Eryl Besa was a Human, female Jedi Knight of Luke Skywalker's new Jedi Order. With short, red hair and freckled cheeks, Eryl Besa was born to a space racer and spent a lot of her childhood moving around the galaxy. Because of this and Eryl's inherent Force-sensitivity, she developed the unusual skill of using the Force to determine her location in the galaxy at any given moment. Later in life, when the Jedi Knights were being rebuilt by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, Eryl journeyed to Yavin IV to meet with Skywalker and begin her training as a Jedi Knight. However, years later, the galaxy was invaded by a ruthless alien force, the Yuuzhan Vong, hell-bent on conquering the galaxy.

Using bioengineered weaponry, the Vong forces quickly decimated the New Republic defense and cut through to the heart of the galaxy, conquering planets and killing millions along the way. The Jedi Knights answered their call to uphold their role as protectors, but as the Yuuzhan Vong were mysteriously not found in the Force, undetectable to the Jedi, they soon found themselves in a dangerous position. Even still, the Eryl Besa and the Jedi Knights did everything they could to help protect the peoples of the galaxy, but soon found themselves an endangered group.

After Jedi Knight Jacen Solo bested the Yuuzhan Vong Warmaster, Tsavong Lah, in combat, Lah called for the heads of the Jedi Knights, and promised mercy to those planets that turned over the Knights to the Vong, and destruction for those that hid them. Even more alarming to the Jedi, the Yuuzhan Vong engineered a creature capable of sensing the Jedi to hunt them through the Force. Many Jedi Knights fell to the fury of the voxyn, and it soon became necessary to gather as much information as possible on the beasts. This is where Eryl Besa and a few other Jedi Knights stepped in. The first step in understanding the creatures would be to obtain a specimen for Jedi scientists to study.