Nicora Otsana

Nicora "Cora" Otsana was a female smuggler who lived and worked during the last years of the.

Close calls
At some point, Cora was enslaved by a crime boss. She managed to escape, blinding her employer in the process. The Hutt sent assassins after her, including a who tracked Cora over the galaxy to. In a melee battle, she managed to cut off both the Nagai's hands and kill him, but not before he gouged her across the neck and nearly cut her throat, leaving a permanent and distinctive scar along her collarbone.

Going into business for herself as a smuggler, Cora procured the ship she called the Bane, and was joined by crewmates Nakari and Katyri, a married couple. At some point, she became addicted to, and often carried small vials of it with her. She began to go by "Cora" only, keeping her full name a secret to help prevent people from connecting her to her past.

Cora and Drago
During the, Cora and her crew made a delivery to for Arba the Hutt. There she met the Nagai assassin Astariax Drago, who helped her escape the station when they were ambushed by hired killers and the Bane was destroyed by an explosive. During the encounter, Cora saved Drago's life by killing an assassin creeping up behind the Nagai. Drago took Cora back to on his ship, the Cutting Edge. Cora cracked a datapad she had recovered from one of the assassins and discovered the man was another of Arba's employees; she confronted the Hutt, bargaining for an increase in her fee and a favorable loan to buy a new ship.

Arba was incensed at her attitude, but concerned over the revelation about the assassination attempt, which he had not ordered; he was persuaded to agree to Cora's terms by his favorite employee, Tak Sakaros. Over the following few weeks, while Arba investigated the betrayal, Cora remained in his palace as a "guest" of Tak, becoming the Sith Lord's lover. Eventually, he helped facilitate her purchase of the Starsong, a new freighter. When Cora left Nar Shaddaa, Tak remained to help Arba root out the betrayers, but Drago went with Cora for a time.

On one of their trips, running medicine to, Cora and Drago became embroiled in a fight in the and Cora fell into the ; Drago climbed down to rescue her. More than a year later, in late 23 BBY, the two were set up on an arms deal and ambushed by the bounty hunter Keeri Thorod. Cora was seriously injured in the fight, with her lower back gouged open by a, but she managed to lurch to the ship's bridge and rock the capital ship into a barrel roll, briefly disorienting the artificial gravity and allowing Drago to gain the upper hand on Thorod. The Nagai ultimately killed Thorod in a quickdraw duel and got Cora to the ship's medical droid.

Knocked up, locked up
After Cora and Drago recovered from their injuries, they took some time out of the galactic spotlight and became lovers. A few months later, preparing for a mission on, Cora discovered she was pregnant. The mission went south and, while Drago exfiltrated successfully, Cora was captured. She managed to get an audio burst to Drago to inform him.

Cora was incarcerated in Tiniyan Prison and endured several months of Republic interrogation without answering questions, though she did kill both a guard and a fellow inmate to ensure she would be kept in solitary confinement as her pregnancy progressed and she became less able to protect herself. Eventually, the frustrated Balmorrans decided to transfer her to for more strenuous interrogation. The night of her transfer, Drago, Nakossk, and Tak broke into the prison and escaped with Cora.

Caliban
Cora gave birth to her son, Caliban, in late 22 BBY. Drago was largely absent from the boy's life, busy fighting in the, occasionally with Tak.

Skills and abilities
Cora was skilled in melee and ranged combat, sufficiently talented with s to defeat a Nagai fighter. She had enough skill with to crack the encryption on datapads and work through security networks.

Appearance and personality
Cora had green skin, brown hair, and violet eyes which looked silver in the right lighting. She had a voluptuous, athletic figure. Her exact height was unknown, but she thought of herself as "much smaller" than the 1.83-meters-tall Tak Sakaros.

Cora had an adventurous, restless spirit, finding downtime boring and requiring constant stimulation to be truly happy. She enjoyed fighting and had no hesitation about killing, mostly for the combat high. In the absence of some external stimulus, she took spice to keep herself entertained. She did not hesitate to dress to accent her figure in order to distract and manipulate male contacts, though she remained focused in the field.

Behind the scenes
Nicora Otsana was created by Allison Tyree, who gave Sakaros permission to publish this article on her behalf.