- "Wonder if the water was rerouted to the catacomb?"
"Don't know but the wildlife have tried taking refuge in my home. If I wake up to another yaya fly staring me in the face, I swear." - ―A farmer, to an engineer in Myrra discussing the city's dam
Ya-ya flies,[1] also known as yaya flies,[2] were a type of fly native to the jungle world Akiva.[1] They were purple with a pair of wings, four appendages and a long needle like protrusion sticking out from their head. While not posing a threat to organic beings, their large numbers gave them a reputation for being one of the planet's worst annoyances. However, some residents caught the flies for food, even selling them in the form of crispy Yaya skewers. After the rain seasons,[2] the flies came in waves, leading some Akivan parents to add netting above the cribs of their children to keep the flies out.[1] After the Galactic Empire constructed a dam in Myrra, the capital city of Akiva, the habitat of the flies were disrupted, leading to some taking refuges in people houses. They shared their name with the Ya-Ya Melodies, a band active on Akiva.[2] Ya-ya flies were not found on the planet Chandrila.[1]
Behind the scenes
Ya-ya flies were first mentioned in Aftermath: Empire's End, a 2017 novel written by Chuck Wendig as the third installment in Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy.[1] They later appeared in the 2024 video game Star Wars Outlaws, developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. In the game, the name of the fly is inconsistently spelled between the game's databank entry on the fly and the game's subtitles, with the databank using the hyphen and the subtitles not using the hyphen.[2]
Appearances
- Star Wars Outlaws (First appearance) (First identified as yaya fly)
- Aftermath: Empire's End (and audiobook) (First mentioned)