Soontir Fel was the son of Corellian farmers. A gifted pilot, he attended the Imperial Academy at Carida. Consistently proving himself in flight operations, he was awarded a prestigious teaching position at the Academy on Prefsbelt IV. When his star students mutinied and defected to the Alliance, Fel was disgraced. He was sent to the backwater of the galaxy to train misfit pilots in the 181st Imperial Fighting Group (or One-Eighty-Worst, as it was called).
Fel's rising career never fully recovered, though he did whip the misfit 181st into impeccable shape. Fel also found love, marrying Corellian actress Wynssa Starflare, who is actually Wedge Antilles' sister, Syal.
After Palpatine's death at Endor, Fel grew increasingly disillusioned with the Empire. The once glorious New Order had degenerated into factions of squabbling warlords carving up their own private fiefdoms from the dying Empire. When Fel was captured by the New Republic at the Battle of Brentaal, he defected. In a controversial move, he joined the New Republic and flew with Rogue Squadron instead.
Some time later, Fel disappeared, kidnapped by Imperial Intelligence's Ysanne Isard. Fel would go unseen for years, until rediscovered in the Unknown Regions as part of a secret cell of operatives set up by Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Baron Fel first appeared in the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comic series. A younger Fel would also briefly appear in the pages of the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin. His son, Jagged Fel, appears in the New Jedi Order novel, Dark Tide II: Ruin, by Michael A. Stackpole.