Damika Elimaar
Character
A Zeltron empath and skilled Republic-trained slicer, mother of Tammea, first encountered seeking passage off a remote colony world.
Appearance
A Zeltron woman, mother of Tammea. When first seen she wears a dark hood that obscures her features; lowering it reveals pink Zeltron skin and a clear family resemblance to her young daughter. She is repeatedly noted for moving with a strange, fluid grace. In the hangar fight she demonstrates the enhanced speed and endurance of her species — carrying her child in one arm while fighting, and moving with a speed beyond humanoid capability — and shoots with precise, economical accuracy, using a small blaster pistol. She is struck in the lower spine in her final moments.
Personality
The more trusting and even-tempered of Tammea's two parents, contrasted with her wary, paranoid partner ("And you're not trusting enough, Deklaen"). As an empath she reads others' emotions and can project feeling through touch; she uses this to judge Quinel's intentions and vouch for him, to defuse her partner when he levels weapons at strangers, and to steady her overwhelmed daughter. She is warm and composed under pressure, able to take command of a tense room, and at moments openly playful and flirtatious. She carries visible guilt over the danger her past actions brought onto the colonists, and is fiercely devoted to her daughter — extracting a promise that Quinel will protect Tammea, and finally sacrificing herself to buy the ship's escape, defiant to the end.
In the story
These sections contain spoilers, grouped by arc. Open only as far as you have read.
Arc 1 — Escape from Ghauba
Damika is introduced in the cantina on the colony world of Ghauba, negotiating with Quinel Neviden for passage off-world for herself, her partner Deklaen, and their daughter Tammea. A Zeltron woman and empath with features resembling her daughter's, she does most of the talking and is the first to trust Quinel, explaining that she can read his emotions and knows he means to help rather than betray them.
A stormtrooper checkpoint later reveals that she and Deklaen are wanted by the Empire as "extremely skilled slicers," armed and dangerous. In the town hall she gives Quinel their story: both served in the Republic Slicer Corps' Special Operations Division as cyber-warfare specialists during the Clone Wars and became a couple in that unit. They witnessed the Jedi coup firsthand and knew the Jedi had not betrayed anyone. Turning against the Empire, they began with attacks on its bank accounts and data centers, then escalated to sabotaging three Star Destroyers under construction at Kuat Drive Yards, using malware to overload the reactor cores and cause hundreds of billions of credits in damage. This is why the Empire hunts them, and why it has come to Ghauba in overwhelming force. She notes they have been on the run for about three years and took Tammea from Zeltros because they feared the Empire would use her against them.
Damika's empathy is shown in detail: she reads emotions and, by touch, can project her own emotional intent onto others. She uses this to press her fear and love for Tammea onto Quinel while extracting his promise to protect the girl if anything happens to them. She has been teaching Tammea to filter and manage the overwhelming flood of others' emotions, and during the escape she carries her daughter when the child nears an "empathic shutdown." She fights capably alongside the group with a small blaster.
In the hangar ambush, Deklaen is shot down first. Damika thrusts Tammea into Quinel's arms and covers the retreat to the Misfit Stray, fighting with speed beyond humanoid capability but taking a bolt to the lower spine. Over the comlink she gives Tammea her final words, calling her "Starlight," telling her to be strong and to trust Quinel, and reminding Quinel of his promise. She then detonates a thermal detonator among the surrounding stormtroopers, killing herself and blowing open the hangar wall so the ship can escape. Her dying plea is "Remember your promise."
Arc 2 — Cloud City Blues
Damika appears only in memory and consequence after her death. She is recalled as the source of the promise Quinel now feels bound to keep as he struggles to care for the grieving Tammea. The necklace she pressed into Tammea's hand in the town hall is revealed to be a credit chip holding 30,000 credits, which she meant as insurance to buy Tammea passage back to Zeltros. Tammea offers the chip to Quinel to make him keep her aboard, and it is ultimately treated as a memento of her mother's love rather than a fare.
Arc 3 — Crossfire Run
Damika continues to be referenced posthumously. She is remembered as one of the two slicers whose sabotage of the Star Destroyers at Kuat Drive Yards drew Imperial retaliation, with Tammea blaming that sabotage for the Empire taking notice of Ghauba and destroying the colony.