Jom Barell was a human male who served in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and later the New Republic. Bearing the rank of Sergeant major, Barell served in the New Republic Special Forces. He took part in the crisis on Akiva, making a difficult jump from atmosphere onto the planet while being shot at by turbolasers to discover what exactly the Empire was doing on Akiva. He commandeered one of the turbolasers on the planet and used it to shoot at an escaping yacht, which had many important Imperials aboard, as the planet rioted and overthrew the satrapy. After the crisis on Akiva, he joined a crew of Temmin Wexley, his mother Norra Wexley, the Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, and former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus to hunt Imperial fugitives.