Wynssa Fel

"All I meant was that you should fight when you have to. Your preferences don't come into it. Your enemy won't stand down just because you don't want to fight. You either rise to the occasion or you die."

- Wynssa Fel to Jacen Solo

Wynssa Fel, called Wyn by her family, was the younger daughter of General Baron Soontir Fel and Syal Antilles Fel. An exuberant and excitable child, she could also be serious and military-minded, a quality not surprising in one raised among the strict Chiss in the harsh Unknown Regions&mdash;first on Nirauan within the Empire of the Hand and then on Csilla, the capital of the Chiss Ascendancy.

In 28 ABY, while still in her early teens, Fel helped Jacen Solo, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, Saba Sebatyne, and Danni Quee research the location of Zonama Sekot when they arrived at the Expeditionary Library on Csilla. During the course of that research, she was kidnapped by the duplicitous Chief Navigator Peita Aabe as part of a plot against her father. She was quickly rescued by Solo, foiling the plot and enabling her to help them finally find Sekot's location.

Fel continued life in the Unknown Regions after that, becoming the only surviving Fel daughter and one of only three living Fel children by 35 ABY, with Chak, Davin, and Cherith dead and only herself, Jagged, and Cem alive.

Childhood
"I think I'd like to go there someday. When the war is over, of course. I'll see if I can get Father to let me take Starflare, our family yacht. I'm licensed to fly her, you know&mdash;not that I get much of a chance because Cem's always taking her out!"

- Wynssa Fel to Jacen Solo, speaking of Coruscant



Wynssa Fel was born to General Baron Soontir Fel and Syal Antilles Fel in the Unknown Regions, their second daughter. Soontir was a former Imperial fighter ace, and Syal a former actress under the stage name Wynssa Starflare, which gave Wynssa Fel her name. Soontir and Syal had moved to Nirauan in the Unknown Regions in 5 ABY in order to serve Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Empire of the Hand, battling various threats to galactic civilization and the Chiss Ascendancy, Thrawn's home society. Fel, raised on Nirauan, had four older siblings: brothers Chak, Davin, and Jagged as well as sister Cherith. Her brother Cem was the family's shadow child, raised in complete secrecy in order to secure the future of the family line in the event of attack by rivals, a Chiss custom.

All her older siblings went into the military, leaving Fel at home with Cem. Among the militaristic Imperials and Chiss, Fel developed a military outlook herself, seeing battle against threats to peace as a duty. Fel was taught to pilot, presumably by her father, and liked to take out the family yacht Starflare, though Cem was frequently at the controls. Fel suffered the loss of her siblings early in her life, with Davin dying by 19 ABY and Cherith by 25 ABY. In 25 ABY, Jagged was sent back to the known regions of the galaxy to aid the New Republic in the Yuuzhan Vong War. Through it all, Fel remained at home with her mother and Cem, and by 28 ABY the Empire of the Hand had ceased to exist as a unit, with the Fels joining the Chiss Ascendancy. Fel and her family moved to Csilla, the Chiss capital, and continued life there. Fel spent much time in the Expeditionary Library there, becoming familiar with much of the material stored there.

Kidnapping
"I want your cooperation. And I will get it, too, because we have your daughter."

- Ina'ganet'nuruodo to Soontir Fel

In 28 ABY, Fel and her mother heard that an expedition from the known galaxy had arrived at the Expeditionary Library. They traveled there and encountered Saba Sebatyne and Danni Quee, representatives of a Galactic Alliance mission seeking Zonama Sekot, which they felt could be key to winning the Yuuzhan Vong War. Her mother was briefly embarrassed by Fel's impertinence in asking Sebatyne questions and remarking on her species traits, but Fel was then embarrassed by Syal's outburst against the mission, which she feared was in fact to push the Chiss into the Yuuzhan Vong War and risk Soontir's life as Jagged's was being risked. Sebatyne explained that that was not their mission, but also that one way or the other, conflict with the Yuuzhan Vong would come. Fighting them in unity would better everyone's chances. This was in fact the way Fel felt about the situation. Fel volunteered to stay behind and aid the party in their search for information, which Syal allowed her to do.

She was joined in the search for information by Jacen Solo, with whom she was somewhat taken. She asked him many questions about his life and pressed him on his pacifistic philosophy. She was left with only Solo and Commander Hess'irolia'nuruodo when the other members of the party left to move their ship. During their conversation, Fel mentioned Cem, information which only eventually worked its way back to the Chiss in 35 ABY, when Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker mentioned the name to Chiss Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano; Formbi, however, was convinced that Fel was acting on her father's orders in leaking the information.



During her time in the library, her father's subordinate Chief Navigator Peita Aabe entered the library and summoned her to come with him on the orders of her father. She complied, but became increasingly suspicious and fearful that something was wrong. Traveling through the corridors, she wanted to know why Aabe was transporting her through the iceways rather than by ice-barge. Once they reached the iceway terminus, Fel demanded that Aabe contact her father and prove his orders. Aabe drew his weapon on her, causing Solo and Irolia, who had also been suspicious and followed, to intervene. Solo disarmed Aabe and subdued him, with Fel taking his blaster. Her father and the rest of the party had likewise come under attack by Soontir's political enemies, but that attack had been stopped as well. Fel was left very impressed by Solo's rescue. They returned to the library, where Fel helped run the search that found Zonama Sekot's likely location, sending the team off in search of it.

Later life
"Only two survived. Jagged and Wyn. Chak, Davin, and Cherith are all dead."

- Chaf'orm'bintrano to Luke Skywalker

With the conclusion of the war in 30 ABY, Fel was able to celebrate Jagged's return to Csilla, first as a liaison with the Galactic Alliance and then as an officer in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, but this was counterbalanced by Fel's loss of her brother Chak, the third Fel to die. In 36 ABY, the Fels were dishonored and diminished in power by the actions of the Jedi Lowbacca taken after Jagged granted his parole as an officer of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet; at the same time, Jagged was himself lost to a crash on Tenupe. While Jagged was recovered two years later, he was exiled, never to be able to return. It was only in 40 ABY, with the death of the Chiss enemy Alema Rar at Jagged's hands that the family's honor was restored, though what Wynssa Fel's situation was at that time remains unclear.

Personality and traits
"Sometimes I think that the sooner we can be rid of the Yuuzhan Vong, the better. I don't want what happened to Coruscant to happen here, Jacen. I think we should do whatever we have to to make sure of that."

- Wynssa Fel to Jacen Solo

Fel was outgoing, with little inhibition in her speech with others, saying what was on her mind. Though Fel had a reputation as saying far more than she should, at least one canny Chiss politician was convinced she leaked only what information her cunning father wanted to become known.

Full of energy, she sought excitement in her life, and was eager to help the Galactic Alliance party when they arrived on Csilla. She harbored a hope to one day leave the Unknown Regions and see Coruscant and the wider galaxy. Despite her youthful exuberance, she had a mature outlook on the requirements of life and the nature of combat, accepting it as her duty to enter battle when required. She personally preferred to take the fight to the Yuuzhan Vong, regarding conflict with them as inevitable, though Chiss society preferred to stay safely in the Unknown Regions.

Behind the scenes
While the novel Dark Tide II: Ruin established that the Fels had five children, no information was revealed about Wynssa Fel until her appearances in Force Heretic II: Refugee by Sean Williams and Shane Dix, which remains her only appearance to date. She is referred to only as "Wyn" in both Refugee and Dark Nest I: The Joiner King; only her mention in The Unifying Force identifies her full name as being Wynssa. In Refugee, she is mistakenly identified once as "Wyn Antilles".

Appearances

 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Tempest
 * Exile