Ysanne Isard
Ysanne Isard is a fictional character from the
Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Early rise
One of the most powerful figures in the
Galactic Empire, Isard was a ruthless and cunning woman, earning her the nickname
Iceheart among her subordinates. She was a native of
Imperial Centre, only daughter of Armand Isard, then the Director of Imperial Intelligence. Perhaps realizing how dangerous his daughter was, the elder Isard tried to have her killed as she moved up rapidly through Imperial Intelligence ranks by dispatching her on a mission to
Darkknell to retrieve the stolen datapads containing the plans of the first
Death Star, certain that she would be killed. She survived, but did fail to recover the datapads. She soon realised why her father had sent her on that mission, and implicated
him in the theft of the Death Star datapads and the bombing of the Treitamma Political Centre (an
assassination attempt upon
General Bel Iblis). She then had her father executed.
Ysanne Isard was promoted to the recently vacated position of Director of Imperial Intelligence. While in this position, she took command of the
Super Star Destroyer Lusankya, which
Palpatine had secretly buried deep beneath the cityscape of
Coruscant. Isard used the
Lusankya as her private prison, where she kept captured
Rebels to be
brainwashed into
sleeper agents. After the death of Palpatine and the defeat of the Empire during the
Battle of Endor, she allied herself with Palpatine's immediate successor, the
Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, who had assumed command of Imperial Centre and Imperial Oversector 0. Later, Isard allowed him to be captured by the
New Republic at
Brentaal, and arranged for his death. The Ruling Circle of Imperial officials assumed command, but she had them murdered. She then assumed command of Coruscant, but her rule was threatened by both rival
warlords and the New Republic.
Imperial leader
A few years after Isard took over the remains of the Empire, the appearance of
Trioculus, a
con artist posing as Palpatine's son, threatened her reign. While he was too weak militarily to challenge Isard directly or to attempt to capture Imperial Centre, Trioculus won the allegiance of a considerable portion of the
Imperial Starfleet, and at one point was even recognized as the legitimate ruler of the Empire by the (false)
Prophets of the Dark Side. Isard devoted considerable resources to undermining the pretender, isolating the
Moffs who lent him their support in an attempt to prop him up as a puppet
dictator. Finally, she used her
Grand Admirals to destroy the Prophets themselves when they attempted to usurp her rule.
Before the New Republic took Coruscant, Isard coerced
General Evir Derricote and his scientists off the planet
Borleias and onto Coruscant, where they created the
Krytos virus that only targeted non-
human races; the strategy was to strain the New Republic's resources by forcing them to deal with the problem. The Krytos virus was specifically engineered to incapacitate and kill thousands to maximize terror and exploit inter-species tensions within the New Republic as a variety of
economic warfare. She then fled Coruscant onboard the
Lusankya, which tore off a large part of Coruscant's cityscape, killing millions. She headed to the bacta-rich world of
Thyferra, taking it and its bacta assets; while her agent on Coruscant (
Kirtan Loor) continued his
guerilla war, she, having seized control of
the galaxy's bacta supply (which was necessary for treating the Krytos virus), proceeded to raise the price of bacta astronomically. Isard reaped a windfall profit from the New Republic, who had to buy the bacta for the victims to formulate a cure. She later fought
Rogue Squadron in the
Bacta War, during which the
Lusankya was captured. Isard, along with a clone of herself, escaped and scattered the prisoners.
After Thyferra
Both Isards remained quiet during the
Thrawn crisis, the clone (who had remained in control of the
Lusankya prisoners) came into the service of Prince-Admiral Krennel, while the real Isard commandeered a secret Imperial base and went into hiding, resurfacing to help the
New Republic retrieve the missing prisoners from Prince-Admiral Krennel.
Fearing execution for
treason after being contacted by a resurrected Palpatine on
Byss, the real Isard plotted to retake
Lusankya in order to present it to the Emperor and be reconciled for her failures. Anticipating her treachery, New Republic agents killed her during the attempt[
1]. Her clone was slain along with Prince-Admiral Krennel during the New Republic invasion of Citruic.
Tales from the New Republic, 1st paperback printing, 1999. Peter Schweighofer, Craig Carey (editors). ISBN 0-553-57882-0
**"Interlude at Darknell",
Timothy Zahn,
Michael A. Stackpole***Part One by Timothy Zahn
***Part Two and Three by Michael A. Stackpole
***Part Four by Timothy Zahn
Rogue Squadron, 1st printing paperback, 1996. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-56801-9
Wedge's Gamble, 1st paperback printing, 1996. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-56802-7
The Kryptos Trap, 1st paperback printing, 1996. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-56803-5
The Bacta War, 1st paperback printing, 1997. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-56804-3
Isard's Revenge, 1st paperback printing, 1999. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-57903-7
*
Article from the
Star Wars Databank
