- "In case it escaped the notice of anyone here, we are at war. Our adversary has an advantage in men and resources that is almost insurmountable. I intend to do something about it."
- ―Alethia Archenksova
Alethia Thul Archenksova is the current High Councillor of Odan-Urr and one of the primary leaders of the White Lotus resistance movement. Alethia came of age in the early years of the Galactic Empire, which she served faithfully until being placed in stasis a few days after the Battle of Yavin. She was, ironically, rescued from this fate by the Jedi Edgar Drachen 33 years later and joined him in Clan Odan-Urr.
Character History
Youth and the Empire (29 BBY–0 BBY)
Alethia was born on Coruscant during the waning years of the Galactic Republic, and her life before Odan-Urr was profoundly influenced by the rise of Sheev Palpatine, who was already the Republic’s Supreme Chancellor by the time she was born in 29 BBY. Her early years were spent in quiet but increasing comfort and her father’s munitions business grew steadily as the rule of slow began to fray at the edges. When the Clone Wars broke out, business boomed as the galaxy burned. In the pre-war period, Alethia and her younger brother spent their summers on Alderaan with their mother’s family, despite their disapproval of their father’s profession. But manufacuring gave way to naked war profiteering and Alethia’s mother, now completely estranged from her family, grew increasingly involved in the Commission for the Preservation of the Republic.
The feelings crystallized after the Battle of Coruscant, when Separatist forces raided the capital itself and nearly made off with the Chancellor himself. Already staunch supporters of Palpatine, the attack on their home and the subsequent Jedi coup attempt pushed Archenksova’s family closer to the nascent New Order. The family were active and devoted COMPNOR members and Alethia was an early member of the Sub-Adult Group. At 16, she was admitted to the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant.
Although she excelled in her studies, Alethia was diverted from a military career. Shortly before graduation, she stumbled onto a plot by a classmate—with whom she was romantically involved despite anti-fraternization regulations—to bomb an assembly including senior brass.[1] By disrupting the plot and killing the perpetrator, Alethia earned herself a position in the Imperial Security Bureau.
Archenskova’s ISB career began with several assignments to the Mid and Outer Rim worlds, ferreting out corruption in situations where production quotas were going unmet or valuable Imperial resources were being sold on the black market instead of making their way to the military. After three years, she was reassigned to the Core, operating under cover as a member of the Coalition for Progress’ Art Group. In this capacity, she eventually settled on Alderaan, where she was successful in integrating herself into elite circles. As she discovered individuals who were financing the rebellion, Alethia used blackmail and threats of imprisonment or execution to pressure the disloyal into revealing information.
Alethia’s career came to an abrupt ending just before the Battle of Yavin. Recalled to Coruscant to report on the Organa family’s involvement in the Rebel Alliance, Alethia was offworld when the Death Star destroyed the planet. With no immediate use for her, the ISB enlisted her in a pilot project to place agents in stasis to reserve them for future needs. Archenksova was put into a state of suspended animation aboard a specially refitted freighter, the Shalott, which was programmed to jump randomly through hyperspace until it received a recall order from Coruscant. With the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Empire, that signal never came.
Odan-Urr (33 ABY - Present)
Satele Shan (33–35 ABY)
Alethia with Aaleeshah and Turr Darvesh
33 years later, the Shalott arrived in the Yhi system, between the orbits of Suni and New Tython. A small team of Jedi, led by Edgar Drachen, boarded the vessel to investigate it. All but one of the stasis pods had fatally degraded during the voyage. Drachen had Alethia, the sole survivor, revived and taken back to the Arca Praxeum. Drachen and his superior and old friend, Turel Sorenn, interrogated and debriefed the captured ISB agent. Satisfied that she would not be a threat, and sympathetic to her plight, Sorenn commissioned her into the Kotahitanga-Unity Defense Force as a lieutenant and assigned her to House Satele Shan in Seher.
Despite her culture shock, Alethia adjusted to life in the KUDF and quickly distinguished herself. When Mako Henymory, a Krath displaced by the initial phase of Darth Pravus’ purges, became Quaestor of Satele Shan, he took her on as his assistant and Aedile. Alethia, for her part, reached out to Mako’s predecessor, Mar Sûl, in hopes of better understanding Force-users and their capabilities.[2]
This training was short-lived. Mere weeks into her term as Aedile, Darth Pravus and the Iron Navy arrived at New Tython to exterminate the Jedi. Alethia and Mar barely escaped with their lives, though the Seherob were not so lucky.[3] Fleeing the ashes of New Tython, the Odanites responded to a distress call from Florrum, where members of Undesirable species and the suppressed Krath and Obelisk orders were under attack from Clan Plagueis. Alethia coordinated Satele Shan’s logistical efforts and began the hunt for Inquisitorius agents who might have infiltrated the house’s ranks.Alethia on Florrum. [4] Despite valiant effort by the Odanites, Plagueis was victorious and the Undesirables were enslaved or exterminated. Mako, in the wake of losing two of his dearest companions, gave into his grief and messily slaughtered several Plagueians. Alethia took acting command of the house while Henymory was imprisoned by the Council.
There was some good news, however; High Councillor A'lora Kituri was guided by the Force to the reclusive Vatali Empire. In exchange for deleting the Vatali’s home system, Kiast, from the First Order’s star charts, Empress Kaltani Anasaye offered the Odanites shelter in their secluded nebula. Drawing on her experience with the Empire, Alethia led the mission to infiltrate the First Order.[5] In the following weeks, with Mako still in jail, Alethia represented Satele Shan in their first audience with the Empress.[6] As the Vatali Conclave debated whether to allow the Odanites to stay permanently, Alethia helped lobby the nobility for support,[7] and was so involved in the process that she even selected the High Councillor’s dress for the final Conclave vote.[8]
The Conclave voted to allow the Odanites to settle, and Mako and Alethia set up shop on Daleem and turned their attention to the war against the Iron Throne. After Henymory stepped down and Alethia took command as the Director of the newly reorganized JTF Satele Shan, she set out to destroy the Sith through any means necessary. Odan-Urr had formed an alliance, the White Lotus, with Clan Arcona, and Alethia led a combined force in a mission to destroy the Iron Navy’s starship assembly yard.[9] More controversially, she embarked on a campaign of targeted assassinations of Sith targets, even recruiting House Excidium’s quaestor, Blade Ta’var, to the cause. However, the brutality of these missions was unsettling to many Jedi.[10]
Events came to a head in a Council meeting. Although the Council and the new High Councillor, Turel Sorenn, reluctantly supported Alethia’s activities, Councillor V’yr Vorsa was so disturbed by them that she resigned from the Council in disgust and set out to break Blade free of both the Sith and Alethia’s influence.[11] However, the opposing parties were reunited at Paragon Colony in former Taldryan space, where Alethia made personal enemies of Grand Inquisitor Ishanta and Herald Morgan Sorenn while Vorsa dueled Pravus’ personal assassin, Necren.[12] Although Vorsa remained estranged from the Council of Urr, Blade Ta’var completed her defection to Odan-Urr and the Jedi.
The Council of Urr (35 ABY–Present)
Alethia with Len Iode, Tamashi Adaephon Delat, and Edgar Drachen
After Satele Shan settled in on Daleem, Alethia turned her considerable skills at manipulation to the war effort, producing a steady stream of propaganda to aid recruitment as boost morale. By mid-35 ABY, her skillful networking and self-promotion was beginning to pay off. Along with Arcia Cortel and Ihi Ariki, Archenksova had become one of the new non-Force-users to ascend to the higher levels of power within Odan-Urr, or, for that matter, the entire Lotus. Her reputation as a hardline hawk, while troubling to the Jedi, endeared her to many in the OEF and especially to the Tythonian population who hungered for vengeance. Although many of the Jedi had their doubts about her, Alethia’s popularity among the rank and file elevated her to a seat on the Council.
Alethia helped take the lead on expanding the Lotus, as she and High Councillor Sorenn formed a tenuous alliance with Rhylance of the battered Clan Taldryan. Despite a level of mutual distrust, the Odanites helped Taldryan steal several warships from the Iron Navy.[13] Taldryan turned those same vessel against the Iron Throne, and fought alongside Odan-Urr and Arcona against the Grand Master’s flagship, the Suffering. Unfortunately, that battle took and abrupt turn for the worse as Rath Oligard’s Collective arrived on the scene and routed the allied forces.
Odan-Urr was not unscathed by the Collective’s abrupt and devastating attack on the Brotherhood. Oligard’s agents had infiltrated the Sentinel Network and assassinated many reliable sources, and the Lord Superior himself managed to hijack OEF frequencies to broadcast a call to arms for all non-Force-users. Amid growing tensions between Jedi and non-Jedi, High Councillor Sorenn made the controversial decision to open a second front in Odan-Urr’s war for survival.[14] After a successful strike against the Collective’s homeworld, Nancora, Alethia leveraged Sorenn’s support and her own popularity among the OEF and SeNet to take the position of High Councillor.[15]
Description
Appearance and Attire
Alethia is of average height for a human female, slender, and fine-boned. She has fair, even-toned skin and deep blue eyes. She generally keeps her hair dyed a silver color, but occasionally changes the color as an easy way to make herself less recognizable. Alethia keeps her hair about shoulder-length and wears it pulled back and out of the way when in the field. It's very rare to see her even slightly disheveled.
Alethia has an extensive wardrobe. She dresses with purpose, knowing that her appearance is the first act of communication and persuasion with everyone she meets. In situations where she needs authority and immediate obedience, an OEF uniform does the trick. She tries to keep at least one at hand, and owns the appropriate variations for army, navy, and SeNet.
However, this is increasingly rare as her place at the head of the Council of Urr has moved her into a more political role. Now her outfits tend towards the regal, evoking both authority and non-threatening femininity. Archenksova favors cool shades of blue, purple, and green; soft, light fabrics; and cuts that hint at or accentuate her figure rather than blatantly displaying it.
Speech and Mannerisms
Between her upbringing on Coruscant and her education at the Royal Imperial Academy, Alethia’s natural accent is the crisp prestige accent of the core worlds, which was widespread throughout the Imperial military and bureaucracy. While not terribly uncommon among the Odanites and the Brotherhood, Alethia’s accent is pronounced enough to be notable. She can affect a few others passably, but rarely finds the need to do so. Regardless of the accent itself, Archenksova’s voice has a silky, mellifluous quality. She’s very conscious of this and sees it as another arrow in her persuasive quiver.
Her movements are graceful and deliberate, the result of a youth spent in dance classes and martial arts training.
Personality
Alethia’s demeanor is, in most situations, warm and inviting. Surrounded by soldiers, reformed criminals, and detached monks, Alethia has distinguished herself as the gregarious and charming councilor with a knack for etiquette. A warm smile, liberal use of compliments, and an apparently-inexhaustible desire to listen make for good first impressions and fast friends. However, this charm turns icy in situations when it is not useful. When discussing military and intelligence operations or debating with the Council, her cold, calculating Imperial nature shows through. The shifts from charismatic and friendly to steely and surgical and back again can be jarring for those unaccustomed to them.
However, Archenksova has spent the majority of her life luring others into a false sense of security until they provide the means to their own downfall. This has contributed to a certain paranoia and an obsession with understanding those around her to gain power over them. She has difficulty letting her own guard down, even among her relatively trusted friends and allies.
Relationships
Aurora Ta’var
- "Have fun sitting here alone while I go flirt with the bartender."
- ―Aura Ta’var
Aura, then known as Blade, initially came to the Sentinel Network’s attention as a Sith vigilante who occasionally killed other Sith. After observing her for a time, Alethia made contact with the newly minted Quaestor of House Excidium. The two quickly came to an arrangement, and Blade was eager enough to kill whichever monstrous Sith Alethia asked her to kill.[16] The situation was mutually satisfying, however it grew complicated when Jedi Councillor V'yr Vorsa that Alethia and SeNet were authorizing assassinations.[11]
Eventually, Vorsa tracked Ta’var down and started her training as a proper Jedi. After fighting alongside the Odanites for the first time,[12] Blade defected to Odan-Urr just in time to escape the burning of Judecca. Dropping her Sith name, the Zeltron rededicated herself to the Jedi path as Aurora Ta’var.
Despite their wildly different backgrounds and worldviews, Alethia and Aura formed an easy friendship, sharing drinks[17] and leisure time on Kiast.[18] Now reunited with her daughter Zoe, Aura tried to pull Alethia in as surrogate family.[19] Despite the occasional rivalry,[20] the two remain close for the time being. However, they now find themselves arguing for opposition parties within the Council. It’s unclear how much this will strain their relationship.
Turel Sorenn
- Turel Sorenn: "Do you always wear perfume on stealth missions?"
- Alethia: "Most men never get close enough to notice. Don’t worry. I won’t tell the General."
- ―[12]
As Clan Odan-Urr’s Proconsul, Turel was privy to Alethia’s initial debriefing sessions and one of the few Odanites who is aware of the full extent her of career with the Empire. Despite his reservations, Sorenn recognized the woman’s potential and allowed her to climb the ranks within Satele Shan. After the Battle of Florrum left her superior officer briefly imprisoned, Alethia began to take on a more prominent role with the JTF and developed a hesitant but mutual respect for Turel. The Jedi appointed Alethia the Director of Satele Shan after Mako’s resignation, a decision that would later come back to bite him—Vorsa, his wife, left the Council and Odan-Urr entirely in protest of Alethia’s actions.[11] Nevertheless, Turel and Archenksova maintained a cordial enough working relationship throughout his tenure as High Councillor.[12]
By the time the Collective struck, Alethia had amassed enough support on the Council to be Turel’s most obvious successor as High Councillor, a situation which Sorenn accepted. After his controversial effort to save the Brotherhood’s civilian population,[21] Alethia attempted to manage the situation in a way that would preserve Turel’s seat on the Council while smoothing the way for her own ascension as High Councillor.[14]
Now that Turel has settled into a comfortable semi-retirement, the two meet for dejarik weekly.
Mar Sûl
- "I assure you, Yuki, you have never seen me give anyone a longing anything."
- ―Alethia
Alethia arrived on New Tython shortly after the Order of the Force Ascendant turned against the Odanites. Mar Sûl, once the proud defender of Seher, largely turned his back on the Seherob and the Odanites alike after the violent loss of his friends and comrades in the Force Ascendant. However, once she was selected by Mako Henymory as Aedile of House Satele Shan, Alethia contacted the former Quaestor. Still reeling from her first encounters with Force-users and the post-Imperial galaxy, Archenksova reached out to a fellow outcast to guidance and information on the Jedi and their capabilities.[2] A few weeks later, when Pravus and his fleet came to destroy New Tython, Mar barely escaped the planet thanks to Alethia’s intervention.[3]
The two worked well together, although Alethia’s increasingly prominent role in Odan-Urr’s leadership make such missions infrequent. The pair made another almost impossible escape from the Rakhghoul-infested vessel Charon,[22] and Mar became one of Alethia’s favorite escorts and honor guards.[6] Despite a strong mutual attraction and Aura’s best efforts, neither of the pair has taken the plunge into a romantic relationship. However, the Zeltron meddling has led to at least one interesting Council meeting.[20]