Rhil Dairo

Before her time with GoNet, Rhil Dairo was employed by a different news outlet, where she reported on devastating wildfires that consumed an unnamed planet. While covering the wildfires, Dairo uncovered the corrupt actions of the local fire chief, who was extorting residents for the protection of their homes. With T-9 still recording, Dairo confronted the fire chief in a heated exchange, asserting that he was the one who deserved to be consumed by flames. The fire chief, displeased by Dairo's remarks, dismissed her concerns as irrelevant. Enraged by both the situation and the chief's response, Dairo seized a water hose from a nearby firefighting droid and drenched the fire chief with liters of foam, causing him to fall to the ground. This footage was broadcast across the Galaxy, leading to Dairo's termination. However, the Galaxy largely supported Dairo's actions, and soon after her dismissal, numerous news organizations sought to employ her. Dairo eventually joined GoNet. Despite this, her career remained relatively unremarkable. She often reported on trivial stories assigned to her by her producer, such as micro g-basket weaving during her time as a cub reporter on Cordota. This changed when the Galactic Senate selected GoNet to provide official coverage of the Valo Republic Fair. GoNet initially intended to send Sine Spenning to cover the event. However, Chancellor Lina Soh rejected this proposal. Instead, Soh specifically requested Dairo to be the primary reporter, recognizing her as a hero who championed what was right. GoNet approved Soh's request, making Dairo the official reporter of the Republic Fair.

Dairo accompanied Soh and her entourage aboard the Coruscant Dawn en route to Valo. She was granted unrestricted access to the Chancellor, her vessel, and her guests. Among these guests were Jedi Masters Stellan Gios and Nib Assek, whom Dairo had the opportunity to film performing a ceremonial lightsaber duel using an ancient lightsaber form. Following the demonstration, Dairo joined Gios, Assek, and Burryaga Agaburry as the party checked in on the Chancellor. Upon entering Soh's chambers, they discovered her engaged in a conference call discussing the fair's proceedings. Dairo instructed T-9 to cease audio recording until she could assess the sensitivity of Soh's conversation. Despite Dairo's clearance, Soh's aide, Norel Quo, attempted to escort her and T-9 from the room upon their arrival. However, Soh intervened, granting Dairo permission to remain in the room, provided the footage was not live-streamed. Dairo confirmed that the footage was being pre-recorded and reviewed for security purposes before publication, and Soh's conference continued.

Dairo observed Senator Noor, Senator Vaadu, and Jedi Master Avar Kriss on holodisplays and Quo and Larep Reza at Soh's side. Dairo instructed T-9 to resume audio recording and watched as a heated exchange broke out during the conference. Senator Vaadu voiced concerns about the safety of the fair, particularly given the increase in Nihil attacks. Senator Noor also raised concerns regarding the Drengir, Kriss's recent alliance with the Hutts, and Senator Tia Toon's Defense Force Program proposal. However, Soh remained steadfast in her belief that the fair would proceed without incident, the Drengir would be dealt with, and Toon was merely a nuisance. As the conference call concluded, Dairo and the Jedi departed Soh's chambers.

While still aboard the Coruscant Dawn, Dairo joined the rest of Soh's party in witnessing Nihil Tempest Runner Pan Eyta's assault on the Innovator, which was docked on the planet Cyclor. Dairo was especially disturbed by the images of the scav droids during the battle, which were determined to destroy the Innovator and any ship attempting to defend it. During the battle, Toon contacted the Coruscant Dawn and spoke with Soh. Upon noticing Dairo's cam droid recording the battle, Toon expressed his concerns to Soh about Dairo's footage, despite its initial approval by a Senate majority, including Toon, to provide transparency in Republic affairs. Toon worried that the footage would only present Soh's perspective and conveniently omit the attack on Cyclor.

Upon arriving on Valo, Soh and her party were given tours of the fairgrounds, exhibits, and each of the floating islands by Coordinator Sameera Ra-oon. Dairo remained constantly in tow with the party, with T-9 recording as much as possible to showcase the fair's offerings to the galaxy. The only time Dairo left the Chancellor's side was during the arrival of Regasa Elarec Yovet, the Queen of the Togruta. Despite having clearance to remain with Soh and the welcoming committee, she chose to join the media corps on the sidelines, a decision that Stellan Gios pondered as he awaited Elarec Yovet's disembarkation. Dairo and T-9 captured the arrival of Yovet, along with the Queen's introductions to Soh and the other members of the welcoming committee.

Following the Chancellor's official opening of the fair, Dairo remained by her side, recording and reporting on the festivities. Dairo also developed friendships with members of Soh's party, including Soh's son, Kitrep Soh. Kitrep grew fond of Dairo, as she made him feel more at ease in the public eye.

When the Nihil attack commenced on the fair, Dairo was still with Soh. The Chancellor, along with Yovet, Madam Conserra, Gios, and Jedi Master OrbaLin, were visiting the opera stage at Fair Park. At the start of the attack, the Nihil severed all communications on the planet, including Dairo's connection to T-9 via her implant. While she could still communicate with T-9 verbally, she no longer had access to T-9's footage. Recognizing the urgent need to restore communications, Gios instructed OrbaLin to reach the communications tower and repair it. Dairo, having previously seen the tower during the tour of the fairgrounds, offered to guide OrbaLin.

As Dairo, OrbaLin, and T-9 made their way to the communications tower, the Nihil deployed their signature war cloud over Lonisa City. Dairo became blinded and disoriented by the gas, losing her sense of direction to the communications tower. Realizing they would not reach the tower, OrbaLin led Dairo and T-9 inside the Starlight Pavilion. Although the Pavilion was free of poisonous gas, Dairo still experienced vision and breathing problems. Fortunately, OrbaLin used the Force to alleviate the effects of the gas. Once Dairo recovered, she questioned OrbaLin's decision to bring them to the Starlight Pavilion instead of the communications tower. OrbaLin explained that they would never reach the tower with Dairo's condition. Instead, the Jedi had devised a backup plan. OrbaLin revealed that the Pavilion housed an ancient deep space transmitter relay, originally from the temple of Vrogas Vas. The transmitter was scheduled to be displayed in the Pavilion the following day and was located in the Pavilion's storage room. OrbaLin explained that he needed her to help bypass the Nihil's jammer and transmit a distress signal. Dairo hesitated but acknowledged that sending a signal out of the system was one of their only chances of surviving the Nihil attack.

As the trio approached the storage room, Dairo realized they were not alone. A quartet of Nihil confronted them, blocking their path to the transmitter. This group consisted of Nihil Tempest Runner Lourna Dee, a Lamproid named Quin Amarant, an unidentified Kitonak, and an unidentified human. As the two groups faced each other, OrbaLin prepared for battle. OrbaLin emphasized that Dairo needed to reach the transmitter and that he would ensure her safe passage. OrbaLin then engaged the Nihil group, eliminating the human by deflecting a blaster bolt and incapacitating the Kitonak and Amarant using Tythonian Mastery Tokens found within the Pavilion's exhibit. Dee engaged OrbaLin. Dairo and T-9 seized this opportunity to break for the storage room.

Dairo and T-9 reached the storage room. Dairo quickly headed to the transmitter and instructed T-9 to guard the door. Despite her years of experience with communication equipment, Dairo had never encountered anything as complex as the ancient transmitter. Using cables from a nearby computer terminal, Dairo powered up the device and began searching for a signal to lock onto. Dairo continued to expand the transmitter's range until she eventually found a signal. However, it was too weak to lock onto, and without overriding the transmitter, there was nothing more she could do on her own. Dairo quickly called T-9 over, who assisted her in prying open the transmitter panel. Dairo pulled out cables from the panel and spliced together a connector that would allow her to connect the transmitter to her implant.

Dairo plugged herself into the transmitter and was immediately overwhelmed with raw data and intense pain. But through the data and the pain, she could still sense the faint signal making its way off-world. Using her implant's modifications, Dairo shut herself off from the physical world, fully immersing herself in the data from the transmitter. She boosted the frequency of the signal, attempting to lock on to it. After fine-tuning the transmitter, Dairo finally locked on to the signal, which she soon realized was the Nihil's secret frequency. The Nihil had designed this frequency to bypass their jammers, allowing them to communicate with each other on the planet, as well as with Nihil forces off-world. Dairo realized she could use the Nihil frequency to bounce a distress signal to the rest of the galaxy. As she started preparing to transmit a call, Dairo was smashed in the head by an unknown object, returning her to her organic senses. As Dairo came-to, she realized Amarant had recovered from his injuries and struck her. Amarant had already destroyed T-9 and was now intent on destroying Dairo.

While Amarant came after Dairo, OrbaLin was still occupied fighting Dee. Sensing Dairo's danger, OrbaLin decided that extreme action needed to be taken. Using all his power, OrbaLin Force Pushed Dee through the Pavilion roof and out to the avenue below – incapacitating her. OrbaLin made his way to the storage room and found Amarant lifting Dairo in the air. Amarant was lifting Dairo with such force that it threatened to rip her implant from her face, still attached to the transmitter. OrbaLin then engaged Amarant, who dropped Dairo to the floor and turned to fight the Jedi. While OrbaLin and Amarant fought, Dairo hauled herself to the transmitter, double-checked the connections, and locked onto the Nihil signal – transmitting the message:

Dairo set the message to transmit on loop and returned to the fight to assist OrbaLin. After an intense battle resulting in OrbaLin's environment suit being destroyed, the Lamproid was encased by OrbaLin's gelatinous form - incapacitating the marauder. As the Jedi and reporter took a minute to breathe, OrbaLin asked Dairo if the signal made it out. Dairo returned to the transmitter and realized it had stopped transmitting her message for unknown reasons. Dairo was certain her message was sent but had no way of knowing if anyone had listened to it.

Dairo and OrbaLin secured the Starlight Pavilion, using the Lariat of Armistice – an unbreakable cord that dated back from the days of the Mystic Nine – to bind Amarant. OrbaLin was able to patch together his environment suit and repair T-9 using scavenged parts from a wrecked service droid.

After the Togruta and Republic reinforcements arrived at Valo, off-world communications were quickly restored. Using the newly re-established comms, Dairo began transmitting the footage of the attack from T-9 to GoNet. Dairo was determined to get the footage to her news station. She needed the galaxy to see what the Nihil had done. While transmitting the footage, Dairo heard Sine Spenning commenting over her footage, now broadcasting to the galaxy. Spenning patched Dairo into the live broadcast via audio, asking her if she is safe. Dairo, viewing the footage through her implant showing the attack's aftermath, struggled to speak to Spenning. She could hear herself talking, but she had no idea what she was saying or if the words made any sense. Eventually, the footage became too overwhelming, and Dairo broke into a sob. ObraLin comforted her, putting a hand on her shoulder, but Dairo brushed his hand away. While the Jedi's touch had given her a sense of calm, Dairo didn't want to feel calm. She wanted to experience the moment in all its rawness. As Dairo took a moment to compose herself, Sine keeps commentating over the footage. Suddenly, Dairo interrupted Sine when she receives word from T-9 that Soh, who had been unaccounted for, had been found gravely injured.

After Soh was transferred to the medical bay in the Jedi Temple on Valo, Dairo was requested to join the Chancellor at her bedside. Soh, out of her coma but still recovering, wanted to record an interview with Dairo – much to the displeasure of Quo. Following the interview, Jedi Master Gios visited Soh, who requested Dairo stay during their meeting to take stills while the two conversed. Dairo instructed T-9 to cut the sound from the footage, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. The conversation was interrupted by a transmission from Yovet, which Soh allowed Dairo to sit in on but not record. After the discussion with Yovet had ended, Soh requested everyone leave the room to spend time with her son, Kitrep.

Gios requested Dairo's help in executing a plan to fool the Nihil into attacking Cyclor following the attack on the fair. Toon, also assisting in the scheme, spoke with Cyclor's defense team, falsely claiming that the Republic forces were amassing at Hetzal Prime, leaving Cyclor defenseless. Dairo ensured that the message was being transmitted on a signal the Republic had identified as being compromised by the Nihil, hoping to lure the Nihil into a trap at Cyclor. The plan worked, with Tempest Runner Eyta's forces attacking Cyclor, only to be met by a mass of Republic and Jedi forces. Following the battle, Dairo joined Soh on her trip back to Coruscant via the Coruscant Dawn. As a reward for her bravery and integrity in reporting, Soh awarded Dairo full exclusive reporting access to anything she wanted – subject to Senate approval.

Dairo's capture occurred on Bentora while she was conducting interviews with Nihil attack survivors. Separated from T-9, she was taken aboard the Gaze Electric. Marchion Ro forced her to create propaganda broadcasts, seeing the irony in transforming a popular republic reporter into a Nihil propagandist. She hosted important events such as the Pra-Tre Veter's execution. However Dairo seduced Quith Meglar into helping her broadcasting secret messages inside Nihil space directed toward Jedi trapped inside. She asked the Jedi inside the Occlusion Zone to meet her on Hetzal Prime, where she was held captive, to help her escape back to republic space. Avar Kriss and Porter Engle came to answer her call for help, rescuing her and helping her off the planet. However she decided to stay within the Occlusion Zone in hopes to talk to the people inside the zone and to help them organize and coordinate the fight back.

Dairo's humbleness stood out among her qualities. After the Valo Republic Fair attack, where she sent the distress signal, both Chancellor Soh and Jedi Master Gios commended her. Yet, Dairo declined the praise, insisting she merely did what was necessary. As a reporter, she treated others with courtesy and respected their privacy. Unlike reporters primarily seeking sensational stories, Dairo prioritized respectfully sharing people's narratives. She often deactivated T-9's camera and microphone until she understood the sensitivity of conversations or situations. Dairo was also perceptive of others' emotions, able to discern when someone concealed their true feelings. Her closest companion was her cam droid, T-9, whom she considered both a companion and an extension of herself. The droid had been by her side since she began reporting. When it was temporarily destroyed during the Nihil attack, Dairo was devastated, feeling as if she had lost a limb, and was grateful when OrbaLin repaired it.

Dairo possessed advanced skills in handling communications devices. Her years of experience with such devices proved invaluable during the Nihil attack, when Jedi OrbaLin tasked her with sending a distress call using an ancient Jedi deep space transmitter. Despite the device's age and complexity, Dairo operated it successfully and transmitted a distress signal.

Dairo possessed a heavily modified cybernetic implant attached to her face over her right eye. This implant granted her unique abilities, primarily for communicating with her cam droid, T-9. Through it, she silently commanded T-9, controlling recording, microphone functions, and more. Dairo modified her implant to visualize raw data when connected to a computer terminal. Additionally, she added the ability to visualize sound waves as physical objects. These modifications allowed Dairo to shut down her senses and immerse herself in her implant's visualizations, effectively disconnecting from the physical world. All of these modifications proved invaluable for Dairo, who help restore communications during the Nihil attack on the Valo Republic Fair.

Rhil Dairo made an appearance in The High Republic: The Rising Storm, a novel penned by Cavan Scott and released in 2021.