Captison, Gaerial

[Rose]

Gaerial Captison

[No Picture Avaliable]

Basic Information -

Homeworld: Bakura
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Height: 1.55 meters
Affiliation: Bakuran Senate

Expanded Universe -

Raised in the field of local politics, Gaerial Captison was the daughter of the late Dol Captison, a Bakuran Senator of some notoriety. An excellent student, she won a position as a Junior Senator and entered the Bakur Senatorial Academy (BSA) in Salis D'aar, the Bakuran capital. She lived with her aunt and uncle during her four years of study, but the final two years were marked with tragedy. The Empire had annexed the Outer Rim world, and her protesting parents were killed in the crossfire between Imperial occupation forces and Bakuran Resistance. Though the Empire exerted control over Bakura, much of its government structure stayed intact, though it swore fealty to Palpatine. Gaerial's uncle, Yeorg Captison, remained Prime Minister, but the role was largely titular with no real sway over policy.

Despite the upheavals on her beloved home planet, Gaerial spent a year offworld, training on Coruscant doing postgraduate work in government. When she returned to Bakura, she assumed a post in the Bakuran Senate, all the more cognizant of her limited voice compared to the overwhelming authority of the Imperial Governor, Wilek Nereus. Suddenly, the Ssi-ruuk invaded Bakura. Reptilian aliens with a ghoulish form of technology powered by the life energies of unwilling slaves, the Ssi-ruuk had crippled the Bakuran fleet. The Bakurans sent out a distress call, urging the Empire to come to the rescue. Little did the Bakurans realize that Palpatine had just died at the Battle of Endor, and the Empire was is no position to mount a mission of aid. The Rebel Alliance, however, thrust into its new role as victor in the Galactic Civil War, did lend a hand.

Commander Luke Skywalker led the mission to Bakura. Princess Leia Organa led the diplomatic efforts, cementing a truce at Bakura between Rebels and Imperial forces. Gaerial and Luke worked closely during those trying times, and the two grew to admire each other, but Gaerial's religious beliefs prevented her from exploring these feelings any further. Gaerial was a firm follower of the Cosmic Balance. This belief system posits that for every positive in the galaxy, there is a negative; that one person's success must come at the price of another's failure. Affluence was offset by poverty, and the strength and power of someone like a Jedi Knight came at the cost of depriving another. As such, she had trouble accepting and supporting a Jedi, for she felt such power upset the needed galactic equilibrium.

As an aid to Wilek Nereus, Gaerial discovered the scheming governor's plan to end the Ssi-ruuvi invasion. The Ssi-ruuk had taken a deadly interest in Luke Skywalker, wanting the Jedi captured and delivered to serve as a potent power source for their deadly technologies. In return for Skywalker, the Ssi-ruuk would end their hostilities. Nereus had agreed to this plan, but had no intentions on handing over such a powerful asset to unknown aliens. He secretly infected Skywalker with a deadly parasite -- an Olabrian trichoid. If all went well, the trichoid would kill Luke by the time he was in Ssi-ruuvi hands, and the parasites would spread to the aliens, killing them as well. Gaerial informed Luke of the governor's plot, and using the Force, he was able to prevent the larval parasites from killing him.

After the Ssi-ruuk were repelled, Gaerial's views on the Force and the Jedi softened, though she was still unable to commit to anything other than a respectful friendship with Skywalker. He had pressing business as a key member of the Alliance of Free Planets that was spreading across the galaxy. She stayed on Bakura, reviving the world from the damaging invasion. She eventually married Pter Thanas, a former Imperial garrison commander who had turned to politics and worked beside her in the Senate. The two had a child, Malinza. The little girl was only three years old when her father succumbed to Knowt's disease and passed away. After Yeorg Captison retired from politics, Gaerial ran for and won the position of Prime Minister. Under her authority, Bakura revived and bolstered their system defenses with four advanced warships, the Watchkeeper, Sentinel, Defender and Intruder. These were Gaerial's legacy after she retired from politics to spend more time with her daughter.

During an insurrection in the Corellian system, Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, returned to Bakura. The New Republic needed warships with the advanced anti-interdiction technology that the Bakurans possessed. The four starships that Captison commissioned set out for Corellia under the command of Admiral Hortel Ossilege, with Gaerial aboard serving as Bakuran plenipotentiary. Gaerial was killed in the battle that followed, as the Bakuran ships broke through the enemy lines of the Sacorrian Triad. This left little Malinza Thanas orphaned. She was adopted by a well-placed Bakuran family, and grew to be a musical prodigy, earning a place in the Bakuran National Symphony. Luke Skywalker felt protective of Malinza, and would visit her several times following her mother's death, and helped to sponsor her education.