The military commandant, Daala, and the rest of the facility had been out of galactic contact for close to a decade so they had no idea what had been going on with the Rebellion and Empire. Our intrepid trio race into the black hole phenomena known as the Maw and encounter a secret Imperial research facility, where the original Death Star had been designed. Readers’ introduction to Admiral Daala takes place in Jedi Search, after Han Solo, Chewbacca, and newcomer Kyp Durron flee the mining planetoid of Kessel.
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What Anderson managed to do was create in Admiral Daala a recurring character who ends up becoming whatever she is needed to be in a surprisingly wholesome manner. The two stories, diametrically opposite each other, end up competing with one another, leaving the filler stories about the Solo children and Admiral Akbar’s apparent disgrace terribly uninteresting and more in the way than anything else. In a rather contrived manner, Anderson weaves together Daala’s introduction with that of Luke Skywalker’s innocent attempt to find his purpose as a teacher. Set immediately after the events of the original Thrawn Trilogy, Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy explores Luke Skywalker’s burgeoning attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order but this was Star Wars in the 90s so the overarching enemy had to be some sort of Imperial agent.
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Enter Kevin J Anderson in 1994, a science fiction writer with several books and a trilogy under his belt already, and his introduction of Admiral Natasi Daala in the Jedi Academy Trilogy.
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Oh sure, there was Princess Leia and Mon Mothma in the movies and Timothy Zahn introduced Mara Jade in 1991 but that was it for ladies running around in power. A fairly accurate critique of the pre-Disney Star Wars universe was the indelicate lack of women in the main character position.