Eurrsk Thri ' ag Eurrsk Thri ' ag , nicknamed Grinder , was a male Bothan slicer and pilot on the verge of washing out from the New Republic armed forces during the Galactic Civil War . In 7 ABY , Thri ' ag agreed to transfer to a new squadron that Commander Wedge Antilles was forming . After a series of interviews and flight simulations , he was among the ten pilots selected to be part of the starfighter commando group Wraith Squadron . Thri ' ag served as the squadron ' s code slicer and unofficial prankster . Having gone through training under Antilles and Wes Janson — Antilles ' s executive officer — Thri ' ag performed several missions with the Wraiths , most notably in helping with the evacuation of Folor Base , and later , the capture of the CR90 corvette " Night Caller " . The Wraiths then posed as " Night Caller " crew while systematically destroying Warlord Zsinj ' s assets and companies in a series of missions . Thri ' ag was killed in the Battle of Ession while attempting to assist wingmate Falynn Sandskimmer in destroying the Star Destroyer " Implacable " . Thri ' ag lost control of his starfighter due to contact with some debris while making his escape . When he finally regained control , he was then hit by a turbolaser beam . Biography . Joining Wraith Squadron . Eurrsk Thri ' ag , also known as Grinder , was a male Bothan slicer and pilot who applied for famed New Republic pilot Wedge Antilles ' s new squadron in 7 ABY during the Galactic Civil War . One of the criteria for the applicants was that the pilots had to be on the verge of washing out or possess marks in their service records . Upon accepting the invitation to transfer , Thri ' ag was sent to Folor Base — a New Republic training facility on Commenor ' s moon of Folor — for training . He passed the simulation tests , and placed eighth out of the ten pilots chosen . Temporarily designating the starfighter unit as Gray Squadron , Antilles informed the new pilots that it was their secondary skills that had earned them their positions in the squadron ; in Thri ' ag ' s case , his code slicing skills . Thri ' ag became the squadron ' s official slicer and received the designation of Gray Four ; he was eventually paired with a female from Tatooine , Falynn Sandskimmer , as the squadron continued its training under Antilles . Shortly after approving the squadron ' s official name of Wraith Squadron , which had been suggested by the squadron ' s intrusion expert , Tyria Sarkin , Antilles announced that they would begin their training for hyperspace skills and accuracy in navigational plotting . The Wraiths were individually tasked to create a three - stage course to a location nicknamed Doldrums , then a two - stage course back to Folor Base . Two hours after being handed the assignment , the Wraiths were about to jump to hyperspace when the squadron ' s communications expert , the Mon Calamari Jesmin Ackbar , started receiving transmissions on an Imperial channel . Postponing the training exercise , Antilles ordered the Wraiths to stand by and be useful while he informed Folor Base of the situation . Hoping to distinguish himself , Wraith demolitions expert Kell Tainer asked Thri ' ag , now designated as Wraith Four , to slice into Commenor ' s official computer system . Tainer had Thri ' ag search for new mobilizations of government forces , recent reservations for ship berths prioritized for military ships and hyperdrive - equipped shuttles , sudden hotel and resort reservations , and astronomical data in the area . In just a few minutes , Thri ' ag discovered that a private yacht named " Implacable " had been directed to Orbital Spaceyard 301 — the largest service berth on the planet — and had been given permission to conduct military exercises in the area . Antilles recognized the ship ' s name as an " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer commanded by Admiral Apwar Trigit , who had allied himself with Warlord Zsinj after Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard ' s death . Due to the actions of Thri ' ag and Tainer , Folor Base was able to set up its defenses and prepare for evacuation . Thri ' ag and the rest of the Wraiths provided cover for the fleeing transports before making their own hyperspace jump for Doldrums . Before reaching Doldrums , the Wraiths and their shuttle , the " Narra " , were pulled out of hyperspace by the gravity well projector of an empion mine , a type of weapon capable of disrupting hyperspace travel . Besides pulling them out of hyperspace , the mine disabled several of the Wraith ' s X - wings — including Thri ' ag ' s — as well as shorting out the memories of all their astromech droids . Antilles ordered the Wraiths to land and make repairs on the planet Xobome 6 , the only nearby world with an atmosphere . After Thri ' ag ' s X - wing was repaired , he helped to assemble a crude vehicle — later dubbed the " Lunatic " — in order to infiltrate the Imperial ship that would eventually arrive in the system . Thri ' ag worked with the Wraith ' s Gamorrean pilot , Voort saBinring , in programming the R2 unit and control datapad installed in the " Lunatic " to better guide its trajectory . Some time later , a modified CR90 corvette named " Night Caller " arrived in - system under the command of Captain Zurel Darillian , a subordinate of Zsinj who had been temporarily assigned to Trigit . " Night Caller " tractored the " Lunatic " into its hold , unaware that saBinring was inside its hidden compartment armed with a stripped - down X - wing laser cannon . saBinring managed to fight his way through " Night Caller " bridge and commandeer the ship , thereby allowing the Wraiths to escape the Xobome system . However , instead of returning to a New Republic - occupied system , Antilles acted on his own initiative and began an undercover operation with the Wraiths posing as " Night Caller " crew , waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike at Zsinj . " Night Caller " charade . After rendezvousing with a New Republic force on Doldrums , where the Wraiths received additional supplies , a crew for the ship which included Choday Hrakness as the captain of " Night Caller " , as well as Admiral Gial Ackbar ' s approval to continue their mission , Thri ' ag got into an altercation with fellow pilot Sarkin . Being on the bottom rankings of the squadron , Sarkin trained tirelessly on the X - wing simulator to improve her skills . Believing that he might be able to help , Thri ' ag volunteered to slice into Sarkin ' s simulator records and improve her scores . Owing to a previous traumatic experience in which her simulator scores had been altered , Sarkin physically lashed out at Thri ' ag and had to be restrained by Tainer and Phanan . Enraged , Thri ' ag challenged Sarkin to a fight but was stopped when Antilles and his executive officer , Wes Janson , arrived on the scene . Thri ' ag and Sarkin were ordered to Antilles ' s office , where they were interrogated by their commanding officer as to what had caused the fight . Thri ' ag explained that he had offered to do something unethical for Sarkin as a " joke , " omitting the fact that he had planned to help her cheat . Sarkin took the brunt of the punishment by also withholding Thri ' ag ' s offer . As a result , Thri ' ag received a minor admonition from Antilles , while Sarkin was disciplined by having her X - wing transferred to Phanan , whose own X - wing had been destroyed during the capture of " Night Caller " . It was during this time that Thri ' ag compiled a holograph ic overlay that presented a computer model of Darillian ' s body from the waist up , and his voice into an overlay . Using " Night Caller " journal , which was kept in full holo by Darillian , Thri ' ag had more than enough sample to encode his program . This allowed Loran to impersonate Darillian during holo communications in their later missions . One of their first missions under the guise of " Night Caller " crew was aimed at destroying a transparisteel product factory on the planet Xartun . Loran disguised himself as an Imperial lieutenant and met with planetary officials while inspecting the factory . The rest of the Wraiths hid in a nearby glade and studied the data sent to them by a hidden camera in Loran ' s hat . By nightfall , the Wraiths had infiltrated the factory under the command of Tainer . Thri ' ag in particular was responsible for spotting a hidden security measure that would have compromised the operation , as well as slicing into the factory ' s hangar doors to open them . While Tainer was planting explosives , the Wraiths were attacked by security probe droids . They managed to neutralize all of the droids and escaped the factory by commandeering a cargo skiff before Tainer ' s charges went off , destroying the transparisteel factory . A day after the mission , the Wraiths met in " Night Caller " conference room for debriefing . They came to the conclusion that Zsinj was setting up a secret financial empire to support his flagship , the " Executor " - class Star Dreadnought " Iron Fist " , and was also forming cells in different systems similar to a resistance movement . In light of this information , Antilles assigned Thri ' ag to look into " Night Caller " records for all the planets that the ship had visited while under Darillian ' s command . When " Night Caller " — with the Wraiths secretly aboard — visited a planet again , Thri ' ag was to slice into the planetary records and look for any properties that had been recently switched or transferred . The Wraiths would then investigate and destroy the properties if Zsinj turned out to be the new owner . The Wraith ' s next stop was the planet Belthu , where Thri ' ag correctly identified the President of the planet ' s second largest company and the Chairman of the planet ' s mining coalition as contacts of Zsinj . The two Zsinj collaborators provided Loran — under the holographic disguise of Darillian — information regarding the prices of ore stockpiles , in addition to the location of a durasteel shipment awaiting pickup from Zsinj ' s cargo hauler . Antilles forwarded the information to New Republic Intelligence Service , which then took over the operation . Thri ' ag stayed behind while " Night Caller " jumped out of the system , and he was then delivered by New Republic Intelligence agents into the mining corporation ' s headquarters in order to search for property transfers . What he discovered was a small outdated durasteel foundry that had been transferred to an alias of Zsinj . Thri ' ag rejoined the Wraiths aboard " Night Caller " , and two days later , Intelligence destroyed the foundry . The Wraiths continued their charade with a visit to the M2398 system , home of a pirate group that Zsinj was trying to hire as mercenaries . " Night Caller " was about to dock at the given coordinates when the pirates suddenly launched an attack . Due to the swiftness of the ambush , the Wraiths were forced to fly out of " Night Caller " hold quickly and form up in temporary wing assignments as they launched . Thriag ' s wingmate for the battle was the Thakwaash pilot Hohass Ekwesh . The battle was won by the Wraiths when the pirates surrendered after suffering heavy losses , despite their superior numbers . Thri ' ag and Sandskimmer , armed with blaster rifles , were assigned to guard the pirates who surrendered , while the rest of the Wraiths scoured the pirates ' base for supplies . Mission to Storinal . After the funeral of Wraith Jesmin Ackbar , who had died in the recent battle with the pirates , Zsinj contacted " Night Caller " and ordered Darillian — Loran in holographic disguise — to support Trigit ' s attack on a New Republic base on the planet Talasea . " Night Caller " was also ordered to rendezvous with the supply ship " Hawkbat " , wherein its captain was to come aboard " Night Caller " for an inspection tour . To prevent the inspection from taking place , Loran and Phanan suggested a plan where the Wraiths would infect the crew of " Hawkbat " with a non - lethal disease during their shore leave on the planet Storinal . The Wraiths also planned to use the opportunity to steal two TIE fighters from a local base on the planet to replace the ones that they had destroyed when they captured " Night Caller " . Aboard " Narra " , which was repainted to look like a private shuttle , the Wraiths managed to pass through Storinal ' s customs inspection undetected , largely in part due to their stereotype disguises and fake identification cards forged by Thri ' ag . Thri ' ag himself also joined the group but was forced to hide in " Narra " smuggling compartment because of the Imperial ' s distrust of Bothans , which was due to the participation of Bothan code - slicers in obtaining the plans for the second Death Star years earlier . After surveying the Scohar Xenohealth Institute — where Storinal kept samples of diseases — Phanan , Tainer , and Sarkin brought Thri ' ag with them on their second trip back to the institute . Dubbed as Plague Group , their mission was to obtain the disease with which they would be infecting " Hawkbat " crew . Phanan in particular believed that Thri ' ag ' s slicing skills would be helpful in their intrusion . This proved true when Thri ' ag was the one to gain access to the building ' s records by slicing into the institute ' s mainframe with ease , and providing the group with floor plan schematics . While sneaking into the area where the diseases were stored , Thri ' ag came across a cache of Storini glass prowler s . Deciding that the insect could be used as a prank later on , Thri ' ag took one without the rest of the group ' s knowledge . With the first part of their mission complete , Plague Group ' s next assignment was to plant canisters containing Bunkurd Sewer Disorder , the disease that the group had stolen from the institute , into " Hawkbat ' s Perch " and " Hawkbat ' s Vigil " , the shuttles used by " Hawkbat " to ship its crew to and from Revos . The group successfully rigged the shuttles and escaped by boarding " Narra " while Ekwesh strafed Revos Spaceport in his X - wing as a distraction . All of the Wraiths managed to escape the planet with Antilles and Sandskimmer piloting their stolen TIE fighters . The Wraith ' s next mission was to deploy surveillance satellites given to them by the crew of " Hawkbat " . By this time , Thri ' ag had started to plague the squadron with pranks , setting up greasy tubes and metal springs inside Tainer ' s locker , where they sprung out and surprised Tainer when he opened his locker , and putting a pressurized suit with a knife taped to its glove inside Sandskimmer ' s closet , arranging it in a way that it appeared to Sandskimmer that someone was trying to attack her . Before the mission commenced , Thri ' ag took the opportunity to pull a prank on Loran by setting loose the glass prowler inside Loran ' s X - wing . Thri ' ag anticipated that Loran would panic during the mission upon seeing the insect . However , the mission was completed without any incident . Confused , Thri ' ag inspected Loran ' s snubfighter afterward for any sign of the insect but found nothing . Unbeknownst to Thri ' ag , Phanan had also taken a glass prowler from the institute , and had kept it as a pet . Because Phanan was Loran ' s wingman , the latter was familiar with the insect and thought that Thri ' ag ' s glass prowler was Phanan ' s when it crawled on him during the mission . Realizing that it was another one of the pranks being perpetuated on the squadron , Loran surmised that only someone who knew his passcode could have left the glass prowler , and deduced that Thri ' ag was the prankster . As payback for the many pranks Thri ' ag had pulled on the squadron , Phanan , Loran , and Tainer plotted their own prank against the Bothan . Loran created a false entry regarding the fictitious Storini Crystal Deceiver on " Night Caller " encyclopedia , while Tainer created a device that mimicked the sound of a glass prowler crawling . The three of them were able to fool Thri ' ag and convince him that the glass prowler he took was actually a crystal deceiver — a similar - looking insect often mistaken as a glass prowler but far more deadly — and that the insect was planning to eat him inside his room . In the end , Thri ' ag fainted from fright and was sent to " Night Caller " sick bay for medical evaluation under Phanan . There , Thri ' ag was finally confronted by Loran and Phanan , and was forced to admit to being the perpetrator of the pranks . The Bothan also agreed to stop pulling pranks in exchange for Loran ' s and Phanan ' s promises not to spread the story of him fainting across the New Republic armed forces . Talasea and Ession . After their rendezvous with " Hawkbat " , the Wraiths took " Night Caller " to join " Implacable " , the corvette " Constrictor " , and the EF76 Nebulon - B escort frigate " Provocateur " for the planned assault on Talasea . Unbeknownst to Admiral Trigit was the fact that the New Republic had a superior force waiting to ambush his forces at Talasea . After being shown evidence that it was a trap , Trigit had " Implacable " drop out from hyperspace . The three other ships arrived at Talasea , and Captain Hrakness of " Night Caller " , decided to attack the two ships before they could escape , taking advantage of their unshielded hulls . During the short battle , " Night Caller " bridge was destroyed , killing everyone inside . Loran , who was aboard the ship , took command of the auxiliary bridge by using a password provided by Thri ' ag . The battle ended when " Constrictor " surrendered and " Provocateur " was destroyed after a proton torpedo barrage from the Wraith ' s X - wings . Thri ' ag then participated in the Battle of Ession , which was another trap created for Trigit . Under the cover story that " Night Caller " was luring in the New Republic ' s elite Rogue starfighter squadron for an ambush by Zsinj ' s forces , Loran was able to convince Zsinj to provide a target that the Rogues would want to destroy . Zsinj selected the Pakkerd Light Transport plant — a factory that produced TIE fighters for him — located on the planet Ession . The battle started when the cargo transport " Red Feathers " jumped in - system . The ship was actually the Super Transport VI " Blood Nest " , the baseship of the pirates that the Wraiths had fought in the M2398 system . The transport contained three New Republic squadrons hidden in its cargo hold and was rigged to detonate upon entering the planet ' s atmosphere , thereby releasing the starfighters . When " Blood Nest " broke apart , Rogue , Green , and Blue Squadrons flew out of its cargo hold . In response , " Implacable " and " Night Caller " launched their TIE fighters to engage the enemy ships , but the ones piloted by the Wraiths , designated Gray Flight , stationed themselves near " Implacable " . While " Implacable " TIE fighters raced ahead to engage the New Republic squadrons , Antilles gave the signal to strike . Gray Flight fired on " Implacable " bridge , destroying it in the process , while the Wraiths fired a salvo of proton torpedoes from " Night Caller " hold before launching to join the fight . During the battle , Sandskimmer found a unique opportunity to destroy " Implacable " by flying her TIE fighter through a hole on the ship made by " Night Caller " turbolasers , then attacking it from within . Despite Antilles ' s disapproval of her plan , she flew in , accompanied by Thri ' ag , who chose to disregard Antilles ' s order to stop Sandskimmer . Inside " Implacable " , they both systematically destroyed its power cells , rendering the ship powerless and sending it on a collision course with one of Ession ' s moons . While making his way out of the doomed ship , Thri ' ag ' s X - wing hit a piece of wreckage , and he temporarily lost control of his starfighter . Upon gaining control , however , his X - wing received a direct hit from one of " Implacable " turbolasers , killing Thri ' ag instantly . Legacy . After the capture of " Night Caller " , Thri ' ag ' s creation of the holographic overlay that had allowed Loran to impersonate Darillian proved invaluable . Without the program , Wraith Squadron would not have been able to pull off their " Night Caller " deception , which provided them with the opportunity to gather information on Zsinj ' s operations , as well as setting up traps such as the battles at Ession and Talasea . Because of Thri ' ag and Sandskimmer ' s daring actions in the Battle of Ession , " Implacable " was forced to surrender due to the loss of its main power cells , thereby preventing further casualties on both sides . Thri ' ag ' s call sign , Wraith Four , was later assumed by new Wraith pilot Dia Passik , and his role as the squadron ' s code slicer was taken up by another new Wraith recruit , Castin Donn . Personality and traits . Eurrsk Thri ' ag was considered aloof and mostly kept to himself , preferring not to bond with any of his squadron mates . A practical joker , Thri ' ag used his slicing skills extensively in pulling pranks at the expense of his fellow Wraith Squadron pilots . He was able to gain complete access to their starfighters , lockers , and living quarters aboard " Night Caller " by acquiring their passwords . Thri ' ag was somewhat arrogant concerning his abilities , especially when his slicing skills were needed in crucial times . Whenever his assistance was needed , Thri ' ag implied how easy it would be for him to complete the task , no matter how difficult it was . Wedge Antilles was of the opinion that Thri ' ag acted close to being insufferable most of the time . Despite his arrogance , Thri ' ag exhibited acts of bravery and loyalty toward his comrades on many occasions . During the Battle of Ession , he flew inside the hole on " Implacable " keel , accompanying Falynn Sandskimmer , even though Antilles deemed it too dangerous and forbade them from going in . After destroying as many power cells as they could , thereby causing the Star Destroyer to crash , Thri ' ag refused to leave unless Sandskimmer was with him . Talents and abilities . Eurrsk Thri ' ag was a capable slicer , a skill that prompted Wedge Antilles to recruit him for Wraith Squadron . Throughout his time with the Wraiths , Thri ' ag proved to be instrumental in all of their missions ; he never failed once in slicing security systems or obtaining needed data . He always carried with him a list of his key codes for times when he was needed to slice a system on a moment ' s notice . As a pilot , Thri ' ag proved proficient despite Ton Phanan ' s pronouncement of him as mediocre . Thri ' ag was also a self - proclaimed expert on Human psychology . During the screening process for Wraith Squadron , he surmised that Falynn Sandskimmer ' s interest in Myn Donos was not due to romantic yearnings , but merely a byproduct of female Human instincts of wanting to nurse him back to health . This assessment was seconded by Tyria Sarkin , another female Human in the squadron . Behind the scenes . Eurrsk Thri ' ag was a character created by author Aaron Allston for his novel " " , the first novel in the " Wraith Squadron " trilogy . Thri ' ag makes his only appearance in the said novel . He was illustrated by " Star Wars " artist Scott Roller in the article " Who ' s Who in Rogue Squadron " , which appeared in " Star Wars Insider 59 " .