Soontir Fel

Soontir Fel (b. 29 BBY - d. ?) was a general in the Empire of the Hand and commander of its starfighter corps. In his heyday, he was considered the best pilot in the Galactic Empire and perhaps the galaxy as a whole.

Early Life
Fel was born on an Agr Corporation agro-combine on Corellia. The son of a transport flier for the company, he became an adept pilot at an early age. In his teens, he began to fly transports to cover for his father, who was ill and no longer able to fly. In 11 BBY, Fel defended a female friend from an assault by the son of an upper management official in Agr. Threatened with retribution, Fel took the case to the Corellian authorities and was to be a key witness in the trial. In order to prevent his testimony the president of Agr Corp secured Fel an appointment at the Imperial Military Academy on Carida. He agreed to go under the threat of his covering for his father being revealed.

Early Military Career
Fel proved elf an exemplary student at the academy and graduated salutatorian of his class, behind only later New Republic general Han Solo. In 7 BBY he was assigned to the 6th squadron of the 137th Fighter Wing, stationed on the Abrogator. After one year of fighting against the Lortan fanatics, Fel was promoted to captain and requested another tour of duty with the 6/37th. Upon completing his second tour, he was transferred to Fleet Operations and given a position on the  Pride of the Senate. He served aboard that vessel at the Battle of Nar Shaddaa, fighting against smuggler and mercenary forces, including his former classmate Han Solo. In 5 BBY he was transferred to a teaching position at the military academy on Prefsbelt IV. He proved a talented instructor and unwittingly trained some of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's best pilots, including Biggs Darklighter, Tycho Celchu, and Derek Klivian. His class’s great success attracted the attention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who offered Fel a position on his personal bodyguard. The capture and defection of the  Rand Ecliptic by his former students, however, left Fel in disgrace and caused him to be immediately transferred to the 181st Fighter Wing, then one of the poorest in the Fleet. Placed in command of the 2nd squadron, Fel quickly whipped it into fighting shape in time to be sent to retake Ord Biniir with only the 2/181st. His success at the Second Battle of Ord Biniir came coincidentally on the same day as the Battle of Yavin.

Command of the 181st


The victory at Ord Biniir was turned into a major media event to pull attention away from the loss at the Battle of Yavin, and Fel was promoted to major at a ceremony on Imperial Center. Now a hero and media darling, Fel attracted the attention of well-known actor Wynnsa Starflare. The two began dating during Fel’s month of leave on Coruscant, after which Fel threw himself into turning the 181st, now downsized to a group, into an elite unit. Stationed on Imperial Center, Fel continued dating Starflare and proposed to her around the time of the Battle of Yavin. She accepted, and the marriage garnered great media attention.

Fel spent the following two years leading the 181st to a string of victories, earning many honors and giving it a reputation as the best fighter unit in the Empire. In 3 ABY, Fel participated in the Battle of Derra IV, which in part due to his actions was a great success. For his part in the battle he was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 181st. He was also made a Baron and granted land on Corellia, to which he moved his family. Fel continued to serve the Empire with great success. He transferred away from the 181st for a brief time in 4 ABY to serve as the leader of Saber Squadron, an elite TIE Interceptor unit created to protect the Death Star II. During the Battle of Endor Saber Squadron was assigned to defend the  Avenger, a task that he carried out admirably in spite of the Empire’s loss at that battle.

After death of the Emperor at Endor, however, Fel began to harbor private doubts about his service to the Empire. However, he kept these buried and continued to serve the successor to the Emperor, Sate Pestage, for the following year. During this time, he defended key Imperial outposts, and tracked down and killed the rogue TIE pilot Iran Ryad. His doubts and conflicting loyalties came to a head, however, during the lengthy Battle of Brentaal IV. Fel was forced to serve under the command of Admiral Lon Isoto, a vain, irresponsible man who Fel held little respect for. It soon became apparent that Isard intended for Brentaal IV to fall to undercut her political opponents, and that Fel and his pilots were to be sacrificed if necessary in order to allow fleeing Imperial forces to escape. Disgusted, Fel had a confrontation with Director of Intelligence Ysanne Isard over the Holonet immediately prior to the final fight and accused her of sending his pilots to their deaths for political gain. She denied it, and Fel was left to enter the fight with resurfaced doubts. During the course of the dogfight in Brentaal IV’s orbit Fel’s fighter was disabled by ion cannon fire and he was captured by the Alliance. He later claimed that he allowed himself to be captured, but this is impossible to verify.

Capture and Defection


During his interrogation by the New Republic, Fel reminisced about his life and where it had taken him. He made the decision to defect to the New Republic, citing several key reasons. He said that he first became disgruntled with the Imperial service after being tested for loyalty by Isard prior to the Battle of Derra IV; in order to prove that he was "incorruptible" Isard had forcibly kissed him and made a halfhearted attempt to seduce him, in spite of the knowledge that he was married. The events surrounding the Battle of Derra IV further unsettled Fel, as he was aware that the battle plan was formulated by then-Admiral Thrawn, who afterwards received no recognition for his part in it and was ‘exiled’ to the unknown regions. Fel said that this event began to make him wonder about the hypocrisy of the Empire’s pro-human policies. (Ironically, Thrawn’s ‘exile’ was actually the result of a plan he and the Emperor had laid out to secretly bring the Unknown Regions under Imperial control. Fel would have had no way of knowing this, however.) Lastly, the political machinations of Isard, Pestage, and the Cabal and their focus on personal rather than Imperial gain so disgusted him that he concluded that the Empire he had served for so many years had died at Endor. Fel’s only condition for his defection was that the New Republic help his wife and family go into hiding to avoid retribution.

After the deal was sealed, Fel was assigned to the elite fighter unit Rogue Squadron; ironically, he was now under the command of his brother in law, Wedge Antilles. It turned out that Fel’s wife had already fled Corellia, preparations having been laid out earlier in the event that her identity (that of Syal Antilles, Wedge Antille’s sister) was discovered. For the next year, Fel served in Rogue Squadron without much regret, meeting up again with his former classmate Han Solo and posing as an undercover agent on several occasions to confuse Imperial adversaries. During this time he was shown around at several political events as a symbol of the Empire’s downfall.

Return to the Empire
In 5 ABY Fel disappeared from the New Republic. It was later discovered that he had been captured by Ysanne Isard at the suggestion of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Seeing a leader he could once again put his faith in, Fel served Thrawn loyally for the next several years, fighting mostly against the many warlords who challenged the official Imperial rulers for control. During this time Fel also agreed to serve as a template for an elite group of clones which were scattered in sleeper cells throughout the galaxy to form the core of a resistance should the Empire and New Republic fall to a threat from the Unknown Regions. Sometime after Thrawn’s assassination at Bilbringi, Fel retired from the service of the Empire to join Admiral Voss Parck in the Empire of the Hand. Greeted there with open arms, Fel was made a general and commanded forces for many years in battles with the various hostile alien races living in the Unknown Regions. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion Fel retired from the service and was, remarkably, allowed by the Chiss to settle on Csilla in spite of the Ascendancy’s xenophobia and distrust of the Empire of the Hand.

Children
Soontir Fel and Wynssa Starflare had six children, all of them born after their move to the Empire of the Hand. Two of them, Davin and Cherith, were killed in the Yuuzhan Vong War. Chak Fel, another son, became a commander in the Empire of the Hand’s starfleet. Jagged Fel, perhaps the most successful of the Fel children, became a military leader in the Empire of the Hand, remarkably, the Chiss Ascendancy, and later the Imperial Remnant. The Fels have two other younger children, Wynssa and Cem.

Trivia

 * Fel’s nickname is Tir (or ‘Tir), a shortened version of Soontir.
 * Fel wears an eye patch, having lost his eye in a battle for the Empire of the Hand. He refused a replacement, citing the Empire of the Hand’s limited resources. He claims that even with the disability he is still the best pilot in the galaxy.
 * Warlord Zsinj, during his campaign against the Empire and New Republic, created a false 181st and claimed it was led by Fel. In reality, actor Tetran Cowell was posing as Fel and using computer equipment to enhance his flying skills. The ruse was intended to lure Wedge Antilles into a confrontation where the one of the droid-controlled fighters would be able to kill him.

Behind the Scenes
Baron Fel was created by author Michael A. Stackpole and his history was fleshed out with the aid of author Timothy Zahn. X-Wing: Rogue Squadron editor Peet Janes inspired his creation, asking if Stackpole could come up with an Imperial version of the famous Red Baron of World War I. Fel first appeared in X-Wing: Rogue Squadron #21.

The character is very popular with fans in spite of the fact that the real Fel has never appeared outside of the comics except for brief cameos taking place after his retirement. In Del Rey's New Jedi Order series, one of his children, Jagged Fel, is a main character and romantic interest for Jaina Solo. Jagged was also introduced by Stackpole.