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?"

- Luke Skywalker to Shara Bey

Shara Bey was a human female pilot who served in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. Lieutenant Bey and her husband, Sergeant Kes Dameron, had a son, Poe, whom they rarely saw during the war&mdash;a war they joined because they believed the galaxy was suffering under the rule of the Galactic Empire. Bey, a highly decorated A-wing pilot and a veteran of numerous battles, flew with Green Squadron in the assault against the second Death Star during the Battle of Endor.

Though she had hoped Endor would mark the end of the war, Bey continued flying for the Alliance in the many engagements that followed the Death Star's destruction. She led the defense of the planet Naboo when it was targeted by the Empire during Operation: Cinder, flying with Princess Leia Organa and Naboo's queen, Sosha Soruna, to save the planet. Three months later, Bey assisted Commander Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Knight, in retrieving two fragments of a Great Tree from the Empire on Vetine. She retired from the Alliance shortly thereafter.

Bey and her family settled in a colony on Yavin 4, where she continued to fly her A-wing as part of the moon's civilian defense. Bey, who taught her young son how to fly, died six years after the Battle of Endor. Poe followed in his late mother's footsteps and flew for the New Republic before defecting to Organa's Resistance to fight against the growing threat of the 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, which began in 0 BBY, and grew up during the reign of the Galactic Empire. She and her husband, Kes Dameron, saw that the galaxy was suffering under Imperial rule and felt the call to serve. As a result, they joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic prior to the Battle of Hoth, which was fought in 3 ABY. Bey became a lieutenant in the Alliance Fleet and flew an A-wing, while Dameron was a sergeant and a ground soldier. Together, they had a son, Poe Dameron, who was born two years after the Battle of Yavin, one of the Alliance's most decisive early victories. Poe lived with Bey's father while the war raged on, and neither Bey nor Dameron saw their son as much as they wanted to.

Bey became a distinguished Rebel pilot during the war, and 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. Bey fought in dozens more engagements during the war, and her fellow pilots, many of whom credited Bey with saving their lives, spoke highly of her.

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

Four years after the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance 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 L'ampar, 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 the Ewok 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, where she flew assist for Rampant Squadron. Seventeen days 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-fighters, 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 and lamented the fact that the war was not yet over. 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 condolence letters to the families of Rebels who were killed during the Battle of Endor, including Private Able Nereno, a nurse aboard the medical frigate Redemption. The princess explained that she wrote each one personally, rather than relying on a protocol droid, as her parents &mdash;the late Viceroy Bail Organa and Queen 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 their world 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 restoring 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 Emperor 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, the Torment, 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 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 command, 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.

As Bey started destroying the satellites, the princess and the queen fought against approaching TIE fighters&mdash;seventy-two in total, a full complement 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 arriving Alliances forces destroyed the Torment, prompting Imperial forces to retreat to Theed&mdash;where standard protocol would be to attack the city. Organa ordered Bey and the rest of the Alliance to head to the surface, where the Alliance and the Naboo were able to defeat the Imperial forces. After the attack on Naboo came to an end, Bey and Organa returned to the Rebel fleet. Once there, Bey reunited with Dameron, who had arrived with Calrissian's forces.

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

Over the next two months, 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 with 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, Captain 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 desertion. 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 his sister, Organa. 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. R2-D2 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 he asked why they would want to break into the lab to steal 'twigs.' Skywalker explained were the last two remaining fragments of a Great Tree that had once dwelled in the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, before the Emperor stole them. R2-D2, 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 R2-D2 retrieved the tree fragments; R2-D2 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 R2-D2 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 those who were part of it 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
"As long as the stars shine, Shara Bey will be remembered."

- Senator Leia Organa, after Bey's death

The request submitted by Lieutenant L'ulo 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 old Rebel 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. Poe's earliest memory was when he was two or three years old and Bey brought him into space let him play with the controls of the A-wing for the first time. Curious and adventurous even at that age, Poe did a few barrel rolls around the gas giant Yavin. It was through these adventures with his mother that he knew that he wanted to be a pilot like her. 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. Princess Leia, who had become a New Republic Senator, sent the two Damerons a condolence letter in which she recalled their time on Naboo during Operation: Cinder. Organa remembered that Bey did not want her to send a condolence letter if Bey had died over Naboo, but Organa felt that was her pride talking and that her death warranted a letter. She promised Kes and Poe that Bey would be remembered.

Many years later, Poe followed in his mother's footsteps and became a pilot in the New Republic Starfleet, though war was not as romantic as he had once thought. Losing his mother taught him that, amidst all of the heroic sacrifice in war, there were families who lost loved ones who would never return. After joining the Republic, 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 to 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 vanished into exile 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
"You ever think that this is never going to end?''" "''Ah, Shara, you can't think that way. Otherwise we're just fighting for the sake of the fight, right?"

- Shara Bey and L'ulo

Shara Bey was a human female with black hair, brown eyes, and light skin. She was a loyal member of the Rebel Alliance who, along with her husband, joined the fight against the Empire in order to help people who they felt were suffering under the Emperor's rule. Her son, Poe, spoke highly of his mother and remarked that, even in the midst of Imperial rule, Bey believed that the galaxy was a fundamentally good place. She once told him that change was sometimes necessary in order to remind the galaxy of what was important in life. Her sense of adventure, love of freedom, and piloting skills made her a hero to her son, and it was those traits that helped propel her towards the Rebel Alliance.

For many in the Rebel Alliance, the Battle of Endor seemed like it would be the end of the Galactic Civil War. Bey was no exception to this. She and her fellow soldiers were elated by the idea that they defeated the Empire and that a new chapter had been written in galactic history. Bey and Dameron both hoped that Endor would mark a new beginning for their family as well, so they could settle down somewhere and live their lives free of the struggle against the Empire. The reality of war, however, soon set in when Bey and others realized that the Empire would continue to fight against the Alliance. This strain made her further long to reunite with her family, particularly Poe, whom she rarely saw due to her duties in the war. What kept her going was the idea of building a better life for her loved ones. In the months after the Battle of Endor, she questioned whether she could leave the Alliance and the commitments she made to it, but she ultimately chose to leave so the sacrifices she and her family made were not for nothing.

Bey did not want to impose her burdens onto other people. During the fight against Operation: Cinder over Naboo, Bey asked Princess Leia not to write a condolence letter to Kes and Poe in the event of her death, not wanting to add to the princess' hardships. She did, however, open up to Luke Skywalker during their mission to Vetine, and he provided her with advice that helped her in making her decision to leave the Alliance and settle with her family on Yavin 4. Even as Poe grew older, she chose not to share her time in the war with him, preferring to keep the stories about her battles to herself. She told him only that her actions were not as important as the fact that she and her fellow fighters answered the call to liberate the galaxy from the Empire. Her fellow pilots, however, nonetheless remarked that she was a great pilot who saved their lives on numerous occasions, as noted in the records of the New Republic that she and her fellow Rebels fought to build.

Skills and abilities
"Green Four, want you tight on my wing.''" "''Green Leader, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

- Arvel Crynyd and Shara Bey

Bey was a decorated pilot in the Rebel Alliance. Her skills as a pilot earned her 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.

Equipment
While flying in her A-wing, Bey wore the standard green Rebel flight uniform for A-wing pilots of Green Squadron. Her garb outside of A-wing combat was similar; rather than a flight suit, she often wore a jacket that also bore the colors of Green Squadron, with a blaster pistol attached to her hip. She wore this jacket during her the assault on the Imperial outpost on Endor, the battle over Naboo, and while en route to Vetine. During the latter operation, she briefly wore a standard black Imperial officer's uniform as part of her and Skywalker's attempt to deceive the Empire into believing that she was Commander Beck.

Bey kept her A-wing when her service to the Rebel Alliance came to an end. The A-wing was kept outside of her home on Yavin 4, where she taught her son how to become a pilot just like her.

Behind the scenes
"Shara Bey may be a pilot you never met before, but her emotions, her concerns, what she does, what she believes, are real. If I can convey that successfully then we'll have a good story."

- Greg Rucka

Shara Bey, the mother of the character of Poe Dameron from Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, first appeared in the 2015 Marvel comic book miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Empire, written by Greg Rucka. Art for the series was provided by Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzueta, and Emilio Laiso. In creating the character, Rucka envisioned Bey as a tired veteran of the Galactic Civil War who comes out of the Battle of Endor feeling like the war has come to a close. This followed the tone of the film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which ends with the implication that the war is over and the Empire is no more. The war continues, however, and, through Bey, Rucka was able to show how normal people reacted to the reality that the Battle of Endor was not the definitive victory the Rebel Alliance hoped it would be. By telling this story, Rucka hoped that he could show Bey's emotions, concerns, beliefs, and actions with the same emotional resonance seen with characters like Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy films, particularly Return of the Jedi.

In developing both Bey and Kes Dameron, Rucka envisioned a backstory for the characters that did not get included in Shattered Empire and is subject to change in future stories. Rucka envisioned them as two people who were running a cargo service and decided to join the Rebel Alliance after the Battle of Yavin. Because of their young son, Poe, they had to consider what the future for their child would be. Rucka has said that while that origin is not set in stone in any Star Wars stories at this point, it gave the characters an emotional core and allowed him to know what Bey and Dameron were fighting for in Shattered Empire. Rucka also wrote the 2015 anthology novel Before the Awakening, part of which focused on Poe Dameron. Poe's story saw him learning more about his mother's time in the war and what motivated her to fight for the Alliance. The novel also revealed that Bey died when Poe was a child.

Appearances

 * Shattered Empire, Part I
 * Shattered Empire, Part II
 * Shattered Empire, Part III
 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Shattered Empire, Part IV
 * Before the Awakening
 * Poe Dameron 7: The Gathering Storm
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Graphic Novel Adaptation