member backstories
endor network (nw)
You could swear you had seen her before. Or had you? Maybe it’s just that she looks exactly like someone you know… or used to, perhaps?
Ceit Ryder’s strength comes from her ability to blend in; to fade into different locations, situations, and roles no matter the system, class, or job. She’s the operative to send when a familiar face is needed to lull the target, to charm the crowd, or to go completely unnoticed and slip through the cracks.
You’d never expect that someone who grew up on the shores of Lake Andrasha on Chandrila would have wound up harvesting Golden Lichen on the spires above Surabat on Batuu or as a dancer entertaining in an establishment on Canto Bight before that. One thing is for sure: when you leave your home world looking for adventure, chances are you’ll usually find it; and pick up a decent number of new skills along the way. When Burgundy Squadron was looking for an operative to fit in as well as stand out, they found Ceit Ryder.
Zac Eskrin was raised on Ord Mantell, under the shadow of Black Sun. When the Empire arrived, he joined a partisan cell as a teenage saboteur. While the Rebel Alliance fought the Empire head on in the Galactic Civil War, Zac mastered the art of skullduggery - fighting the Imperial war machine from the shadows at home.
After the Battle of Endor, Zac left home to join the New Republic Army. His first deployment was to the Battle of Jakku, where his unit was annihilated. Psychologically scarred from losing his first command, he left the military after fulfilling his service obligation, seeking a more solitary life of revenge against the Empire. When the Senate outlawed bounty hunting, they expanded the New Republic Marshal service to fill that void. Zac found purpose delivering frontier justice to the Mid Rim as a Marshal, but his desire for revenge overshadowed his duty. Long suspected by his superiors of conducting unsanctioned operations, Zac had secretly been recruited into Burgundy Squadron to carry out extrajudicial assassinations of Imperial remnants. Despite the bloodletting, the justice he sought never materialized, leaving him cold and indifferent.
Zac spiraled further, forging deeper connections with the syndicates and indulging in gambling, spice, and drink. He founded Mid Rim Salvage & Recovery as a front for his illegal operations while still leveraging his tarnished Marshal badge. When the First Order rose and the Hosnian Cataclysm decimated the New Republic, Zac didn’t join the Resistance. Instead, he continued his rogue ways until a call to action from Commander Maddox.
Many years ago, the Partisans helped My Mom & I relocate to Lothal. Soon after, the Empire created a crater of our former home using their Death Star. I lost my Dad. We lost my Uncle Baze on Scarif. I was angry. I was chomping at the bit to get payback for what the Empire took from me. Many years later, I signed up for the New Republic Intelligence Services (NRI). I learned how to handle blasters, tech slicing, meditation, and reconnaissance. People who knew my Uncle Baze said I'm just like him: Pragmatic & cynical. But I found moments of joy - joy stickin' it to what's left of the Empire. That's how I got the nickname "Reigner." Constantly "raining on their parade."
But I pushed boundaries out in the field. I had nothing to lose until I got news I was going to be a father. News like that changes how you perceive a galactic war & your place in it. I slowed down on the NRI front. I began running transport for Dok Ondar & Hondo Supply. Mostly legitimate low risk runs. That gave me more time to spend with my kid. But I felt like my talent was being wasted. But then, Burgundy Squadron came knocking.
I'm sure my former anti-Imperial exploits led me to a meeting with Commander Maddox. He was forming a Squadron, but I was hesitant. Busting former Imperial skulls was an old version of me. I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to this cause. I already rebuilt what the Empire took from me. Family. Maddox continued the pitch and informed me who was asked to be involved: Ceit Ryder, Creeos Gho, then he name dropped Zac Eskrin. Honestly, this grabbed my attention. Eskrin was former Marshal of the New Republic. I looked up to him. If he was involved, this was serious. I knew then Burgundy Squadron wasn't out for themselves. They were out protecting the little guy. Protecting their fathers, their uncles, their kids... and now my daughter. They were reclaiming the debt of the Empire that built up all these years. They needed a new debt collector. I didn't have to hear much more. All I knew is I wanted to be the one that handed them the bill.
The mysterious individual who gave the Rebellion access codes to the Imperial ship yards on Corellia in the early days. This earned him passage throughout the Resistance networks. As with all who eke out a life in defiance of the empire, life is never black and white. Enough time in the grey will have anyone contemplating their decisions in this hard scrabble galaxy.
Once heir to a mining empire on forgotten Karvoss II, Salis A’voln lost everything when the Empire crushed his family. Forced into exile, he spent the cycles drifting across the galaxy—scrapper, crewman, miner, and more. Now, on Florrum, he works as a sulfuric gas processor, using an abandoned stronghold as a base of operations to secretly funnel the odd Imperial secret to his handlers along the Perlemian Trade Route. A man without a home, but with a mission—to help those who’d see the Empire fall.
Saelara was born to house Voss on Canto Bight. Known for breeding quality racing fathiers the family business opened many doors. However it was not enough for her parents who arranged a marriage for their young daughter purely for their own advantage. So Saelara smuggled herself aboard a weapons shipment to Kashyyyk with the goal to disappear.
Once she was discovered by the Wookies she was brought to a small, hidden village and given a home with a Wookie family. Wanting to leave her entire past behind she changed her name to Ta’ruun. She spent years learning the Wookie ways and traveling with the scouts. During the Imperial occupation she worked closely with the scouts to find secret paths and safe locations for villages. After working to relocate a neighboring village Saelara came home to find her village destroyed. The heartbreak and devastation broke her, leaving her feeling lost and hopeless. She solved this crisis the way she solved the last one, by running away.
From then on Saelara traveled from planet to planet, collecting and selling rare plant specimens as a traveling merchant. She determined never to settle in one place again. Her goal was to stay hidden in plain sight as she observed the Empire’s movements. She found greater purpose gathering and feeding information to Burgundy Squadron but kept her nomadic ways and avoided too many ties that might keep her in one place. Eventually she built a small homestead on Koboh, a planet with plenty of biodiversity for her study and collections. She now makes a yearly pilgrimage back to Kashyyyk where there are some Wookies that know her. No place will ever be good enough to make a permanent home but Saelara finds herself frequenting the same places. Lingering just a little longer in the forest, or looking for a familiar face in the market. In the midst of the chaos of the Empire hope is found in small moments.
Coen was raised on the five points system and always dreamed of having a home under a sky. By 15, Coen was an orphan and decided to leave the 5 points system. He stowed away on a ship and found a home on Sullust, initially spending a few hard years on the streets. In time, he learned to pilot ships and became a mechanic. He also found his passion in riding and eventually racing speeder bikes. Coen later moved to Orn Kios, where he began his career as a professional speeder bike racer. All too soon, imperial sanctions killed the local racing scene, and Coen returned to Sullust. He fell in with a group shipping and, at times, smuggling goods, often to anti-imperial forces.
Chez was born in the first years after the fall of the Empire to parents who had been displaced by the Galactic Civil War and was born on a long haul transport while travelling on the Hydian Way. The nomadic lifestyle was all he knew and has no planet to truly call his home- with this he is completely comfortable- he may even say, “I am from everywhere, and nowhere.”
After he parted from his parents in his 20s he travelled from planet to planet taking odd jobs delighting in learning the culture and customs of anywhere he found himself. On one such run of the galaxy he found himself out on the rim on the plains planet of Lothal. There he wandered into an unassuming junk shop and struck up a working friendship with the proprietor of Junk Traders Outpost, I’an Grayson. Grayson, needing an associate who could simultaneously sell his wares while traveling and gather new and interesting items to sell in his shop, found a person who did not like to sit still for very long.
As their partnership solidified over the years, I’an brought Chez into the inner circle of trust that Grayson was also a supporter and frequent supplier for the Burgundy Squadron. Chez then became not only a salesman but also I’an’s eyes and ears for all the goings on in the galaxy. With the ability to blend into any mundane way of life, Chez was able to acquire information that he would then send back in encoded data packages to I’an on Lothal with the revenue from his sales. Travelling from planet to planet, making sales, living simply, and taking the pulse of the galaxy, Chez has cemented himself as a useful ally to the Squadron.
Orek was a budding journalist full of hope at the promise of the Empire. He signed on for an internship with HoloNet News on his home planet Lothal. He was thrilled to be able to help spread the word about the Empire and their good works on Lothal to the rest of the galaxy. Orek was working at the Imperial Communications Center when the local Rebel cell sliced into the comms and sent out their Call to Action. While the message itself helped open his eyes slightly to the truth about the Empire, his mind was fully made up about who the good guys were when Tarkin issued the order to destroy the tower before an evacuation was complete. While Orek made it out with several major wounds, cybernetic implants helped him survive while most of his friends did not.
From that point on he dedicated himself to the truth - at any cost. He developed his slicing skills with a focus on getting the truth out. Continuing to pose as a journalist by day while also spying and data running, he was assigned to the Imperial Senate where he was able to record and help disseminate Senator Mothma's speech. This work caught the attention of Burgundy Squadron. Capable of being a public persona in the light as well as a spy, slicer, and information runner in the dark, he continues to help get vital information to Rebels in every corner of the galaxy.
Born in 15 ABY on the remote world of Tara Tonga, Venic Bulsarc grew up among ship graveyards, scrap fields, and forgotten settlements along the outter rims. His family survived by salvaging wrecked vessels and selling rehab parts to locals and passersby.
His life changed when conflict between Imperial remnants and New Republic forces swept through his sector. Both factions claimed to be bringing order, freedom, or security, yet neither showed concern for the people caught in the middle. During a series of military operations and raids, Venic lost much of his family and was abandoned to die alongside countless other civilians considered acceptable collateral damage. The experience left him with a deep distrust of governments, militaries, and grand political causes. To Venic, the Empire, its surviving remnants, the Resistance, and the New Republic are merely different banners flown by the same type of people—those seeking power over worlds they barely understand.
"The Empire wants your loyalty. The Republic wants your taxes. End of the day, somebody still owns your sky."
After surviving on his own, Venic turned his natural talents toward scavenging and ship repair. Over time he built a reputation across the Outer Rim as someone who could find almost anything and sell almost anything. He became a respected scrapper and black-market arms broker, operating from hidden workshops and mobile salvage yard.Coen was raised on the five points system and always dreamed of having a home under a sky. By 15, Coen was an orphan and decided to leave the 5 points system. He stowed away on a ship and found a home on Sullust, initially spending a few hard years on the streets. In time, he learned to pilot ships and became a mechanic. He also found his passion in riding and eventually racing speeder bikes. Coen later moved to Orn Kios, where he began his career as a professional speeder bike racer. All too soon, imperial sanctions killed the local racing scene, and Coen returned to Sullust. He fell in with a group shipping and, at times, smuggling goods, often to anti-imperial forces.
Jin Sawana doesn't remember how he got his night job. After leaving work each day, Jin had been taking his vintage ARC-170 on cruises, racing as fast as he could at sublight speeds. Usually he was a sole sojourner flying by himself, hardly ever trying to get the best time even though he knew he could, but on occasion he'd race across the stars with fellow speed-loving enthusiasts out there. That was, however, until he met another pilot named Kuwa.
The first time was a happenstance meet at a refuel depot, discussing how no one appreciated Kuwa's V-19 Torrent and mourning over the Republic's icons of the Clone War that were being replaced by the Empire's TIEs. Second time Jin spoke with Kuwa, by coincidence she just got herself an ARC-170 too, spending the rest of the flight trading notes on their ARCs' mods, how Jin replaced the tailgun with a dock for his C-PH speederbike and Kuwa had turned hers into a cargo hold. Third time they met, they talked about how they could procure more Clone War ships before the Empire scrapped them. Jin suspects that Kuwa was recruiting him, winning him over using his love for Republic fighters, because less than a year later he found himself taking action against the Empire, stealing whatever ships he could get before they were scrapped. Taking Y-Wings from Imperial shipyards was easier for Jin than stealing candy from babies, which was fine by him since the Rebellion was paying him way more for them than what his day job paid.
On occasion he'd find himself shot at by the Empire, but with his two DL-44s to help him get in and out of those scrapyards, Jin will always roll the hard six. Some call it a miracle he hasn't been caught or killed yet, but Jin knows it's thanks to his skills both in the air and on the ground that he can outrun anyone that chases him.
Shaef was first involved in the early days of the rebellion in his youth. First, as a spy with one of the cells, then as soldier, and he fought in the battle of Endor as a commando. After the war, he returned to civilian life, but things weren’t always as lucrative. So he drifted into smuggling, light mercenary work, and as he started a family, he chose to work all sides and allegiances to make ends meet. By the rise of the First Order, more often than not, he let the credits be his guide for what jobs to take. But in his heart, he knew he had to help the resistance before the First Order made the Outer Rim too dangerous for his family. His would use his skills, shady contacts, and Rebel friendships to help the cause.
Growing up on Lothal in the final years of the Galactic Empire had a marked effect on I'an Grayson. He saw the citizens of Lothal having to cower to the authority of a regime that was not only not providing them with the resources they needed to survive but also taking the resources of every planet under their control to fuel their fascist machine. Average denizens eked by cobbling and scraping the empire's scraps into things of use. A practice that Grayson would put to use in his fight against each oppressive force that would rear its ugly head.
In his adulthood, Grayson purchased an already existing junk shop in Capital City on Lothal, Junk Traders Outpost, from a disreputable rodian called Greeble Pinback. More junk than shop, Grayson transformed JTO into a warehouse of usefulness- part droid repair, part armorer, part rare antiquities dealer- where denizens could either buy exactly what they need or Grayson could coble it together or acquire it.
In one of these exchanges, coupilng together a custom datapad case for an "Agent Maddox'' he was introduced to the Resistance cell the "Burgundy Squadron ''. While unable to actively participate in covert missions, Grayson and the JTO became an ally to the Squadron as "Burgundy 78".
Many squadron members would find a friend in Grayson when visiting the Outpost for outfitting with supplies or in dire moments using the Outpost as a safehouse.
Currently Grayson is balancing his time between running the outpost and traveling the galaxy to obtain scraps, gear, and supplies for his customers as well as supporting the Squadron.
Mom died in childbirth, raised by her father who was a pilot in the Resistance. She learned how to work on the ships from him and his fellow squad members. Her father died in the assault on star killer base. Leaving her all alone at 19 years of age. At that point she vowed to do whatever she could to help the Resistance stand-up to the First Order.
After the destruction of the neutral territory known as the Castle on Takodana and destruction of the Hosnian system, she fled with the Resistance to D'Qar.
She had heard mutterings of a specific band of Rebels who called themselves Burgundy Squadron. She now serves as a tactical analyst and ship mechanic to the Squadron. She hopes one day to actually get up in the sky and fly like her father did.
Created in a secret at a genetic cloning facility by the Empire. Life was about taking tests and training. Multiple failures for my brothers and sisters often meant a visit with the director, which I found out when I got older meant you were exterminated.
I slowly watched as the years went on more of my brothers and sisters from lot D disappear. One night, everything changed. There were loud explosions and blaster fire, and suddenly, my door swung open. I was told by a woman “Come with me, we’re here to save you“ and before I knew it, I was on a ship traveling in hyperspace.
When asked what my name was, I told them we didn’t have names. I was from lot D so my designation was R.E.D (Rodian Experiment D) I was only a teenager, but I was saved by the rebellion and I vowed to commit my life to saving others & fighting the Empire.
I was orphaned as an as a child when my parents were killed in the lower levels of coruscant. Starving and near death in an alley, I was found by slavers. I was sold to a Hutt clan with hopes of being trained as an assassin because of Rodians' natural abilities.
I was under the Hutt’s ownership for 3 years, being trained by various bounty hunters and going on missions before one mission went awry, and the team was killed, except for myself. I decided to take this opportunity to blow up our ship and make my own way as a free Rodian doing various jobs but secretly fighting against oppression and slavery, knowing firsthand the life of a slave. I felt alone in this fight until being found by Burgundy Squadron and realizing that their fight is the same as mine. I joined without hesitation. Joining the resistance is the only way to save others from the life I have lived.