Tarvin Calaan

"I love to go fast, fly, blow things up, my wife and kids, and to liberate galaxy from tyranny, in that order. It's a Calaan thing."

- Tarvin Calaan joking with his squadron mates

Tarvin Calaan was a Human male born and raised on Alderaan, although, he spent most of his life on Naboo. He was the adopted son of Tristan Calaan and didn't meet his birth mother, Karen Orvan, until he was almost thirty. He was married to childhood friend, Larena Vaal and was the father of Jedi Knight Brin Calaan and GA fighter pilots Dirrax and Nerric Calaan.

Early Life
Tarvin Calaan was born on Alderaan in 18 BBY to a homeless and creditless Karen Orvan. Karen who was only nineteen years old at the time knew she didn't have the ability to adequetly care for Tarvin and as a result made what she would later say to be the most difficult decision of her life; to put her son up for adoption. Wanting the best life possible for her son, Karen was able to approach Bail Organa after he made a public speech in one of Aldera's parks and ask for his help in finding Tarvin a home. Organa, who pitied the young women, agreed to help. He eventually settled on Tristan Calaan as the best candidate. Tristan was initially reluctant but eventually gave into Bail. When Tristan first held Tarvin, the love he felt for his new son was so great that the two almost immediately formed a mild Force Bond, which actually passed some of Tristan's force potential on to his son. Although, this Force affinity would not show up in Tarvin, it would surface in his daughter, Brin.

Tarvin was an adventurous child which, much to the chagrin of his father, commonly got him in trouble. He enjoyed travelling with his father onboard the Star Blade more than anything else. On one of these trips in 12 BBY, Tarvin was nearly killed by Imperial soldiers on Vanquo when he snuck off the Star Blade and ventured out into the wilderness. Fortunately, the Stormtrooper who fired on Tarvin didn't want to kill a child and set his weapon to stun. Tarvin was rescued moments later by Tristan and the Jedi Knight Strix.

It was around this time that Tarvin met the two people who would go on to become his best friends; his future wife, Larena Vaal, and Dirrax Norsen. Both Tarvin and Dirrax were expert mechanics as well as pilots and enjoyed fixing up old, broken speeders. For thier sixteenth birthday's Tristan was able to aquire two broken, surplus N-1 Starfighters for the two to toy around with. The end result of thier tinkering was originally named Twin Star. However, they eventually began calling the craft the Twinster. By the time they had turned eighteen, both Tarvin and Dirrax were excited about joining the Imperial Naval Academy, although both secretly disliked the Empire and even considered defecting to the Rebel Alliance once thier training was complete. Only a few weeks before Tarvin intended to enter his application to the Academy, his father asked him if he would like to acompany him on another trip on the Star Blade. Fortunately for Tarvin he said yes to his father. Tarvin waved goodbye to his friends, not knowing that it was the last time he would ever see his home. A few hours after the Star Blade hyperspaced out of the system, the Death Star arrived in orbit around Alderaan. Under the orders of Grand Moff Tarkin, the battle station fired it's main weapon, wiping Alderaan from the face of the galaxy.

Joining the Rebellion
When word reached the crew of the Star Blade that Alderaan had been destroyed, Tristan immediately changed the ship's course and headed toward the Rebel base on Yavin 4. While in hyperspace Tristan finally revealed to his son his connections with the Rebels. Upon arriving, Tarvin against the will of his father, who after the destruction of Alderaan wanted to keep him safe, immediately volunteered to join the Rebel Alliance. Due to his inexperiance Tarvin was asked to sit out the attack on the Death Star. During this time he dicovered that Larena had also survived the destruction of thier homeworld and had with the help of R2-C6 made her way to the Yavin system. Sadly, she told him Dirrax had not been with her at the time and had died in the explosion. After the destruction of the Death Star, Tarvin was assigned to the newly reformed Gold Squadron, along with Tyler Saft, Rita Tabber, Tol Dorr, and eight others. He only had a few, short weeks of training in his X-wing before he and the rest of his squadron were pressed into combat to fend of Imperial attacks on the moon. In his first engagement, Tarvin impressed Commander Saft by scoring two kills one of which got an enemy fighter of the Commanders tail. Tarvin would continue to prove himself over the next year. At some point during this year he scored at least three more kills, becoming an ace.

Tarvin quickly earned the respect of his commander and other squadron mates during his first year of service. As a result he was hand picked by Saft to accompany him and General Madine on a mission to Gerrard V in 1 ABY. Flying a Y-wing, Tarvin scored three kills in the battle and, as the squadron's kill leader, was promoted to Lieutenant by Commander Saft a few days later. During his downtime he grew closer to his friends Larena Vaal and Kora Vintar, whom he had met on Yavin 4.

Early in 2 ABY, Tarvin won the Shield of Yavin for his role in defending an Alliance convoy from an Imperial ambush at Zolan. Despite his actions, the squadron still suffered at least two casualties. Fortunatly, replacements in the form of Kael Sykes and Hally Serrie arrived at Echo Base about six months later. The two became fast friends with Tarvin, and the three of them quickly proved themselves to be some of the best pilots in the Alliance.

Rising through the Ranks
When Imperial forces discovered the location of the Rebel base on Hoth, Gold Squadron was assigned to escort the first transports out of the system. Commander Saft chose Tarvin to accompany him as escort for the first transport, Quantum Storm. Tarvin was initially upset that he would not get a chance to stay and fight the Imperials. Just before he left, he was approached by Kora, who revealed she had feelings for him. Tarvin didn't know how to react, as he cared for Kora but somehow felt he would be betraying Larena. Kora understood, and, after convincing herself that Larena needed him more than she did, volunteered to stay behind and set off charges to destroy the base. In the attempt, she was killed which shook Tarvin emotionaly. He blamed himself for her death and for almost a year was unable to look Larena straight in the face. After the evacuatoin he was promoted to Captain, as second in command of the squadron, by Commander Saft.

"Welcome to my home, Kael. Welcome to my reason for fighting the Empire."

- Tarvin upon seeing The Graveyard

Over the course of the following year, in preparation for the assault on the second Death Star, Tarvin and his squadron took part in numerous battles and raids against the Empire. One of these missions was an escort assignment which took them through The Graveyard. This was Tarvin's first time in the Alderaan system sinse his homeworld's destruction. The sight of the astroids reminded him of why he had joined the Rebellion and what he was fighting against. Later, in private, he promised Kael that no matter what, once he found a new home, he would never let anything happen to it.

Things changed drastically just a few weeks before the Alliance launched thier attack at Endor. During the Battle of Besbin, Commander Saft was killed when he sacrificed himself by flying his X-wing in front of an enemy concussion missile which had been aimed at one of the vital Tibanna gas platforms. After the battle, Tarvin was immediatly promoted to Commander. However, for the coming battles, General Calrissian would be chosen to lead the squadron. At Endor, after the Emperor sprung his trap, Tarvin flew brilliantly, scoring one of the highest kill counts among Alliance pilots. During the battle he defended the Star Blade from a flight of TIE fighters. With the help of Kael and the Millenium Falcon, he also destroyed an Imperial Star Destroyer when Lando gave the order to "engage them at point blank range." When General Solo's strike team deactivated the Death Star's shields, Tarvin was ordered to take his flight to the surface of the battle station and give Wedge, Lando and the others cover as they moved into the superstructure. However, Admiral Ackbar, fearing that Wedge and Lando would be unsuccesful, ordered Tarvin to take a group of fighters into the superstructure after them. Fortunatly, Wedge's astromech droid was able to detect the incoming fighters and Wedge warned them before they reached the second access tunnel back to the surface. Though the two tail fighters were lost, Tarvin and Kael were able to escape moments before the station exploded. Afterwards, during the celebrations, Larena and Tarvin finally expressed thier feelings for each other and shared there first kiss. For his actions in the battle, Tarvin was later awarded the Battle of Endor Hero's Medal.

Over the next few weeks Tarvin and the rest of Gold squadron would take part in a series of intense battles against the Nagai and Tof invaders from the Unknown Regions. Despite coming out victorious each time, the constant combat began to take it's tole on the squadron. When Naboo called for aid in thier uprising against the Empire, Gold Squadron had been cut down to just seven members, including new addition Ace Azzameen. This problem was made worse by B-wing pilot, Pelsin Pordak having to sit out the engagement due to illness. When the small group of ships under the command of Commodore Tristan Calaan entered the Naboo system, they were ambushed by an Imperial Star Destroyer and a Victory II-class frigate. Tarvin led the few members of his squadron in a desperate effort to fend them off. Unfortunatly he was hit and his fighter fell out of control toward the planet. He was able regain control a mere meters off the ground. After helping Naboo and Gungan forces in capturing the hangar and palace he led Bravo Squadron into orbit against the Imperial forces thier. With the help of the new squadron, the surviving members of Tristan Calaan's force were able to destroy the Imperial forces and liberate the system. Despite the victory, Gold Squadron had been hit hard again, losing long time members Rita Tabber and Tol Dorr. As a result the squadron was put on the innactive list until new pilots could be trained. Young Bravo Squadron pilot, Cody Vistal, volunteered to join, however, Alliance high command felt he was to young and unexperienced. Before he left, Tarvin promised Cody that he would be a member of Gold Squadron some day. Tarvin was later awarded the Star of Alderaan for his actions during the battle.

Fighting for the New Republic
After the new recruits had been trained, about a year later, Gold Squadron was assigned to patrol the area around the Naboo sytem. On one of these patrols, Tarvin and fellow pilots Kato and Trav Otov were performing a secuirity check on an a suspicious Action VI transport. When Tarvin ordered it to halt and prepare to be boarded, it opened fire on him and his wingmates as well as proceeded to launch three modified TIE interceptors from a hidden hangar bay. Despite the surprise attack, Tarvin and his wingmen were able to destroy both the fighters and the freighter. After calculating the ships trajectory, Alliance Intelligence was able to determine that it had come from Talravin. Intelligence then uncovered that a Moff on Talravin named Tage Kallag, who had information regarding the attack, intended to defect and Gold Squadron was ordered to rescue him. Tarvin led his squadron into the Talravin system against Black Knight Squadron, under the command of Brek Onar. During the battle, Onar had Tarvin in his corsshairs but let him go due to the fact that Tarvin had spared the life of one of his pilots and the battle at that point was already lost. Gold Squadron quickly gained the upper hand and forced the Knights to retreat. They then landed with an evacuation shuttle and took Kallag back to Naboo. Upon arriving, the squadron took it's first casualties since the liberation of the world when a bomb placed on the landing pad, which they later would dicover was meant for Tarvin, exploded, killing Trav Otov and destroying both his and Tarvin's X-wings. Afterwards, Kallag informed them about the secret Imperial installation on Ohma-D'un that the soldiers on the freighter had been trying to activate.