Zarien Kheev, a particularly cruel slave master in the service of the Galactic Empire, was a Zabrak known primarily for his sadistic nature.
The Twi'lek mercenary Rianna Saren was once his property, held as a personal slave. After a failed escape attempt, Kheev, indulging his sadistic tendencies, severed one of her head-tails. She later escaped successfully. He later became involved in the Death Star project, overseeing slave production of mirkanite on Mustafar, a material crucial for turbolaser construction. To boost output, Zarien resorted to using drugs on the enslaved workers. However, these drugs required testing first. To facilitate this, Kheev contacted Slak Sagar, a vigo of the Black Sun, who then hijacked an Agricultural research vessel from Alderaan and used the scientists onboard as test subjects. Soon after, Sagar informed Kheev of mysterious infiltrators. Shortly thereafter, the vessel was destroyed. To locate these intruders, Kheev even employed Boba Fett. He then journeyed to Tatooine to supervise the Imperial slave camp there. Upon arrival, he learned that the mining facility on Mustafar had also been destroyed. On Tatooine, he finally encountered the source of his troubles: Rianna Saren, his former slave. He attempted to eliminate her by unleashing a rancor, but Rianna prevailed. Their next encounter occurred at the slave camp, where Zarien was protected by stormtroopers. Seeking vengeance, he captured Rianna and dispatched her to Despayre, the Death Star's construction site.
He traveled to Despayre, remaining on the planet's surface until its final moments. Just before the planet's destruction, he encountered the Twi'lek again on a landing pad as she attempted to escape. He fired at Zeeo and boarded a shuttle to the Death Star, confident that Rianna would perish in the explosion.
After the battle station unleashed its third superlaser blast, Kheev met with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star. Vader tasked him with delivering updated battle station plans to Danuta, as requested by the architects. Unbeknownst to Kheev, Rianna had survived the destruction, infiltrated the Death Star, and overheard his conversation with Vader. Consequently, when Zarien arrived on Danuta, the plans had already been stolen by [Kyle Katarn](/article/kyle_katarn] after Rianna alerted the Rebellion. Shortly after, she arrived on Danuta aboard a stolen ship. Refusing to concede, Kheev confronted her on a landing pad, clad in his personal battle armor. However, he was defeated by the Twi'lek and her droid. In his final moments, Zarien managed to fire a shot at Saren, but it only damaged Zeeo.