Nefta Nefta , a humanoid male , was a member of the Imperial Ruling Circle and a Dark Side Adept loyal to Galactic Emperor Palpatine during his reign in clone bodies . After Palpatine was killed by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker , Nefta — along with another darksider , Sa - Di — decided to take his place instead of waiting until he returned in a new clone body . The adepts destroyed the Emperor ' s clones that had survived an attack attempted previously by Skywalker . Palpatine ' s loyal Executor Sedriss , however , witnessed Nefta ' s and Sa - Di ' s treachery and killed them for it . Biography . Nefta was a humanoid male member of the Imperial Ruling Circle and a Dark Side Adept serving Galactic Emperor Palpatine , who had been reborn in a clone body after his death during the Battle of Endor against the Rebel Alliance in 4 ABY . In 10 ABY , Palpatine launched an assault on the Alliance — which had taken over dominant governmental and territorial control of the galaxy from the Galactic Empire — but was killed by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker , who also destroyed Palpatine ' s clones stored in the Emperor ' s Citadel on the planet Byss . Skywalker , however , was not aware that Palpatine had an additional hidden storage of clones in that same citadel . Following the Emperor ' s death , Executor Sedriss — a member of the Dark Side Elite , the select cadre of Palpatine ' s Dark Jedi — assumed command of the Imperial forces , hoping that one day Palpatine ' s spirit would inhabit another clone and the Emperor would return to rule the Empire once more . Nefta , however , thought that the Emperor ' s return could occur many years later , and without a leader , the Empire could collapse beforehand . Nefta and fellow darksider Sa - Di wanted to take the throne themselves and decided to ensure that Palpatine would not come back to stand in their way . The two first spread rumors of the Emperor ' s permanent demise , and later , when Sedriss departed to discipline the recently rebelled planet of Balmorra , made their final move . Nefta and Sa - Di , armed with a lightsaber and an axe respectively , assaulted the secret storage of clones and destroyed all cloning tanks one by one . Just as they finished their mission , Sedriss returned from Balmorra and witnessed the results of their work . The Executor immediately decided to kill the two for their treachery and attacked Nefta with his lightsaber . Nefta blocked the first blow with his own weapon but was then quickly slain by Sedriss , who later executed Sa - Di as well . Unbeknownst to all three , Palpatine had in fact already taken a new clone body and was watching the entire scene from the shadows in a corridor . After Nefta ' s and Sa - Di ' s deaths , the Emperor revealed himself and acknowledged Sedriss ' s loyalty toward him . Personality and traits . Nefta was an ambitious individual who was willing to rule the Galactic Empire . Although considered to be one of Palpatine ' s closest friends , Nefta betrayed him by destroying the clones , a task he found most distasteful , but necessary to preserve the Empire . Powers and abilities . Nefta was able to adequately handle a lightsaber , using one to destroy the clone tanks . He also apparently possessed some Force powers , which Sedriss referred to as " magic , " although neither Nefta ' s skill with the lightsaber nor his powers were enough to defeat the Executor . Behind the scenes . Nefta ' s only appearance in " Star Wars " Legends is in the of the " Dark Empire II " comic book series , written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy . Nefta and Sa - Di are the only two characters in the entire comic series whose lines in the speech bubbles are written in white on the black background , instead of the traditional black on white . Nefta is completely absent from the audio adaptation of " Dark Empire II " , in which Sa - Di destroys the clones by himself . His name is most likely a reference to , a village in Tunisia where scenes from the 1977 film were filmed . In addition to his sole appearance , Nefta was briefly referenced in several sources , including the 2002 " The New Essential Guide to Characters " and " The Emperor ' s Pawns " , an article appearing in the fifth issue of the " Star Wars Gamer " magazine . That article contains a continuity error , as it states that the Emperor ' s Hand Sarcev Quest betrayed Nefta and Sa - Di when abusing the power within the Ruling Council . Quest ' s rise to power , however , occurred after the final death of Palpatine in 11 ABY , a year after Sedriss killed Nefta and Sa - Di .