Jao Assam

During the tumultuous period encompassing the Second Imperial Civil War and the insurgency led by Darth Wredd, Jao Assam, a male Human Imperial Knight, lived and served. Early in his career, Assam received guidance from Master Yalta Val, a highly experienced Imperial Knight. The conclusion of the Second Imperial Civil War, which resulted in the defeat of the One Sith, ushered in the establishment of a new Galactic Federation Triumvirate, comprising the Fel Empire, the Jedi Council, and the Galactic Alliance Remnant. Marasiah Fel, the new Galactic Empress, initiated an ambitious communications infrastructure project aimed at connecting the Outer Rim Territories with the rest of the galaxy. This endeavor involved the creation of a network of communications array stations distributed throughout the galaxy.

In the year 138 ABY, Jao Assam was tasked with overseeing the final phases of construction for a second communications array outpost situated within the Ithori system. Under Jao's leadership, the Ithorian communications array project progressed ahead of schedule. Concurrently, his mentor, Yalta Val, was assigned to supervise the final construction of the communications array station in the Carreras system. While traversing the Surd Nebula, Yalta Val's starship experienced a crash landing on the uncharted floating world of Mala. There, Val was ambushed and abducted by the rogue Sith Darth Wredd, who imprisoned the Knight, appropriated his armor, and impersonated him. Darth Wredd's intention was to secede from the One Sith and establish a new Sith order based on the ancient Rule of Two.

Jao Assam noticed Yalta Val's absence and grew concerned when his section of the array failed to receive a carrier signal from the opposite side of the Surd Nebula. His apprehension deepened when Master Val did not utilize a comm droid to transmit an updated completion time. Jao contacted Empress Fel to voice his concerns regarding the construction delays in the Carreras system. However, the Empress reassured him that construction delays were not uncommon. Sensing that something adverse had befallen Master Val, Jao sought permission to travel to the Carreras system and investigate the situation. While pleased with Assam's progress in the Ithori system, the Empress denied his request to visit the Carreras system. She reiterated his assignment to oversee the Ithorian link in the array and assured Jao that Master Val was capable of managing himself. Jao reluctantly appeared to comply with the Empress's orders but remained determined to ascertain Master Yalta Val's whereabouts.

Having completed his work on the Ithorian communications array, Jao departed for the Carreras system in his starfighter, accompanied by his astromech droid W3. Upon exiting hyperspace at the edge of the Surd Nebula, Jao encountered a naval blockade of Shifala warships. Docking in one of these warships, Jao attempted to request an audience with Master Yalta Val. However, this request was denied by the Shifala security guards, who were under the command of Darth Wredd, still impersonating Yalta Val. The Sith impostor ordered his men to arrest Jao, but the Imperial Knight managed to escape on his starfighter. The Shifala pursued him, but Assam activated the hangar bay force field and sealed them inside. He then detected the homing signal from Master Val's comm droid on Carreras Minor, which had come into the possession of Ania Solo and her Mon Calamari friend Sauk.

By tracing its locator signal, Jao Assam successfully located Master Yalta Val's Imperial comm droid on Carreras Minor. Assam arrived on the planet at the opportune moment to rescue Ania and her allies, including the assassin droid AG-37, from a large, tentacled creature that had attacked AG-37's freighter on the planet's surface. The freighter managed to escape by firing its booster engines at the monster, incinerating it. Despite Jao's rescue of Ania, she remained distrustful of him due to her recent experience with Darth Wredd, which had made her wary of Imperial Knights. However, AG-37 intervened and convinced Ania that Jao did not pose a threat to them. For Jao, this marked his first encounter with an assassin droid advocating restraint. Jao then explained that he had come to the Carreras system by following the locator signal on Master Val's comm droid. At that point, Ania's Mon Calamari friend Sauk emerged from the starship's landing platform armed with a gun, suspecting Jao of being an intruder.

Ania managed to persuade Sauk that the Imperial Knight did not pose a threat to them. Sauk was soon followed by Master Val's newly repaired Imperial comm droid. After settling down, Sauk and AG-37 recounted their previous unpleasant experience with "Master Yalta Val" to Jao. Familiar with the real Yalta Val, Jao defended his mentor and suggested that something unfortunate had happened to Val. To clarify the situation, the Imperial comm droid played a holo-recording of the real Yalta Val fighting an unidentified Sith master he had encountered on a planet in the Surd Nebula. After examining the footage, Jao Assam, Ania, Sauk, and AG-37 concluded that the real Yalta Val had been replaced by a Sith impostor. Jao feared that this Sith impostor now had access to the Carreras communications array and was plotting to harm the Carreras system. The four companions agreed to rescue Yalta Val and decided to travel to the last known coordinates where the recording was made.

After loading Assam's starfighter aboard AG-37's freighter, they charted a course for the last known coordinates of the uncharted planet in the Surd Nebula. During their journey, they were pursued by a pair of Shifala starfighters, and the starship's port thruster was struck by laser fire. Upon entering the nebula, the Carreras starfighters ceased their pursuit. Upon arriving at the coordinates, they discovered that the uncharted planet had simply vanished into space. Shortly thereafter, AG-37's freighter was captured in the tractor beam of a Shifala warship, which dragged the freighter into its vast hangar bay. The Shifala authorities then deployed a swarm of tiny droids to burn a hole through the freighter's hull and board the ship. Jao Assam attempted to defend against the swarm with his lightsaber but was quickly overwhelmed. They retreated down the freighter's gangplank only to encounter the blasters of a squad of heavily armed Shifala security guards, who quickly subdued and detained them.

Jao Assam and Ania's group were apprehended and transported aboard the Carreras G51 communications array. Jao was separated from his newfound companions and held in a stasis field. Shortly thereafter, he encountered the Sith impostor Darth Wredd, who remained clad in Yalta Val's Imperial Knight armor. Jao questioned the Sith impostor about his actions towards Master Val, but the Sith merely mocked Jao's predicament. Darth Wredd coldly remarked that a stasis field was ideal for inflicting pain without causing lasting damage to his captive. When Jao reiterated his question about Val's whereabouts, Darth Wredd retorted that a "stronger knight" would not need to ask such a question. Darth Wredd then briefly recounted his harsh apprenticeship to his deceased Sith master and expressed his hope that similar methods would drive the captive Yalta Val to the dark side of the Force. When Jao Assam objected, Darth Wredd clarified that it was not his intention to turn Master Val to the dark side. He explained that Val was merely a "puzzle piece" in his grand scheme of things.

When Jao inquired as to why the Sith impostor had targeted the Carreras system, Wredd responded by posing the same question to his captive. Wredd attempted to undermine Jao's faith in the new Galactic Triumvirate by asserting that it was weak and prone to collapse if its Empress were to die. When Jao objected again, Wredd taunted him by questioning the young Knight's value without serving the Fel Empire. When Jao asserted that the Imperial Knights brought peace to the galaxy, Wredd mocked the Triumvirate for prioritizing construction projects over hunting down the One Sith, who were actively infiltrating governments and corporations across the galaxy to restore their "golden age." Wredd then revealed to Jao that he had abandoned the One Sith to establish a new Sith order based on the Rule of Two. Unbeknownst to Jao or Wredd, their conversation was being monitored by Governor Biala, who quickly deduced that "Yalta Val" was a Sith impostor.

After Darth Wredd exited the holding cell, Governor Biala freed Jao from his restraints and returned his lightsaber. In exchange for dealing with the Sith impostor, Jao secured the release of his friends. Together with Ania, Sauk, and AG-37, Jao followed Darth Wredd into the hangar bay, where they witnessed him boarding a small shuttle. Sensing that he and his newfound friends lacked the strength to confront the Sith impostor alone, Jao advised caution and suggested returning to their freighter to pinpoint the kidnapped Yalta Val's location. However, Ania disagreed with Jao's plan and insisted on stopping Darth Wredd before he could leave the Carreras communications array. Against the advice of Jao and Sauk, Ania opened fire on Darth Wredd's shuttle as it departed. She managed to hit the ship's turbo-engines, causing the shuttle to explode.

However, Darth Wredd survived the explosion due to his mastery of the dark side and attempted to Force choke Ania Solo. Before he could complete his attack, Jao, along with Sauk and AG-37, engaged the rogue Sith. The Sith quickly incapacitated Sauk and AG-37 with his lightsaber but found Jao to be a much more formidable and skilled opponent. Wredd swiftly sensed that Jao fought to prove himself. During the lightsaber duel, Jao succeeded in blinding Wredd's right eye but was unable to gain an advantage over the Sith. In retaliation, the rogue Sith used the Force to impale Jao with two shard metal rods. Jao then fell outside of the hangar bay's containment field and was left to drift in zero-gravity space as his Sith opponent fled aboard another shuttle.

Darth Wredd then returned to his base on the dark planet of Mala. There, he utilized the nearby Carreras array to broadcast a message to the wider galaxy, outlining his Sith ambitions. Wredd also attempted to execute Master Val but was stopped by Ania. Ania and her companions then managed to escape on their starship before the Carreras array collided with Mala. However, Darth Wredd also escaped and headed for parts unknown. While traveling through space, Ania, Sauk, AG-37, and Master Val encountered Assam floating in space. Miraculously, the young Imperial Knight had been saved from certain death by Master Val's comm droid, which had secured a breath mask over Assam's face. AG-37 speculated that perhaps the droid had sensed that Assam had come to the Carreras system specifically for it and had saved Assam in gratitude. Jao was quickly brought aboard the freight's medical bay, where a medical droid promptly attended to his wounds. Due to immediate medical treatment, Jao's condition was quickly stabilized.

Assam remained in critical condition aboard AG-37's freighter until the comm droid's distress signal was detected by the Star Destroyer Animus. Assam was placed in a bacta tank to continue his recovery. While submerged, he experienced a Force vision of Darth Wredd assassinating Empress Fel. Assam later recounted his vision to Yalta Val while he was dueling with a training remote. However, Yalta Val dismissed Assam's concerns about Wredd's threat to the Empress and reminded the younger knight that they had orders to follow and that Wredd was not his problem. Jao disagreed and insisted that Wredd remained a threat. Val explained that he disliked his orders but, as an Imperial Knight, he was bound to serve the Force by serving the Empress. He reminded Assam to remember his vows and reprimanded the younger Knight for disobeying a direct order by venturing to Carreras to rescue him. While Val was grateful to Assam for saving his life, he believed that Assam's disobedience was an act worthy of punishment.

While Assam viewed his recent assignment to Coruscant for the next cycle as a form of punishment, Master Val thought that the younger Knight needed to spend time recovering since Darth Wredd had nearly killed him. While distracted, Jao was struck by a laser beam fired by the training remote. Continuing his conversation, Assam argued that their highest duty as Imperial Knights was to protect the Empress. Val refused to continue the discussion and insisted they had orders. Frustrated, Assam sliced the training remote in half but indicated that he understood his orders. Uncomfortable with his superiors' unwillingness to address the threat posed by Darth Wredd, Assam later confided in Ania, telling her of the vision and his feeling that Wredd wanted him as an apprentice. However, Ania assured Assam that because he had already reached the rank of Imperial Knight, there was no danger of him falling to the dark side. After briefly relating the history of the Sith to Ania, Jao speculated that Wredd was systematically eliminating the other Sith to restore the Rule of Two.

When Ania asked Jao why Wredd would use the Carreras array to make a spectacle of himself, Jao speculated that Wredd was a megalomaniac who wanted to gain attention for his actions and to make the Triumvirate appear weak. Ania then related how her travels had brought her to the Carreras system. When Jao asked her why she was going to Coruscant, Ania admitted that she wanted to avoid execution in Carreras and revealed that she had been summoned by Empress Fel herself. When Ania asked Jao what he was going to do about Darth Wredd, he replied that it would be better to obey the Empress. Later, Jao changed his mind and decided to pursue Darth Wredd. He persuaded Ania to join him in their hunt for Wredd. Ania and Assam attempted to sneak off of the Animus but were discovered and confronted by Master Val and a squad of stormtroopers.

Master Val attempted to reason with Jao Assam by reminding the younger Knight that they had to trust that the Force would guide the Empress in this matter. Assam replied that that was precisely what he was doing. Assam warned that Darth Wredd was not content with merely killing Sith and had broader ambitions. Master Val refused to listen and ordered Assam to stand down. At that point, Val's Imperial comm droid arrived, startling the stormtroopers and causing them to open fire. Val deflected their laser blasts with his lightsaber and told Val that he did not want violence. After Assam refused to submit, Val conceded that the younger Knight was right and allowed him to leave. However, he warned Assam that dereliction of duty was a "selfish act" for any Imperial Knight. Jao and Ania then departed on a stolen Imperial shuttle before Val and the stormtroopers changed their minds.

Jao Assam and Ania Solo then jumped to hyperspace, on a mission to locate Darth Wredd, a Sith insurgent, though they lacked any concrete leads. As they traversed hyperspace, Ania inquired whether Assam's visions offered any insight into their destination. They also scrutinized regional incident reports for clues about Darth Wredd's location, which encompassed courts-martial records and prisoner of war information. Ania further questioned Assam about the duration of record retention by the authorities and whether these records extended back to the Second Imperial Civil War. Jao responded by suggesting that Wredd was likely a Sith apprentice, given his lack of traditional Sith tattoos commonly worn by members of the One Sith. He also posited that Wredd could have been stationed anywhere during that period, necessitating a review of files from that era.

At that moment, Ania recognized Dieben, a Nalydian who had served as Darth Wredd's henchman on Mala, within one of the files. Following the destruction of the Carrerras communications array, Dieben had been discovered in an escape pod within the Surd Nebula. Jao and Ania swiftly discovered that Dieben was a wanted fugitive who had been extradited to his homeworld of Nalyd to face justice for numerous offenses. Subsequently, they journeyed to Nalyd, a world shrouded in swirling orange fog. Upon landing at a spaceport, Jao learned from local informants that Dieben had been sentenced to death for a range of felonies, including the assassination of a minister, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and sabotaging public transport, resulting in ten fatalities. His punishment was to be execution by firing squad in a public arena.

Before the sentence could be carried out, Ania seized control of a spider-like creature and "rescued" Dieben. Jao, Ania, and Dieben then fled the arena, managing to commandeer a Nalydian floating jellyfish. Nalydian authorities pursued them, also riding giant spiders and wielding blasters. During the escape, the spider was shot, causing the three to fall down a steep cliff. Jao and Ania survived the fall, but Dieben was impaled by a sharp, needle-like plant, resulting in fatal wounds. Although Dieben died before divulging any information, Jao and Ania learned from the guards that he had planned to travel to the planet Dac before his capture by the Carreras authorities and subsequent extradition to Nalyd. Dac, the homeworld of the Mon Calamari and Quarren, had become a "dead world" after the One Sith unleashed a biological weapon into its oceans the previous year.

When cornered by their Nalydian pursuers, Ania successfully persuaded them to release her and Assam by emphasizing the latter's status as an Imperial Knight skilled in lightsaber combat. In exchange for returning Dieben's body, the Nalydians revealed that Dieben had indeed planned to meet with Darth Wredd on Dac. While Jao remained skeptical, Ania argued that Dieben was truthful because he lacked the intelligence to deceive them. Jao also recalled Dieben boasting about powerful connections, which Ania interpreted as Darth Wredd. Since the One Sith had poisoned Dac a year prior, the planet was now uninhabited and lawless. Criminal activity was present in the Calamari system due to the Galactic Triumvirate's limited presence. Ania asserted that Dac's lawlessness made it an ideal hiding place for the Sith. Assam was convinced by Ania's reasoning, and the pair proceeded to Dac.

Upon exiting hyperspace, Jao Assam and Ania Solo arrived near the Mon Calamari Orbital Shipyards, a collection of orbital shipyards that had fallen into disrepair since the Mon Calamari genocide. Their shuttle was promptly attacked by a pair of Dac pirate droids, which began to sabotage the starship's systems. Nevertheless, Jao managed to repel the intruders. Subsequently, their shuttle was ensnared in a tractor beam and pulled into a hangar bay. Two criminals, an Aqualish and a Gran, approached the shuttle. However, Jao and Ania engaged the criminals, overpowering them and stealing their clothing and armor. Jao surmised that the two were merely common criminals but sensed the presence of the dark side of the Force, suggesting a Sith presence. Accompanied by their Imperial communications droid, Jao and Ania explored the shipyard and quickly discovered that a pirate gang had seized control of the shipyards and were forcing enslaved Mon Calamari and Quarren to construct a fleet of pirate vessels.

Jao and Ania also established contact with Luen, a Mon Calamari, and Tikin, a Quarren. Luen revealed that the Mon Calamari and Quarren refugees had been enticed back to Dac under the guise of restoring the planet's habitability. Tikin added that the pirates were holding their children and elderly relatives hostage to compel the able-bodied Mon Calamari and Quarren to build ships. Tikin also shared that he had lost his wife during the Genocide and that his son was being held captive. Luen further disclosed that the pirates were part of a criminal syndicate led by a "rogue" Sith. Jao instructed the Imperial communications droid to transmit an encrypted message to Coruscant, informing Empress Fel about the pirates' slave labor operations in the Dac system. When Ania expressed concerns about Jao facing execution by the Triumvirate authorities for desertion, Jao explained that the threat posed by the pirates to the Triumvirate and the galaxy outweighed his personal predicament.

Jao, Ania, and their two local "guides" were then pursued by additional pirates. After evading their pursuers within the shipyard, the four encountered Darth Luft, a tall, red-skinned male Twi'lek Sith. Darth Luft asserted that he had no affiliation with Darth Wredd and disparaged the rogue Sith for rebelling against the One Sith. He also mentioned that the One Sith had sent emissaries to contact the Galactic Triumvirate and claimed that the government was uninterested in Dac. Instead of killing Jao, Ania, and the two escaped slaves, Darth Luft decided to drop them through a trapdoor into the poisonous oceans of Dac. The four fell into an escape pod, which was immediately jettisoned into the ocean world. The presence of viral spores in Dac's oceans meant that even a single drop could be fatal.

As Jao, Ania, and their local guides faced certain death as the escape pod plummeted into Dac's oceans, the Imperial communications droid managed to reconfigure its antenna to broadcast their location, even from the ocean depths. Meanwhile, Sauk and AG-37 arrived in the Dac system. AG-37 detected the Imperial communication droid's signals from beneath Dac's oceans and quickly deduced that Ania and her companions were trapped in an escape pod. They realized they had to reach them before the hull failed, as even a single drop of the poisoned ocean would be lethal. Ania, however, refused to accept defeat and attempted to gain control of the escape pod's directional thrusters. Tikin revealed that the Sith and his pirates had forced their slaves to strip all the propulsion systems from the pods for use in the fleet.

At that point, AG-37 contacted Jao and Ania, assuring them that they would use their ship's grappling arm to retrieve the escape pod. AG-37's ship had plunged into the oceans of Dac, and Sauk had fired the ship's grappling gun in an attempt to catch the plummeting escape pod. Sauk and AG-37's rescue effort succeeded, and they managed to rescue Jao, Ania, Luen, and Tikin. AG-37's ship towed the escape pod into one of the shipyards above Dac, where Jao and Ania reunited with Sauk and AG-37. Sauk and AG-37 also confirmed that they had bypassed the pirate defenses and intercepted their distress signal.

Having narrowly escaped death, Jao Assam urged his companions to stop Darth Luft before the Sith realized they had survived. He argued that Darth Wredd was behind all the preceding events and reiterated the need to locate him. Ania Solo disagreed, contending that they were outnumbered and should await reinforcements. AG-37 concurred with Ania's plan and recommended immediate departure. However, Jao insisted that both Wredd and Luft had to be stopped, emphasizing that "cutting off the head would kill the body." Ania countered that Dieben had been lying, as Wredd was not in the "Broken Ring" above Dac. Furthermore, the Quarren Tikin refused to accompany them, insisting that he would not abandon his son, Tilin, to Darth Luft and his pirates.

Jao dismissed Ania's concerns, arguing that their arrival on Dac was not coincidental. He reiterated his belief that Wredd was orchestrating everything and refused to forgo the opportunity to stop Darth Wredd once and for all. Jao's crusade against the Sith angered Tikin, who argued that attacking Darth Luft would jeopardize the lives of his son and the families of the Mon Calamari and Quarren slave workers. Refusing to participate in this crusade, Tikin stormed off and returned to the pirates' lair. Ania also criticized the "reckless" nature of Jao's plan to confront Luft and the entire pirate ring single-handedly. Unable to reconcile their differences, Jao parted ways with Ania and her companions and went to confront the pirate syndicate and their Sith master. Meanwhile, Jao's mentor Val and the Galactic Alliance Navy Admiral Gar Stazi assembled a force to deal with the pirates and liberate the Mon Calamari and Quarren slaves.

Jao Assam infiltrated the shipyard and made his way to Darth Luft's headquarters, located above the shipyards. By this point, Tikin had revealed that Jao and his companions had escaped in the hope of securing Tilin's release. Instead, Darth Luft used the Force to throw Tikin to his death. Unfortunately for Darth Luft, his callous action sparked a slave uprising among the Mon Calamari and Quarren workers, who attacked their captors. Jao then revealed himself and sought to confront Darth Luft. Meanwhile, Jao's companions Ania and AG-37 were being pursued by pirate starfighters. However, the pursuing starfighters were destroyed by a Galactic Alliance task force, which had just emerged from hyperspace.

The Alliance reinforcements scattered the pirate starships and headed to the orbital shipyard. The Alliance forces included a water tanker, the Trand Cappa, which proceeded to dock with the shipyard's ring. Recognizing the aquatic nature of the Mon Calamari and Quarren, Stazi flooded the Mon Calamari shipyards to give them an advantage over their captors. Jao and Darth Luft's duel was interrupted by a deluge that engulfed the pirate's base, destroying their fleet. The surviving pirates were quickly apprehended by a force of seatroopers led by Master Val, who liberated the Mon Calamari and Quarren prisoners. The pirates also attempted to kill their slaves' families by exposing their quarters to zero-gravity space. However, Ania, Sauk, and their comm droid managed to close the doors, saving them.

Amidst the battle, Jao and Luft exchanged insults while dueling. Luft taunted Jao, claiming his arrogance would be his downfall. Jao retorted that Luft would have to answer for stealing an entire star system. Luft vowed that Jao would not be the one to take his head. In an attempt to disorient Jao, Luft hurled debris at the Imperial Knight, but Jao cleaved them in half with his lightsaber. Darth Luft boasted that he would not drown in the flood and threw a large piece of debris at Jao, knocking him into the water below. While gloating over his victory, Luft was interrupted by two Imperial Knight cadets who ordered the Sith to surrender. While Luft fought the newcomers, Jao swam behind the Sith and stabbed him from behind, killing Darth Luft. Jao then thanked the two Imperial Knights for "distracting" the Sith.

Following the battle, Jao Assam reunited with his mentor Yalta Val, who oversaw the arrest of the pirates. Both men were satisfied with the outcome and viewed the liberation of the Mon Calamari and Quarren as a sign of healing in the galaxy. However, Jao was unwilling to return to his duties, even though desertion meant death. He argued that his life was insignificant compared to his duty to protect the Empress from Darth Wredd. Jao departed from the Dac spaceport with Ania and her companions. While traveling through space, Jao received an incoming holographic message from Darth Wredd himself. The Sith revealed that Jao and his companions had unknowingly furthered his plans by eliminating Darth Luft, bringing his scheme closer to fruition. Darth Wredd also attempted to entice the young Imperial Knight with a place in his new Sith Order, which would be based on the Rule of Two. While Jao was upset that he had been manipulated by the Sith fugitive, Ania assured him that they had liberated the Mon Calamari shipyards and saved many slaves. She reasoned that if they could accomplish so much, they could take down one arrogant Sith.

One year after the Carreras Incident, Jao accompanied Ania and her crew on a delivery run to Lasgo Port, located on a remote planet surrounded by an orbital minefield left over from the Second Imperial Civil War. Due to a shortage of credits, Sauk had secured a job for Ania and her crew to deliver supplies to Lasgo Port. After navigating the minefield with considerable difficulty, AG-37's ship landed at Lasgo Port. In an attempt to earn extra credits, Ania attempted to tame a yarthul, a large quadruped native to the planet. She failed and lost her comlink as collateral. While walking through Lasgo Port, Jao discovered that Ania was wanted for the murder of an Imperial Knight named Teemen Alton. When Jao confronted Ania, she denied the murder, insisting that Jao was the first Knight she had ever met. Suspicious, Jao questioned her presence in the remote Carreras system around the time of the alleged murder.

While departing Lasgo Port's planet, AG-37's freighter had to traverse the minefield again. As they passed through, the freighter's fuel injection bay was struck by small-scale blaster fire, initially mistaken for asteroid debris. The ship's crew dispatched their Imperial communications droid to repair the damage. While working on the fuel bay, the droid discovered a damaged starship nearby with its crew alive but in distress. AG-37's freighter docked with the damaged starship, and Jao, Ania, and their companions made contact with the crew. During the meeting, Ania encountered her former love interest Ramid, who claimed that a mine had damaged his ship's net isolator, causing the shield systems to fail. Without operational shields, the starship was unable to travel through space. While Ania reunited with Ramid, her companions returned to AG-37's freighter to retrieve tools and spare parts. However, this was a deception.

Once Ania was separated from her companions, Ramid and his crew took her captive. Ramid's starship then activated its engines and opened fire on AG-37's freighter, attempting to destroy it within the minefields. Jao narrowly prevented the destruction of their starship. However, Ramid and his crew exploited the explosion to jump to hyperspace, taking Ania with them. Jao and his companions quickly realized that Ania had been kidnapped. Following Ania's abduction, AG-37 attempted to track Ramid's starship's communications but received a response signal from her comlink, which they traced back to Port Lasgo. Given that Ania had lost her comlink as collateral during her failed attempt to tame a yarthul, Jao was skeptical that it was actually her and speculated that she did not want to be found.

Jao found it suspicious that Ania had lost her comlink and that some of her old "friends" had subsequently kidnapped her. Sauk defended Ania, asserting that she had not killed the Imperial Knight. Jao suggested that Ania and her kidnappers could be anywhere in the galaxy by now. However, Sauk pointed out that Ramid's starship had made a cold jump into hyperspace, implying that they could not have traveled further than two star systems before running out of fuel. AG-37 added that this situation would make it more difficult to guess their next destination. Sauk then commented that if Ania had secretly been a Sith, AG-37 would have detected it. To dispel Jao's suspicions, Sauk recounted how Ania had vouched for him when he was homeless and hungry on the streets of Carreras Minor, despite being a complete stranger.

Jao then turned to AG-37, who had known Ania for a long time. AG-37 recounted how he had first encountered Ania near the end of the Second Imperial Civil War in the Selvatas system. Ania had escaped from an Imperial prison camp on Drash-so and had drawn a weapon on AG-37, who was conducting business in the system at the time. However, AG-37 took pity on her and gave her a free ride to the Carreras system, where she established a junkyard. When Jao asked why he had shown her mercy, AG-37 explained that he had made an unspecified promise to Ania's ancestor, the smuggler Han Solo, over a century ago. The three companions then resumed their quest to discover Ania's whereabouts and ascertain the truth about her past.

After Sauk and AG-37 ruled out most of the galaxy, they speculated that Ania's kidnappers were heading to a remote planet with a few small settlements where they could refuel without questions. Jao was unsure whether Ania's kidnappers were bounty hunters and wondered if they would have gone to the nearest Triumvirate official. Still questioning Ania's innocence, Jao suggested that she had deliberately wanted to disappear due to the seriousness of her alleged crime and the substantial bounty on her head. However, Sauk refused to believe she was guilty until they heard her side of the story. He told Jao that nothing they had seen in AG's memory had convinced him otherwise.

When Jao suggested that AG-37's memories shed a different light on the situation, Sauk questioned why the Knight was so troubled by the murder of the Imperial Knight, given that he had left the Order. In response, Jao explained that while the Force was guiding him in unexpected directions, he had not forgotten his vows. He reiterated that Teemen Alton was a Knight he had admired and respected and would not take his murder lightly. AG-37 explained that what they had seen in his memory records was circumstantial. He added that extreme positions often led to extreme decisions, which resulted in extreme outcomes. After a lengthy philosophical discussion about the Force and people's pasts, the three companions agreed to set aside their differences regarding Ania's alleged guilt or innocence and to uncover the truth behind the matter.

Running low on fuel, Jao Assam and his friends headed to the nearest planet: a barren world that rained glass and acid. Upon landing, they discovered Ramid's wrecked starship but found no sign of Ania or Ramid. However, Sauk discovered a faint trail of blood leading down the gangplank. Jao reasoned that Ania and Ramid could not have traveled far on foot, especially if one of them was injured. Sauk found a storage compartment for a speeder bike aboard the starship but discovered that the bike was missing. AG-37 deduced that Ania and Ramid had traveled a considerable distance and suggested scanning the ground from the air. Before they could begin their search, glass began to rain from the sky, forcing the three companions to return to AG-37's freighter for shelter. Since Jao and Sauk's hides could not withstand the glass, AG-37 continued the rescue mission alone. His metallic body protected him from the sharp glass. AG-37 instructed them to take off as soon as the storm subsided.

While waiting for the "glass storm" to abate, Sauk and Jao received a holographic message from Master Yalta Val. Master Val had recently reviewed the medical records at the Triumvirate archives on Coruscant and discovered that Teemen Alton's real killer had a prosthetic arm. Since Ania was entirely biological and had no artificial limbs, she was innocent. After the storm subsided, Jao and Sauk received a transmission that AG-37 had spotted Ania and Ramid heading on a speeder bike to a remote settlement. Convinced of Ania's innocence and knowing her location, the two flew AG-37's freighter to the settlement. Jao arrived just in time to save Ania from an attack by a mysterious bounty hunter, who had already killed Ramid. This bounty hunter was Teemen Alton's true murderer and intended to frame Ania for a crime she had not committed.

Jao attacked the bounty hunter with his lightsaber, giving Ania time to escape through a window. Following a protracted duel, the bounty hunter managed to drive Jao away by detonating a thermal detonator, which damaged the building. However, the Imperial Knight survived due to his Force powers. The bounty hunter then found Ania hiding in a cave and quickly immobilized her. She intended to frame Ania by surgically removing her left hand and replacing it with her own prosthetic hand. Before she could perform the surgery, Jao Assam ambushed the bounty hunter, throwing her to the ground and causing her to drop her remote, which controlled her specially modified TIE bomber. The TIE bomber crashed into the pit.

During the duel, the masked bounty hunter fought back with her laser whip and managed to choke Jao with it. However, Jao freed Ania using his Force powers, and she grabbed a blaster. Ania then shot the bounty hunter's prosthetic hand, causing her to drop her whip and lose her grip on Jao. Before Jao could recover, the bounty hunter approached Ania and attempted to execute her with a blaster pistol. However, Ania grabbed the bounty hunter's remote and used the TIE bomber to ram into her, killing the bounty hunter. Despite the bounty hunter's defeat, Ania's problems were not over. Shortly afterward, an Imperial shuttle landed a squad of stormtroopers who proceeded to arrest Ania for her alleged crime. Jao and Sauk were unable to stop them and could only watch as they apprehended Ania for trial on Coruscant.

On Coruscant, Ania was brought before a military tribunal presided over by Antares Draco, the head of the Imperial Knights and Marasiah Fel's lover. Ania was ably represented by Master Yalta Val, who challenged the Triumvirate's evidence. Jao Assam arrived on Coruscant in time to present the masked bounty hunter's prosthetic hand. This evidence proved crucial in exonerating Ania, and the Triumvirate authorities released her. Following her acquittal, Ania was reunited with her companions Sauk, AG-37, and their Imperial communications droid. Ania admitted that she had been sent to the prison camp for murdering a malevolent individual.

However, this positive turn was overshadowed when it was revealed that Jao Assam had been apprehended and incarcerated for abandoning his post as an Imperial Knight, an offense punishable by death according to the laws of the Galactic Triumvirate. Despite succeeding in clearing Ania's name, Yalta Val clarified that Jao's return to Coruscant was effectively a surrender. During his imprisonment, Jao Assam received a visit from the enigmatic Darth Wredd himself, who detected the former's feeling of being treated unjustly. Darth Wredd proposed aiding Jao in escaping confinement by discreetly providing him with a Sith lightsaber through his cell bars. Intending to uncover and foil Darth Wredd's conspiracy against the Empress, Jao accepted the Sith Lord's offer and utilized the lightsaber to breach his cell. After eliminating several stormtroopers, they successfully reached the Imperial brig. Subsequently, Jao and Darth Wredd fled aboard the Sith Lord's starship into hyperspace.

Darth Wredd and Jao journeyed to the celestial body known as Mala. En route, Wredd confined Jao within the ship's holding cell. Inside, Wredd shared his personal history and origins with the captive Jao. He recounted how, growing up on Mala, he discovered his Force-sensitive abilities during his youth. Unable to join the Jedi Order due to its clandestine status following the Massacre at Ossus, Wredd instead honed his skills as a swordsman, becoming the champion of his village. Near the conclusion of the Second Imperial Civil War, Wredd's world was annihilated by the One Sith, who tested a bioweapon upon it, eradicating all life and displacing the planet from its orbit, causing it to drift in space. While Wredd was spared, he was forcibly made an apprentice to a Sith master.

Driven by the destruction of his homeworld and the loss of his family, Wredd harbored an intense animosity towards the One Sith. He further detailed how he had slain his master and assumed the identity of the Imperial Knight Yalta Val during the Carreras Incident. With his master's demise, Wredd was now free to destabilize the galaxy. Jao initially doubted Darth Wredd's narrative until the Sith presented a broken piece from his sword, confirming the veracity of his account. Wredd then left the broken shard on the floor. Employing the Force, Jao managed to levitate the shard against the control console, unlocking the door. Proceeding to the cockpit, Jao transmitted Mala's coordinates to his Imperial comm droid and Ania. However, Darth Wredd reappeared and revealed that he had orchestrated Jao's escape solely to lure Empress Fel and the One Sith to Mala, where he intended to eliminate his adversaries.

Subsequently, Darth Wredd restrained Jao Assam in a cave, leaving him for Ania and her companions to discover. As anticipated, Ania, her allies, and a squad of stormtroopers located Jao. Aware that Jao had not succumbed to the Dark Side but was serving the Force, Empress Fel had dispatched Ania to rescue Jao. Jao promptly informed Ania that Wredd was plotting to trap the Imperials on Mala. Shortly thereafter, a substantial fleet of unidentified vessels landed on Mala's surface, deploying a vast army of One Sith. The One Sith were in pursuit of Darth Wredd, believing that Ania and the Imperials were providing him refuge. A battle ensued rapidly as Ania's stormtroopers engaged the Sith. At that moment, Darth Wredd reappeared, offering assistance to Jao and Ania. He then handed Jao a Sith lightsaber. Despite Wredd's aid, Ania's forces were still at a numerical disadvantage against the One Sith and were compelled to retreat to the derelict Carreras communications array, which had crashed on Mala's desolate surface a year prior.

While Ania and her forces fell back, Jao and Darth Wredd combined their Force abilities to propel a sizable fragment of space station debris onto the advancing Sith horde. This provided sufficient time for Ania and her companions to seek refuge within the wrecked Carreras communications array. After rejoining Ania's group, Darth Wredd attempted to justify his actions by asserting that he was assisting the Galactic Federation Triumvirate in eradicating the Sith. He also confided in Jao his aspirations to reinstate the Rule of Two. Wredd saw the disillusioned Jao as a potential apprentice. While acknowledging their temporary alliance, Jao reiterated his allegiance to the Empress and affirmed that he would never embrace the dark side. As their argument intensified, the One Sith army caught up with Ania's party and Wredd. Amidst the conflict, Imperial reinforcements under Empress Fel herself arrived at the communications array. A squadron of Predator-class fighters conducted a strafing run over the trench, targeting several Sith. Following the One Sith's rejection of an ultimatum from the Imperial authorities to surrender, the Empress deployed her Imperial Knights and stormtroopers onto the battlefield, marking the commencement of the second phase of the Battle of the Floating World.

The Imperial Knights and the One Sith engaged in a brutal conflict, with neither side offering any leniency. After Antares Draco, the leader of the Imperial Knights, sustained injuries in battle, Empress Marasiah Fel entered the fray. Amidst the chaos, Jao Assam joined forces with Empress Fel, and together they fought against the One Sith acolytes. Jao and Empress Fel observed Darth Wredd eliminating his own Sith comrades. While Jao harbored deep distrust for Wredd's motives, he recognized the necessity of his assistance. Empress Fel countered that a Sith's sole motivation was hatred. Jao surmised that Darth Wredd was seeking retribution against the One Sith for the murder of his family and the destruction of his entire homeworld.

By nightfall, the Imperial Knights had successfully decimated a significant portion of the One Sith army. Many observers, including the assassin droid AG-37, believed that the Sith they had vanquished were the last remnants in hiding. Empress Fel instructed the Imperials to commence evacuating their wounded aboard the Imperial shuttle Neuer and to initiate a search for survivors. While Empress Fel attended to the injured Antares Draco, Darth Wredd ambushed her, impaling her through the chest with his lightsaber. Jao witnessed the assault and immediately pursued Darth Wredd. A fierce lightsaber duel ensued, culminating in Jao severing both of Darth Wredd's hands with his lightsaber. Wredd then implored Jao Assam to deliver the final blow, hoping that Jao would succumb to anger and fall to the dark side. He insisted that the Sith had to be eradicated for the sake of the galaxy and in memory of his family. However, Jao refused to kill Wredd, having discerned his plan. Ultimately, Wredd was killed by Ania Solo, who fired a blaster bolt into his chest.

Following the battle, the wounded Empress Fel was evacuated, and Jao reconciled with Master Yalta Val. Jao reasoned that Darth Wredd had orchestrated the entire conflict to punish and annihilate the One Sith for the devastation they had wrought upon his homeworld. But after everything was said and done, there was still one Sith left: himself. Having ventured too far into the dark side to believe in redemption, Wredd had deliberately engineered his own demise and nearly succeeded in creating a new Sith in the process. Ania reassured Jao that he was not inclined towards the dark side. As a consequence of the Battle of the Floating World, it was widely believed that the Sith had been exterminated from the galaxy. Master Val hailed the apparent destruction of the Sith as the "end of history," but Empress Fel remained skeptical, remarking that history had "a way of continuing."

After the Battle of the Floating World concluded, Jao Assam and his companions made their way back to Coruscant, the heart of galactic civilization. Ania Solo successfully persuaded Empress Fel to dismiss the charges of desertion against Jao and to release him from his duties as an Imperial Knight. Before Jao embarked on his new life with Ania, he shared a final conversation with his former mentor, Yalta Val, at the hangar bay. Both men were pleased with the Empress's initiatives to reshape the Knights by shifting their allegiance towards the light side of the Force, rather than solely to the Empress. Jao affectionately described Master Val as one of the more unconventional Knights he had encountered and expressed his gratitude for all the lessons he had imparted. Jao pledged to remain steadfast on the path of the light side but acknowledged that he was no longer a Knight. Jao also promised that he would be ready to stand alongside Master Val in battle should the need arise. After embracing each other, Master Val commended Jao for never disappointing him. Jao was accompanied by Master Val's old Imperial comm droid, with whom he had developed a close bond.

In the year that followed, Jao and his companions traveled across the galaxy. During a visit to a cantina, Sauk managed to acquire a retrofitted stabilizing coil from Jariah Syn and his associates Cade Skywalker and Deliah Blue. Sauk's purchase of the starship component proved timely as she, Ania, Jao, and AG-37 came under attack.

As an Imperial Knight, Jao Assam was dedicated to upholding the principles of the light side of the Force and serving Empress Marasiah Fel, the ruler of the Fel Empire. He also shared a close bond with his mentor, Master Yalta Val, whom he considered to be one of the more unconventional Imperial Knights. While possessing sound judgment, Jao also exhibited a tendency towards impetuousness and was known to bend the rules to pursue what he believed was right. On one occasion, he defied the Empress's orders to remain at his post in the Ithori system to rescue Master Val, who had been abducted by the rogue Sith Darth Wredd. On another occasion, Jao was compelled by a Force vision to disregard his orders a second time to hunt down Darth Wredd, who was plotting to assassinate Empress Fel. While these actions led to conflicts with his superiors, his interventions on both occasions helped save lives and thwart Wredd's schemes.

Jao Assam also possessed a strong moral compass. On one occasion, he was so moved by the plight of the Mon Calamari and Quarren slaves in the Mon Calamari Shipyards that he alerted the Triumvirate authorities and confronted Darth Luft, the leader of the pirate ring that had enslaved them. On another occasion, he rejected Darth Wredd's offer to embrace the dark side of the Force and become his Sith apprentice. Jao also forged friendships with Ania Solo, Sauk, and AG-37. His friendship with Ania prompted him to undertake a mission to rescue her after she had been kidnapped by her former lover, Ramid. While initially uncertain of her innocence, he refused to condemn her until he had ascertained the facts surrounding her situation. Upon being presented with evidence supporting her innocence, Jao played a pivotal role in securing her acquittal. While remaining committed to the light side, Jao reached a point in his life where he realized that he was no longer an Imperial Knight.

As an Imperial Knight, Jao Assam was proficient in the ways of the light side and lightsaber combat. He wore the red armor of the Imperial Knights and wielded a blue lightsaber. Furthermore, Jao was a skilled starfighter pilot. Following his departure from the Imperial Knights, Jao adopted a white version of the Imperial Knight's armor.

Jao Assam made his debut as a protagonist in Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman's Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 comic series, a spin-off of Dark Horse Comics' popular Star Wars: Legacy comic series. One fan, Reed Beebe, characterized Jao and Ania as a compelling duo, contrasting Jao's sense of honor with Ania's instinct for self-preservation. He highlighted Jao's willingness to endanger himself by informing the Fel Empire of the pirate presence in the Calamari system. In response, the series' assistant editor, Freddye Lins, affirmed that both characters possessed strong wills in their own ways. These characteristics led them in slightly different directions throughout the series. Following a fan inquiry, the series' editor Randy Stradley clarified that Empress Marasiah Fel's severe reaction to Jao's desertion stemmed from a "there have to be rules" perspective rather than any personal animosity towards Jao. From Fel's viewpoint, Jao had been given orders and had chosen to disregard them.