Eurrsk Thri'ag

Biography

Joining Wraith Squadron

Eurrsk Thri'ag, who was also known by the nickname Grinder, was a Bothan male slicer and also a pilot. During the Galactic Civil War, in the year 7 ABY, Thri'ag put in an application to join the new squadron of the renowned New Republic pilot Wedge Antilles. One of the requirements for applicants was that the pilots either be close to failing in their duties or have some blemishes on their service records. After he was given an invitation to transfer, Thri'ag was directed to Folor Base, a New Republic training facility located on the moon of Folor that orbits Commenor. He successfully completed the simulation tests, placing eighth out of the ten pilots who were selected.

Antilles, who was temporarily calling the starfighter unit Gray Squadron, told the new pilots that it was their secondary skills that had secured their positions in the squadron. In Thri'ag's particular case, it was his abilities in code slicing. Thri'ag became the squadron's official slicer and was given the designation of Gray Four. He was ultimately paired with Falynn Sandskimmer, a female from Tatooine, as the squadron continued its training under Antilles.

Not long after approving the squadron's official name, Wraith Squadron, which had been suggested by the squadron's intrusion expert, Tyria Sarkin, Antilles declared that they would commence training to improve their hyperspace skills and accuracy in plotting navigational courses. The Wraiths were each given the task of developing a three-stage course to a location that was nicknamed Doldrums, and then a two-stage course back to Folor Base. After being given the assignment, the Wraiths were about to jump to hyperspace when Jesmin Ackbar, the Mon Calamari communications expert for the squadron, started receiving transmissions on an Imperial channel. Antilles decided to postpone the training exercise, and he ordered the Wraiths to stand by and make themselves useful while he informed Folor Base about the situation.

Battle of Folor

Kell Tainer, Wraith's demolitions expert, was hoping to make a name for himself, so he asked Thri'ag, who was now designated as Wraith Four, to slice into Commenor's official computer system. Tainer wanted Thri'ag to search for any new movements of government forces, recent reservations for ship berths that were prioritized for military ships and hyperdrive-equipped shuttles, any sudden reservations for hotels and resorts, and any astronomical data that was in the area. In just a few minutes, Thri'ag discovered that a private yacht named Implacable had been directed to Orbital Spaceyard 301, which was the largest service berth on the planet, and it had been given permission to conduct military exercises in the area.

Antilles recognized the ship's name as that of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer that was under the command of Admiral Apwar Trigit, who had become an ally of Warlord Zsinj following the death of Ysanne Isard, the Director of Imperial Intelligence. Thanks to the actions of Thri'ag and Tainer, Folor Base was able to establish its defenses and get ready for an evacuation. Thri'ag and the other members of the Wraiths provided cover for the transports that were fleeing before they themselves made a hyperspace jump to Doldrums.

Before they arrived at Doldrums, the Wraiths and their shuttle, the Narra, were pulled out of hyperspace by the gravity well projector of an empion mine, which is a type of weapon that can disrupt hyperspace travel. In addition to pulling them out of hyperspace, the mine also disabled several of the Wraith's X-wings, including the one that Thri'ag was flying, and it also shorted out the memories of all of their astromech droids. Antilles ordered the Wraiths to land and make repairs on the planet Xobome 6, which was the only world in the vicinity that had an atmosphere.

After Thri'ag's X-wing was repaired, he helped to put together a makeshift vehicle, which was later called the Lunatic, so that they could infiltrate the Imperial ship that was expected to arrive in the system. Thri'ag collaborated with Voort saBinring, the Wraith's Gamorrean pilot, to program the R2 unit and the control datapad that were installed in the Lunatic to help guide its trajectory. At some point later, a modified CR90 corvette known as Night Caller arrived in the system under the command of Captain Zurel Darillian, who was a subordinate of Zsinj and had been temporarily assigned to Trigit.

The Night Caller used a tractor beam to pull the Lunatic into its hold, unaware that saBinring was inside its hidden compartment, armed with a stripped-down X-wing laser cannon. SaBinring was able to fight his way through the Night Caller's bridge and take control of the ship, which allowed the Wraiths to escape from the Xobome system. However, instead of going back to a system that was under New Republic control, Antilles acted on his own and started an undercover operation in which the Wraiths pretended to be the crew of the Night Caller, waiting for the perfect chance to strike at Zsinj.

Altercation with Tyria Sarkin

After meeting up with a New Republic force on Doldrums, where the Wraiths received more supplies and a crew for the ship, which included Choday Hrakness as the captain of the Night Caller, as well as Admiral Gial Ackbar's approval to continue their mission, Thri'ag got into a dispute with Sarkin, who was also a pilot. Sarkin was near the bottom of the squadron's rankings, so she was constantly practicing on the X-wing simulator to improve her skills. Thri'ag thought that he might be able to help, so he volunteered to slice into Sarkin's simulator records and make her scores better. Because of a previous traumatic experience in which her simulator scores had been altered, Sarkin physically attacked Thri'ag, bloodying his nose, and Tainer and Phanan had to restrain her.

Thri'ag was furious, so he challenged Sarkin to a fight, but he was stopped when Antilles and his executive officer, Wes Janson, arrived on the scene. Antilles ordered Thri'ag and Sarkin to go to his office, where he questioned them about what had caused the fight. Thri'ag explained that he had offered to do something unethical for Sarkin as a "joke," but he didn't mention that he had planned to help her cheat. Sarkin took most of the blame because she also didn't mention Thri'ag's offer. As a result, Antilles gave Thri'ag a minor reprimand, while Sarkin was punished by having her X-wing transferred to Phanan, whose own X-wing had been destroyed when they captured the Night Caller.

Night Caller charade

During this time, Thri'ag created a holographic overlay that presented a computer model of Darillian's body from the waist up, and he also encoded his voice into an overlay. Thri'ag was able to encode his program because the Night Caller's journal, which was kept in full holo by Darillian, had more than enough samples. This allowed Garik Loran, their insertion and make-up expert, to impersonate Darillian during holo communications in their later missions.

One of their first missions while pretending to be the crew of the Night Caller was aimed at destroying a transparisteel product factory on the planet Xartun. Loran disguised himself as an Imperial lieutenant and met with planetary officials while he was inspecting the factory. The other members of the Wraiths hid in a nearby glade and studied the data that was being sent to them by a hidden camera in Loran's hat. By nightfall, the Wraiths had infiltrated the factory under the command of Tainer. Thri'ag was specifically responsible for spotting a hidden security measure that would have compromised the operation, and he also sliced into the factory's hangar doors to open them. While Tainer was planting explosives, the Wraiths were attacked by security probe droids. They were able to neutralize all of the droids and escape the factory by commandeering a cargo skiff before Tainer's charges went off, destroying the transparisteel factory.

The Wraiths met in the Night Caller's conference room a day after the mission to debrief. They came to the conclusion that Zsinj was creating a secret financial empire to support his flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Iron Fist, and that he was also forming cells in different systems that were similar to a resistance movement. Because of this information, Antilles assigned Thri'ag to look through the Night Caller's records for all of the planets that the ship had visited while it was under Darillian's command. When the Night Caller visited a planet again, with the Wraiths secretly on board, Thri'ag was supposed to slice into the planetary records and look for any properties that had been recently switched or transferred. The Wraiths would then investigate and destroy the properties if it turned out that Zsinj was the new owner.

The Wraith's next stop was the planet Belthu, where Thri'ag correctly identified the President of the planet's second largest company and the Chairman of the planet's mining coalition as contacts of Zsinj. The two Zsinj collaborators gave Loran, who was using the holographic disguise of Darillian, information about the prices of ore stockpiles, and also the location of a durasteel shipment that was waiting to be picked up by Zsinj's cargo hauler. Antilles passed the information on to the New Republic Intelligence Service, which then took over the operation. Thri'ag stayed behind while the Night Caller jumped out of the system, and Intelligence agents then delivered him to the mining corporation's headquarters so that he could search for property transfers. Thri'ag discovered a small, outdated durasteel foundry that had been transferred to an alias of Zsinj. Thri'ag rejoined the Wraiths aboard the Night Caller, and two days later, Intelligence destroyed the foundry.

The Wraiths continued their charade with a visit to the M2398 system, which was home to a group of pirates that Zsinj was trying to hire as mercenaries. The Night Caller was docking at the given coordinates when the pirates launched a surprise attack. Because the ambush was so sudden, the Wraiths had to quickly fly out of the Night Caller's hold and form up into temporary wing assignments as they launched. Hohass Ekwesh, the Thakwaash pilot, was Thriag's wingmate for the battle. The battle ended when the pirates surrendered after suffering heavy losses, even though they had superior numbers. Thri'ag and Sandskimmer, who were armed with blaster rifles, were assigned to guard the pirates who had surrendered, while the rest of the Wraiths searched the pirates' base for supplies.

Mission to Storinal

After the funeral of Jesmin Ackbar, who had died in the battle with the pirates, Zsinj contacted the Night Caller and ordered Darillian, who was actually Loran in a holographic disguise, to support Trigit's attack on a New Republic base on the planet Talasea. The Night Caller was also ordered to meet up with the supply ship Hawkbat, and its captain was supposed to come aboard the Night Caller for an inspection tour. To prevent the inspection from taking place, Loran and Phanan suggested a plan in which the Wraiths would infect the crew of the Hawkbat with a non-lethal disease while they were on shore leave on the planet Storinal. The Wraiths also planned to take advantage of the opportunity to steal two TIE fighters from a local base on the planet to replace the ones that they had destroyed when they captured the Night Caller.

The Wraiths were aboard the Narra, which had been repainted to look like a private shuttle, and they were able to pass through Storinal's customs inspection without being detected, largely because of their stereotypical disguises and the fake identification cards that Thri'ag had forged. Thri'ag also joined the group, but he had to hide in the Narra's smuggling compartment because the Imperials didn't trust Bothans, which was because Bothan code-slicers had participated in obtaining the plans for the second Death Star years earlier.

After surveying the Scohar Xenohealth Institute, where Storinal kept samples of diseases, Phanan, Tainer, and Sarkin brought Thri'ag with them on their second trip back to the institute. They were called the Plague Group, and their mission was to obtain the disease that they would be using to infect the Hawkbat's crew. Phanan specifically believed that Thri'ag's slicing skills would be helpful in their intrusion. This turned out to be true when Thri'ag was the one who gained access to the building's records by easily slicing into the institute's mainframe, and he also provided the group with floor plan schematics.

While they were sneaking into the area where the diseases were stored, Thri'ag came across a cache of Storini glass prowlers. Thri'ag decided that the insect could be used as a prank later on, so he took one without the rest of the group knowing. With the first part of their mission completed, the Plague Group's next assignment was to plant canisters containing Bunkurd Sewer Disorder, which was the disease that the group had stolen from the institute, into Hawkbat's Perch and Hawkbat's Vigil, which were the shuttles that the Hawkbat used to transport its crew to and from Revos. The group successfully rigged the shuttles and escaped by boarding the Narra while Ekwesh strafed Revos Spaceport in his X-wing as a distraction. All of the Wraiths were able to escape the planet with Antilles and Sandskimmer piloting their stolen TIE fighters.

The squadron's prankster

The Wraith's next mission was to deploy surveillance satellites that had been given to them by the crew of the Hawkbat. By this time, Thri'ag had started to plague the squadron with pranks. He set up greasy tubes and metal springs inside Tainer's locker, which sprung out and surprised Tainer when he opened his locker, and he put a pressurized suit with a knife taped to its glove inside Sandskimmer's closet, arranging it so that it looked like someone was trying to attack her. Before the mission started, Thri'ag took the opportunity to play a prank on Loran by releasing the glass prowler inside Loran's X-wing. Thri'ag expected that Loran would panic during the mission when he saw the insect. However, the mission was completed without any problems. Thri'ag was confused, so he inspected Loran's snubfighter afterward to see if he could find any sign of the insect, but he found nothing.

Phanan had also taken a glass prowler from the institute, and he had been keeping it as a pet, but Thri'ag didn't know about it. Because Phanan was Loran's wingman, Loran was familiar with the insect, and when it crawled on him during the mission, he thought that Thri'ag's glass prowler was Phanan's. Loran realized that it was another one of the pranks that were being played on the squadron, and he figured that the only person who could have left the glass prowler was someone who knew his passcode, so he deduced that Thri'ag was the prankster.

Phanan, Loran, and Tainer decided to get revenge on Thri'ag for all of the pranks that he had played on the squadron, so they plotted their own prank against the Bothan. Loran created a false entry about the fictitious Storini Crystal Deceiver in the Night Caller's encyclopedia, and Tainer created a device that mimicked the sound of a glass prowler crawling. The three of them were able to trick Thri'ag into believing that the glass prowler he had taken was actually a crystal deceiver, which is a similar-looking insect that is often mistaken for a glass prowler but is much more deadly, and that the insect was planning to eat him inside his room. Thri'ag ended up fainting from fright, and he was sent to the Night Caller's sick bay for a medical evaluation under Phanan. Loran and Phanan finally confronted Thri'ag there, and he was forced to admit that he was the one who had been playing the pranks. The Bothan also agreed to stop playing pranks in exchange for Loran's and Phanan's promises that they wouldn't spread the story of him fainting across the New Republic armed forces.

Talasea and Ession

After they met up with the Hawkbat, the Wraiths took the Night Caller to join the Implacable, the corvette Constrictor, and the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Provocateur for the planned assault on Talasea. Admiral Trigit didn't know that the New Republic had a superior force waiting to ambush his forces at Talasea. After he was shown evidence that it was a trap, Trigit had the Implacable drop out of hyperspace. The other three ships arrived at Talasea, and Captain Hrakness of the Night Caller decided to attack the two ships before they could escape, taking advantage of their unshielded hulls. During the short battle, the Night Caller's bridge was destroyed, killing everyone inside. Loran, who was on board the ship, took command of the auxiliary bridge by using a password that Thri'ag had given him. The battle ended when the Constrictor surrendered and the Provocateur was destroyed after the Wraith's X-wings launched a proton torpedo barrage.

title: Thri'ag

Subsequently, Thri'ag took part in the Battle of Ession, yet another elaborate ruse designed to ensnare Trigit. Using the fabricated tale that the Night Caller was enticing the New Republic's premier Rogue starfighter squadron into an ambush orchestrated by Zsinj's forces, Loran cleverly persuaded Zsinj to designate a target that the Rogues would be eager to obliterate. Zsinj designated the Pakkerd Light Transport plant, a factory producing TIE fighters for his war effort, situated on the planet Ession. The conflict commenced with the sudden arrival of the cargo transport Red Feathers. This vessel was, in actuality, the Super Transport VI Blood Nest, the pirate baseship previously encountered by the Wraiths in the M2398 system. Concealed within its cargo hold were three New Republic squadrons, and the ship was programmed to explode upon entering Ession's atmosphere, thus deploying the starfighters. As Blood Nest disintegrated, Rogue, Green, and Blue Squadrons emerged from its wreckage. In response, both the Implacable and the Night Caller launched their TIE fighters to engage the incoming enemy ships. However, the Wraiths' fighters, known as Gray Flight, strategically positioned themselves near the Implacable. While the Implacable's TIE fighters surged forward to confront the New Republic squadrons, Antilles initiated the attack. Gray Flight unleashed a devastating barrage on the Implacable's bridge, obliterating it instantly. Simultaneously, the Wraiths launched a salvo of proton torpedoes from the Night Caller's hold before joining the fray.

During the intense battle, Sandskimmer identified a unique opportunity to cripple the Implacable: piloting her TIE fighter through a breach in the ship's hull created by the Night Caller's turbolasers, allowing her to attack from within. Despite Antilles's disapproval of her risky plan, she proceeded, accompanied by Thri'ag, who ignored Antilles's order to halt Sandskimmer. Once inside the Implacable, they systematically destroyed its power cells, rendering the vessel powerless and setting it on a collision course with one of Ession's moons. As Thri'ag was attempting to escape the doomed ship, his X-wing collided with debris, causing him to momentarily lose control of his starfighter. Regaining control, however, his X-wing was struck directly by a turbolaser blast from the Implacable, resulting in Thri'ag's immediate death.

Legacy

Following the capture of the Night Caller, Thri'ag's holographic overlay creation, which had enabled Loran to impersonate Darillian, proved to be exceptionally valuable. Without this program, Wraith Squadron would have been unable to execute their Night Caller deception, which had provided them with the chance to gather intelligence on Zsinj's operations, as well as orchestrating traps such as those at Ession and Talasea.

Due to the courageous actions of Thri'ag and Sandskimmer during the Battle of Ession, the Implacable was compelled to surrender due to the destruction of its primary power cells, thus preventing further casualties on both sides. Thri'ag's call sign, Wraith Four, was subsequently adopted by the new Wraith pilot Dia Passik, and his role as the squadron's code slicer was assumed by another new Wraith recruit, Castin Donn.

Personality and traits

Eurrsk Thri'ag was generally regarded as reserved, preferring solitude and avoiding close relationships with his squadron mates. As a practical joker, Thri'ag frequently employed his slicing skills to play pranks on his fellow Wraith Squadron pilots. He managed to gain unrestricted access to their starfighters, lockers, and living quarters aboard the Night Caller by obtaining their passwords.

Thri'ag possessed a degree of arrogance regarding his abilities, particularly when his slicing expertise was urgently required. Whenever his assistance was needed, Thri'ag would subtly emphasize how easily he could accomplish the task, regardless of its complexity. Wedge Antilles often felt that Thri'ag bordered on being unbearable. Despite his arrogance, Thri'ag demonstrated bravery and loyalty toward his comrades on numerous occasions. During the Battle of Ession, he flew into the breach in the Implacable's keel alongside Falynn Sandskimmer, despite Antilles's assessment of the mission as excessively dangerous and his explicit prohibition of their entry. After destroying as many power cells as possible, thereby causing the Star Destroyer to crash, Thri'ag refused to abandon the ship without Sandskimmer.

Talents and abilities

Eurrsk Thri'ag was a highly skilled slicer, a talent that prompted Wedge Antilles to recruit him into Wraith Squadron. Throughout his tenure with the Wraiths, Thri'ag consistently proved to be essential to their missions; he consistently succeeded in slicing security systems and acquiring necessary data. He always carried a list of key codes for situations where he needed to quickly slice a system. Despite Ton Phanan's assessment of him as an average pilot, Thri'ag demonstrated proficiency in piloting.

Thri'ag also professed to be an expert on Human psychology. During the Wraith Squadron screening process, he theorized that Falynn Sandskimmer's interest in Myn Donos stemmed not from romantic feelings, but from the innate female Human instinct to nurture him back to health. This assessment was supported by Tyria Sarkin, another female Human member of the squadron.

Behind the scenes

Eurrsk Thri'ag was a character conceived by author Aaron Allston for his novel X-Wing: Wraith Squadron, the fifth installment in the Star Wars: X-Wing series, published in 1998. He was depicted by Star Wars artist Scott Roller in the article Who's Who in Rogue Squadron, featured in Star Wars Insider 59 published in 2002.