Beya Ar'Lya was a male Bothan admiral who served in the Rebel Alliance and its successor, the New Republic. He served in the Alliance Fleet since before 2 BBY, joining as a lowly captain.
In 4 ABY, Beya became a member of the New Republic Defense Fleet, and by 9 ABY, he had become the admiral in charge of the New Republic Sixth Fleet. Beya participated in the Delvardus campaign in 5 ABY, attaining the rank of commodore for his efforts.
Beya was part of the New Republic forces in the Core Worlds when the Emperor returned, but was forced to retreat as a result of Operation Shadow Hand. By the end of the campaign however, Beya had found himself back in the Core Worlds again. He encountered Olyver Baines' latest asset, admiral Elgar Finn, and clashed with his new adversary numerous times over the course of 11 ABY. The standoff came to an end with a battle near Denon, resulting in Finn's retreat into the Outer Rim Territories.
By 17 ABY, Beya had become the nemesis of admiral Elgar Finn, who he had previously engaged a number of times. When the Imperial Skirmishes began, Beya destroyed Elgar's forces during the battle of Foron, and again routed him during the battle of Ord Terath shortly afterwards.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Beya was born on Bothawui in 38 BBY to the Bothan Ar'Lya family.
Beya attended the Bothan Military Academy, where he graduated prior to joining the defence force of Bothan Space.
The Caamas Firestorm[]
Beya was involved in the initial planning of the destruction of Caamas in 18 BBY. He personally assembled the strikeforce of Bothan infiltrators, deployed to disable the planetary shield.
The team of Bothan infiltrators managed to rapidly disable the shield, after which a group of Star Destroyers orbitally bombarded the planet, destroying much of the planet and turning it into a desolate wasteland.
Beya's involvement in the Caamas Firestorm remained secret until the Caamas Document Crisis in 19 ABY. Beya continued to regret his involvement even after the crisis had passed.
Alliance service[]
Despite his involvement in the Caamas Firestorm, Beya bore an intense hatred of the Galactic Empire, to the extent that he joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic in 2 BBY. His record in service of Bothan Space impressed the Alliance, so much so that he was gifted a SoroSuub Dauntless-class heavy cruiser he aptly christened the Dauntless. He furthermore acquired a number of other, smaller starships for his taskforce, including an Assault Frigate Mark I, a Nebulon-B and a CR90 corvette. These ships made up the vast majority of the fleet up until 9 ABY.
In 4 ABY, Beya had taken on an advisory role in the standoff at Bakura, coordinating the Alliance Fleet present indirectly from his ship over Rattatak. Despite suffering mediocre losses, the Alliance enjoyed victory over Bakura against both the Imperials and the Ssi-ruuvi invaders.
Shortly before the battle of Endor, Beya returned to the Both system, setting up a patrol route in case of a retaliatory attack by the Imperial Navy. However, the stunning Alliance victory relieved much stress on the Alliance, and Beya was recalled to join Alliance forces at Endor.
A little less than a month later, Beya was involved with the second battle of Endor, the first major battle of the Nagai–Tof War. The Alliance of Free Planets enjoyed victory, and was shortly after restructured into the New Republic.
New Republic service[]
Beya was transferred to the New Republic Defense Fleet, but due to the fierce second battle of Endor, the New Republic Provisional Council was relocated to Yavin IV. As a result, Beya was recalled to Yavin, where he remained until the battle of Yag'Dhul in 5 ABY.
After the battle of Yag'Dhul, Beya offered his forces for the upcoming war against one of the Imperial warlords, Sander Delvardus, joining forces with admiral Firmus Nantz and captain Sien Sovv.
Delvardus campaign[]
Beya took part in the Delvardus campaign in 5 ABY, leading strikes at Eiattu 6 and Woostri before staging a costly assault on Eriadu. When Beya learned of Delvardus' escape, he gave chase, but Sander lost his pursuers as soon as he entered the Inner Rim.
Delvardus' escape and the crumble of his empire brought about the end of the campaign, although a lot of their progress was wiped during the Thrawn campaign four years later.
By the time of the Thrawn Campaign, Beya had been gifted command of the New Republic Sixth Fleet and command of his new flagship, the Mon Amortis, and was primarily stationed in the Outer Rim. Despite this, his participation against Thrawn was actually fairly limited, instead focusing on Olyver Baines' warlord faction.
Operation Shadow Hand[]
By 9 ABY, in gratitude to the commodore, Beya was gifted a Bakura-class destroyer he'd christen the Vendetta.
Together with admiral Benjamin Grainer, Beya was initially set to deploy near Rothana, in anticipation of the liquidation of Baines and his warlord faction. Planning their in invasion together, Beya was abruptly recalled and deployed to the sudden battle of Chazwa.
While most of his enemies suffered total annihilation, Beya's fleet escaped such fate unscathed through the effective use of the Vendetta's HIMS.
Later that standard year, he laid down a trap for the Black Baron, an officer in Baines' fleet. During the battle of Charros IV, he successfully destroyed the baron's Criminal Court, a group of smugglers and bounty hunters aligned with the pirate.
A new rival[]
Following the ultimate collapse of Operation Shadow Hand with the destruction of Byss, many warlords took advantage to claim their piece of the Core, including Grand Moff Olyver Baines. With the dissolution of the Criminal Court and the presumed demise of the Black Baron, Beya returned to the Core and encountered admiral Elgar Finn who had lent his services to Baines and was now holding on to the Grand Moff's holdings in the Core.
Beya clashed with his new rival several times throughout 11 ABY as both admirals proved to be more than each others' match time and again, as the two skirmished across the Core until they reached a stalemate. Beya recognized Finn was being reinforced via a small pass through the Iseno sector and subsequently began planning the immediate seizure of the Denon system.
The battle near Denon saw the admiral face-off against the Grand Moff himself. The Bothan managed to defeat the Grand Moff in combat, which greatly increased the Sixth Fleet morale despite the Grand Moff's escape. Beya chased the Grand Moff all the way back to his fortress but finding no way to catch up, he relented on the doorstep of True Loyalist territory.
Beya returned to Denon, and his victory had split Baines' empire in two; a smaller half in the Core, the command of which fell to Finn as the ranking officer, and the larger half in the Outer Rim, still under the command of Grand Moff Baines.
While Finn's resources had now become extremely limited, Beya had yet to achieve victory. Finn had elected for a change of tactics in his campaign against the Bothan, his attacks getting more daring and desperate. Beya noted the irony in this.
The campaign came to an abrupt end when Finn fled the Core for his homeworld Foron, having learned of its renewed independence. Beya, considering this a victory, swooped into Baines' remaining territories in the Core Worlds and liberated them from Imperial control.
Beya spent the remainder of the year cleaning up warlord pockets throughout the Core, and enjoyed relative peace between 13 and 16 ABY with the end of the Imperial Civil War. In 15 ABY, officer Saquehl Crest – captain of the Mon Sion, who proved himself capable during the liberation of Foron in 12 ABY – was promoted and given command of his own fleet, granted limited freedom but operating under the banner of the Sixth Fleet.
Throughout 16 ABY, Beya's fleet – like most – was upgraded with new warships from the New Class Modernization Program, which would be put to the test in the following year.
Imperial Skirmishes[]
When peace was shattered with the invasions of Adumar and Rydonni in 17 ABY, Beya jumped at the immediate chance to attack his old nemesis, Elgar Finn, on Foron, who he believed had unjustly gotten away with his past crimes as such, Beya had been anxious to bring the warlord to justice, and for him, that time had finally come when Finn announced Foron's allegiance lay with the Imperial Remnant.
Beya's fleet made his way to the Foron system and swiftly began the battle in orbit, using his new fleet of warships against the Imperial. Foron hadn't yet managed to restart the navy, and Elgar was left to his own devices to protect Foron.
After a long, drawn-out battle, Elgar finally retreated from the battle after a section of his forces had been destroyed. Taking the remainder of his fleet, Elgar made his way through the Core Worlds back to Remnant territory to swear renewed allegiance to the Council of Moffs.
With the New Republic on the offensive this time, Beya was deployed to Ord Terath, a military outpost under control of the Imperial Remnant. Upon his arrival several days later, it had appeared his rival had beaten him to it with his battered fleet. The freshly-appointed admiral took command of Ord Terath's defense by orders of the Council of Moffs.
However, the Imperial's fleet was outmatched against Beya's, sporting superior warships and greater numbers, resulting in the further destruction of his fleet. Beya enjoyed a victory with acceptable losses.
The successes of New Republic forces, including the Sixth Fleet, led many officers to support Gilad Pellaeon in his quest for peace, including Finn himself, who had witnessed the effectiveness of the New Republic first hand many times. This led to the rapid signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty, finally ending the Galactic Civil War.
Despite the peace, Beya always held a great grudge against his former enemies, and admiral Finn in particular, and while he had developed respect towards his nemesis as being an able and seemingly just commander, he couldn't help but feel accomplished at his final victory during the Imperial Skirmishes.
The Caamas Crisis[]
In accordance to the terms of the Caamas Document, Beya was tried in 19 BBY for the atrocities committed during the Caamas Firestorm. With the uncovery of an unaltered document many Bothan names were cleared, bar Beya's, and he was charged with treason. He was sentenced to prison and to be stripped of his rank, however in light of his service to the Alliance and the New Republic his sentence was reduced.
Instead, Beya remained in service, demoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and most of his salary was cut to pay Bothan families. Despite conflicting feelings in regards to his trial, Beya remained in service to the New Republic for the foreseeable future.
Galactic Alliance service[]
Despite his role in the Caamas Crisis, Beya apparently maintained his rank within the New Republic Defense Fleet, and by 28 ABY he commanded the Bothan Assault Cruiser Thrikas.
Beya joined forces with his former long-term Imperial nemesis Elgar Finn during the battle of Vianden. The two, operating in close cohesion with former Imperial commander-turned-rogue Tobias Styze, managed to secure victory.
Personality and traits[]
Once known as an officer with compassion, the effects of the Caamas Firestorm turned Beya into a sour, somewhat bitter persona. As the years progressed, his sense of guilt and shame continued to develop, which projected into a great hate towards the Galactic Empire.
Relationships[]
Elgar Finn[]
Beya first met the Imperial officer Elgar Finn in 11 ABY following Beya's return to the Core Worlds. He quickly learned that Elgar served the Imperial warlord Olyver Baines, who previously operated only in the Outer Rim Territories and Beya had been attempting to quell for the past few years. Throughout 11 and 12 ABY, Beya and Elgar encountered each other time and again throughout the Core, one of them always having an edge over the other but never breaking the stalemate. As time progressed, Elgar became the victim of Beya's hatred towards the Empire, despite both of them developing a mutual sense of respect to each other.
When Beya finally bested his rival during the Imperial Skirmishes in 17 ABY, he felt great satisfaction and finally let go of his hatred towards the man, and he came to understand Elgar as being a decent enough officer.
The duo ironically joined forces during the liberation of Vianden in 28 ABY and successfully drove back the Yuuzhan Vong invaders. After the battle, the two met in person and shook hands. Upon his departure, Beya told Elgar he made a fine Imperial officer, but he would've made an excellent Alliance officer.