Rho Galfona

Rho Galfona
Biographical Information
Race	Human
Homeworld	Tatooine
Mother	Estel Galfona
Father	Harn Galfona
Marital Status	Widow
Spouse	Shosho Smahnatia (Year 9 - Year 10)
Partner	None
Siblings	None
Children	None
Born	Year -9, Day 273
Languages	Galactic Basic
Religion	None
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Height	1.85 metres
Weight	Fit, sturdy build
Coloring	Light
Hair Color	White
Eye Color	Green
Political Information
Affiliation	Rogue Squadron
Title	Lady
Prior Affiliation	Galactic Empire Nova Industries Red Star Alliance
Awards	Good Conduct Medal (Y23, Day 1, Rogue Squadron)

Rho Galfona is a Human-turned-Kiffar from the planet of Tatooine. She is a woman with a troubled and chequered past who had suffered from a spice addiction for most of her life. Nonetheless, through work and determination she managed to beat her demons, and excel in the professions she chose to pursue over the course of decades.

Galfona has long been associated with Nova Industries, the Red Star Alliance, and most recently Rogue Squadron. She has held various positions and jobs with those organisations, such as second-in-command, hired muscle, and starship pilot. Most notably, she attained the rank and title of Master Bounty Hunter in Year 23, and remains a professional huntress to this day.

Biography

Early life (Year -9 - Year 7)

Rho Galfona was born on the planet of Tatooine in the Arkanis sector to Harn and Estel Galfona as their first and only child. They formed a household of modest means and lived in the city of Anchorhead, which was one of the more civilised settlements on the infamous desert planet. Despite the fact that she was raised in what passed for a respectable environment on Tatooine, already from an early age it became apparent that Rho would grow up to become an individual with a problematic personality. As a toddler, she frequently got into fights with peers and older children alike, and frequently exhibited aggressive behaviour that was not common within others her age. Yet, despite this antisocial behaviour, she managed to form an enduring and close friendship with another human boy her age named Stephen Barraclough. The two became inseparable over the years, as both came to see one another as the sibling they never had. Throughout their childhood, the two experienced many adventures in the streets of Anchorhead, engaging in playful mischief at first, although steering into more serious misdemeanour in later years.

As a teenager, Rho started to grow into an adolescent woman with a sturdy build and above average agility, who hung out with the less savoury types of Anchorhead. As a result, those shadowy individuals managed to persuade the young Human to start dealing in spice, which simultaneously was the beginning of a long addiction that would hold Rho in its grip for decades. As she did not excel academically or intelligence-wise, spice dealing became an easy way to make credits, and the appreciation she received from Anchorhead’s underworld circles substituted the lack of recognition exhibited by her family and direct environs. Eventually, when Rho was fifteen years old, her parents discovered her nefarious activities and growing addiction to spice, and attempted to set her straight with the usual means parents have at their disposal to admonish their children, ranging from strict curfews to chaperoning her. Yet, the young Galfona had already developed the skills necessary to evade detection and sneak out unseen from her home at night, and continued her activities within the local underworld.

Recognising that their efforts bore no fruit, and seeing that their daughter descended further and further into the criminal environment, her parents consulted with the rest of the Galfona family living in Anchorhead. As they were Imperial sympathisers and supported the ideals and beliefs that the Empire stood for, they came to the conclusion that the only way to properly re-educate their rebellious scion was to send her to the Imperial military for training. So it happened that at the age of sixteen, Rho was taken offworld against her will by two of her uncles, and brought to the nearest Imperial recruitment office to the Arkanis sector. There she was conscripted into the Galactic Empire’s military apparatus, and sent to one of their academies to begin her training. Yet, hearing of what had happened to Rho, Stephen Barraclough left his homeworld of Tatooine as well, and enlisted with the Imperial military to join his childhood friend out of sympathy.

Serving the Empire (Year 7 - Year 8)

Despite the Empire’s harsh methods and rigorous training, Rho maintained her spice addiction in total secrecy, procuring the drug from fellow cadets or the academy’s janitorial staff who had an equally chequered past as hers. Despite her strongly built physique, she frequently underperformed during physical training and barely managed to pass her written tests and exams. Yet, with the aid of her friend Stephen she managed to graduate from the academy, if only just, and became a private with the Imperial military. Both were assigned to the 2nd Imperial legion and came under the command of Dale Chambers, the legion’s commanding officer. Under the tutorship of Alendaar Zadak, Rho and Stephen were part of several assignments that their unit was entrusted with, and visited numerous worlds under Imperial control in the months that followed. All that time, the young Galfona managed to keep her spice addiction secret from her superiors with the help of her childhood friend. As a result, Stephen was slowly pulled into his companion’s addiction as well.

At the start of Year 8, Rho and Stephen entered a local bar on the planet Thracior, an Imperial-controlled world in the Botor Enclave, which is where they were stationed at that time. As both of them were heavily under the influence of spice, they started antagonising a superior officer that was attending the tavern the same time they were. Matters escalated quickly once the officer in question caught on that both Rho and Stephen were under the influence of narcotics, and the verbal fight became a violent brawl. The imperial officer and his companions managed to swiftly overcome the drug-induced aggression of both Galfona and Barraclough, and the two were promptly arrested on charges for assaulting a superior. The Imperial Security Bureau became involved in the matter and upon investigating the ordeal they intended to administer an administrative punishment, before reinstating the two privates from Tatooine as this was a first-time offence. Yet, while under arrest, Rho started to suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms and became paranoid that the Empire was going to execute both her and her childhood friend. She managed to convince Stephen to join her in an escape effort, and during the night they managed to break out from the minimum security outpost they were held in. Soon thereafter, they stowed away aboard a freighter transport that was collecting cargo on Thracior.

The two childhood friends - now fugitives from the Empire - remained together for a period of time during which Rho took on odd jobs to make a living, but primarily to be able to sustain her addiction. The life that the two Humans from Tatooine lived during this period was anything but glamorous, and gave rise to lowered spirits within both individuals. Yet, one day, and despite the bond that the two had shared since their early years in Anchorhead, Stephen vanished without a trace, without a note, without a word. Rho searched for several weeks thereafter to find out her companion's whereabouts or what fate had befallen him all of a sudden, but her efforts bore no fruit and merely fuelled her desperation and sense of loneliness. As a result, she started to lean even more heavily into her spice addiction, which grew to become her sole sense of comfort, while the narcotic-induced bliss turned into her place of refuge.

Several months into Year 8, Rho had been working in the Callia sector as hired muscle when she met a former brigade member from the 2nd Imperial legion in a local cantina. The encounter reminded Galfona how she used to be a part of something, of a tight group, even though she was high on drugs most of the time back then. Her present sense of loneliness and desolation drove her to reach out to that brigade member and request whether she could be taken back by the Empire, and more specifically into the command of Commander Dale Chambers. While apprehensive, the Imperial trooper said he would put in a good word for her with his superior and that Rho should await further contact in a couple of days.

As promised, Galfona was contacted several days later by the commander of the 2nd Imperial legion Dale Chambers. Unfortunately, the call had come in when Rho was under the heavy influence of narcotics, which caused her to suffer from severe delusions. While Chambers attempted to maintain an appropriate level of civility throughout the conversation, the same could not be said of Rho. The spice she had ingested that evening caused her to believe she was a general within the Rebel Alliance, and openly discussed assassinating the reigning Emperor of the Galactic Empire at that time, namely Vodo Bonias. Galfona attempted to convince Chambers to work with her in achieving this plot, and promised the Imperial commander the Kuat sector if he helped her bring her hare-brained scheme to fruition. Rho’s state proved to Chambers that she was ill-suited for service within the Empire, and broke off contact permanently. It was only on the next day that the troubled Tatooinian would discover her chances of returning to the Empire were gone for good.

A Turn for the Better (Year 9 - Year 10)

The months that followed after Rho's disastrous call with Dale Chambers were largely spent in a downward spiral of addiction and desolation. Fortunately, this changed at the start of Year 9, when she met Shosho Smahnatia, a male Coruscanti, during a job as hired muscle. Smahnatia took pity on the still very young Galfona and recognised her potential if she recovered from her self-destructive habits. He promised her company and a better life if she committed to his help in getting her clean from her spice addiction. Desperate to break with the loneliness and despair that she felt at that time, she consented to the Coruscanti's help.

Shosho aided Rho in finding more sustainable employment as a starship pilot and muscle within Nova Industries - the company he headed - and over time she was able to break free from the chains of her addiction all the while being guided by her new friend. The connection the two shared was more than merely platonic however, as Smahnatia and Galfona realised they had started to develop feelings for one another. They did not act immediately upon their romantic interest for each other, as Shosho feared it might disrupt Rho's upward curve in recovery. Instead, he motivated her to get into sports, and the young Tatooinian found that she had both talent and interest in shockball. Yet, the feelings that Shosho and Rho had for one another only increased as time passed, until the point that they could no longer be denied or ignored. The two entered into a romantic relationship with one another that seemed like the final step in Galfona's full recovery. Not long thereafter, the pair decided to marry one another.

At the same time, Rho’s interest in and talent for shockball became noticed by a local semi-professional team called the Rancors that offered her a place among them. The Tatooinian agreed and started to participate in the sport on a more serious level. Over time, her athletic prowess and skill were recognised to the point she was made the team captain of the Rancors. Yet, her success was not limited to the world of sports, as during the same time she rose the corporate ladder within Nova Industries until she became the second-in-command of the company.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck Shosho and Rho when the former was killed in a firefight on Day 285 of Year 10. Smahnatia and two operatives from Rogue Squadron were attempting to apprehend a fugitive from Nova Industries, which at that time was in an armed conflict with both the Galactic Empire and Trade Federation. While never conclusively proven, Galfona and the members of Nova Industries suspected one of the two governments or both had a hand in Sosho’s death. Rho’s husband received a state burial that was broadcasted across all the channels of Nova Industries, yet all the posthumous honour and praise that he received could not fill the hole within the Tatooinian’s heart. As a result, she developed a severe depression and troublesome antisocial tendencies. Her mental state apparently also impacted her performance on the field of shockball, as a few months after Shosho’s death Rho was replaced as the team captain of the Rancors by Wuma Uxal-Lumir. Shortly thereafter, Galfona dropped out of the team entirely and quit her shockball career.

Life After Shosho Smahnatia (Year 10 - Year 20)

Despite Smahnatia’s death, Galfona remained a part of Nova Industries. As during this period the Elrood sector became a theatre of war, Rho decided to take part as an active combatant as a form of release for the anger and sorrow she felt internally over the death of her beloved husband. Her previous military training within the Empire, as well as her athletic form due to her participation in shockball, helped Galfona to prove herself on the field of battle and gain some notoriety among her opponents. Shortly thereafter, the Tatooinian became involved in the formation of the Red Star Alliance, the predecessor to Rogue Squadron.

In the years that followed, Galfona was involved in a number of highly dangerous but also rewarding skirmishes and operations. During the wars for the Elrood sector, Rho organised an ambush on an enemy convoy and managed to capture one of the officers crucial to that company’s functioning. He proved to be a valuable captive, as the Tatooinian ransomed him for a Bayonet-Class light cruiser. Another example of a mission that Galfona led was an operation to recover stolen cargo from a pirate gang. Yet, perhaps the most spectacular and high risk scenario that the Tatooinian took part in was the crash of a space station. The station had been built many centuries ago and was abandoned by any legitimate authorities, which resulted in its use by smugglers, pirates, and refugees fleeing the war and turmoil that the galaxy was enveloped in. As such, the object had become old and decrepit with zero maintenance, barely being able to maintain its orbit around the planet it floated above. Rho visited the station while flying the Bayonet-class cruiser she had acquired and required resupply. Yet, when the large ship docked with the station, the mass of the vessel had disturbed the orbit the shoddy and barely functioning orbital stabilisers had maintained until then and the object started falling to the planet below. Galfona had ordered the crew of the Bayonet to undock with the station and retreat to a safe distance, while she attempted to reach an escape pod or the hangar bay to find a starship to escape on. During the ordeal, she teamed up with a male Human and his daughter, who were on the station as refugees. They managed to find a small shuttle and escaped the doomed station, and returned to the Bayonet. Once aboard her vessel, Rho and the refugees she helped escape watched the station disintegrate upon atmospheric entry as its wreckage crashed into a sea on the planet.

Rho earning her scars during her exploits.

In light of the missions and operations she undertook, it should not come as a surprise that Galfona has a high kill count. The total number of important enemy agents that she took the lives of during the wars in the Elrood sector numbers 35. Unfortunately, the loss of her husband and the high amount of conflict and death that had entered her life through the armed conflicts in the Elrood sector, Rho had fallen back into her spice addiction. In addition, she had contracted the “Derra Virus” (also known as the metamorphosis plague) in Year 14, which had resulted in her transformation into a Kiffar due to latent genes from her father’s side. The narcotics aided in relieving the symptoms she experienced as a result of the genetic and bodily changes she was subjected to.

As her late husband was an avid collector of items, mementos, stories, holovids, literature and objects of historic value dating back to the Clone Wars, Rho decided to continue expanding and maintaining his collection in his memory. Whether it was ships and vehicles, armors or weapons, or simply media made during that time or relating to it, she always maintained a small private pile of credits dedicated to procuring it whenever she was able to. Similarly, her wedding ring - a simple unengraved loop made out of aurodium - also became an important memento that reminded her of Shosho. It has never left her person since his death, and can often be seen on her fingers, or on a chain around her neck. Yet, the idea that she had fallen back into her old toxic habits sullied the memory of her husband Shosho in her mind, which eventually prompted Galfona to enrol in a rehab program.

During her rehab period, she picked up work as a long range cargo transport pilot for Rogue Squadron. While the assistance and guidance she received from the program enabled her to break free from her spice addiction once more, she started using alcohol instead. Simultaneously, the course of her life had caused her to develop suicidal tendencies, which was a toxic seed that had been planted upon her husband’s death and had continued to fester and grow over the years, especially with the death and destruction she witnessed during the Elrood wars. These tendencies culminated in an ill-conceived endeavour to assassinate the magistrate on an Outer Rim planet who was backed by rivalling forces, and who created difficulties for Rogue Squadron. The mission failed and Galfona was arrested and sentenced to several years in prison.

Freedom and Return to Rogue Squadron (Year 21 - Year 23)

Rho served a couple of years in prison after he failed assassination attempt on a planetary magistrate. During this period, she broke with the new bad habit she was developing of alcohol use, and truly managed to straighten out in that regard. Upon her release, she returned to Rogue Squadron and once again returned to piloting, feeling truly at ease behind a piloting steer and with an expanse of stars on a canvas of black in front of her. Despite this, the life of conflict and turmoil had left its mark upon the Tatooinian, and she soon found that she missed the excitement of battle and started to grow restless.

As such, she picked up bounty hunting at the start of Year 23. In light of the experience in armed conflict she had gathered over the decades, as well as her strong physique which she had maintained over the years, she proved to be a successful huntress that located her targets with little difficulty and took them down with efficiency and precision. Her reputation and results kept increasing and improving over the course of Year 23, until she was recognised and elevated to the rank of Master Bounty Hunter on Day 328. Galfona continues her endeavours as a huntress to this day.

Appearance

Over the years - and as a result of her defection from the Galactic Empire - Rho has had to undergo a number of cosmetic surgeries to alter her facial features in an attempt to evade detection by Imperial authorities, among others. Presently, she has straight long white hair, green eyes, and slim symmetrical facial features which remain largely unblemished by scarring, age, or life experience, except for one small scar running over her left cheekbone. She has thick dark eyebrows and light skin tone. As a result, Galfona often dons darker shade of makeup that contrast with her light skin tone and white hair, and which bring out her eyes. Beyond that, she wears no other facial paint or markings, despite the Derra virus having brought out her latent Kiffar genes.

Rho is a woman with a sturdy build who stands 1.85 metres tall, and is therefore fairly tall for a female humanoid. While she already developed a strong frame in her early teenage years, it was primarily her time playing shockball on a semi-professional level that added a look of athleticism to her physique. Similarly, it enabled her to develop an above average agility paired with her fit posture. When Galfona does not wear her armour, she can usually be seen in various types of pant suits and other types of clothing that complement her athletic build, and which are considered fashionable and presentable in the social circles she inhabits.

Personality

Galfona is a woman with a problematic personality that has often brought her trouble throughout her life. Already as a young child she had developed severe anger-issues that always manifested themselves in the form of aggression against others, betters and inferiors alike. While she managed to learn to mask this part of her being beneath a layer of stoicism and cold calculation, her latent Kiffar genes - especially after her infection with the metamorphosis plague - made it easy for others to get underneath her skin and press her buttons. As a result, Rho has always been prone to antisocial tendencies, and prefers to be on her own or to solely rely on herself whenever possible. However, she can be fiercely loyal and committed to an individual she comes to trust, cherish, or even love, being able to accept them for who they are and with all their flaws. After all, she is well aware of the fact that she is a flawed individual herself, and therefore wishes to give others the validation of their sense of self that she lacked from her direct environs during her childhood, and regularly throughout her adulthood. It is why she so deeply cherished the connections she had with people like Stephen Barraclough or her erstwhile husband Shosho Smahnatia, as they gave her the personal validation that she so craved.

Aside from suffering from anger-issues, Rho is also prone to addiction, and has suffered from these throughout her life. Already as a young teenager she became addicted to spice and other similar narcotics, which was a toxic habit that had enthralled her for most of her adult life. While she received help from her late husband and later a rehab programme to get rid of her spice addiction, she developed a keenness for alcohol later on. After her spouse's death, and the conflict and turmoil that had entered her life thereafter, Galfona also developed suicidal tendencies which led her to participate in high risk missions and endeavours that weren't always an advisable course of action. Nonetheless, her life experience and athletic form often allowed her to survive the actions she undertook, even if they resulted in a prison sentence, as was the case with her failed assassination of a planetary magistrate.