Tav Kennede Tav Kennede was the son of Ved Kennede , the head training instructor for the Emperor ' s Royal Guard . In 11 ABY , Kennede ' s father , along with many other Royal Guardsmen , was killed on Yinchorr by stormtroopers under the command of Carnor Jax , a rogue Guardsman who participated in a conspiracy against the late Emperor Palpatine . Tav Kennede was informed of Jax ' s actions by Kir Kanos , the only survivor of the massacre , and allied himself with the Guardsman to avenge his father ' s death . After a brief meeting on Baramorra , Kennede and Kanos decided to employ themselves as bounty hunters to the Hutt crime lord Grappa , intending to build up the reputations of their false identities to a point where they could successfully infiltrate the Imperial Interim Ruling Council , Jax ' s co - conspirators . While at Grappa ' s palace on Genon , Kanos assigned Kennede to spy on Mirith Sinn , a New Republic commander who also employed herself to Grappa and claimed to be hunting Kanos over the recent death of a friend . Over the course of his surveillance , Kennede came to the conclusion that Sinn had ulterior motives and was using her faux vendetta against Kanos as a cover . After Grappa discovered Sinn ' s true intentions to spy on the Hutt and gave her over to his Zanibar allies , Kennede and Kanos were forced to rescue the woman from Xo , the Zanibar homeworld , but Kanos allowed himself to remain behind on the planet to ensure Sinn ' s escape . Upon learning from Sinn about evidence of a Black Sun conspiracy to replace the Ruling Council with clones , Kennede joined the woman in leading a New Republic strike on Black Sun ' s main cloning facilities , and the pair later freed Kanos after the Zanibar returned him to Grappa . Kennede , Kanos , and Sinn subsequently traveled to Ord Cantrell , headquarters of the Ruling Council , and allied themselves with Imperial shipping magnate Baron Ragez D ' Asta in a confrontation with Xandel Carivus , a former Councilman who had disbanded the Ruling Council and declared himself the new Emperor . Kanos was able to kill Carivus , avenging the death of the late Ved Kennede . Tav Kennede decided to join the forces of Baron D ' Asta , who had recently withdrawn the sector he ruled from the Empire . Biography . Early life and service to Kir Kanos . Tav Kennede was the son of Ved Kennede , a former Imperial Royal Guardsman and Master Instructor of the Imperial Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr . Though Tav Kennede was never trained to be a Royal Guardsman himself , his father taught him the secret battle language of the Guard as a child . In 11 ABY , Kennede ' s father and the majority of the Royal Guard gathered on Yinchorr to mourn the passing of Emperor Palpatine , whose final clone had recently been killed on Onderon . When one Guardsman claimed to have knowledge of an Imperial conspiracy surrounding the death of the Emperor , the entire party was attacked by stormtroopers under the command of rogue Guardsman Carnor Jax , who had betrayed the Emperor for his own purposes and sought to cover up his part in the Emperor ' s death . The massacre claimed the lives of almost every Guardsman , including Kennede ' s father ; the only survivor was Guardsman Kir Kanos , who informed Tav Kennede about Jax ' s betrayal . Kanos , who remained fanatically loyal to the deceased Emperor , killed Jax and sought out Kennede ' s aid in the execution of other parties involved in Palpatine ' s death , including Jax ' s co - conspirators , the Imperial Interim Ruling Council . Kennede willingly allied himself with Kanos , seeking to gain vengeance on those responsible for his father ' s death . The Guardsman soon contacted Kennede from the planet Baramorra and requested that several items be brought to him within two days , including an R2 - series astromech droid , to aid in their mission . Kennede complied and Kanos told him to look for a bounty hunter named Kenix Kil , an alias the Guardsman had assumed when bounties placed on him by the Interim Ruling Council elevated following Jax ' s death . Kennede immediately recognized the name as an anagram for " Kir Kanos " in the Royal Guard battle language and had no trouble identifying him two days later on Baramorra , after the Guardsman executed Boss Banjeer , nephew of the Councilman Admiral Banjeer . As requested , Kennede brought Kanos the equipment he needed . The pair left Baramorra and made several stops before formulating a plan to take down the remaining conspirators . Spying on Mirith Sinn . Disguised as bounty hunters , Kennede and Kanos decided to enter into the employment of the Hutt crime lord Grappa on Genon in order to gain inside information on their next target , the Ruling Council , which they hoped to infiltrate by gaining their cover personas notoriety among Grappa ' s group . They successfully gained access to Grappa ' s palace on Genon and blended in as a pair of the Hutt ' s many bounty hunters . At the palace , Kanos recognized New Republic Commander Mirith Sinn , who had recently employed herself to Grappa and claimed to be looking for Kanos . Kanos knew that Sinn blamed him for the death of her friend , Sish Sadeet , and ordered Kennede to spy on Sinn to confirm whether she was seeking vengeance on the Guardsman . Sinn , in reality , was using her past with Kanos as a cover story to investigate Grappa ' s involvement in the recent hijackings of New Republic supply ships . Tav Kennede continued to keep tabs on Sinn while she was at Grappa ' s palace and followed her to the planet Smarck , where Grappa had arrived with much of his court to perform a business transaction with the Black Sun crime syndicate . Kennede surreptitiously shadowed Sinn as she began searching the Black Sun facility for clues relating to her investigation . When Sinn peered through the opening of a door leading to a chamber where Grappa and his Black Sun associate , Macus Kayniph , were having their private dealings , Kennede noticed that whatever she witnessed occurring behind the door surprised her greatly . After Sinn broke off from the rest of Grappa ' s entourage , Kennede was unable to follow her . He reported back to Kanos and concluded that Sinn was likely not hunting the Guardsman , believing that she had found whatever she was looking for back on Smarck . Kennede admitted that he had no idea what Sinn ' s intentions were and was ordered by Kanos to continue his surveillance of the woman . Back at Grappa ' s palace , Kennede continued watching Sinn from a distance when the Hutt held a banquet in honor of his Black Sun allies . Kennede followed Sinn as she sneaked through a restricted area of the palace and into a set of quarters . There , Sinn found a drugged and captive Feena D ' Asta , daughter of the Imperial shipping magnate Baron Ragez D ' Asta and purportedly a member of the Ruling Council . When one of Grappa ' s guards discovered Sinn and attempted to turn her in , Kennede swiftly stabbed him in the back with a knife and told a confounded Sinn to head to back to the banquet before her absence began causing suspicion . Kennede then disposed of the guard ' s body and returned to the banquet as well , where he continued to monitor the New Republic operative . Sinn ' s former subordinate , Massimo , soon arrived at the banquet and sold her out to Grappa , revealing her true reasons for being employed to the Hutt . After Grappa gave Sinn over to the Zanibar , a species allied with the Hutt , for one of their sacrificial ceremonies , Kanos decided to follow her to the Zanibar homeworld , Xo , with the hopes of rescuing the woman because he believed he had a debt to repay to her . He instructed Kennede to pick both of them up from Xo at a later time . As planned , Kennede arrived at Xo the next day and flew his two - seated X - wing toward the surface of the planet . Kanos had already rescued Sinn but the two were fleeing from Zanibar forces . Kennede opened fire on the pursuers with his X - wing ' s laser cannons and the moment he touched down , Sinn boarded the X - wing , occupying its remaining seat . On Kanos ' s orders , he lifted off with Sinn and escaped Xo while the Guardsman was taken captive by the remaining Zanibar . Taking down Xandel Carivus . Kennede and Sinn traveled to a New Republic base , where Kennede temporarily became a Republic recruit . He revealed to Sinn his identity and his past with Kanos , and Sinn in turn described what she saw on Smarck . She explained that she witnessed Black Sun agents handing Feena D ' Asta over to Grappa , despite the fact that she knew D ' Asta was with the rest of the Ruling Council on Ord Cantrell . Kennede and Sinn came to the conclusion that one of the D ' Astas was a clone intended for a Black Sun plot to control the Ruling Council . Shortly afterward , Kennede joined several squadrons of New Republic starfighters led by Sinn in an attack on Black Sun ' s cloning facilities on Smarck . During the battle , Sinn received word that Kanos had been taken back to Grappa ' s palace by the Zanibar . Kennede , Sinn , and several other New Republic pilots made their way to Genon and confronted Grappa , who was surprised to learn that Kennede ' s employment to him was a ruse . They were able to intimidate the Hutt into releasing both Kanos and the original Feena D ' Asta . When Baron Ragez D ' Asta learned that his daughter , in reality a clone of the original Feena D ' Asta , had been imprisoned along with the majority of the Ruling Council by former Councilman and self - declared Emperor Xandel Carivus , the Baron launched an all - out attack against Carivus ' s forces at Ord Cantrell . The battle ultimately ended in a ceasefire and the safe release of the D ' Asta clone . After Sinn and Kanos arrived and reunited the Baron with his real daughter , Kennede accompanied the party to confront Carivus at Ord Cantrell ' s capital city , De - Purteen . Baron D ' Asta threatened Carivus with the secession of his sector from the Empire , prompting the Emperor to call for his guards . In the ensuing firefight , Kennede saved the elder D ' Asta ' s life by taking a blaster bolt in his shoulder that was intended for the Baron . The injured Kennede told Kanos to go after the fleeing Carivus , and was taken to safety by Feena D ' Asta ' s clone . Once Kanos succeeded in killing Carivus and avenging the death of Kennede ' s father , Kennede and the Guardsman decided to get Baron D ' Asta to safety before additional Imperial troops arrived . Kennede , Sinn , Kanos , and Baron D ' Asta , along with his daughters , reconvened on the Baron ' s flagship a short time later . After Baron D ' Asta announced the withdrawal of his sector from the Empire , Kennede chose to enter into his service . Prior to bidding Kanos farewell , Kennede told the Guardsman that his services were always at his disposal . He remained aboard the Baron ' s flagship while Sinn returned to New Republic space and Kanos went off to pursue his continuing vendetta against the Emperor ' s enemies . Personality and traits . Tav Kennede was a brown - haired and brown - eyed male Human . In the wake of Palpatine ' s final death , Kennede understood that the Empire had grown corrupt and was no longer the same authority that his father or Kanos had once served . He had no qualms about attacking Imperial holdings and willingly joined the New Republic to combat the Empire . When Jax and the Ruling Council betrayed his father , he joined Kir Kanos in his quest to take down the conspirators . Kennede was very loyal to Kanos ; he aided in fulfilling the Guardsman ' s personal agendas , such as discovering Mirith Sinn ' s true intentions at Grappa ' s palace , and did not hesitate to leave Kanos behind on Zanibar when the Guardsman issued a direct order to do so . Kanos considered Kennede a friend , and Kennede offered the Guardsman his services even after the two parted ways . Kennede was able to successfully spy on Mirith Sinn , a trained New Republic agent , without the woman ever noticing him until he was forced to intervene on her behalf at Grappa ' s palace . He was covert in his methods , and was able to kill one of Grappa ' s guards and discard the body before causing suspicion . When he gave Kanos his report on Sinn ' s activities at Smarck , he understood the importance of maintaining their false identities in public and only referred to the Guardsman in the third person . Kennede played his cover well , and Grappa was unable to discover his true intentions until he confronted the Hutt with his New Republic allies . He willingly put his own life before that of others , saving Baron D ' Asta from a lethal blaster bolt . Kennede decided to enter into the Baron ' s service after his own personal quest for vengenace against his father ' s murderers was settled . While he was in Grappa ' s employ , Kennede typically wore a concealing black cloak and was armed with a blaster , as well as a knife . He was a skilled pilot , saving Kanos and Sinn from the Zanibar by clandestinely flying to their location in his X - wing and utilizing his fighter ' s laser cannons against the pursuers . He also flew several combat missions with the New Republic in his X - wing , while Sinn commanded the various starfighter squadrons from the fighter ' s copilot seat . As a child , Kennede was taught the secret battle language of the Emperor ' s Royal Guard by his father , which Kanos considered to be a breach of Guard protocol . Behind the scenes . Tav Kennede was created by Randy Stradley and Mike Richardson for the 1998 – 1999 comic book series " " , illustrated by Paul Gulacy . He first appeared in the comic ' s as a background character present in several panels with Mirith Sinn , though his physical appearance was concealed by his cloak . He played a larger role in the , wherein he first received dialogue . The established his name and background , and depicted him unconcealed for the first time . He also appeared in the of the series and was featured on the issue ' s cover , illustrated by Dave Dorman . Kennede additionally made a brief appearance in the 1999 comic " " , also written by Stradley and illustrated by Javier Saltares . He received an entry alongside his father in the 1999 " " supplement work . Kennede ' s biography in the " Handbook " was later reused almost verbatim for his entry in " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " in 2008 .