Shalla Nelprin
Shalla Nelprin, a Human female pilot renowned for flying X-wings, served with distinction in Wraith Squadron. She was chosen for her exceptional skills in close-quarters combat, coupled with her deep understanding of Imperial Intelligence strategies and principles.
Biography
The Nelprin family was quite famous within the New Republic Defense Fleet, especially for their expertise in unarmed fighting. Shalla's father was Vyn Narcassan, an intelligence officer of the Galactic Republic who vanished after Palpatine's Galactic Empire took power. Though the Imperials hunted him, they never found him. Narcassan trained both Nelprin and her sister, Vula, in hand-to-hand combat techniques, leading Vula to become a successful instructor in the discipline. Vula taught Kell Tainer, and could easily overpower him. Nelprin asserted she was even more skilled, and her actions confirmed it.
She successfully infiltrated Zsinj's base, because Kell had previously mentioned her, using a false name, during an earlier encounter with Zsinj. However, due to an imprudent boast during that prior meeting, she was compelled to engage Captain Radaf Netbers in hand-to-hand combat. Face had claimed she could defeat a Wookiee, Kell provided details, and this caused Netbers to try and verify the claim. Fortunately, Nelprin's own claims were accurate, resulting in Netbers suffering a broken nose. Shalla (using the alias "Qatya Nassin" for the mission) collaborated with several other hired pirates to infiltrate Kuat Drive Yards and steal the Razor's Kiss for Warlord Zsinj. At one point, Nelprin separated from the group and simulated her own demise using explosives supplied by fellow Wraiths. Inside the ship's hangar, Shalla discovered a hyperdrive-equipped, customized TIE/IN interceptor and used it to escape. Positioning herself beneath the command deck of Razor's Kiss, Shalla waited for Mon Remonda starfighter forces to arrive before targeting the Dreadnought's shield generators, leaving the massive vessel open to attack.
Following her involvement in the Battle for the Razor's Kiss against the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Razor's Kiss, Nelprin received a promotion to lieutenant and was credited with half the kill for disabling the ship—allowing her to paint half of an Executor-class silhouette on her X-wing. The TIE Interceptor, captured before the battle, was eventually exchanged for the ship that would later be code-named Millennium Falsehood for a long-term covert operation.
During the Wraiths' infiltration of Binring Biomedical Product, Shalla encountered Netbers a second time; the captain recognized her, and she attacked him to prevent her true identity from being revealed. Netbers almost killed her, but her squadron-mate Hohass Ekwesh intervened, killing the man by breaking his neck.
Although she wasn't present during the Wraith operations against the Yuuzhan Vong, Nelprin transferred to the New Republic Intelligence Service with most of her squadron when they were repurposed as an intelligence unit.
Nelprin resurfaced again in 40 ABY as an Intelligence member investigating Syal Antilles during the Second Galactic Civil War, no longer a member of Wraith Squadron.