Atha was born near the end of the Clone Wars in the ancient city of Eluthan on the planet Acherin in the Red Twins System of Wild Space. She took her first breath of life as the Republic Army negotiated a treaty with the Separatist forces that held her planet, ending one of the last battles of the Clone Wars.

But the peace was short-lived. Order 66 was executed before the Republic Army even left the system, and Palpatine declared the new Empire. The Separatists on Acherin resisted, but the retribution was swift and decisive. The new Empire utterly destroyed the beautiful ancient city of Eluthan, and Atha's parents fled into the desert canyons and caves of their homeworld, destitute and forsaken. The remaining cities of Acherin turned upon each other in desperation, leading many refugees to flee the system. Atha's family was among them.

Atha has no memory of her homeworld. She has only the dimmest memory of her father. He joined the resistance to unite Acherin and free the planet, and died, before she could speak her first words. Atha, her mother, and what was left of their small extended family lived in various refugee camps and ghettos across the Outer Rim.

Atha spent most of her late teens running with street gangs and stealing speeders on the rough and tumble planet Feriae Junction in the Thesme sector. Also known simply as "The Junction", the planet was a hub of clandestine activity, including even some Rebel movements. Eventually, she garnered the attention of a smuggler captain named Beryl Stok after she had nearly got away with stealing some of his cargo on one of his very own speeders. The captain was impressed, and hired her for a bootlegging run planet-side. Atha aced the gig and was taken on board as crew.

She took to astrogation and star piloting like she was born to it, and after only a few years she was piloting her own runs. But the gigs went south after an Imperial crack-down. Her smuggling ring was busted, their ships destroyed or impounded, and Atha barely evaded capture. She escaped with the captain, Beryl, who took her to a Rebellion save-haven. There she learned that her smuggling crew was secretly working for the Rebellion all along, smuggling goods and parts across the galaxy to Yavin IV. Beryl extended Atha an offer to join the Rebellion outright, which she heartily accepted. Atha hated the Empire for what they had done to her homeworld and her people, and Beryl knew it.

Upon Beryl's commendation of her piloting skills, Atha was assigned to new missions that were riskier and more dangerous than what she'd been running before. Unfortunately, her latest mission went awry in the worst possible way, she lost her ship and the Empire put a bounty on her head. She was trying to lay low with two of her crew at the Last Orbit and figure out their next move when she spotted the Imperial bounty hunters checking them out. Blast! Where could they go now?