Ciena Ree

Ciena Ree, known as LP-888 in the Imperial Navy, was a female human villager from the planet Jelucan who fought for the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. She was in love with her childhood friend, Thane Kyrell, who fought for the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Early Life
Ciena Ree was a rural villager from the valleys of the planet Jelucan in the Outer Rim Territories. She grew up as a friend of Thane Kyrell, an aristocrat. They bonded over their love of flying and pushed each other to excel. As the most accomplished students of Jelucan's academy preparatory courses, they would be selected to attend the prestigious Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant. During their time at the academy, the friendship between the two cadets would eventually turn into romantic feelings.

Ree had a twin sister, Wynnet, who died only a few hours after they both were born. Though there was no way for her to remember her, she lived her life for both of them. She wore a leather bracelet as a symbol that she was still connected to her twin sister and when she saw something of significance would recite the phrase "Look through my eyes" as a reminder that she was seeing it for the both of them.

Battle of Yavin
After graduation, she was assigned to the Devastator, Darth Vader's personal flagship and was present during the battle over Tatooine where Princess Leia Organa was captured. She then traveled with the Devastator to the Death Star, where she witnessed the destruction of Alderaan, shocking Ree. However, she was able to justify it to herself, with encouragement from her best friend, Jude Edivon, by saying that it would help prevent a war that would cost even more lives. Shortly afterwards, she left on the Devastator, unknowingly saving her life as she was not on the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. During the battle, she analyzed the data coming in from the Death Star, and found the report that Jude had written warning her superiors about the weakness of the Death Star exhaust port.

After the Battle of Yavin, she, along with Berisse Sai, were ordered to Yavin to rescue Darth Vader, and secretly to confirm what had occurred. Upon arriving, she was horrified to see the debris from the destruction of the Death Star, and heartbroken at the realization that Jude, along with her fellow classmates on the Death Star, were dead. She greeted Darth Vader when he boarded, and was visibly shaken by him.

Afterwards, she learned that her love Thane Kyrell had abandoned his post. She returned to Jelucan, finding him in a cantina, where she tried to convince him to return. However, Kyrell refused to, disgusted with what he had witnessed of the Empire's atrocities. Heartbroken, Ree and Kyrell made love for the first time before Ree left the next day. She falsely reported to her superiors that Kyrell had committed suicide in order to protect him. She was soon promoted to the Executor by order of Darth Vader himself, supposedly because of her excellent skill. However, Ree personally believed that Vader wanted her there because she had seen him helpless after the Battle of Yavin, and wanted to send her a warning never to mention it. During the Battle of Hoth, she was shocked when she recognized Kyrell's flying from battle footage, realizing that he had joined the Rebellion.

Escape from Cloud City
She was present during the Escape from Cloud City, where she and Nash Windrider (another graduate of the imperial academy) were ordered by Admiral Piett to disable the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon. However, R2-D2 was able to repair the hyperdrive, allowing the Falcon to escape, much to Ree, Piett, and Windrider's horror. Expecting Vader to slaughter them for this colossal failure, she was shocked when Vader silently left the bridge. Surprisingly, neither Ree or Windrider were punished for this severe failure.

Growing Disillusionment
Ree's loyalty to the Empire wavered over time after viewing the injustices of the Empire for herself, such as when her own mother was sentenced to six years of hard labor for embezzlement. Despite it being obvious that it was actually a superior Imperial officer who was responsible for the embezzlement, her mother was punished since no one wanted to go against the Empire. She was later horrified upon learning of the existence of the Death Star II, realizing that the purpose of the station was to crush innocent worlds, knowing even Jude could not have justified this.

Battle of Endor
Ciena later participated in the Battle of Endor, piloting a TIE interceptor and leading a squadron against the Rebels. This would prove to once again save her life, as she was not on the Executor when it was destroyed. She was unable to escape the blast radius of the destruction of the Death Star II, and was caught in the shock wave, causing her to crash. Her injuries were extensive, causing her to need a life support unit attached to her mid-section. The implant acted as her liver whilst Bacta was used to grow her a new one. She was devastated when she learned that her leather bracelet had been destroyed by the medical droids, destroying what she believed to be her last symbol of defiance against the Empire. By this point, Ree had lost all faith in the Empire, realizing that Kyrell had been right all along. However, she refused to defect from the Empire or join the New Republic, feeling honor bound by her oath. Also, she feared Imperial retaliation against her mother, still serving her prison sentence.

Battle of Jakku
Following her recovery, Ree was promoted to captain, and took command of the Star Destroyer, Inflictor. Under 25 years old, Ree was easily one of the Galactic Empire's youngest captains, although she admitted to herself that was only due to the chaos in the Imperial hierarchy. She participated in the Battle of Jakku, where New Republic forces intended to capture her ship. Realizing their intention, Ree ordered her crew to abandon ship so she could scuttle the ship and crash the Star Destroyer into Jakku. She also decided to remain on the ship, seeing the perfect opportunity to escape the grip of the Empire she loathed while keeping her honor. However Kyrell, the leader of the Rebel strike team, recognized Ree's voice on the intercom and fought his way to the bridge. Thane was able to figure out the password Ree had used to seal the door, "Look through my eyes", leading to a confrontation between the two lovers. Ree refused to abandon ship but Kyrell would not leave her, resulting in a fistfight between the two. Kyrell managed to stun her and carried her to an escape pod, rescuing her from the doomed ship.

Capture
The two were picked up by soldiers of the New Republic, and Ree was held as a prisoner of war. After a week of refusal, she finally allowed Thane to see her. Ciena believed that the New Republic would put her on trial as with every other Imperial war criminal, but Thane assured her that even if she didn't give any intel in exchange for leniency, the New Republic wouldn't have time to prosecute every Imperial, and that she might have a place in the New Republic. Either way, he promised to wait for her so they could be together.

Ree was believed dead by her remaining comrades in the Galactic Empire and became a symbol as an upstanding Imperial officer who refused to give in to defeatist attitudes plaguing the Imperial forces following the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor. Nash Windrider, who had been romantically interested in Ree, had nominated her to become one of the only recipients of the Distinguished Medal of Imperial Honor for her bravery and stalwart resolve to remain with the ship during the entry into the atmosphere to ensure the New Republic hijackers would not gain access to Imperial technology.

Personality and traits
Ciena was from the valley on Jelucan, and she made her way through life with many of their traditions. For instance, she believed in honor above all and that making an oath was forever and entirely binding. That was why she never left Imperial service despite disagreeing with their actions. Her honor also bounded her to Thane, with whom she fell in love. Ciena fought within herself to honor these oaths, but it became too much for her to handle in her last few months of service, and she attempted suicide because of this.

In large part due to Imperial propaganda, Ciena was largely convinced that the Rebels were aimless terrorists and blamed them for the death of her friends. Upon her capture, she assumed that the New Republic would torture her but through Thane's influence, she acknowledged that the New Republic was more idealistic and virtuous.

Having been raised in the valleys of Jelucan, Ciena also still believed in the Force, something that Second Wavers such as Thane rejected.

Appearances

 * Lost Stars