Elara D'ovan

Elara D'ovan was a and a trainer and friend of Rin Sakaros.

Early life
Born on the devastated world of, Elara was raised on the same lie taught to all Mistryl: that the , jealous and fearful of the Mistryl, had ordered Emberlene reduced to its barren, ruined condition. Like so many other women of the world, Elara was recruited into the Mistryl Shadow Guard and trained as a highly competent mercenary and assassin, sent on contracts which would ostensibily help to rebuild Emberlene and restore her people.

As a Mistryl, Elara traveled the galaxy, and her skill eventually earned her generous leeway from her Team Prime, and she was often simply given missions without needing to work with others or even report back. By the age of twenty-five, the considered her one of their top dozen agents.

Rin Sakaros
In 67 ABY, Elara was sent to assassinate a vigo traveling aboard a. After two days of watching his routine, she struck when his guards were at their most fatigued, killing three before they even knew she was there. Striking down two more with her s, she shot the last and then broke the vigo's neck. Taking a holo to confirm the kill, Elara was startled by a woman entering the room behind her. Reacting instinctively, she closed on the other woman, and the two fought a brief and vicious hand fight. Just as Elara gained the upper hand, however, she found herself across the room and electrocuted with life-sapping.

After a few moments of shivering and twitching, Elara recovered enough to face her enemy. The woman introduced herself as Rin and demanded an explanation. Faced with inevitable death otherwise, Elara admitted that she was a Mistryl on an assassination contract. Curious, Rin sealed off the room and sat down to discuss the matter with Elara. It emerged that Rin (obviously a Force user, though she gave no information about her training) was traveling the galaxy to pick up useful skills, and despite her ability to fight with the Force, she was impressed by Elara's combat skills and wanted to learn the Mistryl style. Though unwilling to compromise the Mistryl, Elara was indebted to Rin for sparing her life and thought the woman would make a very useful partner. A bit grudgingly, she took Rin as an apprentice.

Rin and Elara traveled together for the next two years, with Rin becoming something of an apprentice Mistryl. She taught Elara the martial art Var Shek and used her  abilities to sense the minds and alertness of targets and their guards. In return, Elara taught Rin the Mistryl hand-fighting style, as well as the use of several weapons, including knives,, and zenji needles. She also instructed Rin on stealth and infiltration techniques, making Rin slip past enemies without using the Force to distract them.

From 67 to 69 ABY, the two women traveled all over the galaxy on whatever contracts the Eleven Elders sent to Elara, journeying to, , , , and the , among dozens of others. By the time they were ordered to kill an informant on, Rin had become adept at all the Mistryl techniques she had been taught, and Elara was one of the deadliest Shadow Guards in the galaxy.

The Eleven's betrayal
Obroa-skai changed everything. Unexpectedly, Rin held Elara back from the kill, the Force warning her that their target was important to Elara's future. The "dangerous informant" turned out to be a disciple of, a Mistryl who had deserted the Guard after discovering that the entire story of Emberlene was a lie. The Mistryl had not been unjustly devastated by Palpatine, but instead had been a race of brutal, merciless conquerors who were only stopped when their would-be victims banded together to destroy them.

Hollowed by the revelation, Elara contacted her Team Prime with her information, wanting a second opinion. Under orders from the Eleven, the Team Prime took five other Mistryl to assassinate Elara. Rin suspected what was going on and suggested Elara meet them on, where they could create an ambush. Elara clung to enough trust to receive them alone, but Rin refused to leave her.

When the Mistryl arrived, Elara recognized bitterly that their approach was a classic ambush-and-assassinate move. The Mistryl had not counted on Rin, however, and the red-skinned woman engaged five of the Guards alone, using her Force powers and lightsaber to bring them down while Elara fought the Team Prime. Rin mowed down her enemies, slaughtering them while receiving only scratches and mild cuts. Elara, however, was badly wounded, taking two stabs in the stomach before she managed to cut her attacker's throat.

Elara expected to die and begged Rin to share the terrible knowledge of the Eleven's treachery, but as Rin placed a bleeding hand over Elara's injuries, the Mistryl found her fading vision clearing a bit. Quickly deducing what had happened, Rin cut open her palms and spread her blood over a faintly protesting Elara's stomach. The regenerative properties of Rin's half-Qua blood were not enough to heal Elara, but they kept her alive until Rin got her to a tank.

Azure angel of death
When she recovered, Elara announced her plan to do what she could to expose the deceit perpetrated against the Mistryl Shadow Guards. She asked Rin to accompany her, but her friend refused. Unable to dissuade Elara from her plan, Rin went her own way, off to continue her quest for knowledge.

Seeking the best route to help her misguided sisters, Elara found her way to the, a group of other Mistryl who had also realized the deception of the Eleven and left the Shadow Guard. Though the Cabal had previously existed by avoiding conflict with the Shadow Guard, Elara sought to convince them to use their covert and highly independent nature to undermine the lies of the Eleven from within, slowly spreading the truth to Mistryl teams in the field.