Tycho Celchu

From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.

Tycho Celchu (pronounced /'taɪko 'sɛltʃu/) was a renowned starfighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic. A native of Alderaan, he joined the Imperial Navy, in which he was a talented TIE Fighter pilot. He was speaking with his family by HoloNet when Alderaan was destroyed by the first Death Star, an event which pushed him into defecting to the Rebel Alliance. Celchu became an ace pilot with the elite Rogue Squadron, in which he flew with Wedge Antilles, who became his lifelong best friend.

Celchu flew in the Battles of Hoth and Endor, as well as in several campaigns for the New Republic, during which he became the second-in-command of Rogue Squadron and began a romantic relationship with the intelligence agent Winter. In 5 ABY, during a spy mission to Coruscant, he was captured by Ysanne Isard and imprisoned in the dreaded Lusankya prison. She attempted to brainwash him, but he resisted and was eventually able to escape. He fell under a cloud of suspicion due to his time there, with many fearing he was a brainwashed double agent. He later helped Antilles rebuild Rogue Squadron and aided in the Liberation of Coruscant. Events came to a head when he was accused of murdering fellow Rogue Corran Horn and was put on trial for treason. Celchu's name was completely cleared when Horn, having been only captured and not killed, escaped from Lusankya.

Celchu helped bring down Isard in the Bacta War, then led Rogue Squadron while Antilles formed Wraith Squadron. He fought in the Thrawn campaign and helped bring down Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel before he was handed permanent command of Rogue Squadron when Antilles moved on. He married Winter in 17 ABY, and retired in 19 ABY when peace was reached with the Empire. Celchu returned to service during the Yuuzhan Vong War, during which he was promoted to general. Following the victory, Celchu became a training officer, teaching Antilles's daughter Syal. When the Second Galactic Civil War broke out in 40 ABY, Celchu was serving as an analyst for Supreme Commander Cha Niathal and he found himself on opposite sides from Antilles. He was able to transfer Syal to a position liaising with the Jedi, who had begun opposing the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, but put himself in danger opposing a Jedi attempt against Chief of State Jacen Solo out of his sense of duty, though he did not support Solo himself.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 In the Empire's service 1.2 Rogue 1.3 Victory at Endor 1.4 Second-in-command 1.5 A budding romance 1.6 Intrigues 1.7 The battle for Brentaal IV 1.8 Wooing Winter 1.9 A vital defection 1.10 Trust destroyed 1.11 Rebuilding the Rogues 1.12 The Battles of Borleias 1.13 Taking Coruscant 1.14 Vilification and vindication 1.15 The Bacta War 1.16 The hunt for Zsinj 1.17 Combating Thrawn 1.18 Finishing Isard 1.19 Rogue Leader 1.20 Ambassadors to Adumar 1.21 Transition period 1.22 Return to war 1.23 Stand at Borleias 1.24 Victory and peace 1.25 Choosing sides 2 Personality and traits 3 Relationships 3.1 Nyiestra 3.2 Winter Celchu 4 Behind the scenes 5 Appearances 6 Sources 7 Notes and references

[edit] Biography

[edit] In the Empire's service

Celchu was born into an Alderaanian family in 21 BBY; growing up, he had two sisters, one of them named Mia, and a brother, Skoloc.^{[2][1][11][12]} His father was the head of Novacom, the largest HoloNet provider on Alderaan, and Celchu grew to enjoy matching wits with his father.^[13][12] Throughout his childhood, Celchu was friends with a girl named Nyiestra, a relationship that blossomed into love as they reached adolescence.^[12] In 2 BBY, hoping he could change the Imperial military from within to be less aggressive, Celchu sought out and gained admission to the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy; he spent the week before his departure with his family at a Novacom cabin near the Wuitho Trifalls on Alderaan.^[5][13][14] He had proposed marriage to Nyiestra, who agreed both to marry him and to wait until he had graduated, survived his first year of TIE duty, and been moved into fleet operations where his life would be more stable and he could devote attention to beginning a family.^[12][11]

He then shipped out to Prefsbelt IV, where he attended as a cadet alongside Derek Klivian and Biggs Darklighter, with whom he developed some camaraderie. He was taught by the famous and skilled pilot Captain Soontir Fel, whom he was never able to defeat in simulation.^[15] Fel built a rapport with his students and insisted on their loyalty to the Empire. Celchu took some mocking from his classmates for being from the peaceful world of Alderaan, which engendered resentment. When Cadet Laine insulted Celchu's heritage, Celchu punched him in front of Fel; Fel, however, felt that Laine was at fault for provoking the attack and insulting a fellow cadet, covering for Celchu with the security forces. Fel did remind Celchu, however, that his loyalty was now to the Empire, not his homeworld.^[5] Celchu excelled, frequently beating Darklighter in exercises, and graduated as a lieutenant in 0 BBY as part of a class of prodigies such as Klivian and Darklighter that gained considerable attention, though when Klivian and Darklighter defected to the Alliance to Restore the Republic upon graduating, it cast a pall over the class's success.^[5][2] Celchu, however, remained a loyal Imperial.^[4]

Celchu was assigned to the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Accuser as a TIE pilot, a role in which he excelled.^[12][16] On his twenty-first birthday, Celchu contacted his entire family, fiancée, and grandparents via the HoloNet. He was speaking with them in a jubilant celebration when the signal suddenly cut out; he thought little of this as it had happened before, and planned to rib his father about the dropped connection later as he had in the past.^[13][12] He later learned that Alderaan had been destroyed. The Empire blamed this on the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but Celchu could not believe this as he knew that the Rebels drew support from Alderaan.^[12] He could only come to the conclusion that the Empire had destroyed Alderaan; he eventually learned that it had been destroyed by the Imperial Death Star superweapon.^[12][11] His faith in the Empire broken, he decided to defect to the Rebel Alliance and bring down the government that had destroyed his family, home, and friends. When the Accuser stopped at Commenor, Celchu went on leave and did not come back.^[12]

[edit] Rogue

He made his way to the Rebellion just after they had evacuated their base on Yavin 4, arranging a rendezvous with Rogue Squadron, the unit of his former classmate Klivian, on Dantooine.^[14][17] As they arrived, however, he was captured by storm commandos and attempted to warn off the Rebels. Luke Skywalker, commanding the group, decided to attempt a rescue rather than calling off the mission. Alone, he was able to eliminate the forces capturing Celchu and free him from the personnel carrier he had been placed aboard. Celchu and Skywalker set out on speeder bikes for Rogue Squadron's landing site, evading TIE Bomber attacks along the way and escaping into space. Celchu immediately volunteered his knowledge about an upcoming attempt by the storm commandos to kidnap a group of scientists from Ralltiir who had developed an especially powerful planetary shield. Based on his information, Skywalker was able to defend the scientists from a ground assault and evacuate them.^[17]

Skywalker recruited Celchu into the elite Rogue Squadron, where he became a veteran pilot, considered among the best of a legendary lot.^[2][16] Though he was initially distant to the new man, squadron pilot Wedge Antilles eventually warmed up to Celchu, and they became extremely close friends.^[15] Celchu was eager to put his knowledge of Imperial tactics, codes, practices and procedures to use against the Empire.^[16] While scouting for a new Rebel base on Kwenn Space Station, Celchu, Antilles, and Wes Janson observed the starship Stellar Manx being commandeered by Imperial agents. They investigated but were detected by stormtroopers, who they managed to evade. They were able to free the crew and reclaim the ship, which was put back in the hands of its captain, Kar Lamoran, and put to use for the Rebellion.^[6] Celchu was also likely present in the squadron during the time of its campaign against Moff Kohl Seerdon.^[18]

When the squadron moved to Hoth, Celchu moved with it. He had excelled as a member of the squadron and attained the rank of captain, making him one of the most senior officers in the unit behind Skywalker and Antilles.^[2] In his downtime, he sometimes played sabacc with Han Solo and frequently lost.^[19] When Echo Base was discovered by the Empire and evacuated, Celchu fought with the Rogues to cover the Rebellion's retreat.^[3] Solo was captured by the Empire, frozen in carbonite, and turned over to bounty hunter Boba Fett shortly thereafter, and Skywalker departed the squadron to track him down and free him. When he had traced Fett to Gall, he called in the Rogues to help him in the extraction. They set up a temporary base on nearby Kile and reconnoitered the area before Skywalker and his allies arrived and decided that Skywalker and the Rogues would draw off the 144-TIE complement on Gall, allowing Dash Rendar to lead Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon to Fett's docked Slave I. The battle went well considering the odds against them, and the unit escaped when the pressure by Imperial TIEs became too great, but Fett evaded the Millennium Falcon, leaving the mission a failure. When Prince Xizor of Black Sun captured Princess Leia Organa not long thereafter, Skywalker went to Coruscant to rescue her with Rendar and Calrissian. During their escape, Rendar sent a distress signal to the Rogues that summoned them to a dogfight with Xizor's private navy over the Empire's capital. With the cover of the Rogues and the opportune intervention of Darth Vader's forces against his longtime rival Xizor, the Rebels were able to flee.^[20]

[edit] Victory at Endor

When news came that the Empire was building a second Death Star at Endor, Rogue Squadron was assigned to the major Rebel fleet assaulting it. Celchu was present at the briefing for the mission, in which it was explained that their fighter force would attempt to fly into the superstructure of the uncompleted Death Star and destroy its main reactor, with Emperor Palpatine aboard.^[21][22] For the attack, Celchu, his X-wing temporarily out of commission, volunteered to pilot an A-wing—though he would have preferred the more solid X-wing, he was a skilled A-wing pilot and felt obliged to do whatever would help the Alliance most—and was assigned the callsign Green Three instead of his usual Rogue Nine designation, providing top cover for General Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon.^{[22][23][16][24][9]}

When the fleet arrived, they found a large Imperial fleet waiting in ambush and the shields protecting the Death Star functional, not down as they were supposed to be. They engaged in a grueling dogfight until General Han Solo was able to destroy the shield generator on Endor. Calrissian, leading the fighter force, and Antilles both headed for the Death Star, racing down a constricting access shaft.^[21] Celchu flew as Antilles's wing, guiding his fighter through the maze of half-finished girders and access shafts of the massive superweapon.^[1] He split off from the attack force in order to lead several TIEs away through the Death Star and reduce the pursuit on Antilles and Calrissian, who successfully destroyed the Death Star; both Palpatine and Darth Vader died aboard it due to the actions of Luke Skywalker.^[3][21] Celchu survived his decoy run and was awarded the Endor battle patch signifying participation in the Death Star run.^[3]

Celchu had hoped that the victory would force the Empire to surrender, but it was not to be so.^[9] Shortly after the battle, the Rebel forces received a message intended for Palpatine informing him that the planet Bakura was under attack by invading aliens. Rogue Squadron was sent to Bakura to aid the Imperial world and possibly recruit it as part of a task force under Skywalker and Solo. When they arrived, they found the aliens engaged in a fierce battle with the Bakuran Imperial forces. Celchu and the Rogues pressed the attack, driving the invaders off. Skywalker, Solo, and Leia Organa were able to negotiate a truce with the Imperials and learned that the attackers were Ssi-ruuk from the Unknown Regions. Eventually, the Ssi-ruuk attacked once more and Celchu flew against them, but during the battle the Imperial forces turned on the Rebels, destroying their flagship carrier Flurry. An uprising on Bakura removed Imperial governor Wilek Nereus from power, however, allowing Commander Pter Thanas to surrender the Imperial forces to the Rebels once the Ssi-ruuk were defeated.^[25] During his time on Bakura, Celchu spent time with Princess Leia Organa, the last remaining member of the royal house of his homeworld and a leading member of the Rebellion, a woman he had earlier befriended during his time in the Rogues.^[19]

When the task force returned to Endor one week after their victory there, Celchu, like the rest of the Rogues, took on duties cleaning up the post-battle debris. He and veteran Rogue Wes Janson were sent to investigate Ewok reports of a surviving Imperial patrol far out in the forest, where they were attacked by a Gorax that had killed the patrol. Celchu distracted the massive beast while Janson sniped it, killing the creature. With the question of the patrol answered, the pair were sent to rendezvous with Antilles and Skywalker. The four, along with pilot Ten Numb, were assigned to scout the Corellian system in order to gather information about the system's state in the wake of the victory at Endor.^[9]

They infiltrated the system and searched it for evidence of Imperial activity, but found none. They returned to Coronet, the capital of Corellia, one week after they were first assigned. While relaxing in a cantina, they fell afoul of a raid by Imperial General Weir's storm commandos. Weir had set himself up as the master of the system and launched a surprise assault on Coronet. Celchu and the other Rogues fought back, but Weir withdrew quickly; he had only wanted to make a show of Imperial power. Numb trailed Weir's forces, followed by Skywalker, Antilles, and Janson. Celchu made his way back to the hangar and readied their fighters. He could not bring Numb's B-wing, which had no astromech to pilot it, but he set off in his A-wing with the others' X-wings following. He met up with the others just after Numb had been captured by Weir. They followed Numb's homing beacon away from Corellia, but were attacked by TIEs in orbit, which turned out to be suicide drones. Celchu and Antilles eliminated several before they could attack civilian traffic, but during the battle they lost Numb's signal.^[9]

R2-D2 extrapolated Weir's likely destination as being Tralus, where the Rogues found locals who pointed out a tunnel network used by stormtroopers. The four men infiltrated the base but were detected; however, Weir had sufficient fear of Skywalker's Jedi abilities to order an evacuation. While Skywalker and Janson searched for Numb, Antilles and Celchu stole a pair of TIE Fighters and set off after Weir in his TIE Interceptor. Pursued by more fighters in the narrow launch tunnel, both Rebels managed to avoid taking fire. As they emerged, Antilles shot down Weir and put down to capture him while Celchu, now in the open, shot down the remaining enemy fighters. Weir was imprisoned, but Numb had died in captivity.^[9]

[edit] Second-in-command

The Rogues kept busy, battling Grand Moff Nivers at Tandankin.^[26] Approximately one month after the Battle of Endor, the Alliance of Free Planets—itself created as a successor to the Rebel Alliance—was reformed into the New Republic. Celchu was inducted into New Republic Starfighter Command with the serial number 68970024 and a lieutenant's commission; Antilles had engineered his own demotion back to captain after an attempt to move him out of Rogue Squadron and into Fleet Command, and Celchu took a corresponding demotion as well.^[1][2] Skywalker left the unit to Antilles's command, and Celchu became the squadron's second-in-command.^[27]

The Rogues had already been assigned to escort a food convoy from Cilpar to Mrlsst. On Cilpar, they could not find their contact and set up a base to wait. After two weeks of waiting, they were attacked by Imperial fighters; Janson was shot down. Celchu landed to see to him while the other Rogues headed back to base. He pulled Janson, injured, from his burning starfighter before it exploded and the pair made their way to a cave for shelter. Once they were settled and he had given Janson medical attention, Celchu contacted Antilles at their hidden base on Cilpar and arranged to be extracted in the morning. Overnight, he and Janson were surprised by a woman who appeared to be Leia Organa wielding a pistol; she identified herself as Winter, their contact. The New Republic had expected the local moff, Boren Tascl, to defect, but after Endor he turned on them. Winter wanted to know why, and sent Celchu undercover to the Imperial base in a captain's uniform.^[1]

Posing as a newly assigned officer who had been forced to set down outside the city, Celchu gained admittance to the base, where he claimed he had been sent after his convoy was ambushed. He got into a minor scuffle with a pilot named Petro, who insulted his Alderaanian heritage, but an alert came almost immediately for the base's TIE squadron to attack the local resistance fighters. Celchu was assigned to a TIE Fighter and ordered to accompany the attack. He contacted his X-wing's astromech, ordering it to buzz Antilles, who was with Elscol Loro and the Cilpari resistance at a weapons depot. It then tailed him; he intended to use its pursuit as an excuse to drop out of combat, but squadron leader Major Grode insisted on engaging the X-wing himself. To Celchu's great surprise, the fighter destroyed two TIEs, including Grode's, before engaging Celchu and shooting him down; Celchu ejected. He cut his way through the jungle, eventually meeting an Imperial convoy. He was taken aboard one personnel carrier, where Winter, thought to be Organa, was held prisoner. She was ordered to give him medical attention and they spoke furtively; Winter informed him that she had been in his fighter when it took off and had been piloting it throughout the battle. He made it back to base, where he was the senior flight officer due to Grode's death. When the Rogues and Loro's resistance attacked, Celchu was ordered to strafe their ground column. Once in the sky, he turned on the Imperials, aiding the Rogues in destroying the Imperial air cover while Loro captured the local Imperial leadership and freed Winter. Celchu was assigned to pilot the moff's shuttle to headquarters; Winter volunteered to be his copilot. Celchu found himself interested in the woman and eagerly accepted her offer. Loro was recruited into the squadron and piloted Celchu's fighter back.^[1]

Eventually, the Rogues finally escorted a convoy to Mrlsst. They came under attack over the world by an Interdictor Star Destroyer and its TIE complement. The Rogues forced the Interdictor to withdraw before guiding the convoy down. While Antilles spoke with the leaders of the Mrlsst Academy about the New Republic's efforts to acquire the Phantom Project cloaking device, Celchu oversaw the unloading of the cargo. Once their duties were over, Antilles ran into his old friend Mirax Terrik and visited while Celchu set off to The Soundmound for entertainment with Klivian, Plourr Ilo, and Dllr Nep. On the way, they came across a speech being given by the Ante-Endor Association, a group which denied that the Battle of Endor had occurred. Celchu was aghast at their propaganda, and while the others did not want to bother with the group and continued on, Celchu insisted on confronting the AEA speakers. They shrugged off his arguments, leaving him in a foul mood. As he headed to the Soundmound that evening, the AEA members waylaid him. When he continued to insist that the Battle of Endor had occurred, they began beating him. Celchu was able to turn the tables on them, defeating all members of the group but one, who struck him from behind. He was saved by the arrival of a Jedi who struck the final attacker and then disappeared, leaving Celchu astounded. He met up with the Rogues and shared his story, learning of the legend of the Ghost Jedi from a university student.^[28]

The next day, Antilles went to negotiate for the Phantom Ship against Captain Loka Hask, representing the Empire. During the meeting, AEA members, acting as auxiliaries for Hask, broke in and stole the datacards containing details of the project, but a doctored holocam transmission showed Celchu as one of the intruders. Celchu was actually visiting Janson, who was healing his broken leg, in the hospital with the rest of the Rogues. They were warned that stormtroopers were coming to arrest them on behalf of the Mrlssi just before the Imperial troops arrived. They took Janson and fought their way out of the hospital, escaping into the outcast community atop the local vegetation. A computer expert there was able to slice into the records and determine that the datacards had been taken from the AEA members by droids used by Professor Rorax Falken's students. Celchu ordered the others to retrieve the datacards while he, Klivian, and Ilo freed the arrested Antilles. As the arrived, they found Antilles leaving, broken out by the same Ghost Jedi that had saved Celchu. Antilles revealed that the Phantom Ship project had been a fake all along, designed to draw Imperial spending; the New Republic had simply been playing along. When Falken faked the destruction of his asteroid laboratory, Hask launched TIE Bombers against Mrlsst, which Celchu and the Rogues shot down. Hask was killed and his Interdictor destroyed by the activation of an actual superweapon, a Gravitic Polarization Beam.^[28]

[edit] A budding romance

Six months after the Battle of Endor, Rogue Squadron was sent to Tatooine to investigate the gang wars resulting from crimelord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's death and the death of a con man with Imperial ties at the hands of stormtroopers. They were to meet with a female contact; Celchu was convinced that it would be Winter, with whom he was smitten. The meeting was at Huff Darklighter's estate during a reception honoring Biggs Darklighter; Celchu, Antilles, and Loro would attend. Celchu waited to meet the contact in the lobby and, after an initial mishap involving the Whiphid Betsi, Celchu discovered that his date for the evening was in fact Winter, much to his delight. They spoke briefly, with Celchu flirting with her but eliciting little response. Raiders attacked the party shortly thereafter, but Winter explained that they were a diversion for her. She and Celchu used the distraction to go after a datadisk of Darklighter's, but found that another group of thieves had already beaten them there; the diversion had not in fact been Winter's. A pair of Rodians escaped with the disks, pursued by Antilles and Loro in a speeder; Celchu and Winter borrowed a speeder and blasters from Darklighter and set out in pursuit as well. A group of thugs ambushed Antilles and Loro, destroying their speeder, but Celchu and Winter engaged them. Their speeder was also shot down, with the pair barely escaping the wreck.^[11]

Celchu, Antilles, and Winter returned to the estate and confronted Darklighter, who admitted that the disk contained information about a weapons cache including the experimental cruiser Eidolon and gave them a copy he had made of the disk. The next day, they requested the use of Darklighter's weather satellite, using it to track the movements of Firith Olan, the crime boss who had stolen the disc. They found Olan at another cache he had discovered. Several TIEs were launched from it, which the Rogues engaged. Meanwhile, Olan escaped to orbit, where the Rogues pursued him. An Imperial capital ship appeared in orbit and released a squadron of TIE fighters. When the fighters engaged Olan's defenses, Antilles decided to leave the field of battle while the Rogues were ahead and the group returned to base.^[11]

Olan escaped the destroyer, Harrow, and Antilles, Celchu, Winter, and Loro followed him to Ryloth, where they knew the Twi'lek crimelord would seek shelter. Olan was in fact denied shelter, and a contest was held between the Rogues and the Imperial contingent from the Harrow for Olan, which the Imperials won. The troopers selected for the competition were left behind by their captain, who had spirited Olan away on his own. The troopers, led by Sixtus Quin, felt betrayed and joined forces with the Rogues. They returned to Tatooine, where they joined with the rest of the Rogues to track down Olan and Marl Semtin, the Harrow's captain. The Rogues found the Eidolon base, holographically camouflaged into a hillside. Celchu's investigative pass caused the base to launch multiple TIE Interceptors, which were able to cripple Celchu's X-wing. Celchu chose to pilot his X-wing into a formation of TIEs, ejecting shortly before his fighter destroyed the enemy ships. He announced this using the code phrase "going out with a bang." Winter, listening, was not familiar with the term and so believed he had died in the crash, driving her to grief and forcing her to acknowledge her feelings for him. After Semtin was killed, Olan presumed killed, and the base secured, the New Republic forces retrieved Celchu, whom Winter greeted with a passionate kiss.^[11]

[edit] Intrigues

Over the next month, several new members were added to Rogue Squadron, bringing it to full strength. They frequently ran combat simulations against each other to improve unit cohesion. After one session seven months after Endor, Celchu and Antilles were called in to meet with Grand Duke Gror Pernon of Eiattu, who informed them that Eiattu was torn by civil war, with Prince Harrandatha Estillo leading a rebellion against the Priamsta nobles after being thought dead. He further informed them that Rogue pilot Plourr Ilo was actually Isplourrdacartha Estillo, princess of Eiattu. The Rogues were ordered to escort her back to her world, where it was hoped she could bring about peace. They proceeded to Eiattu, where they were hosted at a diplomatic reception for Estillo. Antilles and Celchu were later taken out to tour sites of attacks by the People's Liberation Battalion, Harrandatha Estillo's rebel group. During the tour, they were contacted by the other Rogues, who had gone on a thuvasaur-hunting expedition and stumbled across an Imperial patrol. They returned to their fighters and, with Estillo and her fiancée Count Rial Pernon, destroyed the Imperial air support while an attack on the Imperials from the People's Liberation Battalion saved the Rogues on the ground.^[29]

Celchu and Antilles later met with Count Arian Laabann, the leader of the Priamsta, who suggested that the New Republic ally with him to overthrow Estillo and place the Priamsta in power; Estillo had made it clear that she would not support a return of the nobility to absolute power. Celchu was outraged, and Antilles refused. They went to inform Estillo, and found her and Pernon after having just barely survived a kidnap attempt by Priamsta forces. Pernon suggested Estillo ally herself with the PLB, but she revealed that their leader was not her brother—she had killed him, a brainwashed Imperial agent, during her escape from the massacre of the royal family. The leader of the PLB was an impostor. As they spoke, however, the PLB began an attack on the Imperial fortress on Eiattu. Celchu, Antilles, and Estillo flew against the Imperial forces, having realized that the false Harrandatha Estillo was in league with Moff Leonia Tavira to loot the world and flee. Once the Imperials were defeated, Estillo confronted the impostor and exposed him, restoring peace, though Tavira escaped.^[29]

The Rogues left Eiattu to track down the Starfaring, a ship which had gone missing. They tracked it to the Malrev system, where they were attacked by TIE Fighters while investigating the fourth planet of the system. Antilles was shot down before the TIEs were eliminated, distressing Celchu. They could not land in the dense forest to recover him, and so put down in a clearing with the Starfaring two kilometers away, where they enjoyed the hospitality of the ship's Bothan crew. That night, Celchu was awoken by a nightmare to discover the camp under attack by the native Irrukiine. He joined the defense, and only Nrin Vakil's use of his starfighter against the Irrukiine prevented them from overrunning the camp. Celchu organized a tighter defense in the wake of the attack, taking first watch.^[4]

The next morning, Celchu led the Rogues and several of the Bothans on an expedition to find Antilles, hoping the Irrukiine had not killed him. During their march, Rogue Herian I'ngre informed Celchu that the Starfaring's hyperdrive had not failed, but had instead been sabotaged; the Bothans were up to more than they admitted. Celchu warned the pilots to be alert for possible betrayal. They made their way to the temple where the Irrukiine were based and fell victim to an Irrukiine ambush. During the battle, Antilles escaped from the temple, where he had been held captive by Cartariun, the Devaronian former Imperial technician who was harnessing the temple's Sith energies to control the Irrukiine. They retreated from the ambush, but I'ngre was wounded and Dllr Nep left behind. Antilles, Celchu, and Janson went for a supposed scouting mission in their fighters, using the opportunity to get away from the Bothans. Celchu shared his belief that Girov Dza'tey, the Bothan leader, was an undercover agent and had deliberately landed and killed the ship's captain in order to seek out the temple's power. Cartariun launched a TIE assault at that time, forcing the three to hold off a massive wave of TIEs piloted by the unskilled Irrukiine until the other Rogues arrived. Nep, captive in the temple, was able to overpower Cartariun, breaking his concentration and causing the Irrukiine attack to fall apart.^[4]

When they returned to the camp, they realized that Dza'tey had left the camp, and through the mental link Nep established with I'ngre through the Sith magic, learned that Dza'tey had killed Cartariun, taken control of the temple's power, and was preparing an attack against the Rogues. Antilles, backed by Celchu, tested the Bothan second-in-command's loyalty and found that he would accompany them in an attack against Dza'tey. The battle itself was fierce, with the Irrukiine using Dza'tey's knowledge of tactics; the arrival of Estillo with a squadron of her own fighters provided crucial aid. Nep, however, guided I'ngre from her sickbed, into a fighter, and in an attack against the temple. When her proton torpedoes did not damage it sufficiently, they decided to give their lives eliminating it, with I'ngre guiding her fighter into the temple and destroying it.^[4]

[edit] The battle for Brentaal IV

One month later, the Rogues were assigned to scout Brentaal IV as the New Republic continued pressing toward the Core Worlds. They were attacked by TIEs from the world's defensive moonbase, but Celchu shot several of them down and the Rogues escaped with enough data on the world. They returned to their base, where Celchu and Antilles looked over the replacement pilots transferring into the squadron. Admiral Ackbar personally assigned the squadron to work with Colonel Horton Salm's Aggressor Wing to take Brentaal IV, for which they trained for two weeks. When the time came for the assault, the Rogues attacked Brentaal's moonbase, eliminating its fighter screen and allowing New Republic troops to take control of the base. Post-battle analysis showed that the TIE Interceptors they had faced were part of the 181st Imperial Fighter Group, an elite group led by his former instructor Fel, currently known as the Empire's best ace. When the rest of the 181st showed up to defend Brentaal, Celchu and Klivian helped explain his history and reputation to some of the newer or cockier pilots.^[15]

When the time came to attack Brentaal IV itself, the Rogues attacked the capital, Vuultin, while Aggressor Wing led the capture of Oradin, the more strategically valuable spaceport. Celchu led Three Flight against the elements of the 181st stationed in Vuultin, but the Rogues were called away once they succeeded in drawing Fel from Oradin to protect Lon Isoto, the admiral commanding Brentaal IV's defense. The Rogues moved their base to Oradin, and when a convoy arrived to evacuate the Imperial loyalist citizens, the Rogues were scrambled to ground the evacuation yachts and keep the citizens from escaping with Brentaal IV's wealth. As the battle moved to space, Celchu engaged Major Turr Phennir, Fel's executive officer. Celchu was able to get the drop on Phennir, but the other pilot broke off. Meanwhile, Antilles engaged Fel, driving him into the field of fire of Salm's ion cannon.^[15] Fel was captured and, following his interrogation by the New Republic, decided to defect, disillusioned with the Empire.^[15][5]

He joined Rogue Squadron as a pilot, and Celchu was present when Antilles introduced Fel to the squadron, provoking some dissent among its members; Celchu, a former Imperial himself, was not bothered by his former mentor's presence within the squadron. Celchu was also present when Antilles announced to Celchu, Klivian, Janson, and Estillo that Fel's wife, Imperial actress Wynssa Starflare, was actually Syal Antilles Fel, Antilles's sister. Antilles assigned Klivian, Janson, and Estillo to go to Corellia and try to rescue her from Imperial retribution, but she had already fled; they were able to bring back some of Fel's family, however.^[30]

[edit] Wooing Winter

The Rogues spent the next month training, with Fel becoming acclimated to the X-wing. On one training run at the end of that month, the Rogues came across a cruiser being attacked by pirates and moved to engage them. Celchu led Three Flight, which was short a pilot, in providing fighter cover, as the Rogues drove the pirates away. After returning to base, Celchu and Fel were assigned to escort Leia Organa and attend a diplomatic meeting on Eiattu. They were to be flown there aboard the Millennium Falcon. While Fel and Solo, former classmates at the Academy of Carida, caught up in the cockpit, Organa requested Celchu stay behind and speak with her. Celchu brought up Winter and his admiration for her, and Organa mentioned that her aide had perhaps taken an interest in Celchu as well.^[19]

When they arrived, a reception was held, but during it Solo sent Celchu up to speak with Organa, who had requested his presence in her room. Celchu entered and was surprised to find Organa in a small, form-fitting dress. When she kissed him, the shocked pilot realized that the woman seducing him was Winter, serving as Organa's double as she sometimes did. As they kissed, however, they were ambushed by masked attackers. Celchu threw himself in front of the stun blast meant for Winter, but the attackers stunned her as well, thinking she was Organa, and carried both away. The captors were pirates working for Tavira, Eiattu's former moff, who had allied herself with the pirate chief Kavil. They beat Celchu in retaliation for his role in deposing Tavira before bringing both the captives before her, where the former moff informed them that she intended to barter with the New Republic, offering their freedom in exchange for New Republic support of her warlordism.^[19]

They were returned to their cells, where Winter apologized for getting Celchu into the situation by requesting him as her escort, but Celchu refused to allow her to blame herself. While Winter fell asleep, Celchu recognized that the latches on the cells were scavenged from TIE fighters; as an old TIE pilot, he knew the tricks of opening them and was able to use his belt buckle to force the lock open, freeing Winter and overcoming the guard. They were able to sneak to the hangar, where they overpowered another pair of guards and commandeered a Y-wing. Pursued by TYE-wing Uglies, Celchu piloted the ship through Axxila, where Tavira had brought them, while Winter manned the gunner's position. Celchu's emergency distress call attracted the attention of the Rogues, who were on Axxila protecting Organa as she secretly negotiated with Sate Pestage for Coruscant's surrender. Celchu was pleasantly surprised when they arrived to eliminate the squadrons of fighters dogfighting with him. The Millennium Falcon, with Solo, Fel, and Chewbacca aboard, were also present, having tracked the pirates to Axxila.^[19]

They returned to the Rogue base on Axxila, but found that Admiral Delak Krennel had arrived in orbit in the Star Destroyer Reckoning. Fel, whose defection was not yet fully known, devised a plan to capture a TIE fighter and use its comm unit to issue a high-level AT3 Directive ordering Krennel to retreat. Celchu piloted his Y-wing against a patrol of TIEs with Fel manning the ion cannon; Fel disabled one and the Millennium Falcon towed it away with its tractor beam. Fel used its comlink to issue the directive, and Krennel complied. Celchu and Winter shared a ride back aboard the Falcon.^[19]

[edit] A vital defection

Over the next month, Celchu's relationship with Winter deepened, with both spending their nights together. One year after the Battle of Endor, Celchu worked out with Antilles, who mentioned that he had been approached to run for president of the New Republic with Celchu as his running mate; both laughed it off. Celchu insisted that Antilles take more time off and set him up with Reina Faleur, a supply clerk who was interested in Antilles. That afternoon, Celchu and Winter went for a walk in the garden, where they met Fel, who was missing his wife and feeling apart from the squadron; Celchu and Winter were able to convince him to join them in their walk. That evening, Celchu and Winter double-dated with Antilles and Faleur, but were called away in the middle of their dinner to ready themselves for a mission.^[31]

Pestage had fled Coruscant, and the Rogues, along with Aggressor Wing and Kapp Dendo's Commando Team One, were tasked to raid Ciutric IV, where he was being held, and rescue him. They were not entirely comfortable with the plan, which could easily be compromised by the presence of Imperial reinforcements, but were prepared to go ahead with it. They were minimally opposed in their assault on the world, but were trapped by the arrival of Krennel's Reckoning and the Interdictor Star Destroyer Binder. Aggressor Wing escaped, but the Rogues and commandos had to return to the surface and take cover. Knowing that Krennel would send out patrols, they decided to thin his complement of TIEs by engaging the first patrol they came across. They eliminated it, but Rogue pilot Ibtisam was killed in the battle.^[31]

The Rogues then engaged Krennel's TIEs in space, destroying several and covering the arrival of Mirax Terrik, whom Antilles had contacted. With her came Aggressor Wing, which had lain in wait on the edge of the system. After landing once more and gathering their strength, the Rogues returned to the skies a third time, attacking Reckoning and Binder with their proton torpedoes while eliminating the last of the TIEs. The capital ships fled, allowing Rogue Squadron to leave; Pestage, however, defected back to the Empire and Dendo had to leave without him.^[31]

[edit] Trust destroyed

Celchu was eventually promoted back to captain as Antilles was promoted to commander. Winter's assignments kept them from seeing each other much, though Celchu still desired a relationship with her.^[3] Approximately three months into 5 ABY, Celchu volunteered to fly a captured TIE fighter into Coruscant on a covert intelligence-gathering mission. The fighter had been modified to hold extra sensor equipment, and with the proper codes and Celchu's Imperial experience, it was felt he would be successful. Celchu orbited Coruscant multiple times to pick up data on its orbital defenses before landing. He spent two weeks on Coruscant as the information was shipped out, and was then asked to take the risky move of flying the TIE back out and to a freighter in order to pick up more information. He agreed, but was captured due to ion cannon fire that shorted his fighter's self-destruct.^[13]

Celchu was taken to the legendary Lusankya prison, where Director of Imperial Intelligence and current Imperial ruler Ysanne Isard broke her captives and brainwashed them into becoming secret agents who would not even remember being in Lusankya before they were activated by Imperial Intelligence and turned against the New Republic.^[13] Celchu was kept in the facility for three months during which he was interrogated continually.^[13] He was placed in simulators in which he was presented with Imperial craft. Much of his memory suppressed, he initially responded positively, but quickly remembered his hatred of the Empire and attacked them relentlessly. When Isard overlaid the Imperial craft with Alliance data, the contradiction confounded the drugged and disoriented Celchu, and drove him into a catatonic state. Isard realized she could not break him and sent him to live among the general population, where he was one of the catatonic "sleepers" who remembered little and were barely functional.^[14]

Eventually, he was transferred to a prison on Akrit'tar, where he spent three more months before escaping. Few in the New Republic trusted him, however; due to his time in Lusankya, he was feared to be a double agent, despite the fact that, unlike any other Lusankya victim, he remembered his time there. He spent two months in debriefing but no issues were found with him; though he faced no official sanctions, nearly everyone distrusted him. Antilles was among the few who stood staunchly by Celchu.^[13]

[edit] Rebuilding the Rogues

In 6 ABY, Antilles was commissioned to re-form Rogue Squadron. He brought in Celchu to fly against pilot candidates Corran Horn, Ooryl Qrygg, Nawara Ven, and Rhysati Ynr in a simulation of the Redemption scenario, as he was one of the few pilots Antilles thought could bring Horn down and keep him from overconfidence. In the simulation, he eliminated the others before engaging Horn, among the top two pilot prospects, in a head-to-head dogfight that saw him disable Horn before one of Horn's torpedoes caught up with him and destroyed his fighter. Speaking to them after the simulation, he proclaimed himself somewhat rusty but congratulated Horn on eliminating him, leaving the trainees impressed by his skill and wondering about his identity.^[3]

With the squadron roster nearly finalized, Antilles wished to install Celchu as his executive officer in order to better train his pilots, but his appointment was strenuously resisted by Salm, now promoted to general and Antilles's superior officer, who strongly distrusted Celchu after his time in Lusankya. Celchu knew he would never be allowed to fly in combat as long as he was suspected of being a double agent, but was desperate to serve the cause as an instructor. He agreed with Antilles to fly only a Z-95 Headhunter with training-strength weapons and a remote destruct installed on training exercises, remain under house arrest at all times when not accompanied by his fellow pilots or security personnel, have all his correspondence examined, and undergo interrogation at any time. When Antilles presented the proposal to Ackbar, the admiral called Celchu in, examined him, and was sufficiently impressed by Celchu's willingness to agree to these conditions that he approved the request.^[3]

As executive officer, Celchu was forced to work closely with "Emtrey," the unit's M-3PO military protocol droid, who served as quartermaster and administrative aide. He was accompanied by one of two enlisted officers at all times as well as a female lieutenant with Alliance Security who had lived on Alderaan and with whom he shared conversation; he was interested in her but remained committed to Winter. Celchu's status was kept hidden from the rest of the squadron, however, as Antilles judged that it would only be a distraction and create the wrong impression. Once the Rogue roster was finalized, they were issued X-wings and began non-simulated exercises. During one exercise, Celchu and Antilles decided to teach Horn a lesson about teamwork, feeding the telemetry from Horn, the first to tackle a training course, to the other squadron members. The data gave them an advantage over Horn, reflected in their scores. Horn, infuriated, spoke with Antilles after the exercise and was rebuked for putting himself ahead of the squadron; after that conversation, Celchu approached the trainee and suggested he be less of a loner and integrate better with the squadron.^[3]

Halfway through the year, the Rogues were made operational and transferred from Folor, where they had been training, to Talasea. The move was presented to the pilots as an astronavigation exercise for security reasons. During the trip, Celchu flew the squadron's Lambda-class support shuttle, the Forbidden, under the callsign Rogue Null; the shuttle had been disarmed in order for Celchu to be allowed to pilot it. On the last leg of the journey, the Rogues were unexpectedly pulled out of hyperspace by an Interdictor that had been set up to trap smuggler activity; coincidentally, Mirax Terrik was in the process of being captured. During the battle, Emtrey, also aboard the shuttle, distracted Celchu with constant chatter; after shouting three times for the droid to shut up, it deactivated and went into a state in which Celchu found he could access all its memories. The Rogues were able to drive off the ship, but as it fled part of its TIE escort passed Horn, who had been disabled by an ion cannon strike. Despite flying a far less maneuverable craft, Celchu maintained a targeting lock on one of the TIE Interceptors nearing Horn's position, feeding Horn his targeting data and allowing the pilot to destroy the TIE with a proton torpedo launch, then doing the same for that TIE's wingmate, bringing a conclusion to the battle.^[3]

The Rogues based themselves out of Talasea, settling in to the facilities there. Two weeks later, they were assigned to cover the extraction of the frigate Battle of Yavin from the Hensara system. Celchu served aboard the CR90 corvette Eridain, relaying orders and providing starfighter control. During the extraction, the Rogues successfully beat back an attack by the Strike Cruiser Havoc, once more showing the freshly rebuilt unit's ability in battle. During the post-battle celebration on Talasea, Antilles, Celchu, and Captain Afyon of the Eridain were turned to by the pilots to officiate in the matter of declaring a joking punishment for the worst pilot in the unit, a designation given to Gavin Darklighter due to his lack of kills in the battle. Celchu suggested apprenticing him to the best pilot. Horn had the most kills, however Bror Jace, Horn's rival in the unit, claimed to be the best due to shooting down a higher percentage of the targets he faced. Horn settled the matter by averaging his kills with Darklighter's, showing support for the young man, and thereby elevating Darklighter out of the worst-pilot position and placing Ven, a former lawyer who had been selected to present the case to the senior officers, in the worst pilot position, a situation that caused some amusement.^[3]

The Imperial forces in the sector were able to detect that their base was on Talasea, and a platoon of stormtroopers raided it in the night, killing pilot Lujayne Forge and injuring Horn, Darklighter, and Andoorni Hui before the squadron was awakened and defeated the attackers. The base had to be evacuated. Antilles, Celchu, and Emtrey traveled to Home One to meet with Ackbar and Salm and organize a retaliatory strike. The stormtroopers had been traced to Vladet, the site of the sector's Imperial military base. The plan for the hit-and-run attack was decided on, with Celchu serving once more as starfighter coordinator for Rogue Squadron and Salm's Defender Wing, though Salm insisted on having one of his own flight controllers present on the Eridain as well. The attack itself went well until a Lancer-class frigate and Carrack-class light cruiser arrived unexpectedly, outgunning the New Republic force. Only a dangerous run against the Lance by Horn destroyed it and allowed the fighters to safely withdraw.^[3]

[edit] The Battles of Borleias

Rogue Squadron was then transferred to Noquivzor, where they prepared for the attack on a world code-named Blackmoon which would provide a conduit to Coruscant for the New Republic. During the assault, Celchu once more provided flight control from aboard Eridain. The operation suddenly went sour when, having faked shield loss, the base launched a counterattack during the New Republic landing with fighters and power-generation levels the New Republic had not known it to have. Several Rogues were killed or injured, but the controllers deemed the zone too dangerous for rescue operations. Undeterred, Celchu took the unarmed Forbidden into the combat zone and recovered Ven, Qrygg, and Erisi Dlarit, who had all gone extravehicular, before the New Republic force evacuated.^[3]

Due to the presence of an evidence-gathering program in his astromech, Horn was able to discover Blackmoon's true name, Borleias, and find that an Alderaan Biotics facility on the planet was being used to provide black-market supplies as well as the power and additional fighters. He went to Antilles and they devised a plan to strike, severing the power conduit between the two facilities so that the military base would not have additional power for its shields. This information was withheld from Celchu, who was deemed a liability; like the rest of the squadron, the attack was presented to him as taking place on a different world. He provided opposition in the simulators while the squadron trained for the mission.^[3]

When the time for the mission came, Celchu remained behind. In examining Emtrey's supply list, Mirax Terrik, who was on the base at the time, found that he had listed several Alderaanian goods for sale in the near future, a revelation which could be linked to the Alderaan Biotics facility on Borleias and so compromise operational security. Terrik came to Celchu, who summoned Emtrey and demanded that the droid explain. When Emtrey would not divulge the location, Celchu used the voice override to gain access to the unit's memories and discover that the target was Borleias. He locked his security escort in his quarters and set off there with Terrik in her ship, the Pulsar Skate. Due to the Pulsar Skate's speed, they arrived at Borleias before the squadron, but observed nothing unusual and so lurked on the dark side of the moon. The mission itself went off well, but Horn ran low on fuel while dogfighting and had to stay behind on the moon while the others fled. When he engaged the TIE Interceptors searching for him, Celchu manned the freighter's guns and eliminated three of the pursuing fighters, rescuing Horn and giving him a ride back to Noquivzor.^[3]

Celchu was able to avoid serious consequences for evading his security detail, but pilot Bror Jace received the news that his great uncle was dying. Celchu arranged to send him on a "recruiting mission" to his homeworld of Thyferra in order to let him spend time with his family.^[3] On his way home, however, he disappeared and X-wing debris was found along his route; he was presumed killed. With Borleias conquered, the Rogues moved their headquarters there. To replace their losses, Captains Aril Nunb—herself the initial candidate for the executive officer position—and Pash Cracken joined the unit, though the A-wing veteran Cracken had to accept a demotion to lieutenant to do so. Due to Celchu's status as a security risk, command would fall to Nunb if Antilles were absent or incapacitated.^[13]

Over a month of time at Noquivzor, Celchu had Horn, a former investigator for the Corellian Security Force, look into Emtrey's odd behavior. After that month, Horn was able to trace the droid's history and determine that he had been equipped with black-market trading programs by a supply officer in the past for the purpose of swifter requisitions. During that conversation, Horn, who had become suspicious of Celchu's continual and unexplained guards, requested the truth from Celchu about why he was considered a security risk, and the captain explained but made Horn promise not to spread the story.^[13]

[edit] Taking Coruscant