INFO: Natasi Daala was a Human female who became the first woman to reach the rank of admiral in the Imperial Navy, and later was named Chief of State of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Daala enlisted in the Imperial Navy on Carida, but was discriminated against due to her sex. However, she achieved success thanks to Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who discovered her after she defeated many skilled Imperial opponents in simulated battles, using an alias to hide her true identity. Tarkin took her under his wing, and as he rose in the ranks, so did she. She became his lover and was eventually promoted to admiral by him. Shortly after, she was sent to oversee the top-secret Imperial research facility known as the Maw Installation. There, some of the best scientists in the galaxy worked on new concepts, designing superweapons for the Empire. She resided there with four Imperial I-class Star Destroyers for eleven years, unaware of what was happening in the galaxy.
In 11 ABY, Kyp Durron, Han Solo, and Chewbacca stumbled upon the facility after making an emergency escape from Kessel. She interrogated them, and was stunned to learn that Tarkin and Emperor Palpatine were dead and the Empire was on the verge of collapse, having been defeated by the Rebel Alliance. She decided to launch her campaign to wreak havoc on the galaxy and gain revenge for Tarkin's death, with her four Star Destroyers and the Sun Crusher superweapon. However, the Sun Crusher was stolen from her by Solo and his two companions, who were also able to warn the New Republic of Daala's existence. Ultimately, Daala accomplished little, and with three of her Star Destroyers destroyed, headed back to the Maw to try to protect it from the New Republic. There, she found New Republic forces, who attacked her fleet. Though she managed to destroy the Installation, preventing the New Republic from gaining new weapons, her Star Destroyer was damaged and she made an emergency hyperspace jump.
In 12 ABY, Daala attempted to unify the Imperial warlords, but found little success. She executed them, then took command of their forces. She once again attempted to destroy the New Republic, this time with the aid of Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. However, she was defeated, and relinquished command to Pellaeon, resigning from the military. A year later, she re-appeared to aid the New Republic against the corrupt Moff Getelles, then disappeared, swearing she was done with military service. It was at this time that Daala was reunited with her former lover Liegeus Vorn; the two married and later had a son. In 17 ABY she once again attacked the New Republic, but was defeated. The New Republic believed she was dead, but Daala stunned them, when, in 40 ABY, she revealed herself to the galaxy once more. Commander of the Maw Irregular Fleet, she split from the Imperial Remnant to join the Mandalorians and fight against Darth Caedus, the despotic leader of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Following the death of Caedus, she became the new Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance.
NAME: Admiral Natasi Daala
HOMEWORLD: Carida (actual homeplanet unknown)
SPECIES: Human
GENDER: Female
HAIR COLOR: Copper, eventually graying
EYE COLOR: Green
ERAS: Rise of the Empire era, Rebellion era, New Republic era, New Jedi Order era, Legacy era
AFFILIATION: Galactic Empire (Maw fleet), Imperial Remnant, Independent Company of Settlers, Maw Irregular Fleet, Jedi Coalition, Galactic Federation of Free Alliances
BIOGRAPHY:Natasi Daala fell in love with the holo faker Liegeus Vorn when she was young. However, feeling a need for a sense of duty, she enrolled in the Academy of Carida to serve the Empire, and so left Vorn.
While she was a talented student and officer at the Imperial Academy, she was continually passed over for promotion due to her gender, though accounts by Imperial military officers said that she argued too much. To take out her frustrations toward the male-dominated military, she made herself a false computer identity. Under this alias, Daala was able to defeat many high-level officers, including some of her own instructors, in simulated battles. Many of her tactics were based upon ideas formed by former Galactic Republic commander Jan Dodonna. Her tactics were studied and implemented throughout the entire Imperial military, despite the fact that no one was aware of her true identity. Daala graduated from the Academy, but ended up a non-commissioned officer in the Imperial Army.
PROTEGE OF WILHUFF TARKIN:Due to her talents, she soon gained the attention of Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. He investigated Daala's hidden exploits at the Academy, hiring two black-market slicers who worked for several months to find the identity of the hidden strategist. He was pleasantly surprised to discover her true identity. At the time, Daala held the rank of corporal and had first been a computer clerk, then a member of the kitchen staff preparing food for Star Destroyers. When the Carida staff discovered her identity, they planned to reassign her to a meteorological station at the planet's southern pole. However, Tarkin took her on as his protégé and mistress, using his influence to bypass the normal military hierarchy and promote her. Daala eventually received the rank of admiral, though, in later years, her rank badge would come to represent the rank of Grand Moff.
Many quietly complained that Daala was sleeping her way to the top. When one of those remarks made its way back to Tarkin, he searched out the officer who had made it. He had the officer sealed inside an environmental suit and ejected him into the space over a planet as punishment. Tarkin had the suit's radio left on so that others could hear the man over the course of 24 hours as his orbit decayed. The officer's orbit decayed to the point where he finally entered the planet's atmosphere and burned upon reentry. However, the allegations were in fact partly accurate, as Daala did have an affair with Tarkin.
COMMAND OF MAW INSTALLATION:Tarkin, now a Grand Moff, entrusted Daala with overseeing and protecting the Maw Installation, the birthplace of the Death Stars, World Devastators, and the Sun Crusher. This facility was hidden away even from the rest of the Empire, and a fleet of four Imperial-class Star Destroyers—the Basilisk, Gorgon, Hydra, and Manticore—was stationed there. Daala herself received the Gorgon as her flagship, with Commander Kratas as her senior subordinate. She was to protect the facility in the unexpected event of attack, keeping the top-secret designs, as well as the scientists such as Qwi Xux and Tol Sivron, safe. Very few, save for Emperor Palpatine, knew about this facility, though Daala believed that even Palpatine was unaware of the Maw. After having her promoted to admiral, Tarkin ordered Daala never to abandon her post or break communication silence unless he returned, as she had no authority outside Tarkin's command. However, Tarkin did recall her from the Maw on several occasions, and she was present with Tarkin on the planet Alderaan around 7 BBY when he had a meeting with the planet's senator, Bail Organa.
Around 0 BBY Daala was stationed at the Maw while Tarkin was onboard the Death Star, a massive superweapon being constructed above the planet Despayre. Tarkin had ordered Daala to never leave, but he found himself breaking his own rule when he summoned her from the installation. Tarkin contacted her via holocomm, and informed her that he wished she join him on the station. Daala eagerly agreed and hurried to fly to Despayre. When she arrived, she met Tarkin in the docking bay and the two headed to her quarters. Daala later witnessed Tarkin question Admiral Motti after the Undauntable, a Star Destroyer under the command of the respected Admiral Jaim Helaw, exploded seemingly at random. Tarkin was clueless as to who the guilty party was.
Daala later showed Tarkin a video she had obtained from the security cameras after hacking into Tarkin's files. This video showed an unidentified being planting an explosive in a cargo container at the Gall Imperial Regional Naval Supply Area. As this facility had a reputation for extreme security, the two of them began to believe it was an inside job. However, they still did not know the identity of the bomber. Tarkin gave her the task of determining who had set the bomb, although Daala was unable to learn anything and headed back to the Maw, with plans to return soon.
When she returned a short time afterwards, her Star Destroyer entered in a battle zone. A Rebel Lucrehulk-class battleship named the Fortressa had appeared and released 500 X-wings. The Death Star's superlaser made short work of the ship, and the station's TIE pilots easily defeated the fighters. However, during the battle Daala was injured, suffering a head injury when her Star Destroyer was hit. She was taken to the Death Star, where she was operated on by doctors Kornell Divini, Abu Banu and Roa. Daala survived, but she had memory loss, forgetting the events of the past year. Tarkin sent her back to the Maw after carefully erasing all records of her presence. Unknown to Daala, after Divini experienced a change of heart about the Empire and decided to defect, he used her for his cover, claiming that the shuttle he was on was going to pick up Daala, whom he said had been wounded in battle.
The Death Star was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin not longer afterwards, killing Tarkin. However, Daala remained unaware of this. For eleven more years she waited patiently to hear from Tarkin, while the scientists continued research and development on a variety of weapons. Daala kept her crew battle ready with many drills, ensuring that when Tarkin finally did contact her, she and her soldiers would be ready.
REVEALED TO THE GALAXY:In 11 ABY, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Kyp Durron escaped from the prison planet Kessel and accidentally discovered the Maw Installation. Since they were in an Imperial shuttle, which they called the Endor, Daala's crew assumed they were an emissary sent by Tarkin, who had not communicated with them in over a decade. However, when they provided an incorrect code, Daala captured and imprisoned them. Soon Daala interrogated Han Solo, who informed her of the events of the Galactic Civil War. Daala learned for the first time about the destruction of the Death Stars and the deaths of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Grand Moff Tarkin. She also learned that the Empire had fragmented into numerous squabbling warlords. With no true high command in place, and with Tarkin dead, Daala decided that her orders were obsolete and planned to leave the Maw to wage her own personal guerilla war against the Rebels. As vengeance to the three who had informed her of this dire situation, Daala planned to execute Durron and keep Solo and Chewbacca as prisoners. Having drilled her troops ceaselessly over the past decade, Daala knew that her forces were ready and fit for such a war, and prepared to leave the Maw. However, her plans were set back when her prisoners, aided by disillusioned Maw researcher Qwi Xux, escaped with the Sun Crusher.
Though she attempted to suppress the Sun Crusher with sheer numbers, the near-indestructible superweapon was too durable and Daala was unable to damage it. In order to escape Daala, Han Solo piloted the Sun Crusher towards the Hydra, and plowed straight through its command bridge. The Sun Crusher then entered hyperspace, as the Hydra plummeted into a black hole. Enraged by the loss of one of her Star Destroyers, Daala pursued the diminutive superweapon out of the Maw, and ran into Kessel administrator Moruth Doole's small mercenary fleet. Doole's fleet panicked and fired on Daala's ships. Daala soundly defeated them with minor losses, yet the pain of the Hydra's loss still lingered with her.
Nevertheless, Daala continued on, undaunted, and began raiding New Republic shipping. Daala intercepted a CR90 corvette on its way to a colony on Dantooine. After interrogating the ship's Sullustan captain, Daala's crew found heavy weaponry and equipment for starfighter hangars. Daala determined that the colony was probably a Rebel base, and then released the corvette long enough for it to make an emergency transmission to the New Republic. This way, the New Republic would be aware of her, and, Daala hoped, the knowledge of her attacks would incite chaos and panic. After the transmission was made, she destroyed the corvette and proceeded on to Dantooine. There, Daala sent six AT-ATs to deal with the colony, which was quickly destroyed.
After the attack on Dantooine, Daala's fleet received intelligence from an old Imperial probe droid. This information relayed to Daala the existence of the Mon Calamari shipyards that were important to the New Republic's navy. To Daala, Mon Calamari was as good of a target as any. If the shipyards were destroyed, it would be detrimental to the New Republic. With this new information, Daala decided to attack Mon Calamari. Using one of Tarkin's old strategies, Daala sent the Gorgon and the Basilisk in to fire on the surface of the planet, while the Manticore sat in the darkness of Mon Calamari's moon. In this way, Daala thought she could divert forces away from the shipyards and give the Manticore a clear run at them. Although she was initially successful, a former Mon Calamari admiral in the New Republic fleet, Ackbar, recognized Daala's tactic immediately, having been Tarkin's personal slave. Using a partially finished Mon Cal cruiser, Ackbar sent the ship on a collision with the Manticore, resulting in a second ship from Daala's dwindling fleet being destroyed. Enraged, Daala ordered a full-scale assault on the planet's surface, destroying several of its floating cities. She then fled before New Republic reinforcements could arrive.
Following her defeat at Mon Calamari, Daala retreated to the Cauldron Nebula. She planned to go down fighting, striking a fatal blow against the New Republic by evacuating one of her two remaining Star Destroyers of personnel and equipment, and sending it crashing down onto the surface of Coruscant. This last desperate plan was again met with defeat when rogue Jedi Kyp Durron, piloting the Sun Crusher, delayed Daala's operation by attacking her ship. Daala realized it was just a distraction, and that Durron had already ignited the stars in the nebula with the Sun Crusher's resonance torpedos. She ordered all ships to immediately jump into hyperspace, hoping they could get out before the stars exploded. However, only the Gorgon escaped, as the Basilisk was incinerated by the explosion. Weary of her continuous failed efforts, Daala realized that her selfish and petty desire to do harm to the Rebels had caused the death of the thousands she had been entrusted to lead and protect. She decided to return with the Gorgon to the Maw Installation, vowing to return to Tarkin's assigned mission, and defend it to the death.
THE REUNIFICATION OF THE EMPIRE:The remnants of the Imperial command dismantled the Gorgon and distributed her surviving crew among the various commanders. Daala chose not to join with anyone, instead serving as a roaming ambassador amongst the warlords in an attempt to unify them. During a meeting with the self-proclaimed Supreme Warlord Blitzer Harrsk in 12 ABY, High Admiral Treuten Teradoc attacked Harrsk's orbiting fleet of twelve Star Destroyers. Teradoc's fleet of Victory-class Star Destroyers destroyed Harrsk's flagship, the Shockwave. Daala's second-in-command, Commander Kratas, was onboard the Shockwave inspecting its bridge at the time of its destruction. His death caused Daala great emotional pain and led her to resolve to stop the senseless, inter-warlord feuding at all costs.
However, desperate to avenge his lost flagship, Harrsk wanted an immediate reprisal against Teradoc and pressed Daala into service on the threat of death. Daala reluctantly took control of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Firestorm. Harrsk, in the Whirlwind, insisted that Daala lead the attack against Teradoc. When they arrived at Teradoc's stronghold, which was hidden among the asteroids in the ring of a gas giant, they were set upon by Teradoc's fleet. Daala, however, personally took command of her ship's weapon systems and fired a concentrated ion bolt at the Whirlwind, paralyzing it and preventing Harrsk from continuing his assault against Teradoc. With a blaster aimed at a shocked and angry bridge crew, Daala pulled the Firestorm closer to the Whirlwind and activated the time-delayed self destruct system of the Firestorm. Daala told Harrsk that she would destroy her ship and his if he did not order a cessation of hostilities, wishing to force the two warlords to cooperate. As the countdown continued, Daala was contacted by the head of the Crimson Command, Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, who desired to speak to Daala in person. Daala accepted and allowed Pellaeon onto her ship. Shortly after, Harrsk ordered a succession of hostilities, as he was convinced that Daala was not bluffing.
The Firestorm, escorted by two of Pellaeon's red Star Destroyers, jumped to a secluded spot in space so that Daala and Pellaeon could have an uninterrupted discussion. Like Daala, Pellaeon believed that the warlords were tearing the Empire apart, and he and Daala agreed to force the 13 most powerful warlords to a negotiating table in order to discuss the future of the Empire and plan a combined attack against the New Republic. They finally were able to get the warlords to congregate at Tsoss Beacon, an asteroid containg an Imperial base. Daala made the warlords leave their fleets behind, much to their displeasure. Though she attempted to motivate the Imperial warlords to fight together and crush the New Republic, they spent hours arguing instead, refusing to agree on anything. It became clear that none of them would ally with each other, and so, after hours of petty squabbling, Daala decided that the negotiations were a failure. She sealed the room and filled the chamber with gas, a contingency plan she had developed earlier. Only Daala and Pellaeon survived the poisonous gas, utilizing gas mask-like membranes that Daala had taken into the meeting in case she decided to use her plan to execute the warlords.
With the warlords out of the way, Daala set about uniting their now-leaderless forces. Last of all, Daala visited the fortress of Delvardus. Delvardus' second-in-command, Colonel Cronus, agreed to join Daala, handing her control of Delvardus' latest creation, the Super Star Destroyer Night Hammer. With the Night Hammer under her command, Daala quickly rallied the scattered remnants of the Empire, making her in the eyes of many the founder of the modern Imperial Remnant. She then named herself the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, with Pellaeon as her second-in-command. Daala began to prepare a full-on assault against the New Republic.
