Sana Starros

Sana Starros, also called Sanisi by her family,^[12] was a human female who lived during the time of the Galactic Civil War. She was once a student at the University of Bar'leth, where she had a romantic relationship with Chelli Lona Aphra. Later, she claimed to be married to Han Solo, though he denied it, and regardless they were not on good terms in the time after the Battle of Yavin. She traveled across the galaxy in search of Han, from Tatooine to the Monsua Nebula, in order to confront him. She was also captain of the Volt Cobra.

Biography

Early life

Sana Starros was a human female^[2] born on the Smugglers Moon Nar Shaddaa.^[1] Amongst its last descendants, she was a member of the Starros Clan that dated back to the High Republic Era.^[5] She grew up in Wormstew Town.^[1]

University of Bar'leth

Starros was a classmate of Chelli Lona Aphra at the University of Bar'leth, located on the Core World of Bar'leth. Sana and Aphra both attended Sava Toob-Nix's class on archaeology, where Aphra would frequently interrupt Toob-Nix's lectures. One day, Aphra was late to class and snuck in through a window, and interrupted Toob-Nix's assertion that all of the artifacts once stored at the university library on the Fifth Moon of Thrinittik had been destroyed. Aphra argued that enough of the structure had survived that some of its artifacts might remain buried and preserved, and an archeological expedition could uncover them. The Sava argued that Aphra's ideas were wrong, when Starros spoke up to back Aphra up. Starros pointed out research in the University of Bar'leth library that supported Aphra's claims. Aphra became instantly enamored with Starros.^[13]

Aphra was certain that Toob-Nix would try to have her expelled, but Sana secretly blackmailed the Sava; warning him that if he expelled Aphra, she would end his career by reporting how he furthered his own academic agenda through teaching his class incorrect information. Aphra was unaware of Starros' blackmailing of the Sava for years thereafter.^[13]

Starros was with Aphra and Eustacia Okka when Kho Phon Farrus attempted to register for school. After Aphra convinced the new student to break into Sava Iglan'tine Nos' office, Starros and the rest snuck in through a window while the sava took Farrus to the dean for punishment and made off with half of Nos' collection of artifacts.^[14]

Aphra and Starros began dating, and the pair were monogamous—something unusual for Aphra. However, Aphra eventually ran off without telling Starros goodbye, ending the relationship on very bad terms.^[13] Nonetheless, Aphra continued to harbor at least some feelings for her old flame as the years continued to go by.^[15]

Securing the Phylanx Redux Transmitter

Around 3 BBY,^[16] Starros attended the auction of the Phylanx Redux Transmitter and barely escaped with her life after a disgruntled suitor opened fire when Crimson Dawn won the bid for the Phylanx. She was then hired to pretend she had the Phylanx to attract and eliminate those who pursued the Phylanx. Afterwards, Starros traveled to the planet Takodana and kidnapped the leader of the Parapa Cartel, Mozeen Parapa, in order to gain his intel on the Phylanx. Starros then encountered Han Solo and his companion Chewbacca in a landing field outside of Takodana Castle and offered them fifty percent of her cut in exchange for their help. However, Starros discovered she was being pursued by bounty hunters, who chased Starros, Solo, Chewbacca, and Parapa into the Millennium Falcon. Despite Solo's reluctance to accept help from the rude Parapa, Starros agreed to let Parapa go and give him seven percent of the cut in return for his help.^[4]

Starros directed them to Freerago's Satellite Diner and Motel, where she returned Parapa to his henchmen when Parapa told him that the Phylanx was in possession of the Pau'an Fyzen Gor. Starros stayed with the Millennium Falcon while Solo and Chewbacca entered the diner and discovered Gor and claimed the Phylanx from him. However, when Starros picked them up, they were boarded by Gorben Frak and a group of bounty hunters hired by the Droid Gotra as well as the Parapa Cartel. Starros paid the Parapa Cartel, but when threatened to turn over the Phylanx to the Gotra, she told Solo to shoot the prize out of the airlock instead, hoping to successfully scare them with the bluff. However, a confused Solo dumped the Phylanx, thinking Starros was serious. When the hunters left to find it, Starros was furious with Solo. She told them to drop her off back on Takodana, telling them she should never have hired them.^[4]

A fake marriage

At some point, Starros married Solo as part of a scam in order to pull off a robbery on Stenness. However, Solo made off with her cut of the robbery.^[17] At some point, she came to believe that lying was the only thing that Solo was good for, while Solo saw her as someone dangerous to him, and tried to avoid her.^[3]

Hunting Solo

Around the time of the Battle of Yavin, when Solo joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic,^[19] Sana set out to find him.^[3] Sana's search for Solo led her to the desert world of Tatooine, where Solo and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, had been shortly before the Battle of Yavin. Starros put out the word that she was looking for someone, that person being Solo, and that she was offering a reward to whoever could help her find her supposed husband. A group of armed Rodians confronted Starros in the spaceport settlement of Mos Eisley, demanding to be given the reward money despite not being willing to help her on her mission. Starros used voice-activated smart-targeting scatterblasters from Nar Shaddaa that she had hidden under the table she was sitting at to shoot all four of the Rodians in the knees, and she threatened to shoot them in their faces if they did not provide her with information about Solo's whereabouts. The lead Rodian relented and told Starros that Solo had left Tatooine after killing Greedo, a fellow Rodian.^[18]

Soon thereafter, Starros picked up Solo's location and followed him into the Moddell sector in the Outer Rim Territories. Solo, who was accompanied by Princess Leia Organa aboard the Invictus, a stolen Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, fled from pursuing TIE/ln space superiority starfighters towards a planet in the Monsua Nebula, where the TIE fighters would not pursue due to dangerous electrical storms in the atmosphere.^[20] Sana arrived at the nebula and flew past the TIE fighters, the pilots of which were unwilling to pursue her or the Invictus onto the surface of the planet. Starros landed her ship near where Solo was located, and the smuggler was displeased to see her. Organa asked who she was, and she introduced herself as "Sana Solo," Han Solo's wife—though he denied it—and demanded to know who the princess was.^[3]

During a brief exchange, in which Starros slapped Solo for tasting like the Corellian wine that Organa had splashed in his face earlier, she revealed that the planet they were on was once a favored rendezvous point for the couple. Organa, announcing that this whole affair was none of her business, attempted to leave but after Solo called out for her to stay, Starros realized the princess' importance, citing the large bounty on her head. It was at this point that the Imperials, who had sent an Imperial-class Star Destroyer into the nebula, caught up with the fugitives. Several TIE fighters and TIE/sa bombers began a bombardment of the surface, dropping proton bombs through the electrical storms below. Realizing an opportunity, Starros ordered her associate Cobra to fire on the stolen shuttle, destroying Solo and Organa's only means of escape. She then announced her intention to turn Organa over to the Imperials and bring Solo back with her.^[21]

She attempted to make contact with the Star Destroyer in orbit but was interrupted when Organa kicked Solo into her and drew a weapon of her own. However, it was too late as the TIEs were already descending on their position.^[21] After the TIE fighters landed, the pilots got out of their craft and attempted to apprehend Organa, but she opened fire and killed two of the pilots. Solo convinced Starros not to collect Organa's bounty by explaining that he was part of the Rebel Alliance as well, and that he would likely be executed or imprisoned as well. Solo shot the last remaining TIE pilot, and the trio boarded the Volt Cobra. More TIEs appeared re-engaging the Volt Cobra, and jammed its transmissions.^[22] The Volt Cobra came under attack by a Star Destroyer. Starros piloted the Volt Cobra and plotted a course before entering hyperspace.^[23]

Rescuing Skywalker

After losing the Imperials, Starros told Solo that their marriage did happen on Stenness. Starros was told by Organa to set a course for Nar Shaddaa to rescue Luke Skywalker. Starros, not wanting to join the rebellion, refused until Organa offered to pay her for her help. However all Starros wanted was her husband, to which Organa agreed. Starros set a course of Nar Shaddaa.^[23] Upon the Volt Cobra's arrival on Nar Shaddaa,^[24] Starros went with Solo and Organa. Along with Chewbacca, Starros helped them infiltrate the Palace of Grakkus the Hutt. However, when they got to the Palace's arena, all their blasters did not work and Starros was buried under rock. She was freed by Organa and revealed that she was not actually Solo's wife. Starros told her of the robbery in which she and Solo pretended to be married. Starros agreed to just be paid as long as Solo was not killed before that time. Starros later left Nar Shaddaa aboard the Volt Cobra alongside the Millennium Falcon.^[17]

Working for the Alliance

Sunspot Prison

Starros was then hired to assist Organa in dropping Doctor Aphra off at the Alliance's Sunspot Prison. Enroute to the prison, Aphra attempted to escape her captors aboard the Volt Cobra, but Starros was able to knock her out. She, Organa, C-3PO and R2-D2 took Aphra into the prison. After Aphra's interrogation, Starros questioned the Rebel Alliance Intelligence Service's effectiveness compared with the Empire's. Starros said if they could not get the answers out of Aphra, she would throw her into space. After Organa left, Starros told Aphra that she wanted her to be killed. She also refused to let Aphra talk her in to letting her out. Aphra called her Starros a rebel sympathizer and said she hated smugglers. As Starros and Organa spoke with the warden, the prison came under attack by several mercenaries.^[25]

Starros, Organa, and the guards took out several IG-RM droids. As they regrouped, Starros and Organa discovered that the mercenary in charge had taken the prison's control room. She and Organa watched as the mercenary ordered the deaths of several prisoners. Despite Starros agreeing with the mercenary, she went with Organa. Along the way, Starros and Organa came under attack by Kolar Ludd. She and Organa took Ludd back to the guards and the other prisoners. After the mercenary killed several more prisoners, Starros and Organa saved Aphra from a IG-RM droid. Despite their mutual hostility, Starros and Organa gave Aphra a gun since they faced an enemy, who was determined to kill all the Imperial prisoners aboard the station.^[26]

While navigating through Sunspot's cell blocks, Starros attempted to send a distress signal but was attacked by an IG-RM droid, which grabbed her neck. Instead of attacking the droid, Aphra tried to reprogram the droid. Organa shot the droid and stopped Starros from attacking Aphra. When Organa asked if Starros was able to get the signal through, she replied that she did not managed to reach the Alliance Fleet but hoped that someone in the area would pick it up. Starros threatened to throw her estranged friend Aphra into the sun but Organa warned them that they needed to pull their resources into fighting against a common enemy.^[27]

They reached another cell block only to discover too later that the intruder had ejected the prisoners into the sun. With the help of C-3PO and R2-D2 and one of Aphra's reprogrammed IG-RM droids, Starros and the other women managed to retake the control room. While Organa interrogated one of the enemy droids, Starros and Aphra argued. Still bitter about Aphra's betrayal, Starros told Aphra to move over. Aphra told her to get over what had happened a "long time ago" and told Starros to get over her crush. Starros countered by telling Aphra to learn how to stab people in the front for a change. Organa broke the argument since she had received a comlink message from Solo and Skywalker.^[27]

Parting with Doctor Aphra

Starros along with Organa and Aphra entered the hangar bay only to discover that the lead intruder had taken Solo and Skywalker captive. The intruder revealed himself as Eneb Ray, a former rebel agent who had been radicalized by the failed Arrth-Eno Mission. Ray now lived to seek revenge against the Empire by any means necessary including murder. Seeking to win Organa over to his cause, he demanded that she execute Aphra in return for sparing the lives of her friends. While Organa refused to abandon her principles, a vindictive Starros pointed her gun at Aphra's head. Despite Organa and Aphra's pleas, Starros proceeded to aim her blaster at Aphra's head. However, Organa convinced R2-D2 to ignite the ion pulse, disabling the station's power and artificial gravity.^[28]

Amidst the chaos, Starros and Aphra fought with the former gaining the upper hand. As Starros proceed to choke Aphra, the latter apologized for betraying her. Still angry with Aphra, Starros flung her against Ray. Abandoning their differences, the three women then overpowered and disarmed the rogue rebel agent. After Rebel Alliance forces retook the prison and proceeded to evacuate the surviving prisoners, Aphra took the opportunity to escape. Organa caught up with her and tried to convince her that Darth Vader was untrustworthy. Before the conversation could continue, Starros shoved Aphra into the escape pod and told her never to return.^[28]

Through her actions, Starros had helped her estranged friend Aphra escape rebel custody. When Organa asked how long it would take for her to find all the trackers they had hidden in her clothes, Starros responded that Aphra had hidden trackers aboard their ship Volt Cobra. When Organa asked about her connection with Aphra, Starros refused to talk about it. After chatting about Starros's fees, Organa teased Solo and Skywalker about them being terrible rescuers. While boarding the Millennium Falcon, she noticed that the ship smelled like a herd of nerfs.^[28]

Hijacking the Harbinger

Starros later went with Solo and Organa when the Rebel Alliance decided to take control of the Star Destroyer Harbinger in order to break through the blockade at Tureen VII. After the Falcon landed aboard the Harbinger, Starros guarded the ship as Solo and Organa made their way to the reactor room. Starros met up with Solo, Organa, Skywalker and their team on the Harbinger's bridge.^[29] Starros told 3PO and R2 that she could see that Solo and Organa, despite their bickering, were falling in love with each other. She went with Skywalker and the two of them flew TIE fighters to rendezvous with Admiral Verette's shuttle. However, they found the ship and the Admiral's body. Starros then destroyed the shuttle and told Skywalker that the shuttle was either a warning or distraction.^[30]

Starros, Skywalker and their group went to check on the maintenance team. Starros found blaster marks but no bodies of the maintenance team were found. Starros, Skywalker, and their team then lost contact with Solo and Organa on the bridge. The doors were closed behind them and Skywalker was knocked out. Starros and the group then came under attack by several SCAR troopers of SCAR Squadron. She and her team were pinned down by the stormtroopers but Sana was later contacted by the bridge.^[31] Starros knocked out several stormtroopers until she was held at gunpoint by one after jettisoning the escape pods. However, Starros was able to escape the trooper after she activated a hangar door. Starros was saved by Skywalker.^[11]

Journey to Ktath'atn

Starros continued working with Solo and Organa at the rebel outpost on Horox III. There, she received a message from Aphra. Starros helped Organa with S4 in making the droid reveal Skywalker's location, that he had gone with Aphra and the droid was re-programmed by her.^[32] Starros told Solo that Aphra was taking Skywalker to Ktath'atn to meet with the Queen. Starros, Organa and Solo decided to go to Ktath'atn to rescue him. Starros refused to talk about her relationship with Aphra with Solo or Organa. Upon their arrival on Ktath'atn, Starros, Organa and Solo met up with Aphra's droids, BT-1 and 0-0-0.^[33]

Starros met up with Aphra and tried to kill her. However, Skywalker deflected the blast away from Aphra and refused to let Starros kill her. Starros and the others fought the Queen's forces and retreated to the Citadel of Ktath'atn's control room. There, she found several Abersyn symbiotes. When Aphra made a deal with the queen to reactivate the Rur crystal, Starros told Organa that they should have killed her. She engaged in a firefight between the Queen's guards until Solo was taken over by her. Organa and Starros met up with S4, BT-1 and 0-0-0 in the Citadel's command center. After, BT blew a hole in the wall, Starros and Organa saw Bombinax standing over Krrsantan before the two were confronted by Bombinax. Starros later helped Krrsantan aboard his ship.^[34]

Starros and Organa watched as Krrsantan threw Bombinax over a cliff. Starros said they would fight the queen with Krrsantan, BT-1 and 0-0-0. Starros worked with the droids in fighting the guards. She knocked Solo and stopped him from implanting a symbiote in Organa.^[35] Starros and Organa continued to fight the guards and were able to get through to Solo. As they were outfought, Starros and Organa took several of the Queen's leaders. Starros saw that the Queen's guards were following Solo and asked him if wanted to be a king. After Solo said no, Starros saw that the guards and the people had been freed. After meeting up with Skywalker, Starros said her goodbyes to Aphra. Starros piloted the Falcon away from Ktath'atn.^[36]

Working with Calrissian

Some time following the events on Ktath'atn, Starros met up with a group of Krawg pirates in the Outer Rim. There, Starros offered the pirates 13 crates of E-11 medium blaster rifle for a 5000 credit downpayment and then asked for 15000 credits for the rest of the crates. However, she kept one of the blasters with her and was warned by the pirates that they would cut her up. The pirates agreed and paid her the 5000. Starros then met up with Lando Calrissian on Coruscant. There, she told Calrissian about her deal with the pirates. Starros told Calrissian that she would sell the crates to the pirates, then she would sell them out to the Empire and collect the rewards on the pirates. In addition, she would keep the blasters.^[1]

Starros and Calrissian went to meet with an Imperial officer, where she confessed to stealing the blaster. She haggled with the officer offering the names of the pirates and blasters for 20000 credits. At first, the officer refused and threatened to shoot Calrissian. Starros continued to ask for the price and left it up to the officer. The officer agreed and let them go. Starros and Calrissian continued with their deal, but Starros revealed that Jabba the Hutt had the 12 other crates. The two of them went to Tatooine to meet meet with Jabba at his Palace. Despite Jabba denying his possession of the crates, Starros offered to give name of the pirates in exchange for 20000. One of he pirates attempted to shoot her, but Starros was able to shoot first. Jabba agreed to her price.^[1]

As Starros and Calrissian left Tatooine, she told him about Jabba got the blasters and how she stole the first crate. Starros said she stole the rest of the crates while Calrissian was drinking with Jabba. Starros agreed to drop Calrissian off anywhere he wanted, but he demanded his finder's fee. The Volt Cobra then came under attack by the pirates. However, a Star Destroyer arrived and captured the pirates ship. Starros and Calrissian made their escape to Nar Shaddaa. There, she and Calrissian had dinner, but he did not like the food and decided to leave with his cut. After he left, Starros ordered some more appetizing food from the waiter, Gru.^[1]

Shortly after, Starros met up with Solo, Organa, Skywalker and the Falcon at the Horox III rebel outpost, which had been attacked and destroyed by Imperials. She told the princess they should leave right away, knowing the bodies would be booby-trapped. They rounded up the dead rebels anyway and Starros found a message from the attackers, who revealed themselves to be SCAR Squadron.^[37]

Hunting Aphra

Sometime later, Starros was on the 3rd Moon when she was contacted by rebel General Hera Syndulla, who had a job for her. She required Starros to rescue Aphra from the Imperial wreckage-prison Accresker Jail in order to get intel from her that the rebels needed. Starros agreed to do it and took wasted no time tracking the prison. She found Accresker Jail in Senex-Juvex, where it was preparing to deploy its prisoners into a pirate station. While she waited for the battle to begin she talked to Syndulla, who was intrigued to know why she hated Aphra so much. Starros filled the time by explaining her hate for Aphra to Syndulla through a hard-bitten analogy. By the time she had finished, the battle was beginning.^[38]

Starros flew the Volt Cobra towards Accresker Jail in search of Aphra. As it happened, Aphra was trying to escape with the help of her crush, the Imperial Captain-Inspector Magna Tolvan.^[38] When Starros found them, she assumed Tolvan, who was flying a TIE fighter, intended to kill Aphra and shot at her. Tolvan then jumped out of the exploding TIE with a rocket launcher and shot at the Volt Cobra, tearing through the port side and forcing it to crash land. Both now without their ships Starros and Tolvan shot at each other until they both realized they were both trying to save Aphra. Aphra arrived to find the pair were grounded and an Imperial hubdroid approached them to receive their weapons, with the attack on the pirate station having finished. The hubdroid then took Aphra away, leaving Starros and Tolvan with her shape-shifting alien friend "Lopset Yas."^[39]

Starros, Tolvan and Yas followed the other prisoner as they trickled back from the battle. After, Yas gave the pair prison clothing to blend in along with advice for them. However, they were soon interrupted by an announcement. Aphra, who had been taken by the hubdroid to an interrogation, had revealed the existence of some highly contagious Force-sensitive gundravian hookspores. As a result, Accresker command decided to decommission the prison and propel it into the rebel sympathizing planet^[39] Tiferep Major.^[40] They told this to the prisoners and released Aphra back to them.^[39]

Chaos at Tiferep Major

Desperate more than ever to escape, Aphra contacted the vigilante Tam Posla, who she had a rough history with. She used Yas' shape-shifting abilities to turn into Posla's most hated individual, Cornelius Evazan. This convinced Posla to come for them with a shuttle to trade for his nemesis. After contacting Posla, Starros, Aphra, Yas, and Tolvan realized that the jail's staff were abandoning the prisons tug-cruiser, leaving it to fall into Accresker Jail. Together, they evaded the crash and found the other prisoners rioting. The convicts noticed who Aphra was and surrounded them, only to be attacked by a large Force spirit generated by the Force-sensitive hookspores. Tolvan asked about boarding the wrecked tug-cruiser, so Starros had the others lug a large gun to blow a hole in the side.^[40]

Inside the cruiser, the group found the control room and Aphra discovered there was one escape pod left. Starros pointed out they could not use it due to the prisons gravity field. However, she Aphra realized that she could slice it to be toned down, as well as opening the bulkheads between them and the escape pod. After she opened the bulkheads and rearranged the wreckage-prison by toning down the gravity field strength, she led Starros and the others towards the escape pod. In their way, stood the hookspores which briefly possessed them with the spirit of the deceased Jedi's consciousness that made it Force-sensitive. Before it deemed them useless to her, Starros believed she saw her brother. She then realized that Aphra was after the Jedi's lightsaber aboard his ship. Starros and Tolvan prompted her to continue to the escape pod.^[40]

After arriving at the escape pod, Aphra let Tolvan and Starros get in first. She then tried to jettison them in it together but Tolvan jumped out in time, leaving Starros in the escape pod as it shot out towards Tiferep Major.^[41] On the planet, Starros assisted the evacuation of the population while Accresker Jail descended on it. Luckily for her and the forces sent by Syndulla starfighters, the prison had been halted in mid air by Darth Vader, who had been contacted by Tolvan as a last resort. Starros and the starfighters Syndulla sent, flew over Accresker Jail and destroyed Vader's shuttle. Vader then destroyed the X-wing flown by Tan Leader with his lightsaber. While Vader left the scene to deal with the hookspore, Starros and several rebels landed and found Tolvan in the wreckage of his shuttle. With Vader leaving and allowing the prison to fall again, Starros decided to give up finding Aphra and escaped with Tolvan.^[42]

Smuggling the Rebels

Sometime later, Starros met up with Solo, Organa, Skywalker and their droids on Nar Shaddaa. There, Solo gave her data he retrieved from the Ring of Kafrene. In exchange, she was asked to help find the both the Alliance Fleet and the Millennium Falcon, which they had been parted from during their defeat at the Mako-Ta Space Docks.^[43] At the planet Barnahof, Starros was able to hide Solo and the others from the stormtroopers stationed there. She helped make contact with the informant Bodo Linx, who knew someone on Brentaal IV who could help them contact the Alliance. Starros then took them to the Dene Gois Cluster in order to avoid Imperial Interdictors and major hyperspace lanes that lead to Brentaal IV.^[44]

As they flew through the Dene Gois Cluster, Starros and her ship were spotted by a Imperial Star Destroyer. At first, she wanted to stay on course, but Solo convinced her to allow himself and friends to use the Volt Cobra's escape pods to evade the Empire. Starros had them jettison onto Hubin.^[44] Without her burdens, she then evaded the Star Destroyer, only to be intercepted and captured by SCAR squadron.^[45] She was tortured by Interrogator droids for information on the rebels' whereabouts, which subsequently took them to Hubin. There, Sergeant Kreel found Starros' friends at a mansion owned by Hubin's owner, Thane Markona. He threatened to kill Starros if the rebels did not reveal themselves, which easily lured them out. Markona's daughter, Tula Markona, then stunned Solo and Organa, while Markona himself had Skywalker duel Kreel.^[46]

Reunited with Aphra

In the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, which cost the Alliance Echo Base,^[48] Starros was recruited by Aphra,^[49] who had judged the smuggler to be someone who was less-than-likely to betray her, to help her steal a Path engine.^[50] Starros was on Corellia on a smuggling job when she returned to her crash pad. Detecting someone inside, she burst through the door and pinned the intruder, only to discover it was Chelli Aphra. She asked Aphra how she tracked her down, and she explained that she was looking for a local contact to introduce her to Lady Proxima. Sana got angry and threw Aphra out of the residence. The next morning, Starros found Aphra outside her door with a bag of sweet rolls from Eim'ir's Bakery. She accepted the bribe and took her to the Den of the White Worms. As Starros attempted to introduce Aphra, Proxima became enraged and threatened to tear the archeologist to pieces. Starros realized that Aphra had lied and used her to gain access. Aphra told Proxima she was looking for a smuggled Path engine and the Grindalid informed the pair that a smuggler named Remy had brought it to Corellia and sold it. Starros mentioned that Remy had never said anything about it while she was working with him. The pair went to find Remy and found him being interrogated by the Unbroken Clan. The two attacked the Unbroken Clan members and stole Remy's datapad. They returned to the Volt Cobra and Aphra convinced Starros to assist in her search.^[49]

They travelled to Dol'har Hyde and talked to a bartender who told them about Remy bragging he had found the hyperdrive in one of the old Nihil wrecks and sold it to a buyer on Corellia. Starros and Aphra rappelled down into a hollow tree to investigate the wreckage. Starros told Aphra to be careful, as she had fallen before when descending a rock wall in university. Aphra fell when her climbing gear broke, and Starros followed her down into the bridge of a wrecked Nihil ship. Sana felt that with all the overgrown vegetation, there wouldn't be anything salvageable. She watched as Aphra cut into a console and started to look around. While waiting, she asked Aphra about the whereabouts of 0-0-0 and BT-1. She also berated her for betraying Magna Tolvan. Aphra was able to access the hyperdrive maintenance controls and open the engine bay. Starros observed that the hyperdrive that Beol De'Rruyet was selling would be incompatible with the engine mounting and wondered if it came from a different class of ship. Aphra told her that by looking at the engine schematics, she could determine the engine De'Rruyet was selling was a fake. The pair was attacked by the Unbroken Clan and Starros was injured by shrapnel. They tried to escape to the bottom of the tree, but only Starros had a grappling hook. She launched the grappling hook to the other side of the hollow tree as the Unbroken Clan destroyed the ship they were standing in.^[51]

She managed to get her and Aphra to safety. Aphra tended to her wound with bacta spray. They returned to the bar to find the bartender and all the patrons dead. Realizing what it would mean if the Unbroken Clan obtained a working Path drive, she and Aphra travelled to Midarr. Once on the planet, they made their way to the De'Rruyet Center where an event was taking place. Realizing security was too tight to break in, Starros came up with a plan to ambush some interns getting caf and to take their uniforms as disguises. After incapacitating Bran and the other intern, Starros and Aphra went through the front door and delivered the beverage to De'Rruyet. After he left, the pair examined the engine and confirmed it was an elaborate fake that would not function. Using De'Rruyet's access card that Aphra pickpocketed, the two made their way into his office so that they could search his files. Seeing a one-way ticket to Mon Cala, Starros deduced that the businessman was planning on taking the money and running. Aphra informed Starros that the engine would explode if used and Starros wanted to warn everyone while Aphra wanted to get more details on the underground network that was trading in rare artifacts. They were discovered by De'Rruyet and the pair pretended to be Imperial agents. When Vukorah and the Unbroken Clan attacked the main hall, Starros followed De'Rruyet as he went to see what was happening.^[52]

Seeing Vukorah slaughtering innocent bystanders, Starros wanted to intervene but Aphra convinced her that she would take care of it and had Starros find an exit from the building instead. She found some employees and disabled the person guarding them. She followed them out an exit and asked the stormtroopers who were on the perimeter of the building to go inside and rescue the rest of the captives. Starros reentered the building and found Aphra sheltering herself from the battle between Imperial troopers and Unbroken Clan members. As they fled, Vukorah saw them and gave pursuit. Outside of the building, Starros returned fire at Vukorah and hit her in the eye. The pair travelled to the Acquisitor where Aphra debriefed Domina Tagge. Upset at the loss of the engine, Tagge enclosed Starros in a containment field and started to suffocate her. She was released when Aphra gave the crystal core from the destroyed engine. Satisfied, Tagge gave the pair an assignment to track down Ebann Drake and find out information about an "incredible opportunity" he had bragged about to Tagge but never provided details on. They returned to the Volt Cobra and Starros chided Aphra for giving a piece of Nihil technology to the head of an evil corporation. Aphra told her the core was corrupted and useless but had gotten Tagge off their backs for a while. Starros told Aphra she had heard of Drake before.^[53]

They made their way to the Opal Empress. Boarding the ship, they found everyone dead. Deciding to search the cabins to see if Drake was still alive, Starros warned Aphra to stay alert and not get distracted by stealing abandoned valuables. They found Drake's corpse in his cabin and Starros wondered if his enemies had caused the death of all the passengers. She was informed by Aphra that the big opportunity Drake was bragging about was the auction of the frozen body of Han Solo being held by Crimson Dawn. The pair was confronted by the bounty hunter Durge who had come to capture Drake. As they were talking, a horde of cymotes fell from the ceiling. Starros ordered everyone to run and keep shooting at the creatures. Hiding in a room, Starros learned about the cymotes from Aphra. Despite Durge's assurances that he could take care of the parasites, Starros and Aphra came up with a plan to lure the hoard to an airlock where they could be expelled into space and destroyed by explosive decompression. Durge lured most of the parasites to an airlock and Starros was yanked out of it by Aphra right before she blew the bounty hunter who was covered in cymotes out into space. They returned back to the Volt Cobra and reported in to Domina Tagge. She ordered the pair to proceed to the auction and find out all they could about the various criminal syndicates in attendance.^[54] On the way to the auction, Starros asked Aphra if there was a way to help Solo, but she replied that Solo was not her problem.^[55]

Starros and Aphra travelled to Jekara and disguised themselves as members of Drake's crew. Realizing that most of the people attending the auction had a grudge against Aphra, she reassured her friend that everybody was more interested in the auction than her. The pair had a drink at the bar and were approached by a mysterious stranger. He warned Starros to remove her hand from her blaster and asked Aphra to provide a distraction for him.^[56][57] The auction started and Starros watched the bidding, unable to believe they were actually auctioning off Han Solo. Jabba bid 1 million credits and Starros remarked that if Solo found out, he would never stop bragging about the price he was worth.^[56] Vader arrived, causing Aphra to panic. Starros attempted to calm her down as to not draw attention to themselves.^[57] The pair snuck out of the auction.^[58][48] Once they were away, Starros asked Aphra about the situation between her and Vader. Aphra told her that she had promised him the Rebel base on Hoth. Starros became upset at Aphra, blaming her for the attack but Aphra explained that she had lied to the Sith Lord and trapped him in a kyberite chamber. Starros realized that Aphra was telling the truth when she didn't hear the thing in her voice that Aphra did when she was lying. She decided their best course of action was to get information from Xet who Aphra had spilled a drink on earlier in an attempt to steal her necklace. The pair ambushed Xet in the restroom, and Starros choked her unconscious. She noticed a Crimson Dawn tattoo on the Falleen and realized she was a spy. Starros was determined to leave immediately and turn the necklace over to Domina Tagge but Aphra convinced her that it was an opportune time to explore the Crimson Dawn flagship and possibly do some looting. As they explored deeper into the ship, they were attacked and captured by an A3L-N sentinel droid.^[48]

Starros woke up in the brig of the Vermillion where Aphra introduced her to fellow prisoners Just Lucky and Ariole Yu. She went along with Aphra's plan to create a distraction so the sentinel droid would come in and Aphra could take control of it. Freed, the group went to find their belongings before escaping the starship. Coming across an armory, Starros took several blasters for herself. She and the others continued their way through the ship, planting explosives and searching for valuables. The group reached an art gallery, and Starros entered first followed by the others. They saw Qi'ra place the necklace that Aphra had stolen into a case.^[59]

They were attacked by the assassin Deathstick. Starros and Yu managed to drive her off with their blasters. More Crimson Dawn guards arrived and Starros asked Aphra if she had a plan. After Aphra picked up a Thought Dowser and used it to force the Crimson Dawn to stab themselves, Starros warned her to put it down. She picked up Aphra after the device shorted out her electro-tattoos and carried her to the hangar where her ship was. The pair fled into space and Starros commented that she was surprised that Aphra hadn't killed Lucky and Yu during their escape. She said that it was a possibility that Aphra was maturing much to the archeologist's disgust. Starros listened as Aphra sliced into the data nodes on the stolen necklace and discovered that Crimson Dawn spies were infiltrating all the major powers in the galaxy.^[60]

The pair travelled to Corellia where they met with Murl. Starros observed as he diagnosed Aphra's electo-tattoos and told her they were fried and needed to be removed. Declining the surgery, they left and Starros suggested they go back to Tae Goal to see if they could repair the electo-tattoos. When Aphra rejected the idea, Starros then suggested they go see Domina Tagge since the head of the Tagge Corporation had the means and resources to fix Aphra. She told her that since Aphra was being used by Tagge, she might as well get something in return. They returned to the Acquistitor and Tagge congratulated them on a job well done. Starros told Aphra not to act weird about the praise. Tagge agreed to fix the electo-tattoos and Starros watched as the operation was done.

Lapin Tagge explained that not only were the electro-tattoos fixed, they were also upgraded. Starros asked if Aphra had been weaponized but Lapin assured the smuggler that she had not been. They went to Coruscant to break into Tase Somer's home to see if they could find any information on Ascendant artifacts. The pair found several dismembered limbs surrounded a scorch mark on the floor and were confronted by Kho Phon Farrus.^[61] They went on a monologue about their plans and Starros was filled in by Aphra on their past. When Farrus attacked the pair with the Whip of Sorrows, Starros fired on them with her DH-17 blaster. Farrus used the whip to wrap around the weapon and drain its energy. She gave chase as Farrus fled with their Thought Dowser and jumped out a window. Aphra suggested they follow them, but Starros declined to jump out a second story window. Pondering the next move, Starros realized that the best idea was to search Somer's records and see who had recently bought Ascendant artifacts.^[62]

Starros and Aphra tracked down the members of Tase Somer's black market network on Taris, Nar Shaddaa, Champala, and Mon Cala but couldn't get to them before Farrus killed them. The pair went to Corsin where they found a group of corpses suspended in mid-air. Starros warned Aphra that if they didn't act quick, they wouldn't be able to find anyone on the list still alive. While examining the ritual murder scene, she mentioned that Farrus seemed familiar to her. Aphra told her that they all attended the University of Bar'leth together. Starros was surprised as she remembered Farrus as a nice, quiet person. Thinking that they could set a trap for Farrus, Starros wondered what they could use as bait. They realized Beol De'Rruyet was still alive and had access to the network so they travelled to Midarr. They found him in a bar drinking Tevraki whiskey. Starros remarked that it was an expensive liquor and wondered how he could afford after his company tanked. The pair convinced the businessman to put a fake listing on the black market network claiming he had an Ascendant diadem for sale. When Farrus showed up for the buy, Starros fired her blaster at them. She was buried in boxes that Farrus threw at them using their Electromagnetic gloves.^[63]

She travelled to Bar'Leth with Aphra to stop Farrus. During the trip, Aphra explained to Starros that Farrus was searching for the Spark Eternal. When Domina Tagge called them, Starros accepted the transmission despite Aphra's protests. After landing, the pair snuck into Sava Nos's office through a window just like had done when they were back in school. Starros fought off several security droids that attacked when Aphra tripped an alarm and descended into the Tomb of the Spark Eternal.^[64]

Nos opened fire on the pair and Starros tried to return fire but had her blaster taken from her by Farrus who used her calling glove to pull it away from her. While Aphra and Farrus fought, Starros placed one of the magnets on a pillar which drug Farrus away from the fight and restrained her. She climed to the top of the Unyielding Heart just in time to see Aphra get struck by a blast of energy. Fearing her friend was dead, she was amazed to see Aphra's body come back to life.^[65] She aimed her blaster at her friend's possessed body. The Spark doubted she would shoot her friend, but Starros hit her in the arm. Undeterred, the Spark used its energy to boost the body's natural healing processes. Starros used the Whip of Sorrows in an attempt to drain the power from the Spark Eternal. It was unsuccessful, and the Spark fired an energy blast at the smuggler. It then used the Thought Dowser on Farrus, commanding them to return the Whip of Sorrows and calling gloves. To prevent the Spark from getting the Ascendant technologies, Starros knocked Farrus unconscious and fled the temple. She emerged to find Boushh and crew waiting to return her to face Domina Tagge. Back on the Acquistor, she explained to Domina that Aphra had fused with the ancient Ascendant tech. Wanting the tech for herself, Domina tasked Starros with bringing Aphra to her. She also ordered Lapin to mobilize all the other vetted bounty hunters to also bring Aphra in, dead or alive. Starros objected, telling Domina that she would put together her own team made up of people close to Aphra which would be uniquely able to track down the lost archeologist. She travelled to Tirn III to recruit Korin Aphra and to the Shadow University to enlist help from Detta Yao and Eustacia Okka. After getting them onboard her team, she went to a secret location to talk to Magna Tolvan.^[66]

Starros tried to convince Tolvan to join her crew. The rebel initially declined, stating she was committed to the rebellion and didn't want to deal with Aphra again. Starros was able to convince her to join the team by appealing to her love for Aphra. Using the combined knowledge of the crew, Starros was able to figure out a place where Aphra might be hiding something valuable. The group travelled to Birukay and were attacked by Crimson Dawn. Starros and the rest dispatched their foes and investigated a small hut.^[67] BT-1 and 0-0-0 were in the hut and attacked Starros' crew. Once the two droids were subdued by Farrus, Starros persuaded the droids to join her crew in searching for Aphra.^[68]

Realizing that Crimson Dawn had the location of the droids and only Aphra knew the location, Starros deduced that she must be in Crimson Dawn custody. She planned on using Farrus' connection with The Archivist to sneak onboard the Vermillion. They flew to the flagship and started to search for Aphra. Starros ran into Just Lucky and Yu who warned her that Aphra was possessed and she should flee with the rest of her crew. Continuing her search, she called 0-0-0 to confirm that the droids had taken care of the security team. She learned that the Spark Eternal knew they were coming when Okka contacted Farrus but Aphra answered. They reached the Archivist's office and burst in when they heard Farrus drop a chandelier on Aphra. Starros spoke to Aphra's body, asking if the archeologist was still in it and telling her friend she was there to rescue her.^[69]

The Spark Eternal healed Aphra's body so Starros and the rest starting attacking again in hopes of subduing it. The Spark was able to take control of Farrus' calling gloves and used them to pin everyone to the wall. 0-0-0 and BT-1 arrived and attacked the Spark, causing it to lose control of the gloves and releasing Starros and the rest. She commanded Tolvan to use her matching electro-tattoos to contact Aphra's consciousness. She kept fighting the Spark Eternal but had to take cover when it used the Null Blade to stab 0-0-0 and BT-1 and take control of the droids. The Spark started to leave but was confronted by Farrus. The Spark whispered something to Farrus, and they decided to step aside. Starros demanded that they stop the Spark from leaving but they told Starros they were staying with Crimson Dawn and walked off. Starros and her crew managed to escape from the killer droids and boarded the Volt Cobra to follow the Spark that had left in the Ark Angel IV. Before they could catch up, the Spark detonated explosives it had hidden on the Volt Cobra, destroying the ship.^[70]

Starros and her crew barely survived in the detached cockpit and were found by Just Lucky and Yu. They got them aboard their ship and flew to Canto Bight so they could use advanced bacta tanks to nurse Starros and the rest back to health. When Starros exited the tank, she was informed by Just Lucky that they were in Ronen Tagge's Private Penthouse. He entered the room and talked to the crew. He told Starros he was interested in the Spark Eternal. She told him she already had a contract with Domina Tagge to retrieve it, and he told her that she owed him millions of credits for using the bacta tanks, assuming she'd work for him to release the debt. After discussing it with her crew, she declined Ronen's offer. She explained to him that she figured Domina was more powerful and didn't want to risk angering her. Ronen then revealed to her that he was allied with Crimson Dawn so she changed her mind and agreed to work for him. Tolvan objected to the change and Starros told her that she viewed Qi'ra as powerful or more powerful than Domina and wanted to be on the winning side. She agreed to work for Ronen with one condition; they would kill Domina.^[71]

Starros and her crew flew to the Acquistor on the Fleeting with Just Lucky and Yu to perform the assassination. Just Lucky tried to talk her out of it, but she told him she had no option as Ronen was holding Korin Aphra and Okka as hostages. As they dropped out of hyperspace into Tagge Space, they witnessed the space battle between the forces loyal to Domina and those working for Ronen and Crimson Dawn. Starros ordered Yu to get them to the Acquistor before their ship was blown up. Boarding the ship, the team watched as the rival factions fought each other. Starros pondered where Domina might be amidst the chaos, and determined the bridge was the most likely place. Arriving at the same time as Domina, she informed her that her nephew wanted her dead. Domina attacked Starros and they fought until Ronen arrived. Once he publicly stated his intentions for the mutiny, Starros asked Domina if that was enough information for her. After Domina dispatched her nephew, she thanked Starros for providing the required proof of his plans to overthrow her leadership of the corporation. The smuggler demanded that she wanted the debts for her crew, including Aphra, to be erased. She also requested the return of Ronen's hostages and a new ship to replace the destroyed Volt Cobra. Starros' crew were surprised at her deviousness. Turning down an offer of employment from Domina, the crew retrieved Korin and Okka and then went to confront Farrus. They told Starros and the rest that they know where Aphra was and what the Spark Eternal's plan was.^[72]

Back onboard the Fleeting, Starros threatened to throw Farrus out an airlock. They told Starros about Qi'ra's plan to use a Fermata Cage to catch Vader and Darth Sidious. Farrus suggested they use it to capture the Spark. The crew brainstormed and came up with a plan to rescue Aphra.^[73] They journeyed to Amaxine Space Station and found a large space battle between the Empire and Crimson Dawn. They landed on the station and made their way towards the cage. Starros was startled when she saw the Spark dueling with Darth Vader. Before she could intervene, 0-0-0 and BT-1 attacked her and her crew. As the battle raged, Starros and Farrus became aware that the only way to remove the Spark from Aphra was to perform the Ascendant ritual again. Making their way to Aphra's body, she explained that she needed one of them to use the Null Blade to stab her in the chest and short of the shard of the Spark that was buried there. Starros agreed to do it, and drove the sword into Aphra's chest while Tolvan restrained her and Farrus performed the ritual. She hugged her friend after Aphra regained consciousness.^[74]

On Hiorin, Aphra criticized Starros and her friends for risking themselves to save her. Tolvan told Aphra that Starros convinced them to help and that Tolvan did it because of how she felt about Starros, not Aphra. The ex-Imperial stormed off, and Starros volunteered to go talk to her and calm her down, but Aphra knew it was something she had to do and chased after Tolvan. Just Lucky asked Starros if she was okay, considering it was clear that Aphra was in love with her and Tolvan. The smuggler explained that she had set the confrontation in motion, realizing that Tolvan and Aphra were very much alike and being put into a life-or-death situation would cause them to open up and have a conversation. Later, Starros was approached by Aphra. The archeologist told her about making up with Tolvan and said she knew of Starros' history with the rebel. Aphra was confused, and Starros explained that falling in love with her was the worst mistake of her life. She told Aphra that she had thought about all she had done to rescue Aphra and realized that she wasn't sure that Aphra would have done the same for her. Starros needed to be in a relationship that wasn't one-sided. She told Aphra that if she ever became a better person to come find her and walked off.^[75]

Personality and traits

Sana Starros was a human female with black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin.^[3] While on the hunt for Solo, she wore a brown and silver mask, along with a green hood that covered most of her face. She was determined to find the man she claimed was her husband and was willing to injure or even kill others in order to accomplish her goal.^[18] She and Solo were not on good terms, and she felt that lying was the only thing he was good at.^[20] Starros bore a grudge against her former lover Aphra for betraying her. In return, the rogue archaeologist despised her for being a rebel sympathizer.^[25] If there was one major skill Starros learned from Aphra, that skill was finding a way to eke out an advantage from any situation.^[77]

Though the two were forced to work together with Organa to help defeat the rogue rebel operative Ray, Starros was unable to overcome her hatred and resentment towards Aphra.^[27] Unlike Organa, Starros had no qualms about killing Imperials and took the opportunity to try and kill Aphra during a confrontation with Ray. Despite almost choking Aphra to death, Starros helped Aphra and Organa subdue Ray, ending his reign of terror. In spite of her hatred for Aphra, Starros helped her to escape her rebel captors by ejecting her into an escape pod.^[28] As their alliance continued in the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, however, their bond grew once more.^[47]

Equipment

Sana Starros primarily used a EE-4 carbine rifle^[18] and owned a scopeless SE-14r light repeating blaster.^[78] Starros also had a DH-17 blaster pistol, which she hid under her cloak.^[79]

Behind the scenes

Sana Starros was introduced as an unnamed masked character in the 2015 Marvel comic book Star Wars (2015) 4.^[18] Her identity and alleged relationship to Han Solo was divulged in Star Wars (2015) 6.^[3]

On March 18, 2021, StarWars.com announced that Star Wars comic books released by Marvel Comics in June will have Pride Month variant covers that feature gay and transgender artists paired with LGBTQ+ characters. The first cover revealed was by Jan Bazaldua and features Sana Starros on the cover of Doctor Aphra (2020) 11.^[80]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references