Padgett

Padgett, an Aquilaris native, made his home in Capital Cay, a prominent coastal city. He belonged to the Seacroppers' Guild, a group that harvested algae and fleek eels from the planet's expansive oceans. He also maintained a close, familial bond with Joad Kreel, who held him in high regard as an elder figure. He lived through the Massacre of Aquilaris and the subsequent occupations by various Sith Lords, most recently Lord Daiman's Daimanate. Daiman exploited the planet as a seafood source to sustain his military. The Sith's presence caused widespread poverty and hunger among Aquilarians, as they seized a large portion of the population's food. The Seacroppers were compelled to give the majority of their catch to the Sith, leaving them with meager rations. Consequently, many became dependent on the spice Deluge, which offered temporary relief from hunger and depression but led to apathy and disorientation.

As a result, seacropping operations suffered significantly due to the poor health of the workforce, which struggled to meet production quotas. Many Seacroppers were also reluctant to work during rain, and the dismal condition of their submersible vessels and eel traps contributed to negligible productivity by 1032 BBY. This substance was secretly distributed by the pro-Republic Grace Command to weaken the Sith war machine. While many of his Seacropper colleagues, including Joad, succumbed to the drug, Padgett was among the few who resisted its allure. Being the oldest and most mentally stable of the Seacroppers, Padgett effectively took on the role of leading the organization.

In 1032 BBY, Joad Kreel transmitted a distress signal requesting more Deluge. This signal was detected by several parties with varying interests in Aquilaris, including Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, Hutt crime boss Zodoh, and Grace Command. Kerra, as a Jedi Knight, aimed to evacuate Aquilarian refugees to the safety of Republic space. As an Aquilarian, she also sought to liberate her world from Sith control. Simultaneously, the Hutt Zodoh sought to expand his criminal network into the Grumani sector, traditionally dominated by the Sith. He planned to intimidate his Sith rivals by testing his Stormdrivers on Aquilaris, capital ships armed with mechanized vaporators capable of generating artificial storms. Lastly, Grace Command intended to distribute the addictive spice Deluge among populations in Sith-occupied territories. Operation Deluge aimed to indirectly disrupt the Sith war effort without dedicating significant Republic resources. Captain Jenn Devaad of Devil Squadron was sent to the planet, posing as anti-Sith liberators offering aid.

During the Battle of Capital Cay, Zodoh's forces overwhelmed the Daimanate garrison. Kerra infiltrated the port aboard a vacant food transport, eliminating the garrison commander before he could escape. She then proceeded to the Seacroppers' Guild building, announcing her intention to evacuate the Seacroppers using the food transport while Daiman's forces were still engaged with the Hutt forces. Padgett responded negatively, dismissing Kerra as delusional for arriving alone. Due to the Seacroppers' drug-induced state, Kerra failed to persuade them to cooperate. Padgett then informed the young Jedi Knight about the men's addiction to Deluge spice. He also described the poor state of the Seacropper's operations and submersibles, which had led to malnutrition and poverty. Kerra also quickly discovered from Joad Kreel that the distress signal was actually a plea for more Deluge spice.

Kerra then managed to destroy one of Zodoh's Stormdrivers with the help of Jenn's Devil Squadron, which had just arrived from hyperspace. Zodoh ordered his strike force to retreat from Aquilaris, as his Stormdriver had gathered sufficient data on the planet's atmosphere, which was necessary for flooding its surface. In addition to his initial force, Zodoh had a larger fleet of Stormdrivers ready to create an artificial global flood.

Padgett was present when Captain Jenn and her squadron landed in Capital Cay, announcing their plan to distribute free food and medicine to the impoverished population. In the following days, Grace Command defeated the remaining Sith forces on the other islands and started a massive distribution of supplies at Capital Cay. While Devil Squadron was generally welcomed by the populace, they caused some controversy when they evicted the Seacroppers from their barracks to use as their own accommodation. Later, Joad overheard Grace Command's secret agenda while eavesdropping on their meeting.

After completing their food and medical drop, Grace Command departed Aquilaris for another offensive against Sith Lord Malakite. However, Zodoh's fighter carrier intercepted and captured them in the Aquilaris system. Only Kerra escaped back to Aquilaris, where she soon discovered Grace Command's conspiracy to flood Sith territory with Deluge spice. Learning of Zodoh's plan to test his Deluge superweapons on Aquilaris, she attempted to convince the Aquilarians to move to higher ground. She faced a major logistical challenge because most of the boats had been destroyed by the Sith, and the few remaining airspeeders would be unable to operate in the stormy conditions.

When Kerra inquired whether the Seacroppers and their submersibles could assist, Padgett explained that his entire workforce had become addicted to the spice. The remaining Seacroppers were confined to the barracks, unable to think or function properly. Kerra initially expressed surprise at the lack of improvement, considering Grace Command had supposedly distributed medical supplies to treat the addiction. When Kerra suggested evacuating the Aquilarian refugees to the underwater harvester stations, Padgett expressed doubt that they would be of much help due to their deteriorated state. Despite this, Kerra managed to persuade Padgett and the other civilians to evacuate the refugees before Zodoh's Stormdrivers arrived.

Throughout the evacuation, an irritated Padgett criticized Kerra's efforts, pointing out that the low topography meant there was little high ground for the refugees to reach. During the evacuation, they were interrupted by Captain Jenn, who forced them at gunpoint to collect all the orange food containers with time locks. These contained Deluge spice, which she intended to give to Zodoh in exchange for the safe release of her squadron. However, Kerra intervened, overpowering her with her Force abilities and revealing her knowledge of Grace Command's true intentions.

Kerra tried to convince Jenn to help her evacuate the Aquilarians, but Jenn was more concerned with saving her crew. Jenn also expressed her resentment towards civilians in outlying regions due to her captivity at the hands of Zodoh. Unable to reconcile their differences, the two women parted ways, with Jenn returning to Zodoh's flagship, leaving Kerra and the Aquilarian people behind. Shortly after, Zodoh's fleet of Stormdrivers activated their weaponized vaporators, drawing vast amounts of moisture from Aquilaris to create artificial storms and floods. Within hours, much of Aquilaris was submerged. During the deluge, Padgett assisted Kerra's evacuation efforts by piloting her Fire Lotus-class starfighter while she waded through the waters, desperately trying to rescue as many civilians as possible.

Ultimately, Kerra and Padgett managed to evacuate four other refugees to the top of a wrecked building in Tarrah Hill, the highest point on Aquilaris. Meanwhile, the Stormdrivers in orbit deactivated, ending the storm. Later, it was discovered that Jenn had escaped Zodoh's flagship and, in the process, triggered an explosion that disrupted the coordination of the orbiting Stormdrivers. This brief respite in the storm allowed Joad to surface his submersible and evacuate Kerra, Padgett, and the other refugees to safety in the underwater harvester stations. The significant presence of former and current Seacroppers was crucial, as their expertise was needed to open and repair the sea tunnels.

By dawn, several hundred Aquilarians had been safely evacuated in different shifts. Subsequently, Jenn managed to escape Zodoh's flagship Voracious in a twin-seater fighter and then locate Kerra and the submersible. The two women reconciled, and Jenn revealed Zodoh's new plan to flood Darkknell, the heavily populated capital of Daiman's principality. To save billions of civilians, the two women departed in their starfighter. Meanwhile, Padgett and Joad took over the coordination of the evacuation efforts. They found the aging underwater harvesting facilities to be still salvageable, and Padgett took charge of managing these havens due to his maritime expertise. Gradually, the storms subsided, and the floods receded, allowing the buildings and land to resurface. Having overcome his addiction to Deluge, Joad gradually regained his sanity.

Kerra and Jenn later returned safely from the Battle of Darkknell, having defeated the Hutt lord Zodoh and thwarted his ambition for galactic domination. To prevent future Sith attempts to reclaim Aquilaris, Kerra misled the Sith Lords with false information that the planet was still completely submerged and therefore strategically worthless. Meanwhile, Captain Jenn would sabotage Operation Deluge by misleading Grace Command into believing she had a contract to distribute Deluge spice to Aquilaris. However, en route, she would dump the drug into space and then use the supply transport to ferry refugees back to Republic space. Aquilaris would then become a major hub for transporting refugees out of Sith Space, with Padgett and Joad playing a key role.

Padgett had a pessimistic and grumpy disposition. However, he was one of the few civilians on Aquilaris who refused to become dependent on the addictive spice known as Deluge. Consequently, he was one of the few civilians Kerra encountered who remained clear-headed. His mental clarity allowed him to reassume the role of informal leader of the Seacroppers' Guild. His experiences under the hardships of Sith rule made him skeptical of everyone, as demonstrated by his dismissal of Kerra's rescue mission as insane and unrealistic. Due to his age, the younger Seacroppers looked up to him as a mentor.

Despite his skepticism towards Kerra, he was still willing to assist her in the evacuation efforts before the Great Aquilaris Deluge. He and Joad Kreel would then play a crucial role in evacuating thousands of Aquilarian refugees to the safety of harvester stations, saving countless lives on Aquilaris.

As a senior member of the Seacropper, Padgett possessed a deep understanding of submersibles and underwater Harvester stations. His skills enabled him to lead operations to repair the Harvester stations, enabling them to accommodate civilian refugees. Padgett also demonstrated sufficient mechanical skill to operate Kerra's Fire Lotus-class starfighter while she rescued refugees from the floodwaters.

Padgett was first introduced as a supporting character for the protagonist Kerra Holt in the Deluge story arc of the Star Wars: Knight Errant comic series, which premiered in August 2011. John Jackson Miller developed his backstory, while Iban Coello and Sergio Abad created his artwork, which was then colored by Michael Atiyeh. He appears in four of the five issues of the Deluge arc, excluding Knight Errant: Deluge 2.