- "She was a Force prodigy on the level of Kalja Leidias, and I burned her down. She was my friend, my student and my sister, and I burned her down. She could have died, and I knew it. I did what I had to do, but I'd have given anything for a different option."
- — Ashin Varanin
Halla Kitani Kaijus-Terrablade, Empress of the Jade Empire, Shau'ghun of the Jade Worlds, Queen of Halcyon, Daimyo Lord of Clan Jaguar, Mistress of Sej and Be, is the founder and ruler of perhaps the Unknown Regions' most powerful government. She is an autocrat, but a benevolent one. She is a former arms commander of the Shau'ghunate Guard, and was second in line for the throne before her brother Selmah died unexpectedly. Although as a young, traditional sai'mrai she was taught diplomacy, she is not a career politician. She never expected to become Shau'ghun, but her rule has been fair and her vision obvious. In terms of the Force, she was considered a Master before the Battle of Mon Calamari, when Ashin Varanin's use of La-Reia's Crystal devoured Halla's Force sensitivity. She can no longer touch the Force.
History[]
- "She's more solidly on the Light than a lot of Jedi, but she also manages to be the most dangerous individual in this sector - and that's including me."
- — Lyn-Char Beorht
The second child of Shau'ghun Keito Kaijus, Halla was raised on the jungle moon Varunda IX, which was then the capital of the Jade Worlds. She never spent much time with her father, which was probably for the best considering how his power changed him. During this time, she was taught and protected by the Household Guard, the best of the best. She showed a natural aptitude for martial arts, as well as phenomenal reflexes, and was subtly directed towards a career in the Shau'ghunate Guard. Eventually, she found that she was Force-sensitive - the first in her family line to be so in thousands of years. She kept the discovery to herself, telling only her immediate family and several of her teachers, including Akemi Nakamura. Slowly, through meditation, her connection to the Force began to grow.
She enlisted in the Guard Infantry at age sixteen. A combination of talent, charisma, the Force and nepotism led to Halla receiving a battlefield command during the war on Joy. She was promoted permanently to Captain of Infantry at age twenty. During the 24 hours of the Uul'ba-Rai Crusade, she was running manoeuvres on Varunda IX, in the deep jungle. The first clue she had that something was wrong was seeing weapons fire in orbit; minutes later, she felt her family die. Her company shut down any gear that could draw Rai attention and started to trek back through the jungle to civilization, assuming that the planet had been invaded. They eventually found that every city they came across had been destroyed from orbit, and the towns had been deserted when the handful of civilian survivors were evacuated.
Several months passed, during which time the Isen Star Empire took over what remained of the Jade Worlds and then fractured. The Black Star Confederacy was just annexing the sector at Shau'ghun G'shan Di'te's request when Halla and her company managed to sneak a message to retired Admiral Jita Hangetsu via a pilgrim visiting the ruins of the capital. Unknown to Di'te or the BSC, Hangetsu smuggled Halla and her troops offworld and hid them in the joint JW/SIL colonies, which were not under the BSC's jurisdiction. Halla was trained further in the Force by Lyn-Char Beorht, Ember Rekali, Akemi Nakamura and Ashin Varanin.
Later, when Confederate commandos raided Di'te's complex and arrested him, his aide Thormatar went into hiding as well, and Hangetsu arranged for him to meet Halla.
Thormatar, Captain Farn Engel, Beorht and others formed a group dedicated to restoring the Shau'ghunate and making the Jade Worlds independent again. This group was known as the Committee to Restore the Shau'ghunate. The group convinced Halla to run for Governor of the sector under the Kartanin Dominion, but before much could be done in that regard, a substantial Uul'ba-Rai fleet showed up at Salvadda, carrying thousands of Jadeworlders who had been captured in the Crusade. The 'Salt Mines Gang' had staged a slave revolt across Rai space, leading to the foundation of the Rai Republic. The Rai slave castes, who now ruled their space, sued for peace. Thormatar and Beorht convinced Halla to take the secretly repaired Star Destroyer Nodachi to Salvadda and meet with the Rai fleet, and with Governor Tugawa.
Tugawa, former Daimyo of Clan Crane, saw an opportunity for an immense public relations coup. Along with Halla, Thormatar, the Jedi and the leaders of the former prisoners, he took the Nodachi to Joy, where they were met by visiting Prince-Archon Braily Terrablade of the SIL. Among the prisoners who returned, those who had been enslaved by the Uul'ba-Rai priest caste and presumed dead, were none other than Dejaa Dite, Halla's cousin, and Siriss Cortann, one of her old teachers.
For several weeks, Halla simply lived on Joy, while Tugawa remained governor. During this time, Ashin Varanin taught her more about the Force and the Jedi way. Eventually, Tugawa and Terrablade convinced her to declare herself Shau'ghun and claim the Jade Worlds as an independent country again - but only after Terrablade secretly promised two squadrons of Sandian Dart starfighters and the SIL's entire decommissioned fleet, dozens of capital ships. Another condition of the bargain was that he marry an heir of the royal family; besides Halla herself, and the imprisoned G'shan, only Dejaa officially remained, toughened and saddened by her time in the salt mines. Halla did not impose the marriage on her cousin; instead, she agreed to Terrablade's proposal. She soon became pregnant with her first son.
She oversaw the war with Black Nova and the Bandit Kingdoms with Admiral Hangetsu at her side. Keeping Thormatar as security chief and Ashin Varanin as her unofficial Jedi advisor, she set out to secure the Jade Worlds against further war, while establishing the Jade Empire. She gave birth to further children - a daughter, and then twin sons. During this time, she was manipulated by Velok into joining a dubious effort to resurrect Lyn-Char Beorht. She was one of several Masters who donated their strength to the effort, and was deceived by the Croke illusionist Feak Motal. Only the accidental presence of an ysalamir defeated Motal's subterfuge and exposed his and Velok's plan. Velok was declared persona non grata, despite his previous help to her. He later confronted her in person at a formal gala, demanding Kalo-Kaa's help in finding Ashin Varanin on Trevel'ka. He humiliated her in public, and her response locked his interests out of the Jade Empire entirely.
Halla, onboard the Shang Ra'la, led the Jade Empire fleet at the Battle of Mon Calamari. The mobile space city was heavily damaged, but Halla was rescued by the Household Guard.
After her third pregnancy, Halla invested in serious physical training and a myostim unit, attempting to get her fitness back to warrior standard.
Abilities[]
The Force[]
- "Your Imperial Majesty has benefited from the training of some half-baked elementalists on a forgotten world, some bits of Jedi lore, and a couple of sparring matches with people who weren't your enemies. Your Imperial Majesty splits her time between the Force, the Empire, and her husband and children. Your Imperial Majesty has literally spent more hours in childbirth than in training with people who know what they're doing."
- — Velok, 17 ABY
Halla's forward-heavy lightsaber.
Halla was taught focus, meditation and morality as a child, which allowed her to connect to and follow the Light Side of the Force. From there, however, she was left to her own devices, learning in collaboration with nineteen other Force-sensitive but untrained Guardians. Her teachers were Siriss Cortann and, later, Akemi Nakamura. She also had the benefit of studying four-thousand-year-old, pre-Purge accounts of the Jedi. Later, Ashin Varanin, Lyn-Char Beorht and a young Ember Rekali showed her the basics of Jedi lore, and she has benefited from association with other Jedi and with the Tak Lords. This training helped her develop an exceedingly powerful natural gift.
She has been known to experience prescient dreams.
Halla's use of the jiann sword has led her to a Force-based system of combat resembling Sokan and Form IV: Ataru. The style is called Outside Path. Essentially, adding the Force to the ancient styles of jiann combat has resulted in a trademark style, one used by several Force-sensitive members of the Armed Forces and Shau'ghunate Guard.
She was invited to train with the Shapers of Kro Var in 17 ABY, beginning with an Air temple and moving on to a Fire temple; her grasp of Alter Environment is solid. The Shapers declared her a Master, a title recognized by many other Forcers (though not by Velok, who saw her as a barely-trained child of immense natural strength).
In 18 ABY, at the Battle of Mon Calamari, Halla lost her Force-sensitivity entirely.
Combat[]
Hilt detail on Halla's jiann Force Sword.
Halla is a sai'mrai Honour Blade - one of the youngest sword masters ever, taught by the best. Her technique is very similar to Form I: Shii-Cho, which was founded on ancient swordplay, but her use of the jiann resembles both Form IV: Ataru and Sokan. She can use either a kiai'ta longsword or makizash short sword, or both at once. From there, she has learned the lightsaber, but it has been a relief to return to a solid blade. She is highly competent with Guard infantry weapons. Her competence has suffered since her loss of the Force.