Zakarisz Ghent, an associate of Talon Karrde the smuggler, plied his trade as a slicer. Possessing significant intelligence and proficiency in his area, Ghent was also known for his extreme naiveté and absent-mindedness.
During his time working with Talon Karrde's organization, Ghent established himself as a legendary slicer. This reputation eventually led to his appointment as the Chief of Cryptography for the New Republic.
Ghent was born on the planet of Baroli, and his aptitude for codes and numerical systems was remarkable from a young age. He initially gained recognition at the age of twelve when he independently deciphered the Imperial ILKO code in a mere two months. To put this in perspective, the Rebel Alliance's entire team of top slicers took a whole month to achieve the same feat.
He spent time on Corellia sometime between 0 ABY and 4 ABY.
However, a pivotal moment in his early life occurred shortly after the Battle of Endor. While still a teenager, he was lured to Chibias, a world in the Mid Rim, and coerced into participating in a Rebel Alliance scheme to decrypt the control node of a Star Destroyer. This plot was ultimately thwarted by an encounter with Mara Jade, the fugitive Emperor's Hand. Although the pair parted ways after the incident, Ghent was intercepted and recruited by Talon Karrde before he could leave the planet.
During the Thrawn Crisis, Karrde brought Ghent in after Admiral Gial Ackbar was wrongly imprisoned by the New Republic on suspicion of accepting bribes. Suspecting that Ackbar had been framed and that the funds in Ackbar's account were planted by a slicer, Karrde wanted Ghent to substantiate his suspicions. Loaned to the New Republic's investigation, Ghent exonerated Ackbar in just two days.
When Thrawn's cloaked-asteroid blockade trapped him on Coruscant, Ghent was recruited by the New Republic's cryptologists to break the Imperial battle encryptions. He also acted as a "guard" for his friend Mara Jade while she was in the hospital. While his effectiveness as a guard was questionable due to his tendency to disregard anything non-binary, Mara appreciated the sentiment. By the end of his month-long stay on the capital world, Ghent had not only cracked the Imperial code but had also sliced the pulse transmitter encrypt code used by Delta Source, an Imperial Intelligence system that was acquiring information directly from the New Republic headquarters simply to pass the time. This led to the discovery and termination of the costly intelligence leak. During this period, he also sliced a code to gain access to the New Republic's war room. When Leia questioned his actions, he simply stated that he was bored. When he introduced himself to the crypt team, he gave them the impression that their best routines for breaking encryptions were a "silly drill."
Later in the conflict, Ghent aided Leia Organa Solo's infiltration of Wayland by rigging the Wild Karrde with a false Imperial transponder code, which allowed the ship and its passengers to bypass the planet's defenses.
His actions during the Thrawn Crisis helped Ghent cultivate valuable connections within the upper ranks of the New Republic government. After Thrawn's demise, he joined New Republic Intelligence and eventually rose to the position of Chief of Cryptography for the New Republic. He was initially stationed aboard the Dreadnaught Peregrine under the command of General Garm Bel Iblis.
In 19 ABY, Crypt Chief Ghent intercepted a scrambled transmission from Admiral Gilad Pellaeon to General Garm Bel Iblis, which proposed a final peace agreement between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic. He personally delivered the message to High Councilor Leia Organa Solo on Pakrik Major and then accompanied her aboard the Millennium Falcon for a meeting with Pellaeon at Pesitiin. During their discussion, he surprised them both by volunteering to infiltrate the Ubiqtorate base at Yaga Minor (disguised as an Imperial Lieutenant, using a uniform and cover identity provided by Pellaeon) to retrieve an Imperial copy of the Caamas Document. He explained that his journey to Pakrik Major with Caamasi Trustant Elegos A'Kla had deeply instilled in him the importance of using one's skills for the greater good whenever possible.
This assignment nearly cost him his life when Bel Iblis, unaware of his presence, almost destroyed the room he was in during a data raid on Yaga Minor. Both the assignment and the raid may have been pointless, as the base's copy of the Caamas Document (if it existed) had been altered weeks earlier by Major Grodin Tierce during his visit to Yaga Minor.
Ghent continued to serve with NRI throughout and after the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. In 35 ABY, Luke Skywalker summoned him to Ossus to resolve some programming issues with R2-D2. During the repairs, he unlocked holograms revealing Luke's mother, Padmé Amidala, for the first time, along with the circumstances of her death. However, Mara Jade discovered that Ghent was installing camera bugs in the New Jedi Temple under the orders of Chief of State Cal Omas. Despite this revelation, Luke Skywalker trusted Ghent again and allowed him to complete his work on R2-D2.
Zakarisz Ghent made his debut in the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Ghent's first name was not revealed until the novel The New Jedi Order: Balance Point, which was released almost a decade after his initial appearance in Heir to the Empire. Zahn originally intended him to be a minor character, but the author was surprised by the significant fan following the character developed over time.