Aleena

"Rather impatient creatures, aren't they?"

The Aleena were a species of small, sentient beings from the planet Aleen, though most Aleena in the galaxy were native to the colony world Aleen Minor.

Biology and appearance[]

Aleena were short, reptilian bipeds with large eyes and wide mouths full of small, sharp teeth. Aleena's bodies were long compared to their short arms and stubby legs.^[3] Warm-blooded reptiles,^[1] they possessed exceptional reflexes as well as a fast metabolism which allowed them to convert food into energy very rapidly in order to escape predators on their harsh home planet.^[2] Omnivorous, Aleena had an intensely spicy cuisine.^[1]

Society and culture[]

Aleena were social and tended to thrive best in close-knit teams if not with their own kind. They developed strong loyalties to friends and protected those they cared about fiercely. Due to their inborn curiosity, the Aleena were stereotypically galactic travelers, tourists in every sense. This, combined with their strong dedication to their relatives, resulted in Aleena families traveling even to most unusual and dangerous locations just to see its sights. An Aleena family walking through an intergalactic metropolis was a common sight on many planets.

KingManchuchoFull-SWE — Manchucho, Aleen king during the Clone Wars

During the height of the Aleena empire on Aleen, their culture was sophisticated and capable of interstellar travel due to the influence of the Infinite Empire. They were capable of creating and maintaining monolithic statues and structures; all this changed when the war with the Kindalo nearly ended their existence. Spending the ensuing millennia in self-imposed exile, the Aleena culture regressed to a simple society devoid of most technologies found on their colony worlds. Aleena settlements were small, and most individuals were part of a single lineage, or tahiko. The leader of each tahiko led the community, and represented their wishes to the planetary advisory body. Each tahiko communicated with the capital through couriers that rode can-cells through the skies. The advisory body elected a king to govern the planet, and was generally revered as a religious figure as they led religious ceremonies and protected the Great Seal.^[1]

Aleena in the galaxy[]

The Aleena love of sports, particularly adventure and thrill sports, drew many into the galactic community. Most who entered professional classes were experts or diplomats. They traveled to feed their love of adventure and new experiences. Many Aleena used their natural high reflexes to become podracers, most notably Ratts Tyerell and Mab Kador. While they did not develop a Force tradition of their own on Aleen or subsequent colonies, Aleena produced a fair amount of Force-sensitives who were inducted into the Jedi Order throughout the species' long relationship with the Republic,^[1] including Master Tsui Choi, who fought in the Clone Wars. Another Aleena Jedi was Kazdan Paratus, who survived Order 66 and went into hiding on the toxic environmental planet Raxus Prime.

Due to their small stature, Aleena were sometimes used as scouts for different militaries. Several squads of Aleenan scouts loyal to the Galactic Republic performed reconnaissance missions during the Clone Wars. They saw service on Kashyyyk, performing reconnaissance on the CIS forces fighting there. They were given domesticated can-cells for rapid transportation, as individual Aleena were small enough to ride on the animal's back.^[5] Jedi Master Tsui Choi flew with the scouts during this campaign.^[6]