During the Galactic Civil War, Taneetch Soonta served as a sales executive for the arms manufacturer Utheel Outfitters. She was a female Rodian hailing from the Chekkoo clan on the planet Rodia. Her uncle, Huulik, a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars, tragically died at the hands of his own clone troopers during Order 66. Despite limited interactions with Huulik before his passing, Soonta held him in high regard and often visited his mausoleum, a family structure located in Rodia's swamps. Approximately a year after the Battle of Yavin, Soonta encountered Luke Skywalker, an aspiring Jedi and pilot, who sought to procure weapons for the Alliance to Restore the Republic at Chekkoo Enclave. Recognizing Skywalker's lightsaber, Soonta initiated a conversation with the young pilot, sharing their mutual admiration for the Jedi Order. At Skywalker's request, she escorted him to Huulik's tomb. Near the mausoleum, a wild ghest ambushed them. Soonta then retrieved Huulik's old lightsaber from the sarcophagus and gifted it to Skywalker, who subsequently used the lightsaber to eliminate the ghest, allowing their safe return to the Enclave. Several days later, Skywalker revisited Utheel Outfitters, and Soonta facilitated his purchase of various weapons to upgrade the yacht Desert Jewel.
Born in the concluding years of the Galactic Republic on the Betu continent of Rodia, Taneetch Soonta was a female Rodian belonging to the Chekkoo clan. Her uncle, Huulik, a Force-sensitive Jedi Knight, served as a Jedi General during the Clone Wars. Due to the Jedi's restrictions on personal relationships with family, Huulik's visits to Rodia were infrequent, primarily for Jedi duties. Consequently, Soonta only met her uncle a couple of times as a child, yet these encounters profoundly impacted her, shaping her view of Huulik as the embodiment of honor. She also became acquainted with Anakin Skywalker, who saved Huulik's life during the battle of Sedratis, and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who aided in rescuing a kidnapped child from a rival Rodian clan.
Tragically, Huulik was later killed by his own clone troopers when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine issued Order 66 at the war's end. Soonta's family constructed a concealed mausoleum for their deceased Jedi relative in the swamps bordering the Chekkoo Enclave. Driven by her admiration for Huulik, Soonta would occasionally visit the tomb to pay her respects, eventually becoming the last family member to do so regularly. As the Galactic Empire rose from the ashes of the Galactic Republic and defamed the now-extinct Jedi Order, Soonta remained skeptical of the Empire's claim that the Jedi had betrayed Palpatine and the Republic. Over time, Soonta became a sales executive at Utheel Outfitters, a clandestine arms manufacturer linked to the Chekkoo clan, based in their Enclave, which supplied weapons to various clandestine groups throughout the galaxy.
Almost two decades after Huulik's death, amidst the Galactic Civil War against the Empire, Soonta encountered Luke Skywalker during his tour of the clan's manufacturing facilities. Skywalker, a prospective Jedi and young pilot, had come as an envoy for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, seeking to purchase weapons for their war effort. The morning following the tour, Soonta met Skywalker for breakfast at the Outfitter's solarium to discuss the terms of a weapons deal. Noticing Skywalker's lightsaber beneath his tunic, she waited for their server to leave before politely inquiring about his weapon. Cautious about damaging relations with the Chekkoo, he initially hesitated, but Soonta openly admitted that her view of the Jedi differed from the Empire's.
Intrigued, Soonta continued to discuss her Jedi uncle, his connection to Luke's father Anakin, and her knowledge of Luke's deceased mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker, eager to learn about the Jedi and how to train in The Force, was interested in this information, especially the fact that Huulik's clones had betrayed him, contradicting official Imperial records. Expressing his desire to honor the fallen Huulik, Soonta agreed to Skywalker's proposal and offered to test the Outfitters' speeder bikes on their way to the tomb. Soonta led Skywalker deep into the swamp, landing on the bank of the small island where Huulik's mausoleum stood. However, she had not planned the trip strategically, neglecting the predatorial ghest that inhabited the swamp water and tended to ambush creatures near the water's edge. Realizing her mistake as they landed their speeders, Soonta urged Skywalker to dismount quickly in case a ghest appeared. As the young rebel moved away from the bank, a ghest emerged and destroyed his speeder.
Knowing that the ghest would likely return when they tried to leave, Soonta decided to address the problem after visiting the tomb and led Skywalker inside. Upon entering the ancient structure, Soonta knelt before the grave and spoke a few phrases in her native language to honor Huulik. She also opened the deceased Jedi's sarcophagus at Skywalker's request, even retrieving her uncle's old lightsaber and giving it to the rebel, much to Skywalker's surprise. Soonta suggested that Skywalker could now kill the ghest by duel wielding the two lightsabers. Her theory proved correct, and the prospective Jedi managed to decapitate the wild animal, sustaining a nonlethal bite wound to the shoulder in the process. After Skywalker defeated the creature, Soonta drove the remaining speeder with the wounded rebel back to the enclave and helped him reach the infirmary. She also documented the destroyed speeder and the dead ghest to explain the incident at the tomb to her superiors.
Skywalker soon departed Rodia to present the Outfitters' weapons catalog and prices to the Alliance leadership, but returned to the Enclave a few days later with Alliance operative Nakari Kelen to purchase weapons for the luxury yacht Desert Jewel. However, Skywalker did not inform Soonta of their intentions beforehand and was initially met with resistance by a Rodian at the Enclave's spaceport, who was unaware that the rebels were permitted to do business with the Outfitters. As Skywalker tried to convince the spaceport employee to let them pass, Soonta learned of Skywalker's presence and commed the Rodian at the spaceport, confirming that the rebels were known customers. Soonta met the pair of rebels at a hidden passageway in the Enclave's bazaar, where Skywalker purchased a series of weapons from her, including a pair of laser cannons and a single Utheel Rockcrusher Compact Seismic Charge. Skywalker also paid Soonta for the installation of the weapons on the yacht.
Soonta, soft-spoken and polite, held the Jedi Order in high regard, largely due to her interactions with her uncle Huulik. Consequently, she readily assisted Luke Skywalker in learning about the Jedi, even gifting him her uncle's old lightsaber. Soonta was also skeptical of the Galactic Empire's version of the demise of the Jedi Order, believing that victors often manipulate history to suit their purposes. While she demonstrated attentiveness by documenting the destruction of the speeder, her lack of planning for the trip resulted in Skywalker's injury during his fight with the ghest.
Soonta possessed large, black eyes and, in Skywalker's opinion, a pungent smell common among her species. She had a habit of moving her head antenna back when excited by good news and flicking her head to the left when expressing a "no." When Soonta made a significant sale to Skywalker for the weapons for the Desert Jewel, she expressed her happiness with a gurgling sound from her mouth.