Kazuda Xiono

"In my mind, that's what I was&mdash;Kazuda Xiono, the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy."

- Kazuda Xiono, to Poe Dameron and Neeku Vozo

Kazuda Xiono, nicknamed "Kaz," was a human male military pilot who served the New Republic in the years following the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War. The son of Senator Hamato Xiono, Kazuda served with the Starfighter Corps of the New Republic Defense Fleet during the cold war, at which point the Resistance recruited him to spy on the First Order. As a result, he was sent to the Colossus&mdash;an independent refueling station located on the Outer Rim planet Castilon&mdash;where Commander Poe Dameron instructed him to gather information pertaining to the local population's sympathies and determine if their allegiance was to the Republic or the First Order.

In order to avoid detection while engaging in espionage, Xiono required an occupation that would serve as a cover for his spying activities. He therefore became a starship mechanic in Jarek Yeager's repair shop. Additionally, he supported Yeager's Team Fireball as a racer and stunt pilot. Before departing from Castilon, Dameron left his astromech droid BB-8 in Xiono's care, believing the droid could help Xiono realize his full potential as an asset for the Resistance.

Although Xiono struggled to maintain his cover as a mechanic, an occupation in which he had no prior experience, he was able to impress the platform's community by competing against Torra Doza in his first race on the Colossus. Furthermore, he contributed to its defense during a pirate raid on the platform, helping the Ace Squadron to drive off Kragan Gorr and his gang.

Early life
"As usual, you always need help&mdash;my help. I help you get into the Academy, I help you get into the Navy, I help you get everything you wanted."

- Hamato Xiono, to Kazuda Xiono

Born on the Core World Hosnian Prime in 14 ABY, Kazuda "Kaz" Xiono was the son of Senator Hamato Xiono, a wealthy politician who served in the Galactic Senate during the era when the galaxy was governed by the New Republic, years after the Galactic Civil War. Xiono, who aspired to become a great pilot, was awarded a trophy made from aurodium after winning his first race. He would keep it among his personal effects for years, believing the trophy brought him good fortune as well as the fact that it reminded him of his homeworld.

With his father's support, Xiono was able to enroll in a military academy which, in turn, led to service in the New Republic Defense Fleet. By then, the rise of the First Order gave way to a tense political standoff between the Republic and the Galactic Empire's successor. By 34 ABY, Xiono was serving as a T-85 X-wing pilot in the New Republic Starfighter Corps.

Joining the Resistance
"You can work on my team. But when it comes to your mission as a spy, I don't want anything to do with it."

- Jarek Yeager, to Kazuda Xiono

When New Republic Command acquired critical information pertaining to the First Order's operations in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, Xiono's squadron was tasked with delivering the intelligence to the Resistance. They were engaged by Major Elrik Vonreg, who sought to prevent the squadron from completing their mission. Unable to outmaneuver the First Order pilot, Xiono ordered his wingmates, Mia Gabon and Hugh Sion, to abandon the mission while he remained behind to await the arrival of their Resistance contact, Commander Poe Dameron. Together, Xiono and Dameron were able to drive off Vonreg's TIE.

Concerned by the First Order's growing influence, the Resistance sought to protect the Republic by gathering information relating to the hermetic state. Dameron therefore recruited Xiono into the organization. Although he was a pilot at the time, the Resistance sought to utilize Xiono as a spy for a classified assignment on the Colossus&mdash;an independent refueling station located on the Outer Rim ocean planet Castilon.

Dameron, who served as Xiono's point of contact, instructed the young operative to gather as much information as he could on the station's views concerning the Republic and First Order, as well as to determine which side the population ultimately supported. Xiono's activities as a spy required him to maintain a low profile; therefore, he found work as a starship mechanic in a local repair shop owned by Jarek Yeager. Yeager knew that Xiono was a spy and although he wanted nothing to do with the latter's mission, he allowed Xiono to join Team Fireball. In return, Xiono used his flying skills to the team's benefit, earning extra credits as a racer and stunt pilot. During his time with the team, he flew the craft known as the Fireball.

In addition to introducing Xiono to Yeager, Dameron entrusted the Resistance's new agent with his astromech droid BB-8. Dameron, who was reminded of himself by Xiono, believed that Xiono had the potential to become an invaluable asset to the Resistance. As such, he left his droid behind on the Colossus, believing BB-8 would be useful to Xiono in the course of his secret mission.

First race
"Nobody survived racing against me, but who knows? Maybe you'll be the first to walk away."

- Torra Doza, to Kazuda Xiono

One of Xiono's first contacts on the Colossus was Neeku Vozo, another member of Yeager's team. When Xiono expressed his ambition to be the best pilot in the galaxy, Vozo thought Xiono was, in fact, the most skilled flyer. As a result, gossip began to spread across the platform much to the dismay of Xiono, who had hoped to keep a low profile while spying on the First Order. At Aunt Z's Tavern, Vozo's assertion that Xiono was a great pilot was ultimately taken as a challenge, one that Xiono was initially hesitant to accept but could not forfeit without facing repercussions. However, he was permitted to choose the racer he would compete against, and his choice was Torra Doza&mdash;the youngest racer of the Ace Squadron.

Yeager loaned the Fireball to Xiono in order to compete in his first race. Although he accepted the ship, Xiono was dismayed by its condition and tendency to explode while flying, having grown accustomed to flying state-of-the-art starfighters such as the T-85 X-wing during his career as a New Republic pilot. Even so, Xiono managed to compete with Doza despite the superior quality of her racer, the Blue Ace, and nearly won the race until the Fireball failed when Xiono pushed its engines too hard. Even though he failed to win, Xiono managed to impress the Colossus' population with his racing skills and also secured his place as a mechanic in Yeager's repair shop.

Pirate attack
"There's too many pirates. They'll never hold them off. Come on, BB-8! I think I have an idea."

- Kazuda Xiono, to BB-8

The arrival of Hallion Nark, one of Yeager's clients, would put Xiono's skills as a mechanic to the test. By his own admission, Xiono only knew how to pilot a starship&mdash;he knew little about repairing them. His lack of mechanical expertise was apparent to his colleague Tamara Ryvora, however. In an effort to maintain his cover, Xiono claimed that he was a self-taught mechanic who learned the craft while working in a factory on Coruscant.

Xiono ultimately discovered that his client was, in fact, a fellow spy. However, Nark's allegiance was with Kragan Gorr and his gang of pirates. Working in secret with the First Order, Gorr's pirates intended to attack the Colossus with the assistance of their Neimoidian operative. Xiono sought to warn the station but was prevented by Grevel, a con-artist who had Xiono accosted in order to extort him for money. The pirates commenced their assault on the platform using the cover of a storm known as the "triple dark." While the Aces engaged the pirates, Xiono managed to acquire Nark's comlink which he used to broadcast a grating feedback loop over the pirates' comm channel. As a result of Xiono's actions, the pirates were unable to coordinate their attack and therefore withdrew from the battle.

Meeting Jace Rucklin
"Hey there! Me and my friends were just talking about you. You flew in that sky race against Torra, right? You've got some skill. What's your name?" "Kazuda Xiono. Friends call me 'Kaz'." "Jace Rucklin. I'm a racer, too."

- Kaz and Jace introduce themselves

While working on an engine in Yeager's shop one day, Xiono got distracted by a sky race, causing the engine to drift over the edge of the station and into the ocean below. Upon retrieving the engine, Xiono and Yeager got in an argument, and the former stormed off to Aunt Z's Tavern. There he was approached by the young racer Jace Rucklin, who took Xiono to meet Lin Gaava and Gorrak Wiles, the two members of his crew. The trio informed Xiono of Yeager's racing history and revealed that the mechanic had a hidden racer.

The crew then invited Xiono to a race against Rucklin where the two took speeder bikes just above the surface of the ocean to see who could reach a distant sky ring first. Unbeknownst to Xiono, Wiles had sabotaged one of the bikes as part of a plan to gain Xiono's trust. During the race, Xiono's bike malfunctioned, and after saving his life, Rucklin flew him back to Colossus on the back of his speeder. Once on board, Yeager happened upon the group and scolded Xiono for wasting valuable time and took him back to the shop. After a further scolding from Yeager, Xiono sneaked out once again to meet Rucklin and his crew. He found the three working on Rucklin's racer, and they convinced Xiono to help them sneak into Yeager's private hangar to get a look at his secret racer.

Once Xiono and Rucklin managed to sneak into Yeager's office, Xiono discovered several holograms from Yeager's past, including photos from the Battle of Jakku and of his family. The two were almost caught as Yeager and Ryvora entered the room, but they managed to escape unnoticed, and Rucklin took off with a container of hyperfuel. The theft was discovered by Bucket during an inventory check, and the rest of Team Fireball was alerted. Once Xiono was made aware of the danger involved with hyperfuel and the fact that it could turn Rucklin's ship into a bomb, he raced off to warn the others. He got to Rucklin just as the race was about to begin and jumped onto the racer to prevent him from taking off. The two began to fight, and the racer was accidentally launched. The two were ejected just before the ship exploded, but the emergency parachute had been removed in an attempt to reduce the weight of the racer. BB-8 managed to snag the two out of the air and pull them back to safety with the help of Yeager.

Rucklin went on to blame Xiono for losing the race and vowed that things were not over between them. Yeager took Xiono back to his shop where, to Xiono's surprise, the mechanic continued to allow him to be employed. He told the young man that he felt he was a good person, and allowed him to work on engine parts outside, where Xiono could watch the rest of the race. The platform carrying the engine parts, however, would once again drift over the edge of the platform into the ocean below.

Doza and the First Order
"We need to get into that tower and see what's up, BB-8."

- Xiono, to BB-8

After an announcement from Captain Doza informed the citizens of the Colossus that power was to be rationed for the night, Xiono, Ryvora, Vozo, and BB-8 headed to Aunt Z's Tavern for some drinks. While there, Aunt Z informed the group of her suspicions of Doza, accusing him of being part of the First Order, and Xiono decided he needed to infiltrate Doza Tower in order to discover what the Captain was up to.

Champion racer Hype Fazon entered the bar a short time later, and during a short conversation with Xiono, revealed that a First Order shipment was being delivered to the Colossus. Later that evening, Xiono went outside to watch the shipment come in, despite a curfew mandated by Doza, and discovered that the shipment was, in fact, being delivered by First Order stormtroopers. After being spotted by Ryvora, the girl revealed the reason for her resentment for Fazon, but the racer walked up behind her mid-conversation. He invited the two up to the Aces Lounge to talk.

While in the Tower, Xiono sneaked off to investigate the First Order presence, and he managed to place a comlink on a food tray being carried by a droid into Captain Doza's office. He used the comlink to listen in on Doza's meeting with Major Elrik Vonreg of the First Order and discovered that the Major was attempting to bribe Doza into aligning with the First Order by offering fuel and protection for the Colossus station. However, Xiono was found out when the droid carrying his comlink exited the office and walked too close to Xiono, causing the comlinks to produce a loud, high-pitched noise. Xiono fled down the hallways with the stormtroopers in pursuit.

Xiono unknowingly hid in Torra Doza's room, and she helped him escape out her window. He then scaled the side of the tower as the stormtroopers fired at him from a balcony, and the denizens of Aunt Z's Tavern began placing bets on whether or not the boy would fall. BB-8 opened a door allowing Xiono to evade the stormtroopers' blaster bolts. Vonreg approached Captain Doza and accused his daughter of aiding Xiono, but the Captain took his daughter's side and ordered the troopers to leave the Colossus. Xiono returned to Yeager's shop, and the power was restored thanks to the new shipment of fuel.

The fugitives from Tehar
Kaz heard about a 20,000 credit bounty for 2 children from bounty hunters Glem and Yani. He decided to find and help the children in order to use the bounty for parts needed for the Fireball. Kaz, along with BB-8 and Neeku, searched for the children and ran into them at the marketplace.

Personality and traits
"You ready for this? Heh. I'm never really ready for anything, but that hasn't stopped me yet."

- Poe Dameron and Kazuda Xiono, discussing their mission to Station Theta Black

Whereas Kazuda Xiono was confident in his abilities as a trained pilot in the New Republic Navy, he was less sure of himself when it came to his role as a Resistance spy. Despite feeling out of his element as a spy, Xiono was determined to make the best of his situation, largely through his cover as a mechanic in order to better carry out his mission for the Resistance.

He was loyal to the New Republic, having been born under its rule. Believing the First Order posed a threat to his government, Xiono felt compelled to support the Resistance in spite of his father, who viewed Leia Organa and her followers as extremists. Unlike Hamato, Kazuda was inspired by the Resistance, particularly by its leaders such as Organa and Poe Dameron.

Xiono was a human male who had black hair, brown eyes, and light skin. He had a scar on the left side of his temple hairline by the time of his assignment on Castilon.

Skills and abilities
"Get ready to be impressed."

- Kazuda Xiono

Kazuda Xiono specialized in piloting New Republic X-wing starfighters. Unlike his role in intelligence gathering, Xiono was both skilled and self-assured in the cockpit of a starfighter. Xiono's lack of mechanical expertise, however, posed problems with his cover on his undercover mission, as he was supposed to be a mechanic as well as a pilot, and had some difficulty learning. As he spent more time in his job his skills as a mechanic grew however, and was able to help repair the Colossus’s targeting computer.

Behind the scenes
Kazuda Xiono is the main character of the 2018 Lucasfilm Animation series Star Wars Resistance. He is voiced by Christopher Sean. Originally, the casting process called for an Asian American actor to play Kaz as they wanted to promote diversity, and Sean got the role following two auditions. According to Sean, Kaz "takes" the charmness and charisma of Han Solo, the instinct rebel of Poe Dameron, the Navy from his father Patrick Fiel and the clumsiness, silliness and goofiness from himself.