Tycho Celchu

"He shot up three of our best pilots, had me dead in space, and says he's a bit rusty!"

- Corran Horn on first going against Tycho in a simulation.

Tycho Celchu was a Human male from Alderaan and the son of an Alderaanian HoloNet magnate. He had been an accomplished Imperial TIE Fighter pilot before the destruction of Alderaan resulted in his defection to the Rebel Alliance. Celchu served as a fighter pilot, participating in and surviving the Battle of Endor.

On a mission to Coruscant, he was captured by Ysanne Isard, who attempted to indoctrinate him, and imprisoned. Although he eventually made his way back to the New Republic, suspicion dogged him even as he became part of the famed Rogue Squadron. Celchu was an integral part of the Liberation of Coruscant, though he was placed on trial for treason and the murder of fellow Rogue Corran Horn, presumed dead from sabotage. Horn's escape from Imperial captivity and return acquitted Tycho, whose name was completely cleared.

Tycho continued to serve the New Republic in a variety of ways, including as commander of Rogue Squadron. He married fellow Alderaanian Winter and retired from the military, though he would later return to military service in the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War.

Biography
Celchu joined the Imperial Navy at a young age, and trained under Soontir Fel alongside future Rebels Derek Klivian and Biggs Darklighter at the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy. Upon graduation, he was posted aboard Accuser as a TIE pilot. He was a TIE Fighter pilot for some time, which in an unshielded craft was a rare occurrence. At first Celchu thought that he could work from within the system to change the Imperial Navy for the better.

On his 21st birthday, he was speaking to his family on Alderaan via holonet when the connection suddenly disappeared. Initially thinking that the dropped connection was a fault of Novacom, a holonet provider run by his father, Celchu at first did not realize the magnitude of what just happened, and planned to later give his father a hard time about the dropped connection. To his horror, Celchu later learned that the interruption was a result of the Death Star's destruction of the planet, and that his family and his fiancée, Nyiestra were all dead.

While his Imperial training told him that the Rebels would destroy a planet to achieve their ends, he knew that they would never destroy Alderaan—which had been a major supporter of the Rebellion. Realizing that it would be impossible to work from within to change the Imperial system, he decided to defect. At the Accuser's next port of call, Celchu left Imperial service. Within weeks of the Death Star's destruction, Tycho was assisting the Rebel Alliance and the neophyte Rogue Squadron on Kwenn Space Station. Half a year later, Celchu officially defected to the Rebel Alliance on Dantooine, although he was caught there by storm commandos. However, he was rescued by Luke Skywalker and narrowly escaped the Imperial forces there.



Celchu was present when the Empire attacked their base on Hoth. He rescued Hobbie Klivian when his snowspeeder was damaged during the evacuation. Celchu joined Rogue Squadron and flew an A-wing at the Battle of Endor. Celchu followed Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles into the Death Star tunnel, and broke off when ordered to do so by Calrissian to draw off some of the Imperial pursuit. By drawing off several TIE Fighters, Celchu provided the other pilots enough time to launch their warheads and set off the chain reaction that destroyed the battle station.



After the victory at Endor, Celchu participated in several campaigns with Rogue Squadron, and became romantically involved with fellow Alderaanian Winter.

Imperial Imprisonment
"Subject is unsuitable for conversion."

- Ysanne Isard

Celchu's successes drew him to the attention of Alliance Intelligence which tasked him to infiltrate Coruscant. Celchu agreed, using a captured TIE Fighter to conduct reconnaissance of the planet. When he tried to leave, the Imperials became aware of his presence. They fired an ion bolt at his craft, which shorted out everything, including the self destruct systems. He was then tractor beamed onto an Imperial ship and stunned.

When he awoke, Celchu learned that he was on his way to Ysanne Isard's private prison Lusankya. She used a combination of drugs, torture, and psychological manipulation in an attempt to convert Celchu into a sleeper agent but failed. Isard then placed him in a flight simulator. At first he reacted positively to other Imperial vessels, but soon turned on them and aggressively attacked them. She subjected him to further sessions, in which she tried to use Alliance signatures with Imperial craft, but it turned out to be too much for Celchu's mind to handle, and he went into a catatonic state. Isard realized that Celchu could not be converted, and placed him in the general population.

Celchu was identified as a sleeper by other prisoners—their term for a person rendered catatonic by Isard's manipulation. When Tycho came out of that state, he was convinced that he was going to die. Jan Dodonna, who had been captured after the Battle of Yavin was also there, and he comforted Celchu. Celchu continued to improve, and was soon pulled from the Lusankya prison and transferred to the Imperial prison at Akrit'tar.

Celchu managed to escape from Akrit'tar and eventually returned to the Alliance, but certain officers were worried that Isard had been able to twist Celchu into a sleeper agent. Since Celchu's memories of his time at Lusankya were not good, these officers were unwilling to dismiss the possibility that Celchu was a sleeper agent, despite the fact that other sleeper agents had never remembered their time at Lusankya.

Reformed Rogue Squadron


During the reformation of Rogue Squadron, Commander Wedge Antilles campaigned for Celchu to serve as his Executive Officer. Although Celchu was permitted to serve at Rogue Squadron's second-in-command, he agreed to a number of restrictions on his personal freedoms while in a training role—such as remaining under house arrest while not on duty, flying a Z-95 Headhunter that had powered down lasers and a remote self-destruct, and agreeing to have his correspondence examined by others. Celchu maintained that even if he could not take an active role in fighting the Empire, he could train others to fight the Empire, and survive.

Celchu was not allowed to pilot a combat vessel. Instead he operated the weaponless Lambda-class shuttle Forbidden, with the callsign "Rogue Null". From the shuttle, Celchu coordinated attacks and rescued ejected pilots. Despite proving himself in the squadron's early conflicts, officers like General Horton Salm still refused to trust Celchu for his mysterious past.

One of his new squadron mates was Corran Horn. Horn became suspicious of the fact that Celchu was under house arrest while not on duty, and was flying weaponless craft—even in contested areas. Eventually Celchu told him what was going on. Corran tried to put his misgivings aside, but seeing Tycho meet with a man who resembled his old enemy Kirtan Loor while on Coruscant caused Horn to lose trust in Celchu.

Later, Celchu proved instrumental in the conquest of Coruscant, but when fellow Rogue Corran Horn disappeared and was presumed dead, Celchu was tried for his murder. In reality, Horn was taken to Lusankya—the same prison that Celchu had been taken to. Like Celchu, Horn also was able to resist Isard's attempts to turn him into a sleeper agent, and escaped from Imperial custody.

Corran's reappearance at the last minute saved Celchu's life, and his reputation within the New Republic. Horn had managed to access Imperial data files while escaping from Lusankya—which proved that Celchu had been telling the truth the whole time. After apologizing to Celchu for what had happened, Horn testified as to what happened to him. Horn explained to the court that Isard considered Celchu to be unsuitable for conversion, and that the memory loss he experienced was common among Lusankya prisoners who Isard was unable to turn into sleeper agents.

As Horn was testifying, Isard ordered the crew of Lusankya—which was actually a Super Star Destroyer buried under the surface of Coruscant—to lift off. The liftoff killed millions of people, and devastated over 100 square kilometers of cityscape. Cracken put a stop to the trial at that point, and Horn, Celchu, and the rest of the court drifted out on to the balcony to witness Lusankya leaving the planet. At that moment the real spy in Rogue Squadron—Erisi Dlarit—decided to return to her Imperial masters.

Commander Antilles called to reveal that Dlarit was the spy, which Horn confirmed. It was then revealed that General Airen Cracken had taken precautions in the event that Celchu was a Lusankya style agent. Cracken had assigned Emtrey to the squadron—and that the droid had some special programming and circuitry that would made him into a valuable tool for a spy. If Celchu was an Imperial spy and had used Emtrey to help the Imperial cause Cracken would have known what was going on immediately. But Celchu never did use Emtrey in that manner, and Emtrey had provided proof that Celchu had never met with Loor.

After he was released, Celchu returned to full, active duty in the New Republic military. In a public ceremony several days later Mon Mothma stated that Celchu's trial was actually an Intelligence operation to draw out Imperial spies—and that Celchu had been a willing participant in this operation.

The Bacta War
After the award ceremony, Celchu was present when Luke Skywalker revealed to Corran Horn that he was in fact the grandson of a Jedi Master. Skywalker asked Horn to train with him to become a Jedi Knight. Corran however felt it was more important to liberate the other Lusankya prisoners, and to liberate Thyferra—which had installed Isard as its leader after a revolution on that planet. Wedge Antilles agreed with Corran, and stated the need for the Republic to begin a campaign immediately to do so. But when the New Republic—in the person of Borsk Fey'lya—said that they would never sanction such a mission, Corran and Wedge immediately resigned from the military. Celchu and the other members of Rogue Squadron—with the exception of Pash Cracken—all immediately followed suit, resigning their commissions in the process.

In the days following the resignations, Celchu and the other Rogues moved to a station in orbit around Yag'Dhul. Celchu used the 15 million Imperial Credits deposited in his name in an attempt to frame him to help fund the liberation of Thyferra. In addition, they were able to sell the Z-95 Headhunters that he bought for the liberation of Coruscant, which gave them another 2 million credits. Someone in the New Republic military then provided back door support by surplussing out all of Rogue Squadron's ships and equipment as they were missing parts—specifically PL1s, or pilots. The Rogues were able to buy all the equipment up, and the squadron's technical staff resigned to work for the Rogues.

Over the next few months, Celchu, Wedge, and Booster Terrik worked to build up their forces to the point where they could challenge Isard. They also whittled down Isard's forces until all she was left with was the Lusankya. After Thyferra was freed from Isard's control, Celchu returned to the New Republic military.

Following the battle, Celchu—along with Iella Wessiri—acted as a witness when Wedge Antilles, as acting Captain of the Lusankya married Corran Horn and Mirax Terrik.

Senior officer
Following the Bacta War, Celchu began a climb of the New Republic military's hierarchy and fought in a number of conflicts with Rogue Squadron. When Admiral Ackbar approved the creation of Wraith Squadron in 7 ABY, Commander Antilles chose Celchu to serve as Rogue Leader. Under Celchu's leadership, Rogue Squadron fought as a part of Solo Fleet in its campaign against Warlord Zsinj.

After Zsinj's defeat, Celchu returned command of the Rogues to Antilles, resumed his role as executive officer and fought against Imperial forces during Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaigns against the New Republic.

Celchu was promoted to Colonel after the victory at Bilbringi, when Admiral Ackbar insisted that the overdue senior members of Rogue Squadron finally accept permanent promotions. Although promoted, Celchu and Antilles remained active duty members of Rogue Squadron.

When Rogue Squadron was dispatched to aid Ysanne Isard against Prince-Admiral Krennel in exchange for the Lusankya prisoners, Celchu learned to pilot a TIE Defender. In the final raid against Krennel's stronghold, Celchu helped kill Krennel's clone of Isard, and shortly thereafter, the original Isard died attempting to retake Lusankya at Bilbringi.

Rogue Leader
The devastating campaign of the reborn Emperor saw Celchu as the in-battle leader of Rogue Squadron, as General Antilles saw to his duties as a senior officer with larger commands like Lusankya , Emancipator and Rogue Wing. This brevet command was formalized in 11 ABY when Antilles was tasked with Coruscant's reconstruction, and Celchu began his eight years as Rogue Leader.

In his first major role as Rogue Leader, Celchu led the squadron in the New Republic's campaign against Leonia Tavira and her Invid pirates. During the Battle of Xa Fel, Celchu nearly killed Corran Horn in a dogfight, unaware of Horn's Invid infiltration, but the ex-Rogue escaped unharmed.

In 13 ABY, General Antilles chose Celchu, Wes Janson, and Derek Klivian, to accompany him on the New Republic diplomatic mission to Adumar, whose martial culture placed starfighter pilots in high esteem. When the situation turned dangerous, the Celchu and his friends led a coalition of minor Adumari nations against Imperial-backed Cartann. Celchu flew in the subsequent Battle of Adumar against the Empire and solidified Admurar's freedom.



After a long friendship and courtship, Celchu married fellow Alderaanian Winter in 17 ABY. Two years later in 19 ABY, General Antilles resumed command of Rogue Squadron, though not for long. In 20 ABY, a year after the end of the Galactic Civil War, both men retired from active service and turned the squadron over to Gavin Darklighter.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Celchu returned to active service to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. He was placed in command of Coruscant's planetary defense force, including the recalled Rogue Squadron. After the fall of Coruscant, Tycho accompanied Wedge Antilles's Fleet Group Three and helped retake Borleias from the Yuuzhan Vong. In the prolonged defense of the world from Vong counterattacks that followed, Tycho served as Wedge's loyal second in command and played the role of Wedge in the war games that they used to determine their responses. After the planet was evacuated, Tycho continued to serve in the New Republic, and later Galactic Alliance military, being present in the Second Battle of Coruscant.

Celchu survived the war, and following its resolution, he retired from active service, and trained starfighter pilots, including Wedge's daughter Syal Antilles. However, when tensions escalated between the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and Corellia, he returned to active duty, taking up the rank of General in the conflict that followed.

Behind the scenes

 * Tycho Celchu is named for the real-world sixteen-century astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe. Being Danish, this astronomer is universally referred to as "Tycho" instead of Brahe.
 * A minor character shown piloting an A-wing in Return of the Jedi in the Death Star II was thought to be Celchu. However, the pilot shown was actually Jake Farrell. Tycho Celchu is the pilot following Farrell when they veer off to divert TIE Fighters.
 * Tycho Celchu's capture and imprisonment on the Lusankya was intended to be covered in the Rogue Squadron comics. However, the series was canceled before the event could be covered.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Missions 18: Rogue Squadron to the Rescue
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * X-wing: Rogue Leader
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: The Rebel Opposition
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Battleground: Tatooine
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: In the Empire's Service
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Family Ties
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Masquerade
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Apple Jacks Special Bonus Story
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * X-wing: The Krytos Trap
 * X-wing: The Bacta War
 * X-wing: Solo Command
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Crimson Empire
 * I, Jedi
 * X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar
 * Star Wars: Union
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Star by Star
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Destiny's Way
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal
 * Exile