A prominent figure in the Galactic Empire, Ragez D'Asta held the title of Baron and was a staunch supporter of Emperor Palpatine. His influence stemmed from commanding the largest privately-owned fleet in the galaxy, producing the majority of the Empire's cargo ships, and governing the strategically vital D'Astan sector. D'Asta held a respected position as a member of the Imperial Ruling Council, but his failing health eventually led him to relinquish his seat. His daughter, Feena, succeeded him on the Council, representing his interests. However, she was soon kidnapped by the Black Sun criminal syndicate and replaced with a clone, a fact unknown to the Baron.
The clone of Feena played a role in a successful plot to assassinate Emperor Palpatine. Following the Emperor's demise, she became a member of the Imperial Interim Ruling Council, the Empire's new governing body, where she continued to act on D'Asta's behalf. When Xandel Carivus seized control of the Council and declared himself the new Emperor, the clone Feena was branded a traitor and arrested. Believing her to be his true daughter, D'Asta mobilized his armada and launched an attack on Ord Cantrell, the Council's headquarters. Upon learning from Royal Guardsman Kir Kanos about Carivus' involvement in the conspiracy against Palpatine, D'Asta assisted Kanos in assassinating the self-proclaimed Emperor. With the collapse of the remaining Imperial factions, D'Asta declared his sector's independence from the New Republic.
In 13 ABY, Ragez orchestrated a peace accord between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant, dispatching his daughter Feena as his representative due to his declining health. This decision angered the Imperial splinter group known as the "Restored Empire," which sought to uphold the Empire's legacy under the late Emperor Palpatine's vision. After his daughter was killed by forces led by Ennix Devian, the Restored Empire's leader, D'Asta deployed his fleet to the Imperial capital world of Orinda. There, he once again allied with Kir Kanos to provide support for the Imperial forces in combat against the hardliner fleet in orbit. Following the battle, Ragez adopted Feena's clone as his own daughter.
Ragez D'Asta, a Human Baron within the Galactic Empire, headed the strategically significant D'Astan sector and belonged to the D'Asta family, the most influential family in the New Territories of the galaxy. As a powerful shipping tycoon and a supporter of Emperor Palpatine, D'Asta possessed numerous companies that produced the majority of the Empire's cargo ships. Furthermore, the Baron commanded the largest privately-owned fleet of starships in the galaxy. D'Asta maintained business relationships with Jahren Sinn, a farmer from Nez Peron; his daughter Feena and Sinn's wife Mirith were also friends.
Following Palpatine's first death in 4 ABY, D'Asta served as a member of the Imperial Ruling Council. However, his declining health eventually prevented him from actively participating in the Council, and his seat was assumed by his daughter Feena, who represented D'Asta's interests. She was granted considerable leeway on the Council due to the respect afforded to her father. For five years after 6 ABY, D'Asta lost contact with his daughter. Unbeknownst to the other Council members and her own father, Feena was kidnapped in 7 ABY and replaced with a clone by the criminal organization Black Sun. They used the clone to advance their own agenda on the Council, while Feena remained imprisoned by their ally Grappa the Hutt. D'Asta had no contact with the clone either, and he remained unaware of the switch. During Grand Admiral Thrawn's attempt to reunite the Empire, the D'Astas pledged their allegiance to him due to his attacks against the New Republic. However, after the Admiral's death in 9 ABY, the remnants of the Empire once again fragmented.
In 10 ABY, Palpatine, resurrected in a new clone body, once again became the public leader of the Empire. Seeking to secure their own power, a thirteen-person conspiracy—including the cloned Feena, although D'Asta was unaware and continued to view Palpatine as his emperor—sabotaged Palpatine's clones, ultimately leading to his final demise in 11 ABY. Following these events, the conspirators established the Interim Ruling Council, which became the Empire's new governing body. Feena's clone continued to represent her "father"'s interests on the Interim Council, operating from their headquarters on Ord Cantrell.
One of the Council members, Xandel Carivus, aimed to seize control of the Empire. By orchestrating the assassinations of several prominent councilors, Carivus ensured his election as the Council's head. The clone Feena considered him ineffective and opposed him, but she received little support from the rest of the body. Eventually, Carivus had all non-Human members of the Council arrested, falsely accusing them of being behind the assassinations. He also arrested the clone Feena, charging her with treason. Councilor Mahd Windcaller warned Carivus that D'Asta would secede from the Empire, encouraging others to join him in rebellion. However, Carivus dismissed her concerns, believing D'Asta to be too ill and old to pose a threat. Windcaller and other Council members later convened to discuss how to address D'Asta and other issues plaguing the Empire. They decided to appease D'Asta by releasing his daughter from imprisonment, but Carivus then announced that he was dissolving the Council and declaring himself Emperor.
Shortly thereafter, D'Asta sent a message to Carivus, threatening to leave the Empire and take his resources with him. Carivus again disregarded the threat, despite the fact that the Empire was still at war with the New Republic and facing internal dissent from the Whiphid species ever since their representative to the Council had been killed by Carivus' soldiers after resisting arrest. Carivus assigned one of his admirals to handle any potential danger posed by D'Asta.
D'Asta, in response, gathered his entire armada and launched an attack on Ord Cantrell. With the Imperial Navy scattered due to the New Republic and Whiphid conflicts, D'Asta's fleet overwhelmed the Imperial forces, breaching the defenses over Ord Cantrell and forcing the remaining ships to retreat. Moments after the admiral in charge of the world's defense lost communication with Carivus in the Council Tower, D'Asta contacted the ersatz Emperor from his flagship, a Marauder-class corvette, informing him that his fleets were destroyed and his fate was sealed. As D'Asta's starfighters attacked the Council Tower itself, Carivus relented and released Feena, on the condition that D'Asta would cease hostilities. Although frustrated that he would be calling off his attack before achieving complete victory, D'Asta agreed. A temporary cease-fire was established as D'Asta's flagship docked with an Imperial Carrack-class light cruiser to facilitate Feena's transfer.
D'Asta embraced the person he believed to be his daughter, but their reunion was interrupted by the arrival of a group of visitors: Mirith Sinn, now affiliated with the New Republic, Kir Kanos, a member of the Emperor's Royal Guard, and the real Feena D'Asta, rescued from Black Sun imprisonment. The clone drew a blaster on the real Feena, but D'Asta disarmed her and demanded an explanation from Sinn. When D'Asta questioned her, the clone Feena confessed. Kanos, seeking to avenge all those who conspired to kill Palpatine, drew his blade on the clone, demanding her life. D'Asta was shocked that she had been involved in the conspiracy, but pleaded with Kanos for mercy. Sinn convinced Kanos to stand down and pursue his true target, Xandel Carivus, instead.
D'Asta halted the attack and contacted Carivus, requesting a personal meeting; in exchange, he promised to withdraw his armada without further hostilities. Carivus allowed his shuttle to land, and D'Asta and his party—Sinn, Feena, and Kanos' friend Tav Kennede—arrived in Carivus' throne room. D'Asta announced that his sector would be seceding from the Empire and that, once news of the conspiracy against Palpatine spread, other sector leaders would follow suit. Carivus doubted that D'Asta would reveal the plot, given that his daughter had supposedly been involved, but when D'Asta revealed that it had actually been a clone of her, Carivus denounced them all as traitors and ordered his personal guards to arrest them. At that moment, Kanos arrived, and Carivus ordered his guards to kill everyone in the room. As Kanos fought off the guards, Sinn hurried D'Asta and Feena away from the fighting, fending off the guards who pursued them. Tav Kennede jumped in front of a shot meant for D'Asta, but he was only wounded.
Meanwhile, Kanos pursued the fleeing Carivus. Cornering him, the Royal Guardsman ended the life of the self-proclaimed Emperor. D'Asta and the others arrived shortly thereafter, as Kanos decided he would spare the imprisoned members of the former Council. With that, the war against the conspirators came to an end. D'Asta still desired revenge on Grappa the Hutt, but unbeknownst to him, Grappa was at that moment en route to be sacrificed by his former allies, the Zanibar species. Sinn offered D'Asta a position in the New Republic, but the Baron declined, preferring that the D'Astan sector remain independent. Nevertheless, he remained indebted to her for saving his daughter. Kennede chose to join D'Asta as the Baron returned to his sector.
By 13 ABY, D'Asta faced constant pressure to rejoin the Imperial Remnant. However, D'Asta observed the Empire's diminishing resources due to their continued support of the Galactic Civil War. He arranged a conference with Admiral Gilad Pellaeon on the planet Orinda with the intention of persuading the latter to broker a truce with the dominant New Republic. However, after falling ill, D'Asta dispatched his daughter to the meeting as his representative. Feena declared D'Asta's full support for an Imperial treaty, vowing that he would rejoin the Imperial ranks and suppress any potential rebellious Moffs who refused to adhere to the treaty's terms.
However, plans for a ceasefire were immediately undermined by the forces of Ennix Devian, who commanded a rogue Imperial hardliner faction known as the Restored Empire. Feena was killed by stormtroopers during the peace talks, an event witnessed by Kir Kanos and Mirith Sinn. Kanos, recognizing the emblem of the Restored Empire tattooed on the assailants' wrists, chose to personally deliver Feena's body to her father. Kanos explained the situation to Baron D'Asta: by attacking the peace summit, Devian intended to frame the New Republic and force Admiral Pellaeon into launching a retaliatory strike on Coruscant. This would leave Orinda undefended, allowing Devian to strike and usurp the power of the Imperial Remnant. D'Asta contacted Pellaeon and urged him to call off the attack on Coruscant. D'Asta and Pellaeon devised a battle plan: Pellaeon's fleet would distract the hardliners while three of D'Asta's fleets lay in wait behind Orinda's moon. Accompanied by Kanos, Sinn, and the clone of his daughter Feena, D'Asta launched the attack on the hardliner fleet and boarded Pellaeon's flagship, which was being overrun by Devian's forces. D'Asta narrowly saved Pellaeon from execution at the hands of Devian, and used his daughter's clone as a decoy in order to confuse Devian into believing he had failed at murdering Feena. By distracting Devian in this way, D'Asta gave Kanos the time to kill Devian.
Soon after the battle, D'Asta adopted the clone as a daughter and offered a wounded Kanos sanctuary in an undisclosed area in the D'Astan system, where he would remain for several months under his hospitality. D'Asta provided Kanos the first steps into letting go of his past, providing him with an X-wing starfighter in order to find a new life.
Baron D'Asta commanded respect among Imperials, including the members of the Interim Council. When his daughter Feena was arrested, many of them considered him a significant threat to the Empire, believing that his secession would inspire others to follow suit. D'Asta, a staunch Imperial and supporter of Emperor Palpatine, was appalled upon learning of the conspiracy to end the Emperor's life. He continued to regard Palpatine as his Emperor, even after his death, and refused to acknowledge Xandel Carivus' claim to the throne. D'Asta held Carivus in low regard, considering him a coward and weakling.
Carivus considered D'Asta to be a man of honor. D'Asta honored his debts to those who had assisted him, such as Mirith Sinn. He also understood the need for revenge, allowing Kanos to pursue his own quest for it and seeking it himself against Grappa the Hutt. D'Asta also disliked calling off successful attacks before achieving a decisive victory. As his health declined, D'Asta required constant medical supervision, yet he remained strong enough to oppose the Empire when Carivus seized control.
D'Asta deeply cared for his daughter, prioritizing her safety above his personal pride. He sought retribution for slights inflicted upon her, aggressively pursuing those like Carivus who harmed her. D'Asta nevertheless requested mercy for the clone who replaced her, setting her free after the war against Carivus concluded. Following the death of his true daughter, D'Asta demonstrated his affection for her clone by adopting her as his own.
Ragez D'Asta was created for the comic miniseries Star Wars: Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood, by Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley. While D'Asta is mentioned throughout the series, he only briefly appears on a viewscreen on the last page of the penultimate issue, and does not appear in person until the final issue. He was later referenced in Star Wars Handbook 2: Crimson Empire—which established that "Ragez" was his first name—and in The Essential Chronology and its second edition. The character later appeared in Star Wars: Crimson Empire III—Empire Lost.
While Council of Blood does not differentiate between the "Imperial Ruling Council" and "Imperial Interim Ruling Council," using them interchangeably and simply stating that D'Asta was a member of "the Council," the comic makes it clear that he could not have been in the Interim Council. The conspiracy to kill Palpatine occurs after D'Asta is replaced by his daughter on the Council, and the Interim Council is established as having been formed by the conspirators following Palpatine's death.