Com Cypher (Rebellion era)

Com Cypher was a Human male from the mountain city of on the planet of. Born in 22 BBY, Com was the only child of a mother who worked as a historian, and a father who operated a shuttle service between the worlds of the.

In 2 BBY Com aligned himself with the newly-formed (initially working as a freelance technician) and during the  was part of the emergency technical team that was assembled to analyze the recently-recovered  blueprints. During the 3 years following the Battle of Yavin, Com worked more closely with the Rebellion by participating in both covert and overt operations in the role of a, including the infiltration of the slave ship Jagannath.

When enacted Order 99, a trap was laid for Com which resulted in his detention on board an unnamed Imperial orbital holding facility. rescued Com and brought him to, where he met the. Nos'lyn sensed a modest amount of {sw|Force} potential in Com and explained to him how to develop his sensitivity to the Force. While meditating later that night, Com was instructed by an unrecognizable voice to assume the alias "Sol'" whenever he channels the Force. Com also found this alias to be occasionally useful for avoiding the increased scrutiny by Imperial forces under Order 99.

Because of Com's commendable performance in the years following the Battle of Yavin, he was selected to be stationed at the newly-completed Rebel base on, but was evacuated only a year later during the. During the Com was given a choice to participate in either the space battle against the, or in the ground assault against the shield generator--Com initially opted to participate in the space battle, but was convinced by Han Solo to join the ground effort after he learned that Com had prior experience with  and its natives.

Early life (22 BBY–2 BBY)
Growing up in the mountain city of on, Com's life was relatively uneventful and insulated from the growing reach of the. Com's childhood primarily revolved around playing with his friends and neighbors Tek and Cortana, tinkering with droids, and occasionally riding along with his father who operated a profitable shuttle service between the 5 worlds in the. Com went off-world for the first time at age 5, during a short trip to on. Starting at age 10 his father sometimes let him take the controls, which introduced him to various aspects of piloting. Com's mother, being a historian, would share very old holo recordings and data disks with him. She let him keep one in particular that she explained contained details about one of his distant ancestors, and that he was even named after him. At age 14 he developed his own droid personality software after noticing that most droids were too "perfect"--his software incorporated behavioral quirks such as wit and sarcasm which he felt would make droids more life-like. Com's friend, Tek, was the son of a hunter and would sometimes invite Com to tag along with him and his father. These hunting experiences taught Com how to handle various types of ranged weaponry. Cortana, meanwhile, had a keen interest in melee combat and would frequently insist that Com train with her, despite Com dismissing melee combat as primitive and useless against most adversaries.

At age 18 Com moved to Coronet to study Computer Science at. Soon thereafter his father retired from his shuttle and transport business, moving to with Com's mother to live a peaceful retirement.

Joining the Rebellion (2 BBY–0 BBY)
2 years into his studies at the university, Com received word that his friend, Tek, had been killed in a hunting accident, but details were scarce. Com hurried back to Doaba Guerfel to learn more, but the few people who knew anything were reluctant to share information. No one was even sure where the body was currently located. In the local cantina, Com was taken aback when he was approached by a drunk Imperial officer who accused him of being "too stupid" to recognize when he's making dangerous inquiries. The officer then continued by explaining that his friend was still alive, but only until the Empire decided otherwise. The other Imperial personnel in the cantina, realizing the officer was becoming too talkative, ushered him outside. Com was already wary of the growing might of the Empire but had always felt detached from it, up until that moment. Com was shocked further when he caught up with Cortana, who informed him that she was recruited by the visiting Imperial officers to immediately join the. She said she had always dreamed of such an opportunity, and when Com attempted to dissuade her she became agitated to the point of calling him a "liar" and a "traitor." She departed Corellia that same evening, severing communications with Com. After the Imperial agents had left the city, residents began to open up about what happened to Tek. Tek was suspected of conspiring against the Empire so Imperial agents abducted him while he was out hunting. The agents attempted a crude cover-up of Tek being killed in an accident. Com, unnerved by the sudden events, returned to the university but began seriously considering ways to undermine Imperial activity on Corellia and elsewhere.

The signing of the and formal creation of the  provided the entity that Com needed to support and rally behind. Alongside his current research projects funded by, he began doing minor freelance work for the Rebellion, including field work helping to establish communications outposts in the Corellian wilderness. Com graduated from the university 1 month prior to the.

During the Battle of Yavin, The job of analyzing the entirety of the Death Star blueprints fell to a small team of 4 structural engineers based at the on, and were challenged to identify a vulnerability within 3 hours. The team quickly ran into a snag when they noticed that portions relating to the Death Star's power system were using a stronger type of encryption than the other less-critical subsystems--however, no one on the team had the necessary slicing background to perform the decryption. Making matters worse, the base was not equipped with the required hardware to crack the encryption in under 3 hours. One of the engineers, who was a recently-retired professor from, recalled that Com was a student who had been developing high-fidelity decryption algorithms under a CorSec research grant. After a flurry of communications, a small Rebel detachment was dispatched to Com's beach house near. Com was then swiftly escorted to Coronet University where his old decryption algorithms were stored--however they were now officially the property of CorSec and special permission from Captain Baize was required to access the data. When the Rebels made contact with Captain Baize, he was surprised by the directness and urgency of the request, but since CorSec was officially neutral in the he was also concerned about antagonizing the. After several minutes of heated debate between the low-ranking Rebel agents and Captain Baize, suddenly appeared on a nearby  and appealed to the Captain directly--no longer able to ignore the enormity of the situation, Captain Baize granted Com access to both the decryption software and facilities. Within the hour, Com was able to complete the slice and transmitted the unencrypted blueprints back to Yavin 4, where the structural engineers discovered the exhaust port vulnerability shortly thereafter.

Post-Battle of Yavin years (0 ABY–2 ABY)
The 2 years following the destruction of the Death Star were particularly eventful for Com. The Rebel Alliance, recognizing his contributions during the Battle of Yavin, began to assign him more responsibilities and trusted him with some pieces of sensitive intel. This was an unusual arrangement since Com was still technically a freelancer, and had more operating freedom than a typical Rebel operative. Working as a Rebel-aligned freelancer, Com's assignments took him between 11 worlds located around the galaxy.

The Jagannath Operation
The first covert operation that Com was assigned was to infiltrate and overthrow the slave ship Jagannath, and incidentally would be one of the most impactful operations of his career. Initial intelligence gathering indicated that about 20% of the slaves were captured Rebel personnel, while the rest were unaffialiated miners, crafters, and entertainers from various worlds. Com's primary objective was to rescue the Rebels, the secondary objective was to rescue the remaining slaves, and the tertiary objective was to destroy the Jagannath itself along with its crew. Com, posing as a slaver with numerous business contacts (giving him an excuse to occasionally contact his mission handler), slowly worked his way into the inner circle of slavers. After a month, the Jagannath was in orbit above and Com finally felt comfortable that he had a workable extraction plan for himself and all of the slaves on board. He had secretly conspired with a slave named Myzia Zydian to distract the guards by playing them a song while he unlocked the prison cells. Before he could enact his plan, however, he was summoned into a meeting where several armed Trandoshans were waiting. The Trandoshans beat Com to the ground and hissed at his betrayal. Now injured and with no obvious means of escape, Com had concluded that his fate was sealed--but suddenly the ship was rocked by a series of blasts. In the ensuing confusion, Com limped to the slave quarters of the ship and unlock the cells, freeing the slaves. He instructed them to head directly to the escape pods, then proceeded to look for a weapon that he could use to cover them. Com found a Trandoshan that had been mysteriously been shot with a blaster--however, as soon as he picked up the Trandoshan's weapon, a Human in Imperial attire appeared and ordered him to drop the weapon, stating that his name was Lexx Yovel and had come to exact justice. Unsure of Lexx's intentions, Com quickly explained that he wasn't affiliated with the slavers, which Lexx accepted since he was a Human. Lexx then clarified that he was looking for a particular Trandoshan. Com told Lexx where to find him and suggested that they work together, but Lexx dismissed the idea, insisting that it was his fight alone. After Lexx ran down the corridor a Trandoshan snuck up behind Com and began beating him further. After a couple agonizing minutes Lexx returned, killing Com's attacker. Lexx dragged Com to the last remaining escape pod on the Jagannath and jettisoned it, with Com losing consciousness a moment later.

After his escape pod crashed in the desert near and he had regained consciousness, Com made his way to the city and sought medical attention. While in the medical center he re-established contact with his handler. Although at this point Com believed the Jagannath operation was a complete failure, Com was surprised when the handler congratulated him for completing every single objective. The slaves had safely evacuated to Tatooine and the Jagannath was destroyed, along with its crew. The handler also explained that Com's cover was likely blown the day before the incident, when Com was meeting with Rebel contacts in. When Com inquired in particular about the safety of Myzia Zydian, the handler responded that he had no record of her being recovered from an escape pod. At this point Com decided to try to locate Lexx and learn the details of what happened, despite his apparent affiliation with the Empire. Tracking down Lexx proved to be simple since he was Mayor of a large settlement on Tatooine named Fort Oasis. Upon arrival at Fort Oasis, Com encountered Lexx and Myzia, both unharmed. Com learned that Myzia had stayed behind on the Jagannath, worried about Com, but Lexx evacuated her on his own ship after the Trandoshan that Lexx was pursuing had started the self-destruct sequence. Both were unaware that the other slaves had managed to escape prior to the ship's destruction. Com, in recognition of Lexx's role on the Jagannath, decided to never report his Imperial status to the Rebel authorities. The three individuals agreed to collaborate in the future on objectives outside the scope of the Galactic Civil War.

The Bestine Election
While Com was in the on  monitoring  activity as a freelance assignment, he was contacted on his  by Governor  summoning him to. Upon arrival she informed him that Bestine was in political turmoil following the assassination of many local government officials by the Prefect. In light of the crisis, she had considered postponing the upcoming mayoral election--however, she feared revolts from the citizens of Bestine who were already frustrated with the faultering economy. She turned to Com to oversee the election as an independent observer and organizer, which he accepted hesistantly due to his lack of political experience.

The two candidates in the election were of the Emperor's Hammer, and Sean Tremwell of the Commerce Guild. Sean ran on a platform of economic reform through market improvements, while Victor promised improvements to defense. Victor argued that Sean's policies would draw funds from Bestine's defense budget and leave the city vulnerable to Tusken raids. To emphasize his point he presented footage recorded by Com himself in the Mospic High Range of Tuskens apparently preparing for a raid. Although Sean's policies would have addressed the city's economic concerns, his meekness of character in contrast to Victor's assertiveness and fearmongering made him the underdog in the race. Sean later complained to Com that Victor had misrepresented the Tusken footage as an impending raid, which was afterwards identified by an expert as a simple ceremony held prior to hunting season. Sean requested that Com organize one last debate so that he could refute Victor's claims, which Com reluctantly granted. When Victor found out that Sean successfully petitioned for another debate, he threatened Sean that he would release a data disk revealing his ancestors were the pilots of the pirate ship Red Sin Valon, the wreckage of which was located outside the city. It was unclear whether the information was accurate or forged, or whether it would have any effect on voters, but Sean petitioned Com once more to recover the data disk. Com agreed and now realized he was operating far outside his mandate as an election observer, but he was concerned about Victor's Imperial ties and felt that the end would justify the means. After Com secretly infiltrated the fort at the top of the hill outside Bestine, his concerns were vindicated when he witnessed Victor speaking to through a holoprojector. Darth Vader was insistent that Victor win the election to avoid Bestine eventually slipping into Rebel hands, which would require his intervention. Com then observed Victor handing several copies of the data disk to a for distribution around Bestine. Outside the fort Com intercepted the Rodian and destroyed the batch of data disks with a grenade.

Sean Tremwell won the Bestine election with 56% of the vote. Victor eventually determined that Com was responsible for the destruction of the data disks, but since Com was no longer under the employ of the local government he did not pursue retaliatory action.

Battle of Restuss
The was one of the largest ground conflicts in which Com participated. Com was given the assignment of safely recovering the prototypes, small, high-energy power sources that the Empire was found to be developing in,. The Empire was fully aware of the impending invasion and had troops and heavy equipment in place ready to defend, and rumors were spreading among the Rebel ranks that even the was in the city. This made Com uncomfortable, since he felt that the Rebels missed an opportunity to covertly retrieve the Star Cores. The Rebels stormed into the city from their base in the nearby swamp and chaos quickly ensued. Rebel command quickly lost track of the location of the Star Cores, and Com was slightly wounded when he was shot in the left shoulder by a sniper. As Com was being evacuated back to the swamp base he noticed an walking eastwards, away from the Rebel front line. The Rebels, thinking they had an clear opportunity to disable the AT-AT, directed all their heavy weaponry at the target. Just as Com arrived at the medical building, a blinding light filled the sky accompanied by a powerful shockwave a few seconds later. Com and the other Rebels at the base were momentarily stunned, and panic ensued once they realized that the Star Cores had been detonated. Most of the Rebel and Imperial forces that were present in the city during the detonation had been killed, along with a small number of civilians who hadn't been evacuated. Despite being injured, Com lead a small team back into the destroyed city to look for survivors. Amazingly, a small pocket of Rebels who were inside the Restuss medical center had survived. Imperials started to emerge from the surrounding rubble and a small firefight ensued. The Battle of Restuss was deemed a failure for both sides, and the detonation was later determined to have been caused by the destruction of the AT-AT, which unknown to the Rebels was attempting to carry the Star Cores out of the city.

Order 99
Following Order 99, which mandated a coordinated galaxy-wide strike against rebel hideouts, Com became concerned that the Empire was zeroing in on his affiliation with the Alliance. His data terminals picked up increased chatter which included numerous coded references to "Com", although due to the ambiguous nature of the word he couldn't be certain it referred to him. During a covert op which involved meeting a contact in a plaza, Com was intercepted and arrested by a squad of, revealing the meeting had been a set up. An Imperial officer at the scene charged Com with the following crimes against the Empire: Infiltration and destruction of Imperial bases in 5 star systems, aiding and abetting of pirate factions subversive to the Empire, theft of  schematics, possession of Imperial military-grade sensor and communications equipment, possession of hyperspace coordinates to over 1000 top-secret Imperial facilities, and modification and possession of weapons in excess of Imperial arms control regulations. The Solaris was impounded and Com was swiftly transported to an Imperial orbital holding facility at an undisclosed location. After arriving, Com was prepared for interrogation. The interrogator informed Com that his activities were being monitored during the past 3 years, ever since they learned that he was an acquaintance of Tek. The interrogator taunted Com by stating that he would soon suffer the same fate as his friend. A moment later the sirens in the facility sounded and appeared on a nearby holoprojector. Com used the distraction as an opportunity to disarm the interrogator. C-3PO provided Com with instructions for navigating the facility to the hangar bay, where and  were waiting with the. After escaping the facility, Han delivered Com to above, where Leepo and the Solaris were waiting with all its equipment still intact. While on the station, Com ran into an unusual individual named who claimed to be sensitive to the. He went on to explain that he could sense some Force sensitivity in Com as well, and asked if he could take a sample of his blood to test for. Com was found to have a mild level of 5,000 which Nos'lyn said was sufficient for combat, especially when complemented by the melee experience that Com acquired while training with Cortana. Nos'lyn provided Com with an assortment of lightsaber components and encouraged him to attempt to assemble one when he was ready. Later that night while meditating, Com "heard" an unrecognizable voice instruct him to assume the alias "Sol'" when channeling the Force. The apostrophe in the name, which could not be conveyed audibly, could only be conveyed telepathically by Force-sensitive individuals. Besides the symbolic nature of the alias, Com soon found the alias to also be useful for avoiding the increased scrutiny by Imperial forces following Order 99.

Fall of the Empire (2 ABY–4 ABY)
In 2 ABY, Com was informed by that he was selected to be stationed at the newly-completed  on. The construction of the base was so secretive that Com was unaware of its existence, outside of rumors that High Command was hoping to phase out the interim base located on. Com was informed that it would be a long-term posting, which he understood to mean that he would no longer be able to operate as a freelancer and would become a formal personnel member of the Rebellion. Com reluctantly accepted the assignment and entrusted his droid Jeebs to take care of his various ships and residences. Com was to be transported to Hoth via a private shuttle departing from Corellia--however, shortly before the scheduled departure date, several worlds, included Corellia, erupted in chaos as Star Destroyers loomed in low orbit directly firing on the surface. The Rebel shuttle flight was canceled and Com was instructed to await new travel directives. Com escaped on his own ship to, where he was later picked up at the ruins of the Jedi Temple.

Com spent a year on Hoth working as a technician, specifically responsible for threat monitoring. One day Com picked up an unusual object on the radar and alerted his superiors. After further investigation it was discovered to be an Imperial. Shortly afterwards Com noticed the Imperial fleet enter the system, and the ensued. Following the destruction of the shield generator and the mandatory evacuation order, Com boarded a Rebel transport and was delivered to, where he remained for a year as the Rebellion plotted its next move.

During the, Com was asked by his commanding officer if he wanted to participate in the upcoming space battle against the or be part of the strike team against the shield generator on the forest moon of. Com was given a choice since he had experience both as a pilot and as a commando. Com considered that the Rebel fleet would likely be outnumbered by any Imperial ships stationed around the Death Star so he decided that he would pilot his, the Axis, in assistance. He also figured that the strike team would have the element of surprise and could easily overcome any resistance on the surface. Later when he ran into he was asked about his decision. Han knew that Com had been on the forest moon of Endor in the past and had even encountered the natives. For this reason, he convinced Com that he would be a greater asset on the strike team.

Com, now under the command of, landed on the surface aboard the shuttle along with , , and other commandos. After spending the night at the Ewok village where he encountered his old acquaintance, the team departed for the Imperial bunker. After initial infiltration they were promptly captured. Com was held outside the bunker at gunpoint until the Ewoks appeared and ambushed the captors. After the skirmish, Com held position outside the back door of the bunker while Han coaxed the controllers inside to open the door. After storming the bunker a second time, Com helped Han place the explosive charges before retreating back into the forest. Some time later Com looked up into the sky and watched the Death Star explode, effectively ending the Empire and the Galactic Civil War.

Post-Galactic Civil War (4 ABY&mdash;)
Com's status following the Battle of Endor is unclear at present. According to individuals who had spoken to him, Com expressed an interest in learning more about his ancestors and studying aspects of the Force that eluded him since assuming the identity of Sol'.

Personality and traits
Com favored pragmatism over idealism, which he felt clouds judgement and ultimately leads individuals to their demise. Even in his association with the Rebel Alliance, his support mostly stemmed from a desire to thwart the Empire's destructive objectives while the restoration of the was secondary. It was this pragmatic approach that allowed Com to occasionally work with pirates, gangsters, and even Imperials while completing his objectives. In the post-Battle of Yavin period, Com was adept in a variety of technology and combat skills, including ranged, melee, and heavy weaponry, droid engineering, slicing, and piloting.

Ever since he was a young child, Com's eye color would change from brown to orange when he was in a relaxed state. Com's parents and doctors dismissed this as an unusual genetic defect, but would later be revealed to be triggered by Com's mild. Besides the advice that Com received from Nos'lyn, he never received formal Force training and what little knowledge he had of the Force was gleaned from ancient that he found on. Com had difficulty channeling his calm "orange-eyed" state of mind while participating in major combat situations, often requiring him to forego use of his lightsaber in favor of more traditional weaponry for fear of injuring himself.

Com managed to amass several million credits by purchasing novelty items for a low price directly from the source and re-selling them to wealthy collectors on other worlds where they were in high demand. Much of Com's wealth went into purchasing weapons, equipment, and ships to support the Rebel effort. Com himself was also a collector of ancient artifacts, which he would find or purchase in the hopes that they would offer clues about the Force.

Leepo
Leepo was an who initially performed repair tasks on Com's father's shuttle fleet. When Com's parents moved to Tralus he was given Leepo along with the Solaris. Com promptly updated Leepo's behavior chips to allow for combat and piloting tasks, and also implemented the personality algorithm that he devised when he was 14 to make Leepo seem more life-like. Leepo served as Com's primary companion following the Battle of Yavin. During the Battle of Hoth Com was surprised to meet someone who possessed a similar droid, but with a slightly different name.

Blip
Blip was an that Com purchased for use on his starfighters. It was also capable of various repair tasks. Due to the droid technology being restricted, Com had to purchase Blip on the black market. Whenever Com needed to hide this fact, Com would sometimes replace the transparent dome with an opaque one to disguise it as an.

Armageddon
Armageddon was a that Com acquired with considerable difficulty on Naboo following Order 99. Com was vaguely aware of certain droids in use during the that were considerably superior to more modern combat models. While working with the RSF, during a casual conversation with Colonel Com inquired about these droids. Panaka informed him that there were used to be some bunkers scattered around Naboo that held decomissioned Droidekas, but he suspected that by that point most had been cleaned out by local pirates. He told Com that if he were able to locate a Droideka, he could keep it. After several false leads, a tribe referred Com to a bunker overgrown with foliage that contained a single Droideka. Armageddon possessed no intelligence, personality, or additional capabilities but proved to be very effective in combat.

The Solaris
The Solaris, a, was the first ship to come into Com's possession. Originally part of the fleet of his father's shuttle service used for transporting first-class passengers, it was also the ship that Com traveled on during his first off-world excursion to Dearic, Talus. When Com's father retired and moved to Tralus he gave the Solaris to Com as a gift. After the Battle of Yavin Com began to outfit the Solaris with a wide array of military-grade sensors and data terminals, but left it completely unarmed to help it avoid unwanted attention. Following Order 99 when the sensitive contents of the ship were compromised, it was reverted to a standard luxury yacht which Com used for personal, non-essential travel between his residences.

The Zero
The Zero was the first starfighter that Com acquired shortly after the Battle of Yavin. Anticipating that he would soon need to start participating in space battles, Com purchased a discarded from a Tyrena salvage yard. Although somewhat outmoded for the current time period, Com soon made extensive modifications to the hull, frame, and systems to the point that it was comparable in performance to a modern starfighter.

The Axis
The Axis was an given to Com by the Rebel Alliance to assist in a strike against an Imperial corvette. Com left the ship largely unmodified, except for tweaks to the engine to make it slightly faster and more maneuverable. The A-wing's agility and turn radius inspired its name.

The Polaris
The Polaris was an  that Com leased from the Rebel Alliance for a considerable price following the Empire's execution of Order 99. Once the Solaris had been impounded and inspected following Com's capture, Com needed a new ship to house his highly sensitive data terminals. Although intended to be manned by a large crew, Com modified the turrets on the ship so that they could be fired straight ahead by the pilot and relied on Leepo and Blip to handle auxilliary maintenance tasks.

The Sentinel
The Sentinel was an piloted by Com while working for the.

The Archer
The Archer, an, was awarded to Com by of  as thanks for his service in the RSF. Her personal technicians had already modernized the ship's systems.

The Viper
The Viper was a stolen from  and awarded to Com by. This ship was Com's first choice when participating in space battles between opposing pirate factions.

The Razor
The Razor was a starfighter that Com piloted to assist the  over. Com was permitted to keep the fighter as payment. Its name was inspired by the sharp edges of its hull.

Corellia Beach House
Com moved into a small beach house near Tyrena, Corellia after graduating from Coronet University. Com abandoned the house after a short time once he started participating more actively in the Galactic Civil War, and it was eventually overrun by.

Rori/Naboo Manor
Com's manor was originally located in a remote area some distance away from,. The manor was elegantly decorated and contained a library of old books and documents which Com enjoyed studying. After the a large number of refugees flooded into the area. Com decided to allow the refugees to stay in the Rori manor and had an entirely new one built in, to the same specifications.

Dantooine Estate
Com's estate was located a short distance away from the mining outpost on and was situated next to some old stone monuments constructed by the native. Com later learned that the estate was located on ground sacred to the Dantari and had planned to relocate, but the issue was rendered moot when the two warring tribes in the area wiped each other out. The estate housed some of Com's most valuable possessions, including rare crystals and and  artifacts.