Pyke Syndicate
The Pyke Syndicate are a criminal organization that features in Star Wars.
Contents |
History
The Pyke Syndicate was an interstellar criminal organization that operated in the galaxy far, far away. It was founded by the Pyke species and was centred on their home world of Oba Diah.
Many years ago, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum came to be concerned over the Pyke's monopoly over the spice trade. This saw him dispatching his aide alongside Jedi master Sifo-Dyas to the Pyke homeworld of Oba Diah in order to negotiate with them on behalf of the Republic. During this time, the Sith sought to use this as an opportunity to enact their plan against the Jedi Order. This saw Darth Tyrannus speaking to the Pyke Syndicate in secret where they had Sifo-Dyas killed so that Count Dooku could masquerade as the Jedi Master. The Republic ship was shot down and Sifo-Dyas was killed but known to Dooku the chancellor's aide Silman had survived. Lom Pyke decided not to reveal the existence of the survivor who was held as a captive of the Syndicate and as an insurance policy in case they were ever betrayed by Count Dooku.
During the Clone Wars, the Pyke Syndicate came to ally themselves with Maul and his Shadow Collective that was an alliance of criminal organizations that were brought together into a united empire. Their goal was to defeat the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It consisted of the Pykes, the Black Sun and the Mandalorian extremists of the Death Watch. Their initial goal was set to take over the Mandalorian homeworld of Mandalore which resulted in a planet-wide civil war. With the government of Mandalore unable to manage the crisis, Death Watch successfully took over Mandalore without any real resistance and locked up their opponents. The Death Watch leader, Pre Vizsla, arrested Maul and assumed control over the planet. As the Clone Wars was fought, majordomo Kinash Lock, acting in the name of King Yaruba of the Yaruba Family of Kessel, negotiated a deal with Rafa Martez to deliver spice to the Pyke Syndicate on Oba Diah. Agreeing to the deal, Rafa, her sister Trace, and Trace's friend Ahsoka Tano, secretly a former Jedi, loaded up Trace's Nebula-class freighter, the Silver Angel, with the spice and set off to Oba Diah. On route, however, there was a confrontation leading Trace to believe that the Pyke Syndicate were going to take her ship, so she dumped the spice. Ahsoka Tano, realizing they still owed the Pykes 30,000 credits worth of spice, came up with a plan to get away safely. Upon arriving on Oba Diah, a group of Pykes met them on a platform, including Marg Krim. The group then pretended they had the spice and gave the Pykes empty containers. Ahsoka Tano, unbeknownst to both her friends and the Pykes, used a Jedi mind trick to convince Krim to give them the credits.
After the end of the Clone Wars, the Republic was disbanded and re-formed as the first Galactic Empire with the Pykes continuing to operate in the galaxy. In fact, they looked to expand their operations across multiple worlds. During this time, Roland Durand of the Durand crime family made a deal with the Syndicate as part of an alliance where he offered them spice as part of their arrangement. However, the spice was stolen by Clone Force 99 with the help of Cid leading to the angry Pykes threatening to kill Durand if he failed to recover the shipment. It was eventually returned to the Pykes by Cid with the Syndicate deciding to punish Durand for his failure by cutting off one of his horns.
Later on, the Pyke's were shown to maintain their spice operations on worlds such as Tatooine. The Syndicate used a large speeder transport to deliver their shipments across the large deserts and paid a protection fee to a local Nikto gang known as the Kintan Striders. This transport often passed through Tusken Raiders territory but its heavy armaments led to it causing heavy losses amongst the wandering natives. One day, the transport was attacked by Boba Fett and a Tusken Raider tribe he had come to call his friends and allies after they adopted him. They managed to cause the transport to crash and took its crew hostage where Fett stated that the deserts belonged to the Tusken Raiders with the Pyke's having to pay the Sand People for use of their territory. The surviving Syndicate members were then allowed to walk back to their base where their leader came to meet with Boba Fett. He explained that they were already paying a protection fee to the Kintan Striders and were not going to pay two different parties. Fett then looked to deal with the Nikto's but upon returning to the Tusken Raider camp he found that the tribe had been massacred seemingly by the Kintan Striders though the gang were actually framed by the Syndicate so that they would be eliminated.
Years later, the Syndicate was involved in operations to take over criminal activities on Tatooine with Mayor Mok Shaiz making a secret deal with them. This was despite the fact that Boba Fett had become the new daimyo of Tatooine after taking over Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire on the planet. They looked to secure spice trade in the region though faced a degree of opposition from some elements native to Tatooine. Among these was Marshal Cobb Vanth of Freetown who intercepted and eliminated spice shipments moving through the area. In addition, Boba Fett's gotra remained an obstacle for the Pyke Syndicate who began amassing their forces for an attack. For this assault, they hired the bounty hunter Cad Bane to lead their forces and also managed to sway some of the native criminal families to their side who would launch a surprise attack against Fett's forces. This led to their forces attacking Boba Fett in Mos Espa where the initial wave was repelled by him and his ally Din Djarin. In response, the Pyke Syndicate deployed Scorponek battle droids but support came from the Freetown residents and Fett bringing his Rancor into the battle. Ultimately, the Pyke forces were eliminated and their leader operating from Mos Eisley was murdered by Fennec Shand.
Overview
In appearance, the Pyke Syndicate was an interstellar syndicate that was considered among the great crime families of the galaxy. The source of their power was centred on their control and monopoly over spice that was a powerful substance used as a drug and medicine.
The Pykes were said to not accept bad deals and did not tolerate failure. In fact, they were known to cut off body parts of business partners that failed them and threatened to kill the person if they were approached the Syndicate again. They were said to be a practical people to the point of ruthlessness as they sought to protect their profit margins.
Within the Syndicate, a high ranking position was that of the Capo who were in charge of certain Pyke operations.
Pyke Sentinels were tasked with supervising prisoners in their mines, prevent smugglers from stealing spice and to guard against incursions from rival gangs. They were known to make use of radiation-resistant lead smocks and used blasters that were cheap to replace.
It was said that it was common practice to pay protection money securing their operations in the Outer Rim. They were noted to have connections to the crime families of Coruscant.
A common product developed and distributed by the Syndicate was Spice. Even a small quantity of it was said to be worth more than some towns. They were also known to conduct mining operations that involved with the extraction of Coaxium.
The stronghold of the Syndicate was the planet Oba Diah which served as their headquarters. They also maintained a powerful presence on the nearby planet of Kessel that was a source for spice.
Members
- Lom Pyke :
- Marg Krim :
- Quay Tolsite : a male Pyke operating in the Imperial era where he served as director of the Syndicate's mining operations on Kessel.
Notes
- The Pyke Syndicate were developed by George Lucas and made their first appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Alternate Versions
- In Star Wars Legends, the Pyke Syndicate appeared in the setting of the non-canonical former Star Wars Expanded Universe.
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
- Solo:
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch:
- The Book of Boba Fett:
External Links
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