Crian Maru was a Human Jedi Knight during the time of the uprising of the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness. As an apprentice, Crian had taken on the young Rodian female, Dree Vandap. At the time of Crian's role as a teacher, the Jedi were at war with the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness, and Crian had taken on the mission of locating and dealing with the Dark Sider known as the Marauder, the Madman, and the Dark Killer, Kaox Krul. Traveling across the galaxy in her ship, the Golden Song, Crian and her apprentice had tracked Kaox Krul to the planet Harpori in the Balowa system. Following the Madman's trail of massacres and darkness, Crian and her apprentice finally pinpointed Kaox's location.

However, the Marauder got the jump on the two Jedi and in a daring space battle, Kaox engaged the duo. It took all the strength Crian and Dree had in the Force not to be destroyed by Kaox, but they did survive his attack, although he was successful in landing a killing blow to their ship. Crian and Dree's strength in the Force also allowed them to land a killing blow themselves to Kaox's ship and both crafts fell in a doomed landing to the planet below. Steering the ship to a safe landing only made possible by the Force, both the Jedi and Madman were able to survive their crash to the planet's surface. However, Crian and Dree were not out of trouble yet, for Kaox was steadfast in his mission to kill the Jedi. Having a speeder at their disposal that survived the crash, Crian hoped to use it to stay ahead of Kaox Krul.

However, the Dark Sider was upon than before they were able to leave the crash site behind. Kaox Krul engaged Dree in battle as Crian readied the speeder bike for take-off, and once ready she zoomed past the battle, snatching Dree upon the bike as she rocketed past into the forests of the planet. However, Kaox Krul fully opened himself up to the Dark Side, which granted him the power of blinding speed that allowed him to chase down the speeder.