Jahu Skyla
| Jahu 'Husky' Skyla, MD | |
 | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Race | Mirialan |
| Homeworld | Thyferra / Tatooine |
| Mother | Nerida Skyla |
| Father | Lafaye |
| Spouse | Frollo the White |
| Siblings | Rynie Skyla |
| Children | None |
| Born | Year -13 |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 1.63m |
| Political Information | |
| Affiliation | New Republic Republic Medical |
| Rank | Marshal (Ret.), Starfighter Command |
| Positions | Senior Advisor, Republic Medical Knight of the Council, Knights of the Republic [See Career History] |
| Prior Affiliation | Rebel Alliance Liberty Medical Center Toskan Industries Cyber Technology |
| Awards | [See Citations and Awards] |
Jahu Skyla, also known by her callsign 'Husky', is an accomplished starfighter pilot and military commander, but she has throughout her career been more publicly associated with the medical profession. She was a former Chief Executive of Republic Medical, New Republic Administrator of Health, and Deputy Chief of Starfighter Command. Among other key positions in both the military and civilian sectors, she has previously served as a Battle Group Commanding Officer, and in its antecedent the Rebel Alliance as Chief of the Interior and Surgeon General of the Medical Corps. She is also a veteran of the Beta Campaign, and of notably the Berchest and Kashyyyk theatres of conflict in the Second Galactic Civil War.
Her educational qualifications include a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Adbatar Medical Academy, and a Master's in Military Medicine (MMilMed) and fellowship from the City University of Thyferra.
Description
A native Thyferran in her prime, standing at 1.63m; not particularly tall, but packing the physique of an athletic build. Deep brown eyes that convey a strict, no-nonsense, but sincere demeanour. Complexion is of a healthy golden-tan, suggesting an ardent love for the outdoors. Whether in uniform or mufti, practical and comfortable garments reign, with only the slightest influence of a feminine touch.
Biography
Early Years
As a child, Jahu constantly had to adjust to new worlds, cultures, and sentients of other races. Born on Tatooine - by serendipity and not by choice - to a Mirialan holofilm producer and his second wife, she accompanied her parents to wherever his father's projects dictated he went. After her parents' divorce due to irreconcilable ideological differences, she followed her mother back to her homeworld, Thyferra. Due to her having spent most of her formative years offworld, she lacks the height that characterises the local Thyferrans who have matured on the low-gravity planet.
Life as a Rebel
In Year 3, she enlisted with the Rebel Alliance and graduated from their Academy on Republica. A vocational aptitude test unexpectedly revealed her faculty for combat piloting, and she soon earned her wings as a member of the Starfighter Command although she went with the intention of joining the Marines. She also trained as a medical officer with the Medical Corps, where she eventually served as Surgeon General. For years, Jahu undertook missions for both the Starfighter Command and MedCorps, participating in a number of galactic-wide conflicts variously as a fighter pilot, flight medic, or detachment commander. Notably, she led her own squadron in the infamous Battle of Beta as part of the Alliance and Falleen Federation fleet, and in the Uvena and Berchest Campaigns against the Imperials. At Berchest, for eliminating an entire squadron of TIE-Bombers, she was awarded the revered Enemy Fighter Kill citation.
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| Jahu in the utility uniform of the RepMed Operations Department, and in various field attire |
Being both a military officer and a doctor comes with its own set of struggles: the mission of saving lives is in direct conflict with the act of taking them. Jahu is known to uphold a strongly conservative medical code in the treatment of casualties, regarding all lives - those of enemies or allies, combatant or civilian alike - equally. Her personal sense of ethical accountability sometimes puts her at odds with her more politically-minded peers and superiors. Once, while on a routine medevac drill in a Mid Rim system, she came across a distress signal from grounded Trade Federation forces. In her capacity as Surgeon General and leader of the Rebel Alliance-nationalised company Liberty Medical Center, she decided to lead her team of medical officers to aid the Viceroy and his wounded. That gave birth to a short-lived, but powerfully heartening (as far as the transcendence of political differences was concerned) series of pseudo-RA-TF joint operations - it was an arrangement that was unique to that time.
The following few years saw a shift in career focus as Jahu left the thrilling life of daring-do on the battlefield to take up an appointment on Rebel Alliance High Command as Chief of the Interior. Her mandate included overseeing the Alliance Academy, the Research and Development department, MedCorps, and the nationalised factions. However, she was not willing, so to speak, to be constrained to a life behind the desk for long. In an attempt to satisfy her desire to advance her medical knowledge, she accepted an unexpected scholarship offered by the City University of Thyferra to undertake research in military medicine and health. It was an offer too good to pass, even if that meant she had to resign from all her offices to go on an extended period of leave from the Alliance. While she attended the School of Medicine and University Hospital, she maintained distant activity with Liberty Medical Centre as an Advisor and visited allied outposts to conduct field studies. While back on Thyferra, she also took the opportunity to spend some time with her mother.
The New Republic
Jahu returned to a newly-formed New Republic in Year 8, the product of a merger between the Rebel Alliance with SoroSuub Corporation. Itching to return to action in the field where her skills could be best put to use, she was granted a generous re-commission as a Captain in the Starfighter Command, at the same time acting as Director of Operations of Republic Medical. A period of intense activity ensued for the New Republic and Jahu was deployed in both military and civilian capacities at none other than her homeworld Thyferra, Kashyyyk, Tierfon (now Koobi VIII), Illium, Saugorn (Taakarroo), Norval (Ota), and Sumitra.
Losses and Grief
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| The Remembrance Ribbon is worn in
honour of fallen friends and comrades |
The year came when the New republic was to experience a series of betrayals, coups and tragedies. Jahu had lost more friends and comrades to the despicable actions of traitors and the New Republic's enemies than she could count with both her hands. The pain of loss hit her hard, in particular the death of Thies Windu, Jedi Master and Chief of Military Operations at that time, with whom she was in a relationship - one that began not long after she had joined the Rebel Alliance. In another incident, Jedi Master Eli LaSalle was captured by Black Sun sympathisers and summarily executed. Eli was a former colleague in MedCorps who became her Commanding Officer in the New Republic, but above all he was a friend and mentor. Jahu had scrambled to his rescue upon receiving his distress signal, but she unfortunately arrived too late.
Unsettled by a lingering memory of her fallen comrades, she designed a white Remembrance Ribbon in their honour and invited members of the New Republic to join her in wearing one - nary a day goes by when the ribbon cannot be seen on her uniform.
A terrible hatred for the New Republic's enemies burned within her, a sensation that was totally new. And, with it, a sense of profound loss and emptiness. The deaths of her friends had only brought back all the emotions which had gradually come under control since the loss of Thies. Brought to the surface once more, these emotions and anger at the injustice of life would come to agonise Jahu for years to come.
Commanding Officer and Deputy Chief
Jahu continued to pour her energies, stoically and fervently, to advance the New Republic's goals. More operations followed at Csilla and Calaron. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel late in Year 9, she went through a series of Battle Group transfers to first assume new responsibilities as a Wing Commanding Officer, then as a Battle Group Executive Officer and Commanding Officer. That also meant that she had the distinct privilege of having served with four different Battle Groups. In due course, in a move that would designate her as perhaps the highest-ranked female Starfighter Command officer in the Rebel Alliance or the New Republic's history, she was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Starfighter Command, with a promotion to the rank of Marshal.
Break from Service
In time, Jahu began to notice a dip in her levels of productivity and she recognised the onset of health-related conditions associated with depression. Work burn-out and her long-suppressed mental anxieties were beginning to take their toll. Appointments at such senior levels also came with their share of politics, which she felt only served to add to unnecessary bureaucracy and hampered efficiency. In an abrupt move, she retired from active service and decided to take a second extended break from service. She first returned to Thyferra, then roamed the galaxy at large for a few years, reflecting, introspecting, and finally getting to spend more time in the jungle wilds that she loved so much as a child.
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| Jahu while on a mission on an undisclosed planet in the Outer Rim |
The Second Return
Year 12 saw Jahu's return to the Starfighter Command. She accepted a reduction in rank, an arrangement which Jahu found satisfactory as she since become so weary of command. Despite her efforts to maintain a lower profile in a Battle Group by handling odd jobs at the rear, she found herself eventually taking on a command position once again.
She had in Year 13 finally accepted to become the Chief Executive Officer of Republic Medical, following a period of turbulence that had left her beloved group in greater need of stability and leadership than ever before. In this capacity, she also served as the New Republic's Administrator of Health.
The Force
Jahu's early displays of extra-sentient affinity with the forest creatures of Thyferra and Uogo`cor should have been indicator enough of her Force potential, however Jahu lacked the insight to interpret her friendly encounters with wild animals as anything other than an effect of her deep reverence for all life forms and love for nature.
Her Force-sensitivity was only confirmed by the Noghri Jedi Gothar Elensar later in her New Republican career. With hindsight, she suspected that the depression she suffered from since Year 8 acted as a catalyst for the surge of her Force potential. Taken under the tutelage of Master Elensar, she was initiated as a Knight of the Republic and taught to directly attune herself with, and master, the Force. However, initial efforts to awaken her latent Force powers proved devastating, not to mention dangerously traumatic, as she experienced painful hallucinations and nightmares while the Dark Side of the Force tempted and assaulted her mind, feeding off her negative passions. For far too long had she harboured strong feelings of fear, hatred and the desire for vengeance. It took her every ounce of her will and being, and continual weeks of intense, agonising and unbroken meditation under her Master's watchful eye for her to successfully resist embracing the Dark Side. She emerged physically and mentally debilitated, but spiritually shielded. She has since decided to commit herself to a life of service to the Light Side. Constant meditation remains her catharsis, and she strives to remain ever vigilant.
Although colours were no longer that keenly associated with a Force-user's specialisation in the contemporary galaxy, she took the colour of her lightsaber blade (green-yellow) to be the Force's way of affirming her conviction that her vocation lay in healing and in applying a marriage of the Force with a diversity of non-Force-based talents. Green was traditionally the colour of the Jedi Consulars, who concerned themselves with the mysteries of the Force, and yellow was known to be wielded by the Sentinels, Jedi who engaged in a balance of combat and scholarly endeavours. The hilt, slightly curved towards the pommel, is well-suited to her personal style of lightsaber combat that is a combination of the fine precision of Form II Makashi and defensive techniques of Form III Soresu.
Personal Life
In Year 9, after six years of close friendship, Jahu married Frollo the White in a private ceremony attended by a select circle of friends. Frollo was the former Director of the Centre for Rebel Intelligence, New Republic Chief of Naval Command and Minister of Civil Engineering.
Career History
Current Positions
- Senior Advisor, Republic Medical
- Knight of the Council, Knights of the Republic
- Magistrate, New Republic Justice Department
- Editor-in-Chief, Republic News Network
Former Positions - New Republic
- Marshal, Starfighter Command, New Republic
- Deputy Chief of Starfighter Command, New Republic
- Chief Executive Officer, Republic Medical
- Administrator of Health, New Republic
- Battle Group Commanding Officer, New Republic
- Wing Commanding Officer, New Republic
- Director of Operations, Republic Medical
- Director of Logistics and Personnel, Republic Medical
Former Positions - Rebel Alliance
- Captain, RA Starfighter Command
- Wing Executive Officer, Republica Defense Group
- Chief of the Interior, RA High Command
- Executive Officer of the Interior, Rebel Alliance
- Advisor, Centre for Rebel Intelligence / CRI Public Command Officer
- Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Medical Center
- Chief Executive Officer, Cyber Technology
- Surgeon General, RA Medical Corps
- Dean of Support Command, RA Academy
- Medical Instructor, Alliance Medical Academy
- Editor-in-Chief, Alliance News Service / Alliance Media Service
- Member, RA Institute of Strategic Studies
Citations and Awards
Military Awards
- SFC Command Ribbon
- Training Ribbon
- 5+ Years Service Ribbon
- Master Pilot Skill Badge
- Master Medical Officer Skill Badge
- Joint Operation Ribbon
- Beta Defense Ribbon
- Operation Winter Cleaning Ribbon
- Operation Forging Freedom Ribbon
- Stratacator Campaign Ribbon
- Operation Clean Sweep Ribbon
- Operation Slashroot Ribbon
- Celegia Campaign Ribbon
- Republic Achievement Medal (converted from the Republic Service Medal) (x2)
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Meritorious Unit Medal (x2)
- Group Commander's Citation
- Chief of State's Medal
Civilian Awards
- Liberty Medical Star
- Outstanding Excellence Award
- Republic Medical Cross
- Friendship Award
- Uogo`cor Achievement Award (converted from the Republic Medical Star)
- Long Standing Meritorious Service Award
- Leadership Award
- New Republican of the Month Award (x3)
- Pride of the Republic Award
- New Republican of the Year Award
- Minister Citation Award
