Sedriss QL

The Human Qaga Lok, born sometime after 20 BBY, was a distant descendant of the Jedi Knight and Sith Lord Ulic Qel-Droma, who had fought in the Great Sith War thousands of years prior. He became a mercenary during the time of the Galactic Empire, and displayed an aptitude for use of the Force. At some stage, he worked for Imperial Intelligence as a gun-for-hire. Several attempts were made by organizations within the Galactic Empire to recruit him, to little avail. At some stage, Lok killed a group of Imperial officers, but was captured and sentenced to death for his crime. Before the sentence could be carried out, members of the Imperial Inquisitorius took custody of him, and brought the young man before Galactic Emperor Palpatine himself. The Emperor challenged Lok to a duel—if the mercenary won, he would be free to kill Palpatine. If he lost, he would have to swear unwavering fealty to the Emperor, or suffer an excruciatingly painful death.

Lok agreed to the duel—and was instantaneously crushed to the ground through the Force by the Emperor's power. Accepting defeat, the mercenary conceded to honor their agreement. Despite this, Palpatine continued his attack, pressing down on Lok, and cracking the man's ribs. Lok continued to insist that he would serve the Emperor, but Palpatine only relented when the young man begged for his life. When he regained his energy, Lok knelt before the Emperor, acknowledging the more powerful wielder of the Force. Subsequently, Lok underwent extensive training under Palpatine, hoping to wield the same power his Master did. To honor his new Master, Lok took on a new name: "Sedriss QL." Retaining only the initials of his old name, he derived the name "Sedriss" from the old Sith language. Over the course of his training in the ways of the dark side of the Force, Sedriss was never told what his function was to be in the Empire, and the Emperor never discussed the subject. In addition to the other skills he acquired during his instruction, Sedriss was also trained to utilize a lightsaber.

When, in 4 ABY, Palpatine died at the Battle of Endor, Sedriss, like most other Dark Side Adepts, retreated to the Emperor's Deep Core world of Byss. Sedriss personally oversaw the planetary defense of the world, while the disparate elements of the Empire, lacking a unifying leader, turned on one another. Despite this, Sedriss realized that the Emperor's clone labs in his citadel on Byss would have to be kept safe, if Palpatine were to return. In 9 ABY, the Emperor was finally reborn in a new clone body, and as a reward for Sedriss' loyalty, he granted his apprentice the rank of Executor, which meant that he was in total command of the Imperial Military.

The Emperor also tasked his new Executor with ensuring that no ostensibly loyal Imperial agency seized control of the Empire, should he die again. To this end, he charged Sedriss with the security of his clone labs. Another task the Executor was given in the event of Palpatine's death was the running of Operation Shadow Hand, a series of strikes against non-Imperial worlds using the latest arms and weaponry in an attempt to place those worlds under Imperial rule. During this time, Sedriss was also placed in charge of the Dark Side Elite—a select cadre of seven warriors empowered with the dark side of the Force by Palpatine himself. The Elite were under the total control of Palpatine, although Sedriss possessed slightly more autonomy than the rest.

When Palpatine died yet again at the Battle of Pinnacle Base in 10 ABY, Sedriss, commanding the Dark Side Elite, initiated Operation Shadow Hand, and launched a series of strikes against worlds close to the Core Worlds. The Executor also stayed loyal to the dead Emperor, and remained faithful that Palpatine would return. In Bast Castle on the planet Vjun, a holding of the late Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, Sedriss had the Dark Side Elite prepare for Palpatine's rebirth. While there, Sedriss had a large statue of Vader erected. While preparations were underway, one of the Dark Side Elite, Kam Solusar, defected to the enemy New Republic, following an encounter with the Jedi Luke Skywalker. Despite the loss, Sedriss remained undaunted. To command his ground forces in Operation Shadow Hand, the Executor appointed General Maximilian Veers, a man who he hated, but possessed undeniable battlefield prowess. Despite Veers' expanded duty, Sedriss demoted him to captain for the task.

One of the strikes encompassed in Operation Shadow Hand garnered Sedriss' personal attention—the disciplining of Balmorra, a world located on the fringes of the Core Worlds. Balmorra was where the Empire's All Terrain Scout Transports had been manufactured, and with the news of Palpatine's death at Pinnacle Base, Governor Hinch Beltane, the planet's leader, had begun arming the New Republic. With fellow Dark Side Elite members Vill Goir and Krdys Mordi at his side, Sedriss traveled to Balmorra on the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger. Upon arrival, Goir had the ship and its accompanying fleet hold its fire and instead deploy troops for ground assault.

On the Avengers viewscreen, Sedriss was directly contacted by Beltane, who demanded to know what the Executor meant in bringing a fleet to Balmorra. Sedriss, however, saw through Beltane's facade, and gave the governor the opportunity to surrender his operations and be executed for treason. If Beltane would not comply, Sedriss claimed he would attack Balmorra. The governor retorted, claiming that he was still providing the Empire with their most advanced armor. Mordi reminded Sedriss that Balmorra was now producing cutting-edge battle droids—the SD-10. The Executor was aware of this, however, and he was confident that the power of the dark side would allow the Imperials to overcome any resistance Beltane could offer. As the Executor landed his troops, he informed Beltane that he would accept the governor's surrender. Beltane refused, as he relished the chance to fight off an Imperial invasion with his new war droids.

Sedriss had his forces under the command of Captain Veers move into the plains around Balmorra's capital, Bin Prime, in the hopes of luring out the governor's forces. As the Executor predicted, Beltane deployed his SD-10 battle droids. Sedriss' stormtrooper forces were slaughtered by the thousands, and his year-old SD-9 battle droids were easily outflanked by the newer models. Satisfied that Beltane had deployed his full strength, Sedriss had Mordi give the order for the Imperial troops to pull back. The Avenger was carrying a complement of a new type of starfighter, the Shadow Droid, devised by one of Palpatine's top engineers, Umak Leth. Sedriss deployed the fighters, and sent them down to Balmorra, where they decimated the SD-10s. The governor was not beaten yet, though, and he deployed a brand new type of war droid, unknown to the forces of the Empire: the X-1 Viper. The X-1 engaged Sedriss' Shadow Droids, and Captain Veers was killed in the ensuing combat.

Sedriss was surprised at the turn of events, and demanded that he be put back in contact with Beltane. Although the Executor could have turned his fleet's guns on Balmorra, he chose to admit that Beltane had won the battle on the planet surface, and inquired as to what the governor wanted in exchange for the X-1. Beltane wanted Balmorra's freedom, and claimed that the Galactic Empire could simply buy the munitions from the planet on a contract basis, provided that the governor agree to the contract. Sedriss was outraged, claiming that the Emperor did not buy weapons from free planets, but Beltane retorted, reminding the Executor that Palpatine was dead. Conceding the point, Sedriss prepared to send down representatives to the planet to negotiate terms. Goir and Mordi wanted to have the planet leveled, but Sedriss refused, as he needed Beltane's weapons as soon as possible. He explained, though, that once he had the war droids and the men who designed them, he would destroy Balmorra.

Meanwhile, back at the Emperor's Citadel on Byss, rumors had begun to circulate amongst the Dark Side Adepts that Palpatine would not take on another clone body. The same adepts that had spread the rumors suggested that Sedriss should be executed for his failure to subjugate Balmorra. Sedriss and four other members of the Dark Side Elite raced back to Byss in their I-7 Howlrunner. Landing at the Emperor's Citadel, Sedriss entered the Emperor's cloning laboratory, to find most of Palpatine's clone bodies destroyed. Present were the perpetrators—adepts Nefta and Sa-Di. Nefta immediately confronted Sedriss about his failure at Balmorra, and the two adepts attempted to justify their destruction of the clone bodies. The Executor, however, would hear none of it, and quickly engaged Nefta in a duel. In no time, he swiftly struck the adept down, before slaying Sa-Di.

At that moment, a lone figure entered the doorway to the lab—Emperor Palpatine, returned in a younger clone body once more. Upon seeing his reborn Master, Sedriss fell to his knee, and told the Emperor that he had eliminated the last of the unfaithful adepts. Palpatine was satisfied, but did not waste time—he ordered Sedriss to bring him the pregnant Jedi Leia Organa Solo before she gave birth to her third child, as he hoped to possess the child should his current new clone body fail him. He also ordered Sedriss to array the entire Imperial military against the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Organa Solo's brother, who had been a unrelenting and persistent enemy of Palpatine for many years. The Emperor told the Executor that he would deal with the armed forces of the New Republic himself.

Sedriss decided to send Dark Side Elite members Zasm Katth and Baddon Fass to capture Organa Solo, but they were killed while attempting to do so, and the Star Destroyer Invincible was lost. Palpatine was less than pleased, and suggested to Sedriss that he should be executed for his failure. Sedriss quickly dismissed the issue of Katth and Fass, claiming that he had located Skywalker and the Jedi's companion, former Dark Side Elite member Kam Solusar; one of his probe droids had tracked the two to the world of Ossus, that had served as a headquarters for the Jedi thousands of years prior. Without any New Republic forces to back him up, Sedriss reasoned, Skywalker would be easier prey. Palpatine conjectured that Skywalker was there to investigate the past of the Jedi, in an attempt to revive them to their former strength. Realizing that Skywalker could not be permitted to do so, he insisted that the Jedi be stopped, but Sedriss was already prepared—the probe droid was authorized to kill Skywalker and Solusar as soon as they arrived on Ossus. Palpatine, however, vehemently opposed such a course of action, and ordered his Executor to travel to Ossus and personally capture Skywalker as well as the traitor. The Emperor promised the Executor a great deal of power if he succeeded, but only "madness beyond death" should he fail.

Sedriss gave the order for the probe droid to stand down, but the message was lost in hyperspace static. The droid engaged Skywalker and Solusar, but they were able to destroy it without being harmed themselves. Meanwhile, the Executor researched Ossus, specifically the legends of the Jedi who had survived its devastation thousands of years prior. In his research, however, Sedriss learned of the primitive Ysanna tribesmen and decided he could enlist them as his servants. The Executor then made his way to Ossus aboard the Imperial hunter Scourge One.

Skywalker and Solusar were located near some old Jedi ruins, in the company of several Ysanna tribesmen. Darktrooper squads were deployed to engage the Ysanna, and Sedriss hoped they would clear the way to an engagement with Skywalker and Solusar. He and Goir, who had accompanied him, watched on as the Jedi moved to engage the darktroopers. Within twenty minutes, the Imperial troopers had all been killed.

Sedriss observed that Skywalker had been weakened by the battle, however, and he moved in with Goir to attack the Jedi. The pair of them utilized Force choke against their adversaries, and while Solusar felt the effects of the attack, Skywalker was able to block it. Angered by Skywalker's taunts, Sedriss ordered Goir to cleave both Jedi's fighting arms, as they were to be taken alive. Lightsabers at the ready, the two Dark Side Adepts engaged the two Jedi. Goir was sliced in two by Solusar, and Sedriss was sent hurtling back by a Force push from Skywalker.

Disarmed, and with his back against a tree, Sedriss took one of the female Ysanna natives, Jem, hostage. He threatened to destroy Jem with the power of the dark side, but the native tried to use the Force against him. Surmising that Skywalker hoped to take the Force-adept Ysanna and train them as Jedi, the Executor declared that he would take Jem back to Byss and turn her to the dark side. He also stated that he would bring Solusar back with him, but the turncoat Dark Side Elite member adamantly refused.

At that moment, the tree—actually the Neti Jedi Master Ood Bnar, who had been in a form of hibernation since the Great Sith War—reawakened, and used his tendrils to grasp and hold Sedriss. Sedriss sensed that he was now engaged in his final battle, but he did not intend to let Skywalker escape. Using all his power, he called down energy from the planet's charged atmosphere, and used it in droves of lightning to attack Bnar. The Executor still held on to Jem, but Skywalker was able to pull her free just as Bnar called upon the energy of the planet beneath him to obliterate both Sedriss and himself. In the wake of Sedriss' death on Ossus, the Emperor appointed Xecr Nist as the new Executor.

As a young male, Qaga Lok was found by Imperial authorities to be insolent, insubordinate, and overtly violent. Upon meeting him, Emperor Palpatine deduced that he could not respect anyone he could easily kill. When Lok was defeated by Palpatine, he pledged his unfaltering loyalty to the Emperor. He respected his Master enough to change his name to "Sedriss QL," in honor of Palpatine. Sedriss was devoted to his liege, and would instantaneously drop to his knee upon sight of the Emperor. Palpatine was not always pleased with Sedriss' performance as Executor, but Sedriss was able to save himself by promising the Emperor results. Even when out of the Emperor's presence, Sedriss displayed a great amount of fealty to Palpatine, vowing to avenge himself on those responsible for the Emperor's numerous deaths. Sedriss also spoke highly of Palpatine's ability to grant considerable power to others.

Sedriss was pragmatic enough to not resort to total destruction of a valuable world such as Balmorra—although he disliked Governor Beltane, he realized that it would not be practical to have the planet bombarded, as many useful and valuable factories would be obliterated. Although Sedriss was irate at Beltane's victory in their initial engagement, the Executor saw men like the governor to be insignificant, compared to adversaries such as Luke Skywalker. Sedriss commanded what he thought to be considerable foresight as a military commander, and he was willing to sacrifice the lives of his men if it meant he would capture a valuable world such as Balmorra with its facilities intact. When faced with an eventuality he did not prepare for, though, Sedriss did not retaliate in rage, and instead chose to negotiate with Governor Beltane.

The Executor was confident that the power of the dark side of the Force would aid him in battle, and that it would overcome the state-of-the-art weaponry he and his fellow Dark Side Elite encountered. He also credited the dark side with his superior combat abilities when dueling the dark side adept Nefta. When in battle, Sedriss would not hesitate to strike down an opponent, even if they were not prepared to defend themselves. When defeated by Skywalker, Sedriss became desperate, using an innocent bystander as a hostage. Even as he was trapped by the ancient Jedi Ood Bnar, however, he would not surrender. If he was to die, he would try to take Skywalker and the other Jedi with him. Sedriss had black hair and brown eyes.

After Darth Vader, Executor Sedriss was considered to be one of the strongest of Emperor Palpatine's students. In spite of this, Palpatine regarded Sedriss as only moderate in his ability to wield to the Force, and decided not to train the Executor as a Sith apprentice. Sedriss was skilled in the use of a lightsaber, as he quickly out-fenced Nefta, and deftly killed Sa-Di shortly thereafter. He was also able to utilize Force choke, but his powers were effortlessly deflected by the more powerful Jedi, Luke Skywalker. The Jedi bested Sedriss in combat, utilizing Force push against the Executor effectively. In his final hour, Sedriss hurled his mind deep into the depths of the dark side, conjuring up Force lightning in the process, and was able to call upon the energy of Ossus' charged atmosphere to destroy Ood Bnar. Sedriss was able to pilot an I-7 Howlrunner starfighter.

While serving as the Military Executor and the leader of the Dark Side Elite, Sedriss wore a set of garments consisting of a gray shirt and loose black pants supported by an ornate brown-and-silver belt with a large round buckle and an additional strap wrapping around his groin area. The outfift was completed with heavy black boots and armguards, as well as a short black jacket with a high raised collar. He was armed with a red-bladed lightsaber.

The character of Sedriss made his first appearance in Dark Empire II 1, the first issue of the Star Wars: Dark Empire II series, written by Tom Veitch, illustrated Cam Kennedy, and published by Dark Horse Comics on December 20, 1994. The character was later portrayed by Jim Ward in the audio drama adaptation of Dark Empire II.

Sedriss was originally slated to be introduced in Veitch's proposed short novel Lightsider, which would have served as a lead-in into the events of Dark Empire II, where he would have been given the birth name "Qaga Lok." However, Lightsider was canceled. Instead, the birth name "Qaga Lok" was later used in the German version of the 85th issue of The Official Star Wars Fact File. This detail did not feature in the English version of issue 85. The name "Sedriss QL" had previously appeared in a special-edition version of issue #1 of Dark Empire II, published by Hero magazine.

The audio drama of Dark Empire II differs from the original comic Dark Empire II in several aspects apart from general dialog changes, in regards to Sedriss' story. During the Battle of Balmorra, Beltane has his planetary defenses fire on Sedriss' fleet, which is what prompts the Executor to land ground troops. Later, when Palpatine returns, Sedriss only encounters and battles Sa-Di, and does not see that the Emperor's clones have been destroyed firsthand. Another minor change occurs during the battle on Ossus, wherein Sedriss is bested by Skywalker in the lightsaber duel, rather than being pushed back up against Ood Bnar by the Force. These presentations of events may be canon within the continuity of Star Wars Legends, but for the benefit of the article, they are represented in the biography as told in the comic.

• Lightsider