Character
Melanie Sato
| Age | 27 |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Height | 168 cm (5’ 6”) |
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) |
| Force Sensitive | False |
| Faction | The High Republic |
| Rank | Chief of Staff to Senator Pallopides |
| Homeworld | Denon |
| Former Ranks | None |
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Short of height and slender of frame, at a first glance Melanie is not much to look at. However, she carries a persona of confidence and energy that more than compensates for her small frame, demanding rather than seeking out the attention of others. When working in the office or going to a function with Senator Pallopides, Melanie strictly wears traditional business attire consisting of a suit and tie with a pencil skirt and slides. Outside the office and the glamour of the halls of power however, Melanie prefers to ditch formal clothing, feeling more at home in a T-shirt and pair of jeans.
INVENTORY
TBD
PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS
For Melanie, there very little difference between work and leisure. Melanie truly loves her job and her career in politics as a whole, viewing it as her true calling in life. Politically active from her early youth, Melanie is a progressive in every sense of the world. She is passionate about uplifting the poor and downtrodden, desiring to redistribute wealth from the rich, crack down on corporate greed, and abolish the hereditary privileges of the nobility. Melanie is also highly ambitious, aspiring to gain higher political office so she may one day transform the entire Republic into a bastion of progressive values.
STRENGTHS
Taskmaster: Melanie possesses an excellent memory and is a brilliant organizer, accountant and delegator. She is well-versed in most office software as well as paperwork, using both to meticulously organize the ever-growing pile of documents in her Denon office. Financially savvy, Melanie plays an active role in attempting to rein in her boss's charitable excesses while keeping her staffers paid and Denon's overall finances in the green. Finally, Melanie is a skilled administrator whose experience as a former staffer gives her intimate insight into how to run the day-to-day operations of an office.
Natural Leader: While overshadowed by the charismatic Senator Pallopides, Melanie is an assertive and highly self-confident woman whose passion for her work often inspires her staff to follow in her footsteps.
WEAKNESSES
Judgmental: Melanie is quick to judge those she views as dishonest or corrupt, holding grudges that can last years. Furthermore, she holds strong prejudices against politicians who do not share her progressive views, especially those who are backed by big corporations or descended from nobility.
Weak: Melanie has below-average physical strength and endurance (for a human) owing to her small frame and is not trained in physical combat beyond basic self-defense. Consequently, she stands almost no chance against trained fighters in single combat and can be easily overpowered.
HISTORY
Melanie Sato was born on 875 ABY in the neighborhood of Misery-Upon-Dream within Denon's "Seven Corners". Her father, Huao, worked as an electrician repairing old infrastructure around the district while her mother, Lu, ran and operated a medium-sized charity within the district. From early in her childhood, Melanie was taught to value kindness, respect, and giving back to the less fortunate, often aiding her mother in her charity work. In the Seven Corners, Melanie experienced both extremes of Denon, from the miserable poor struggling to feed themselves and their children to the corporate magnates sitting atop billions of credits that they would likely never fully exhaust. Faced with such inequality, Melanie swore to follow in her mother's footsteps as a voice and hope for the poor and needy.
Attending a public school in the district, Melanie proved herself to be a great student academically, but sometimes came into conflict with teachers or other students who she believed were repeating a distorted view of society. Melanie joined or founded several political advocacy clubs in high school and college, all focused on pressuring the local authorities to adopt progressive social and economic policies. Meanwhile, she continued to assist in her mom's charity operations, gradually assuming more responsibilities and taking on more direct work that allowed her to interact with and learn directly from the experiences of impoverished individuals. Melanie envisioned herself eventually taking over her mother's charity operations and eventually bequeathing it to her own future children. However, a nagging part of her suggested that local charity alone was not enough.
It was that part of her brain that compelled an 18-year old Melanie to intern at the office of the Senator of Denon. The internship allowed her to leave the Seven Corners for the first time in her life, broadening her perspective on the planet as a whole. Working with other intelligent and politically active staffers to pass impactful legislation left a deep mark on Melanie, convincing her that it was her obligation to bring prosperity not only to the Seven Corners but all of Denon, if not the entire newborn High Republic.
Enamored with the internship program, Melanie returned the following year and then became a full-time junior staffer at age 20. She soon distinguished herself for her excellent organizational and social skills as well as her passion for progressive politics, earning a series of promotions that saw her rise all the way up to the position of Chief of Staff at age 26, subordinate only to the newly appointed Senator Ayumi Pallopides.
In the present day, Melanie oversees Senator Pallopides' army of staffers and aides in the pursuit of an ambitious agenda to reshape Denon.