Jom Barell

Before his commitment to the Rebellion, Jom Barell spent his early years on a farm located on the planet Juntar. This farm specialized in raising long-legged animals for their meat, milk, and leather hides. After enlisting in the Rebellion, he engaged in combat against the Galactic Empire on Onderon, even fighting against his own brothers. In the months that followed the Battle of Endor, Jom became a commando, attaining the rank of Sergeant major within the New Republic Special Forces. During one particular assignment, he piloted a gunship through an electrical storm above Geonosis as part of a New Republic operation to prevent the Galactic Empire from reactivating the old Geonosian droid factories.

Following the capture of Wedge Antilles, a starfighter pilot of the New Republic, during a reconnaissance mission over Akiva, Jom led a six-member SpecForces suborbital drop team to infiltrate the planet. His team included Corporals Kason, Stromm, Gahee'abee, Polnichk, and Durs, all equipped with parawings. As they exited their transport, the team was met with fire from Imperial artillery cannons stationed in Myrra, Akiva's capital city. Jom's comrades and the transport were destroyed during the jump, leaving him as the only one alive. Despite suffering a broken arm, Jom survived the fall, landing in a wagon filled with hay, fruit rinds, and animal waste. He used his blaster rifle as a makeshift cane. Shortly after, three stormtroopers confronted him, demanding his surrender. Jom caused a wooden overhang to collapse on the stormtroopers, trapping them. He then took a blaster from one of the stormtroopers and killed them. Jom's arrival coincided with the start of the Rebellion on Akiva, sparked by a small group of rebels led by Norra Wexley, a starfighter pilot who had returned to Akiva to find her son, Temmin. Jom saw Norra's TIE fighter attacking other TIEs and a crowd gathering outside the Satrap's Palace, the center of the Satrapy of Myrra. Jom made his way to the Imperial turbolaser ground-to-orbit turret at the Satrap's Palace. After killing four stormtrooper guards, Barell climbed into the turret. Inside, he found a young Imperial gunnery officer, a boy. The boy told Jom to raise his hands, but Barell explained that one of them was broken. Not wanting to kill a child, Jom tried to persuade the boy to abandon his post. However, the boy, afraid of his Imperial superiors, tried to shoot Jom. The New Republic soldier charged at the boy and pushed him onto the console. He then locked the crying boy in a footlocker trunk. Despite the damage to the turret's controls, Jom managed to fire on a Ryuni-Tantine Vita-Liner. This liner was Arsin Crassus's personal ship, the Golden Harp, which was carrying several Imperial officers and prisoners, including Norra and her son. Jom's actions created a hole in the ship, allowing Temmin to free the other prisoners. The rebellion on Myrra happened at the same time as the arrival of a New Republic fleet, which destroyed most of the Imperial fleet above Akiva. With the Imperial forces defeated on Akiva, the planet became the first Outer Rim world to join the New Republic.

A few days after Akiva's liberation, Jom joined Norra, Temmin, and others, including Mister Bones, the bounty hunter Jas Emari, and former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus, to hunt down Imperial war criminals. By 5 ABY, Norra's team had captured six Imperial fugitives, including Commandant Stradd, Prefect Kosh, Moffs Keong and Nyall, Vice General Adambo, and former Imperial Security Bureau minister Venn Eowelt. These captures coincided with the New Republic's victories against the scattered Empire. Jom later accompanied Norra and her team on a mission to Vorlag to capture Perwin Gedde, a former Vice Admiral who had sought refuge with Slussen Clanker, a Vorlaggn crime lord. During the mission, Jas Emari betrayed Jom and the rest of Norra's team because she was in debt. She pretended to sell Jom and the others to Slussen, who ordered his men to imprison them in his dungeon. Jom and his companions were held in cages above hroth-beasts. However, Emari arranged for them to escape by attaching a set of keys to a hroth-beast's neck. After freeing themselves and escaping the beasts and their captors, Jom and his team fled into a lava-tube that led to Gedde's quarters. There, they found Jas, who had already tied up the drugged Gedde. The rebels then escaped aboard Emari's gunship Halo, which was piloted by Temmin. After escaping Imperial fighters, Jom and his team fled into space.

Once in space, Jom and the others confronted Jas about her betrayal. When Jom told her that she could have gotten them killed, Jas said that was part of the plan. Jom was very angry with Emari and grabbed her. However, the Zabrak broke free and pushed Barell back. As the argument continued, Temmin admitted that he knew about Emari's plan. When Jom told Norra to control her son, Norra asserted her leadership of the team. When Barell questioned Norra's leadership, Jas told her to find another ship. Eventually, Jas slapped Barell in the face. As the two fought, Norra tried to stop them. Jas and Jom soon found themselves in the bunkroom, where they put aside their differences and kissed. As a result of their quarrel, the two became lovers. After arriving on Chandrila, the New Republic capital, Sinjir confronted Barell in private and told him not to hurt Jas again. The former Imperial loyalty officer warned that he was skilled in combat. When Jom asked why Sinjir was not romantically interested in her, Sinjir said that he was just the bounty hunter's friend. Later, Jom was with Norra and Emari when they examined Perwin Gedde's body. The former Vice-Admiral had died during transport, and Emari deduced that he had been poisoned with Kytrogorgia. After a period of rest, Jom met with Norra and her crew aboard the Halo. When Temmin talked about his X-wing practice, Jom corrected him, saying it was called training. When Jas suggested that Mercurial Swift had poisoned Gedde, Barell asked whether the Empire had killed him. When Temmin suggested the Empire had killed Gedde to prevent him from revealing their secrets, Barell agreed with the boy's theory. When Jas complained that Gedde's death cost them credits, Barell argued with her about ethics and orders until Norra stopped the argument. Norra then told her team that Leia Organa, a New Republic leader, had asked for her help in rescuing Han Solo, who had disappeared while trying to rescue Chewbacca from Kashyyyk. Jom agreed to help.

Jom Barell and Jas Emari traveled to Nar Shaddaa, a crime haven moon in the Outer Rim Territories. The two visited a black market owned by Nyarla, who told them that she knew nothing about Solo, Chewbacca, or any Imperial prisons in Wild Space. As they returned to the Halo, Jom was stunned and knocked to the ground. He and Jas were surrounded by Nikto gangsters led by Rynscar. While Rynscar wanted to hand Jas over to the Black Sun crime syndicate, Jas convinced him to let her go by promising to pay back double the debt. Jas also convinced Rynscar to tell them about Han Solo. Rynscar told Jas about a planet near Wild Space called Irudiru. Emari shared this information with Sinjir, who was questioning Yupe Tashu. Sinjir discovered that Irudiru was home to Golas Aram. After returning to the Halo, Jom tried to clean the mud off his clothes. When Barell accused Jas of selling them out, she said she was buying them more time. Before Jom could argue that Rynscar could not be trusted, Jas kissed him. After returning to Chandrila, Jom accompanied Norra and the rest of the team for a meeting with Gial Ackbar and Princess Leia at the Skygarden above Hanna City. When Norra resigned from the New Republic Starfleet to find Solo, Barell chose to stay behind because he did not want to go on an unsanctioned mission.

Later, Jom Barell had a change of heart and decided to help Norra and her team find Han Solo. He traveled to Irudiru and arrived at Golas Aram's compound just in time to help Sinjir and Jas Emari fight commando droids. He blasted off the head of a commando droid that was fighting with Emari. Jom then helped Sinjir destroy the remaining droids. Aram fled the house but was captured by Norra before he could escape. After Sinjir interrogated him, Jom chatted with Emari while Norra and Han Solo traveled to Kai Pompos to gather supplies for their trip to Kashyyyk. Having found Solo, Norra had agreed to help him rescue Chewbacca from Ashmead's Lock prison. Jom accompanied Norra's team and Han Solo on their journey to Kashyyyk. The rebels slipped through the Imperial blockade by pretending to be a repair crew sent to carry out maintenance work at Ashmead's Lock. After landing, Jom and his companions entered the prison ship only to be confronted by SOL-GDA, which demanded their passcode. When the rebels failed to provide it, SOL-GDA dispatched droids to "incorporate" them into the prison. Two of the security droids crawled onto him, but he bashed one in the skull with his rifle butt and kicked the other away. During the fight, Jom sustained a bloodied nose after headbutting a security droid. With Temmin's help, Han and Jas Emari disabled SOL-GDA by severing the cable linking the power generator to the stasis pod cells. Jom helped Solo and his rebel companions to free a hundred prisoners, including Chewbacca and Brentin Lore Wexley. While Norra, Temmin, and Mister Bones decided to return with the liberated prisoners on the Millennium Falcon to Chandrila, Jom decided to stay behind with Emari and Sinjir to help Han and Chewie liberate Kashyyyk from Imperial rule. While Jom was pessimistic that Han and Chewie's plan to liberate Kashyyyk would succeed, Jas managed to convince them by raising their failure to free Slussen Canker's slaves. Jom accepted Jas' arguments and decided to stick around longer to see what kind of damage they could inflict on the Imperial war machine. Jom and companions then left the Black Forest on Emari's gunship Halo and flew to a wroshyr tree. There, Solo briefed his allies about his plan to liberate Kashyyyk by finding Lozen Tolruck and disabling the inhibitor chips that enslaved Kashyyyk's Wookiee population.

A month after the events at Ashmead's Lock, Jom Barell and a team of Wookiee rebels captured an Imperial command station on the far side of Kashyyyk. They then tried to capture an Imperial shuttle platform that would allow them to travel to Lozen Tolruck's island fortress. However, they were attacked by Imperial forces. Jom's Wookiee companions managed to flee, but he was captured by the Imperials, who brought him to Tolruck. In Imperial captivity, Jom was kept inside an iron kennel on grav-pads. He was interrogated by Tolruck, who ripped out one of his eyes and threw it into a campfire. Later, his friend Sinjir went to rescue Jom disguised as Jorrin Turnbull. However, Sinjir was quickly discovered by Tolruck, who stabbed him in the calf with a kishakk blade. Later, Jom was kept in a cage while Sinjir was forced to fight Odair Bel-Opis for Tolruck's amusement. Despite being beaten by Odair, Sinjir disabled Tolruck's control module using a hyperwave transceiver spike hidden inside his heel. As a result, the Wookiees revolted and overwhelmed their Imperial masters. Sinjir then freed the wounded Jom from his cell. The two men then went to confront Tolruck in his throne room. However, Tolruck revealed that he had ordered the orbiting Imperial Star Destroyers to bombard Kashyyyk. Sinjir and Jom left Tolruck to his own devices while they rejoined Han and Chewbacca. Later, Jom along with Han, Chewie, and Sinjir infiltrated the Star Destroyer Dominion using a transport loaded with webweaver spiders. The rebels unleashed the webweavers on the Star Destroyer's crew and fought their way to the bridge. However, they were captured by stormtroopers. Jom and his companions were brought before Domm Korgale, who believed victory was near. However, New Republic reinforcements arrived in the form of Princess Leia aboard the Millennium Falcon, Phantom Squadron, and Ackbar's cruiser Home One. Jom and his companions broke free of their Imperial captors and hijacked the Dominion. They used the Star Destroyer's guns to destroy the nearby Star Destroyer Vitiator. As a result, the remaining ship Neutralizer surrendered to the New Republic, ending Imperial rule on Kashyyyk. Following the liberation of Kashyyyk, Jom helped pack thermal detonators aboard Emari's ship Halo. In private, Jom told Emari that she was right that he had come to Irudiru to chase her. He also told her that he had stayed with her team and given up his eye because that was the right thing to do. Knowing that Jas was still worried about her debts, he reassured her that she did the right thing by staying on Kashyyyk. Jom then told her that he would stay behind to help the Wookiees and bid the bounty hunter farewell before she returned to Chandrila with Sinjir. While the Wookiees had retaken their homeworld, they needed help to flush out the remaining Imperial holdouts.

After returning to Chandrila, Jom was disciplined by the New Republic military authorities for participating in an unsanctioned mission on Kashyyyk. As a result, Jom was discharged from the New Republic Special Forces. Depressed, Jom began to drink. After several months, he found work as a freelance bodyguard at the Galactic Senate. Jom spent the rest of his time drinking alcohol. Shortly before the Battle of Jakku, his friend Sinjir visited him to ask for his help in rescuing Jas Emari and Norra Wexley, who were stranded on Jakku. Sinjir woke Jom up by placing a wet cloth on his face. Believing Sinjir to be an intruder, Jom threw a punch, but Sinjir dodged it. Jom was reluctant to get involved until Sinjir pointed out that Jas was trapped on Jakku and needed his help. Jom wanted to go to Jakku immediately, but Sinjir explained that they could not travel there directly because the planet was surrounded by the Empire. Sinjir then told him that they needed to help the Senate pass a resolution to send military forces to Jakku. When Jom responded that was above his pay grade, Sinjir replied that he could use his job as a security guard to help them travel to Nakadia, the new capital of the New Republic. Jom along with Sinjir, Han Solo, Temmin, and Conder participated in an undercover mission on Nakadia to spy on five senators who had opposed Mothma's resolution earlier on Chandrila. During the mission, the five undercover agents followed the senators into Izzik's, a restaurant opposite the Quarrow Senate house. Jom was tasked with tailing Rethalow. While watching the senator at a poma-club, Jom wondered why they could not force the senators to change their vote. In response, Conder advised patience. After spying on Rethalow for hours, Jom broke into the dep chamber and kidnapped Senator Rethalow. Despite damaging his comlink, Jom convinced Rethalow to disclose his dealings with Black Sun and the Red Key Raiders. Jom's comrades were not so lucky. Sinjir was knocked unconscious while trying to follow Ashmin Ek. Conder Kyl was kidnapped by the Red Key Raiders, while Han Solo was thrown into a rubbish bin while spying on Dor Wieedo's ship. Jom returned to Solo's ship with his prisoner and was rejoined by Sinjir, Temmin, and Solo. In the presence of the other agents, Jom forced Rethalow to disclose what he had told him. Rethalow confessed that he, Ashmin Ek, and Dor Wieedo had been bribed by Black Sun and the Red Key syndicate into opposing Mothma's resolution in return for a trade deal. He also revealed that Nim Tar and Grelka Sorka had complied because Nim Tar's child and Grelka Sorka's jerba had been kidnapped. Jom later accompanied his teammates as they searched for Conder and the other hostages. Using a transceiver tooth, Conder relayed his coordinates to his team. Solo flew the Millennium Falcon into a nearby warehouse, where Red Key had been holding Conder and Nim Tar's child. Jom along with Sinjir and Solo subdued the criminals during a brief gun battle and freed Conder and Nim Tar's child. However, they were unable to save Sorka's jerba, who had been sold to a butchery. Posing as an adviser to the Chancellor, Sinjir convinced the five senators to change their votes in return for pardons and other assurances for their homeworlds. As a result, the New Republic was able to send military forces to Jakku.

Following the Senate's re-vote on Nakadia, Jom cleaned himself up and returned to his SpecForces team to report for duty. He found Dellalo Dayson and her team loading

munitions into a U-wing troop transport. Initially, Sergeant Dellalo hesitated to welcome him back and suggested he discuss the matter with General Tyben. Jom countered by stating that this particular battle was of greater importance than any other. He pledged his commitment to fighting for her and every member of his platoon. Dayson jokingly threatened to kill him, to which he responded that it was preferable to navigating bureaucratic red tape. When the Grand SpecForce commando Margle expressed interest in engaging in combat, Dayson declared that no fighting would occur under her command. To prevent complications, Dayson consented to Jom's presence on board. She stated that she would fabricate a story about him stowing away, but cautioned Jom that he could face a court-martial and dishonorable discharge if he returned to Chandrila. Jom expressed his gratitude to the Sergeant for allowing him to rejoin his unit and boarded the U-wing. As the U-wing carrying Jom began its descent into the atmosphere of Jakku, Jom and his fellow soldiers prepared to disembark. An Imperial concussive missile locked onto the U-wing. While the other SpecForces commandos remained unaware, Jom detected it. With insufficient time to deploy the beam cannon, he used his jetpack to fly out of the ship and intercept the incoming missile. Jom perished in the resulting explosion, but his actions saved the lives of the U-wing crew and passengers. The Battle of Jakku ultimately resulted in a victory for the New Republic, signifying the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War. The defeated Empire signed the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic, formally ending all hostilities. Following the battle, Jom's lover, Jas Emari, was devastated upon learning of his death. However, she consoled herself with the thought that her affection for him was not as strong as his love for her. ## Personality and traits Jom Barell, a New Republic Special Forces soldier, possessed expertise in hand-to-hand combat and proficiency in operating blasters. Although he was a skilled killer capable of eliminating enemy combatants without hesitation, Jom was reluctant to harm children and youths. On one occasion, Barell attempted to use psychological and emotional tactics to persuade a young Imperial gunnery officer to abandon his position. Despite suffering a wounded arm, Barell remained a formidable fighter. Having grown up on a farm, Jom possessed familiarity with four-legged creatures. As a soldier of the New Republic, Jom championed the New Republic's objective of establishing justice and freedom throughout the galaxy. He was enraged when Jas Emari feigned betrayal to settle debts. Despite their heated disputes regarding money and ethics, he still developed feelings for her. Jom's unwavering loyalty to Norra motivated him to accompany her team on a mission to locate Han Solo and later to rescue Chewbacca. Jom's dedication to doing good and opposing the Imperial war machine led him to participate in the liberation of Kashyyyk. Despite the loss of an eye, he took pride in the role that he and his comrades played in liberating the Wookiees from the Empire. After being discharged from the SpecForces for participating in an unsanctioned mission, Jom became disheartened and turned to alcohol. He found renewed purpose upon learning that his lover, Jas, was stranded on Jakku. His affection for Jas prompted him to participate in an undercover operation on Nakadia. Later, he successfully rejoined his SpecForces unit and made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his own life to protect their U-wing transport from destruction by a concussive missile. Jom identified as a soldier and lived for combat. He considered working as a security guard to be beneath his capabilities. Despite Jom's affection for Jas, she did not fully reciprocate his feelings. Before the Battle of Jakku, Jom shaved his head, leaving only his handlebar mustache and meatchop sideburns, in order to project the image of a commando. ## Behind the scenes Jom Barell made his debut as a minor point-of-view character in Chuck Wendig's 2015 novel Aftermath, which was released as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens multimedia series. Barell subsequently appeared in the novel's 2016 and 2017 sequels, Aftermath: Life Debt and Aftermath: Empire's End.