Shalim Avesta Shalim Avesta was a male Human businessman and political leader from Makeb . He served as Makeb ' s " de facto " Chief of State , by dint of his status as head of the Avesta Mining Corporation and the Makeb Business Council , when the planet was conquered by the Hutt Cartel in 3639 BBY . Biography . The Avesta family were among the founders of Makeb during the Mandalorian Wars three centuries earlier , and helped establish the Business Council , which was headed by a member of the Avesta family for decades prior to the conquest . Shalim had headed mining negotiations with the Hutts for years prior to the takeover , and was blindsided when the Hutts bought the loyalty of the InterStellar Regulators , Makeb ' s mercenary defense force , and staged their coup . While most of the family evacuated Makeb , Shalim remained to organize a resistance against the Hutts from his secluded plantation , while his brother Pollus actively led resistance troops in the field , and his niece Lemda , a , helped to determine the source of the groundquakes that plagued Makeb . In desperation , Shalim requested assistance from Supreme Chancellor Leontyne Saresh of the Galactic Republic , pledging to formally bring Makeb into the Republic in exchange for the removal of the Hutt occupation forces . In response , Saresh sent the heroes of the Republic to answer Makeb ' s call , and coordinate with Shalim and his allies . Shalim first sent the Republic strike team to find Lemda , who was being hunted by the Regulators . When his niece returned , she revealed that her research had discovered that the Hutt ' s deep - mining of the planet ' s core has rendered it unstable and threatens to destroy Makeb . However , she overheard the Regulators mentioning a " Project Failsafe " , which she believed to be the Hutt ' s fallback plan to save Makeb . But the strike team later determined that Failsafe was in fact a massive ark being constructed by Toborro the Hutt so the Hutts could flee Makeb . Shalim saw the ark as an opportunity to save his people and sent the strike team to capture it . Following the Ark ' s capture , Toborro the Hutt sent an army of Regulators to assault the Avesta Plantation . Shalim helped advise the Republic strike team against the Regulators , even making a brilliant tactical suggestion to retract the laser bridge at which a droid army was attempting to cross . Following the destruction of the Storm Carrier , taking with it the traitorous Vice - Commandant Grevin , Shalim was contacted by Toborro , who stubbornly refused to give up , sending his war droids to attack Tarlam , an attack the Republic managed to repel . Later on , a Republic engineer named Gez Addar was brought to Makeb to examine the Ark , who determined that Toborro was telling the truth about the Ark requiring isotope - 5 to lifeoff . In order to gain access to the fuel rods , the Republic forces turned to an unlikely ally - Dr . Juvard Illip Oggurobb , a well - respected Hutt scientist who had designed the Ark and a series of war droids running on isotope - 5 . Dr . Oggurobb offered his expertise on Toborro ' s technologies in exchange for passage off - world . Toborro had increased his mining operations to maximum , accelerating the destabilization of Makeb ' s core . After the mining lasers were shut down , Shalim ' s camp was contacted by the Cartel leaders on Makeb , who had seen the extent of Toborro ' s insanity and were willing to defect to the Republic in exchange for passage on the Ark . Shalim refused to deal with the very Hutts who conquered his world , but the Republic agreed to bring them along , with some travel restrictions . Following Toborro ' s defeat and the subsequent recovery of the isotope - 5 fuel rod required for the Ark to lift off , Shalim boarded the Ark with the rest of his people . Once the Ark had made it to safety , Shalim met with Chancellor Saresh , who was less than happy that he had been less than upfront about Makeb ' s deterioration . The Republic strike team stood up for Shalim , reminding the Chancellor of the thousands of refugees onboard the Ark and made suggestions on how to address the issue . Shalim then parted ways with his allies , grateful for their assistance .