Tyber Zann Tyber Zann was a Human male crime lord from Anaxes who rose to prominence after the Battle of Yavin during the Galactic Civil War and led his own faction , known as the Zann Consortium , a powerful crime syndicate . He would wage a personal war against the Galactic Empire as revenge for expelling him from the Imperial Academy . Biography . Early life . Tyber Zann was born on Anaxes in 34 BBY , and first worked in the family firm Zann Remanufacturing , which specialized in refitting outdated Old Republic and Imperial Military hardware for civilian use . He became bored with the linear business , and started running illicit sabacc games and book - making , which he found to provide the excitement and revenue that he sought . In order to arm his gambling ring ' s enforcers , Zann attempted to steal an arms shipment from one the company ' s warehouses . The security forces caught him and reported the attempted theft to his father , who as punishment , arranged for him to be enrolled as a cadet in the Imperial Academy of Carida . Rise of the Consortium . Imperial service . Operating out of the Academy , Zann established a new smuggling ring - the Zann Consortium . The facility ' s lax security made it simple for him to steal Imperial weaponry and smuggle it off - world , to his partner Urai Fen , who sold them on the black market . A top performer , Zann used the credentials this granted him to get on training missions where he could form a network of contacts for the smuggling trade . The operation became one the largest in the galaxy , and he started to evoke the attention of more powerful criminals , namely Jabba the Hutt . Jabba coordinated a plan to catch Zann during a smuggling run shortly before his graduation . Fortunately for Tyber , Urai intercepted transmissions between Imperial authorities about the plot . Although he was able to avoid any prosecution , Zann was forced to leave the Academy in contempt . Alliance with Jabba . Despite his misgivings , Zann perceived that to continue building the Zann Consortium he would need to forge an alliance with Jabba . Subsequently he began running smuggling operations for the Hutt in exchange for vehicles and vessels , while also concealing assets from the fellow Crime Lord . Zann never intended this arrangement to be permanent , and after a year he had gained word that Jabba had spent nearly half his wealth on a unique artifact , though Tyber did not know anything of its origins . Raid over Mandalore . The Zann Consortium was still small , and Zann intended to establish communications with a black market on Nal Hutta , though first he needed to show them an example of his capabilities , and develop a reputation that the Consortium was a force - to - be - reckoned with . After being informed by one of his soldiers that the Mandalorian Supreme Strategist was traveling to the Hutt space station above Mandalore , Zann seized the opportunity . Traveling to Mandalore , the Consortium flotilla destroyed the V - wing escort sent to prepare for the strategist ' s arrival . Shortly afterwards , the strategist arrived , though the Consortium ambushed him . During the battle , the strategist ' s engines were destroyed , his ship was boarded , and he was taken prisoner . Zann assigned one of his defiler s to establish communications with the black market , and Urai was sent to buy disruptor technology for the Consortium ' s mercenaries . Theft of the artifact . Zann ' s agents decoded a message from an Imperial outpost on Felucia that authorized Jabba to land on the planet ' s surface . Recognizing that the Hutt intended to sell the artifact to the Empire , Zann lead a taskforce along with Urai and several squads of mercenaries to steal the artifact before the transaction could be made . Posing as Hutt Cartel forces , the Imperial fleet commander was convinced , though hesitantly , that the group were arriving separately from the main group to safeguard the artifact . The taskforce , aboard a TZ - 86 transport located a clearing in the dense foliage and landed there . Ordering Alpha Squad to scout ahead and make sure that their path to the Hutt landing site was clear , Zann watched as they perished to Felucian spore plant s . Fortunately for the remainder , they had brought a repulsorlift F9 - TZ Transport , which Zann ordered his troops to unload , and to deploy a Mobile Defense Unit with a rocket pod , lest somebody stumble across the landing site . The group proceeded to ride the transport as far as they could , but thick vegetation obstructed their path , so they had to traverse the rest by foot . The taskforce came into conflict with Cartel forces along the way , although they failed to avert the Consortium ' s advance . Leaving the troops behind , Zann and Urai utilized their personal cloaking device s to bypass the anti - infantry turrets and reach where the artifact was being held . Urai uncloaked and killed the Hutt mercenaries guarding the artifact , and Zann ordered him to take the relic and meet him at the rendezvous point . Just after the cloaked Urai left , Tyber was apprehended by Stormtroopers , which Zann defeated , though many more Imperial forces arrived immediately afterwards . Outnumbered , Zann let them take him into custody , but vowed that they wouldn ' t hold him for long . Imprisoned . While Zann rotted away in the spice mines of Kessel , Urai Fen waited for the time Zann had set for his escape . By starting a riot on Kessel and hiring the crew of " Millennium Falcon " to pick him up , Zann made his escape , narrowly avoiding execution from a bounty hunter hired by Jabba . After his return to freedom , Zann , along with his closest companion Urai Fen , gradually reestablished the Consortium as a power to be reckoned with from their headquarters on Ryloth . Among other things , the criminal organization would offer protection to worlds affected by the Galactic Civil War , having built up a sizable military force . Lieutenant Izbela Saarrj of the Imperial Security Bureau wrote a report on his activities around 0 ABY , mentioning his use of spies to study the Star Dreadnought " Eclipse " , the first " Eclipse " - class dreadnought , while it underwent construction . The " Eclipse " was armed with an axial - super laser and was larger than any star destroyer created prior . Corrupting a galaxy . Zann also made a treaty with Jabba the Hutt stating that he would not operate on Hutt worlds after a battle on Hypori . He was allowed to keep Saleucami and Hypori as a condition of the treaty . He used his extensive crime network to influence the warring factions of the Galactic Civil War , siphon their credits , and sabotage their operations when necessary . During the course of his ascent to power , his forces fought against both factions of the war . He had his own flagship , an " Aggressor " - class destroyer named " Merciless " , for his navy . When fighting , he would sometimes make use of his own personal cloaking device that rendered him invisible . Zann was also intent on discovering the mysteries of the ancient Sith holocron , stolen from Jabba while he was making a deal with the Galactic Empire on Felucia . He employed a Nightsister , Silri , whom he freed on Dathomir in order to have her decipher the Sith artifact . Though she knew of the artifact ' s true importance , she withheld information from Tyber causing them to quarrel verbally on several occasions . After the battle of Dathomir , Tyber was contacted by Admiral Thrawn who warned him about his behavior and actions . After the Empire seized control of Bespin , Prince Xizor contacted Tyber Zann and offered him a job to steal Tibanna Gas from the Bespin refinery which they would split in half . In exchange , Xizor would arrange a meeting with the Emperor or one of his representatives to whom Tyber could sell the Sith Artifact . Tyber and Urai knew this was a trap and knew that Xizor ' s rival Darth Vader controlled Bespin . Tyber and Urai Fen hired IG - 88 to plant evidence to frame Xizor and the Black Sun . Later on , a stormtrooper reported to Vader and told him that they had evidence that suggested that the Black Sun stole the Tibanna Gas . Vader later killed Xizor partly because of this robbery of Bespin . After Tyber , Urai , and IG - 88 raided tibanna gas from Bespin , Xizor of Black Sun provided Tyber with a contact in the Empire , to whom he would sell the Sith Artifact . The negotiation was a trap . Grand Admiral Thrawn ' s fleet engaged Tyber ' s ; the " Merciless " was first revealed in the battle . During the battle Bossk stole the Sith Artifact from Zann and gave it to Thrawn , who then fled in the Star Destroyer " Admonitor " , leaving the remaining ships to their fates . After defeating the remaining Imperial fleet , Tyber returned to Ryloth . After he and Silri had a " misunderstanding " over the information of the Sith Artifact , Tyber promised to have every Nightsister on Dathomir annihilated if she lied or withheld information again . He also made clear that his associate and friend , Urai Fen , would kill Silri if any attempt was made on Zann ' s life ( as he mentioned to Tyber quite frequently ) . Tyber , Urai , and Silri raided the Emperor ' s archive at Coruscant after they put a tracer on the Sith Artifact . Tyber stole the Emperor ' s passkey to get on the " Eclipse " and Silri reclaimed the Sith Artifact . Battle for the Eclipse . Their last known action involved taking over the " Eclipse " in 4 ABY in order to gain information on the Emperor ' s vaults , during the Battle for the " Eclipse " . Zann proceeded to steal billions of credits , technical data , and many priceless works of art from Emperor Palpatine ' s personal vault network , thus ensuring that he has enough resources to spread the Consortium throughout the galaxy . After his theft , Tyber decided to abandon the " Eclipse " as it would be a " target even the Rebels could not miss . " He also decided to allow the Rebel Alliance to form their New Republic , seeing it as a chance to " own a senator . " The " Eclipse " was later recovered by Imperial forces , who continued its construction . However , Silri secretly unlocked the holocron behind Zann ' s and Fen ' s backs . The artifact led her to an ancient Sith tomb , with thousands of Sith soldiers frozen in carbonite . Legacy . Inspired by Zann ' s earlier riot , the prisoners in the spice mines of Kessel staged yet another revolt . Personality and traits . Zann was cold , methodical , ambitious , and ruthless , and had an arrogant streak , as evidenced by his steadfast confidence in himself . He liked to be in complete control of things and was also quite cunning . He was a criminal mastermind , a tactical genius , and adept at using most weapons of war . He could hold a grudge on people and would not let it go until he made them pay . Zann also seemed quite confident in his abilities , making his leadership abilities very powerful . Zann ' s cruelty was expressed during the Felucia theft , when his scouts in Alpha Squad were killed by native spores , he expressed no sense of dismay or sadness , but said the ship would be a little bit lighter when they left the planet . Despite these negatives traits , Tyber had a sense of humor , albeit a rather rude one , as seen throughout the Campaign towards Urai , such as when he asked Urai whether he had trained to be a Jedi during his absence . He was a long time ally of Urai Fen , who was possibly his only true friend , and the two were known to call each other by their first names . He however cared very little for those who served him as soldiers and would kill those who disobeyed him even if their actions actually gained him something . He was also very tolerant of Silri ' s actions compared to Urai , who often wanted to kill her . Tyber kept her around and she even managed to grow on him , though he loathed to admit it . Zann wielded a modified Rawk chopped special , a weapon which was later favored by Cade Skywalker around 130 ABY . Behind the scenes . Zann was included in " Star Wars Insider 89 " ' s " " at the request of LucasArts , who wished additional publicity for him . For his illustration in " Insider 89 " , artist Joe Corroney based him on British actor Jason Isaacs , using a promotional image of Isaac ' s character Lucius Malfoy from the " Harry Potter " films as a reference . Zann was voiced by Steven Blum in the " " trailer , and by Jake Eberie in the actual game . This character name is often misspelled ' Zahn ' as the gold pack version of the game ' s case featured this spelling . This error was corrected in later printings .