Peshk Vri'syk

On the planet of Bothawui, a male Bothan named Peshk Vri'syk was born. Vri'syk, having been instructed at the Bothan Martial Academy, received training in starfighter piloting and combat maneuvers. He was one year ahead of Asyr Sei'lar, a female student, and the two were considered equally skilled during their training. In 6 ABY, Commander Wedge Antilles was in the process of rebuilding Rogue Squadron, the New Republic's elite starfighter unit. Vri'syk's abilities secured him a position in the squadron, though political considerations also played a role in his assignment. The Bothans sought representation of their species in the New Republic's top starfighter squadron because Bothan spies were responsible for locating the second Death Star, which Rogue Squadron later assisted in destroying during the Battle of Endor. The New Republic conceded to the request to demonstrate their appreciation for the Bothan's contributions.

Despite the political motivations behind Vri'syk's inclusion, Antilles assured Admiral Gial Ackbar, the Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Force, that none of the pilots chosen for political reasons—including Bror Jace and Erisi Dlarit, Thyferrans selected to appease the rival Bacta Cartels on their homeworld of Thyferra—were inferior to other candidates. Vri'syk, along with the rest of the newly formed squadron, was stationed at the training base on Folor, a moon orbiting the planet Commenor, where he received the call sign Rogue Two, a spot in One Flight, and was designated as Antilles' wingman.

While stationed on Folor, Vri'syk and the rest of the squadron participated in training exercises as Antilles worked to transform his new recruits into a cohesive unit. During an exercise at the base's gunnery range, Antilles instructed Corran Horn, a Corellian member of the Rogues, to make the first run and complete a series of flying and targeting challenges. The Corellian complied, aiming to achieve a score that the other squadron members would be unable to match, hoping to impress the Commander. However, Antilles, believing that Horn needed to learn a lesson about humility and teamwork, ordered Horn's astromech droid, Whistler, to transmit the pilot's sensor data to the rest of the squadron so that they could benefit from Horn's run. Horn subsequently scored 3250 out of a possible 5000 and was ordered back to base, unaware that the rest of the squadron would be using his data. Vri'syk completed the exercise using Horn's data as instructed, achieving a score of 4200. Antilles then privately revealed to Vri'syk what he had done to Horn and instructed the Bothan not to mention it to Horn, but simply to inform the Corellian of his score. Upon returning to base, the Bothan took pleasure in informing Horn of his success, who was initially unaware of why the rest of the squadron was surpassing his score until he realized what Antilles had done. Following the exercise, the squadron gathered in DownTime, the base's cantina, where most members considered lodging a formal protest with General Horton Salm, the base commander, regarding Antilles' actions toward Horn. When Horn arrived after confronting Antilles about the commander's actions, Vri'syk displayed apathy toward his presence, while the rest of the squadron were pleased to see him. Later during their training, Vri'syk and the squadron participated in a simulated attack on Defender Wing, a unit of three BTL Y-wing starfighter training squadrons led by General Salm. The assault concluded with the Rogues achieving thirty simulated kills while losing four of their own.

One month after the Rogue Squadron roster was finalized, the unit was declared operational. However, Antilles believed that the unit was still inexperienced. He had anticipated four to six months of advanced training before deploying the squadron into combat, but he could not deny that his pilots were exceptional fliers and that their training scores surpassed those of operational line units. As part of the New Republic's campaign to advance into the Core Worlds in an attempt to liberate the galactic capital of Coruscant, Rogue Squadron was relocated to the planet Talasea in the Morobe system. During the transfer, the Rogues were intercepted in hyperspace in the Chorax system by the Imperial interdictor cruiser Black Asp, which was attempting to capture the smuggler Mirax Terrik and her ship, the Pulsar Skate. The Rogues engaged the Imperial ship and its squadron of TIE starfighters, driving them off without sustaining any losses.

Vri'syk and his squadronmates' inaugural official engagement against the Empire occurred at the Rout of Hensara, a mission aimed at safeguarding the Battle of Yavin, a modified customs frigate. Assigned to Coreward scouting duties, the Battle of Yavin encountered the Strike-class medium cruiser Havoc in the Hensara system. To avoid capture, the ship's crew scuttled the vessel in a deep lake on Hensara III. The Havoc deployed ground forces to search for the ship and crew before departing the system, providing the New Republic with an opportunity to execute a rescue mission. During the operation, the Havoc returned, having been retrofitted with starfighter hangars and carrying thirty-six TIE Series craft—six TIE interceptors, six TIE bombers, and twenty-four TIE starfighters. The Rogues engaged the Imperials, and Vri'syk killed at least two enemy fighters. The New Republic emerged victorious from the battle, destroying thirty-four craft without incurring any losses. Following the battle on Talasea, Gavin Darklighter, Rogue Five, who failed to secure any kills during the engagement, was jokingly dubbed "worst pilot in the squadron," much to Vri'syk's evident relief.

One night on Talasea, a platoon of Imperial stormtroopers was dispatched to the base by Admiral Devlia, the commander of Imperial forces in the Rachuk sector, acting on information provided by Imperial Intelligence agent Kirtan Loor, who was actively hunting the Rogues. Vri'syk survived the covert attack, which claimed the life of Rogue pilot Lujayne Forge and left his squadronmates Horn, Darklighter, and Andoorni Hui severely injured. Vri'syk attended Forge's funeral and later participated in a retaliatory strike against Devlia and his forces at Grand Isle, their base on the planet Vladet. Once again, the battle resulted in a victory for the New Republic, with no losses to Rogue Squadron.

As part of the New Republic's offensive toward the Core, a task force was assigned to seize the planet Borleias, designated as "Blackmoon." The New Republic intended to utilize Borleias as a staging area for the assault on Coruscant. The mission was commanded by the Bothan General, Laryn Kre'fey, and the Bothan Spynet indicated that Borleias was lightly defended. Rogue Squadron was assigned to the task force, tasked with escorting assault shuttles to the surface after the larger capital ships had breached the planetary shield and suppressed its defenses. However, the Imperial commander, General Evir Derricote, had concealed additional defenses on the planet that the Bothans were unaware of. During the engagement, Derricote misled the New Republic into believing that they were weakening his shields by gradually reducing their power, inducing a false sense of security. Once the shields had been lowered and no defensive fire originated from the surface, General Kre'fey ordered General Salm's Defender Wing away from the engagement—the unit had originally been scheduled to sweep the planet's defenses with a bombing run, but Derricote's actions had convinced the Bothan General that such an action was unnecessary—and directed the Rogues to escort the shuttles in.

Vri'syk and his squadronmates formed up on the shuttles, escorting them toward their target. As they approached, Derricote sprung his trap, reactivating his planetary shield and unleashing surface-based ion cannons at the task force. The initial barrage of ion fire struck the Modaran, Kre'fey's command shuttle, sending it crashing into the shield. Vri'syk's starfighter, positioned between one of the other shuttles and the shield, was struck by another ion blast, which vaporized him and his craft. The New Republic task force initiated a retreat from the battle, while the Rogues also lost Andoorni Hui to enemy fire.

Despite Vri'syk's brief tenure with Rogue Squadron, the Bothans exaggerated his achievements and celebrated him as a hero to advance their political objectives, comparing him to the Martyrs who secured the second Death Star plans. More than three years later, Wedge Antilles still mourned the loss of Vri'syk and would remember him when recalling other close friends who had died in battle, including Biggs Darklighter, Jek Porkins, Dak Ralter, and others.

Peshk Vri'syk, an accomplished pilot, was a ruddy-furred Bothan. Although not as remarkable as Corran Horn or Bror Jace, his fellow Rogues, Vri'syk distinguished himself among his peers at the Bothan Martial Academy. Vri'syk possessed considerable pride in his abilities; while his colleagues felt remorse for excelling in a Folor training run at Horn's expense, Vri'syk derived great pleasure from boasting about his score. He was also relieved to avoid being labeled the worst pilot in the squadron following the Battle of Hensara, a distinction that fell upon Gavin Darklighter. Vri'syk was also the most socially reserved of the Rogues. He rarely engaged in conversation with his fellow pilots and responded apathetically to Horn after the Folor training session, while the other pilots were pleased to see him and apologetic for benefiting from his targeting data.

Peshk, Vri'syk's given name, meant "handsome" in Bothese. His family name, Vri, translated to either "groundskeeper" or "caretaker." The "'syk" honorific suffix indicated his affiliation with either Clan Asyk or Clan Isyk.

Michael A. Stackpole created Peshk Vri'syk, who made his debut in X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, the inaugural novel in the X-Wing series published in 1996. He was first depicted in the Japanese language edition of the Rogue Squadron novel. Vri'syk received mentions in other entries in the X-wing series, including X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble, X-Wing: The Krytos Trap—both also published in 1996—and X-Wing: Isard's Revenge, which was released in 1999. He later received entries in both the Star Wars Encyclopedia in 1998 and 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, and was mentioned in the fourteenth issue of The Official Star Wars Fact File.