Garaath
Character
An old Twi'lek retired smuggler turned fixer, and a longtime contact of the captain of the Misfit Stray.
Appearance
An old Twi'lek with deep blue-gray skin and scarred lekku draped over his shoulders. He moves with the casual confidence of someone who has spent decades staying alive in a dangerous business, and his eyes stay sharp despite his age. He wears clothes that were once expensive but are now faded and comfortable, and speaks in a gravelly rasp softened by genuine warmth.
Personality
A retired smuggler turned fixer who arranges jobs, information, repairs, and parts from his Cloud City establishment, where his neat desk, meticulous filing, heavy-duty safe, and an old blaster rifle mounted on the wall mark it as both a legitimate front and an underworld operations hub. He has pulled Quinel out of scrapes since before the Clone Wars and treats him with gruff, fatherly affection, calling him "kid," while turning notably gentle around Tammea — crouching to her eye level, moving carefully and unthreateningly. He is generous with old friends, offering discounted repairs, a lent apartment, furniture, and meals that he waves off as gifts, yet also shrewd and cautious: he runs deep tracker sweeps, leans on his own intelligence sources, and warns Quinel to trust his instincts and walk away from a job that feels wrong. Knowledgeable enough to school Quinel on Zeltron biology and on managing his own grief for the child's sake, he carries an air of having seen everything and being impressed by none of it, trades dry banter with Dez, and openly misses the crew between visits.
In the story
These sections contain spoilers, grouped by arc. Open only as far as you have read.
Arc 1 — Escape from Ghauba
Garaath (rendered once as "Garrath") is first named only in passing: Dezmyn suggests Quinel contact "your Twi'lek friend on Bespin," and Quinel remarks it has been a while since they spoke. He does not appear in person in this arc.
After the escape from Ghauba, Quinel sends him a short, deliberately cryptic message, addressed simply to "Garaath" with no last name or details, trusting that anyone intercepting it would struggle to identify the recipient. Quinel reflects that Garaath "always came through."
Arc 2 — Cloud City Blues
Garaath appears in person and is developed as a supporting character. He is an old Twi'lek with deep blue-gray skin, scarred lekku draped over his shoulders, and sharp eyes, dressed in clothes that were once expensive but are now faded and comfortable. A retired smuggler, he now works as a fixer arranging jobs, information, and parts, operating out of a cantina on Cloud City called the Dancing Jawa. Behind the bar is a private office that doubles as a legitimate business front and underworld operations hub: neat desk, meticulous filing, a heavy-duty safe, and an old blaster rifle mounted on the wall. He speaks in a gravelly rasp, addressing Quinel warmly as "kid." He has known Quinel since before the Clone Wars and greets Dez by name.
He shelters the crew and re-equips them: a lent apartment with furniture, food sent up, trusted mechanics at a steep discount, and a deep sweep for trackers. His people find a tracking device on the Stray's landing gear and destroy it; too slagged to identify, Garaath judges it not worth losing sleep over and reassures Quinel he is not showing up on active bounty boards.
Garaath delivers exposition on Zeltron biology, explaining to Quinel how deeply Tammea feels others' emotions, how stress makes her broadcast uncontrollably, and how Zeltrons need joy and community to stay healthy. He warns Quinel to manage his own grief, since the girl picks up on his emotional state, and tells him bluntly that the longer he takes to figure things out, the more it harms her. Reading the situation regarding the Empire, he judges that they got what they wanted at Ghauba and are probably not actively hunting Tammea; his intelligence also tells him the Empire is publicly framing Ghauba as a crackdown on insurrectionists, with no mention of Tammea or the Stray.
Before the crew departs, he lines up a transport job with pickup on Nar Shaddaa, but is uneasy: he warns Quinel to watch himself and says the client seemed nervous and "off," eager and paying well but with something strange about the whole arrangement. He tells Quinel to trust his instincts and walk away if it feels wrong. He sees the crew off affectionately, hugging Tammea and asking them not to wait so long between visits.
Arc 3 — Crossfire Run
Garaath does not appear in person but is present throughout as the broker of the job. The crew repeatedly recalls his warnings: that Nar Shaddaa has a reputation, that the client was nervous and would not name the destination until pickup, and that Quinel should be careful and watch their backs.
When the crew deduces the shipment belongs to Black Sun and is bound for Taris, Tammea asks whether Garaath knew. Quinel doubts it: the job came from a client Garaath was already doing business with, Garaath had flagged the client's behavior as concerning, and Quinel notes that Garaath avoids dealing with Black Sun when he can because it is too dangerous and too likely to blow back on him. He concludes Garaath was probably as unaware of the syndicate's involvement as the crew was.