Woan Barso

Woan Barso was a human male who smuggled refugees out of Jedha City on the moon Jedha during the reign of the Galactic Empire. He transported the refugees using a dilapidated container tug to freighters waiting in orbit above the moon; however, he had so little faith in his starship's life support system that he wore an orange vac-suit at all times. Because of this, the Guardians of the Whills Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe did not trust him to be able to help them evacuate an orphanage.

The Galactic Civil War, also referred to as the revolution or the Rebellion, was a galactic power struggle in which the Alliance to Restore the Republic waged a rebellion against the ruling Galactic Empire in an attempt to restore democratic rule to the galaxy. The origins of rebellion could be traced to the Clone Wars, when rebel cells were equipped by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order to fight against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. After Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, transformed the Republic into the Empire and destroyed the Jedi Order, many rebel cells began fighting the Empire. A number of these cells eventually joined together and became the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Jedha City, also known as the Holy City, NiJedha in the ancient texts, or simply Jedha, was an ancient walled city located on the desert moon of Jedha. In the city was the ancient Temple of the Kyber, a great temple held sacred by those who followed the teachings of the Church of the Force. For some time before the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire had occupied the city, an action that was met with firm resistance by Saw Gerrera's Partisans.