Around the year 379 BBY, the Jedi Padawan known as Rooper Nitani faced her Jedi Trials upon the planet of Batuu. Her Jedi Master, Silandra Sho, intentionally left her personal shield within the village of Peka, setting the stage for its capture by a salmaca. This creature had been plaguing the village with raids for several weeks. Subsequently, Sho charged Nitani with the task of recovering the shield as a requirement for passing her trials. Nitani initially looked in Sho's preferred meditation locations, but the shield remained unfound. She then made her way to Peka, where Jerlyn, a resident, informed her about the salmaca and its theft of the shield.
Nitani committed to assisting the people of Peka with their predicament and ventured into the cave inhabited by the salmaca. Inside the cave, she managed to free the droid Dee-Twelve and located the shield. When the villagers entered the cave with the intention to kill the salmaca, Nitani strategically used the shield to ensure the safety of both the villagers and the creature. Upon returning to Peka, she successfully persuaded the villagers to leave out discarded items each night for the salmaca, effectively resolving their issue. Following Nitani's successful completion of her trials, Sho bestowed the shield upon her Padawan, upholding a tradition of generational transfer.
In the year 382 BBY, Rooper Nitani, a Jedi Padawan belonging to the Jedi Order, journeyed back to the planet Batuu. There, she engaged in conversation with her Jedi Master, Silandra Sho, sharing her reflections on her relationship with the Force and expressing her desire for Sho to instruct her in the use of her shield. Sho consented to her Padawan's request, stating that mastering its use could better prepare Nitani for her impending Jedi Trials.
Circa 379 BBY, a salmaca—a massive creature resembling a lizard—initiated a series of raids on residences in the village of Peka on Batuu, targeting valuables and discarded items to furnish its nest during the night. These raids persisted for numerous weeks, culminating in the death of the villager Tuntis when he attempted to resist. Upon visiting Peka, Sho became aware of the salmaca's activities. After deliberately leaving her shield in a tree, she reassured the villagers that assistance would arrive the following day before returning to the Batuu Jedi temple. That very night, the salmaca struck again, absconding with both the shield and the droid Dee-Twelve.
The subsequent day, Nitani engaged in meditation within the temple's meditation chamber, striving to dispel a feeling of anticipation. Failing to do so, she was about to seek guidance from her Master when Sho entered the chamber. Sho revealed to Nitani that the anticipation she felt was her own, signaling the commencement of her trials. Sho tasked Nitani with the recovery of her shield, instructing her to bring along the church droid P3-7A, despite its lack of knowledge regarding the shield's whereabouts. Nitani then departed the temple to begin her search.
Nitani, assuming Sho would not conceal the shield nearby, exited the temple grounds and traversed the edge of a forest, attempting to sense its location using the Force with. When this proved unsuccessful, she chose to search Sho's favorite locations on Batuu, hurrying to a tall tree favored by Sho for meditation. She then ascended into the canopy, carefully avoiding forrians, small furry mammals equipped with sharp claws. Upon reaching the top, Nitani noticed another of her Master's preferred spots, a vantage point situated on an outcropping several kilometers away. Having failed to locate the shield in the tree, Nitani descended and proceeded to the vantage point.
Upon arrival, Nitani searched the vantage point for the shield, but it was not there, as she had somewhat expected. Instead, she had hoped that visiting the vantage point would allow her to think similarly to Sho. While considering her Master's perspective, Nitani came to the realization that Sho viewed the shield's purpose as the protection of people. Spotting Peka from the vantage point, she decided to head to the village, where she knew she would find people.
Upon reaching Peka, Nitani encountered Jerlyn, the owner of Dee-Twelve. Sensing his distress, she approached him, inadvertently startling him. After Jerlyn apologized for his reaction and the two introduced themselves, he inquired whether Nitani had been sent to assist. Confused, Nitani listened as Jerlyn recounted the salmaca raids, the theft of his droid, and her Master's visit the previous day. Nitani was surprised to learn about the salmaca, which she had believed to be merely a legend, but she agreed to help the village resolve their problem and recover Dee-Twelve. Upon inquiring about the shield, she learned that it, too, had been taken by the salmaca. Kaxx, a Weequay who had been a friend of Tuntis and was preparing to venture into the salmaca's cave with three other villagers, overheard their conversation and offered to guide Nitani there.
Upon reaching the cave, Nitani persuaded the villagers to remain outside and guard the entrance, having sensed Kaxx's anger and desire for revenge, realizing that he would be a danger to himself and others. Nitani and P3-7A entered the cave and crept through a dark tunnel until they arrived at an immense chamber, where they found the salmaca sleeping in its nest. They also found a makeshift larder containing the corpses of several enormous gant spiders, a type of poisonus arachnid. Upon seeing the gant spiders, Nitani realized that they would have posed a threat to Peka if they had been allowed to breed, and that by preying on them, the salmaca was protecting the village. She also learned that the salmaca had taken mostly junk, instead of the valuables she had been told it was taking. Nitani then searched the chamber and located Dee-Twelve, who was trapped beneath the salmaca's paw. Nitani used the Force to influence the salmaca into rolling over, freeing Dee-Twelve, who she then sent out of the cave with P3-7A.
Nitani then spotted the shield, but before she could retrieve it, the villagers, having entered the cavern, began firing at the salmaca, attempting to kill it. Calling on the Force once more, Nitani used the shield to deflect the villagers' blaster shots. The salmaca then charged Kaxx, and Nitani used the shield again to disorient it before ordering the villagers to leave. After they fled, the salmaca approached Nitani, who sensed its anger and sent it calming thoughts. The salmaca realized she was not a threat and returned to sleep. Nitani then picked up the shield and carefully exited the cavern.
Outside the cave, Nitani encountered Jerlyn, who expressed his gratitude to the Jedi for her assistance. Nitani explained to him how the salmaca was protecting the village by preying on the gant spiders and keeping their population in check. Upon returning to Peka, Jerlyn relayed the information about the spiders to the other villagers, who then agreed to leave out scrap and junk at night for the salmaca to take, preventing it from raiding their homes any longer.
Nitani returned to the Jedi temple, where Sho was still waiting in the meditation chamber. She recounted to her Master how she had resolved the village's problem, and Sho agreed that Nitani had found a perfect solution. When Nitani inquired whether she had proven to Sho that she was ready to become a Knight, Sho responded that she already knew Nitani was ready, and that the purpose of the trial was for Nitani to prove it to herself. After they agreed to speak with the Jedi Council the next day, Sho began to leave. As she did, Nitani attempted to return the shield, but Sho told her to keep it, explaining that she wanted to honor the tradition of Masters passing the shield to their Padawans after the completion of their trials. Later, Nitani was knighted.
Rooper Nitani's Jedi Trials were first depicted in the short story "Shield of the Jedi," authored by George Mann and featured in the 2023 young-adult anthology The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative.