Callista Ming

"It's something even the Masters don't reveal about the inner nature of the secret heart of the universe. The deepest and darkest secret of all that the Force lets you see. The universe has a sense of humor."

- Callista Ming

Callista Ming, originally known as Callista Masana, was a Human Jedi Knight from Chad during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. She was a member of a rogue sect of Jedi, led by Djinn Altis, who were accepted back by the Order during the Clone Wars, to take command of Clone troopers and fight for the Republic. Callista survived the initial stages of the Great Jedi Purge and made contact with other survivors on Belsavis. When the automated dreadnought Eye of Palpatine came to demolish the settlement, Callista and her lover Geith launched a desperate mission to sabotage the ship. They were successful, but in the process, Callista shed her physical body, remaining embedded in the ship as a disembodied ghost.

Many years later, Luke Skywalker and several other Jedi were brought onto the ship as it resumed its mission. Callista, in spirit form, communicated and began to fall in love with Luke. She later took the body of one of the other Jedi, Cray Mingla, after Cray gave it up to stop the superweapon once and for all. However, in the process, Callista lost her ability to touch the Force. Despite this loss, Callista helped thwart Admiral Daala and the Death Seed plague conspiracy, though she and Luke parted ways forever.

Early life and Jedi training
Born on the water-world of Chad, she lived on an ark in a deep-water ranch with her father, unhappy stepmother, and Uncle Claine. She also had an Uncle Dro. The ranch followed the planet's Algic current, ranging from the equator to the arctic circle. Callista's family were not wealthy, but they had a happy life, living mostly on the deep oceans as herders and farmers. From her youth, Callista helped out on the ranch, herding tsaelke and wander-kelp. When the ranch was in wystoh territory and they needed to leave their floating home, the family would send out a foo-twitter to distract the marine hunters, a trick which would help save Luke Skywalker thirty years later. Callista also was known to ride cy'een. The first time Callista used the Force was to move some ice that had trapped her with several sea cows. Afterwards, she knew she had to join the Jedi, but could never make her confused father understand why.

Rather than going through the normal process of separation from her parents and training in the Jedi Temple, she was recruited into the Jedi Order by the maverick Jedi Master Djinn Altis in 25 BBY and trained under Altis for five years on his praxeum ship, the second Chu'unthor. Once she constructed one, Callista's lightsaber bore a ring of stylized tsaelke sea-creatures around the hilt in token of her heritage. During a layover on Bespin, she sensed Geith's potential in the Force and asked him to come along with her. He did, though mostly to be with her, and the two fell in love.

During the Clone Wars, Callista, along with Geith and some other members of Altis's community, decided to aid the Republic in their war effort and rendezvous with the Republic Fleet Auxiliary Support Vessel Redeemer over Thyferra. Geith and Callista openly kissed while in the hangar bay of the ship, something which surprised Null ARC trooper Captain Ordo, as this conflicted with the orthodox Order's views on relationships. She met with Ordo and General Etain Tur-Mukan, who gave Callista and her friends command of some clone troopers. About two months later, Etain asked Callista to meet her again, this time on Nerrif, a large Republic supply station in the Mid Rim. Before they spoke, Callista used the Force to try and raise the spirits of some of the wounded clones. While there, Etain confessed to Callista that she had secretly taken a lover and had a child, which went against standard Jedi doctrine, so was wondering if she could join with Master Altis and his renegade Jedi at some point. Callista said that she couldn't see Master Altis turning them away and that she was sad that Etain was being made so miserable, just because she wasn't a normal human. At some point during the conflict, she encountered Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Eye of Palpatine and the children of the Jedi
Djinn Altis, Callista, and Geith survived the Great Jedi Purge, and remained in contact with other survivors such as Master Plett, who was sheltering a group of Jedi children on the remote world of Belsavis. However, their refuge was threatened when they discovered that the newly-formed Galactic Empire had built the massive dreadnought Eye of Palpatine to attack Belsavis&mdash;a sort of proto-Death Star armed with powerful experimental turbolasers. Callista and Geith attempted to sabotage or destroy the massive ship, but had a disagreement about their course of action. Geith, a pilot, wanted to flee the ship to warn the others, claiming to have predicted the guns' firing pattern. Callista wanted to disable the ship's main computer by using the Force to make the enclision grid protecting the center misfire and then disabling the ship's computer. However, Geith stubbornly went off without her and subsequently was killed when the guns blew up his ship. Callista, heartbroken, continued with her plan. She knew that the grid would eventually hit her as she proceeded towards the ship's core and that each successive hit would increase her chances of being hit again. Her surmise was correct and her physical body was slain, charred by the lightning of the grid. Callista, however, used her talents in the Force to essentially 'haunt' the battlemoon's gunnery computer.

Reawakening and a new life
"Luke, I died thirty years ago. I'm just&hellip;I'm glad we had this time. I'm glad I stayed to&hellip;to know you."

- Callista, in what she thought would be her final address to Luke on the Eye of Palpatine

She remained there for thirty years, until Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and several other New Republic Jedi were captured by the Eye's automatic systems, brainwashed, and taken aboard. Other crew taken by the ship included Sand People, Jawas, and Gamorreans, which created a large number of problems for the Jedi. One of the Jawas gave Callista's lightsaber to Luke during his initial investigations into the ship. Callista first revealed herself to Luke after he was on the run from Sand People, helping him by opening doors and giving him a safe place to hide in a quartermaster's office, sealing the door behind him. While he was inside the office, she revealed herself to him by appearing on a monitor screen while he looked at himself in it. She had been observing him for some time and after he resolved to destroy the weapon, she aided him against the ship's controlling central computer. Since the entire ship was wired, Luke could communicate with her spirit via the Force and she with him using the ship's computers and screens and the Force.

However, Skywalker had concerns of his own. One of his students, Cray Mingla, had been brought onboard the Eye of Palpatine at the same time as Skywalker, but Mingla had since been captured by a group of Gamorreans. The ruling ship's computer had determined that Mingla was to be executed, and so Callista aided Skywalker in his efforts to free his student. She helped him rig up a foo-twitter to scare off the Gamorreans, and while he worked, they exchanged life stories, partially through words, and partially by sharing Force visions of their pasts with one another. After being attacked by several of the ship's droids, Luke even saw a vision of her final heroics in heading towards the gun room. When he awoke, Callista helped distract the Gamorreans by impersonating the ship's computer to compel the Gamorreans, who were indoctrinated to follow the computer's orders, to attack a rival Gamorrean tribe so Luke could free Cray. She also helped him get the eclectic members of the ship's brainwashed crew&mdash;even the Gamorreans&mdash;to landers to get them off the Dreadnaught.

During Skywalker's time on the Eye of Palpatine, the two fell in love. Luke wanted to have Cray, who was also a noted artificial intelligence programmer, create a human replica droid for her in an attempt to preserve Callista's spirit, as had been done for Cray's lover, Nichos Marr, who was present on the Eye of Palpatine as well. However, Callista insisted that they destroy the automated craft, though, even at the cost of her own life. As Mingla and Callista feared that Skywalker would not be able to put an end to the Eye of Palpatine, Cray stunned Luke and transferred him to one of the landers. Instead, with guidance from Callista, Mingla used the Force to misfire the enclision grid while Marr journeyed to the control room and detonated the station. Just prior to the station's destruction, Callista transferred her spirit into the body of Cray Mingla, who wished to die and be reunited with her dead lover.

Search for the Force
"This is beautiful, Luke. All the water. I love the water."

- Callista marveling at the Mulako Water Quarry to Luke

Unfortunately for Callista and Luke, the process of transferring bodies severed her connection to the Force. While she was able to explain some things about the Jedi Order, including the toys and other artifacts on Belsavis, and also inform Luke of the history of the Order, which later was useful in rediscovering the Iron Knights, she herself was unable to use the Force. Luke remained loyal to Callista despite this and took upon himself to aid her in reconnecting with the Force after they returned to Yavin 4.

After journeying together to Coruscant to deliver a message warning of Hutt intrigue to Skywalker's sister, Leia Organa Solo, Skywalker and Callista took a trip together in search of reconnecting her to the Force. To this end, he took her to a number of places to try and spark her connection to the Force back while they also tried to deepen their relationship. First, they went to the Mulako Corporation Water Quarry, which reminded her of her watery homeworld. Although Callista thought it was a romantic, personal place, it did not help her connect with the Force. Instead, she had Luke take her to Dagobah, where Luke had trained to become a Jedi. They arrived on the planet without incident, but not long after landing, they were attacked by nightbats. In combat, Callista unleashed her anger on them, revealing that she could still touch the dark side. Skywalker was tempted to think of that as progress, but Callista firmly stated that if she could only touch the dark side, she would prefer never to use the Force again.

Leaving Dagobah, they journeyed to Hoth, where the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi had once appeared to Luke, but while heading towards the ruins of Echo Base, they were attacked by two automated turrets. Skywalker and Callista handily defeated them and two entered the base to find a group of hunters. The hunters had been trapped there by a sizable herd of ferocious wampas and tried to get Skywalker and Callista to take them off-planet, but the ice creatures crippled their ship. Although they fell back to Echo Base, the party was attacked en route and after their withdrawal, leading the eventual death of the hunters by the wampas. Callista joined Skywalker in fighting their way back to the ship, managing to resist the temptation to use the dark side and unleash her anger. They took off despite the damage to their ship, but with no hyperdrive and failing life support, Callista was placed in the one life support suit while Luke entered hibernation and used the Force to call for his sister. The two nearly froze to death until Leia, responding to Luke's call, arrived in the Millennium Falcon to save them.

Leaving Luke
"I have to go on my own odyssey. I'm confident that someday I will rediscover my powers. That way I can come back to you on my own terms."

- Callista in her last message to Luke

Then, the Falcon conveyed Callista and Luke back to the Jedi Praxeum to recover, only to find that it was under attack by Admiral Daala's flagship Knight Hammer. Callista joined the defense with the other Jedi, but realized that she would not be as effective as the others, who were using the Force to battle Daala's ground troops. Callista wanted to stand equally strong as the other trainees, not be left behind in their wake. Seizing a damaged Imperial TIE Bomber after killing the pilot, who had been trying to repair the grounded ship, Callista infiltrated the Knight Hammer. She landed in a hangar bay after giving a false radiation alarm and found the deserted hangar to be full of loaded TIE bombers. She then set a large number of the bombers to explode on a timer inside the hangar, severely damaging the engines of the ship, dooming it to crash into the planet Yavin. Callista went on to confront Admiral Daala, preparing to sacrifice herself to stop the renegade admiral. Resigned to her fate, Callista used the Force to direct her lightsaber, regardless of the dangers of the dark side, deflecting blaster bolts fired by the admiral. Daala eventually fired on stun to incapacitate Callista and left her to die on the doomed ship. Callista was presumed dead, but revealed her survival to Luke. However, she left him nonetheless, realizing she needed to strike out on her own to rediscover her Force connection. She felt that remaining with Luke put too much pressure on her, and was too painful, though she did hope to return to him one day. Callista hoped to return to Luke, but only if she was able to regain her Force powers without using the dark side.

In 13 ABY, she was working on the Gamorrean trading-ship Zicreex. Bogged down on Gamorr during slush-time, she became caught-up in the murder of the Gamorrean warlord Vrokk, who had supposedly been slain by Guth, one of the crew on the Zicreex. Vrokk's wife, Kufbrug, had sealed off the room where Vrokk had been murdered, and Guth had been a one-time romantic interest of hers. Callista was able to convince Kufbrug to let her investigate the murder, although the Gamorrean held the other crew of the Zicreex as prisoners. Callista contacted Sebastin Onyx, a poet, and obtained an enzymer from a local Bith. Constructing a reflective panel in the room where Vrokk had been slain, she and Kufbrug waited until evening, when the murderer revealed itself to be a Kheilwar from Af'El. Callista and Kufbrug fought off the creature until, cornered, it changed its shape to resemble those it had seen. This particular kheilwar changed into images of Rog and Gundruk&mdash;Vrokk's brother and Kufbrug's daughter, who had been trying to murder Vrokk, Guth, and eventually Kufbrug in order to take over their sizable holdings. Callista, refusing to succumb to the temptation to use the dark side, and Kufbrug fought off the kheilwar until morning, when it was destroyed by the sunlight. Having solved the murder, Callista and the others were finally cleared of all charges and released.

Planet of Twilight
Callista resurfaced later in 13 ABY, on Nam Chorios, the "Planet of Twilight", where she had gone in hopes of finding her connection to the Force as it was a Force nexus. Callista briefly fell in with two local Force-sensitives, Taselda and Beldorion, but later left them after seeing their pettiness&mdash;Taselda was an old crone who plotted against Beldorion and Beldorion was content to do little but eat and sit in his palace, nearly enslaved to the exiled Seti Ashgad. However, she quickly learned that the planet was infested with insects that carried the Death Seed plague, which had once killed billions across the galaxy in years past. Journeying into the arid wasteland, she joined up with the Theran cultists and meditated in search of the Force. Additionally, she helped operate the gun stations that kept ships from landing and possibly becoming infected with the Death Seed plague.

Callista later delivered a warning to Leia Organa Solo not to meet Seti Ashgad because of the danger of the Death Seed, after Ashgad had requested a meeting with the Chief of State. Leia chose to ignore the advice. In the meeting, Leia was drugged and captured by Ashgad, while Luke tried to fly in to Nam Chorios to find Callista. Little did he, or Callista, know that Leia had been captured by Seti Ashgad and was being held in his estate. Eventually, Leia managed to escape into the desert, where Callista, who had been keeping Ashgad's people from attacking the gun stations that kept large ships from escaping, met her. There she aided Leia in defeating the Hutt Dark Jedi Beldorion, providing instruction in lightsaber combat and the Force to Leia. Luke, meanwhile, was drawn into the plot to unleash the Death Seed after his own encounters with Taselda and the Newcomers, even spotting Callista from a distance during an attack on a gun station. After being tricked into entering Ashgad's estate, he was able to defeat the plague's sentient manifestation and stop Ashgad by recruiting the native Force-strong crystalline tsils. The tsils, who were aware of the Death Seed plague, helped Luke stop Ashgad and cure the Death Seed spreading through the sector in exchange for the return of all the tsils that had been stolen by Loronar Corporation as part of Ashgad's plan. After the conflict was resolved, Luke and Callista met. Although painful, their brief meeting&mdash;consisting of one look&mdash;brought resolution to their relationship and they realized that going their separate ways was for the best. Luke Skywalker eventually went on to marry Mara Jade. There was a rumor among the students at the Jedi Praxeum that Mara had arranged for Callista's permanent disappearance.

Legacy
Callista was a witness of both the Jedi Order in the last years of the Galactic Republic and the survival of the Order's fragments after the Purge, passing on valuable information from the old Jedi Order down to the New Jedi Order in the form of knowledge, techniques, and abilities she had learned from Master Altis. Some of the children from Plett's refuge on Belsavis, which she had saved from destruction by her sacrifice on the Eye of Palpatine, became Imperial agents or trainees at Luke Skywalker's Praxeum. but the final fates of Masters Plett and Djinn Altis, like that of Callista herself, remained unknown to New Republic historians as of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Personality and traits
Callista, even in spirit form, had a wry sense of humor and easy-going nature, but was also pragmatic and determined. Even in seemingly hopeless circumstances, she could make jokes and do impressions of others, such as Pekkie Blu and the Starboys. She was also very dedicated to the Jedi way, albeit the unorthodox brand practiced by Djinn Altis, and was willing to sacrifice her life to save others of the Order, which she did on the Eye of Palpatine. She also had great commitment to causes she believed were right, keeping her spirit inside the battlemoon's computer for thirty years to keep it from completing its mission. She could also be stubborn, utterly implacable once her mind had been made up.

Callista, owing to her upbringing on Chad, also had an affinity for water and watery places. Callista was a follower of the orthodox Jedi beliefs in the light and dark sides of the Force and, once she realized that she could only touch the dark side of the Force, said that she would rather never use the Force again if she would have to turn to the dark side. Showing an independent streak, she left Luke forever in her own search to regain her connection to the Force, as she realized that she did not want to drag him down or have his power smother her efforts to regain her connection to the Force. Undaunted by the trials she faced in her original body, in corporeal form, and in Cray's body, Callista remained true to the Jedi way, despite a lack of connection to the Force.

Powers and abilities
Callista knew a number of powers unfamiliar to most of the Jedi Order of the Old Republic. Jedi Master Djinn Altis was a maverick, allowing Jedi trainees to become romantically attached, and he taught techniques&mdash;such as the ability to preserve one's consciousness after death by transferring it to an inanimate object&mdash;which were lost to, or condemned by, the mainstream Jedi Order. She was skilled in the use of a lightsaber, and was able to wield the Jedi weapon in combat even without the aid of the Force. She also was capable of using mind influence to help ease the psychological pain of injured clone soldiers during the Clone Wars, which she did if given permission to do so. Callista was also a skilled gunner, as she operated emplacements on both the Eye of Palpatine and Nam Chorios to good effect. Even after losing her connection to the Force, she could still understand and explain training aids and techniques employed by earlier Jedi, but longed to explore the Force for her own. In her previous life, she had been able to employ a number of Force powers, but once she assumed Mingla's body, though she was still physically fit, was unable to use the Force. When she did manage to tap into the Force, on Hoth and on the Knight Hammer, it was in the form of the dark side, but she was able to use that power to both employ a Force Whirlwind to hurl away predatory nightbats and guide her lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts.

Geith
"Don't leave me, Geith. I can't do it alone."

- Callista's final words to Geith on the Eye of Palpatine

Despite the traditional Jedi ordinance against romantic relationships and marriage, Djinn Altis allowed his students to develop serious relationships. Callista had a serious relationship with Geith, a fellow trainee who was a skilled pilot. The two entered the automated Eye of Palpatine dreadnought and attempted to disable it. Callista wanted to access the gunnery room and disable it from within by causing the enclision grid to misfire, but Geith disagreed and left in a Skipray to seek help, over Callista's protests. The dreadnought's gunnery systems killed Geith, and Callista later shed her body to stop the war machine.

Luke Skywalker
"I love you, Callista&hellip;''" "''And I love you. Thank you for bringing me back this far."

- Luke and Callista

In spirit form, Callista met Luke Skywalker when he was brought onto the dreadnought years later. The two quickly grew attracted to each other, and another Jedi, Cray Mingla, gave up her body also to stop the dreadnought, allowing Callista to enter it. Luke and Callista's relationship deepened and grew more intimate, but hit a snag when she discovered she could no longer touch the Force. Despite Luke's best efforts, she realized that she wouldn't be content unless she could touch the Force and that Luke's power was overshadowing and interfering with her progress. After learning she could only touch the dark side, Callista left Luke on her own journey to find the Force, though she readily admitted that she loved him. She stated at one point that she had hoped to return to him once she recovered her powers, but that never came to pass. A single look between them on Nam Chorios told both of them that their time together was over.

Behind the scenes
Callista was first created by Barbara Hambly for the Children of the Jedi novel, as a love interest for Luke Skywalker. In many ways, Callista's personality is similar to Luke's except that for much of the series, she is frustrated by her inability to use the Force, making her a dramatic foil to Luke's command of the Force. Callista later appeared in Kevin J. Anderson's Darksaber (novel) and Hambly's Planet of Twilight, as well as various other reference materials discussing those events, and a short story by Hambly called Murder in Slushtime. Most recently, she made a minor appearance in the 2008 novel Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel, where her original name was identified Callista Masana. Interestingly, Callista Ming's surname was not revealed until the short story Murder in Slushtime, written after the trilogy of novels. Her name is similar to that of the person whose body she occupied, Cray Mingla. Interestingly enough, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia refers to Callista as Callista "Ming", with the surname in quotes. This might be an indication that Ming is not her original name.

According to Kevin J. Anderson, Callista was originally intended to be "the great love of Luke Skywalker's life", as part of an assignment from Lucasfilm to author Barbara Hambly, who created Callista. However, by the time Anderson started writing Darksaber, fan reaction over character Mara Jade from The Thrawn Trilogy had become such that Lucasfilm decided that Luke and Mara would ultimately end up together. As such, Anderson worked with Hambly to find a way to slowly exeunt Callista over the course of Darksaber, but without killing off the character. Anderson and Hambly also worked closely together in plotting what became known as the Callista trilogy&mdash;the three novels Children of the Jedi, Darksaber', and  Planet of Twilight.

The name "Callista" could be rooted in several different real-world topics. It could be from the Greek translation of the name, which means "Most Beautiful" (derived from kallistos) or the moon that shares a similar name. Callisto is one of the four largest moons of Jupiter. However, Callista is also both the name of an 1855 novel and a genus of clams. The novel Callista also features a female main character who is attractive, but unhappy with her life and is forced to make a difficult choice over religion which leads to her eventual death.

Appearances

 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * The New Rebellion
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Survivor's Quest
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse

Notes and references
Callista Ming Callista Callista Ming