Leontyne Saresh

"Together, we stand taller than any obstacle. Let's get to work&mdash;together."

- Governor Leontyne Saresh

Leontyne Saresh was a female Twi'lek who, throughout her career, served as a senator, governor, and Supreme Chancellor during the Galactic War with the Sith Empire.

Biography
"Welcome to Taris&mdash;I'm Governor Saresh. On behalf of the Galactic Republic, I want to thank you for joining us in this historic project."

- A public safety announcement in Olaris Spaceport

A female Twi'lek whose ancestors once lived on the city-world of Taris before its destruction, Leontyne Saresh escaped Imperial slavery as a youth. She joined the government of the Republic and quickly became a prominent member of the Galactic Senate. However, her uncompromising views and her vocal opposition of the Empire led to her appointment as the Senatorial Supervisory Governor of Planetary Affairs on the ruined world of Taris, a position that had destroyed the careers of several other promising individuals. But Saresh took the assignment to heart, putting all of her resources and intellect to work directing the planet's resettlement initiative.

When the Empire invaded Taris in 3642 BBY and crushed the resettlement project, Saresh managed to escape back to the Republic. By 3641 BBY, her political standing was significant enough to secure her the position of Supreme Chancellor after her predecessor Dorian Janarus was killed by a bounty hunter. She would later preside over recognition ceremonies for the Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order and the commander of the Special Forces unit Havoc Squad, and during the former ceremony, personally welcomed the members of the Rift Alliance back into the Republic fold.

War with the Hutt Cartel
"The Hutts will not be allowed to expand their dominion at our expense."

- Chancellor Saresh addressing the Republic heroes assembled

One year later, Chancellor Saresh journeyed to Keylander Station in orbit of the planet Makeb, which had been occupied by the Hutt Cartel as part of a war of conquest. From there, she summoned a Republic operative and briefed them on the situation, with Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan and Supreme Commander Jace Malcom joining in via holocall. Saresh made it clear that the priority was to liberate the people of Makeb, but also stressed that the Cartel's ambitions had to be ended permanently.

Saresh was later disappointed to learn that Makeb was doomed to destruction due to the Hutts' careless mining of the planet's core, causing massive groundquakes. After a Republic operative managed to save millions of refugees aboard a massive ark, the Supreme Chancellor confronted Makeb's de facto Chief of State, Shalim Avesta, accusing him of having known that the groundquakes were getting worse and that he used the Republic, knowing they'd be obligated to help when Makeb had nothing to give. Shalim denied her accusations.

The Republic operative reminded everyone that they still had the issue of the refugees aboard the ark. Shalim also mentioned that they also had Cartel leaders who were willing to side against Toborro the Hutt. Saresh was none too happy to see that the Republic has a worthless ally and a broken one, but did note that these Hutts have most of the influence, wealth and power in the Cartel and asked her operative on how they should proceed. The operative suggested that the Hutts' fleet should be used to defend lightly defended planets while the Hutts help build a new colony for Makeb's refugees. The Chancellor agreed to the suggestion. She then commended her operative for giving the Republic a chance at winning the war before departing the station.

Sometime afterwards, Saresh, along with Satele Shan and Jace Malcom, made a HoloNet broadcast to publicly announce the apparent death of the Sith Emperor, whose death was confirmed by a joint Jedi-SIS committee. But Saresh had no illusions that the Dark Council was still the major power in the Empire, and proclaimed that the Republic would emerge victorious.

Revanite Conspiracy
At a later stage of the war, Saresh learned that Satele's fleet had temporarily allied with Darth Marr against the Order of Revan. Following Revan's defeat on Yavin 4, Saresh communicates with the Grand Master, expressing her displeasure at being left in the dark. Satele pointed out that Malcom doesn't share her concerns and stated that the two of them appreciate the Chancellor's trust in them. Saresh then demanded to be informed when her fleet is back in position.

Invasion of Ziost
Saresh later installed a triple agent, Rane Kovach, in Sith Intelligence to feed her intel on both Sith Intelligence and the SIS. Through Kovach, Saresh learned that Theron Shan had assembled the Sixth Line, Jedi commandos working for the SIS, on an unauthorized mission to Ziost. She personally communicated with Shan to admonish him for his unilateral actions. Though Shan tried to explain the situation on Ziost, Saresh declared her intention to invade the planet to cripple the Empire and face the former Sith Emperor, Vitiate, head-on. Despite Shan's pleas, the Republic fleet had already arrived. This only a made a bad situation worse, as Vitiate began possessing combatants on both sides to intensify the violence to fuel himself. Saresh was later contacted by Kovach, who had shut down the Ziost Orbital Defense Command Center, trying to warn her of the danger Vitiate posed, but she refused to hear him, ordering him to continue with his task of gathering intel on Sith Intelligence and the SIS.

Theron later managed to convince Saresh to make a strategic retreat after Vitiate consumed all life on Ziost. In the aftermath, Saresh and Grand Master Satele put Theron on administrative leave for his unilateral actions.

Eternal Empire's Conquests
The Eternal Empire overran the Republic and Sith Empire not long afterwards, but Saresh refused to discuss surrender even after Coruscant was blockaded. She was eventually overruled by the Senate and a cadre of Senators negotiated a cease-fire with the Eternal Empire. Unable to break the treaty, Saresh nonetheless arranged for those Senators' disgrace or dismissal, and when she was ousted due to term limits, Saresh's successor Madon was her puppet. Despite having a common enemy in the Eternal Empire, Saresh was obsessed with fighting the Sith. Her policies were protested by Admiral Bey'wan Aygo, whom she summarily discharged from the Republic military. Some time afterwards, a small group of military officers attempted to arrest Saresh for her crimes but a traitor in their group sold them out and Madon had them quietly arrested.

Personality and traits
Saresh was a charismatic and firm individual. While managing the Taris reconstruction, she promoted cooperation and perseverance. When she was elected Supreme Chancellor, she promised not peace, but victory over the Empire. However, her hatred of and vision of defeating the Empire led her to be a warmonger. She also showed a somewhat tyrannical side by ruining people who spoke out against her as well as continuing to rule the republic through a figurehead after her term ended.

Behind the scenes
Leontyne Saresh is a character in the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, voiced by Julianne Grossman.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * The Old Republic: Annihilation
 * The Old Republic: Annihilation