Targere

Targere was a male Koorivar Sith Lord under the command of Sith Overlord Darth Saleej during the New Sith Wars. Charged with management of slavery and slave operations, he was a political rival of Darth Alecto within their masters' fief. His animosity toward Alecto ultimately drove him to form a conspiracy against Alecto and Darth Hokhtan.

Biography[]

Early Lordship[]

As a young Sith Lord, Targere purchased Nornuyo from the Thalassian slavers and made the Rakririan the steward of most of his property. When he received Lucazec as a throneworld, he set Nornuyo as majordomo. He also hired Sheil Konstan and Rotan Dinzec, the former to exploit legal opportunities throughout the galaxy and the latter to control his slaves on Lucazec.

At some point, Targere obtained an aurodium medallion, which he had installed on his throne aboard the Unquenchable Fire.

An Enemy[]

As a Sith Lord, Targere eventually rose to a seat on Saleej's council; Chy Karibadi was a Sith Lord subject to Targere. At some point during the New Sith Wars, Targere volunteered for a mission to assassinate Jedi Master Yem Faltko; he was opposed by Darth Alecto, a younger and less experienced Sith, who wanted the same assignment. Saleej ultimately gave the assignment to Alecto, but while she succeeded in killing Faltko, Darth Hokhtan correctly intuited that Lord Targere had considered Alecto an enemy thereafter.

Though capable enough to be a lord in his own right, Targere had no particular love for combat and no desire to break the Council of Five's command that anointed Sith were not to harm one another without permission. Instead, he sought to undermine Alecto in Saleej's council, pointing out flaws in her ideas and stroking his cranial horn (a Koorivar gesture of thoughtfulness) simply because he knew Alecto found it obscene and it would rile her up. In 1,387 BBY he believed he had succeeded when a visibly angry Alecto volunteered to go to Anzat and attempt to regain the loyalty of the Brotherhood of Shadows, a cult of Anzat assassins who had deserted Darth Vandak when Vandak deserted the Sith. Targere was stunned when Alecto returned some weeks later, having won the Brotherhood's loyalty.

The Plot[]

None too pleased that Alecto had both made herself more important to Saleej and gained her own personal force of assassins, Targere proposed a plan for Saleej's long-running goal of assassinating Phnyong, the Jedi Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. With Saleej's consent, Targere arranged a meeting with Eviar Seldec, the apprentice of Valin Aresh who had previously ordered Alecto's death. Targere was disappointed when Alecto was not only sent along with him, but given control over security arrangements for the meeting. After the three Sith agreed to work together, Targere ordered the village of their meeting site sanitized, but Alecto countermanded the order, believing the Republic would never believe the two factions were working together and it was useful to confuse the enemy by telling them the truth. Though Targere grudgingly conceded the logic, he nonetheless sought a private holocall with Kai Latra, who was brewing the alchemical poison for Alecto's part of the assassination plot.

Targere persuaded Kai Latra to spike the cure he was giving Alecto, such that it would stop the poison, but deprive her of her Force powers; in return, Targere would funnel Kai Latra more slaves for use in his alchemical experiments. Targere believed they had succeeded when Alecto disappeared for a month after the Chancellor's death, but she finally returned, having struck a deal of her own with Kai Latra.

Having lost confidence in Kai Latra, Targere initiated a new conspiracy with Ta'azin and Karibadi. He considered recruiting Darth Shakelli too, but though he felt Shakelli could not reliably be turned against Alecto, he decided Shakelli could be used. Ta'azin used her communications network to falsely summon Darth Hokhtan to a meeting with the Council of Five, then leaked his route to the Republic, which planned an ambush. When Hokhtan disappeared, Targere carefully manipulated his council of Sith Lords to suspecting Alecto (who was absent from the meeting); the Lords ultimately authorized a warrant to detain and question Alecto.

Chy Karibadi took a force of Hashniajid and others to subdue Lisal, while Couganan took the Rapace to capture the Temple of Shadows on Anzat, but both groups failed; the Brotherhood of Shadows put up stiff resistance on Anzat, while a timely warning from Monox Dacaliad helped Alecto's Sith disciples escape on Lisal. When Targere received word that Hokhtan and Alecto had arrived on Lisal and Karibadi had fled ratehr than face them, he knew the conspiracy was foiled and killed Ta'azin to cover his tracks, wounding himself in the process to suggest he had stumbled upon her treason.

Neither Alecto nor Hokhtan was convinced, but Hokhtan refused to act against Targere without proof, for fear of appearing paranoid after his near-catastrophe on Orleon. Alecto and Targere settled into a cold war as Alecto waited for Targere to make a mistake, and Targere tried to have Karibadi found and killed before the Furies could find him first.

Flight[]

Unfortunately for Targere, Ko Davad and Kuira Suerves found Karibadi first. A protocol droid in Targere's Lucazec palace warned him of the development; after slaying Sheil, Rotan, Jibreed Coursc, and Nornuyo to leave no witnesses, Targere fled Lucazec in the Masterful Magnate. He sold the ship to Diro's Used Starships on Uyter, fleeing toward the Republic and ultimately contacting Republic Intelligence to defect. He reached the Republic on Onderon shortly before the annual Demon's Kiss.

Vemna Grace and Shim Dujus took charge of Targere, but they were being pursued by Kuira, and they passed the former Sith Lord to Tirien Kal-Di and Narasi Rican. Understanding that the Republic would only protect him because of the value of his knowledge, Targere endeavored to provide no information, but succumbed to pressure to provide some intelligence to Kal-Di and Rican to maintain their cooperation. Kuira ultimately tracked them down, but though Rican was grievously wounded, Kal-Di distracted Kuira long enough for Targere to stab her in the back; Kal-Di decapitated her before she could recover.

Kuira had revealed Targere's role as Darth Hokhtan's slaver, and the Jedi did nothing to hide their contempt, but they attempted to exfiltrate Targere nonetheless. They were minutes from the Iziz Starport when they came under fire from sniper droids and a QD-11 battle sphere. Targere attempted to defend himself, but while he was occupied with the QD-11, Darth Alecto reflected a sniper shot off the QD-11's armor, blowing off the top decimeter of Targere's skull and killing him instantly.

Powers and Abilities[]

The extent of Targere's Sith abilities was unknown, though he prevailed in a duel against Ta'azin (albeit with the element of surprise), and was evidently skilled enough to survive the First Battle of Taanab, when Darth Saleej deployed most of his Sith Lords to the front. He was capable of conjuring Force lightning, but still felt himself woefully outmatched by both Kuira Suerves and Tirien Kal-Di.

Appearance and Personality[]

Targere had blue, ridged skin and yellow eyes. Like all Koorivar, he had a prominent, spiraling cranial horn, though his was larger than average. He often dressed in ornate and voluminous robes with hooded cowls or wraps around the base of his horn.

Targere had a mostly economic mindset, viewing interactions in terms of profits and opportunity costs. He was willing to take risks, up to and including betraying his own Overlord to the Republic, for a sufficient gain, but also refused to succumb to a sunk-cost fallacy and abandoned the conspiracy when its failure was obvious. As the slaver lord for Darths Saleej and Hokhtan, Targere often negotiated with Zygerrians, Thalassians, and other slaver groups. Targere was willing to betray the Empire to the Republic to guarantee his own survival.

Star Wars Fanon

Targere

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