Ran Kether

Biography

Serving with Rogue Squadron

During the Hunt for Zsinj, an operation by the New Republic Defense Force aimed at neutralizing the threat posed by former Imperial admiral turned warlord Zsinj, Ran Kether was known as Rogue Seven. Throughout the campaign, Kether flew alongside his wingman Koobis Nu, participating in various operations, including the raid on Kidriff 5.

Demise on Kalarba

In the year 25 ABY, the New Republic faced an invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong, a race of aliens from beyond the galaxy seeking to conquer and establish a new home. The Yuuzhan Vong swiftly gained ground, inflicting repeated defeats on the New Republic. To address the massive displacement of people caused by the war, the Senate Select Committee for Refugees was formed, and Kether joined as a pilot for refugee transports. When the Yuuzhan Vong targeted Kalarba, a world in the Mid Rim, Kether took part in the planet's evacuation.

The offensive commenced with the deployment of a dovin basal—a creature with the ability to manipulate gravity—onto Kalarba's surface. Subsequently, the dovin basal focused a powerful gravitational pull on Hosk Station, an artificial space station integrated into Kalarba's moon, Hosk, causing the moon to be drawn towards the planet. The resulting evacuation of both Kalarba and Hosk Station was further complicated by the arrival of a Yuuzhan Vong fleet. While piloting SELCORE refugee transports during the evacuation, Kether met his end in battle. Ultimately, only a small fraction of the Kalarba system's population managed to escape in time.

Despite his death, Kether's story in the Yuuzhan Vong War was not entirely over. In 27 ABY, Senator Viqi Shesh of Kuat, who had been collaborating with the Yuuzhan Vong in the early stages of the invasion, was exposed as a traitor to the New Republic. The former senator fled into the underlevels of Coruscant, the galactic capital. Determined to abduct Ben Skywalker, the son of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, as a prize for her Yuuzhan Vong allies, Shesh assumed the identity of "Welda Kether" in an attempt to gain the trust of Han and Leia Organa Solo, who were acting as the child's guardians on Coruscant.

According to Shesh's fabricated story, Welda Kether had been Ran's girlfriend during the war against the Galactic Empire and had encountered Han Solo twice on Chandrila, Ran's homeworld. Shesh intended to use this story to gain Solo's confidence before kidnapping the young Ben Skywalker. To support the deception, Shesh found a young boy, Dab Hantaq, and bribed him to impersonate Tarc, Ran's supposed son. Although Shesh's initial plan was successful in convincing the Solos of her connection to Ran Kether and securing passage on the Millennium Falcon—the Solos' personal starship—during the chaotic evacuation of Coruscant, her attempt to abduct Ben Skywalker was thwarted.

Behind the scenes

Kether received no further mention until the ninth book of The New Jedi Order series, The New Jedi Order: Star by Star. In Star by Star, Kether's death during the evacuation of Kalarba is mentioned, an event depicted in The New Jedi Order: Balance Point, an earlier novel in the series. However, the only source confirming Kether's death is Viqi Shesh, who is actively deceiving the Solos. The pilot's death at Kalarba was only officially confirmed in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008.

The question remains whether Welda and Tarc Kether were real individuals whose identities were stolen by Shesh and Hantaq. While Han Solo does not recall a "Welda Kether" from his time on Chandrila, the fact that Shesh knew of Kether's death and supposed prior acquaintance with Solo could suggest that Welda and Tarc Kether did exist and that the former senator went to the extreme of appropriating their identities. However, this article operates under the assumption that Welda and Tarc Kether were fabrications of Shesh and that Kether had no wife or child at the time of his death.