Ailee was an Eirami port commander who worked in the Outer Rim planet Eiram's capital city, Erasmus, as part of Eiram's military. In 382 BBY, the commander ordered Captain Plana Van to investigate the explosion of a downed ship on Eiram and the Outer Rim planet E'ronoh's shared moon, Eirie. As the situation unfolded, Ailee reported to Eiram's Queen Adrialla and the royal court on the issue, indicating that Van was boarding the vessel under her directive.

After the captain discovered the biological weapon klytobacter aboard the damaged Eirie vessel, Ailee relayed Adrialla's advisors' orders to destroy the ship. As news of the failed peace talks with E'ronoh came through the comms, she further instructed Van's crew to destroy the communications buoys being used by the E'roni to call their forces home to fight Eiram. After the latter successfully destroyed the devices, helped by E'roni pilots also seeking to break down communications, the captain reported the crew's success to Ailee.

Biography[]

A lunar situation[]

During the High Republic Era, the Eirami Ailee resided on their homeworld, the Outer Rim planet Eiram, and worked as a port commander for Eiram's military in the world's capital city, Erasmus. During a cease-fire in the Eiram and E'ronoh War^[1] in 382 BBY,^[2] a downed ship malfunctioned and exploded on Eirie, the moon between the planet and its twin world, the Outer Rim planet E'ronoh. From Eiram's surface, sensors picked up evidence of the incident, causing concern among port officials monitoring the situation. Ailee contacted the crew of a transport ship returning to Eiram that was near Eirie. The commander asked for a status update from the vessel's captain, Plana Van, and the latter assured the commander that their vessel was unaffected. However, Van's crew began speculating on the incident's possible causes, which Ailee overheard over her open comms.^[1]

Despite the cease-fire with E'ronoh, she insisted that the crew remain prepared for an attack by the E'roni. The commander further instructed Van to investigate the explosion on Eirie despite her reservations, making the directive an explicit order. The captain led their vessel closer to the moon and was informed by Lieutenant Gunnaw of the E'ronoh's military Thylefire Squadron that the malfunctioning ship had been looted by pirates and landed in neutral territory to make repairs. However, when Gunnaw was reluctant to provide more details, Van contacted Ailee to apprise them of the situation. The port commander felt the incident was suspicious, indicating that she would send four crescent fighters to assist the captain's crew in searching the downed vessel to ensure the occupants' safety. Ailee urged the group to hurry, indicating that more E'roni ships would arrive soon, but also indicated that no shots should be fired unless necessary, as Eiram and E'ronoh's ambassadors may have already signed a peace treaty on the moon Jedha by that point.^[1]

Ship boarded[]

News of the explosion quickly reached the Eiram palace, where an advisor informed the Eirami Queen Adrialla that Ailee wished for the passengers of the damaged vessel to be questioned. The port commander then spoke to the queen and Eiram's royal court via transmission, telling those present that Van was boarding the ship under her orders. Although Eiram's prince, Phan-tu Zenn, protested the boarding as a breach of E'ronoh's trust, Ailee informed the court that the captain had already done so. At the same time, Van discovered the biological weapon klytobacter aboard the downed ship, which was operated by the Path of the Open Hand cult members Binnot Ullo and Goi Ganok—who both denied knowledge of the weapon. However, the pair had actually been secretly instructed by the cult leader, the Mother, to sow distrust between Eiram and E'ronoh to shatter the worlds' fragile peace by bringing such a dangerous substance into the system. Van apprised Ailee of the situation and Gunnaw's role in attempting to conceal it, of which she then informed Adrialla's court.^[1]

The majority of the queen's advisors ordered the vessel be destroyed, which the port commander told Van's ship to carry out. Moments later, the comms flooded with the news of Eiram and E'ronoh's failed peace talks on Jedha, cutting off Van's reply to the port commander. Before the captain's ship could destroy the bioweapon containers, the Eirami crescent fighters with their ship fired on Gunnaw and the vessel on Eirie's surface. The port commander ordered Van to capture Ullo and Ganok as the pair fled the wreckage of their vessel, as the pair needed to be questioned on the klytobacter's origins. However, as Van's crew moved to do so, Ailee then urgently indicated to all nearby Eirami ships over comm that the crew needed to destroy the communications buoys calling E'roni reinforcements back to their homeworld, or Eiram would be inundated by enemy ships. After a brief skirmish, Van's crew eliminated the necessary buoys—aided by E'roni pilots also seeking to limit offworld communications by destroying the devices—and informed an exhausted Ailee of their success. During the investigation afterward, Ullo and Ganok's true intentions to disrupt peace were discovered.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

Ailee was fiercely loyal to Eiram and deeply suspicious of enemies of her world, choosing to remain wary of most E'roni. By the time they served in Eiram's military, Ailee had risen to the position of port commander and felt comfortable issuing orders to those in Eiram's reserve forces. Despite Van's objections, the port commander felt the Eirie incident was suspicious and ordered the captain to investigate. She kept a calm and professional demeanor when reporting to Adrialla and her advisors, reporting on the situation to them and also coordinating several Eirami ships' destruction of communications buoys. Ailee was willing to follow the orders of their superiors, passing on the message to destroy the vessel landed on Eirie due to the klytobacter onboard.^[1]

Skills and abilities[]

The port commander was an efficient leader, capable of giving orders in high stress situations. To keep Eiram safe, Ailee sought to use her skills and position to coordinate the most beneficial outcome for their homeworld.^[1]

Equipment[]

While working as a port commander, Ailee had access to communications equipment that could be used to contact Eiram's palace and any Eirami ships near Eiram. They also wielded authority over a number of Eirami crescent fighters, which the commander deployed to assist Van.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Ailee's voice appeared in Cataclysm, a novel written by Lydia Kang and published in 2023 as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's^[1] Phase II.^[4] When asked about the character's gender identity, Kang indicated that due to the port commander's limited role in Cataclysm, she had not put much thought into it. The author also stated that she may have vaguely had Ailee in mind to be non-binary, but ultimately could not remember clearly.^[3]

Appearances[]

• The High Republic: Cataclysm (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook) (Voice only)
• The High Republic: Cataclysm audiobook (Voice only)

Notes and references[]