Shonn Volta Shonn Volta was a Humanoid Force - sensitive female captain , sniper , and assassin of the Confederacy of Independent Systems . During the Clone Wars , she was captured by Jedi Master Kit Fisto and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and imprisoned within The Prism . After the rise of the Galactic Empire and the subsequent Gentis coup , Volta was one of the few prisoners who survived a brutal test and were allowed to join the New Order . She then helped to take back Coruscant in a surprise attack that culminated with Emperor Palpatine ' s execution of Headmaster Gentis . Becoming fond of Laurita Tohm , a heroic Imperial who helped save the Emperor and his rule of the Empire , Volta decided to stay with him and become an Imperial officer as well . The two planned on serving side by side , but Tohm was betrayed and killed by his mentor , Darth Vader . Biography . Early life . Shonn Volta was a Force - sensitive female from an icy planet . Her father was a freighter pilot and her mother was a sculptor , and after discovering her Force - sensitivity , the pair decided to hide Volta within the hold of a starship , for fear that she would be discovered by the Jedi Order and taken away . She lived inside the cargo hold until she was ten years old , past the age when the Order would consider accepting younglings as initiates . After this , she studied to be a hyperspace engineer , hoping to plot new space lanes so that people like her father could travel more safely . The Clone Wars . When the Clone Wars broke out , engulfing the galaxy , Volta ' s father was killed by clone troopers from the Galactic Republic who wanted to commandeer his ship . The Republic then cut off supply lines to the Voltas ' homeworld , which caused Volta ' s mother to starve to death . Around this time , Volta was married upon the ice floes of her world , but her husband was killed shortly after as violence erupted within the cities and spread outward . Volta then joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems as a captain , and at some point was given an artificial heart by Count Dooku . As a sniper , she learned to use the Force and was able to guide blaster bolt s into her targets . At some point , she was sent to assassinate Senator Riyo Chuchi , but was arrested by Jedi Master Kit Fisto and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker before she could complete her mission . Volta was then sent to The Prism , where she was imprisoned with other highly dangerous individuals . Service to the Empire . In 19 BBY , the Republic and the Jedi Order both fell beneath the machinations of the newly - crowned Emperor Palpatine , who created the Galactic Empire in their place . Shortly after this , however , Headmaster Gentis orchestrated a coup , hoping to kill the Emperor and end the Empire ' s warmongering ways . Palpatine was indeed wounded in the attacks , and was rushed from Coruscant by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader , Moff Trachta , and Lieutenant Laurita Tohm . The trio brought Palpatine to the Prism , knowing it to be one location where Gentis ' s men would never find them . While the Emperor was attended to by the facility ' s medical droids , Tohm devised a plan to take back Coruscant : if Vader would allow it , they could release the prisoners in order to create a small army . Vader appreciated Tohm ' s plan , but altered it to suit his needs , and instead had 207 of the prisoners released into the prison yard with orders to kill anyone they could , Tohm and Vader included . The fighting that erupted was brutal , with bodies accumulating quickly . Tohm was attacked by another Separatist , General Ur ' Loach . The general had wrapped his long tongue around Tohm ' s neck and was attempting to draw him into his large maw , a move that he was known for — beheading his enemies with his own teeth . As Ur ' Loach knocked the blaster from Tohm ' s hand and prepared to kill him , Volta pulled the blaster toward herself and shot Ur ' Loach through the mouth , killing him and saving Tohm ' s life . Tohm thanked her , but she told him that it was a self - serving act , and that if they worked together , they ' d both live and he could pardon her sentence . In the end , only thirty - three prisoners survived in fighting condition , and Vader ordered Trachta to tell the survivors what it meant to serve the Empire . He told Volta and the others that their crimes were now forgotten , but their reasons for committing them were not — they would now serve an institution not beholden to the " selfish " senators of the Republic , nor the Jedi Order . The prisoners knelt before Trachta and the others , yet Volta remained standing . Vader commanded her to kneel as well , but she instead asked why the prisoners were needed . Vader took his lightsaber from his belt , but Tohm stepped in front of the Dark Lord , telling Volta that they had been betrayed , and that with her service she may become an Imperial or even go free . Volta accepted , and knelt before the pair . Trachta then told the survivors that their training would begin that night . Volta later met up with Tohm again , standing on a platform outside the prison . There she expertly shot the heads off of five 2 - 1B surgical droids while talking with Tohm , who was reading her prison files for the mission records he was compiling . Volta angrily informed him that the prison ' s records were not complete , and told him of the terrible things the Republic and the Jedi had done to her and her loved ones . Tohm then told her that he wanted to be a pilot too , like Volta ' s father , but that he no longer could . He then realized that Volta ' s experience with hyperspace study may allow them to save Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , who was soon to fall into a trap laid by Gentis . Retaking Coruscant . Tohm and Volta used her hyperspace expertise to find Tarkin while he changed hyperspace lanes at the nexus of several trade routes . Successfully finding and hailing his vessel , the Imperials and freed prisoners secreted themselves within Tarkin ' s shuttle . As they landed , Volta told Tohm to stay close to her . Gentis amassed his cadets to greet Tarkin ' s shuttle , planning on finally cementing his hold on the Empire . Tarkin disembarked along with his stormtroopers , but was immediately surrounded by the cadets . Gentis confronted Tarkin , wanting him taken alive for interrogation , and told him his reasons for the coup . Tarkin , however , did not care about the hundreds of innocent cadets who had died under his command . When Gentis told Tarkin that his own sons had been killed by the policies of the Emperor , he was told by Vader that he would see them again soon . Gentis looked up in horror as Vader emerged from the shuttle alongside Volta , Tohm , Trachta , and rest of the deadly ex - prisoners . Though Gentis ' s forces outnumbered the attackers by eight to one , there was no accounting for the disparate skills Vader ' s group brought to the fight . Vader himself unleashed a violent Force wave while the prisoners slaughtered the cadets . Caul Gentis , Gentis ' s son , ordered Koh , a demolitions expert , to hit their attackers with grenades . Volta shot Koh before he could throw the armed explosives , which detonated in the midst of the cadets , killing many . Caul retreated among the scattered and wounded cadets until he heard Tohm call out to him . Thinking that Tohm was still on their side , he was happy to see him , but Tohm shot him in the stomach , killing him . Gentis saw his son fall and ran to his side , horrified that he ' d lost his final child . Gentis begged for Caul not to die , then promised to keep his son safe . Suddenly , he was wracked with Force lightning , attacked by the Emperor himself . As he screamed and clutched his son to his chest , his body was ravaged by Palpatine ' s dark side power , and he was left a charred husk . Freedom . In the aftermath of the battle , all those who had been loyal to Gentis were rounded up and executed without trial . Tohm himself oversaw the executions , allowing the bodies to pile atop one another as a warning to all who had betrayed the Empire . The Emperor rewarded Tohm for his service by being promoted to Admiral , and given a command in the Outer Rim Territories . Trachta was rewarded as well , promoted to Grand Moff as well as the new Headmaster of the Imperial Academies . Unknown to Volta and the other surviving ex - prisoners who had helped to save the Empire , as they were celebrating their victory and impending reward , the Imperials that they had fought beside were at that moment trying to determine their fates . Trachta believed that they owed the prisoners a debt of gratitude , and that they should honor their promises to them . Vader thought that they should all be executed , to prevent them from becoming enemies in the future . Tohm created a third option , and the prisoners were told they would be set free but they had to exile themselves to the Corporate Sector . Before they left , they were met by Tohm , Trachta and Vader , and the details of their release were once more gone over . Nax Cirvan agreed to all of the parts of the deal , and Trachta wished him luck . As the ship ascended over the Coruscant cityscape , it detonated , killing Cirvan and all those aboard . Tohm and Vader had betrayed the agreement , as well as Trachta , who was horrified by the dishonorable massacre . He railed against Tohm and Vader for their duplicity , but both men were unapologetic . Tohm lied to the cyborg , telling him without emotion that the old ship must have malfunctioned . Trachta , disgusted , left Tohm to Vader ' s care , no longer willing to try to take the young man under his own wing . In addition to his promotion to Admiral , Tohm managed to secure a pardon for Volta , sparing her the fate of the rest of the prisoners . Now in Imperial uniform , she was given the rank of captain , and Tohm asked her to serve under his command while they met in his new apartment . Tenderly touching the burned side of his face , Volta told him that she would be honored . They were to leave the following day for the Outer Rim . Tohm then received an invitation from Vader , and met the Sith Lord upon a balcony high above the city . Vader asked if Volta had accepted her new position , and Tohm excitedly told his new mentor that the two of them would be leaving soon . Vader then told Tohm that he had only one more lesson for the young man , and Tohm again grew excited , telling Vader how much working with him had meant . Vader then hefted Tohm by his uniform and told him that one should never accept the existence of rivals . Tohm pleaded with Vader , but the Dark Lord was unmoved , and threw Tohm from the balcony , sending him plummeting into the depths of Coruscant .