Cronal
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Lord Cronal, a male human and former Prophet of the Dark Side in the fictional Star Wars Expanded Universe, was the true identity of Agent Blackhole, a mysterious Imperial Intelligence agent who collaborated with Darth Vader after the Battle of Yavin to locate Rebel Alliance bases.
[edit] Biography
Blackhole's exact appearance and identity remained unknown to all but a few; to most he spoke to, he appeared only as a Human-shaped cloud of stars with the help of an image distorter. Agent Blackhole was one of the powerful Emperor's Hands, and given virtually unlimited access and control over the Imperial HoloNet, which connected all Imperial bases and vessels, allowing him to extend his virtual reach throughout the known galaxy (and possibly beyond; whether the HoloNet extended to the regions colonized by Grand Admiral Thrawn, and whether he would have access to those additional nodes, is unknown); this ability suited him perfectly, as he was reputedly "more withdrawn than even the infamously reclusive Palpatine," and "used fronts, agents, and droids to deliver his orders whenever possible." The Blackhole stormtroopers (comprised of the 123rd Nightstalker Group and the standard MARDET marine detachment for a Star Destroyer), from aboard his personal Star Destroyer, the HIMS Singularity, carried out his most well-known exercises of power.
Subordinated to Vader, Cronal used his resources to penetrate deeply into the Rebel Alliance, suborning or in some fashion observing the actions and decisions of the highest echelon; with this network, he learned after Yavin about Luke Skywalker and Leia's mission to the "Gambler's planet" (the colloquial term for the Outer Rim planet Vorzyd V, notorious and wealthy for its vast gambling enterprises). There, the duo were to choke off the flow of taxes being rendered to the Empire with the aid of the planet's president. Blackhole enjoyed initial successes, capturing the two, but Vader's instructions not to kill anyone or otherwise cause adverse publicity restricted his scope, and so the two managed to escape.
As a Prophet, he had helped train both his own daughter, Sariss, and also the Dark Jedi Jerec. He was later hand-picked by Palpatine to be the head of Imperial Intelligence. It was rumored that Blackhole was once a Senatorial page taken under Palpatine's wing. Another rumor asserts that he was an assistant at the Jedi Archives on Coruscant who was ultimately seduced by the dark side of the Force. In reality, Blackhole was an extremely frail old man, whose only movements were assisted by "a Neimoidian mechano-assembly that moved the orb-like chamber aloft on insectoid limbs". Blackhole was a master of Sith alchemy. He created Sithspawn such as Gorc and Pic. Blackhole's abilities earned him the moniker "Palpatine's Monster Maker".
After the Battle of Endor and Palpatine's death, Blackhole seemingly disappeared without a trace, although Lord Shadowspawn has been suspected of being another face of Cronal. Another possible operation of his was an obscure crisis where "an evil Jedi master", "use[d] his hellish powers to bring about the destruction of a peaceful species and the creation of an evil army" on the low-tech planet Trailia "on the fringe of Known Space." He is said to be "one of the Emperor's most powerful Dark Side servants," "a powerful scientist and mystic" whose "knowledge of the dark powers of evil are only surpassed by his scientific skill." Using "genetic engineering and Dark Side power," he was transforming the Trailians into "monsters of hideous power" in his hidden laboratory in the planet's jungles, defended by "twisted villagers and animals, formed by his madness into shapes of terror". This plot was defeated by some iternants, and Cronal vanished again.
Eventually, he swore loyalty to the resurrected Emperor on Byss; it was on his behalf that he helped establish the Church of the Dark Side and recruited Jerec to locate the lost Valley of the Jedi (taking from him as a token of his loyalty, his command Super Star Destroyer variant, the Vengeance). His fate after the death of the reborn Emperor Palpatine in Dark Empire is unknown. New Republic Intelligence concluded that he simply died, but he was later identified as the Dark Jedi who helped transform Irek Ismaren into Lord Nyax. This would seem to imply Cronal was still active as of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. New Republic Intelligence lost track of him after that.
[edit] References
- Gambler's World (comic strip story arc in the Los Angeles Times)
- Star Wars Gamer 5 ("The Emperor's Pawns")
