Tasha Ryo

Origin

A young Twi'lek Force sensitive, Tasha Ryo was the daughter of Baron Volnos Ryo of Shikaakwa and Je'daii Master Kora Ryo, master of the Je'daii Temple of Knowledge at Kaleth. Raised in the Je'daii traidition in the Tython system, Ryo preferred not to carry traditional weapons, using her skills with the Force to defend herself. A Je'daii Journeyer, Ryo often found herself conflicted between her duties as a Je'daii and the loyalty demanded by her father's clan.

Major Story Arcs

Force Storm

When on Shikaakwa, Tasha is shown arguing with her father about refusing to stay and guide clan Ryo after her father's eventual end as leader. Tasha and her father are then attacked by Kallack assassin Jaris Kan, who appears to have been old friends with Volnos Ryo. Tasha demonstrates her strength with the Force by easily deflecting the bullets from a slugthrower and disarming the assassin with little effort. She becomes distracted by an image of Xesh and her father eventually kills the assassin. She proceeds to tell her father that her dedication is to that of the Je'daii and not of clan Ryo.

Tasha sets off to find the disturbance in the Force and the truth behind the dark image of Xesh, eventually leading up to her joining fellow Je'daii Sek'nos Rath and Shae Koda on Tython in the Rift, a stretch of land below and around the Temple of Science at Anil Kesh. The Journeyers came across a crashed ship and find an escape pod nearby, from which emerges the Force Hound Xesh. Tasha tells him they don't mean any harm, but due to his upbringing, Xesh meets them with blades drawn and engages the three Je'daii. Xesh disarms Sek'nos and Shae, but not Tasha because she doesn't carry any blades. Instead, she attempts to pin him down with the Force, but is knocked back into a rockface and knocked out. As she wakes, she finds that their enemy has retreated and headed towards the Abyss of Ruh. Tasha originally proposes to stay put and wait for aid, so as to let any Je'daii know what had happened if they came looking, but is convinced by Shae Koda to pursue Xesh, feeling that if anyone were to be hurt, it would be their responsibility.

As she and her companions make their way into the Abyss, Shae Koda sees images of her parents brought out by the strong presence of dark side energies in the area, causing her to become volatile and attempt to attack her "parents". Sek'nos tries to restrain her, but then Shae turns her anger towards Tasha, blaming her for the actions of her people in the Despot War. Tasha manages to convince her that it's just the effect of the Abyss and the storm, and reminds her friends of the Je'daii Code. Three as one, the Journeyers, spurred by Tasha, come together to banish the dark feelings they were feeling and focus again on finding Xesh.

With regained focus, the three find Xesh fighting against a large rift worm that Shae calls a saarl. Tasha and her friends jump in to defend their earlier enemy, using the Force to hold the creature back, as well as defend against its Force Lightning. Shae tosses Xesh's Force saber back to him, since he had left it at the site, believing he would help them against the creature since they jumped in to save him. However, he keeps the saber and just watches, not intending to help, with causes outrage and disbelief from the Journeyers. The saarl soon knocks out Tasha and Sek'nos, causing Shae to defend her now defenseless friends. Tasha would soon recover and tend to Sek'nos, while Xesh returns for reasons unknown and fights with Shae, killing the saarl with help from newly arrived Je'daii Rangers Hawk Ryo and Rori Fenn, as well as Master Quan-Jang. After the rift worm is defeated, Master Jang uses the combined power of the other Je'daii Temple Masters to quell the Force storm around Xesh, and the Je'daii take him in.

After recovering at Mahara Kesh, the Temple of Healing, Xesh is questioned about his past, revealing he lost his memory. Tasha attempts to help him, asking his permission to enter his mind in an attempt to find his memories. What she sees appalls her - ships imbued with darkness, a dark world, and Xesh as a child, forced to empower a ship by drawing on his strength in the Force along with hundreds other like him. Tasha can't believe that anyone would do that to a child, especially ones so young. Tasha then tells her friends and the Je'daii Masters at Mahara Kesh of the images she saw in Xesh's mind and with the other Journeyers, propose that Xesh remain on Tython to be trained as a Je'daii and learn balance. The asters disagree, however, and ship Xesh to Bogan, telling the Tasha and the others it's the best for both him and Tython.

Prisoner of Bogan

Xesh spends the next two months on Bogan to meditate on the light side of the Force and try to seek and understand balance. Tasha would travel to Stave Kesh with Shae and Sek'nos during that time, as she tries to clear her head with martial arts and skill practice with Temple Master Tave. He criticizes the three of them, though, for not thinking straight and dwelling on their vision of Xesh, which made their moves predictable. Tasha fires back at the Master, though, stating that the Je'daii Council should have trained him as a Je'daii and helped him with balance, like they did to every other Je'daii who was too far towards the dark. Tave reassures them that they're not being ignored and informs Tasha that she is needed at Kaleth.

At Kaleth, Tasha spends quite a bit of time in the Je'daii Library, searching through the various records and books they have for any information on a mysterious skull found at the ship crash wreckage. All the other remains from the wreck had been identified, yet despite the hundred centuries worth of knowledge in the library, Tasha couldn't figure out the identity of the creature. She would then be approached by Master Ters Sendon, who had sensed her distress through the Force as he meditated on a Holocron in the under levels of the Temple. Informing Tasha of the Holocron, Master Sendon brings her to the lower levels, but informs her that he hasn't been able to activate the item after meditating on it himself many times. Despite this, the Holocron was activated when Tasha made contact with it, revealing A'Nong of the Qwa, one of the first settlers of Tython.

Master A'Nang tells them that the skull belongs to a Rakata, an ancient species that formed an Empire and conquered Force rich worlds before enslaving that worlds inhabitants, before shutting off and refusing to speak to Tasha or Ters. Wanting more answers, the two Je'daii take the Holocron to Master Ketu at the Temple of Akar Kesh, who asked Master Rajivari to help as well. With the Masters' help, Tasha learns of the Rakata and their history, and regretfully that the ship that crashed could only mean they intended to invade Tython. With this news, the Masters decide to recall Xesh and Daegen Lok to Tython, believing now that his vision is coming true.

Force War

With Xesh and Lok returning to Tython, the Je'daii begin to prepare for war, allowing the former Force Hound to train as a Je'daii, work with the Je'daii and inform them of everything he knew about the Rakata, and teach the Je'daii to build Force sabers. Tasha would become a Je'daii Seer, perceiving images and glimpses of the future and working with other Seers and the Je'daii to interpret these visions to use against the Rakata, allowing the Je'daii to hold off their assault for a year despite being outnumbered by a fair margin.

The day after an important Je'daii victory on Shikaakwa, Tasha would be working out of her father's fortress with Masters Rajivari, Lok, and Xesh when she received a vision of a stone fortress high on a stone cliff overlooking a sea of blood, but then crumbles and falls into the sea. Master Rajivari interprets the vision as the stone fortress being the Je'daii and the sea being Rakata and their forces, slowly eroding the Je'daii and their allies away, even during Je'daii victories. He then tells the people assembled that if Shikaakwa were to fall, their other allies would withdraw their support, leaving the Je'daii to fight an impossible fight by themselves, which they would surely lose.

Locating the main Rakatan base with Xesh and his powers, Rajivari plans to cut the head off of the snake - kill the Rakatan Predor Skal'nas - as he was told by Xesh that the Rakatan Sub-Predors (generals) would fight amongst themselves for power, effectively defeating themselves. As the Je'daii gathered their forces and attacked Ska Gora to attack Skal'nas' main base, Tasha has a vision letting her know that the attack is doomed to fail as the Flesh Raiders, mutated Rakata bred for war, have laid a trap for the Je'daii and their forces, surrounding them via underground tunnels and capturing many Je'daii and killing many of their allies. The Je'daii would rally, though, and save themselves from further losses, fighting and holding off the Flesh Raiders.

Unfortunately, Xesh had been captured and given back his memories, allowing him to relive all the terrible things he'd done in the service of the Rakata and their Infinite Empire and chooses to ally with them again out of self regret. As Tasha and the other Seers were trying to discern a vision of an imminent attack on Tython, specifically the Temple at Anil Kesh, Skal'nas used Xesh and his other Force Hound Trill as conduits of his power, reaching out to strike at the Seers. Skal'nas manages to sever all of the Je'daii Seers from the Force and physically blind the closest one, which unfortunately was Tasha. With their Seers unable to call on the Force to provide aid and Tasha blinded, the Je'daii retreat from Ska Gora back to Tython to prepare to defend their homeworld.

Although blinded and cut off from the Force, Tasha still wishes to continue her duty as a Je'daii. Confident that the Rakata were attacking Anil Kesh looking for something, Tasha teams up with Master Ters Sendon to again meditate on the Holocron of Master A'Nang, hoping to uncover something to help the Je'daii. As the Rakata attack Anil Kesh, Ters meditates on the Holocron and manages to activate it, bringing forth Master A'Nang once again. After being told the Rakata were now on Tython, she states "It is time for Tython to awaken" as the Holocron lights up in Tasha's hand, telling her to travel to the lowest level of Anil Kesh.

As she brings the Holocron to the preferred level, Tasha is told a Je'daii Seer is needed for the next stage, but as she tells Master A'Nang she can no longer feel the Force, she is informed that she can be connected to it again - at the cost of her life. Tasha doesn't hesitate, stepping into a beam of light and reconnecting with the Force, just as Master A'Nang said. Tasha's sight is returned right at the end, as she joins with and activates the Thor Yor, using it to destroy Rakatan ships in space as well as the Infinity Gate at the bottom of the Abyss of Ruh, a gate that can transport anyone to any world they desired. With the Thor Yor ctivated, and with Xesh slaying Skal'nas, the Je'daii would defeat and push the Rakatan forces out of the system.

Powers and Abilities

Tasha Ryo was a fervent user of the Force, forgoing any melee weapon and trusting in her skills to defend herself. She was just as effective offensively as she was defensively, able to knock back an assassin and push the powerful Xesh around (although his guard might have been down), as well as block slugthrower shots with her hands and holding back a large rift worm capable of shooting out Force Lightning, albeit with help. She was able to sense imminent danger, as she pushed her father out of the way of a slugthrower shot in the middle of their conversation, and could sense volatile emotions like fear and anger from other beings. When Xesh was captured and taken to Mahara Kesh, she was able to enter his mind and look at his memories, displaying considerable skill in Telepathy.

Her main talent, however, was in the ability to use the Force to glimpse fragments of future in visions and interpret them to "predict" the future. She was an accomplished Seer, using her abilities to help the Je'daii thwart Rakatan attacks against them and their allies despite being outnumbered in nearly all the confrontations, enraging Skal'nas to the point that he killed one of his Sub-Predors in outrage.