Though many complain about the Imperial troops under their breaths, only a handful of my people have ever dared to openly resist. Our caves are places of fear. The SoroSuub Corporation essentially controls my world, and their biggest client is the Empire. If we were to join a Rebel Alliance, it would cause civil war!
Sian Tevv
Sian Tevv
was a
male
Sullustan
politician
during the
Galactic Civil War
who opposed the
Empire
as a leading figure of the
Sullustan Resistance
, the
Alliance to Restore the Republic
and the
New Republic
for over a dozen years. Tevv was the
son
of two prominent Sullustan politicians, though he had a checkered youth as he spent much of his time with a group of ambitious yet troublesome teenagers hanging around spaceports on
Sullust
. Eventually, however, he obeyed his parents' wishes and entered Sullustan politics, quickly proving himself to be a capable politician. He eventually became disillusioned with Imperial politics after realizing that the Empire was responsible for a great many atrocities.
He founded a resistance group, though initially refused to join the Rebel Alliance, for fear of retribution by the Empire. After the Rebels rescued him from an Imperial abduction however, Tevv managed to persuade his
planet's
government to ally itself with the Alliance, and when the Rebels became the New Republic, he served as one of the members of the
New Republic Provisional Council
. Sometime after
10 ABY
, he left his position in the New Republic.
Sian Tevv was born on the
planet
Sullust
around the time of the formation of the
Galactic Empire
, the
son
of two noted
Sullustan
diplomats
. Tevv's parents wished for him to follow in their footsteps and enter the world of politics, but Tevv had other ideas: he had plans to become a
spacer
. He was interested in everything to do with
starships
and planetary vehicles and spent much of his youth loitering around spaceports learning from various technicians. He joined a cadre of other intelligent, ambitious young Sullustans, including his lifelong friend
Nien Nunb
, though his parents disapproved of his choice of friends. Eventually, though, Tevv was persuaded by his parents to become a politician, while Nunb and the others went offworld and became
pilots
for
SoroSuub
.
[1]
Tevv proved to be an extremely talented diplomat and became one of the youngest Sullustans to attend the Imperial
Senate
on
Coruscant
. Tevv soon learned that the Empire was not what it presented itself as; he witnessed firsthand the petty squabbling that went on between Senators while the
Imperial Military
was given license to enslave and devastate whole worlds. He began to fear an inevitable attack on Sullust and decided to form the
Sullustan Resistance
.
[1]
Rebel
Tevv used his position to attempt to pressure the Sullustan government to openly oppose the Empire, but to no avail.
[1]
Around
4 BBY
, Tevv made the dangerous journey to meet with several other resistance leaders, traveling alone to
Cloud City
on
Bespin
. Along with representatives from
Duro
and
Alderaan
, Tevv was invited to ally his fledgling resistance movement with the others, with the intention of forming a formal rebellion. Tevv, however, wished for his movement to remain secret from the Empire and feared that if he formed this coalition the Empire's retribution would be swift. He also knew that few Sullustans would join his efforts; ultimately, he decided to remain separate with this rebel alliance, though he kept in contact with it. When the
Alliance to Restore the Republic
was formally created after the signing of the
Corellian Treaty
, Tevv was not a part of it, though he quietly continued his efforts to persuade Sullust to rebel.
[2]
When Sullust's SoroSuub corporation, led by
Siin Suub
, illegally took over Sullust and practically enslaved the native species to the Empire, many Sullustans began to take action.
[3]
Nien Nunb and his sister
Aril Nunb
left their posts as SoroSuub cargo haulers and began harassing SoroSuub shipments,
[4]
while many members of the Sullustan Resistance used guerrilla tactics against the Sullustan government. Their efforts caused SoroSuub so much trouble that a
Sullustan Home Guard
was established.
[5]
Tevv stayed in the background for the whole affair,
[1]
as Siin Suub had threatened to have all Rebel sympathizers executed for
treason
,
[3]
He also privately supported Nien and Aril Nunb's efforts; during this period, he greatly assisted many other rebel organizations, though refused to be a part of the Rebel Alliance.
[1]
The Nunbs' disruptive raids eventually forced SoroSuub to plea to the Empire for assistance, though the Empire had different ideas to the Sullustans about what was suitable. Several
Star Destroyers
were sent into the system, and Nunb and his band of
pirates
frequently clashed with them. After a time, Nunb and his sister decided to join the Rebel Alliance, and Tevv used his contacts to gain them admittance into the Alliance military.
[4]
The whole affair greatly reduced support for SoroSuub; many Sullustans began to question their government, and SoroSuub were embarrassed with how the Empire had dealt with the situation. Seeds of doubt began to be formed, though SoroSuub chose not to act just yet.
[3]
Sian Tevv's signature.
Less than a year
before the
Battle of Yavin
, the Empire initiated
Operation Strike Fear
, a military offensive which attempted to crack down on the Rebel Alliance and any who assisted them. The Empire were considering launching an invasion attempt on Sullust, as they recognized the growing anger towards them as a significant threat. As a preliminary measure, the Empire began secretly smuggling Sullustans suspected of treason to Coruscant, where they were tortured and executed. Tevv escaped unharmed, though the resistance movement's numbers were slowly whittled down. The Rebel Alliance, seeing it as a chance to give Tevv another reason to join them, mounted a rescue operation.
[6]
The Rebels, led by
Keyan Farlander
and
Hamo Blastwell
, were successful in rescuing a group of Sullustans from the Empire, and Tevv agreed to once again open up talks with the Rebel Alliance. He spent several weeks conferring with the
Alliance High Command
, before arranging a summit on Sullust. The Empire caught wind of it, however, and while the
Invincible
distracted the Rebel forces in orbit, a team of Imperial commandos kidnapped Tevv and began the journey back to the
Invincible
. The Rebellion still wanted Tevv's support: they made a daring rescue attempt, again led by Blastwell and Farlander, and managed to disable Tevv's shuttle and bring him to safety. Tevv's people later assisted the Rebels in defeating Operation Strike Fear,
[6]
and his efforts put into persuading SoroSuub to defect eventually bore fruit. They joined the Alliance, though outwardly they pretended to still be allied with the Empire.
[1]
Respectable
Tevv (bottom left) and his fellow Provisional Council members.
The New Republic were initially slow to continue invading Imperial territory, as the remnants of the Empire were doing a good job of ripping themselves apart without any New Republic involvement.
[8]
Eventually, though, Tevv and his fellow Councilors set their sights on Coruscant, ruled by
Ysanne Isard
, which they hoped would grant them support as a legitimate government. Coruscant was heavily defended, though, and the only way the New Republic could capture it was to sabotage its shield generators.
Rogue Squadron
was sent in, and succeeded in downing the world's defenses, while
Admiral
Ackbar
defeated
the Imperial forces in orbit.
[9]
What the Provisional Council did not expect, however, was for Isard to leave Coruscant infected with a hybrid disease named the
Krytos virus
. The disease was easily curable by
bacta
and only affected
non-Humans
; as Isard had hoped, it created much discord and financial trouble within the New Republic. Tevv himself was exposed to the virus and it was feared that he had contracted it for a time. Council meetings were held in dim light to aid him and he received much bacta treatment in the hope that the virus would not affect him.
[10]
The threat of the virus was eventually snuffed out, and Tevv healed.
[11]
The New Republic and the Provisional Council were thrown into disarray upon the re-emergence of
Grand Admiral
Thrawn
. Thrawn defeated the New Republic in
several battles
and even managed to
blockade
Coruscant with
cloaked
asteroids
, preventing traffic from moving in and out. Thrawn also had a data source in the New Republic, named
Delta Source
, which was providing him with information on the Provisional Council's dealings. Many were suspected to be Delta Source;
slicer
Zakarisz Ghent
suspect Tevv himself of being the spy, though Councilor
Leia Organa Solo
vouched for the Sullustan. Ultimately, Delta Source was discovered to be coming from listening devices installed in twin rows of
ch'hala trees
in the
Grand Corridor
of
Imperial Palace
, and Thrawn was
defeated
and killed.
[1]