Kolot

Kolot, a male Ewok, became a test subject in the Imperial scientific endeavor known as Project Chubar. Like the other participants, Kolot underwent various tests and experiments designed to elevate his intellect and grant him fluency in Galactic Basic Standard. A side effect of Project Chubar was increased aggression and violence in its subjects. In 7 ABY, Zsinj, the Warlord then in control of Project Chubar, heard a tale of a genetically-modified Ewok pilot named Kettch, who supposedly flew a starfighter for the pirating Hawk-bat Independent Space Force with prosthetic limb extensions. However, this story was a prank engineered by New Republic pilot Wes Janson, and Kettch was a semi-fictional character. Inspired, Zsinj instructed mechanics to create prosthetic limb extensions so Kolot could reach the controls of a starship. The program's doctors also subjected Kolot to flight simulators to assess his aptitude for flying. Ultimately, the experiment proved successful, enabling Kolot to pilot a shuttle despite belonging to a species generally known for its inability to operate advanced technology.

In 7 ABY, Kolot was located aboard Zsinj's flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Iron Fist, in the Selaggis system, together with the rest of Project Chubar, after their base of operations was moved from the planet Saffalore. During the attack on Zsinj's Iron Fist and a small fleet of vessels by General Han Solo and his naval group of the New Republic, Gara Petothel, a former Imperial Intelligence spy allied with the New Republic, was present on the Iron Fist after gaining Zsinj's confidence. Having sabotaged the Iron Fist, disabling its hyperdrive in the Selaggis system, she proceeded to the laboratories where Kolot and other Project Chubar test subjects were confined.

Holding four nearby medics at blaster-point, Petothel first freed Kolot from his ground-level cage after the Ewok agreed to release the other prisoners. Despite Kolot's desire to kill the medics, Petothel instructed him to free the other inmates, provided they agreed not to attack her, so she could evacuate them from the Iron Fist. Once Kolot had freed all the test subjects who had agreed to her terms, the former Imperial agent inquired if any of them could pilot a shuttle for their escape.

Kolot replied that he could, surprising and shocking Petothel, who initially thought he was joking. She knew of Kettch, who was not real, being a stuffed toy and an alias used for starfighter pilot Wedge Antilles. Realizing that the Kettch story had inspired Kolot's training as a pilot, Petothel explained to the confused Ewok that they were both lies that had become reality; Petothel herself had infiltrated the Wraith Squadron, a New Republic starfighter unit, as an Imperial spy before defecting to the Wraiths. Kolot and the others followed Petothel to safety, though a pair of freed Gamorreans killed the bound medics, who had caused them great suffering.

Kolot carried the limb extensions crafted for him as the group advanced to a hangar bay experiencing a radiation-leak alert—falsified by Petothel's astromech droid, Tonin—and cleared it of Imperial personnel. Petothel and Tonin briefly went ahead into the hangar, where they were confronted by Imperial General Melvar and Ensign Gatterweld, who had deduced her intentions after discovering her betrayal. Kolot and the test subjects intervened, overwhelming the Imperials. The group attempted to kill the Imperials, but Petothel forbade it, instead having them bound. While Petothel departed in an X-wing starfighter she had brought to the Iron Fist, Kolot flew the remaining escapees and Tonin away from the Super Star Destroyer in a Sentinel-class landing craft, amidst the ongoing battle.

Although Petothel's X-wing was subsequently shot down on the moon of Selcaron in the Selaggis system, she and the other escapees, including Kolot, eventually reached the planet Corellia. There, Petothel, now known as Kirney Slane, established a shuttle business, with Kolot as her co-pilot, using the stolen Sentinel-class shuttle.

Kolot's intellect, enhanced to surpass that of other Ewoks, resulted in Human-like mannerisms, such as shrugging and nodding during conversations with Petothel. His Basic speech also had a singsong quality. Due to the medics' treatment of him during his captivity, Kolot initially wanted to kill them upon his release, but Petothel prevented him. Kolot was capable of reason, complying with Petothel's instruction to free the other subjects instead, recognizing it as his best option. Thanks to his enhanced intelligence and flight simulator training, Kolot could pilot a shuttle, unlike most of his species, though he required limb extensions.

Kolot's debut was in X-Wing: Solo Command, a novel by Aaron Allston published in 1999 as part of the X-Wing series. Allston's later novels, Legacy of the Force: Betrayal (2006) and X-Wing: Mercy Kill (2012), imply that Kolot continued to work as Petothel's co-pilot in 40 ABY and 44 ABY, respectively. Betrayal describes the co-pilot's seat of one of Donoslane Excursions' shuttles as designed for a small, furry humanoid, and Mercy Kill mentions that the cockpit of one of Petothel's shuttles had a furry smell. However, as these descriptions do not explicitly identify Kolot, this article does not definitively state that he was still flying as of 44 ABY.