Acolytes of the Beyond

The Acolytes of the Beyond were made up of individuals lacking Force-sensitivity, who referred to themselves as shadows. These shadows considered themselves, and all other living beings, as slaves to the Force, which they envisioned as a flowing river of power. Their belief was that only Force-users who embraced the dark side of the Force could alter the course of these currents. They held the Sith in high regard, viewing them as riverbreakers who defied fate. The Acolytes offered worship to deceased Sith, those who had transcended beyond the veil of death. Many Acolytes also experienced dreams sent by these fallen Sith lords. The true leader of the Acolytes was Yupe Tashu, who was responsible for recruiting a significant number of the cult's members. Even former Acolyte Komat wondered if [Kiza](/article/kiza], who joined after receiving Force visions, had those visions delivered to her by Tashu, possibly through the use of an unrevealed Sith artifact.

Masters such as Tashu led the Acolytes, communicating with the specters of deceased Sith. According to Komat, Tashu's ambition was to utilize the Acolytes to restore the dark side's power to the galaxy, with himself as the supreme ruler. The Acolytes also venerated various Sith artifacts, including lightsabers and helmets, due to the dark side power they contained. Initially, the Acolytes stole lightsabers as sacrifices to the Sith "beyond," but they began retaining these ancient weapons after the rise of the New Republic, considering it a great honor to be granted a lightsaber. As devoted followers of the Sith, the Acolytes opposed the new order established by the New Republic. During the final phase of the [Galactic Civil War](/article/galactic_civil_war], the Acolytes initiated a campaign of armed resistance against the new government. The acolytes were known through as "the mark of Vader."

During the Battle of Endor, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader met his death after sacrificing himself to eliminate his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Several months later, the Acolytes of the Beyond made contact with Ooblamon, a Kubaz junk dealer on the planet of Taris, who claimed to be in possession of the red-bladed lightsaber that once belonged to the Dark Lord. Three Acolytes of the Beyond purchased the lightsaber from Ooblamon, intending to destroy it and return it to Vader in the afterlife. Ooblamon wasn't certain if it was actually Vader's lightsaber, but the transaction proceeded nonetheless. Sidious' former advisor, Yupe Tashu, who was also the leading expert on the dark side of the Force, joined the Acolytes along with his partner, a Sith assassin known as Ochi of Bestoon.

During a revolution in Coronet City on the planet Corellia, another Acolyte, a boy named Remi who went by the name Oblivion, was apprehended. He was taken to a nearby station, where he was freed by Kiza, a Pantoran and a secret member of the organization. Together, they killed all but one of the detectives in the station, severing his hand. While the other Acolytes wreaked havoc through the streets of Coronet City, Kiza and Remi infiltrated the archives beneath the station and stole a lightsaber. Remi became the owner of the lightsaber and was influenced by the dark side presence within the object. Although the Acolytes initially stole Sith lightsabers as sacrifices to the Sith beyond, they began to keep them as the group started to pursue a policy of armed resistance against the New Republic, the successor to the Rebel Alliance.

By 5 ABY, the Acolytes of the Beyond had evolved into a network of cells that stretched across the galaxy. They were guided by several masters, including Tashu, who venerated fallen Sith. In the lead-up to the Battle of Jakku, the Acolytes launched a series of coordinated attacks targeting New Republic outposts and enclaves on various worlds. Tashu led a cell of 24 members on the planet Devaron during an attack on a small New Republic outpost. The mission on Devaron revealed to the Acolytes that Tashu was their leader.

Before the attack, Tashu gifted Kiza with the mask of Viceroy Exim Panshard. He was fully aware that Panshard's presence lingered within the mask and intended to exploit Kiza as a tool for galactic conquest, rather than risk his own will by wearing the mask himself. When Remi demanded the mask for himself, Tashu rebuked him and handed his lightsaber to Kiza. During the assault on the New Republic outpost, the Acolytes wielded various weapons, including clubs, machine shop blades, and chop-axes, all painted red. Kiza was possessed by the dark side presence of Panshard within her mask. When Remi attempted to reclaim his lightsaber, Kiza killed him. Her fellow Acolyte Komat also claimed she killed Tashu, but Tashu actually died in the Battle of Jakku.

By the time Jedi Luke Skywalker and researcher Lor San Tekka followed a lead on the lightsaber of Darth Noctyss to the Acolytes and found them, the group was a shadow of its former self. They managed to convince Komat to give up the life of the Acolytes and redeem herself. At some point before the mission to Pasaana of 21 ABY, the Acolytes no longer existed, but Ochi had instead become a follower of the Sith Eternal under the resurrected Sidious after they reached out to him with a new mission: find Sidious's granddaughter, Rey. Around the same time, Kiza was killed during a duel against Skywalker, and the spirit of Panshard was destroyed with his mask during a subsequent skirmish.

During his time on Exegol, the resurrected Sidious spoke highly of their actions. He was particularly pleased about the Acolytes' comprehension of the dark side being key to victory, despite not having the proper connection to the Force to make use of it themselves. He also approved of their altered focus from destroying Sith arcana to collecting them. Sidious believed that the Acolytes were helping further his cause due to the presence of several extreme loyalists in their ranks.

The Acolytes of the Beyond first appeared the 2015 novel Aftermath, penned by Chuck Wendig.