Attack on the Imperial Royal Guard Academy An attack on the Emperor ' s Royal Guard took place on Yinchorr during the Imperial Civil War . The incident occurred in the wake of the destruction of Byss , the Sith throneworld , and the final death of Emperor Palpatine . Carnor Jax , a member of the Emperor ' s Royal Guard and an aspiring Sith Lord himself , played a part in the Emperor ' s death , which was part of his bid for the title of Emperor . Jax ' s splinter group proceeded to cleanse the Empire of Palpatine ' s loyalists , leading to an attack on the Imperial Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr in an effort to kill the surviving members of the Royal Guard , who were knowledgeable of Jax ' s plot and were intent on retribution . The ensuing bloodbath led to the death of 18 guardsmen , as well as their leader , Ved Kennede . The sole guardsmen who survived the incident , Kir Kanos , vowed to carry on the guardsmen ' s pact to kill Jax and avenge Palpatine . Prelude . Following the first death of Emperor Palpatine during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , Palpatine ' s Royal Guardsmen were scattered until reconvening on Byss on 11 ABY , after their master returned in the form of a clone . Following the final death of Palpatine on Onderon that same year , many of his Royal Guardsmen also perished in the destruction of Byss , brought on by a misfiring of the Emperor ' s Galaxy Gun superweapon . Others died during the destruction of the Emperor ' s flagship , the " Eclipse II " . The few survivors of the unit made their way to the Imperial Royal Guard Academy on Yinchorr . Ten days after Palpatine ' s death , a wounded straggler made his way to the Academy : one of the two guards Palpatine had taken to Onderon . He had been wounded and believed killed by the aspiring Jedi Rayf Ysanna , but had , in fact , lived . By spying upon the New Republic interrogation of the Emperor ' s physician the lone Guardsmen learned that Palpatine ' s clones had failed to deliberate poisoning — and that such poisoning had been done on the orders of Carnor Jax , one of the Royal Guard who had not returned to Yinchorr with his comrades . The assembled Guardsmen made a promise to not rest until the traitor had been killed and Palpatine avenged . The attack . At that moment , scores of Imperial stormtroopers dispatched by Jax stormed the Academy , and the Guardsmen were forced to defend themselves . Outnumbered more than ten to one , they were slowly overrun , losing even their trainer Ved Kennede , until only two were left : Kir Kanos and Kile Hannad . Deciding that one of them should sacrifice his life so the other could live to fulfill the blood oath against Jax , they flipped a coin . The coin toss named Kanos as the one who would hunt down and kill Jax , leaving Kile Hannad to die a warrior ' s death . As Hannad charged the remaining Imperial forces , Kanos slipped quietly from the Academy before it was demolished , and escaped from Yinchorr to the portworld Phaeda as Hannad enjoyed a warrior ' s death . Aftermath . Jax later learned from an analysis of the dead that Kanos had escaped , and ordered his forces under General Redd Wessel to continue the search for the last man who knew the secret of how Jax had assumed the Imperial throne . Jax considered Kanos to be a thorn in his plans for Galactic domination , and possibly the only man in the galaxy capable of undoing his work . Kanos kept a low profile on Phaeda for a period of time following the massacre , where he inadvertently became entangled in the conflict between the New Republic and the Galactic Empire . His involvement would ultimately help him fulfill the blood pact against Jax , ultimately slaying him in The Squall on Yinchorr . Behind the scenes . The massacre of the Royal Guardsmen on Yinchorr was first depicted in the third issue of the Dark Horse Comics mini - series " Crimson Empire " . The incident serves as the catalyst for the conflict between Kir Kanos , the series ' s protagonistic anti - hero , and Carnor Jax , the series ' s antagonist .