When the Republic came to Zeltros, Tanika was the absolute first to fall in love with the fighters. As much as she liked the usual party atmosphere and entertainments of home, a shot at flying one of the fighters was far too much for her to ignore. Even if she had been raised only to entertain. She was assigned to Red Squadron under Kara Garrett, and was made the exec before Kara herself transferred to an A-Wing, leaving her in charge of the squadron. After that, during a reorganization of fighter groups, when Ghost Squadron was formed, she was promoted to lead it.