Sarcev Quest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Sarcev Quest | |
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| Position | Emperor's Hand, head of Interim Ruling Council |
| Homeworld | Unknown |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | Unknown |
| Affiliation | Galactic Republic, Jedi Order, Galactic Empire |
| Portrayed by | N/A |
Sarcev Quest is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Sarcev Quest began life as a Jedi youngling. When no Jedi Master was willing to make him a Padawan by his thirteenth year, he entered the Agricultural Corps, the supposed refuge for those who could not make the grade as an apprentice.
It was only with the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY) that Quest was "rescued," as he put it, from this monotony. He may have been among the AgriCorps members captured early in the Great Jedi Purge and taken to Byss, where the useful were selected for new roles in the New Order, while the others were left to Darth Vader's mercy; if this theory is true, he would have been one of only 4 to have survived Vader's purge, along with High Inquisitor Tremayne. At any rate, the newly declared Emperor Palpatine brought the young Quest into his service as an Emperor's Hand, an elite secret agent who used the dark side of the Force.
As one of the early members of the Emperor's Hands, Quest's function was twofold. By day, he affected the role of a dashing playboy, and his charm, his elegance and natural good looks served him well in this task. By night, he was his master's eyes, spying on Palpatine's political enemies. Taking full advantage of his skills, he charmed his way straight into a membership in the Imperial Ruling Council, the first Darksider ever to infiltrate this body.
Quest fathered a son, Irek Ismaren, with fellow Hand Roganda Ismaren. His paternity was downplayed, and Roganda always claimed Irek's father to be Palpatine himself.
[edit] Political machinations
After Palpatine died in the Battle of Endor (4 ABY), the Imperial Ruling Council, led by the loathesome Ars Dangor, sought to wrest power from the late Emperor's Grand Vizier, Sate Pestage. The primary bone of contention was the succession: who would succeed Palpatine as Emperor of the galaxy? Pestage, as the Emperor's personal major-domo, kept all Palpatine' records, which could reveal what he had planned for after his death. But Pestage obstinately maintained the seal on the Emperor's Archives. Quest opposed his fellows, sabotaging their efforts. But Pestage's own actions turned Quest against him. Seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, Pestage was allowed to leave Coruscant for Byss to immerse himself in his dark side experiments (and oversee Palpatine's return), leaving a clone of himself to maintain order in his place—and to take the fall when his enemies moved against him. Quest evidently realized that the switch had taken place, yet went along with it as long as it served his purposes. But when the real Pestage failed to send word to him, and when the rapidly-gestated clone went mad, Quest abandoned it to the murderous ambitions of the Council, and of Ysanne Isard.
Quest suspected that the real Pestage had perished in one of his dark experiments (he could not know that Pestage had actually resumed his place at the side of a resurrected Palpatine, but he soon would). With no check on his ambitions, he began to maneuver within the Council in preparation for en eventual bid for the throne himself. He struck up an alliance with an ambitious, charismatic and Force-sensitive Royal Guardsman, Carnor Jax, eloquently urging others in the Council to support Jax and winning the favor of both the Council and the Royal Guards for his efforts. With these two tentpoles holding him up, he had become more powerful than he had ever been.
[edit] Conspiracy, success and failure
The sudden return of Palpatine (10 ABY) sent all his six years of work into a tailspin. With no other choice, he reaffirmed allegiance to the Emperor, but he still worked to his own ends. By advocating the "loyal" Guardsman Jax's promotion to the even more elite rank of Sovereign Protector, Quest placed Jax into a position where he could potentially eliminate Palpatine. He also had an ally in the Imperial Ruling Council, which had worked hard to win its current authority and was determined not to surrender it to anyone else, even the Emperor. By skillfully promising a greater share of political power than they would have had under Palpatine, Quest and Jax gained the Council's support, which supplied the credits to bribe the Emperor's personal physician into sabotaging Palpatine's clones. When the last of the clones expired at the hands of Han Solo on Onderon (11 ABY) Jax seized power, with Quest assuming the leading position on the Council.
Quest took full advantage of Jax's protection, using his power on the Council to eliminate any dissent. But Jax's hold on the throne was short-lived. Out of nowhere, one of Jax's former fellow Guardsmen, Kir Kanos, killed Jax on Yinchorr (11 ABY). Without Jax to protect his position, Quest was exposed, and the Council moved against him, stripping him of his rank and titles and imprisoning him. It is said that Quest was tortured for an entire week, during which he screamed in a manner inconsistent with his usual elegance, and was then dumped on Nar Shaddaa like so much garbage.
[edit] Capture and death
Quest disappeared without a trace for years, and only rumors of his whereabouts ever came to light. Eventually (circa 22–23 ABY), on the edge of senility, he decided to make a break for it and used one of his lesser-known aliases to book first-class passage on a luxury liner from the Core to the Corporate Sector. That caught the attention of another former Emperor's Hand, Jeng Droga, who knew about Quest's role in the final death of Palpatine and was determined to avenge his late master. Droga posted a bounty of 100,000 credits for Quest's head, and it was the bounty hunter Ailyn Vel, assuming the Mandalorian armor and identity of her biological father Boba Fett, who hunted down and hauled Quest in. Sarcev Quest was personally executed by the fanatical half-insane Droga.
[edit] References
- Star Wars Gamer 5: The Emperor's Pawns
- Star Wars Insider 80: The History of the Mandalorians
