Ayala Nighthunter comes from Colony Carida. Her mother was an accomplished surgeon who saw high demand on the Valour space station during the Clone Wars. Her father served in the Republic Army with distinction however was killed in the final year of the Clone War. Despite mourning her father Ayala followed in his footsteps joining the Imperial Academy on Carida at the earliest age possible.

Excelling in all aptitude tests and rapidly proving her mental agility and intellect she was quickly streamlined to work in the Imperial Navy on Capital warships. Passing out with ease Ayala was identified for rapid selection through the ranks. In order to aid this she was assigned directly to the Surveyor class frigate "Tenacity". Her mentor for this process would be Captain Thrive Starlighter. In 7 years she managed to climb to the position of his Senior Lieutenant and was then short listed for promotion to Captain. 3 years sooner than normally expected.

Disaster struck. While exploring in the Outer Rim, the Tenacity, was ambushed by the Rebels. 1 Nebulon B Class Frigate and 2 CR-90 Corvettes supported by 2 full wings of rebel X-wings attacked them. The initial strike caught the Surveyor completely off guard and Captain Thrive Starlighter was mortally wounded.

Ayala would go on to fight off the rebels, completely obliterating their task group in a fit of fury and vengeance. The casualties sustained by her frigate were appalling but Imperial High Command, and indeed her crew, credit Ayala's bold leadership as being directly attributable to the survival of the Tenacity.

Since then Ayala has had something of a crisis of faith. She has enlisted in an anti-terrorism squad, seeing the opportunity to prevent the rebels from further awful ambushes that cause heavy loss of life. Until such time as she can recover from the guilt she feels it is unlikely she will accept promotion to Captain.

Guilt: Despite excelling Ayala's 1st independent command saw a large number of casualties. While many, including high command, credit her with the successful saviour of the Surveyor "Tenacity" and its remaining crew she has deep doubt if her actions were correct. The loss of her mentor and so many crew to the hands of the ambushing rebels haunts her deeply.

Subordinates: With one notable exception Ayala has remarkably low casualty rates on her missions. A skilled leader the fact remains that she places the allocation of manpower to a mission seriously. Contrary to Imperial Doctrine she has been known to utilise Feints, False Retreats and even Hit & Run tactics to preserve the lives of her forces. When questioned she will simply answer that no military can function without manpower, wasting it is the refuge of unimaginative commanders. The real reason for her concern may be somewhat more complicated.

Loss Prevention: Ensuring that their troops are as safe as possible under battlefield conditions is Ayala's primary concern. She has not once sent her troops into hopeless situations in which defeat is certain, preferring instead to preserve their unit’s strength for meaningful battles if sacrifices must be made. If taken too far, this ideology can result in weak commanding officers who lose ground because they aren’t even willing to try. They may gain a reputation for cowardice, which harms both discipline and their own chances for advancement.

A tall, immediately striking, human stands before you. About 25 years of age she none the less exudes an air of authority. Something her piercing storm grey eyes only reinforces. Long athletic limbs provide the majority of her 5' 11" height and the rest of her body moves with an easy athleticism. Dark Hair cascades down her shoulders with a fringe died a stylish shade of light blue.

While not in combat Ayala regularly wears a simple yet elegant jumpsuit fitted perfectly to her athletic body. She is rarely without an equally elegant utility belt and webbing, tailored to the social occasion.