Erskin Semaj, a human male commander, served as an aide to Senator Mon Mothma within the rebellion. Subsequently, he joined the ranks of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During a mission to escort Mon Mothma to Dantooine for the purpose of rallying the rebel fleet, he and members of Gold Squadron crossed paths with Hera Syndulla's rebel cell, known as the Spectres, part of the Phoenix Squadron.
During the Age of the Empire, Erskin Semaj held the position of senatorial attache to Senator Mon Mothma. In the year 2 BBY, Senator Mon Mothma publicly condemned the Galactic Empire's involvement in the Ghorman Massacre and subsequently resigned from her position in the Imperial Senate. Erskin, along with members of Gold Squadron, accompanied Mon Mothma as she went into hiding aboard her Taylander shuttle, the Chandrila Mistress, which was escorted by several Y-wing fighters. As Mon Mothma and her fellow rebels became fugitives, her ally, Senator Bail Organa, orchestrated a meeting between them and Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla and her Spectres in the vastness of space to refuel their spacecraft.
Following the docking of Mothma's freighter with Hera's VCX-100 light freighter, the Ghost, Semaj and Gold Leader Captain Jon Vander boarded the rebel vessel. They were introduced to Hera and her crew, including Garazeb Orrelios, Ezra Bridger, and the astromech droid Chopper. When Ezra inquired about the nature of their cargo, Erskin informed them that they were not permitted to board due to security protocols. Hera countered by assuring them that they were welcome aboard her ship. Subsequently, the Ghost commenced refueling the Y-wing escorts accompanying Mothma's freighter.
During the refueling process, a disagreement arose between the pilot Gold Two and the Spectres concerning secrecy and strategic approaches. When Hera defended her crew, Semaj adopted a more diplomatic stance, suggesting that the tactical infiltration pod encountered by the Spectres earlier was likely searching for them. Following the arrival of an Arquitens-class command cruiser and a Gozanti-class cruiser from hyperspace, which resulted in damage to Mothma's ship, Semaj, Mothma, and the remaining crew sought refuge aboard the Ghost. Together with the Y-wing escorts, the rebels then fled towards the Archeon Nebula.
After their escape, Semaj advised the former Senator Mothma to abandon their mission and seek refuge in a secure location on Chandrila. However, Mothma disagreed, asserting that her presence at the meeting on Dantooine was indispensable. Mothma then informed the rebels of her plan to convene a gathering of various rebel factions on Dantooine to establish a unified Rebel Alliance. Following their escape from an Imperial trap within the Archeon Nebula, Semaj and his fellow rebels successfully reached Dantooine, where Mon Mothma delivered a speech to the assembled rebel fleet.
Following the Spectres' arrival on Yavin 4 aboard the Ghost, Erskin Semaj informed them that Mon Mothma had requested a meeting to discuss intelligence provided by Ryder Azadi, the leader of the Lothal resistance group, regarding the Empire's testing of a new kind of TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter. The Spectres accepted the mission and infiltrated Lothal with the assistance of the crime lord Cikatro Vizago. Hera Syndulla successfully acquired the prototype starfighter's flight data recorder and returned to Yavin 4 aboard Ryder's U-wing. Erskin and Mothma greeted Syndulla and expressed their satisfaction at obtaining the flight recorder.
Subsequently, Erskin attended a high-level rebel briefing alongside Mon Mothma, Senator Organa, General Dodonna, and Syndulla to address the threat posed by the TIE/D Defender Elite to the Alliance's starfighters. After the Empire initiated Protocol 13, Hera persuaded Mon Mothma to authorize a strike mission to dismantle the Imperial factories located on Lothal.
Erskin Semaj was a human male characterized by his brown eyes. As a senatorial attaché, he donned a blue and white uniform reminiscent of those worn by Rebel SpecForce Pathfinders stationed on Yavin during that era. Semaj was a devoted and protective aide to the rebel leader Mon Mothma. While he sometimes perceived her as overly daring, he remained a dependable assistant and shared her commitment to fighting for the galaxy's liberation. Semaj could also exhibit brusqueness towards unfamiliar individuals. His pragmatism sometimes contrasted with Mothma's idealism.
Erskin Semaj made his debut appearance in the Star Wars Rebels Season Three episode "Secret Cargo," which premiered on Disney XD on March 4, 2017. He was voiced by Josh Brener.
The character's name is a tuckerization honoring James Erskine, a Story Editor at Lucasfilm.