Taryn Clancy Taryn Clancy was a Human female courier captain operating during the Galactic Civil War . Born in 16 BBY to Kal Clancy , captain of the starship " Lassen " , Taryn often tried to join his crew , once even resorting to stowing away , and he finally let her join as his copilot when she was sixteen . However , this led to a deterioration of their relationship . Later , she joined the Core Courier Service . On her ship , the " Messenger " , Clancy regularly flew a delivery route between Coruscant and the planet Coriallis . On one such mission shortly after Grand Admiral Thrawn ' s campaign against the New Republic in 9 ABY , she and her first mate , Del Sato , were stranded on Coruscant during its bombardment by a newly resurgent Galactic Empire . As captain of one of several grounded civilian vessels , Clancy was brought to New Republic General Garm Bel Iblis , who had been tasked with coordinating the government ' s evacuation of Coruscant . Under Bel Iblis ' orders , Clancy helped Colonel Jak Bremen , Director of Security for the New Republic Inner Council , to sneak past the Imperial fleet blockading the planet and bring important information to the New Republic fleet . During the eventful escape , Clancy not only had to contend with Imperial checkpoints and a homing beacon planted in her cargo hold , but the surly personality of Bremen himself . Biography . Early life . Taryn Clancy was the daughter of Kal Clancy , a freighter pilot . From a young age , she dreamed of commanding her own ship , and constantly begged her father to let her accompany him on cargo runs . On one occasion , she stowed away in the cargo hold of Kal ' s ship , the " Lassen " , only to be discovered by a load lifter and returned home in shame . In 0 ABY , Kal allowed Taryn , then 16 , to accompany him on his trips . Despite the challenges inherent in serving aboard her father ' s ship , Taryn ' s determination eventually won her the formal position of copilot . All the while , however , her relationship with her father worsened . When she failed to live up to his expectations , he was disappointed , and made little effort to conceal his feelings . This had a profound effect on his daughter , and for years afterward she couldn ' t avoid judging herself the same way he had judged her . In 5 ABY , Clancy endured an especially harsh critique by her demanding father ; stung , she entered a Core Courier Service office she ' d come across and in short order passed two exams and a flight test . She was hired then and there , but her successful career thereafter still seemed insufficient to earn her father ' s esteem . Unbeknownst to Taryn , Kal was proud of her , although he didn ' t consider mail delivery challenging enough to truly help her grow into the full potential he believed she had . Eventually , her superiors at Core Courier Service promoted her to the rank of captain , giving her a ship — the Ghtroc 720 " Messenger " . Del Sato , a courier with thirty years ' experience , signed on as her copilot , satisfied with taking her orders despite never having attained a command of his own . The flight from Coruscant . In 9 ABY , during her fourth run as the " Messenger " captain , Clancy traveled to Coruscant to deliver datacards to the New Republic ' s Imperial Palace . As she was concluding the dropoff , alarm klaxons sounded , indicating an attack on the planet was underway . Immediately recognizing the danger of being stranded beneath the planetary shield — or worse , grounded in the midst of a battle — Clancy rushed back to the " Messenger " , where Sato had already prepped the vessel for takeoff . Her request to depart was denied , however , and soon after , she noticed distant turbolaser fire high in the sky , indicating a battle was underway . That night , Clancy impatiently strode into the palace to demand answers from someone official . Once inside , she encountered Colonel Jak Bremen , who unexpectedly led her to General Garm Bel Iblis , a man Clancy knew by reputation but whose physical appearance was only vaguely familiar to her . Bel Iblis explained that the Empire had gained the upper hand in the battle , and that the New Republic was pulling out to minimize civilian casualties . He went on to commandeer her vessel for the purpose of sneaking a datacard past the Imperial fleet blockading the planet ; this datacard carried intelligence on the battle and coordinates for the New Republic government ' s rendezvous . Clancy reacted forcefully when Bremen , who had been assigned to accompany them , remarked that he should pilot the vessel during the escape . She insisted on flying her own ship , and managed to get past the fleet in orbit over Coruscant and safely into hyperspace — though TIE fighters knocked out their shields just before the jump . En route to Coriallis , the " Messenger " was pulled from hyperspace by the Imperial Interdictor cruiser " Requital " . Commander Voldt led the Imperial inspection team , questioning Clancy on her destination . Clancy informed Voldt that they were headed for Coriallis and that they had come from Coruscant . However , she lied that the " Messenger " had never landed on the galactic capital , claiming to have arrived in the system in the middle of the Imperial assault and promptly leaving to avoid being caught up in a combat zone . Voldt insisted on inspecting the cargo hold , and almost caught Clancy in the lie when he inquired as to where the mail bound for Coruscant was . Clancy struggled for an explanation ; the Coruscant mail had obviously been offloaded . Sato interrupted and eased Voldt ' s suspicions , saying that he moved the Coruscant mail to one side and had brought the crates bound for Coriallis to the front for ease of delivery . Sato and Bremen had altered a batch of mail already aboard to have Coruscant addresses on them to provide a credible cover story . Voldt searched the Coruscant mail crates , then ordered his troops to search the rest of the boxes to confirm that they contained mail . After checking the " Messenger " permits , Voldt permitted them to leave . Over the course of the following week , they reached Coriallis and proceeded to make several short hyperspace jumps programmed by Bremen — most of which took them to destinations Clancy couldn ' t identify . During the journey , Bremen demonstrated a pronounced lack of confidence in Clancy and Sato , believing Bel Iblis ought to have removed the " Messenger " crew entirely ; in response , Clancy — and especially Sato — came to resent Bremen ' s haughty and secretive attitude . Finding the fleet . Once the ship had reached the supposed rendezvous — in an area Clancy assumed to be the Borderlands separating Imperial - controlled and New Republic - controlled space — it drifted in space for hours waiting for the New Republic fleet . Instead , smuggler and New Republic ally Mara Jade arrived in a Skipray blastboat with new coordinates for Bremen , who appeared suspicious of her motives and timing . Moments later , an Imperial " Carrack " - class cruiser dropped out of hyperspace nearby . Clancy prepared to use the new coordinates delivered by Jade to escape , but Bremen objected , claiming Jade could have set a trap for them . When Jade retaliated against the TIE fighters launched by the cruiser , Clancy decided Bremen was mistaken and made the hyperspace jump . Roughly an hour later , the " Messenger " reverted from hyperspace near the New Republic fleet , and was hailed by Arboga , the captain of the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser " Hope " . As the " Messenger " approached the cruiser to drop off Bremen and the datacard , Clancy was approached by Bremen , who had found a homing beacon planted in one of the mail crates in the hold by Voldt . The " Carrack " - class cruiser appeared moments later , following the beacon ' s signal , and opened fire on the " Messenger " while it was still far away from the fleet and vulnerable . As the ship ' s shields began to fail , Clancy surprised Bremen by engaging a backup shield generator she had brought online after they ' d cleared Coruscant . The backup generator bought them enough time to get within the New Republic fleet ' s turbolaser range , where the Imperial cruiser was quickly destroyed by both capital ship fire and proton torpedoes from X - wing fighters . Colonel Bremen , impressed at their performance during the ordeal , invited Clancy and Sato to join the New Republic . Sato declined , citing his impending retirement , but Clancy replied that she had to complete her deliveries , and that she ' d consider his offer . Personality and traits . Clancy earned recognition and praise from her superiors at Core Courier Service for her abilities and commitment . A skilled pilot and astrogator , Clancy could also repair her own ship at a professional level of expertise . She knew tricks in shield modification that enabled her to give the " Messenger " a backup shield system using a bare minimum of parts , a feat that impressed even the stolid Bremen . Clancy ' s father had a profound — and not entirely positive — influence on her . While he taught her most of what she knew , including the important tricks involved in cobbling together her backup shield generator , he frequently made patronizing remarks or sighed in response to perceived failures on her part . Despite her best efforts to shut out such feelings , she was haunted throughout her life by a persistent fear of what he would think of her response to various circumstances . In particular , she worried that she stayed with the safe , comfortable mail delivery job due to a lack of courage . Following her adventure on behalf of the New Republic , however , she seemed newly unconcerned with what Kal might think . Behind the scenes . Taryn Clancy is the protagonist of the short story " Retreat from Coruscant , " which was originally published in " Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 " and later reprinted in " Tales from the Empire " and on . The story is told from her perspective in the third person . Clancy was created by Laurie Burns and illustrated by Mike Vilardi . " Retreat from Coruscant " is the only source in which the character appears .