Eurrsk Thri'ag

Eurrsk Thri'ag, otherwise known as Grinder, was a male Bothan pilot and slicer. In the year 7 ABY, amidst the Galactic Civil War, Thri'ag applied to join the new squadron of the renowned New Republic pilot Wedge Antilles. A prerequisite for applicants was a service record marred by near-expulsions or disciplinary actions. Upon accepting the transfer invitation, Thri'ag was dispatched to Folor Base—a New Republic training installation situated on Commenor's moon of Folor—for training. He successfully completed the simulation tests, securing the eighth position among the ten selected pilots.

Antilles, temporarily designating the starfighter unit as Gray Squadron, clarified to the new pilots that their secondary skill sets were the deciding factor in their selection; in Thri'ag's instance, it was his code slicing abilities. Thri'ag was appointed as the squadron's official slicer and given the designation of Gray Four; eventually, he was paired with Falynn Sandskimmer, a female hailing from Tatooine, as the squadron continued its training under Antilles's guidance.

Shortly after approving the squadron's official name, Wraith Squadron, a suggestion made by the squadron's intrusion expert, Tyria Sarkin, Antilles announced that they would commence training in hyperspace navigation and precision in navigational plotting. Each Wraith was tasked with designing a three-stage course to a location dubbed Doldrums, followed by a two-stage course back to Folor Base. Two hours into the assignment, as the Wraiths prepared to jump to hyperspace, Jesmin Ackbar, the Mon Calamari squadron's communications expert, began receiving transmissions on an Imperial channel. Deferring the training exercise, Antilles instructed the Wraiths to remain on standby and provide assistance while he informed Folor Base of the situation.

Driven by a desire to distinguish himself, Wraith demolitions expert Kell Tainer requested that Thri'ag, now designated as Wraith Four, infiltrate Commenor's official computer network. Tainer instructed Thri'ag to search for recent government force mobilizations, prioritized military ship and hyperdrive-equipped shuttle reservations, sudden hotel and resort bookings, and astronomical data pertaining to the area. Within minutes, Thri'ag discovered that a private yacht named Implacable had been directed to Orbital Spaceyard 301—the largest service berth on the planet—and granted authorization to conduct military exercises within the vicinity.

Antilles recognized the ship's name as that of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer commanded by Admiral Apwar Trigit, who had aligned himself with Warlord Zsinj following the death of Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard. Thanks to the efforts of Thri'ag and Tainer, Folor Base was able to establish its defenses and prepare for evacuation. Thri'ag and the rest of the Wraiths provided cover for the departing transports before initiating their own hyperspace jump to Doldrums.

En route to Doldrums, the Wraiths and their shuttle, the Narra, were forcibly extracted from hyperspace by the gravity well projector of an empion mine, a weapon designed to disrupt hyperspace travel. In addition to halting their hyperspace jump, the mine disabled several of the Wraith's X-wings—including Thri'ag's—and corrupted the memories of their astromech droids. Antilles ordered the Wraiths to land and perform repairs on the planet Xobome 6, the only nearby world possessing an atmosphere.

Once Thri'ag's X-wing was repaired, he assisted in constructing a makeshift vehicle—later christened the Lunatic—for the purpose of infiltrating the Imperial ship that was expected to arrive in the system. Thri'ag collaborated with the Wraith's Gamorrean pilot, Voort saBinring, in programming the R2 unit and control datapad integrated into the Lunatic to optimize its trajectory. Some time later, a modified CR90 corvette named Night Caller entered the system under the command of Captain Zurel Darillian, a subordinate of Zsinj temporarily assigned to Trigit.

Unbeknownst to them, Night Caller tractored the Lunatic into its hold, unaware that saBinring was concealed within its hidden compartment, armed with a stripped-down X-wing laser cannon. saBinring successfully fought his way to Night Caller's bridge and seized control of the ship, enabling the Wraiths to escape the Xobome system. However, instead of returning to a New Republic-controlled system, Antilles exercised his own initiative and initiated an undercover operation, with the Wraiths posing as the crew of the Night Caller, awaiting the opportune moment to strike at Zsinj.

Following a rendezvous with a New Republic force on Doldrums, where the Wraiths received supplementary supplies, a crew for the ship including Choday Hrakness as the captain of Night Caller, and Admiral Gial Ackbar's approval to continue their mission, Thri'ag became embroiled in a dispute with fellow pilot Sarkin. Occupying the lowest ranks within the squadron, Sarkin dedicated herself to relentless training on the X-wing simulator to enhance her skills. Believing he could offer assistance, Thri'ag volunteered to infiltrate Sarkin's simulator records and artificially inflate her scores. Recalling a past traumatic incident in which her simulator scores had been tampered with, Sarkin physically assaulted Thri'ag, resulting in a bloody nose, and had to be restrained by Tainer and Phanan.

Enraged, Thri'ag challenged Sarkin to a physical altercation but was interrupted by the arrival of Antilles and his executive officer, Wes Janson. Thri'ag and Sarkin were summoned to Antilles's office, where their commanding officer interrogated them regarding the cause of the conflict. Thri'ag explained that he had offered to perform an unethical act for Sarkin as a "joke," neglecting to mention his intention to assist her in cheating. Sarkin bore the brunt of the punishment by concealing Thri'ag's offer. Consequently, Thri'ag received a minor reprimand from Antilles, while Sarkin was disciplined by having her X-wing reassigned to Phanan, whose own X-wing had been destroyed during the capture of Night Caller.

It was during this period that Thri'ag developed a holographic overlay that generated a computer model of Darillian's body from the waist up, and incorporated his voice into the overlay. Utilizing Night Caller's journal, which Darillian maintained in full holo format, Thri'ag possessed ample material to encode his program. This enabled Garik Loran, their insertion and make-up expert, to impersonate Darillian during holo communications in subsequent missions.

One of their initial missions while posing as the crew of Night Caller was aimed at destroying a transparisteel product factory on the planet Xartun. Loran, disguised as an Imperial lieutenant, met with planetary officials while inspecting the factory. The remaining Wraiths concealed themselves in a nearby glade, scrutinizing the data transmitted to them by a hidden camera concealed within Loran's hat. By nightfall, the Wraiths, under Tainer's command, had infiltrated the factory. Thri'ag, in particular, was responsible for detecting a concealed security measure that would have jeopardized the operation, and for infiltrating the factory's hangar doors to facilitate their opening. While Tainer was emplacing explosives, the Wraiths were attacked by security probe droids. They successfully neutralized all of the droids and escaped the factory by commandeering a cargo skiff before Tainer's charges detonated, obliterating the transparisteel factory.

A day following the mission, the Wraiths convened in Night Caller's conference room for debriefing. They concluded that Zsinj was establishing a clandestine financial empire to support his flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Iron Fist, and was also forming cells in various systems analogous to a resistance movement. In light of this information, Antilles assigned Thri'ag to examine Night Caller's records for all the planets the ship had visited under Darillian's command. Whenever Night Caller—with the Wraiths secretly aboard—revisited a planet, Thri'ag was to infiltrate the planetary records and search for any properties that had been recently transferred or switched ownership. The Wraiths would then investigate and destroy the properties if Zsinj was identified as the new owner.

The Wraith's subsequent destination was the planet Belthu, where Thri'ag accurately identified the President of the planet's second-largest company and the Chairman of the planet's mining coalition as Zsinj's contacts. The two Zsinj collaborators furnished Loran—under the holographic disguise of Darillian—with information regarding the prices of ore stockpiles, and the location of a durasteel shipment awaiting pickup from Zsinj's cargo hauler. Antilles relayed this information to the New Republic Intelligence Service, which subsequently assumed control of the operation. Thri'ag remained behind while Night Caller jumped out of the system, and was subsequently transported by Intelligence agents to the mining corporation's headquarters to 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 Night Caller, and two days later, Intelligence destroyed the foundry.

The Wraiths continued their charade with a visit to the M2398 system, the home of a pirate group that Zsinj was attempting to recruit as mercenaries. As Night Caller was docking at the designated coordinates, the pirates launched a surprise attack. Due to the suddenness of the ambush, the Wraiths were compelled to swiftly exit Night Caller's hold and form temporary wing assignments as they launched. Thriag's wingmate for the battle was the Thakwaash pilot Hohass Ekwesh. The battle concluded with the pirates surrendering after sustaining heavy losses, despite their numerical superiority. Thri'ag and Sandskimmer, armed with blaster rifles, were assigned to guard the surrendering pirates, while the remaining Wraiths scoured the pirates' base for supplies.

Following the funeral of Wraith [Jesmin Ackbar](/article/jesmin_ackbar], who perished in the battle with the pirates, Zsinj contacted Night Caller and instructed Darillian—Loran in holographic disguise—to support Trigit's assault on a New Republic base on the planet Talasea. Night Caller was also instructed to rendezvous with the supply ship Hawkbat, where its captain was to board Night Caller for an inspection tour. To circumvent the inspection, Loran and Phanan proposed a plan in which the Wraiths would infect the crew of Hawkbat with a non-lethal disease during their shore leave on the planet Storinal. The Wraiths also intended to seize the opportunity to steal two TIE fighters from a local base on the planet to replace those they had destroyed during the capture of Night Caller.

Aboard Narra, which had been repainted to resemble a private shuttle, the Wraiths managed to evade Storinal's customs inspection undetected, largely due to their stereotypical disguises and counterfeit identification cards forged by Thri'ag. Thri'ag himself also joined the group but was forced to conceal himself in Narra's smuggling compartment due to the Imperial's distrust of Bothans, stemming from the involvement of Bothan code-slicers in acquiring the plans for the second Death Star years earlier.

After surveying the Scohar Xenohealth Institute—where Storinal stored samples of diseases—Phanan, Tainer, and Sarkin brought Thri'ag with them on their second trip back to the institute. Dubbed as Plague Group, their mission was to acquire the disease they would use to infect Hawkbat's crew. Phanan, in particular, believed that Thri'ag's slicing skills would prove invaluable during their intrusion. This proved accurate when Thri'ag successfully gained access to the building's records by infiltrating the institute's mainframe with ease, providing the group with floor plan schematics.

While infiltrating the area where the diseases were stored, Thri'ag discovered a cache of Storini glass prowlers. Deciding that the insect could be used for a future prank, Thri'ag appropriated one without the knowledge of the rest of the group. With the first phase of their mission completed, Plague Group's next objective was to plant canisters containing Bunkurd Sewer Disorder, the disease they had stolen from the institute, into Hawkbat's Perch and Hawkbat's Vigil, the shuttles used by Hawkbat to transport its crew to and from Revos. The group successfully rigged the shuttles and escaped by boarding Narra while Ekwesh strafed Revos Spaceport in his X-wing as a diversion. All of the Wraiths managed to escape the planet, with Antilles and Sandskimmer piloting their stolen TIE fighters.

The Wraith's subsequent mission involved deploying surveillance satellites provided to them by the crew of Hawkbat. By this point, Thri'ag had begun to plague the squadron with pranks, installing greasy tubes and metal springs inside Tainer's locker, which would spring out and startle Tainer upon opening his locker, and placing a pressurized suit with a knife taped to its glove inside Sandskimmer's closet, arranging it to appear as if someone was attempting to attack her. Prior to the mission's commencement, Thri'ag seized the opportunity to prank Loran by releasing the glass prowler inside Loran's X-wing. Thri'ag anticipated that Loran would panic during the mission upon encountering the insect. However, the mission was completed without incident. Confused, Thri'ag inspected Loran's snubfighter afterward for any trace of the insect but found none.

Unbeknownst to Thri'ag, Phanan had also taken a glass prowler from the institute and had kept it as a pet. As Phanan was Loran's wingman, the latter was familiar with the insect and mistook Thri'ag's glass prowler for Phanan's when it crawled on him during the mission. Realizing it was another of the pranks being perpetrated on the squadron, Loran surmised that only someone with knowledge of his passcode could have left the glass prowler, and deduced that Thri'ag was the prankster.

In retaliation for the numerous pranks Thri'ag had inflicted upon the squadron, Phanan, Loran, and Tainer orchestrated their own prank against the Bothan. Loran fabricated a false entry regarding the fictitious Storini Crystal Deceiver on Night Caller's encyclopedia, while Tainer created a device that mimicked the sound of a glass prowler crawling. The three of them successfully deceived Thri'ag, convincing him that the glass prowler he had taken was actually a crystal deceiver—a similar-looking insect often mistaken for a glass prowler but far more deadly—and that the insect was planning to devour him within his room. Ultimately, Thri'ag fainted from fright and was sent to Night Caller's sick bay for medical evaluation under Phanan's care. There, Thri'ag was finally confronted by Loran and Phanan, and was compelled to admit to being the perpetrator of the pranks. The Bothan also agreed to cease his prankster activities in exchange for Loran's and Phanan's promises not to disseminate the story of his fainting throughout the New Republic armed forces.

Following their rendezvous with Hawkbat, the Wraiths piloted Night Caller to join Implacable, the corvette Constrictor, and the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Provocateur for the planned assault on Talasea. Unbeknownst to Admiral Trigit, the New Republic had a superior force lying in wait to ambush his forces at Talasea. After being presented with evidence that it was a trap, Trigit ordered Implacable to disengage from hyperspace. The three remaining ships arrived at Talasea, and Captain Hrakness of Night Caller decided to attack the two ships before they could escape, exploiting their unshielded hulls. During the brief battle, Night Caller's bridge was destroyed, resulting in the deaths of all those within. Loran, who was aboard the ship, assumed command of the auxiliary bridge, utilizing a password provided by Thri'ag. The battle concluded with Constrictor's surrender and Provocateur's destruction following a proton torpedo barrage from the Wraith's X-wings.

Thri'ag's involvement extended to the Battle of Ession, yet another elaborate scheme designed to ensnare Trigit. The ruse involved Night Caller supposedly drawing the New Republic's premier Rogue starfighter squadron into an ambush orchestrated by Zsinj's forces. Loran skillfully manipulated Zsinj into offering a tempting target for the Rogues: the Pakkerd Light Transport plant on Ession, a facility manufacturing TIE fighters for Zsinj. Hostilities commenced with the arrival of the cargo transport Red Feathers. This vessel was, in reality, 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 self-destruct upon atmospheric entry, releasing the starfighters. As Blood Nest disintegrated, Rogue, Green, and Blue Squadrons emerged from its wreckage. Implacable and Night Caller responded by launching their TIE fighters to engage the incoming squadrons. However, the Wraiths' TIE fighters, designated Gray Flight, positioned themselves strategically near Implacable. While Implacable's TIE fighters rushed to confront the New Republic squadrons, Antilles initiated their attack. Gray Flight targeted Implacable's bridge, obliterating it, while the Wraiths launched a salvo of proton torpedoes from Night Caller's hold before joining the fray.

During the conflict, Sandskimmer identified a unique opportunity to cripple Implacable by piloting her TIE fighter through a breach created by Night Caller's turbolasers. This would allow her to attack the ship from within. Despite Antilles' objections to her risky plan, she proceeded, accompanied by Thri'ag, who defied Antilles' order to halt Sandskimmer. Once inside Implacable, they systematically disabled its power cells, rendering the ship powerless and setting it on a collision course with one of Ession's moons. While escaping the doomed vessel, Thri'ag's X-wing collided with debris, causing him to momentarily lose control. Regaining control, his X-wing was struck directly by a turbolaser blast from Implacable, resulting in Thri'ag's immediate death.

Following the capture of Night Caller, Thri'ag's holographic overlay, which enabled Loran to impersonate Darillian, proved to be exceptionally valuable. The Wraith Squadron's Night Caller deception, which provided them with crucial intelligence on Zsinj's operations and facilitated traps like those at Ession and Talasea, would not have been possible without this program.

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

Eurrsk Thri'ag was generally perceived as reserved and reclusive, preferring to avoid close relationships with his fellow squadron members. Known for his practical jokes, Thri'ag frequently used his slicing abilities to play pranks on his Wraith Squadron colleagues. He gained unauthorized access to their starfighters, lockers, and living quarters on Night Caller by obtaining their passwords.

Thri'ag displayed a certain arrogance regarding his skills, particularly when his slicing expertise was required in critical situations. Whenever his assistance was needed, Thri'ag tended to emphasize the ease with which he could accomplish the task, regardless of its complexity. Wedge Antilles often found Thri'ag to be almost unbearable. However, despite his arrogance, Thri'ag demonstrated bravery and loyalty towards his comrades on numerous occasions. During the Battle of Ession, he accompanied Falynn Sandskimmer into the breach on Implacable's keel, despite Antilles's prohibition due to the inherent danger. After disabling as many power cells as possible, causing the Star Destroyer to crash, Thri'ag refused to leave without Sandskimmer.

Eurrsk Thri'ag possessed exceptional slicing skills, which prompted Wedge Antilles to recruit him for Wraith Squadron. Throughout his tenure with the Wraiths, Thri'ag consistently proved to be invaluable in their missions, successfully slicing security systems and acquiring necessary data without fail. He always carried a list of key codes for immediate use in slicing systems when required. Despite Ton Phanan's assessment of him as a mediocre pilot, Thri'ag demonstrated proficiency in piloting.

Thri'ag also considered himself an expert on Human psychology. During the Wraith Squadron screening process, he correctly assessed that Falynn Sandskimmer's interest in Myn Donos stemmed not from romantic feelings, but from inherent female Human instincts to nurture him back to health. This assessment was corroborated by Tyria Sarkin, another female Human in the squadron.

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