Cha Niathal

"She's a very domineering fish."

- Nek Bwua'tu

Cha Niathal was a female Mon Calamari and an advisor to Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon. After Pellaeon resigned, Niathal took over the post of Supreme Commander, and after Galactic Alliance Chief of State coup, she became joint Chief of State with Jacen Solo.

Biography
As a child Niathal remembered seeing images of Palpatine around Mon Calamari and seeing Darth Vader in parades on the holonews.

During her middle years she fought against the Yuuzhan Vong.

An admiral in the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, serving as an advisor to Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon, Niathal was present at all of the meetings concerning Operation Roundabout and was part of the group that decided to remove Matric Klauskin from his position as leader of the Second Fleet.

When Pellaeon resigned as Supreme Commander, she took his place, and hoped to use it to rise to Chief of State. After the Battle of Hapes, she and Cal Omas requested that Jacen Solo be made a Jedi Master for his actions during the battle.

Later, from the helm of the Galactic Voyager, Admiral Niathal commanded the Galactic Alliance forces aimed at ambushing the Confederation summit at Gilatter VIII. That skirmish resulted in a counter-ambush against Niathal's task force and a draw between the respective forces.

Due to an agreement made between the two parties, Niathal and Jacen Solo formulated a plot to set up Cal Omas. When Omas was away on peace talks with Dur Gejjen, Niathal was appointed temporary Chief of State in his absence. After Jacen used a loophole in galactic law to change the laws at his whim, he had Omas arrested on the grounds of plotting with the enemy, and Niathal appointed him to be joint-Chief of State with her until a replacement Chief of State was elected.

Niathal would be one of the many dignitaries who was at the Funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker.

Later on, she would order Admirals Darklighter and Bwua'tu back to the core, just as Colonel Solo was engaging the Wookiees over Kashyyyk. Solo realized that Niathal was too good a tactician to overlook the opportunity to remove her rival, and take a fair amount of the enemy force out, in one fell swoop.

Following the Battle of Kashyyyk, Admiral Niathal sent her intelligence analyst General Tycho Celchu on a secret mission to locate the Jedi and relay a request for them to return to the service of the Galactic Alliance. Locating Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Order on Endor, Celchu relayed Admiral Niathal's request to Skywalker, but Skywalker refused the request on the grounds that it could leave the order at the mercy of Jacen Solo. However Skywalker reiterated his support for the Galactic Alliance. Skywalker stated that once Solo had been removed from power that the Jedi would return to the Galactic Alliance, and that the order still trusted Admiral Niathal.

To shore up his prestige Jacen Solo decided to retake Fondor. Niathal saw this as her chance to overthrow Solo, and secretly began communications with Luke Skywalker on the Alliance blockade of the world. During the battle, Niathal offered the Fondorians a chance to surrender, which they took; unfortunately, Solo continued the attack, determined to make an example of Fondor even though they had surrendered. Niathal, using her position of Supreme Commander, relieved him of command for disobeying the laws of war, and ordered the Alliance fleet to disobey him. However, two-thirds of the fleet remained loyal to Solo.

The remaining Alliance forces loyal to Solo were repelled from the system. Luke Skywalker negotiated with Niathal for her to use Fondor as her base of operations for her faction of the Galactic Alliance, forming a united front against Solo.

Personality
Admiral Niathal was a military career-woman, and totally dedicated to the preservation of the Galactic Alliance. She was also a master tactician, having shown her skill in battle during numerous Galactic conflicts. Niathal was also known for her cutting reprimands and icy disposition, but she was also rather sympathetic to those who fought alongside her, as displayed aboard Bounty. She would later show a sympathetic streak after speaking with Kral Nevil and thinking it would be terrible if his wife were to lose both her husband and son, and the loss of the crews of minelayers she betrayed to Skywalker, resulting in their deaths.

Appearances

 * Betrayal
 * Bloodlines
 * Tempest
 * Exile
 * Sacrifice
 * Inferno
 * Fury
 * Revelation
 * Invincible