Garl Lykan was a male human who flew TIE fighters for the Galactic Empire as part of the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing. Not long after the Battle of Endor, he was responsible for saving the life of a fellow pilot named Armenauth. Several weeks following the events at Endor, Lykan took part in a hunt targeting the New Republic EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate known as the Hellion's Dare and the squadrons escorting it. He was known for his signature move, dubbed the Needle by New Republic pilots, which he used to kill the A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter pilot Rawn. Lykan was also referred to as "Snapper" by the New Republic pilots.
Lykan's unit successfully destroyed the Hellion's Dare, eliminating all but two of the New Republic pilots. However, some time later, General Hera Syndulla's New Republic battle group achieved victory over the 204th at their base located in the Pandem Nai system. The remaining members of the fighter wing escaped aboard the Quasar Fire-class cruiser carrier called Aerie. Around 5 ABY, Lykan was involved in the 204th's attack against Syndulla's battle group within the Cerberon system. While stationed on the planet Troithe, the fighter wing faced a counter attack, during which Lykan utilized the Needle to eliminate the New Republic pilot Ubellikos.
The 204th was compelled to withdraw from the Cerberon system. Later in 5 ABY, the fighter wing engaged in a series of genocidal acts until Syndulla's battle group arrived to pursue them. The 204th was targeted in several systems, their location revealed by a communications signal originating from the flagship. During a battle in the Ghonoath system, Lykan's port stabilizer malfunctioned, leading to his death at the hands of three X-wing starfighters. A funeral was held for him that evening, presided over by Captain Armenauth, who, along with Colonel Soran Keize, mourned the fallen pilot.
During the Galactic Civil War fought between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, Garl Lykan served the Empire as a TIE fighter pilot within the ranks of the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing. Not long after the Battle of Endor occurred in 4 ABY, he was responsible for rescuing fellow pilot Armenauth, a deed he frequently brought up to remind him of the event. Following Endor, the Alliance transitioned into the New Republic and the Imperial Military fragmented. Soon the 204th found themselves without direction from the Empire's higher command, eventually establishing a stronghold on the planet Pandem Nai.
Several weeks after the Endor conflict, Lykan was stationed aboard the 204th's Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier Aerie with orders to track down the New Republic EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Hellion's Dare. This frigate was conducting reconnaissance as part of an operation planned by the 204th's commanding officer, Colonel Shakara Nuress, to safeguard the secrecy surrounding the fighter wing's new base at Pandem Nai. The Aerie's complement of thirty-two TIE fighters, organized into two squadrons, forced the Dare and its escorting RZ-1 A-wing interceptor and A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter squadrons, Riot Squadron and Hound Squadron respectively, to retreat from the Jiruus system.
The chase of the Hellion's Dare by the Aerie's squadrons led through the Oridol Cluster. They tracked the New Republic forces by targeting individual enemy starfighters as they prepared to jump into hyperspace to acquire their jump coordinates. Lykan engaged Hound Three, piloted by Chass na Chadic, twice before she ultimately killed Hirodin Nasli, the first pilot from the Aerie to be lost. He was also known for a particular combat tactic involving trapping and destroying his opponents. The pilots of Riot and Hound Squadrons named this maneuver the Needle and gave Lykan the nickname "Snapper." Lykan, along with a flight of TIEs, utilized the Needle to eliminate the B-wing pilot Rawn.
The New Republic pilots discussed "Snapper" and the other pilots from the 204th, noting that the Imperials had become less disciplined over time. During a subsequent battle, Lykan attempted a variation of the Needle, and Riot Five Sata Neek intervened to disrupt it. Both the Aerie and the Hellion's Dare sustained damage during this engagement, losing their respective hyperspace capabilities. Both sides then focused on repairing their vessels, with the 204th's cruiser-carrier completing repairs first. The TIEs then engaged the Dare and its remaining starfighter escort until the New Republic forces were annihilated, with only Chadic and Riot Three Wyl Lark managing to escape.
Several weeks later, a New Republic battle group was deployed to the Pandem Nai system to attack the 204th on the planet Pandem Nai. The New Republic Intelligence working group Alphabet Squadron, which Lark and Chadic had joined, spearheaded the attack which forced the surviving members of the Imperial fighter wing to retreat aboard the Aerie, with Colonel Nuress lost in the battle. Lykan remained with the 204th, and by approximately 5 ABY, the fighter wing was under the command of Colonel Soran Keize, who had been promoted in the field, and utilized the salvaged Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Edict.
Lykan was a participant when the 204th attacked Syndulla's battle group in the Cerberon system. This engagement resulted in the destruction of both the Edict and the Aerie, as well as the New Republic forces' flagship, the Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ship Lodestar. Stranded on the planet Troithe, the 204th engaged forces aligned with the New Republic and eventually established a temporary base at the Core Nine mining megafacility.
A small New Republic strike force soon initiated an attack on Core Nine with the New Republic's 61st Mobile Infantry. As the 204th scrambled to defend against the invaders, Lykan managed to eliminate Ubellikos, one of the New Republic pilots, using the Needle maneuver, trapping the pilot with no escape. Shortly afterward, the 204th, including Lykan, escaped from the battle aboard a bulk freighter provided by Troithe's acting Imperial governor, Fara Yadeez. As they were pursued by New Republic reinforcements, the bulk freighter launched missiles towards the planet below, creating a diversion that allowed them to escape Troithe and enter hyperspace.
Later that year, the 204th, under orders from Grand Moff Randd, committed a series of genocidal acts on worlds that had not remained loyal to the remnants of the Empire. By this time, Lykan held the rank of Flight Commander in the 204th's Squadron Four, under the command of Captain Armenauth, and the 204th's acquired bulk freighter had been renamed the Yadeez, after Fara Yadeez. However, due to communications signals emitted from the Yadeez, orchestrated by the New Republic sympathizer Yrica Quell, Syndulla's battle group tracked the 204th to the Ciaox Verith system and attacked the unit. The New Republic forces continued to track the 204th via these comm bursts and relentlessly harassed the fighter wing.
When the 204th stopped in the Ghonoath system to refuel a support ship, a Raider-class corvette, the Yadeez and its escorts lured Syndulla's forces into the atmosphere of a radioactive planet to hinder the enemy. During the ensuing battle, Lykan was forced to retreat due to a power failure in his TIE's port stabilizer. Consequently, he was isolated and killed by a trio of X-wing starfighters while the rest of Squadron Four shouted in vain.
The evening following the battle, Lykan was given a funeral in the Yadeez's hangar bay, presided over by Armenauth. The captain announced that Lieutenant Nord Kandende had been promoted to flight commander in Lykan's place and delivered a eulogy for the fallen commander to the assembled pilots until Keize intervened, offering his own words about Lykan to conclude the ceremony. Afterward, the colonel remarked to Lieutenant Yrica Quell that Lykan had grasped the new rules of engagement the 204th had to adopt to survive.
Garl Lykan, a human male, was a TIE fighter pilot serving the Galactic Empire. He consistently reminded Armenauth of his life-saving act, sometimes to the point of humiliating his comrade. Lykan also favored a combat maneuver, dubbed the Needle by New Republic pilots, where one or more TIEs would trap and destroy an enemy starfighter, leaving it with no means of escape. The flight commander understood that the rules of war had changed, yet, assuming his TIE fighter was functioning optimally, he did not anticipate the failure of his port stabilizers, which ultimately led to his demise.
The pilot made his initial appearance as a TIE fighter pilot, known by the nickname "Snapper," in the 2019 novel Alphabet Squadron, penned by Alexander Freed. His identity as Garl Lykan was first revealed in the conclusion of Freed's Alphabet Squadron trilogy, the 2021 novel Victory's Price.[3]