Raian Keldabe


 * This article is still under construction and is not yet complete.

"I do not care about the Jedi, nor do I care about the Sith. I am Raian Keldabe of Mandalore; user of the Force and protector of the weak!"

 was a powerful Force-sensitive Human male from Mandalore who was briefly trained as a Jedi, but upon his master's demise on the planet of Corellia, he left the Order and became a Bounty hunter. At the start of the Clone Wars, he fought alongside the Galactic Republic and the Jedi, whom he had left, to fight the increasing threat of the Separatists. During the war he became a great general, on par with some of the Jedi Masters he fought alongside. When Palpatine seized control and executed Order 66, Raian was hunted down by Darth Vader and the Clone troopers due to his mastery of the Force. He managed to elude Vader and the Empire and go into hiding on the planet of Manaan. It was there that he first encountered operatives of the Syndicate, a crime organization that was seeking Force-sensitives and knowledge about the Force in order to gain control of the new Empire. He was recruited by the Syndicate and, as the organization's first Force-sensitive operative, tasked with recruiting other Force-sensitives (both former Jedi and Dark Jedi alike) as well as hunt down and kill Darth Vader.

During his time in the Syndicate, he became known galaxy-wide as "the Black Reaper" for his skills in assassination, bounty hunting, and use of the Force. On top of his missions for the organization, he gained an interest in learning early Jedi and Sith history; such as the Jedi Civil War. He began to gather information on great Sith such as Darth Revan and powerful Jedi Knights, such as the Jedi Exile. He also began to delve into knowledge of Force powers with the ultimate goal of trying to become a Force-user who could use both light side powers and dark side powers without becoming tainted by the dark side's evil qualities. 19 years after the end of the Clone Wars, the Empire encountered it's greatest foe; the Rebel Alliance. The Syndicate immediately became interested in this emerging rebellion faction and gave Raian a new task. On top of killing Darth Vader, Raian would now meet with Leia Organa of the Rebellion to express the Syndicate's interest in supplying the Rebellion with weapons and ships to combat the Empire.

Organa, however, declined to meet with him, claiming that the Rebellion would not accept help from criminals. The Syndicate then decided that it would show the Rebellion it's worth while flexing it's muscles to the Empire. To do this, Raian was tasked with hijacking the Empire's new Star Destroyer, the Exodus, and using it and it's ships to sabotage a well known Imperial Military Academy on Taris. Raian succeeds in hijacking the ship, however, his plans are put on hold when Vader's fleet stops them from leaving the system. Vader boards the Exodus and Raian duels with him a second time. In a duel that comes down to the two's mastery of the Force, Raian holds his own against Vader, but is scarred when Vader manages to re-activate his lightsaber and slash Raian across the cheek. In a powerful demonstration of Force lightning, Raian forces Vader back and manages to get to an escape pod; using it to get back to the Syndicate's small fleet hiding on the opposite end of the system.

Though Raian is not present at the Battle of Endor, he silently applauds the Rebel victory against the Empire when word reaches the Syndicate. Sometime after the Galactic Civil War comes to an end, he leaves the Syndicate behind and, for awhile, drifted from planet to planet, doing whatever thrilled him. Finally, in 22 ABY, Raian comes to terms with his Jedi past and returns to the Order; Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order that is. Raian's mastery of the Force and knowledge of lightsaber skills earned him an almost instant advancement to the title of Master. He served on the New Jedi Council and in 25 ABY, he joined the rest of the new Order along with the New Republic in fighting in the Yuuzhan Vong War. During the war, he is exposed to a rare Yuuzhan Vong disease that slowly begins to kill him. He dies in 30 ABY, shortly after the new Jedi Temple is completed on Coruscant, as one of the greatest Force-users and Jedi to have lived.

Early life (57 BBY-40 ABY)
"I never asked to be a Jedi...but if being a Jedi is the best way to use my Force powers, so be it."

- Raian Keldabe to his Jedi Master

Raian Keldabe was born in 57 BBY to Human parents on the planet of Mandalore. Soon after, Raian was taken to Coruscant by the Jedi to begin his training.

Becoming an apprentice
Little is known about Raian's time as a youngling except that he was eventually chosen by a female Zabrak Jedi Master, named Shan Rappa, to be her apprentice. However, this wasn't a finalized decision. Before she would completely accept him as her apprentice, he had to prove to her that he could not only follow the Jedi Code to the letter, but also that his command of the Force was above average for his age. To prove this, she pitted him against his arch rival during his youngling training, Kentai Teijina. The two were to duel with lightsabers and the Force while adhering only to the light side and the Jedi Code. The duel tested Raian's skills and patience, and at one point, it was thought he would fail; when Kentai stated that he'd make a better apprentice to Master Rappa than he, Raian nearly lost his cool, but by immersing himself in the light side of the Force, Raian was able to resist this temptation. He then showed the first signs of his immense power with the Force, by employing a massive Force Push on Kentai which disables the latter, resulting in Raian's victory and acceptance by Master Rappa.

Early training under Master Shan Rappa
"She was the only reason I wanted to be a Jedi. She was a good Master and an even better Jedi. I would've picked her over Master Yoda as a teacher any day."

- Raian about Shan Rappa

Master Rappa's training regime was vigorous and rough, but Raian seemed to enjoy the challenge. For much of their early days together, Rappa spent a majority of her time teaching Raian about the Force and it's many properties. Her first tests consisted of making him lift heavy objects via the Force and get use to the concept that "size matters not", in the words of Yoda. After he had tackled that concept, she taught him extensively about the bodies of various species throughout the galaxy and then employed Force healing training. Within months, Raian became one of the youngest healers at the Jedi Temple and this caught the attention of other Masters, and the scorn of some of the other apprentices. At some point, Rappa took Raian to the moon of Thule, a former Sith stronghold, to teach Raian about the dangers of the dark side. She allowed him to experience first hand what dark side energy felt like, which generated a dislike for the feeling in the young apprentice. One that would steer him from the path of the dark side for the rest of his life. Soon after this, she began intense lightsaber instruction with him. Raian expressed great interest in the Ataru style of Lightsaber combat and so, Master Rappa began teaching him the necessary skills to complete this form.

This training segment, however, is interrupted when the Jedi Council instructs both Rappa and Raian to go to the planet of Kashyyyk to settle border dispute between several Wookiee clans.

Kashyyyk border dispute
Upon arriving on Kashyyyk, the two Jedi quickly realized that tensions were high among the Wookiees. The two disputing clans had even sent warriors to the disputed border in preparation for war. But this was the least of their problems. Soon after their arrival on the planet, the Trade Federation also arrives and begins demanding Wookiee land for an outpost for their organization. This only serves to increase Wookiee tensions. Master Shan attempts to negotiate with the three factions, but neither is willing to budge on their demands. Finally unable to wait any longer, the Trade Federation forces their demands by sending a small group of Battle droids to the surface in order to secure their desired area. Provoked, the Wookiees attack the droid unit and overwhelm them. This further angers the Trade Federation who threatens to enact trade sanctions on Kashyyyk if the land isn't given to them. Realizing the illegality of the Federation's actions, Shan orders Raian to return to thier ship and transmit a message to the Jedi Council, informing them of the Trade Federation's actions and instructing them to contact the Senate about addressing this matter.

Raian does as he is told and Rappa informs the Trade Federation of the Senate's new involvement in the issue. Realizing that they might be in trouble, the Trade Federation recalls it's forces and prepares to leave the system. This pleases the Wookiees enough to allow Rappa to convince them to begin peace talks over the disputed land. With their job complete, Raian and Rappa board their ship and begin to leave the Kashyyyk system, however, they are ambushed by Trade Federation ships who open fire on them. Raian is commanded to pilot the ship while Rappa uses a type of "Reverse" Battle Meditation to scramble the enemy ranks, allowing the Jedi to escape.

Late training
Shortly after returning from Kashyyyk, Master Rappa took Raian to Ilum to complete his Ataru training. There, Raian gained an incredible use for Force Rush, Jump, and Spin which served to enhance his Ataru skills. Upon completing his Ataru training, Rappa instructed Raian to create a lightsaber within the caves of Ilum. Raian did so, finding a blue crystal that seemed to call out to him in Force. With this, he was able to assemble the pieces with the Force, and thus, create his own lightsaber. The two Jedi then returned for Coruscant for another mission.

Mission on Corellia
The Jedi Council then assigned the two Jedi to Corellia with the assignment of hunting down a rouge Jedi, who was causing trouble in the capital city of Coronet, and arrest him. The two arrived in Coronet the next day and began hunting for the Jedi; it wouldn't be a long hunt. They arrived in the central portion of the city and immediately noticed a confrontation between the local militia and a black-robed man. It was apparent to Raian that the militia was trying to arrest the man, however, they were quickly overwhelmed when the man ignited a lightsaber and began to deflect their blaster fire. Acting rashly, Raian ignited his new lightsaber and rushed to fight the Dark Jedi. Despite all of Raian's recently obtained skill with Ataru, the far more experienced Dark Jedi quickly overwhelmed him and sent him sprawling with a powerful wave of the Force. Master Rappa stepped in and masterfully pushed the Dark Jedi back with her superior lightsaber skill.

She then demanded to know who he was working for. The Dark Jedi said that he was working under the tutelage of a Sith apprentice that he had met on Coruscant. This greatly shocked the Zabrak Jedi Master, enough to leave her open to attack. Raian noticed this and tried to get to his master in time, but he was too late. The Dark Jedi lunged at Rappa and ignited his lightsaber in her abdomen, killing her. Raian activated his own lightsaber and, in his grief, sliced off the Dark Jedi's hands. He then displayed his first use of Force shock by grabbing the Dark Jedi's head and sending immense amounts of Force-generated electricity through his skull; killing him.

Leaving the Jedi Order (40 BBY-22 BBY)
"I had always had some resentment towards the Jedi for separating me from my family, but that was somewhat overcome when I was with Master Rappa. After her death, I had nothing keeping me in the Order...so I left"

- Raian to Yoda about leaving the Jedi

Demoralized by the loss of his master, Raian left Corellia and the Jedi Order behind. He flew back to his homeworld of Mandalore and took up a great interest in Mandalorian politics. He became a Senator's aid to the Mandalorian Senator in 35 BBY and returned to Coruscant to do this. There he was also confronted by Jedi Grandmaster Yoda about leaving the Order five years prior. He explained to Yoda that he was never fond of the Order and that after the death of his master, he had nothing holding him there, so he left. Saddened by this answer, Yoda resolved to leave Raian in peace after Raian made a personal promise to remain true to the light side of the Force. As Yoda left, Raian also promised to be an ally to the Jedi in the future if they ever needed it.

Just before the Clone Wars
The time for his help came soon. He returned to Mandalore yet again after the Invasion of Naboo is resolved and Senator Palpatine becomes the Supreme Chancellor. Once there, he resigned from the Senate just as the Separatist Crisis was kicking off. Soon after Chancellor Palpatine signed the Military Creation Act, Raian enlisted in the Grand Army of the Republic to support the Jedi in the upcoming war.

Early Involvement in the War (22 BBY-21 BBY)
After the Battle of Geonosis, Raian discovered that the Jedi were leading their own clone battalions into battle with the Separatists. He traveled to Coruscant and requested his own legion of troops to aid in the war effort. The Jedi Council was initially cautious about trusting Raian, due to his early abandonment of the Jedi Order, but after considering how short handed the Jedi already were, they accepted and put him in charge of the 405th Clone Legion. He and his troops were present at the Battle of Thule during the Dark Reaper Crisis. Raian himself was one of the only non-Jedi to be part of the Jedi fleet that defended Kamino during the First Battle of Kamino.

Mission to Korriban
"The Force is strong with you. Are you Jedi or Sith?" "Neither." "Impressive. Most impressive."

- Raian and Count Dooku meet

During the second year of the war, Raian and the 405th were sent to Korriban based on a lead that suggested Count Dooku was to be visiting Dreshdae, a city on the planet, and then go on to the Valley of the Dark Lords. When they arrived, they were welcomed by a small force of Battle droids which they easily defeated and entered the city. Search of the droid outpost resulted in the discovery a datapad that confirmed Count Dooku's presence on the planet. Raian left a small number of his troops to guard the city and watch the landing site while he and the rest of his troops ventured to the valley to confront Dooku. Upon reaching the old Sith Academy, Raian enters alone and finds Dooku in the ancient library, studying some of the ancient texts. Dooku comments on Raian's affinity for the Force and asks if he is a Jedi or a Sith. Raian responds that he is neither and the two ignite their lightsabers. Dooku senses a great amount of the light side within Raian and tries to persuade him to use the dark side. Raian scolds Dooku, saying that he isn't there to play his "swapping sides game". Dooku is somewhat shocked by this, having never encountered a Force-sensitive who was immune to the lull of the dark side or the justice of the light side. He notes that Raian seems unconcerned with which side he's on and more focused on simply surviving.

The two have a brief duel, with Dooku's experience and skill seeming to give him an edge against Raian. Raian comments that he is excited that he finally gets to see the power of a Sith Lord first hand and Dooku says that he's glad at least one of them is enjoying the situation. Raian then tells Dooku not to disappoint him and uses the Force to disarm them of their lightsabers. What takes place next was an all out Force battle, in which Raian's affinity for the Force again shows through. When Dooku unleashes a mighty barrage of Force lightning, Raian unleashes his own Force lightning and the two become deadlocked in an all out duel of their lighting. Dooku expresses his surprise of Raian's use of the technique, despite his seeming affinity for the light side. Raian reminds Dooku that he's not a Jedi nor a Sith and isn't bound by such rules and regulations before intensifying his lightning with the Force. This triggers and explosion, which sends the two flying to opposite ends of the room. They both regain thier weapons and re-activate their lightsabers, but before the duel can continue Dooku senses a tremor in the Force, which is later revealed to be Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi arriving in the system, and makes his escape by backing out of the nearest door and then destroying the structure keeping the door accessible, preventing Raian from giving chase.

Mission to Dathomir
A month later, Raian is sent by Chancellor Palpatine to the planet of Dathomir to root out and destroy an enclave of Dark Jedi that were being trained by Count Dooku. Before leaving Coruscant, he is promoted to general and given a small fleet of five Star Destroyers, choosing the Mandalore as his flagship due to the fact that the ship was named after his homeworld. Upon arriving on Dathomir, he orders his fleet to secure the airspace above the enclave and then orders a bombardment of the Confederacy's outpost. The Dark Jedi within project a Force Shield around the base and prevented any further damage from being done. Raian hands over command of his fleet to his lieutenant and takes a strike team to the surface to infiltrate the facility.

Once inside, Raian engages the Dark Jedi only to discover that it was a trap. The Dark Jedi, Assajj Ventress was awaiting them there, claiming to have been sent by Darth Sidious himself. Ventress states that she had heard of Raian from Dooku and was interested to see his skills up front. Raian, however, was in no mood to play her games. He was suspicious about the nature of his mission. It seemed strange to him that a surprise assault on the planet ordered by the Chancellor himself would've ended up a trap. Ventress didn't give him much time to think, attacking him with her lightsabers ignited. Raian demonstrated his new found use of Vaapad and quickly put the Dark Jedi on the defensive. Before the fight could go on any longer, the 405th broke in and surrounded Ventress. Not wanting to face a skilled Force-user and a legion of Clone troopers, Ventress backed down and fled Dathomir. Raian returned to the Mandalore along with his troops and finished the bombardment of the Separatist facility before leaving for Coruscant.

Defense of Mandalore
After his success at Dathomir, Raian had regained the trust of his former Jedi companions and had also captured the attention of the Sith Lords. Palpatine sent Raian and his fleet to his homeworld of Mandalore to defend it from any further Confederacy assaults. For several months, this would be his station, until, that is, the Chancellor is kidnapped by General Grevious.

The Battle of Coruscant
Raian and the 405th returned to Coruscant during the start of the Battle of Coruscant and aided Squad Seven fight off the Separatist fleet while Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi went to rescue the Chancellor. During the battle, Raian lost one of his ships, the Marauder, but managed to steer the rest of his troops to victory, along with assisting the other Republic forces by using his Battle Meditation. After the battle, he is commanded by the Supreme Chancellor to return his ships to the fleet and to remain on Coruscant with his Clone troopers to guard the capital. Raian is greatly displeased by this order, but accepts nonetheless.

Stationing on Coruscant
Raian ordered his men to patrol various parts of the capital while he went to watch the Senate proceedings. There he noticed something that he hadn't when he had been a Senator's aid for Mandalore; Chancellor Palpatine was grabbing for power and would stop at nothing to do it. He began to hear rumors about the Jedi's distrust of the Chancellor and he himself remembered the oddity of the trap on Dathomir a year prior. He remembered how Ventress had said that she had been sent personally by Darth Sidious, the elusive Sith Lord that the Jedi were relentlessly hunting. Slowly, he began to suspect the Chancellor of dealing with the Sith. He could sense the dark side surrounding him. He thought to alert the Jedi, but was never given the chance. By the time that he decided to report his suspicions to the Jedi Council, it was too late, Order 66 had begun...and he was a target.

The Great Jedi Purge (19 BBY)
"Raian Keldabe...you're no Jedi but you're a threat." "How gracious of you, Skywalker. Thank you for the compliment."

- Darth Vader and Raian

After Order 66 was issued, Raian began searching for a way to escape the Sith's grasp. He went to the Jedi Temple to get a ship which would take him off system, but just as he reached the Temple's hanger, Anakin Skywalker turned Darth Vader invaded the Temple with the 501st Legion. Raian defended himself from any Clone assault, but Vader's arrival troubled him. Raian expressed his surprise in seeing Anakin leading the assault, to which Vader replied that the Anakin that he had known was gone for good. The two then had a climatic lightsaber duel which resulted in the destruction of Raian's lightsaber. In order to stall for time, Raian asked who was behind the attack on the Jedi Order. Vader responded that his master, Darth Sidious, was the perpetrator. At that moment, it was confirmed to Raian that Palpatine was a Sith Lord and the orchestrator of the Clone Wars. Vader continued his battle with Raian, with the latter having only the Force to fight with. Raian reveals his mastery of telekinesis to the Sith Lord and manages to fend him off until Vader demonstrates a superior, dark side-enhanced, telekinesis. Raian completely submits himself to the Force and unleashes a massive Force wave on Vader, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

Before Vader can recover, Raian enters a Jedi starfighter and escapes the Jedi Temple and Coruscant.

Stop on Korriban
Raian briefly returned to Korriban in order to record as much information about the Sith as he could, with the goal of learning how to combat them. He spent several weeks among the tombs and the old Sith Academy, but the amount of information he gathered was scarce. The people of Dreshdae, realizing that he was a Force-user, reported him to the newly formed Galactic Empire and within days, Darth Vader arrived to exterminate the threat. Raian planned to escape without having to confront Vader again, but he failed. He and Vader again confronted each other at the entrance to the old Sith Academy and began to battle. Raian picked on Vader for his mechanical appearance, something that seemed to enrage the still-young Sith Lord. As their duel continued, Raian asked what Vader's interest in him was. He emphasized the fact that he wasn't a Jedi. Vader responded that he was a Force-user and an ally of the Jedi and, therefore, was a threat to the Empire.

The fight reached it's climax, with Raian only having used the Force thus far to combat Vader. He realized that Vader hadn't yet gotten use to his mechanical suit and therefore was significantly weaker than he had been back on Coruscant. He then revealed a new lightsaber he had constructed during his short stay on Korriban, one with a silver blade, and used a combination of Ataru and Vaapad to combat the weakened Sith. Raian began to realize that, even with Vader in a weakened state, he would be continually hunted until Vader killed him. He then resolved to fake his death, in order to escape Vader once and for all. Using the Force, he caused a rock slide that separated him from Vader and then hid his Force signature. Believing him dead from the slide, Vader retreated and Raian was able to escape.

Early days in the Syndicate (19 BBY-0 BBY/0 ABY)
"Sure, I'll join your organization, but I have some conditions of my own. One, stop calling me a Jedi. Two, I get a ship to myself; I'm not sharing one with no stinkin' Ewok. Three, keep me the heck away from the Emperor. Do those things and I'll do whatever you ask of me."

- Raina upon joining the Syndicate

Raian fled to the Outer Rim world of Manaan and began to hide his presence in the Force from the Emperor and Vader. Coincidently, a few days later he overheard a group of Selkath merchants talking about a local crime organization who were hunting down Force-sensitives to strike back at the Empire. While Raian was no personal fan of the Jedi, he had loved the Republic, so an opportunity to strike back at the entity that had caused it's downfall caught his interest. The merchants had mentioned the location of one of the organization's recruiters, so Raian went off looking for him. After finding the man he was looking for, he demonstrated his use in the Force and was asked to join. After making a few "conditions" of his own, Raian became a member of the Syndicate.

Hunting for survivors
One of Raian's first missions for the crime organization was to hunt down former Jedi and/or Dark Jedi to enlarge the organization's number of Force-users. Raian was given a ship; a YT-1300 light freighter he dubbed the Black Reaper (a nickname he himself would later gain), and was sent out into the galaxy. He soon found out that more Jedi had been killed than he had previously suspected. Vader's men were everywhere; they were also hunting Jedi. During his hunts, Raian came into contact with Imperial Senator Bail Organa who was secretly helping Jedi that had survived Order 66. He used Organa to get into contact with former Jedi Master Rahm Kota, who helped the Syndicate strike several of the Empire's smaller training facilities. Though Kota didn't join the organization, he proved to be a helpful aspect in the overall goal of the Syndicate.

During a visit to Tatooine, he learned of Obi-Wan Kenobi's survival and asked him about possibly joining forces, but Kenobi refused, saying that he had business on the planet that he needed to tend to. While traveling from Tatooine to and rendezvous with a small Syndicate fleet in the nearby Geonosis system, he is intercepted by an Imperial Scouting Fleet and imprisoned on the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the Dark Hand. There, one of the Emperor's Dark Jedi attempted to interrogate him about the location of other Jedi. Raian refused to give such information and used an overwhelming surge of Force shock to break free of his prison. After retrieving his lightsaber, he dueled the Dark Jedi and killed him. He then seized control of the Dark Hand and turned it's guns on the other ships in the scouting fleet. He then steals the ship and heads to the rendezvous point as previously planned.

Upon explaining how he came to own the Dark Hand to his Syndicate companions, they provide him with a crew and give him the Star Destroyer as his own ship. He renames it the Dark Reaper II, after his YT-1300 freighter and is then given his primary objective for the organization; assassinate Darth Vader.

Return to Coruscant
"You're going to Coruscant?! Are you mad?!" "A little. That's the only place I'm for sure to find Vader." "I thought you wanted to stay the 'heck away from the Emperor'!" "I changed my mind. That slug, Palpatine, and his mechanical Frankenstein are going down."

- A Syndicate member and Raian discussing his decision