Kirak Infil'a

Kirak Infil'a was a male Jedi Master who was active between the High Republic Era and the final years of the Galactic Republic. Infil'a specialized in combat during his time as an active member of the Jedi Order. At some point in his career as a Jedi he chose to take the Barash Vow which forbade him from interacting with the Jedi Order as a form of penance. Because he was not an active member of the Jedi Order during Order 66, Infil'a escaped execution.
Some time later, he faced the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Infil'a put up a fierce fight against Vader, almost killing him by throwing the already damaged Sith Lord off of a cliff. Despite severe damage to his suit, Vader survived the fall, and repaired himself with parts from Infil'a's droid, Arex. During their final confrontation, security personnel of the city fired at the two, making Vader force push them off a cliff, but Infil'a saved them. Vader exploited Infil'a's compassion for innocents again by flooding the city nearby, and, while Infil'a was trying to stop the flood, Vader pulled Infil'a's lightsaber from his belt, and, after a brief exchange of words, with Infil'a pleading with Vader to take his life, but spare the innocent citizens, Vader snapped the Jedi's neck with the Force, killing him. He then sent Infil'a's body to the depths of the newly-created lake, to join the city's innocent citizens in an eternal sleep.
==Biography==
===Early life and Barash Vow===
Kirak Infil'a was a Jedi of the High Republic Era who was active when the Guardian Protocols went into effect due to the Nihil conflict. At some point he earned the rank of Master in the Jedi Order. While he was active with them, his only purpose became fighting. Eventually, he took the Barash Vow and cut himself from the Order's activities, hoping to live alone inside the Force to atone for his transgressions and until his true path as a Jedi became clear. To do this, he relocated to the Jedi monastery on the river moon of Al'doleem. There, he continued to train with the monastery's Jedi training droid, Arex.
In 19 BBY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas the Jedi Order was almost completely wiped out. During the disaster, Infil'a felt the deaths of most of the Jedi but, as per the rules of the Barash Vow, refused to intervene. The Order's end was orchestrated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and many of their deaths were at the hands of his Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. Shortly after, Sidious sent Vader to obtain a Jedi's kyber crystal and bleed it.Darth Vader (2017) 1 Vader sought out Jedi who had taken the Barash Vow as they were easier to find at that time. When his droid searched the archives of an abandoned Jedi spacestation, he learned of Infil'a and sought out to hunt him down for his lightsaber.
===Confrontation with Darth Vader===
As Vader approached the moon, Infil'a was having a training session with Arex. He fought the droid whilst constructing four Padawan's traps at once, much to Arex's objection. Infil'a then sensed Vader's approach and told Arex to prepare the mountains defenses. As Vader approached on his starship, Infil'a used the Padawan's traps to bring it down. Vader managed to save the ship and then walked to Infil'a's mountain, where Infil'a raised a wall to block his path. He faced the Sith from the top of the mountain and asked if it was him that killed the Jedi. Vader responded by Force choking him, but he quickly broke free and Force pushed Vader away. In a further exchange of words, Vader confirmed that he killed the Jedi and that he was coming for Infil'a too. Infil'a then declared his barash Vow complete and told Vader that he would wait for him at the top of the mountain.
As he exited his confrontation with Vader, he had Arex open the sluice gate. The gate released a lake-full of water down on Vader, submerging the Sith. Though visibly damaged by the sudden flood, Vader parted the water with the Force and climbed to the opposite shore. As he then continued his advance, Infil'a had a flock of Raptorans attack him. Vader began besting the birds and Infil'a studied him, inquiring what he was. Vader managed to use the Force to kill numerous Raptorans, but one of his cybernetic legs was badly damaged in the fight. Infil'a then had the birds withdraw and told Arex to turn the rest of the traps off, giving Vader a clear path to them.
As Vader approached the two at the top of the hill, he threw rocks at Infil'a, throwing him back. Arex confronted Vader with his weapon, but Vader used the Force to pull the droid to him and rip his arm off, obtaining the weapon for himself. Vader then threw what was left of Arex over the cliff and faced Infil'a. Infil'a deduced that Vader was there for something and as the two clashed, he concluded that Vader was there for his lightsaber. The two fought ferociously and Infil'a insulted Vader's skills. He told him that he could not have killed that many Jedi alone and realized that Vader must have had a master. Almost immediately afterwards, Vader's previously damaged leg broke apart, rendering him unable to continue the fight. Infil'a then informed Vader that he would rid the galaxy of the two Sith Lords and restore light to the Force. Infil'a then blasted Vader off the cliff, sending him plummeting towards the ground below.
===Final duel===
Assuming Vader was dead, Infil'a traveled to Am'balaar City, where his Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor was kept preserved in a garage. He approached the owner, Mareena and she uncovered the ship from under its covering. Mareena complied, but had to service the interceptor first due to its time tucked away. Infil'a explained his encounter with Mareena and began helping her with his ship. However, unbeknownst to Infil'a, Vader had survived his fall. He had landed on a rock near where Arex's remains, but the fall had badly damaged him. Once he had regained consciousness, he used the droid's parts to repair his broken mechanical leg, and his other damaged cybernetics.
When Vader finished his repairs, he traveled to Am'balaar City. There, Infil'a was still fixing up his ship and sensed his presence. He rushed outside to find Vader at the top of the city's dam. Mareena and her husband, Jogg, were confused and Infil'a told Mareena to keep working on his ship. He then jumped to the top of the dam and fought a second time with Vader. As Infil'a pushed Vader back with the force, the two were fired at by the Am'balaar City police. Vader Force choked them before throwing them off the side of the dam and Infil'a used the Force to rescue them. He then told Vader that he was a monster and Vader confirmed it before using the Force to breach one of the water tanks below. Infil'a used the Force to keep the water from drowning the citizens, but while he was distracted, Vader used the Force to take his lightsaber and Force choked him. Infil'a pleaded to let the people live, but the Sith used the Force to break more water tanks, further flooding the city. He then executed Infil'a and threw him into the flooded city.
===Legacy===
Due to Infila's warning, Mareena and Jogg were able to get his ship operational and ready by the time the flood waters reached the city. The couple placed their two children into the ship and managed to save them from the flood, although the flood ultimately killed the couple and destroyed everything else.
Shortly after killing Infil'a, Vader took his lightsaber on orders of his master, Vader traveled to Mustafar to bleed its kyber crystal color from green to red, creating his first red lightsaber.Darth Vader (2017) 5 Vader kept the curved-hilt the same, until it was subsequently destroyed during an attempt on Vader's life by a family of bounty hunters on Cabarria, during which the hilt was shattered by the combined strain of a tractor rifle and Vader's pulling it back with the Force.Darth Vader (2017) 11 Salvaging the crystal, Vader soon inserted the crystal into a new hilt of his own construction.
Shortly after the Battle of Fortress Vader, Vader entered a portal constructed by Darth Momin in an attempt to resurrect his wife Padmé Amidala. While walking through visions, he encountered Infil'a along with many Jedi with their lightsabers ready to battle him. However, Vader killed all the illusions, cutting both of Infil'a's arms off as the words "Let the past die" resounded in his mind.Darth Vader (2017) 25
==Personality and traits==
Kirak Infil'a was a male with white hair and gray eyes with a black sclera. He was tall and muscular with gray skin and two red scars across his chest in a cross formation. During his time as an active member of the Jedi Order, his primary purpose was to fight. He had a rapport with Jedi Master Govena. He eventually cut himself from the Order's activities by taking the Barash Vow. He did this to live alone inside the Force until his true path as a Jedi became clear. When Darth Vader faced him, he declared his Barash Vow complete as his Jedi comrades were dead and his true path was to end with Vader's.
Infil'a was an observant individual, testing Vader's skill with a flock of Raptorans. Infil'a observed Vader's fighting through it and when satisfied with his knowledge, he let Vader pass to the top of the mountain to fight him. Infil'a was not afraid of Vader, and called him weak during their duel. After defeating the Sith, he sought to kill his master and avenge the Jedi they had slaughtered. However, Vader survived and soon came back to challenge him again. During their second fight in Am'balaar City, Infil'a became more fearful of Vader, especially when he targeted the Am'balaar City police officers and other citizens. Infil'a went out of his way to try and save them, although it was a distraction and ultimately led to his defeat at Vader's hands. During his final moments, Infil'a pleaded for the lives of the people Vader was drowning in front of him.
==Powers and abilities==
Kirak Infil'a specialized in lightsaber combat during his time as an active member of the Jedi Order. During his Barash Vow, he kept his skills ripe by training with a Jedi training droid named Arex. During the events of Order 66, Infil'a felt the deaths of almost every Jedi and a darkness within it. Shortly before Darth Vader's arrival, he managed to fight Arex and assemble four Padawan's traps with the Force at once. At the end of the training session he was able to sense Vader's approach and he used the Padawan's traps to crash his ship. When he found Vader at the dam, Vader Force choked him and he was able to break free and push Vader away. Vader came up to his monastery in the hopes of killing him, but he was able to best the Sith Lord, almost killing him. During their fight, Infil'a managed to deduce Vader's intention to obtain his lightsaber and also that he had a more powerful master. However, during his second fight with Vader, he let himself get distracted by rescuing citizens and police officers who Vader attempted to kill. It led to his inevitable demise as Vader Force choked him to death and threw him into the flooded city below.
==Equipment==
Kirak Infil'a wore sand-colored trousers with a black belt, but when attempting to leave the river moon of Al'doleem, he wore brown Jedi robes. He also had a Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor, which he kept in a garage in Am'balaar City. The ship degraded in the years he left it there and he was forced to help repair it when he returned for it. He owned a green-bladed lightsaber that had a slightly curved-hilt design. It had a black pommel that extended outward and had metallic plating around the handle and emitter. After his death, Vader took his weapon and bled the crystal red. The hilt remained in Vader's possession until it was destroyed in a skirmish on Cabarria.
==Behind the scenes==
Kirak Infil'a first appeared in Darth Vader (2017) 2, a 2017 canon comic written by Charles Soule and penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli, before receiving his formal introduction in Darth Vader (2017) 3. Soule introduced Infil'a as a "mad cool" character. Although Soule once stated everything a fan needed to know about Infil'a was within Darth Vader 3, he later stated there was more to Infil'a's story he had yet to tell. As he teased before its release, more of Infil'a's backstory was revealed with the release of The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 1, which revealed the Jedi had lived since the High Republic Era. Soule then revealed he had more to reveal about the character in regards to his relationship with Jedi Master Govena.
==Appearances==
*The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 1
*Darth Vader (2017) 2 
*Darth Vader (2017) 3
*Darth Vader (2017) 4
*Darth Vader (2017) 5 
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*Darth Vader (2017) 6 
*Darth Vader (2017) 7 
*Darth Vader (2017) 12 
*Darth Vader (2017) 25 
*Star Wars (2020) 19 
*Star Wars (2020) 20 
*Darth Vader (2020) 36 
*Darth Vader (2020) 39 
==Sources==
*Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force 
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*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
*Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
*Skywalker: A Family at War
*Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith
*Star Wars: The Mini Book of Lightsabers
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*Star Wars: Timelines
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*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
==Notes and references==
Category:Barash Vow adherents
Category:Humans
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Jedi Masters during the High Republic Era
Category:Jedi Purge victims
Category:Males