Joni Ree was a female scientist who worked for the arms manufacturer Czerka Corporation during the Jedi Civil War, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. She was stationed at Czerka 431, a secret Czerka research facility that was located at the edge of the known galaxy, and she acted as the base's chief administrator. During the war, Czerka engaged in dealings with the Sith Empire. The Sith military took direct control of Czerka 431, and Ree was placed in charge of experimenting with Juggernaut war droids on behalf of the Sith. Ree soon took a dislike to her new masters, and, to discourage her from escaping, the Sith locked her up and assigned a heavy assault droid to guard her quarters while she continued with her work. However, the Sith considered Ree to be so important that the troops stationed at Czerka 431 were ordered not to kill her under any circumstances.
Eventually, Ree covertly revealed the location of Czerka 431 to the Republic, then made plans to escape in the event of a Republic attack on the installation. To that end she developed a device that would revive her if she was stunned, because she realized that if she tried to flee, the Sith would seek to incapacitate, rather than kill, her. As Ree had hoped, the Republic soon dispatched a squad of troops to Czerka 431 to prevent the Sith from developing a new weapon, by rescuing Ree and denying the Sith of her services. When the Republic troops entered the facility, Ree broke out of her quarters and, with the help of two re-programmed Juggernaut droids, attacked her Sith guards. The Republic attack was successful, and Ree departed from the base with the squad.
Ree entered the service of the Republic and was sent to secure some data files from AB-343, a Czerka laboratory that had been captured by the Republic early in the war. However, Czerka and the Sith feared that the information stored in the outpost could reveal to the Republic the full extent of their relationship, so they sent a Sith assassin to the base to kill Ree. The GenoHaradan, an independent bounty hunter guild, also believed that it did not serve their purposes for the Republic to learn of Czerka's alliance with the Sith, and they independently sent an assassin of their own to silence Ree. The scientist arrived at AB-343's command center, and, with assistance from three Republic guards, she attempted to access the laboratory's damaged computer system. Shortly afterward, the two assassins infiltrated the base and attacked Ree and the guards.
While the Czerka Corporation had a morally gray approach to business, Joni Ree did not share their sentiments and disliked working for the Sith. She was an accomplished scientist who was skilled at re-programming droids, developing new pieces of technology, and accessing restricted computer systems, and both the Sith and the Republic had demand for her services.
Joni Ree was created by Sterling Hershey and appeared in Czerka 431 and Permanent Demotion, two combat scenarios for the game Star Wars Miniatures that were published on the website Wizards.com in 2008. In Czerka 431, the scenario advises that the role of Ree be represented by a "Czerka Scientist" miniature, and it is possible either for Sith to defeat Republic forces and keep Ree from escaping, or for her to escape with the Republic squad. However, Permanent Demotion subsequently confirmed that she escaped, thus making that the official outcome of the engagement within Star Wars Legends continuity.. Permanent Demotion advises that Ree be represented by a miniature of the Twi'lek Mission Vao, and during the scenario Ree is not permitted to leave the command center until the Republic troops have one of the assassins in their sights. Permanent Demotion can be concluded either by the Republic troops defeating the assassins, or by the two assassins fulfilling their mission by killing Ree.