Tahiri Veila

"I know something about pain you don't. Pain drowns other people. I just swim in it."

- Tahiri Veila, to Lord Nyax

Tahiri Veila was a Jedi Knight in the New Jedi Order and later the Sith apprentice of Darth Caedus. Born on Tatooine to a pair of moisture farmers and adopted by the leader of a Tusken Raider tribe, Tahiri was raised as one of the Sand People. Around 22 ABY, Jedi Master Tionne Solusar discovered her Force-sensitivity and brought her to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. It was at the Praxeum that she met Anakin Solo, with whom she soon became friends and shared many adventures.

In the second year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Tahiri was captured by the invaders during the attack on the Jedi Praxeum and "shaped" by Mezhan Kwaad and Nen Yim to be a Jedi/Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. After being rescued, Tahiri became an asset to the Jedi as the procedure gave her the ability to speak and understand the Yuuzhan Vong language. In 27 ABY, Tahiri participated in the ill-fated Mission to Myrkr to remove the threat of the Jedi-hunting voxyn and witnessed the death of Anakin Solo, whom she had begun to think of as more than a friend. Due to the emotional pain caused by his death, her Yuuzhan Vong implanted personality Riina Kwaad resurfaced and tried to take over her mind.

After successfully unifying both personalities, Tahiri traveled to Zonama Sekot with Corran Horn and the Yuuzhan Vong Nen Yim, Harrar and a disguised Nom Anor. While there, she aided Nen Yim in discovering the relation between the Yuuzhan Vong and Zonama Sekot, which proved vital in bringing peace to the Yuuzhan Vong and ending the war. Tahiri fought in the Second Battle of Coruscant and after the war's end stayed on Zonama Sekot with Danni Quee and Tekli to try and teach the Yuuzhan Vong peace.

During the Dark Nest Crisis, Tahiri was banished to Dagobah for revealing Jedi secrets, but she was again an active member of the Order by 40 ABY. She abandoned the Jedi during the Second Galactic Civil War and followed Darth Caedus, her late lover's older brother, in order to revisit Anakin and tell him how much she loved him. This led to her becoming Caedus's Sith apprentice, serving his faction of the Galactic Alliance and killing Admiral Gilad Pellaeon during the Second Battle of Fondor. However, she was redeemed by Ben Skywalker at the end of the war and chose to pursue life as a bounty hunter rather than return to her life as a Jedi. Following the war, she helped the Jedi Order in its dealings with the psychosis that began to develop in some of the Jedi Knights, assisting in the capture of afflicted Knight Seff Hellin. Soon after, however, she was arrested and put on trial for Pellaeon's murder.

Early life (13 ABY–22 ABY)
Tahiri was born on the planet Tatooine. Like many of the planet's other settlers, her parents Cassa and Tryst Veila had a moisture farm where she spent her early years. She was orphaned at the age of three during a Tusken Raider raid though she was adopted by the tribe's leader Sliven in return for the kindness shown to him by her parents. Tahiri was raised as a Tusken Raider and had a pet bantha named Bangor. She was skilled in the Force and was later found by Jedi Master Tionne and brought to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 at about nine standard years old in 22 ABY.

Jedi training (22 ABY–25 ABY)
"You are not going to leave me alone no matter what I say, are you?"

- Anakin Solo, to Tahiri, 22 ABY

There she met the youngest of the Solo children, Anakin, and they quickly became close friends. Around the Academy, Tahiri refused to wear shoes and would go everywhere barefoot because she liked the coolness of the floors, which contrasted pleasantly with Tatooine's hot sands.

On one adventure with Anakin, they came across the crumbling Palace of the Woolamander and discovered the Golden Globe and the ancient Kushiban Jedi Master Ikrit. Later, Ikrit also informed the pair that the Golden Globe contained countless trapped souls and that he had tried to break it before and failed.

Following that, Tahiri and Anakin accompanied the Melodie Lyric to her homeworld of Yavin 8 where she was to undergo an important form-changing ritual known as the Changing Ceremony. Shortly after the trio's arrival, they fell under attack by several native predators including an avril, a reel, several raiths, and a purella. However, Anakin fought and killed them all. During the journey, the pair also discovered ancient carvings deep within a cave on the moon which matched those found at the Palace of the Woolamander. From these carvings, they learned that Golden Globe contained the souls of the children of the Massassi that had been imprisoned by the Dark Lord Exar Kun in 3,997 BBY. They also learned that it was held together by Sith magic that could only be broken by Force-sensitive children.

However, before Tahiri and Anakin could do so, Sliven demanded that she return to Tatooine. Tahiri was accompanied by Anakin to Tatooine where she rejoined her people and discovered that her real parents were Tryst and Cassa Veila, also Force-sensitives like their daughter, though they had been accidentally killed in a raid by the Sand People. The two young Jedi also had to use their Force abilities as never before including surviving the harshest deserts of the Dune Sea, evading a sarlacc, befriending a Jawa clan and defeating a krayt dragon. Following this ordeal, they returned to Yavin 4 and freed the trapped souls within the Golden Globe.

Despite this, her friend Anakin remained troubled by visions of himself as a Dark Jedi, by his heritage as the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, who had become the infamous Darth Vader. Also, the reborn Emperor Palpatine had once attempted to enter him as an infant. To ensure he had no potential for evil, the young Jedi asked if he could go to the very same cave on Dagobah that Luke Skywalker had gone years earlier, and face himself.

However, before arrangements for the trip could be made, a youth named Uldir Lochett was found stowed away on one of the supply ships to the Praxeum Lightning Rod. In spite of his optimism, he lacked obvious Force sensitivity&mdash;in his own later, rueful opinion, all he had were good hunches, a whisper-like ability to sense when the Force was being used, and a habit of causing trouble. Later, Tahiri, Ikrit, and R2-D2 accompanied Anakin to Dagobah. There, they discovered that Uldir had stowed away on their transport and encountered several swamp creatures before finally reaching the cave where Skywalker had faced his own dark side years earlier. There, Anakin faced the manifestations of his own doubts though he emerged victorious in the end.

Later that year, the Jedi historian Tionne discovered that Darth Vader had saved Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber after their duel on the first Death Star in 0 BBY and kept the captured artifact at Bast Castle on Vjun. Since an information broker had sold this information to them, she feared that others may have gotten to it first and quickly informed Master Skywalker at the Jedi Praxeum. Thinking it was just a simple trip and time for training, Tionne allowed Tahiri, Anakin, Uldir, and Ikrit to accompany her to Vjun on her personal transport Lore Seeker.

Having arrived on Vjun, they discovered another vessel and feared another group had reached it first. Having survived Bast Castle's automated defense systems and booby traps, they discovered the lightsaber in display in a protected alcove. Unfortunately, a group of mercenaries and pirates under a cloaked man named Orloc arrived. Orloc claimed to be a mage who possessed great powers and his henchmen also stole Kenobi's lightsaber.

In response, the Jedi pursued Orloc and his henchmen on a chase through Bast Castle. During a confrontation, Orloc easily defeated Ikrit with a lightsaber since the Kushiban was without one. He also deceived Uldir by claiming to train him all the Force skills he desired. However, the other Jedi managed to rescue Uldir and escape Bast Castle, along with Kenobi's lightsaber and the holocron of the ancient Jedi Master Asli Krimsan.

Despite having escaped Orloc, Uldir was now obsessed with what the Mage had told him and still believed that the Mage would be able to awaken the Force powers within him, which nobody at the Jedi Praxeum had been able to do. Uldir then stole Ikrit's ship Sunrider (named after Nomi Sunrider) and the two Jedi artifacts recovered during the previous adventure at Bast Castle.

Uldir eventually found Orloc at an abandoned space station called Exis Station, where Tionne had met Luke years earlier in her search for relics. Having arrived at the derelict space city, Uldir found Orloc whom took the youth as his student. The Mage had already set up his base on the moon and planned to create his own Jedi Order. In reality, Orloc had no Force powers but had actually used high-tech gimmicks to deceive others with demonstrations of so called "Force power." Uldir did not realize it.

Tionne, Ikrit, Anakin, and Tahiri set out to find Uldir on their transport Lore Seeker and eventually found Exis Station. Having arrived, they tried to tell Uldir that Orloc was a fraud and that he had been deceived. The Mage attacked the four Jedi with his high-tech gimmicks, who fought back by using the Force.

During the duel, Tionne was wounded and Ikrit&mdash;who had sworn not to wield a lightsaber until he had found worthy students&mdash;made his decision and join Anakin and Tahiri in their fight. Uldir then saw that Orloc was little more than a charlatan who used technology to deceive others with demonstrations of power. Together, the Jedi defeated Orloc, thus removing a threat to the growing New Jedi Order. Tahiri and her companions would return to the Jedi Praxeum. Whenever Tionne was not teaching classes, Tahiri had her full attention.

Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY–29 ABY)
"They will not break your Jedi; they will remake her."

- Vua Rapuung, to Anakin Solo

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Jedi Praxeum was targeted for destruction by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong. When the Yuuzhan Vong attacked in 26 ABY, Tahiri had just turned fourteen standard years. Shortly after the Battle of Duro, Anakin came to Yavin IV to warn of an attack, only to find the Peace Brigade had started an invasion. During the Yuuzhan Vong assault, she stayed at the Academy to fight alongside Anakin and Ikrit, while the other children went to hide. However, Tahiri was captured.

Once the Vong had taken over the planet, they began to shape the area, which included Tahiri. Master Shaper Mezhan Kwaad and her assistant Nen Yim performed heretical acts and began shaping Tahiri to be closer to Yuuzhan Vong, creating a new personality called Riina Kwaad. She became fluent in their language and desired to fight on their side. Her shaping was almost complete when Anakin interfered. Tahiri ended up killing Mezhan Kwaad and the two escaped to Coruscant.

Tahiri became an asset in the war and the Jedi's understanding of the Vong because of her shaping, she was also one of the few fluent in their tongue.

On Tahiri's next adventure, she, Anakin and Corran Horn traveled to Eriadu. She and Anakin came to the aid of the Rodian Jedi Kelbis Nu who was being attacked by a group of Peace Brigade agents. Kelbis told them that the Yuuzhan Vong would target Yag'Dhul next since it was located on where the Corellian Trade Spine and the Rimma Trade Route met.

Unfortunately for them, they were arrested by the Eriaduan judicials under a Human male named Lieutenant Themion. During their incarceration, he had them kept in separate cells and then interrogated each one of them. When interrogating Anakin, he assaulted the young Jedi after Anakin refused to cooperate with him. This angered Tahiri whom sensed this through the Force. She then used her Force powers to break out of her cell before proceeding to storm Anakin's cell.

With a blaster in one hand and under the influence of the Riina Kwaad personality, Tahiri shouted Do-ro'ik vong pratte before hurling Themion against the wall. Tahiri then handcuffed him with his own stun cuffs. Another guard entered the cell though Anakin threw him against the corridor wall as well, knocking him out and giving the two Jedi enough time to escape and reclaim their lightsabers.

This involved fighting through more judicials outside the prison and hijacking a police speeder though the two Jedi eventually reached the spaceport and escaped off-world with Corran Horn on their transport Lucre. During the journey to Yag'Dhul, the three Jedi swapped the Lucre for a stolen Yuuzhan Vong Yorik-stronha (spy ship-analogue) which was christened Stalking Moon. Having arrived at Yag'Dhul, they succeeded in warning the native mathematical Givin of the impending invasion of their planet. Because of the threat, the Givin decompressed the space station to kill the Vong, which forced Tahiri and Anakin into a storage locker. Feeling the end was near, the two shared their first kiss, completing the development of their friendship into something more. They were later rescued by Corran while the combined Givin/New Republic fleet drove back the extragalactic invaders.

One of the most important of Tahiri's missions was the one she went on with other Jedi Knights to Myrkr to destroy the voxyn queen. Here, she was faced with seeing her love Anakin killed. She was devastated and fell into a deep depression.

Despite this, Tahiri went with Masters Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker to a Yuuzhan Vong-occupied Coruscant, and played a crucial role in taking down the dark side being going by the moniker Lord Nyax.

Tahiri was deemed a Jedi Knight in a ceremony on Mon Calamari before the Battle of Ebaq 9. She was also the leader of her own X-wing squadron, the Barefoot Squadron.

Yet her greatest trial with the Yuuzhan Vong was not to be on the outside, but from within. When Han and Leia Organa Solo took her and Jaina Solo with them to reestablish communications with regions of the galaxy the Galactic Alliance had lost contact with, the Riina personality began to resurface. The mental turmoil caused Tahiri to enter a catatonic state, where the two personalities battled for control. Eventually, both personalities realized that the only way for both to survive was to merge together, essentially creating a new person. However, her loyalty was still to the Galactic Alliance.

Following this, Tahiri teamed up with Corran Horn in extracting Nen Yim, the priest Harrar and the prophet Yu'shaa from Coruscant and bringing them to Zonama Sekot. During this time Tahiri asked to be Corran's Jedi apprentice to help complete her training. He agreed on an interim basis until they could get Luke Skywalker's approval. She also participated in the recapture of Coruscant at the end of the war, having mastered the Vongsense, that was taught to her by Jacen, and using it to help the Galactic Alliance.

Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY–36 ABY)
"I'm half Yuuzhan Vong inside. The only thing pain would cause me is a religious experience."

- Tahiri

After reclaiming Coruscant and once the Yuuzhan Vong had been relocated to the living world Zonama Sekot, Tahiri decided on staying on the planet, along with Tekli and Danni Quee to help the Vong adjust to their new home. However, while attempting to mediate a conflict between the Extolled and Warriors in La'oiko, she received a strange Force-call from to the Unknown Regions.

Along with other survivors of the Myrkr strike team, Tahiri set out to discover the source of the call, and found that it was the creature which had once been their fellow Jedi Raynar Thul, believed slain at Myrkr, but now transformed into the Prime Unu of the hive-minded Killik species. Along with Tekli, Jaina Solo, Alema Rar, Zekk, Lowbacca and Tesar Sebatyne, she was coerced into joining the Killiks by the Prime Unu's exploitation of the Myrkr battle meld, and she became a "Joiner"&mdash;someone who was influenced and was subject to the control of the Colony, subjected to Force and pheromonal manipulation so profound as to physically affect brain-structure.

Just as Jaina and Zekk came to form a dyad within the Joiner meld, Tahiri appeared to have bonded with Tesar Sebatyne and Lowbacca. During the closing months of the Killik conflict, Tesar and Lowbacca revealed Raynar's survival to Aryn Dro Thul, his mother and owner of the powerful Bornaryn Trading company. Luke Skywalker viewed this as a betrayal of the Jedi Order, undermining his attempts to impose unity on the Knights as Grand Master, and exiled all three of them to Dagobah in order to meditate on what it meant to be a Jedi. Luke told them that he would call them once he felt they were ready to rejoin the order, and that they were not to leave until they felt that call. Jacen accidentally revealed his knowledge about Tesar and Lowbacca's actions in a later conversation with Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker when he learned that Tahiri had been exiled too, even though Luke had kept the cause of the trio's exile secret. Jacen confessed that Tahiri had told him about what Tesar and Lowbacca were doing, which led Luke to accuse him of using her to spy on fellow Jedi.

Wavering loyalties
"There was nothing to accomplish here."

- Tahiri, to Jaina Solo

Tahiri would return by 40 ABY to lead a Jedi strike team during the Second Galactic Civil War. Under her leadership, Team Tauntaun, which consisted of Tiu Zax and Doran Sarkin-Tainer, were tasked with removing the Corellian Head of State, Thrackan Sal-Solo at the same time that Team Purella attempted to apprehend the Five World Prime Minister Aidel Saxan. However, the Jedi walked into a trap. Someone had leaked information about the missions to the Corellians, who had defenses set up in the form of YVH droids. Team Tauntaun was able to turn this major defeat into a minor victory when Tiu was able to remain behind hidden in Sal-Solo's mansion to provide intelligence. Tahiri was reluctant to leave Tiu but they had no choice.

Later, Jacen Solo told Lumiya that Tahiri would be a more useful assistant to him than Ben Skywalker, because she would serve him better and would take less of his time to train. Lumiya countered his argument and advocated the use of Ben as his apprentice, adding that Tahiri, in the long run, would not serve Jacen better as he would have originally believed.

Later that year, on the anniversary of Anakin's death, Tahiri unexpectedly encountered Jacen Solo although she doubted that it was a coincidence, as Jacen claimed. He offered to share his flow-walking abilities with her, boarding the hulk of the Baanu Rass and taking her back in time to see Anakin during the Myrkr mission. Jacen claimed that he wanted Tahiri to give Anakin the kiss that she had withheld from him at that time, and he made her believe that they were risking the integrity of reality itself to do so. The meeting was no coincidence, however, and his true purpose was much less altruistic. Anakin's brother had secretly become a Sith Lord, Darth Caedus, and was planning to corrupt Tahiri into becoming his spy in the Jedi Order.

Although she was able to nudge her past self into giving Anakin the kiss, Tahiri felt only anguish when Caedus hauled her back to the present, and Caedus drove the knife deeper, by reminding her that she hadn't told Anakin she loved him. Subsequently, Tahiri kept Caedus informed of the actions of the Jedi, in return for more flow-walking trips. They visited the past twice more over the next few weeks, though Caedus was careful to ensure that Tahiri was never satisfied, always leaving her needing more&mdash;and directing her to do his bidding in return. During this time, she was possibly also engaged in a physical, though not romantic, relationship with Caedus.

This proved useful to Caedus, as Tahiri was one of seventy or so Jedi starfighter pilots who Luke Skywalker organized into the StealthX wing, as he decided to take a more active stance in the conflict. Flying with Saba Sebatyne's squadron, the Night Blades, Tahiri fought in the Battle of Balmorra and the early stages of the Battle of Kuat while feeding Caedus with information. When Master Skywalker prepared to pull the Jedi out of the war, she informed Caedus, but she flew with the rest of the Jedi to Kashyyyk.

During the Battle of Kashyyyk, Tahiri witnessed the early stages of Caedus's orbital bombardment, but she followed Han and Leia to Hapes, and attempted to arrest them as traitors. Leia and Tahiri dueled briefly, but the skirmish was ended by the arrival of Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo, and all that Tahiri's intervention achieved was to turn Tenel Ka decisively against Jacen, now as Darth Caedus. Tahiri was arrested, and, in spite of her protests, her StealthX fighter was confiscated and she was unceremoniously shuttled off-world by the Hapans.

Tahiri's precise motives in all this were unclear. Caedus believed that he was corrupting her by offering access to Anakin in the past&mdash;access which he kept tightly controlled&mdash;but it was possible that her intentions went further than merely seeing her lost love again. She may have been hoping to change the past, and go back and stop Anakin from dying. Moreover, it is not clear whether her attempt to arrest Han and Leia was carried out on Caedus's orders, or if she was acting on her own initiative, presumably hoping to ingratiate herself further with Caedus by taking them into custody.

After her return to the Galactic Alliance, Caedus continued to flow walk with her back to key moments in Anakin's life as a means of ensuring her loyalty to him. Caedus tried to use Tahiri as a spy against the Jedi, however by then the Jedi had been made aware of her loyalty to Caedus, and Tahiri was unable to determine the location of the Jedi base.

Sith apprentice
"So who succeeds Jacen Solo when someone finally drops him down a reactor shaft, come the glorious day? Because it won't be that poisionous little Vong bait Tahiri&mdash;over my dead body. And hers, of course."

- Natasi Daala

After Caedus lost Ben Skywalker as his apprentice, Tahiri began to spend more time around him, quickly proving herself to be worthy of his attention. Caedus appeared to value her input and thought to himself that she was more entertaining than Ben had been.

During a visit to Fondor, which was currently a major thorn in the Galactic Alliance's side, Caedus took Tahiri along on the Anakin Solo. He wanted her to be more than a girl who indulged in romantic fantasies with a dead boy that could never happen. To help her grow, Caedus gave control of the Anakin Solo to Tahiri and ordered that all shields be dropped. A squad of Fondorian fighters flew towards the Star Destroyer, cautiously investigating. Caedus told Tahiri that she had to make the choice of firing before the Fondorian fighters. There was a large chance that the fighters would not attack the ship, but if they did, hundreds of personnel could die. Tahiri was clearly unnerved and poked around the Force for signs while Caedus watched. She gave the order to fire and the turrets destroyed the Fondorian fighters. Caedus ordered the Anakin Solo to return to Coruscant and Tahiri questioned him on her decision. He in turn questioned her and Tahiri was visibly thrown and seriously began to contemplate whether she made the right decision.

After they returned to Coruscant, Admiral Cha Niathal confronted Jacen about giving Tahiri control over the Star Destroyer and encouraged him to enlist her in the military. Later on, Caedus sent Tahiri to meet with Gilad Pellaeon, the former Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance and the leader of the Imperial Remnant. Her mission was to convince him to commit the Remnant to the Galactic Alliance but Pellaeon was not easy to tempt. She planted a few ideas in his mind through conversation and then left.

Tahiri was then finally enlisted by Caedus, becoming known as Lieutenant Veila. She took to wearing a smart blue uniform with black boots and even pinned her hair up. She started taking her new role very seriously and even started referring to Caedus as "sir." She accompanied Caedus to Fondor once again to assist him the coming battle and to learn more. She showed many traits that Caedus approved of, not backing down from his verbal slaps and challenging his decisions. Caedus once again began to consider Tahiri a candidate for apprenticeship, believing that she had come far in her short time in the military. Tahiri accompanied Caedus and Niathal onboard the Remnant flagship Bloodfin for the joint Chief of States' battle plan discussion. After the meeting, Caedus ordered Tahiri to stay behind to keep an eye on Pellaeon, whom Caedus evidently did not trust. Tahiri obeyed and stayed as his envoy, almost like a Yuuzhan Vong villip.

When the Galactic Alliance forces split between Caedus and Niathal, Pellaeon ordered the Imperials to side with Niathal and then retired to his cabin, where he intended to inform Admiral Daala. Tahiri, suspicious, followed the old man and cornered him, insisting that he order the Imperials to join with Caedus. When he refused, she pulled a blaster on him, threatening him. Pellaeon told his forces to side with Niathal instead so Tahiri shot him. She expressed concern while he lay dying and tried to persuade him to let her save him on the condition that he joined with Caedus. Pellaeon died instead and the Moffs took over, siding with Caedus. Unfortunately for them, the crew mutinied and the Moffs sealed themselves off in the center of the ship, along with Tahiri. She commed Caedus and reported the situation to him. She told him that she had killed Pellaeon and expressed regret and self-disgust that she had killed an old man. Caedus reassured her by telling her that she had done a good job and that killing Pellaeon was something that needed to be done. He also approved of her lack of enthusiasm for killing and told her that he admired that and decided to make Tahiri his apprentice. With that, Tahiri became the Sith apprentice to Darth Caedus.

Under Daala's orders, Mandalorians led by Boba Fett assaulted Bloodfin in a mission to kill the Moffs. Jaina Solo was among them and Solo decided to hunt down Tahiri along with Mirta Gev. Tahiri escaped into the access shafts but was followed by Solo and Gev. She attempted to fight them off but was stabbed in the thigh, rupturing her femoral artery. Caedus came for her and distracted Gev and Solo, allowing Tahiri to attempt an escape, but her flightsuit became caught on something and she began to panic, trapped and bleeding out. Caedus moved towards her but they were suddenly sealed in a shaft with two Mandalorian warriors. Under orders not to kill Caedus, the Mandalorian Baltan Carid instead shot the Sith Lord in the knee. Caedus ignored the pain, pulled Tahiri back into his vessel, and flew away from Bloodfin while treating Tahiri. She survived the encounter with Gev and Solo and Caedus knew from this that Tahiri truly was meant to be his apprentice.

While searching for the Jedi base, she later disobeyed her Master's orders not to search the old Rebel bases and discovered that the Jedi had indeed used Endor as a base. Unfortunately, the Jedi had already left.

As Caedus's apprentice, Tahiri participated in an operation that culminated in the capture of Ben Skywalker and GAG captain Lon Shevu. She tortured and attempted to seduce Ben trying to discover the new location of the Jedi. She even ordered nearby GAG officers not to address their former comrade by his former rank. Failing this she tortured Shevu with Ben as a witness. She accidentally killed Shevu with Force lightning. Desperate, Tahiri tried to resuscitate him but had no success. Ben then managed to knock her unconscious and escape GAG custody.

Discontent
In the closing days of the war, when the Anakin Solo was ambushed and badly damaged during the Battle of Shedu Maad, Tahiri suggested that Caedus flow-walk and prevent the ambush from ever occurring. However, Caedus had allowed her to believe he had that ability as a way to convert her; as he explained it, Tahiri had never gone back in time with him to kiss Anakin. The past could not change, merely a person's perception of it.

Now aware that Caedus could not alter the past to save Anakin as she desired and that it all been a lie to use her, Tahiri became angry with Caedus and lost a large part of her motivation. She went so far as to insult him in front of the Council of Moffs.

Duel with Ben Skywalker
"I think it's time to leave the lies behind. It's time to leave a lot of things behind."

- Tahiri, to Ben Skywalker

It was that loss of her main goal that perhaps led to Tahiri's final action in the war. Sent to the surface of Shedu Maad with stormtroopers to blow up the Jedi base there with a baradium bomb, she was intercepted by Luke Skywalker's son Ben, Taryn Zel, and a squad of Her Majesty's Select Commandos. In the fighting she and Ben engaged one another while plummeting into an underground tunnel.

However, during the fight Ben realized that Tahiri was fighting recklessly, not really trying to kill him and maybe even trying to get herself killed. When the fight was interrupted by the pair slamming into the bottom of the hole they'd jumped down, Ben was able to talk her into giving up and not detonating the bomb.

Tahiri said she was through with the Jedi Order, and for that matter with the Solo family, and was going to sneak away. Skywalker even offered to tell others that she had drowned in the tunnel to cover her escape. Skywalker's offer made her decide instead to stop the lies, remain there, and face the consequences of her actions.

Meanwhile her Master, Darth Caedus, was killed by his sister Jaina Solo. Following the duel Tahiri was taken into custody and during a debriefing she confirmed that the Imperial Remnant had seeded Mandalore with nano-killers which would target Boba Fett and his family if they ever returned there.

Rebuilding an identity
"I've been broken. I was broken by the Yuuzhan Vong. I broke when Anakin died. And again when I learned that I could see him again, in little moments. Every time you break, outside forces can shape you, and you can't do anything to stop them. No, I don't think it matters when Jacen became a Sith. I think it matters when he broke."

- Tahiri Veila

Rather than return to the way of the Jedi, Tahiri began to pursue the life of a bounty hunter; feeling that she needed to truly "find herself" before she rejoined the Order she had betrayed. In 43.5 ABY, Tahiri was approached by Jaina Solo who needed her help with the covert Jedi organization, Darkmeld, that she had created to undermine the efforts of Chief of State Natasi Daala in taking control of the Jedi Order.

Though Tahiri chose to aid Jaina, she adamantly rejected her attempts to convince her to return to the New Jedi Order. In addition, she found it difficult to work around Dab Hantaq, the Alliance supervisor forced upon Jaina by Daala's government, as he was painfully similar in appearance to Anakin Solo.

The Galactic Alliance decided to put Tahiri under the watch of an observer named Trinnolt Makken. She resisted and went to trial, and the Court of Justice, under Chief Justice Uved Pledesin, decided that just because she had the power of a Jedi did not mean she required a supervisor.

Tahiri also took part in the raid on the Armand Isard Correctional Facility, assisting in the capture of Seff Hellin, who had come down with the same psychosis as Valin Horn.

Arrest
"So explain it. They arrest me on charges of complicity and murder, crimes of which I'm clearly guilty&mdash;''" "''Don't ever say that. Not out loud, not to yourself, not when you're alone, not even when you're asleep. You're not qualified to judge whether you're guilty."

- Tahiri Veila and Mardek Mool

Tahiri was later arrested for the murder of Grand Admiral Pellaeon. The Jedi supported her in the trial that followed, although the Galactic Alliance ruled that Nawara Ven could no longer continue aiding her. Veila was then briefly represented by Mardek Mool, a Bith lawyer, before being represented by the Bothan lawyer Eramuth Bwua'tu, due to the help of Jagged Fel.

Bwua'tu informed Tahiri that the prosecution did have all the facts against her. At first she looked at the situation as grim, but was told that they were not denying the murder, just her state of mind. Bwua'tu used the torture and mind manipulation by Jacen in their defense, asseting that Tahiri was simply following orders. Additionally, Bwua'tu contacted Dab Hantaq to make an appearance, to invoke an emotional response from Tahiri and gain sympathy from the jury. The plan worked, although Tahiri was upset by the tactic. While the trial appeared to be in Tahiri's favor, the prosecution team later brought in a recording depicting Pellaeon's death, to the shock of the jury. While Bwua'tu tried to prove that the recording was falsified, Tahiri knew that everything in the recording was true and that such attempts would be futile. She also feared her execution was awaiting her.

Personality and traits
"We were involved. Love had nothing to do with it."

- Tahiri Veila, on her relationship with Darth Caedus

Tahiri Veila was once a young Jedi and a very close friend of Anakin Solo. She was a happy and spirited young trainee at the Academy. She was almost always seen barefoot; preferring the feel of the ground under her feet compared to rough boots and shoes. Tahiri would go on to follow this trait until she was a young adult, reluctantly adopting footwear.

During the Yuuzhan Vong war, the pain she suffered while fighting the invaders, along with Anakin's death, changed her life forever. Riina Kwaad was the persona created by Yuuzhan Vong shaper Mezhan Kwaad and instilled into Tahiri Veila to try to convert her into a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. When Anakin Solo rescued Tahiri, it was believed that Riina was destroyed. However, after the Battle of Ebaq 9, Riina began attempting to reassert herself. After a long mental battle between Tahiri and Riina, Riina argued that they should meld together to create a different Tahiri, who would combine both of their personalities. To cement their new "alliance," Riina suggested that they hunt a "shadow" that had invaded their mind, which was actually Jaina Solo. In almost typical Yuuzhan Vong fashion, Riina was lying so that killing Jaina would drive Tahiri to the dark side, which would allow Riina to become the dominant personality. Tahiri saw through it, and forced a merge between the two personalities. It was later revealed that Riina's memories were actually Nen Yim's.

After the death of Anakin Solo and the Yuuzhan Vong War, Tahiri Veila was never the same again. The emotional impact of her childhood friend's death, combined with her traumatic experience at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, left Tahiri in a state of regret and bitterness. By the outbreak of the Second Galactic Civil War, roughly a decade after the end of the galaxy-wide conflict with the Yuuzhan Vong, Tahiri was still clinging to the memory of Anakin Solo. In fact, it was her attachment to Anakin that served as the primary motivation behind her fall to the dark side of the Force.

Seeking a Sith apprentice other than Ben Skywalker as well as a spy within the Jedi Order to monitor their progress in the investigation of Mara Jade Skywalker's death, Darth Caedus, formerly known as Jacen Solo, began cultivating Tahiri Veila. He approached her on Anakin Solo's birthday, knowing she would be emotionally vulnerable and pretending he had run into her coincidentally, and began to subtly tempt her with the ability to flow-walk back in time to see Anakin. He held back from Veila that it was impossible to change the past by flow-walking, letting her hopes carry her along with him. A week after killing Jade Skywalker, Caedus took Veila on her first flow-walk, traveling to the site of Anakin Solo's death. There she pushed her younger self into Anakin's arms rather than letting her younger self refuse him a kiss until he came back. The event did not change the past, only the flow-walking experience, but it left Veila desperate for more flow-walking sessions, which Caedus continued to provide. While he continued grooming Veila as an agent by manipulating her emotions, their relationship eventually developed into more of a "gang boss, junior henchman" role, as Joint Chief of State and Galactic Alliance Admiral Cha Niathal put it. She was possibly also engaged in a physical relationship with Caedus, although no romance was involved.

After serving as Caedus's Sith apprentice for less than a year, Tahiri discovered that Caedus could not change the past and bring Anakin back to her, she became angry with him and lost her faith in him. In a short duel with Ben Skywalker, she was quickly persuaded to let go of the dark side. Ben offered to let her leave and say she was killed, but she had had enough lies and agreed to turn herself over to the Jedi for debriefing.

Force powers
When she turned to the dark side, Tahiri learned to use Force lightning, as displayed in her duel with Ben Skywalker.

Behind the scenes
Tahiri made her first appearance in Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe, and played a role in the New Jedi Order, Dark Nest, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi series. Early on in the conception of these storylines, Master Ikrit prophesied that Tahiri and Anakin would birth something great. However, at that time, it was planned that Anakin, not Jacen, would be the Solo son who lived to become a great hero.

During Tahiri's trial in Allies, it was implied that Tahiri and Jacen were involved in a physical relationship, causing questions among fans. In an interview, Aaron Allston told fans, "Didn't happen in my book," but Troy Denning stated that whether or not this had occurred was subject to interpretation by the reader.