Natasi Daala

"Why is it every time a competent woman is rewarded, others assume it's only because she’s having sex with a man?"

- Daala

Daala was one of the very few high-ranking females in the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire, as well as one of the most famous Imperial commanders of all time.

Most famous for her command of security at the Maw Installation and the unification of the warlord factions into the eventual Imperial Remnant, she rose to eventually become one of the most hated and feared figures within the New Republic, at one point holding the post of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet and exercising total and absolute control and power over the Galactic Empire.

Being a victim of the Empire's policy towards females herself, she also issued a decree to allow all women and aliens to serve in the Imperial military, thus somewhat weakening the concept of Human High Culture within the Imperial Remnant.

Early career


Daala was born twenty-six years prior to the Battle of Yavin. She had a peaceful upbringing. While young, she fell in love, although the details of the affair are muddy. Presumably, following the end of the relationship, she enrolled in the Academy of Carida.

Though she was a talented student and officer at the Imperial Academy, she was continually passed over for promotion simply because of her gender, though accounts by Imperial military officers said that she argued too much when she was passed over for promotions. To take out her frustrations toward the male-dominated military, she made herself a false computer identity. Daala was able to defeat many a high-level officer and some of her own instructors. Many of her tactics were based upon ideas formed by Jan Dodonna. Her tactics were studied and implemented throughout the entire Imperial military.

This gained her the attention of Moff Tarkin. He investigated the talented young officer, hiring two slicers who worked for several months to find the identity of the hidden strategist. He was pleasantly surprised to discover not only her identity, but that she was female. 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 meterological station at the south pole.

However, Tarkin took her on as his protégé, helping her to ascend to the rank of Admiral. Many quietly complained that she 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 and ejected him into space as punishment.

At the same time as she was carrying on her affair with Tarkin, Daala was also engaged in a romance with Liegeus Vorn.

Maw Installation
As his most trusted officer, Daala was tasked with overseeing and protecting the Maw Installation, birthplace of the Death Stars, World Devastators, and the Sun Crusher. This facility was hidden away even from the rest of the Empire, and no less than four Imperial-class Star Destroyers were stationed there (Basilisk, Gorgon, Hydra, and Manticore). After having her promoted to Admiral, Tarkin ordered Daala never to abandon her post or break communication silence unless he returned. So after his death, Daala stayed isolated in the Maw with no news of the Galaxy outside and no one in the Empire aware of her existence.



When Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Kyp Durron escaped from Kessel and accidentally discovered the Maw Installation, Daala captured and interrogated them, learning for the first time about the destruction of the Death Stars and the deaths of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Tarkin. Daala knew that her orders were obsolete and it was time to strike back at the Rebels.

Though she made a valiant attempt and was armed with "the power to turn planets into slag," Daala was ultimately foiled. She lost one Star Destroyer on the Maw, when Han Solo piloted the Sun Crusher directly through the ship's bridge. A second ship was destroyed by Admiral Ackbar in orbit around Dac.

Following her spectacular defeat at Dac, Daala retreated to the Cauldron Nebula. She had 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 send it crashing down upon the surface of Coruscant. This last desperate plan was again met with defeat when Kyp Durron ignited the stars in the Nebula with the Sun Crusher. Weary of her continuous failed efforts, Daala decided to return with Gorgon to the Maw, vowing to return to Tarkin's assigned mission, and defend it to the death.

What she found there, however, was total chaos. The Republic had already moved to seize Maw Installation for themselves, and Tol Sivron and the remaining scientists had sabatoged the facility and absconded with the prototype Death Star. As the facility exploded, Daala desperately escaped the Maw, dejectedly setting a course for the splintered Empire.

The reunification of the Empire
"I didn't want to rule. I had no intention of becoming a political leader. &hellip;but you have given me no choice. I cannot leave the Empire in the hands of fools like you."

- Admiral Daala at Tsoss Beacon



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. After "Supreme Warlord" Harrsk pressed her into his service on the threat of death, Daala at last grew tired of the chaotic state of the Empire. Feuding over what was left of a formerly Galaxy-spanning government, the warlords were slowly destroying what remained. Daala sought to change that and joined forces with then-Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, forcing the most powerful warlords to meet in order to negotiate and discuss the future of the Empire at Tsoss Beacon. After hours of petty squabbling and aruguing, though, it became quite apparent that the warlords had no intention of working together. Tired, Daala executed the warlords, sealing them in a room and poisoning the air, leaving herself as the effective head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Galactic Empire, under the title of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, with Pellaeon as her second-in-command. In this way, she has been attributed as the founder of the modern Imperial Remnant.

Following the warlords' deaths, Daala took command of their forces, consolidating fleets of Victory-class and Imperial-class Star Destroyers, Skipray Blastboats, and even a single Super Star Destroyer, the Knight Hammer. Her fleet successfully raided a few systems before executing a poorly planned assault against the New Republic and Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, which resulted in the destruction of Knight Hammer and the damage of the forty-five Imperial-class Star Destroyers under Pellaeon's direct command. Defeated, Daala managed to overcome the Jedi Knight Callista, and escaped from the dying wake of Knight Hammer only to relinquish command, promoting Pellaeon to the rank of Admiral and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, apparently resigning Imperial service for good.

Later life
She settled temporarily on Pedducis Chorios as a civilian, leading a group of settlers on that distant world. Daala would return to service, however, when she learned of Moff Getelles' plan to use the Death Seed plague to take over the Meridian Sector.

After this, reunited with her old flame Vorn, she returned once more to the Deep Core looking to establish another fleet. Though she did make an attack against the Republic a short time later, General Garm Bel Iblis defeated her soundly, causing her ship to make a blind hyperspace jump. Her activities and whereabouts after this defeat remain unknown. She was presumed killed in battle, but New Republic Intelligence consistently refused to remove her name from the list of potential threats.

Behind the scenes

 * Admiral Daala was created by Kevin J. Anderson.


 * All of Daala's Star Destroyers (Basilisk, Gorgon, Hydra, and Manticore) are named after mythical beasts, perhaps implying that they are sister-ships of the famous Chimaera.

Appearances



 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Union (dream)