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"People assume that if they say nothing and do nothing they're not involved in the fight, but the fact is that their apathy is a tacit vote of support for the status quo. They have to be made to see that by making no choice they have indeed made a choice."
―Elscol Loro[src]

Elscol Loro was a Human female resistance leader and New Republic starfighter pilot during the Galactic Civil War. A native of the Colonies planet Cilpar, Loro joined the Cilpari Resistance to oppose Imperial rule on her homeworld. Following the death of her husband, Throm Loro, at the hands of Imperial forces, Loro became leader of the Resistance and gained a constant companion and protector in the Wookiee Groznik, who transferred his life debt to Loro when Throm died. Despite her strong hatred of the Empire, Loro also distrusted the New Republic, believing them to be collaborating with Cilpar's Imperial government due to the actions of a traitor within the Resistance. Shortly after the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the New Republic starfighter unit Rogue Squadron arrived on Cilpar. Loro initially took the Rebels captive, but came to trust them when they helped her to overthrow Moff Boren Tascl and expose the traitor.

After the planet's liberation, Wedge Antilles invited Loro to join Rogue Squadron. She accepted, but her membership in the squadron proved to be brief. Following the death of Groznik during Rogue Squadron's mission to Mrlsst, Loro became increasingly insubordinate, disobeying Antilles's orders and taking unnecessary risks that placed herself and her wingmates in danger. After the squadron's mission to Tatooine, Antilles and Loro agreed that Rogue Squadron was not where she belonged. Loro left the New Republic to start her own resistance group, joining forces with former Special Intelligence operative Sixtus Quin and his squad, along with a handful of others who hated the Empire but were unwilling to join the Republic.

Over the next few years Loro's group targeted Imperial worlds and worked to overthrow their planetary governments by training the local citizens to stage successful uprisings. In 7 ABY, Rogue Squadron resigned from the New Republic Defense Force to carry out an unsanctioned operation to free Thyferra from the rule of Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard. As Loro and her team specialized in such missions, Antilles contacted her and she agreed to assist him in overthrowing Isard. During the Battle of Thyferra at the end of the campaign, Loro led a team that stormed Xucphra Corporate Headquarters and captured Minister of Trade Fliry Vorru. Isard, however, escaped capture by faking her own death.

Biography

Cilpari Resistance

"I do what I was doing at the time Wedge recruited me—I find worlds with Imperial tyrants, and I liberate them."
―Elscol Loro[src]
X-Wing Rogue Squadron 5-8 The Phantom Affair 018

Loro discovers the body of her husband.

The Human female Elscol Loro lived with her parents[2] and sister[4] in Tamarack, a town on the planet Cilpar[2] in the Colonies region of the galaxy,[5] during the Imperial era.[2] By 1 ABY, Elscol married Throm Loro,[6] a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a resistance group which was fighting a civil war against the ruling Galactic Empire. During the war, Throm was part of a team that liberated an Imperial base on the forest moon of Endor, during which he saved the life of the captive Wookiee Groznik, earning his loyalty in the process. Accompanied by Groznik, Throm later returned to Cilpar to fight the planet's Imperial governor, Moff Boren Tascl,[2] and he and Elscol became the leaders of the local anti-Imperial resistance group. Although the Cilpari Resistance had contacts in the Rebellion, they remained independent and received little assistance from the Alliance.[1]

Loro's husband was killed fighting Imperial forces at the Battle of the Cliffs;[2] when he failed to return, Loro searched for him for two days before finding his body.[7] Groznik, who was with Throm when he died, transferred his life debt to his friend's widow and became a constant companion and protector.[2] Despite her loss, Loro attempted to hide her grief and continued the fight against Tascl, taking full command of the Cilpari Resistance.[8] After hearing of the death of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Tascl destroyed two Cilpari settlements[4] where members of the Resistance were based, including Tamarack.[2] The attack resulted in the deaths of many family and supporters of the resistance fighters,[8] including Loro's sister[4] and parents—whose home took a direct hit. Refusing to believe that any of her people had betrayed their location, Loro blamed their contact in the Alliance—the only other person who knew where her organization was located.[2] The Rebels had been negotiating for Tascl's surrender before the attack[4] and Loro came to believe that the two sides had united against the Cilpari Resistance.[2]

Liberation of Cilpar

"Where'd you get the Wookiee?"
"You know there's only one way a Wookiee teams up with a Human…a blood debt. Try anything and he'll rip your head off."
"You don't date much do you?"
―Wedge Antilles and Elscol Loro[src]
WedgeElscolTRO

Loro and Antilles on Cilpar

Soon after the destruction of Tamarack,[2] the Alliance's successor state,[9] the New Republic, dispatched the starfighter unit Rogue Squadron to Cilpar to escort a supply convoy to the planet Mrlsst. When Rogue Squadron were unable to locate the convoy, they established a base west of the city Kiidan while they attempted to make contact with either the Cilpari Resistance or "Targeter", the codename for Winter, a Rebel agent operating on the planet. Believing the new arrivals to be allied with Tascl, Loro led a squad to the Rebel base where they arrested Rogue Squadron pilots Dllr Nep, Plourr Ilo and Derek Klivian, along with their commanding officer, Captain Wedge Antilles. Despite Antilles's protests of innocence, the captive Rebels were loaded into the Cilpari's tank and taken to Tamarack, where Loro showed them the results of Tascl's attack. The group arrived to find the body of Gates Harnik, a local grocer who had been supplying the Rebels, hanging from a street light. After Loro's people cut the body down and cremated it, Loro searched the wreckage of her parents' home, looking for any holograms that had survived. Although she still did not trust him, Loro agreed to let Antilles help and the pair uncovered a "Starlight by Moonlight" music ball that had been given to her by Throm on the couple's third anniversary.[2]

Before the group could leave Tamarack, Moff Tascl's forces, led by his All Terrain Scout Transport, entered the city to capture them.[2] Pursued by Tascl, Loro led her troops and the captive Rebel pilots to cover in an ancient temple in the nearby forest. As the Imperials closed in, Antilles asked Loro to return his pilots' weapons. Although she was initially reluctant, a direct hit on the temple from an Imperial walker convinced her to work with the Rebels. Antilles instructed Klivian and Ilo to fire on a pile of rubbish outside the temple, causing the built-up gases from the decomposing rubbish to ignite, destroying the closest Imperial walker and providing a distraction that allowed Loro and the others to flee into the forest. As the Imperials resumed their pursuit, Nep contacted Rogue Squadron's astromech droids and had them bring the Rebels' X-wing fighters to their location. Rogue Squadron used their starfighters to drive the Imperials back and allow the Cilpari to reach their vehicles and escape.[4]

The Cilpari rendezvoused with the Rebels at Rogue Squadron's base. Finally beginning to trust Antilles, Loro agreed to resupply Rogue Squadron in exchange for their help against Tascl.[4] Loro, Groznik and Vance Rego led Antilles and Nep to another ancient temple which the Cilpari Resistance were using as a supply depot. While the group loaded supplies into their landspeeders, an X-wing flew past to warn them of a nearby Imperial patrol, leading Loro to instruct her people to pull out. Rego suggested that Loro ride with him but, unwilling to let Antilles out of her sight, she decided to travel with the Rebel pilot. The pair were pursued by a flight of TIE fighters, but the intervention of Groznik and ground support destroyed two of the Imperial fighters and caused the rest to withdraw.[10]

Returning to Rogue Squadron's base, Loro, Rego and the Rogues discussed the apparent leak which had once more led the Imperials to their location. Satisfied that the Rebels were not her enemies, Loro agreed help them contact Targeter and dispatched Rego to rendezvous with the Rebel agent.[10] When Rego returned, he claimed that his meeting with Targeter had been interrupted by Imperial stormtroopers, who had captured Targeter—whom both he and the Imperials believed to be Princess Leia Organa—and Rogue Squadron pilot Wes Janson, who had been separated from his wingmates upon arrival on Cilpar. With the arrival of a Star Destroyer in orbit, Loro and Antilles resolved to work together to rescue the captives, with Loro leading a ground assault on Tascl's stronghold in Kiidan while Rogue Squadron provided air support.[11]

TasclCaptured-TRO4

Loro and Groznik capture Moff Tascl.

Loro set out in a truck with Rego and Groznik, but the Wookiee left the vehicle to make his own way through the trees when they stopped to pick up a spacetrooper suit which Rego had stashed along their route. After resuming their course, the truck came under attack by a pair of TIE fighters, but the Imperials veered off without destroying the truck. When Rego suggested that the TIEs had gone to reinforce Tascl's other forces against Rogue Squadron, Loro became suspicious that he knew too much about Tascl's maneuvers. Realizing that Rego was the Imperial spy, Loro drew her blaster, but Rego knocked the weapon from her hand. Before Rego could overpower Loro, however, Groznik swung down from the trees; the Wookiee threw Rego from the moving vehicle and lifted Loro to safety moments before the now driverless truck crashed. After rendezvousing with other members of the Cilpari Resistance, Loro led them in the assault on Tascl's palace. Taking Targeter as his hostage, Tascl attempted to flee to the orbiting Star Destroyer, but Loro and Groznik intercepted him as he attempted to board his shuttle. Groznik easily overpowered Tascl, but Loro stopped the Wookiee before he could kill the Moff, arguing that he should stand trial for his crimes. With Tascl in custody, his Imperial allies withdrew from Cilpar.[11]

Rogue Squadron

"You were crying?"
"It's the spring, Wedge. It does this to me every time—it reminds me of Throm. It was spring when we met and fell in love. It was spring when we married. It was a beautiful spring day when he didn't return."
―Wedge Antilles and Elscol Loro[src]
LoroCockpit-TPA1

Loro, in the cockpit of her X-wing

After the planet's liberation, Antilles invited Loro to join Rogue Squadron. Although initially hesitant, Loro decided that the time had come to move on; she accepted the offer and left Cilpar,[11] along with Groznik,[7] when Rogue Squadron received orders to pull out. With Loro flying in Tycho Celchu's X-wing while he piloted the squadron's shuttle,[11] Rogue Squadron rendezvoused with the convoy and proceeded to Mrlsst. As the convoy arrived, however, it was attacked by the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer Dominator. While the other Rogues fought the Star Destroyer's TIE fighters and TIE interceptors, Antilles and Loro broke off to engage the capital ship. On Antilles's instruction, Loro targeted the same point as him; when the pair fired their proton torpedoes, they overwhelmed the Star Destroyer's deflector shields and destroyed its gravity well projector. The Star Destroyer was forced to withdraw and the convoy was able to land on the planet.[7]

Antilles was tasked by the New Republic with negotiating for the Phantom Project, a cloaking device developed at the Mrlsst Trade and Science Academy[7] which Captain Loka Hask was also trying to secure for the Empire.[12] While he began the negotiations, the other Rogues headed to The Soundmound, a local music venue with Antilles's old friend Mirax Terrik. Loro, however, declined to accompany her wingmates. When Antilles returned that evening, he found Loro and Groznik in their temporary quarters, where an emotional Loro was watching a hologram of her and Throm. Antilles was concerned about her wellbeing, but Loro assured him that she needed to be alone.[7]

The following morning, the Twi'lek student Koyi Komad took Loro, Groznik, Nep and Terrik on a tour of the Mrlsst Academy, during which they were shown the spot where the Jedi Knight Taj Junak had been burned alive by the Empire.[12] The Rogues later visited Janson at the Central Academic Hospital, where he was recovering from injuries sustained on Cilpar. The visit was interrupted by Komad with a warning[13] that Antilles had been arrested for allegedly stealing datacards related to the Phantom Project[12] and stormtroopers were on their way to take the other Rogues into custody.[13] Taking Janson with them, the Rogues fought their way out of the hospital and fled to safety among the fringe communities inhabiting the upper levels of the nearby greenstalk forests.[13]

Groznikandghost

Loro and Groznik are confronted by a hologram of Throm Loro.

Komad led the group to the slicer Nasta, who was able to prove that the footage implicating the Rogues had been altered by the pro-Imperial Ante-Endor Association. The organization had subsequently lost the datacards to a group of battle droids controlled by Rorax Falken, a professor at the Mrlsst Academy. While Celchu, Ilo and Klivian went to rescue Antilles, Terrik and Nep went to locate Falken's asteroid laboratory and retrieve the datacards. Loro and Groznik covered the pair as they left in Terrik's ship, the Pulsar Skate. Moments after the freighter's departure, they were approached by the apparent Force ghost of Taj Junak, who called to Groznik. Concerned for her friend's safety, Loro drew her blaster and fired at the apparition, to no effect. The ghost—which was actually a hologram created by Falken—then removed its cloak to reveal the face of Loro's husband. Loro was shocked to see Throm, but the ghost instructed Groznik to gently incapacitate her. Still loyal to Throm, Groznik obeyed and struck Loro, leaving her unconscious as he departed with the hologram[13] for Falken's laboratory.[14]

The unconscious Loro was later discovered by Antilles, Celchu, Ilo and Klivian. As Loro explained what had happened, a group of TIE bombers began strafing the Academy.[13] Rogue Squadron quickly boarded their X-wings and engaged the Imperial fighters, but the Imperials withdrew and headed towards Falken's laboratory. Hask's forces were boarding the asteroid to retrieve the Phantom Project plans, unaware that the project was a fake, designed by Falken to elicit money from the Empire. Nep and Terrik escaped along with some of Falken's students, but both Groznik and Falken were killed. Loro and the rest of Rogue Squadron arrived in time to save the Pulsar Skate as it came under attack from TIE fighters, before Antilles ordered Nep and Terrik to remotely activate the gravitic polarization beam installed in the laboratory, destroying both the asteroid and Hask's Interdictor Star Destroyer. Although the Imperials were defeated, Loro was left to mourn the loss of another friend.[14]

Mission to Tatooine

"I guess you know why I wanted to talk to you privately, then."
"I figured it was to fire me from Rogue Squadron for disobeying orders. That seems to be a privilege reserved for officers."
"Point taken, El, but I didn't leave my teammates in the lurch. Plourr could've used your help."
"I know. This isn't what I ought to be doing, not with so many places still under the Emperor's thumb. Maybe one of the outer worlds needs a troublemaker."
"What they need is an army of liberation…and a leader."
―Wedge Antilles and Elscol Loro[src]
LoroSulking-BT1

Elscol Loro on Tatooine

Some time later, Winter was assigned to the planet Tatooine to investigate the events surrounding the death of the conman Lirin Banolt in the midst of a gang war prompted by the demise of the local crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Rogue Squadron was sent to assist her, under the pretense of attending a reception at Huff Darklighter's estate to mark the anniversary of the death of his son, Rogue Squadron pilot Biggs Darklighter. Antilles selected Loro and Celchu to accompany him and Winter to the reception and charged the remaining Rogues with investigating the gang war. Still grieving over the death of Groznik, Loro was reluctant to attend the party and socialize with people she saw as former Imperial collaborators. Antilles, however, maintained that their attendance was for the good of the mission and instructed her to put her personal feelings aside.[15]

Winter's partner, Kapp Dendo, arranged for the other members of Rogue Squadron to attack the reception as a diversion[16] while Winter stole a datacard relevant to her investigation from Darklighter's safe. Before they could arrive, however, another group of raiders attacked the party and began firing on the assembled guests in their own attempt to steal the datacard. Taking a blaster from a downed security guard, Loro fired on one of the raiders, causing him to fall from his speeder bike, which struck a raider landspeeder, destroying both vehicles. As Loro charged towards the attackers, Antilles spotted a landspeeder approaching her from behind. Antilles tackled Loro to the ground just in time to avoid a blaster bolt and, taking her dropped weapon, destroyed the speeder as it passed. Having retrieved the datacard, the raiders began to withdraw, with Loro and Antilles giving chase in one of the guests' landspeeders.[15] However, the raiders led Loro and Antilles into an ambush, forcing the Rebels to abandon their vehicle before it was destroyed. Moments later, Celchu and Winter arrived in another speeder and saved their comrades, causing the remaining raiders to flee.[16]

Rogue Squadron soon learned that the datacard had been stolen by the Twi'lek Firith Olan. The datacard contained information leading to an Imperial weapons cache which Olan intended to use to win the gang war[17] and Eidolon Base, a secret facility built by Imperial Grand Vizier Sate Pestage.[18] Rogue Squadron took their X-wings to stop Olan, but arrived too late to prevent him locating the weapons cache. As they approached the krayt dragon cave which contained the cache, several TIE interceptors emerged to engage them. Ignoring Antilles's instructions, Loro broke off from the enemy fighters and flew into the cave itself, using a pair of torpedoes to destroy the cache before blasting through the roof of the cave to escape the explosion. Antilles ordered Loro to regroup with her wingmates and Rogue Squadron took off in pursuit of Olan's freighter. As the squadron chased Olan out of the planet's atmosphere, however, a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters approached[16] and attacked Olan's remaining interceptors, prompting Antilles to order his squadron to disengage. Despite Loro's protests that they could not allow Olan to escape, the group returned to Mos Eisley.[17]

Harrow2

Loro attacks the Harrow.

Olan escaped to the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth, pursued by the Imperial Captain Marl Semtin on the Victory-class Star Destroyer Harrow. Winter, Antilles and Celchu quickly readied a freighter to go after Olan; wanting to keep an eye on Loro after her recent disobedience, Antilles picked her to complete the crew. When they arrived at Kala'uun spaceport, the Rebels learned that Cazne'olan, leader of the Olan Clan, had refused to grant Olan asylum. With both the Empire and New Republic seeking Olan, Cazne'Olan organized a race between the two with Olan as the prize. Winter and Antilles lost to the Imperial Special Intelligence operatives Sixtus Quin and Septaas. However, during the contest, Semtin helped Olan escape[17] and the pair fled to Eidolon Base on Tatooine.[18] Abandoned by their captain, Quin's squad felt betrayed and accompanied the Rebels back to Tatooine to assist in Semtin's defeat.[17]

Loro joined the other Rogues in an attack on Eidolon Base, helping to hold off enemy TIE interceptors while Quin's squad stormed the facility. Concerned that Semtin's orbiting Star Destroyer might begin an orbital bombardment of the region, Loro suggested going after the capital ship, but Antilles instructed her to remain with her wingmates and focus on the TIE interceptors. Disregarding her orders, Loro broke free from the engagement and set course for the Harrow. Destroying the TIE fighters that moved to intercept her, Loro flew her X-wing into the Harrow's hangar and launched a pair of proton torpedoes which destroyed the ship's magnetic containment-bubble generator, resulting in a catastrophic decompression that left the Imperials out of the fight below. The Rebels secured Eidolan Base and both Olan and Semtin were killed. Although Loro's actions had ensured that the Harrow was unable to intervene, she had left Ilo without cover by abandoning her squadron during the battle, resulting in Ilo's X-wing being hit and forced into a crash-landing. Unwilling to let Loro's insubordination further endanger the Rogues, Antilles dismissed her from the squadron. Loro agreed that Rogue Squadron was not where she belonged, and left the New Republic military to return to fighting the Empire in her own way.[18]

The Bacta War

"We're fighting for freedom, for the right to live the way we want to live. We're fighting for the only thing worth fighting for."
""And if these people want to be ruled by the Empire?"
"They can consider our action an eviction notice."
―Elscol Loro and Iella Wessiri[src]

Before Loro's departure from Rogue Squadron, Antilles arranged for her to be given a portion of the Imperial weapons stored in Eidolon Base. Loro eagerly set about founding a new anti-Imperial group,[18] joining forces with Quin and his Special Intelligence team, along with others who opposed the Empire but were unwilling to join the New Republic.[3] In her last report to Rebel Command, Loro explained that her cell was investigating a possible hyperlane between the Outer Rim Territories and the Core Worlds, control of which she believed could change the course of the war.[1] Over the next few years, the group targeted Imperial worlds and worked to overthrow their planetary governments. Loro's group participated directly in fighting against Imperial forces, but focused on turning the population of target worlds against their Imperial occupiers and garnering support for local resistance groups, to which they provided training, weapons and support. By 7 ABY, Loro claimed that her team had helped liberate dozens of worlds.[3]

File:ElscolLoroAndGroznik.jpg

Loro and Groznik

In 7 ABY, the galactic capital of Coruscant fell to the New Republic.[19] Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard fled to the bacta-producing world Thyferra, where she supported a coup that saw Xucphra Corporation seize control of the bacta cartel[20] and Isard appointed Chief Operating Officer and Head of State. News of the coup on Thyferra reached Loro and her group had already started making plans to liberate the planet when she was contacted by Antilles. The New Republic Provisional Council had refused to interfere with internal Thyferran politics, leading Antilles and the majority of Rogue Squadron to resign their commissions to launch an unsanctioned operation to free Thyferra. Knowing that his group lacked the experience needed to overthrow a planetary government, Antilles asked for Loro's assistance.[3]

Loro, under the codename "Blade," and Quin traveled to Rogue Squadron's base, the space station Yag-prime in the Yag'Dhul system, where they were began planning their campaign. Loro knew that any uprising against Xucphra would be easily defeated as long as Isard had four Star Destroyers defending Thyferra. While Rogue Squadron found a way to lure the Star Destroyers away, Loro planned to travel to Thyferra to evaluate potential targets and to make contact with the Ashern, a group of native Vratix who opposed the Human rulers of their world. Rogue Squadron captured the Thyferran Bacta Tanker Mimban Cloudrider, allowing Loro, Quin, Mirax Terrik, Rogue Squadron pilot Corran Horn and former New Republic Intelligence agent Iella Wessiri to infiltrate Thyferra disguised as its crew.[3]

Shortly after landing at a Thyferran spaceport, Horn was recognized by a stormtrooper guard, leading to a firefight. Loro's group drew heavy fire from stormtroopers on elevated platforms, but were rescued by Ashern reinforcements led by Bror Jace, a former Rogue Squadron pilot and member of Xucphra's rival Zaltin Corporation. Jace led Loro and the others to an Ashern facility, where Horn received bacta treatment for injuries sustained during the fight. Loro, meanwhile, wasted no time in evaluating potential targets. When Horn recovered, he, Terrik and Jace returned to join Rogue Squadron, leaving Loro, Quin and Wessiri to take Jace's place working with the Ashern.[3]

Wanting to strike at a high profile target, Loro devised a plan to assassinate Aerin Dlarit, an influential member of Xucphra Corporation who served as a figurehead for the Thyferran Home Defense Corps, at his family's estate. The plan drew objections from Wessiri, who argued in favor of attacking a true military target instead. Although Loro agreed to avoid harming Dlarit's family as a sign of mercy, she was adamant that Dlarit's death would shake Xucphran society and make the population realize that those who supported Isard's regime could not avoid the consequences. Loro put together a team of twelve volunteers for the mission, including Wessiri, Quin and three of his former Special Intelligence comrades. Using information on patrol routes and sensor placement obtained from Zaltin satellites and planetary computers, Loro planned a route to the estate over a nearby mountain range and through the forest at its base, using cover of darkness to mask their approach. Loro's route allowed the group to avoid all but one patrol, which was quietly eliminated by Quin's troopers. Upon reaching the estate, the group overrode the door lock and proceeded inside, securing the ground floor without incident. Moving up to the main floor, they found Dlarit asleep at his desk. Loro instructed her team to set up a holocam so they could distribute footage of his execution. Wessiri, however, convinced Loro that there was more to gain by humiliating Dlarit. With the holocam in place, the group woke Dlarit and stripped him naked, recording the incident before leaving the estate they way they arrived. When the footage was released it caused great embarrassment to the Thyferran Home Defense Corps and caused their Imperial allies to regard them as incompetent.[3]

As the Bacta War intensified, the actions of Loro's group helped to recruit many more Vratix to the Ashern cause. The group moved around frequently, hiding amongst the Vratix in an attempt to evade Isard's forces. Isard initially refrained from sending stormtroopers after them so as not to upset the population. However, shortly after Rogue Squadron destroyed Isard's Victory II-class Star Destroyer Corrupter and Captain Sair Yonka defected to Antilles's cause with the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avarice, Isard dispatched TIE fighters and Home Defense Corps troops to attack the Vratix village where Loro's group were staying. With no weapons capable of stopping the enemy starfighters, Loro and Wessiri attempted to escape the village while drawing the fire of the approaching troopers away from the fleeing Vratix. The pair killed several of the Thyferran soldiers, but soon found themselves surrounded as another squad moved in. However, they were saved by the arrival of a squad of Ashern warriors, who killed the remaining Home Defense Corps troops.[3]

In retaliation for the Ashern attacks, Isard began rounding up a thousand Vratix each day and announced her intention to have them executed after thirty days, repeating the process if the Ashern did not stop. Loro and Wessiri kept in contact with Rogue Squadron to alert them to the situation and Antilles decided the time had come to strike at Thyferra itself. Antilles allowed Isard's agents to learn the location of Rogue Squadron's base and Isard dispatched the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Lusankya and the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Virulence to destroy it. Loro initially planned to kill Isard by crashing a lift-truck bomb into Xucphra Corporate Headquarters, timing the explosion to coincide with Rogue Squadron's expected arrival, forty-eight hours after the departure of the Star Destroyers. However, Wessiri convinced her that they could not risk turning Isard into a martyr and Loro instead assembled a squad to storm Isard's headquarters and capture her. At the same time, Quin would lead a second team to liberate the captive Vratix.[3]

Isard's ships walked into a trap at Yag'Dhul and the Virulence was captured by Antilles's forces. The Lusankya fled back to Thyferra, pursued by Rogue Squadron, the Avarice and the Virulence. As the battle started in orbit, the Ashern began their assault on Xucphra Corporate Headquarters, with Loro and Wessiri each commanding a team for the raid. After Wessiri's team cleared a route into the building, Loro's team secured the stairwells before moving to assist Wessiri, who had Minister of Trade Fliry Vorru trapped on the fifth floor. As Loro and four of her team approached the room where Vorru was hiding, the door blew open and Vorru opened fire, killing her guards before throwing his blaster out the door and surrendering. Loro wanted to shoot Vorru for his crimes, but Wessiri put her hand on Loro's blaster to stop her, arguing that Vorru had to stand trial. When Vorru indicated that he would strike a deal to save himself, Loro shot him in the throat. However, Wessiri had set her weapon to stun; Vorru survived and Wessiri suggested that Rogue Squadron could arrange for him to be imprisoned in the spice mines of Kessel to deny him the chance to escape justice.[3] Isard, meanwhile, tricked the New Republic forces into believing that she was attempting to flee aboard a shuttle,[21] causing Celchu to destroy it before it could leave the system. With Isard believed dead, the Lusankya surrendered to the Rogues. Loro, Quin and Wessiri later joined Rogue Squadron for a victory celebration in the officers' mess on the Lusankya.[3] Isard was eventually killed by Wessiri in 9 ABY as she attempted to retake the Lusankya at the Bilbringi Shipyards.[21]

Personality and traits

"I lost my husband to the Imps back on Cilpar, and part of me wanted to die with him there. I took off after the Imps for revenge, but always in the back of my mind was the feeling that when I died we'd be together again. Wedge saw that in me and saw the urge for self-destruction grow in me. When he kicked me out of Rogue Squadron, well, that woke me up; and I began to see a lot of things."
―Elscol Loro[src]

Elscol Loro was an intelligent young woman with reddish-brown hair, dark[8] brown eyes and light skin.[2] Loro had a strong fighting spirit and was already involved in fighting the Imperials on her homeworld before taking over as leader of the Cilpari Resistance following the death of her husband. Loro was skilled at insurgency tactics[8] and mission planning. She ensured her people were properly prepared for missions with detailed, professional mission briefings,[3] and frequently took personal command of combat missions.[3][11] Loro was a capable shot with a blaster[3] and a skilled pilot of both landspeeders[10] and starfighters, in which she was especially effective against Imperial targets.[1]

LoroSad-TPA1

Loro watches a hologram of her husband..

The war against the Empire cost Loro heavily; her parents[2] and sister were killed by Imperial forces,[4] as was her husband.[2] Loro felt Throm's loss deeply but kept her feelings hidden from others,[8] with the exception of Groznik, who became a faithful companion and with whom she would somberly reminisce about her husband.[1] Loro trusted those who served under her in the Resistance and refused to believe that any of them was the source of the leak which led to the deaths of her parents.[2] Already suspicious of the Rebel Alliance's motives,[1] Loro came to suspect them of collaborating with Moff Tascl.[2] After the arrival of Rogue Squadron on Cilpar, Loro slowly came to trust the Rebels and worked with them to defeat Tascl. Antilles recognized Loro's skills and offered her the chance to join Rogue Squadron; Loro was unsure about a career as a fighter pilot, but saw the offer as a way to escape Cilpar.[11] Despite making a fresh start, however, Loro continued to struggle to come to terms with Throm's death[7] and her grief only intensified following Groznik's death over Mrlsst.[14] She kept her fellow Rogues at arms length, refusing to accept their help,[8] and began disobeying orders[16] and taking increasingly reckless risks,[16][18] believing that her death would allow her and Throm to be together again.[3] When her actions put the lives of her wingmates in danger, Antilles fired her from Rogue Squadron.[18] Loro eventually came to realize that her death would not bring Throm back. Although she continued to mourn, she no longer allowed her feelings to overwhelm her.[3]

While serving with Rogue Squadron, Loro was reluctant to attend a party with people she saw as Imperial collaborators.[15] Her attitude towards those who supported the Empire became more severe over the years and, by the Bacta War, Loro believed that apathy among the population was tantamount to support for the Empire. If the Empire was to be defeated, Loro believed that citizens needed to be made to take notice of the war and choose to actively oppose the Empire. She was prepared to assassinate non-military targets and considered the deaths of innocents to be acceptable if it helped to make her point.[3] While Loro had once stopped Groznik from killing Moff Tascl, arguing that he should stand trial for his crimes,[11] she later became happy to kill any she judged as guilty. Iella Wessiri had to stop Loro from executing Fliry Vorru on Thyferra and dissuade her from destroying Xucphra Corporate Headquarters to kill Ysanne Isard.[3]

Behind the scenes

Elscol Loro was created by Michael A. Stackpole for the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comic book series and first appeared in July 1995's X-Wing Rogue Squadron 1: The Rebel Opposition, Part 1, in which she was illustrated by Allen Nunis and Andy Mushynsky. Joining Rogue Squadron at the end of the opening story arc, The Rebel Opposition, Loro went on to appear in the two subsequent story arcs, The Phantom Affair and Battleground: Tatooine. With the series hinting at a possible relationship between Loro and Antilles, Stackpole and Dark Horse Comics editor Ryder Windham considered killing Loro at the end of the planned run of twelve issues. However, they ultimately decided that killing the character was too cliché and instead decided to have Antilles fire her from Rogue Squadron at the end of X-Wing Rogue Squadron 12: Battleground: Tatooine, Part 4, published in September 1996. Loro's departure to form her own resistance group led to her subsequent appearance in Stackpole's 1997 novel, X-Wing: The Bacta War.[1] Loro was briefly mentioned in James Luceno's 2000 novel The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial and has been given entries in reference works including the Star Wars Encyclopedia (1998), A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition (2000) and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (2008).

Appearances

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Sources

Notes and references

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Handbook 1: X-Wing Rogue Squadron
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 1: The Rebel Opposition, Part 1
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 X-Wing: The Bacta War
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 2: The Rebel Opposition, Part 2
  5. StarWars Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link (media/general/atlas-appendix.pdf) not verified!)
  6. X-Wing Rogue Squadron 1: The Rebel Opposition, Part 1 established that Elscol and Throm Loro were married for at least three years.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 5: The Phantom Affair, Part 1
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Star Wars Encyclopedia
  9. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 375 ("New Republic")
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 3: The Rebel Opposition, Part 3
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 4: The Rebel Opposition, Part 4
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 6: The Phantom Affair, Part 2
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 7: The Phantom Affair, Part 3
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 8: The Phantom Affair, Part 4
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 9: Battleground: Tatooine, Part 1
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 10: Battleground: Tatooine, Part 2
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 11: Battleground: Tatooine, Part 3
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 12: Battleground: Tatooine, Part 4
  19. X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble
  20. X-Wing: The Krytos Trap
  21. 21.0 21.1 X-Wing: Isard's Revenge
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