Tycho Celchu

Tycho Celchu - By: Jorge Barrero

New Republic Era

New Republic

**Tycho Celchu** was a renowned Human male starfighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic, serving as a member of Rogue Squadron for years, before becoming an officer in the New Republic Defense Fleet. A native of Alderaan, he joined the Imperial Navy as a TIE Fighter pilot. He was speaking with his family by HoloNet when Alderaan was destroyed by the first Death Star, an event which pushed him into defecting to the Rebel Alliance. Celchu quickly became an ace pilot with the elite Rogue Squadron. There he fought alongside Wedge Antilles, who became his lifelong best friend. Celchu flew in the Battles of Hoth and Endor, as well as in several campaigns for the New Republic during which he began a romantic relationship with the intelligence agent Winter.

## Biography

### Imperial Service

#### Imperial Education

**Tycho Celchu** was born in 21 BBY to an Alderaanian family. In 2 BBY, hoping he could change the Imperial Military from within to be less aggressive, Celchu sought out and gained admission to the Imperial Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV. He was taught by the famous and skilled pilot Captain Soontir Fel, whom he was never able to defeat in simulation. Fel built a rapport with his students and insisted on their loyalty to the Empire. Celchu took some mocking from his classmates for being from the peaceful world of Alderaan, which engendered resentment. Fel did remind Celchu, however, that his loyalty was now to the Empire, not his homeworld. Celchu excelled and graduated as a Lieutenant in 0 BBY as part of a class of prodigies that gained considerable attention, though some of his classmates defected to the Rebel Alliance upon graduating, it cast a pall over the success of the class. Celchu, however, remained a loyal Imperial.

#### Alderaan's Destruction

Celchu was assigned to the Star Destroyer *Accuser* as a TIE pilot, a role in which he excelled. On his twenty-first birthday, Celchu contacted his entire family via the HoloNet. He was speaking with them in a jubilant celebration when the signal suddenly cut out. At first, Celchu thought little of the lost signal as it had happened before in the past, but later he learned that Alderaan had been destroyed. After learning that the Imperial Death Star superweapon was responsible for the destruction of Alderaan, his faith in the Galactic Empire was broken. Knowing that the Rebels drew support from Alderaan, Celchu decided to defect to the Rebel Alliance and bring down the government that had destroyed his family, home, and friends. When the *Accuser* stopped at Commenor, Celchu went on leave and did not come back. He made his way to the Rebel Alliance just after they had evacuated the Yavin 4 rebel base, arranging a rendezvous with Red Squadron.

### Rebellion Service

#### Joining the Rebels

Following the Battle of Yavin, the Empire had begun targeting the remaining Alderaanians, and Tycho Celchu was classified as one of the targets because of his defection. As Red Squadron arrived at to rendezvous with Celchu, he was captured by Imperial Storm Commandos and attempted to warn off the Rebels. In an effort to extract a valuable asset and to preserve what was left of Alderaan's people and culture, Red Squadron decided to attempt a rescue rather than call off the mission. Luke Skywalker was able to eliminate the Imperial forces capturing Celchu and freed him from the personnel carrier he had been placed aboard. Celchu and Skywalker set out on speeder bikes for Red Squadron's landing site, evading TIE Bomber attacks along the way and escaping into space. After joining the Rebel Alliance, Celchu immediately volunteered his knowledge of Imperial tactics, codes, practices and procedures to use against the Empire.

#### Rogue Squadron

In 1 ABY, Skywalker recruited Celchu as one of the members of Rogue Squadron, where the former Imperial became a veteran pilot, considered among the best of a legendary lot. Though he was initially distant to the new man, squadron pilot Wedge Antilles eventually warmed up to Celchu, and they became extremely close friends. When the squadron moved to Hoth, Celchu moved with it. He had excelled as a member of the squadron and attained the rank of Captain, making him one of the most senior officers in the unit behind Skywalker and Antilles. In his downtime, he sometimes played sabacc with Han Solo and frequently lost. When Echo Base was discovered by the Empire and evacuated, the Rogues fought to cover the Rebellion’s retreat. Solo was captured by the Empire, frozen in carbonite, and turned over to bounty hunter Boba Fett shortly thereafter, and Skywalker departed Rogue Squadron to track down and liberate Solo.

#### Victory at Endor

When news came that the Empire was building a second Death Star at Endor, the starfighter squadrons of the Alliance Starfighter Corps were assigned to the major Rebel fleet assaulting it. Celchu was present at the mission briefing, in which it was explained that their fighter force would attempt to fly into the superstructure of the uncompleted Death Star and destroy its main reactor, with Emperor Palpatine aboard. With his X-Wing temporarily out of commission, Celchu volunteered to pilot an A-Wing, and was assigned to provide top cover for Lando Calrissian in the *Millennium Falcon*. Though Celchu preferred the X-Wing, he was a skilled A-Wing pilot. When the fleet arrived, they found a large Imperial fleet waiting in ambush and the shields protecting the Death Star functional, not down as they were supposed to be. They engaged in a grueling dogfight until Han Solo was able to destroy the Death Star II’s shield generator on Endor.

Celchu flew as Antilles's wing, guiding his fighter through the maze of half-finished girders and access shafts of the massive superweapon. He split off from the attack force in order to lead several TIEs away through the Death Star and reduce the pursuit on Antilles and Calrissian, who successfully destroyed the Death Star II. During the battle, both Palpatine and Darth Vader died aboard the Death Star II due to the actions of Luke Skywalker. Celchu survived his decoy run and was awarded for his participation during the Battle of Endor. Celchu had hoped that the victory would force the Empire to surrender, but it was not to be so. After the Battle of Endor, Celchu and other pilots were assigned to scout star systems in order to gather information about their state in the wake of the victory at Endor and search for evidence of Imperial activity. After the Battle of Endor, the Alliance to Restore the Republic was soon reorganized into the New Republic.

### New Republic Service

#### Imprisonment

Celchu volunteered to fly a captured TIE fighter into Coruscant on an intelligence-gathering mission. The TIE fighter had been modified to hold extra sensor equipment, and with the proper codes and Celchu's Imperial experience, it was felt he would be successful. Celchu orbited Coruscant multiple times to pick up data on its orbital defenses before landing. He spent weeks on Coruscant as the intel was shipped out, and was then asked to take the risky move of flying the TIE back out and to a freighter in order to pick up more information. Tycho agreed, but was captured due to ion cannon fire that shorted his figher’s self-destruct. Celchu was taken to the *Lusankya*, where Director Ysanne Isard broke prisoners and brainwashed them into becoming secret agents who would not even remember being in the *Lusankya* before being activated and turned against the New Republic. Tycho Celchu was imprisoned for months and continually interrogated.

After the attack on Chandrilla, Tycho was held and evaluated along with the other prisoners who were part of the attack. The New Republic Security Bureau confirmed that the prisoners had been implanted with inorganic bio-chips and were forced to follow the orders they received. In Celchu’s case, the Security Bureau discovered that his control chip was not properly implanted and programmed, and because of his faulty implant he was not one of the inmates who attacked the leadership. Despite the fact that he did not participate in the attack, most people in the New Republic were hesitant to trust Celchu and feared that he was a double agent. After his implant was removed, Celchu was debriefed for months about where he was imprisoned and who was responsible, but no issues were found with him. While he did not face official sanctions, nearly everyone distrusted him. Antilles was among the few people who stood staunchly by him.