the roof, Velus, Barell, and Solo disembarked and subdued the gangsters in a brief shootout. A Herglic guard threatened to break Kyl's neck but Velus shot him dead.

Before freeing Kyl, Velus stared into his eyes and begged him to help with a slicing job. Reconciling with his former lover, Kyl remarked that he could do anything with Velus by his side. After Kyl sliced into the senator's datapads, Velus issued a missive to the five senators. Posing as an adviser to Chancellor Mothma, Velus offered to pardon them and to secure them help if they voted in favor of the Chancellor's resolution during the re-vote scheduled to be held at the Quarrow Senate hall. Velus reported that he had rescued Nim Tar's child and lied that he had rescued Sorka's jerba. This ploy worked and the Galactic Senate was able to dispatch military forces to Jakku.

After returning to Chandrila, Kyl allowed Velus to treat his injuries with bacta, gauze, fiber-cloth, and an old-fashioned needle and thread. Kyl and Velus talked about going to Jakku to rescue Norra and Jas. With Velus uncertain of his contribution to the New Republic, he decided to visit Chancellor Mothma to see if she could secure them passage to Jakku as a favor for their help. Kyl was apprehensive about going to Jakku and longed for the two of them to go on a vacation.

However, Chancellor Mothma decided to recruit Velus as her new adviser in order to replace the late Hostis Ij, who had perished during the attack on Chandrila. As his first assignment, Mothma sent Velus to deliver a basket of pta fruits to her rival Senator Wartol as a snub. Kyl tried to talk Velus out of delivering the pta fruits but Velus was determined to find a new purpose in his work. When Kyl remarked that Tolwar was dirty, Velus replied that he could not speak to his cleanliness. Kyl then clarified that he meant that Wartol was corrupt and voiced his suspicion that the Senator was responsible for the spy bug at Leia's domicile.

Velus agreed with Kyl's assessment and remarked that the Orishen were obsessed with nobility and honor. Kyl allowed Velus to continue with his job but jokingly told him not to start a galactic incident. When Kyl called him "honey", Velus joked about ripping his beard off painfully before bidding farewell. Velus soon caught Senator Wartol red-handed trying to remotely trigger a bomb he had planted in Chancellor Mothma's office. Kyl heard the sound of blaster shots and entered in time to stop Wartol from killing Velus with his blaster.

Despite subduing Senator Wartol, they were too late to stop him from triggering the bomb. Kyl then unrolled his sleeve and used his tech gauntlet to tap into the HoloNet services. The three then learned about a bomb attack at the north tower of the Senate building on Chandrila. Kyl and Velus guarded Wartol until security forces arrive to apprehend him. Fortunately for Kyl and Velus, Chancellor Mothma had not been in the room during the bombing. However, her adviser Auxi Kray Korbin was killed. The foiled assassination attempt coincided with the New Republic's victory on Jakku and Grand Vizier Mas Amedda's peace offer.

Several weeks after the signing of the Galactic Concordance between the New Republic and the Empire, Kyl attended a dinner with Velus and the rest of Norra Wexley's team. During the dinner, Kyl and his friends talked about Han and Organa's newborn son Ben Solo. Kyl also told Temmin that he had heard from a mouse droid that Temmin was planning to study at the New Republic's new flight academy on Hosnian Prime. When Kyl asked if Temmin would miss his mother, Norra replied that she was going with her son because she had found a job there as a flight instructor. Following the dinner, Kyl returned home first while Velus chatted with Jas Emari. Velus denied that he was in love with Kyl but claimed he had found a new purpose in life. A few years after the end of the Galactic Civil War, Kyl became the chief of cyberware at the Digital Warfare Department. He also married Velus at some point. In 7 ABY, Kyl met with Lando Calrissian and Han Solo, who asked Kyl to recommend a slicer for their mission to retrieve the Phylanx Redux Transmitter. Kyl recommended his Ewok co-worker Peekpa.

Conder Kyl was a Chandrilan human man with a barrel chest, big arms, a laser-shorn scalp, and a patchy spike beard. He had long, theatrical lashes, pouty lips, and smooth tan skin, which made his lover Velus compare it to nimarian korabaster. Velus likened his voice to the sound of rough but beautiful music. Kyl wore modern scruffy clothing including a long dark vest with exposed arms and narrow-leg leather pants. He later sustained a broken nose during an undercover mission on Nakadia. However, Velus managed to treat his injuries with bacta, gauze, fiber cloth, and an old fashioned needle and thread.

Kyl was a talented slicer who was loyal to the New Republic. Despite Velus being an ex-Imperial, Kyl regarded him as a friend and his lover. He also had considerable respect for Princess Leia and was willing to work pro bono for her. Kyl also owned a specialized probe droid that was capable of tracking spy bugs. Kyl also used his slicing skills to hack into several New Republic senators' datapads. In addition, Kyl knew how to wield a blaster.

Conder Kyl was a supporting character who first appeared in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, the second installment in Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy.

• Star Wars: Timelines