Hallis Saper was a holodocumentarian working independently, who also served within the ranks of the New Republic Intelligence Service. This Human female, who hailed from Bonadan, was known for her height and slender build. Saper would often style her long, brown hair in either a braided fashion or in towering, intricate arrangements on top of her head. Almost always accompanying her was Whitecap, a holorecorder integrated into the head of a repurposed 3PO-series protocol droid, which she carried on her shoulders. Initially trained in the field of sludgenews, Saper's career took a significant turn when she accompanied the New Republic's Red Flight to the planet Adumar to document their mission. Despite the fact that the mission deviated from its intended course, with the pilots finding themselves at odds with Cartann, Adumar's most powerful state, Saper remained loyal to them. She played a crucial role in their survival by persuading Intelligence agent Iella Wessiri to disregard her directives and offer assistance to the pilots. Following this mission, Saper transitioned to New Republic Intelligence, contributing to a disinformation campaign during the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Hailing from the planet Bonadan, Hallis Saper was a Human female who made her living as a journalist during the era of the New Republic. Her career began in the field of "sludgenews," a popular form of journalism across the galaxy that primarily focused on sensationalized stories about celebrities' personal lives and often outlandish "true" conspiracy theories. To succeed in this industry, aspiring reporters needed to master the arts of bribery, planting eavesdropping devices and transmitters, and other clandestine methods to secure compelling stories for publication. Saper excelled at these skills, quickly mastering the genre, and left the field as soon as she could afford to, opting instead for a career as a legitimate holodocumentarian.
In this new role, Saper became known for her unique style, particularly her use of a device she called Whitecap—a combination of the head of a former 3PO unit and a holorecorder—which she wore on her shoulder, secured by a restraining bracket. She also wore dark goggles equipped with sensors that tracked her eye movements, allowing Whitecap to record her field of vision. While this ensemble made some interviewees, especially children, uneasy, it also diverted attention from Saper's facial features, allowing her to discreetly observe people when Whitecap and the goggles were removed. This gave her an advantage over her subjects, who often mistook her eccentricities for incompetence.
In the year 13 ABY, Saper received an invitation to document the New Republic's mission to Adumar. She was irritated by Wedge Antilles's demand that Whitecap be modified to allow him to deactivate the device for privacy, but she had no choice but to comply when Wedge threatened to confine her to her cabin for the duration of the expedition. Initially, the delegation viewed her as an oddity, referring to her as "the two-headed lady," a perception that persisted through most of the initial diplomatic events she attended with the pilots, including their welcome and their first meeting with the perator of Cartann, Pekaelic ke Teldan. However, Antilles and the pilots revised their opinion of her after Saper discovered that New Republic Intelligence agent Tomer Darpen was, in fact, spying on them. While attempting to salvage Whitecap's remaining components after the device was damaged during her documentation efforts, Saper noticed a man forcing his way into the area. She followed him as he raided Red Flight's quarters and, after he left, tracked him back to his own quarters—which turned out to be those assigned to Darpen. Despite Whitecap's diminished functionality, Saper remained committed to her duties.
Forced to adapt her methods, including concealing data-gathering devices in elaborate hairstyles, Saper continued to prove her value. Later in the mission, she recorded crucial evidence of Darpen's betrayal when he manipulated the perator into declaring Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson and Derek Klivian enemies of the state and severed communications to the mission's support ship, the Star Destroyer Allegiance, preventing the pilots from signaling for extraction. As the pilots were forced to navigate a gauntlet of blaster-wielding Adumari before attempting to escape in local starfighters, Saper was forced to go into hiding to protect her information. During this time, she intended to retrieve Red Flight's gear along with Whitecap's remaining parts, but was instead forced to surprise and subdue a pair of Cartannese robbers.
Following the brief Adumari Civil War, Saper created and disseminated a series of fabricated news stories about a supposed guerrilla war waged by supporters of the defeated nation of Cartann against the unified Adumari government. This was done to mislead an approaching Imperial fleet, led by the Star Destroyers Agonizer,—formerly under the command of Admiral Teren Rogriss—Retaliator, and Master Stroke, into believing that Adumar, still divided, was an easy target for conquest. In the ensuing battle, her deceptions led the Imperials to split their starfighter and bomber forces, allowing New Republic reinforcements to penetrate the fleet's defenses and inflict significant damage on two of the three Star Destroyers in the attacking force. Five years later, Saper produced and released the award-winning holodocumentary, Adumar: Five Years of Union.
After the Adumar mission concluded, Saper embarked on a new career with the New Republic Intelligence Service, where she held the rank of major just before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the planet Duro in 26 ABY. During a meeting with the New Republic Advisory Council, she briefed the assembled senators, including Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya and Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker, on the progress of the disinformation campaign that New Republic Intelligence had been conducting against the Yuuzhan Vong war machine. However, she had little positive news to report, as the campaign appeared to be largely ineffective at that point.
Hallis Saper had a height of approximately 1.73 meters and possessed brown hair. Saper was a complex individual characterized by contrasting traits. While she possessed technical expertise in her equipment and related skills, she also had a pleasant sense of humor. She understood the multifaceted nature of her job and how to effectively pursue her objectives to maintain her career. She was highly intelligent and, despite her beginnings in the sludgenews industry, Saper possessed a strong moral compass, which enabled her to leave the tabloid industry behind. She ventured out on her own as a legitimate news reporter and holodocumentarian, eventually joining New Republic Intelligence, where she served through the initial years of the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Her mechanical aptitude was evident in her creation and use of Whitecap. Additionally, Saper possessed exceptional skills in infiltration, tracking, bribery, and even counter-intelligence, making her a valuable asset to New Republic Intelligence. Leveraging her talents as a documentarian, she assisted the intelligence agency in developing disinformation campaigns. She was also persuasive enough to convince Iella Wessiri, a Corellian agent formerly of CorSec known for her stubbornness, to defy her superior officer, Darpen, and assist Antilles, Celchu, Janson, and Klivian in disregarding the delegation's standing orders. Despite the often questionable actions her job required, Saper was generally an optimistic and upbeat woman. She also had a sharp and sometimes sarcastic sense of humor and was not afraid to take risks.
Hallis Saper was a character created by author Aaron Allston for his 1999 novel, X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar.