Shara Bey

"&hellip;if the cost of our struggle is the lives we fought to protect, the future we hoped to see, then what is it we were fighting for?"

- Shara Bey

Shara Bey was a human female RZ-1 A-wing interceptor pilot who served as a lieutenant in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. She and her husband, Sergeant Kes Dameron, joined the Alliance because they believed that the galaxy was suffering under the rule of the Galactic Empire. Together, she and Dameron had a son, Poe, who lived with Bey's father while Bey and Dameron fought in the war. Bey, a highly decorated pilot and a veteran of numerous battles, flew with Green Squadron in the assault against the second Death Star during the Battle of Endor, while Dameron fought in the ground assault on Endor.

Though she had hoped the Battle of Endor would mark the end of the war, Bey continued flying for the Alliance in the many engagements that followed the destruction of the Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine. She was assigned as the pilot for Princess Leia Organa and traveled with the Rebel leader to Naboo, where Organa hoped to rally support for the establishment of the New Republic. While there, the Empire began an assault on the planet as part of Operation: Cinder, a contingency order targeting planets in retribution for the Emperor's death. Bey, Organa, and Queen Sosha Soruna flew starfighters into orbit to knock out the satellites that threatened to destroy Naboo. They survived against the overwhelming odds due to their teamwork and the timely arrival of Rebel forces. Bey later assisted Commander Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Knight, in retrieving two fragments of a Force-sensitive tree from Vetine.

After her mission to Vetine, Skywalker gifted one of the tree fragments to Bey, who soon ended her service in the Rebel Alliance. She and Dameron moved with their son to a new colony on Yavin 4, where they planted the tree outside of their home. As part of her compensation package at the end of her service, Bey was given her A-wing fighter and brought it with her to Yavin, where she still occasionally flew as part of the moon's civil defense. Prior to her death six years after the Battle of Endor, she would often take her son up with her and let him pilot the fighter, with her guidance. When he was older, Poe followed in his late mother's footsteps and flew for the Republic before defecting to the Resistance to fight against the emerging First Order.

A distinguished pilot
"People were hurting. People were suffering. Your father and I couldn't sit and do nothing."

- Shara Bey, to Poe Dameron, about her military service

Shara Bey was born some time prior to the Galactic Civil War. She and her husband, Kes Dameron, saw that the galaxy was suffering under the rule of the Galactic Empire and felt the call to serve. As a result, they joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Bey became a lieutenant in the Alliance Fleet and flew an RZ-1 A-wing interceptor, while Dameron was a sergeant and a ground soldier. Their son, Poe Dameron, lived with Bey's father while the war raged on, and neither Bey nor Dameron saw their son as much as they would have liked.

Bey became a distinguished Rebel pilot. At some point during the war, her actions during the Liberation of Gorma earned her the Bronze Nova for Conspicuous Gallantry. Less than one week later, she earned her triple ace while raiding an Imperial fuel depot at Beroq 4, during Operation: Mynock Bite. These were just some of the dozens of engagements she fought in during the war. Her fellow pilots spoke highly of her, many of whom credited Bey with saving their lives.

Battle of Endor
"When I was on the ground, back at Endor, there was this moment when the bucketheads had us. We'd been surrounded by stormtroopers, all of us, caught. I thought we were done, I thought we had lost, and I mean everything. The war, everything. I looked up, past trees taller than these, into this perfect blue sky. You could just barely see the Death Star in the daytime. I knew what was happening up there, the battle they were fighting. And I thought that your mother was looking down on me, right then. In the middle of whatever she was doing, whatever fight she was fighting, it was like I could feel her eyes on me. I could feel how much she loved me, and how much she loved you."

- Kes Dameron tells his son, Poe, about the Battle of Endor

The Alliance eventually learned that the Empire was building a superweapon, a second Death Star, in orbit of the Forest Moon of Endor. The Alliance Fleet assembled and launched a massive attack against the battle station. Bey flew with Green Squadron during the assault against the Death Star, while Dameron served on the ground as one of the Pathfinders, an Alliance Special Forces unit under the command of General Han Solo, to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star. After the Pathfinders destroyed the generator, Bey and her fellow Green Squadron pilots defended the Millennium Falcon, piloted by General Lando Calrissian, as it entered the Death Star's super structure for the final attack. Calrissian and his fellow pilots destroyed the Death Star's main reactor, setting off a fatal chain reaction inside the station. Imperial ships began to flee in order to escape certain death, including an Imperial shuttle. Bey followed the shuttle to destroy it, but she was soon contacted by its pilot, Rebel Commander and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, who had been aboard the Death Star&mdash;and whose actions led to the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and his apprentice, Darth Vader. Bey allowed Skywalker to pass unharmed, and the Death Star exploded only moments later.

When the battle came to a close, Imperial forces were left in chaos and, for the most part, retreated from Endor. Bey returned to Home One, the Rebel command ship, and reunited with those fellow pilots who survived. She received permission from Lieutenant L'ulo, acting head of Green Squadron after Green Leader, Arvel Crynyd, was killed during the battle, to join her fellow Rebels on Endor, where they were celebrating their victory in the home of the native Ewoks who helped the Pathfinders destroy the shield generator. Upon her arrival, she searched Bright Tree Village for her husband, hoping to find that he had survived the attack. Bey encountered Generals Solo and Calrissian, and she asked Solo where she could find the Pathfinders and received a compliment on her flying from Calrissian. She soon found Dameron, alive and well, and the two went for a walk in the village to talk about their future. It was their hope that the war had come to a close and they would finally be able to resume their life together.

The next morning, Dameron was called away by General Solo, who told the Pathfinders that there were Imperial hold outs in an outpost on the far side of Endor. Unwilling to leave Imperials for the Ewoks to contend with alone, Solo and General Crix Madine agreed that the Pathfinders would launch an assault to destroy the outpost and drive the remaining Imperials off of the Forest Moon. Bey volunteered to pilot the Pathfinders to the outpost, and the group soon set off for the far side of the moon. Once they arrived, Bey brought the Pathfinders' shuttle in at a steep approach vector in order to hide their approach. The vessel opened fire on the outpost, quickly taking out many of its defenses. Dameron and the other Pathfinders entered the outpost while Bey remained behind, waiting for some time until they finally returned&mdash;bringing with them intelligence regarding the Empire's post-Endor plans. The war, it seemed, was not yet over.

The war continues
"I suggest Lieutenant Bey act as flight leader. She has the most experience of any of us.''" "''I think that's a very wise suggestion, Princess Leia."

- Princess Leia Organa and Queen Sosha Soruna

With Endor behind them, Bey and Dameron once again went their separate ways. Bey continued to fly with Green Squadron, while Dameron went on more missions with the Pathfinders to press the decisive advantage the Alliance gained over the shattered Empire. One of the operations Bey undertook was the Beltire Liberation. Seventeen days later after the Battle of Endor, Bey flew in a battle in Cawa City on the planet Sterdic IV. She and her fellow pilots destroyed a number of TIE/LN starfighters, as well as an All Terrain Armored Transport, in their successful effort to liberate Cawa City from the Empire. After the battle, she spoke with L'ulo about how much fighting had taken place since Endor. Green Leader encouraged her to take a lighter assignment next, as she had been working non-stop since the Battle of Endor.

Three days later, Bey had returned to the Alliance Fleet and was assigned to be the personal pilot of Princess Leia Organa, one of the leaders of the Alliance, on a mission to the planet Naboo, where Organa hoped to rally support from the planet's government for the establishment of a New Republic. Together, they flew to Naboo without an escort; despite the princess' critical value to the Alliance, there were fears that a large group of ships headed to Naboo, the Emperor's homeworld, would attract Imperial attention. While en route, Bey talked to Organa as the latter wrote letters to Rebels who were killed during the Battle of Endor, including Private Able Nereno, a nurse aboard a medical frigate. The princess explained that she wrote each one personally, rather than relying on a protocol droid, as her parents &mdash;the late Bail Organa and Queen of Alderaan Breha Organa of Alderaan &mdash;had taught her the value of a personal touch.

The duo soon arrived in Theed, the capital city of Naboo. Bey was surprised to see that Naboo was so peaceful, considering it was the homeworld of the Emperor. As the princess explained, terror was the greatest weapon that the Emperor possessed. For Naboo, their terror was the knowledge that he could have destroyed Naboo at any time, so they remained loyal to the Empire. Soon after the duo arrived, they were greeted by Governor Donta Gesset, who escorted them to the Theed Royal Palace to meet with Queen Sosha Soruna. Once there, Organa asked the Naboo to join with the Alliance in forming the New Republic and the restoration of the Galactic Senate. For the queen, it was an easy decision&mdash;Naboo would join the New Republic. Just as she agreed to join, the Empire began to lay siege to Naboo through the launch of Operation: Cinder, a posthumous contingency order from the Empire to destroy the planet's environment and render it inhospitable in retaliation for his death. To carry out the order, the Empire launched satellites from an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer in orbit. These satellites, designed to disrupt the environment of the planet, caused major storms to erupt across Naboo.

In the midst of the fires, flooding, and widespread destruction across the planet, Bey deduced that there had to be satellites in orbit in order to carry out such an attack. As a result, that meant that starfighters would need to be scrambled to destroy the satellites. Although the Emperor demilitarized Naboo, some N-1 starfighters left over from the Battle of Naboo many decades earlier remained hidden in a secret hangar, though there were no combat-ready pilots to fly them. The queen escorted the group to the old hangar, where Bey, Organa, and the queen herself all volunteered to fly the mission. Although Bey was in the presence of royals, she was placed in combat, at Organa's suggestion, due to her combat experiences. With the question of command settled, the three starfighters took off into the storm and readied to engage Imperial forces in orbit.

The trio engaged the Imperial presence in orbit. As Bey started destroying the satellites, the princess and the queen fought against approaching TIE fighters&mdash;seventy-two in total, a full compliment from the Star Destroyer. Bey's fighter was damaged in the battle, enough to where she was believed she was about to die. She asked the princess not to write the condolence letter to her family, as Bey did not want to add to Organa's burdens. Before the Imperial fighter could kill her, though, the two other pilots managed to destroy the pursuing TIEs and save her life. The three of them remained outgunned as they took out the remaining satellites, but they were saved by the timely arrival of General Calrissian and the Alliance Fleet, which had learned about Operation: Cinder due to intelligence gathered by Dameron and the Pathfinders during a raid against an Imperial Security Bureau black site. The attack on Naboo came to an end, and Bey and Organa returned to the Rebel fleet. Once there, Bey reunited with Dameron, who had returned with the Pathfinders.

One last mission
"What makes these little trees so special that you two Rebels would try to bluff your way in here to steal them?''" "These are all that remain of the tree'' that grew at the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

- Commandant Hurron and Luke Skywalker

In the three months that followed the battle over Naboo, the Alliance fought against Operation: Cinder on numerous worlds. The months of continued fighting saw Bey growing dispirited about the prospect of the war ending anytime soon or being able to live a normal life for her family. Dameron put in his formal request to be relieved from duty within the Alliance, but Bey felt she had an obligation to continue fighting. Nonetheless, Lieutenant L'ulo took it upon himself to submit the request on her behalf. She objected to the gesture, but he told her that it was not deseration. She had earned the right to live a life with her family, a life free of the war.

With the request expected to take a week to be processed, the war gave Bey one last mission to carry out. After speaking with L'ulo, she was approached by an astromech droid named R2-D2. The droid escorted her to Commander Skywalker, who was waiting in the hangar with an Imperial shuttle, the Antarra&mdash;one that he said flew better with a co-pilot. He sensed that Bey was familiar and she reminded him of their close call during the destruction of the Death Star, when she nearly shot him down as he was escaping, and Skywalker also knew about her through Organa &mdash;his sister. Skywalker asked Bey to join him on a mission to the planet Vetine, in the Merrick sector, a mission that she said she was honored to undertake with the famed Jedi Knight. Artoo joined them on the mission as well.

While en route, Skywalker gave Bey an Imperial officer's uniform and explained that she would be posing as Commander Alecia Beck, an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, whose clearance codes the Pathfinders had stolen during the raid at the Wretch of Tayron. Skywalker also explained that the mission was intended to retrieve something that the Emperor had stolen, but the Jedi did not explain what he was hoping to find. The Antarra soon arrived and transmitted its clearance codes, allowing it to land safely outside the Imperial base. Bey posed as Commander Beck while Skywalker acted as her bodyguard, a ruse that saw them greeted by Commandant Hurron. Bey claimed that she, as Beck, was there to perform a surprise base inspection. Hurron, who in reality knew that they were Rebel infiltrators, feigned ignorance and allowed them entry into the base.

Inside the facility, Hurron explained that security at the research base was tighter in the wake of the Battle of Endor, with the base even more restricted than it once was. He further explained that one particular lab, the one that Skywalker was looking for, was accessible by only himself and the Emperor, revealing that he never understood the need for such a restriction&mdash;until Bey's arrival. He admitted that he knew she was not Commander Beck, as Beck was missing her left eye. Hurron brought them into the lab where they found two tree fragments. Hurron's stormtroopers took aim at the two Rebels and asked why they would want to break into the lab to steal 'twigs,' so Skywalker explained were the last two remaining fragments of a Force-sensitive tree that had once dwelled in the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Artoo, who had been secretly holding Skywalker's lightsaber, released the weapon, and a battle against the Imperial forces began. Skywalker held off the stormtroopers while Bey and Artoo retrieved the tree fragments; Artoo released the force field holding the trees in place, and Bey caught them before they fell to the ground.

The three Rebels fought their way out of the facility and into its halls, where they were confronted by stormtroopers firing a blaster cannon at them. Skywalker destroyed the weapon and took out the troopers, giving the Rebels a chance to escape back to the Antarra. Once on the landing pad, Hurron and his forces caught up with them and began firing at them, though Skywalker merely deflected the blaster shots with his blade. Realizing that blasters were ineffective, Hurron ordered his men to throw detonators at them. Skywalker used the Force to toss them back, engulfing the Imperial forces in a massive explosion and giving the Rebels a window to leave Vetine. As the Rebels began their return trip, Skywalker said that Artoo had overheard Bey talking to L'ulo and knew that Bey was thinking of leaving the Alliance. Bey said she was tired and she felt guilty for wanting to leave, but that she knew the war was only worth it if they could live the lives they fought to protect. Skywalker admitted that the only reason he asked the question was because he did not expect there to be two trees, and he wanted the fragment he did not keep to find a good home&mdash;one with Bey and her family.

Later years and legacy
"Let's go home, Shara Bey."

- Kes Dameron, after retiring to Yavin 4 with Shara Bey

The request submitted by Lieutenant L'luo was processed, and Bey's service to the Rebel Alliance came to an end. As part of her compensation package for ending her service, Bey was given the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor that she flew for Green Squadron. She brought that and the tree fragment Skywalker gave her, to Yavin 4, where she and Dameron made their home in a new colony located near the Great Temple of Massassi in which the Rebel Alliance had once established a base. Bey and Dameron planted the Force-sensitive tree outside of their house, giving it the good home that Skywalker had hoped for it.

In the years that followed, Bey continued to fly her A-wing as part of the civilian defense of their colony. Sometimes, she took Poe in the cockpit with her and let him sit on her lap and hold the controls, as she kept her hands on his and helped guide him in his earliest piloting experiences. They would fly together across the moon and even into space, adventures that made Poe come to love piloting. It was then that he knew that he wanted to be a pilot like his mother. Poe also grew up hearing stories about his parents' time in the war, while Kes was open with him about his war stories, Bey never liked to speak about her time in the Alliance. All she would tell him was that her own actions were not important, and what mattered is that they and other Rebels stood up to the Empire and answered the call to help free the galaxy. In the end, Poe never heard more of his mother's stories; Shara Bey died six years after the Battle of Endor.

Many years later, Poe followed in his mother's footsteps and became a pilot in the New Republic Starfleet. After joining, he found the files on his mother's service in the Alliance and found out she had received numerous commendations, as well as significant praise from her fellow pilots. Like Bey and Kes, Poe came to fear that what the Alliance fought for would be for nothing; the First Order, which had risen from the ashes of the Galactic Empire, was becoming a threat to the Republic, but the Galactic Senate turned a blind eye because they did not believe that the First Order was powerful enough threaten the peace that was achieved at the end of the Galactic Civil War. Wanting to save the galaxy from the resurgent Imperial threat, Poe defected to the Resistance, which was founded by General Leia Organa to combat the First Order.

Poe became the best star pilot in the Resistance and was tasked with a mission to find Luke Skywalker, who had disappeared after his attempt to restore the Jedi Order was destroyed. In the ensuing events, Poe led the mission to destroy Starkiller Base, a First Order superweapon that had delivered a significant blow to the Republic by destroying its capital. The Starkiller's destruction allowed the Resistance to keep fighting, and Poe kept fighting as well to save the galaxy &mdash;just as his parents once did.

Personality and traits
Shara Bey was a human female with black hair, brown eyes, and light skin. Bey was a loyal member of the Rebel Alliance who, along with her husband, joined the Alliance in order to help people who they felt were suffering under the rule of the Galactic Empire. She was committed to her family, despite not seeing her husband and son often due to her duties in the war, but fought against the Empire in order to build a better life for her and her loved ones. Her loyalties to the Alliance to their fight for galactic freedom made her question whether she could leave the Alliance after the Battle of Endor, but she ultimately chose to leave so the sacrifices she and her family made were not for nothing. Bey kept her experiences in the war to herself; though her son, Poe, asked her about her war stories, she downplayed her own contributions and said what mattered was that she and Kes had answered the call to fight the Empire.

Skills and abilities
Bey was a decorated pilot in the Rebel Alliance. Her skills as a pilot earned her the the Bronze Nova for Conspicuous Gallantry during the Liberation of Gorma, as well as her triple ace during Operation: Mynock Bite. Her fellow pilots spoke highly of her abilities and her service to the Alliance, crediting her with saving many of their lives. These contributions were kept in the archives of the New Republic, which noted her service to the Rebel Alliance that gave birth to the new galactic government.

Behind the scenes
Shara Bey was created for the Marvel comic book mini-series Star Wars: Shattered Empire, written by Greg Rucka.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Shattered Empire
 * Before the Awakening