Rhaya

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

Rhaya is a young Colonial Warrior pilot serving in the Fleet during their settlement in the Paradis system. Despite her youth and status as a new cadet, she plays a crucial role in discovering evidence of the Thirteenth Tribe, including the ancient crashed space ark hidden beneath the planet's surface. (RH: Paradis, Destiny)

Biography

Service as a Cadet

Rhaya serves as a new cadet in the Warrior ranks during the Fleet's time on Paradis. Her commanding officers struggle to remember or properly register her name, suggesting she has only recently joined active duty. However, her skills as a pilot prove sufficient for her to be assigned to patrol duties alongside experienced veterans.

She flies on patrol with Troy, Dalton, and Trays—experienced warriors who traditionally enjoy instructing newcomers through playful exercises designed to develop combat instincts. The veterans understand that "out of play comes the best fighters," a philosophy that proves essential for developing skilled pilots.

Viper Incident

During an atmospheric patrol over Paradis, Rhaya participates in training exercises with the veteran pilots. Dalton initiates competitive maneuvers, and the situation escalates when Dalton enters a death dive—a dangerous stunt appropriate for space but reckless in atmosphere. Dalton's Viper stalls and begins to break up, forcing her to activate her escape pod. Her craft slams into a mountain and explodes.

While Rhaya does not copy Dalton's reckless maneuver, all the Vipers suddenly begin experiencing power failures. The pilots fight to stabilize their craft and achieve proper landing angles. The humming of the faltering engines stops simultaneously across all vessels, but fortunately they are close enough to the ground that all pilots manage to land safely without casualties.

Confrontation with Dalton

Following the emergency landing, Rhaya confronts Dalton about the incident. While Dalton suffers serious head injuries and blood loss from the crash, Rhaya harshly criticizes her irresponsible piloting and suggests she should not engage in activities beyond her skill level.

Troy intervenes, ordering Rhaya to stop and noting she is not helping the situation. Rhaya withdraws while the other pilots tend to Dalton's injuries and work to understand what caused the simultaneous power failures across all their Vipers.

Despite the tension, Rhaya begins gathering supplies, finding what appear to be edible mushrooms near a tree. Her attitude toward Dalton remains antagonistic, and she reflects on the potential satisfaction of having Dalton test all foodstuffs first—a darkly humorous thought that reveals both her youth and her anger.

Cave Discovery

The stranded pilots seek shelter in a cave system when rain begins falling. Inside, Dalton discovers metal shards on the cave floor—objects none of them brought. The group finds the floor strewn with small, thin fragments of mysterious metallic substance, suggesting advanced technology.

Trays follows a trail of the metal deep into the cave, discovering it extends far beyond the entrance. The cave floor slopes downward into what appears to be an extensive tunnel system. Rhaya suggests these discoveries might explain what knocked out their Vipers' engines, demonstrating her analytical thinking despite her earlier emotional outburst.

Underground Exploration

When Sheba arrives to search for the missing pilots, she encounters the stranded group deep within the cave system. They have made contact with a Gamon woman who helps them avoid hostile war parties of more primitive Gamon. The native woman communicates telepathically with Sheba, revealing that the primitive Gamon possess mental powers strong enough to cause technological systems to fail.

The group explores deeper into the underground caverns, discovering a gigantic chamber illuminated by natural light from the walls. The ruins of a vast metropolis surround them, with skeletal remains and gigantic designs visible on the cavern roof—evidence of a civilization far more advanced than anything the Gamon currently possess.

Discovery of the Space Ark

During the exploration, Rhaya wanders away from the group despite the obvious dangers. When her companions realize she is missing, Troy becomes furious, questioning her judgment in wandering alone in such an unknown and dangerous environment. Sheba explains that Rhaya left instructions to send their Gamon guide after her if she did not return by a certain time.

The group splits up to search for her, following the remarkable acoustics of the cavern. They hear Rhaya screaming and rush to her location. They find her in a dark side tunnel, where she has caught her leg between rocks. Despite her recent pattern of accidents, Rhaya has made the most important discovery of the expedition.

Looming over their heads are the remains of a giant space ship—one of the city-sized space arks rumored to have been used by the Thirteenth Tribe for interstellar transport. The hull remains largely intact despite its ancient crash landing. As Dalton helps free Rhaya's leg from the stalagmites, Rhaya jokes about her insatiable curiosity and playfully claims the vessel as her own discovery.

Despite her injury, she insists on exploring the vessel, demonstrating the determination that characterizes her approach to warrior duties. Inside the ark, they discover thousands of preservation pods containing human remains—tragic evidence of the Thirteenth Tribe's journey and their fate on Paradis. The discovery transforms the Thirteenth Tribe from legend into undeniable historical fact.

Romantic Involvement

During the time on Paradis, Rhaya becomes romantically involved with Troy. This relationship causes significant emotional pain for Dalton, who had previously been involved with Troy. The situation creates tension within the warrior ranks, particularly among the younger pilots.

Dalton discusses the situation with Trays, expressing her loss of respect for Troy's handling of the romantic entanglement. She characterizes Rhaya as someone who "saw an opening and took it," attributing this to Rhaya being "a good Viper pilot" who seizes opportunities. Dalton notably states that Rhaya is "not a representative female of our species" and believes Rhaya would not care about how her actions affect others.

When Trays asks why Rhaya would move in on Troy knowing about Dalton's feelings, Dalton responds matter-of-factly: "Because she could." She attributes this behavior to a difference in values, implicitly contrasting Rhaya's approach with her own principles.

Warrior Training Program

Following the resolution of various crises, Rhaya participates in efforts to recruit and train young colonists as warriors. She works alongside Dalton in a novel approach to recruiting juvenile delinquents by demonstrating warrior skills and values. The program pairs attractive female warriors with resistant recruits, using a combination of physical discipline and mentorship.

Rhaya's assignment proves successful. One recruit, Render, becomes enthusiastic about joining the Warriors specifically because of her influence. When asked what made him want to become a Warrior, Render declares: "Rhaya is even hotter," comparing her favorably to other warriors. This prompts Bojay to observe they have discovered that deploying the "sexiest women in the Warrior ranks" effectively recruits even difficult candidates.

After the successful recruitment demonstration, Dalton and Rhaya embrace, symbolizing their ability to work together professionally despite their personal tensions over Troy. The moment represents a reconciliation of sorts, or at least an agreement to function effectively as warriors regardless of their relationship complications.

Troy later tells the recruits they will need extensive education in mathematics, strategic thinking, plasma streams, force fields, and space suits before they can become true warriors. The comprehensive training requirements cause the young recruits to reconsider, with one exclaiming "I give up!" in response to the workload ahead.

Notes

• Rhaya's commanding officers never properly learn or remember her name, with the narrative noting that "the boss in charge of the ocean installation had never managed to pick up" her name. This suggests she is very new to active warrior duty.

• The discovery of the space ark—Rhaya's most significant contribution—transforms Colonial understanding of their history. The thousands of preservation pods prove the Thirteenth Tribe was real rather than mythological.

• Rhaya's claim to the discovered ark with "finders keepers" proves prophetic in an unexpected way. Later, an operational ark from the Thirteenth Tribe appears and saves the survivors in the Paradis system, providing the very technology discovered in the crashed vessel.

• The metal shards found in the cave—which Rhaya correctly theorizes might explain the Viper power failures—represent evidence of technology that affected their engines through some form of radiation field undetectable by Colonial scanners.