SW: Orchid Shara

NAME: Orchid Shara
RACE: Chiss
GENDER: female
BORN: 22BBY (conceived) 12BBY (birthed)
HOME PLANET: Nar Shaddaa
SKIN COLOR: blue
EYE COLOR: crimson
HAIR COLOR: black
PARENTS: Sev'rance Tann (mother) and Vandalor (father), Quinn Shara (adoptive mother)
WEAPONS: three lightsabers, initially her own blue blade but eventually she carries her mother's green saber as well as the purple saber of Kiri Starchaser
SHIP: Z-95 Headhunter 'Cornflower'
FORCE SPECIALIZATION: telekinesis, saber-dance sword technique

HISTORY: The girl that would eventually be named Orchid began life as a street urchin roaming the Vertical City of Nar Shaddaa. She had been conceived by her biological parents in 22BBY, the offspring of two Chiss warriors, Sev'rance Tann and Vandalor. The pair had their unborn daughter taken from Sev'rance's stomach and placed into cryostasis for the duration of the coming Clone Wars, planning on returning at the war's conclusion to raise their daughter in relative peace. Tragically both Sev'rance and Vandalor died within the first year of the war and so their daughter lay unclaimed and in stasis for the next decade. In 12BBY the money from the account her parents had set up to pay for her stasis ran out and the members of the clinic decided to bring the unborn fetus to term as the relatively unknown Chiss species was of interest to them. And so it was that Orchid was born though as yet she had no name.
She spent the first three years of her life with no name, merely a filing number as the doctors at the clinic examined her. The infant girl was miserable in these conditions but had no way of escaping until one of the clinic personnel mistakenly left the door of Orchid's room unlocked. The toddler's latent Force talents kicked in almost insintively and she was able to escape to the crowded streets of Nar Shaddaa. Orchid spent the next eight years alone scraping by on what she could on the streets. Then a chance encounter with a young Quinn Shara changed her life forever. Quinn took pity on the young girl and rescued the girl from one of Inquisitor Galgriev's Darthomir witches, taking her back to Goldsaber squadron where she adopted and named Orchid.
Orchid quickly fell in love with her adoptive mother and the family that she acquired in Goldsaber and the young girl was rapidly accepted as a little sister among the members of the fighter squadron. For the first time in her life, Orchid had not only a name but a family. Because of her time spent in stasis though, Orchid's growth had been stunted and by Chiss standards she would have been considered a slow child, developing and maturing slowly. However since there were no other Chiss around to tell her this, Orchid grew up free of any stigma her slow growth might have brought on amongst her own people. Despite her unusual appearance, Orchid never lacked for love and her mother would often give Orchid extra rations from her own meals to ensure that she got enough to eat.
Orchid's first real friend was the younger sister of Goldsaber leader Isabelle Devon, Maya and the pair developed a close digital friendship vie electonic mail and Holonet. She also developed close ties with Goldsaber's cantankerous and quiet Quarren cook Kril and the Bothan spacer U'ric who she viewed as her surrogate uncles. Sadly her friendship with Maya was cut short following the destruction of Alderaan when the young girl died alongside millions of her fellow Alderanians. This loss devastated Orchid and reinforced her already clingy nature. Though she was still loved and doted on by the members of Goldsaber, she felt isolated with no one her own age to speak with. It was a gap that was not filled until Jaeriel Nokta joined Goldsaber one year after the Battle of Yavin.
Despite a brusque and some might even say abusive nature, Orchid took an immediate interest in Jaeriel and her pet marmar Jelico and while the former was often as much a source of distress as comfort for Orchid, she developed a deep bond with Jelico who she often carried around the corridors of the frigate Alderaan's Tear. Orchid was present on Hoth alongside the rest of Goldsaber when the Empire discovered the hidden base, having lived there for over a year, the longest period since her adoption she'd spent living on a planet. When the Empire discovered the hidden base Orchid evacuated with the majority of Goldsaber and waited tensely for her mother's return. When Quinn did return Orchid immediately sensed her distress and did everything she could to ease the pain Quinn felt over the loss of her longtime friend and mentor Isabelle Devon.
With her mother now in command of Goldsaber, Orchid felt a responsibility to support her however she could and while her efforts were sometimes comically inneffective, no one could deny her determination to help her mother. Orchid got her first taste of combat during the Battle of Endor when she stole her mother's X-wing and flew it in battle against the Empire, making her the youngest combatant in the battlezone. Following this stunt she was made a member of the squadron and began flying missions with the members of Goldsaber, Quinn concluding that the best way to keep her daughter safe was to have her beneath the protective fire of the squadron's cannons. Orchid continued in her service to the New Republic throughout the years following the Battle of Endor. When Grand Admiral Thrawn took control of a large portion of the Imperial Remnant though she received a lot of angry glares as many directed their fear and anger towards her given her passing resemblance to the Chiss Grand Admiral.
Orchid persevered however, working all the harder to prove herself to her squadmates and continued to improve as a pilot throughout the Emperor Reborn's Operation Shadow Hand. It was during this time that Orchid began to truly blossom as a Force user as Quinn—now a member of Luke Skywalker's burgeoning Jedi Order—realized her daughter's potential and began to train her. Following the death of Palpatine Orchid participated in several combat operations against various Imperial spinter groups, participating in the capture of the star dreadnought Nightmare and later the destruction of the super star dreadnought Vereor. Following these exploits Orchid continued to serve the New Republic but the war that had been raging for most of her life was quickly dying down as the Imperial Remnant increasingly found itself unable to combat the rising might of the Republic. When the Bastion Accords were signed in 19ABY, ensuring peace between the Republic and Empire, Orchid took a much needed leave of absence.
Following the Battle of Endor Orchid had begun to fall in love with Jaeril Nokta. She didn't fully realize her feelings until after the destruction of the Vereor when she confronted Jaeriel about her feelings and the pair began a passionate love affair. It was with Jaeriel that Orchid now left to find her origins, traveling with her lover to Nar Shaddaa to seek out the clinic where she had been born. Upon finding it she was able to confirm that her parents had indeed been Chiss and went on to the secretive Chiss Ascendancy to discover the identities of her biological parents. Once within the Ascendancy she discovered that her parents had fled the Ascendancy because of their love and differences in social rank that forbade such affections. At first Orchid was delighted to realize that her mother had been a Force user, but this quickly turned to horror upon realizing that her mother had been a Darksider and a notorious Jedi killer.
Shaken by this revelation, Orchid returned to the Republic Defense Forces uncertain of herself but the unconditional love of Jaeriel and the warm welcome by her adoptive family ensured that she diid not feel ostracized despite the shock of her lineage. Orchid spent the next few years living in relative peace as part of the renamed Goldsaber star dreadnought's permanent compliment until the outbreak of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Orchid fought alongside Goldsaber squadron and eventually the members of the Gote'vaar'la Clan who came to the aid of the Goldsaber during the height of the war. Following the conflict's conclusion and seeing the warmth of Jaeriel's family within Gote'vaar'la Orchid decided to take the biggest leap of her life and asked Jaeriel to marry her. The pair were wed within the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War's end and joined Quinn's new Goldsaber organization aboard the once more renamned star dreadnoguht Starchaser.
She would become a central member of not only the Goldsaber Aid Group but also the burgeoning group of Force users who called themselves Sharans in honor of their leader, Quinn Shara who had left the Jedi Order following the Yuuzhan Vong War to pursue her own path. Orchid continued her service as a Jedi alongside her mother and friends until a Sith aspirant by the name of Dalex Naraka attempted to take the vast libraries and artifacts stored aboard the Starchaser. Though ultimately victorious in the long grueling campaign against Naraka and his supporters, it came at a heavy cost when in their final clash Naraka took the life of Quinn Shara. Orchid attended her mother's deathbed, where Quinn spoke to her in private, giving her final words of wisdom that Orchid never shared with anyone before she passed into the Force.
Orchid emerged from her mother's death the defacto leader of not only the Goldsaber Aid Group but also the Sharans who now looked to Orchid as the heir to her mother's legacy. Despite feelings of inadequacy, Orchid went on to lead the Goldsabers and Sharans both for the remainder of her life. She trained numerous apprentices and continued the Goldsaber tradition of helping those in need. Under her leadership the Sharans destroyed the last of Palpatine's terror weapons and amassed the largest collection of Force knowledge and artifacts in the galaxy aboard the Starchaser. When Orchid finally passed away she not only was the longest lived Chiss in history, surpassing the average age of eighty common to her species, she left behind her a legacy that the little girl from the streets of Nar Shaddaa could have never imagined in her wildest dreams.