Reddjak

Reddjak and his crew, the Red Fury Brotherhood, modeled themselves on the cutthroats and brigands of holodrama. Wearing all the stereotypical trappings of their type, the crew was assembled from all manner of aliens from all over the galaxy. One of their earlier gambits involved boarding and stealing the Galactic Republic diplomatic cruiser, the Dura-Khan III. The ship was soon thereafter renamed Blood Brother and then heavily modified for piracy. Reddjak himself was supremely confident in his skills as a commander, and his ego was given a boost by Inquisitor Valin Draco, who enlisted the pirate captain's services in the months following the rise of the New Order.

Now working for the Galactic Empire, Reddjak was required to patrol the space above Almas, in the Cularin system. This was to ensure that no one disturbed Draco while he hunted for a Sith holocron in the ruins of the destroyed Almas Academy. During this time, the Red Fury Brotherhood became the most potent piracy organization operating out of Cularin. Reddjak, hoping to loot the enemies of the Empire if they happened upon Almas, hid the Blood Brother behind the moon Dorumaa. When a band of agents working for fugitive Jedi Master Denia entered the system, Reddjak set upon them, requesting that they wait for boarding. They resisted, however, and were able to defeat the Red Fury Brotherhood. Having failed in his task for the Empire, Reddjak and the Brotherhood continued their way of piracy.

During the Imperial Period, Reddjak's infamy reached such a level that he had become something of a celebrity. He was the inspiration for the "Crimson Pirate" character in the fictional audio show, Space Pirates of the Galaxy, although the children of the target audience did not realize that he was actually real. Despite this, posters of Reddjak's visage were emblazoned on the walls of children aspiring to join his crew of cutthroats.

Eventually Reddjak was arrested and captured by the Majooran authorities. He was brought to Majoor, but as he was being marched to prison, his droid escort was destroyed by a young Majooran called Llez. Llez, a fan of Reddjak's fictional exploits, saved the criminal by using a magno-neutralizer on the escort droids, and helped him hijack the Majooran guard ship. Reddjak did not learn the youngster's name though, as he chose to be addressed simply as the "Scarlet Pirate."

As Reddjak questioned the "Scarlet Pirate," he learned that the boy's father was Ambassador Zell, and that the ambassador had recently left on a peace mission. Reddjak realized that this meant a convoy would be traveling through the area with little escort, and that it would be ripe pickings for him and his crew, though he had no intention of telling the child. Rendezvousing with his ship, Reddjak introduced his crew to the "Scarlet Pirate," before hurrying to the control room. Ordering his crew to seek out and destroy Zell's peace convoy, Reddjak was set upon by Llez, who felt betrayed by the pirate.

Reddjak tired of Llez' protests, striking the boy and ordering some nearby droids to lock him up. Little did Reddjak know that the droids were R2-D2 and C-3PO, Llez' babysitters, who had stowed away aboard the guard ship. When the pirate ship came within range, Reddjak had his crew fire plasma torpedoes at the convoy, but the projectiles mysteriously self-destructed before reaching their targets. Demanding to know what had caused the malfunction, Reddjak was informed that the command to abort had come from the ship's weapons room. Furious, the pirate led his band of cutthroats down to the room, hoping to catch the traitors in the act. What Reddjak did not know was that Llez had been able to alert Zell to his presence on the pirate ship.

Cornering the culprits, Llez, C-3PO and R2-D2, the Captain prepared to perforate the Majooran with his vibrorapier. Before he could, the child threw his club at Reddjak, disabling him momentarily. Though R2-D2 attempted to fend off the other pirates, Reddjak was able to grab Llez, and hold the Majooran at his mercy. Before the pirate could use his hostage as leverage, Ambassador Zell, who had secretly boarded the ship, held Reddjak at gunpoint and demanded custody of his son. Feigning defeat, Reddjak released Llez, before swiftly picking up his vibrorapier. As he prepared to behead Zell, C-3PO warned the ambassador to the danger, allowing him to pick up Llez' club and bludgeon the pirate with it. Once again, Reddjak found himself under arrest, as Zell's guards swept through the ship.

Reddjak was a flamboyant man, wearing archetypal attire for a holodrama buccaneer—a crimson blouse, open to the waist and tied down with a gold sash—and he sported a razor-thin mustache found on many a fictional villain. Reddjak was Human-like in appearance; however, he had pointed ears, and four-fingered hands. He was highly confident in his abilities, but impatient, which would sometimes cost him the reward at the end of the day. His overconfidence would also put him at the mercy of others, but it was usually in conjunction with his cruelty and lack of qualms about harming those weaker than him. Reddjak and his crew had nothing but disdain for innocent lives, as they did not hesitate to fire on unarmed diplomatic ships.

Captain Reddjak was created by David Manak, and he first appeared in 1986's Droids (1986) 3. Reddjak went unused in Star Wars Legends for over twenty years, until Abel G. Peña used him as a character in the 2008 roleplaying adventure Echoes of the Jedi. Peña chose Reddjak over another red-themed pirate, Crimson Jack, due to the latter having already been in more stories than Reddjak.

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