Belindi Kalenda

Belindi Kalenda was a member of New Republic Intelligence who first joined the intelligence service in 13 ABY. Kalenda was known for her efforts in the First Corellian Insurrection, where she was the only operative to successfully exfiltrate the Corellian system and report back to the New Republic about the conflict brewing within the Corellian system. Kalenda continued to act as the lead New Republic Intelligence agent in the Corellian system through the duration of the conflict and was promoted after the incident.

During the start of Yuuzhan Vong War, Belindi Kalenda was the Deputy Director of New Republic Intelligence. However, the success of the Elan ruse and the surprise assault on Fondor by the Yuuzhan Vong caused her to be demoted. In the final stages of the war, the resignation of the disgraced Dif Scaur later led to her finally assuming the position of Director of Intelligence for the newly formed Galactic Alliance, a position she would continue to hold through the opening stages of the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War. Additionally, Kalenda was marginally Force-sensitive, though she never was able to confirm that trait.

Early life and career
According to her older brother Tindel Kalenda, Kalenda was part of a family from a backwater world in the Outer Rim Territories. However, she grew up with Tindel on Coruscant until he was killed in a hovercar accident. Taken in by a military orphanage that would have raised her into a career in the Imperial military, Kalenda's life was altered yet again when the New Republic took Coruscant in 6 ABY. Kalenda decided to continue to a career in the military, having no particular allegiance to the Empire. Kalenda was one of the first to graduate from the New Republic Military Academy. Upon graduation, she decided to pursue a career in intelligence rather than front line service. She was included in a New Republic personnel dossier as part of a personnel evaluation.

First Corellian Insurrection
As a lieutenant, she took it upon herself to warn Han Solo and Chewbacca that several NRI operatives had gone missing on Corellia. She remained in shadows just prior to a major trade summit on Corellia, though she did establish contact with Han Solo. After Han Solo received information about the upcoming Corellian Insurrection, he delivered the information to her and she managed to escape Corellia on an X-TIE Fighter.

Kalenda delivered the information to Luke Skywalker after being detained onboard a Mon Calamari Cruiser in orbit of Coruscant. She accompanied Skywalker to an underground bunker, where they met with Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar. At the urging of the two leaders, Kalenda and Skywalker journeyed to Bakura, where they met with Gaeriel Captison.

Once Captison furnished them with a fleet, Kalenda accompanied them to Corellia. Along with Lando Calrissian, Luke, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Captison, Kalenda journeyed into Centerpoint Station. There, Kalenda uncovered the Sacorrian Triad's plot to take over the Corellian Sector. Kalenda eventually participated in the Battle of Centerpoint Station from the bridge of the Intruder, the Bakuran flagship. When ramming ships destroyed the ship and left Captison and the Bakuran admiral paralyzed, Kalenda was ordered to escape as the ship destroyed the enemy fleet through self-destruct.

Kalenda was commended by Airen Cracken for her performance in the Corellian system and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and placed in charge of the Operations branch of the New Republic Intelligence Special Threats division.

Yuuzhan Vong War
"Colonel Kalenda, since you've been attached to this fiasco from the beginning, I'd like you to start by telling me which parts of Han Solo's report can be considered fact and which parts can be dismissed as owing to an obvious case of space giddiness."

- Dif Scaur to Belinda Kalenda

Kalenda continued her work for the NRI during the Yuuzhan Vong War. At the start of the war, she was the NRI deputy director, a Colonel. On one mission, she was dispatched along with xenobiologist Joi Eicroth and Fleet Intelligence analyst Yintal to New Nystao on Wayland to meet a Yuuzhan Vong defector, the priestess Elan, and her familiar Vergere. The three New Republic operatives began questioning Elan, who provided information on Yuuzhan Vong military ambitions, the impending assault on Ord Mantell, Yuuzhan Vong culture, and dissension within their society. However, during the debriefing of Elan, they were attacked by an ooglith masquer-clad Yuuzhan Vong assassin, who killed Yintal, as coralskippers began strafing the city. Kalenda and rest of her party, along with Elan, survived the assassination attempt with varying degrees of injury, but they were forced to move the defecting priestess to another location. Kalenda returned to Coruscant, spending time in a bacta tank to recuperate en route, where she briefed the Council on Security and Intelligence on her findings. She informed them that Elan had provided them with valuable military information and recommended that Elan and Vergere be moved to Coruscant via a complicated set of traveling routes and a series of decoy teams set up by New Republic Intelligence to throw off any attempts at pursuit. Her plan was approved and New Republic Intelligence began moving the defectors.

However, one of the teams handling the transfer, led by a Major Showolter was compromised. The result was that Elan and Vergere were nearly captured by the Yuuzhan Vong-allied Peace Brigade. Only the timely aid of Han Solo prevented that from happening, but Solo later determined that Elan was part of a plan to assassinate the Jedi and killed her after she attempted to silence him, while Vergere escaped back to the Yuuzhan Vong. Called back to Kalenda was reprimanded by her superior, Dif Scaur, for her failure to both safely transfer Elan and Vergere and determine that Elan's true motives. She then provided Scaur with the account she had received from Solo and Scaur informed her, along with other intelligence staff, that the transfer had apparently been leaked by an informant or mole within New Republic Intelligence. Furthermore, the Council on Security and Intelligence was highly displeased with New Republic Intelligence's failure in this mission. The fallout from the debacle had political ramifications, much of Kalenda bore the brunt of, as she was suspected of having unwittingly aiding an informant. As a result, she was demoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Disgraced, Kalenda later partnered with Showolter on a scouting mission to Tynna based on information provided by Talon Karrde linking the Yuuzhan Vong advance to the spice trade. They arrived just in time to witness the brief Battle of Tynna as the largely undefended planet quickly fell to the Yuuzhan Vong, which did at least confirm the intelligence that Karrde had obtained. Unfortunately, later reports from Karrde, relayed by Kalenda, indicating an attack on Corellia turned out to be a disinformation effort by the Yuuzhan Vong; Corellia was a feint, as Fondor was the true target. This second failure only served to disgrace Kalenda further. She did help supervise the medical examination of a captured Yuuzhan Vong prisoner, but as the prisoner committed suicide shortly after capture, the examination was far from complete and yielded little information.

After the New Republic was re-organized into the Galactic Alliance, Kalenda was stationed on Mon Calamari with the rest of the government structure. Shortly thereafter, Kalenda was ordered by the newly elected Chief of State Cal Omas to help Han and Leia Organa Solo coordinate a mission to re-establish relations with some of the worlds that had been cut off by the Yuuzhan Vong advance. Included in the mission also were Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel. Eventually, a frigate, the Pride of Selonia, and Twin Suns Squadron were tasked to support the Millennium Falcon as the primary naval force. However, their meeting was interrupted by a comlink call for Jaina Solo from Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila, who was in considerable emotional turmoil. Solo requested a comlink trace from Kalenda, who provided the trace and brought the three Solos to where Tahiri had gone into a fit of delirium. Following the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar, she was appointed Director of Intelligence after the politically-pressured resignation of Dif Scaur over the Alpha Red pathogen incident.

Confederation-Galactic Alliance War
Kalenda remained the Director of Intelligence for the Galactic Alliance into the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War. During the opening stages of the war, Kalenda briefed Admiral Cha Niathal and Jacen Solo on a meeting that the separatist movement, instigated by the Bothan faction, was holding to elect a new supreme commander. Niathal, recognizing the value of disrupting such a meeting and killing or capturing the attendees, instructed Kalenda to devote as many assets as needed to gathering intelligence on the meeting. These efforts would lead to the Battle of Gilatter VIII. Later, Kalenda reported to Cha Niathal, now the temporary co-Chief of State, that scientist and intelligence operative Doctor Seyah had been pulled off Centerpoint after being suspected as a spy by the Corellians.

Personality and traits
Kalenda was noted by her superiors for being both brave and resourceful.

Skills and abilities
Trained by the New Republic, Kalenda was considered a competent field agent. Her skills included the use of blasters, melee and unarmed combat, pickpocketing, forgery, infiltration techniques, and piloting repulsorlift vehicles and spacecraft. Other fields of knowledge in which Kalenda was proficient included swimming, computer programming, demolitions, and machinery repair.

Appearances

 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Assault at Selonia
 * Showdown at Centerpoint
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Balance Point
 * Star by Star
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * The Unifying Force
 * Exile
 * Fury

Notes and references
Belindi Kalenda