Tahiri Veila

Tahiri Veila, a Force-sensitive Human female, was a Jedi Knight of the New Jedi Order. During the Second Galactic Civil War, Veila became the Sith apprentice of Darth Caedus, the Dark Lord of the Sith who seduced her to the dark side of the Force. The granddaughter of a Jedi of the Old Order, Veila was born on the planet Tatooine to a pair of moisture farmers, Tryst and Cassa Veila. After the deaths of her parents, an orphaned Veila was adopted by the leader of a Tusken Raider tribe who raised her as one of the Sand People. Around 22 ABY, Jedi Master Tionne Solusar discovered Veila's connection to the Force and brought her to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. She then formed a friendship with a fellow Jedi Initiate named Anakin Solo, a grandson of the Jedi Chosen One Anakin Skywalker who was also remembered as the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

In the second year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Veila was captured by the invaders during the attack on the Jedi Praxeum. She was then "shaped" by Mezhan Kwaad and Nen Yim to be a Jedi/Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. After her rescue, Veila became an asset to the Jedi as the procedure gave her the ability to speak and understand the enemy's language. In 27 ABY, Veila participated in the ill-fated Mission to Myrkr to remove the threat of the Jedi-hunting voxyn and witnessed the death of Anakin Solo, whom she had begun to think of as more than a friend. Due to the emotional pain caused by his death, her Vong-implanted personality Riina Kwaad resurfaced and attempted to control Veila's mind.

After successfully unifying both personalities, Veila traveled to Zonama Sekot with Corran Horn and the Yuuzhan Vong Nen Yim, Harrar and a disguised Nom Anor. She aided Nen Yim in discovering the relation between the Yuuzhan Vong and Zonama Sekot, which proved vital in ending the war and forging a peace with the Yuuzhan Vong. There on Zonama Sekot, she learned that the Yuuzhan Vong personality imprinted upon her by shaper Mezhan Kwaad, was in fact the personality of Nen Yim, complete with memories. At that point she came to peace with the surprising truth just before Nen Yim's death by Nom Anor. Veila fought in the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar and by the war's end, she stayed on Zonama Sekot with Danni Quee and Tekli to assist the Yuuzhan Vong with adjusting to peace.

Tahiri Veila was an optimistic and free-spirited youth. Although she was rather fond of the time she spent being raised amongst the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine, Veila was fascinated by the Force, as well as her own connection to it, and was eager to be inducted into the ways of the Jedi Order. Even at a young age, she paid close attention to detail and was able to recall specific features of anything that interested her.

Yet despite her fondness for Tatooine and the people who raised her, the harsh and nomadic lifestyle of the Tusken Raiders, combined with the desiccated atmosphere of Tatooine, led Veila to feel a certain degree of animosity towards the cultural aspects of the Tuskens. Not only was she irritated by the requirement of covering her entire body in long robes, she hated the fact that she had to cover her face in accordance with Tusken tradition. The experiences of her childhood on Tatooine ultimately caused Veila to develop a particular trait that she retained well into adulthood: a phobia for footwear. After spending her first years on a surface covered mostly by hot sand, Veila reveled in her new-found freedom as a Jedi to walk barefoot whenever she pleased.

Upon beginning her initiation into the ranks of the Jedi Order, Tahiri Veila was instantly drawn to another young initiate named Anakin Solo, the grandson and namesake of the fallen Sith Lord Darth Vader. The two eventually developed a friendship that continued into their adolescence. Veila became Solo's best friend and confidante, whom she sometimes consoled by assuring him that he was not destined to fall to the dark side like his namesake.

Tahiri Veila's youthful naiveté and happy-go-lucky outlook was virtually destroyed by the events of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Shortly after falling into enemy captivity, Veila was subjected to experimentation by the Shaper Mezhan Kwaad, thus causing her to develop an artificial Yuuzhan Vong persona known as "Riina Kwaad," which was based on the memories of Nen Yim. Although Veila's personality maintained its dominance, the Riina identity sought to control her body by manipulating Veila into embracing the dark side. Veila was ultimately able to force a merge between herself and Riina, and thus ensured her continued control over her own body.

The Riina Kwaad personality was the first of two major factors in the war that ultimately changed Tahiri Veila; the second factor was the death of Anakin Solo. For years, she mourned the death of the boy she came to love and regretted the fact that she denied him a kiss before his death. Without Solo, Veila steadily became more withdrawn, sullen and pragmatic. The years between the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War and the beginning of the Second Galactic Civil War brought an end to the idealistic young girl that once was Tahiri Veila, who slipped further into depression as she never recovered from the devastating loss of her closest friend.

As a trained Jedi Knight, Tahiri Veila was skilled in both Force-based techniques and lightsaber combat. When necessary, Veila combined her swordsmanship with hand-to-hand combat skills, which she demonstrated in a duel with Leia Organa Solo during the Second Galactic Civil War. Like many modern Jedi, and thus in contrast to the original Order, Veila carried a blaster pistol as a sidearm in addition to her blue lightsaber. During her duel with Ben Skywalker, Tahiri Veila used Tràkata to great effect. Skywalker forced her lightsaber aside, so Tahiri switched her lightsaber off and on so fast Skywalker barely had time to react, allowing her to extend the blade to where his throat had been just moments before.

The Yuuzhan Vong are a nomadic extra-galactic sentient species that nearly destroyed the New Republic, and were responsible for the deaths of over 300 trillion sentient beings during their invasion of the galaxy.

The Yuuzhan Vong originated outside the known galaxy. A typical Yuuzhan Vong resembled a Human in form, though they were taller and heavier than the average Human and had less hair on their heads. The Yuuzhan Vong were religious zealots, who viewed mechanical technology as blasphemy. Their technological innovations were genetically engineered and purely organic. Additionally, the Yuuzhan Vong deeply respected pain to the point of sadomasochism and strove to improve their physical capabilities through organ grafting. Such grafting was a status symbol within Yuuzhan Vong society.

Perhaps most notably, the Yuuzhan Vong were unable to be sensed through the Force. This confounded the Jedi who first encountered the Yuuzhan Vong. However, they were susceptible to some Force based attacks.