Kai

Kai was an Imperial Military commander shortly after the Battle of Yavin. He was stationed aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer and commanded stormtroopers, scout troopers, and several AT-ST walkers. An Imperial delegation traveled to the Outer Rim planet of Andelm IV and secretly made contact with the local crime lord Jaum and his Shistavanen enforcer Tyvak. Jaum offered to sell high-quality dedlanite to the Empire; a material extracted from the larvae of Andelm beetles that was used in the manufacture of blasters. The Imperial delegation agreed to take a sample back to Kai's Star Destroyer for analysis after Jaum assured them that his slave miners were willing to work themselves to death for the Galactic Empire.

After a slave uprising forced Jaum to destroy his mine, Jaum made a deep space transmission to Commander Kai's Star Destroyer. Kai expressed annoyance with Jaum's contact, reminding the gangster that he had ordered him to await contact. Kai also added that the initial sample was still undergoing testing. Jaum told Kai that he needed some Imperial forces to protect him from his enemies and claimed that there were "rebellious" attitudes on Andelm. He told the Commander to consider it a down payment. Kai reluctantly accepted Jaum's request and asked whether the streets of Andelm IV's city were wide enough to accommodate AT-ST walkers.

Keeping his side of the deal Kai sent a detachment of scout troopers, stormtroopers, and at least one AT-ST walker to guard the Andelm IV spaceport while Jaum loaded his dedlanite supplies onto an Imperial landing craft. Despite Kai's security precautions, Jaum's enemies Zarro and her Wookiee friend Chewbacca managed to infiltrate the spaceport disguised as a masked gangster and war droid respectively. Their plan involved planted an astromech droid rigged with explosives called "Boomer" aboard the landing craft. Following a firefight, the two allies managed to plant "Boomer" aboard the landing craft, which departed with Jaum to Kai's Star Destroyer. However, Zarro and Chewie were captured by Kai's scout troopers, who received orders to bring the two prisoners to his Star Destroyer for interrogation.

Commander Kai waited in the Star Destroyer's hangar for an Imperial shuttle to arrive with the two captives. Since a Wookiee was present, Kai had brought an Imperial RA-7 protocol droid as a translator. However, Zarro and Chewie managed to overpower their stormtrooper captors. When Zarro slid down the shuttle's ramp, a smug Kai ordered her to drop her weapon and to tell her "creature" to stand down. A defiant Zarro replied that she took orders from him. The RA-7 droid then attempt to negotiate with Chewie but the Wookiee tore off the droid's head and arms before knocking out the last three stormtroopers.

Realizing that negotiations have failed, Kai decided to talk to Zarro. Zarro told him that she was here to help the Empire. Leading him to the Imperial landing craft carrying Jaum's dedlanite supplies, Zarro told Kai that Jaum was a fraudster who was actually a rebel spy. She added that he did not even have a mining operation. When Kai responded that his men had inspected his samples, the girl told him that Jaum had imported them. Zarro then revealed that Jaum's droid "Boomer" was stuffed with explosives. Upon seeing the droid starting to smoke, Kai deduced that he had been deceived. Shortly later, Jaum arrived and Zarro told him that she had exposed his "fraud."

At that moment, the landing craft exploded, damaging the hangar's force field and sucking objects into zero gravity space. One of Kai's men managed to lead him and Jaum into a secure chamber. Meanwhile, Zarro and Chewbacca escaped in a stolen TIE/sa bomber and returned to Andelm IV. Kai's Star Destroyer survived the blast but its main hyperdrive was damaged. Later, Kai arrested Jaum and had him locked in a cell. The gangster tried to tell Kai that Zarro and the Wookiee were the masterminds but Kai refused to believe him. When Jaum claimed that Kai should be making him rich, the Commander added that the Empire was not interested in profiteering a gangster like him due to the Galactic Civil War.

Since Kai had determined that Jaum's offer was insincere, he told the gangster to dispense with the charade. When Jaum tried to convince him to let him take him down to the surface, Kai suspected it was an attempt to ambush his men once again. Unwilling to endanger his men, Kai ordered that an IT-O interrogation droid be brought into Jaum's cell. He then sarcastically told Jaum that the interrogation droid would be his companion for their journey to the closest Imperial base; which would take several weeks due to Jaum's purported sabotage. Jaum tried to protest that he was not part of the Rebellion but Kai ignored his pleas.

Kai was a human male commander in the Imperial Military. He had a flat, wide nose with prominent nostrils. He also had black hair, thick eyebrows and a thick black mustache. Kai had an angular face with a prominent chin. As an Imperial officer, he wore a dark green uniform and cap. Following the Battle of Yavin, Kai was interested in obtaining dedlanite, a substance used in the manufacture of blasters. While unwilling to be seen dealing with gangsters, Kai did agree to provide military escorts to protect Jaum.

While Kai underestimated Zarro and her ally Chewbacca, he was willing to negotiate with his nominal opponents. Zarro was then able to convince Kai that Jaum was a fraud and rebel spy who was seeking to swindle the Empire and to damage Imperial property. Kai cared for the well-being of his men and was unwilling to expose them to danger. He regarded Jaum as an opportunist who was seeking to swindle the Empire for monetary gain. Kai also had a sadistic streak when he had an IT-O interrogation droid torture Jaum for the duration of their trip to the nearest Imperial base. As with many Imperial officers, Kai had a deep hatred for the Rebellion.

Kai first appeared as a secondary antagonist in Gerry Duggan's 2015 Marvel comic Star Wars: Chewbacca. He was illustrated by Phil Noto.