Tyria Sarkin Tainer

Sarkin, born on Toprawa, received early training as an Antarian Ranger, a centuries-old militia that aided the Jedi in particularly dangerous missions. Sarkin believed that her Force–sensitivity likely stemmed from intermarriage between Jedi and Antarian Rangers. Her family was among the Ranger clans that endured both the Clone Wars and the Jedi purge by remaining hidden for decades. They survived until the bombardment of Toprawa, an event that left Tyria Sarkin as the last surviving Antarian Ranger.

Sarkin harbored dreams of training to harness her Force abilities, and she eventually encountered the Jedi Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Master subjected her to several Force training exercises but concluded that the young Antarian Ranger was unlikely to progress significantly in her control of the Force. He gently conveyed this to her, prompting Sarkin to shift her focus to other pursuits.

Sarkin enlisted in the New Republic with the aim of becoming a starfighter pilot. She recognized that her Force potential, rather than her piloting aptitude, secured her entry into the Academy. Her skills in the cockpit were deemed inadequate, leading to her placement in remedial pilot training under the supervision of then-Major Atton Repness. Within the training squadron, her scores began to improve, and Sarkin believed she was developing as a pilot.

After a brief period, Repness approached her with a proposition: he sought her assistance in stealing an X-wing starfighter by falsely reporting equipment failure, ejecting over the ocean, and claiming the starfighter had sunk beyond recovery. Repness intended to meet the young pilot trainee at the crash site and abscond with the fighter for sale on the black market. Sarkin refused, declaring her intention to report her corrupt commanding officer to the authorities. When the seemingly shocked Repness pleaded for time to settle his affairs, Sarkin naively agreed, inadvertently granting the major time to cover his tracks and level charges of gross insubordination against her. Confronting the corrupt officer again, Sarkin learned the truth about her piloting scores: Repness had been artificially inflating them. Sarkin would have failed the remedial program weeks earlier if her true scores had been reported. In exchange for the opportunity to graduate at the bottom of her class with her falsely recorded passing marks, the young woman remained silent about Repness's illicit activities. However, her coerced compliance left her embittered and resentful.

With limited prospects in Starfighter Command due to her low scores and even lower real piloting abilities, Sarkin eagerly seized the opportunity to join a new squadron being formed by Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles. Antilles specifically sought pilots with both commando skills and those with disciplinary issues or who were wash-outs—categories that included Sarkin. She joined the unit, though she was disappointed to discover that her Antarian Ranger skills, not her piloting, had attracted the veteran pilot's attention. She transferred to Folor Base as a candidate and passed the screening interviews conducted by Antilles and Wes Janson, the unit's executive officer.

Sarkin participated in her first training exercise as a squadron candidate, flying as Gold Four in a simulated ambush of the base. She emerged from the exercise with two kills and a score of 1350 out of 2000. Following the simulation, she was introduced to her partners in the exercise: Kell Tainer, Hohass "Runt" Ekwesh, and Voort "Piggy" saBinring. While discussing the mission at DownTime, a tapcafe on Folor Base, Sarkin was the first to recognize Ekwesh's possession of multiple minds and shared the story of the droid waiter Squeaky and the Runaway Droid Ride with her future squadmates. She also soon encountered future Wraiths Garik "the Face" Loran and Ton Phanan, the latter of whom revealed Sarkin's Force–sensitivity to the other pilots. As the candidates learned more about each other, they realized that nearly all of them were on the verge of being removed from Starfighter Command for various reasons. Sarkin initially withheld her own story but acknowledged to Loran, Phanan, Tainer, and Ekwesh that she fit the profile of a pilot on the brink of expulsion.

Shortly thereafter, Sarkin, along with nine other candidates, was informed of her selection as a member of the new squadron. When the remaining candidates were notified of their acceptance, Sarkin became Gray Ten, wingman to Lieutenant Myn Donos in Three Flight. Despite making it into the squadron, she was the last pilot named at the introductory briefing, indicating her lowest training scores among the surviving pilots. Although Kell Tainer, who had quickly become infatuated with her, attempted to comfort her, she still felt like the least capable.

Following a training mission involving proton torpedo practice deliberately designed to force pilots to adapt to the absence of targeting systems, Sarkin was at DownTime, sharing experiences and amusing anecdotes with some of the other pilots. She observed that the taciturn Corellian Myn Donos became more communicative in the presence of another pilot, Falynn Sandskimmer, but also spent little time in the tapcafe, knowing she had hyperspace navigation studies for an upcoming mission.

Tainer persisted in his attempts to gain Sarkin's attention throughout the training, eventually professing his love for her one morning over breakfast. While she reciprocated his feelings, Sarkin believed that Tainer did not truly know her and was instead in love with an idealized version of her. She expressed this to him but withheld her own feelings. She left him at the table to contemplate her rejection, but this was not the only significant event of the day. At their mission briefing that afternoon, the group learned that Sarkin's suggestion for a name had been chosen as the official designation for the unit: Wraith Squadron.

Later that day, the Wraiths launched in preparation for their hyperspace practice mission. En route, the squadron's communications expert, Jesmin Ackbar, detected Imperial transmissions. They soon realized that an Imperial Star Destroyer, the Implacable, was approaching Folor. Antilles immediately ordered a return to Folor to prepare a hasty defense while the base was evacuated. The Wraiths then participated in the Battle of Folor, where Sarkin achieved a combat kill against an Imperial starfighter. After all the transports jumped to hyperspace, the squadron escaped the system, heading for Doldrums.

Unfortunately for the Wraiths, they were prematurely pulled out of hyperspace in the Xobome system and stranded with their ships' and astromechs' memories wiped due to an automated attack by former Imperial Warlord Zsinj's Empion mines. Sarkin was among the Wraiths who landed in the frigid winds of Xobome 6 to carry out repairs while Kell Tainer, Piggy saBinring, Eurrsk "Grinder" Thri'ag, and Cubber Daine constructed the Lunatic, a makeshift boarding vehicle. When one of Zsinj's support vessels, the Night Caller, arrived to investigate, saBinring, in the Lunatic, boarded and single-handedly captured the Night Caller while Sarkin and the other Wraiths quickly powered up and defeated the two TIE/LN starfighters launched by the Night Caller.

The Wraiths continued their operations by impersonating the captain and crew of the Night Caller, as their rapid capture of the ship had granted them access to all its facilities and computer systems. After successfully conducting operations as part of this deception at Viamarr 4 and following a resupply stop at Doldrums, the Wraiths were declared an active unit, no longer a training squadron. However, Sarkin's self-pity had become a concern to her squadmates, prompting them to approach her in the mess hall, where she was spending as much free time as possible in the X-wing simulator. During the conversation, in which Kell Tainer, Ton Phanan, and Grinder Thri'ag attempted to encourage her to relax, Thri'ag suggested a way to improve her piloting performance. The Bothan offered to hack into her records and enhance her scores. Sarkin, thinking only of her history with Atton Repness and failing to realize that Thri'ag's offer was made in jest, attacked the other pilot. Phanan and Tainer managed to pull her away from the bloodied Bothan just before Commander Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Wes Janson arrived and called the entire mess to attention before taking Sarkin and Thri'ag to Wedge's office.

When asked by Antilles why she had reacted in such a way, Sarkin simply stated that she had no excuse, refusing to divulge her sordid past. As a result of Sarkin's inability to explain her loss of control to her commander, she was placed on report, and her X-wing and astromech were temporarily reassigned to Ton Phanan. However, her relentless squadmates would not abandon the issue as easily as Antilles and Janson, and Tainer and Phanan approached Sarkin one last time, this time in the privacy of her quarters on the Night Caller.

Sarkin confessed her history to them, explaining why she was so consumed by self-pity, contrasting her piloting abilities with those of the other Wraiths, and why Thri'ag's comments, so reminiscent of Atton Repness's actions, had triggered such anger. The conversation proved beneficial, helping her calm down and allowing the other pilots to suggest ways to improve her performance in the squadron, both as a pilot and using skills learned as an Antarian Ranger. Unbeknownst to her, this discussion would ultimately lead Ton Phanan and Garik Loran to conspire to bring down Atton Repness and his entire black market operation with the assistance of Lara Notsil.

Following the Night Caller's itinerary, the next mission involved a trip to Xartun for the purpose of intelligence gathering. It was here that Sarkin finally demonstrated to her fellow squad members the unique talents that distinguished her from other pilots. Employing silent movement and utilizing the wind's sound to mask her approach, she discreetly guided an impressed Wedge Antilles toward the bunker, ensuring cover for the other Wraiths' advance. However, after successfully entering the bunker, Sarkin, Ekwesh, and Phanan encountered an attack from the Imperial Probe Droid A2. Sarkin's strategy of finding cover behind a phototropically shielded TIE fighter viewport, followed by immobilizing the droid with a repulsorlift cart, enabled Tainer to eliminate the enemy probot using his demolition expertise. Upon receiving the Omega Signal, which signaled the mission's termination, she and Ekwesh provided blaster cover for the squadron's retreat as the other Wraiths boarded a cargo skiff for their escape. Subsequently, Sarkin and Ekwesh also boarded as the skiff sped past the remaining guards and into the darkness, moments before Tainer's planted explosives destroyed the complex. Furthermore, the Wraiths successfully extracted a substantial amount of data from the facility before its destruction, marking the mission as a success.

Driven to continue proving her worth during subsequent Wraith missions, particularly while still under scrutiny, Sarkin dedicated every available moment to simulator training aboard the Night Caller, focusing on improving her skills in the X-wing simulator with Chunky. This dedication appeared to yield positive results when Wedge temporarily reinstated her to her snubfighter and regular duties for a mission to M2398. Displaying a newfound confidence compared to previous engagements, Sarkin even spearheaded the squadron's challenging launch from the Night Caller's bow hold, even as the corvette evaded an ambush by incoming pirate snubfighters.

During the ensuing conflict, Sarkin became Kell Tainer's temporary wingman. While pursuing a pair of Uglies alongside Tainer, Sarkin discerned that they were being lured into a trap. Though she couldn't pinpoint the source of her intuition, Tainer trusted the Force-sensitive woman enough to realize that the pirates intended to lead them towards three treaded ground vehicles concealed within a crater on the moon's surface. Sarkin successfully struck one of the vehicles with a proton torpedo. The resulting explosion, combined with Tainer's attack, annihilated the ground vehicles just after they launched their own missiles and lasers, which impacted the fighters of temporary wingmen Jesmin Ackbar and Myn Donos.

Sarkin disengaged from Tainer as he attempted to rescue Ackbar after her craft was hit, positioning her own fighter behind Donos, who had suddenly become unresponsive due to the loss of his astromech droid. Despite the lieutenant's limited communication, she knew how to elicit a response from Donos. Recognizing the mission's similarity to the one that resulted in Talon Squadron's demise, and understanding Donos's distress over the destruction of his droid, whom he considered the last surviving member of Talon Squadron, she used Talon Squadron callsigns to capture his attention and guide him safely back to the Night Caller. Tainer's efforts, on the other hand proved futile & Jesmin's X-Wing crashed, killing the Wraith.

Following the mission, Sarkin provided support to her squadmates in coping with the aftermath. She assisted Tainer and Phanan in covering for Donos's ongoing mental distress and offered comfort to Tainer, who viewed himself as responsible for Jesmin's death. She also subtly revealed her affection for the pilot from Sluis Van, giving him a kiss on the cheek following a conversation about the Force and its influence on her actions during the battle.

Shortly after departing from M2398, Sarkin played a pivotal role in the simulation that ultimately convinced Donos to embrace life. In this exercise, several pilots placed Donos in a simulator and recreated Talon Squadron's final battle, using their voices to convey that his catatonia disrespected their memories and that his refusal to live dishonored their sacrifice. After an enraged Donos emerged, Sarkin instinctively recognized that the loss of his droid, whom he regarded as the last Talon, had triggered his reaction. Asserting that the Wraiths were his friends and needed him, Sarkin encouraged Donos to express his feelings and condition, enabling Tainer and Sandskimmer to join the conversation and facilitate his recovery.

Once Donos, Sandskimmer, and Loran had left her alone with Tainer, the other pilot proposed his theory that Sarkin had been guided by the Force all along, but only when she wasn't consciously trying to harness it. He also confessed his love for her a second time. While Sarkin was initially skeptical, she recognized the extent of his transformation since his initial attempt to win her affection and kissed him passionately, acknowledging her own feelings for him now that he was no longer in love with a "fantasy Tyria."

When Zsinj instructed "Captain Darillian" and his crew to rendezvous with the supply ship Hawkbat, the Wraiths needed to protect their true identities. To achieve this, they devised a plan to acquire at least two TIE fighters and prevent the Hawkbat's Captain Bock Nabyl from boarding to meet Darillian, leading to a mission to Storinal. Sarkin contributed to the mission by impersonating the wife of a down-on-his-luck test pilot, portrayed by Ton Phanan. After gaining entry to Storinal under these disguises, they joined Kell Tainer and, later, slicer Eurrsk Thri'ag, forming Plague Group. The quartet was assigned to steal a disease from the Scohar Xenohealth Institute that would later be unleashed on the crew of the Hawkbat.

After deciding to obtain a sample of Bunkurd Sewer Disorder, Sarkin was tasked with conducting initial reconnaissance, walking around the Scohar Xenohealth Institute with a camera concealed in her cap, monitored remotely by Thri'ag. Her efforts allowed the slicer to identify the only entrance lacking a viewer or a lock permitting exterior entry: the waste vent. The group utilized this vent to gain access to the Institute, with Sarkin proactively spraying perfume inside the group's breath masks in preparation for the foul-smelling journey up the waste flue. The former Antarian Ranger took the lead in their exploration of the building, employing her intrusion skills once more. She paused only at changes in flooring or portals, allowing Thri'ag to check for sensors, and the group successfully returned from the Xenohealth Institute with a sample of BSD.

In the second phase of Plague Group's assignment, Sarkin assisted in delivering the BSD into the air intake scoop of the Hawkbat's Perch. This time, she posed as a member of a work crew for the shuttle, even assisting Tainer in servicing it and the Hawkbat's Vigil as part of their cover. Another aspect of their pretense at being at the shuttle was stealing containers of recreational holos, which Sarkin arranged to resemble black market goods. Although their work crew cover was nearly compromised by the arrival of the actual shuttle work crew, Sarkin helped Tainer bluff and fight his way past them, then covered Donos's arrival as he joined Plague Group for their departure in the Wraiths' shuttle, Narra. Just before their departure, Ekwesh launched a surprise assault on the spaceport to divert security, enabling several other members of Wraith Squadron to steal four TIE fighters to maintain their cover during a rendezvous with Admiral Apwar Trigit, commander of Implacable under Zsinj. As he flew overhead, a laser cannon emplacement tracked him, but the Wraiths' sniper, Donos, disabled it with a laser rifle. Sarkin then ventured out to cover his exfiltration back to Narra. Once the Wraiths who hadn't stolen fighters were aboard, they departed and returned to Night Caller.

With every X-wing cockpit occupied, Sarkin couldn't participate in the Wraiths' raid on Todirium III. She was still on report, with her X-wing assigned to Phanan. However, later, with Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, and Falynn Sandskimmer in TIE fighters along with Atril Tabanne, enough snubfighters became available for Sarkin to participate as an X-wing pilot in the Battle of Talasea, which was designed as a trap for Trigit. Although the Imperial refused to bring his personal Star Destroyer, Implacable, into the system, the Wraiths engaged two other ships under Trigit's command. During the battle, Sarkin used her proton torpedoes to help disable the shields of the Nebulon-B frigate Provocateur. Combined with those of four other Wraiths, the torpedoes enabled Donos and Phanan to destroy the enemy frigate.

Following the battle, two new X-wing fighters were delivered to Wraith Squadron. Due to Sarkin's behavior, which Wedge Antilles described as "exemplary," Sarkin was reinstated to full operational status, regaining her own snubfighter and astromech. At the same small ceremony, Kell Tainer was awarded the Kalidor Crescent and promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Sarkin, along with her squadmates, noticed that Tainer didn't seem as pleased by these events as he should have been. She followed him back to his room, using a code obtained from Thri'ag to unlock the door, and confronted the morose Tainer about his behavior and his fears related to being his father's son—Tainer's father had been killed for cowardice. While she couldn't completely change his mind at the time, she dissuaded him from resigning his commission.

Back in her cockpit for the Wraiths' final engagement with Admiral Trigit and the Implacable, Sarkin participated in another Loran Spitball, the term for a sudden torpedo barrage launched by the Wraiths from the Night Caller. She followed this with a pass on the Implacable's bridge and dogfighting with enemy TIEs, alongside her wingman Myn Donos. Though she was unaware of it at the time and didn't communicate with him during his private mental crisis, the thought of Sarkin would also bring Kell Tainer back into the skirmish to assist the other Wraiths after a brief panic attack. Both of them survived the engagement and celebrated with their squadmates on a beach on Borleias upon its successful conclusion and the destruction of Implacable.

Upon returning to Coruscant, Sarkin was present during the bar brawl that effectively canceled the Wraiths' leave. She joined Tainer and Shalla Nelprin as part of Ekwesh's team, tasked with uncovering Zsinj's plans and strategies. On their initial mission to act on their findings, Sarkin assisted in infiltrating the Imperial base on Halmad by posing as a stormtrooper. She and Donos vandalized the interior of a hangar to make their operation appear to be the work of pirates, and escaped in a skimmer with most of the squadron as three Wraiths flew back to Hawk-bat Base in stolen TIE/IN interceptors. Sarkin would also soon help Tainer repaint one of those Interceptors with a red spiderweb pattern for its service with the ersatz pirate group the Hawk-bat Independent Space Force.

Eight of the Wraiths, including Wedge and Sarkin, made an appearance aboard the Mon Remonda to reinforce the story that they were serving with the rest of the anti-Zsinj taskforce. It was during this time that Lara Notsil caused Colonel Repness's downfall, and Sarkin met the other woman and heard her story. She approached her commander, anticipating that her status as a pilot and an officer would be at risk as a result of the incident. She disclosed her history with Repness to Wedge, expecting him to prepare for her removal from the squadron. However, Wedge recognized her value as a pilot and pledged to keep her as part of the squadron unless she died or chose to transfer. He instructed Sarkin not to discuss the situation with anyone else unless they had spoken to him first.

Both on the Mon Remonda and back at Hawk-bat Base, Sarkin shared a room with Lara Notsil. Sarkin was the one who delivered Lara her "mail from home," which was actually a secret message from Warlord Zsinj sent through the real Lara Notsil's brother Tavin. While Sarkin didn't fully grasp its significance to her roommate, she compassionately offered to support Lara if she needed to talk.

Soon after this, Sarkin participated in the capture of the tanker Bastion. Flying in TIE fighters, she and saBinring escorted the ship towards Halmad until Kell Tainer ordered them to disengage rather than confront the guns and starfighters of the Iron Fist.

Sarkin survived the mission and, as a reward for Wraith Squadron's successes, was granted leave on Coruscant with Wedge, saBinring, Nelprin, and Ekwesh. Upon their return, Sarkin also attended Ekwesh's formal dance at Hawk-bat base, joining Kell Tainer as the first couple on the dance floor.

Finally, after numerous missions and well-deserved rest and relaxation, the Wraiths prepared to ambush Zsinj and his Iron Fist. Sarkin was part of the Hawk-bat unit that would be flying various TIEs as part of Zsinj's attack on the Kuat shipyards. Flying with her usual wingmate saBinring once again, Sarkin helped the Gamorrean pilot cover his crash-landing on the surface of the Iron Fist.. She concluded their series of successful encounters with Zsinj's forces by helping present Loran with the Award of the Mechanic's Nightmare.

Sarkin participated in the Battle of Levian Two and the strategy session in the Mon Remonda pilots' lounge that followed, but it was the planning and execution of Mission to Saffalore where Sarkin's Force abilities began to manifest themselves more prominently. Sarkin continued to practice her Jedi exercises and learned to relax into what she called a "flow-state," rather than forcing her powers. She had achieved one of these flow-states as the Wraiths did their surveillance on the BinRing Biomedical Product building, and was able to sense the pain and suffering of the test subjects within, helping Loran to identify their target.

During the mission, Sarkin was also able to sense the deliberate nature of a hole in Binring's security. Knowing that an seemingly unsecured area was actually being watched, she warned Nelprin and the other Wraiths and allowed them to slip through the outer security perimeter that had been set up specifically for the squadron by Doctor Edda Gast.

Inside the building, most of the Wraiths were caught in another trap, dropped into an incineration chamber from the floor above. While Sarkin did not land on her feet and was not one of the first Wraiths back up, she did not suffer any serious injuries from the fall, and managed to be the only Wraith present to evade any burns when the heat and flames in the chamber were activated. In fact, although all of her squadmates piloted their own fighters away from the engagement, Sarkin would be the only Wraith that Loran actually described as fit to fly.

Later, as the starfighter units from Mon Remonda prepared to jump to Jussafet, Sarkin sensed an impending attack and acted on it before she could even consciously recognize what she was doing. Jolted back to attentiveness after being told she was out of position, Sarkin realized that Nuro Tualin, an A-Wing pilot in Polearm Squadron, was faking a failure in his sublight drive to set up an attack run on Mon Remonda's bridge. She warned the cruiser just before the Twi'lek fired, and looped around to target the brainwashed pilot. Though she could not find him with her X-wing's sensors, Sarkin closed her eyes to sense his mission and knew that Tualin was headed for the bridge. When she was again within visual range of the bridge, she could see Tualin lining up for another shot. Sarkin fired a proton torpedo and destroyed the fighter and its pilot.

After Wraith Squadron's transition from the New Republic Starfighter Corps to New Republic Intelligence, Sarkin decided to deepen her understanding of the Force and train to become a true Jedi. Although Luke Skywalker initially doubted her potential, he later revised his assessment as Sarkin discovered the necessary discipline.

Despite never studying at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 or receiving direct training from Skywalker, she remained receptive to his teachings. Skywalker sent her communications and guidance. She journeyed and explored the galaxy in her quest, progressing in her training at her own pace. Eventually, Master Skywalker recognized her as a Jedi Knight, a title that would bring her joy for years to come. At some point she and Kell Tainer married, and they had a son, Doran Sarkin-Tainer, whom she began to train as a Jedi as well. Sarkin Tainer traveled extensively while teaching her son, avoiding the frontlines of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Both Sarkin Tainer and her son attended the Conclave on Zonama Sekot in 29 ABY. Later, Sarkin Tainer and her husband had a daughter, whom they named Jesmin after Jesmin Ackbar, and they largely raised her separately from Doran, which allowed Jesmin to know Garik Loran and Myri Antilles, the daughter of her former commanding officer. Jesmin was also Force-sensitive and was trained as a Jedi.

In 40 ABY, Sarkin Tainer was among the Jedi assigned to Red Sword Flight, a half-squadron of StealthX fighters tasked with attacking the Sith known as Darth Caedus during a meeting with Corellian forces. However, their plan was altered when it was discovered that Caedus was in a starfighter with a civilian, leading the Jedi to ultimately withdraw. Sarkin Tainer also flew as Rakehell Seven during the operation to destroy Centerpoint Station. The assault was ultimately successful, and Sarkin Tainer survived the engagement.

In 44 ABY, while Tainer was working on a ship inside the Jedi Temple Hangar, Sarkin Tainer sensed that something was amiss when she noticed the holo feed of the news loop, despite the newscast displaying a live feed. Suspecting an attack, Tainer and Jaina Solo alerted Kyp Durron and the other Masters to prepare to defend the Temple.

During the assault, Mandalorian warriors, under the employ of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala, blasted openings in the hangar walls. As the Mandalorians launched their attack, Tainer and Solo, together with apprentice Bandy Geffer, successfully repelled five of the invaders. Despite Tainer's valiant efforts, she was rendered unconscious by a powerful blow to the jaw from one of the assailants. Her survival during the conflict was largely attributed to the actions of Solo, Geffer, and the timely arrival of Raynar Thul.

Later, Tainer was summoned to participate in a Jedi StealthX operation on Nam Chorios. There, the Jedi laid an ambush for a Lost Tribe of Sith strike force as they approached the planet. Piloting alongside fellow Jedi Knights Jaina Solo and Zekk, she provided aerial cover for a shuttle tasked with extracting Luke Skywalker and a group of Jedi from the planet's surface. The Jedi Master requested the use of her starfighter, and she complied, allowing him to pursue a starship carrying a dark side entity that had been menacing the Jedi. Tainer remained with the extraction shuttle, entrusted by Skywalker to safeguard his son, Ben Skywalker, and ensure his safe passage.

Tyria Sarkin possessed remarkable determination and dedication. Undeterred by predictions that she would not advance far as a Jedi, she relentlessly pursued the mastery of her Force sensitivity, initially in conjunction with her squadron duties, and later solely for the purpose of becoming a Jedi Knight. She also consistently strived to enhance her piloting skills, dedicating her free time to X-wing simulators and steadily improving through practice. Initially, she struggled with her self-image, viewing herself as among the least capable. This stemmed from her past experience with Atton Repness, which left her emotionally scarred until she confessed the illicit behavior to her fellow pilots. Previously, she had been secretive and reserved about the coercion she had endured. When discussing her past and her heritage as an Antarian Ranger, Sarkin displayed a sense of fatalism, accepting that she was the last of her people and that her lineage would end with her. During her initial weeks with Wraith Squadron, she also felt hopelessly inept at using the Force. Both of these perspectives would later evolve as a result of her Jedi training and her relationship with Kell Tainer.

Sarkin possessed a sense of humor, enjoying jokes, amusing anecdotes, and practical jokes during her time with the Wraiths. However, she occasionally found Ton Phanan's flirting and other behavior she deemed immature irritating. She also demonstrated concern for the well-being of her fellow pilots, aiding in bringing Myn Donos out of catatonia following the loss of his astromech and persuading Kell Tainer to remain in Starfighter Command despite his intention to resign. Her relationship with Tainer initially involved Sarkin rejecting his advances in order to force him to recognize her true self, despite her own attraction to him.

Although she initially concealed her past from her squadmates, Wedge Antilles regarded her as one of the more truthful members of the Wraiths. She confided in Antilles about her history with Atton Repness upon learning that it might affect the squadron. Her commander believed her to be inherently honest, and discerned from her personality that she had not been complicit in Ton Phanan's scheme to expose Repness. Until her outburst and assault on Thri'ag, Antilles also considered her to be the most emotionally stable of the Wraiths.

Without formal Jedi instruction, Sarkin was able to consciously enter a flow state, enabling her to perceive both the pain and the consciousness of beings within the Binring Biomedical facilities. Sarkin experienced several moments of Force-guided insight that allowed her to reach Myn Donos amidst his emotional distress. Despite continuing to practice her talent, Sarkin had still not undergone any Force training or actively pursued the Jedi path when she sensed Nuro Tualin's attack on Han Solo and the Mon Remonda. She eventually became a Jedi without ever receiving formal training from a Jedi Master, and passed on that heritage to her son.

Beyond her Force abilities, Sarkin possessed skill in silent movement and infiltration, a result of her Antarian Ranger heritage. She surpassed even Wedge Antilles, with all his ground missions for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic, in her ability to move stealthily. She was able to move with the wind, using it to mask any subtle sounds she might make. On ground missions, Sarkin was frequently chosen as the point person for the group, and was considered one of the most skilled infiltrators in Wraith Squadron. However, during her initial weeks in Wraith Squadron, she consistently achieved the lowest piloting scores in the unit. Later in life, however, she would be selected by the Jedi Order to participate in two high-stakes strike missions from the cockpit of a StealthX, flying alongside luminaries such as Luke Skywalker and Jaina Solo.

Aaron Allston originally conceived the character of Tyria Sarkin for his novels within the X-wing series: Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, and Solo Command. She also made a brief narrated appearance in The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, also by Allston, and appeared in The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force by James Luceno and Legacy of the Force: Fury, again by Allston. Her appearance was based on a friend of Star Wars artist Joe Corroney. He first illustrated the character for an article about Wraith Squadron in an issue of Star Wars Gamer magazine.

The Essential Reader's Companion, a 2012 reference book by Pablo Hidalgo, describes Sarkin as a newcomer to Wraith Squadron as of Iron Fist, despite her joining the unit at its inception in Wraith Squadron, the series' preceding novel.