Maks Leem

Maks Leem was a female Gran Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order during the waning years of the Galactic Republic.
==Biography==
Maks Leem, a female Force-sensitive Gran from the world of Malastare, was trained in the ways of the Force by the Jedi Order, achieving the rank of Jedi Master before the start of the Separatist Crisis, a political schism in the Galactic Senate. Appointed as an instructor at the Coruscant Jedi Temple, Master Leem trained two Padawans to the rank of Jedi Knight before the civil unrest engulfed the galaxy, Jedi Rees Alrix and Eremin Tarn. An expert in hyperspace navigation, Master Leem instructed classes at the Temple, as well as working in the Temple's refectory. The Gran Master, while not a fan of lightsaber combat, had crafted for herself a blue-bladed lightsaber.
When the Clone Wars erupted between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 22 BBY, Master Leem was one of nearly two hundred Jedi who fought in the opening battle on Geonosis, a conflict which introduced the Jedi to the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic. Returning to a nearly empty Temple, Master Leem remained on Coruscant for much of the war as an instructor while most of her peers were scattered around the galaxy fighting. Early in the war, Master Leem's last Padawan, Jedi Eremin Tarn, willingly left the Order, joining Jedi Sian Jeisel's schismatic movement of Jedi refusing to fight. At this time, Master Leem began the training of her third Padawan, the Human Whie Malreaux, one of the Temple's most promising students. The pair remained on Coruscant as Leem continued to teach and Malreaux served at the Temple's main entrance as part of the Temple Security Force.
In the days leading up to the annual Apprentice Tournament, a Troxan diplomat delivered an incendiary packet for Grand Master Yoda into the hands of Master Leem, who in turn rushed the packet to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. There, Master Yoda safely opened the package to reveal the damaged lightsaber hilt of Jedi Jang Li-Li. Saddened by Li-Li's inevitable death, Yoda and Leem talked for a time, with the old Master jokingly assigning Leem the task of locating a new home for the Temple. In the following weeks, Master Leem and her Padawan were assigned to a mission, accompanied by Masters Yoda, Jai Maruk and his Padawan, Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy. Leaving by way of the Chancellor Palpatine Spaceport, the Jedi smuggled Yoda offworld in a hollowed out R2-series astromech droid aboard the Reasonable Doubt and headed for Vjun, where Yoda was to meet with Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy.
When the Reasonable Doubt stopped to refuel at Phindar Station, the Jedi were ambushed by several assassin droids armed with an eclectic array of weaponry. Activating two hard-sound guns, the droids crippled Masters Maruk and Leem; both dropped to their knees as the hard-sound ruptured their eardrums. Master Leem, having dropped her lightsaber and covering her ears as she screamed in pain, fought through her agony and retrieved her lightsaber. Cutting loose a chunk of durasteel, she hurled it with the Force and destroyed one of the auditory-assault weapons. Allowing years of practice to take over, the two Masters rushed the droids, two against eighteen.
Master Leem, trained in the art of lightsaber combat as were all Jedi, realized that her aversion to war had led her to avoid combat training, and that her skills as a fighter were diminished. Quickly receiving a leg wound due to one of the droids' flechette launchers, she lost her lightsaber once more when her sword arm was badly damaged by more shards of metal. Destroying two droids with her mastery of the Force, Master Leem was in the midst of looking for Master Yoda and the Padawans when Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress arrived on the concourse and began to mock the Jedi. Engaging Master Maruk as Leem struggled to remain conscious, Ventress was faster than the Human Jedi and quickly subdued him. As Maruk struggled to remain in the light of the Force, Ventress taunted him by pouncing on Master Leem, slashing the dying Gran in the chest. Disregarding the wound, Master Leem focused on her struggling companion, begging him to stay on the Jedi Path. As Leem struggled to maintain her position on the ground as a large hole in the station began to slowly vent oxygen and drag her from the room, Master Maruk, determined to stay in the light, denied the dark side. Master Leem, unable to hear or look at the man as she focused on sealing the breach in the hull, felt his resolve in the Force and was content, knowing that both would die as Jedi. Patching the breach as Maruk was cut in half by Ventress, Leem lay helpless on the ground as the Dathomirian approached the Gran and stabbed her in the chest, killing the Jedi Master.
==Personality and traits==
A Gran, Master Maks Leem displayed the community-oriented mind of her people. The socially minded woman enjoyed her life as a Jedi. Described by her students and peers as motherly and calm, Master Leem was not happy when the Jedi were forced into the militant role they served in the Clone Wars.
Master Leem spent much of her day in deep meditation, burning a richly scented incense to help induce a deep trance. Additionally, it was necessary for Master Leem to be alone at this time due to the din caused by the digestive tract that processed the contents of the Gran's four stomachs.
Master Leem had a habit of grinding her teeth when she was anxious, a trait carried over from the Gran's cud-chewing past.
==Behind the scenes==
Maks Leem first appeared in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, a novel written by Sean Stewart and published in 2004. She was among the limited characters available in the mobile game Star Wars: Battle for the Republic. Leem later received an entry in the 2008 The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Battle for the Republic
*Yoda: Dark Rendezvous 
==Sources==
*The New Essential Chronology
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Essential Reader's Companion
==Notes and references==
Category:Females
Category:Gran
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Jedi assault team members
Category:Jedi Consulars
Category:Jedi instructors
Category:Post-Ruusan Jedi Masters