Lanna, nicknamed Lan by her best friend Karie Neth, was a female technician from the planet Baraan-Fa who was a member of the Rebel Alliance and stationed on its flagship Home One. Neth, a pilot, joined the Alliance with Lanna and was eventually stationed there with her. The day of the Battle of Endor, in 4 ABY, she went out of her way to tune up Neth's fighter and arranged for Neth to go on a short hunt to find her so that Lanna could comfort her in person. Though they had burgeoning romantic feelings for each other, Neth decided to wait until after the battle to tell her, arranging for a meeting between them on the moon Endor after the battle was won.

Biography[]

Lifelong friends[]

Born around 18 BBY,^[2] Lanna was from^[1] the planet^[4] Baraan-Fa. She joined the Rebel Alliance alongside her best friend from her homeworld, Karie Neth, shortly after the Battle of Mako-Ta^[1] in 1 ABY,^[5] when they were both nineteen years old. Though initially filled with dreams of vengeance and glory as starfighter pilots, they wizened as three years passed and the source of their motivation shifted to a gritty devotion to surviving the war and the Galactic Empire's violence against them. Lanna and Neth were separated and reunited several times during those three years. Repeatedly rejected from pilot positions due to a lack of fighters, they mainly serviced and maintained squadrons fighting in the Alliance's Mid Rim Offensive, all while practicing their piloting in simulators and on shuttles.^[1]

The two again reunited on the Alliance flagship Home One, where they were stationed in the lead-up to the Battle of Endor^[1] in 4 ABY.^[5] Captain Ribeiro of Yellow Squadron chose Neth over Lanna to serve with her squadron in the battle. The day of the battle, Lanna took Neth's flight gear from her locker. She then woke a sleeping Neth with a message to her datapad, urging the pilot to find her as a ploy to help her expel nervous energy. Though Neth initially expressed via a message that she wanted to continue sleeping, Lanna convinced her losing only minutes of sleep would not affect her battle performance.^[1]

Unshared feelings[]

Searching for Lanna in Home One's locker room, Neth ran into her wingmate Rowe Jascott, who was shocked that Lanna had woken her up and joked with Neth that he would honor Lanna when she died in battle as a result. After opening her empty locker, Jascott revealed to Neth that Lanna had been there earlier and taken her gear, suggesting she check the ship's flight deck. Meanwhile, Lanna tinkered on Neth's X-wing starfighter using a lift in the flight deck, aiming to get five percent more power from its engines. When Neth arrived, Lanna hopped down from the lift and stared at Neth with a smile until she admitted she had fun that morning, though Neth playfully warned she would get revenge.^[1]

When Neth revealed that she wished Lanna was flying with her in the battle, Lanna insisted that Ribeiro had assessed correctly that Neth was the better pilot. Lanna believed she was more useful as a technician and also wanted to be the one to work on Neth's fighter. After Neth—using the nickname "Lan"—thanked Lanna for improving her fighter and assured her she would be safe, emotions surged in both^[1] women.^[6] Neth considered revealing to Lanna that she had romantic feelings for her but decided to wait until after the battle, squeezing Lanna's hand as she left.^[1]

During the battle, Lanna was slightly battered by Imperial attacks on Home One and Neth thought of Lanna's face shortly before the Empire's Death Star space station exploded. After the Alliance won the battle, Neth immediately thought of Lanna and realized that her tune-up had allowed Neth to escape the Death Star's explosion. Neth contacted Lanna via comm using their private channel, not receiving a response until her third time hailing her. Lanna answered the communication and started crying upon realizing Neth was alive, revealing to the pilot that she was slightly injured but well. Both reveling in the other's survival, Neth asked Lanna to catch a ride to the moon Endor so they could speak, intending to confess her feelings. Lanna, understanding her meaning, joyfully agreed.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

Lanna was female^[3] and had brown eyes. She cared deeply for and shared an intense emotional bond with Karie Neth, her best friend, who believed Lanna always knew best. She was consistently enthused by Neth's presence and went out of her way to help her with her fighter and her nerves before the Battle of Endor. She cared about Neth's safety, and when Neth revealed to Lanna that she survived the battle, she was overcome with relief and joy and immediately burst into tears. Lanna was humble, acknowledging that Neth was a better pilot than her, but proud of her skill as a technician.^[1]

Skills and abilities[]

Lanna was a skilled technician and a capable pilot. Despite not being chosen for Yellow Squadron, Neth believed Lanna was as good a pilot as her, though Lanna disagreed. Both Lanna and Neth considered her the best technician available to work on Neth's fighter, and Lanna used her skills to get more power out of its engines.^[1]

Equipment[]

Lanna used a hydrospanner tool and a lift to tune-up Neth's starfighter.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Lanna appeared in the short story "The Extra Five Percent," written by M. K. England and published in the anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi^[1] on August 29, 2023.^[6] A Twitter announcement of the short story made by Del Rey publishing's Star Wars account on August 1 of that year confirmed Lanna's gender as female.^[3]

Appearances[]

• "The Extra Five Percent" — From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
• "The Extra Five Percent" — From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi audiobook

Notes and references[]