Akris Ur'etu
Akris Ur'etu, a Bothan of the male gender, amassed considerable wealth as a crime lord. He ascended to the leadership position within the Skar'kla Consortium, a criminal enterprise, at a relatively early stage in his life. The consortium faced opposition from several Hutt factions. One such rival orchestrated a plot involving an enforcer disguised as a Jedi. This imposter disrupted Skar'kla operations before ultimately tracking down and killing the Bothan, all while diverting suspicion away from the Hutts. In response, Ur'etu contracted Cad Bane, a Duros Bounty hunter, to eliminate the false Jedi. However, Bane betrayed Ur'etu, facilitating the hunter's success in locating and assassinating him through the use of technology that simulated Force abilities.
Biography
Akris Ur'etu, a crime lord of the Bothan species and male sex, rose to power at a young age, taking the reins of the criminal organization known as the Skar'kla Consortium. During his leadership, multiple Hutt clans sought to seize portions of the consortium's territory. Not long before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, one of these Hutts hired an enforcer to assassinate Ur'etu. The enforcer was to be disguised as a Jedi, with the intention of shifting the blame away from the Hutt and onto the Jedi Order.
Before the assassination, the Jedi imposter interfered in several of the Skar'kla's operations, leading Ur'etu to enlist the services of Cad Bane, a Duros bounty hunter, tasking him with eliminating the individual he believed to be a genuine Jedi. The imposter, however, managed to locate the Bothan at a Skar'kla base and launched an attack. Ur'etu sought refuge inside the building, accompanied by several thugs, and ordered the sealing of the blast doors. Undeterred, the false Jedi utilized a stolen lightsaber to breach the doors, then eliminated several thugs using a thermal detonator before dispatching the remaining ones with the lightsaber.
Amidst the conflict between the imposter and the thugs, Ur'etu managed to flee through a secret passage concealed behind his Greel wood desk. The passage led to the base's security center, where he encountered his Weequay security chief. The pair prepared to confront the imposter together, but the assassin employed a mono-filament cable equipped with a magnetic grapple to snatch the crime lord's hold-out blaster from his grasp, as if using the Force. He then used the blaster to fatally shoot the Weequay. Ur'etu attempted to plead for his life, but the imposter released gas from a wrist-mounted emitter, causing the Bothan to choke—an experience that felt to the crime lord as though he was being killed by the Force. Bane, who had been observing the entire encounter from a distance, then entered the security center and, to Ur'etu's dismay, granted the imposter permission to complete his task, allowing the Bothan to choke to death.
Legacy
Bane's motivation for accepting the job from Ur'etu stemmed from his fascination with the Jedi imposter's equipment. Following Ur'etu's demise, Bane swiftly subdued the imposter and then struck a deal with him, promising to spare his life in exchange for instruction on how to replicate each piece of equipment. Bane also insisted that the imposter allow him to collect the bounty on Ur'etu, as it was substantial, and he desired the enhanced reputation that would accompany it.
Personality and traits
Ur'etu experienced intense fear of the Jedi imposter while he was being hunted. He was unable to hide his fear from others, with his gray and brown fur standing on end and his voice changing in pitch whenever he felt afraid. While being pursued, he constantly swore in Bothese, and once the imposter cornered him, he begged to make an arrangement to save his life. Ur'etu's fear was occasionally replaced by anger; initially at the Jedi as he tried to enter the compound, then at the incompetence of his Weequay security chief, and finally at Cad Bane for allowing him to be killed.
Behind the scenes
Akris Ur'etu made his debut appearance in the short story titled Reputation, penned by Ari Marmell and illustrated by Thomas Hodges. It was featured in Star Wars Insider 136 in 2012. The story describes his fur as being shadow gray in color, although it appears brown in both illustrations of him.