Zal

Zal was a female Barabel Jedi Knight in the New Jedi Order. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, she served Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne in her starfighter squadron, the Wild Knights. In 43.5 ABY, Zal and fellow Barabel Jedi Knights Dordi and Wilyem served as gunners for Captain Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon to distract Galactic Alliance forces while his wife, Leia Organa Solo, smuggled four psychotic Jedi offworld in the Gizer Gut, before they could be captured by Galactic Alliance Security and encased in carbonite.

Biography
"When you need crazy&mdash;''" "''&mdash;call a Barabel."

- Han and Allana Solo

Zal was a female Force-sensitive Barabel who served in the New Jedi Order. She trained in the ways of the light side of the Force, and served as a member of Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne's all-Jedi Wild Knights starfighter squadron during the Yuuzhan Vong War. By 43 ABY, she attained the rank of Jedi Knight. Around this time, she and fellow Barabel Jedi Knight Dordi considered starting a nest with Sebatyne's son, Tesar Sebatyne. In 43.5 ABY, several young Jedi Knights began to fall prey to a mysterious illness which caused them to believe that everyone they knew had been replaced by impostors, and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances decided to deal with the psychotic Knights by encasing them in carbonite. The Jedi Order resisted this, however, and secretly kept as many of the ill Jedi as possible hidden in the New Jedi Temple on Coruscant to be studied.

To prevent Galactic Alliance Security forces from finding and capturing these Jedi, Captain Han Solo and his wife, Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo, decided to smuggle them to the planet Shedu Maad. Zal, along with fellow Barabel Knights Zal and Wilyem, served as gunners in the Millennium Falcon under Han Solo and his granddaughter, Allana Solo. They were to distract Galactic Alliance forces in orbit over Coruscant, allowing Organa Solo to escape with the affected Jedi&mdash;Natua Wan, Seff Hellin, Bazel Warv, and Yaqeel Saav'etu&mdash;in the Gizer Gut. The Millennium Falcon broke every procedure for departing the planet, and Bolt Squadron and the Fast Death, a Nargi-class pursuit frigate, began to chase them down. Solo maneuvered the Falcon behind PharmCom Orbital Processing Plant One, a pharmaceutical production plant, and the Fast Death stayed behind, to be replaced by another pursuit frigate, the Quick End. Solo then told Allana to alert Master Sebatyne, and proceeded to order Zal and Dordi to pull up their guns and targeting computer systems as a bluff. Sebatyne quickly arrived with a squadron of StealthXs, and scattered Bolt Squadron. At Solo's orders, Allana then reached out in the Force to Organa Solo, signaling her to leave. She quickly escaped offworld with the four psychotic Jedi in the Gizer Gut. Their objective complete, Han revealed to the Galactic Alliance that he had his daughter on board, and claimed to have been taking her for a joyride. The Galactic Alliance forces broke off pursuit, and Dordi, Zal, Wilyem, and the Solos jumped into hyperspace to meet up with the Gizer Gut at Shedu Maad.

Personality and traits
"Did I say something funny?''" "''Nope. They're just Barabels."

- Allana and Han Solo

Zal shared a sense of humor with other Barabels that other beings rarely understood. Much of what was said between the crew of the Millennium Falcon during her mission with the Solos was taken as a joke between the Barabel Jedi. Zal kept her sense of humor and remianed high-spirited, even when they were under pressure.

Powers and abilities
"No, you can't shoot! What are you, crazy? I've got Amelia on board!"

- Han Solo, tellling Zal and Dordi they can't open fire

Zal learned the ways of the light side of the Force with the Jedi Order, and rose to the rank of Jedi Knight. She was a skillful pilot, and she flew with Saba Sebatyne's Wild Knights during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Zal was also a capable gunner, however, she and Dordi were ordered not to fire on the Galactic Alliance ships during their mission with Solo.

Behind the scenes
Zal was created by author Troy Denning for his first installment, and the third novel overall, in the Fate of the Jedi series, Abyss, released August 18, 2009.

Appearances

 * Abyss