Colden

Colden was a human male who was the prince of the city-state Firevale on the planet Gansevor^[1] in 382 BBY.^[4] He was married to Sicatra, the princess of Bethune.^[2]

Biography

Prince Colden was the son of Queen Keraan, the monarch of Firevale. At some point he fell in love with, and married, Princess Sicatra of Bethune,^[2] a rival city-state that resented Firevale's monopoly on Gansevor's supplies of baudraxite.^[5] After their marriage, Colden and Sicatra concocted a plan in order to force the abdication of Keraan, so that Colden could take power. Colden's 'kidnapping' of Sicatra was used as the casus belli, allowing Bethune's Field Marshal Tozen to lay siege to Firevale with his army. A mercenary force led by Abediah Viess was also employed and kept on standby behind one of Gansevor's moons in case extra force was necessary.^[1] Colden and Sicatra hoped that the siege would force his mother to abdicate, at which point Colden would step in as Firevale's new monarch and negotiate a pre-planned truce which would include granting Bethune involvement in the baudraxite trade.^[5] However, Colden and his wife did not count on the fact that Firevale's envoy to the planetary capital, Horatio, would take the initiative to send a distress call to the Republic's Office of the Frontier. This message was picked up by the Jedi Knights Porter Engle and Barash Silvain, who travelled to Gansevor in order to bring a peaceful resolution to the manufactured conflict between Firevale and Bethune.^[6]

Colden was there to greet Engle and Silvain when they arrived in Firevale, having successfully negotiated a way through the Bethunian siege to bring much-needed relief to the city.^[1] He was surprised to see the Jedi, but managed to keep up the ruse that Tozen's army had only come because they wanted to take back Sicatra, who he alleged had fled to Firevale seeking asylum. When Abediah Viess' mercenary force arrived to back up the Bethunians, Colden took to the city walls with Engle and Silvain to provide an appraisal of the city's defences, which he asserted would not last long in light of the mercenary army. As Engle went to engage the besiegers, Colden took Silvain to meet his mother, before proceeding to argue with Keraan about the wisdom of his marriage to Sicatra in front of the Jedi. At this point, Sicatra arrived and, through a personal discussion with Silvain, managed to persuade her that she and Colden were simply innocent victims, who had been forced to flee to Firevale because she had fallen pregnant.^[2]

Despite Engle securing a brief cessation in the fighting, the Bethunian and mercenary bombardment of Firevale quickly returned in full force and threatened to destroy Firevale. Colden argued that they should open the gates in order to secure a ceasefire, however his mother pointed out that such a move would only lead to her forced abdication. In the midst of the Bethunian army, Viess had Tozen shot due to his reticence to completely raze Firevale to the ground but, before he expired, the Field Marshal was able to contact Sicatra and let her know what had happened. As the bombardment intensified further, an anguished Sicatra revealed her and Colden's plans to Silvain and Keraan, at which point the Queen attempted to kill her daughter-in-law. This was prevented by Silvain's use of the Force and, shortly afterwards, Sicatra made a speech exhorting the Bethunians to turn against the mercenaries who had murdered their commander and abandon the siege. Firevale was saved, but Colden and Sicatra's plan to take power was foiled, and everything had come at the expense of a huge loss of life.^[5]