X - Wing : Iron Fist X - Wing : Iron Fist is the sixth installment in the " X - Wing " series of novels , published on July 6 , 1998 by Bantam Spectra . It was written by Aaron Allston , and narration for the audio version was performed by Anthony Heald . Publisher ' s summary . " Against all odds , the controversial Wraith Squadron has survived its first covert mission . But now they are called upon to cheat death twice . This time Wedge Antilles sends them in to stop the warlord Zsinj and his Super Star Destroyer , " Iron Fist " . If Zsinj joins the Empire , it could turn the tide of war against the Rebels . The Wraith Squadron ' s mission : infiltrate the warlord ' s fleet and uncover his carefully guarded plans . To do so , they must pose as ruthless pirates seeking to join Zsinj ' s forces . And that means first becoming pirates in space lanes teeming with Imperial Navy patrols . If that isn ' t enough to get them killed , they ' ll have to pass one last test — a suicide mission for Zsinj . " " Can they survive the test and turn the tables on Zsinj ? " " Or is this the end for Wraith Squadron ? " Plot summary . After Wraith Squadron ' s first successful mission against Admiral Trigit , the squadron is transferred back to Coruscant . During a visit to one of the many bars on the planet , an anonymous cyborg , similar to Phanan , attacks them and starts a large bar fight . New Republic Military Police officers quickly arrive and break up the fight and arrest the members of Wraith Squadron . While being marched off , Face Loran hints that this may in fact be a trap , and the other members escape , subduing their captors . At the debriefing , it is revealed that the New Republic MPs were in fact covert agents working for Warlord Zsinj . For security reasons , Wraith Squadron is to be confined to the base . They also receive replacements pilots : Castin Donn , Dia Passik , and Shalla Nelprin . While at the base their new mission is to predict what Zsinj may be planning next . Meanwhile , Phanan recognizes that one of the officers who had debriefed them was Atton Repness , the corrupt officer who blackmailed Tyria into keeping quiet about his black market operation . Phanan and Kell devise an elaborate plot to bait Repness and expose him . Phanan and Face recruit Lara Notsil , who is actually Gara Petothel in disguise and offer her a spot in Wraith Squadron if she agrees to help bring down Repness . After submitting their predictions of Zsinj ' s plans , Wraith Squadron is sent to the Halmad system , an Imperial world with a large amount of resources . Their mission is to pose as a band of pirates and stage raids in an attempt to catch Zsinj ' s attention . They manage to sneak into an Imperial base and steal six TIE interceptors . As the " Hawk - bats " , the Wraiths begin staging pirate raids on freighters and ground targets . Meanwhile , at the pilot academy , Lara Notsil continues trying to bait Repness and succeeds . Using her Imperial Intelligence skills , she manages to hack into Repness ' computer and anonymously sends the data to New Republic Intelligence . She then publicly rejects Repenss ' offer to join his operation . Repness attempts to keep her quiet , but fails and is arrested . Lara is given Repness ' old X - Wing and transferred to Wraith Squadron just in time to assist with a joint mission with Rogue Squadron . During the mission , Lara has the opportunity to shoot Wedge ' s X - Wing in the back , but can ' t bring herself to do it . After the mission , Wraith Squadron resumes the guise of the Hawk - bats and prepares for a massive raid on two Imperial airbases . Face begins to realize Phanan ' s deep depression , and Lara is covertly contacted by Warlord Zsinj , disguised as a job offer from the real Lara ' s brother . Lara is forced her to decide whether to join the New Republic or the Empire . Myn Donos passes by and provides some comfort , and offers to accompany Lara to see her " brother " , fearing that it may be a trap set by Zsinj . The Wraiths start their massive raid , but are quickly foiled when Zsinj ambushes them . Phanan ' s fighter is shot down and Face tries to rescue him . Unfortunately , Phanan is mortally wounded from the crash and dies . Shocked at the death of his best friend , Face returns to the Wraiths , where he finds out that Zsinj has offered the Hawk - bats to join his fleet . Meanwhile , Lara and Donos arrive at the rendezvous . Lara meets her " brother " , along with an Imperial Intelligence agent . Lara refuses to join them , and before they can do anything , Donos shoots both of them dead with his sniper rifle . Lara then lies to Donos by saying that both men tried to abduct her . Taking up Zsinj ' s offer , Face , Kell , and Dia go to meet Zsinj and obtain some intelligence on him . Castin smuggles himself on board their shuttle , believing that his tracer program will help destroy Zsinj . Unfortunately , Castin is killed trying to implant the program . Zsinj questions Face about the issue , and Dia is forced to " kill " Castin in order to prove their loyalty . ( Zsinj staged it so that it looked as if Castin ' s body was still alive . ) Dia suffers from severe post - traumatic stress disorder for her actions , but Face manages to calm her down . The romantic ties between Face and Dia begin to reveal themselves . After reviewing the data that Zsinj provided , Wedge figures out that Zsinj wants to attack Kuat and steal a new Super Star Destroyer , the Razor ' s Kiss . Shalla is sent as the Hawk - bat ' s combat specialist to " assist " Zsinj ' s commando force , while the rest of Wraith Squadron will pose as the Hawk - Bats , and will aid Zsinj ' s forces in the assault on the Kuat shipyards . Shalla manages to install Castin ' s tracker program into the Razor ' s Kiss ' computers , and sabotages the shield generators . A New Republic task force led by Han Solo ambushes Zsinj ' s forces at the rendezvous after the successful capture of the Razor ' s Kiss , destroying Razor ' s Kiss and severely damaging the Iron Fist . Face , after suffering severe injuries during the battle , returns to the Wraiths . They discover that he had removed his trademark scar . Face admits that Phanan forced him to , since his will stated that if Face did not undergo the operation , Phanan ' s considerable wealth would be given to Face ' s rival actor , Tetran Cowall . Behind the scenes . The cover is incorrect . The scene shows considerable damage inflicted on the landing platform under attack . However , in the book , the platform , which had raised its shields just before being fired upon , sustained no damage . The Dramatis Personae section erroneously refers to " Rogue Squadron Support Personnel " instead of " Wraith Squadron Support Personnel " . On page 295 , while Zsinj struggles to salvage a badly damaged " Razor ' s Kiss " , he inexplicably refers to the warship as the " " Razor ' s Edge " " . On the next page , author Aaron Allston mistakenly refers to the New Republic fighter squadrons as the " New Alliance squadrons . " " New Alliance " is not a term ever associated with the Rebel Alliance or the New Republic . In the French version of the book , the cover art was mistakenly swapped with the one from The New Rebellion by the publisher Fleuve Noir . Cover gallery . This is a gallery of the different cover variations of " X - Wing : Iron Fist " .