Reborn

Desann, a former student at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, was a Dark Jedi allied to Admiral Galak Fyyar, one of the Imperial Remnant's many warlords. Both were key to the creation of the Reborn—an army of warriors artificially imbued with the Force. They were working for Lord Hethrir, a powerful Dark Jedi and founder of an Imperial splinter faction known as the Empire Reborn.

Hethrir had entrusted Desann with training a number of his loyal Empire Youths that were "purified" by a trans-dimensional being called Waru. The Dark Jedi used the Force nexus in the Valley of the Jedi, whose location Desann had tricked Kyle Katarn into revealing, quadrupling their powers with the residue of the ancient Jedi and Sith spirits. Wielding their own lightsabers, and wearing cloaked uniforms, they were a military organization that would support Hethrir's Empire Reborn and posed a serious threat to both the New Republic and Skywalker's newly established Jedi Order.

Agents of Desann and the Empire Reborn, the Reborn were dispatched on various missions to different locations in the galaxy along with regular Imperial Army units. One such place was Cloud City on Bespin, which they briefly occupied until defeated by the local militia assisted by Kyle Katarn, who was now struggling to reconnect with the Force.

Desann, teeming with hatred toward Luke Skywalker, planned for the ultimate purpose of the Reborn to be the destruction of Skywalker and his Jedi Academy. With Fyyar, he planned on unleashing their army of Reborn, the superior Shadowtroopers (equipped with cortosis armor and cloaking device)s and ordinary Imperial forces at Skywalker's academy on Yavin 4. The invasion army was to be unleashed from the Imperial transport ship Doomgiver, under the command of Fyyar.

However, Katarn, who had rediscovered his connection with the Force, managed to infiltrate the Doomgiver and transmit its coordinates to Rogue Squadron, who launched an attack, destroying the ship in orbit above Yavin 4 before the entire invasion army had reached the surface of the moon. Those forces that had already landed were defeated by New Republic forces and Skywalker's Jedi. Many Reborn and Shadowtroopers fell victim to Kyle Katarn, who eventually killed Desann inside the Jedi Academy.

The Reborn were quite powerful, though according to Katarn their power was "warped" as a result of being artificially infused with the Force. They primarily attacked using red-bladed lightsabers and possessed a good deal of skill with the weapon, being well-trained in the Fast and Medium styles of combat. They were able to employ a fairly strong Force push during combat; they were also able to wield the abilities of Force speed and Force grip, though only to a minimal degree.

After Desann's defeat, those Reborn who had survived rallied under Tavion Axmis, Desann's apprentice, whose life Katarn had spared on Bespin. Tavion, with the support of the Imperial Remnant, had established a Sith cult called the Disciples of Ragnos, and were now known as the New Reborn.

As with Desann, Axmis dispatched her Cultists and New Reborn on various missions to locations all over the galaxy, where they faced several Jedi Knights from Skywalker's academy, among others Kyle Katarn and his highly talented apprentice, Jaden Korr. Korr most of all proved to be a nemesis of the Cultists and New Reborn, as many of them met their end at the blade of Korr's lightsaber.

The New Reborn met their ultimate end on the planet Korriban, as an army of Jedi from Skywalker's academy defeated them in an epic battle that took place among the ancient Sith temples and tombs in the Valley of the Dark Lords.

Under Desann, the Reborn were an organized military force. They had different colors for each rank and were organized and trained into different groups specialized for different tasks.

• Reborn: The weakest division. Reborn had minimal strength in the Force (knowing only how to use Force Speed); they carried a simple red lightsaber like the other Reborn and their cloaks were yellowish orange. They were proficient in Fast and Medium Styles of combat, but were not skilled enough to defeat a Jedi one-on-one.

• RebornAcrobat: This rank wore blue, and specialized in using the Force to jump and being mobile. Reborn Acrobats were trained in the Medium Style of lightsaber combat.
• RebornForce User: They wore red over their cream colored vests. Their specialization was in pure Force abilities, such as Force push and Force pull rather than saber skills or unarmed combat skills. The Medium Style was their preferred choice if they were forced to engage in a lightsaber duel.
• Reborn Fencer: Skilled and trained specially as duelists in the Fast and Medium Styles with their red sabers; they also had reasonable skill with the Force. They could telekinetically throw their lightsabers with great accuracy. Their robes were green. The average Jedi could defeat a Reborn Fencer, but not without difficulty.
• Boss: This rank wore dark blueish-purple and red robes. They were a combination of the other Reborn divisions. They were the highest level, the elite of the organization. They were capable of using the Force strongly, and countering a Jedi's blade skills with the Fast, Medium and Strong Styles of lightsaber combat. They were Desann's best men along with Galak's Shadowtroopers.

Under Tavion, the Reborn were less organized and more secretive, only taking part in missions of high importance. They also wore armored battle suits instead of robes. More junior members, who were weaker in the Force, had blue markings on their armor, whereas most others had red. Above them were Reborn Masters; the absolute elite, they wore gray heavy battle suits and carried lightsabers identical in style to that of Desann. More than a match for most Jedi, it would take someone with special Force talent or saber skills to defeat them. Two prominent New Reborn were the Kothos twins, Vil and Dasariah Kothos. They did not use lightsabers but were more powerful in the Force than other Reborn, using acrobatics and other abilities. They wore red heavy battle suits and were powerful adversaries.

• "State of the Arts" — Star Wars Gamer 9
• Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
• Threats of the Galaxy
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 12
• Jedi Academy Training Manual
• "The Rebel Bruiser" — Star Wars Insider 152