Abediah Viess

Abediah ViessThe High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 4 was a Mirialan female who served as the general of a mercenary army. 
==Biography==
===Siege of Firevale===
By 382 BBY, Abediah Viess was leading a powerful mercenary force. She was contacted by Field Marshal Tozen of the Bethune military to provide backup in Bethune's siege against its rival city-state Firevale on the planet Gansevor. The siege was orchestrated by two scions of the Firevale and Bethune royal families, Prince Colden and Princess Sicatra, who had just got married. They wished to use their marriage to provoke a Bethunian assault on Firevale in order to force Colden's mother, Queen Keraan, to abdicate the throne in favor of Colden himself.The High Republic — The Blade 4 Initially, Viess hid her fleet behind one of Gansevor's moons, but when the Jedi Knights Porter Engle and Barash Silvain intervened to try and resolve the dispute, Tozen requested that she join his forces to expedite the siege. Viess obliged, but was almost immediately confronted by Engle, who had been sent to halt the attacks while Silvain worked to get to the bottom of the issues inside Firevale itself. Viess told Engle that she disliked his kind, but when Tozen agreed to pause his assault while Silvain located the 'abducted' Princess Sicatra she grudgingly ordered her soldiers to stand down alongside the Bethunian troops.The High Republic — The Blade 3
Later, as Viess and Tozen talked in the Bethunian command tent, they both agreed that the Jedi had to be killed in order for the original plan of installing Colden on the throne to work. Tozen promised Viess that he would give her and her soldiers twelve hours to plunder Firevale if she could kill Engle and Silvain for him, terms which the general gladly accepted. Viess immediately attempted to obliterate Engle, who had remained behind Bethunian lines, with a missile launcher, but the expert duelist evaded her shot. She then ordered all batteries to open fire on Firevale's walls, recommencing the assault. As the guns pounded away at the walls, Viess confronted Engle with her beskar spear, declaring herself to be a Jedi killer. The two clashed blades, but Engle was the superior duelist, disarming her and scarring her across the cheek. In response, Viess threw a grenade at both the Jedi and the Bethunian soldiers surrounding him, forcing Engle to deflect the blast while she made her escape.
Angered, Viess returned to the command tent and ordered Tozen to target the buildings inside Firevale rather than just the walls. Tozen argued that such an act would destroy the city, that he needed its infrastructure to remain intact, but Viess declared that her soldiers could pick treasures out from among its ruins. She then had her men shoot and mortally wound Tozen, who managed to get a message to Sicatra in Firevale, warning her of what had happened, before he died. As Viess ordered the rate of fire to be doubled, the news of Tozen's death made Sicatra realize the folly of her and Colden's plan and, having confessed all to Silvain and Queen Keraan, she stood atop Firevale's walls and delivered a speech to the Bethunian soldiers below. Sicatra's words persuaded the Bethunians to turn against Viess and her mercenaries, who found themselves suddenly caught between their former comrades' blasters and Porter Engle's lightsaber. Viess decided the venture was no longer profitable and ordered a general withdrawal, though not before taking one last shot at Engle from the back of her transport. An exhausted Engle was unawares of the incoming blast, but was ultimately saved by Silvain, who had returned to his side.
===Joining with the Nihil===
After operating as a mercenary-for-hire for a century, Viess eagerly joined the Nihil when their Occlusion Zone engulfed ten sectors of the Outer Rim Territories, including her world. She led Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro's newly established Ministry of Protection, making use of her expertise in hunting Jedi. Her combat skills and brutality made her a formidable Nihil adversary to those who opposed her. Despite her boasts of being a Jedi killer, her old opponent Engle, continued to elude her until they finally met again around 229 BBY.
==Equipment==
General Viess' full suit of black armor had lightsaber-resistant beskar filigreed inlay, including on her vambraces. She carried several Jedi lightsabers in her robe and wielded different weapons. She had a beskar spear, an old-fashioned beskar sword, a pair of long beskar daggers, and an ornately engraved blaster.
==Behind the scenes==
Abediah Viess is a recurring villain within the Star Wars: The High Republic initiative who made her debut in Charles Soule's comic series The Blade, in which she first appeared in issue two on January 25, 2023. Her first name Abediah was first used in the later comic The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 4. Soule is very pleased with her development across High Republic stories.
==Appearances==
*The High Republic — The Blade 2 
*The High Republic — The Blade 3
*The High Republic — The Blade 4
*The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 4 
*The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 2 
*The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 3 
*The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness 
*The High Republic: Defy the Storm 
* 
*The High Republic: Temptation of the Force 
*The High Republic Adventures (2023) 14 
==Sources==
* 
*
*
*
*Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia
*
*
*
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
*
==Notes and references==
Category:Admirals and generals
Category:Females
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Mercenaries
Category:Ministry of Protection members
Category:Mirialans