Yaala

Yaala'ani is a former slave, a Lethan Twi'lek taken from her homeworld as a girl, and kept on the outer rim for most of her life. She escaped from slavery and managed to rise to power on Ryloth, quickly dominating its political scene, and even spent a brief period of time in power on Corellia. Her titles include Former Judicator of Ryloth, Former Vicereine of Corellia, Former Senator of the Republic, Countess of Vanix II, Lady of Corellia, and Knight of the Republic.
==Childhood==
Yaala'ani was born on Ryloth, though she did not stay there long. The city she hailed from was a fairly typical Twi'lek city; ruled by a five member head clan. This clan, unfortunately for Yaala - was one of the many who believed that slavery was a positive thing for the species; professing to themselves that it not only saved Twi'leks from having to grow up in the harsh environment, but also was an efficient means of making money and proliferating the species. A rather foolish set of opinions - but fairly common. 
The Lethan and Rutian clans suffered particularly badly under this policy; as both skincolors were particularly rare. And among those clans, the females suffered even worse. And so it was that Yaala was sold into slavery as a young girl, torn away from her family and sent off-world that she might be trained to someday fulfill the role of a decades-broken adult slave.
===Slavery===
It was not a role she was destined to fulfill. While training slaves young can be useful for breaking their spirit early, Yaala managed to learn far more then merely dancing or cooking skills. She was an intelligent and inquisitive young girl, who observed the older twi'lek women constantly, not only learning what she was supposed to learn - but the value of stealth and trickery as well.
She would constantly escape from whatever enclosure she was put in as a child, and as she became a teenager it grew only worse. She was more then a passable thief, and charasmatic enough that she became quite a gossip; and she learned the value of information, too. Even as a slave,
knowledge and guile can give one power. While some of the slaves gained power from their appearances - that was a form of power over men - she took power from trickery and intelligence.
==Rise to Power==
After her escape from slavery, she stole away aboard a freighter bound for Coruscant. There, she was told by the JEDI PADAWAN ORIN that she was Force Sensitive, and he instructed her in the basics of meditation and reaching out with her mind. Shortly thereafter, she was party to an investigation of the kidnapping of AURE KAIA, which further introduced her to the strange ways of the Jedi. She had only occasional contact with them for some time after that however, and soon became a spy for the Senator MEENA TILLS.
As a spy, she uncovered the secrets of AGRIPPA JUNIK as well as BULBA THE HUTT, and the DARK LORD PETRUS, whom was Admiral of the Republic Navy, as well as the apprentice and madman DARSHIVA, also known as the Butcherer of Ryloth. While in the middle of being an Agent of the Republic and spying for THE BLUES and a double agent for Agrippa against Petrus...and all the webs of secrecy within webs of secrecy, somehow Yaala'ani managed to maneuver herself into the position of being the JUDICATOR AND SENATOR of Ryloth; it is uncertain to this day how she managed such (having not even been on the Legal Board the hour before she was elected) - but to this day there are rumors of blackmail and intimate bribery. 
She had a brief but successful career within the Senate, which saw he promoted into the Corellian and Vanixian aristocracies, and the passage of several major reform bills - especially financial - which helped slow and reverse the decline of several millenia; quickly proving her self to be a political liberal in favor of economic reform and big-government. Her political alliances however were less clear, as whom her exact allies were privately as opposed to privately is still a matter of some debate. 
===Retirement===
Shortly after rising to power as the VICERENE OF CORELLIA, Yaala announced publically that a war with a fleet of Black Ships would soon begin, and that unless the republic began militarizing, it would loose. Several politicians heeded her warnings, especially SENATOR TARKIN and SENATOR TILLS. However, despite this Yaala'ani herself resigned from politics, to join the Jedi Order as the padawan of MASTER YODA. A few months later, amid an intelligence coup against the new BLACK IMPERIUM of NASH DRAGEN; the existence of which she had predicted, she was made a Jedi Knight.
==Jedi==
As a Jedi, Yaala'ani quickly became a source of intelligence on the major powers in the galaxy, spying on the Dark Force users and the Imperium, as well as the various criminal elements. She rooted out a spy within the Jedi Order (eventually bringing him to justice) - and hunted down several Sith. The high point of her intelligence career, however was her ON THE STATE OF THE REPUBLIC, which revealed to the Jedi Masters and the Republic Officials the existence of the Sith as well as some of their goals; and their role in the formation of the EZREEL FOUNDATION; as well as the history of Dr. XIBRIL and the history and biology of his clones and the Black Imperium. It was by far the most comprehensive intelligence report issued in the war to date.
==Disappearance==
Unfortunately, Yaala'ani suffered a severe hyperdrive malfunction when her new ship, the Red Lekku Rising - had its engine sabotaged. The ship was left unable to exit hyperspace; and so Yaala'ani hit the edge of the Outer Rim and...kept going. Stuck in hyperspace. Lacking the technological knowledge to shut the engine down, she had to wait until it burned out. How she managed to get back /to/ the galaxy after this burnout, she has not said.
== Return==
Since her return, Yaala'ani has been engaging in a mixture of diplomacy and light-information gathering. Forsaking the heavy spy-work that marked her previous career, she has been trying to re-acquaint herself with the galaxy while trying to peacefully redeem dark-side users, and help promote and protect the Galaxy's new-found peace. She has also written several philosophy and self-help books.
==Personality==
Yaala'ani has gone through many personality changes. Originally, before she was elected to any office - she was a bit of a scoundrel, aiding the fugitive AGRIPPA JUNIK and, it is reported - spying on him for MEENA TILLS. As a Senator, she was an extremely cunning and ruthless political figure, weaving extremely convoluted and intricate plots to further her political agenda and impede her enemies.
However, as a Jedi Padawan under the tutelage of MASTER YODA she showed increasing patience, and began to reform from her rather political and amoral past. Particularly since coming back from her 8 month journey in hyperspace - during which she was completely isolated from other living beings - she has shown vastly more patience, compassion, tolerance and wisdom; it is almost hard to see the young slave-turned Senator that she once was. She has even written several books which focus on virtue, and advocate compassion as the basis for all morality and personal happiness.
==Force Choke ==
For a Jedi, Yaala'ani is rather scandalously notable not for her lightsaber prowess, nor for her
exceptional speed or jumping skills - but for the notable number of personages she has force-choked. According to rumors, at least three Hutts and two Dark Lords have been on the receiving end of this. 
==Death and Legacy==
While few of Yaala'ani's political works or reforms were of any lasting consequence, her career as a spy was instrumental in the early days of the Clone Wars. She had little to no influence in the mid to latter stages of this period of Galactic History, however. Her true legacy to the Galaxy is likely to only be felt through her contribution to the Jedi Order. She was a prolific author and wrote, edited or compiled an extremely large body of work. This work was not simply on Jedi Philosophy (though much of it was) but also on Jedi History, the Sith, and even self-help works. Most of this work was lost during the Galactic Empire, but a surprising number of it managed to survive both the Empire and the Great War, largely due to various copies being buried in remote corners of the galaxy or stored on astromech droids, seemingly by Yaala'ani herself.
Category:Archived Characters
Category:Jedi Order