The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Callista Ming

Callista Ming was a Jedi Knight of the old Republic, born Callista Masana on Chad. Part of a rogue sect of Jedi led by Djinn Altis, she nevertheless served the Republic in the Clone Wars. After the rise of the Empire, Callista and the group of Jedi fled to Belsavis with Jedi Master Plett, but the Empire pursued them. At that point, Callista and her lover Geith sacrificed themselves to stop the automated Imperial battlemoon Eye of Palpatine.

In the process, Callista's body was destroyed, but her spirit remained alive inside the battlemoon's computer through an esoteric Force skill. She dwelt there for decades, neither living nor dead, until the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and some of his students stumbled across the newly-reactivated Eye of Palpatine. An Imperial group was attempting to take control of the battlemoon and Callista's spirit aided Skywalker and his students in sabotaging the Eye of Palpatine. While communicating with each other via in the Force, Callista and Skywalker realized their attraction to each other, to the point where Skywalker did not want to destroy the battlemoon because it would destroy her as well. Defying his wishes, two of Skywalker's students stunned him and sabotaged the warship so that it would destroy itself. One of the students, Cray Mingla, transferred her spirit out of her body, allowing Callista to enter and live in the physical realm once more.

She and Skywalker were then free to develop a relationship, but the transfer had an unfortunate side effect: Callista was no longer able to feel or use the Force. She and Skywalker journeyed across the galaxy together trying to rekindle her Force-sensitivity, but when Callista was finally able to use the Force again, it was only by tapping into the dark side. Despairing and feeling that her attachment to Skywalker was hampering her progress, Callista left him and wandered the galaxy.

Falling in with a group of Force-sensitive Sephi who had journeyed to the remote world of Bakura, Callista served as their courier and messenger. As the only Human in the group, she was able to go to the city and trade handmade goods that the Sephi made for supplies among the xenophobic and Jediphobic Bakurans. She also had an ally in the prime minister of Bakura, Gaeriel Captison, who was also an old flame of Luke Skywalker's. One day in 14 ABY, while trying to meet with the prime minister at a social event to obtain medical aid for a sick Sephi, Callista's allegiances were discovered by a group of militant Bakurans called the Equalizers, who viewed Jedi and offworlders as disruptive influences. The ruckus they caused at the event prevented Callista from rendezvousing with the prime minister. However, after watching an offworlder she had met at the event use the Force to heal an injured Equalizer, Callista saw the possibility of obtaining his help. His name was Akleyn Kraen and he did agree to go with her to the Sephi camp even though she gave him few details.

She led him out of the city of Salis D'aar to the Sephi enclave via a boat and Akleyn gently probed into her past. During the trip, he fell overboard while they were passing through rapids but Callista fished him back out of the water. Akleyn also revealed that most of the Jedi from Belsavis whom she and Geith had sacrificed themselves to save were now living on Akleyn's homeworld of Yanibar, having been rescued by the Force exiles there. Arriving at the Sephi camp, Akleyn examined the ill Sephi and was able to treat her with the aid of his parents Sarth and Cassi Kraen, who had been in Salis D'aar. The Kraens then invited the Sephi to live on Yanibar, which they agreed to. For her part, Callista intended to leave the Sephi camp to resume wandering the galaxy in search of her connection to the Force, but Akleyn was able to partially treat her Force-blindness with a technique of his own invention. That and his admission of feelings for her persuaded her to journey to Yanibar as well.

Callista and Akleyn were happy for some time, and he and the other Force-healers on Yanibar were able to mostly restore her connection to the Force. However, Callista saw visions of a tremendous evil beyond the safety of Yanibar, and knew that she would never truly be happy on the isolationist world. Not wanting to endanger Akleyn or any of the others, she arranged to leave Yanibar covertly. As per the laws of Yanibar, her memory of the refuge was largely erased by a ylannock compound and she journeyed into the unknown to confront the evil in her visions. Unable to bring herself to tell Akleyn goodbye directly, she only left him a note that said "I am sorry" as a farewell and he was traumatized for years. They never saw each other again.

Behind the scenes
The character of Callista Ming was one of many canonical characters that author Atarumaster88 included in Force Exile after their canonical fates were left open-ended. In the case of Callista, Atarumaster88 had her marrying Sarth Kraen in the first draft, but later changed that with the inclusion of Cassi. Instead, Callista was written into the story as a love interest for Sarth's son, Akleyn Kraen as detailed in the novella Redemption's Call. However, Callista was peripherally mentioned in the Fate of the Jedi novels which established an alternate canonical fate for her, requiring Atarumaster88 to write her out of Force Exile in order to maintain conformity with canon. As a result, Akleyn experienced a startling character shift and received more page time in Force Exile V: Warrior to develop his character through the lingering emotional turbulence of Callista's abrupt departure.

Appearances

 * Redemption's Call
 * Force Exile V: Warrior