Camilla Sookanado

Camilla Sookanado, also known as Cami, was a retired Rodian bounty hunter. Born within the ranks of the persecuted Tetsu Clan, Cami led a secretive life until she departed her homeplanet to become a bounty hunter. She was quite successful in her career until it was cut short by a startling turn of events, and she was held captive on a primative world. The traumatic memories haunted her, forcing Cami to retire early as she was not of sound mind to continue the trade. As a result of genetic manipulation from her captivity, Cami gave birth to a son, Trak Nar. Due to her mental illness, she could not care for the child and he was placed for adoption. Nearly twenty years later, Cami was reunited with her son.

Early life
Camilla Sookanado, called "Cami" by most, was a Tetsu Rodian. To save their only daughter from the genocide initiated by Navik the Red of the rival Chattza Clan, Cami's parents secured protection by giving up the infant to a Chekkoo Clan family. Cami grew up never knowing her true parents, living a sheltered life within the custody of her foster family. The Chekkoo clansmen, becoming increasingly aggrivated with the stranglehold the Chattza hunters had on their people, trained tirelessly, preparing their warriors for what would become a fight for supremacy. Young Cami trained amoungst them, becoming well-versed in various martial arts and blade weapon techniques.

Cami was kept hidden, never recieving a proper education. She was taught only what she needed to know in order to survive. She was aware of her Tetsu heritage, as she carried the distinct pheromonal scent, distinguishing her from the rest of her foster clan. It was this scent that could possibly reveal her to Chattza hunters, thus her protectors felt it was in her best interest that she remain undiscovered. This reclusive lifestyle allowed Cami to focus on her melee training, shaping the young Rodian into a confident warrior.

Bounty hunting
Activity on Rodia subsided to a point where Cami was able to flee the planet, pursuing a career in bounty hunting. Her training shown through, Cami quickly ascending the ranks from naive rookie to reliable hunter. She amassed enough credits from relentless aquisitions of small-time crooks that she was able to afford her own ship. Named The Silent Assassin, the DeepWater-class light freighter helped Cami further her career, taking on bigger bounties and longer trails. Her tendancy to chase down her quarry to the farthest reaches of the galaxy eventually earned her several Atiang awards on her homeworld.

Thanks to her success, Cami became financially secure and purchased an apartment within the CoCo Town district on Coruscant. She was rarely home, however, using the dwelling as merely a storage unit and occasionally a bed. Her career kept her off the Chattza radar, and Cami was able to enjoy a moderately-successful life. However, the peace was short-lived as her string of success came to an abrupt halt during one unfortunate hunt.

It started off without a hitch, Cami was tracking a quarry through the Outer Rim, eventually entering an unfamiliar (and wholly uncharted) system and landing on an unknown backwater world. Continuing the chase on foot, Cami followed her target into an urban area where what was expected to be a simple track-and-grab took a different turn.

Imprisonment
In a flurry of confusing events, Cami was apprehended by local human law enforcement officials, and hustled away to a remote location. There, she was stripped of her weapons and subjected to repeated interrogations and examinations, her captors demanding to know everything about her. The xenophobic attitudes of the humans struck Cami as extremely odd; she had incorrectly assumed that the inhabitants would be accustomed to the presence of alien life. The humans viewed Cami as merely a bizarre creature to be studied.



Cami's imprisonment lasted for several years, her curious and sometimes sadistic captors working tirelessly to see how much information they could uncover from their new lab rat. Cami underwent several live dissections, portions of her organs and tissue removed for further study. Her right antenna was surgically removed, leaving her with impaired sensory perception. To examine and test her cognitive abilities and further the research into how an alien mind thinks, Cami often worked with two behavioralists, Drs. Lovitz and Chong. These humans recognized that Cami was a sentient being and felt that she should be treated as such. Cami was instructed to record her thoughts in a journal, which was filed away into an ever-growing database of whatever information the humans were able to get from her. The behavioralists gradually became Cami's few allies. Most of the other humans that tested her, however, did not even bother with using her name, instead choosing to refer to her as simply "108198." Exams, expiraments, and endless psychological evaluation became all that Cami knew. She spent her nights cold, alone, and frightened, not knowing when they would come for her.

The constant testing and exams took a new turn when Cami overheard plans that the humans wanted to attempt a cross-breed. Horrified, Cami frantically looked for ways to get away, hoping that she would be able to prevent it. She had no choice. In an unnecessarily-painfull and overly-complicated process, Cami was artificially-inseminated with human DNA. The expirament was a shock to her system, pulling her out of her frightened shell and laying the groundwork for her daring escape.

Escape
In the months following the cross-breed procedure, Cami had secured the help of the behavioralists in aiding her escape. She lacked a definitive plan, however, and was forced to lie in wait for just the right moment and right distraction. That moment came one late-summer day as the compound was a chaotic swarm of activity. From the fragments she overheard, Cami only knew that something had happened that is "threatening national security." She saw the confusion as her only chance, and with the help of Lovitz and Chong, Cami was smuggled out of the facility. Her disappearence had not gone unnoticed as they were chased throughout a rural countryside. Finding her ship, The Silent Assassin, still hidden, Cami boarded it, gunned the engines, and took off as a fleet of aircraft appeared on the horizon. The primative vehicles pursued her, firing, but ultimately could not ground the Assassin. Reaching escape velocity, Cami blasted away from the remote planet, en route to the Core.

The adrenaline wore off as Cami sent out a distress signal, succumbing to a catatonic state due to her years-long ordeal. Her ship was eventually located by a passing freighter and towed back to Coruscant where she was admitted to a psychiatric center. Three months into the hospitalization, the staff realized that Cami was pregnant. The twisted expirament that haunted her memories was successful. Soon afterwards, Cami gave birth to a premature hybrid son whom she named "Trak Nar." Trak was taken away by the local childrens' services and put up for adoption as Cami was not of sound mind to care for a child.

Cami remained in the psychiatric center for a few years before being released to a group home.

Retirement
Tormented by vivid and frightening memories, Cami retired immediately from bounty hunting. Extremely paranoid, she sank into a deep depression and spent her days in local cantinas, trying to drink away the pain. Locals avoided her for the stigma that mental illness carried and for her sudden and violent outbursts. Her former career and success had faded into the background, leaving her alone with her nightmares and delusions. The people she used to know thought her to have died, including Navik the Red who felt that Cami's decent into madness was enough for him to declare her deceased. The years passed and Cami was forgotten.

Sometime around 25 ABY, Cami was spotted in a small tavern by an old friend of hers, Ric'ah T'rib. It was through Ric'ah that Cami was finally reunited with her son, Trak Nar. Trak's presence helped pull Cami out of her depression and she devoted herself to protecting and training him. Still haunted by her memories, Cami was wary of her tormenters finding her and her son, prompting her to become vigilant. She had even considered coming out of retirement if it meant that her and Trak would be safe.

Personality and traits
Due to her imprisonment, Cami was reserved, quiet and extremely distrustful of humans. She kept daggers hidden on her and was prone to violent outbursts. Since her reunion with her son, Cami began to open up more, taking an active role in Trak's life. Her paranoia still remained a part of her, haunting her with vivid nightmares and painful memories.

To hide some of her scars, Cami wore a skullcap that obscured most of the flexible spines on her head. More evidence of her imprisonment was her missing right antenna and the number "108198" tattooed across the back of her neck.

Behind the scenes
Camilla's name and backstory originally came from an odd dream that the author had. There were a few changes made to the story, mainly with the addition of the nickname "Cami," her surname "Sookanado," and a revision of the cross-breeding expirament. The author felt that it would have been a waste to not use the character and thus finalized the backstory and character design.

Appearences

 * CJ008: Only a Sith Deals an Absolute