Ayanos Bactra, a Quermian male and Sith Lord, held dominion over a region within the Grumani sector during the era of the Republic Dark Age. Unlike many of his Sith counterparts who were engaged in warfare amongst themselves, Bactra strategically avoided direct conflict, choosing instead to establish himself as a prominent arms dealer. He cleverly utilized corporations as instruments to extend his sphere of influence.
In the year 1032 BBY, Bactra entered into an agreement with the Sith Lord Daiman. He committed to providing Daiman with an arxeum—essentially a mobile university specializing in the study of war sciences—in exchange for access to the planet Vellas Pavo. This planet was a competitor to Bactra in the production of the superconductor material Gadolinium. Subsequently, Bactra journeyed to the planet Gazzari with a small fleet, where he delivered an arxeum to Daiman's forces. From a distance, he observed a battle unfolding on the planet between Daiman and the armies of his brother Odion. However, during the course of the conflict, the brothers' grandmother, Vilia Calimondra, intervened by sending a message to both Daiman and Odion, instructing them to turn against Bactra. Consequently, the two siblings directed their forces to assault the Quermian's territories, leading to the swift collapse of Bactra's empire within a matter of days.
Ayanos Bactra governed the Bactranate, a Sith domain situated within the Grumani sector. He established his capital city on the planet of Jutrand, which was strategically positioned along the Duros Space Run hyperlane. In 1040 BBY, the Sith Lord Chagras, who was the designated successor to the vast holdings of the formidable Sith Lord Vilia Calimondra, met his end. This event triggered a conflict among Calimondra's grandchildren, each vying for the right to inherit her power. Recognizing this contention as a valuable opportunity, Bactra initiated the sale of arms to all factions involved. Later in the war, Bactra successfully conquered the planet Sarrassia. To safeguard the planet's abundant deposits of the metal Sarrassian iron, he intervened to resolve a pre-existing conflict between the followers of the Grumani and Spumani religions.
By the year 1032 BBY, Bactra was considered to be advanced in age. He forged an alliance with the Sith Lord Daiman, a grandson of Calimondra, granting agents from Industrial Heuristics—one of Bactra's corporate entities—authorization to conduct recruitment activities within Daiman's territories. Around this time, the Jedi Master Vannar Treece authored a report detailing the state of affairs in the Grumani sector, which included all information possessed by the Galactic Republic regarding Bactra and the Bactranate.
Following the destruction of a Daimanite testing center located on the planet Darkknell, Bactra established contact with Daiman through a priority communication channel. Daiman provided an explanation of the attack's details, while Bactra asserted that he had no prior knowledge of the incident, nor did he recognize Narsk Ka'hane, a Bothan spy who bore partial responsibility for the research facility's demise. To address the temporary vulnerability in Daimanite defenses resulting from the testing center's loss, Daiman requested that Bactra furnish him with an arxeum, a mobile university dedicated to advancing war sciences. Bactra consented to the proposition, promising to deliver an arxeum to Daiman on the planet Gazzari in exchange for Bactranite forces being granted passage through Daimanite space to the planet Vellas Pavo for a period of six weeks. Vellas Pavo was the site of mines extracting the superconductor Gadolinium, which directly competed with Bactra's own superconductor ventures. Daiman's Woostri aide, Uleeta, suspected that Bactra intended to sabotage the Vellas Pavo facilities.
Bactra journeyed to Gazzari with a small flotilla and transferred an arxeum to Daiman's forces. Shortly thereafter, a fleet commanded by Daiman's brother, Odion, arrived in the system with the intention of attacking Daiman's forces and their newly acquired arxeum. Upon detecting Bactra's fleet, Odion contacted the Quermian, and Bactra informed him that the agreement with Daiman had been fulfilled and that the Bactranites were no longer concerned with the arxeum's fate. Bactra and his fleet then remained in the Gazzari system, observing the conflict between the Daimanites and the Odionites from a safe distance. However, Vilia Calimondra had determined that her family no longer required Bactra's services. During the battle, Narsk Ka'hane transmitted a message from Calimondra to Daiman and Odion, instructing them to turn against the Quermian Sith Lord. Subsequently, the two siblings directed their forces to attack Bactra's fleet, destroying half of the Quermian's forces within the Gazzari system.
The surviving remnants of Bactra's fleet engaged their hyperspace drives and fled to Jutrand. However, the Daimanite and Odionite forces pursued them relentlessly. Within a few days, Bactra's empire succumbed to Daiman, Odion, and the Sith Lioko and Malakite. Vilia distributed Bactra's corporate assets among her grandchildren. Her granddaughter, Arkadia Calimondra, claimed to have received information indicating that Bactra had sought refuge in a Quermian retirement colony.
Ayanos Bactra possessed strategic acumen and was recognized as one of the more astute Sith Lords operating within the Grumani sector. In contrast to many of his Sith contemporaries who enslaved populations and dismantled corporations, Bactra regarded his subjects as valuable resources. He ensured that the Bactranate served as a secure haven for companies seeking refuge from contested worlds. He actively avoided engaging in direct battles against rival Sith states, instead leveraging corporations as a means to extend his influence into regions that he could not secure through military force.
He openly and impartially sold arms to all of the various Sith factions within the Grumani sector, recognizing that clandestine arms dealing would incur the animosity of other Sith Lords, who would expect an arms dealer to supply all parties involved. Vilia Calimondra considered Bactra to be a friend of her family, although her grandchild Odion publicly expressed his disdain for the Quermian. Bactra also held the belief that members of the Bothan species were prone to interfering in matters beyond their comprehension.
Ayanos Bactra was initially mentioned in The Knight Errant Gazetteer, an article authored by Daniel Wallace, Jason Fry, and John Jackson Miller and published on StarWars.com in November 2010. This article served as a tie-in to the comic series Star Wars: Knight Errant. The character was subsequently featured in the Knight Errant novel, penned by Miller and released in January 2011.