Avina Galia

"Saving Tabrin was not some story of noble or heroic action, far from it. It was a selfish thing to do based on fear and hatred. Leading a revolution was a secondary concern at that point."

-Avina on her "Freeing Tabrin"

Avina Galia (nicknamed Avi by her shipmates) was a wildly famous female Zeltron during the Old Republic Era. Although much of her early history is shrouded in misdirection and secrecy, what is known of the woman is that she is the quintessential example of the "Jerk with a heart of Gold" who likes to coat all of her actions in a self serving and selfish coating. Most of her young life was spent living as a smuggler and ne'er-do-well under the command of first Heath Slater, a human male, and then her lover Mordath, a Zabrak Force User - the consecutive captains of the smuggling ship The Tardath'Shi. She was made famous on a galactic scale at a young age for leading a "heroic" rebellion on the Sith held world of Tabrin after a crash landing that she presumed killed the entire crew of the Tardath'Shi.

Pardoned for her crimes against the Republic, she was then recruited into an elite force of the best the Republic had to offer, for what reason only they know. She remained a member of the Republic's Finest for over a year, enduring the trials of fire offered by the group facing down, and redeeming, Sith Lords and Ladies as well as becoming yet more famous in her own right.

She became the "Face of the Republic" after giving a daring speech to the Galactic Senate during which the Senate itself was being put under attack by Sith forces, appearing on both recruitment posters for the New Army of the Glactic Republic as well as giving numerous speeches around the Core Worlds on the need for Unity in the face of danger.

Following the emotionally draining and enormously tragic death of hundreds in a Sith attack, planned and executed on Coruscant, that left one of her oldest and dearest friends dead Avina was shocked to find that she had been elected as the Galactic Senate representative for the Tabrin sector, as well as being offered an apprenticeship by the revered Jedi Master Antioch Shirai. With no small amount of reluctance Avina accepted both positions, as the Republics Finest was temporarily disbanded.

On the planet White Respite she obtained a small cat named "Mr. Snuggles" who she doted on as if it were her child.

Early Life
"When you grow up getting told you're only good for one thing, after a while you tend to internalize that. Me - I internalized that the only thing a Zeltron was good for was fucking and partying, and if I haven't lived up to that, at least, I'll eat my own blaster."

-Avina on her early life experiences

Avina Galia was born on the unseemly moon of Nar Shaddah, the daughter of a Zeltron bartender and an unknown near-human (or Human) man. Raised to act as a courier for her mother and her mother's various "friends" Avi spent much of her childhood running through the streets of the Capital city, wild and free. Her underlying force sensitivity was discovered around the age of nine when she had a small run-in with a member of the Jedi Order while doing a run for her mother. Initially excited to find a young force sensitive, the Jedi was very disappointed when he eventually found Avi in person, for, as she was informed, she was both almost to old for training and a Zeltron to boot.

This meeting with a member of the Order left Avi jaded for some time about her force sensitivity, as she was apparently not good enough to be a Jedi and not even strong enough to necessitate training of some sort. Left to her own devices Avi eventually began to ignore her latent abilities and focus on the more "natural" aspects of her species such as lying, deceiving, and cheating.

When she was seventeen years old or so, she was never very sure on her age or her precise date of birth, Avi's mother passed away due to unknown causes. Always a pragmatist, the young Zeltron - unwilling to follow in her mothers shoes - immediately sought passage off planet and into a hopefully better life.

The Tardath'Shi
"The Universe is not a nice place, but here on the Tardath I can sometimes forget that."

-Avina 

Joining with the crew of the Tardath'Shi was Avina's first real "adventure" in life. Her entrance to the crew was something novel enough to be remembered fondly in later years by her crew mates. She simply presented herself one morning, before the ships designated take off time (which she had convinced one of the flight operators to tell her, despite regulations against stuch actions), and told the captain she would like to sign up. The captain, a grizzled Corellian by the name of Heath Slater was amused enough by the young woman's tenacity and gumption that after a quick quiz on the basics of starships and interstellar travel, as well as a serious talk about the implications of joining a crew of not so well like smugglers, she was allowed to join.

Avina would be a crewmen on the Tardath, first as a general deck hand and then as a "Face Man" for most of her young adulthood. It would be on the Tardath that Avina would meet what many would later call her first true love (and perhaps her last), the Zabrack Mordath, a quiet dedicated gunner on the ship who was almost a full decade older than her on their first meeting.

Avina's time on the Tardath'Shi was one filled with near misses and harshly learned life lessons. Although the Tardath was registered as an independent freight ship, the freight that it usually carried was anything but properly registered. The ship and its crew prospered as mercenaries, thieves, prospectors, couriers, and even as passenger transport. The criminal activities that the Captain chose to involve them in were almost always "blue collar" or at the very least adhered to the Captains own personal code of honor, which included such things as "no slaves" and "no children".

Personality and Traits
"It's like Zeltron's were built to party and screw all the time!"

"We are, we even have a second liver."

''"You're shitting me, I knew it!" ''

- Shaelan Thane and Avina on Avi's constant state of inebriation

Avi was a highly intelligent and magnetically charismatic Force sensitive who also seemed to exemplify what many considered both the best and the worst aspects of Zeltron culture. Highly creative and energetic Avi also suffered from a short attention span and lack of personal scruples, at least compared to what was considered for many the norm. A natural leader and diplomat Avi had a way with words few in the galaxy could match, able to sway opinions through both intrigue, cunning, and sheer force of will.

Although Avi didn't have the most warm disposition towards many people she still managed to obtain a great number of friends and contacts throughout her life, some because of her natural friendliness and many through the correct application of whit and charm. Many might not have exactly liked the Zeltron but most were willing to admit that she was a valuable resource that could be used to their advantage, if they knew the right buttons to push or the correct amount of credits,

Avina is only known to have had one monogamous relationship in her young adulthood, with the Zabrak Mordath, although she has had numerous non-serious liaisons with members of multiple species. She seems to prefer those of the male half of near-human species although she has made it clear that there are occasions where looks are secondary to the inherent nature of the person.

Powers and Abilities
"Listen, okay, just listen. I think, what I think is that the Jedi they have this force thing all wrong, don't get me wrong I mean the Sith have it just as wrong. Well what I'm saying is the Force, well the force is Balance. That's all, Balance. You can't be forced to be something you're not, like the Sith and the Jedi want, with their peace and rage and shit. No, you have to be one with yourself, like completely. What I'm trying to say, is that the Force, it's Love."

-Avi on the Force while very drunk, to Master Shirai.

No one is quite sure, not even Avina herself, where exactly her force sensitivity came from. The easiest, and probably most likely, explanation is that she inherited the power from her father whom she never met and who her mother could never remember. From a young age, Avi had always had a higher level of intuition. She could sense when things were about to go wrong and when to move and strike at the right time. Her powers remained at an active, but low, level through her childhood and formative years aboard the Tardath'Shi. It was not until she was approached, first by Mordath and then later after his death by Omleck Targaryan that she had any real interest in learning how to harness and focus her considerable talents with the force.

Her early training with Mordath focused almost entirely at becoming one with the ebb and flow of the force within her. During this training she was not taught to seek out or push the Force as she pleased but rather to accept it and learn how it affected her mind and soul. Although spiritually enlightening, the training yielded very little noticeable effect on her practical application of the power, and after Mordath's death, Avina ceased any serious training altogether for quite some time.

It was not until her tenure with the Republic's Finest, and an argument with the Jedi Shayla Grey wherein the Jedi was able to easily penetrate Avina's mind against her will, that she decided that not pursuing her Force abilities was a stupid mistake that could cost her much in the future. Almost immediately after the event Avina began to research and practice, as if driven by a madness. Working largely on her own, with occasional input from various other members of the Finest such as Jedi Master Inala, the Zeltron began to hone her connection with the Force and begin to manipulate it.

Avina quickly began to show promise as a student of the force, quickly mastering the art of Force Defense and then Telepathy soon after. It was this quick learning that drew the attention of Jedi Master Shirai, who delivered an offer of training as his Padawan along with the news of her election to the Galactic Senate.

Avina, wary of the rules and regulations of the Order as well as her checkered past with the organization, warily accepted his offer (with stipulations) and set out to become an even greater master of herself, and her own powers.