Isabalia

Isabalia was a female who lived in Cloud City on Bespin in the year 3 ABY. She idolized bounty hunters like Boba Fett, and was romantically interested in Joy Iya. During the Galactic Empire's occupation of Cloud City, she had an opportunity to meet Fett at the carbon-freezing facility, but it conflicted with Iya's hope that Isabalia would join her, Recnelo Cott, and the Ugnaughts in a workers' strike. When a stormtrooper took aim at Iya and Cott, Isabalia defended them, then joined Iya.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Isabalia was a female who lived in Cloud City on Bespin for some time. Her parents had been active in the community on Cloud City until it became clear to them that Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian was more interested in business than education. They disapproved of what they considered Isabalia's "misguided" lifestyle of idolizing bounty hunters, especially Boba Fett, which required hurting other beings instead of helping them. When Isabalia's parents moved to Chandrila to work in the education centers there, she stayed behind on Cloud City.
===Choosing her path===
In 3 ABY,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas the seventeen-year old lived alone in a room on Level 121 rented from Recnelo Cott, an Ugnaught who worked in the Tibanna gas mines and lived apart from her clan. Cott disapproved of Isabalia's attempts to become a bounty hunter by working for Elad Zhalto, the Duros male who owned the Azure Den underground gambling spot, which involved Isabalia roughing up other beings on Zhalto's behalf. After meeting Joy Iya on a few occasions while Iya worked at the Yarith, Isabalia became romantically interested in her, though she tended to stumble over her words and get distracted by Iya's eyes.
When Cott and Isabalia were heading to their respective jobs one morning, they noticed newcomers on their route. Cott quietly told Isabalia that the Galactic Empire had arrived on Cloud City and stormtroopers were asking questions at the mines. At the Azure Den, Isabalia was stunned to see Boba Fett there, and tried to decide how to best time an introduction to him. While considering that, Isabalia was surprised again by Iya, who was working at the Azure Den and said she had been meaning to talk to Isabalia. As Iya dealt sabacc cards and talked to her, Isabalia forgot to pay attention to Fett. When she was called back to Zhalto's office, she realized she had missed the opportunity to meet her idol while focused on Iya. Zhalto gave Isabalia another job to convince a woman named Na'Tala to return to his employ, in part by saying he would send his droid 3-76 if she did not agree; Isabalia knew sending 3-76 meant Na'Tala would be killed. He also used her interest in being introduced to Fett and concern about her fashion by offering her new attire from the exclusive clothing store Cloud Regalia. Though Isabalia felt guilty, she accepted. As she left the gambling den, Iya gave her a card with an invitation to "A Change" that evening in Sector Four.
At Cloud Regalia, Isabalia acquired an extravagant blue jumpsuit and a matching cape, which the shop droid compared to Calrissian's tastes. She then broke into Na'Tala's apartment and found that her target also had a card for that evening. When Isabalia arrived at the appointed location, she discovered Iya was organizing a citywide work stoppage to get the attention of Calrissian and others running the city. When Na'Tala approached Isabalia herself, she was not concerned that Isabalia was sent for her and said she had her own message for Zhalto. Iya came over and told Isabalia she believed in her as something more than just another two-bit player, making Isabalia blush. When Isabalia said she could not join Iya and her movement until she met and learned from Fett, Iya was disappointed in her and left.
Isabalia brought Na'Tala to Zhalto, and he told her to meet Fett at the carbon-freezing facility. After securing her weapons, she headed for the facility and encountered Cott, who was also heading there for the work stoppage. Her friend criticized her for not joining the Cloud City workers, and Isabalia mentally debated how Cott, Iya, and her parents all seemed to see something different in her than what she saw in herself.
When a stormtrooper appeared and aimed a blaster at the group, Isabalia didn't think; she exchanged fire and then beat the stormtrooper unconscious, tearing her new jumpsuit in the process. Decision made, she then offered to join Iya's work stoppage, leading Iya to express that she had not lost hope in her. As they stared at each other, Isabalia wondered if they might have a lifetime together. Cott interrupted them to begin the strike and they held hands as they joined it.
==Personality and traits==
Isabalia had dark brown skin and black hair that she shaved into a buzz cut on the left side and grew longer on the right. Although Zhalto complimented her work with a Gamorrean, it had left her with two scars above her eye. She was petite in height.
At daybreak, she liked to search for the beldons floating through the sky and changing colors, which helped her to feel grounded. She wished she could clothe herself like the beldons, changing between invisibility and vibrancy, or have a signature look like Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, or Dengar. She used to admire Lando Calrissian's flash and charisma, but she grew to consider him another politician with seductive smiles and empty promises; however, she still liked his capes.
==Skills and abilities==
As a Cloud City resident, Isabalia learned the Ugnaught language used by the many Ugnaught workers in addition to her fluency in Galactic Basic.
==Equipment==
Isabalia armed herself with a vibroknuckler and Relby K-23 blaster pistol.
==Behind the scenes==
Isabalia first appeared in "Beyond the Clouds," a short story by Lilliam Rivera in From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, an anthology published by Del Rey in 2020. The story is told in the first person from Isabalia's point of view. The character was initially revealed but not identified on Twitter in a promotional tweet from the Del Rey Star Wars account.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Females
Category:Individuals of unspecified species
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:LGBTQIA+ individuals