Dllr Nep

Dllr Nep, a male Sullustan born on Sullust during the early years of the Galactic Civil War, possessed a deep interest in various cultures and species. Following the Alliance to Restore the Republic's victory over the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, it required minimal persuasion for Nep to join the Rebellion, following the example of others from his homeworld. He seamlessly adapted to life in the burgeoning New Republic and volunteered to become a pilot in Rogue Squadron, an elite X-wing squadron commanded by Commander Wedge Antilles. This decision aimed to fill vacancies in the squadron's ranks after Endor. Upon joining, Nep became the unit's resourceful "scrounger," skillfully adapting old components for new applications.

Nep was soon selected for what was expected to be an uncomplicated inaugural mission with the Rogues: escorting a food convoy from Cilpar to Mrlsst. However, upon reaching Cilpar, the Rogues were unable to locate the convoy or their contact. Establishing a makeshift base west of the capital city of Kiidan, the understaffed Rogues soon engaged in combat with a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters. Despite the Rebels' victory, Wes Janson was compelled to eject from his X-wing after it sustained enemy fire. Antilles dispatched Tycho Celchu to find the downed pilot, while he led the remaining three Rogues—Nep, Derek Klivian, and Plourr Ilo—back to their temporary base.

Later that evening, the Rogues were confronted by members of the local resistance, led by Elscol Loro. These fighters, opposed to both the Empire and the Alliance, transported the captives to Tamarack, a town ravaged by the forces of Moff Boren Tascl. There, Nep warned of approaching Imperial All Terrain Scout Transports, forcing the Rogues to flee with the resistance to an ancient temple nearby. Still surrounded by Imperials, Antilles directed Klivian and Ilo to fire on a pile of debris outside the temple, igniting decomposition gases and eliminating the closest walker. This diversion allowed the Rebels to escape and take cover in the forest. Antilles then instructed Nep to contact their astromech droids and have them bring the squadron's X-wings to their location. Entering the starfighters, Antilles and Ilo drove off the Imperials, while Antilles ordered Nep to lead the natives back to their vehicles and retreat to Rogue Squadron's base.

Nep later joined the others on a trip to a supply depot in another hidden temple, but the group was again attacked by Imperial fighters, forcing them to retreat to the Rogue base. Upon learning that Princess Leia Organa was captured on the planet, Antilles decided to strike at the Imperials. He sent Loro's forces to rescue Organa, while he led the Rogues in providing air support. Despite engaging Imperial fighters, the Rogues fought through and attacked the Imperial base, weakening its defenses and enabling Loro's team to move in. The attack succeeded, resulting in the capture of Moff Tascl and the rescue of the captive woman, revealed to be Alliance Intelligence agent Winter, not Organa. With the Imperials defeated, Nep and the other Rogues resumed their mission, linking up with the convoy and proceeding to Mrlsst, joined by Loro, whom Antilles invited to join the squadron.

Upon the convoy's arrival at Mrlsst, Rogue Squadron faced renewed attacks from Imperial forces led by an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer. While Nep and the other Rogues engaged the Imperial fighters, Antilles and Loro forced the Star Destroyer to retreat with a proton torpedo strike, allowing the convoy to land safely at Mrlsst Spaceport. Although their escort duty was complete, Rogue Squadron remained on Mrlsst while Antilles negotiated for the Phantom Project, a cloaking device developed at the Mrlsst Academy, which had also attracted Imperial interest. Shortly after landing, the Rogues encountered Antilles's old friend, Mirax Terrik, who accompanied them to The Soundmound, a local music venue where they enjoyed a holographic concert by the band Ghost Jedi.

The following day, Nep and the other Rogues received a tour of the Mrlsst Academy from Koyi Komad, a student they had befriended the previous night, while Antilles began his negotiations. During their tour, the group saw Rorax Falken, an Academy professor who composed the music performed by Ghost Jedi. Nep, having enjoyed the band's performance, attempted to introduce himself, but Falken rebuffed him, knocking the Sullustan down with his repulsor chair.

Later, Nep joined the others in visiting Janson, who was recovering from injuries sustained on Cilpar at the Central Academic Hospital. There, Komad warned them that Antilles had been arrested for allegedly stealing the datacards containing the Phantom Project plans, and Imperial stormtroopers were en route to take the other Rogues into custody. Fighting their way out of the hospital, the Rogues sought refuge in the upper levels of the nearby greenstalk forests, among the fringe communities there. Komad led them to the slicer Nasta, who retrieved surveillance footage implicating the Rogues and revealed that it had been doctored by an Imperial group called the Ante-Endor Association, the true thieves. He also discovered that the Imperials had lost the datacards, stolen by battle droids from Ghost Jedi. Terrik knew the location of Falken's asteroid laboratory, where the band transmitted from, and suggested the datacards might be there. Celchu agreed and instructed Nep to accompany Terrik to retrieve the plans while the others attempted to rescue Antilles.

Upon arriving at the laboratory, Nep was confronted by three of Falken's students, armed with blasters, but disarmed them. Under questioning from Nep and Terrik, Falken and the students admitted that the Phantom Project was a hoax designed to elicit funding from the Empire. To conceal the deception, Falken faked the asteroid's destruction, but the Imperials discovered that the laboratory had survived among the debris and arrived to retrieve the plans. While the stormtroopers fought a holographic ghost Jedi controlled by Falken, Nep, Terrik, and the students retreated to the hangar and boarded Terrik's Pulsar Skate. Nep attempted to evade pursuing TIE fighters, but the Pulsar Skate was largely defenseless until Rogue Squadron arrived. As the Imperial Star Destroyer closed on the Pulsar Skate, Nep and Terrik activated the gravitic polarization beam installed in the laboratory, destroying both the lab and the Interdictor Star Destroyer.

Sometime later, Rogue Squadron was dispatched to Tatooine to support Winter's investigation into the death of conman Lirin Banolt amidst a gang war triggered by the demise of crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Nep was among the first Rogues to arrive, along with Ilo, Janson, and Klivian. While Antilles, Celchu, and Loro joined Winter at a reception hosted by Huff Darklighter to commemorate the anniversary of his son Biggs Darklighter's death, Nep's group was tasked with gathering information about the gang wars. Nep suggested starting their investigation at the local music scene—the band Dead Rebels was performing, and Nep believed they might find potential allies among the band's followers. The music failed to meet Nep's expectations, and when a group of thugs confronted the Rogues, a fight ensued. Ilo easily defeated their opponents, prompting the Rogues to leave.

Outside, they were approached by a Devaronian who wanted to hire them to intimidate a local rancher who was slow to pay his debts. Ilo initially refused, but Janson, noticing the military-grade Imperial blaster the Devaronian carried, accepted the job, hoping to uncover his true identity. Using speeder bikes provided by their employer, the Rogues followed the Devaronian to their target, only to find the estate already under attack. Taking cover as the attackers approached, the Devaronian canceled the job. However, the Rogues sought answers from their employer. When he refused, it took all four to restrain him. At that moment, Celchu and Winter arrived in a landspeeder. Winter revealed that the Devaronian was her partner, Kapp Dendo, tasked with hiring thugs to create a diversion at Darklighter's farm while she searched for a datacard related to her investigation. A different group had attacked the estate and escaped with the disk.

Rogue Squadron soon determined that the disk had been stolen by the Twi'lek Firith Olan and could lead him to a cache of TIE interceptors and the Strike-class medium cruiser Eidolon. Pursuing Olan in their X-wings, the Rogues discovered he had already found the TIE interceptor cache when they were attacked by several of the starfighters. After a brief dogfight, the Rebels followed Olan into orbit, where a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters awaited. Rogue Squadron engaged Olan's surviving TIE interceptors, and Nep's X-wing was struck by laser fire, leaving him operational but out of the fight. When the Imperials closed to attack range and engaged Olan's fighters, Antilles ordered his squadron to withdraw and return to Tatooine.

Antilles, Celchu, Loro, and Winter soon followed Olan and the Imperials to Ryloth, leaving Nep and the other Rogues on Tatooine. Nep used the time to repair his damaged X-wing, and the starfighter was operational by the time Antilles's group returned. Joining forces with a group of disenchanted Imperial Special Intelligence operatives led by Sixtus Quin, the Rogues headed to Eidolon Base, where Olan was working with Imperial Captain Marl Semtin. Rogue Squadron engaged the TIE interceptor defenses, allowing Quin's team to secure the base and kill Semtin, though Olan escaped. With their objective complete, Nep and the other Rogues returned to their temporary base and soon departed Tatooine.

Loro departed Rogue Squadron after the Tatooine mission, but the squadron gained four new members—Feylis Ardele, Ibtisam, Herian I'ngre, and Nrin Vakil—and began a series of training simulations to improve teamwork. In one exercise, Nep flew an X-wing in a team led by Klivian but was shot down by a TIE interceptor in Antilles's team. His destruction was made more unpleasant by a mild electric shock fitted to his seat by I'ngre, acting on Antilles's orders to make the pilots more alert to failure. Nep didn't have a chance for revenge, however, as Grand Duke Gror Pernon of Eiattu 6 revealed that Ilo was Princess Isplourrdacartha Estillo, who had fled her homeworld as a child after her family's death. Learning that her brother, Prince Harrandatha Estillo, had returned to Eiattu 6 to lead the People's Liberation Battalion against the ruling Priamsta, Ilo agreed to return home to bring peace between the nobles and her brother.

Nep and the other Rogues accompanied Ilo on her return to Eiattu and attended a reception held by the nobles. While on a thuvasaur hunting trip with his wingmates, Nep heard distant Imperial blaster fire. The Rogues investigated and were attacked by a squad of stormtroopers. They were rescued by soldiers from the People's Liberation Battalion and taken to their encampment, where they met Prince Harran. After spending the night enjoying their allies' hospitality, the Rogues returned to the city, where Nep, Janson, and Klivian reported to Antilles, Celchu, and Ilo, who had stayed in the city.

Antilles wanted more information about the Imperial presence in the swamps and sent Nep and the other Rogues back to investigate while he and Celchu met with the Priamsta leader. However, the Rogues walked into a trap. Upon arriving in the swamp, Nep was overwhelmed by the sound from an Imperial gray noise generator in a nearby tree. As Vakil climbed to investigate, an explosion sent him falling into the swamp. The other Rogues were surrounded by stormtroopers and forced to surrender. The Rogues were imprisoned at Moff Leonia Tavira's headquarters, where they learned that Prince Harran was an impostor working with Tavira to steal the planet's wealth before an Imperial withdrawal. Vakil, left for dead after the ambush, recovered and rescued Nep and the other Rogues. Together, they attempted to capture Tavira. Though she escaped, they prevented her from taking all but a fraction of the stolen funds. After exposing Harran as an impostor, Ilo brought peace to her world and remained behind when Nep and Rogue Squadron left Eiattu.

After leaving Eiattu, Rogue Squadron was dispatched to find the Starfaring, a passenger liner that had gone missing due to a navigational error. Simulations led the Rogues to search in the Malrev system. Upon arriving in the system, Nep began hearing what he believed was music coming from Malrev IV and led the Rogues toward the source. As they approached, the Rebels were attacked by a group of TIE fighters. They were rescued by turbolaser fire from the Starfaring, which had landed in a nearby clearing, but Antilles's X-wing was struck by enemy fire and crashed into the forest. Unable to see Antilles from the air, the Rogues landed near the Starfaring and planned to search for the missing pilot. However, the crew and passengers of the Starfaring had been attacked by the native Irrukiine since landing, and Girov Dza'tey, the Bothan leading the survivors, convinced the Rogues to wait until morning before searching.

While waiting, Nep and I'ngre attempted to repair the Starfaring, which they were told had been forced to land after a system failure, but which I'ngre soon concluded had been sabotaged. Subsequently, a group of armed Irrukiine emerged from the forest and attacked the encampment. Rogue Squadron joined in the defense, but Nep found the music in his head overpowering and was too disoriented to assist much in the fight. When the Irrukiine were driven back, a concerned Celchu instructed I'ngre to put Nep to bed.

Nep's condition continued its downward spiral, and by the following morning, as the search for Antilles drew them nearer to the music's origin, Nep began to visually perceive the sound waves directly in front of him. This quest led them to a temple situated deep within the forest, where they once again found themselves under attack from the Irrukiine. Despite Nep's ongoing struggle to maintain focus, he managed to participate in the ensuing combat, until an explosion nearby inflicted injuries upon both him and I'ngre. When Antilles finally arrived to reinforce the fight, the Rogues retreated, but they discovered no trace of Nep, who had followed the captivating music into the temple's depths.

Within the temple's confines, Nep uncovered the truth behind the alluring music that had drawn him in. The temple served as a central nexus for the dark side of the Force, a power source abandoned by the Empire after the demise of Emperor Palpatine, and subsequently seized by a Devaronian named Cartariun. Cartariun had employed Sith magic, which Nep experienced as music, to ensnare the Sullustan and bring him to the temple. Cartariun then attempted to corrupt the Rebel with the dark side, intending to utilize its power to heal his injuries. However, through the Force, Nep discovered a mental link connecting him to I'ngre, who was recuperating from her own injuries aboard the Starfaring. I'ngre, recognizing the insidious influence of the dark side before it could consume her, urged Nep to resist. When Nep refused to succumb to the Sith magic, Cartariun commanded his Irrukiine followers to execute the Sullustan.

Realizing that his survival hinged on a single opportunity, Nep channeled the dark side's power and overwhelmed his Irrukiine attackers. As Nep shifted his attention towards Cartariun, Girov Dza'tey stormed into the temple and shot the Sullustan in the back. Dza'tey's ambition was to seize the temple's power for himself and establish a new empire. He swiftly eliminated Cartariun and granted Nep just enough Force power to keep him alive long enough to witness the destruction of Rogue Squadron. However, Nep utilized his link with I'ngre to warn her about Dza'tey and instructed her to dispatch Rogue Squadron to obliterate the temple.

While Dza'tey was preoccupied with directing the temple's TIE defenders against the Rogues in battle, Nep re-established contact with I'ngre. The two realized that Dza'tey's Jeswandi training granted him superior control over the dark side compared to Cartariun, and that the tide of battle was turning against Rogue Squadron. Although still injured and experiencing impaired vision due to damage to her sight-enhancing goggles, I'ngre realized that she could pilot an X-wing effectively if Nep could use his Force-enhanced senses to guide her. Nep guided I'ngre on a direct course towards the temple, with the other Rogues clearing a path through Dza'tey's fighters. Upon reaching the temple, I'ngre launched a pair of proton torpedoes. While the torpedoes created a breach in the temple wall, they were insufficient to completely destroy it. With only one option remaining, Nep guided I'ngre through the opening and into the temple itself, where I'ngre used her X-wing to detonate the fuel and weapons stored within, resulting in the temple's destruction and the deaths of Dza'tey and both pilots. Following their deaths, both Nep and I'ngre became Force ghosts and observed Rogue Squadron's departure.

Even before his departure from his homeworld, Dllr Nep harbored a deep fascination with diverse cultures, with a particular emphasis on the varied musical styles found throughout the galaxy. Like his fellow Sullustans, Nep possessed exceptionally sensitive hearing, which allowed him to pursue his passion for music by frequenting cantinas featuring live bands. He believed that familiarity with the local music scene contributed to a deeper understanding of a new world. Nep was not hesitant to voice his disapproval of certain musical acts, including the Dead Rebels and Undervector, and he enjoyed sharing his preferred music with his wingmates, although his taste was sometimes met with disapproval from the other Rogues. He was impressed by Ghost Jedi, though he found their music cold and precise, and was excited to meet the band's composer, Rorax Falken. When not actively listening to music, Nep frequently hummed to himself.

Nep's acute hearing also served purposes beyond his love for music. He possessed the ability to detect approaching vehicles before his wingmates, even the sound of a Star Destroyer in orbit, and could also distinguish the sound of Imperial blaster fire from a considerable distance. During the Rogues' mission to Malrev IV, Nep perceived the dark side energy emanating from the Sith temple as a captivating form of music. This music soon became overwhelming, compelling Nep to follow it to its source. With I'ngre's assistance, Nep initially resisted the dark side's allure but ultimately embraced its power to overcome Cartariun. He ultimately sacrificed himself to save his wingmates, guiding I'ngre on her suicide run into the Sith temple. While Nep did not demonstrate any ability to utilize the Force until his time on Malrev IV, he was susceptible to the power of the Sith temple, unlike other Rogues including Wedge Antilles. While experiencing the Force, Nep was able to use both telepathy and telekinesis and later transformed into a Force ghost.

As a member of Rogue Squadron, Nep proved to be a skilled pilot and a valuable asset to the team, distinguishing himself on the mission to Mrlsst and also serving as the unit's scrounger. He did not exhibit the caution and subdued personality common to his species, coming across as frenetic and thriving when freed from the highly regulated rules of society. Nep had a white beard, black eyes, and pink skin.

Dllr Nep was conceived by Michael A. Stackpole for the Dark Horse Comics series X-Wing: Rogue Squadron and made his debut appearance in the inaugural issue, X-Wing Rogue Squadron 1, which was released on July 1, 1995. The character featured in the first five X-Wing: Rogue Squadron story arcs before he and Herian I'ngre were killed off in the final issue of the Requiem for a Rogue arc. Stackpole has since stated that Nep's death was motivated by a desire to address a growing sentiment among fans of the series that no Rogues were dying.

Following Nep's demise, he was mentioned in subsequent issues of X-Wing: Rogue Squadron and made a fleeting appearance in the final issue of Haden Blackman's X-Wing: Rogue Leader, which depicts Nep shortly before joining Rogue Squadron. Nep was mentioned in Abel G. Peña and Rich Handley's article Aliens in the Empire and received entries in 1998's Star Wars Encyclopedia, 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and the Star Wars Insider 59 article "Who's Who in Rogue Squadron." The Star Wars Encyclopedia mistakenly identifies the character as "Nep Dllr."

An action figure of Nep was released in 2010 as part of Hasbro's Star Wars: The Legacy Collection. The figure is included in a comic book pack along with a Plourr Ilo figure and a copy of X-Wing Rogue Squadron 13.