Incursion: An inside look into a Rebel SpecForces mission.

The extreme height of the forest canopy provided cover from above, while dense undergrowth provided cover on the ground. In fact, the team had been using the extensive micro terrain to their advantage, moving in its shadows all the way to their objective.

They had been dropped off dirtside seventy-two hours prior, being inserted by a sixty at night during a rainstorm.

The mission planners had timed the insertion down to the second, calculating phases of the moons, along with predicted weather patterns to cover their infil.

They used the intense lightning as cover, knowing that it would wreak havoc on the Imperial outposts sensor array.

The pilots in turn jumped in system over the southern pole, and flew below sensor range all the way into the LZ.

They had to mount external drop tanks to the ventral engine pylons just to get the team in and hoped they had enough fuel to make it back to the RV with the fleet.

Two systems away was a Mon Cal cruiser on alert ten, with the QRF and air support ready to go if needed.

Three days of crawling and humping through the forest, and the four-man SpecForces team was nearing their objective.

They had been sent in to take out a Weequay communications specialist who had defected to the Empire. General Madine had given the green light to Captain Maven Therrell, and he picked three of the best shooters in the unit to go along for the ride.

Now, they were nearing the outer perimeter of the Imperial outpost. The facility itself was built into the side of a ridge, with a large plateau to the rear that had been converted into an elevated landing platform.

The armored structure had several turbolaser batteries scattered around the perimeter for air defense, along with ground to air missile batteries.

Outside of the turbolaster batteries was a twenty meter tall ferrocrete armored wall that encapsulated the entire facility.

The team paused, and took a knee behind a fallen tree on the edge of the forest. Captain Therrell signaled for the team to hold, while he moved up to conduct recce.

He used a small pair of macrobinoculars to observe and record the base. He took great care to inspect the guard towers atop the wall, noting that they were spaced every three hundred meters.

He could see Imperial army officers augmented by Stormtrooper patrols, as well as heavy blaster cannons mounted on pintels in each tower.

He also noted the small comlink antennas atop each tower, that would serve as repeater relays for the security element.

Further back at the main complex, he could make out larger aerial antenna arrays pointed up at the sky.

“Blast this” He thought to himself, shaking his head. Captain Therrell moved back to the team and briefed them on what he had observed.

They all knew that the odds were against them before they ever left the briefing for this op, and they volunteered anyway.

“Alright ” Captain Therrell whispered, “switch to our alternate FFP” he stated, referring to their final firing point.

The team slowly moved away from the edge of the forest and selected a route that would allow them to handrail the perimeter of the base from five hundred meters away.

It took them all evening and into the night to make their way around to the back side of the plateau. There, they found a ridge line with a line of sight to the landing pad.

Once they set-up shop, the combat controller extended the large antennas from his backpack mounted ground to air comlink.

He began coordinating with the Alliance Prowler in orbit, setting up the air package for the strike. The other three members of the team set up their Blastech A392R designated marksmen rifles.

Careful not to break noise discipline, they deliberately extended the bipods on the rifles, and moved into prone positions side by side.

They waited and watched all night, until zero three forty five hours when the platform lights switched on at the landing pad.

Then, high up above the team could hear a high pitched whine as a Lambda-Class shuttle dropped out of the sky. The Imperial transport quickly flared, then dropped down onto the pad.

“Stand by” Captain Therrell whispered, “I have control.” The team watched through their rifle scopes as the ramp lowered, and an Imperial security team rushed down the boarding ramp.

They formed a semi-circle at the base of the ramp and then signaled someone the team couldn’t see. Captain Therrell watched as a shadow preceded a short Weequay in black traditional garb, slowly making his way down the ramp.

“Execute, Execute, Execute” Captain Therrell called out. In unison the three SpecForces snipers took the slack out of their triggers, their rifles recoiling from the blast of each round.

Captain Therrell watched as his round raced across the five hundred meters to the landing platform, and split the Weequay’s chest apart with hot plasma. The other rounds hit him as well, sealing the deal.

The Imps immediately reacted, but it was too late. The Alliance shooters were already picking off targets on the landing platform, buying time for the combat controller to their rear.

Suddenly a series of red lances raced down through the cloud bank, striking the Imperial base’ communications and targeting arrays.

The missile batteries came to life, but they were playing catch up. Rebel X-Wings raced by overhead, pummeling each one with micro proton torpedoes and concussion missiles.

As the X-Wings peeled away, the combat controller continued to direct fire onto the base from the orbiting prowler.

The stealth corvette raked the Imperial base with salvo after salvo from its turbo laser batteries, leveling the facility while detonating its power generators.

The SpecForces team remained in position, conducting damage assessment, before being ordered to exfil the area.

As quietly as they had arrived, they stepped away one at a time, back into the forest. As the sun began to rise, the team made their LZ and boarded the sixty for the ride out.

Captain Therrell looked out of the armored viewport, watching the Empire’s science experiment burn to cinders in the morning sun.

What if Jyn Erso survived?

Looking back on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, I don’t know of too many fans that didn’t want Jyn Erso to survive. Time and time again I have heard how people loved her character, and thought that she was the new hero of the Rebellion.

In fact, you could argue that Rogue One is the most successful Star Wars project to date, since the mouse acquired Lucasfilm. Having said that, there is an entirely different version of the movie that we most likely will never see, and in those edits Jyn Erso does in fact, survive.

This question then, bears relevance for many reasons, and it is one that I began to consider several years ago. It started me on a journey, which resulted in two years of work on the manuscript for a new Star Wars Legends novel entitled Cold Apex.

That novel is now complete and waiting to be approved by Del Rey and Lucasfilm. Though I won’t offer any spoilers on the plot of the book, what I will do is share how Jyn made it off of Scarif. In the third act of Rogue One, we see the Rebel fleet jump in system directly over Scarif, where they begin moving into position to attack the planetary shield gate.

Admiral Raddus, leading the fleet from the Mon Calamari MC-75 frigate Profundity, Orders Blue Squadron to get to the planet. General Merrick then orders the squadron to follow him through the gate, and bringing up the rear are two Incom UT-60D U-Wing gunships.

We clearly see one of them fly through the shield gate before it closes, but what about the other one? Once they fly through and hit the Blue, they begin to provide air cover for the Pathfinders on the beach below. General Merrick then orders the “U-Wings” plural, to reinforce the troops on the beach. He continues by ordering the fighters to follow him and provide air cover for “them,”plural again, referring to the U-Wings.

U-Wing dropping Rebel soldiers on the beaches of Scarif in search of Jyn Erso.

We know that one U-Wing was shot down and destroyed, but where is the other one? In Cold Apex we find the second U-Wing has landed in an outcropping of trees. A small squad of soldiers deploys from the ship, with orders to find Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso. The rebel troops fight their way through the Citadel base, only to find the missing rebels out on the beach.

They are attacked by Imperial troops as the Death Star fires on the planet, with the U-Wing dropping in and saving the squad from certain defeat. With the shield gate down, they make a blind jump into hyperspace while in the skies over Scarif. So, if Jyn survives, what happens to her next?

Well, you’ll have to wait and read the book to find out! I’ve been told that if approved for publishing, the tentative release date will be in late 2026. I’ll share more when I know more from the publisher.

Religion in Rogue One

Introduction

On December 16, 2016 Star Wars fans around the world were introduced to the newest hero within the Star Wars universe, Jyn Erso. Jyn is a battle scarred and complex woman, with a very a traumatic past. She is spartan tough, and stubborn to the core.

Orphaned at age seven, she was forced to watch her mother be executed by Imperial special forces, while her father was taken captive by them as well. Her only hope lay in the man who rescued her, Saw Gerrera. A friend of the family, Saw was Jyn’s only hope of survival, though a hope that would not last.

Throughout her young life Jyn finds herself forced to make decision upon decision which is determined by her alliance with Saw. Though he saves her, he does not give her a normal childhood or freedom. His care for her is minimal, and when it becomes too much of a risk, he too abandons Jyn alone, on a worn torn planet to fend for herself.

At age sixteen, Jyn is once again forced to make decisions in order to survive from one day to the next. When we find her in Rogue One, Jyn is a young woman imprisoned by the Empire in one of their POW camps on the planet Wobani.

She is seemingly rescued by the Rebel Alliance, who have their own agenda for her as well. There is no care for her future or well being; Jyn is simply a means to an end for them. Though she reluctantly agrees to help them, she finds herself in a dream remembering her parents before she is abruptly awaken on a flight into the ancient moon of Jedha.

Jedha is a world of many stories, with some claiming that it was on Jedha that the Jedi first discovered the Force. Jyn ventures into the holy city, and encounters a cultural soup of denizens from across the galaxy, who are adherents of many religions. Though their beliefs and practices may differ, they are all drawn to Jedha for the same reason, and that is the church of the Force.

Its existence is ancient, and its followers are many, but its message is the same: there is only the Force, and it is the Force that draws them there. Jyn being the skeptic that she is, becomes intrigued when Chirrut Imwe is able to sense the Khyber crystal necklace hanging from her neck.

She wants to know more, but time does not allow it. We later see Jyn rubbing the Khyber crystal again on her way to Scarif. This brief insight into the Force is a much more grounded aspect of it’s cultural and religious significance to peoples across the galaxy. We know from Obi-Wan Kenobi that the Force is what gives the Jedi their abilities and powers.

It is an energy field created by all living things; It surrounds us and binds the galaxy together. For those born sensitive to it, it is there, just beyond their grasp. For those like Chirrut Imwe, it is the focus of their religious experience, but not a tangible presence that they harness as the Jedi and Sith do.

For people like Jyn, it is a mystery that fascinates and intrigues. It leads her to a place of inner searching. She finds herself questioning her mother’s bedtime stories about the Force and the Jedi, and she begins to ponder if they were actually true? Her memories are in many ways her only real connection to her mother, and for whatever reason, they seem to be guiding her on her mission for the Rebel Alliance.

What if?

For the past two years I have been working on the manuscript for a Star Wars Legends novel which continues the story of Jyn Erso. In it we find that Jyn who was presumed lost, is clinging to life, and at the center of her journey is the question of religion. Is the Force real? Is it guiding her to her destiny, or is it just her experience, training, and a little luck?

The story explores how Jyn’s personal beliefs reflect the echos of an ancient past, where it was at the heart of whole races and societies. The Force is more than Jedi and Sith, it is the defining religion of a by-gone era. People like Jyn’s mother Lyra who cling to it’s ideals and teachings, are viewed as heretics and traitors to modern governments and societies.

Its origins are erased, its texts are destroyed, and its existence is taught as a myth. Where other religions are accepted or tolerated, the Force becomes a forbidden word across the galaxy, and those who speak of it are hunted down and taken into custody.

What was once at the heart of every civilization in the galaxy, has now become culturally irrelevant and outdated. As the old generations pass on, younger generations grow up in the shadow of its knowledge and presence, knowing nothing of its power and purity. Its mysteries lay hidden in plain sight, waiting for those who are brave enough to seek out answers to life’s questions and troubles in its teachings.

Conclusion

Jyn’s journey becomes one of self discovery, as she is forced to confront her mother’s beliefs, and their impact upon the here and now. We see the reality of religion in the midst of contemporary culture, and the relevance that it offers to those brave enough to search for the truth.

Ultimately the Force and religion aren’t the focus of the story, but they become an aspect of it that Jyn cannot deny, and that she cannot ignore. It is a doorway to be opened, as she seeks for answers in the midst of the chaos of war.