Ulic Qel-Droma

Origin

Ulic was born to revered Jedi Master Lien-Tsai Qel-Droma on the planet Alderaan. Ulic and his brother Cay were both very strong in the Force, but at first were denied Jedi training. Eventually they started Jedi training under the Arkanian Jedi Master Arca Jeth at his Praxeum on Arkania. Joining Ulic and his brother was the Twi’Lek Tott Doneeta, and the three would train with Jeth for a long time. During his training Ulic exhibited considerable skills with both the Force and lightsaber combat. Ulic was the most gifted of Master Arca’s students but also displayed a lot of arrogance.

Some believed this was just how he showed his confidence, but as events later in his life would show, his arrogance would be his undoing. Master Arca was made Jedi watchman of the planet Onderon. When he deemed his students’ training complete, he sent them out on their first mission. Ulic and his friends were sent to quell a dispute on Onderon, between the people of Iziz and the attacking Beast Riders.

Onderon and Freedon Nadd

Ulic, Cay and Tott arrived in Iziz, the capital of Onderon and immediately took part in a battle between the people of the City and the Beast Riders who lived in the jungle beyond the city walls. Instead of firing back, however, Ulic ordered his two companions to not engage the Beast Riders because the reason for their mission was peace. During the following attack, however, Beast Riders snuck their way into the city via a hidden entrance. The Princess of Onderon was kidnapped and the three Jedi pursued the Beast Riders into the jungle. Their ship was shot down and after being taken by the Beast Riders, the Jedi troupe uncovered several surprising truths. The first of which was that the Princess intended to leave her people and marry the Prince of the Beast Riders; Oron Kira. The two had secretly been meeting and eventually came to love each other, but the Princess knew her Mother and knew she would never allow a marriage between the two.

In addition, it was discovered that Iziz was the driving force behind the war, rather than the Beast Riders as originally believed. Ulic had planned to take the Princess and Kira to Iziz in order to broker and arrangement between the Beast Riders and the citizens of Onderon, but Queen Amanoa would have no part of it. Doubting Ulic from the get-go, Kira had already amassed all of his Beast Riders’ forces in preparation to attack the city. Finally, the Jedi came to realize that the powers of Iziz had become interlinked with the Dark Side of the Force. It was revealed that the former Jedi turned Sith Lord Freedon Nadd had polluted the planet with his Dark Side influence and that the ruling powers were his descendants. The Jedi, Princess Galia and the Beast Riders decided to overthrow the evil Amanoa and bring peace to Onderon.

During the fighting, Queen Amanoa harnessed Nadd’s power to sap the energy and drive of the Beast Riders as well as the Jedi, so despite superior numbers, they were forced to retreat. The fight was eventually ended when Arca Jeth appeared and used his Battle Meditation technique to defeat the forces of Amanoa. Despite the victory, Cay Qel-Droma was greatly injured, losing his arm, and having to replace it with a cybernetic appendage he built himself from the remains of a battle droid.

Eventually a second Civil War broke out on Onderon, between the now-benevolent rulers of Iziz and the Dark Side followers of Freedon Nadd, known as the Naddists. The Naddists were lead by the deposed former King of Iziz, the Sith Sorcerer King Ommin, who despite his incredibly weak physique was very powerful in the ways of the Sith. The King captured Arca Jeth when Naddist forces created a diversion in the city. They tunneled out of the ground led by the dark warrior Warb Null and during the fighting, Master Arca Jeth was struck by a wave of dark side energy and incapacitated.

Null engaged Ulic and his fellow Jedi in combat, and used an ability that sapped the Jedi of their connection to the Force to allow both himself to challenge them and allow his followers to escape with the now captured Jedi Master. Ulic was able to use the Force to beat back this mysterious power, however, and quickly ended the dark warrior’s life with a slash from his lightsaber. Ulic then led the Jedi on an attack of King Ommin’s inner sanctum, where he freed Jeth and destroyed Ommin’s metallic support, causing his decrepit body to collapse on the floor. Then, appearing before the Jedi, was the specter of Freedon Nadd, who was disappointed in Ommin for failing him. He killed the old man and revealed his intended purpose for Onderon, to be a breeding ground for the Sith, taunting Ulic with the prediction that he would become one of the greatest Sith in the galaxy. Ulic denied this premonition.

The Krath and the Descent into Darkness

During the Naddist Uprising, a new threat had surfaced. The Krath, a secret society created by the aspiring Sith Satal Keto and his cousin, Aleema, staged a coup overthrowing their parents with their newfound Sith power (gained from amulets found on Onderon during the conflict) and taking control of the Empress Teta System. Despite their youth, the duo proved quite formidable in the areas of Sith Alchemy and particularly in the case of Aleema, the casting of Illusions.

Ulic took it upon himself to combat this threat in a manner no other Jedi would; he intended to infiltrate the Krath as a double agent, learn their secrets and destroy them from within. Ulic’s reasoning was that if the Jedi were simply to eliminate the Krath, their methods and powers would forever remain a mystery, and more importantly, a constant threat. However, if Ulic was able to learn the Krath’s way, and thus how to overcome it, he would effectively remove the threat of this Sith power for good. Despite harsh protests from his fellow Jedi, Ulic remained fiercely stubborn regarding the matter. The Jedi believed that Ulic’s plan was overly ambitious and arrogant, and bordered on dangerous, as he could be very easily seduced by the Dark Side. However, before any decision could be made, the Jedi were ambushed by Krath War Droids. In the ensuing battle, Ulic was saved by his Master, only to watch him die almost immediately after. Blaming himself for the death of Arca, Ulic plunged into despair and declared that he would infiltrate the Krath, much to the displeasure of his brother and Nomi Sunrider. Ulic and Nomi had falled in love after the events on Onderon. Before setting out on his mission, Ulic passionately kissed Nomi, assuring her that he would return and would not be corrupted.

Upon arriving on Cinnagar within the Empress Teta System, Ulic was immediately noticed by security, his presence looked upon with paranoia and anger by Satal, and interest by Aleema. Ulic soon came upon a public execution, when suddenly an attempt on the life of the Krath leadership was made. Seeing this as an opportunity to gain favor with the Krath, Ulic helped subdue and slay the attackers. Little did Ulic know that the attempt was orchestrated by Aleema in order to test his worth. After meeting the distrustful Satal and alluring Aleema, Ulic was tortured with Sith Chemicals; a Dark Side compound used to strengthen a victim’s anger and make them more susceptible to corruption.

Despite the grueling process, Ulic survived the torture culminating in a burst of Dark Side energy emanating from the captive. It was at this time that Ulic’s friends, Tott, Cay and Nomi began to worry about him and decided to try and rescue Ulic. Upon sighting Nomi, Ulic ordered her to be imprisoned, in order to keep up his charade. He later spoke to Nomi, saying that he wished to remain with the Krath for a while longer, so as to learn their secrets. However, this conversation was not secure as Ulic had believed as his treachery was discovered by Satal; who consequently he sentenced two Jedi to death.

Satal sent an assassin to kill Ulic, but was unsuccessful. An enraged Ulic then confronted his attacker, and blaming him for the death of Arca Jeth, and the attempt on his life, Ulic struck the Krath Leader down. Nomi and the other Jedi escaped, intending to return and rescue Ulic. Ulic however, had become enamoured with Aleema, the two becoming lovers and decided that he wished to remain with the Krath.

Cay pleaded with his brother to return with them as he loved and feared the path he was on, Ulic was not interested, however, and threatened to murder Cay should he not leave Ulic alone. A distraught Cay and a heartbroken Nomi left Ulic alone to continue his journey toward the Dark Side.

Exar Kun and the Rise of the Sith

After the intervention of Cay and Nomi, Exar Kun (another Dark Jedi) confronted Ulic in the process of trying to destroy the Krath and recover a Sith amulet in their possession. Aleema was severely injured and Ulic and Exar engaged in a lightsaber duel. Their combined rage released the ancient Sith spirit of Marka Ragnos, who claimed both of them for the Dark Side. Exar Kun was named the Dark Lord of the Sith and Ulic was named as his apprentice.

Soon Ulic added the Mandalorians to the ranks of his Sith army. He became the leader of the Mandalorians after defeating their leader, Mandalore the Indomitable, in combat. He led attack after attack on Republic military resources, but decided to choose a very high profile and important target. He led an attack on the Republic capital of Coruscant, but was captured after being betrayed and abandoned by Aleema. He was brought to trial, but freed after the intervention on Exar Kun. He dealt with the treachery of Aleema by tricking her into undertaking a suicidal battle with the Jedi at the Kemplex IX space station.

Ulic traveled with Exar Kun to Ossus in order to take possession of the Jedi Library. They hoped to gain access to the ancient Sith knowledge stored within its vaults. Ulic was confronted by his brother Cay, and they fought in a fierce duel. In his Dark Side fury, Ulic cut down and murdered his brother. Some part of the Light Side still remained in him, and Ulic was brought to his knees by the horror of what he had just done done. Nomi Sunrider, enraged by Ulic’s actions, used the Force in anger and cut Ulic off from the Force. No longer able to access the force, weakened, and realizing all the wrong he had done, he turned on Exar Kun and used what he knew of the Sith lord to help the Jedi defeat him. Ulic led the Jedi to Yavin 4, where they were able to defeat Kun and quell the Sith uprising.

Redemption and Death

Ulic wandered the galaxy in the 10 years after the death of his brother and then end of the Great Sith War, trying to reconnect with the Force. Losing his ability to use the Force after he murdered his brother haunted him. He was eventually taken to the planer Rhen Var by the pilot Hoggon. Rhen Var was cold but abandoned and Ulic decided to stay and seek peace. Eventually Vima Sunrider would track Ulic down and asked him to train her as a Jedi. Ulic refused on the basis he was cut off from the Force and in no position to teach her as he had been seduced by the Dark Side. Eventually Vima would convince him to train her. Ulic ended up being a good master and in the process was able to find some peace and honor his former master, Arca Jeth.

Eventually with the aid of Hoggon, Nomi Sunrider tracked down her daughter and confronted Ulic wanting to take Vima home. The Jedi, Sylvar, had followed Nomi to Rhen Var, seeking revenge against Ulic. She confronted the fallen Jedi because she blamed him for the death of her mate Crado during the Great Sith War. The two fought a lighsaber duel and despite no longer being able to use the Force, Ulic held his own. He saw the anger and rage fueling Sylvar and refused to fight further. She swung her lightsaber to strike Ulic down, but stopped herself at the last second. The former Sith and focus of her anger was ultimately the one to make her realize she too was falling to the Dark Side, and Sylvar returned to the light. Hoggon, seeing this as his chance to gain fame and rid the galaxy of one of it’s greatest war criminals, shot and killed Ulic. Nomi held the dying Ulic in her arms as he asked for her forgiveness. She forgave him for everything and said that she still loved him.

Ulic gave Vima a necklace so she would remember his teachings. As Ulic died, he became one with the Force and his body disappeared, something that only happened to Jedi Masters. He found redemption by teaching Vima and finding his own inner peace in the process. He had rediscovered what it meant to be a Jedi and how to serve the Force, even though he had been cut off from it for over a decade. In the end the fallen Jedi and former Sith became a Jedi Master.

Legacy

The story of Ulic’s fall and redemption would be told to Jedi until the fall of the Old Republic. Anakin Skywalker found a holographic recording of Ulic Qel-Droma during the clone wars. Anakin visited Qel-Droma’s grave on Rhen Var to seek guidance in destroying a weapon known as the Dark Reaper. Ulic warned Anakin against the things that can cause a Jedi to fall to the Dark Side of the Force as he did. Unfortunately, Anakin would not heed these warnings and would follow a similar path and become Darth Vader.

One of Ulic’s distant descendants would become the Dark Side user Sedriss, who served Emperor Palpatine and later the Palpatine clones in the years after the fall of the Empire.