Joph Seastriker

During the New Republic era, Joph Seastriker's birth and upbringing took place on the planet Gatalenta. Gatalenta, a world known for its warm climate and tranquility, was famous for its tea, reflective retreats, and sophisticated poetry. Despite this calm environment, Joph yearned for thrill and adventure. As a child, he was known for his restlessness and impatience, dreaming of joining the New Republic Defense Force to pilot the finest starfighters and explore the galaxy. With his two mothers' approval, Joph left Gatalenta twenty years following the Battle of Endor and enrolled in the academy. After graduating, he became an X-wing starfighter pilot, assigned to the precision air team. Holding the rank of lieutenant, he was stationed at the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime.

In 28 ABY, Joph received his initial assignment: serving as a military escort for senators Leia Organa and Ransolm Casterfo. They were on a senatorial mission to Bastatha, investigating the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's cartel. Before the mission, Joph encountered Leia's assistant and pilot Greer Sonnel, quickly developing an affinity for her. He was surprised to discover that Greer was both a pilot and political staffer, having previously won the Junior Sabers competition. Joph then introduced himself to senator Organa, her protocol droid C-3PO, her junior staffer Korr Sella, and senator Casterfo, whom Joph found to be unusually well-dressed.

During the mission, Joph piloted his X-wing while Leia and her team traveled in her personal starship, the Mirrorbright. Upon landing on Bastatha, Joph accompanied Leia and her team to a dinner at a local casino, hosted by the Nikto magistrates Xun and Tosta. At the dinner, Joph joined Leia in playing card games with the other guests. Later, he and Korr witnessed an argument between Leia and Casterfo regarding the Rebellion. Leia and Casterfo, representing the Populists and Centrists respectively, held opposing views on the extent of government intervention in the New Republic.

Joph later shared the incident with his friend Greer, mentioning Leia's description of Casterfo as a "spoiled brat." Leia then informed Joph and Greer about a briefing concerning an upcoming private conference with Bastathan business leaders. However, this delegation turned out to be gangsters sent by Rinnrivin to kidnap Leia, attempting to bribe her into easing restrictions on illegal spice. Casterfo rescued Leia, and they escaped Rinnrivin's headquarters. Defying New Republic military protocol, Joph flew his X-wing into an underground cavern, encountering the two senators who had commandeered a hoversled.

While grateful, Leia reprimanded Joph for violating safety protocols by not summoning help and flying his X-wing into confined spaces. She assured him that he was not on report but warned him to follow the regulations. Though unrepentant, Seastriker promised to comply with senator Organa's orders in the future. His actions earned him Greer's admiration. Examining data from Rinnrivin's raided headquarters, Leia and Casterfo discovered that Rinnrivin was diverting most of Bastatha's casino profits into shadow corporations in the Outer Rim Territories.

Following their return to Hosnian Prime, Joph and his fellow pilots, including Temmin Wexley, observed the second stage of the Five Sabers, a prestigious starship competition on Theron. Han Solo, senator Organa's husband and a Rebellion veteran, managed the Five Sabers. Before the game began, Joph and his fellow pilots were visited by Greer and Senator Organa. Senator Organa had a special assignment for Joph and Greer as part of her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel. Since Greer was a native of Pamarthe, Senator Organa assigned Greer and Joph to investigate whether Rinnrivin was hiring pilots from that planet.

Together, Joph and Greer traveled to Pamarthe, an ocean planet where most of the population lived on islands connected by old bridges of wood, stone, and rope. Joph found crossing a rope bridge a daunting experience. For their mission, Joph had to pretend to be a native Pamarthen. While crossing the bridge, Joph exchanged conversation with Greer and admitted his fear of heights. When Greer pointed out that he wanted excitement, Joph responded that his idea of excitement did not involve throwing up.

After an arduous walk, the two reached a cantina frequented by pilots and spacers. To prove his Pamarthen identity, Joph drank a local beverage called Port in a Storm, managing to finish it to the cheers of the other patrons. After chatting about the Five Sabers, Greer asked a local pilot for information about work in the space around Pamarthe. The pilot informed them that there was a lot of traffic around the nearby planet Daxam IV, which was dominated by a paramilitary group called the Amaxine warriors. The pilot also informed them that the Amaxines jealously controlled the shipping around that world.

Following their visit to the cantina, Joph insisted that he could have finished the entire drink. Greer then suggested that he try to finish an entire bottle of Port in a Storm. As they were walking back to their ship through the rope bridge, Joph asked Greer why senator Organa had talked about the mission in the hangar instead of the senatorial office. Greer explained that the senatorial oath prevented senators from using the Senate offices for the purposes of espionage. At that point, Joph realized that Leia had dispatched them on a secret spying mission that had not been authorized by the Galactic Senate.

Upon returning to Hosnian Prime, Joph and Greer rendezvoused with senator Organa aboard the Mirrorbright and discussed their findings on the Amaxine warriors. Greer reported that the Amaxines were overseeing shipping in and out of Daxam IV and suggested that they were linked to Rinnrivin's cartel. From Leia, Joph and Greer learned that the Amaxines had been the name of a warrior people that had departed the galaxy at the dawn of the Old Republic. Joph remarked that the Amaxines must have spent an eternity wandering around in the void. While no records of the Amaxines existed, Greer used a computer projector to identify incidences of Amaxine activities across the galaxy.

Based on the information, the three deduced that the Amaxine warriors were operating in Centrist-aligned worlds. They also agreed to organize a visit to Daxam IV as part of the next stage of their investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel, which had grown to include the Amaxines as well. Since Daxam IV was a Centrist world, Leia felt that it was better for her Centrist friend Casterfo to investigate the Amaxine presence there.

Later, the Senatorial conference building was damaged during a bomb attack known as the Napkin Bombing. Leia managed to evacuate the Senate, saving many lives. The Napkin Bombing was the first security incident since the end of the Galactic Civil War. Leia and her companions including Joph came to believed that the bombing was linked to their investigation into Rinnrivin. After footage of an alleged Twi'lek bomber emerged, Leia made arrangements to travel to the planet Ryloth with Joph and several other staffers including C-3PO and Korr Sella. Meanwhile, Greer traveled with Casterfo to Daxam IV to investigate the Amaxines.

On Ryloth, Joph and his team were hosted by Emissary Yendor, the planet's ambassador who had first brought Rinnrivin's cartel to the Galactic Senate's attention. He and his team visited the Ryloth archives where they found that all of the material was written on paper, tanned hides, wooden tablets. and rolls. When Joph moaned about the lack of holograms and computers, Leia explained that Ryloth had little resources due to the depredations of the Niktos and Hutts and that the native Twi'leks had to use anything available to preserve their history.

After Korr uncovered information about the recent origins of Rinnrivin's cartel, Joph speculated that Rinnrivin had risen to power due to the collapse of another cartel. Due to the lack of material, the trip to Ryloth proved inconclusive. Later, Leia attended a private dinner with Yendor and left Joph and the others to mind the Mirrorbright. That evening, they were contacted by Casterfo who shared information that Greer had obtained about the Amaxines. Casterfo also theorized that Rinnrivin was using Ryloth as a relay station and asked Joph and his companions to investigate whether the crime lord was operating spy satellites above the planet.

Despite Leia's absence, Joph agreed to help Casterfo and managed to convince a reluctant C-3PO to slice into the satellites above Ryloth. After some effort, C-3PO managed to tap into Rinnrivin's spy satellites and discovered that the crime lord was hiding on the watery Expansion Region world of Sibensko. While Leia was annoyed that Joph and the other crew had acted without consulting her, she was mollified to learn that they had tracked down the Nikto crime lord's location.

After leaving Ryloth, Joph prepared to set a course for Hosnian Prime. However, Leia delayed her return in order to find Rinnrivin. After Joph ran a scan on the spy satellites and discovered that Rinnrivin was visiting Harloff Minor, an upmarket planet near the former galactic capital of Coruscant. Under Leia's orders, Joph set a course for Harloff Minor where she arranged a secret meeting with Rinnrivin. During the meeting, Leia learned that Rinnrivin was not behind the Napkin Bombing. She also managed to plant a tracking device on a holocube which she returned to Rinnrivin.

While approaching Hosnian Prime, Joph, and Korr listened to news reports of the Centrists and Populists blaming each other for the Napkin Bombing. He was also present when Ransolm sent a brief transmission informing that their investigation had taken a "dramatic leap forward." Joph and Korr also admitted they were despondent about the recent news reports. When Korr asked Leia whether the New Republic could collapse, Leia commented that a schism was possible if the two factions continued fighting. However, she hoped that things would work themselves out.

After returning to Hosnian Prime, Senator Organa sent Joph and Korr on another undercover mission to Chrome Citadel, a seedy space station that was known as a criminal hub. There, they saw relics of the Old Empire, the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic on sale. The two eventually approached a cantina that was known to advertise illegal work. There, the two accepted a job to transport material from Daxam IV to Sibensko.

Later, Joph met with Leia, Casterfo, and Greer to plan their secret mission to Sibensko. During the meeting, the four drank and toasted Port in a Storm to senator Leia. Leia also made arrangements to obtain an Ubese bounty hunter's mask for Joph, false IDs, hair tint, and smuggler's clothing. Joph expressed skepticism at Casterfo's theory that Rinnrivin and Arliz Hadrassian were being aided by a source in the Senate. However, Leia backed up Casterfo's theory; which was later proven to be right. Lady Carise Sindian, a prominent Centrist senator, was actually an undercover agent of the First Order, a remnant of the Old Empire, that was using Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines to procure funds for its rearmament program. When night fell, Joph excused himself to watch the fireworks display on Equinox Day, a local holiday.

The following day, Joph went to service his X-wing starfighter at the Senate hangar bay. While repairing his X-wing, he chatted with another pilot named Ledaney, who was also repairing his X-wing, about Port in the Storm. Another pilot named Zari Bangel entered the conversation and chatted with Joph about his recent work with Leia's senatorial staff. Ledaney and Bangel expressed some light-hearted envy at Joph's work as a military escort for Senator Organa, which allowed to travel across the galaxy. Ledaney and Bangel regarded Joph's present duties as superior to flying in air shows. Keeping his missions a secret, Joph remarked that he liked performing in airshows. While conversing with the pilots, he made a list of personnel who would be sympathetic to Leia.

Joph expressed some measure of shock following the public disclosure of Leia's true parentage as the daughter of Darth Vader. While he was wary of Leia, his friend Greer defended the embattled senator. After reflecting on Leia's parentage and her marriage to Han Solo, he decided to remain loyal to Leia. When Leia arrived, he and Greer confirmed that they were prepared to continue their involvement in her investigation into Rinnrivin's criminal activities and the Amaxine warriors. The two then complied with Leia's orders to make the Mirrorbright ready for departure.

After Leia obtained leave from the Senate, Joph joined Greer and Leia in discussing the details of their mission to Sibensko. When Leia insisted on bring C-3PO, Joph disagreed and suggested that the droid looked "too nice for pilots as broke as they were supposed to be." After Greer suggested that he could serve as Leia's "minder", Joph agreed and suggested grubbing the protocol droid with dust and a few dings to conceal his identity. During the meeting, Joph informed Leia that he had obtained a new data packet from the Ryloth satellites which suggested that Rinnrivin was planning to visit Sibensko. They agreed that their mission's success was paramount on not being discovered by Rinnrivin.

When Greer succumbed to a Bloodburn attack, Joph caught the pilot before she could fall to the ground. He then called for a medic despite Greer's objections. Doctor Harter Kalonia arrived to administer a shot of hadeira serum treatment. Due to the incident, Joph learned that Greer suffered from Bloodburn, a rare disease triggered by stress and space travel. The only way to minimize its effects was to exercise and avoid stress. Joph then expressed his love for Greer, which she reciprocated. Per Gatalenta culture, Joph began crying which was regarded as proof of a caring heart.

Joph and his companions traveled to Sibensko in a cheap junker they had purchased. Their destination was an underwater city that lay beneath the ocean. The undercover investigators landed their junker on a raised landing platform that was protected by a force field. Leia then informed Joph that she had placed a tracker on Rinnrivin during their last meeting. Upon disembarking, Joph and Greer were greeted by an Amaxine warrior named Padric, who asked them for their work codes. For the mission, Leia pretended to be an indentured servant while C-3PO pretended to be her minder.

After ascertaining Joph and Greer's credentials, Padric informed that they would commence loading the shipment from Daxam IV onto their junker. He also instructed them to rendezvous with their contacts at the destination point and to help transfer the cargo to them. Joph and Greer quickly learned that their cargo was a shipment of thermal detonators and that their destination was Hosnian Prime. While Joph and Greer supervised the loading, Leia and C-3PO infiltrated the underwater city and managed to access banking records which proved that the Amaxines were funding Rinnrivin's cartel. They also discovered that the Amaxines operated a base on the planet.

When Leia contacted Joph via comlink, Joph told her that Greer was finalizing the shipment. Leia told him about the information that she and C-3PO had uncovered about the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel. She also sent Threepio back to Joph and Greer with the data. Leia told them that she would remain behind in order to spy on the Amaxines. When Joph disagreed and suggested that he and Greer come along, Leia told him that she would be able to handle the work alone. Leia then reiterated her instructions to Joph to get C-3PO and the data safely offworld to the Galactic Senate. Joph and C-3PO reluctantly complied with Leia's orders.

An hour later, Joph and Greer had finished loading their cargo and had managed to reunite with C-3PO. While on board, the three debated the merits of leaving Leia behind. While Joph was unhappy about leaving Organa behind, Greer pointed out that the Senator was perfectly capable of looking after herself. C-3PO added that they had received orders from Leia to leave. Despite his discomfort, he accepted Greer's view that they needed to get C-3PO and valuable data off-world. While departing the underwater city, C-3PO analyzed the computers' records of foot traffic in the underwater city and discovered that an entire Amaxine army was housed in the city.

Meanwhile, Leia managed to escape the Amaxines by fleeing up a landing platform. There, she was picked up by Han Solo, who had arrived on a modified racer. Joph and his companions were also relieved at Han's arrival. Han and Leia managed to shoot down two Amaxine starfighters that had been sent after them. One of the fighters, a B-wing crashed into the underwater city's munition depot; triggering an explosion that wiped out the city and the entire Amaxine army garrisoned there. This bombing neutralized both Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxine warriors as threats to the New Republic. However, Joph and his team failed to undercover the two organizations' links to several Centrist senators including Lady Carise and the First Order.

Following the events on Sibensko, Joph and Greer rented a low-rent civilian hangar for their junker and the stolen detonators. While Joph had toyed with the idea of turning the detonators over to a commander or admiral in the New Republic Starfleet, he decided not to because their trip to Sibensko had not been a military mission but a senatorial one. After some discussions with Greer, the two decided that they could not let the detonators get into the hands of criminal elements. Instead, they decided to hide the detonators in a secure holding unit until they received new orders from Leia.

Meanwhile, Leia addressed the Senate about her investigation into Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines. Leia was supported by her former friend Casterfo, who shared her views about the threat posed by the Amaxines. Despite Leia's warnings, most of the Senate discounted the Amaxines as a fringe element and refused to believe that other threats to the Republic existed. Disillusioned with the Senate's complacency and indecisiveness, Leia resigned as Senator. She then convened a secret meeting in the Senate hangar bay that was attended by several Rebel Alliance veterans and New Republic personnel. Joph was invited to the meeting and also managed to recruit two fellow New Republic pilots Temmin Wexley and Zari Bangel. During the meeting, Leia established a new paramilitary outfit called the Resistance to protect the New Republic without being constricted by the Republic's regulations.

Seastriker was later promoted to Commander by the time of the founding of the training unit J-Squadron.

Joph Seastriker had blue eyes and blond hair. He was slightly taller than the minimum height requirement for the New Republic Defense Fleet, exceeding it by 1.5 millimeters. In his youth, Joph yearned for thrill and adventure, feeling restricted by the peace of his homeworld, Gatalenta. His restless and impatient nature drove him to dream of joining the New Republic military to fly the best starfighters. After enlisting in the Academy and joining the New Republic military, Joph considered his childhood on Gatalenta as belonging to a different time. He never regretted leaving his homeworld, finding it too stifling for his tastes.

Joph quickly became fond of pilot Greer Sonnel, and their professional relationship evolved into a romantic one during their work for senator Organa. On one occasion, Joph executed a risky maneuver by flying his X-wing into a cavern to rescue Leia from gangsters. Despite violating New Republic safety protocols, he never regretted his actions, which earned him Greer's admiration. Despite his love for flying, Joph feared heights, having never experienced them outside his X-wing starfighter.

Joph also demonstrated initiative by assisting Casterfo in hacking into Rinnrivin's satellites, uncovering information about the crime lord's movements. While Leia was initially annoyed by his lack of consultation, she appreciated the valuable information he obtained. Joph and Greer were also skilled in undercover work, undertaking such missions on at least three occasions. As a Gatalenta native, Joph was taught that crying symbolized a caring heart, a belief he demonstrated when expressing his love for Greer. Joph eventually shared Leia's belief that the New Republic was incapable of protecting itself and became a founding member of the Resistance, a paramilitary organization dedicated to defending the Republic.

Being a member of the New Republic Starfleet, Joph was a skilled X-wing starfighter pilot. Beyond his piloting skills, he also possessed the knowledge to repair and maintain his starship.

Joph Seastriker's debut was in the 2016 novel Bloodline, penned by Claudia Gray. He is one of the five main point-of-view characters in the novel.