Elin Garza, a female Human, held the rank of General within the Galactic Republic's Republic Army. She served during the Great Galactic War, a conflict against the reconstituted Sith Empire. A notable contribution during this period was her involvement in establishing a elite special forces division within the Republic Military, where she also played a role in training the division's soldiers.
Following the Treaty of Coruscant's enactment, Garza became a vocal opponent of the Republic's new circumstances. She disagreed with the armistice's stringent conditions that allowed the Sith to dominate the galaxy. She faced frequent accusations of orchestrating clandestine attacks on Imperial assets across the galaxy.
Born on Coruscant, the Galactic Republic's capital, in the year 3696 BBY, Elin Garza's life took a dramatic turn with the onset of the Great Galactic War in 3681 BBY. This war was initiated by the resurgent Sith Empire. At the young age of 15, she falsified her identification to join the ranks of the Republic Military. Quickly ascending through the ranks, she achieved the position of lieutenant and assumed command of a platoon within the 45th Infantry Division. In 3673 BBY, during a mission on Bomodon amidst the Great Galactic War, Garza's unit crashed, leading to her encounter with Republic Strategic Information Service agent Marcus Trant. Together, they engaged in a ten-month campaign to liberate the planet from Imperial control. She later married Trant, though the marriage ended in divorce two years later. Her second marriage was to Joron Tal'vor, a navy captain.
Throughout her service, Garza earned numerous accolades, including the Medal of Valor, the Silver Crescent, the Mark of Dedication, and the Chancellor's Service Medal. During the resurgent Sith Empire's full-scale assault on the Republic, Garza distinguished herself and was instrumental in the formation of a elite special forces division within the Republic military.
The signing of the Treaty of Coruscant in 3653 BBY marked the official end to the conflict between the Republic and the Sith Empire. In the subsequent years, Garza faced repeated accusations of ordering covert operations against Imperial assets across the galaxy.
One such instance occurred on Ando Prime. Upon discovering an impending Imperial offensive, Garza dispatched Havoc Squad to intercept it. When the squad required rescue, the Senate intervened, halting Garza's attempt. It was revealed that the initial Ando Prime mission lacked Senate approval, leading to their refusal to authorize any action that could reignite war with the Empire. Havoc Squad managed to return independently, but the incident left a lasting impact on its members.
By 3643 BBY, during the Cold War, Commander Harron Tavus led a group of Havoc Squad members to defect to the Empire. A newly transferred sergeant, now promoted to lieutenant and the new Havoc Squad commander, was the only Havoc member to remain loyal to the Republic. Garza summoned the new Havoc to Coruscant to eliminate Tavus' underworld connections on the planet before pursuing the traitors. Garza emphasized the mission's need for absolute secrecy, even from non-SpecForce personnel. After Havoc successfully located all the Havoc traitors, Garza promoted the Havoc CO to the rank of Captain.
However, intelligence regarding a new Imperial superweapon, codenamed Gauntlet, forced Garza to cut Havoc's shore leave short. She sent Havoc to Tatooine to extract an undercover SIS agent possessing the intel. Once the Gauntlet's ability to fire through hyperspace was confirmed, a joint military initiative was formed. Believing Havoc needed reinforcements, Garza tasked the squad with recruiting two new members vital to the mission: Tanno Vik on Balmorra and Sergeant Yuun on Hoth, as well as extracting the Safecrackers on Quesh.
After Havoc's successful destruction of the Gauntlet, Garza promoted the CO to the rank of major. However, their victory had consequences. Imperial General Arkos Rakton, enraged by the Gauntlet's destruction, declared open hostilities against the Republic. His initial move was to capture a group of Republic-aligned heads of state, forcing their planets to allow Imperial forces to bypass their borders and attack Republic holdings. Garza directed Havoc to infiltrate the space station where the hostages were held.
Following Havoc's successful rescue of the hostages, and having made an enemy of Rakton, Garza deployed Havoc to reinforce the Republic offensive. This began with the extraction of Dagger Wing, a disavowed Republic fighter wing imprisoned on Belsavis for a failed mission that led to the deaths of thousands of Imperial citizens on Fest. Despite this, Garza believed the Republic needed Dagger Wing, as starfighter pilots of their caliber were scarce.
Next, Havoc was sent to space station A-77 to free POWs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a trap set by Rakton, though Havoc survived.
Finally, on the planet Voss, Senator Evran was withholding thousands of Republic soldiers from the war effort, fearing another Imperial attack. Because he had Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus's complete confidence, even Garza couldn't overrule him. Therefore, Havoc was forced to eliminate any Imperial invasion routes, making the Republic military presence unnecessary. Havoc proceeded to thwart Lord Torius's plan to use the stolen ZR-57 orbital strike bomb to hold Voss-Ka hostage.
Despite the Republic's strength to shift the war's momentum, Garza had to recall Havoc Squad to Coruscant for a Senate inquiry into their activities. Meeting at the spaceport, Garza revealed that the inquiry was a sham, orchestrated by Senator Grom Zian, an Imperial agent. Rakton intended to use Zian to suspend Havoc, tilting the war in his favor. Fortunately, the SIS had evidence of Zian's ties. Garza instructed the Major to attend the hearing, present the evidence, and avoid anything that could validate Zian's accusations.
After Zian's arrest, Garza contacted Havoc via holo, revealing her transfer to Corellia, where the Empire and Republic were heavily engaged. Upon meeting on the founding Republic planet, Garza introduced the Major to CorSec officer and former SpecForce member, Locke, and civilian Captain Phaeris, both committed to aiding the war effort. Garza informed Havoc that their objective was to storm Bastion, the center of Republic military operations, captured by Rakton during the initial Imperial invasion. To reach it, they needed a landing zone for Phaeris' group of smugglers to deploy their troops. Garza sent Havoc to capture the Imperial-held landing zone where the smugglers' ships were docked. After Havoc secured the landing zone, Locke pleaded with the squad to stop the Imperial attack on the residential districts. Garza suggested capturing the lightly-guarded dropships instead, but left the final decision to the Major. Havoc chose to save the civilians.
Havoc then deployed to Labor Valley to rally resistance cells to retake a factory. Afterwards, they met with Garza and Locke at a safehouse in Axial Park. Garza explained the need for a safe landing zone, choosing the Corellian Museum of Starships. However, the famous warship, the Lucky Lancer, was parked there. Garza felt it was better to destroy it, but Locke refused to destroy a symbol of Corellian heritage. Instead, Havoc chose to escort volunteer pilots to move the ship out of the way.
Meeting in the government district in a Drall library, Garza instructed Havoc to infiltrate the Bastion. First, they had to jam its communications, then commandeer an Imperial crawler tank to slip in and take out the main gate, allowing the Safecrackers and 53rd Armored Platoon to begin the main assault. The attack proceeded flawlessly, and Havoc managed to defeat and capture Rakton.
Garza reunited with Havoc on Coruscant, where the newly elected Supreme Chancellor, Leontyne Saresh, was present to commend the squad. To Garza's surprise, Saresh announced her intention to trade Rakton back to the Empire in exchange for thousands of POWs. Garza politely protested, reminding the Chancellor of Rakton's countless deaths. Saresh stated that while they cannot help the dead, they can help the living. The Major chose to support the decision.
After the meeting, Garza expressed her disapproval. Even with this setback, she informed the Major that the war with the Empire was far from over and was moving towards Ilum.
Garza participated in the war council gathered on Ilum after Darth Malgus's announcement of a New Empire. While Fleet Admiral Numinn believed Malgus would only focus on Imperial loyalists, Garza reminded him of Malgus's actions during the Sacking of Coruscant.
Due to Havoc Squad's achievements, Supreme Commander Jace Malcom reassigned them to the front lines instead of covert SpecForce operations. Hoping to create a replacement for Havoc, Garza assembled Eclipse Squad, composed of six volunteers augmented by Rakata technology salvaged from a genetics laboratory on Manaan used by the Order of Revan. Initially, Eclipse showed no ill effects, until they pre-emptively massacred two hundred people at Fort Klemark on Altair 9, their implants driving them mad and making them believe enemies were all around them, and went rogue.
Garza tracked Eclipse to Rishi in search of the Revanites. She also discovered that Havoc Squad was on the planet without orders and contacted them, revealing the Eclipse debacle. She requested Havoc's assistance in luring out and terminating Eclipse Squad, stating that the implants had made them beyond redemption. After the deed was done, Garza informed Havoc that she would face the consequences of her actions for Fort Klemark and predicted that the Senate would likely strip her of her uniform and imprison her. Before parting ways, she shared one last salute with the Major.
By the time the Great Galactic War was underway, Elin Garza, a Human female, had become recognized as one of the most seasoned officers in the Republic's military forces. She was well known for her strategic and tactical military genius, and had an almost perfect record of completed operations. However, she was known to stir up controversy; Garza was known for being ruthless and unbending, as shown when she ordered Havoc Squad to execute Krell's supposed cyborg victims, without even considering the possibility that Krell was bluffing. She claimed it was necessary to be heartless and make morally questionable decisions so that the Republic's citizens wouldn't have to. In spite of this, few questioned the General's commitment to ensuring the Republic's victory. By this point, Garza had been married and divorced three times. Garza had political disagreements with Supreme Chancellor Dorian Janarus. She disliked politicians constantly interfering in military affairs, preferring to only share information on a need-to-know basis. Specifically, she blamed them for the previous Havoc Squad's defection, even though she also shared the blame for ordering the Ando Prime mission without their approval.
Elin Garza was first introduced on the official site before the release of the PC video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. She was given an entry in the "Biographies" section of the website's Holonet feature, where messages written in Aurebesh read "The Senate is suspicious", "Ando Prime" and "divorced three times". Kate Weiman provides her voice in the game.
During the encounter with Garza on Rishi in Shadow of Revan, the player can choose from three options to respond to Garza's actions regarding the Eclipse Squad. The light side option involves threatening to denounce her and testify against her, to which Garza responds that she will be escorted to a comfortable prison cell. The neutral option involves telling Garza that she is on her own, and Garza will admit that her military career is over, but considers joining the Coruscant Police. The dark side option involves offering to cover up the truth by suggesting that Eclipse Squad were Revanites, to which Garza responds that she will transition into the SIS and resume running ops within a year.
During the flashpoint "The Nathema Conspiracy", if the Outlander is a Trooper who chose to ally with the Sith Empire during the War on Iokath, Garza will seek revenge and join the Order of Zildrog led by Vinn Atrius, only to be sacrificed as fuel to awaken Zildrog by GEMINI 16 on Nathema. If the Trooper remained loyal to the Republic, they will encounter Imperial General Essith instead, while the other classes face antagonists from their own class stories.