Iden Versio

"We fight so that others can live. And if we die, it better be for the same reason."

- Iden Versio, to Zay

Iden Versio was a human female soldier who served in the military of the Galactic Empire. A TIE fighter pilot in the Imperial Starfighter Corps, Iden became Commander of Inferno Squad, an Imperial Special Forces commando unit assembled by her father, Admiral Garrick Versio, in response to the destruction of the Death Star. Along with Agents Gideon Hask, Del Meeko, and Seyn Marana, she infiltrated the Dreamers and successfully destroyed them, though Marana died in the mission. Inferno Squad would later go on to participate in and conduct special operations for the Empire in the Galactic Civil War, and, in 4 ABY, participated in the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Emperor Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star, resulting in the fracturing of the Empire with the lack of a line of succession and broken chain of command.

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, the secret Contingency was activated, and Messenger droids carried the final posthumous orders of the Emperor to select Imperial officers, among them Admiral Versio: Operation: Cinder was to begin at once. However, when climate disruption arrays targeted the Versio homeworld of Vardos as part of Operation: Cinder, Iden and Meeko both went rogue, escaping aboard the Corvus and surrendering to the Rebel Alliance. Iden and Meeko both agreed to help the Rebellion combat Operation: Cinder at the Battle of Naboo, and ultimately decided to defect to the Rebellion and join the New Republic.

Retaining her rank of Commander of Inferno Squad, Iden fought against the Imperial remnants throughout the final year of the Galactic Civil War, making attempts to capture Hask and her father. Inferno fought at the Battle of Jakku, where Iden and Shriv Suurgav answered several distress calls and fought against Hask, who was shot down by Iden. She later attempted to save her father aboard the Eviscerator, but her father declined her rescue attempt, choosing to go down with his ship, though made peace with Iden in his final moments. Iden fled in an escape pod, crash landing on Jakku and reuniting with Del and Shriv.

Iden and Del went on to marry and had a daughter named Zay. Twenty-nine years after the Battle of Jakku, Del went missing, and Iden, accompanied by Shriv and Zay, went in search of him. This led them back to Vardos, where they were met by Hask, who had survived the Battle of Jakku and become an officer of the First Order. He revealed to her that he had killed Del; and during a skirmish aboard his Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Retribution, during which they stole schematics for the First Order Dreadnought, he attempted to kill Zay as well, but Iden killed him first. Before his death, however, he managed to fatally wound her. Iden died in her daughter's arms as the Retribution came out of hyperspace into the Battle of Starkiller Base. Zay and Shriv went on to deliver the plans for the First Order dreadnought to the Resistance, whereupon Poe Dameron used them to take down the Fulminatrix during the evacuation of D'Qar.

Early life
Iden Versio was born and raised on the planet Vardos during the era of the Galactic Empire. She was the daughter of Garrick Versio, an admiral in the Imperial Security Bureau; and Zeehay Versio, an artist who contributed to the design of propaganda posters. Following in her father's example, Iden trained to become a soldier of the Empire, and to that end attended the Future Imperial Leaders Military Preparatory School on Vardos, and following that enrolling in the Imperial Academy on Coruscant, the Imperial capital world. Versio later graduated from the Imperial Academy with honors, at the top of her class.

Early Service
Assigned to the Death Star as a Senior Lieutenant, Versio was present for the Destruction of Jedha City in 0 BBY, in which Jedha City, an ancient city located on the desert moon Jedha, was destroyed by the Death Star's superlaser. The ensuing destruction also obliterated the ancient Temple of the Kyber, and killed Saw Gerrera and his group of rebels known as the Partisans.

Shortly after the destruction of Jedha City, Versio was present for the Battle of Scarif, in which the Death Star's superlaser was used to destroy an Imperial facility which had been infiltrated by rebels, who sought to steal the Death Star plans which were present at the Imperial facility. The ensuing blast wiped out an entire region, along with several rebel ships which had been trapped within Scarif's shield, though rebels on the ground were able to transmit a copy of the plans to a rebel ship in orbit. The plans were then transferred to a blockade runner under the command of Princess Leia Organa.

Following the engagement at Scarif, the planet Alderaan was chosen by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin as a suitable test of the Death Star's superlaser. Upon it's arrival in the Alderaan system, the superlaser was charged, and on Tarkin's order fired, destroying Alderaan. As most personnel aboard the Death Star had been ordered to do, Versio watched the destruction of Alderaan.

Battle of Yavin
"Attention, pilots. Death Star is now six minutes out from target." Respectfully, Commander, with only six minutes until the entire moon's destruction, why are we out here? Surely thirty one-person ships won't be able to do anything resembling damage to the Death Star in that amount of time."

- Versio, questioning her squadron's deployment

Iden participated in the Battle of Yavin under the callsign TIE Sigma Three. As the Rebel Alliance launched fighters to attack the Death Star, Versio and her squadron were deployed to intercept them. She believed the Rebel fighters presented no threat to the Imperial station and questioned her deployment, but once she was warned not to waste Darth Vader's time, she kept silent about it and followed orders. During the course of the battle, Versio shot down several Rebel fighters. Ultimately, rebel pilot Luke Skywalker was able to fire a pair of proton torpedoes down the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, which triggered a chain reaction resulting in the battle station's destruction. Following the Death Star's explosion, Versio's TIE fighter was struck by debris from the station, causing her to lose control of her TIE and crash-land on Yavin's moon, Yavin 4.

Commander of Inferno Squad
In response to the destruction of the Death Star, Garrick assembled Inferno Squad; which consisted of Iden, Gideon Hask, Del Meeko, and Seyn Marana. Their first significant mission was to neutralize the Dreamers, a rebel group that had risen from the ashes of Partisans. This mission was ultimately a success.

Escaping the Invincible Faith
After being willingly captured by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Versio escaped with the help of Del Meeko's ID10 seeker droid after deleting Moff Raythe's intercepted transmission regarding the Imperial Fleet's position at Endor.

Battle of Endor
In 4 ABY, she participated in the Battle of Endor and witnessed the destruction of the second Death Star. Knowing they were defeated, the Inferno Squad looked to her for direction. Versio led her troops to avenge their Emperor, by hunting down the people responsible for his demise and the destruction of the second Death Star, namely, Luke Skywalker.

Returning to Vardos
After the Battle of Endor, Inferno Squad was briefed by Iden on their next mission, to extract an Imperial ally named Gleb from her homeworld Vardos. They were told this was an element of the Emperor's contingency plan Operation: Cinder, but were not given further details about the mission.

Upon arrival to Vardos, Iden learned Admiral Versio had deployed satellites above the planet to conjure an electrical storm as part of Operation: Cinder. Iden was furious, feeling the extermination of a people loyal to the Empire was immoral and unjustified. The Admiral ordered her to carry out the mission, clarifying that she was only to extract Gleb and nobody else. When Inferno Squad reached the Archive, where Gleb was waiting, an explosion caused by the electrical storm broke off some debris from the inside of the palace, crushing some citizens. Unable to stand the situation any longer, Iden and Meeko disobeyed Admiral Versio's orders and offered to evacuate some of the citizens via their ship, the Corvus. Gideon Hask, however, was adamant that they follow the original plan. Unbeknownst to Iden and Meeko, Hask had been given orders to kill them if they defected. When Hask drew his weapon to fire, Iden quickly disabled him by shooting him in the leg. Now traitors to the Empire, Iden and Meeko fought their way through Vardos to make it to the Corvus and escape. Along the way, they stole an Imperial AT-AT and used it to clear a path so they and some citizens could evacuate on the Corvus.

Defection to the rebellion
"We've been fighting our whole lives. It's taken us too long to realize that we were fighting for the wrong side....We would like to help you if you'll let us."

- Iden Versio to Leia Organa on her and Meeko's defection

Saving Naboo
"Welcome to the New Republic."

- Leia Organa to Iden Versio and Del Meeko

After they escaped Vardos, Meeko and Iden contacted the Rebellion and surrendered. Shriv Suurgav, a rebel officer, and Lando Calrissian talked with the now defected Inferno Squad, about either living a new life, or joining the fight against the Empire. Meeko and Iden joined the fight against the Empire's contingency plan on Naboo.

Iden and a fleet of other Rebel pilots engaged in the fight against a Star Destroyer and the weather satellites above the planet. Iden was successful in destroying the satellites, but she knew about an Imperial protocol that called for a jump to a safe location, and in this case, the target was Theed.

Once planetside, Iden met with General Leia Organa, where she was instructed to repair the power relays that would activate a sonic charge, deactivating all electronics in the surrounding area. With their weapons either destroyed or disabled, the Imperial forces immediately surrendered. After the battle, Iden, Meeko, and Leia formally met, to which Organa chastised them for all they had done to the Alliance. Iden apologized, and owned up to the facts that what she did was inexcusable, but she wanted to fight for what was right. Leia accepted her offer and welcomed Iden to the New Republic.

Rescuing Han Solo
Six Months later, Iden received a call from Organa, asking her to find the missing General Han Solo on Takodana. Iden and Del arrived and helped him deal with some Imperial forces, allowing the smuggler and his partner Chewbacca to escape and prepare for the eventual liberation of Kashyyyk. They regrouped at the Corvus, where Iden spoke with Organa again, discussing the Imperial forces on Bespin and Sullust, and giving Iden the hope that her father could possibly be captured, and stopped. Organa agreed that this would be a huge advantage for the New Republic.

Chinook Station
Iden and Meeko later traveled to Chinook Station on Bespin looking for Hask. Hask was overseeing a refuel operation on Admiral Versio's fleet. Iden and Meeko believed Hask could help them track down the Admiral. The two landed at the station, and went undercover as Stormtroopers. They traveled across the station and up the tower, but to their dismay, Hask had anticipated their arrival and had already evacuated. Fighting their way through the ambush, they commandeered a Cloud car and proceeded to blow up the fueling stations where the Star Destroyers were docked.

Sullust
Iden and Meeko regrouped with the crew of the Corvus, where she briefed Shriv, who later accompanied Calrissian, on an infiltration mission to an abandoned weapons depot on Sullust, where they were to steal weapons cache. Although the weapons were not recovered, Calrissian destroyed the factory to prevent the weapons from falling into Imperial hands. Iden picked up the two from an AT-ST that was close to being swallowed up by lava.

Battle of Jakku
"This battle could be the end of the war. Let's get in, and we do what we can to help."

- Iden Versio to Inferno Squad

Right after the destruction of the facility, Iden was informed by Admiral Gial Ackbar that all Republic ships were to go to Jakku, where the rest of the Imperial Navy was waiting.

During the battle, Iden helped out the Republic by rescuing ground forces, then taking out some TIE bombers and other such ships. Near the end of the Battle, the Corvus was disabled by some TIE fighters from Garrick's ship, as he was going to destroy it. Iden took out the fighters that were headed towards the Corvus, and seemingly defeated Hask in a lengthy dogfight. Iden's burning passion for her father led her to board the ship, and try to save him. While doing so, she crashed her X-Wing on the hull of the destroyer, and almost fell. She climbed up through the gaping holes in the ship, and fought her way towards the bridge where she met her father. Garrick recognized this as a rescue mission, but could not accept it, as he knew his daughter was much stronger than he was and that Gallius Rax also expected him to escape, stating Iden saw the weakness in the Empire, and didn't let it consume her and for her to live the life she deserved. Iden came to terms with him and the fact that her father was not leaving his post, and jettisoned an escape pod just as the destroyer crashed into the desert and was obliterated.

Meeko found Iden's downed pod, and helped her out. They then shared a kiss. Meeko told Iden that they had won the war, and it was all over. The moment was interrupted by Shriv, who invited them to come see the end of the battle and the final nail in the coffin for the Galactic Empire.

A New life
Following the end of the Galactic Civil War, Iden married Meeko and they had a daughter together. However, thirty years after the Battle of Jakku, Meeko went missing and Iden went in search of him. The First Order had discovered Del knowing the location of the man who possessed the map which would take them to Luke Skywalker's hideout, and so Kylo Ren was dispatched to retrieve the information. Successful in his interrogation, Ren ordered Del's old squadmate, Hask, to clean up the mess. After a brief banter, Hask executed Del aboard the Corvus and ordered Gleb to cover up everything, except leave the ship for Iden to find on Pillio in order to lure her to Vardos.

Joining the Resistance
Shortly after the death of Del Meeko, Resistance soldier and friend of Iden, Shriv Suurgav found the Corvus abandoned on Pillio. With the crew and Del gone, Shriv worried by this contacted Iden, who was flying in an asteroid field with her daughter, Zay. The duo then made their way to the Corvus, where Shriv told Iden and Zay the situation. The three began their search for Del, which led them to the planet Athulla, where they received a transmission from an Athullan asking if they found his people, only to realize they weren't Del. Before learning more on what the mysterious "Project: Resurrection" was, the transmission was cut off by a Jinata Security fleet commanded by Leema Kai, who lead the kidnappings of Athullans.

Iden and Zay managed to disable the fleet and eliminate Leema, with the J-Sec fleet surrendering and telling them about "Resurrection", after Zay threatened to fire the Corvus's concussion missiles, which turned out to be a bluff. This lead them to believe Protectorate Gleb was holding Del prisoner on Vardos, where the Corvus headed next. After landing on the planet they discovered the scars left behind from Operation: Cinder 30 years ago, as they were walking through the ruins Shriv and Iden spotted a bright red flash out in the distance. Making their way to the place where Del was supposedly being held, the two found Gleb dead on the floor, who was executed by Hask for failing to keep Project: Resurrection confidential, stating she had "Outlived her usefulness and purpose to the First Order." He also taunted Iden stating he had waited for the day he could get revenge on her for her and Del defecting 30 years prior, revealing that he had killed Del and then would kill Zay next, stating the Republic's time was over and the First Order would rise up, with Iden realizing the flash of light she had seen earlier was the destruction of the New Republic thanks to Starkiller Base. To her horror, the Corvus was fired on and shot down by Hask's flagship, the Retribution. With confidence in his plans, Hask ordered Iden and Shriv to be interrogated and then executed, as well as the city burned.

As Iden and Shriv were escorted out of the building, fighting erupted between J-Sec and the First Order, giving Iden and Shriv an opportunity to escape to see if Zay had survived the crash of the ship. While fighting through both factions, they were able to discover several escape pod distress beacons, thanks to Iden's ID-10 Seeker Droid, whom Iden had named "Dio". Going through the escape pods, they eventually reunited with Zay, who had set up a snipers nest. After the fighting was over Iden told Zay that Hask had killed Del and that she had a plan to board his ship and kill him, but Zay talked her down, telling her it wouldn't bring Del back. The crew then altered the plan and decided to board Hask's flagship in order to deliver any useful information to the Resistance. Stealing two First Order Tie Fighters, the company made their way to the Star Destroyer but discovered they were unable to make an ordinary landing. The Star Destroyer's crew eventually became suspicious of the unusual behavior and attacked them. After a period of dogfighting, Dio found an entrance into the ship through a heat exhaust port by the engines, which they blew open, just as the Star Destroyer was preparing to jump into Hyperspace.

Successfully making their way into the ship, Iden and her companions fought their way to a control room, which contained the schematics for a First Order Dreadnaught, but were unable to escape while the ship was in hyperspace, so Iden devised a plan to force the ship out of hyperspace by destroying the hyperdrive. While Shriv went looking for a suitable escape ship, Iden and Zay fought their way to the hyperdrive control platforms, fighting through Stormtroopers.

Before making their way to the last objective and planting the last explosive Iden had Dio reroute Reinforcements to make things easier. Just after arming the last explosive, Hask snuck up from behind Zay and held her at gunpoint while taunting Iden to shoot him. Realizing she couldn't shoot Hask without risking hitting Zay, Iden threw her blaster down into the hyperdrive core. Hask, disappointed in her cowardice, prepared to shoot her, but was interrupted by Zay, who managed to break free and redirect Hask's blaster shots away, only to be knocked off the platform in the process. Iden managed to grab her daughter at the last second, but was caught off guard by Hask, who prepared to finish his old comrade off. Before doing so, Zay tossed her blaster to Iden and she shot Hask, sending him falling to his death in the reactor core and avenging Del.

With Hask dead, Iden hauled Zay back to safety, and the two retreated into an observation room while watching the explosions go off, ripping a part of the hull open and prematurely forcing the ship out of hyperspace near Starkiller base. Happy that their plan had worked, Iden suddenly doubled over in pain and showed the worried Zay a bloodied part of her shirt where a stray blaster bolt from Hask's pistol had struck her earlier. Zay, deeply saddened by this, tried to figure out a way to help her, but was reassured by her mother that there was no time and that as long as they would fight to keep others safe, even if it meant for them to die they would make a difference. After telling her daughter that Dio had to be brought to the Resistance and that she loved her, Iden succumbed to her wounds with Zay left alone, deeply saddened by her mother's death. As Shriv contacted Iden and her daughter, Zay told him she was the only one left, with Starkiller base imploding into a star out in the distance. Zay, remembering Iden's last words, made her way to Shriv and the two made their way back to the Resistance's base on D'Qar as they were evacuating. Zay and Shriv were redirected to the Outer Rim by General Leia Organa, in hope of finding hidden allies of the Resistance.

Personality and traits
Before the evacuation of Vardos, Versio saw Emperor Palpatine as a great leader, and was fiercely dedicated to the Empire, due to her father's Imperial background and her planet's pro-Imperial sentiments. She believed that the Empire was the best hope for stability and peace in the galaxy, and existed to protect its citizens from terrorism and atrocities. She believed that the Empire should protect its own, and made a point to assist trapped stormtroopers during the Battle of Endor.

Iden possessed a stoic and occasionally intense personality, likely a product of her Imperial background. She recovered quickly from shock and thought quickly on her feet. However, she was also compassionate towards civilians and friendly, though professional, with her squadmates and crew.

Following the destruction of the Death Star II, however, Iden became increasingly disillusioned with the Empire. She expressed anger at how the Emperor's attempted trap at Endor had led to military disaster, and grew increasingly frustrated with and suspicious of the opaque and secretive nature of Operation: Cinder. She thought the Empire was turning away from what it was meant to be. This ultimately led to her deserting the Empire during Operation: Cinder's destruction of Vardos, which she saw as a betrayal of Imperial values.

After her defection, her political views came to change. She viewed the Empire as tyrants for destroying her homeworld and countless others. Iden took a liking to the rebels during the subsequent Battle of Naboo, and eventually joined them full-time.

Behind the scenes
Iden Versio first appeared in a teaser trailer for the upcoming 2017 video game Star Wars Battlefront II that was leaked on April 11, 2017. The character was officially revealed in the Star Wars Battlefront II panel at Celebration Orlando on April 15, 2017. She was portrayed by Janina Gavankar. From a development standpoint, Versio is intended to be one of the "nobler heroes" of the Empire.

On December 13, 3 new campaign missions for Star Wars Battlefront II featuring Versio were added, taking place during the rise of the First Order, not too long after the main campaign's ending.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
 * Star Wars Battlefront II