I'm sorry Donovan, but my family is what I live for. I live for them and they trump everything for me, including the Alliance. No cause is worthy of my support if my family is going to suffer. I'm sorry.
—Ryden apologizing to Donovan for his betrayal.
Michael Ryden is a human male born on Coruscant during the early days of the Galactic Empire. He was born on the lower-mid levels of the planet and was born into a life of poverty and crime. A common deviant and regular prisoner, Ryden resorted to crime to support himself and his family and was in a local gang with his childhood friend, Donovan Trammer. He found himself reluctantly joining the Coruscant Spy Network of the Alliance to Restore the Republic to protect his friend, but was captured in 3 ABY by Imperial forces.
While in prison, he was interrogated along with Donovan and was pressured into revealing information about the Alliance. When news of his older brother dying at the hands of the Alliance during the Mid Rim Offensive, Ryden betrayed the Alliance and revealed the location of three hideouts of the network and resulted in over three dozen of its members being captured. He defected to the Empire and became an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau.