| |
| Lady Chantinelle Alicia "Athena" Thistleborn | |
|---|---|
| Homeworld | |
| Coruscant | |
| Species | |
| Human (Coruscanti) | |
| Gender | |
| Female | |
| Height | |
| 1.75 meters | |
| Hair Color | |
| dark black | |
| Eye Color | |
| brown | |
| Skin Color | |
| fair | |
| Affiliation | |
| Galactic Empire, Bureau of Operations, Caspian Democratic Union | |
Chantinelle Alicia Thistleborn (19 BBY - ) is one of the most well-known and well-travelled ladies of the known galaxy, having seen diplomatic, political, and enterprising service on hundreds of worlds. A true being of elegance, she used her charm and grace to fit into any political environment, and to act as an ambassador to some of the most heated situations faced. She now utilizes her connections to manage the Dragon of Coruscant, a private enterprise in the entertainment industry.
History[]
Birth and Youth[]
Chanti, as she is casually known, was born on Coruscant during the foundation of the Galactic Empire. Her mother, Alicia Garina, was a high-ranked communication officer, who worked in the staff of the famous Grand Moff Thistleborn, one of the first Moffs invested by Emperor Palpatine. Her father was the Grand Moff himself, who fell in love with Alicia. The couple was very glad about the birth about her first and only child — Chantinelle — although the Grand Moff always dreamed of a son as heir. He never married Alicia, because he feared losing this position which meant everything for him, even more than his love and child. But Grand Moff Thistleborn never forgot his duties for the family and helped the young mother and the child with all his power and money. Alicia and Chanti were allowed to live in the most expensive area on Coruscant, the famous district between the Imperial Palace of Emperor Palpatine and the Monument Plaza. Mother and daughter lived in a mansion with many servants but nothing to occupy their time. So Chanti was glad to find another girl in the neighborhood – Sierra Etienne. Sierra and Chanti became very fast and close friends who shared everything. Chanti, taller and stronger than Sierra, accepted her as "little sister" and took care of Sierra. Together, they explored the different levels of Imperial City, the capital city of Coruscant and the entire Empire, and had many adventures in the deep levels. It was a great time for the two kids as nothing could stop them. But it didn't last forever — the kids grew up.
In The Service of the Empire[]
The Time at the Academy of Carida[]
At the age of 16, Chanti accepted her father's wish and enrolled into the famous military Academy of Carida, although her and Sierra's heart nearly broke. She chose the way for an Imperial Army career at the Academy and was trained to become an officer for the feared Stormtrooper legions. Not much is known about this time – Chanti never speaks of it, either because she felt loss from separation from Sierra, or because she just hated her studies. But she never gave up, and made excellent exam scores at the Academy under the direction of General Veers, not knowing that her father was using his position to help his daughter where he could. So her grades and marks were not based on the talent by Chanti herself, but her father's influence. Despite this fact, Chanti always posed as an aspiring warrior and thought herself as invincible.
Disaster on Her First Assignment[]
After graduation from Carida's Academy, she was enrolled into the Raithal School of Military Science and received her first promotion. At Raithal, her skills were refined, honed, and focused on specific aspects of tactics, strategy, and leadership. Her aptitude placed her into the Commando ranks, specializing in counter-Rebel and counter-terrorism actions. She was assigned to a Storm Commando unit as a field officer. Soon after another promotion to Captain, and a deployment to her homeworld of Coruscant, her first mission materialized — a kidnapping and hostage situation in the Business District of Imperial City.
An unknown number of terrorists had captured a shuttle terminal near Trader's Row, holding several shuttles and a number of businessmen and dignitaries hostage. From all estimates, most of the terrorists were aboard a shuttle that had been ready for departure, along with few civilians. Storm Commando officers, with Coruscanti Guards under them, enveloped the area and prepared to deal with the terrorists. Captain Thistleborn was given a squad of seven well-trained Guards, and ordered, explicitly, to eliminate all terrorists "at any and all costs".
Thistleborn interpreted this as ignoring any possibility of negotiation with the terrorists, and after consulting her team, directed them to "reduce the amount of threat". Without much deliberation, they rolled up a mobile proton torpedo launcher, and proceeded to obliterate the shuttle. As Chantinelle's team moved in on the flaming hulk, to mop-up any survivors, the remaining terrorists counter-struck. While they hadn't anticipated the Imperials to destroy the shuttle outright, they had rigged the landing platform with rings of detonite embedded in the decking material. With nothing left to lose, and Imperial commandos on the platform, the terrorists detonated the charges, collapsing the platform and shredding every living being on it. Captain Thistleborn had not only been minced by shrapnel, but had fallen through three decks' worth of shredded plating. Her entire squad had been effectively wiped out.
The rest of the team converged on the wreckage, filled with doubt that anyone could have survived. Chantinelle was located in the rubble, with a completely crushed right arm, extensive burn and shrapnel damage to her right side, and multiple perforations of her internal organs from the shrapnel. She was on the verge of death.
She was rushed to the nearest hospital, where med-techs and droids managed to save the Captain's life, but at a severe cost. Their work was very heavy-handed — almost barbaristic — in method, cutting away damaged tissue with little care as to what the future results might be; all they were focused on was sustaining her tenuous life. Grand Moff Thistleborn would visit his barely-alive daughter that night, horrified at what he saw, but resolved. Through illegal and unmentioned channels, he summoned (and paid a fortune for) Rez-Thena Mejoo, a Techren sect expert known for his cosmetic reconstructive surgical practices. In a long and difficult operation, Mejoo managed to map out and precisely graft on a "cultured" new arm to Chantinelle's body. He then undertook a meticulous, exacting toil of rebuilding Chantinelle's once-naturally beautiful face. Instead of using a typical ocular or camera system for an eye replacement, Mejoo handcrafted a cultured eyeball out of synthetics to such exacting detail, many at first glance cannot tell the difference. The Techren genius next shaped Chantinelle's crushed face structure using plasteel molded to her skull, and then used a radical skin-growing biogen to rebuild new skin to cover the flesh. The result was nearly perfect, but there was one thing that even Mejoo could not repair — the medical team had cut away any "non-vital" damaged tissue and organs from Chantinelle's body in the effort to stop her bleeding, and thus, had rendered her sterile. Mejoo did his best to console Chantinelle when she finally awoke, but the reclusive Techren had to depart promptly, back into seclusion. Chanti was devastated.
The following days would be difficult for Chantinelle, with nightmares and flashbacks haunting her. She developed a drinking problem, and has been in therapy several times, each with the same sullen results. Even to this day, the nightmares may be repressed or reduced, but they still occur. Besides this, Thistleborn harbors a deep distrust and aversion to medical practitioners, especially droids, for their callousness in treating her. She can never forgive them for rendering her unable to bear children.
The Kind Face of the Empire[]
The Imperial Poster Girl[]
After a long rehabilitation, Chantinelle had to realize that she would never again be able to lead troops into battle. Not only had she been physically affected, but her mental stability had been severely traumatized. She was medically discharged from the Imperial Army, an action no doubt expedited by her father. Her usefulness to the Empire was not over, though, and soon an invitation was extended to her for employment in the Ministry of Propaganda. She would be an Ambassador, a Face, or "Poster Girl".
These turned out to be the most exciting and fufilling years of her life, as Chanti travelled around the whole galaxy, visiting the various Imperial military bases. And as she even became an actress for a lot of famous propaganda holo-vids, even the Rebels knew her name. But the whole "poster girl" job was just a cover for her new job — Chanti became a special agent for Emperor Palpatine in regards to diplomatic affairs. She acted as a liaison to the Darians, because during her Academy training, she became one of the rare Humans to speak and understand Darian.
Under the cover of a Ministry member, she could easily access each planet, and had close contacts to members of the local governments. Even as Emperor Palpatine succumbed to the Rebel Alliance, and the Empire started to fracture, she operated as a diplomatic agent for several Imperial warlords, sometimes congruently. While under the direction of pro-tempore' Emperor Wyth Skellheim, she was even forced to use some secret and hidden gimmicks of her implants to solve some problems. Briefly, she was a multi-purpose agent, operating as a diplomat in one venue, as an instrument of Imperial order in another. Chanti never cared for what she did or about who her targets were. As the daughter of a Grand Moff, it was just natural for her to serve the Empire and its leaders with her whole life, unquestioning in the ramifications.
A Female Minister[]
A year later, under the Bureau of Operations Director Alaric Darkstar, Chanti became the first and only female minister of an Imperial department when she was promoted from a field agent to Minister of Propaganda. Subordinate only to the famous General Callipso Doom, she occupied a chair in Imperial High Command. Her only rival in power was the infamous Alora Antieres — the cruel and merciless Hand of the Emperor — a woman even Warlords and Grand Moffs obeyed.
During her short time in the High Command, Chantinelle met many important and intriguing persons, and created a substantial network of contacts. In one notable instance, she travelled with Erik Antieres, the husband of Alora, and during the trip fell in love with him. She was never able to reveal this, and was utterly shocked by the betrayal of Erik a few weeks later.
The Great Change[]
With the Imperial leadership in a chaotic state of flux, Chantinelle became increasingly frustrated with politics and ineffectual posturing and doublespeak. She left her position rather innocuously, and spent a few weeks as a civilian again. But she couldn't live without the excitement of diplomacy and networking, and approached one Dred Engels, the Director of the Bureau of Operations, for permission to work within the powerful agency. Engels appointed her as a special assistant to Vice-Director Andes Salerian heading up DiploServ. Chanti got her diplomatic passport back and was soon gallivanting around the galaxy once again. At this time, she was reunited with Sierra, who just happened to be working as a field representative with DiploServ as well.
At the Empire's Call[]
Again on the Front Lines[]
The middle of 6 ABY saw Dred Engels resign from the directorship of the Bureau of Operations, replaced by Lorn Rhys. Under this new leadership, Chantinelle applied to be a Vice-Director, receiving the position with staunch support. Chanti was once again on the front lines, in the life of danger, intrigues and excitement. As part of her position and responsibilities, she was placed at the Head of DiploServ, and concentrated on restructuring it. She started visiting the various Imperial embassies, dispersed throughout the galaxy. At one of her regional hubs, GDI Star, she established several new friendships, but also a score of enemies. One in particular was a Caspian Praetor by the name of Lotus Blackpool, who Chanti decided to idly provoke just to get a rise out of her. Lotus, being a firebrand in her own right, snapped back, and the two actually came to blows in the station's restaurant. After this encounter, though, they realized they had similar personalities, and became reasonable friends. She also met various New Republicans, such as Juliet "Venus" Darkstar, a young female ambassador, and Jessalyn Valios. Valios confided in Chantinelle several times, despite the twosome's opposing political sides.
Nothing was ever easy where Thistleborn was, and hassles came with each enjoyment. Firstly, Chanti's personal bodyguard, Kendell Laarken, was coaxed into defection to the New Republic by Valios. Then, a few weeks later, a visit by General Veers nearly came to tragic ends when the famous Imperial general was attacked by unknown terrorists. Unsuccessful in their attempt, they fled to Caspia. In the aftermath, Chantinelle was directed to hastily travel to Caspia and demand an explanation and possible retribution from The Crest. Unbeknownst to Chanti, the former Presav, Lyr Dunwell, had recently died and the entire system was in mourning. Despite knowing Lyr personally, Chanti nearly caused a disaster at the state funeral, and came under the ire of the Caspian people. A few days later, she was accused of making a threat against the new Presav, and forced to leave the planet.
The Etti IV Episode[]
Commanded by Grand Moff Caldny, Chantinelle Thistleborn was hurried off to the Imperial embassy on Etti IV for negotiations with the local government about the matter concerning Han Solo. At a moment's notice, Sierra rendezvoused with her, and en route, both swore to never to be apart again. On Etti IV, negotiations went awkwardly, with Chantinelle acting more as a mouthpiece for direction from Coruscant than being allowed to make decisions autonomously. Frequently, she was left waiting for meetings with Simone Drake, and when events decayed, she was left in the lurch.
The Lost Year[]
Between the close of 6 ABY and 7 ABY, a lot happened — both in the galaxy at large, and in the young dignitary's life. After the bungled series of events in Etti, Chantinelle was recalled to Imperial space, but faced a leadership in flux. Superiors in the Imperial ranks were constantly changing hands, and this resulted in much uncertainty and instability. Since she was still an Ambassador-at-Large, Chanti was under a good deal of pressure to maintain a positive face on behalf of the Empire. A single tragic event, though, would once again break the intergalactic Lady to pieces.
Sierra, her kindred friend since childhood, vanished in a hyperspace accident while on a routine courier run.
This utterly devastated Chantinelle. Unable to cope with the pain and bereavement, Chanti dashed off on a flight to the Outer Rim worlds. She used the time to come to grips with her grief and ponder her life. Once again, her path took her back to Caspia.
Caspian Blues[]
While Chantinelle wasn't overjoyed with finding herself back on Caspia, she nonetheless was at peace with what her heart was telling her was right. After re-establishing a residence in Plaxton and becoming part of the day to day life, she was once again contacted by the Imperial Bureau of Operations. While they were concerned with her absence, the offices of the new Director, Claris Dixon, were offering her an opportunity to not only make amends, but to give her talents some purpose. Her new mission was to establish an Imperial embassy on Caspar more prominent than any other government's representation. Since Chanti still had all her charm and contacts, it wasn't too difficult to receive preferential treatment from now-Presav Avalyshaar Laarken, since she had married Chanti's one-time bodyguard Kendell Laarken.
After Dixon's term as BofO Director expired, Labatiel Atrox became the next Director, and soon was extending a Vice Directorship to Chanti. But her contemporaries were none too satisfied with her previous actions, and soon she was under the ire of Lord Morlok Adlerson, who thought that Chanti wasn't worth a position of this prominence. In a power-play move, Morganna Tazecks was assigned as an Ambassador to Caspia, shadowing Chanti's footsteps in the important independent system.
All the scrutiny didn't stop Chanti from making the most of her presence in Caspia, as she made a lot of new friends and acquaintances. Among them was the new head of Caspar's medical institute, Dr. Kadgie Rodo, who became a close friend to fill the void left from Sierra's disappearance years earlier. She also became close acquaintances with Shenneret Veery, a Belsavin musician moonlighting in Caspian clubs and concert halls. Another was Marine Officer Elana Tracer, whom she calls a close friend. It was really a very carefree and pleasant time since she had nothing to worry about. Even as Atrox was replaced by a new Director in the form of Lord Tsaran Joir, her mood and outlook was bright.
A Traitor By Any Other Name[]
Chantinelle lived among the Caspians for four years in peace, despite her standing as an Imperial citizen. Her true allegiances were questioned, briefly, in 8 ABY when the Empire attempted a forced annexation of Caspia. Imperial forces launched a full-scale invasion, and overwhelmed the cities of Caspar. Caspian forces withdrew to the rugged interior of Caspar's forests and mountains while the Empire's troops ransacked the urban areas.
But as Chanti decided to thank the local people and CDU government for all their help and the kindness they showed toward the imperials on Caspar, something went totally wrong in her life: Chanti who created the building plans for the first foreign embassy on Caspar and even oversaw its building, planed a large social event by inviting nearly every living person / alien and droid on Caspar to a large ceremonial ball. The problem was this would be even an invitation for rebels, which were during this times criminals in the eye of each good imperial. And so Chanti was just right after her speech arrested and at once brought back to imperial space. Grand Moff Jarl Rellik directly interrogated - better: tortured - her. Chanti lost her implanted right eye and complete right arm during the torture, of course without any sedating drugs.
A New Life[]
Chantinelle was removed from all her titles, ranks and belongs, being dismissed from Imperial Services. But she was still lucky: she was alive. Chantinelle stayed on Caspar where she received a lot of help by the locals until she finally recovered from the torturing and got new (civilian-type) implants. Finally she was even brave enough to take a very large step by accepting the CDU Citizenship, at the the same moment she started to name herself only "Lady Athena", not wanting to start any troubles with the name, probably remembering other veterans about a former imperial Grand Moff and his high-ranked daughter. During this time she started her new business. the Dragon of Coruscant, which gave her the possibility to live her expensive life, even without the backup of the Empire behind her.
RP Logs[]
Prize Awards Shooting Contest (24.12.2001, yes it was Christmas)
Minor IC Notes[]
- Chanti is totally nuts. She isn't really an evil person, and is quite kind-hearted. Her fits and mood swings are perhaps best explained by one-too-many Imperial brain-washing episodes.
- Chanti suffers from hyperspace sickness, and gets violently ill during hyperjumps.
- Chanti's war symbol was three red horizontal lines below her right eye.
- Her favourite color is white, and she's liberally applied it to her gloss-white Lambda-class Shuttle.
- Chanti has several implants: an artificial right eye, a prosthetic right arm, and a completely ceramic pelvic reconstruction. Currently there aren't any hidden gimmicks on them and just legal civilian issues.