Thane Kyrell

Thane Kyrell was a human male from the mountainous and remote planet of Jelucan, an Outer Rim Territory that was annexed by the Empire eleven years before the Battle of Yavin. He pursued his childhood dream of becoming a pilot with his best friend Ciena Ree, attending and graduating from the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant. After witnessing the destruction of Alderaan and the enslavement of sentient species on Kerev Doi, Thane soon joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic to end the tyranny and oppression of the Empire. However, his connection with Ciena Ree affected him more than he had initially thought possible.

Early life
Thane Kyrell was an aristocrat from the planet Jelucan in the Outer Rim Territories. He was the son of Oris and Ganaire and had an older brother named Dalven Kyrell. Thane had once outsmarted his brother by identifying the humming engine of a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle while traveling to the celebration of the Empire arriving on Jelucan. He also grew up as a friend of Ciena Ree, a rural villager. The two had bonded over their love of flying and pushed each other to excel. As the most accomplished students of Jelucan's academy preparatory courses, they were selected to attend the prestigious Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant. During their time at the academy, the friendship between the two cadets blossomed into a romantic relationship, though they did not act on it. Upon graduation, Thane was assigned to a top secret space station, later revealed to be the Death Star.

Imperial service
While stationed on the Death Star, Thane witnessed the destruction of Alderaan and was horrified. Soon after, he was assigned to scout an abandoned Rebel military base that had been built on Dantooine. He soon came to view them as an organized military force that had the potential to orchestrate precise, yet small attacks on any Imperial military installations or minor planets that were under their control. While he was there, the Death Star was destroyed, and the lack of communications from the rest of the Empire left him very worried for Ciena's safety. When he finally did return to the Imperial fleet, he briefly met with Ciena, with whom he shared a first kiss before they were forced to split ways again. Already becoming disillusioned with the Empire for the destruction of Alderaan and their massive disregard for the lives lost on the Death Star, he witnessed the enslavement of the Bodach'i on Kerev Doi, pushing him over the edge. He made the decision to desert from the Empire. Upon his desertion from the Empire, he visited his home planet Jelucan in order to hide from the Imperial Security Bureau agents that would be tasked to find him. Ciena was sent to find him, soon discovering him hiding on Jelucan. The two made love for the first time, but it was short lived. Ciena could not break her oath to the Empire, so she told them that he had committed suicide rather than tell them the truth.

Joining the Rebellion
Seven months after the Battle of Yavin, Thane worked as a pilot on the Mighty Oak Apocalypse under Captain Lohgarra. They often went on missions to help desperate worlds that were abused by the Empire, something Thane found fulfilling and purposeful. After a mission to deliver medical supplies to Oulanne following a flood that left many without food, water, and medical supplies, he was recruited by Wedge Antilles who had also sent aid from the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Although they did not have much to offer by way of supplies, this valiant display of concern for the people of the systems under their control forced Thane to contemplate joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Although he resented them for destroying the Death Star and killing many of his friends, he knew they were his best chance of stopping the cruel acts of the Empire.

Thane subsequently returned to the Mighty Oak Apocalypse to inform Logharra of Wedge's offer to bring him to the Rebel Alliance. Logharra too felt sympathetic to the Rebels' plight, given that her own people were enslaved by the Empire. However, she stated that if they were to join the Rebels, the decision would have to be unanimously by the crew, which would not happen for some time. He then confided to her his concerns that by joining the Rebellion, it would mean fighting against his friends in the Empire, including Ciena. Logharra assured him that the Force had a way of bringing people together when the time was right.

Battle of Hoth
Thane's initial assignments only involved ferrying cargo before later being assigned to Corona Squadron. A few years later, Thane helped set up Echo Base on the ice planet of Hoth. However, when the Empire discovered their location, Thane was forced to help tear down the base. While doing this, he talked to Dak Ralter briefly before being assigned to their respective snowspeeders for the upcoming battle.

Arriving earlier than the rebels had expected, the Empire invaded Hoth. Thane got into his snowspeeder with his gunner, a Twi'lek male named Yendor, and flew into battle with the goal of delaying the Empire until the rebel transports could escape. Using Thane's knowledge of the blueprints of an AT-AT and his extensive experience in flying, the two were able to destroy a walker by exploiting the weak spot in the armor of the walker, the ankle. Once the last transport had lifted off, the two raced to their X-wings and met with the rebels at the designated rendezvous. As he leaves Hoth, he sees the Imperial fleet and realizes that one day he might encounter Ciena in battle and unknowingly kill her.

Upon reaching the Liberty, Corona Squadron's home base, he learned from Wedge that Dak died on Hoth, which greatly depressed Thane. As he was handing out equipment to new recruits, he was reunited with his old friend from his days in the Royal Imperial Academy, Kendy, who had also deserted Imperial service.

Meeting Mon Mothma
With some time to breath, Thane decided to get himself hammered with jet juice and thus became heavily drunk. After stumbling through the Liberty's corridors, he finally decided to sit down against a wall, before an unknown woman appeared to support him and guide him to a chair. In his drunken stupor, Thane spilled out his life story and how much he loved Ciena to the stranger, who then offered him a cup of water.

Thane later found himself waking up in his bunk, where a coy Yendor revealed that their squadron was due for a briefing in a half hour. After getting a shower and a treatment from 2-1B, Thane arrived in the briefing and was mortified to discover that the woman who helped him the previous night was none other than Mon Mothma. After Mothma told Corona Squadron that they would be permanently based on the Liberty doing special reconnaissance missions for the Rebel Alliance, she then requested to speak with Thane privately. Once they were alone, Thane apologized for his previous unprofessional behavior. Mothma told him that she was not concerned with the events from the night before, but wanted to make sure that he did not doubt himself in battle again. He assured her that he was devoted to their case, and he took heed of her words that it was acceptable to love someone on the other side of the war so long as he loved the principles of the Rebel Alliance more.

Return to Jelucan
After scouting the planet D'Qar as a possible base, Corona Squadron returned to the Liberty, where Thane got down to talking with Kendy about Ciena. The discussion became more heated as Thane grew to accept that the woman he loved was gone.

Thane had listened to the Imperial transmissions from his home world of Jelucan, to his horror and dismay, Ciena's mother was being charged in an Imperial court for 'embezzling' funds from the local mine that she managed. This prompted Thane to request a few days leave from his commanding officer, so that he may stand with her family during a time of strife and betrayal. He was granted this leave on the merits that he would return, and that he wouldn't be missing when the Rebel fleet would jump to another system. When he reached Jelucan, he was alarmed and saddened by the state of his homeworld, where the sky was black with coal mining soot and the mountains were hollowed out from mining. He journeyed through the rapidly modernizing Valentia, awed by the fact that the valley folks and second-wavers were no longer distinguishable from each other. They all now wore factory made clothing supplied by the Empire. At Ciena's house, he planted the customary maroon dyed flag into the sandy trench in front, attempting to make amends with her. Throughout their interactions, Thane assumed that Ciena did not suspect he had joined the Rebel Alliance.

The two flew together in Thane's old ship, and it was as if they were never apart. Returning to the Fortress, their childhood hideout, Ciena revealed that she knew he joined the Rebellion and demanded to know why he would join a group she designated "terrorists" who killed Jude. Thane passionately defended the rebels and retorted that Palpatine was the terrorist for ruling by fear. Although they could not agree on who was fighting on the right side of the war, there was no denying their passion for each other. They shared a night together and made love under the blankets. Afterwards, Ciena revealed that she knew he was involved in the Battle of Hoth by how he flew his snowspeeder. In turn, Thane told her how he respected his superiors in the Alliance and how they in turn trusted him to return to Jelucan.

After the trial of Ciena's mother, he returned to the Rebel fleet, where he admitted to General Rieekan and Corona Squadron regarding his meeting with Ciena and her status as an Imperial officer. His admission took everyone by surprise, which quickly made him the least popular member of the squadron and despite his assurance that his starfighter did not have a tracker, it was checked anyway

Skirmish in the Hudalla system
Corona Squadron was assigned the task of scouting a buildup of Imperial forces off of one of the uninhabited moons of the Hudalla system. While they were assessing the size of the Imperial fleet, a squadron of TIE fighters led by Ciena Ree and Nash Windrider, his former roommate, engaged them. Nash was furious that Thane had joined the Rebellion and sought to kill him in the battle. The only thing that allowed Thane and most of Corona Squadron to escape without heavy casualties was Ree's involvement in shielding Thane's X-wing from Nash while he was preparing to jump to hyperspace.

Battle of Endor
He then participated in the Battle of Endor, where the role of Corona Squadron was to cover the other squadrons as they entered the Death Star. Within moments of the start of the battle, he witnessed the annihilation of the ship he and Corona Squadron had been stationed on, the Liberty, by the superlaser of the Death Star. While they waited for the shield generators on Endor to be taken down, Corona Squadron damaged the engines of the Subjugator. When the shields went down, the Rebels attacked the exposed Death Star led by General Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon.

Battle of Jakku
A year later, at the Battle of Jakku, Thane and other Imperial defectors were tasked with capturing the Imperial Star Destroyer Inflictor for the New Republic. Using their knowledge of Imperial ship design and procedures, the Rebels successfully boarded the Inflictor, using Thane's knowledge of the Star Destroyer gained during his time at the Royal Imperial Academy. The strike team then successfully disabled the ships engines and self-destruct system. Thane recognized the voice of Ciena Ree being played throughout the vessel on the intercoms, calling for the evacuation of all Imperial personnel within the designated time limits to prevent the Inflictor from being captured by the Rebel forces. Telling the rest of his crew to abandon the ship, he headed to the bridge, which Ciena had sealed off. Remembering the quote Ciena used to show her deceased sister beautiful or surprising moments in her life, "Look through my eyes", he cracked the password and entered the bridge. Although Ciena's oath required her to see the ship destroyed, he tried to take her with him, and the two fought. Using his physical strength, he subdued her and carried her away to an escape pod, narrowly ejecting into the atmosphere in time to survive. When they came to a stop, a squad of New Republic commandos arrived and arrested Ciena.

Thane finally managed to visit Ciena in prison after a week of repeated attempts. Although Ciena had remained loyal to the Empire, she could see its faults and wished that her oath no longer stood. She thought that the New Republic would make an example out of her, torturing and executing her, but Thane assured her that even if she didn't give up an intel, the Republic did not treat its prisoners of war that way and were very lenient. He remained confident in the goodness and fairness of the Republic, vowing to wait for her as long as it took so they could be together.

Appearances

 * Lost Stars