Sa Cuis Sa Cuis was a Human male Dark Jedi and an Emperor ' s Hand . During the early months of his master Palpatine ' s Galactic Empire , Cuis commanded the Imperial Commando Special Unit , a unit tasked with hunting down Jedi and deserters . Due to Cuis ' s loyalty , Palpatine sent him on a mission to Vohai in 19 BBY . Cuis ' s goal was to attempt to kill Darth Vader , Palpatine ' s apprentice . Though Palpatine knew Cuis would fail , in reality he intended the mission as nothing more than a test for Vader . Like the Emperor predicted , Cuis was killed by the Sith Lord . Biography . Serving Palpatine . The Human male Sa Cuis was one of the first Dark Jedi to serve as an Emperor ' s Hand . In addition to being a talented duelist , he was exceptionally loyal to his master , the Dark Lord of the Sith Emperor Palpatine . In the time following the formation of the Galactic Empire , Cuis was assigned to command the Imperial Commando Special Unit , a special forces unit that was attached to the 501st Legion . The unit was tasked with hunting down Jedi , Jedi sympathizers and deserters , and was composed of former clone commandos and ARC troopers who had previously been members of the Grand Army of the Republic . On one occasion , Cuis met with Squad 40 of the Special Unit at the landing pad of the Imperial Special Forces headquarters on the planet Coruscant , to brief them for a mission . While he was walking toward where the squad was waiting for him , Cuis used the Force to listen to their conversation . From Cuis ' s demeanor , Darman , one of the commandos , was able to work out that Cuis was a Force - user . Cuis sensed that Darman had realized this , and when he reached the squad he handed a datachip to the squad commander , RC - 1309 , nicknamed " Niner , " and then shook Darman ' s hand to allow him to get a better sense of what the commando was thinking . He then began the briefing and told the commandos that they were to travel to the planet Celen and capture the Antarian Ranger Jilam Kester , who had been sighted there . Following the meeting , Cuis planned to keep an eye on Darman ; he thought that the commando might be dangerous as Darman had been able to deduce Cuis ' s true nature . Suicide mission . In 19 BBY , Palpatine asked Cuis to follow Darth Vader , Palpatine ' s apprentice , to the Parmel sector and kill him . However , Cuis was aware that Vader would almost certainly defeat him , and so asked his master why he was being sent on such a mission . Palpatine responded curtly that he expected Cuis to die , and that this was simply a test for Vader . Demonstrating his loyalty , Cuis agreed to go nonetheless , willing to sacrifice himself for his master . On Vohai , Cuis had several assassins attack Vader while he was inspecting Arkanian Microtechnologies . Vader , with the aid of his personal assistant Erv Lekauf , killed these assassins easily . He was now aware of the Dark Jedi ' s presence , and was prepared for a battle . In the courtyard , Cuis confronted Vader . Though Cuis was skilled in the art of lightsaber combat , he was overpowered by Vader . Cuis was left defenseless and backed into a corner . Infuriated , Vader Force choked Cuis and demanded to know who had sent him . Sa Cuis refused to answer despite being close to death , and Vader realized that he had found someone thoroughly loyal to their master . However , Vader was sure he knew who had sent the Dark Jedi — Emperor Palpatine , ever a master of betrayal . Impressed with Cuis ' s loyalty , Vader allowed Cuis to live long enough for Arkanian Microtechnologies technicians to take swabs and cell samples for cloning . Once the samples were collected , Vader offered him one more chance to surrender . Cuis refused , and Vader then decapitated him . Cuis was replaced by Roly Melusar as the commander of the Special Unit and Melusar informed the commandos that Cuis had been reassigned to recruitment issues . Sa Cuis ' s clones would later be trained under Sheyvan , another Emperor ' s Hand . Sheyvan led the Cuis clones in a revolt against Palpatine onboard his " Lambda " - class shuttle one and a half years later , although Sheyvan and all of Cuis ' s clones were killed in the fight . Personality and traits . Sa Cuis was extremely loyal to his Master , Palpatine . He was willing to undertake a suicide mission simply because the Emperor commanded it of him . Even when offered a chance to live , Cuis denied it , because it would mean the betrayal of his Master . Vader was surprised by this unrelenting loyalty , and wished he could find someone who would be so loyal to him . Cuis ' s clones carried on these same traits , remaining true to Sheyvan , who trained them . Cuis was also a skilled fighter who used two lightsabers and was strong in the Force . However , Cuis was overweight and generally appeared self - conscious and uncomfortable in his role as commander of the Imperial Commando Special Unit , which resulted in him being unpopular with the troops who served under him . Behind the scenes . Sa Cuis was created for the Karen Traviss short story " In His Image " , where he was a supporting character and an adversary to the main character , Darth Vader . His clones later appeared in the short story " A Two - Edged Sword " , also written by Traviss . In 2009 , he made an appearance in Traviss ' s novel " " . The character of Sa Cuis was modeled visually by Matt Busch , who also illustrated the short story .