Gideon Smith

"Now hold on, birdsnack! You just sen dyour bill to Sebastian Parnell. Gideon Smith ain't paying a half credit to cover Imperial damages."

- Tormey

Gideon Smith was a Human miner in the Sil'Lume Asteroid Belt. He occassionally worked for the Tredway family and was friends with Sidney Shortfang, a fellow miner. He had a grudge against the Galactic Empire and jumped at any chance to cause them grief.

Biography
"You know nothing of the Rebellion! I've seen men and women by the thousands die for freedom&mdash;but this is the first time I've seen anybody die for stupidity."

- Luke Skywalker lamenting the death of Gideon Smith

In 0 ABY, Gideon Smith was working in the Sil'Lume Asteroid Belt when he encountered Luke Skywalker who had come to the Sil'Lume system to investigate the location for a possible Rebel base there. After witnessing the capture of Erling Tredway by Imperial troops led by Governor-General Sebastian Parnell, Smith took Shortfang in his ship, Rockcan to fly to 24 Tredway to warn Tredway's family of his capture. However, they arrived too late, and the asteroid had been attacked by the Empire, and the workers there massacred. However, with Skywalker's help, Smith and Shortfang located Erling's sister, Dena Tredway, who had been badly injured in the attack but was able to survive thanks to the help of droid workers at the facility. Smith, who was familiar with the mining tunnels, piloted a boss-buggy to help bring the badly injured Dena out of the mines. After loading her into the Rockcan, the group dropped her off at a nearby asteroid inhabited by Doctor Ire Eleazari, Dena's friend.

As Eleazari healed Dena, Smith, Shortfang, and Skywalker headed for Tol Ado, a prison planet where Erling had been taken following his arrest. The group infiltrated the base by posing as Imperial prisoners after Skywalker donned an Imperial uniform. Working together, the group was able to locate Erling's cell in the Deathblock and convince him to escape. However, after learning that his home and family had been massacred by the Empire, Erling was filled with rage for the perpetrators, abandoning his doctrine of peaceful resistance. Looking for revenge, Erling instigated a firefight with the Imperials. As Skywalker attempted to facilitate their escape in a repulsorcraft, Smith pushed Erling to the floor of the vehicle to protect him. The move caused Smith to be struck by blasterfire and he fell from the craft. As the Rebels sped away, Smith was shot to death by the Imperials as his friends escaped.

Skywalker greatly mourned Smith's death, believing that it had been easily avoidable if Erling had not attempted to fire on the Imperials in a desperate revenge bid.

Behind the scenes
Gideon Smith was created by Troy Denning and appeared in one of the role-playing strands of the 1990 West End Games role-playing supplement Jedi's Honor. During the scenario, the outcome of the adventure is dependent on the reader's choices. Skywalker can choose to abandon Gideon and Sidney to work on finding a Rebel base, leaving the two miners to their own devices, but this action results in a failure of the scenario.

If Skywalker is unable to convince Erling to come with them due to not visiting 24 Tredway earlier in the scenario, Tredway is left to die on Tol Ado and Smith survives the infiltration of the Deathblock. However, if the group has visited 24 Tredway, Erling agrees to come with them, resulting in Smith's death. There is no scenario in which Smith survives if Erling agrees to come with the Rebels.