Battlefront: Twilight Company - Books and Novels (Canon)

Review | Key Characters & Locations | Summary | Talking Points | Discussion

The Galactic Empire endures. Despite the destruction of its terrifying Death Star by the Rebel Alliance, its oppression spreads undiminished across the stars.

Under the direction of the Emperor and Darth Vader, an army of highly trained, single-minded stormtroopers quashes dissent and destroys resistance.

But on worlds like Sullust, Coyerti, Haidoral Prime, and untold others, rebel forces fight in the trenches, determined to maintain hope against the unrelenting Imperial war machine...

Main Characters

• Hazram Namir (male Human) - A soldier from the planet Crucival, he served as a Sergeant in the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry commonly known as Twilight Company.
• Everi Chalis (female Human) - She was from a remote and impoverished planet in the galaxy. Enrolling in the Colonial Academy to become an artist, she took an apprenticeship under Count Denetrius Vidian of the Galactic Empire. She later became his successor and served as the governor of Haidoral Prime during the Galactic Civil War, before temporarily defecting to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Secondary Characters

• Thara Nyende (female Human) – A stormtrooper hailing from the planet Sullust, Nyende's designation was SP-475 and served in the Imperial Ninety-Seventh Stormtrooper Legion stationed on Sullust. At one point during the Siege of Inyusu Tor she found herself the captor of Hazram Namir, until he was freed by Nien Nunb.
• Captain Tabor Seitaron (male Human) – He worked as a teacher at the Imperial Academy on Carida. During Verge's hunt for Everi Chalis, Seitaron accompanied him aboard the Herald, later killing the young prelate during the Siege of Inyusu Tor.
• Prelate Verge (male Human) – At barely twenty years old, was part of the Imperial Ruling Council, with the title of prelate. Rumor had it that Verge was in fact the offspring of one of the Emperor Palpatine's ministers, who had been reared to become a future member of the Ruling Council.
• Brand (female Human) – Prior to her service in Twilight Company, Brand worked as a bounty hunter. She brought those skills with her to Twilight Company, serving as a sniper and tracker for the company. Brand tended to be aloof and preferred working with a higher degree of operational freedom than her fellow soldiers in Twilight Company.
• Gadren (male Besalisk) – He was a warrior poet, often times singing in the trenches to boost morale. He recruited Hazram Namir during open recruitment on the planet Crucival; Gadren later served under Sergeant Namir through many battles of the Galactic Civil War. He fought in battles such as that on Haidoral Prime and Inyusu Tor, where he lost one of his four arms.
• Roach (female Human) - She was recruited by Hazram Namir on her home planet of Haidoral Prime. Namir took a liking to her when she became part of the company and also was able to determine that Roach was a recovering spice addict. She was killed during the Siege of Inyusu Tor on Sullust.

Key Locations

• Crucival – A backwater world in the Tion Hegemony and the homeworld of Hazram Namir. The planet was almost constantly wracked by war between various factions involving everything from politics to religion.
• Haidoral Prime – A planet located in the Mid Rim. It was the location of a conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War.
• Sullust – A planet located in the Sullust system of the Outer Rim Territories that was home to the Sullustan species. Sullust was a barren, obsidian world of lava streams and turquoise lakes. Native fauna such as ash angels foraged during the day and returned to nest at night, while rockrenders and Drustash grub prowled the planet's underground.
• Coyerti – A planet in the Mid Rim. It was the location of a conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War.
• Hoth – A remote, icy planet that was the sixth planet in the star system of the same name. It notably hosted Echo Base, the temporary headquarters of theAlliance to Restore the Republic, until the Galactic Empire located the Rebels, initiating a major confrontation known as the Battle of Hoth.
• Metatessu Sector – Located in the Mid Rim and known to contain both the Chonsetta and Enrivi systems.
• Elochar Sector – Located in the Mid Rim and known for hosting the Alliance flotilla as they drifted in repair.
• Ankhural – It had one big settlement, which was protected by a ray shield to hold of giant clouds of dust from the silicon fields. During the Galactic Civil War, Ankhural was plagued with criminal activity, being home to Umbaran spies and remnants of the Death Watch.
• Mardona III – It was used by the Galactic Empire to stockpile equipment and materials for nearby systems.
• Najan-Rovi – Host system to a small shipyard specializing in producing and customizing vessels for the Imperial elite and upper class citizens.
• Obumubo – A small, frigid moon located within the galaxy. During the Galactic Civil War the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry, a military division of the Rebel Alliance, attacked in an attempt to expand their influence over the planet Kuat.
• Nakadia – An agricultural planet in the Mid Rim. During the Galactic Civil War, Twilight Company destroyed the planet's plastic factories, where farm crops were made into armor-grade polymers and synthetic resins.

Key Terms

• Plan Kay One Zero - Was an emergency protocol that originated in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and was later used by the Resistance. It was an order to evacuate a base, such as the evacuation of Echo Base.
• Operation Ringbreaker - Was a strike conducted by the Rebel Alliance's Sixty-First Mobile Infantry, often known as "Twilight Company," on several worlds held by the Galactic Empire. The eventual intent of the campaign was to disable the heart of the Empire's ship-building operations, the Kuat Drive Yards.
• AT-ST - Also known as a Scout Transport, Scout Walker, or derisively as a chicken walker, was a lightweight, bipedal walker used by the ground forces of the Galactic Empire.
• AT-AT - A four-legged combat walker used by the ground forces of the Galactic Empire. With the Imperial-class Star Destroyer and the TIE/LN starfighter, it was one of the most famous symbols of the Empire's military might.
• Juggernaught – The name for a line of tracked military vehicles most commonly known as Clone Turbo Tanks.

Review

When you first pick up Battlefront: Twilight Company you are greeted by the cover art showing what appears to be a scene from the battle of Hoth from the perspective of the infantry. Sadly this is not the case as most of the characters depicted on the cover have never even see Hoth. Also disappointing to me was the fact that Hoth, while featured in the book, plays a fairly small part in terms of what the Company actually battles through. For that matter most of the battles in the novel get brushed over in broad terms. It is not until the main battle on Sullust that we get to see the more intimate and detailed war that should be the focus of the novel.

This brings me to the real highlight of the book, the featured battles Hoth and Sullust. In each of these cases we get an up close look from the infantry perspective, sharing in the successes and failures that go along with such. From the effects of biological weapons, to the terror of facing Imperial Walkers of all sizes, to surviving an encounter with Darth Vader, to the lava ambush on Sullust. While the battle on Hoth was a brief bit of the story it was nice to see what happened in other areas of the battle, those soldiers on the outer edges of the perimeter. Sullust is where the book really gets going, from the loss of the Thunderstrike to meeting with Nien Numb and providing the spark to start a true rebellion on the planet.

Battlefront places a strong focus on Namir Hazram and the bonds he has with his existing squad, and those he builds with new recruits. However, because such a focus is spent looking at his point of view, we really lose out on how the other soldiers see things. We got just enough of Brand to really make you want more, but of the others we got nothing. This turns into a disappointment when the casualties begin to mount during the campaign, and those who fall turn into nothing more than a name... and you know nothing about them. Even with the main characters it becomes a bit of a challenge to find yourself really caring about their fate, and sadly in the canon novels this is becoming more of a standard practice than an exception. The characters that are not pre-existing lack the dimension to make readers really care about their fate.

Overall Battlefront: Twilight Company is not a bad book but it also isn’t a great book. Those looking to see infantry battles in the Star Wars universe may be better off in reading only the last 100 pages or playing the Battlefront games instead. I give this 2.5 holocrons out of 5.

Character Reviews

Hazram Namir – Through the use of flashback chapters we get to see Namir as a child soldier just starting out, then glimpses of his life as he became an experienced soldier accustomed to the win and loss of warfare. Then when he joined the Rebellion he got to see just how vast the galaxy was, having to trust not only new humans but also aliens, and eventually having to command them. Namir is a competent soldier, uncomfortable with having to make the decisions that cost others their lives, but he is willing to learn from his mistakes and consider advice he is given from others. Character Grade: B-

Everi Chalis – From the very beginning Chalis makes it clear that her greatest priority is doing whatever it takes to stay alive. Second to that is her desire for revenge. The comparison to hell having no wrath like a woman scorned is most appropriate here as upon her discovery that she was not as important to the Empire as she believed, she works to turn Twilight Company into her personal tool of vengeance. She Planned attacks against facilities and personnel that had failed to see what she deemed her worth to be. It is hardly the most original motivation, but in this case it is done well as Chalis has the intelligence and charisma to hijack command of Twilight and use them to strike repeated blows. Character Grade: A

Story Summary

Part 1: Withdrawal

Chapter 1: Planet Crucival, 13 years after the Clone Wars
Donin is a new soldier in the warlord’s army. Already dispatched to the front line, he is startled when a ship flies overhead. An older soldier takes notice of him and informs him that it is nothing but a ship flying to the tower, and to ignore it and the offworlders dressed in white. Donin regains his senses and focuses on how he will celebrate if he survives the coming battle.

Chapter 2: Planet Haidoral Prime, 9 years later
Namir and his squad, Gadren and Charmer, are working on securing a sector of the city and finding supplies when they come under fire from a small squad of stormtroopers. They blast through the window of an electronics store to take cover before returning fire. Once the stormtroopers are down they trade a few jokes about one another.

At the Rebel base camp, Namir finds the fourth member of his squad, Brand, asking why she didn’t back them up in the firefight. She explains that there was another stormtrooper squad that she took care of. Morale in the camp is poor. Twilight Company has been the vanguard of a massive push from the outer rim into the more populated areas of the galaxy following the destruction the death star. Then, nine months into their advance they receive orders to stop, the fleet is overextended. Now Twilight Company is fighting a rearguard action going back over planets they had taken months earlier. The company holds an open recruitment drive, and Namir walks through evaluating those who show up and passing on his recommendations.

Namir’s squad is sent to the Governor’s mansion. Once there they learn that someone inside is claiming to have hostages. The squad, minus Gadren, zip-lines over the wall and into the mansion. Once inside they learn that the “hostage” is really the governor herself, seeking to join the rebels and avoid punishment for failing the Empire.

Chapter 3: Planet Sullust, day 85 of the Mid Rim Retreat
Thara walks the streets of Pinyub on the way to her Uncle’s bar. As she travels she takes time to nod to any stormtrooper she sees. At the bar she gives her uncle a bag full of supplies, medical gear and other needed material. As he hands out the items to his patrons, she works on the bar tap while listening to the rumblings of the customers. When she leaves the bar she passes several checkpoints before reaching her locker room, there she changes her clothes, and becomes SP – 475 of the 97th Stormtrooper Legion.

Chapter 4: Kohntahr Sector, day 85 of the Mid Rim Retreat
Aboard ship, former Governor Chalis meets with Captain Howl to negotiate for her betrayal of the Empire, offering information on logistics and supply points in exchange for a place within the Rebel hierarchy. It is here she reveals that her predecessor was Count Vidian.

Namir meets with the new recruits, and gives them the new recruit spiel. While talking he tells them that the guidelines given to them by Alliance High Command really don’t mean anything in the middle of a battle, and tells them to partner up with a veteran member of the company who can vouch for them as being able to handle a blaster and themselves. One of the new recruits, a girl who goes by Roach, partners up with Namir.

That evening the squad is playing cards and swapping stories about why they fight against the Empire, and why they joined Twilight Company. Ajax was one of only four survivors of another unit and a gifted grenadier. Gadren is a Besalisk whose family had been sold into slavery by the Empire. Brand ended up joining after taking a bounty for Captain Howl but then changing her mind about collecting it.

Three nights later the ship comes under attack. While the crew of the ship scrambles to their posts, Twilight Company hurry into their shelters. Once at the shelter, Namir overhears and damage report and runs off to check on the prisoner. Chalis is safe in her confines but the guard outside is unconscious, while the hallway burns. Covering himself, Namir runs through the flames and into the airlock Chalis is being kept in, making sure to bring the unconscious guard as well.

The Thunderstike manages to escape with relatively minor damage and injuries to its crew. Several days later Namir meets with Captain Howl to try and find out what happened. He learns that they encountered a random Imperial patrol and that Chalis has been providing Intel on how they can strike back at the logistics of the Empire.

Chapter 5: Carida system, day 91 of the Mid Rim Retreat
Captain Tabor Seitaron has been summoned up to the Herald. There he meets with Prelate Verge, who has been tasked with hunting down Everi Chalis. When Tabor initially turns down the request he is accused of being a traitor to the Empire, and reluctantly agrees.

Chapter 6: Planet Coyerti, day 97 of the Mid Rim Retreat
As their drop ship comes down fast, Namir’s squad complete their final preparations. Then as the ship flies they jump out five meters from the ground. Aall of them land safely and start on the march. They are on Coyerti to protect the native populace for a couple weeks as they go through their mating season and are incapable of defending themselves.

Two squads hit a makeshift perimeter camp the Empire had thrown together for its renewed offensive against the Coyerti. As soon as the fighting ends the Rebels rig the Imperial equipment to blow and get moving since TIE bombers would soon be approaching. On the second day the squad waits, waist deep in muck waiting to ambush a convoy. That evening they receive a message that the convoy went a different way at dawn. As they sit at camp that evening they watch signals and flares as a dozen squads attack an Imperial fort thirty kilometers away. The third day is spent in a hit and run effort to bring down an AT-ST. It takes all day but they manage to lure it into a pond where they leave it sunk below the surface.

The morning of day four the squad has received orders to precede to their primary target, the bioweapon factory. All day and half the night they hike finally stopping at midnight. Just after noon the next day the squad arrives. Brand sneaks down and plants a small bomb on a canister. When it explodes, the facility is evacuated and the squad sneaks inside planting bombs in every room. Sneaking back out and heading to their evac point the bombs explode. Only Gadren seems fine. The others are all feeling sick and begin to wonder if they were dosed with something. When they reach the evac point there is no one waiting for them. It takes 4 days for the drop ship to arrive. The squad is taken back to Thunderstrike. They had received a small dose of unweaponized, unrefined bioagent, and they will be fine. The Coyerti campaign is over.

Chapter 7: Planet Crucival, 15 years after the Clone Wars
He is Umu Seven now, and on a mission to the bazaar to gather materials for the Creed. His father finds him in the bazaar and begs him to come back but he refuses saying he is no longer Hazram, but Umu Seven.

Chapter 8: Metatessu Sector, day 109 of the Mid Rim Retreat
Three days later the Thunderstrike comes under attack, but manages to escape. Then again nineteen hours later, and yet a third attack two days later. The Empire is tracking them. Talking to a maintenance droid, Namir learns that the ship has been leaking radiation, which is acting like a trail of breadcrumbs. An hour later, Captain Howl has the senior officers and Chalis assembled and asking for ideas, it is decided that they will raid an Imperial freighter and steal the parts they need to make repairs to the Thunderstrike.

The Thunderstrike waits in ambush in the Redhurne system, a system whose sun went nova and destroyed the planets leaving the cores exposed for mining. Using Imperial codes, Chalis is able to order an incoming freighter to change course to make it more readily assailable. Only the most veteran members of the company are used in the assault, with multiple boarding pods each carrying a squad. After the initial assault, Chalis and Namir go across in a pod with two other guards. Once inside the freighter Namir escorts Chalis to a control room. Using her codes, Chalis is able to locate the parts that are needed. As the engineers finish removing the parts, an Imperial cruiser arrives forcing a hurried escape. The mission is successful, but at a cost: Twilight Company has lost eight of its most experienced members.

The parts stolen will enable the Thunderstike to make full repairs so they can no longer be tracked. Even better the ship and Company will be spending a full month with the fleet in the outer rim recovering and training. Captain Howl, Namir, and Chalis have received an invitation from Princess Leia to attend a meeting of Alliance High Command at their hidden base.

Part II: Regroupment

Chapter 9: Planet Sullust, 15 days before plan Kay One Zero
SP-475 is being briefed on potential threats and what her new targets will be. In the middle of the briefing an alarm goes off, there has been an attack. She is immediately reassigned to working checkpoints and watching for anyone suspicious. Iin the afternoon she is sent on several raids. When her shift ends that night she takes another bag of supplies to her Uncle. Knowing how uncomfortable she makes the patrons, she quickly leaves.

Chapter 10: 3 light-years off the Corellian Trade Spine Hyperlane, 14 days before plan Kay one Zero
Twilight Company holds a funeral for the members they lost in their raid on the freighter. Afterwards during the wake, the still living members say their goodbyes to Namir and talk about how great Alliance High Command is. Early the next morning, Namir goes to eat breakfast and while eating ends up speaking with Chalis about what she has seen and what she plans to do.

Chapter 11: Metatessu Sector, 13 days before Plan Kay One Zero
Captain Seitaron has been on the Herald now for more than a month. The intervening time has been spent getting to know the crew and learn why they seem so frazzled. One night Prelate Verge orders and impromptu gala to be held in one of the hangar bays. An hour into the event Captain Seitaron learns that the purpose is to be punishment for an officer who received intelligence about a possible sighting of Chalis but doubted the veracity. Two days later, they learned that the Thunderstrike is leaking radiation and can be tracked, but just as they near position to ambush the ship, Twilight Company conducts their raid on the freighter. Now the crew of the Herald must shift their focus to tracking all the various damaged ships that have escaped to see if they can locate the repair flotilla.

Chapter 12: Planet Hoth, 11 days before Plan Kay One Zero
As soon as they arrive on Hoth, Chalis and Howl are secreted away to a big strategy conference with the leaders of the Alliance. Namir and the other two members of Twilight are given other assignments to keep them busy while at Echo Base. Namir hates the enthusiasm that others have for the Rebellion and for Echo Base itself, so much so, that one day he picks a fight by comparing the rebel leaders to Darth Vader. The next day he is assigned a punishment detail, unloading supplies from a ship. During the day he speaks a couple times with a freighter captain who is working on his own ship in the bay. At the end of the day, Namir and the captain sit down and drink Corellian whiskey while discussing their points of view about the war. At the end of it the captain leaves Namir with the thought that those he fight with deserve better than him if he can’t believe in the Rebellion. The next day the strategy conference ends. Howl is going to leave the following day to go back to Twilight. Chalis is going to be staying with High Command as an advisor and offers Namir the chance to stay with her as a security detail. Before he can say anything another rebel runs in with the information that the Empire has found them and they are doing a total evacuation.

Chapter 13: Elochar Sector, 2 days before Plan Kay One Zero
After ten days with the repair flotilla, Brand is bored. She refuses to socialize with the other soldiers and just wants work. One day as she is negotiating for a case of grenades the alarm klaxon goes off, a new ship has just arrived full of wounded. The Thunderstrike will take the wounded on. The new ship docks with Thunderstrike and off-loads the wounded but something feels off to Brand, she is happy though because now she has something to focus on.

Chapter 14: Planet Hoth, 0 days before Plan Kay One Zero
Namir and a small squad are stationed at Outpost Delta, a hundred meters to the northwest of the base. From there they are able to see Gozanti cruisers coming down with Imperial walkers clamped to the bottom. A few minutes later Outpost Beta reports ground troops, and the ion cannon fires. The first transport is away. Namir is happy about that more than anything. It means he is done having to deal with Chalis.

Outpost Beta is quickly destroyed when one of the walkers fire several blasts at it. As Namir plans how they can potentially flank the Imperial forces, one of the soldiers with him reports that there is a scouting force fanning out in their direction. Two hover carriers loaded with stormtroopers and an AT-ST. As the soldiers open fire on the stormtroopers, the AT-ST quickly destroys their artillery pieces and keeps walking. It is then that Namir notices one of the rebels in caught in the leg mechanism of the walker, just before a grenade explodes killing her and eliminating the walker.

Namir and two others start heading back to Echo Base and find an abandoned Juggernaught. They commandeer the vehicle and pick up straggling soldiers on their way back to base. Once back at Echo Base they go to the command center and learn that Captain Howl is unconscious, Chalis is trying to pull him out to safety. From her they also learn that Vader has landed with troops from the 501st legion. The soldiers grab Howl and they start working through the maze of tunnels. As they run through they see the bodies of fallen rebels, some of them freshly killed. They turn around in one passage and there at the other end of the hall is Darth Vader flanked by five snowtroopers.

Chapter 15: Elochar Sector, 0 days after plan Kay One Zero
Brand explores the dark and nearly powerless Trumpet’s Call. She finds very little except for the occasional body. When she reaches the computer systems she starts pulling up the files of the personnel on board and realizes that all the bodies she has seen belong to the actual crew. The injured that were taken aboard the Thunderstrike aren’t the real crew. Brand races back to the air lock between the ships. Before the door can fully cycle open she can hear the emergency klaxon. Thunderstrike has been infiltrated.

Chapter 16: Planet Hoth, 0 days after Plan Kay One Zero
Namir and the others with him open fire, quickly downing one trooper. As the others take cover Vader remains unmoved and unscathed. Namir and the rest take cover themselves and concentrate fire on Vader, causing him to ignite his lightsaber. He calmly strides through the corridor batting away their blasts before killing the other two soldiers. Using the force, he strangles Chalis. She proves defiant about her own death, as he asks her only “Where is Skywalker?” When one of the snowtroopers tells him that they have located the Millennium Falcon he throws her against the wall, Namir closes his eyes and prays for it to end.

Chapter 17: Elochar Sector, 0 days after Plan Kay One Zero
Once inside the Thunderstrike, Brand finds the rest of the squad working on getting to the bridge. Charmer and Roach are using a cutting torch on one of the bulkheads. Gadren has gone to the armory for bigger weapons. Seeing that this is taking too long, Brand goes back into Trumpet’s Call and fires up the engine, moving the derelict ship in front of Thunderstrike and before jumping out of the airlock aiming for an astromech maintenance hatch near the bridge of Thunderstrike. Just as she goes to close the hatch she sees another ship appear from hyperspace, an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Chapter 18: Planet Hoth, 0 days after Plan Kay One Zero
Namir wakes slowly, cnvinced he is in a living nightmare. Checking on the others he finds only Chalis is still alive. Helping her to her feet they stumble through the halls to the hangar. Luckily their shuttle is undamaged. On their way off the planet, Namir has Chalis use her Imperial codes to get them through the blockade.

Chapter 19: Elochar Sector, 0 days after Plan Kay One Zero
Brand is able to get back into the ship just outside of the main hatch to the bridge. In the distance she can hear booming and believes it is Gadren working his way up from the armory. Unable to wait any longer Brand opens the hatch and dives in firing. Several members of the bridge crew, including the captain, are already dead. As soon as Brand comes in the remaining crew begins to fight back again. Working with those who are left Brand is able to retake the bridge, even as a message is playing over the intercom from Prelate Verge informing them that he is seeking Chalis. When the bridge is reclaimed only Brand and two ensigns are left. She sends a quick message to their escort before ordering their ship into hyperspace.

Chapter 20: Planet Sullust, 0 days after Plan Kay One Zero
Since the terrorist attack there have been daily raids, searches, and imprisonments. SP-475 even got a commendation for reporting that her Uncle was receiving supplies from an unknown source. SP-475 and a squad of stormtroopers are conducting a raid on a ship. After completing the search room to room they find nothing, and then as they prepare to turn it over to the scanning crew, one of the other troopers notices a hidden compartment in one of the walls.  Inside is a Chadra Fan and member of the rebels. After a quick few words the Chadra Fan activate a detonator and blows a bomb that was stashed in the compartment with him.

Part III: Assault

Chapter 21: Planet Crucival, 19 years after the Clone Wars
Namir is alone, he has led his friends and fellows in a battle that cost them their lives. When a scout droid appears, he takes off running so that he can avoid the bombardment that is about to happen. Namir and his friends have been used by the Empire as fodder to protect the world from the soldiers of the Rebellion. Now the battle is over and Namir has nowhere to go, Spotting a line of survivors walking, he follows them and finds himself in a camp. It is a recruitment drive being performed by Twilight Company.

Chapter 22: Planet Ankhural, 3 years later, 7 days before Operation Ringbreaker
Brand is walking around the marketplace and checking with a couple of contacts, trying to find out if anyone is paying too much attention to them. After learning that so far they are safe, Brand heads back to the podracing track. The Thunderstrike has been landed so that the various systems can be fully shut down and repaired. After only a few moments the sentries call out that someone is approaching. Brand arrives at the door just as it opens to reveal Namir and Chalis.

Chapter 23: Planet Ankhural, 5 days before Operation Ringbreaker
The return of Namir brings along nothing but bad news. The Rebel High Command has fled to reaches unknown, Echo Base lies crushed and in ruins, and Captain Howl is dead. Morale is decimated and there is talk among the members of desertion. To try and start things going back to normal, they hold funerals for all the dead members with Captain Howl being the last. After the funerals many of the soldiers go out into the town on a bit of shore leave to try and recover. Namir and Gadren are among the last to stay out and have a talk about what Twilight has lost and what they need to find again. The next morning Namir still has no idea where they are going, but he now knows he has to give Twilight a sense of purpose again.

Chapter 24: Elochar Sector, 9 days before Operation Ringbreaker
Several members of the Herald have been tortured for the part they played in the escape of the Thunderstrike. While he disagrees with the methods, Captain Seitaron does agree they are effective. A week after the failed ambush the Captain and Prelate Verge are discussing their roles within the Empire. It is then that Captain Seitaron learns Prelate Verge is terrified of failure and the potential repercussions he could face.

Chapter 25: Planet Ankhural, 3 days before Operation Ringbreaker
Namir and Brand are out in the city looking for parts as the residents are now refusing to sell to or help the rebel soldiers. Once they return to the ship, Namir goes and talks with Chalis. He learns about where she is from and how they are similar, but also how she was fooled into believing her own self importance. As they speak Chalis frequently has mucousy coughing fits and a nasty bruise still covering her neck. The next morning several members of the crew return to the ship. Having been attacked, Ankhural is no longer welcoming to them. Namir goes into a meeting with the remaining senior staff and is surprised to see Chalis leading the meeting. She goes into a speech that ends with her laying out a plan to destroy the Kuat shipyards after hitting other targets to draw the defenses away. By the end of the meeting the senior officers agree to the plan and also make Namir the new Captain for the Company.

Chapter 26: Planet Mardona III, 4 days into Operation Ringbreaker
The Thunderstrike and Apailana’s Promise both descend rapidly through the atmosphere and a swarm of TIE Fighters. As soon as they outrun the TIE’s Namir gives orders to drop the troops. Once on the ground the troops begin swarming down under the surface into the various tunnels and systems keeping the planet functioning. The Company is planting ion bombs all along the tram and rail systems, while also randomly hitting security checkpoints.

On the second day of the attack, the Empire begins to move units in to counter the rebels and they are forced to retreat into a housing complex. Once inside the housing complex, Namir meets briefly with the residents to tell them what they are in for. Meanwhile, the various squads continue to venture out and sabotage the systems wherever they can.

On the fourth day, Namir is alerted to a new weapon deployed by the Empire, a type of serpent using sonic and flame weapons. Charmer’s squad was killed except for one survivor. Seeking retribution, Namir gathers a death squad and they go in hunt of it. They find the weapon near a checkpoint and slaughter any Imperials around, only retreating when Imperial reinforcements become too numerous. On returning to the housing block, Namir learns that one of the residents had given the Empire information about the squads and this is what led to Charmer’s squad being killed. The resident is dealt with.

On the fifth day Twilight Company leaves the housing block and fights their way back up to the surface. When they reach the surface they are greeted not by armies, but by a monsoon so fierce they can barely get to their own dropships. That night on the ship funerals are held for those who were lost on the planet. After the funerals Namir meets with Chalis who helps him come to terms with his new status as the commanding officer.

Chapter 27: Planet Sullust, 9 days into Operation Ringbreaker
Thara has spent the last two weeks recovering from her injuries. Now she is returned to light duty and her first day back finds her speaking with one of the original clone troopers. He tells her that she needs to speed up her recovery as they do not have enough stormtroopers. She is surprised by this and asks him about the rumors she has heard about Hoth. A week later she is standing at attention as a shuttle comes down with new overseers and another contingent of stormtroopers. As the overseers come down a rebel spy droid is spotted and shot down.

Chapter 28: 15 light-years off the Rimma Trade Route, 10 days into Operation Ringbreaker
The first target is the shipyard at Najan-Rovi. Thunderstrike lands Twilight Company and destroys the facilities, along with hundreds of personal craft for Imperial officers and executives.

Next up is Obumubo, where they are striking not at any facility in particular, but are working to kill the officer in charge of security. Despite taking moderate losses they succeed and return to Thunderstrike. That night while watching pirated news, Roach questions whether or not the propaganda might be true that several high-ranking members of the Alliance have been captured or surrendered. Namir denies it but admits they haven’t heard anything so they are fighting to give the Alliance something to build off of.

At Nakadia, Twilight Company runs afoul of the same bioweapon they fought to destroy on Coyerti. Losses are heavy among the Human contingent of Twilight, but in the end the warehouses burn and Nakadia falls to the designs and plans that Chalis has lain out. After the funerals for their lost comrades, Chalis gives another speech with the purpose of rebuilding morale and unifying the soldiers once again. Over the next week Twilight Company fights two more battles on Naator and Xagobah. Recognizing the need for a rest, the Thunderstike and Twilight Company take shore leave on Heap Nine, where Gadren finds Namir having difficulty in accepting his role as the commander and ordering his friends to potential death. To help him accept this, Gadren tells him the story of a battle in which only 37 members or Twilight survived. Captain Howl not only accepted the sacrifice the fallen had made, but made their sacrifice into something for the survivors to live up to.

After their rest on Heap Nine, Twilight Company next hits the asteroid mines of the Kuliquo belt. Namir handpicked the members of the company, including Roach at Gadren’s urging, to go down and sabotage the machinery. The mission was successful and Roach returned with a hunk of gold the size of her fist as a gift for Namir.

En route to Sullust, Namir tries one last time to get hold of Alliance High Command. When he hears back from them he learns that High Command still has not regrouped and that Thunderstrike is on its own. At Sullust, Thunderstrike and her escort tear through the swarm of TIEs and into atmosphere. There the dropships take the troops down onto the processing facility at Pinyub. As soon as the troops are down, the dropships return to Thunderstrike and leave the system. On the ground the engineers take control of mining machinery and use it to drill tunnels into the facility from below, allowing Twilight Company to attack from above and below. Having taken the facility, they force all the workers out of the facility and rig the equipment to flood the plant with magma at the push of a button. The next day as they wait for the dropships to return, they overhear comm messages about a trap that has sprung for the Thunderstike. As the troops go to board the dropships, Namir calls them back just in time to see the Thunderstrike come crashing down into the planet. Twilight Company is trapped on Sullust.

Chapter 29: Planet Sullust, 31 days into Operation Ringbreaker
Thara is at her post with her helmet off. Ever since she survived the bomb aboard the rebel ship, she has been having to work longer and longer shifts with little break. Her nerves are starting to get to her. As she sits eating a ration bar, an alarm goes off in her helmet. She is being given new orders. Running for a turbolift she joins a larger group of stormtroopers. The Rebellion has sent an army to Sullust.

Part IV: Siege

Chapter 30: Brema Sector Outskirts, 2 days before the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Captain Tabor has discovered a pattern to the attacks planned by Chalis and related the news to Prelate Verge. They were too late to stop Nakadia or Kuliquo, but this proved that Tabor could predict her. Prelate Verge then dispatched TIE Interceptor squadrons to Sullust, Malastare, and Tshindral without informing the planets that they could be targets for attack. Then when Thunderstrike appears at Sullust, the Captain and Prelate know they have Chalis. They order the TIE Interceptors into position and orders the Herald to Sullust. They will be too late to see the destruction of Thunderstrike, but feel it is worth seeing the aftermath.

Chapter 31: Planet Sullust, day 1 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Namir sends out search and rescue teams to the crashed remains of Thunderstrike. Despite words from Chalis, he joins the teams and discovers the Thunderstrike will not be saved but they do manage to rescue a number of the bridge crew, the wounded who had been onboard and the Senior Doctor, while fending off scouting parties of stormtroopers.

Back at the facility, Namir is bombarded with reports giving the status of everything from the wounded, to the Apailana’s Promise. All he wants though is to meet with Chalis and get some water. Chalis tells him that someone has figured out their plan, but that a strike against Kuat is still possible if they can get off the world. She sets about finding a method to get them off the planet while Namir meets with his senior officers. Namir sets the soldiers to work both inside and outside the mountain. Inside the hallways and tunnels leading through the facility are turned into death traps, while outside trenches and foxholes are dug, and artillery is placed. While all this preparation is going on, the Empire is using light bombers to contain Twilight by attacking around the base of the mountain.

Namir is summoned by Chalis. She has a plan and needs to get to the city at the base of the mountain. Taking Roach and a couple of others, Namir and Chalis work their way down the mountain under cover of dark. Once in town, Chalis leads them to a safe house that the local resistance forces had been using. The group sets up inside and is waiting to see if the local resistance will contact them, when one of their scouts outside comms telling them to get out immediately, there are stormtroopers all around. The group heads outside. Namir sends Roach with Chalis, as he retreats he never sees the grenade that goes off.

Chapter 32: Planet Vir Aphshire, day 4 of Operation Mad Rush
Namir has been with Twilight for two months when they receive word that Alderaan has been destroyed. A couple days later in the trenches they hear that the Death Star has been destroyed. Twilight Company is victorious in taking Vir Aphshire from the Empire. As they sit waiting new orders, Namir is sent to meet Captain Howl for the first time. Namir is wary of men in power, but the Captain just wants to get Namir’s perspective on things to see them from a new point of view.

Chapter 33: Planet Sullust, day 2 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Namir wakes to the sensation of being lifted from the ground. Two stormtroopers, a male and a female (SP-475), have cuffed him and are loading him into a carrier to haul back to their base. After a couple minutes the carrier comes under fire and Namir escapes, following a Sullustan that rescued him. Through the night he follows the Sullustan to a series of safe houses and locals where he helps the residents of Pinyumb, until finally he is led to a meeting with the local rebels. At the meeting, Namir and the rebels come up with a plan to get Namir back to the facility and Namir comes up with a way to help the town and the rebels against the Imperial crackdown.

The next morning, Namir follows the ash angels up through the cracks and tunnels in the rock to the surface. There he skirts past the Imperial soldiers and finds Brand holding position as a sniper. Namir has her gather the old squad together so he can talk to them. Speaking with the squad Namir apologizes for the way he has led them and tells them that he instead wants the Company to stay on Sullust. All but Gadren agree to the idea. Gadren wants him to talk it over with Chalis first. When Namir goes to speak with her, he finds that she is issuing orders directly to Twilight Company and when he tells her his idea she draws a blaster on him with the plan of locking him up. As they walk out of the office, Gadren grabs her from behind. They lock her up instead and Namir resumes command of the Company. A short time later a runner comes up to tell him that the Imperial attack has started at the order of Prelate Verge, the Herald has arrived in system.

Chapter 34: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Twilight Company is deployed in three rings of defense around the entrance to the facility. As the battle starts Namir watches as stormtroopers, looking like a wave of snow, begin to scramble up the mountain. The outer ring holds fire until the stormtroopers are on top of them before being forced to retreat to the middle ring. As the Imperials get close they slow down and spread out to let a dozen AT-STs charge up and into the defenders. Casualties are high as Twilight pulls back to the inner ring. Namir is walking among the troops talking with them and swapping stories and more. The stormtroopers are advancing slowly taking their time while above in the sky a wedge shaped shadow is descending.

Chapter 35: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Thara awakens and thinks about everything that had happened: finding the rebel spies, following them to the safe house, the shoot out, arresting the rebel, and the ambush where she has been shot in her right lung. They quickly took her to a hospital and left her to the droids to treat her. Later she was sent to a civilian hospital to recover as there were more injured incoming. At the hospital she overhears two doctors talking about getting word to the rebels that they will help anyone. She stumbles to her feet and into the hall, informing them that as long as she was there the hospital belonged to the Empire.

Chapter 36: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Brand is hiding in a crevice behind the main Imperial line sniping at officers when she hears a speeder go by. Looking up she realizes who it is and comms Namir to inform him that Chalis has gotten away and headed to the city. She asks if he wants her dead or alive. Namir says to let her live since she doesn’t know the plan.

Chapter 37: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
The stormtroopers are holding back and Namir wonders why when from above comes a blast. The Herald is below the clouds and blasting the sides of the mountain coming almost all the way to the final ring of defense. Once the barrage has ended the entire army of stormtroopers begins to rush up the burnt and blasted ground quickly reaching the defenders. Twilight manages to hold for a few more minutes and from within the mountain it begins to burn as the engineers drill their way out loosing rivers of magma into the rear of the Imperial army, while above the Apailana’s Promise and her two X-wings arrive to harry the Herald. Down in the city the rebel cell is using the drilling machines it has to tunnel under the Imperial security points and bury them under lava. Now trapped at the top of the mountain, the stormtroopers drive Twilight inside the facility, where they fight a guerrilla battle of attrition, killing a dozen stormtroopers for every member they lose. Namir knows that they face a losing battle. The Promise cannot win against the Herald and they cannot last against a Star Destroyer, but they have lived up to the promise of Twilight Company.

Chapter 38: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Captain Seitaron is thrilled with the battle. As soon as they have driven the rebel ship away they will land troops to reinforce the army on the mountain and in the city. When a shuttle lifts off, Verge and he both realize that it is Chalis trying to make her escape, Verge orders the shuttle brought aboard and takes the Captain with him to the hangar to meet her.

Chalis comes down out of the shuttle and offers to tell the Empire everything she learned about the workings of the rebels in exchange for a pardon. When Prelate Verge denies her this she detonates an ion bomb inside her shuttle placing the Herald in danger of crashing into the planet. Verge loses his sanity and orders the ship to fight to the death, saying they will crash into the planet before he will fail, then he attacks Chalis. As he rolls on the ground fighting her, Captain Seitaron stands back and draws his pistol shooting Verge, before ordering the guards to carry a message to the bridge that they are to put all power into getting back into orbit. Chalis then asks the Captain how she could have killed Verge while he was trapped with the guards, and then shot herself in the chest with her own pistol.

Chapter 39: Planet Sullust, day 3 of the Siege of Inyusu Tor
A cheer goes up as the Star Destroyer powers back into space, empowering Twilight Company while demoralizing the stormtroopers but still the battle waged on. For the remainder of the day the stormtroopers would attack in waves until after darkness. There had been no attacks for over an hour when Namir realizes that Twilight Company has won.

Chapter 40: Planet Sullust, 2 days after the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Thara should have been dead, had she not been transferred to the civilian hospital she would have died when the garrison was flooded with lava. When the time came she surrendered to the rebels, and was turned over to a work release program. She found herself working at her Uncle’s bar under his supervision, unhappy that Sullust had chosen to join the Rebellion, but hoping the peace would last a while.

Chapter 41: Planet Sullust, 3 days after the Siege of Inyusu Tor
The losses Twilight has taken has reduced the Company to roughly a third of its strength. Gadren lost one of his arms to a grenade in the final hours of the battle, Roach died charging into the enemy. But Pinyumb was free, and word was coming that other cities across Sullust had risen up and overthrown the Empire. Namir is working with the local rebels to restore order and figure out their next moves.

One evening, Namir receives an encoded message directed at him. It is Chalis congratulating him on his victory, she thought they had had a kinship but in the end she felt betrayed by him the same as the Empire. As the message ends she insists once more that she could have led the Company to victory at Kuat.

Chapter 42: Planet Sullust, 5 days after the Siege of Inyusu Tor
Chalis is free. It took her a while to convince Captain Seitaron to let her take the blame for the death of Prelate Verge and escape in another shuttle, but she was now free. She gathered what resources she could and planned for a life on a backwater world, choosing to go back to sculpting on Crucival.

Chapter 43: Planet Sullust, 5 days after the Siege of Inyusu Tor
The final message from Chalis left Namir feeling hollow at her loss but he kept that to himself. They held funerals for all the fallen members, including the droids, and the ship itself in the Pinyumb cavern. Afterwards, a group from Twilight found themselves at a cantina playing cards. The next day an open recruitment was held that lasted into the night. Twilight Company would continue.

Click here for some beautiful concept artwork for the cover design by Aaron McBride

Points of Discussion

• Given that the final act on the novel focuses on the Siege of Inyusu, would you have liked to see a chapter or two from the perspective of the Imperial Commander in charge of those forces?
• Could the Imperial side have been better represented had an Army commander rather than a politician led them?
• Did you enjoy the reference to A New Dawn?
• Do you think Battlefront would have benefited from being written in a style that put more of an equal focus on both sides? Or is it better left as is?

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