Borsk Fey'lya

Borsk Fey'lya's upbringing occurred on Kothlis, a Bothan colony world, as a member of the Fey'lya branch of Clan Alya. At a young age, he came to the realization that he was not particularly skilled in piloting or athletics, so he decided to focus on politics instead. Because he hailed from Kothlis, which he considered to be a "second-rate" planet, rather than the wealthy Bothan homeworld of Bothawui, Fey'lya believed that he needed to work harder than others. Prior to dedicating himself to a political career, he was involved in a number of business ventures, including shipping, mining, and merchandising, although he did not stay in those fields for very long. After completing a few legitimate land deals on Bothawui, he gained the support of a number of Bothans, which provided him with a significant amount of political backing. In time, he was chosen to serve as the Chief Councilor of the Bothan Council. However, due to his fear of the Empire's anti-alien prejudice, Fey'lya became a member of the Bothan Spynet.

Fey'lya's ascent through the ranks of the Bothan Spynet, coupled with his role as a prominent diplomat, allowed him to amass political influence, while his rivals were hampered by fabricated scandals and a lack of personal appeal. He soon gained control of a faction of Bothans who were drawn to his success, and he began to pursue the objective of gaining control over the entire galaxy. Considering the fall of Emperor Palpatine's reign to be inevitable, Fey'lya started to make advances toward the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Empire took notice of Fey'lya and designated him as a high-priority target for observation or arrest, suspecting him of being a political advisor to the Rebels.

After the Death Star was destroyed, Fey'lya felt confident enough to give the Alliance his complete support. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, he led a sizable group of Bothans, including nearly 65 percent of Clan Alya's members, in fleeing Kothlis and joining the Alliance. The Bothans who accompanied Fey'lya into the Alliance also included the majority of Clan Ojia. Torel Fey'jia, an associate of Fey'lya who provided him with information and contacts, remained behind and served as an inside connection for Fey'lya. The Bothans under Fey'lya's command primarily provided support and reconnaissance, giving the Rebellion an advantage in espionage, but they occasionally saw action as the war intensified. Upon joining the Alliance, Fey'lya immediately began to seek power and position, making deals with numerous individuals and making it clear that he expected a high position in the emerging political system being organized by Mon Mothma.

The Bothans' arrival in the Alliance coincided with that of Gial Ackbar and the Mon Calamari, who, unlike the Bothans, possessed a fleet of star cruisers. A mutual animosity developed between Fey'lya and Ackbar, who viewed him as ambitious and self-serving and made no attempt to conceal his opinion of the Bothan. Fey'lya, on the other hand, felt that the contributions of his people and himself were undervalued, while the Mon Calamari had been granted a position of undue importance. Ackbar dismissed Fey'lya as an opportunist and paid little attention to him over the next few years. Nevertheless, Fey'lya became one of the most important figures in the Alliance, especially after Garm Bel Iblis left the group.

Some time before the Battle of Endor, Borsk Fey'lya was the leader of Deep Ear, a faction of the Bothan Spynet. The group was responsible for procuring the second Death Star's plans aboard the Suprosa but were later captured by Imperial forces on the planet Gellefon. Borsk managed to elude capture and met up with his alliance contact, a Mikoan known to him as Watcher, and informed her of what had happened. The two of them, along with a group of rebels who were sent to help, helped free the members of Deep Ear from Pinnacle Keep and escaped the planet to meet up with Alliance High Command at Keff Base in the Sullust system.

Fey'lya advanced rapidly within the Bothan Spynet. Simultaneously with his activities for the Bothans, Fey'lya hoped to gain recognition for enlisting the support of former Senator and Alliance outcast Garm Bel Iblis, who had departed the Alliance to Restore the Republic after a disagreement with Mon Mothma. In 3 ABY, following Bel Iblis' successful destruction of an Imperial Intelligence Ubiqtorate base at Tangrene, Fey'lya initiated a lengthy and secretive campaign to bring Bel Iblis back into the ranks of the resistance, while also advocating for his species' support of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Despite continuing to supply the rogue Corellian, his attempts to secure Bel Iblis' support were largely unsuccessful. At some point before 9 ABY, he mobilized several Bothan vessels to defend the former Senator's interests on New Cov in the Churba sector. Nevertheless, Fey'lya led a delegation to meet with members of the Alliance Fleet shortly before the Battle of Endor, without having secured Bel Iblis' alliance, although he continued to make clandestine overtures to the Senator over the years. Operating from the Tal'cara, Fey'lya was escorted by renowned pilots Olin Garn and Ace Azzameen to the MC80 Star Cruiser Liberty, though his shuttle was attacked by mercenaries allegedly hired by the Sullustans. The ever-cautious Bothan immediately suspected foul play, although he and his delegation were successfully defended. The attack was actually a ruse to create division among the members of the alliance, but the Sullustans were exonerated when the mercenaries' treachery was revealed. The Bothan Spynet, along with Fey'lya, went on to fully support the rebel cause, with Borsk personally involved in the appropriation of the Death Star II plans. However, Fey'lya's obsession with the bravery of the Martyrs, the Bothan spies who died obtaining information on the second Death Star, would continue to be used by him as a political tool long after the defeat of Emperor Palpatine at Endor.

Fey'lya's rise to power might have been stopped by Ackbar's rejection of him, but the retrieval of intelligence revealing the existence and location of the second Death Star by Bothans belonging to his faction secured his place in history. Fey'lya signed the Declaration of the Alliance of Free Planets and, following the Bakura Incident, attended a briefing given to the Alliance council by the historian Voren Na'al. While Fey'lya acknowledged the Ssi-ruuk as a threat, he disagreed with Na'al on the scale of the threat, asserting that the Ssi-ruuk were likely to remain in their own region of the galaxy based on the available data. Within four weeks of the release of the Declaration of the Alliance of Free Planets, Fey'lya signed the Declaration of a New Republic; to indicate that he was signing as a representative of Clan Alya, he did not include his personal signet under the clan sigil.

Fey'lya became a member of the New Republic's Provisional Council and its Inner Council; as such, Bothans looked to him for guidance. As Councilor, Fey'lya demonstrated his effectiveness as an administrator when he refrained from engaging in political gamesmanship. Nevertheless, he sought to challenge Ackbar on every decision or proposal the Calamarian brought before the Council, and he did everything in his power to enact legislation that benefited the Bothans. While serving in the New Republic, Fey'lya continued to manage some of his businesses, but he usually attended to these ventures in his own time, and they rarely affected his Council duties. Much to the dismay of Ackbar, as well as other members of the new government, such as Leia Organa, Fey'lya became one of Mon Mothma's most trusted advisors.

Six months after the Battle of Endor, General Airen Cracken of New Republic Intelligence received a report on the status of Imperial military forces from Dirk Harkness, a mercenary who had unexpectedly disappeared after Endor. Councilor Fey'lya expressed skepticism to Cracken regarding the accuracy of the so-called Harkness Report and questioned the motives of its author, whom he suspected was providing misinformation and attempting to divert the Republic's energies. Fey'lya was also concerned that Cracken's informant Platt Okeefe could be a security risk due to Okeefe's association with the Black Curs mercenary group. When evidence emerged indicating that Trell'yar, one of the Bothans involved in the discovery of the second Death Star, was an Imperial spy, Councilor Fey'lya stated for the record that he believed the allegations against Trell'yar were false.

Fey'lya's lack of confidence in the Harkness Report would prove to be justified in at least one respect. While Harkness claimed that Imperial Grand Vizier Sate Pestage had been deposed and forced into exile within six months of the Battle of Endor, Pestage was actually still in power approximately eleven months after Endor. Around that time, Fey'lya communicated via hologram with Leia Organa, who informed him that Pestage had offered to leave Coruscant undefended in exchange for being granted asylum, along with dominion over twenty-five other worlds. Fey'lya expressed some uncertainty regarding the ethics of the exchange but promised to relay news of the development to Mothma at the earliest convenience. Approximately one month later, General Cracken informed Fey'lya and the rest of the Provisional Council of reports that Pestage had been deposed and arrested. Fey'lya assumed the deal with Pestage was defunct as a result and reacted with disbelief when Organa proposed that the Republic should attempt to rescue Pestage.

Despite Fey'lya's protests, Mothma directed Ackbar and Cracken to devise strategies to retrieve Pestage from Ciutric. After Ackbar and Cracken presented their plan, Fey'lya continued to question the logic of placing New Republic forces at risk for the sake of an Imperial defector, further alleging that efforts to rescue the Human Pestage could be perceived by non-Humans as an act of bias. Fey'lya ultimately agreed with Councilor Kerrithrarr's argument in favor of the plan and voted to allow the mission to proceed. Cracken later notified Fey'lya and the other Councilors that, while Republic forces consisting of Rogue Squadron and Commando Team One had captured Pestage, they were trapped on Ciutric due to the arrival of Imperial reinforcements. Fey'lya sided with Doman Beruss in opposing Leia Organa's insistence on sending additional troops to Ciutric, agreeing with Beruss that escalating the Republic's investment in the mission would only weaken the Republic.

Under Mon Mothma, Fey'lya's influence and prestige grew, his natural cunning and ambition marking him out as one of the dominant politicians of the New Republic. In preparation for the drive on Imperial Center, Fey'lya advocated extending negotiations to Warlord Zsinj, subsequently criticizing the pilots of Rogue Squadron for allowing a freighter owned by the despot to escape. Ever quick to undermine and belittle the actions of the New Republic military due to the threat to his species' status as martyrs he felt it posed, Borsk would enter into a long-running feud with Commander Wedge Antilles and his squadron, though his quarrel truly lay with the charismatic Admiral Ackbar. Any action Fey'lya could take to bolster his and the Bothans' own prestige, he would, and this drive would reveal itself in the years to come. The Bothan senator saw his own personal gain as one and the same with both the gain of his people and the gain of the New Republic. Any other member of the Alliance he saw as possessing too much power or influence, such as the Mon Calamari, he would attempt to weaken. Fey'lya took constant steps to chip away at Ackbar's power base, exemplified during the drive on Coruscant, when he organized a Council meeting on the planet of Noquivzor; reminiscent of Bothawui, but extremely uncomfortable for his opponent, the Mon Calamari Admiral.

It was Fey'lya who called for the insertion of criminals from the prison world of Kessel onto Coruscant prior to its conquest, in order to weaken the Imperial grip on the capital, and Fey'lya who urged Ackbar to strike quickly, encouraging the Admiral to carry out his plan to conquer the planet, before inactivity could harm the Bothan's reputation. When Imperial Center fell to the Alliance, Fey'lya retained his position of power and his seat on the Provisional Council. He remained an opponent of Antilles and Rogue Squadron, strongly supporting the trial of war-hero Tycho Celchu which followed the planet's fall. The trial was in Fey'lya's interests; his fear of a Human-dominated New Republic was such that the inquisition into the affairs of a Human officer, and an Alderaanian at that, would weaken the hold of the Humans on the new government. It was therefore only a progression of Fey'lya's logic that the Krytos virus ravaging non-humans on Coruscant was linked to an anti-alien conspiracy.

Fey'lya attempted to monopolize his power and retain his position by dominating the manner by which the New Republic responded to the virus' threat. His rivalry with colleagues Leia Organa and Ackbar continued to deepen as he felt they opposed his motions and practices, and thus his antagonism toward Rogue Squadron, which he perceived to be linked to Ackbar's power base, grew more outright. He attempted to intervene in the squadron's affairs, approaching Asyr Sei'lar, a Bothan ace in the unit. Fey'lya asked the younger Bothan to draft a report which stated that the destruction of a bacta convoy at the hands of Warlord Zsinj was due to errors made by Humans in the New Republic government, thus fuelling the conspiracy theory he sought to propagate; that alien species were being deliberately denied aid by Humans in the fight against the virus. In return he promised Sei'lar he would ease xenophobia among leading Bothans, and claimed that he was guarding her interests. In Asyr, Borsk saw a great asset. However she would disappoint him on this occasion by failing to carry out her task. Rogue Squadron became the heroes of the Coruscant campaign and the fight against the Krytos virus. Fey'lya's efforts to discredit Antilles' unit were thwarted. To the Bothan's embarrassment, he was powerless to prevent Antilles from leading his squadron against Ysanne Isard on Thyferra. He had intended to leave the former director of Imperial Intelligence to her own devices, as he did not wish the New Republic to be seen to involve itself in the internal affairs of non-member worlds. With Rogue Squadron's resignation en masse from the New Republic and their disregard for his authority, Borsk had earned himself a series of long term enemies in men such as Antilles, Celchu, Gavin Darklighter and Corran Horn.

At some point during Fey'lya's tenure as Bothan leader, Brandis Turgah—a thief masquerading as a technician in the New Republic fleet—was captured while attempting to steal from a group of Bothans and brought before Fey'lya. Seeing the value in having a thief and informer in the New Republic fleet, Fey'lya released Turgah under the condition that he would regularly report to the Bothans with interesting news and classified data that would otherwise be unavailable to them. When the Bothan delegation subsequently learned of the formation of a task force to pursue Moff Kentor Sarne, Fey'lya arranged for Turgah to join the force.

Two years following his initial attempts, Fey'lya saw an opportunity to undermine Ackbar's position as a rival during the era of Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign. Thrawn, a Chiss strategist who emerged from the Unknown Regions, was leading the assault against the New Republic. Fey'lya seized upon the loss of an Elomin task force, arguing it showcased Ackbar's incompetence as Supreme Commander. Simultaneously, Fey'lya created another adversary. He clashed with Han Solo regarding the inclusion of smugglers into the New Republic's ranks and a failed diplomatic endeavor to Bimmisaari. Many of his actions served the purpose of weakening Ackbar, a feat he accomplished frequently due to his position on the Inner Council. His efforts to discredit the Admiral were not unnoticed. While a significant portion of the military began to view Fey'lya as a potential leader, prominent political figures like Leia Organa Solo started to suspect that Borsk's ambitions extended beyond merely replacing Ackbar as Supreme Commander, reaching for the office of Chief of State itself. Her concerns would, fifteen years later, prove to be accurate. The ascent of Fey'lya to power would be a gradual process.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Sluis Van, Ackbar was accused of treason by Fey'lya's faction. Thrawn had secretly deposited funds into the Admiral's accounts as part of a strategy to destabilize the New Republic government. Fey'lya exploited this apparent coincidence to finally triumph over his rival. The Mon Calamari war hero was placed under house arrest and scheduled for trial. Fey'lya's machinations only served to create division within the New Republic. Ackbar maintained a strong base of support within the military, threatening a conflict with Fey'lya's faction. Nevertheless, the Bothan's influence continued to grow. The Council, influenced by Fey'lya, permitted him to assume control of several of Ackbar's internal security responsibilities. However, the politician exercised restraint and remained relatively inactive until a hearing regarding the Battle of Sluis Van, where he executed his plan. Having orchestrated the hearing through Mon Mothma, Fey'lya led the unofficial questioning of Captain Han Solo. He refrained from criticizing Solo's tactics at Sluis Van—where New Republic ships were crippled by Lando Calrissian and Solo, rather than being lost to the Empire—instead, he shifted the blame onto Ackbar for deploying the ships to the Sluis system in the first place. Fey'lya stopped short of directly accusing Ackbar of treason, but strongly implied it and openly denounced the Mon Calamari as incompetent. When Solo asserted at the hearing that the Imperials were being led by a Grand Admiral, Fey'lya dismissed the claim. Despite his considerable support within the military, the Bothan's position was becoming increasingly precarious. The investigation into Ackbar was still pending, the Admiral retained a loyal following, and Fey'lya had failed to present any credible evidence against his adversary. Adding to his embarrassment, it was soon confirmed that the Imperials were indeed being led by Thrawn, a Grand Admiral. Furthermore, Delta Source, a mysterious Intelligence leak within the Imperial Palace, remained active, a problem Fey'lya was technically responsible for resolving. To bolster his weakening position, Fey'lya renewed his efforts to gain the allegiance of Senator Bel Iblis, hoping that bringing the Corellian back into the fold would generate support. His aide, Tav Breil'lya, was dispatched to New Cov to discuss the Senator's return. Fey'lya, now presented with the opportunity to amass unprecedented political support, was firmly committed to his scheme. Breil'lya was so apprehensive that he advocated killing Solo and Calrissian when they stumbled upon the operation on New Cov while investigating Fey'lya's motives.

Fey'lya vehemently disputed Solo and Calrissian's return to Coruscant with news of the discovery of the Katana fleet, along with information that Thrawn was attempting to locate it and may have succeeded. He again dismissed the threat, asserting that the enigmatic fleet was Imperial disinformation. The Bothan politician persisted in waiting to secure Ackbar's position, though having failed to win over Bel Iblis for the New Republic, he became desperate to secure the legendary fleet himself. Meanwhile, Thrawn had successfully removed the vast majority of the Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers and was in the process of staffing them with rapidly-bred soldiers from his Spaarti cloning cylinders on Emperor Palpatine's storehouse world of Wayland. When the Jedi Luke Skywalker and Fey'lya's old adversary Wedge Antilles, along with Rogue Squadron, departed Coruscant to scout the Katana fleet, Fey'lya ordered their arrest, claiming they possessed vital knowledge of the fleet's location and needed to be isolated. After Leia Organa Solo thwarted that objective, Fey'lya gathered much of his military support and grouped them aboard the Nebulon-B Escort Frigate Quenfis. With Organa Solo and Talon Karrde onboard, and Fey'lya in command, they headed to the fleet's location to eliminate his troublesome political rivals. There, Fey'lya instructed the Quenfis' commanding officer, Captain Virgilio, to arrest Solo and Antilles, along with Rogue Squadron. A fierce argument erupted between the two factions, during which Antilles threatened to defy Fey'lya's orders, risking a court martial. The escalating situation was interrupted by the arrival of Imperial Captain Brandei's Judicator, one of Thrawn's Imperial I-class Star Destroyers. To Fey'lya's astonishment, Antilles disobeyed his direct orders and engaged the Imperial dropships as they attempted to repel the New Republic presence.

Rather than jeopardize himself or his loyal military supporters for the lives of those he intended to arrest, Fey'lya ordered the Quenfis to retreat. When Princess Leia Organa Solo pleaded with him to stay and protect her husband, brother, and friends, Fey'lya drew a blaster on the pregnant woman to silence her protests. Asserting that Organa Solo needed to prioritize the interests of the New Republic above her own, the Bothan failed to realize that the Force-sensitive had activated the frigate's internal and external communications. Fey'lya found himself provoked by Karrde, who manipulated him into revealing his true intentions, not only for Rogue Squadron, Skywalker, and the Solos, but also for the entire New Republic military. Immediately, the Quenfis' X-wings moved to support Antilles, and Captain Virgilio arrived with his men to confine Fey'lya to his quarters. Shocked, the Bothan reluctantly surrendered his blaster and was escorted away by the guards. Had Fey'lya remained on the bridge, he would have witnessed another reversal of his political fortunes. Garm Bel-Iblis arrived to join the fight against the Imperials, encouraged to rejoin the cause not by Fey'lya, but by Solo and Calrissian's earlier visit. The combined forces of the New Republic and Bel-Iblis' six Dreadnaughts drove off the Judicator and destroyed the second Star Destroyer Thrawn had dispatched, the Peremptory.

Fey'lya returned to Coruscant a greatly diminished figure. His schemes to claim personal credit for the recovery of the Katana fleet and the return of Senator Bel Iblis to the New Republic had both failed miserably. He had lost nearly all of his support among non-Bothans, as his open disdain for the New Republic military's well-being was widely publicized. Finally, he had severely damaged his credibility with Mon Mothma and the rest of the Provisional Council, as Zakarisz Ghent revealed the evidence supporting his treason charge against Admiral Ackbar to be an Imperial fabrication shortly after Ghent's arrival on Coruscant. In accordance with Bothan political tradition, he entered a self-imposed period of penance, continuing to attend Council meetings but remaining silent and withdrawn. Leia Organa Solo irritably reflected that this sullenness was counterproductive, as they needed every voice of counsel, even Fey'lya's, to help analyze and organize their efforts as Thrawn launched his final offensive in earnest.

Fey'lya broke his silence only once, during a Council meeting, to unexpectedly endorse Organa Solo's proposal to send reinforcements to support the sabotage team, which included Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, dispatched to destroy Thrawn's cloning facility on Wayland. Fey'lya even suggested postponing the New Republic's planned attack on the Bilbringi Shipyards in favor of sending those reinforcements. Initially, he cited concern for Solo and Skywalker's lives and emphasized the importance of destroying Grand Admiral Thrawn's source of clones. However, his actions at the Katana fleet skirmish—demonstrating both open disregard for the lives of his political opponents and a poor understanding of military realities—led virtually everyone present to doubt his motives. He eventually admitted that there were "things" in the Emperor's storehouse, besides the cloning cylinders, that could be used by Thrawn to devastating effect against the Bothan people and the galaxy. Because he refused to elaborate, his advice was dismissed.

Fey'lya's fears persisted, and he was caught eavesdropping on a conversation between Organa Solo and Talon Karrde by one of Leia's Noghri bodyguards, Mobvekhar. During the ensuing exchange, he adamantly demanded the destruction of Mount Tantiss, though he still refused to specify what he feared was inside. Karrde agreed to go to Wayland, extracting a payment of 70,000 credits from Fey'lya in the process.

Fey'lya's power was restored as the New Republic underwent reorganization following the resurrected Emperor Palpatine's campaign. By the time of the Black Fleet Crisis, Fey'lya's political influence had grown significantly, leading to his appointment as Chair of the Justice Council and a member of the Ruling Council. When Krall Praget submitted a summons of no confidence against Leia, Fey'lya opposed it, deeming the timing inappropriate. However, when Doman Beruss submitted his after Han Solo's capture by the Yevetha, Fey'lya supported the Vote of No Confidence against Leia Organa Solo and began actively securing votes to ensure his election as interim Chief. Before the vote could take place, Leia declared war on the Yevetha, and the Senate supported her. After the crisis, Fey'lya was dispatched to Galantos, one of the Republic's newly acquired member worlds. Fey'lya was known for his lack of patience, and the Fian's meticulous attention to detail pushed the Bothan to his breaking point.

Fey'lya's most challenging period was the Caamas Document Crisis. Organa Solo had taken a leave of absence, and Fey'lya was not chosen as her replacement. However, Ponc Gavrisom, Organa Solo's interim successor, was a close ally of his, and he served on the New Republic High Council. The difficulties were just beginning. Clan Alya, Fey'lya's Bothan Clan, was accused of involvement in the devastation of Caamas, and Fey'lya, as Chair of the Justice Council, was accused of exonerating Bothans guilty of aiding the attack. By collaborating with Organa Solo and Gavrisom, Fey'lya managed to weather the storm, even briefly purchasing Leia's protocol droid C-3PO to search Bothan bank accounts for those who had been paid for the destruction of Caamas.

Later that year, Fey'lya was a guest at the wedding of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. He arrived with Talon Karrde, Mon Mothma, and Elegos A'Kla.

Following Leia Organa Solo's resignation from the position of Chief of State, Fey'lya was elected as her successor, securing a three-fifths majority in the first round. The Bothan assembled his own council, which faced danger as the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong emerged. Caught between maintaining peace within the New Republic, attempting diplomatic relations with the Yuuzhan Vong, and controlling Luke Skywalker's Jedi, Fey'lya made numerous poor decisions, especially given the Yuuzhan Vong's desire for total war. As the war commenced, Fey'lya initially refused to believe in the Yuuzhan Vong's existence, interpreting the destruction of Sernpidal as an elaborate scheme by the Jedi and human politicians like Leia to reclaim control of the New Republic. Regrettably, he was supported in these beliefs by several members of his Advisory Council, including Senators Pwoe and Niuk Niuv, who believed that Fey'lya's election had finally overturned the humanocentrism that had been the Empire's standard policy and, in their view, had persisted (unofficially) under the New Republic, led by Mon Mothma and Leia.

Fey'lya harbored deep suspicions of the New Jedi Order, which was somewhat understandable, as the Jedi had failed to prevent the rise of the Empire. The fact that Darth Vader had once been a Jedi did not improve their reputation in his eyes. He was not alone in this attitude. An entire generation had grown up since the end of the Clone Wars, and billions of beings across the Galaxy had no memory of when the Jedi were considered champions of justice and peace. Several other New Republic politicians expressed reservations about granting them special treatment or support, even those serving the New Republic. The prospect of a state-sponsored religion, composed of individuals with abilities far beyond those of regular beings, was, in the minds of many, an invitation to disaster, especially considering the Republic's fall. A simpler explanation might have been simple jealousy and the uncomfortable fact that one of his main political rivals, Organa Solo, was the sister of the Order's leader.

Despite overwhelming evidence, he eventually conceded and committed the Republic to war, but his antagonism of the Jedi and the military severely hampered the overall war effort. Throughout most of the war, Fey'lya's primary concern was preserving his public image, not the New Republic. After the destruction of Duro and Tsavong Lah's ultimatum to surrender the Jedi to the Vong, Fey'lya seemed all too willing to comply, allowing Yavin 4 to fall to the Yuuzhan Vong.

Fey'lya also appeared willing to sacrifice other worlds as long as vital planets like Coruscant and the Core Worlds—as well as all of Bothan Space—were spared the invaders' wrath. Around this time, New Republic Intelligence Director Dif Scaur had begun collaborating with the Chiss to develop Alpha Red, a virus designed to destroy the Yuuzhan Vong at a cellular level. However, he also rose to the occasion when given the opportunity to fight against the Vong. He assumed communications duties for the flagship "Ralroost" during the Battle of Ithor after the previous communications officer was killed, demonstrating a degree of personal courage.

Ultimately, he was compelled to acknowledge that there was no way to appease the Yuuzhan Vong or halt their advance into the Core Worlds through conventional military means, and that the Jedi represented the New Republic's only hope. When Nom Anor appeared before the New Republic Senate two years into the war, demanding concessions and the lives of the Jedi, Fey'lya executed a complete political reversal, declaring his full support for Luke Skywalker and denouncing Anor, branding the Yuuzhan Vong as cowards. However, it was too late, as the Yuuzhan Vong launched their attack on Coruscant, forcing its evacuation in the face of overwhelming numbers. Fey'lya requested that his old rival, Leia Organa Solo, rally the New Republic to victory. Convinced that he had lost everything and that he faced a life of scorn (and, worse, powerlessness) if he survived, he remained behind, attaching a bomb to a heart monitor and surrendering to the Yuuzhan Vong in the hope of killing Warmaster Tsavong Lah. The Yuuzhan Vong leader recognized his plan and dispatched Commander Romm Zqar, a subordinate, instead. Zqar attempted to force his surrender and killed him when he refused. This detonated the bomb, killing Zqar and over twenty-five thousand Yuuzhan Vong Warriors, and destroying nearly half of the Imperial Palace, including the data towers, thus preserving some of the Republic's most vital secrets. Although the invasion was a success for the Yuuzhan Vong, their losses were significant, and Lah bitterly remarked that they could scarcely afford to lose the twenty-five thousand warriors that Fey'lya had managed to kill.

Whether this treacherous act redeemed him remains debatable (indeed, some argued that he was beyond redemption), Borsk Fey'lya essentially died a hero. To both his people and the New Republic at large, he became a modern-day martyr, and his death inspired the Bothans, for the first time in centuries, to declare a state of ar'krai—total war on the Yuuzhan Vong by the Bothan people. Furthermore, the Yuuzhan Vong also respected him for his actions and considered him a minor hero.

Borsk Fey'lya made his first appearance in The Thrawn Trilogy, although The Essential Chronology establishes that he played a role in the Rebel Alliance since the defection of Garm Bel Iblis shortly after the Battle of Yavin.

"Borsk" translates to "proud" in Bothese.