Borsk Fey'lya

Borsk Fey'lya (? - 27 ABY) was the Chief of State of the New Republic during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. He was a member of the Bothan species, which were known for the Bothan Spynet, which rivaled even New Republic Intelligence and Imperial Intelligence. Borsk Fey'lya rose to power as a member of the Provisional Council of the Rebel Alliance, bringing the clout of his faction at a crucial moment after Garm bel Iblis left the Rebellion to fight his own war against the Galactic Empire. Becoming one of the council members under Mon Mothma, Fey'lya staunchly opposed the greater political clout carried by other species, in specific the Mon Calamari and Admiral Ackbar, in the hope of raising his own power. Seeing his own personal gain as one and the same with both the gain of his people and the gain of the New Republic, Fey'lya did whatever he could to raise his political stature.

Fey'lya reached one peak of his power during the depredations of Grand Admiral Thrawn, five years after the Battle of Endor. With Ackbar discredited due to false data planted by Thrawn, Fey'lya was able to acquire considerable support from various factions within the New Republic military. This pinnacle soon passed, however, when he was tricked into revealing his true (and less than favorable) opinion of the New Republic warrior on an open channel, evaporating his support among some of his staunchest defenders. Soon after, Ackbar was exonerated, and it would be years before Fey'lya recovered from this double setback.

After the resignation of Leia Organa Solo from the position of Chief of State, Fey'lya was elected her successor. The Bothan brought with him his own council, which found itself in danger as the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong grew. Thrown into the balancing act of maintaining peace within the New Republic, attempting diplomatic relations with the Yuuzhan Vong, and keeping the Luke Skywalker's Jedi under his control at all times, Fey'lya made many wrong choices that made all-out war with the Yuuzhan Vong inescapable.

Eventually he realized the Jedi were the only hope for the New Republic, but it was already too late, as the Yuuzhan Vong made it to the capital world of Coruscant and attacked the planet, forcing its evacuation in the face of inevitable invasion. Fey'lya, asked his old rival, Leia Organa Solo, to rally the New Republic to victory. Fey'lya himself stayed behind, attaching a bomb to a heart monitor and surrendering himself to the Yuuzhan Vong in hopes of taking Warmaster Tsavong Lah with him. The Yuuzhan Vong leader saw through his plan, and Fey'lya was killed, taking over twenty-five thousand Yuuzhan Vong troops with him and becoming a martyr for the Republic and his people. Whether or not this noble action redeemed him is questionable, but essentially Borsk Fey'lya died a hero, and his death inspired the Bothans, for the first time in centuries, to declare a state of ar'krai - total war on the Yuuzhan Vong by the Bothan people.

Behind the Scenes
He first appeared in the Thrawn Trilogy, though he is established in The Essential Chronology to have played a role in the Rebel Alliance since the defection of Garm bel Iblis shortly after the Battle of Yavin.