Pashna Starkiller

"You couldn't have come at a more distressing time, my friend."

- Pashna Starkiller, considering ordering an assassination

Pashna Starkiller was a seasoned military officer whose skills helped shape Rebel Alliance military planning. Coming out of retirement and joining the Rebellion at a time when it sought experienced leaders to help formulate strategy for its new military, the Mon Calamari Starkiller rose to become one of the Alliance's highest-ranked members. As a younger generation of military men and women rose, Starkiller relinquished some of his responsibility, though he continued to advise the Rebellion on strategic matters. In 0 ABY, Starkiller spent some time in the city of Bela Vistal on Corellia, where he ordered the assassination of an Imperial officer who threatened Rebel operations on Tralus.

In time, Starkiller retired again, only to find himself called upon by famed Rebel strategist Jan Dodonna during the fight against the resurrected Palpatine. Starkiller joined a number of other retired officers, including Vanden Willard and Adar Tallon, in an advisory body that called itself the "Gray Cadre." Providing strategic planning for what was now the New Republic, Starkiller and his peers were responsible for saving millions of lives in the war. When that crisis was averted, he returned to a state of semi-retirement, continuing to receive intelligence briefings and regularly meeting with Dodonna and the others to advise the New Republic on its continuing war against the Empire.

Rebellion
A Mon Calamari male, Pashna Starkiller was already an experienced officer early in the Galactic Civil War, holding the title of marshal. Starkiller was retired by the time the Rebel Alliance approached him, but he nonetheless chose to join them. With his help and that of several fellow officers recruited into the Alliance, Rebel military doctrine was transformed from the vague idealism it had been founded on into that of a true fighting force. Starkiller rose to become one of the highest-ranking members of the Rebel Alliance. In this time, he participated in a number of field missions with a young tactical genius named Risiev Credal. After the Battle of Yavin, though, Starkiller began to pass on his responsibility to the next generation of soldiers, though he continued to serve as a valuable asset in Rebel strategic planning.



In 0 ABY, Starkiller resided in the city of Bela Vistal on Corellia, when he heard word of a plot by a particularly ruthless Imperial commander&mdash;one who the Alliance had marked ever since he had first been promoted. This Imperial had managed to seize a Rebel CR90 corvette and kill its crew, and was now prepared to crash it into a Rebel city on Tralus. Though Starkiller did not enjoy the prospect of having him killed, he realized that it was the only way to save the city, and so he recruited a spacer with Rebel ties into making his way onto the corvette and assassinating the commander. Starkiller first sent his associate to retrieve the necessary documentation they would need to infiltrate the vessel, then once that was accomplished, had them transported to the corvette, where they were able to stop the commander and save the Rebels on Tralus.

New Republic
In time, the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the New Republic, and by 11 ABY, when Emperor Palpatine returned from seeming death in a cloned body and set about waging war on the New Republic, Starkiller had once again retired from active duty. When Jan Dodonna, still serving as a strategist for the Republic, realized that he could not fulfill the commitment that post required by himself, he called upon a number of retired military men, including Starkiller, Vanden Willard, and Adar Tallon, to form an advisory group that jokingly nicknamed itself the "Gray Cadre." Starkiller and his cohorts used their experience to advise the commanders of the New Republic on vital military areas in a time of extreme crisis.

Starkiller and the rest of the cadre had their time to shine in the Battle of Mon Calamari during Operation Shadow Hand. The advice they gave the New Republic allowed its military to design some of its most successful combat strategies during the battle, and ultimately saved millions of lives. After the Republic's victory, Starkiller and the others returned to a state of semi-retirement, meeting monthly to discuss matters of strategic planning and anticipate the goals of the Empire. If their expertise was needed again, they were prepared to give whatever information and analysis the commanders of the front-line fighting needed. Sometime after the battle with Palpatine, Starkiller, once again retired, received a carbon copy of a memo from fellow Mon Calamari Zgorth'sth of the newly-formed New Republic Department of Threat Assessment, providing intelligence about a number of organizations in the galaxy that might pose a threat to Republic interests.

Personality and traits
Though Pashna Starkiller was retired when the Rebel Alliance approached him, he nonetheless chose to join in their fight. Starkiller was one of the Alliance's best, and those who trained under him reflected his ability in their own work. After his second retirement, Starkiller did not seek to return to full time service, content to allow the next generation of officers to come into their own. His experience was nonetheless considered invaluable by the New Republic, and along with his fellow officers Starkiller's knowledge of tactics and strategy made a significant difference in the war against the reborn Palpatine. He remained dedicated to the New Republic even after the immediate crisis ended, forgoing complete retirement to lend his services to their continuing fight against the Empire.

Despite being a commander of wartime operations, Starkiller did not like to resort to assassination, and it took a lot to drive him to consider such means. He was nonetheless willing to forgo his personal qualms on the matter when it was required to preserve the security of the Rebellion.

Behind the scenes
Pashna Starkiller was first named in Michael Allen Horne's Dark Empire Sourcebook, in 1993. In this sourcebook, and almost all of Starkiller's mentions since, he is only mentioned as one of a group of Rebels including Jan Dodonna and Vanden Willard, and was not given any unique information about just him until Star Wars Galaxies. This was the first source to include Starkiller by himself, his first physical appearance, and the first to establish his gender and species. Galaxies ' revelation of Starkiller's species was not without controversy, though, as fan reaction ranged from surprise to belief that "Starkiller" was not a name fitting a Mon Calamari.

The name "Starkiller" dates back to the earliest drafts of the Star Wars script, where it was the surname of a number of characters, elements of whom would later be used to create Luke and Anakin Skywalker. Other individuals named "Starkiller" in canon include Bendak Starkiller from Knights of the Old Republic and Banol Starkiller from Galaxies. The latter being a Rodian and the former's species being unknown, there is little to no likelihood of a family relation between Pashna and them.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Galaxies