Peppin

Peppin was a member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, a group of Human Sith that had established a colony on the planet Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War. She was raised on the continent of Keshtah Minor during the Hilts Restoration and took part in the Tribe's attempts to reach and conquer Alanciar, another continent located in Kesh's southern hemisphere that the Tribe initially referred to as "Keshtah Major." Following the rise of the reformist Grand Lord Varner Hilts, Peppin became a staff member on High Lord Edell Vrai's engineering team and gained a wealth of knowledge about engineering. Varner Hilts had chosen Edell to be his chief engineer for the Tribe's project to develop a technology that would enable the Tribe to travel to and conquer "Keshtah Major."

After a quarter of a century of unsuccessful attempts with long-distance uvak flights and the construction of seagoing ships, Edell Vrai invented the Tribe's airships after discovering that methane extracted from the volcano Sessal Spire could be transformed into hydrogen to fuel the gasbags. These airships were also powered by two uvak, winged reptilian beasts of burden. These uvak were attached to the airship by metal harnesses, and the airships had enough space for the beasts to rest, eat, and sleep when they weren't needed. Peppin took part in the Tribe's expeditionary mission to Alanciar in 2975 BBY and served on board the airship Candra. Peppin was in charge of caring for and directing these two uvak, which she called Starboard and Port, in her role as the Candra's pilot and uvak handler. During that expedition, she served as the Candra's combination uvak wrangler and pilot. She was one of ten crew members, including Captain Edell Vrai, the thoughtcrier Taymor, five warriors including Ulbrick and Janns, and two Keshiri ambassadors including Tellpah. Edell, her captain, was also the commander of the Sith expedition, and his strategy was to carry out an overhead reconnaissance flight of Keshtah Major before returning across the Sea of Flames to Keshtah Minor's western coast, the Tribe's homeland. For that mission, Pepppin served as Edell's lieutenant, making her his second-in-command. After several days of sailing across the Endless Sea, the Candra and her sister ships Lillia and Dann Itra made it to Garrow's Neck, one of the six peninsulas that make up Alanciar's southwestern coast. Garrow's Neck was a part of the Six Claws region.

Unbeknownst to the Lost Tribe, "Keshtah Major" was the home of a highly developed and militaristic Keshiri civilization that referred to themselves as the Alanciari and their homeland as Alanciar. In 4975 BBY, Adari Vaal, a Keshiri exile, and her surviving followers had fled to Alanciar. There, they were successful in alerting the Alanciari to the threat posed by the Sith in Keshtah. As a consequence, the Alanciari developed into a militaristic civilization with a sizable, well-equipped, and well-trained military designed to withstand any Sith invasion. The Alanciari also surrounded the Six Claws with a network of forts that served as early warning stations. Furthermore, the Alanciari created a complex network of semaphore signal stations and thoughtcriers that disseminated information throughout the continent and were connected to a central command center in the capital city of Sus'mintri, which also housed the War Cabinet, Alanciar's military government.

Peppin guided the uvak Starboard as they approached land after spotting Keshtah Major's coast. Port had already been fed and was prepared to continue the journey. As they got closer to Garrow's Neck, the crew of the Candra started releasing small amounts of gas from the gasbag to allow the ship to descend in order to carry out their reconnaissance mission. The Candra was also accompanied by her sister ships Lillia and Dann Ira. Shortly after, Taymor, the ship's thoughtcrier, also used the Force to project a thought informing the Tribe's leadership in the capital Tahv that they had safely arrived at Keshtah Major. Taymor also detected a significant amount of energy and emotion on the new continent, indicating that it was home to a large population. Shortly after, the Lillia was struck by a flaming javelin fired from an Alanciari ballista at Point Vigilance.

The Sith crew initially believed that lightning had struck the Lillia and ignited its gasbag, wiping out the airship and its crew. The Candra's two uvak then became alarmed, and Peppin had to quickly calm them down. Shortly after, two more javelins struck the Dann Itra, igniting its gasbag and destroying the entire airship. Edell and his Sith crew, including Peppin, quickly realized that they were under attack by the Alanciari, who had used the Force to direct projectiles at the Sith airships. Peppin and the other Sith crew members began throwing provisions over the side of the airship in an attempt to create some distance between the airship and the ballistae below in order to avoid the flaming javelins. As a result, the Candra was able to escape the range of the ballistae.

Taymor then made an attempt to send a message warning the Tribe that the Sith expedition had run into trouble. She was killed before she could finish the message, however, and the Tribe's thoughtcriers only received a jumbled message containing emotions of shock, surprise, and confusion. The Candra's crew quickly discovered that they were being attacked by the Alanciari "air force", which consisted of several uvaks and their riders armed with ballistae that fired diamond projectiles. The Alanciari uvak-riders attacked the Candra and its crew with diamond projectiles, killing the uvak known as Starboard. Peppin also discovered that the Candra's gasbag had been punctured by the diamond projectiles, causing hydrogen to leak and the airship to descend lower into the range of the ballistae.

Two of the Alanciari uvak came together on the Candra's port and starboard sides. In response, Captain Edell ordered the crew to use the Force to deflect the Alanciari projectiles. A third uvak rider, however, dove headfirst into the ship's gondola, causing the airship to break apart in midair. Four crew members, including a Sith warrior and one of the Keshiri ambassadors, were killed. Peppin and the other survivors, including Edell, managed to hold on to pieces of wreckage. The crew of the Candra landed close to Point Defiance, an Alanciari fort and signal station on the Garrow's Neck peninsula. The Sith party had unknowingly landed north of Point Defiance, while the balloon carried the wrecked gondola farther eastward. After traveling for a kilometer, the Sith crew climbed a stony tumbledown which led to Point Defiance.

Peppin, her captain Edell Vrai, the two Sith Sabers Ulbrick and Janns, and the Keshiri scholar Tellpah were the only six Sith to survive the battle. Peppin and her Sith companions ascended the cliff, but were quickly attacked by Quarra Thayn, the Alanciari Wardmaster, who had armed herself with a ballista. She was protecting Jogan Halder, her lover signal officer, who had been seriously injured by the fallen uvak Starboard. Ulbrick was seriously wounded in his right thigh, but Peppin and another Sith warrior named Janns were able to overpower and disarm the Keshiri woman. While the Keshiri scholar Tellpah attended to the wounded Ulbrick, Captain Edell and lieutenant Peppin confronted Quarra, who revealed that she could speak the same language as the Sith Tribe. Quarra made eye contact with Peppin and told her to release her, even though Peppin had intended to cover the Keshiri woman's mouth with a cloth. Edell quickly learned from Thayn that she was Force-sensitive and that the Alanciari were prepared to repel any Sith invasion.

Edell decided to spare her lover Jogan's life after breaking Quarra's mental defenses and learning her name, and he ordered Peppin and her companions to take the prisoners inside Point Defiance. Shortly after, Edell executed the grievously wounded Ulbrick after determining that the young Sith Saber was unable to walk. The Sith did not want one of their own to become a prisoner of the Alanciari, an unknown enemy. Edell and the Keshiri scholar Tellpah then tried to operate Point Defiance's semaphore machine, but they couldn't figure out how it worked. The two did, however, spot a ship approaching the fort. This ship turned out to be the Alanciari fishing trawler Mischance. While the majority of the Alanciari harvester fleet typically operated in the coral banks of the Southern Passage, captains who were behind on harvesting their seafood quotas were known to cut corners by fishing in the Western Sea, which was a restricted military zone patrolled by the Shore Guard, the Alanciari coast guard.

Edell decided that the six surviving Sith would hijack the harvester and use it to return to Keshtah. The Sith also brought their two prisoners, Quarra and Jogan, with them. Ulbrick's body was dumped into a cistern prior to their evacuation from Point Defiance in an effort to conceal it from Alanciari reinforcements who had been dispatched from Garrow's Neck. As planned, the Sith party was able to use a boat to sail to the Mischance and take control of the ship. All but one of the Keshiri sailors fought to the death during that brief but violent skirmish. The following day, Peppin questioned the last surviving crew member in the Mischance's wheelhouse, but she was unable to obtain any information from him other than the fact that the ship had been trapping crustaceans and was scheduled to remain in the Western Sea for a week before returning to port. By noon, the Keshiri sailor had died from his injuries without revealing any information about his people's military defenses or government.

Peppin spoke with her captain, Edell Vrai, after their violent "first contact" with the Alanciari, and she noted the strong resistance they encountered from the local Alanciari, including the fallen sailors and the captive Quarra Thayn. Jogan Halder was the only exception because of his broken ribs. Edell was pleased that the Mischance was out of range of the Tribe's signal stations, which meant they couldn't communicate with the hijacked vessel. Edell suggested staying in their current location for a while since the ship was also out of range of any Alanciari aerial patrols. Peppin disagreed, pointing out that the Mischance had several excellent maps of the Southern Passage's currents, which she believed would allow the Tribe to find a way to return home to Keshtah Minor via the smaller Sea of Flames. Edell believed that Peppin would be able to figure out how to steer the captured Alanciari vessel because of her engineering skills.

Edell agreed with Peppin's argument that it made sense for the six remaining Sith expedition survivors to return home as soon as possible given the recent developments. This would bring their assigned mission to a successful conclusion. While the Mischance was a lowly harvesting vessel, the Tribe considered it to be advanced because they had only managed to develop small river boats since Kesh's native timbers were unsuitable for building ocean-going vessels. Peppin read her commander's thoughts and suggested that the Mischance would make a good transport and could carry a maximum of two hundred Sith. In addition, the Sith discovered that the vessel contained several excellent maps of the currents in the Southern Passage. Edell and his lieutenant Peppin then decided to use the Mischance to return home to Keshtah and warn the Tribe of the Alanciari's military capabilities. Both also reasoned that the Tribe would be interested in the sailing ship, Jogan Halder, and his collection of books, which included the Keshtah Chronicles, a popular history of the Tribe written by Adari Vaal for an Alanciari audience.

Edell, unwilling to return to Kesh due to a nightmare, decided to remain on Alanciar and claimed to have received new orders to embark on a ground reconnaissance mission into Alanciar. He instructed Peppin to listen and follow his lead. Peppin complied with Edell and joined him when he presented the captive Quarra Thayn with the opportunity to serve as his guide on a ground reconnaissance mission into Alanciar's interior. Edell wanted to learn more about Alanciar's military government, the War Cabinet, in order to provide the Sith Tribe with more intelligence on Alanciar. Peppin also brought a map of Alanciar. Using Peppin's map, Edell told Quarra that the pair would infiltrate Alanciar through Meori Cove in Garrow's Neck, which was not under military surveillance. They would then travel to Alanciar's capital of Sus'mintri, which he estimated would take them several days to reach. Edell intended for this reconnaissance mission to last for a maximum of two weeks. Edell also lied to Quarra, claiming that the Mischance would remain off the coast of Garrow's Neck until they received a signal that he had returned. In reality, the Sith had already planned to return to Keshtah with the Mischance and the captive Jogan Halder.

Quarra was initially hesitant to cooperate until Edell threatened to kill her lover Jogan by throwing him into the ocean. Instead, she suggested that he use his own Keshiri slave Tellpah for that mission. Edell reiterated, however, that he desired a local guide who was familiar with Alanciar. He also explained that the reason he had brought Tellpah and the other Keshiri from Keshtah was to spread their religion, which was centered on the Sith "Protectors." Edell also desired to learn more about the Alanciari's military capabilities. Quarra finally agreed to assist Edell in exchange for them untying Jogan from the ship and tending to his wounds. Edell agreed to Quarra's demands and ordered Peppin and Tellpah to untie Jogan. After dropping Edell and Quarra off at Meori Cove, the Mischance returned to Keshtah with Peppin at the helm, in the absence of Captain Edell.

Under Peppin's leadership, the Mischance navigated through the Southern Passage and sailed into the Sea of Flames. The Mischance arrived on Keshtah's western coast after two weeks of travel. Peppin flew ahead to Tahv, the Sith capital, after landing with a copy of the Keshtah Chronicles, which the Sith had obtained from Jogan's private library. This book, written by Adari Vaal after her exile, was a popular history book that provided the Sith with invaluable information about what the Alanciari knew about the Sith Tribe. Hilts and the other Sith High Lords were able to persuade Jogan Halder that the Sith were not a threat to Alanciar but rather the benevolent Protectors after staging a grand deception operation in Tahv. As a result, the Alanciari submitted to Sith rule.

Peppin was a female Human Sith member of the Lost Tribe of Sith, who were descended from Human slaves of the Sith Empire who had become stranded on the planet Kesh during the Great Hyperspace War. Peppin had long red hair and was adept an adept uvak-wrangler. She also had a good knowledge of engineering and operating airships and sea-going ships due to her experiences training under the Tribe's chief engineer Edell Vrai. As a Sith, Peppin was Force-sensitive and was able to engage in unarmed physical combat. However, her skills as an interrogator were lacking and she ended up torturing a captured Alanciari sailor to death rather than gaining any useful information. Still, Peppin was a loyal and competent lieutenant whose skills with operating machinery enabled her to bring the captured Alanciari harvester Mischance and its crew safely back to Keshtah Minor. This marked the first transcontinental ocean voyage between Keshtah and Alanciar, which the Tribe later annexed following Edell's reconnaissance mission in 2975 BBY.

Peppin first appeared as a minor non-point-of-view character in John Jackson Miller's novella Lost Tribe of the Sith: Pandemonium, which was first released on July 24 2012 as part of the mass paperback Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories. This marks her only known appearance in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.