Patrick Rudder

Patrick Rudder was an Alliance Special Forces officer who commanded Company A, 4th Special Forces Regiment (Rangers), 5th Special Forces Division. Born on Alderaan and initially a staunch Imperialist, Patrick received extensive training from the Imperial Storm Commandos, but his allegiance was broken following the destruction of his homeworld by the Death Star. Defecting, he found a new home in the Alliance Special Forces, and took command of Company A following the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY. Early in 4 ABY, Rudder was sent to Exaron to meet with a Bothan spy named Gath Laons'hir and retrieve data deemed vital to the survival of the Alliance, though the Bothan would not reveal what the intelligence was. Upon reaching the planet, Rudder and his team ambushed and destroyed an Imperial patrol before meeting up with Gath's partner who told them Gath had been captured and was being held in a nearby facility. Rudder followed the Bothan to an Imperial bunker in the forest, only to be betrayed and subsequently surrounded by a group of Imperial Stormtroopers. Rudder's 15-man detachment was horribly outnumbered, but they went down fighting, all dying save for Rudder, who was wounded and captured.

The Imperials transported Rudder back to Vratokh, the planet's capital, but fortunately for the SpecForce officer, news of his capture had been widely broadcast as propaganda material, and a local dissident cell had learned of it. They ambushed the convoy carrying Rudder and broke him free, taking him back to their hideout and informing him of their plight. They had been formed by an Alliance team almost ten years prior, but when the Imperials cracked down on Exaron, they had been cut off and had not had any Alliance contact for a decade. Rudder struck a deal with them: if they helped him retrieve the intelligence and get off-world, he would inform the Alliance of their situation and bring in aid. The leader of the cell, Archibald Bishop, tasked Rudder initially with heading out to an old communications station and bringing it back online, a task he would accomplish with the help of a Zeltron cell member named Dela Xioxi and three others. Rudder agreed, and introduced himself to the small team. Dela was rough and distant towards the Rebel officer, but they agreed to work together and headed into the forest towards the comm station. Unfortunately, they were tracked by a team of Imperial Storm Commandos, who ambushed them at the station. The three other cell members were killed, but Rudder was able to knock out one of the Commandos in hand-to-hand combat, allowing he and Dela to escape back to the cell's hideout.