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Chanath Cha

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Z-95 Headhunter

Content approaching. War of the Bounty Hunters 5, Crimson Reign 1, Bounty Hunters 26, Crimson Reign 5, Hidden Empire 1, Hidden Empire 2, Hidden Empire 3, The Marvel Art of Star Wars–class.

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"Darth Vader killed my parents. Right in front of me. I had to swear an oath to him. Had to just…let it lie. I said those words because my parents wanted me to live…but my heart died the moment I watched Vader cut them open. Way I figure it, oaths end when you do. My heart died and I've been hunting Vader ever since. I even became one of the Emperor's pet operatives, thinking it could get me close. Didn't work. I never saw Vader again. What I couldn't do alone, maybe I can do with Qi'ra. We'll see."
―Chanath Cha[7]

Chanath Cha was a human female bounty hunter who operated during the Galactic Civil War. After her parents Ramat and Bhada were killed by Darth Vader during a hit on Cabarria, Cha swore revenge on the Sith Lord and vowed to kill him. She lived as a bounty hunter for several years, taking jobs for Big String and even Emperor Palpatine before ultimately forming the Orphans, a group that came to serve the re-awakened criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn by 3 ABY. Eager to assist in Lady Qi'ra's war against the Sith, Cha and the Orphans served the Dawn until Cha was killed when attacking Vader on a planet.

Biography[]

Family of hunters[]

"Do you remember Cabarria, Vader? Two decades ago, on a lonely stretch of skyway. A family. A man, a woman, and a girl of 12. You killed my mother. Her name was Ramat Cha. You killed my father. His name was Bhada Cha. My name is Chanath Cha, and that day, I vowed to end your life."
―Chanath Cha[9]
ChanathDV11

Young Chanath using a tractor rifle

During the reign of the Galactic Empire,[5] when she was twelve years old,[9] Chanath Cha, together with her mother Ramat and father Bhada had been paid to kill Darth Vader on Cabarria. Tricking Vader that a Jedi had been seen in a bar, the Chas sat ready to kill him when he entered. Using ion grenades, they neutralized all the weapons in the bar while Chanath tried to use her tractor rifle to seize Vader's lightsaber. However, he used the Force to seize the lightsaber midair and, under the strain of the two opposing forces, the hilt shattered, leaving only the red kyber crystal. Realizing they stood no match against the Sith Lord they activated their shields and fled the bar.[5]

All three got on a speeder bike and proceeded to escape. Vader followed them on his own speeder, and when they tried to blast them, he easily deflected their bolts. They proved to be capable to keep away from him for a time until he crashed a massive vehicle in their path, causing their speeder to crash. Seizing Chanath in a Force choke, he requested they tell him who had ordered his death. They told him about an anonymous bounty with an exhorbitant price posted on the Hunter Net. Ramat, a talented slicer, offered to uncover their employer for him in exchange for their daughter's life. When they demanded that he release Chanath first, Vader refused and threatened to kill them all. However, the Chas countered that even in death they would be together, so he could not threaten them with such tactics.[5]

DV11-threaten-the-Chas

Vader holds Chanath at lightsaber point

Grudgingly impressed, the Dark Lord demanded proof that Ramat could deliver her side of the deal, which she proved by tracking the signal of the bounty back to Coruscant. Chanath was released as agreed, at which point the bounty hunters made their daughter swear that she would seek no vengeance against the Dark Lord, a deal Vader chose to honor. To complete the deal, Ramat provided Vader with the information he had requested and gave him the source of the bounty on him: the highest levels of the Republic Executive Building on Coruscant.[5]

Vader then killed Chanath's parents, which she claimed resulted in her heart dying. Despite the fact she had sworn to not seek vengeance against Vader, she saw her heart dying as her oath ending, and began to hunt Vader in revenge. She became a pet operative of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine in the hopes that it would get her close to Vader.[7] Cha performed actions she considered "horrible" on Palpatine's order, all in the name of possibly confronting Vader again.[9] However, she never saw him again while at the Emperor's beck and call.[7] At some point, she had a past romantic history with Lobot with some tension between them due to Lobot's decision to work with Lando Calrissian.[3]

Bounty for Darth Vader[]

Shortly after Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra was captured by the Rebel Alliance on Vrogas Vas, Cha and several bounty hunters caught wind of a sizeable bounty that was to return Aphra to a client who had shielded their identity from the hunters. Unbeknownst to Cha, she had actually been hired by Vader,[10] the same person she hunted in revenge for her parents death.[7]

Dealing with Big String[]

"My fortress destroyed! Twenty cycles spent building my empire... Gone! Why are you doing this to me? Who are you?"
"My name is Chanath Cha. As for why, Big String...someone out there really doesn't like you."
―Big String and Chanath Cha meet[6]

Sometime later, Cha was hired by an enemy of the crime boss Big String—who resided in a volcanic fortress on the Inner Rim world Amethia Prime—to destroy his fortress and apprehend String. Soon, Cha traveled to the ocean world and invaded the fortress, flying through its structure and destroying it using near-indestructible armor and rocket boots, until the entire complex went up in an explosive fireball. Then Cha focused on Big String, who was fleeing in a boat with three of his bodyguards.[6]

Cha dove underwater and raced towards the craft, launching upward through it, destroying its engine and overturning it; quickly ending String's escape. Cha confronted String, who pleaded to know why Cha had destroyed the "empire" he had spent twenty cycles creating. After providing a name, Cha told the criminal that it was a contracted job. Cha then engaged the guards in hand-to-hand combat, quickly defeating them. Cha convinced String to drop his blaster, allowing Cha to hoist him up by his belt and took to the air using rocket boots to deliver the bounty.[6]

Hunting the Imperialis[]

"My armies serve well as a hammer, but I suspect this undertaking is more suited to a needle. I have no needle sharper than Chanath Cha."
―Emperor Palpatine[6]
ChaSidious-Lando2

The Emperor briefs Cha on the mission.

However, once at cloud-level, Cha received a holographic comlink call from Palpatine. Cha apologized to String and dropped him; not wanting to ignore the call from her most important client. Palpatine appeared from the holoprojector and informed Cha that his yacht, the Imperialis, had been stolen from an Imperial shipyard in the Castell system, and he wanted Cha to recover it, because Palpatine had little faith in the military forces he had assigned to the task, stating that he needed a needle, and that Cha was the sharpest needle he had. The Emperor gave Cha a unique starship to aid in recovering the Imperialis, and told the bounty hunter that success would mean great reward—but if the yacht could not be recovered, Cha needed to destroy it, in order for the "personal items" it contained to not fall into the hands of others.[6]

Cha immediately traveled to Imperial Facility 729-D, a classified Imperial space station that housed the vessel Palpatine promised Cha use of during the mission. She examined the exterior of the ship, noting it appeared unique in design. O-66, a droid sent by Palpatine to assist Cha, appeared and explained that the ship, the Scimitar, had been in use for an extended period of time by "special" owners. O-66 informed Cha that the technical readouts for the Scimitar were available, Cha, however, ordered O-66 to paraphrase the instructions. Once O-66 had done so, Cha removed O-66's head for protection; O-66 could no longer hold a weapon to attack Cha if that was the droid's programming. Cha then piloted the Star Courier into space, where O-66 explained that the Scimitar was configured to track the Imperialis's hyperdrive signature through space; a feat that Cha had believed impossible. However, the Imperialis's signature was very similar to that of a neutron star—which if the Scimitar tracked instead, would kill Cha when it emerged from hyperspace. Cha was unworried and entered hyperspace.[11]

A short time later, the Scimitar emerged from hyperspace near the Imperialis in deep space. Cha spacewalked to the Emperor's yacht, and with O-66's help, located an airlock, sliced into it and rushed through the Imperialis to locate the hijackers. Cha needed the ship's operation system codes from O-66 in order to lock the escape codes, thereby preventing the hijackers from escaping. O-66 refused, but relented after Cha revealed that she had planted a pulse bomb in the droid's neck. Cha disabled the hijackers' only escape option, and soon stumbled across one of the thieves: the Ugnaught Korin Pers. Pers claimed she was alone in stealing the Imperialis, but Cha knew better than to believe her, and was proved correct when one of Per's partners appeared and tried to jump Cha. Cha, however, easily outmaneuvered the thief and was shocked to recognize the thief as her old friend Calrissian. Cha removed her helmet, allowing Calrissian to likewise recognize her. Calrissian was equally shocked and greeted her with a kiss to the hand.[3]

Cha decided to activate the ship's self-destruct to complete her mission, but hesitated when Lando said that Lobot was aboard in a bacta tank, recovering from a wound sustained in a fight with Imperial Guards. However soon two clone aliens, Aleksin and Pavol, who had helped Lando steal the ship, attacked them, having been corrupted by the Emperor's Sith artifacts stored on the ship. Cha sealed a door to slow them down and activated the ship's self-destruct, telling Lando to get Lobot so they could escape with her. She contacted O-66 and told him to pick them up in the Scimitar, but O-66 refused, having deactivated the explosive planted by her. Pavol then attacked her, but she killed him. With no other way to escape, Lobot used his implants to slice the ship's systems and reactivate the escape pods. Unfortunately, due to the wounds he sustained and incomplete healing, Lobot's implants were able to take over his mind. Cha bid farewell to Lando and Lobot and took an escape pod before the ship exploded.[4]

Joining Crimson Dawn and death[]

By 3 ABY,[12] Cha had formed a group known as the Orphans, made up of herself, Ladybright, Sear, and Imara Vex. The team joined up with the crime boss Qi'ra, who sought to destroy Sidious and Vader, as part of Cha's mission of revenge against Vader.[7]

After "The Archivist" and Kho Phon Farrus failed to unlock the Fermata Cage and drew the attention of Vader and Sidious, with the former being sent to retrieve the Cage, Qi'ra also sent the Orphans to rescue Qi'ra's allies and the Fermata Cage. When they arrived at the planet, they were able to prevent Vader from killing the two.[13] Cha then informed Vader of who she was, and that she was going to kill him and avenge her parents. She ordered Vex and Ladybright to return to her ship, the Siroto, with the Fermata Cage and Qi'ra's allies whilst she and Sear fought Vader. As the two fought the Sith Lord, Vader told Cha that she would not avenge her parents, or Qi'ra, as the Sith Lords had previously believed her to have been killed, and that all she would do was die. Cha was surprised that Vader had mentioned Qi'ra, inadvertently allowing Vader to realize that Qi'ra had not died, news he informed Cha that his Master would be fascinated to hear.[9]

ChanathChaDeath-HiddenEmpire3

After a lifetime hunting the Sith Lord, Chanath Cha was slain by Darth Vader,

Sear and Cha then attacked Vader, but the Sith Force pushed Sear into the wreckage of Kho Phon Farrus' machine which had housed the Fermata Cage, which killed her, and leaving Cha to face Vader alone. Vader then taunted Cha that all her allies were gone, asking what tactics she had left, then telling her to show him the training she claimed to have done in preparation for their fight. At this moment, Vex fired on Vader and hit his hand, and Cha informed Vader that not all of her allies were gone as he had claimed. In response, Vader used the Force to knock Vex off the Siroto and into a jungle. Whilst the two continued to fight, Ladybright contacted Qi'ra and tried to get her to unleash the Dawn Fleet so they could rescue Cha, a request Qi'ra denied. Ladybright then refused Qi'ra's orders to return to Dawnfall Base and tried to help Cha. As Cha saw the Siroto heading back to her, she insisted they leave, which they then did, though unbeknownst to Cha, Ladybright had been destroyed by the Archivist, who then took control of the Siroto and they left. With the Siroto gone, Cha declared it good, and Vader stabbed her in the chest, killing her.[9]

Legacy[]

"I didn't survive because I fought or because I got lucky. I lived because I was saved by a woman named Chanath Cha. I didn't know her well. Qi'ra recruited her—her and her team, the Orphans—for the plan to destroy the Sith. Chanath was a good choice. She was very skilled, very brave…and she hated Darth Vader."
―The Archivist[9]

After Cha's death, Qi'ra and Cadeliah, who were at Dawnfall Base, spoke about Qi'ra's refusal to send the Dawn Fleet to rescue Cha. Cadeliah correctly deduced that she did not send the fleet because she did not want to reveal her forces to Emperor Palpatine. Qi'ra also stated another reason was that her forces were dwindling, and that she needed to protect them. Qi'ra then informed Cadeliah that whilst Cha thought she had known how her story was going to end, she was wrong, and that she had just been a character in Qi'ra's own story.[9] Sometime after the fall of Crimson Dawn,[7] the Archivist recorded the events of Qi'ra's attempts to destroy the Sith in a holocron. In her holocron, the Archivist recalled the time that Cha had saved her from Vader, crediting her for the fact that she had lived. She also called very skilled and brave.[9]

Personality and traits[]

"Sorry, my friend. But when this particular client calls, you drop everything."
"W-what…?"
―Cha drops Big String upon receiving a call from the Emperor[6]
ChasKilled-CrimsonReign-1

Chanath was traumatized by the death of her parents and swore revenge against Darth Vader.

Chanath Cha was a human female bounty hunter with brown skin, black hair, and dark eyes.[3] She often wore a helmet with a T-shaped visor and armor. Cha was a renowned bounty hunter who was contracted to undertake dangerous and sensitive missions by some of the most powerful figures in the galaxy including Emperor Palpatine.[6] Cha had little patience for the droid O-66's tedious nature and once decapitated him. She disliked long-winded explanations. Cha also did not believe in win or lose situations but qualified them as success versus failure.[11]

Cha respected Lando well enough to spare his life and cover up his involvement in stealing the Emperor's yacht Imperialis.[3] In order to protect him and Lobot, she decided to destroy the ship, per the Emperor's orders. Cha was unwilling to risk trouble with the Empire, particularly Darth Vader, the Emperor's enforcer. Cha also once harbored romantic feelings for Lobot but parted company after he became close with Lando. While Cha was good at coercion, she once mistakenly revealed that she had planted a pulse bomb on O-66. The cunning O-66 outplayed her by removing the bomb and later taunted Chanath for not keeping it a secret.[4]

Skills and abilities[]

Chanath was a skilled warrior who wore rocket boots. She was skilled in unarmed combat[6] and also wielded a blaster.[11] Cha's armor and rocket boots could also operate underwater.[6] On one occasion, Cha defeated the lightsaber-wielding Pavol with a knife.[4]

Behind the scenes[]

"I loved the character Chanath Cha. It was a throwback to Boba Fett. We had the big reveal that she was a female character later in the book; my goal was to fool the readers leading up to her unveiling."
―Alex Maleev[14]

Chanath Cha first appeared in the 2015 Marvel Comics series Star Wars: Lando. She was created by Charles Soule, drawn by Alex Maleev, and colored by Paul Mounts.[6]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Hidden Empire 3 states that Chanath Cha was twelve years old when her parents were killed in Darth Vader (2017) 11, which Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of to 19 BBY. Therefore Cha was born around 31 BBY
  2. ↑ The events of Hidden Empire 3, including the death of Chanath Cha on a planet, take place after the Auction for Han Solo and before the Rescue of Han Solo, which are dated to 3 ABY and 4 ABY, respectively, by Star Wars: Timelines.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Lando 4
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lando 5
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Darth Vader (2017) 11
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 Lando 2
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Crimson Reign 1
  8. ↑ War of the Bounty Hunters 5
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Hidden Empire 3
  10. ↑ Darth Vader (2015) 16
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lando 3
  12. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of War of the Bounty Hunters 5 to 3 ABY.
  13. ↑ Hidden Empire 2
  14. ↑ The Marvel Art of Star Wars
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