Pera

The Verpine identified solely as "Pera" made his home on the world of Aduba-3 and functioned as a priest in service to the Sacred Way religion. The Sacred Way was the initial impetus behind the world's colonization, establishing it as a farming colony. Pera's base of operations was the House of a Higher Power, one of the few intact buildings found within the predominantly run-down spaceport of Tun Aduban. He was mostly left to his own devices by the local starfarers, as his presence did not interfere with the profits derived from illicit activities, and he refrained from imposing his beliefs on others. Should he be confronted, the Verpine was armed with a farming shovel, which he would use against anyone who posed a threat.

In his capacity as a missionary, Pera actively sought converts, aspiring to instill his beliefs in a population that did not desire them. Though their numbers were few, he nonetheless had converts, and he cherished them despite their rarity. The Verpine solidified his position among the more hardened starfarers in Tun Aduban society through his maintenance of Spacer's Hill—an informal graveyard situated just outside of Tun Aduban proper. The starfarers, being naturally superstitious, were fond of the idea of receiving a proper burial from the Verpine priest, regardless of how corrupt or disreputable their lives had been. The burial of starfarers consumed a significant portion of Pera's time during his stay in Tun Aduban. He would traverse the township, collecting the bodies of those killed in fights or shootouts, before personally transporting them to Spacer's Hill. To this end, he acquired a bantha, which he used to pull a travois that carried the deceased.

Not long after the Battle of Yavin, Pera received word that a cyborg starfarer had been killed. The following day, he retrieved the body and prepared to transport it to Spacer's Hill, but he was accosted near one of the cantinas by an irate mob of starfarers. They harbored prejudices against cyborgs, and believed that the deceased was unworthy of a place in their sacred ground. When one of the mob attempted to physically assault Pera, he sprang into action, wielding his shovel against the attackers. Eventually, he was overwhelmed and disarmed, until two newcomers—the Human, Han Solo, and the Wookiee, Chewbacca—intervened. Solo and Chewbacca repelled the attackers, and the Human ensured that Pera was unharmed. The Verpine implored Solo not to injure the starfarers, as he believed that they did not intend any harm.

When Solo inquired about the deceased cyborg, Pera explained the starfarers' prejudices, as well as his own conviction that the starfarer should be buried at Spacer's Hill as he had once served as a pilot. The Verpine requested that Solo transport the body to the hill, but the smuggler was hesitant until Pera offered him a sack of coins that had been taken from the dead cyborg's person. Persuaded to accept the job, Solo mounted Pera's bantha and departed from the Verpine priest, but Pera continued to monitor Solo and Chewbacca's progress as they made their way toward the hill. When the pair came under attack from starfarers who hurled stones at them and dismounted Solo, Pera reappeared, shovel in hand, and assisted in defending Solo and the Wookiee. A firefight erupted, and the starfarers were eventually driven off, although Solo and Chewbacca had killed several of them.

Despite the assailants having been deterred and the cyborg's right to be buried at Spacer's Hill having been effectively secured, Pera observed that a stray shot had killed his bantha. The Verpine was concerned about how they would be able to transport the cyborg's body, but Chewbacca proved strong enough to carry the travois on his back, and Pera guided both him and Solo up the hill. The cyborg was buried, and as part of the ceremony, the Verpine held his shovel aloft and emitted an eerie chant while burning a substance in a chain censer. Upon completion of the burial, Pera directed the thirsty Solo towards Locru's Central Saloon, assuring him that since he had defeated the starfarers in a fair fight, he would be respected in the township. Two years later, Pera was interviewed by Voren Na'al, a historian employed by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, who sought to uncover the events that had transpired when Solo had visited the town. After Na'al made a generous donation to the Sacred Way, the Verpine confirmed that Solo and Chewbacca had indeed visited Tun Aduban.

Pera adhered to the tenets of the Sacred Way and embraced the philosophy of "for every sin, there exists an equal and positive retribution," as dictated by his religion's Holy-Book. The Verpine likened his task to an equally insurmountable endeavor—collecting every pebble from a beach. Although Pera acknowledged that he would not be able to convert many, he valued his infrequent initiates, believing that they possessed genuine worth. Pera capitalized on the pervasive sense of desperation within Tun Aduban and was occasionally able to establish a platform for his teachings, amassing several converts. He earned the respect of the starfarers and space-hoppers in Tun Aduban by maintaining Spacer's Hill. When addressed as "Pera," the Verpine responded with "Fi," the High Galactic term for child. While he would defend himself in combat, Pera did not desire any lasting harm to befall his attackers and held the view that violence only begets more violence. He believed that cyborgs, despite being partially droid, still possessed a soul within their Human component.

The character of "Pera" made his debut in Star Wars 7: New Planets, New Perils (1978), one of the earliest works of Expanded Universe fiction to be published. Similarly, Pera, alongside Crimson Jack and Jolli from the same issue, was among the first Expanded Universe characters to be created. His species was later retroactively identified as Verpine in the article "The Starhoppers of Aduba-3" (2001), featured in Star Wars Gamer 4.