Salla Zend

Salla Zend was an ex-girlfriend of Han Solo. She, and cohort Shug Ninx helped Han and Leia save Luke and foil the reborn Emperor Palpatine's plan to control the galaxy from Byss years after the Battle of Yavin with her remarkably fast ship, the Starlight Intruder (which Zend often claimed was faster than the Millennium Falcon, but in a number of races with the Falcon, the Intruder never came out on top).

Biography
Salla was originally a student with a true gift for fixing and modifying machinery- but she didn't seek training to become an engineer or technician, preferring to become a spaceship mechanic aboard a corporate vessel. Eventually, she saved up enough money for a loan, with which she bought her own ship. Tweaking out her vessel, Zend began repaying the debt by smuggling with Solo. A race with Solo past a neutron star almost ended in disaster when her hyperdrive failed and Solo nearly died rescuing her. Disturbed by the narrow miss, Zend retired from smuggling, partnering up with Ninx.

Behind the scenes


Salla Zend and the Starlight Intruder first appeared in the third issue of the Dark Empire series, "The Battle for Calamari". Salla was brought to life by the vocal talents of Glynnis Talken in the 1994 Dark Empire full cast audio drama. Talken would also perform Salla in the Dark Empire II audio drama as well in '95. Although the first edition of The Essential Guide to Characters would firmly establish Salla's species as human, she does have a "purr" and slight alien reverb to her voice in these audio adaptations.

Appearances

 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II