Bio:

Born on Dantooine to a couple of middle-class workers, L.D. Mackie had a very dull childhood. So dull, in fact, that when reminiscing about his youth, he points out that 'the grass on our lawn was always very long during the summer.'

To fill this void of much-needed adrenaline and excitement, he joined the Imperial Academy on Prefsbelt Four, where he trained to become a bridge sensor officer and tactical analyst. He was then nineteen years old. He served under the command of several Imperial captains for the next eight years, eventually being posted onboard the mark-1 VSD Iron Fist. It was during this posting of two years onboard this ship that he finally saw the evil that the Empire propagated.

Under the command of Captain Zsinj, several bridge officers were executed for 'gross incompetence', but in most cases made only one mistake at a very unfortunate time; when Zsinj was angry.

Every time it happened, Mackie questioned why he served the Empire at all. His sense of duty finally snapped when he noticed the discrimination the Empire held for aliens. A transport with Sullustans and Eloms onboard had been intercepted by the Iron Fist for no apparent reason. During this unlawful stop, Macke saw how the aliens had been brutally beaten in the brig. He fully resented this unrestrained brutality. At his next opportunity for shore leave, he traveled to the Outer Rim. There he found a cell of the newly-founded Rebel Alliance and joined readily.

The fact that his family was long dead helped him make a clean break without fear of retaliation against those he held dear. His father had died of an unknown virus and his mother had passed soon after. At age twenty seven, he joined the alliance and was immediately posted onboard the frigate Juvaini doing the job the Empire had trained him for: sensors and tactical analyst.

During the next two years in his service to the Alliance, he was transferred to the Strike Cruiser Charlemagne as its first officer and promoted to Lieutenant Commander. This ship was one of the Mon Calamari Cruiser Independence’s support ships during the evacuation of Yavin and was used as a convoy escort during and after Hoth. The period after Hoth was stressful for the crew due to the loss of materiel and personnel at the Battle of Hoth.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor, L.D. Mackie was promoted to the rank of Commander and given the post of commanding officer onboard the newly captured Corellian Corvette Nighthawk.

As part of the Liberty Taskforce, he escorted the convoys that supplied the Mon Calamari Cruiser and its other ships and assisted the Liberty in large scale attacks when required.

Part of Mackie's brilliance was a new tactic he’d used his new ship for when dealing with Star Destroyers. It proceeds at full speed alongside the larger ship, using its unusually strong shields to survive the broadside blow and then places itself 1 km ahead and under the Star Destroyer. Fewer turbolaser batteries are placed in this sector to return fire. With this technique, Mackie successfully distracted the ISD Venom, inflicting significant damage and allowing his convoy to pass safely by the ISD while he kept the gunners fully busy trying to kill his ship.