Editing Barsheeba Valens (section)

== Back Story: ==

Barsheeba Valens comes from a well-to-do family with a long history of military service to the Republic. Following this tradition, she entered a military academy to become an officer in the waning days of the Republic. Initially focused on her studies and her career, she did not pay attention to the deterioration of the Republic and growing power of Chancellor Palpatine until Palpatine declared himself Emperor. She was uneasy with these developments and was asked by some other officers to participate in a revolt against the Emperor. She refused, believing it was not the role of the military to interfere with civilian politics but to follow orders and that the Senate would act to counter any problems with Palpatine’s administration. The revolt was easily put down by clone troopers loyal to the Emperor.

As The Empire grew more oppressive and powerful and it was clear that the Senate was being stripped of its power and lacked the ability and will to act against Palpatine, Valens increasingly questioned her choice not to participate in the revolt, wondering if more officers had taken part whether it would have been successful. In the mean time, Valens was rising through the ranks and looked to have a promising career ahead of her, when she was ordered to put down “an uprising of Rebel insurgents.” It turned out to be a civilians protesting at food shortages. Most of them were nonviolent and even the ones who weren't were just throwing rocks and the like--not a real threat. But with superiors watching her, Valens was forced to order her troops to open fire on the civilians.

Valens was deeply troubled by this and, investigating more, realized that this was not unusual. Unable to live with her guilty conscience and continue to serve the Empire, she contacted other junior officers unhappy with the direction the military was taking under the Empire and attempted to launch a coup on Coruscant, intending to take out Palpatine and restore power to the Senate. They swore an oath together to not rest until the Empire was overthrown and the Republic restored. The coup was far too little far too late and fared even more badly than the earlier revolt Valens had refused to join. Most of the officers participating in it were summarily executed. Valens was only saved and have her sentence commuted to slavery because Ortega Jailo, a friend of her family with some degree of influence in the Imperial administration, pulled some strings on her behalf.

Valens is extremely disciplined and honorable, rarely letting down her guard or showing a soft side. This was always true of her now, but now that she has lost everything else, she clings even more intently to her sense of discipline, honor and justice because it is all she has.