Imara Vex

Imara Vex was a human female bounty hunter who was active from the reign of the Galactic Empire through to the time of the New Republic. Having not seen her parents since she was young, Vex would later become a member of the bounty hunter Chanath Cha's Orphans alongside Ladybright and Sear. The Orphans became allies of Lady Qi'ra, leader of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, and played a role in her plot to destroy the Sith Darth Sidious and Darth Vader and free the power structure of the galaxy. Vex and the other Orphans performed discreet attacks on other syndicates, turning them against one another and helping to cause the Syndicate War.
Following the Empire's fall, Vex participated in the Hunters of the Outer Rim competition on the planet Vespaara, hoping to gain the attention of prospective clients.
==Biography==
===Becoming an Orphan===
Imara Vex grew up having not seen her parents since the time when she was too young to remember them, and would later be unsure whether they were alive or dead. Vex eventually came to be a professional bounty hunter, attaining a strong reputation. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Vex was a member of the Orphans, a crew led by the bounty hunter Chanath Cha that also included Sear and the droid Ladybright. Operating aboard the starship Siroto, the members of the Orphans—as the name suggested—had gone through similar situations to Vex's own.
===The Crimson Dawn plot===
====Creating the distraction====
By 3 ABY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of War of the Bounty Hunters 5 to 3 ABY. the Orphans allied with the resurgent Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate and its leader, Lady Qi'ra. Following Crimson Dawn's auction of the carbonite-frozen smuggler Han Solo, in which the syndicate revealed itself to the galaxy once more, Vex and the other Orphans gathered alongside Qi'ra's other assortied allies aboard the Vermillion, Crimson Dawn's fortress-flagship.War of the Bounty Hunters 5 Aboard the Vermillion, Qi'ra revealed to her allies the true nature of the galaxy; rather than the level power structure that she desired, it was instead ruled by the Sith—Darth Sidious, publicly Emperor Palpatine, and his apprentice Darth Vader— who she wished to destroy so that the galaxy could be free.
As part of Qi'ra's plot, the Orphans were dispatched to attack the other criminal syndicates in order to create havoc and sow distrust within the underworld. Their first target was a smash-processing lab of Black Sun on the planet Dantooine. Landing the Siroto on Dantooine, Vex waited at a distance from the facility while Cha, Sear, and Ladybright approached it. Vex shot the guards with her blaster rifle and the other Orphans entered and proceeded with their attack. When two Black Sun transports attempted to flee, Vex, unable to target them both before they were out of range, contacted her partners to inform them of the issue. As Sear made for the Siroto, Vex aimed toward and fired upon one of the transports, successfully hitting the vessel and destroying it.
With the other transport shot down by Sear, the Orphans' job was complete, and the crew anonymously uploaded images of the devastated facility on the shadowfeeds alongside a threat to Black Sun. The mission worked as the Orphans and Qi'ra had planned; Black Sun, believing one of its rivals was behind the attack but unsure which, intended to strike at all of them in order to send a message. Vex and the other Orphans continued their attacks at other syndicates, ensuring that they were never seen as being the real culprits. Combined with false rumors that Qi'ra was spreading about the Empire searching for the strongest syndicate to make a partnership deal with, the Orphans' attacks led to conflict between the syndicates and the outbreak of the Syndicate War. The war in turn received the attention of Palpatine, who called upon Vader to take action.
====Confronting Darth Vader====
Sometime later, after "The Archivist" and Kho Phon Farrus failed to unlock the Fermata Cage, an artifact central to Qi'ra's plans, Vader arrived at their location, with the intent of retrieving the Fermata Cage and killing the two. Knowing that it was a likely scenario, Qi'ra sent Vex and the rest of the OrphansHidden Empire 2 to rescue the two and the Cage. After they arrived at the planet, the team approached from the other side to avoid Vader's Star Destroyer, also staying low and using the cloaking abilities the Siroto possessed to get onto the planet. After they left the ship in a clearing within a jungle, they made their way to the Archivist and Farrus' location, who had attempted to hide from Vader but had been discovered by the Sith Lord. As he Force choked them, Cha shouted out to him, revealing herself and her team, and her intent to kill him. Vader began to approach them and Cha had Ladybright damage Vader's sight and she threw a ball of acid at him. In response, Vader Force pushed the team, whilst also destroying a machine which housed the Fermata Cage, and then went into an ocean to neutralize the acid.
With Vader temporarily gone, Sear lamented that they hadn't had time to blast him, with Vex pointing out to her that he had gone out into the ocean, and that she had lost him. Cha informed Vex that Vader would be back once he had neutralized the acid, adding that they didn't have much time. Vex and Cha then helped the Archivist and Farrus stand up. As they began to leave, the Archivist pointed out that they needed to take the Fermata Cage with them, and Cha ordered Sear and Vex to retrieve it. Farrus expressed that they felt unsure whether it was aafe for either of them to touch, and instead Ladybright offered to carry it, as they were not alive. Following this, Vader appeared out of the water and Cha ordered Vex to go with Laybright and the Archivist and Farrus whilst she and Sear to fight Vader. Vex told Cha she couldn't fight Vader, to which responded that what mattered was for her and Ladybright to get Farrus and the Archivist tp safety, adding they could swing back and pick Cha and Sear up after. Vex wished the two luck, stating she would help them if she could. She then told the two it had been a ride, which Sear agreed with.
Once the four reached the Siroto, Vex decided she wanted to help Cha and Sear and told Ladybright to get the ship up, as she needed elevation. As the droid complied, the Archivist told Vex to tell Ladybright to keep the ship steady, as they didn't want to crack open the Cage. As she claimed a ladder on the ship, Vex retorted back to the Archivist that she would crack her open. After she arrived at the top of the ship, Vex set her blaster into position to fire on Vader, and she witnessed Sear being pushed into the wreckage of the machine, killing her. vex shoyed out Sear's name, whilst informing Ladybright to keep the Siroto steady as she aimed at Vader's head. Vex then opened fire but Vader raised his arm and she instead hit it, which revealed to Vader and Cha that the team were stll there. Vader called Vex a coward, and added that she thought she was safe from him at a distance. Vader then stated that nowhere was safe from the Force and that nowhere was safe from him, as he swung his lightsaber at the ship, which created a turbulence. As Vex spoke to herself, calling Vader a "bastard", telling him to be as angry as he wanted, and to stand right where he was glance at her, so that she could fire again on him, finishing that she did not miss twice. At this moment, the turbulence created by Vader reached the Siroto, and Vex was knocked off of the ship by it, falling through the jungle until she got caught in branches of trees, ending her fight. Afterwards, Ladybright was destroyed by the Archivist for failing to comply with Qi'ra's orders, who then took over the Siroto and left the planet with Farrus and the Fermata Cage aboard. Cha was ultimately killed by Vader during their fight.
===Hunter of the Arena===
Following the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, Vex continued to remain active as a bounty hunter. She took part in the Hunters of the Outer Rim tournament within the Grand Arena on the Outer Rim planet Vespaara. Vex used the competition as a chance to showcase her talents to prospective clients. Within the Arena, Vex spoke of various adventures during her career as a bounty hunter, though given the performative nature of the Arena, such stories told there had the potential to be exaggerations or fabrications for entertainment value. That said, Vex claimed to have regrettably worked for the White Worms on Corellia, done a job on Mimban, and been stranded on a desert planet for six months at one point. 
Outside of her work in the Arena, Vex spent time with Grozz and Zaina, frequenting the Oasis Cantina. The group eventually added Rieve to their outings, enjoying gonkrock performances together. When goons led by a mysterious figure attacked the Grand Arena intent on causing destruction, Vex worked with the other Hunters and Daq Dragus to pursue the figure and fight off the intruders.
When Vex learned that a fellow Hunter, the Mandalorian warrior Aran Tal, had referred to bounty hunters as "scum," she was deeply offended and demanded an apology from Tal, who instead doubled down on his remarks.
Imara was interviewed by the Arena's announcer, the Dowutin Boz Vega, and immediately began expressing disbelief at Aran Tal's remarks, claiming that there was no difference between her former job as a bounty hunter and Aran Tal's previous work as a mercenary. When Boz awkwardly pointed out that one difference may be that Vex kept her bounty hunting money while Tal donated his mercenary money, Vex took no notice and insulted Tal's self-righteous attitude.
The tension between Tal and Vex came to a head when Aran took the last nuna-leg from the Chow room, sparking a brawl between the pair that wrecked the room and dragged in fellow Hunters J-3DI and Grozz before Arena co-owner Daq Dragus intervened. He led them out; both of the feuding Hunters in disproportionately good spirits.
When Tal challenged Imara Vex to a battle, she held a press conference to accept and assert that should she win, Tal must accompany her on a bounty hunting job. It was not to be however; Tal triumphed over Vex.
==Personality and traits==
As a bounty hunter, Imara Vex deliberately kept her personal and social life a mystery, refusing to talk about herself or open up to others. She also avoided attachments; knowing as little as possible about others guaranteed that she would have no personal objections to any of her jobs' targets, while ensuring that others knew little about her meant that they would have less to use against her. As part of the Orphans, she had been part of a found family, but she had been left the only survivor of the group following their skirmish with Darth Vader.
In her Arena persona, Vex had a rivalry with the Mandalorian Aran Tal, who publicly had a strong disdain for bounty hunters. It was said that Vex was perturbed by his holier-than-thou attitude, leading to public trash-talking between them.
A human female, Imara Vex had dark skin and brown hair.
==Skills and abilities==
Being a professional bounty hunter, Vex was always on the hunt for targets, ensuring that she never lost. She was a skilled sniper, able to hit targets from a great distance. She was equipped with various gadgets, which helped her in detecting enemies and traversing great heights.
==Equipment==
Vex concealed her face with her signature Ubese-style helmet, making her an intimidating figure. She wielded the Firestorm Rifle, a customized A280 blaster rifle, which she used as a sniper rifle, that possessed a yellow and red coloration with an orange design, as well as a shoulder-mounted missile launcher, which housed a homing micro-missile. Vex wore a brown jacket over a brown shirt and red chestplate, as well as dark red pants and brown boots. She also wore a gray belt and a pair of brown gloves. Additionally, Vex wore a red vambrace on her left arm, which sported a grappling hook.
==Behind the scenes==
Imara Vex was created for the canon competitive video game Star Wars: Hunters, developed by NaturalMotion's BossAlien and published by Zynga, which entered soft launch on November 16, 2021, before the global release on June 4, 2024. Vex was designed by concept artist Ross Burt. Prior to the release of the game, Vex first appeared in the fifth issue of the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters comic series, written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Luke Ross and David Messina, and published by Marvel Comics on October 13, 2021.
In Hunters, Imara Vex is considered a level-one difficulty Damage-class Hunter. As of global launch, she has two active abilities, a passive ability, and an Ultimate. Her active abilities include her grapple, which allows her to zip to anchor ledges and gain a brief increase in movement speed upon landing, and her missile launcher, which homed in on enemies. Her passive ability, Tracking Scan, reveals to her the location of enemies with low health. Imara Vex's Ultimate is the Seeker Salvo, which sends a continuous barrage of homing missiles towards visible enemies.
===Concept art gallery===
==Appearances==
*War of the Bounty Hunters 5 
*Crimson Reign 1
*Bounty Hunters 26
*Crimson Reign 5
*Hidden Empire 1
*Hidden Empire 2
*Hidden Empire 3
*Hidden Empire 4 
*Hunters: Battle for the Arena 
*Star Wars: Hunters
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Bounty hunters
Category:Females
Category:Humans
Category:Hunters of the Outer Rim competitors
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Members of the Orphans
Category:Sharpshooters and snipers