Cal Omas

"I think a Chief of State who's just won a war against an implacable enemy might have a lot of currency with the Senate and the people."

- Luke Skywalker

Cal Omas was an Alderaanian who served as the last Chief of State of the New Republic and the first for the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, which he helped found. His record of service goes far back, stretching to the Rebel Alliance through the New Republic, where he served as the Alderaan Sector's senator.

Early service
Cal Omas served with distinction in the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, following the destruction of his home planet of Alderaan. Like many idealistic survivors of that world, he devoted himself fully to the Rebellion. He served in the Rebel military for several years under the Mon Calamari Admiral Ackbar, and after the major Rebel victory at the Battle of Endor, went on to become a politician in the New Republic. He was elected to the Senate by the survivors of Alderaan in 11 ABY, following the selection of Leia Organa Solo as the new Chief of State. After the ascension of Borsk Fey'lya as Chief of State in 23 ABY, Omas was selected to serve on the Advisory Council, becoming one of the more moderate and few pro-Jedi members in the body, a stance that made him a rarity.

Yuuzhan Vong Invasion
Around the time that the Yuuzhan Vong invaded in 25 ABY, Omas, along with Senator Triebakk of Kashyyyk, supported Luke Skywalker's proposal of a new Jedi Council. Soon enough, however, Coruscant grew more and more aware of the scope and destructive potential of the Vong, and following the Battle of Ithor, where the Jedi Knight Corran Horn was blamed for the ensuing devastation, the New Jedi Order had blame heaped upon them. In spite of this, Omas continued his support of Skywalker's Jedi.

His stance constantly put him at loggerheads with Chief of State Fey'lya, who was convinced that the Jedi had a vendetta against the Bothans. In the first year of the war, based upon intelligence from Talon Karrde, Omas recommended that a defense force be assigned to Corellia, but was outvoted. The War, however, went poorly for the Republic. The Vong cut a swathe towards the core, and eventually, Coruscant itself fell. Omas went missing during the evacuation, and wavering Repbulic feared for the worst, especially the Jedi he had vehemently supported.

Fey'lya had sacrificed himself, and the Republic was in disarray, on the run as it had been in the heyday of the Empire. However, Omas had escaped the chaos on Coruscant, and had managed to flee with a minimum of fuss. He made his way to Mon Calamari, where he was reunited with the remainder of the Advisory Council.

Election of 28 ABY
"With sorrow for our countless dead, but with hope for our future. With sadness for the many who have fallen, but with confidence in the many who have taken their place... I accept the Senate's nomination to be Chief of State of the New Republic."

- Cal Omas, inauguration 28 ABY

Omas was one of the candidates to replace Fey'lya as the new Chief of State for the New Republic. Unlike the previous elections for the position, where the candidate selected won by large margins, the election promised to be a closely fought match. His primary opponent, Fyor Rodan of Commenor, immediately placed himself as the candidate who wanted to end the war&mdash;without any help or advice from the Jedi. Omas made his view clear&mdash;he fully intended to work with the Jedi to win the war.

Omas began meeting regularly with Jedi Masters Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker, who supported him for the position. During the initial round of voting, Omas was behind Rodan by several points. After receiving the support endorsement of Cola Quis of Ryloth, Omas and Rodan were in a dead heat. It was help from Talon Karrde and Lando Calrissian, who used their considerable clout to convince additional senators to support Omas, that finally gave the Alderaanian a majority.

Learning of this, the Vong dispatched spies to assassinate the favorite for the position Chief of State, although their plans were foiled by Mara Jade Skywalker. Closing in for the kill, Omas offered Ta'laam Ranth of Antar 4 a seat on his Advisory Council as Minister of Justice, he secured a huge majority, with 85% of the senators electing him the new Chief of State.

Creation of the High Council
"The new head of state, this infidel Cal Omas, permits his subordinates such freedom?"

- Shimrra Jaamane

Seeking to solidify the connection between the Jedi and the Republic amidst the chaos of flight, Omas worked with Luke Skywalker to form the High Council, a governing body composed of six Jedi and six non-Jedi. The High Council immediately began planning ways to turn the tide of the war against the Vong, with debate focused around the use of the Alpha Red virus, a powerful weapon capable of destroying all Vong-based life.

Following the advice and counsel of Retired Admiral Ackbar, Omas and his current Supreme Commander, Sien Sovv, readied the reforming New Republic Defense Force for battle, intent on swinging the war into the Republic's favor. Following the major victory at the Battle of Ebaq 9, the New Republic and their Jedi allies finally managed to gain the upper hand in the war. The Chief of State promised Master Skywalker that the Alpha Red program would not be deployed, unless as a last resort.

Birth of the Galactic Alliance
"Confine the Senate to its proper sphere, for one thing. It should legislate and supervise, not try to run the administration from day to day. A truly independent judiciary would curb their more ambitious maneuvers. A new federalism, that properly defines the boundaries between the Senate and the regimes on the various planets."

- Cal Omas, on the Galactic Alliance

Chief of State Omas realized that a new government was needed if the Galaxy was to survive the horrors of the Yuuzhan Vong War. During the early stages of the invasion, political infighting and weak leadership led the New Republic to a great number of defeats. He realized that the cumbersome organization of the New Republic could not withstand the pressures of the galactic war. As a result, he instituted a massive reorganization and streamlining of the government. Named the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, or Galactic Alliance for short, it began the long task of bringing the galaxy back together. Even with all these governmental reforms, the problem of the Yuuzhan Vong remained. Omas guided the Alliance as its membership grew to include the Imperial Remnant, as well as other worlds that had been isolated once the war began.

Omas, however, didn't forget those fighting on the front line. He personally commended the Orange Panthacs, a battalion of B2 super battle droids, for fending off a Vong force of firebreathers from their homeworld of Mantessa. Thanks to the Jedi that he continually championed, the living planet Zonama Sekot was found. Discovered to be a seed of the Vong homeworld Yuuzhan'tar, it was brought to Coruscant during the Alliance's reclamation of the ecumenopolis. Omas was present for the battle, and accepted Warmaster Nas Choka's surrender on the Ralroost, since Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane had been killed planetside by Luke Skywalker. The war was over, and it was up to Omas to maintain peace in the Alliance.

Post war, 30-35 ABY
Omas continued to serve as Chief of State, but he found his relationship with the Jedi strained. He too, was suffering from stress and age, and the formerly easy going and lighthearted Omas became a frustrated and angry man. And although he and the Alliance had previously survived one of the most destructive conflicts the galaxy had ever seen, new threats arose, seeking to tear apart Omas' government.

Troubles with the Jedi, the Chiss, and the Killiks
In 35 ABY, Omas was contacted by the Chiss Ascendancy. An ambassador, Aristocra Mitt'swe'kleoni, met with him on Coruscant, and demanded to know what a group of Jedi were doing meddling in Chiss frontier affairs. Omas had no prior knowledge of the situation, and his bewildered response prompted the Chiss to see Luke Skywalker at the New Jedi Temple. There Omas discovered that Skywalker and the Jedi also had no knowledge of these Chiss affairs. Seeking to take control of the situation, Omas personally dispatched Skywalker to investigate.

It was determined that the awry Jedi were in fact the survivors of the Mission to Myrkr, and that they had become Joiners in a Killik nest near the Chiss frontier. They had been called there by Raynar Thul, a Jedi previously thought lost, along with the Dathomir Nightsister Lomi Plo, and the Dark Jedi Welk. The Killiks were being manipulated by the Dark Nest, who were forcing them to expand into Chiss space with the help of the Jedi. Jacen Solo, acting on initiative, saw that the Killiks were under threat from Chiss retailiation, and enlisted the help of Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo of Hapes to lend military aid.

This enraged the Chiss and, by osmosis, Omas. Relationships with the Ascendancy had already been shaky, and the military presence of a Galactic Alliance member had the potential to blossom into war. Seeking to avert such an outcome, Omas personally journeyed to the Jedi Academy on Ossus to confront Grand Master Skywalker and his Jedi High Council. He interrupted a conference between the Council and a group of Ithorian refugees led by Waoabi to make his demands, and prompted heated debate between Council members. Omas, fed up, threatened to cut funding to the Jedi if they refused to comply with Alliance demands, only to be met with Jacen Solo asserting that the Jedi served the Force alone. Now furious, Omas continued to claim that the Jedi were bonded to the Alliance, but stopped when Leia Organa Solo provided a compromise to the situation. She proposed that the Killiks migrate to Woteba and thirteen other planets in the Utegetu Nebula, as opposed to pushing into Chiss space and provoking confrontation. In exchange, however, for possession of Woteba, Organa demanded that the homeless Ithorians be given Borao, instead of having it in the hands of RePlanetHab. Omas saw this as a viable option, and decided to let the Jedi Order be, for the time.

The Swarm War
This would not pass easily, however, and when the Killiks started kicking up a fuss in the Utegetu Nebula, Omas barred the Ithorians access to Borao. Whilst Leia Solo negotiated with UnuThul, Omas attended the funeral of Admiral Sien Sovv. Sovv, and two hundred members of his staff had perished when a drunk Vratix accidentally rammed his personal transport. At the funeral, Omas was required to place the last block, and orate a small tribute to Sovv, using exactly the same number of words as the late Admiral's age in standard years. During his speech, he alluded that the Killiks were responsible for Sovv's death, although it had reportedly been an accident. But findings from Jedi Master Horn lead Omas to believe otherwise. His patience was being stretched thin with the Killiks, and the matter was not remedied, in Omas' eyes, by the Jedi, who constantly diverted blame away from the former natives of Alderaan. The Chief of State entered into yet another confrontation with the Jedi at the funeral, and ordered that Master Luke Skywalker contact him as soon as possible.

Worried, however, that the Killiks were getting out of hand, Omas dispatched Nek Bwua'tu and the Fifth Fleet to blockade the Utegetu Nebula, in an attempt to hinder Killik expansion. Master Skywalker had journeyed to Woteba to try and pacify UnuThul, but was held captive. No one informed Omas of this, and so when Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo and her master, Saba Sebatyne attempted to break through the Utegetu Blockade, Omas had them detained. Hoping to secure the situation, he met with the Jedi Masters of the Advisory Council, as well as Masters Horn and Kyle Katarn. There, he continued to debate, heatedly, about the role of the Jedi in the Alliance. He was informed of Skywalker's situation, and in turn, he told the Masters of Organa Solo's arrest. Seeing an opportunity to keep the Jedi on a tighter leash, he requested that one of the Masters take charge of the order in Skywalker's absence, an idea that deeply offended Master Durron. Omas cannily suggested to Katarn that Master Horn take charge, since Horn was more sympathetic to Omas' and the Alliance's plight. Horn rose to the task, but this only further enraged Durron and Omas' detractors in the Jedi. With the Jedi Order effectively under his thumb, the Chief of State was free to deal with the Killiks in his own way.

Skywalker was able to escape Woteba, and upon his return of Ossus, he declared himself Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, and allowed Horn to return to his normal duties. Omas, however, no longer trusted Skywalker or any of the Jedi, and so enlisted Zakarisz Ghent to bug the Grand Master's office. The hapless slicer was, however, caught in the act, and he identified Omas as the one who had given the order, further lowering the Chief of State in the eyes of the Jedi.

The Utegutu Blockade blossomed into the Swarm War, and when Thyferra was taken by the Killiks, Omas and the Jedi decided to set aside their differences. Skywalker conceded that the Jedi needed to serve the Alliance as well as the Force, and together with Omas, and Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon, a plan was devised to restore the government on Thyferra. In due course, the Jedi were able to end the war, defeating the Killiks and appeasing the Chiss, although the unwieldiness of the whole crisis led Skywalker to remove all Jedi from the Advisory Council, believing that they had no place in politics. It is not known whether this pleased or angered Omas, but either way, Skywalker's hopes that the Jedi would detatch themselves from politics would go unfulfilled.

Confederation-Galactic Alliance War
"In these times, a smile from a Jedi is a hopeful sign."

- Cal Omas, speaking to Grand Master Luke Skywalker, 40 ABY

Though the Galaxy would exist in relative peace in the following years, not all of its members were satisfied. Corellia, in particular, began questioning its obligations to the Alliance, challenging trade and military laws. In 40 ABY, it was suspected that the Corellians were gearing up for all-out war, and in response, Grand Master Skywalker dispatched Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker to deactivate the deadly superweapon Centerpoint Station. Their efforts damaged the station, however, it would still be functional, should repairs be made.

Seeing that war was on the horizon, both the Alliance and the Corellians entered into peace talks on neutral Toryaz Station. Supreme Commander Pellaeon met with Correlian Prime Minister Aidel Saxan on the station, but an attack orchestrated by the Dark Lady of the Sith, Lumiya, caused the death of Saxan and the failure of the peace talks. Knowing that the Alliance could not be seen as weak, Omas sent in the Second Fleet to blockade the Corellian system. The Corellians, however, would not let this stand, and launched a counterattack, marking the beginning of the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War.

Thrackan Sal-Solo, Saxan's successor, had been assassinated by the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett, which could have been a blessing, seeing as how Sal-Solo had been the one fanning the flames of war in the first place. But the man who replaced him, Dur Gejjen, proved to be even more trouble. Coupled with the fact that Pellaeon had quit his job following the declaration of war, Omas found himself in a difficult situation. The Alliance failed to make a dent in the enemy forces, and found themselves hard pressed to keep certain worlds in the Alliance. Even on Coruscant, security saw a breakdown, leading to the commission of the Galactic Alliance Guard. The GAG, as it was commonly called, was headed by none other than Jacen Solo, one of Omas' most vocal detractors during the Dark Nest crisis. Pellaeon's successor, Cha Niathal, was also dissatisfied with Omas' leadership, leaving the Chief of State virtually friendless in the military.

Omas considered asking the Senate for Emergency Powers, much like the last Palpatine of the Old Republic had, but whether this proposal was shot down in the Senate, or Omas himself decided against it is not known.

The machinations of Jacen Solo
"You obnoxious, power-crazed, ludicrous little jerk,"

- Cal Omas to Jacen Solo, 40 ABY

When the Battle of Gilatter VIII ended without victory for either side, minor conflicts started popping up all over the galaxy&mdash;some new, some old. The Sepan Civil War, a conflict that had been pacified by Admiral Harkov nearly forty years earlier, broke out again, using the Confederate/GA conflict as an excuse. Hard pressed to stop both these smaller conflicts and the larger one, Omas began to consider alternate methods of resolution.

After the Battle of Gilatter VIII, Omas felt that the lack of a victory over the Confederation was helping spurn brushfire conflicts all across the galaxy and had further pushed more worlds behind Corellia. When he received a message from Five Worlds Prime Minister and Confederation leader Dur Gejjen about coming to a cease-fire agreement, Omas secretly journeyed to neutral Vulpter to discuss the terms.

Colonel Jacen Solo had members of GAG, who had been monitoring the Chief of State, send Captain Lon Shevu, newly-promoted Lieutenant Jori Lekauf, and Ben Skywalker to Vulpter to record the conversation and assassinate Gejjen.

Omas had seemingly agreed with Gejjen to "terminate" Niathal and Jacen in their respective positions as leaders in the Galactic Alliance as part of the conditions for having Corellia end hostilities and return to the Alliance.

Last days in office
"Would you water the plants while I'm away, please? I'm afraid I'm under arrest."

- Cal Omas, speaking to his security guard while being detained by the Galactic Alliance Guard, 40 ABY

Jacen Solo, upon learning this information and using a loophole in galactic law, removed Cal Omas from power in a bloodless coup and placed the Alderaanian under house arrest, though Omas suspected Jacen in Gejjen's death. Cha Niathal took over as acting Chief of State and asked Jacen to join her as joint leaders of the Galactic Alliance.

Jacen's betrayal
Jacen was forced to kill Mara as she had deduced that he had sworn himself to the Sith. Owing to the unexpected chain of events leading to that fierce battle, Jacen didn't have time to cover his tracks and Ben Skywalker had worked out that Jacen was indeed the assassin. Ben contacted his cousin who was aboard the Anakin Solo and bluntly asked whether Jacen did kill his mother. Jacen didn't expect the directness of the question but "accidentally" let it slip that Cal Omas might have been responsible and played Ben a recorded message that Omas certainly thought the Jedi were no longer his allies and that they need to be moved out of the way.

Filled with grief and rage, Ben went straight to where Cal Omas was being held under house arrest with the intent of killing the former chief of state. Cal Omas was fully expecting an assassination although he was expecting Jacen Solo to be the one who would try and finish him off; he had rigged his to body explode with a thermal detonator should his heart stop just as Borsk Fey'lya had done during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Coruscant.

Omas was able to calm Ben down enough to reveal the full extent of Jacen's depravity and how he'd been set up. Ben was momentarily confused but the arrival of the GAG who had been tipped off by Jacen that an assassin was on his way to kill Cal Omas threw the scene into complete disarray. Omas managed to get a hold of a blaster from a guard that Ben had already dispatched and began to fire wildly. Ben batted the bolts aside, trying not to hit the crazed politician but didn't realize Omas' true intent until it was too late; Omas impaled himself on Ben's lightsaber in an attempt to publicly expose Jacen for the corrupt, dangerous individual that he was. He knew how the death of the former head of the Galactic Alliance would play out over the HoloNet and it would be enough to bring his enemy down.

Omas apologized to Ben and advised him to get out before the bomb exploded, taking him and a good section of the tower where he was being held with him.

Appearances

 * Vector Prime
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Balance Point
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Destiny's Way
 * Ylesia
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Betrayal
 * Bloodlines
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Sacrifice
 * Inferno