Bentilais san Sk ' ar Bentilais san Sk ' ar was a Kaleesh general in the Galactic Empire who served during the Galactic Civil War . Originally a warlord on his native Kalee , his resistance forces had been routed by Imperial Captain Thrawn , who leveled the planet with his Star Destroyers . Accepting defeat , Sk ' ar allowed himself to be captured by Captain Rel Bentin , who brought him before Emperor Palpatine . Seeing Sk ' ar ' s potential , Palpatine accepted him into the ranks of his Imperial armies and sent him to bring order to remote , outlying worlds . Sk ' ar embarked on a campaign across the Jahilid Drift , conquering several worlds and making a name for himself in the Imperial military . Preferring to use divide and conquer tactics rather than flat out bombardment , Sk ' ar ' s plans put his troops at lessened risk while putting the worlds he overran under stronger Imperial control . His campaigns eventually brought him to Shiva IV ; however , there he was thwarted by agents of the Alliance to Restore the Republic . Attempting to evade defeat , he was killed when the Wookiee Chewbacca threw a solid steel gun mount at his ship , causing Sk ' ar ' s aircraft to explode . Biography . Early career . Bentilais san Sk ' ar was a Kaleesh who was born during the time of the Galactic Republic . He lived on the planet Kalee and was originally a revolutionary , but eventually became the ruler of the planet ' s western hemisphere . When the insectoid Yam ' rii species invaded Kalee , Sk ' ar joined the Kolkpravis , a group of Kaleesh tribal warriors who were resisting the Yam ' rii . He served under the leadership of Qymaen jai Sheelal and became one of the Izvoshra , eight elite soldiers who were personally answerable to Sheelal and served as his bodyguards . However , after the Yam ' rii petitioned to the Galactic Senate , the Republic intervened and ended the conflict , enforcing crippling economic sanctions on the Kaleesh . Peace did not last long ; the Yam ' rii desecrated Kaleesh burial grounds on the colony world Oben , so Sheelal gathered Sk ' ar and the other Izvoshra and they flew to Oben , where they planned re - establish hostilities with the Yam ' rii . Due to sabotage by the InterGalactic Banking Clan , their ship crashed into to the Jenuwaa Sea . The crash killed all of the Izvoshra , except for Sk ' ar , and seriously injured Sheelal , so Sk ' ar rallied the Kolkpravis under his leadership . They slaughtered all of the Yam ' rii on Oben and Sk ' ar had his people re - locate there . Following the rise of the Galactic Empire , Sk ' ar violently resisted Imperial rule for over a decade , although his forces were finally routed by Captain Thrawn , who was usually able to study his adversaries ' art and devise a strategy to defeat them from there . In the case of the Kaleesh , Thrawn was unable to comprehend the works of art , and so leveled the planet Oben with his Star Destroyers . Sk ' ar recognized superior tactics when he saw them and held no ill will against the victors since his people had died with honor . Instead , the general was taken aback by the sheer power of the technology wielded by his adversaries . Waiting in the remains of his razed headquarters , Sk ' ar was approached by Captain Rel Bentin , to whom he offered his life or his services . Bentin , intimidated by the towering figure of Sk ' ar , brought the Kaleesh before Emperor Palpatine . The Emperor was impressed by Sk ' ar ' s courage in the face of almost certain death and knew full well what a Kaleesh warlord could achieve , as he had used the services of Sheelal during the Clone Wars . Seeing a purpose for Sk ' ar in his Empire , Palpatine sent the Kaleesh general to bring some of the more remote worlds on the edge of known space into line . With an Imperial strike force under his command , Sk ' ar set out to vindicate Palpatine ' s judgment . He conquered the worlds of Pral , Koltine , and others located within the Jahilid Drift , and began to earn a degree of respect amongst his peers . Even the Empire ' s more xenophobic officers recognized the successes of General Sk ' ar . Unlike his colleagues , however , the Kaleesh excelled at undermining his adversaries through subterfuge and trickery , putting his soldiers at lesser risk and allowing for more significant control over conquered worlds . Leading from the front , Sk ' ar equipped himself with a strong personal energy shield that was impervious even to close - range blaster attacks . Shiva IV . Sk ' ar hoped to be able to use his divide and conquer tactics on the world of Shiva IV . The two dominant governments on the planet , the Twelve Tribes of T ' Syriél and the Calian Confederacy , had warred incessantly for years , until 2 ABY , when they were able to make peace in a ceremony known as the Concordat of Peace . Hoping to open up old wounds , Sk ' ar hired both Humans from the Confederacy and T ' Syriél from the Twelve Tribes , hoping that if either a member of the Confederacy or the Twelve Tribes stumbled upon his Shiva IV operation , they would immediately think their former rivals had broken the truce . Equipping the T ' Syriél outcasts with heavily modified stormtrooper armor , Sk ' ar began laying the groundwork for his conquest of Shiva IV . First , he ringed the planet with microscopic space mine s , before utilizing an anti - matter bomb against the city of K ' avor , leveling it entirely . He then began acquiring allies within the Calian and Twelve Tribes high command , promising Ygal Delois , kin and aide of the Confederate leader Aron Peacebringer , a position as ruler of the planet following the Imperial occupation . He enlisted Delois to prepare a mock - up of a Calian airship , which would drop an anti - matter bomb on Shiva IV ' s capital city of Illyriaqüm . Sk ' ar would then conscript an army from the enslaved populace , since Shiva IV was home to what the general considered some of the galaxy ' s fiercest fighters . Dispatching his troops to Illyriaqüm to kidnap Peacebringer during the first anniversary of the Concordat of Peace , he was given custody of not one leader but two : Alliance to Restore the Republic member Leia Organa was also present , having been stranded on Shiva IV by the micro space mines . While beating Peacebringer personally , Sk ' ar had Organa tortured by his ally Delois , instilling rage in the Calian leader . As Sk ' ar set off on his mission to destroy Illyriaqüm , he gave his men orders not to harm Organa , as Palpatine had requested that privilege for himself . Death . Palpatine ' s order proved to be damaging to Sk ' ar ' s operation : since the guards were not to harm her , Organa escaped , bringing Peacebringer along with her . Hijacking one of the Shivan aircraft , she set off after Sk ' ar and his mock Calian airship . The Kaleesh sent TIE / LN starfighter s after them , but the general ' s pilots were no match for Organa ' s own piloting skills . Peacebringer and Organa then boarded the airship , wreaking havoc on the main deck , while Sk ' ar brayed orders at his men in futility . The situation worsened for Sk ' ar when a team of Rebels who had been searching for Organa , comprising Lando Calrissian , Chewbacca , and Luke Skywalker , joined the foray , along with Peacebringer ' s blood brother , Demarch Kéral Longknife of the Twelve Tribes . Skywalker defeated Delois in combat , prompting Sk ' ar to make his escape . He was stopped in his tracks by Calrissian , who attempted to gun the Kaleesh general down . However , Sk ' ar ' s personal energy shield allowed him to simply walk up to his assailant and violently strike him , effectively removing him from the battle . Making it to one of the Shivan aircraft , Sk ' ar hurtled away from the mock airship , but was spotted by Chewbacca . The Wookiee , with no practical weapon in sight , picked up a solid steel gun mount and hurled it at the Kaleesh ' s ship . Sk ' ar perished in the subsequent explosion . Personality and traits . Though he preferred to manipulate and undermine his enemies , Bentilais san Sk ' ar was a bloodthirsty individual who would commit acts of genocide or violence without any particular purpose in mind . His bombing of K ' avor did not work into his final plan for Shiva IV at all , and he tortured both Leia Organa and Aron Peacebringer without asking any questions . Though he lessened the risk to his men through his tactics , he did not particularly respect them , often barking out orders and chiding them for their incompetence . He would use his towering size , unusually large for a Kaleesh , to intimidate and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies . Supremely confident , Sk ' ar considered it an honor to work for the Empire , the only adversary that had ever beaten him . Unlike others , he did not seek revenge for the destruction of his people , and he had a great respect for the power of technology . He paid proper service to the wishes of his master , Palpatine , and would strictly obey his commands . Conversely , Sk ' ar had little more than contempt for pacifist entities such as Peacebringer and Organa , though he did acknowledge that Shiva IV was home to some of the galaxy ' s finest combatants . Behind the scenes . Sk ' ar was created by Chris Claremont , Carmine Infantino and Walt Simonson for a two - issue arc in Marvel Comics ' " Star Wars " series . His species , like those of many other early Expanded Universe figures , was never identified , and his character remained undeveloped until fleshed out in the publication " Aliens in the Empire " , which gave his full name and retcon ned him as a Kaleesh . He was later referenced in the Wizards of the Coast sourcebook " Galaxy at War " in 2009 .