Nrin Vakil

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"To each species, its own. Anything else is debauchery."
―Nrin Vakil[5]

Nrin Vakil was a Quarren pilot who flew for Rogue Squadron. He joined the squadron after their mission on Mrlsst. Vakil saw himself as a knight, and wore a modified flight suit filled with salt water to remind himself of home.

Biography

Going Rogue

"The only hope this world has for peace and economic prosperity rests with the nobility and the priamsta. They have ruled this world for generations."
"Yes, but at what cost?! Time and time again, the royal class has sold out its people's blood and sweat to the Empire! Harran and the PLB are Eiattu's only chance for the new age of freedom!"
―Nrin Vakil and Ibtisam argue over their mission to Eiattu 6[6]
Nrin Vakil.

Nrin Vakil.

Nrin Vakil was a Quarren male native to the planet Mon Calamari.[1] He had joined the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps[7] by 4 ABY,[8] shortly after the Battle of Endor.[9] At the time, Vakil fancied himself a knight, and the Alliance his displaced and exiled lord.[1] When Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles returned to the Alliance Fleet after a mission to Corellia, Vakil was one of many pilots who waited aboard a captured Star Destroyer for him to brief them, having volunteered to join the fabled Rogue Squadron. The Alliance's Admiral Ackbar led the briefing until Antilles and Luke Skywalker joined them. Feeling he needed to "stretch his wings," Antilles ordered the recruits to get to their starfighters.[7]

Vakil officially joined the New Republic's Rogue Squadron[2] approximately seven months after Endor.[10] His flight suit was a customized one that contained a coverall bladder of pressurized saltwater. Intially, his Quarren heritage brought him into conflict with his Mon Calamari squadronmate Ibtisam, but the two held their acrimony in check by order of their Rogue Leader.[1] Shortly after their induction into the squadron, both Vakil and Ibtisam were taking part in holosimulators[2] daily, with fellow Rogue Feylis Ardele flying against all of her fellows in a TIE fighter.[1] During one simulation, Antilles also had the Rogue Herian I'ngre rig the pilots' seats with electrical charges in a bid to produce more realism. Vakil found the sensation exhilarating.[2]

As the Rogues unwound after the simulations, Vakil and Ibtisam argued over the future of starfighter combat, with the Quarren going to bat for the classic X-wing. The debate was interrupted by the arrival of Grand Duke Gror Pernon of Eiattu 6, who revealed that the Rogue pilot Plour Ilo was really Isplourrdacartha Estillo, the lost princess of his homeworld. Rogue Squadron soon embarked on their next mission: escort Ilo home, where it was hoped she could talk her brother out of rebelling against Eiattu 6's ruling nobles in the Eiattu Civil War.[2] On the surface, a group of the Rogues explored some jungles on the backs of native Thuvasaurs, with Vakil donning a traditional Eiattu hunting hat.[11]

In a sudden firefight with Imperial stormtroopers, Vakil was determined to avenge the death of his steed, and he got even angrier when a blaster bolt destroyed his headgear. Air support arrived from Antilles and Tycho Celchu, but an enraged and careless Vakil narrowly avoided the explosion from a TIE fighter that his Rogue Leader took out. The arrival of the Eiattu rebels finished off the Imperial troopers, and the Rogues were invited to the rebel base. There, Vakil maintained an aloofness while his squadron mates found themselves taken in by Ilo's charismatic brother.[11]

Vakil's carelessness nearly leads to his doom on Eiattu 6.

Vakil's carelessness nearly leads to his doom on Eiattu 6.

In the planet's capital city, Ilo also declared her support for the rebels,[11] but when the rest of the Rogues returned from the jungle, Vakil voiced his disagreement. He argued with Ibtisam, insisting that Eiattu 6 owed its peace and prosperity to the nobles, while his interlocutor asserted that they had been selling their people out to the Empire. Vakil received some support from I'ngre, but in the end, the Rogues shifted their focus to finding out more about the Imperial presence onworld. Armed with blaster rifles, they returned to the jungle.[6]

There, Vakil found an Imperial gray noise generator, used to mask the noise of large machines. He was caught in another explosion when it blew up, and when his fellows were captured by Imperial biker scouts, he was left to die in a large puddle of swamp water.[6] After Vakil recovered his wits, he remained underwater—easily able to breathe it—and emerged when an Imperial transport returned to the scene to locate his body. He surprised and knocked unconscious the two soldiers aboard the transport, used its guns to take out nearby biker scouts, and set off to rescue his comrades.[12]

Vakil arrived at an Imperial prison and disposed of the stationed troops. He set his companions free, and even received a hug from Ibtisam, but the Rogues's blaster bolts were unable to stop Moff Leonia Tavira from fleeing the planet in an Imperial shuttle. As it turned out, Ilo's brother was dead, and the Moff had replaced him with an unwitting impostor. Ilo exposed the charlatan at the Imperial citadel while Vakil was rescuing his comrades, and while Rogue Squadron prepared for their departure, the princess chose to remain onworld to help Eiattu 6 rebuild.[12]

Further missions

"I feel no rift between us. I feel very close to you."
"And I, you."
―Ibtisam and Nrin Vakil, discussing each other[13]

Vakil maintained his aloofness with all his squadmates, and he liked to complain. During a mission on Malrev IV, it appeared he had a panic attack during a ground battle with the native Irrukiine, but he was actually rushing back towards his X-wing to use it as an anti-personnel weapon. This caused Ibtisam to begin to re-evaluate her feelings towards Vakil.

During that particular mission, members of the squadron like Celchu and Ibtisam had strange dreams, influenced by the Devaronian dark side adept Cartariun. Ibtisam dreamed of Vakil addressing a crowd on Mon Calamari where he was blaming the Mon Calamari for the woes on the planet. Ibtisam dreamed that she could influence his mind and played a practical joke on him. When recounting the dream to the Bith squadron member, Herian I'ngre, she remarked that Vakil seemed so passionate and eloquent, which appeared to further pique her interest.

The campaign on Brentaal IV saw Ibitsam shot down, which forced Vakil to face up to his feelings for his comrade. Her return to the squadron after being rescued by Kapp Dendo saw the two take the first steps towards a relationship. However, their relationship was not to be, as during a mission to rescue Imperial Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, Ibtisam was shot down and killed in action. During the evacuation, Pestage was obliged to share a shuttle with Ibtisam's body but he refused. Vakil overheard this and became incensed, attacking the former Imperial regent. He was pulled off by his fellow pilots and Pestage realized that he would not really have a place in the New Republic. He sought refuge with Admiral Delak Krennel in the Ciutric Hegemony, who strangled him to death.

Thrawn campaign

Saddened by Ibtisam's death and wanting to think things over, Vakil requested a leave of absence, followed by a transfer from Rogue Squadron and spent time training new recruits. However, the threat posed by the Empire, newly reinvigorated under the leadership of Grand Admiral Thrawn, led the New Republic to shift its assets about and Vakil resumed flying combat missions. During this time, Nrin was promoted through the ranks, and was made a major[14] by 9 ABY.[15]

Once Thrawn was defeated, the New Republic decided to target the breakaway warlords as they did not have the protection of the central Empire, and it was predicted that they would fall in short order. During the campaign against Delak Krennel, it became apparent that something big was happening in the Ciutric Hegemony. Information about the Hegemony was somewhat lacking, so it was decided that Rogue Squadron would conduct a number of reconnaissance missions. Vakil returned to the squadron to pilot a T-65BR X-wing reconnaissance starfighter otherwise known as a "snoopscoot". He survived the trap at Corvis Minor and helped in the liberation of the prisoners from the Lusankya. Celchu recognized his commando abilities and sent him with Corran Horn and Ooryl Qrygg to free the prisoners from Ciutric IV.[14]

Later life

He later married Koyi Komad, the Twi'lek chief mechanic for Rogue Squadron. In 43 ABY, he was part of a mission to save the Calrissian-Nunb Mines on Kessel from a series of destructive groundquakes.

Behind the scenes

"Oddly enough, Plourr had originally been slated to be a Quarren, but Mike Baron missed that factoid in the original outline, so human she became. This is why, however, in "The Warrior Princess," one of the new pilots is a Quarren—I needed to get one in there somehow."
―Michael A. Stackpole[1]

Michael A. Stackpole, creator of the Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron comic series, originally intended for the Human character of Plour Ilo to be a Quarren in his outline for the first story arc, The Rebel Opposition. However, that fact was missed by the story's writer, Mike Baron. Accordingly, Stackpole created a new Quarren character—Nrin Vakil—for the later story arc The Warrior Princess.[1] Following his introduction, Vakil appeared in nearly every issue of Rogue Squadron until its conclusion, and he was one of several characters from the series to later receive a Hasbro 3¾ inch action figure.[16] In the 2008 novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, Vakil is mentioned once but is mistakenly called "Nin."[17]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Star Wars Handbook 1: X-Wing Rogue Squadron
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 13
  3. ↑ The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught
  4. ↑ Fate of the Jedi: Outcast
  5. ↑ Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Requiem for a Rogue
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 15
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 X-Wing: Rogue Leader 3
  8. ↑ The New Essential Chronology
  9. ↑ Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 1
  10. ↑ Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 2
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 14
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 X-Wing Rogue Squadron 16
  13. ↑ Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 X-Wing: Isard's Revenge
  15. ↑ The Essential Reader's Companion dates the events of X-Wing: Isard's Revenge to 9 ABY.
  16. ↑ HasbroInverted Star Wars: The Legacy Collection (Star Wars Comic Pack: Ibtisam & Nrin Vakil (X-Wing Rogue Squadron #19)) (backup link)
  17. ↑ Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Rogue Three
Kirst

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