Warlord Zsinj’s plan to join the Empire is inching ever closer to completion – can the newly formed Wraith Squadron pull off a daring plan to infiltrate his forces and stop his reign of terror? Join today’s Legendary Adventures as we read X-Wing: Iron Fist!
The Battle of Endor brought about a seismic change in the history of the galaxy. Emperor Sheev Palpatine, who, with his Master, Darth Plagueis, using a combination of political acumen and Sith wizardry, almost tightened his grip over the entire galaxy. If the Alliance to Restore the Republic could not destroy his second Death Star, no amount of political allies would be able to stop the rise of the Empire. But the daring heroes of the Alliance destroyed the Death Star, and Darth Vader restored balance to the Force by destroying Darth Sidious. But that, unfortunately, was not the end of the Empire: small fires have been burning across the galaxy, and now one of those fires threatens to erupt into a full fledged inferno.
Thankfully, the heroes of the New Republic are working to make sure that these fires never burn as hot as they could. One such pilot is Wedge Antilles, who has created two extremely important squadrons for the New Republic, one being the reformation of the famous Rogue Squadron. The other is…less popular. Despite their victory against Admiral Tigrit, the newly formed and operative Wraith Squadron is still quite controversial. Assembled with a collection of washed out pilots, misfits, and people looking for their place in the galaxy, Wraith has proven themselves in battle against the Imperial warlord Zsinj. Their operation against Tigrit revealed a startling truth: Zsinj is looking to combine his fleet with other hold-outs within the Imperial Remnant. If Zsinj is able to meet with the rest of the Imperial fleet, the splintered Empire might come back with enough force to be a much greater threat against the New Republic.
From their newly restored capital on Coruscant, Wraith Squadron pilots come up with a similar plan as their last to infiltrate Zsinj’s operation. They would capture TIE fighters, in this case TIE Interceptors, and pose as pirates. If they were successful enough pirates, maybe Zsinj would allow them into his operation, where they could take him down. Unfortunately, they had no idea what their disguise would cost, and they are constantly put into situations that present moral quandaries. The Wraiths, operating under code-name “Hawk-bats,” attack freighters and cruisers to sell the idea they are pirates. They then look to one of their most daring feats: open assault on two Imperial compounds. This raid is ambushed by Zsinj, who offers the Hawk-bats a place in his operation.
Zsinj’s plan to join other Imperial hold-outs is a bit more nuanced than it initially seemed. The Wraiths discover that his plan is to infiltrate the Kuat Drive Yards, the Empire’s premiere ship production facility, and steal a Super Star Destroyer known as the Razor’s Kiss. The Hawk-bats are able to sabotage the shield system on the Kiss, and Han Solo leads a New Republic assault on Kuat and Zsinj’s Star Destroyer, Iron Fist. The Fist is badly damaged and the Kiss is destroyed, and Han Solo enjoys a promotion. This promotion, in fact, becomes the impetus for the next adventure when Han faces his first Solo Command…
Legendary Travel Tips:
-This book is preceded by X-Wing: Wraith Squadron and followed by X-Wing: Solo Command.
-Consider this tip an editor’s aside, because I do want to take a minute and address something going forward with the Legendary Adventures. A quick scan of Wookieepedia for this book, and a lot of late Legends books, makes it very clear that these books are becoming extremely dense, and will only get denser as the series continues. The point of these Adventures is not to provide a full-recap, because, well, Wookieepedia exists, as does Pablo Hidalgo’s amazing Essential Reader’s Companion. The point of the Adventures is more situating each novel within the grander framework of the Legends canon, which means not addressing every detail in every novel. Sometimes, I do miss important characters in the current novel, mostly because I had no idea they’d become important later! But the point here is to see how each novel pushes forward the story of Legends as a whole, so I’ll always revisit characters that were important later on, if need be.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!
New Republic Era: Truce at Bakura | Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor | Rogue Squadron | Wedge’s Gamble | The Krytos Trap | The Bacta War | Wraith Squadron