Verine Ree Verine Ree was a female human First Waver village from the planet Jelucan during the Age of the Empire . She was the wife of Paron Ree and the mother of two daughters , Wynnet and Ciena . Wynnet died during childbirth , leaving Ciena as her only daughter . By the time her daughter was thirteen years old , Verine had found work as a supervisor at a mine . She and Paron took pride in Ciena obtaining a place at the prestigious Royal Imperial Academy and becoming a successful officer in the Imperial Navy . At some time after the Battle of Hoth , Verine was framed for embezzling funds from her workplace . As a result , she was sentenced to six years hard labor in the mines of Jelucan . Biography . Motherhood . 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 - wave rs , 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 starship s , 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 . Supporting her daughter . 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 parent s . 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 Prince ss 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 . Miscarriage of justice . 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 . Personality and traits . 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 . Behind the scenes . 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 " " multimedia series . Most of her lines are told from the points of view of her daughter Ciena Ree and the other protagonist Thane Kyrell .