Jaden Korr (Dark Order War)

Jaden Korr was a talented Jedi Knight, and later Dark Jedi, who was born on Coruscant as the son of a Corellian journalist. A student and apprentice of Jedi Master Kyle Katarn, Korr was one of Katarn's most talented apprentices until his turn to the dark side on Taspir III in the year 14 ABY.

Before his life as a Dark Jedi, Jaden was trained in the ways of the Jedi at the academy on Yavin 4. He was trained alongside fellow apprentice Rosh Penin under Kyle Katarn. He participated in various missions for the New Jedi Order against the Disciples of Ragnos with great success, until he left the Jedi Order and took control of the Sith Cult. As the leader of the Dark Order of Korr, Jaden led Imperial attacks on New Republic worlds and gained control of various industrial centers, as well as numerous other strategic locations. However, Jaden's military achievements were eventually eclipsed by his underlings.

Two Sith Lords, Darth Persia and his apprentice, Darth Imperious, had joined Jaden's organization under the guise of Dark Jedi. Darth Persia gained much favor over the other military generals in the Dark Order through various outstanding victories, and eventually decided that Jaden had outlived his usefulness. While commanding a fleet above the Imperial planet Bakura, where Jaden was located at the time, Persia ordered the surface of the planet to be destroyed to ensure that Jaden would not escape the planet alive. Korr's death allowed the Sith to take control of his forces, which were used to forge the Greater Sith Empire.

Biography
Fourteen years after the Battle of Yavin, Jaden Korr, after constructing a lightsaber with no prior knowledge of the Force or aid, was brought from his homeworld of Coruscant and taken to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. During the ride he met Rosh Penin, who would be appointed to Master Katarn alongside Korr by Luke Skywalker.

First encounter with the Disciples of Ragnos
As their shuttle approached the surface, it was shot down by members of the Disciples of Ragnos, an as of then unknown cult. After the crash, Korr and Penin were separated from the rest of the students and proceeded to the nearby Massassi temple, but encountered a pair of Imperial stormtroopers, as well as a Dark Jedi, who was a member of the cult. After Korr defeated the cultist, he investigated the temple, weary of Imperial presence. There he saw three figures, one of which was holding a scepter that appeared to be "glowing"; they were later revealed to be the Kothos Twins and Tavion Axmis, using the scepter to drain the residual Dark side energy from the temple. Unfortunately, Jaden's eavesdropping efforts were detected, and the mysterious figures turned on him, knocking him out.

Jedi Apprentice
"That guy seems to have a habit of avoiding non-hostile situations."

- Keyan Farlander, after reviewing records of Jaden's missions

Upon awakening, Jaden met with Jedi Masters Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker, who welcomed their new student to the academy. Shortly thereafter, he and Rosh were assigned to Kyle as pupils, and they passed their standard Force abilities course. During the training course, Rosh set loose a lightsaber practice droid upon Jaden, in the hope of slowing him down so he could finish the course first. After the training, Kyle admonished Rosh heavily for this careless decision, stating that it was not a race and that Jaden could have been seriously injured. Jaden was angry that Rosh would resort to such a "petty and underhanded" tactic, but Kyle warned him not to feed his anger, and Jaden accepted Rosh's apology.

Korr and Penin, along with other Jedi apprentices, were sent on a series of increasingly hazardous missions as their training progressed, their ultimate objective to gain information of the Cult of Ragnos and their plans. Jaden visited various worlds, including Blenjeel, Corellia, Tatooine, Taanab, and Bakura. Later, Master Skywalker summoned all available Jedi to inform them that someone had sliced into his records and stolen his journal, which had contained names of various locations across the galaxy where he had found a very strong connection to the Force. Worried of what the unknown intruder could be planning, he dispatched the Jedi to various locations mentioned in his journal. Jaden was sent to Hoth, where Skywalker had had a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi shortly before the Battle of Hoth.



After landing, Korr was unable to sense anything out of place, but as soon as his investigation began, he found that the Imperial Remnant had occupied and guarding Echo Base, which had long since been abandoned by the Rebel Alliance. Jaden infiltrated the base and overheard a Sith Cultist speaking on a comlink to a cultist referred to as Alora, about Skywalker having traveled to Dagobah after the Battle of Hoth. Korr fought through the Imperial troops and confronted Alora. The two engaged in a lightsaber duel, and were at first evenly matched. After Jaden began to gain the upper hand, Alora fled, taunting Jaden as she left. The accounts were documented in Korr and Katarn's datacard report entitled Tauntaun Feathers A1.

Shortly afterward, contact with Rosh Penin was lost during a mission to Byss, and he was presumed captured. From then on, the Jedi students were instructed to work in pairs to prevent further losses. Later, Skywalker discovered that the Disciples of Ragnos were somehow using the scepter to siphon the Dark side energy from various Force-sensitive locations. Kyle and Jaden were assigned to investigate Darth Vader's Bast Castle on Vjun.

Jedi Knight
Katarn and Jaden infiltrated the fortress, but were separated while engaging Imperial troops. Alone, Jaden fought his way through the castle and eventually arrived at the Cultists' objective: Darth Vader's meditation chamber. He entered to find none other than Rosh Penin himself draining the Force energy from the throne room. Rosh had turned to the dark side following his capture. He boasted of the power of the dark side to Jaden, and along with the Kothos Twins, engaged him in battle. The duel was an uphill battle for Jaden, as the twins kept regenerating Rosh's stamina as the fight went on, but Jaden killed the Twins, hoping that Rosh would stand down without their influence, but Rosh continued his attack. This caused Jaden's anger towards him to stir once again.

Without assistance, Rosh was easily disarmed and knocked to the floor as Kyle arrived. At that moment, Tavion, who had been hiding in the room during the entire battle, chose that moment to appear, declaring her part in the Cult. After rebuking Katarn, Tavion ripped Jaden's lightsaber from his grip with the Force, threw into the air, and brought the weakened ceiling down on the Jedi with a blast of Dark side energy from the scepter, destroying Jaden's lightsaber in the process. Thanks to Katarn's quick thinking, Korr was able to use the Jedi's lightsaber to cut a hole in the floor for both to escape through while Katarn held up the rubble with the Force. By the time they had freed themselves, Tavion and Rosh had escaped. Kyle and Jaden then returned to the academy, where Jaden was promoted to the status of Jedi Knight for his skill displayed during his assignments. However, Kyle warned Jaden that he felt his anger towards Rosh, and that he must still beware giving in to the dark side.



Jaden constructed a new lightsaber and continued his training, and his service in missions to Chandrila and other planets. Eventually, Luke Skywalker discovered the cult's intentions, which were to use his scepter to resurrect the Marka Ragnos, an ancient Sith Lord. Korr was recalled to the Academy to serve as part of a Jedi/New Republic strike force that would stop the Cult of Ragnos from completing their plans, which were to take place on the Sith world of Korriban. However, Katarn pulled Korr aside and informed him that he had received a distress signal from Rosh, who claimed to had repented and wished to rejoin the Jedi Order. Katarn and Korr detoured to Taspir III to rescue Rosh from the cult. Jaden warned Kyle that it could easily be a trap, but the Jedi Master was determined to not let Rosh die if it wasn't.

The Dark side
"Join you!? Why should I trade one master for another?"

- Jaden to Alora

Jaden and Kyle arrived at the Imperial Facility on Taspir and split up, entering from opposite sides of the base in order to locate Rosh as fast as possible. Jaden fought through numerous groups of stormtroopers and Dark Jedi, eventually encountering Alora once again. She ignored Jaden's demands for Rosh's location, frustrating the Jedi further, who pursued her throughout the facility, eventually encountering Rosh himself. Seeing Penin with the Imperials and apparently unharmed awakened the anger inside Jaden again, convincing him that Rosh had again lured him into a trap. Jaden had initially only hated Rosh as anyone would a traitor, but his previous encounters with the Dark side on Vjun and other planets had permanently corrupted him. Submitting to this power, Jaden ignored Rosh's pleas for mercy as well as Kyle Katarn's mental warnings and impaled Rosh on his lightsaber. Alora was initially pleased, but Korr refused to join the Disciples of Ragnos, reasoning that there was no point in changing his allegiance from one organization to another. He then killed the Twi'lek in a short lightsaber duel and left.

Kyle then arrived to find Rosh, who told the Jedi of Korr's choice just before he expired. Demoralized by Rosh's death and Jaden's turning, Katarn left the facility and tracked Jaden to Korriban. Upon arriving on the Sith world, Jaden fought his way through the Jedi and Cultists, killing dozens, until he reached Ragnos' tomb, where Tavion was attempting to resurrect Marka Ragnos. During the battle, Jaden was unaware that he was being observed by Darth Persia, self-proclaimed Dark Lord of the Sith. Using the rush of battle as a cover, Persia tapped into Jaden's mind with the force, learning the Cult's purpose on Korriban, as well as Jaden's plans. The Sith then ceased his monitoring of the battle, and left for an Imperial shuttle.



Korr reached the innermost chamber of the tomb, where Tavion was in the process of resurrecting Marka Ragnos. Jaden demanded that she relinquish the scepter to him. Tavion stubbornly refused, and the two engaged in battle. Despite the scepter being on her side, the Cult's leader was disarmed and struck down by her opponent, who then moved to take the scepter. He was interrupted by the arrival of Kyle Katarn himself. Kyle tried to reason with his apprentice, hoping for the Dark Jedi to surrender. However, Jaden was too corrupted by the Dark side to listen. He rejected his former Master's attempts, and attacked him. Despite his power, Jaden was on defensive for most of the duel due to Katarn's greater experience. Eventually, Jaden sensed Luke Skywalker approaching the tomb. Knowing he couldn't defeat both of the Jedi at once, Korr grabbed the scepter and used it to overpower Kyle, burying him beneath a pile of rubble. He then blasted a hole in the wall and escaped, mere seconds before Skywalker arrived.

The Dark Jedi made it back to his ship and escaped Korriban's surface unopposed. He then docked with the Star Destroyer Dark Hand above the planet, claiming that Tavion had placed him in command before she was killed by the Jedi. Arriving on the bridge, Jaden killed the captain, who refused to follow him, and took command. The other officers, fearing the Dark Jedi's power, offered no resistance. Jaden evacuated the ground forces, and ordered the Dark Hand to leave the system, knowing that New Republic forces were on the way.

While en route to a small Imperial outpost at Thule, Jaden discovered a stowaway on his ship, who identified himself as "Persia", a Dark Jedi who wished to join his organization. Jaden accepted the man into his ranks, since the Disciples of Ragnos had lost many force-wielders in battles against the Republic. Korr was unaware, however, that the man was the Sith Lord who had been observing him on Korriban, and had planned on using Jaden as an opportunity for his own rise to power. However, the Sith managed to mask his true strength in the force, and Jaden didn't suspect anything.

After recalling his fleet to Thule, Jaden made it known to his subordinates that he was their new leader, mostly through the executions of any of the officers who refused to follow him. After reorganizing the Cult into the Dark Order of Korr, Jaden set out to conquer the New Republic.

War Begins
"No... This is just the beginning..."

- Jaden, referring to his deeds on Korriban

A few weeks after the battle at Korriban, Jaden himself led an attack against the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV, beginning the Dark Order War. The objective of the battle was to demoralize the Jedi and strike fear throughout the Republic, as well as to capture Jedi apprentices for recruitment into the Dark Order. Despite heavy Imperial casualties, many Jedi were wounded, killed, or captured.



After the battle at Yavin, a month passed, with a mostly equal number of victories and losses on both sides. As time went on, Jaden realized that he required a large shipyard to repair his worn and damaged fleet. He then took his fleet and attacked the massive shipyards over Kuat, destroying the defending Republic forces and capturing the facilities. For about six weeks he repaired his fleet and completed the construction of the many Imperial ships there. After that, Jaden's forces were attacked by a New Republic fleet. He coordinated the defense of the shipyards himself from the bridge of the Dark Hand. However, Jaden eventually decided that the supplies and weapons that he had gained from the shipyards was more important than winning the current battle, which was starting to turn against him.

Therefore, a full retreat was ordered. As the last of Jaden's fleet exited the system, the crippled hulk of a Republic capital ship smashed into the shipyards and exploded, causing the station to crash into Kuat's planetary shield. Everyone on board was killed. The destruction of one of the galaxy's largest shipyards was a blow to the economy which would not be recovered from for decades.

The War Goes On


Following what was known as the Kuat Disaster, Jaden's forces executed a series of successful military operations against the New Republic. Much of this was due to the tactical capabilities of General Persia, who led a campaign into Bothan territory, capturing three planets and in the process gaining much respect from the other commanders. Jaden, weary of a power shift, engineered Operation Dark Disease, which was designed to use Dark troopers as a psychological weapon against the Republic. Despite two victories over Coruscant and Taris, the campaign's failure a short time later lost Jaden even more support from his underlings.

Jaden's Last Battle
"I wasn’t sent by anyone, Jaden. I came here on my own. Miserable failures always need to be corrected by the ones who caused them."

- Kyle Katarn

A few months into the year 15 ABY, New Republic intelligence pinpointed the location of Jaden and several of his remaining supporters on the Imperial-controlled world of Bakura, overseeing the production of the Dark Trooper Factories there. Hoping to kill Jaden and splinter his forces apart without a visible leader, the Republic dispatched a fleet to Bakura to end the Dark Order War. However, the Imperial fleet which was tasked with defending Bakura from any invading forces was commanded by Persia himself. Using his tactical expertise, the Sith Lord kept the Republic forces at bay. As the battle went on, he realized that with Jaden and most of his supporters on the planet below, his chance to seize power had presented itself. He sent his apprentice Darth Imperious to the planet, with orders to kill Jaden and take his scepter.



The Sith confronted Jaden inside the main Imperial Base. All of the guards had gone outside, to repel a massive Republic ground attack. Imperious ordered Jaden to turn over the scepter. Jaden refused, and Imperious tried then to goad him into attacking by revealing Persia's plot, saying that Jaden was a mere pawn in the Sith's plans. As they prepared for battle, they were interrupted by Kyle Katarn, who had also come to stop Jaden, dead or alive. Korr, furious and in no mood for conversation, attacked and a three-sided duel began. With his newly acquired strength in the Dark side, as well as possession of the Scepter of Ragnos, Jaden managed to keep both of them at bay as they dueled on a catwalk.

The fight eventually reached the roof of the base, which overlooked a huge valley where Republic ground forces were advancing on the Imperial front lines. During the duel, Imperious managed to stun Jaden and take the scepter. Feeding his anger and darkness into the artifact, Imperious unleashed bolts of Dark side energy on both of his enemies at the same time. Kyle barely managed to defend himself, but Jaden managed to dodge the blasts long enough to take aim and throw his lightsaber at Imperious, cutting his left arm off at the joint. The Sith staggered back and lost control of the dark energy blasts, which incapacitated him. The Dark Jedi attempted to recover the scepter, but was interrupted by his old master. Katarn and Jaden then traded words for the first time since their first battle on Korriban.



Unfortunately for Katarn, Jaden refused to surrender to the Republic, and Kyle was forced to fight him to the end. As the two dueled on the edge of the cliff, Darth Persia was unable to sense his apprentice through the force, due to his incapacitation. Fearing that Jaden would escape if he waited any longer, the Sith ordered a Base Delta Zero of Bakura, which consisted of destroying the surface of a planet. Jaden fought with all of his strength, but without the scepter, couldn't break through Katarn's defenses. Nevertheless, he managed to push his old master directly onto the edge of the cliff as the bombardment began. Kyle unleashed a bolt of lightning at the ground, in an attempt to blast a chunk of the cliff off, sending Jaden to his death. However, the Dark Jedi leapt back, out of harms way, and it was his old master that fell off of the ledge. Jaden looked over the edge, and saw Kyle's ship, the Raven's Claw blast off into the sky. Katarn had used a remote on his belt to call the ship to his location and escaped, leaving Jaden to die with the rest of the planet.

Post-mortem and Legacy
"He was an empowered fool who worked a coincidence in his favor. Fortunately, that provided a perfect opportunity for me."

- Darth Persia

Jaden's death allowed Darth Persia and Darth Imperious to take control of the Dark Order of Korr, almost completely unopposed by the other military leaders. The Dark Jedi's scepter had been recovered by Imperious, who managed to escape Bakura before its destruction, and presented it to his master, Persia. Afterward, the few remaining generals that did support Jaden fled from the Sith to Eriadu, the Order's main industrial planet. However, the Korr Loyalists were wiped out in the First Battle of Eriadu, and the once-unstable and practically leaderless faction was converted into the Greater Sith Empire. In the end, Jaden was indirectly the cause of the Sith's rise to power. For years after his death, Darth Persia would refer to Korr as "the empowered fool". Kyle Katarn, meanwhile, had managed to put his regret for Jaden's loss behind himself, and continued to aid the New Republic in the Dark Order War.

Although Darth Persia despised Jaden's arrogance and failure of command ability, he was begrudgingly thankful for Korr's unwitting assistance in his own rise to power. After the Sith Empire began expanding its territory, Persia ordered the establishment of a small monument to the deceased Dark Jedi on Korriban, which, in a somewhat sarcastic notion, proclaimed him as a "messiah of the Sith's eventual return". Similarly, the Jedi Knights also held a funeral to mourn Jaden's fall and eventual death. Many of the galaxy's citizens and politicians, bitter at the destruction Jaden's order caused on Coruscant, Taris, and other worlds, blamed him and his actions on the Jedi. This caused the galaxy's overall faith in the New Jedi Order to weaken somewhat. Thus, Jaden delivered one last blow to the Jedi after his death.

Personality and traits
"You worry too much, Jaden. I'll bet these Cultists can't take on a Jedi."

- Rosh Penin

Before and during his life as a Jedi student, Jaden was naturally a forgiving and rational being who was fond of thinking things through, sometimes overly so, as opposed to Rosh Penin, who was not known for utilizing caution in his exploits. As such, the two were irritated at each other's radically differing personalities. This contributed to Jaden's overall dislike for Penin, who in his opinion was barely even trying to advance his training.



During Jaden's mission to Vjun, when he used his anger while dueling Rosh Penin, the presence of the cultists along with the Dark side aura of the Bast Castle itself seeped into the Jedi's mind, corrupting him. The experience was disturbing for him, and it had permanently changed his personality, causing him to face his life in a more grim and serious manner than he had before. The corruption within him was further reinforced by the events of his missions to other Dark side-tainted worlds, such as Byss and Taspir III. Jaden was also notable for leaving few enemies alive during his missions, often killing of all his opponents with little regard. This worried Katarn, but his warnings against acts of the dark side did little to dissuade this habit.

After his turn to the dark side, Jaden had become all but consumed by a lust for power, as was common with most Dark Jedi and Sith. His leadership skills led much to be desired; he did little to keep his faction united, not keeping much organization other than preventing his underlings from fighting each other. Typically, the Dark Order's military leaders led their own individual campaigns with little attention being paid to each other. Jaden's inability to maintain much order, inflated sense of self-worth, displays of outright arrogance, and inability to see the almost complete lack of unity in the Order did little to increase his influence, causing him to be thought of by many of his immediate underlings as a self-glorifying braggart who would be much more suited to follow than to lead.

Powers and abilities
"You display remarkable strength in the Force, but you still owe me that drink."

- Corran Horn

Korr was a talented Force user, having mastered most of the core Force abilities as well as other powers. He demonstrated a remarkable affinity with telekinesis when he pushed a large pillar down to make a bridge during the Battle of Korriban. He also showed remarkable abilities in the areas of Force Speed, capable of attaining a maximum running speed of 400% faster than that of a normal humanoid. After his turn to the Dark side, he taught himself to conjure Sith lightning while interrogating Jedi Apprentice Jorus Kuun, and also crushed a Jedi Knight's bones with the force on Korriban.



Jaden's lightsaber skills were on par with most Jedi Knights and even some Masters of his time, usually battling with a combination of Shii-Cho and Djem So. He demonstrated impressive use of a lightsaber on various missions against the Disciples of Ragnos, often engaging several lightsaber-wielding opponents at the same time. Despite his lack of training in defensive forms such as Soresu, Jaden was capable of deflecting barrages of blaster fire, even from the famed bounty hunter Boba Fett (who was an experienced Jedi killer). Along with that, he displayed notable proficiency with firearms comparable to that of his master, on some occasions being described as "a walking arsenal" by Imperial personnel. Korr was also a skilled speeder bike pilot, having exhibited adept efficiency of mounted lightsaber combat techniques at Zonju V.

Behind the scenes

 * Jaden Korr is the player character of the game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. This article and the rest of the Dark Order continuity details what would have happened if Jaden had turned to the Dark side in the game.
 * This fanon version of Jaden is, as implied earlier, the son of Vani Korr.

Appearances

 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Dark Order I - Prologue
 * Dark Order II - Raid on Yavin