Vin Northal Vin Northal was a member of the Emperor ' s Royal Guard who defected to the Rebel Alliance . Biography . Early life . Vin Northal was born around the time Palpatine was elected as Supreme Chancellor , to parents who were already passionate supporters of the future Emperor ' s ambitions for the Galactic Republic . As a teenager in the Empire ' s early years , he grew up believing that the New Order existed to create peace and prosperity throughout the galaxy , and excelled in the COMPNOR - sponsored SAGEducation program where he was a wegsphere champion at the age of fourteen . His achievements earned the attention of a recruiter for CompForce , and he was offered a chance to join the unit . Northal turned them down and applied to the Imperial Academy . He was accepted and graduated at the top of his class , setting a new goal for cadets in the process . Military career . Northal graduated as an officer in the Imperial Army , and his abilities earned him the right to special forces training . He was assigned to the command of one of the Empire ' s best squad commanders , Crix Madine . After two years , Northal gained his own command , and shortly after that was selected for stormtrooper officer training while also doubling as an infiltration instructor . He graduated with command of his own squad . A year later , Northal was invited to join the Emperor ' s Royal Guard where his skills were honed and sharpened . As a Guardsman , Northal protected the Emperor , suppressed protests , and fought the growing Rebellion on the front lines . During his customary rotation with a stormtrooper unit , he participated in the pacification of the planet Meastrinnar . The Imperial Security Bureau relayed intelligence that a Rebel cell had been located in the city of Vondrel . Northal led his squad to the target building where they proceeded to terminate all occupants with no resistance . Only after did he find out that the building they raided was an orphanage . The ISB transmission had been incorrectly decoded . The Rebels were in the sister city on Vondrol . Northal ' s unit had massacred dozens of sleeping children . Despite the mistake , Northal ' s superiors considered the mission a victory and media networks made no mention of the true outcome of the mission . Struggling to reconcile his ideals with the reality of the Imperial regime , Northal used his security access to review battle records and captured Alliance documentation to see if other stories of Imperial atrocities were true . After investigating , he decided to defect to the Rebel Alliance . Allowing himself to be captured on his next mission , he requested political asylum . His former commander , Crix Madine , was now a general in the Alliance Military and vouched for Northal . While Madine ' s faith in Northal was enough for Mon Mothma , General Airen Cracken remained distrustful of Northal until he saved the entirety of the Alliance Advisory Council on Hythrope IV by singlehandedly taking out a repulsortank and thirty stormtroopers . Attaining the rank of colonel , Vin Northal served the Alliance as an infiltration and retrieval specialist using his knowledge of Imperial procedure and his own training to complete missions often through impossible . Insisting on front line service , Northal commanded several Special Forces missions and trained Infiltrators in his spare time . Personality . Northal was a deeply conflicted individual who ' s whole world was shattered after the raid on Meastrinnar . Before that raid he was completely loyal and dedicated to both the New Order and the Empire , believing in the propaganda that they were bringing peace to the galaxy . He realized in horror that the cover up on Meastrinnar meant that the rumors of Imperial atrocities were true and research confirmed his suspicions . In the end he realized that if he wanted to help bring about a peaceful and prosperous society he would have to switch sides and join the Alliance . He was a committed fighter and insisted to be put on the front lines in the fight against the Empire . Skills and abilities . As a former Royal Guard , Northal was an incredibly skilled combatant who was well trained in combat techniques , tactics and commando operations . He was also highly trained in demolitions which proved very useful on his commando raids . Equipment . Northal carried a blaster pistol and a blaster rifle , nine grenades , two throwing knives and a force pike . He had a survival pack , comlink , a datapad , two BioTech FastFlesh medpac s , a restraining bolt , a restraining bolt deactivator , lockpicks and a lectroticker . He also wore camouflaged clothing . Behind the scenes . Vin Northal was designed by David R . Tulo for " Cracken ' s Rebel Operatives " , a supplement for the " " that was published by West End Games in 1994 . He was illustrated by Doug Shuler .