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- "'You treat war like Chess. Games with identical units and laws set in stone that all must adhere to. Did you honestly think Essik would play by rules you dictated?"
- ―Lyccane
Essik Lyccane is a Gand male of the lungless sub-species serving in the fleet of Clan Odan-Urr. A lifelong soldier, Lyccane has spent almost his entire life serving on one ship or another throughout the myriad of conflicts which shook the galaxy to its core. First serving in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars, he quickly sided with the Rebel Alliance following the purge of all non-humans during the rise of the rise of the Galactic Empire. While both loyal and extremely diligent, he vehemently disagreed with what he saw as mistakes by both the leaders of the New Republic and Resistance in its later years, and was forcibly retired due to his advancing age.
Tired of watching blind men leading the galaxy to ruin, he was only stopped from returning to his homeworld by a chance encounter with Ka Tarvitz. After being convinced that there were still those who could use his experience, he joined the White Lotus Resistance and has since served directly under the Jedi of Odan-Urr at the rank of Commander.
Character History
Clone Wars (20 BBY - 19 BBY)
One of the rare few Gand who opted to associate themselves with the wider galaxy over their isolated homeworld, Lyccane rose to prominence during early 20 BBY. He was initially tasked by his Pocket Colony with assisting the few traders which visited the backwater planet, but a growing fascination with the technologies and ships of foreign powers led to him breaking away from his home within a matter of months of accepting the role. Serving first as an adjutant on a sprint-trader travelling between the core worlds of Coruscant, Corellia and Chandrila, Lyccane's natural talent for tactical countermeasures and quiet pragmatism soon marked him for officer material. Despite his limited experience with stellar mechanics, Lyccane's capacity to pick out inherent weaknesses prevented the freighter's capture by CIS aligned privateers on no less than two occasions and directly contributed to crippling a vastly larger enemy vessel during a boarding action. Under most circumstances, this would have merely suggested that a skilled figure, word of these actions reached Republic command on Chandrila. Two years of relentless warfare had sapped the Republic Navy of skilled officers and soldiers alike, and Lyccane found himself unexpectedly conscripted into the war effort.
While resistant at first, Lyccane's mind was soon changed upon realising the benefit of this recruitment, and the opportunities it would provide in the wake of the conflict. Rushed through basic combat training and taught the essentials of fleet warfare, he showed promise in the vast majority of combat scenarios. He lacked the inherent familiarity of warship designs or Republic equipment, but Lyccane's capacity to pick out patterns within larger formations and unconventional uses of their units granted him an edge most recruits lacked. Thanks to these qualities, he eventually found himself serving in the Chandrila Defense Fleet under the command of Hiram Drayson.
As with most recruits in the final months of the Clone Wars, Lyccane was rushed through his training. Granted basic combat understanding and tactical acumen, while he retained a basic grasp of the chain of command and discipline the Gand lacked the finer points of mechanical detail and operating within a larger standing force. This often left him relying more on personal guile or opting for unorthodox strategies to win the battles he supported. On the few occasions he did not serve as an officer under a more experienced superior, Lyccane opted to use everything but direct methods of confronting enemy forces. This mentality led to a surprisingly beneficial outcome during the Cyphar skirmishes. During a disastrous initial assault, the Republic ships were destroyed or downed while attempting to rush the linchpin world in the enemy defensive network. Gathering any survivors who could be found, Lyccane led an ad-hoc battalion of Clone Troopers and militia volunteers to repeatedly harry a much larger Confederacy force.
Opting to shadow them but always maintaining a tactically superior position on the terrain, he limited the capacity for one side to attack the other. The few strikes they made were to limit their capacity to maneuver or defend their few holdings on the moon, forcing the enemy Commander to draw on defensive platoons on the surrounding worlds in an effort to drive off the Republic units. Lyccane never pressed the advantage when given it, nor did he ever fully meet the enemy invasion force in battle, instead opting to slowly push them to consolidate as many units as possible on their position. This weakened Confederacy defenses throughout the system, leading to a swift series of counter-offensives by another Republic taskforce and retaking the system with relatively little bloodshed. He would later tell the defeated enemy Commander that "Lyccane wins because you didn't". Glory meant nothing to him in the face of a long-term victory.
This willingness to set aside any and all personal glory in favour of more beneficial outcomes earned Lyccane little recognition, and his smaller scale victories were constantly eclipsed by the more successful campaigns of the Jedi led armies. Typically winning singular battles rather than benefitting overall campaigns, the accomplishments he made were often attributed to another superior, while his defensive actions were rarely reported on. Lyccane himself simply believed this due to the scale of the war and the benefit of greater experience on the part of veteran officers. His respect for the few Jedi he was permitted to serve under, notably Rahm Kota, was enough for him to accept he was a small cog in a much larger machine. More than once, however, he was surprised to find that all mention of his actions were erased from public propaganda or even limited his involvement. During the final Outer Rim Sieges of the conflict, his success in bypassing and then destroying the Confederacy's heavy orbital defenses the Battle of Triton proved critical to their final victory. The fortified planet had repelled three previous invasion attempts utilising a network of long range batteries and torpedo launchers to cripple incoming ships. Yet records glorified only the accomplishments of the crews whereas he went nameless as an "enlisted officer" who opened the way for the Clone Troopers. Lyccane himself would reflect upon this in years to come, regarding it as the first sign of cultivated anti-human resentment that would blossom under the Galactic Empire.
By the time the war drew to an end, Lyccane had found himself promoted to Captain but was pushed further and further away from the frontlines. Eventually pulled back to Chandila itself, he spent the final months assisting with ship maintenance and fleet logistics until word came to pass of the Confederacy's defeat and promotional holonet broadcasts glorified the purge of the traitorous Jedi Order.
Rebellion (18 BBY - 6 ABY)
Rebel Sympathiser
With an end to hostilities thanks to the dissolution of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the rise of the Galactic Empire, Lyccane found himself in a very different galaxy than the one he had joined. Rather than the victory they had been promised, the galaxy seemed to become a far darker place which emulated the very things they had been fighting against. The Chandrila Defense Fleet was effectively dissolved soon after the war, as the role of defending the planet was given to Moff Kohl Seerdon as part of the new regime. A number of crewmen were integrated into the new Imperial Navy, but Lyccane found that he and a large number of others had been mysteriously ignored. Worse still, rumours arose of mysterious deaths even among those accepted into the new order. Individuals who respected the Jedi or even questioned the new policies such as Jace Dallin were executed as examples or seemingly disappeared without a trace. Knowing that there was little he could do, Lyccane attempted to return to a life of serving aboard civilian freighters and managing cargo shipments for a moderate shipping company. Eventually, between the increasingly tyrannical methods used by planetary governors and word of a growing Rebellion being spearheaded by pro-Republic loyalists, Lyccane opted to align himself with those resisting the Empire.
Rather than wholly returning to military service, Lyccane utilised his knowledge of the hyperspace lanes to supply the fledgling resistance movement. Initially focusing on making low-level supply runs to smaller cells, the Gand privately sought out medical supplies and surplus weapons crates from surplus sources and criminal enterprises alike, often funding them privately. Utilising a small network of drop-off and collection points, Lyccane would typically collect and then drop the supplies during his journies. As the months wore on, he slowly began to work to create further support as he was promoted within the shipping company he served.
Upon being given command of his own vessel, Lyccane gradually replaced the crew with other disillusioned figures who had fought in the Clone Wars, allowing him to make larger long-range drops and even entire runs in secret to major Rebel groups. While often requiring them to completely wipe segments of the navigation logs and even disguising their losses by faking pirate attacks, they were able to readily strengthen several groups when supplies were desperately needed. He was often forced to rely upon unsavory means or burning through old favours to ensure he could meet with requirements, but the experience gave him a much-needed perspective on logistics in guerilla warfare which would serve him well in the years to come.
While he risked being caught more than once, Lyccane was able to gradually use this to his advantage. Framing his pro-Imperial employer for his own acts, he was able to place one of his older comrades into a position to immediately succeed him upon being removed from power. This benefitted them considerably, allowing them to slowly build up a smaller fleet of loyal captains to provide essential resources to the war effort and more direct long-term support. When the company was forced to scrap a number of its GR-75 Transports, they made sure that they would fall into Rebel hands. Upon having several of its assets seized by order of the Empire, every effort was made to create blind spots and vulnerabilities for the Rebels to raid and capture facilities and ships alike. However, it was clear that these minor acts would only work for a time. Lyccane knew that one suspicious act too many would eventually draw infiltrators or more likely a direct raid by Imperial Intelligence, and began preparing to cut and run at a moment's notice.
Moving as many essential assets as possible onto the freighters in dummy cargo containers, they began moving them as far from the Core worlds as possible on a series of long-range supply runs to various defunct contacts. When the Imperials were able to begin moving against them following unusual flight patterns which might have suggested meeting with Rebel ships, Lyccane tied them up in red tape long enough to broadcast a signal to every vessel within the company before quietly departing himself. All eighteen vessels owned by the company defected en mass, using a series of false IFF signals and sensor scramblers to rapidly disappear into the Outer Rim territories.
Rebel Agent
For all their efforts not everything went as planned. Three ships were lost amid their random jumps, caught either by Imperial patrols or pirate raids and destroyed before they could escape. The survivors eventually regrouped at Polis Massa, where Lyccane announced his plan to openly defect to the Rebellion, outlining their lack of choices. Most had been open to the idea, and those who had been wavering on the act of open support were eventually swayed into agreeing with the move. Only two ships and a handful of crewmen objected to this, and instead departed for regions unknown further toward the Outer Rim. With the matter otherwise settled, Lyccane used his contacts to meet with Hiram Drayson after word of his own defection to offer their services. While the Rebellion itself needed warships, the multitude of freighters and experienced crews was nevertheless a major boon to the various fleets, allowing them to ferry more material between isolated groups and hidden bases. Under the direct control of the Support Services, Lyccane served for over a year in this capacity while occasionally lending his assistance to Ordnance and Supply in gathering Clone Wars era equipment.
Often having to make use with whatever they had on hand, Lyccane put his mind to reworking existing equipment or even vehicles to carry out the blind spots within the arsenal of several rebel cells while remaining one step ahead of Imperial Intelligence. Simply targeting and raiding disassembly yards would have led to an easy ambush, and so instead he opted to focus upon building links with groups which had suffered with the rise of the Empire. Figures too morally upstanding to tolerate the tightening iron grip of Imperial doctrines, settlements which had found themselves placed under martial law and even corporations which were under threat of liquidation to benefit the Empire's war machine were quietly approached. Many refused, either out of fear of reprisal or the inability to believe that the Rebellion might succeed, but the few who accepted conveniently lost certain shipments to Rebel attacks or mislaid essential parts.
Lyccane's ploys worked for some time, but one too many near discoveries and a lack of support from the Rebellion often put any established deal into question. Inspired by both the Mon Calamari capacity to refit their cruisers into warships, he began considering how best to rework his own GR-75 freighter, the Yastobaal, to suit these needs. Eventually salvaging the prow heavy turbolaser cannons of a Munificent-class star frigate too heavily damaged to be worth more than mere scrap, he installed them and two sets of torpedo launchers within its superstructure. Hidden beneath the freighter's sensor reflective shell and a multitude of fake cargo pods, it permitted him to operate the vessel as a q-ship to draw out Imperial privateers and provide some limited protection for wavering supporters.
The combat modifications came at the cost of the Yastobaal's capacity to transport cargo and the lack of military grade shielding meant that it was an ambush predator rather than a true warship, but it nevertheless proved to be an effective method of quickly silencing hostile threats attempting to raid vital supply lines provided they could get the first shot in. When word of this broke out following the successful destruction of a Guardian-class light cruiser and two escorting Imperial Customs Frigates, Chief of Ordnance and Supply Ral'Rai Muvunc motioned to return the Gand to a military role rather than to continue serving as a logician. While it was never substantiated, a long-standing rumour afterward was that Lyccane had never requested permission to refit his vessel and Muvunc did not wish to deal with the possible fallout of his actions.
Rebel Captain
Seconded to the newly aligned Atrivis Sector Force, Lyccane was one of several figures dispatched to smooth over the transition of power now that they were an officially recognised subsidiary of the growing Rebellion. Given the rank of Captain once more, he immediately set to work analysing the group's greatest threats to its command structure and possible organisational shortcomings. Lyccane spent weeks examining reports, structural details and indications of possible security leaks, only to find few to no flaws with their operations. Against all odds, the turbulent foundation of the resistance group had not led to any truly notable security risks, and the losses incurred by previous groups which had merged with their number had burned most loose ends which could have been used against them. Even after examining the few survivors' histories he could find nothing substantial which might have indicated they were relaying information back to the Empire or even times which provided the opportunities to do so.
Eventually, Lyccane determined that the greatest risk to the Sector Force was its own successes. A string of successful skirmishes, raids, infiltration efforts and propaganda acts had made them a visible target. Rather than limiting their efforts so the Empire might mistake them as a minor resistance group, their growing power was enough that the Imperial Navy would likely send a full fleet to crush them completely. Knowing that Imperial tacticians were likely attempting to narrow down Artivis Rebel outposts based upon combat data, Lyccane began studying information of these previous victories to see how this might be averted. Eventually, he brought forward a plan to draw the Imperials away from their main outpost by faking the intent of their attacks.
For the last two years, the Imperial Navy had been forced to step up their patrol and counter-piracy missions in an effort to quell resistance, focusing their efforts on the systems directly attacked by the Rebels. While this had not stretched their numbers thin, these concentrated efforts had limited their capacity to effectively respond to attacks against several of prominent targets. One of which was the Deepdock support facilities for the Noonian sector, one of the few locations in that region large enough to fully support the larger Star Destroyers the Empire used to enforce its will. Its destruction, combined with several attacks in surrounding areas on major sensor networks and cargo ports, would make it seem as if their previous actions had been an elaborate feint to pull off a massive offensive and that their base was located closer to these targets. Lyccane argued long and hard over the point, both to colleagues and his superiors, but he was denied the capital ships they required to make the plan such an effective strike. Instead, he was granted a detachment of marines and a full Y-Wing squadron to see his plan to fruition. This was only a small fraction of the numbers he needed but Lyccane quietly accepted this offer and went about adapting his plan as best he could.
Without the benefit of larger turbolaser equipped vessels, any frontal assault was entirely out of the question. As such, Lyccane risked one final raid on Imperial shipping, utilising the ion cannons of the fighters and a loaned transport to capture a single Gozanti-class cruiser bound for their target. Coarding it and taking control, the Rebel troops were able to claim the vessel before any warning could be sent out alerting the Imperials of its loss. After dealing with the crew, Essik's forces refitted the transport with proton bombs from the Y-Wing squadrons with the plan to inflict severe damage on the enemy facility. After using the cruiser to ram the enemy main docking arms, the marines would break clear and begin to attack other vital areas of the gigantic framework, crippling its vital facilities. The other group, in their unarmed transport, would initiate a similar attack on the second Deepdock, before both would fall back to escape pods and utility ships to flee the enemy facility. Essik knew the plan was risky to the point of being little more than a suicide mission, but as reports came in of growing enemy activity in the Atrivis sector, he knew they had no time to plan another operation.
The plan was a partial success. The cruiser was picked up as a possible hostile within minutes of entering the system due to signs of residual damage the Rebels had been unable to completely repair. Under heavy fire of the enemy defensive guns and fighter escorts, the cruiser managed to ram its target and disgorged its payload of marines. Of the five squads deployed onto the first Deepdock only two achieved their objectives, and most were lost under the heavy assault. The attack on the second frame destroyed several vital fuel pumps and control bridges, but a heavy counter-assault drove the Rebels into total retreat within a matter of minutes. Of the fifty marines who participated in the assault, only eight survived the engagement, Essik among them. Five were able to escape on the second transport, while Essik and the two remaining Rebel troopers departed during the chaos in an escape pod.
While the detonation itself was delayed due to a malfunctioning timer, its effect proved to be far more effective than Essik could have predicted. Rather than scuttling the larger frame, the explosion triggered a chain reaction across the massive mobile shipyard, leading to a reactor breach. The entire Deepdock was ripped apart by the sudden explosion, taking with it a multitude of smaller maintenance ships vital to the smooth operation of the local fleet. The second, too slow by far to avoid the debris, was pelted by hyper-accelerated metal fragments before being skewered by one docking arm, crippling it beyond repair. Their effort had not simply limited the ability to support Star Destroyers across the sector, but to rearm and refuel any Imperial ship larger than a cruiser at a safe location.
Follow-up attacks by the Y-Wings on several communications facilities and the use of torpedoes loaded with IFF transponders gave the impression of a massive Rebel uprising within the Noonian sector. The effect was instantaneous, and the forces which had been dispatched to sweep through the Atrivis sector were rapidly withdrawn to counter this supposed new threat. However, Essik showed little joy in their accomplishment. It had been too risky an operation and too bloody a success by far. He grew to resent both his actions and the Alliance commanders who had denied him the means to a far less costly victory.
Rebel Leader
Essik and the survivors of the first group were eventually rescued by an Imperial support shuttle, which the Rebels promptly hijacked and claimed for themselves. Regrouping with the others who had taken part in the operation, he spent several days reviewing local reports and enemy ship sightings. Hunting for even the slightest indication that the local Imperial governor may have picked up on their distraction, he made every effort to confirm that the operation had been a success. It was during this that word reached him of an unintended side-effect of his actions.
Images of the Deepdock attack had spread across the Holonet, promoted as an act of unprovoked terrorism and hostility against the ruling government. As was often the case with such actions, this only inspired further acts of resistance from the downtrodden populace. Combined with the heavy-handed response from law enforcement officers, within a matter of days riots and open protests had broken out across several worlds. It was obvious that these acts were by civilians and determined amateurs rather than the mix of criminals, combat veterans and resistance fighters which made up the Rebellion, and many ended in no small amount of blood being shed to restore order.
Already shaken by those lost under his command, for Essik this was simply too much. While his orders were to return to Atrivis, he instead opted to remain there to assist with the groups and at least offer them some chance of success. While most of the Rebels returned as ordered, four Y-Wings remained with him along with the Yastobaal. Using the transport as a makeshift command carrier, he began moving between the various systems, contacting local resistance leaders and supporting them by any means within his power. From making supply drops to silencing enemy informants and officering military oversight on group formations, Essik became a link between these disparate groups and served to gradually unite them as a single resistance movement.
While, despite Essik's best efforts, most cells were rooted out and annihilated shortly after their inception, he made sure that those left would remain a thorn in the Empire's side for years to come. Essik himself remained there for several years, posing as a trader and doing everything in his power to stall attempts to bring him before the main fleet, and eventually rose to the position of a resistance leader co-ordinating efforts across several systems. Managing to even claim a small fleet of raider vessels, the movement was able to successfully raid Noonar itself, and initiate several attacks on Imperial supply convoys. While their presence proved to be a hinderance more than a true threat, the resources diverted from nearby sectors to contain them bolstered Rebel efforts elsewhere, and Essik's leadership ensured that they never overplayed their hand.
Unfortunately, when the cells voted to formally align themselves with the larger Rebel Alliance, Essik was called to task for the abandonment of his post. While his successes saw that he was not removed from the Alliance entirely, initiating what was seen as a personal crusade drew criticism from several members. As a result, he was required to step down from his position as overall leader of the Noonian cells, and demoted to Flight Officer to prevent further rogue actions on his part.
Rebel Soldier
Tasked with maintaining stores and assisting with the quartermaster of Home One, Essik was able to learn of recent developments within the greater galaxy. Misinformation and rumours were rife among them, but it was becoming clear that the Empire was utilising the Rebellion's existance as an excuse to attain further power. The already increasingly obsolete Senate was being bypassed at every turn, and while several other Rebel movements had seen success in the Outer Rim, many others had been rooted out or destroyed in concentrated attacks. Essik ignored this for the moment, focusing instead on his given task, dilligently maintaining supply schedules and fighter tranfers. He might have languished in this post, were it not for an offer from one of the very officers who had condemned him over his insubordination. The Rebellion was seeking to establish a number of boltholes and secondary outposts while it sought to find a world worthy of establishing a main base. Knowing that he would need effective officers, he had petitioned Rebel command to return Essik to a frontline position.
Essik initially refused this offer but the need for experienced leaders capable of sustaining an isolated command post eventually swayed him. He was eventually placed in the far end of the Ison Corridor along with a garrison of thirty soliders. Using a derelict star cruiser as a base of operations, the group hid themselves within the nebula, establishing a listening post and sensor suite to cover ship movements throughout the area. Eventually re-constructing a large damaged section of the sttion into a makeshift hanger and refuelling station, Essik was able to maintain it as a watch point. With some liberal "misunderstandings" of his orders, he was even able to launch minor raids on singular Imperial cargo shipments to resupply their position and attain parts for damaged ships visiting the makeshift station.
Essik himself saw little action during this time. While he dilligently drilled and maintained the small force in its role, he understood and accepted that his duty was to ultimately maintain a secret outpost and relay intelligence back to other cells. This hardly stopped him taking advantage when the right moment arose. Learning of a larger Imperial group patrolling the region in its hunt for pirates, Essik maintained watch for it, knowing that the Ison Corridor's infamous reputation would draw this battle group to their position. While the station was hidden from general sweeps of the area by jaded or indolent Imperial captains, a thurough search would likely uncover them. Deciding to plan ahead, he intentionally drew the enemy flotilla into the corridor, using a mixture of sensor ghosts and signal bounces to draw them deeper into a debris field. Using a combination of proton bombs placed with the wreckage and sensor jamming he succeeded in destroying over half of their escorts, and even captured the Nebulon-B frigate which served as the group's command vessel after tricking them into abandoning ship.
The act both demoralized Imperial forces and seccured the corridor from other threats for a time, along with granting the Alliance a new capital ship. Unfortuately, Essik's prior actions worked against him. As the Rebellion's commanders did not wish to encourage such reckless behaviour in its subordinates, while they were jubilent in his success, news of this victory was stifled and his competence was used as an excuse to keep Essik garrisoning this position. He would remain there for several years, working as best he could and learning only of several major galactic events through second hand sources. Garm bel Iblis' decision to break away from the Alliance, the existance and then destruction of the Death Star, and destruction of Alderaan each struck him hard. It was only with the loss of Yavin Base that he was granted a more active role once more.
Rebel Privateer
The loss of the Death Star and the destruction of Alderaan had been rallying cries to those who opposed the Empire. Rather than enforcing discipline as Tarkin had predicted, it only encouraged further insurrections. The Rebellion needed to capitalise on this even as it reeled from the loss of its major headquarters, both to train and further bolster such efforts before they could be crushed. Essik was one of a multitude of officers selected for this task as, despite his insubordination, no one could deny that he had proven himself to be an effective leader in this capacity. To this end Essik was given the Skyfire to command, a bulk freighter which had been refitted as a light carrier, and a list of systems to assist.
Essik would spend much of the continued war focusing on his own efforts of building a larger attack force and assisting resistance cells wherever they emerged. This was much to their benefit and many of the tactics he had utilised in the Noonian sector served him well, but as the conflict drew on he began to reinvent them. It was not long before he began to consider how best to turn the Empire's own assets to their benefit. Along with harassing supply routes and weakening enemy garrisons, Essik began to build a network of spies throughout production facilities and decommissioning centres. This helped to allow the odd crate of blaster rifles or even entire starfighters to end up in Rebel hands, along with replacing enemy freighters when required. The Empire ran like a well oiled machine, set to timetables and standard schedules. Yet those same inflexable routines made them often easy to exploit and target for supply raids.
Using the ship in a manner akin to that of the Yastobaal, Essik took full advantage of the Skyfire's ability to bypass Imperial patrols to repeatedly deploy units in seemingly impossible locations. Following a successful Y-Wing assault on a military parade which killed several prominent Imperial officials and decimated the Stormtrooper garrison of a system, he began even using the reputation of his victories as a weapon. To divert Imperial attention away from actual resistance cells and maintain their freedom of movement, he began to fabricate rumours of a legendary Rebel force striking at will throughout the sector. Often pinning his own victories on this group via informants and double agents, he continually made falsified sensor readings of larger ships moving in and out of Imperial space, and even fabricated abandoned bases via leftover equipment to solidify this ruse. These acts ensured that a number of prominent Imperial patrols were often dispatched to hunt down this phantom force, while his own efforts were written off simply as a lesser threat to be dealt with at a later date. Dubbing them Phoenix Squadron, Essik even went so far as to spread rumours that a famed military commander had once even been dispatched to personally hunt them down, and created a false history of their activies prior to the Battle of Yavin.
Throughout this time, Essik concentrated his efforts on low level support of resistance groups and weakening Imperial infrastructure, while the main Rebel forces won substantial victories. His efforts were made to weaken, destroy and deprive fleets of resources required to resist Rebel activity, leaving them open to attacks by the smaller Rebel force. While this meant that he he never participated in the likes of the Battle of Hoth, he was often responsible for a number of secondary battles and essential minor victories. This only changed during the Assault on the Second Death Star, where his force was recalled along with other groups to reinforce the main Rebel fleet during its assault. While Essik personally was against comitting such a substantial force to a single battle, he nevertheless complied with his orders, nor could he deny the effect their victory had in distabilising the Empire for years to come.
The battle was nevertheless a costly one to all Rebel groups involved, and Essik found that many pilots under his command had lost their lives engaging TIE squadrons. Over two thirds of the force he had spent years leading had been killed in a single conflict, while many more remained missing in action. As the Alliance celebrated its victory on the forest moon, Essik remained with his ship, recording and remembering those lost. While for many this proved to be turning point long promised by the Rebellion, for him this was one loss too many. While many saw little difference, those who had served him for long years began to note that he had become oddly distant and even colder than before.
Rather than being dispatched once more to take advantage of the Empire's growing disunity, Essik was instead kept with the main Rebel fleet to assist with its rebuilding and recovery. While he was briefly considered to lead the small force dispatched to combt an enemy incursion at Bakura and later Kashyyyk, it was ultimately decided that he would best serve the fleet in speeding its recovery. He was eventually pushed back into frontline service in time for the Battle of Glom Tho, where he assisted with the capture of several founderies during an airborne drop. This was to be his final battle as a member of the Rebellion, as the Alliance formally renamed itself the New Republic. While the name had been banded about almost since the night of their victory of Endor, and the fleet had undergone a steady reorganisation, this cemented their status as a true government over a resistance movement.
Republican Liberator
After being transferred officially to the New Republic First Fleet, Essik accepted the position of a flag officer serving onboard the flagship. While he often actively sought out reasons to serve on its escorts, thanks largely his preference for smaller ships, he nevertheless proved to be an effective leader. Essik's approach was often one of dilligence tempered with caution, and displayed an unwillingness to simply throw his vessels headlong into a conflict. Realising that a multitude of the tactics the Rebellion had developed to fight the Empire would not effectively serve an official state of government, many of his methods became far more conservative in nature and developed a habitual point of explaining himself to subordinates. Following the loss of his crew at Endor, this led to the widespread belief that the Gand had lost confidence in his own abilities. Instead, it was borne of the simple desire to pass on the few viable lessons he retained from his time in the Republic Navy. Unfortunately, this was rarely taken seriously and only served to fuel hearsay surrounding both his nerves and capabilities. The few who did take such words to heart were among those he made a point of retaining during crew rotations, gradually formulating a small cadre of subordinates that he could rely upon to know when and when not to risk their lives in the name of a cause.
While the Empire's base of power had fractured, with warlords splitting off to fulfil out their own ambitions of victory, it did still retain vast fleets of warships under his command. While the authority of Sate Pestage, the highest ranking surviving member of the Imperial Cout, was a tenous one he still commanded loyalty within many of the Emperor's followers. Whatever victory was accomplished could have easily been turned against them had he been given time to consolidate his forces. Because of this Essik typically utilised his skills in battles to minimize casualties among fleets he was a part of while emphasising inflicting lasting damage on Imperial capital ships over outright destruction. With their limited resources and often inexperienced commanders as a result of defections or deriliction of duty, forcing a ship to withdraw from frontline engagements for extensive refitting was more harmful than a total loss. The tactic proved to be a viable one in many conflicts, forcing the Empire to withdraw orbital support from minor systems they viewed as unneccessary as they regrouped their power. Against Warlords or lone Captains who had sought to claim a planet for themselves it proved to be incredibly effective, as the smaller groups typically lacked the infrastructure to support full refittings of their ships. Nevertheless, the gains made through such tactics were still minor, and it would take both external pressure and multiple betrayals among his command staff to see Pestage removed from power, and for Ysanne Isard to usurp him.
Most of the gains made in the final months leading to the capture of Coruscant were attributed to Rogue Squadron's efforts. Conflicts such as the capture of Balmorra and the infiltration efforts to take the Imperial Center were left to far more talented commanders by far. However, Essik was held in reserve during the Liberation of Coruscant, and saw action as part of General Tantor main assault force as they breached the defenses surrounding the Imperial Palace. Essik expected that this would be his final role in the conflict to take the planet, but soon found himself corrected. Coruscant had been a poisoned chalice, and while Isard had been forced to abandon the world she and the other Imperials had left a biological weapon known as the Krytos virus in their wake.
While humans were immune to its effects, the virus was a virulent and extremely dangerous airborne contagion which targeted a wide variety of other species. Prominent races which had assisted the Rebellion such as the Bothans, Mon Calamari and Sullestians were among these groups, along with Twi'leks, Trandoshans and Shistavanens. This both weakened the New Republic's fragile internal economy and quickly fanned the flames of anti-Humanism among the more extreme elements of the populace, a matter hardly helped by the actions of Provisional Councilor Borsk Fey'lya. Essik proved to be extremely resistant to the virus' worst effects. Whether this was thanks to a lack of familiarity with his species' bizzare physiology on the part of the virus' creator or a lack of lungs was unknown, but it provided the New Republic with a non-human face on the surface. Essik continued to keep the peace and root out possible Imperial sympathisers, but he was typically deployed to locations where anti-human sentiment was greatest. The sight of a Gand commanding human troops and Essik's own natural skills as a diplomat proved to be enough to diffuse several potential riots.
Even following the creation of a cure to the Krytos Virus, Essik remained stationed on Coruscant to help maintain security on the planet. He typically served as an advisor in this time, and was one of a multitude of officers tasked with devising plans to exploit security weaknesses and then suggest ways to correct them. For a time he believed that this was to be his final role in service to the New Republic. With only quarreling warlords left and the New Republic gaining ground on all fronts, the threats he fought against were coming to an end, and with that he would be able to retire from the military. He was soon to be proven wrong.
The Unsung Wars (7 ABY - 35 ABY)
Sins of a Galactic Empire
For a time the New Republic was granted a short reprieve from true threats, and yet the wars never ended. No sooner did one fall than another would rise, consolidating power for themselves and attempted to crown themselves as a new Imperial ruler. The moment one died, others would rush to take advantage of the vacuum, or even quietly expand their own fronts while the Republic sought to stabilise the regions. Victory after victory was one, with the Republic advancing on every front, and yet total annihilation of their old enemy was never a guarantee. There was no swift end, no abrupt final battle which would turn the tide in their favour, and many within the New Republic counteded their blessings that the Imperials were just as prone to turn on one another as their old enemies.
Essik himself was part of a taskforce which took advantage of one such war between Imperial bandit kingdoms, as he came to call them. Following the deaths of Grand Admirals Danetta Pitta and Josef Grunger during the Battle of Tralus in late 6 ABY, the New Republic found itself with an unexpected advantage. The conflict ad not only seen the removal of two governing officers of the Imperial elite, but both a Torpedo Sphere and Super Star Destroyer along with the bulk of their military might. In the months that had followed infighting, conflicts and rivalries had disrupted unity between the remaining Imperials, but that was quickly dying down. With the New Republic desperate to reclaim and quickly shut down as much of their military infrastructure as possible, Essik was one of a small taskforce whose mission it was to capture or destroy as many enemy installations as possible before a new hierarchy could be established and another warlord might arise. Essik, as per usual, went with the simplest approach possible.
The Republican taskforce was small, and his one, in particular, had been formed with scouting duties and lightning raids in mind over a full campaign. As such, he opted to destabilise the worlds he engaged, cutting off supplies and damaging ships until he could identify the personality traits of the officers who made up the remnants of each power. Those whose crimes were too great were assassinated or killed in abrupt attacks, often serving as displays to weaken the Imperial image over the worlds they controlled and incite rebellion within the local populations. The more stable and pragmatic captains of Star Destroyers or underlings were quietly approached by other means. Putting his skills as a diplomat to work, he appealed to their sense of personal wealth, self-interest or even basic facts, offering them amnesty or employment within the New Republic if he felt that they could be trusted. Those who felt that the Empire was dead, that they could not trust their new leaders, or even that no regime could uphold the values that the Empire had supposedly supported were gradually swayed to Essik's side. Those who still resisted were quietly eliminated. Famously, Essik's creativity led to the capture of Pitta's shipyards without firing a shot, when no less than six Star Destroyers which had aligned themselves with the Gand arrived and quickly forced the local commander to surrender his holdings. As a result of his actions, Essik was one of a small few who managed to not only return with no losses, but more ships than he had departed Republic space with.
Unfortunately, few victories proved to be so easy. After Issard's apparent death, Zsinj came to power with the backing of a Super Star Destroyer and a substantial portion of the Empire's military might. Even after he met his end over Dathomir, other remnants such as the Pentastar Alignment and Ciutric Hegemony staunchly resisted efforts to oust themselves from their holdings. Matters were only made infinitely more complicated when a living legend returned to unify the scattered remnants of the Empire and restore them to a single unified power.
Tyrants and Legends
For a brief period Imperial activities lessened in their conflicts with the New Republic. While the odd skirmish or operation would be launched between the two territories, the near constant warring slowed until the two fleets barely met on the field. When news of this reached Essik, he believed that this was an indication that the Empire had been united once more under a single leader. He had hoped that, with its more tyrannical elements now dead, whoever replaced them might be willing to negotiate an end to the war. He only proved to be partially correct when the Imperial forces launched a massive counter-offensive into Republic space, with their efforts guided by Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Thrawn himself had only been a half-known figure typically left in the shadows of the Empire. While his acts had been recognised and news of this one non-human Palpatine permitted among his elite were hardly closely guarded secrets, yet research had rarely offered anything of true substance. There was little to gauge the Grand Admiral’s actions or commanding style by, until the two sides met in battle. Thrawn himself turned multiple opening battles into a complete rout, utilising tactics and command methods which re-wrote the way battles were waged overnight. While Thrawn was far from invincible, his ability to mitigate his losses and remain one step ahead of his enemies made him a difficult opponent to combat.
Essik’s role in the war against Thrawn’s unified Empire was initially one of internal security. First he was tasked with ensuring that the Imperials who had joined the New Republic stayed loyal to their cause, or were prevented from aligning with Thrawn. Essik found himself forced to investigate the same men he had so recently convinced to turn against their masters, and was forced to imprison a multitude of them as a precautionary measure. On other planets, those recently inducted into the Republic, he was tasked with reworking their defensive measures. Those initiated or drawn up by the Imperial governments were too uniformed and easily counted by the Empire, forcing a complete reworking of their strategies. This at least slowed the Imperial advance into several planets, and forced them to redirect more substantial forces to claim large regions.
As the conflict drew on and the Dreadnoughts of the legendary Katana fleet were added to the Empire's armada, Essik was pushed toward defending a number of secondary objectives. With the New Republic constantly regrouping, assembling fleets and initiating delaying tactics, he was offered only a meager force of escort vessels and fighter squadrons to accomplish this goal. The worlds themselves did not directly support the war effort, but boasted a high food production output. Any shortfall would result in starvation across several systems, weakening the morale of the Republic and giving the impression that they could not defend their own territories. Drilling his men and improving each world's defenses as best he could, and waiting for the Empire to strike. When it did, hit moved on his position with overwhelming force. The Republic fleet was outnumbered almost eight to one, with three enemy Star Destroyers among the enemy fleet. Any open conflict would have been seemingly hopeless, but Essik had two advantages: Subterfuge and the heavy defensive shielding of each world. As such, he gambled victory on initiating an open battle before his hand was forced.
While traditional tactical doctrines decreed that, once a superior enemy fleet had been sighted, ships should remain in close orbit to the worlds they defended Essik opted to go on the offensive. Splitting his fleet multiple times over, he dispatched it into six individual squadrons, sending them off to major defensive locations and vital areas across the nearby sector. Seeing an opportunity to wipe them out in a single attack, the enemy commander mirrored this action, breaking up the armada to confront each one in turn. Yet, the locations had been specifically chosen for more than one reason. Some were distant enough that a secure scan was difficult at the best of times. Others were hidden by the shadow of backround energy anomalies, and some even activated IFF transponders fixed to probes in order to disguise their true positions. As such, once the enemy force had broken apart to confront them, Essik recalled the majority of his ships to his position, and initiated a full attack on the largest group of warships. Detecting that Essik's flag vessel was among one particular group, two of the Imperial's Star Destroyers had been dispatched in a single force. As such, when Essik's group fell upon them, they found themselves complete outnumbered and heavily outgunned. By the end of the conflict, Essik had lost a frigate while two more had been heavily damaged, while the entire enemy force at this position had been eradicated.
Essik's battles on this front would continue this pattern of deceptively repositioning his fleets and feeding the enemy false information. It allowed him to gradually whittle them down, but the action did come at a cost. In the final days of these battles, the Imperials ignored his group entirely and initiated a full scale assault on a single planet under his protection. Essik was able to dispatch the last of their ships in a furious battle directly above the world, but not before almost thirty thousand troops were deployed planetside. With only a small number of voluntary companies under his command, and few trained soldiers among them, Essik was tied up for months attempting to prevent the enemy legions from completely taking hold of the planet. For all his successes in orbit, all he was able to accomplish was a stalemate until New Republic reinforcements could be dispatched to his position.
It was only during the final days of the war that Essik joined the conflict in earnest, commanding the ‘’Tyrant’s Bane’’ assault frigate as a New Republic armada made its attack on the Bilbringi shipards. The conflict itself proved to be surprisingly brief. Despite the Imperials seeing through the feint which might have predicted them an easy victory, the two sides were evenly matched. Yet, as the battle reached a critical moment, the Imperials abruptly retreated without any true warning. For a time many believed that this was some part of a grander strategy until it was learned that Thrawn had been assassinated by his own bodyguard. It was an abrupt end to the campaign, but after so many losses and false victories, the conclusion was welcome. The forces under Thrawn withdrew to a multitude of locations, with many seemingly disappearing entirely from known charts. As the New Republic licked its wounds and reclaimed the territories lost during Thrawn's battles, Essik was one of the many Captains given the duty of uncovering their fate. While he was given no definitive answers for his efforts, he was not left waiting long before they re-emerged.
Suddenly and terribly a vast Imperial armada emerged from the Deep Core and initiated a devastating series of battles against the New Republic. While Thrawn had fought with genius and conservative estimations, these new fleets opted to utilise total war. Where they travelled, worlds burned, cities were reduced to ash and ships were scattered. With the vast bulk of the New Rebublic Defense Force engaging and destroying the fleets of Admiral Krennel, they were caught flat footed. While a strong rearguard had been stationed in defense of the Core, no one could have predicted the firepower arrayed against them. With four Executor-class dreadnoughts, five Mandator III-class dreadnoughts, and three Vengeance-class dreadnoughts backed by countles smaller Star Destroyer and escort classes, the New Rebublic had come face to face with more firepower than much of the Imperial warlords combined. Worse still, as many of the Executor-class dreadnoughts were thought to have been captured or destroyed in the following years - and suspected to be small in number - the New Republic fleets were left with no effective counter against the titanic warships.
Under the new onslaught, world after world fell. Kaikielius, Corellia and Alsakan were among the first to fall. While the New Republic scraped together an assembled fleet to make at stand at Metellos, it was utterly annihilated when several vital support ships were caught out of position. Anaxes and Borleias were reclaimed by the Imperials soon after this, leaving the way open to Coruscant itself. As the entire enemy navy closed on the world and bombarded it from orbit, Mon Mothma ordered a total evacuation. Essik was one of those present at the time, following the lead of Garm Bel Iblis as they made multiple attempts to run the blockade. Most ships were destroyed, with only a few escaping, and many major governmental figures within the New Republic found themselves trapped on the capital world. New Republic resorted to guerrilla fighting amid Galactic City, and for three days they held against growing numbers Imperial drop troops and armoured divisions. On the forth, the Empire completely smashed all opposition, overruning the city and claiming the world for themselves. The fighting would continue for sometime, with Coruscant reduced to a depopulated ruin, but it was clear that the planet was once more in Imperial hands. After so many long victories, after so many strides to solidifying their new government and beating back the vistages of the Empire, everything was falling apart. In the face of this, Essik's usual pragmatism carried an undercurrent of bitterness, a stubborn desire to deny the Empire any true victory.
Essik's private war on the planet carried on for the first several weeks of what would become known as Operation Shadow Hand. During this time, his efforts focused upon breaking the impression of total Imperial victory, targeting propaganda centres and monuments as much as vital enemy facilities. The galaxy needed to see that the New Republic still opposed the Empire, even in its darkest hour. No less than three assassination attempts were made against Alix Balan, the General who had led the reconquest of Coruscant, but none succeeded. While the New Republic regrouped in Hutt Space, about the world of Da Soocha V, Essik kept fighting. It was only once Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles' reinforcements arrived, buying time for those left to fully disengage from the battle, that Essik departed the world. He was the last to board their awaiting transport, gazing out at the ruined skyline and vowed to return and drive the Empire from its surface for good.
Arriving at Da Soocha V, Essik began bringing himself up to speed on all that had taken place. New Republic Intelligence had learned that the Empire was now backed by superior infrastructure to anything which had previously supported their fleets. Hidden away in the Deep Core, massive shipyards were churning out wave upon wave of new war machines and doomsday weapons, taking the Empire's emphasis on victory through power to an entirely new level. Worse still, the vying factions which had barely been unified under Thrawn were once more governed by a powerful Imperial Court, one led by a being claiming to be Palpatine reborn. Essik was given little time to fully proccess this when word came that Mon Calamari itself was under attack by a vast enemy fleet of new superweapons: The World Devastators. Mon Calamari itself had been a prominent member of the Rebellion, and remained a steadfast element of the New Republic. Its ships were identified as those of the Republic's main fleet, and the annihilation of its people would have broken what faith remained in the Republic's government. Essik was among the first commanders to volunteer to rush to its defense, reinforcing the fleets attempting to hold back the Devastators.
The White Lotus Resistance (36 ABY)
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