| Tallatte Clara | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Biographical information | |
| Homeworld |
|
| Born |
37BBY, Coruscant. |
| Physical description | |
| Species |
Human |
| Gender |
Female |
| Height |
4ft 11in |
| Hair color |
Black |
| Eye color |
Blue |
| Skin color |
Golden |
| Handedness |
right-handed |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Era(s) |
The Clone Wars |
| Affiliation |
Jedi order |
| Family |
The Clara Family (extended) |
| Current Squad |
Alliance For Peace |
| Squad Rank |
|
Coruscant
Tallatte (pronounced Tal-at) Jenette-Anna (Jenette-Anna:her much hated middle name, chosen, as most things Tallatte disliked were, by her mother.) Clara was the secret daughter of Talella Clara and Jek Clara, though for a long time she did not know it.
Early Life[]
Tallatte's father died a few months before her birth. Her heartbroken mother vowed never to love anyone again in any way. When the child was born, her mother claimed she'd found the baby and adopted her. She gave the girl to the Jedi at a young age and showed no further interest.
The Alliance For Peace[]
Tallatte became an active member of her aunt Holly's alliance, The Alliance For Peace. Her aunt trained her as much as she could, but being a very busy woman, Holly didn't have much time for her niece. Tallatte married a fellow alliance member, Genneral Cody. It was a very small, private ceremony, with only a few members of the alliance, and a few friends present. Tallatte was happy that her aunt Holly had managed to find the time to attend. The wedding didn't go entirely to plan, with a member of Death Watch turning up and causing trouble. He was evicted by Holly and several Clones that were present.
Discovering Her True Identity (novelised format)[]
The discovery was a complete accident, of course. Such things generally are. Certainly, she did not set out to make an enemy of the woman she believed to be her adoptive mother.
Tallatte Clara had no idea that almost every word Talella Clara had told was a complete lie. She wouldn't even have guessed. Talella had always been perfectly reasonable, if a little snappy, but the heritage of Tallatte was the one thing she would never speak of.
It had been a long, hard day and Tallatte was sitting by herself in her mother's home. It was a nice place, a little posh for her tastes, but nice all the same. A gentle breeze blew through the open window, stirring a small stack of papers. A few of the documents fell to the floor, Tallatte dropped to her knees, scooping up the documents. One in particular caught her eye. A picture, of a young man and woman, newly weds by the look of the picture. Tallatte froze. The woman in the picture - it was Talella! And the man! He had the same black hair, blue eyes and tanned skin that she was so used to seeing when she looked into the mirror! She looked at the picture again. In the background, she spotted another person. A beautiful young blonde woman. Aunty Holly, Tallatte realised. Talella will admit nothing, even if I confront her with the picture. Maybe Holly will tell me?
Tallatte found Holly Talon in The Alliance For Peace headquarters, her delicate features creased into a frown as she examined some kind of report. "Hello Tallatte, what brings you here?" she asked.
"I was hoping you could explain something to me, Aunty Holly." Tallatte began.
"So what is it you need explaining, and I'll do my best to help you." As Holly spoke, she rotated herself 180 degrees to face her niece. Tallatte pressed the picture into Holly's hand. Holly's face paled and her hands shook slightly. Tallatte noticed, even though Holly was quickly back in control. "Where.... when.... how did you find this?" Holly's voice was barely a whisper.
"Nevermind that. Just tell me! Tell me who he is! Tell me why she lied!"
"Talella always wanted to be the 'perfect' Jedi. What she did was against the Jedi Code." Holly looked up, meeting her niece's eyes. Tallatte took a shaky breath in. Was this going to be it? Was she going to find out the hidden truth? Or would Holly lie to protect Talella? "I think there was only about five people that knew about Talella's marriage.... Jek was killed within four days of the wedding...."
"Jek?"
"Jek Clara. Your father." Tallatte stared directly at Holly, her eyes unblinking.
"Aunty Holly. Tell me everything."
"You deserve an explanation, ideally from your mother, but that won't happen anytime ever. I'll explain as best I can." Holly sighed, as if she'd rather not be having this conversation, but then it wasn't exactly Holly's responsibility to be telling her this story, Tallatte thought. "Your mother was forty when she married Jek. I don't know how long they'd been a couple, I was never told, but I know they'd known each other for years. She invited me to the wedding on the condition that I never spoke of it anyone. She didn't even invite our sister Talonia, and you know how close they are...."
"Not so close now though." Tallatte pointed out.
"True enough, what with one thing and another. The list goes on a bit there."
"It does, but stop changing the subject." Holly grinned, caught out and knowing it.
"I remember that day well.... it was exactly a week before my twenty seventh birthday. I remember the weather that day was wonderful. It was one of those days that when you think back, alot of your memories are the bright blue colour that the sky only ever is in the best memories of your life, if you see what I mean there. I remember there was a beautiful serenity about that day, like it was meant to be perfect."
"Quit it with the waffling aunt Hol." Again, Holly shot her a niece a nervous grin. There's something she doesn't want me to know, Tallatte realised. "So.... how much do you know about my father?" Tallatte asked.
"Not much. His name - his age. He was only a few months older than your mother." She knows more than she's letting on said a voice in Tallatte's head. Tallatte tried to ignore it, but it persisted with: she will not tell her the full truth unless you tell her you think there's something she's not telling you. Holly had turned back to her reports, and reading through them so quickly Tallatte would be surprised if Holly knew a word of their content. She took a deep breath. "Aunty Holly, I know there's something you haven't told me." Holly did not look round, but she became visibly tense. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do! I can tell!" Tallatte's voice rose in annoyance. Holly made no attempt to reply. "Tell me. Now." Tallatte's voice was almost a growl. Holly got up, crossed the room, searched through some things for a few moments, before appartantly finding what she was looking for. She handed Tallatte a datapad. "Your father's diary. He gave this to me to give to.... to his child, should he and Talella ever have a child. I don't know how, or why, but he knew he was going die. I was instructed to keep the diary a secret. It was to be for you only."
"How did he know he was going to die? Why did he give this to you? Why not my mother!?" Tallatte only spoke the first three of the questions that jumped into her head. Her mind was reeling. She could sense her aunt was still hiding something, but she decided not to push that particular subject. Holly looked at her. "I don't know. Maybe the answers are in the diary?"
"I'll find out. I'll find out everything about my father its the last thing I do."
Holly sighed "If the little I know is anything to go on, it probably will be the last thing you do." Then, so quietly that Tallatte didn't hear her, she added "It was almost the last thing I did."
Questioning Talella[]
Tallatte Clara let herself into her mother's posh apartment on Coruscant, near the Jedi temple. For the first time in her entire 18 year long life, she was yearning to see the woman who'd decieved her for years: her own mother. "Tallatte? Is that you?" Talella's voice called from the older woman's bedroom. Stupid question, I'm the only one with a key to her house, Tallatte thought crossly. "Yes mum." She replied breaking Talella's life long rule that she only called her Talella. Her mother stepped out into the doorway, "I am not your real mother!" She almost shouted, looking flustered. "Yes you are!" Tallatte argued back, holding out the Datapad she was clutching and showing Talella the picture resting on top. It was a faded photogragh of a young couple, smiling at each other, with a young blonde watching in the background, obviously taken on a perfect day. They were standing in a beautiful garden somewhere. The girl wore a wedding dress of brilliant white lace and had dark hair, she seemed quite young, but was clearly Talella. The elderly woman slipped her pale, trembling hands under the picture, staring at it, "But where....where....was...it? I thought they were.....all....um...gone!" Talella's usual perfect mask vanished. Tallatte Clara narrowed her eyes, "You lied to me, destoryed the evidence, like you wish you could destroy the truth! You tryed to destroy the memory of my father." She shouted. Her mother rolled her eyes, "Calm down Tallatte, I only wanted to protect you from our mistakes, Holly clearly cares for my views as much as she always has done."
"LIKE YOU CARE!!! YOU WERE PROTECTING YOURSELF NOT ME!!! Holly's the one who looked after me, not you!!!" Tallatte screamed, then she walked across the room and started gathering her things, not looking at her mother. "I'm leaving." she said bluntly when she finished.
"Do not be stupid! Where will you go? To Holly no doubt?!" Talella glowered to her daughter, spitting her sister's name.
"No, Tala will help." Tallatte replied, pushing her mother aside and walking to the door.
"Her name is Talanna, and what might she help with?" Talella said sharply.
"Find out what you never told me. And the information Holly won't tell me." Tallatte answered in a blunt, cold tone of voice, then she turned, datapad, lightsaber and other belongings gathered, and left. Talella Clara stared after her, dazed, wondering what would happen now.
Leaving The Jedi Order[]
Tallatte Clara sat on the wall outside her mother's apartment, wondering if she should really go to Talanna. Did her aunt know? Holly had mentioned five people who had known about Talella's relationship. Holly, Talella, Jek, and two others....so maybe, just maybe Talanna knew? Tallatte became vaugely aware that people were staring her. I can't blame them, she thought, she was perched a wall, her head in her hands, a small bundle of belongings on her knees, and, judging by the fact she'd been running all over the city, barely pausing for thought since three hours ago, when she'd spoken to Holly, she looked a complete mess. Tallatte's mind was reeling too much to allow her to care, so she just raised her head, placed her left hand on the hilt of her Lightsaber, and stared back, her eyes narrowed, like Holly Talon's did, moments before she shot someone. Everyone looked away. Tallatte smirked. Then sank back into thought, staring at the Jedi temple. She had to hope Talanna knew, because Talonia wouldn't know, likewise Taline and Talina, Holly couldn't look after her, she was too busy, and after that she had a limited number of options. She could stay with the Jedi, living the life she'd alway hated, and risk bumping into her mother again. Not appealing, she admitted. Or she could just run away and hope. Nope. Talanna had to know, besides Talanna always knew secrets and gossip, she had a habbit of finding things out. First, she thought, she had to make sure no Jedi thought she'd gone missing and tried to find her. Tallatte Clara squared her shoulders, stood up, gathered her belongings, set her face into the emotionless yet determined expression her family of Jedi/Bounty hunters/Sith had perfected, and strode into the Jedi temple, with an air about her that implied the the storm was about begin.
She looked around, and then walked up to a female Jedi standing nearby. The woman had her back to Tallatte, her chocolate hair spilling down her shoulders. The young girl was in no mood to wait, she coughed loudly. Talonia Clara spun round, ready to get cross. Her whole face changed when she saw Tallatte standing there, her face pale, emotionless and business like, framed by her black hair. "Tallatte?" She equired, knowing that something was wrong. "Lonia, I'm...." Tallatte's voice trembled, and she started again, aware that everyone in the coridoor was staring at them, but no longer caring, "I'm leaving." She managed. Talonia stared at the young woman she believed to be her adopted neice, "What? What are you talking about?!" She half stammered, half shouted. "I am talking about the Jedi order! I'm leaving!" Tallatte shouted back, before adding, "I'm sorry."
"Why? Why go? What about your mother? Does she know?" Talonia was full of questions.
"I know now." Talella's voice drifted across as she stepped from the other end of the passage and met her daughters gaze. Everyone could feel the tension. Tallatte didn't know why, but she couldn't bear it. She re-gathered her belongings, and pulled her eyes from her mother and rested them on her aunt. "I'm sorry." She repeated, then she turned on her heel and strode out without looking back at Talella.
As soon as her daughter had left Talella looked at her older sister, burst into tears and ran out of the coridoor. This left Talonia very confused, Talella hadn't cried in years.
The Underworld[]
Challenging The Assassin[]
Tallatte took a shaky breath. If she was honest, she didn't think she could do this. Challenge the one person who'd seemed so innocent? But they had the proof. She recounted her aunt Talanna's words "I tried to stop her, but she was stronger than me, and more determined." She hadn't forgiven Talanna. Far from it. But Talanna had helped her.... she'd got her this far. And Millie - her aunt Millie. She'd been so helpful, she'd pointed her in the direction of Talanna in the first place. "Tallatte?" It was Talanna speaking "She's here. Its time." Tallatte looked up, and standing just inside the entrance was the person they'd been waiting for. Thank goodness Talanna didn't tip her off, thought Tallatte. Holly Talon hadn't yet noticed them, but Tallatte knew it wouldn't be long until she did. Holly was a professional, she knew the dangers. And Tallatte knew she prided herself of having analysed all possible outcomes of any situation. "Do we go over?" Millie's voice whispered.
"No. She'll come to us. She's too curious. She'll have to come over. Find out why we're here."
"The sooner, the better" Talanna grumbled "I feel ridiculous."
"You look it too" Millie assured her.
"You're a fine one to talk! You look almost as bad as me!"
"Almost. But not quite." Tallatte smirked as the two Twi'leks continued to complain. She'd made them dress up as Twi'lek dancers so that they wouldn't see out of place in the cantina. Talanna's sudden gasp made Tallatte jump. "Look!" Millie hissed "She's going to run!"
"Want to bet on that?" Tallatte asked as Holly walked calmly but quickly towards the exit. As Holly reached the exit, Snake Fett, who had been sitting in a corner, unnoticed, got up, took large steps across the cantina, grabbed Holly by the collar and pinned her to the wall. "What are you doing!?" Holly screamed at her friend in anger. "I thought you were my friend!"
"Oh, I am. But you had this one coming." Snake proceeded to throw Holly onto the floor at Tallatte's feet "There you go."
Holly looked up. Saw Millie. Saw Tallatte. Saw Talanna. "Traitor."
"Strong words for someone entirely at our mercy." Talanna replied.
"We'll question her somewhere else. She knows too many people here. And I wouldn't like to be around if he decides to switch sides." Tallatte said, shooting a glance at Snake Fett. Tallatte noticed the look on Holly's face. "Watch her" she mouthed at Talanna "she's got some kind of plan." Talanna nodded. Once outside, Tallatte pointed her blaster at her aunt Holly. "You don't want to do that." A voice said behind her. Tallatte turned, and there stood Jasmine Starhunter-Kryze. "If you value your life, you'll back off, Twi'lek." Tallatte snapped. "If you value your life, you'll let my mother-in-law go, before I decide to rescue her." Jasmine countered. Talanna shot her a twisted smile. "We have back up."
"Ah, I should have remembered. Talanna, the infamous coward."
"You take that back, scumbag!"
"Make me, you little pacifist wimp!"
"How dare you!? JUST HOW DARE YOU!? I'll tear your head off your shoulders, I'll throw you alive into a pit of rancors, I'll-"
"Are you going to stand there and threaten me, or actually fight me?" Jasmine drawled. Despite the situation, even Holly had to smirk then. Jasmine had several visible weapons, and, knowing Jasmine, at least ten hidden ones, where as Talanna maybe had one weapon or maybe not. When Talanna failed to make any attempt to reply, save for a growl that Jasmine clearly took as a loose "No", Jasmine's smirk widened.
"Now" she started, clearly finding the whole situation hilarious "if you want this to be quick and painless, you'll let my mother-in-law go. If you don't do that, something nasty might happen."
"That's not going to happen. She owes me an explanation at the very least." Tallatte spoke calmly and clearly, taking control of the situation. Holly seemingly didn't want to explain, judging by the way she broke free of her captor's grip, stumbled to her feet and glared at Tallatte. "You can't stop me leaving this dump now, and you know what will happen if you try to come after me." Holly turned, and walked away, as if nothing had happened. When Tallatte turned to threaten Jasmine, the Twi'lek had gone.
Escaping Holly's Trap[]
It wasn't often that Tallatte Clara got annoyed, but when she did, she got very annoyed. Today was one of those days. Her aunt Holly had escaped when Tallatte had attempted to question her about the death of her father, Jek. She knew now that Holly was guilty of the murder, but it was how to get Holly to admit it that was the problem. And that was if you ignored the fact that no one knew where Holly was, but she clearly knew were Tallatte, Talanna and Millie were. She turned to glare at Talanna and Millie. "If you two would cut the chatter, we could get away from here before she sends someone to deal with us." She had barely spoken those words when someone shouted at them from a rooftop. "Good evening." They looked up, and there stood Ka'rta Kryze, the blaster in her left hand pointing directly at them. "And where do you three think you're going?" Tallatte didn't reply, but raised her own weapon and fired several shots at the smirking bounty hunter. "Well now, there really is no need to be rude." Ka'rta informed her, activating her jetpack and flying at high speed from the roof directly at Tallatte.
It was only Tallatte's Jedi reactions that saved her for getting knocked flying, and as she dodged neatly out of the young Mandalorian's way, she kicked Ka'rta sharply. The little Mandalorian whipped around, and aimed a punch at Tallatte. Before she could hit her though, Talanna waded into the argument, pulling Ka'rta away from Tallatte. At that moment, a voice from another rooftop announced "No one move, and this will be quick - and almost painless." Tallatte looked up. She felt herself freeze in accordance with her aunt's instructions even though she didn't want to. "What are you doing here aunt?" Tallatte was surprised at the lack of fear, or indeed any tone in her voice. Holly was unpredictacble at the best of times, but right now, if she had the choice, Tallatte would have sooner faced down a Rancor than be there, facing Holly. "You know why I'm here." like her own, Tallatte noted the lack of emotion in Holly's voice. She'd known all along why Holly was there, she just didn't want to admit it. "I'm here to finish this, once and for all."
"And if we escape?"
"But you won't." As she spoke, several of Holly's friends made their presence known, emerging from their hiding places around the alley. Tallatte gulped. Was this it? Was her aunt going to kill her? What about Talanna and Millie? "You can't do this!" she managed, sounding braver than she felt. "What did you tell me last month about not doing this sort of thing anymore, whatever happened!?"
"Situations change." Holly's voice was cold, angry and slightly hurt to Tallatte's ears. "This is what happens if you cross me." Here Holly's words seemed aimed directly at Talanna, once Holly's most trusted alliance member, now facing Jasmine Starhunter-Kryze's blasters at close range. "And if you did happen to escape, which would be just about impossible, I would hunt you down. That information goes nowhere." It was then that it dawned on Tallatte that Ka'rta, Jasmine and the others had no idea why they were holding their friends at blaster point. She looked at each of Holly's associates in turn, meeting their eyes, or at least the visors of their helmets. "If I know aunt Holly, you lot don't know what you're fighting for. You don't know why you have to hold your friends at blaster point, but you're doing it because it was ordered of you by a leader I know you all fear! Listen to me, let me explain the reason why Holly has asked you to kill her niece, her sister and her sister-in-law." They lowered their weapons. She had their attention.
"That'll be your last mistake." Holly growled "This is my mission, I'm paying you for this, now do as I say." Inspite of Holly's instruction, her team put their weapons to one side. "Let her speak. Let us decide who is right and who is wrong." Daiv Gorgmelder spoke out against his employer for the first time.
"She has personal information about me, information that could compromise the position of the alliance. Information that no one else should ever know." Holly looked at each member of her team in turn "This does not concern you. Talanna, Tallatte and Millie, we need to discuss this properly.... but not where anyone can overhear. I'll contact you with the details. And, no traps - on either side."
The Truth At Last[]
Tallatte settled herself into a chair at her aunt Holly's house, and regarded her aunt across the table. Holly looked worn out, and much older than her forty-four years. "Allow me to say how sorry I am, not just for my actions all those years ago, but for lying to you.... for not telling you the whole truth when you asked me." Holly looked down, at the table. "I.... there's no excuse for what I did, but I - we can't change the past. Tala, I wish I'd listened to you."
"You always were the wild one, ner vod. Back then, you felt like you had something to prove to the galaxy. We all did. I know you still do. We should've let Lonia talk us out of taking that job."
"We'd never've told Lonia about any job!" Holly gave a half-smile "Being pursued across the galaxy by half the Jedi Order might have been fun, but we wouldn't've out run them, not in that old crate you built." Talanna hit her sister for that remark, but quite understandably. "When they caught you, you wouldn't worry yourself about beating them in battle though." Talanna teased her sister, in return for the remark about Tala's ship. Holly tried to look innocent. No one was fooled. "I don't know what you mean!" she told Talanna, with a look on her face that read 'oh heck, not that again'. "More secrets, aunt?" Tallatte asked coldly, bringing them back to the reason she was there. "Nothing you need to worry yourself about." Holly snapped. Talanna laughed quietly. Holly turned and glared at her sister "Whatever you are finding so hilarious, please keep to yourself."
"But...." Talanna began, a wild smirk on her face. Holly picked up a blaster she'd left on the side, tossed it up in the air, and caught it again. She then pointed it at Talanna. "They don't need to know about that, not the sort of detail they need to worry about."
"Only Tarro needs to worry about that!" Talanna sniggered. Holly sighed. Tallatte, although she could have watched Talanna annoy Holly all day, decided it was time to stop this discussion, and get the truth out of Holly if it killed her. "Look, entertaining as all this is, would you please get to the point!?" Holly looked irritated by Tallatte's outburst, but she didn't complain. "I'm sure she told you why we took the job." Holly began hesitantly, but spitting the word she at the same time as pointing to Talanna "Best-payed bounty in the galaxy. Any hunter would have been a di'kut to turn it down." Holly looked down at the table again, her voice trailing off. She remained like that for a minute or so before looking up and meeting her niece's gaze, her eyes hard as beskar. "Whatever she's told you, her involvement was larger than she'll ever admit! Taking the job was her' idea!" there was a hard, angry edge in Holly's voice, an edge that made Tallatte want to move away from Holly, but she didn't. And 'her' obviously referred to Talanna.
"We had our plan, and every tiny little detail was going according to plan, until she refused to take the shot! Until she decided we were doing the wrong thing! She should've kept her mouth shut. Ever wondered where she got that scar on her face? It was a little reminder of what happens when you disrespect me. Looks like she didn't listen. Guess I should've killed her when I had the chance." Holly's voice was angry and venomous, it made Tallatte realise just what lengths her aunt would go to, just to keep a situation entirely under her control. And that realisation was scary.
