Aqinos Aqinos was a male Sunesi Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic during the final years of the Republic Classic era . Deemed a heretic for melding the Force with technology , Aqinos was cast out of the Order and became an Altisian Jedi ; therefore he was able to survive the Great Jedi Purge with many of his Iron Knight s . He subsequently perished in the Yuuzhan Vong War . Biography . A Force - sensitive Sunesi male from Monor II , Aqinos entered the Jedi Order at a young age and began receiving formal training at the Coruscant Jedi Temple . Eventually taken as the Padawan of Jedi Jaled Dur , Aqinos went on to pass the Trials of Knighthood and ascend to the rank of Jedi Knight . After years of independent study and service , Aqinos was given the title of Jedi Master and went on to teach students at the Temple where he was criticized for his philosophies regarding droids . Believing that droids were a form of sentient life , Aqinos pursued studies into bonding Force - sensitives with technology . Cast out of the Order by the Jedi High Council because of these beliefs , Master Aqinos found refuge aboard Master Djinn Altis ' s praxeum ship , the " Chu ' unthor " , where he continued to teach . Around 60 BBY , Master Aqinos discovered the Force - sensitive Shard named Ilum and her twelve children on Orax and began training them in the ways of the Force . Residing on Dweem , Master Aqinos was able to imbue these individuals ' Force - abilities within the shell of several Juggernaut war droid s , FLTCH series droid s , and Uulshos Justice droid s . Deemed fully trained Jedi by Master Aqinos , the so - called " Iron Knight s " approached the Jedi Order and fought alongside Jedi Mace Windu during the Arkanian Revolution of 50 BBY . However , this did not gain them favor with the High Council and the group remained isolated from Coruscant and the Jedi Temple there . Several decades later , the group reemerged on the front lines of the Clone Wars , fighting on behalf of the Republic against the Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems . While not accepted by the Order , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine granted them the titles of High Marshal within the Grand Army of the Republic . While most Jedi were slain during the Great Jedi Purge initiated by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious , many of the Iron Knights and Master Aqinos were able to retreat to Dweem and remain hidden . Aqinos and his Knights were approached by Jedi Luke Skywalker in 13 ABY , and were asked to help in rebuilding the Jedi Order . Joining Skywalker ' s fledgling Order , the Iron Knights and Aqinos helped defeat the Red Knights of Life on Osarian and Uffel and saved Kligson ' s Moon from the Yuuzhan Vong . They fought in defense of Hosk Station , during which one of Ilum ' s children , Luxum , fell to the dark side of the Force and led a group of assassin droids against the Yuuzhan Vong as the aliens began their invasion of the galaxy . During this conflict , Aqinos himself fell victim to the Yuuzhan Vong , becoming one with the Force after nearly a century of service to the galaxy . Behind the scenes . Aqinos first appeared in " Star Wars Missions 14 : The Monsters of Dweem " , but was not given a name or species . Abel G . Peña identified him as a Sunesi , and , following the lead of Kathy Tyers , who named her Sunesi characters after historical figures , chose the name Aqinos . This was a homage to because of the " overt parallels between the Sunesi religion and Christianity . " Thomas Aquinas was a famous philosopher and theologian in the . This was a methodology that made use of fine distinctions , and , in an ironic move , Peña had Master Aqinos criticize this methodology with the essay .