| Shista Ti'lana | |
| Species | Human (Nar Shaddaa) |
|---|---|
| Affiliation(s) | Rebel Alliance
Alliance of Free Planets New Republic |
| Rank / Title | Lieutenant(New Republic Special Operations team Valkan’s Rayzurs) |
| Performance | Kate Chappell |
| Creator(s) | Nathan P. Butler |
Shista Ti'lana is a Force-sensitive New Republic operative and a member of Valkan's Rayzurs in the Rayzur's Edge Audio drama Second Strike.
Biography[]
Throughout her life, Shista Ti’lana knew nothing about her family’s past. She knew only that she had been placed in an orphanage on Nar Shaddaa, presumably her birth planet, as a baby. She was never adopted from the orphanage, but escaped at the age of thirteen. She never managed to gain access to any of her biological family’s records.
Shista would never know it, but the reason for her difficulty in finding family information was Palpatine’s Jedi Purge. Shista was, in fact, the daughter of Jedi Master Jor Ti'lana, the man most noted for his onetime partnership with Master Prevoda Vatil, and Ti’lana’s forbidden love, Alira Lokis.
The legacy of her family’s Force heritage remained a part of Shista’s life in the form of an unwanted “curse” of Force-attunement. While growing up, Shista felt different from her peers and noticed strange abilities that she originally attributed to the supernatural, rather than the Force. Upon finding black market texts that had escaped the Jedi Purge, she was able to learn of the Force and some of its facets, but never had proper training. As a result, she uses her abilities at a more instinctive level, drawing from the “easier” half of the Force, the Dark Side.
After years of hustling, stealing, and impressive con-artistry, Shista finally joined the Rebel Alliance and began working for Special Operations after being recruited by Rebel agent Kyle Katarn, just two months after the Alliance defeat at Hoth.
Shista was not Jaren Valkan’s first pick for a member of the Rayzurs, but despite his distrust for Jedi (born of the Clone Wars and the actions of Darth Vader), Jaren finally had to admit that her lethal efficiency in previous missions was something that the Rayzurs needed to balance out the more refined natures of Lanas Zlauter and Klo'pa'deen.
Two years, nearly to the day, after her recruitment by Katarn, Shista participated in her final mission. At that time, word had reached New Republic Intelligence that a biological weapons project begun by the late Emperor Palpatine, known as Project FlashDeath, had been continuing development on Ferri'sol. The Intel mission to extract a defector from the project had failed, leaving it up to the Rayzurs to infiltrate Ferri'sol, strike at FlashDeath, and put an end to its threat.
The team, including Intel agent Tathan Aldric, inserted onto Ferri’sol just outside of Pri'gorod. They soon entered Pri’gorod and found themselves confronted with Imperial forces loyal to the sector’s warlord, former Imperial Moff Arilus Dehrahn. The Rayzurs were barely able to escape the destruction of Nadix Rovas' Pri'gorod Resistance cell, but upon reaching the FlashDeath lab, they found it empty. As they made preparations to strike at FlashDeath inside of Dehrahn’s own citadel, Imperial forces gave chase to the team.
Shista had grown very fond of her fellow Rayzur, Lolat Gastun, in the days leading up to the mission and fully intended on beginning a true relationship with the younger man upon their return to the Liberation's Scythe. She never got the chance. While eluding the Imperials following them, Lolat slipped and required help from Lanas to continue their escape. As Shista covered them, Lolat was grazed on the leg, drawing Shista’s attention. One of the pursuing stormtroopers caught her in the side, dropping her to the ground. She forced Lanas to drag Lolat to safety, while the troopers caught her with several blasts at once, ending her life.
Sources[]
- Rayzur's Edge Audio Guidebook
Appearances[]
- Second Strike, Act I: Descent (First Appearance)
- Second Strike, Act II: All Fall Down
Behind the Scenes[]
- Shista was voiced by Kate Chappell. To date, Second Strike is Chappell's only foray into voice acting for fan audio projects.