Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/April 8, 2011

The Shashay were sentient avians indigenous to Crytal Nest. They were renowned for their natural skills as singers and astrogators, giving them the common nickname of Space Singers. They had a reputation for fiery tempers and a strong loyalty to their species.

In an attempt to prevent the Galactic Empire from plundering their home planet, the Shashay kept the planet's galactic coordinates secret&mdash;to the point of not trusting that information to navigation computers and instead relying only on a Shashay navigator's memory for astrogation. The Alliance to Restore the Republic, noticing that the Shashay disliked the Empire as much as they did, approached the Shashay and tried to convince them to join their faction, with partial success: The governing Nestmothers of the Shashay did not want a Rebel base in Crytal Nest until the Rebellion could demonstrate its might, but several Shashay navigators and pilots were assigned to Rebel starships.

Despite their dislike for the Empire, the Shashay still sent artists to perform in Imperial space. One of these was the cultural hero Crying Dawn Singer, who was kidnapped by Yearo Seville, a pirate who, following orders from the Empire, pretended to be a leader of the Alliance. The Empire hoped that the Shashay would reject the Alliance from that point on. The Alliance then sent a team to track Seville and rescue Crying Dawn Singer, only to discover a conspiracy among Imperial commanders.