Shannon Voorson was a Human female who joined the Rebel Alliance at the age of nine. Born in 6 BBY to Kuat Freight Port officials Johan and Nell Voorson, she lived the first nine years of her life on Kuat. Her parents were supporters of the Galactic Empire, although Voorson felt nothing but strong disdain toward Emperor Palpatine for many of his actions, including destroying the planet Alderaan.
In 3 ABY, her older cousin, Deen Voorson, who had left Kuat years earlier to become a tech in the larger galaxy, returned to Kuat for a short visit. The two discussed their hatred for the Empire, and Deen admitted to his cousin that he had become a member of the Rebel Alliance. At dinner that night, Deen requested that his aunt and uncle allow him to pick up a Colony Class 23669 power generator for the Rebel Alliance. Voorson's parents refused to let Deen take the generator, afraid that they would face reprisal from the Empire. However, Voorson sympathized with her cousin, sliced into the Imperial database to change the pickup time for the generator, and then contacted Deen.
When the time arrived a few days later, Deen and fellow Rebel Boo Rawl picked up the generator. They also took Voorson with them, as she wanted to join the Rebellion and had sealed herself in the power generator's docking bay, meaning that the only way to get her out was to contact security, thereby revealing their theft, or let her join them. Although the trio faced unexpected trouble when Imperial forces discovered that their pickup was illegal and TIE/LN starfighters were dispatched to stop them, they escaped, and Voorson officially joined the Rebel Alliance.
Shannon Voorson was the daughter of Kuat Freight Port officials Johan and Nell Voorson. Kuat Freight Port was a subsidiary of Kuat Drive Yards, an Imperial-aligned corporation. As such, the Voorsons owed their allegiance to the Empire. Voorson was born in 6 BBY, and lived the first nine years of her life on Kuat. As her parents were very busy with their job, Voorson was frequently left alone. She immersed herself in computers, and was considered something of an outcast by her schoolmates due to this interest. Though she was a young child, Voorson was already an accomplished slicer, and frequently sliced Imperial files. She admired her cousin Deen, who was one of the few Voorsons to leave Kuat and become a tech elsewhere in the galaxy. Like Deen, Voorson loved the story Vici of Alderaan, which told of two Jedi trainees named Vici and Veni Ramunee.
In 3 ABY, Deen returned for a short visit with Voorson and her parents for the first time in four years. He told her about what he was doing in the wider galaxy, such as conditioning airspeeders to fly in subzero temperatures. Voorson and her cousin also shared their dislike for the Empire, expressing disgust that the Empire destroyed the planet Alderaan simply as a show of force, although Deen explained to her that the planet's destruction was meant to prevent Alderaanian ideas of freedom and peace from spreading. When pressed by his cousin, Deen admitted that he was a member of the Rebel Alliance. Voorson told him about her slicing skills and revealed that she had sliced into many Imperial files. She also offered to give her cousin copies of a recently sliced file that contained a list of six Imperial Star Destroyers nearing completion at the Kuat Drive Yards—the Impervious, the Penetrator, the Inflexible, the Indomitable, the Inexorable, and the Exterminator—to take back to the Alliance, although he was not able to answer, as they were interrupted by Nell.
At dinner that night, Deen requested that Nell and Johan help him to acquire a Colony Class 23669 power generator for him, as his aunt and uncle were both high-ranking officials with Kuat Freight Port. Deen claimed that a friend's ship had been damaged by asteroids, and was desperately in need of a generator. He requested that they change the pickup time without informing the original intended customer, so that a partner of his could pick it up. Nell and Johan were mortified, claiming that what Deen suggested amounted to theft, and they ended the discussion quickly.
Later that night, Voorson overheard her parents discussing the possibility of giving the generator to Deen, who they had realized was a member of the Rebel Alliance. Nell insisted that the Empire would seek retribution if they allowed the Rebels to take a generator, and refused to give it to her nephew. The next morning, Deen left, although before he departed, he gave his aunt and uncle an appliance that they could use to notify him if they decided to give him the generator. Voorson offered to dispose of it, at her parents' wishes, but she secretly kept it. She remained upset at her parents for not helping Deen, and decided to do something herself to allow him to acquire the generator. Voorson sliced into the port database to find the list of upcoming exports, and modified the time listing the generator's scheduled pickup to be in five days. She changed it to two hours earlier, and then contacted Deen.
Shannon Voorson tricks her way past a guard to meet Deen.
Five days later, Voorson went to the port, telling a skeptical guard outside the building that she was bringing her father lunch. The guard allowed her to enter, and she headed for , where the pickup was scheduled to take place. A short time later, Deen and his partner, Boo Rawl, arrived on the freighter Long Run. Voorson greeted the two when they arrived, and requested to leave with them to join the Rebel Alliance. Though Deen refused, he was forced to let her leave with them when he realized that with the dock sealed, the only way to get Voorson out was to contact security, something Rawl was reluctant to do, considering their pickup was illegal. The two then let Voorson aboard, and she revealed that she, not her mother, had set up the change, allowing the Long Run to pick up the generator. Rawl thanked her, although he expressed his wishes that she had contacted the techs so the dock would have been ready sooner, as well as informing the intended recipient that the pickup had been moved back, allowing the three to not have to worry about running into the other vessel it happened to arrive early.
Just as the Long Run departed port, the barge 36DD, the intended recipient of the generator, entered, much to the shock and dismay of the Long Runs crew. Instantly realizing something was amiss, a controller on Kuat ordered the Long Run to return to port immediately. Knowing that he and Deen would be arrested if they complied, Rawl sped up, although a group of TIE Fighters was released to force the Long Run back to port or destroy it if the ship would not turn around. The Long Run continued onward, hoping to reach open space where the ship could enter hyperspace before it was destroyed.
The Long Run escapes from Kuat.
As Deen recognized the controller ordering them to return as Nell Voorson, he informed his aunt that not only was he on the ship, but her daughter was, as well. Deen pleaded to her to order the TIEs to stop firing, only to be informed that security refused to listen to her. Rawl headed straight for the 36DD, with the fighters still on the Long Runs tail. At the last second, the 36DD pulled up, leaving nothing but open space in front of the Long Run. They were then able to enter hyperspace, now safe. It was then that the gravity of the situation hit Voorson, and she began crying with the realization that she would never see her parents again. However, she cheered up when reminded that she would soon be joining the Rebel Alliance alongside her beloved cousin.
Although she was only nine years old, Shannon Voorson had a strong opinion about the Galactic Empire. She firmly believed that the Empire was evil, and felt a great deal of anger toward Emperor Palpatine for actions she felt were cruel, such as the Destruction of Alderaan. This idealism led to Voorson joining the Rebel Alliance, even though it meant leaving her parents. She was inspired by her cousin Deen, who was one of the few Voorsons to leave Kuat. She also felt the rulers of the Empire were unimaginative, and that this was shown in their choice of names for Star Destroyers. Voorson believed that names like Impervious and Exterminator were boring, uncreative names, and felt that she would have given ships names like Iron Hand or Raptor, names that she considered much more exciting and fearsome. Voorson was also very impulsive and tended to not think things through, as shown when she failed to alert the Kuati techs that the generator's pickup time had been moved up by two hours, which would have allowed the Long Run to leave before the 36DD arrived.
Voorson was also a skilled slicer, able to hack into Imperial files. She thought it was foolish of the Empire to let computers come up with the codes for secure databases, as she was able to hack them, often with little effort. Voorson had always been interested in machines, as she was frequently left alone by her busy parents, and found comfort in computers. She was also very intelligent for her age.
Shannon Voorson was created for the short story Slaying Dragons in Star Wars Adventure Journal 9, written by Angela Phillips. This story was later included in Tales from the Empire, a collection of several Adventure Journal stories.
- The Essential Reader's Companion