The Ree family
Verine Ree was a female human First Waver, an early group of settlers who had been exiled to the Outer Rim planet Jelucan several centuries before the Age of the Empire. She married Paron Ree, a fellow valley dweller. About nineteen years before the Battle of Yavin, Verine gave birth to two daughters named Wynnet and Ciena Ree. Wynnet died shortly after being born, leaving Ciena as their only surviving daughter. Per the First Waver tradition, Ciena wore a braided leather bracelet around her wrist in honor of her late sister.
When their daughter Ciena was eight years old, Verine and her family traveled with their muunyak steed to Valentia, the capital of Jelucan. Valentia was inhabited by the Second-wavers, a second more affluent wave of migrants who had settled on Jelucan. The family had traveled there to attend a ceremony celebrating Jelucan's incorporation into the Galactic Empire. Three days prior to their trip, Verine was offered a supervisory position at a nearby mine. Verine and her family regarded this as a blessing since the second-wavers tended to favor their own kind. The Rees believed that the Empire would bring positive change to the divided Jelucan society.
When Ciena, who liked starships, fretted that they would be late, Verine put her arm around her daughter and reassured her that the Empire would still be waiting for them when they finished traveling down the mountain. As Verine promised, they arrived in the city shortly later. After parking their muunyak in a paddock, Verine and her family made their way to the public square to watch Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's speech "welcoming" Jelucan into the fold of the Empire. Before parting with their daughter, she told Ciena that they would come back for her. When her husband criticized the arrogance of the second wavers, she whispered for him to keep his voice down. During the trip, Ciena befriended a local second-waver boy named Thane Kyrell, who had defended her from bullies. After meeting Tarkin, the two younglings decided they wanted to serve the Imperial Navy when they grew up.
Over the next eight years, Verine continued working at the mine. Due to her job as a supervisor, she had to work late hours which took time away from her family. She and Paron remained supportive of their daughter Ciena's ambition to study at the Imperial Academy. When Ciena was thirteen, Verine and Paron sent their daughter to support Nierre, an Imperial communications inspector who had been accused of abusing his power. As loyal Imperial citizens, the Rees believed that nobody should want to hide secrets for the Empire and that his accusers lacked honor. In the end, Nierre was cleared, protecting his family's honor.
When Ciena turned sixteen, she won a place at the prestigious Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant, which trained officers for the Imperial Navy. Verine and her husband took pride in their daughter's academic achievements and accompanied Ciena to the spaceport. Prior to climbing aboard her starship, Ciena hugged both her parents. Over the next three years, Ciena and her friend Thane excelled in their training at the Imperial Academy. Shortly before her daughter graduated from the Academy, the family's pet muunyak died. Verine and Paron subsequently informed their daughter by hologram. After graduating, Ciena was allocated to the command track in the Imperial Navy. Shortly later, their daughter took part in the capture of Princess Leia Organa and was drawn into the Galactic Civil War.
After Ciena arranged for her friend Thane, who had deserted the Imperial Navy, to go into hiding, she visited her mother Verine. Verine was happy and surprised to see her daughter and comforted Ciena when she burst into tears at the door. After Ciena had regained her composure, Verine spent the night with her daughter, braiding her hair. During the visit, Ciena took care not to mention Thane. Ciena later filed a false report claiming that Thane had committed suicide out of grief for fallen comrades who had perished aboard the Death Star.
Following the Battle of Hoth, Verine Ree was wrongly accused of embezzling funds from the mine where she worked. She was arrested by the Imperial authorities and imprisoned pending trial. By this stage, her husband Paron had found work as an administrator at the local Imperial garrison. Paron contacted Ciena, who was now a Lieutenant Commander aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor, and informed her of Verine's plight. Ciena obtained permission from her superiors to visit her family. Ciena's friend, Thane Kyrell, who was now a starfighter pilot in the Rebel Alliance, also learnt of the news via HoloNet and traveled to Jelucan to support the Ree family.
Paron and Ciena believed that Verine had been framed for a crime she did not commit and expressed disillusionment with the Empire. They were also distressed when their fellow valley dwellers failed to honor the ancient Jelucani tradition of sending relatives to support and planting flagpoles in their hour of need. In the end only Thane, a second-waver, came to support the Ree family. On the day of the trial, a handcuffed Verine stood in the dock as the prosecutor read the charges against her. Despite the fabricated evidence, the magistrate found her guilty of embezzlement and fraud and sentenced her to six years hard labor.
Verine was not given a chance to say goodbye to her husband and daughter, who stood in the semi-circular stands around the judicial chamber. She did not even glance at her family as she was led away. While Paron and Ciena were greatly upset by the judgment, they refused to defy the Empire because they had sworn an oath to the Empire; which in Jelucani culture was unbreakable. While knowing her mother was innocent, Ciena reluctantly accepted the official Imperial version of events in order to avoid bring her loyalty into question. Following the Battle of Endor, Ciena remained loyal to the Empire not only because of her oath but because she feared that harm would come to her mother if she defected to the New Republic, the new government created by the Rebellion.
Verine Ree was a human woman who was not particularly tall or strong. In accordance with their First Wave culture, she and her husband Paron taught their daughter Ciena the importance of honor and keeping their promises. She was a loving mother and a dutiful wife who was willing to work long hours to support her family. Verine and her family supported the Galactic Empire because they believed that the Empire would bring positive change and development to Jelucan. By the time of the Battle of Hoth, she was middle-aged. When Verine was being wrongfully convicted by the Empire of fraud and embezzlement, Ciena feared that Verine would not be able to endure long days of hauling ore.
Verine Ree first appeared as a secondary character in Claudia Gray's 2015 young adult novel Lost Stars, which was released as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens multimedia series. Most of her lines are told from the points of view of her daughter Ciena Ree and the other protagonist Thane Kyrell.
- Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away