Tamara Ryvora

Tamara Ryvora, nicknamed "Tam," and later designated DT-533, was a human female mechanic from Kuat who served as a member of Team Fireball on the Colossus, a refueling station in the Outer Rim Territories. She aspired to be a star racer and saw repairing the derelict starship Fireball as a second chance at her goal, after having lost her first ship. Ryvora found work and shelter with Jarek Yeager, a mechanic and veteran of the Galactic Civil War, who owned a garage on the Colossus. Yeager became a fatherly figure for the young Tam, who also befriended his fellow employees Neeku Vozo and "Bucket."
Prior to the Hosnian Cataclysm, Tam became acquainted with Kazuda Xiono, an undercover Resistance spy who posed as an apprentice mechanic and wannabe racer. While Tam was initially frustrated with Xiono's clumsiness and lack of mechanical savvy, she developed a better respect for Xiono as his mechanical skills improved. However, Ryvora's trust in Yeager and budding friendship with Xiono was tested by the secrecy of Xiono's double life as a spy. First Order Agent Tierny exploited this fact to drive a wedge between Tam, Yeager, and Xiono.
During the First Order's retreat from Castilon, Tam joined the First Order and became a TIE pilot cadet. Although Tam proved to be a skilled pilot, she gradually became disenchanted with the First Order's disregard for sentient life and ruthlessness, a fact highlighted by the Resistance pilot Venisa Doza. Following the Blockade of Dantooine, Tam was promoted to squadron leader. Following the suppression of the Aeos system, Ryvora realized the true nature of the First Order and defected with the help of her friends Xiono and Yeager, who never gave up on her. Working together with Team Colossus, they destroyed Tierny and Commander Pyre's Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Thunderer, ending the First Order's hunt for the Colossus.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Tamara Ryvora was the daughter of a racer. Her father's career inspired her to become a racer herself, and she left her home planet of Kuat to pursue that dream. After falling on hard times while working her way up the circuit, Tam came to the Colossus station on Castilon. She became good friends with another racer, Hype Fazon. The friendship ended, however, after Fazon earned a place in the Ace Squadron, reserved for the station's most elite pilots, and moved to Doza Tower. Ryvora's racing career was derailed when, in need of credits to repair her racer, she borrowed on the ship's value prior to a race, but lost the race and, consequently, her ship.
===Team Fireball===
====Enduring Kaz====
By 34 ABY, Ryvora was a member of Team Fireball, a racing team and group of mechanics led by Jarek Yeager, along with Neeku Vozo and R1-J5, nicknamed "Bucket", Yeager was like a father to her and had promised her the Fireball, an old racing ship if she could fix it up. The arrival of Kazuda Xiono to the Colossus changed things at the team. Xiono, who was secretly a spy for the Resistance, joined Team Fireball as his cover, and almost immediately got off on the wrong foot with Ryvora when Yeager loaned him the Fireball to fly in a race that Vozo had signed him up for. Upon seeing the ship, Xiono was not impressed, and Ryvora took his criticisms as an insult to her work. She was not pleased with the used parts Xiono acquired to repair the ship as he could not afford new ones. After Xiono crashed the Fireball due to pushing it too hard, the repair of the ship had to start all over again.
Ryvora found Xiono's poor mechanical skills and dubious excuses as to why suspicious. She was further unimpressed by Xiono's apparent lack of work ethic during jobs. During one such job, for a Neimoidian named Hallion Nark, Ryvora went down to the Office of Acquisitions to drag Xiono back to the repair shop, as he had taken a long time getting apart and their client was in a hurry. Not long afterward, there was a pirate attack, and Ryvora spent it in a shelter with Yeager and Vozo. When they returned to the hangar, they found Xiono working on the Fireball, which he claimed to have been doing for the entire attack. Ryvora was skeptical but remained unaware that Xiono had covertly assisted the Aces in driving off the attack.
Although Ryvora continued to be frustrated by Xiono, she slowly warmed up to him. After Bucket informed her that hyperfuel had been stolen from Yeager's office, she was alarmed, telling Xiono when he asked her that more than a few drops of the stuff turned ships into flying bombs. This led Xiono to rush off to save the thief, Jace Rucklin, from the consequences of his actions.
====Visiting Doza Tower====
During a series of power outages to the Colossus caused by a fuel shortage, Ryvora was put back in contact with her former friend Fazon when the members of Team Fireball spent some time at Aunt Z's Tavern. Fazon had come down there because he refused to fly supply missions involving the First Order. He saw Ryvora while he was talking to Xiono, but didn't approach her. Ryvora told Xiono that being an Ace wasn't all glamor and excitement. After Xiono hurriedly left the tavern to try and spy on the First Order shipment, Ryvora and Vozo caught up with him, and she and Xiono speculated on what the First Order wanted.
The two then had to rush after Vozo after he misinterpreted a statement from Xiono and decided to innocently ask the visitors the reasons for their arrival. Fortunately, Vozo was unharmed. Ryvora overheard Xiono telling the droid BB-8 about his desire to get into Doza Tower, and when he asked her about her friendship with Fazon, she told him the details. As she began listing off the things she disliked about Fazon, Xiono tried and failed to silently warn her that Fazon had seen them as he was walking by in the hallway and was approaching from behind her. Fazon, who was somewhat regretful about how things had gone, invited Ryvora and Xiono up to Doza Tower, an invitation Xiono was happy to accept for all of them.
In the Aces' Lounge, Ryvora got into an argument with Fazon about the derelict Fireball, as Fazon thought that she would never become a top-ranked racer with an old ship in that state of disrepair, while Ryvora was confident her mechanical skills were up to the challenge. Xiono took advantage of the argument to slip away to spy on the First Order, which caused Ryvora to wonder where he was when she decided to leave.
Later, she was in Aunt Z's with Vozo when he spotted Xiono on the side of Doza Tower. This astonished Ryvora, who was baffled as to how he came to be there. She and Vozo watched nervously as Xiono navigated the side of the tower while avoiding shots from some stormtroopers before making it safely inside. When Ryvora and Vozo met back up with Xiono at the repair shop, he claimed the troopers had been chasing him because he'd accidentally entered an unauthorized area. Ryvora was pleased when Xiono claimed he'd seen that Doza Tower wasn't what it was cracked up to be, and ordered him back to work as the station's power came back on.
====The broken compensator====
Ryvora acquired a rare and expensive acceleration compensator to install on the Fireball, and enlisted Vozo's help in doing so. As she considered Xiono's mechanical skills sub-par, she didn't initially intend to ask him for help, but one stage of installation required the tightening of three bolts simultaneously, requiring a third person to assist. Xiono misinterpreted her instructions and pulled his wrench the wrong way, breaking it. Ryvora was so furious she drove an apologetic Xiono out of the repair shop by throwing tools at him, while he promised to get her a new compensator. When Xiono, accompanied by Vozo and BB-8, came back to the repair shop empty-handed, she yelled at him again and then gave him the broken compensator so he could match the specs of the new one he'd promised to get her.
Xiono eventually got the compensator repaired by one of the Chelidae who worked in the Colossus engineering department while he was helping two children, Kel and Eila, escape from the First Order. Ryvora was pleasantly surprised by the repaired part, and when told that one of Xiono's friends had fixed it, said she was surprised he had friends, and jokingly asked him if he had any other secrets he was keeping from her. This prompted Xiono to awkwardly lie that he was the "most straightforward guy" on the platform, before excusing himself.
====Kaz's "salvage run"====
After Xiono was abruptly awakened by Yeager and Bucket for a "salvage run", Ryvora mockingly greeted him and told him that he did not look well-rested. Ryvora expressed surprise about the impromptu salvage run since it had not been listed on the work schedule. She also snatched a cup of caf from the caf machine after helping Xiono to switch it on. Unknown to Ryvora, Xiono rendezvoused for a training exercise with the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. While flying, the two investigated a damaged Darius G-class freighter and rescued a crew member named Synara San. Unknown to everyone, Synara San was a member of Kragan Gorr's Warbird gang. As a result, the pirates gained a spy aboard the Colossus.
Later, Tam was working in Yeager's garage when BB-8 embarked on a "wild goose chase" through the Colossus searching for Kaz, only to discover that he had been working on a targeting computer inside the garage.
====Befriending Synara San====
Later, Ryvora, along with the rest of Team Fireball, was hired in a secret job to repair the targeting computer for the Colossus defense turbolasers. When the computer's CoMar Tri-Tracker chip broke, she and Xiono were sent by Yeager to quietly acquire another one. After the Office of Acquisitions turned up empty, Xiono took Ryvora to the loading docks where the salvagers worked, introducing her to an acquaintance, Synara San, the sole survivor of a pirate attack that he and Yeager had registered some time prior. Unbeknownst to anyone on the platform, San was actually a pirate herself, a member of Gorr's Warbirds, and was now acting as a spy on the platform. Ryvora took a liking to San because of her technical skills and was appreciative when San found a Tri-Tracker chip. This led San to suspect, however, that the targeting computer was offline and to contact Gorr about the Colossus vulnerability.
Later, after San surprised Ryvora and Xiono in the repair shop while they were working on the targeting computer, Ryvora and Xiono attempted to hide it from her, which proved unsuccessful. In part to get San out of the shop, Ryvora offered to buy her lunch as thanks for the free connector couplings she had brought them. In the Colossus marketplace, Ryvora confided in San about her past, but accidentally took a much longer break than she should have, given the time-sensitive nature of the computer repair. Only when the entire Ace Squadron departed the platform on an escort mission did Ryvora realize she had to get back to work, as Xiono had been sent to look for her.
Upon returning to the repair shop, Yeager was unimpressed with Ryvora, noting that he expected Xiono to take such lengthy breaks, instead of her. Work on the computer resumed, but San had signaled her fellow pirates, who began their attack. After Ryvora had finished working, as Xiono and Yeager were preparing to load the computer onto a hoverlift, she saw explosions at the loading docks and grew concerned for San, running off to see if she was okay. Xiono sent BB-8 to help her.
On her way to the docks, Ryvora encountered a pirate in the halls and took him out by ramming the pirate with a cart loaded with crates, which other Colossus residents looted. When she and BB-8 reached the loading docks, Ryvora saw San amongst crates and charged into the melee. Ryvora knocked down two pirates but was picked up from behind by a large Trandoshan. Asking BB-8 for help, Ryvora elbowed the pirate in the face, leading him to stumble backward and slip on the droid, falling over. When Ryvora reached San, she was shocked that anyone would come looking for her to help, and Ryvora commented that that was what friendship was all about. When the two were approached by another pirate, San punched him out before he could reveal her true allegiance, which impressed Ryvora. After the attack was over, San thanked Ryvora for her help, telling her to "be well".
====The Platform Classic====
While working on the Fireball racer, Tam and her colleagues Neeku and Kaz discussed tomorrow's upcoming Platform Classic race. One of the contestants was famed racer Marcus Speedstar. Tam and her friends then accompanied Yeager to Captain Imanuel Doza's officer where the Captain attempted to convince Yeager to race against his younger brother Speedstar. However, Yeager had refused to race his brother, blaming Speedstar for causing the deaths of his wife and daughter during a race years ago. When Kaz wanted to greet Speedstar, Ryvora pulled him away.
When Speedstar and his crew visited Yeager's workplace, Neeku introduced Ryvora and Xiono to Speedstar's mechanic Oplock. Yeager was hostile towards Speedstar, rebuffing his younger brother's attempts at reconciliation. After Speedstar had left, Tam insinuated that Yeager was unwilling to race Speedstar due to the latter's status as one of the greatest racers in the galaxy, unaware of the history behind their estrangement.
Tam's remarks rankled Yeager, who attempted to cajole Speedstar into withdrawing from the race. However, Speedstar was unwilling to withdraw from the race because the Guavian Death Gang had taken Oplock hostage due to his debts. Yeager's ploy backfired when Aunt Z and her customers began placing bets on Yeager, forcing him to take part in the race. Ryvora later helped Yeager prepare his racer for the Platform Classic.
Ryvora and her colleagues watched the Platform Classic, which involved the contestants navigating an obstacle course, flying into space, and descending through a re-ignition hood. During the race, Yeager reconciled with his brother after ascertaining that Speedstar truly wanted to save his friend Oplock. Yeager pulled out of the race, allowing Speedstar to win and pay his debts to the Guavian Death Gang, saving Oplock's life. Ryvora and the rest of Team Fireball were later present when Speedstar and Yeager parted company on amicable terms.
====Xiono's second offworld trip====
With Yeager's approval, Xiono departed on the Fireball for an offworld mission with Poe Dameron. However, Yeager did not inform Ryvora about Xiono's off-world trip. When Ryvora discovered that the starfighter was missing, she confronted Yeager. Yeager responded that the Fireball was still technically his ship but Ryovra countered that she "forgotten" to add a new stabilizer to the Fireball. Fortunately, Xiono and BB-8 were picked up by a Resistance CR90 corvette.
====Casual adventures====
Later, Tam was working in Yeager's garage with BB-8, who had borrowed Bucket's hard cap. Shortly later, a grumpy Bucket, who had obtained a new hard cap from Flix and Orka, returned to the garage. An enraged Bucket pursued BB-8, retrieved his old hard cap, and kicked Xiono in the shin.
Later, Xiono did a test flight in the Fireball to test the ship's engines. Ryvora was upset that Neeku had allowed Xiono to fly what she regarded as her ship. Xiono managed to circle the Colossus in his test flight. However, the Fireball throttle broke during the flight, causing the ship to lose control. At the last minute, Xiono managed to regain control of the ship and land it in Yeager's garage. Despite Xiono's attempt to please Ryvora, the ship's landing gear and canopy soon fell apart.
====The Bibo Incident====
After Neeku adopted a baby rokkna named Bibo as a pet, Tamara and her fellow Team Fireball members found Bibo to be smelly and disruptive. Yeager reluctantly allowed Neeku to keep his pet provided it did not disrupt their garage's business. After Bibo created a mess in the garage, Yeager ordered Neeku to get rid of Bibo. In response, Neeku threatened to resign on the grounds that he would not abandon his pet. Bibo then fled the store with Neeku in pursuit.
When Yeager remarked that he was not shutting his garage over a "blob of jelly", Tam spoke up for Yeager since she respected Neeku's bond with Bibo. She also criticized Yeager for his perceived leniency towards Xiono. Despite Yeager's protests, Tam went after Neeku to help him find Bibo. They were informed that there was a disturbance in the engineering level. There Tam met with Eila, Kel and the Chelidae engineers. They found Bibo and Eila told about her vision of something coming for Bibo.
Shortly after, a large rokkna attacked the Colossus in attempt to find her child. Kaz and Synara managed to warn Captain Doza, who sealed the station and deployed Ace Squadron against the sea creature. Despite Ace Squadron's efforts and assistance from Xiono in the Fireball, they failed to drive away the sea creature. Tam and Neeku then hid Bibo from the creature insides the depths of the Colossus. Realizing that the sea creature was after Bibo, Tam and other residents convinced Neeku to let Bibo go in order to save the Colossus from destruction.
When Neeku brought Bibo to the large rokkna, Tam watched in horror as he approached it. However, she and the others soon realized that the creature was Bibo's mother looking for her child. After a distraught Neeku returned Bibo to his mother, Tam comforted him.
====Before the storm====
Due to Kaz's frequent secret trip on the Fireball, Tam complained about having to make frequent repairs to the starfighter. Yeager told her to stop complaining and to focus on installing the new GX engine. However, Xiono to her relief had already installed the new engine as well as the repulsorlifts and injectors. Tam complimented Xiono for his improved mechanical skills but told him that he needed to install the power coupling the right way. Tam, Neeku, and Yeager learnt that Xiono had managed to obtain new parts from Flix and Orka in return for looking after their shop, the Office of Acquisitions. Xiono subsequently foiled a First Order plot to steal a phase connector.
She later played a game of holo-darts with Torra Doza and was invited to play Drone-Blaster with Synara and Kaz in her room. During this time, Tam believed that Kaz was infatuated with Synara, and allowed him to get some parts from her.
====The First Order occupation====
Tam, believing that the First Order rescued Torra from the Warbirds, defended their military occupation Colossus; which she regarded as a source of security against pirate attacks. She was surprised to hear that Synara left because of them. Despite the First Order's free reign on the Colossus, Tam felt safer with their stormtroopers protecting them. She said they were doing the same thing her grandfather did when he worked in an Imperial factory: their jobs. Tam saw Yeager taking Kaz's side again against the First Order. Tam followed Kaz when they discovered that Kel and Eila had knocked a stormtrooper out. Tam, shocked at the children's actions, knew they were in trouble.
She knew the First Order expected CS-515 to report in. Tam was against the idea of Kaz impersonating the trooper. After Kaz left, Tam could not believe that she got herself caught in this mess. She asked the children why the First Order was after them. Eila and Kel told Tam about how Tehar was invaded and destroyed by the First Order. Despite her sympathy, Tam asked Kel if there was a reason they attacked Tehar. Tam, Neeku and the children took the trooper to meet up with Kaz who was being pursued by stormtroopers. After the CS-515 was returned to the First Order, Tam was thanked by Kaz
====Kaz and Yeager's secrets====
After Kaz departed with Poe on a mission to the Dassal system, Tam raised the issue of Kaz's frequent absences to Yeager and Neeku. When Kaz returned, she asked where the Fireball and BB-8 was. Kaz claimed that he had taken the Fireball for a spin and that the ship was parked below. Tam was then introduced to Kaz's new droid, CB-23. Tam questioned Yeager about Kaz's whereabouts but he refused to tell her. When Tam voiced her frustrations about Kaz's frequent absences, Yeager replied there were certain things that she would not understand. Tam took offense and replied because he would not let her.
Later, Tam, Kaz, and Neeku talked about an upcoming race that was to be held the following week. However, the First Order canceled the race on security grounds. Tam was later present with her friends when an angry Aunt Z blamed the disappearance of Hype Fazon on the First Order and verbally abused First Order stormtroopers. Following Aunt Z's disappearance, Tam stumbled upon a meeting between Yeager, Captain Doza, Kaz, and Torra. When Tam asked what it was about, Kaz claimed that they were planning a little celebration to cheer everyone up following the cancellation of the race. After Kaz rescued Hype, Aunt Z and several residents from the First Order, Team Fireball was raided by Commander Pyre and several stormtroopers.
Commander Pyre informed Team Fireball that they were being charged with conspiracy against the First Order after presenting evidence that Tam's ship Fireball had strayed into Sector Epsilon 51-3. A distraught Tam told Kaz to tell them it was a mistake but Kaz responded it was complicated. Before the First Order could taken them into custody, Bucket at Yeager's signal unleashed white foam which allowed the group to escape. However, Tam, believing that the raid was the result of a misunderstanding, stayed behind and surrendered to the First Order.
====Into Tierny's web====
Following her surrender, Tam was taken into First Order custody and placed in binders. Tam was led into Captain Doza's office, which had been appropriated by the First Order. Tam was questioned by the First Order Security Bureau Agent Tierny who ordered that Tam's restraints be removed. Playing the role of a "good cop", Tierny questioned Tam about her knowledge and dealings with the Resistance.
Seeking to win Tam over, Agent Tierny invited Tam for a meal at the luxurious Aces Lounge. Tierny also claimed that the First Order's goal was to bring galactic order and peace. Wanting to drive a wedge between Tam and her friends, Tierny informed Tam that Kaz was not a poor kid from Coruscant but rather a former pilot from the New Republic Navy and a Resistance spy. Tam was with Tierny when Kaz, Neeku, Yeager, Kel, Eila, and the Chelidae submerged the Colossus so that Kaz and Yeager could send a message to the Resistance seeking help.
While Tam was enjoying her food, Tierny claimed that Yeager, who had been captured, was a Resistance spy. As evidence, she played a recording of him confessing to flying the Fireball into First Order space. When Tam tried to defend her former employer by suggesting that Yeager was covering for Kaz, Tierny suggested that Kaz and Yeager were both Resistance spies. She claimed that Yeager did not care about her by withholding secrets about himself and Kaz from her.
Later, Tam encountered Yeager as he was being led to detention cells by stormtroopers. Yeager called out to Tam but an angry Tam responded that Agent Tierny had told him everything. Tam expressed anger that Yeager had lied to her about Kaz. Yeager tried to explain but was manhandled by his captors. He tried to warn Tam that the First Order was trying to manipulate her but Tam countered that he put everyone into danger.
===First Order service===
====Joining the First Order====
Following the Hosnian Cataclysm, Xiono and his newly formed resistance cell initiated a campaign to expel First Order forces from the Colossus, including flooding the corridors and sweeping them out to sea. Unable to refloat the station in the face of resistance, Agent Tierny convinced Commander Pyre to order a tactical retreat and to bring Tamara back to their base.
Before Tam could depart on an Upsilon-class command shuttle with Agent Tierny and Commander Pyre, Kaz and Yeager tried to reason with Tam. Tam responded that she was getting away from them and lambasted Kaz for lying to her. Kaz acknowledged that he was a Resistance spy but added that he only wanted to save the galaxy. When Yeager sided with Kaz, Tam accused him of taking advantage of her friendship and labor.
Yeager tried to explain that the First Order was lying to her but Agent Tierny responded that the First Order were giving Tam protection and a higher purpose. She claimed that Yeager was a danger to everyone around her. Several First Order stormtroopers surrounded Kaz and Yeager. Other stormtroopers converged on the platform above. However, Kaz and Yeager managed to overpower the First Order reinforcements with the help of CB-23 and the rising Colossus, whose engines had been started by Neeku and his team.
With the Colossus lost, Tam departed aboard the shuttle with Commander Pyre and Agent Tierny. The First Order commanders however abandoned the stormtroopers who had been wounded or killed during the skirmish with Kaz and Yeager. Tam was also accompanied by Jace Rucklin and Lin Gaava, two other Colossus residents who had been recruited by the First Order. Although the First Order dispatched a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer after the Colossus, the station managed to escape into hyperspace.
====First Order cadet====
After the Battle of Castilon, Tam decided to join the First Order and do whatever it took to locate the Colossus, knowing that it might put her former companions in grave danger. As such, she was designated as Cadet DT-533. She later received a message on her comlink from Kaz, who tried to apologize for his actions. Angrily and hastily, Tam deleted the message and put on her First Order TIE Fighter Pilot helmet.
Later, at the urging of Jace Rucklin, Tam handed in her comlink to Pyre and Tierny, who were able to discover the location of the Colossus: D'Qar. They went to D'Qar right as Kaz, Neeku, and the Warbird gang had salvaged the wreckage of the Fulminatrix in search of coaxium. A firefight ensued, in which Tam, worried for her friends, was glad to see them escape at the right time.
Tam, along with Rucklin and Gaava joined other cadets in several exercises under Lieutenant Galek. During the exercise, she was able to the first drone down and beat Rucklin. However, Tam broke formation to save Rucklin when his TIE was damaged. Despite saving his life, Tam was chastised by Galek for breaking formation to save Rucklin's life. Galek reminded Tam and Rucklin that it was their job to follow orders, no matter what.
====Encounter with Venisa Doza====
Tam and Rucklin later saw several stormtroopers escorting a X-wing pilot she knew, but denied knowing the pilot to Rucklin. Tam later met the pilot, who warned her about how the First Order does not like individuality. Despite that, Tam turned over Doza's offer to escape with her saying that the First Order was helping her achieve what she wanted. The pilot warned that despite the First Order's claim that they wanted to restore peace and order to the galaxy, they actually cared more about power. The pilot revealed that she knew who Tam was and revealed herself as Venisa Doza, Captain Doza's wife and Torra's mother. As Tam realized this, she was electrocuted by Doza's astromech, Torch.
Taking pity on Tam, Venisa took her hostage, intending to bring her home to the Colossus. Still angry at Yeager and Kaz, Tam rejected her former identity and refused to abandon the First Order. The trio were corned by Rucklin, who attempted to force Venisa to surrender at gunpoint. However, Venisa distracted Rucklin long enough for Torch to seal the blast door. As they headed to the hangar bay, Tam tried to convince Venisa to give up. However, Venisa was skilled with escaping and reiterated that she was fighting for a free galaxy for her daughter Torra.
After escaping stormtroopers, the trio reached the hangar bay where Venisa tasked Torch with distracting the stormtroopers by blowing up fuel canisters. Venisa also told Tam that Yeager thought of her as his daughter due to the loss of his own daughter. While Tam was still angry at Yeager, Venisa told Tam that everyone made mistakes. After Torch created his distraction, Tam, who was not ready to leave, told Venisa to go. Respecting her decision, Venisa told Tam not to forget who she was. After freeing her, Venisa told Tam to stay away from the hangar before stunning her.
Venisa and Torch managed to escape the First Order by tricking the First Order into thinking that they had escaped in a stolen TIE fighter, which was shot down. After ejecting, Torch escaped with Venisa in their T-70 X-wing starfighter. Following Venisa Doza's escape, Agent Tierny questioned Tam about Venisa's identity. Out of respect for her adversary, Tam feigned ignorance. Not believing Ryvora, Tierny warned Tam that the First Order had eyes everywhere and suggested that she cooperate with the authorities.
====Helping old friends====
Tam and Rucklin were assigned to escort Commander Pyre to a meeting with Armitage Hux on the Titan, a refueling station similar to the Colossus. Once on board, Tam recognized Kaz and Neeku, who had infiltrated the Titan disguised as technicians to obtain a trans-binary deflector, which was needed to save the Colossus from destruction. Rucklin sealed the pair in the hyperdrive chamber, but Tam freed them after hearing why they needed the part. Later, Pyre and Tierny discussed their suspicions about Tam's involvement in the incident, but Tierny said they could use her to destroy the Colossus.
====Promotion====
When a First Order probe droid detected Kaz attempting to leave the planet Aeos Prime, Tam and the rest of Galek's TIE squadron were sent to locate, and destroy, the Colossus. Tam spotted Yeager's ship among the Aces escorting the station off the plane, but realized Kaz was piloting the ship when the Aces recklessly attacked the Star Destroyer head-on. Tam locked her weapons on Kaz, but he fired a missile at the destroyer's command bridge, forcing her to disengage and destroy the missile. She landed her damaged TIE in the hangar, and was later approached by Galek and Tierny in her quarters. Expecting the worst, Tam was surprised when they inform her she had been promoted to Second Squadron Commander for her brave and skillful actions in the battle.
As their Star Destroyer headed towards Dantooine, Tierny observed that Tam seemed agitated, and asked her if she was all right. Later she invited Tam to her office where she used her own personal story as an example of the First Order's willingness to help people. As they reached the planet, Tam's squadron engaged Kaz, Torra and Hype as they joined Jade Squadron, led by Venisa Doza, to evacuate shuttles full of Resistance cadets. Once again, locked on to Kaz's racer, Tam's fighter was damaged by Hugh Sion, forcing her to withdraw as she attempted to restart her engines. Lieutenant Galek's fighter was destroyed by Venisa, leaving Tam in charge of the squadron. She orders Rucklin to disengage from attacking any of the shuttles, but he ignored her, shooting the shuttle down. Tam ordered the squad to withdraw, and when they returned to the ship, Tierny promoted Tam to squadron leader, all to Rucklin's jealousy.
===Leaving the First Order===
====Defection====
Tam told Rucklin that she was happy with some downtime, but he had told her all hands will be needed for a considerable mission soon, to eliminate pockets of resistance in the system. A klaxon went off as the Star Destroyer dropped out of hyperspace over Aeos Prime, and Tam and Rucklin watched as thirteen other destroyers arrived and began a massive orbital bombardment of the Aeosian villages below. While Tam was horrified by massacre of innocents, Rucklin defended the First Order's actions, stating that the Aeosians were being punished for harboring Resistance fugitives.
Horrified by the First Order's actions on Aeos Prime, Tam decided to defect the First Order and return to her home and "family" on the Colossus. After reprogramming an MSE-6 series repair droid, she infiltrated Tierny's office and retrieved her comlink, narrowly avoiding Tierny. Returning to her quarters, she used the comlink to send a coded message to Xiono, telling him to "meet me in three cycles in the place where Bibo lives." Kaz was convinced that Tam wanted to defect from the First Order, and volunteered to meet her on Castilon.
Under the pretext of leading her TIE fighter squadron on a training exercise to the Tashtor sector, Tam traveled to Castilon. Tam flew in a TIE/sf space superiority fighter with Rucklin serving as rear gunner. However, Pyre and Tierny discovered Tam's true destination and that Tam's comlink was missing, confirming that she had renounced the First Order.
Flying over the ocean of Castilon, Rucklin recognized Kaz, Yeager, and CB-23 on an old racing ring and told the other TIEs to fire. Tam knocked him out and ordered the squadron to stand down, but they ignored her, forcing her to shoot them down. Following the dogfight, Ryvora exited her fighter and experienced an emotional reunion with Kaz and Yeager. While Kaz and Yeager were still hurt about her initial decision to join the First Order, they were delighted that she had decided to renounce the First Order and return home.
====Behind enemy lines====
After loading Rucklin into Kaz and Yeager's shuttle, the group prepared to leave. However, they were pursued by Commander Pyre and Agent Tierny's Star Destroyer, which bombarded the sea around them. Before they could escape into hyperspace, they were caught in the Star Destroyer's tractor beam. Tam suggested that Yeager pull off his maneuver from the Battle of Jakku but Yeager thought it was too dangerous. Tam eventually convinced Yeager to do it since they had no other choice. Before they could delete their flight logs, Rucklin discovered that the Colossus was located in the Barabesh system.
After the shuttle was drawn into the Star Destroyer's hangar, Tam and Rucklin surrendered to Tierny and Pyre's stormtroopers while Kaz, Yeager, and CB-23 hid within the ship. While Tam made clear that she had denounced the First Order, Rucklin tried to prove his loyalty by revealing the location of the Colossus to the First Order commanders. Despite this information, Pyre believed that the two had outlived their usefulness to the First Order and ordered their execution. Meanwhile, Kaz and the others escaped the shuttle by staging an explosion and fleeing into the ship's interior.
As Tam and Rucklin were being led down the corridor to be executed, Rucklin tried to prove his loyalty despite Tam's disapproval. Before the First Order executioners could kill them, the two were rescued by Kaz and Yeager. While Tam was grateful, Rucklin was still loyal to the First Order and claimed that the Colossus was doomed. Enraged by Rucklin's remarks, Tam punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. She then joined her rescuers in navigating their way through the Star Destroyer.
Tam and her rescuers traveled down a turbolift which led to the engineering deck. After fighting off First Order security droids and stormtroopers, Kaz managed to make a transmission to the Colossus in order to warn their friends that the First Order was coming for them. Tam also spoke to the Colossus residents and apologized for joining the First Order. She seconded Kaz's message that they should escape. The group were forced to cease their transmission when First Order guards arrived. As a result of Kaz and Tam's message, the Colossus residents decided to help their friends by resisting their First Order pursuers.
====Fighting for home====
Following a blaster battle, Tam and her rescuers managed to flee into a maintenance hatch that led to a hangar. However, Commander Pyre had anticipated this and trapped the group. Only CB-23 managed to stay hidden and escape capture. Tam and her comrades were led by their captors to the bridge of the Star Destroyer. There, Tam confronted her former benefactor, Agent Tierny, who expressed disappointment at her "treason" after all she had done for Tam in making her a pilot and giving her a sense of purpose. Tam responded that Yeager gave her a family.
After the Star Destroyer exited hyperspace in the Barabesh system, Tam and her friends discovered that the Colossus had not escaped. To their relief, the Colossus was prepared. Ace Squadron and the Resistance's Jade Squadron, which had allied with Captain Doza, attacked Pyre's Star Destroyer and its TIE fighters, inflicting significant damage and casualties on the First Order. After the Colossus bombarded the Star Destroyer, Tam and her friends took the opportunity to break free of their captors and flee to the hangar. They were also joined by CB-23, who had managed to sabotage the Star Destroyer's deflector shields, allowing the Aces and Jade Squadron to bombard its engines.
Tam and her rescuers reached the hangar but were confronted by Commander Pyre, who was wielding a BL-155 Laser ax. He managed to damage CB-23 but was defeated in combat by Kaz. The four then fled the disintegrating Star Destroyer on an Atmospheric Assault Lander. Following the defeat of the First Order, Tam received a hero's welcoming at Aunt Z's Tavern on the Colossus from Aunt Z, Neeku, Captain Doza, Torra, Veniza Doza, the Aces, and Jade Squadron. Yeager also praised her for her bravery.
==Personality and traits==
===Aspiring racer and mechanic===
Ryvora was a human female with black hair, brown eyes and dark skin. She had a generally prickly and tough personality, not taking what she saw as a criticism of her work or the Fireball well. From a young age, Ryvora had ambitions of becoming a racer and migrated from her homeworld of Kuat to the Colossus station on Castilon. During her time as a racer, Ryvora befriended Rodian racer Hype Fazon. However, their friendship soured when Fazon abandoned her after becoming an elite Ace pilot, leading to her to believe that Fazon only cared for himself. Ryvora was also a fan of racing champion Marcus Speedstar and regarded him as one of the best racers in the galaxy.
Running on hard times, Ryvora found work as a mechanic at the former Rebellion pilot Jarek Yeager's repair shop, joining Team Fireball. In return for working for him, Yeager promised her the racer Fireball if she fixed the ship. Consequently, Ryvora grew attached to the Fireball and was unwilling to let other people fly the ship even though it was technically owned by Yeager. Over time, Ryvora grew to regard Yeager as a father figure and mentor. However, she was unaware of his connections to the Resistance.
While working for Yeager, Ryvora befriended the Nikto mechanic Neeku Vozo. On one occasion she spoke up for him when Jarek Yeager demanded that he remove his troublesome new pet Bibo. Ryvora was taken aback by Yeager's perceived harshness towards Vozo and corresponding leniency towards Xiono. She helped Ryvora find his missing pet Bibo. After Bibo's mother laid siege to the Colossus, Tam convinced Neeku to return Bibo to his mother in order to save the station from the rokkna's wrath.
Tamara Ryvora was initially hostile towards the undercover Resistance spy Kazuda Xiono, taking issue with his clumsiness and lack of mechanical skills and knowledge. On one occasion, Ryvora was enraged when Kaz damaged an acceleration compensator but was placated when Xiono managed to have it repaired. On another occasion, Ryvora teased Kaz when he had to wake up early for a "salvage run" and snatched his caf.
Despite her initial antagonism towards Kaz, Ryvora later gained a better appreciation and respect for Xiono as his mechanical skills improved. Due to her friendship with Kaz, Ryvora became more empathetic and caring towards others. She also developed a budding friendship with the scavenger and undercover pirate Synara San after the latter recovered an invaluable CoMar Tri-Tracker chip, which Team Fireball needed for repairing the Colossus air defense system. Out of friendship and gratitude, Ryvora helped Synara fight off several pirates in the loading docks, solidifying the friendship between the two. Ryvora was upset after Synara fled the Colossus without saying goodbye during the start of the First Order occupation, not realizing that Synara was a pirate.
===Joining the First Order===
Having never lived under Galactic Empire, Ryvora had a positive view of the Empire due to its ability to provide employment to her grandfather, who used his wages at an Imperial factory to support his family. She also believed that the Empire's successor the First Order would bring security against the pirates. Ryvora's positive view of the Empire clashed with that of her mentor Yeager, who regarded the Empire as evil for exploiting the vulnerable and rightfully believed that the First Order was taking away freedom under the guise of protection.
Following their supposed rescue of Torra Doza, Ryvora's sympathy for the First Order grew and she wholeheartedly believed they were earnest in their desire to protect the Colossus. Despite that sympathy faltering upon learning of the massacre on Tehar, Ryvora still supported the First Order's increasingly draconian measures in the name of peace and security.
Ryvora's growing sympathy for the First Order was motivated by her growing suspicion of Yeager's secrecy regarding Xiono's unexplained trips offworld. Yeager concealed Xiono's involvement with the Resistance, believing that she would not understand the issue. She took offense at Yeager letting Xiono borrow the Fireball for a trip offworld and removed the stabilizer as a precaution. Ryvora once criticized Yeager for his perceived leniency towards Xiono and his hostility towards Neeku's new "pet" Bibo.
The First Order Agent Tierny was able to exploit Ryvora's growing estrangement with Yeager by revealing Xiono's involvement in the Resistance. This revelation led Tam to believe that Yeager did not trust her and was exploiting his relationship as a fatherly figure and employer. In addition, Tierny claimed that the First Order could help Ryvora to aspire to her lifelong dream of becoming pilot. Due to these factors, Ryvora defected to the First Order during the Battle of Castilon.
Despite her defection, Ryvora was not completely bought over by the First Order's claim to stand for peace and order. Ryvora's concern for the lives of others clashed with the First Order's view of their pilots as disposable. While fellow Colossus resident Jace Rucklin eagerly embraced the First Order and turned his back on his former neighbors, Ryvora was unwilling to hurt her former friends and colleagues despite her estranged relationship with Yeager and Xiono. Rucklin's willingness to kill or approve the killing of others to prove his loyalty to the First Order also troubled Ryvora.
===Leaving the First Order===
Her faith in the First Order was also challenged by Venisa, who told her that Yeager still regarded her as his daughter and warned that the First Order cared little about individuality. Venisa also rightfully recognized that Ryvora had joined the First Order out of spite and resentment towards Yeager. Out of respect for Kaz and Venisa, Ryvora saved them on two occasions from the First Order by helping them to escape and withholding information about her friends from the First Order.
Ryvora ultimately renounced the First Order after a First Order fleet orbitally bombarded Aeos Prime for harboring Resistance elements including the Colossus. As a result, Ryvora made arrangements with Yeager and Kaz to defect from the First Order and played a crucial role in saving the Colossus from annihilation. For her efforts, she was forgiven by her former friends and fellow residents, who subsequently welcomed her home as a hero. Following her homecoming, she forgave Kaz and Yeager.
==Skills and abilities==
A mechanic, Ryvora possessed extensive knowledge of engineering, so much so that she was able to put the decrepit racer Fireball back together. Her skill as an engineer also contributed to her great strength. She was easily strong enough to lift an acceleration compensator, or knock out three pirates in hand-to-hand combat. She was also skilled with a blaster, as she shot Drone-Blaster and even used a F-11D blaster rifle.
As a pilot and skilled mechanic, Tam excelled in the First Order's TIE fighter program, rising to the ranks of Second Squadron Commander after she saved the First Order Star Destroyer Thunderer command bridge durign the Battle of Aeos Prime. Following the death of Lieutenant Galek during the Blockade of Dantooine, she became the leader of her own squadron. She was also a capable starfighter pilot, shooting down two TIE fighters.
==Behind the scenes==
Tam Ryvora is a character created for Star Wars Resistance, an animated television series. She is voiced by Suzie McGrath. According to McGrath, her performance as Tam was drawn from real people in her life, and she had specific individuals in mind who, like Tam, were just ordinary people. Tam was originally designed to be a background character, but the design team liked her enough that they made her a major character.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*Star Wars Resistance Racer
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Colossus resistance members
Category:Females
Category:First Order defectors
Category:First Order pilots
Category:Humans
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Kuati
Category:Mechanics
Category:Members of Team Fireball
Category:Racers