Mara Jade (Dark Empire)

"I am a servant of the Emperor. Fear me for I bring his wrath upon his enemies!"

- Emperor's Hand Mara Jade Mara Jade, born in 22 BBY as Arica Yavann, was taken at a young age by the Imperial Inquisition as part of "Project Harvester" and trained as a specialized assassin and faithful servant of Emperor Palpatine. Her talent caught the attention of Darth Vader, with whom she formed a strong bond. Indeed, this led to the warlord commending her skills to the Imperial Ruling Council, who had her formally inducted as Hand of the Emperor. Following her brief military service during the Galactic Civil War, Jade retreated to the Emperor's Citadel on Byss, where her masters returned through the use of spirit transfer.

With the Dark Empire having declared itself in 10 ABY, Mara Jade was assigned by the Emperor as a personal attendant and spy Darth Vader. At the Sith Lord's command, Jade "defected" to the New Republic, offering to reveal information on the Empire's upcoming campaigns as well as feed New Republic Intelligence bios on the military higher-ups. During the charade, Jade became infatuated with Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker - unaware that he was Vader's son. Eventually, she would be forced to show her true colours and return to Imperial headquarters. Though she failed, Jade was not punished by Darth Vader and was instead dispatched to commandeer the invasion of several key worlds including Balmorra, Cato Neimoidia, Kashyyyk, Raxus Prime, Skako Minor and Pantora.