Elin Garza

Elin Garza was a Human female who served the Galactic Republic as a General of the Republic Army and Military during the Great Galactic War against the resurgent Sith Empire. During the war, she helped found an elite special forces division of the Republic military, and assisted in the training of the division's soldiers. After the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, Garza was often accused of ordering covert assaults on Imperial holdings in the galaxy.

Great Galactic War
Elin Garza was born in the year 3696 BBY on the Galactic Republic's capital of Coruscant. When the Great Galactic War began with the resurgent Sith Empire in 3681 BBY, Garza forged her identity credentials at the age of 15 in order to enlist in the Republic Military. She soon reached the rank of lieutenant and was awarded the command of an entire platoon in the 45th Infantry Division. In 3673 BBY, Garza's unit was shot down on Bomodon during the Great Galactic War, where she met Republic Strategic Information Service agent Marcus Trant and fought a ten-month campaign to liberate the planet from the Empire. She later married Trant but divorced him two years later, and her second husband was a navy captain named Joron Tal'vor.

During her career, she was awarded a number of commendations, including the Medal of Valor, the Silver Crescent, the Mark of Dedication, and the Chancellor's Service Medal. When the resurgent Sith Empire launched a full-scale assault on the Republic, Garza served with distinction, and helped to found a elite special forces division of the Republic military.

Cold War
However, in 3653 BBY, the Republic and the Sith Empire signed the Treaty of Coruscant, marking an official end to the conflict. In the years that followed, Garza was accused numerous times of ordering covert assaults on Imperial holdings throughout the galaxy.

One such incident occured on Ando Prime. After learning of an imperial offensive on the world, Garza sent Havoc Squad to cut it off. The squad was forced to call for rescue, but Garza's attempt was stopped by the Senate. It turned out that Garza had not had the senate's approval for the first Ando Prime mission, and the senators refused to allow her to risk another war with the empire. Havoc squad managed to get home on its own, but this incident left a deep scar on its members.

By 3643 BBY, during the Cold War, Commander Harron Tavus led members from Havoc Squad to defect to the Empire. The only Havoc member to have stayed loyal to the Republic was a newly transferred sergeant, now promoted to lieutenant and new Havoc Squad commander. Garza summoned the new Havoc to Coruscant to eliminate Tavus' underworld assets on the planet before going after the traitors. Garza made it clear to Havoc that the mission is to be taken under complete secrecy, including non-disclosure to non-SpecForce personnel. After Havoc finally tracked down all the Havoc traitors, Garza promoted the Havoc CO to the rank of Captain.

However, Garza was forced to cut Havoc's shore leave short when they received intelligence about a new Imperial superweapon, codenamed Gauntlet. She dispatched Havoc to Tatooine to extract an undercover SIS agent with the intel. Once it was determined that the Gauntlet could fire through hyperspace, a joint military initiative was formed. However, Garza felt that Havoc needed to be brought up to full strength, and dispatched the squad to recruit two new members crucial to the mission, Tanno Vik on Balmorra, and Sergeant Yuun on Hoth, as well as extract the Safecrackers on Quesh.

Second Galactic War
Once Havoc succeeded in destroying the Gauntlet, Garza promoted the CO to the rank of major. Unfortunately, their victory was not without repercussions. The Gauntlet's destruction incensed Imperial General Arkos Rakton, who declared outright hostilities against the Republic. His first move was capturing a group of Republic-aligned heads of state, forcing their respective planets to allow Imperial forces to bypass their borders to assault Republic holdings. Garza has Havoc infiltrate the space station where the hostages are being held.

Turning the Tide
After Havoc successfully rescued the hostages, as well as made an enemy out of Rakton, Garza deployed Havoc to reinforce the Republic offensive, starting with extracting the Dagger Wing, a disavowed Republic fighter wing imprisoned on Belsavis for a botched mission that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Imperial citizens on Fest. Regardless, Garza felt that the Republic needed Dagger Wing, as starfighter pilots of their caliber were in short supply.

Secondly, Havoc was dispatched to space station A-77 to liberate POWs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a trap set by Rakton, though Havoc survived the encounter.

Lastly, was the planet Voss, where Senator Evran was withholding thousands of Republic soldiers from the war effort for fear that the Empire would attack Voss again. And as he had Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus' complete confidence, even Garza couldn't overrule him. Thus, Havoc was forced to eliminate any Imperial invasion vectors, making the overall Republic military presence unnecessary. Havoc proceeded to foil Lord Torius' plan to utilize the stolen ZR-57 orbital strike bomb to hold Voss-Ka hostage.

Though the Republic had more than enough strength to turn the tide of the war, Garza was forced to recall Havoc Squad to Coruscant for a Senate inquiry into the squad's activities. Meeting at the spaceport, Garza reveals that the inquiry is a sham. It is being held by Senator Grom Zian, who is in fact a paid agent for the Empire. It is Rakton's intention to use Zian to suspend Havoc, allowing the war to turn in his favor. Luckily, the SIS had gathered evidence proving Zian's ties. Garza ordered the Major to attend the hearing and present the evidence, but avoid anything that could validate Zian's accusations.

Battle of Corellia
After Zian was arrested, Garza contacted Havoc via holo, revealing that she's transferred to Corellia, where the Empire and Republic are committing a significant amount of forces to fighting. Upon rendezvousing on the founding Republic planet, Garza introduced the Major to CorSec officer and former SpecForce, Locke, and civilian Captain Phaeris, who have both agreed aid the war effort. Garza told Havoc that their objective is to storm Bastion, the center of Republic military operations, which Rakton captured during the initial Imperial invasion. But to get there, they need a landing zone for Phaeris' group of smuggler to deploy their troops. Garza sent Havoc to capture the Imperial-held landing zone where the smugglers' ships are docked. But after Havoc secured the landing zone, Locke called the squad to plead them to stop the Imperial attack on the residential districts. However, Garza suggested that Havoc instead divert to capture the lightly-guarded dropships, but she left the overall decision to the Major. Havoc chose to save the civilians.

Havoc then deployed to Labor Valley to rally resistance cells to retake a factory. Afterwards, they rendezvoused with Garza and Locke at a safehouse in Axial Park. Garza explained they need a safe landing zone, which she's chosen to be the Corellia Museum of Starships. However, a famous warship, the Lucky Lancer, was parked there. Garza felt it better that it'd be destroyed, though Locke refused to have a symbol of Corellia heritage destroyed. Instead, Havoc chose to escort volunteer pilots to move the ship out of the way.

Rendezvousing in the government district in a Drall library, Garza gave Havoc instructions to infiltrate the Bastion. First, they had to jam its communications then commandeer an Imperial crawler tank to slip in, take out the main gate so the Safecrackers and 53rd Armored Platoon could begin the main assault. The attack proceeded flawlessly and Havoc managed to defeat and capture Rakton.

Garza reunited with Havoc on Coruscant, where the newly elected Supreme Chancellor, Leontyne Saresh, was present to commend the squad. To Garza's surprise, Saresh announced her intention to trade Rakton back to the Empire in exchange for thousands of POWs. Garza politely protested the decision, reminding the Chancellor of the countless deaths Rakton has caused in his campaign. Saresh stated that while they cannot help the dead, the living they can help. The Major chose to support the decision.

After the meeting's conclusion, Garza expressed her disapproval. But even with this setback, she informs the Major that the war with the Empire is far from over and the war is moving towards Ilum.

Battle of Ilum
Garza was part of the war council gathered on Ilum after Darth Malgus' announcement of a new Empire. Though Fleet Admiral Numinn believed that Malgus would only focus on the Imperial loyalists, Garza reminded him of Malgus' crimes during the Sacking of Coruscant.

Personality and traits
By the time of the Great Galactic War, the Human female Elin Garza was recognized as one of the most experienced officers in the Republic's army. She was renowned for her genius at both military tactics and strategies, and possessed an almost-flawless record of operations. However, she was not beyond controversy; Garza owned a reputation for being ruthless and without compromise, such as when she ordered Havoc Squad to execute Krell's supposed cyborg victims, not even willing to chance that Krell was bluffing. She claims that they have to be heartless and make morally questionable decisions so that the citizens of the Republic won't have to. Despite this, few doubted the General's willingness to assure that the Republic was victorious. Garza had, at this point, been married and divorced three times. Garza was political rivals with the Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus. She despises politicians repeatedly interfering in military matters, preferring to keep them on a need-to-know basis. Particularly, she blames them for the previous Havoc Squad's defection, even though the blame was equally on her for ordering the Ando Prime mission without their approval.

Behind the scenes
Elin Garza was introduced on the official site prior to the release of the PC video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. She received an entry in the "Biographies" section of the website's Holonet feature. She is voiced by Kate Weiman.

On her Holonet page, messages written in Aurebesh state "The Senate is suspicious", "Ando Prime", and a third statement that is mostly obscured by the print. "hree times" is all that is clearly legible, but at close observation parts of the letters in "divorced" can be made out, as well as the letter "t" completing the statement to read "divorced three times".

Appearances

 * The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic 7: The Lost Suns, Part 1
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic