Hiding behind the facade of an eccentric antiquities dealer on Coruscant, Luthen Rael was the secret mastermind behind the early days of the rebellion. When his associate Bix Caleen, a savvy salvage yard owner, offered him a rare and illegal Starpath unit for purchase, Rael went to Ferrix personally to broker the deal. But his interest wasn’t in the merchandise; instead, the well-informed spy had his eye on the person who procured it: Cassian Andor.

Rael met with the potential rebel recruit just as Pre-Mor security forces closed in to capture Andor as a murder suspect and Luthen attempted to persuade Andor to help fight the Empire. They escaped Ferrix together, and Rael offered him his biggest job yet: the robbery of an Imperial vault on Aldhani. He gave Andor a Kuati signet, a large crystal pendant made of sky kyber, as collateral payment.

After embedding Andor on the Aldhani crew despite the protests of Vel Sartha, their leader, Rael returned to Coruscant. He continued to manipulate operations behind the scenes by working with different rebel cells, earning him the alias “Axis” in the Imperial Security Bureau. Rael remained in contact with senator Mon Mothma, Partisan leader Saw Gerrera, and his own network of secret spies within the Empire.

Andor, a loose end from Aldhani who continued to gain the attention of the Empire, ultimately became a risk to Rael’s operation. When he learned of Maarva Andor’s funeral, Rael returned to Ferrix himself to see that Cassian was taken out. But after the people rioted against the Empire during the ceremony with devastating results, Andor voluntarily went to Rael to offer to join the fight for real and Rael accepted.