Jiruus

Jiruus was a planet of the terrestrial type, situated within the boundaries of the Jiruus system. It had at least one moon in its orbit, recognized as the Grinning Moon of Jiruus. This planet was the original homeworld of the Jiruusi species, and its atmosphere was suitable for breathing not only by its native inhabitants but also by other species such as humans, Duros, Theelins, and Ishi Tib.

During the time when the Galactic Empire held sway, the Jiruus system was highly valued by the Imperial moff governing its sector, even though the residents of Jiruus harbored resentment towards the Empire. However, as the Empire waged war against the Rebel Alliance, the Galactic Emperor met his death during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. The Alliance then transformed into the New Republic. With the Empire's forces fracturing and its territories being lost, the moff in charge of Jiruus's sector was killed, thus liberating Jiruus from Imperial authority.

A few weeks following the Battle of Endor, the Hellion's Dare, an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate belonging to the New Republic, journeyed to the Jiruus system. It was accompanied by two escort squadrons: Riot Squadron, flying RZ-1 A-wing interceptors, and Hound Squadron, operating A/SF-01 B-wing starfighters. This mission was a reconnaissance effort to investigate communication failures across several systems. The Hellion's Dare utilized Jiruus as a central gathering point for scout vessels, stationing itself within the planet's atmospheric layer. The citizens of Jiruus celebrated the arrival of the pilots from Riot and Hound Squadron, with festivities taking place in the streets.

One hour after midnight, members of Riot Squadron bid farewell to their fellow pilot, Wyl Lark, known as Riot Three. Lark intended to return to his homeworld. They gathered in some gardens during the night, sharing stories of past battles they had survived. Chass na Chadic, a Theelin pilot from Hound Squadron, mockingly labeled Lark a coward from a distance, but Lark and his comrades disregarded the B-wing pilot's taunts. As the Riot Squadron pilots gradually dispersed, Lark was left with Sata Neek, an Ishi Tib known as Riot Five, before he went to spend the night with a Jiruusi at her home.

In a parallel development, the Empire's 204th Imperial Fighter Wing was conducting coordinated operations against New Republic outposts and reconnaissance teams to safeguard the secrecy of their new operational base in the Pandem Nai system. The fighter wing dispatched the Aerie, a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier carrying thirty-two TIE/ln space superiority starfighters forming two squadrons, to the Jiruus system under the command of Lieutenant Preartes. Their mission was to destroy the Hellion's Dare. Consequently, the Aerie's squadrons engaged the New Republic frigate positioned above Jiruus.

Riot and Hound Squadrons swiftly responded to defend the Dare. Riot's A-wings engaged the TIE's to disrupt their attack runs on the frigate, while Hound's B-wings closely defended the Hellion's Dare from any approaching TIEs. Initially, the skirmish resulted in no casualties, with the flights of TIEs employing a spiral attack pattern to evade New Republic fire. As one of the Dare's deflector shield generators sustained significant damage from the 204th's TIEs, the frigate's escorts tightened their perimeter around the vessel before executing a jump to hyperspace.

However, the 204th forces, utilizing a maneuver known as "trapping the Bantha," managed to isolate and destroy the A-wing piloted by Nasi Moreno, known as Riot Eight. They salvaged its wreckage to recover its jump coordinates, aiming to discover the destination of the Hellion's Dare and its escorts. Following the destruction of key facilities on Jiruus by the fighter wing's assets, the Aerie pursued its target into the Oridol Cluster, where its squadrons annihilated the frigate and its escort squadrons, except for Lark and Chadic, who escaped with crucial reconnaissance data.

Concurrently, Yrica Quell, an operative of New Republic Intelligence and former member of the 204th, journeyed to Jiruus just a week after the Hellion's Dare had fled, prompted by reports that the Dare had failed to check in. Quell, who was investigating activity of her former unit beyond the purview of her superior, Caern Adan, discovered evidence of an engagement and conducted a flyby of the planet's surface, noting minimal damage. She also established radio contact with some locals and obtained scanner logs confirming a battle that ended with the Hellion's Dare escaping the Jiruus system.

Quell inferred that the New Republic frigate had likely escaped into the Oridol Cluster and anticipated the use of the "trapping the Bantha" maneuver. She presented her evidence and conclusions to Adan and their working group. Based on Quell's findings, the working group successfully rescued Lark and Chadic, acquiring their reconnaissance information to locate the 204th at Pandem Nai, and subsequently recruited the two surviving pilots.

Jiruus made its initial appearance in Alphabet Squadron, which is the first novel of the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy. It was authored by Alexander Freed and released in 2019.