Everi Chalis originated from a distant, impoverished planet located within the galaxy, and was a female human. She enrolled in the Colonial Academy with the intention of becoming an artist, and subsequently became an apprentice under Count Denetrius Vidian of the Galactic Empire. Succeeding him, she took on the role of governor for Haidoral Prime during the Galactic Civil War, before her temporary shift in allegiance to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Born a female human, Everi Chalis spent her childhood on a poor planet, raised by her mother. Their home was the dilapidated remains of a bombed paper mill, where they shared a single, stained mattress. At the age of six, Chalis's mother attempted to sell her to a Trade Federation exploratory vessel. The captain of the vessel declined, citing Chalis's young age, but offered her a packet of nectrose crystals out of compassion. Unaware that the crystals were meant to be sprinkled into water to add fruitiness, she consumed them directly with her fingers, a luxury as she lacked access to clean water.
Chalis carefully rationed the crystals, allowing herself one serving per week for several months. She soon realized the squalor she lived in, subsisting on garbage and tainted water, contrasted sharply with the wealth of others in the galaxy who could afford treats like nectrose packets. Driven by a desire to escape her world, she signed up for the Colonial Academy and successfully left her home planet. However, upon leaving, she found herself without a place to go under the rule of the Galactic Republic.
Following the transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, Count Denetrius Vidian recognized the quality of Chalis's sculptures and was impressed by her ability to conceptualize ideas. He offered her an apprenticeship, which she accepted. Artistry then faded from her life. As a lieutenant under Vidian's guidance on Calcoraan, Chalis found herself involved in reprehensible actions, including suggesting the mining of a populated planet's atmosphere and the deception and killing of an Imperial moff.
By 14 BBY, Chalis had become Vidian's most trusted aide, frequently dispatched on assignments. After Vidian and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin discovered a conspiracy on Gilvaanen, a planet responsible for the production of stormtrooper [armor](/article/stormtrooper_armor], Vidian appointed Chalis to lead the Imperial Department of Military Research. After Vidian's demise during the Gorse Conflict in 11 BBY, Chalis assumed her mentor's responsibilities, becoming an emissary to the Imperial Ruling Council and the honorary Grand Architect of the New Order.
As 0 BBY drew to a close, the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Empire's Death Star superweapon at the Battle of Yavin. Emboldened, the Alliance initiated a campaign into the Mid Rim Territories around 1 ABY. Emperor Palpatine blamed the higher echelons of the Empire for the loss of the Death Star, leading to the deaths of high-ranking officials such as Moff Coovern and Minister Khemt. Chalis was assigned as the governor of the Mid Rim planet Haidoral Prime, a position she saw as a form of punishment.
The Alliance's Mid Rim campaign faltered after nine months, with the Empire gradually pushing the Alliance Fleet out of the region. During the retreat, the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, known as Twilight Company, attacked Haidoral Prime. Believing she would be punished regardless of the outcome, Chalis defected to Twilight Company and was taken aboard the Thunderstrike, a CR90 corvette. For her own safety, she was confined to the airlock, which served as a makeshift cell. She remained there for days until Imperial forces attacked the Thunderstrike. The section of the corvette containing Chalis's airlock caught fire, prompting First Sergeant Hazram Namir to attempt a rescue. Namir reached the airlock, but the intense heat prevented him from returning, so he locked himself in the airlock with her. Once the flames were extinguished, they received treatment for their burns.
Chalis, recalling the Tseebo incident, was convinced that Vader would seek her out. However, Vader's true objective was to find Luke Skywalker, the pilot responsible for destroying the Death Star two years prior, while Verge, a young prelate, was assigned to locate Chalis. The company continued to move from planet to planet, participating in numerous battles, before being summoned to the new Rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. On Hoth, Chalis gained the trust of Rebel general Philap Bygar and provided the Alliance High Command with statistical data about the Empire. Within days, the Empire discovered the location of the Rebel base, and within eleven days of Chalis's arrival, the Rebellion began its evacuation. During the ensuing Battle of Hoth, Imperial ground forces led by Darth Vader breached the base. Before Chalis could evacuate, she and her Rebel escort encountered Vader and the snowtroopers of Blizzard Force. In a brief battle, Chalis, believing Vader was after her, approached the Sith Lord and offered herself for execution. Vader, uninterested in Chalis, used the Force choke on her, demanding to know Skywalker's location. As Chalis struggled, a stormtrooper informed Vader that the Millennium Falcon had been located. Vader released Chalis and resumed his pursuit of the young rebel.
Besides Chalis, only Namir survived Vader's attack. They made their way to a shuttle and managed to evade the Imperial blockade using Chalis's old clearance codes. After jumping to hyperspace, they reunited with Twilight Company on the planet Ankhural. Now aware of her insignificance to the Empire, Chalis sought revenge. Together with Namir, who unofficially replaced the deceased Micha Evon as captain of Twilight, Chalis devised a plan involving seemingly random targets for the company to attack, culminating in an Imperial Star Destroyer construction yard on Kuat. Understanding the workings of the Imperial system, Chalis knew that destroying these facilities would severely cripple the Empire. Namir, seeing no other options, agreed to Chalis's plan. Twilight commenced its campaign against the targets selected by Chalis, and after a string of victories, the company reached their second-to-last target: the Inyusu Tor mineral processing facility on Sullust. However, Prelate Verge had determined Chalis was aiding the Rebels and anticipated their attack. Twilight Company was ambushed, suffering significant losses, including the Thunderstrike.
During the battle, Chalis fled to the nearby city of Pinyumb, killed an Imperial officer, and attempted to escape the planet in a shuttle. Before she could leave the atmosphere, Verge's Star Destroyer, the Herald, used its tractor beam to capture the shuttle. Verge, accompanied by Tabor Seitaron, approached the captured shuttle. Chalis exited the vessel, and after a brief exchange with the prelate, revealed that the shuttle had been rigged with ion charges. Chalis activated the charges, causing a major power loss to the Star Destroyer. Unable to power its weapons and maintain altitude, the ship began to fall towards the surface. Verge, determined to continue the attack, ordered the ship's crew to keep firing and began fighting with Chalis. However, Seitaron, unwilling to die needlessly, shot and killed the young prelate, ordering the crew to cease the attack and move the ship into orbit. As Seitaron prepared to execute Chalis, she exploited his fear of being punished for killing Verge, convincing him to let her go.
No longer a prisoner of the Rebellion, Chalis traded the shuttle for a civilian starcutter and emptied her offworld financial accounts. She sent a recorded message to Namir, stating that he should have trusted her and that she would not return to the Rebellion. Contemplating her future, she decided to settle on a remote planet and resume her artwork. Remembering Namir's stories about his homeworld, Crucival, she chose to begin anew there.
Everi Chalis was a human female characterized by her fair light complexion and black hair streaked with white and gray. She spoke with a pronounced Coruscanti accent, enjoyed reading classic literature, and demonstrated skill as a sculptor.
During the raid on an Imperial heavy freighter, Namir lent Chalis a DH-17 blaster pistol.
Everi Chalis was first mentioned in the canon short story "Bottleneck," featured in The Rise of the Empire in 2015. Written by John Jackson Miller, "Bottleneck" serves as a bridge between the novels Tarkin and A New Dawn. Chalis made her first full appearance in the novel Battlefront: Twilight Company, penned by Alexander Freed and released on November 3, 2015.
Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy mistakenly identifies Haidoral Prime as her homeworld.