| Kyp Durron |
Homeworld: Deyer Colony of Anoat
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Height: 1.77 meters
Weapon: Lightsaber
Vehicle: X-wing fighter, Sun Crusher
Affiliation: Jedi
Info:
Time and again Kyp Durron has faced incredible hardship, and has emerged stronger from the experience, yet not unscathed. Durron's attunement to the Force is very powerful, and the restraint taught by his master, Luke Skywalker, could barely contain the impetuous young Jedi. When Durron abandoned his restraint and gave into his emotions, the results were disastrous. Durron was born to outspoken political activists in the Deyer colony of the barren Anoat system. When their views bordered on treason, Imperial stormtroopers raided the Durron home and rounded up the dissidents. Kyp and his parents were sentenced to hard labor at the Kessel spice mines while his older brother Zeth was drafted into the Imperial military at Carida.
A year into his sentence, Kyp's parents were killed in a prison revolt. The orphan toiled away in pitch darkness, extracting precious glitterstim for refinement in the processing centers of Kessel. During his time there, his path crossed that of a mysterious old woman named Vima-Da-Boda, who told him of and helped nurture his nascent Force talents. But even that contact was denied him as Vima was transferred elsewhere.
For eight years Durron slaved away with little hope of liberty, until New Republic representative Han Solo and Chewbacca were incarcerated by the corrupt Kessel government. Solo and Chewbacca shared a work detail with Kyp, and the seasoned youngster provided valuable survival tips to the Republic heroes.
Solo and Chewie included Kyp in a daring prison break that saw the trio escape in a commandeered Imperial shuttle. Kyp demonstrated enormous Force-potential when he instinctively navigated his way through the maelstrom of black holes bordering the Kessel system. Although their ship was drawn into the Maw Cluster, Kyp somehow safely navigated them into the "eye" of the storm, and a top secret Imperial installation.
Although freed from the Kessel mines, Han, Chewie and Kyp were again imprisoned, this time by Imperial forces unaware that the Galactic Civil War had played itself out nearly a decade earlier. Maw Installation was a secret think tank of theoreticians and engineers carrying on the late Grand Moff Tarkin's legacy of superweapon development. Sunken into the nearly inaccessible Maw Cluster, these Imperials had no idea as to the true state of the outside galaxy.
Locked up in the complex, Solo was able to convince the naïve scientist Qwi Xux the errors of her ways and the true nature of the Empire. Breaching decades of Imperial brainwashing, Solo appealed to Qwi's passion for life, and the willowy Omwati alien liberated Solo, Chewbacca, and Kyp, and fled the Maw Cluster in the installation's most stunning achievement -- the ultimate weapon-ship, the Sun Crusher. Once in possession of the Sun Crusher, the New Republic did away with the controversial craft by plunging it into the heart of the Yavin gas giant.
In fleeing the Maw, it was again Kyp Durron who instinctively navigated his way to freedom. At this time, Luke Skywalker was gathering candidates for his newly formed Jedi academy on Yavin 4. He tested Durron and was astounded by the youth's potential. The years of hardship had tainted Kyp, though. Having lived without freedom or family for years, he made a promise to himself never to be weak or overpowered again. This determination, fueled by anger and fear, brought Kyp ever closer to the dark side.
Skywalker's first class of Jedi students was an eclectic mix of Force-attuned beings from across the galaxy. Kyp was easily the most powerful, and he quickly grew impatient at Skywalker's pace of instruction. Unbeknownst to Luke, an evil presence had infested his praxeum. The shadowy spirit of a long-dead Dark Lord of the Sith, Exar Kun, resided in the ancient temples of Yavin 4. Seeing a capable youth easy to exploit, Kun whispered promises of power to Kyp and was secretly training him.
Possessed by the dark side, Kyp was determined to be the first new Dark Lord since the deaths of the Emperor and Vader. Filled with righteous vengeance, Kyp sought to end the Empire's destructive ways. Kyp confronted Skywalker on Yavin 4 and used his dark side energies to knock Luke into a coma. Incredibly, Kyp was then able to summon the Sun Crusher from the depths of Yavin 4 to use as his personal conveyance. As part of his maddened vigilantism, Durron ensured that another Sun Crusher would never be built by using the Force to tear all knowledge of the superweapon project from Qwi Xux's vulnerable mind.
Armed with the Sun Crusher, Kyp soared to Carida, the heart of the Imperial Academy. Kyp launched the Sun Crusher's resonance torpedoes into Carida's sun, triggering a chain reaction that would destroy the system. As he watched the inevitable, Kyp was shocked to learn that his brother Zeth was a trooper stationed on Carida. Kyp not only failed to rescue Zeth, but was the unwitting agent of his sole surviving relative's death.
Han Solo was disheartened to learn of Kyp's spree of destruction. Han chased Kyp down and confronted him. At this very moment, Luke's students at the Jedi Academy were able to defeat the dark spirit of Exar Kun, freeing Kyp from that terrible grip. Kyp surrendered to Solo, and although Han was able to forgive Kyp for what he had done, the galaxy would always remember the deaths caused by this young Jedi.
Kyp grappled with the guilt for years, dedicating himself to the Jedi order. He was instrumental in many heroic missions, and eventually grew to mentor several younger Jedi Knights. His exploits became legends to the younger students, who admired Kyp for his bold actions. Kyp even took a Jedi apprentice, Miko Reglia, and became one of the first Jedi Masters of the new order.
Kyp and Reglia formed an X-wing starfighter squadron of non-Jedi pilots called the "Dozen-and-Two Avengers." This brash unit was tasked with ridding the Outer Rim of smugglers and pirates. While they became known as a force to be reckoned with, the starfighter unit was ravaged by the initial invasion forces of the Yuuzhan Vong.
It was this massacre, and Kyp's resulting attitude, that would serve to polarize Luke Skywalker's Jedi order. Not willing to remain passive as the Yuuzhan Vong murdered civilians and sundered entire worlds, Kyp insisted the Jedi take a stance and bring the fight back to the aggressors. Alarmed by Kyp's proposed aggression, Skywalker forbade preemptive strikes and retaliatory actions fueled by anger, since such actions invariably lead to the dark side.
| Kyp disregarded Skywalker's insights, and followed his own instincts. He has rallied a number of followers in his controversial bid to attack the Yuuzhan Vong. Now that the Yuuzhan Vong has used propaganda to turn the galaxy's citizens against the Jedi, Kyp's aggressive tactics spell an uncertain future for the order. |