Kaeira Teyir

Birth
Kaeira was born to Yeron and Valya Teyir in 7 BBY on the planet Eriadu. Yeron, a Dark Jedi who had been in hiding from the Empire since it had begun, tested his daughter for Force-sensitivity as soon as she was born. She proved to be strong in the Force. Yeron immediately bought a MC-24a shuttle and supplies, packed his possessions, and left Eriadu with his family, determined to hide in a place without Imperial influence until she was old enough to defend herself. He located an uninhabited planet, Zonju V, and landed there. He put together a prefabricated house, made a small farm, and generally arranged to live there in isolation for a long time. Valya was angry that her husband had deceived her (he’d told her that it was a short trip), and she tried to take Kaeira and go. Rather than allow her to leave and potentially endanger his Force-sensitive daughter, he killed his wife, buried her, and raised his daughter alone. He considered destroying the ship itself, but reasoned that someday Kaeira might become ill with something he couldn’t cure, and he’d have to go get medicine for her.

Training
As soon as she was old enough, Yeron began teaching Kaeira the ways of the Dark Side. There were only three rules that he demanded she follow. One, he, the Dark Side, and her instinct were her only guides. Two, she had to work alone no matter what she did when she was grown, because if anyone saved her life, she belonged to them. Three, she should never trust anyone. Once, when she was young, Kaeira asked him why the second rule was true. He merely said that it was what he had been taught, and it had kept him from getting involved with any dangerous people; therefore, he believed that it would do the same for her. She, knowing that her father was one of her three guides, accepted his explanation and allowed the rule to be ingrained in her very nature.

The years passed slowly; as Kaeira grew, Yeron became stricter and stricter with her, becoming less of a father and more of a taskmaster by the time she was twelve. He drove her hard to excel in everything he taught her, especially Force Cloak, an ability she had shown great talent in from an early age. He taught her to be mistrusting of everyone but him, constantly using the downfall of the Jedi Order to show her that betrayal would come from all sides when she least expected it. Whenever she wasn’t sleeping or eating, he would drive her to learn more, always more. He even insisted that when she was helping him tend the farm, she would use nothing but the Force.

Kaeira continued to grow and learn; Yeron continued pushing her, telling himself that it was all for her good, all so she could protect herself once he was dead. His obsession slowly began deteriorating into lunacy—not uncontrollable insanity, but something far worse for Kaeira: cold madness that drove him past all boundaries to ensure her future safety. As she went through her late teenage years, he saw that she was becoming a very attractive young woman. Yeron became fixated on this. He knew that eventually, she’d probably go out into the galaxy, and when she did, she would catch the eyes of some young men. The Dark Jedi reasoned to himself that one of these young men would turn her head and she would allow herself to fall in love, as he’d fallen in love with Valya so many years earlier. The memories of his wife’s “betrayal” rose fresh in his mind, and he resolved to do something to prevent this occurrence before she left the planet.

When Kaeira was almost nineteen years old, she began expressing interest in seeing more of the galaxy. Yeron told her that there was a test she had to pass to prove her power. If she could defeat him, she’d be strong enough to go out into the galaxy. Whoever could touch the other with a lightsaber first would win.

That night, while Kaeira was sleeping, Yeron injected her with a tiny amount of mild poison he’d taken from some creatures of the planet. The next morning, when they dueled, the poison weakened her and distracted her so she couldn’t use the Force to the fullest. Her father slashed her across the face, leaving a painful gash that would scar when it healed. Yeron feigned sadness and told her she wasn’t strong enough to leave the planet, but Kaeira was undeterred. She, always determined to win, demanded another duel the next day. That night, Yeron poisoned her again, and the next day, she lost again, gaining another vicious cut on her face.

Once again, Kaeira wanted another chance. Yeron was delighted. A few more scars on her face would completely prevent anyone from becoming interested in her, he believed, and theirs duels gave him the perfect opportunity to harm her a little under legitimate circumstances. When darkness fell, he sneaked into her room to poison her again, but this time, she woke up. Kaeira quickly figured out what he had been doing. For years, as Yeron had grown more distant, her love for her father had waned and weakened; what little of it remained evaporated completely. Enraged that her guide had been deceiving her, she attacked and mortally wounded him.

When her anger died down, she was horrified that she’d killed her teacher. She begged the dying man to forgive her. He merely smiled distantly and whispered, “Follow the rules.”

Return
Morning came; Kaeira buried her father’s corpse, took the few credits Yeron had first stored when he came to the planet, and left Zonju V. She traveled to the nearest official hyperspace route, the Hydian Way, and followed it until she reached Eriadu. As soon as she landed, she began taking note of the different people and species around her. Because of her long isolation, she found herself unable to tell much about the character of those who spoke to her; to compensate, she tapped into the Dark Side to help her sense potential enemies.

Unfortunately, she was far too inexperienced to fully feel the intentions of others. The very first night after she landed, she was attacked by three muggers. She easily dispatched them with her lightsabers and continued on her way, but not without attracting the notice of some security guards. They went in hot pursuit of her, but were unable to find her—she’d cloaked herself the moment she got out of their sight. The act was caught on a security camera.

For the next few days, Kaeira familiarized herself with her new surroundings and started blending in a little more, though her scars were rather unusual. She started learning about the political state of the galaxy; it was far different from what he father had told her. The Empire had fallen and risen again. The Republic and the Jedi had returned, and several other factions had come into power as well—far too many to become acquainted with.

Profession
A week after she’d arrived on Eriadu, Kaeira was approached by a rather petty, retired politician who’d seen the recording of her disappearance. He offered her a job. There was a Bith artist who’d refused to redo a commission for him without being paid more money. The artist had returned to his home planet, Clak’dor VII, and the politician wanted him dead for daring to cross him. Kaeira, someone who could disappear at will, seemed to be the perfect person to murder the artist without anyone knowing he’d hired someone to kill him. He had only one requirement; that she kill him with a weapon other than a lightsaber. She agreed on the condition that he would pay to have her scars removed, and he gave her the location of the artist’s home.

Kaeira bought a dagger and some poison that would stop a Bith’s heart. She found the artist, watched him for two days, and finally crept into his apartment when he was entering it for the night. After he was asleep, Kaeira spread a little of the deadly poison on the tip of her dagger and gave him a small, barely noticeable cut. He was dead by morning, ostensibly of heart failure.

Kaeira’s employer was true to his word. Not a day after she’d returned to Eriadu, her face was back to normal again. The politician sent her to kill another man; he paid her with credits this time. Kaeira sketched out the tattoos Yeron had had on his face. She used the money from the job to have the same markings put on her own face, a constant reminder to never trust anyone—even her father had been deceitful.

The politician continued sending her to take care of his potential rivals or enemies. She learned to blend into her surroundings even when she wasn’t cloaked; often she would cover her tattoos with makeup to be less conspicuous. She changed her clothes often to match those worn by the people she would mingle with while getting close to her target. Almost every one of them was purported to have died in their sleep of some normal cause. A few of them were examined more closely after death and the insidious poison was found, but there was no way to trace the assassin.

Capture
A little over a year after Kaeira had come into the nobleman’s employ, he hired her to kill a man on Elrood. She decided to travel there on a common transport to avoid drawing attention. An hour away from Elrood, just outside of sensor range of the planet, the vessel came out of hyperspace on schedule and found itself faced with a slaver ship. The cheap transport was unarmed and its shields were weak; the slavers quickly captured and boarded the ship. Kaeira cloaked herself and crouched in a corner, hoping that nothing would reveal her presence. She wasn’t so lucky. While the slavers were taking the people they thought were worth something, one of them bumped into her. He called to the others. She killed him and tried to defend herself from the slavers, but her skills with the lightsaber had deteriorated over the past year from lack of use. They took her down with stun bolts after she killed three more of them.

Equipment
Kaeira carries very few possessions. She wears a thin black belt with two small pouches. Her red lightsaber and her dagger are kept hidden in one; the other pouch contains a vial of poison and what credits she has with her at the moment.

Appearance
Kaeira is of average height and weight for a girl her age. Her figure is quite good. Black tattoos encircle her eyes and draw a streak down both of her cheeks, accenting her narrow face. Another tattoo begins at her left temple, curls across her forehead directly over her eye, and extends down the bridge of her nose. Her skin is light; now that she’s begun living in cities and spending a great deal of her time indoors and in shadows, she’s become rather pale. Kaeira allows her thick black hair to remain long and loose to better hide her face. Her blue eyes are icy when she’s calm; when she’s using the Dark Side, her eyes have a habit of turning a yellowish red. When she isn’t forced to change her clothing to blend into a crowd, she wears a leathery, comfortable black shirt and long, tight pants of the same material. Her hands are rarely seen outside a pair of gloves. She wears a pair of black boots; under them, she wears a pair of soft shoes that help her to walk quietly.

Abilities

 * Force Cloak: Kaeira is extremely adept in this useful power, but it has its drawbacks. When used around Force users, she’s reduced to an echo in the Force, a whisper easily ignored. Unfortunately, her perceptions are also deadened. If anyone does sense her—and those who are alert to faint warnings can—and realize she’s there can sneak up on her while she can’t sense them. A non-Force-sensitive can be saved if he hears her coming, but she’s very good a keeping quiet.
 * Mind Control: Kaeira has a limited use of this power. She’s only used it to convince people to walk through doors so she could get through while cloaked.
 * Force Push/Pull/Grip: Thanks to Yeron’s insistence that she use the Force for almost everything, she’s very good with these particular powers.
 * Force Lightning: A short, fierce burst of lightning can blaze from Kaeira’s fingertips when she’s extremely angry. The rest of the time, she can barely coax a few sparks of electricity.
 * Lightsaber combat: Kaeira’s dueling skills are excellent. Though they have deteriorated from lack of use since she left Zonju V, she’s still a formidable opponent.
 * Deflection: Kaeira’s had no experience deflecting blaster bolts until the slavers attacked; she didn’t have any time to learn anything about it before she was taken down. If pressed, she could probably block a few shots, but she would soon be overwhelmed.

Acknowledgements
Thanks must go to Barringer, who helped me proofread this bio and found the picture.

Note: This biography only covers the character's history to 13 BBY because the next four years of her life haven't been written yet.