James Yularen

James Yularen was a human male born on Coruscant sometime before the Clone Wars. He was the nephew of Wullf Yularen, a distinguished and veteran naval officer of the Galactic Republic before its reorganization.

James attended the Royal Imperial Academy, but was expelled for "improper conduct" with a fellow Academy student. His uncle Wullf gave him a second chance in the Empire by serving in the Imperial Security Bureau as a mole in the Imperial Navy until he was once again expelled. Wullf gave one last chance to his nephew by giving him an assignment that involved in defecting and joining a rebel cell to locate the headquarters of the growing rebellion.

Joining the Rebellion, he was recommended into Dandelion Squadron, an Alliance Starfighter unit, by two former trainees of the Prefsbelt Fleet Camp. However, his loyalty with the Empire became conflicted and to the Rebellion a complication. Despite this, he continued to serve within Dandelion Squadron.

Biography
Born on Coruscant, James Yularen came from a family of wealth and privilege, with a legacy in the Judicial and Security Forces, as well as the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars. Raised to idolize the integrity and service of his celebrated forbears, James became a true believer in the honor and pride of the Empire. With an uncle in the Imperial Security Bureau and numerous relatives in the Imperial Navy, he was naturally drawn to the naval service. During his education at the Royal Imperial Academy, Yularen was identified as having excellent potential as a starfighter pilot, impressing Commander Deenlark. He was known as dashing, roguish, and a bit of a ladies' man, but overall a good student and excellent pilot.

However, during his tenure at Royal Imperial, Yularen found himself embroiled in political intrigue. A woman whom he was romantically involved with, Cadet Nosi Anima, accused him of improper conduct. While Yularen strongly denied the charges, her family was better connected politically. Under pressures to bury the matter, Commander Deenlark decided to quietly expel Yularen, denying him his potential naval career. Embittered, James was furious at Anima and devastated at seeing his dreams go up in smoke. While he was nursing his woes in a Coruscanti dive over a sizable snifter of brandy, his uncle appeared. Wulff Yularen was a high-ranking official in the Imperial Security Bureau and had heard of his son's mistreatment. Determined to both redeem James' usefulness to the empire and his nephew's career, Wulff offered James a second chance: the opportunity to serve the Imperial as part of the Imperial Security Bureau. While ISB had moles everywhere throughout the Imperial Navy, finding qualified starfighter pilots to infiltrate the fighter squadrons was difficult. James agreed to his uncle's offer on the condition that Wulff keep him updated on Anima's career and let him know if an opportunity for revenge presented itself.

Operating under a pseudonym, James provided valuable insight into the failings of the Imperial Navy. Serving under Captain Fel on the Pride of the Senate, James was present at the Battle of Nar Shaddaa, a debacle that exposed the failings and corruption of the commanding Imperial officer, Admiral Greelanx. He acquitted himself well in the battle, but his report of Greelanx's incompetence helped to ensure the demise of the admiral.

As a reward, James was offered a more challenging mission by the Imperial Security Bureau. There were rumors of dissent at Prefsbelt IV's academy, with some of the younger cadets reporting anti-Imperial sentiment. James was sent in as a junior instructor and told to win the confidence of as many of the cadets as possible, while teaching them how to fly. Working again under Captain Fel, James worked to gain the pilot's trust, but was unable to fully penetrate the Rebel cell, many of whom ultimately defected. The disgrace from that event again followed James, resulting in him being booted from the Imperial Navy for a second time. His uncle again came to the rescue and gave him one last chance—but warned him this would be the last time.

To exact retribution and help thwart the Rebellion, James was instructed to defect and attempt to join a Rebel fighter squadron, wherein he could eventually help destroy the Rebellion from within. By this time, having been disgraced twice by the Empire had somewhat clouded his loyalties, but he still saw successful completion of his mission as an opportunity to redeem his career and good name once and for all. He was recommended into Dandelion Squadron by two of his former trainees—Biggs Darklighter and Derek Klivian, who remembered him well from their days at Prefsbelt IV. His story of having fallen out of good favor due to something beyond his control gave him a credible alibi to gain entrance to a Rebellion desperate for fighter pilots. Darklighter felt that having a seasoned instructor present would help Dandelion Squadron, an eclectic mix of gifted amateurs, disgraced nobles, and renegades. However, since the squadron already had a leader, he was brought in as a veteran pilot and advisor.

Though dismissive of the squadron's methods and lack of decorum, James Yularen was careful to keep up appearances of being supportive of Dandelion Leader Yang Xiao Shen. However, while he planned on betraying the Rebellion once they led him to a large enough base or fleet to be worth giving up his identity, his plan was somewhat thwarted upon learning that his old enemy Nosi Anima had been decorated for bravery and honor for her propagandized victory in putting down riots on the rough-and-tumble world of Ando. While James couldn't care less about the plight of the Andoans, he knew from his uncle that Imperial Security had done the real work; Nosi had been given credit as a figurehead to keep them out of the spotlight. Still, the action galled him, and he found his loyalties conflicted.

As such, James continued to work within the squadron, doing his best to be helpful and effective, passing on some level of piloting knowledge to maintain his alias. While his loyalty to the Rebellion remained complicated at best, and his opinion of the other pilots was less than complimentary, except for the formally-trained Antar Kord and Jevan Revintal. Kord he considered a decent pilot, although he despised him for defecting, much as Darklighter and the others had done, which had ruined James's career. However, outwardly he commended Kord for his bravery. Revintal was the closest thing James had to a friend in the squadron, as he and James had many similarities, coming from a noble background only to be disgraced after entering military service. Revintal's indifference to the Rebellion was refreshing to James, who although he couldn't show it, disdained the zealous enthusiasm of some of the other pilots.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Alliance Civil War (cancelled)
 * Star Wars Starfighter: Dandelion Squadron