Lok Durd

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Lok Durd was a male Neimoidian weapons developer and general in the Separatist Droid Army who served in the Clone Wars. During the war, he created an experimental defoliator—an artillery radiation weapon that could theoretically wipe out any organic matter while leaving machinery unharmed. Durd chose to test his weapon on the isolated world of Maridun, as it was home to a colony of pacifist Lurmen. After landing on the planet and setting up a base camp, Durd initially tested the defoliator on a pair of battle droids. Following the experiment's success, he moved to attack the Lurmen in order to impress Confederate Head of State Count Dooku. However, Durd was interrupted by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Aayla Secura, who had crash-landed on Maridun prior to Durd's arrival. Using shield generators that they had captured from Durd's base camp, the Jedi were able to block the defoliator ray targeted at the colony with a deflector shield. Following a brief battle, Durd and his assistant, Pune Zignat, was captured by the Jedi and subsequently taken into Republic custody.

Biography

Early career

The defoliator

The male Neimoidian Lok Durd hailed from the planet Neimoidia during the Clone Wars.^[1] By 22 BBY,^[4] he had become a general and weapons designer for the Confederacy of Independent Systems.^[3] Durd was assisted in his research by his chief weapons technician, the Aqualish Pune Zignat, whose careful design work and planning had much to do with making Durd a success.^[5] During the war, Durd developed a defoliator, an enhanced radiation weapon that was capable of destroying living matter while leaving inorganic material unharmed, in the hopes that it would enable him to rise up through the ranks of the Separatist Droid Army. Because the Confederate Droid Army was largely made up of battle droids, the defoliator's specific targeting of enemy organics made it ideal for the Confederacy. The defoliator was mounted on a modified heavy artillery gun and, when loaded, fired a large missile that created a large, fiery shock wave upon detonation. However, the wave could be blocked by a deflector shield.^[3]

As the defoliator proved to be very expensive and costly, it needed to be tested before Count Dooku, Head of State of the Confederacy, would back any further development. Durd began to seek out a lush planet with a primitive culture that he could safely subject to experimentation.^[2] After trekking the stars,^[6] Durd discovered the remote world of Maridun, home to a small, peaceful Lurmen colony. Because Durd believed that the pacifist Lurmen would not defend themselves, he deemed Maridun to be the perfect testing site for the defoliator. Landing planetside on Maridun with the defoliator and several squads of battle droids, Durd and his forces built a small but heavily armed base camp and proceeded to the Lurmen colony so that Durd could "claim" the land for the Separatists. Arriving at the colony aboard a C-9979 landing craft, Durd and Zignat met with the colony's leader, Tee Watt Kaa.^[3] To avoid causing a panic,^[5] Durd lied to Kaa, stating that the colony was now under Separatist "protection"—hiding his intentions of targeting the Lurmen with the defoliator—and would remain unharmed as long as it offered no resistance.^[3]

With that, Durd moved forward with a squad of his droids to "inspect his new colony." After ordering his droids to ransack the colony and search for Republic contraband, Durd learned that there was no evidence of Republic weapons. Durd then told Kaa that in the future, more periodic searches would be conducted to "maintain security." Remarking that the Lurmen were "smarter than they appeared," Durd returned to the base camp with his droids^[3] to conduct the defoliator's first field test^[2] and double-check that it would not harm inorganic beings.^[5] Returning to the Separatist base, Durd prepared for the defoliator's test, stationing his forces just beyond the base's walls so that he could speak to them from above on a perch along the front wall Durd announced the creation of his new weapon to the battle droids, and they cheered. However, when he stated that he required two volunteers, the droids' ranks quickly receded, leaving two very reluctant B1-Series battle droids that Durd "picked" as the volunteers to serve as the defoliator's test subjects.^[3]

While the two battle droids moved into position faraway from the base, Durd opened a hololink to Count Dooku to show him the tests and their results. After the two droids were a safe distance away from the base camp, Durd ordered the defoliator to be loaded and fired. Another pair of B1 battle droids loaded the defoliator missile, and Zignat prepared to fire the weapon at the two droids. The Aqualish technician then launched the missile; as it landed, it exploded into a raging and expanding inferno. The two battle droids were quickly engulfed by the shockwave, while Durd and the rest of his troops, along with Count Dooku through the hololink, watched from back at the camp. As the smoke generated by the defoliator dissipated, it revealed the two battle droids, slightly smoking but otherwise unharmed and intact, standing in the middle of a desolate wasteland. To Durd, the defoliator appeared to work: the two test subjects were not damaged, and all organic life around them was completely wiped out. Dooku stated that the new weapon was very impressive and that it should be tested on living, sentient subjects. At Dooku's behest, Durd promised that he would test the weapon on the Lurmen colony. The Neimoidian general then closed the hololink with Dooku and prepared to travel to the Lurmen colony to test the defoliator, taking three squads of droids with him, as well as three Armored Assault Tanks.^[3]

Battle of Maridun

Main article: Defense of Maridun

General Durd and his forces arrived at the colony the next day and set up positions a considerable distance away from it, but close enough so that the village was in range of the defoliator. When one of the droids told Durd that a barricade had been set up, the Neimoidian laughed, thinking it was only the Lurmen trying to protect themselves. However, a glance through a pair of electrobinoculars revealed to him the presence of a small Republic force—Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Aayla Secura, Skywalker's Togruta apprentice Ahsoka Tano, Commander Bly, and Clone Captain Rex. The Jedi and the clones had crash-landed on Maridun before Durd had even arrived, in the wake of the Sky Battle of Quell, and had taken refuge with the Lurmen. The force had also witnessed Durd's test of the defoliator, and took measures to protect their Lurmen allies as a result. Upon seeing the Jedi and the clones, Durd ordered that the defoliator be fired at them.^[3]

The enemy saw that the Separatists were loading the defoliator, and they activated several shield generators they had stolen from Durd's camp, and the resultant deflector shield enveloped the colony. As soon as loading was complete on the defoliator, Durd commanded his aide to fire the weapon. The missile landed several meters in front of the deflector shield, and the fiery shockwave began to expand. When the shockwave reached the shield, however, it was unable to break through and was effectively stopped. After the wave had dissipated, the Jedi and clones emerged from behind the pod barricade, preparing for the Separatists' charge. Durd realized he would have to destroy the shields for the defoliator to be effective, and ordered his first squad, consisting of several B1 and B2 battle droids, to charge forward and attack.^[3]

The first squad charged across the newly devastated field and engaged the Jedi, but the Republic forces were able to drive them off. Durd and the rest of his forces watched on as the first squad was obliterated. The general then ordered his second and third squads to charge forward, leaving behind just a few battle droids and the three tanks to guard his own position. As the second wave of droids attacked, the Jedi were unable to destroy all of them, and a portion of the Confederate force got past their line. They eventually were able to push through and destroy the enemy shield generators.^[3]

Seeing that the shield was down, Durd ordered his droids to reload the defoliator and destroy the village; however, Skywalker was already bearing down on him at a rapid speed. Durd ordered his tanks to blast the Jedi Knight, but Skywalker was too fast for the laser fire and managed to evade them. The Jedi destroyed the defoliator along with several of the droids guarding Durd. In the process, a defoliator projectile was dropped by the droids. Durd, afraid that he would be "defoliated" by the projectile rolling toward him, jumped out of his AAT and attempted to run away, but Skywalker lifted him from the ground before the Neimoidian general could run far. Durd's forces were eventually routed by the combined effort of the Republic and Lurmen forces. After the battle, the Jedi prepared to leave the colony with the captured general, and three Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers jumped into the system to pick them up.^[3]

Late career

A new bioweapon

Sometime after the Battle of Maridun, in 21BBY,^[8] Lok Durd managed to escape Republic custody and return to the Separatist Alliance, unbeknownst to most of the Grand Army of the Republic officials and Senate authorities but to Grand Master Yoda and Senator Bail Organa, the latter being the head of Republic Security Committee and who had that intel as a closed guarded secret. With the attack and annexation of Taratos IV by the Separatist army and the capture of the Corellian scientist Bant'ena Fhernan, General Durd became in charge of “The Project” – a bioweapon that was being developed on the planet Lanteeb, also invaded and captured by the Confederacy.^[7] By threatening the loved ones of Doctor Fhernan, Durd forced her to create a damotite-based gaseous chemical that liquefied living matter on contact,^[8] and after the test of the new formula completed, she gave the data crystal copy to the general, who went to report to Count Dooku and started the production of the weapon.^[7]

On a secret mission to Lanteeb to investigate more about the possible existence of a bioweapon, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker infiltrated Bant’ena’s laboratory and Anakin, feeling sympathy for anyone so enslaved, promised to free her and her targeted family, though Obi-Wan thought he was overstepping their mandate. With hope that her family and friends could be spared, Fhernan agreed to help the Jedi by stalling her progress. She also provided them with the names of offworld colleagues capable of developing an antidote to her project.^[8] However, because of the rescue of Bant'ena’s mother - Mata Fhernan - by the Jedi Master Taria Damsin and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, which was informed by an Anzati agent captured by the Jedi on Corellia, Lok Durd realized he was deceived by the doctor, especially after discovering that two comlinks were missing from their designated location, and several sections of security recordings, including footage from the lab, Bant'ena’s room, and a few corridors, were erased. Furious, Durd ordered the death of one of her friends and made her watch holographic evidence of the murder, breaking her spirit. Then, after threatening the lives of her nephews and under heavy physical torture, Dr. Fhernan ceded and gave in the information about the Jedi, and promised to help the general by luring them into a trap once they made contact with her again. When Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the laboratory with the intent to rescue Bant'ena, they barely escaped being blasted by Separatist droids.^[7]

^[8]

Count Dooku, who sensed a distress in the Force, eventually called Lok Durd to inquiry about the progress on “The Project”. For fear of facing the Sith Lord’s wrath, Durd lied about the real situation on Lanteeb, with no mention of the Jedi nor the hostages who were rescued, and promising to deliver the weapon in four days. As soon as he regained his composure, the Neimoidian general came up with a plan, and ordered Colonel Barev - a Separatist liaison officer - to start an all-out hunt on the Jedi, as well as demanding the stage-two facility to be prepared for immediate occupation, as he intended to move himself and Dr. Fhernan for security reasons after their main facility was compromised. After several days without success, nonetheless, Colonel Barev requested General Durd to hire a psychic seeker – a Drivok – as a bounty hunter, who were known for having an excellent reputation on finding people due to their abilities. At last, the Jedi were found by the Drivok, who had its job made easier by the fact that both Obi-Wan and Anakin had to reveal themselves by using the Force, in order to save the village they were hidden in from a theta storm.^[9]

Ultimately, Palpatine was reported by both Bail Organa and Yoda about the secret mission on Lanteeb and how much they knew about it: Lok Durd as the head of the project, the Damotite bioweapon, the kidnapped scientist, the already freed hostages and the scientist they hired to develop an antidote, Tryn Netzl - all thanks to Anakin and Obi-Wan. When confronted by his enraged Master Darth Sidious about all these events, Darth Tyranus realized he was conned by the Neimoidian general. Despite the initial irritation of his Master, Sidious ordered Tyranus to keep Durd alive – only with a sharp reminder of his place - and in its due time, to discreetly facilitate his escape from Lanteeb, hiding him somewhere unattainable. General Durd was, in turn, confident on his success. With the last kink in Dr. Fhernan’s formula taken care of, the first shipments of raw damotite delivered, tested and approved, and his droid workforce slaving without pause to convert the damotite-and-rondium mixture to pure poison, he was at last able to bask in the glow of a job well done. By his estimation he needed just two more standard weeks of production and one more shipment of the raw damotite, which was due shortly, so he could contact Count Dooku. Nevertheless, the Sith Lord contacted the Neimoidian first to confront him about his deceitfulness and demanded explanations. Humiliated and exasperated, Durd ordered Barev to reprogram the droid army he sent to Torbel, the village in which Kenobi and Skywalker were in hiding, to instead of killing them on site, to capture them alive, as a gift to Dooku. Additionally, as a way to show his worth to the Count - without his permission nor consent - Durd demanded an attack with the bioweapon to be launched in Hanna City, on Chandrila, which killed approximately ten thousand Chandrilan civilians.^[9]

Battle of Lanteeb

Watching the aftermath of the attack on Chandrila on the HoloNet News, satisfied with the results, Lok Durd started to plan his next attack on Bespin in the subsequent days, as a way to disrupt the Tibanna gas market. He also required Doctor Fhernan to refine the weapon’s formula - to reduce its weight so the dispersal rate could be faster. On the other hand, the battle droids he ordered to lay siege to Torbel remained unsuccessful, thanks to Skywalker who jury-rigged the town’s storm shield to deflect the enemy droids. He even stripped his entire compound of battle droids in order to send them to the siege – but it hadn’t done him any good. Ireful, he demanded explanations from Colonel Barev on why the Jedi were still at large as Barev, who was already exhausted with the Neimoidian's temper, said something about not alerting the wrong people to the fact there was a siege, that they couldn’t ship in more droids and heavier weapons for the fear of awkward questions being asked. He told Durd to be patient, promising that the village couldn’t hold much longer.^[9]

Moments later, notwithstanding, the ships the Republic sent to break General Grievous’ blockade had arrived, putting Lanteeb under siege. After being informed by Barev, General Durd went to the spaceport security complex to see the blockade by himself, as well as to make contact with Grievous, without realizing he left his office door wide open and Dr. Fhernan completely alone with no security whatsoever. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Bant'ena called Mata Fhernan and found out how she was being hoaxed by the Neimoidian. She told her mother about Bespin, who in turn alerted Republic authorities. Full of remorse and debilitated by so much torture, Bant’ena became more determined than ever to sabotage her creation and ruin Durd’s bioweapon. Back to the laboratory with the scientist, Lok Durd was as waspish as ever, constantly chastising the doctor and yelling at Barev on his comm. Certain that he could not trust the colonel out of his sight, before heading back to the spaceport to intimidate him, Durd placed an ultimate deadline on Fhernan to have the new formula ready for test until the next morning.^[9]

Amidst the siege of Lanteeb, Jedi Master Taria Damsin soared past the Separatist blockade of the planet to land on the surface. She was able to make contact with Dr. Fhernan, revealing the safety of her loved ones and eager to rescue her. Bant’ena, however, insisted on remaining behind in order to “put right her wrongdoings”, setting up the explosives to destroy the samples of the bioweapon, the production complex, the storage unit, as well as the entire compound, sacrificing herself in the process as penance for the Chandrilan massacre.^[8] Returning from the spaceport in his private groundcar, unleashing his frustration on his personal droid KD-77 by demanding him to drive faster, Lok Durd was baffled by the fact that his authority was defied by Barev, who argued against sending more super battle droids to the siege of Torbel, in justification of the spaceport’s security. Nevertheless, less than a kilometer to reach the facility, a brilliant red-and-white explosion lit up Lantibba’s night sky in a false and burning dawn. Terrified by the fact that he escaped death by a matter of minutes, Durd ordered KD-77 to drive him back to the spaceport, where he unleashed all his wrath on Barev – who was bewildered to see him alive. After General Durd choked Colonel Barev to death, the Neimoidian contacted General Grievous to stand by to receive his ship, so he could escape with the fleeing Confederacy vessels, positive that Grievous would handle the Jedi and the Republic ships, still confident he was important to Count Dooku, and that he could salvage the disaster that was the destruction of his bioweapon on Lanteeb.^[9]

Personality and traits

Lok Durd was a flamboyant,^[2] bossy,^[1] ruthless,^[5] and merciless individual, and was often disliked by his peers for this.^[2] He hoped to be promoted to a higher and more substantial rank within the Separatist Droid Army, which was one of the reasons he developed his defoliator weapon.^[3] A self-centered Neimoidian, Durd dreamed that with his development of the device, Republic planets would submit to the Confederacy at the mere mention of his name. With a larger salary, he also hoped to spoil his children.^[5] Durd constantly pontificated and bragged to the battle droids under his command on what the success of his defoliator would bring him.^[1] In battle, the general preferred to deploy his troops in large head-on rushes. However, he was cowardly, as seen when he chose to escape from the battle after Skywalker had destroyed his defoliator cannon.^[3]

A Speciesist being, Durd believed that Neimoidians were the noblest individuals in the galaxy, He also hated humans, thinking that they stink and considered them bigots. He chafed under the need to report to the higher-ranking Human Count Dooku; given all that the Neimoidians had done for the Separatist cause, Durd was offended that Dooku was the public leader of the Confederacy, though underneath he also very fearful of the Count. After arriving on Maridun and selecting the pacifist Lurmen as the defoliator's organic test subjects, Durd lied to Chieftain Kaa, stating that the village was now under the "protection" of the Separatist Alliance, when in fact the colony would be destroyed by his weapon. The Lurmen would be obliterated before anyone else would know of the Neimoidian's massacre, and Durd's "little white lie" would die with them as well.^[5]

Durd was very overweight for a Neimoidian,^[2] eating lots of fatty pylat eggs and deep-fried chewgrubs.^[6] As a result of his corpulence, he was a very slow runner.^[3] Durd wore a Neimoidian mitre^[5] with the Separatist insignia set upon it,^[6] as well as a tunic of Ramordian silk adorned with expensive girdles and rank epaulets.^[5] He was able to speak Galactic Basic Standard.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The character of Lok Durd made his first appearance in The Clone Wars television series episode "Defenders of Peace."^[3] In the episode, Durd is voiced by George Takei of Star Trek fame. Although his character is captured at the end of the episode, according to interviews with George Takei, Durd was intended to be a recurring villain in the series.^[10] Durd received an entry in the 2009 Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles sourcebook,^[5] and appeared in the 2010 novels Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth and Clone Wars Gambit: Siege.^[11]

Durd's character was created as an alternative to having the Confederate General Grievous appear multiple times and avoid downplaying his "legend" with multiple Republic victories. Durd's corpulent appearance was built off of the television series production crew's desire to deviate from the pre-existing model for Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, which was similar to that of the Confederate Captain Mar Tuuk made for the episode "Storm Over Ryloth," and helped to further depict his flamboyance and bossiness.^[1]

Ultimately, the character of Durd was not seen in any following episodes of the series, which was canceled in 2013.^[12]

Appearances

• Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Defenders of Peace" (First appearance)
• Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth (and audiobook)
• Clone Wars Gambit: Siege (and audiobook)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Statue only)

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Sources

Explore all of Wookieepedia's media for this article subject: Audio · Images The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Defenders of Peace on StarWars.com (original site is defunct) Jennifer Hale: Twi'lek Time on StarWars.com (original site is defunct) "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 108 "Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season One Episode Guide, Part Two" — Star Wars Insider 110 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Visual Guide: Ultimate Battles The Essential Atlas "Dark Forces: The Villains of Star Wars" — Star Wars Insider 113 (reprinted in Special Edition 2013 and Lords of the Sith) Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Official Episode Guide: Season 1 A Tour of The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One Box Set (Part Three) on StarWars.com (original site is defunct) Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season One This Summer: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege on StarWars.com (original site is defunct) Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes and Villains Flip Book Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle Star Wars: The Clone Wars Official Episode Guide Series 1 & 2 Durd, General Lok in the Databank (original site is defunct) Kaa, Tee Watt in the Databank (original site is defunct) Lurmen in the Databank (original site is defunct) Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded The Essential Reader's Companion Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide AAT battle tank in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct) DDT tank in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct) Lok Durd in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct) Lurmen in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct)

Non-canon sources

• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars: Prima Official Game Guide

Notes and references