Ar'alani

Ar'alani, born as Irizi'ar'alani and also known by her core name Ziara, was a Chiss female admiral who served in the Expansionary Defense Fleet of the Chiss Ascendancy nation during the Clone Wars and the reign of the Galactic Empire. A Chiss with blue skin and striking red eyes, Ar'alani was known as a brilliant tactician and a devoted officer within the Expansionary Defense Fleet. She was also regarded to have excellent instincts, often being told by her superiors to not doubt them. She was once a blood member of the Irizi family—one of the Nine Ruling Families that controlled the Ascendancy. The Vigilant, a Nightdragon man-of-war, served as her command ship during and shortly after the Clone Wars era. Later in the Imperial period, her command ship was the Chiss Heavy cruiser Steadfast. In her early life, Ar'alani attended Taharim Academy where she became acquainted with fellow cadet Mitth'raw'nuru "Thrawn". The pair developed a lifetime friendship, completing many missions side by side, with Ar'alani sometimes serving as Thrawn's Commanding officer. During their shared time as cadets at Taharim Academy—where she had built up a spotless record—Ziara aided Thrawn in being cleared from a cheating charge on a simulation, along with the help of Expansionary Defense Fleet General Ba'kif. After having his name cleared, Thrawn invited Ziara out where he first introduced her to his abilities of using an individual's art against them in combat, which he demonstrated to her in a bout after taking a look at her wire sculptures.

Following their graduation from Taharim Academy, Ziara successfully completed many missions as she rose in rank with the Expansionary Defense Fleet. She assisted Thrawn in a mission to the nation of the Lioaoin Regime, where the pair worked together to defeat a group of pirates. Both Ziara and Thrawn were promoted for their efforts, with Thrawn being placed under Ziara's watchful eye aboard her new command ship, the Chiss patrol cruiser Parala. Ziara and Thrawn worked together on many occasions, including the destruction of pirates against the Garwian Unity colony of Stivic, and the rescue of an excursion liner from the gravity well of a planet it was stuck in, where they saved eight thousand lives. Thrawn was once again put on trial on the Chiss homeworld of Csilla, where Ziara informed him of the truth of Csilla. Ziara was soon promoted to the rank of commodore, which severed her ties to the Irizi Family and was now called Ar'alani. She was also given command of the Chiss heavy cruiser Destrama as well as Picket Force Six. Shortly after her promotion, Ar'alani and Thrawn were invited to the Garwian homeworld, where she first began to humanize non-Chiss lives, while also thwarting an attempt for the Garwian Unity to conquer areas of Lioaoin space.

Near the end of the Clone Wars, the warlike Grysk Hegemony began a plot to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy. Their coordinator, "Jixtus," first sent the Nikardun General Yiv to conquer the neighboring nations of the Ascendancy, in an attempt to encircle them. This Chiss had rules against preemptive strikes, which aided the leader of the Nikardun Destiny in his attempt to destroy the Ascendancy. Ar'alani and the Vigilant played a vital role in defeating Yiv's fleet over the Vak Combine planet of Primea. Following the Chiss victory, Ar'alani dealt with the aftermath of the battle, finding and cleaning up Nikardun remnants. The Vigilant then made its way to the planet Sunrise, where it encountered and destroyed a Battle Dreadnought. After returning to the Ascendancy, Ar'alani met with the imprisoned Yiv in an attempt to find a lead on the mastermind behind the attacks on the Chiss. Ar'alani was also a major factor in the decisive victory against Jixtus's fleet during the climactic battle against the Grysk, which was dubbed Senior Captain Thrawn's last stand. The battle also resulted in Thrawn's exile from the Chiss Ascendancy, after breaking the Chiss rules against pre-emptive strikes.

Nearly two decades after the final battle against Jixtus, Ar'alani—now in command of the Chiss heavy cruiser Steadfast, welcomed Commander Eli Vanto aboard her ship after he had defected from the Imperial Navy, under the behest of now Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Shortly after, Ar'alani retrieved a handful of sky-walkers after Thrawn and Sith Lord Darth Vader had rescued them from the Grysks. Ar'alani soon reunited with Thrawn aboard his flagship, the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera, where they met the sky-walker Un'hee, who had been rescued from the clutches of the Grysk. Ar'alani and the Steadfast, along with a complement of TIE Defenders from the Chimaera defeated the Grysk warships while Thrawn dealt with the traitorous Grand Admiral Balanhai Savit. Before splitting ways again, Ar'alani warned Thrawn of the chaos brewing in the Ascendancy urging him to return, but the Grand Admiral denied, saying his place was with the Empire for the time being.

Text and facts from the “Ar'alani” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.