Jaden Luka

Commander Jaden T. Luka XO and Pilot aboard the Novgorod Name: Jaden Tycho Luka Alias: Jade, Luke, Tyke Space Monkey (callsign) Spacer (for short) Rogue One (former) Born: Ord Cestus - 25 BBY Species: Human Affiliation: Alliance Frigate Novgorod Valkyrie Squadron Role: Executive Officer, Novgorod A-Wing Pilot (Valkyrie Leader) Commander, Starfighter Corps Faction: Alliance of Free Planets Played by: Captain Untouchable Actor: Chris Pratt

Jaden Luka is a starfighter pilot assigned to the Novgorod. He serves as the ship's Executive Officer, as well as the lead pilot of Valkyrie Squadron.

Formerly a scout trooper in the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps, Jaden has had a distinguished history with the Alliance military. Though perhaps most famous for his service as Rogue One - the Executive Officer of the Alliance's elite Rogue Group - Jaden's first love and piloting passion has always been the A-Wing, the craft on which he first trained. Though his XO responsibilities limit his flying time somewhat, an A-Wing from the Novgorod compliment is set aside for Jaden's use when required. With Rogue Squadron, and aboard the Novgorod, the Verpine Oolan Valx'ir - callsign "Twitch" - has flown as Jaden's wingman.

Jaden owns a Corellian YT-2000 Light Freighter called the Astral Queen, which he flew prior to joining the Rebel Alliance. The ship is currently used by Amos Iakona, a Jedi and Jaden's best friend and former copilot.

See: Jaden Luka (TFA) for this character in the The Force Awakens era.

History

Jaden was born on Ord Cestus, a world controlled by the Cestus Cybernetics corporation. His father had worked for Cestus Cybernetics as a droid engineer, but after they sided with the Separatists during the Clone Wars, he defected in secret to Industrial Automaton, leaving his family behind. After the war ended, Jaden and his mother were able to emigrate to Nubia to join his father, but the world had already welcomed the Galactic Empire with open arms. Between the rigid nature of Imperial society and his estranged relationship with his father, Jaden grew rebellious, falling into antisocial behaviour and petty crime. After a joyride turned into a speeder chase that caught the attention of the local media broadcasts, Jaden was approached by the commander of the local Imperial garrison, who offered him the chance to trade his impending jail time for military service.

After training, Jaden was deployed to Naboo, where the local garrison commander - Ethan Tahmores - was somewhat less enthusiastic about his criminal record. Tahmores assigned Luka to a speeder bike Lancer led by John Glayde, hoping that the Corellian would either straighten the boy out, or rule him unfit for duty so that he could be discharged. To Tahmores' dismay, Sergeant Glayde earned Jaden's respect quite thoroughly, and Jaden became fast friends with the other misfit troopers in the unit, Amos Iakona and Oran Jsorra. The four scouts worked well together, and grudgingly became one of Tahmores' more effective and reliable units.

Rebellion

Following the end of Jaden's mandatory service period, he and Amos Iakona took their opportunity to escape Imperial service. They acquired a YT-2000 transport, the Astral Queen, and went into business as traders. It was not lucrative work, but after a lifetime of feeling as if they had no control over their lives and destiny, the freedom of the spacer life was well worth any inconvenience.

The lifestyle did not last, however. After falling foul of an Imperial patrol, the Astral Queen was rescued by the Valiant, an Alliance Frigate under the command of Vansen Tyree. Discovering that John Glayde had joined the Rebellion, Jaden and Amos followed suit: Amos joining SpecForce, while Jaden trained as an A-Wing pilot and became part of Valkyrie Squadron. Jaden's fast reflexes, honed on the back of a speeder bike, made him a natural for the fast and agile A-Wing, and before long he had distinguished himself well enough to earn an invitation to the prestigious Rogue Squadron.

Several years after the Battle of Endor, the surviving remnants of the Jedi Order assembled together aboard a flotilla codenamed The Wheel, under the protection of the Rebel Alliance. Rogue Squadron transferred to the Alliance Cruiser Challenger, once again putting Jaden under the command of Vansen Tyree. When Rogue Squadron expanded to become Rogue Group, Jaden was promoted to Executive Officer, and was elevated to the callsign Rogue One, which he carried until the end of the war with the Galactic Empire.

Cold War

When the advent of Starkiller missiles forced a cease fire between the Empire and the Alliance, the Rebellion's elite pilots found themselves in a somewhat diminished role. Many Rogues left the Alliance entirely, feeling that they had "abandoned" their responsibilities to avenge Alderaan, and free worlds like Corellia and Chandrila that still fell under Imperial control. The rest were pressed into largely ceremonial roles: the Rogues had earned a reputation for being sent on the Alliance's most daring missions, leaving Command concerned that the public might assume the worst if the Rogues continued to be deployed in the field.

Jaden was one of several Rogues who became flight instructors, but the work left him unfulfilled: such an assignment was for pilots at the end of their career, not someone still in their prime like he was. Jaden considered leaving the Alliance entirely and returning to his spacer lifestyle, but instead was approached by Captain Cirrsseeto Quez of the Novgorod, to join the crew as it's new XO. The Novgorod had recently suffered extensive damage and heavy losses; Jaden's first assignment was to help rebuild the ship, crew, and fighter compliment. Managing to secure a squadron of A-Wings and to entice several former Rogues into joining him, Jaden was granted special dispensation by Admiral Tyree to name the Novgorod compliment "Valkyrie Squadron", returning Jaden to his original unit.

Personality

Jaden Luka is easy-going, but with a rebellious streak. He has a thirst for new experiences and adventure, and will eagerly throw himself at any opportunity - be it a dangerous mission, a new cuisine, or an alien species he hasn't had the pleasure of being intimate with, yet. Speeders and starfighters have become a defining aspect of his life, to the point of being a genuine passion that he will enthusiastically talk about for hours on end. In general, Jaden is a fairly open and honest person, seeing no real advantage in keeping anything about himself secret; this has the side effect of making him extremely approachable and easy to confide in.

Underneath it all though, Jaden has the mindset of a man who feels like he has wasted too much of his life already. His delinquent youth, his Imperial career, and his years as a spacer seem - in hindsight - wasted, and should have been invested in a cause like the Rebellion that he could believe in. He embraces every opportunity to do good and make a positive difference, and lives almost in fear of the prospect that one day he will run out of opportunities to make the galaxy better, and won't have done enough.

Family

Jaden grew up resenting his father for abandoning his family on Ord Cestus during the Clone Wars; recent experiences with the Alliance have altered Jaden's perspective somewhat however, and he deeply regrets never having had the opportunity to reconcile with his father before he died. Jaden's mother always saw him as a disappointment, and despite Jaden's efforts to resume contact, they have not spoken since Jaden left Imperial service more than a decade ago. Jaden has no siblings or cousins, but regards many of his former Alliance comrades as family. In particular, Amos Iakona is like a brother, and Vansen Tyree became a surrogate father.

• Kieran Luka - father, deceased
• Ellen Luka - mother, estranged

Timeline

Out of Character

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