Aria Tade

"Look, I'm simple, all right? If I see you going on about how great the Empire used to be, your head comes off. You got that, punks?"

-, addressing a Neo-Imperial in 15 ABY

 was a human female who served in the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, and later in the New Republic Army during the Gray War. She was mainly a scout and reconnaissance expert, but also served as a pilot and frontline soldier on occasion. She was known mainly as the leader of Firebrand Squadron, which served for both the Rebellion and the New Republic

She was born on Krant, and participated in the overthrow of the Imperial government on that planet during the Ktantian Civil War. When the New Republic was established, she remained a solider. She was known for clashing with Neo-Imperials on a regular basis on the homefront, and for her actions during major battles of the Gray War, particularly on Lumin.

Career
Aria was born on Krant and worked as a child laborer for most of her life, a miner along with most of the inhabitants. When the Rebel Alliance became more active on the planet during the Krantian Civil War, she eagerly abandoned her miner's life and joined in the war. She was trained as a scout and a hit-and-run operative, as well as a pilot, due to the low supply of pilots in the local resistance.

She served mainly on Krant, but would also find herself assigned to other parts of the Bothan sector regularly. She looked forward to these excursions, as they let her see planets that she didn't normally get to visit. Her most notable military experience during this time was the Battle of Vas Prime in 2 ABY, in which she created Firebrand Squadron with a group of other soldiers she had become close to on Krant, who managed to kill the Imperial planetary governor in a commando raid.

Death
During the Battle of Lumin in 13 BBY, near the end of the Gray War, Aria was assigned to destroy the Imperial transmitter that was hacking droids in the sector and causing them to turn against New Republic forces, along with the rest of Firebrand Squadron. During the approach, her transport was shot down, resulting in the deaths of two of her squadmates. Three more would die while apporaching the transmitter itself from the crash site, whittling the squad down to herself and Pala Brakkon. During the shootout inside the transmission station, they were surrounded, and chose to detonate the explosives they were carrying, killing them both and destroying the transmitter in the process.