Battlefront II: Inferno Squad

Battlefront II: Inferno Squad is a canon novel by Christie Golden that follows the Galactic Empire's Inferno Squad, which hunts Saw Gerrera's rebel Partisans to avenge the destruction of the first Death Star battle station. The story serves as a prequel to the Electronic Arts video game Star Wars Battlefront II. The novel was first published by Del Rey on July 25, 2017 in hardcover, and was released in paperback on March 27, 2018.

Publisher's summary
'''The Rebellion may have heroes like Jyn Erso and Luke Skywalker. But the Empire has Inferno Squad.'''

After the humiliating theft of the Death Star plans and the resulting destruction of the battle station, the Empire is on the defensive. In response to this stunning defeat, the Imperial Navy has authorized the formation of an elite team of soldiers, known as Inferno Squad. Their mission: infiltrate and eliminate the remnants of Saw Gerrera's Partisans. Following the death of their leader, the Partisans have carried on his extremist legacy, determined to thwart the Empire&mdash;no matter what the cost. Now, Inferno Squad must prove their status as the best of the best and take down the Partisans from within. But as the danger intensifies and the threat of discovery grows, how far will Inferno Squad go to ensure the safety of the Empire?

Exposition
Senior Lieutenant Iden Versio, the daughter of Imperial Security Bureau Inspector General Garrick Versio, is a TIE fighter pilot stationed at the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Iden participates in the defense of the Death Star under the leadership of Commander Kela Neerik. Despite their efforts, the Rebel Alliance X-wing starfighter pilot Luke Skywalker succeeds in destroying the Death Star. Iden is one of the few Imperials to survive the destruction of the Death Star.

Forming Inferno Squad
Several days later, Iden's friend Lieutenant Junior Grade Gideon Hask meets with Iden's father Garrick, who has been promoted to the rank of Admiral. Iden had escaped the jungle moon a few days by stealing a rebel vessel after eliminating the drunken rebel guards. While Gideon is heartened to know that his childhood friend is alive, Gideon is dismissive of his daughter's escape. Garrick informs Gideon that he has summoned Lieutenant Versio and two others for a special meeting at his office the following morning. Gideon meets Iden at the luxurious Diplomat Hotel where they discuss the theft of the Death Star plans from Scarif. In private, Iden regrets not killing the "traitor" Princess Leia Organa but Gideon reassures her that her job was to get out alive and not execute every rebel in the place.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Del Meeko travels on a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle towards Coruscant where he learns that he has been reassigned for a special meeting with Admiral Versio. The fourth recruit is Naval Intelligence Lieutenant Seyn Marana, a small-built woman with eidetic memory who speaks 29 languages. The four young officers meet inside Admiral Versio's office at the Imperial Security Bureau headquarters on Coruscant. In response to the humiliating Imperial defeat at the Battle of Yavin, Admiral Versio decides to form an elite four-member unit called Inferno Squad that would take part in sensitive missions against the Rebellion.

First test
To test their mettle, Admiral Versio tasks each of the recruits with designing a plan in response to their first assignment. While Iden's comrades are relaxed about their assignment, Iden is determined to gain the favor of her demanding father. During their time together, Iden begins taking a liking to Meeko for his friendly demeanor. In the end, Admiral Versio selects Iden's plan, which involves infiltrating Moff Jaccun Pereez's mansion on the planet Arvaka Prime for an espionage mission. Iden is made the leader of Inferno Squad.

At Moff Pereez's mansion, Inferno Squad takes up Del and Seyn's idea of planting recording devices throughout the building. For the mission, Gideon and Seyn are disguised as wedding guests Lady "Dezara Monay" and "Brixx Gavan" while Iden and Del are disguised as private shuttle pilots. Moff Pereez has organized a wedding celebration to marry his daughter Famma to Commander Yendiv Bensek, a young rising star in the Empire. While they use a GG-class serving droid to serve Moff Pereez with liquor laced with the drug deraformine which can simulate a fake death, Iden plants forged black-mailed documents in Pereez's safe. When the Moff is rendered comatose by the laced liquor, Inferno Squad take the chance to escape with Seyn knocking out one of the Moff's bodyguards.

Following their successful first mission, Versio and her comrades are promoted with Versio being given the rank of Captain. Inferno Squad is also given a new starship, the modified Raider-class corvette Corvus, which is crewed by the pilot Adiana Caton and co-pilot Weston Morro. In addition, the squad are allocated an ID10 seeker droid named Dio. Inferno Squad use the Corvus for several missions.

Mission to Tellik Four Station
Later, Iden and her squad are assigned by Admiral Versio to eliminate the remnant of the late Saw Gerrera's Partisans, a rebel faction considered as extremists even by the Rebel Alliance. The surviving Partisans have reorganized themselves as a terrorist cell called the Dreamers. Admiral Versio's plan is to recover any Imperial information that has fallen into the hands of the Dreamers. For their next mission, Inferno Squad are tasked with extracting the Imperial informant Bokk Naarg from Tellik Four Station.

However, the mission goes awry when Bokk is accompanied by five Dreamers wearing explosives disguised as jewellery. Gideon meets with Bokk at a cantina under the pretext of buying two Bespin Breezes. Bokk claims that his Pantoran companion Sharima, one of the Dreamer operatives, wants to escape with him and offers Gideon a tiny datachip. Seyn thinks they should abort but Gideon is determined to obtain the datachip. When stormtroopers enter the cantina, Gideon activates Dio and the droid snaps through the Dreamers' "gem bombs." While escaping, Gideon flings the gem bombs at the partisans and Bokk, killing them.

After escaping into hyperspace, Iden angrily confronts Gideon for disobeying their orders to retrieve Bokk safely. A defensive Gideon counters that he managed to kill five partisans. When Seyn responds that Bokk's death would deny them information, Del reveals that the ID10 droid Dio has recovered an encrypted datachip from the fallen Sharima. Though Captain Iden chastises Gideon and Del for insubordination, she praises them for recovering the datachip.

Infiltrating the Dreamers
Though Admiral Versio is displeased that the mission went awry, he concedes that it was his intention to eliminate Bokk once he had revealed his information. Pleased with Inferno Squad's performance despite their mission on Tellik Four going awry, the Admiral decides to expand Inferno Squad's responsibilities to eliminating the Dreamers. Inferno Squad's next mission is to infiltrate the Dreamers and destroy them from within. From the datachip, Admiral Versio has learnt that the Dreamers are led by a man known only as Staven and that the Dreamers are planning an attack in the next two weeks on Otor's Hub, a way station in the Outer Rim's Ojostor sector.

For their next mission, Admiral Versio assigns Seyn Marana to pose as the Dug merchant Rudaga's slave. Meanwhile, Gideon and Del are assigned to work undercover disguised as siblings. Their plan involves getting picked up by Lassa Rhayme, the Captain of the Blood Bone Order, who supplies food and weapons to the Dreamers. Meanwhile, Iden is assigned to the new Star Destroyer Determination. Admiral Versio tells them that Inferno Squad will be taking different paths to get to the Dreamers but will rendezvous. In private, Versio tells his daughter that the Dreamers are looking for a new public face following the death of Saw Gerrera; a role that would suit Iden.

Disguised as "Del Farren" and "Gid Farren", Del Meeko and Gideon Hask along with the droid Dio take up a job on the Devaronian smuggler Kurjak's ship Fast Friend, which is transporting a large, force-field-protected container. During their voyage, the Fast Friend is attacked by Lassa Rhayme's Blood Bone Order. To win the favor of Captain Rhayme, Del and Gideon turn on their fellow and help the pirates take over the ship. They claim they are partisans who wanted to join the Dreamers at Tellik Four. Lassa buys their story and delivers them to the Dreamers.

Aboard the Determination, Iden "confides" with a fellow Imperial officer named Tarvyn Lareka about her alleged disillusionment with the Empire for destroying the planet Alderaan. While recognizing that the planet's leadership was colluding with the Rebellion, she objects to the killing of children, destruction of the planet's environment, and the persecution of Alderaanian survivors. Iden also says that she does not want to be complicit in mass murder. Under the pretext of helping her, Tarvyn alerts Commander Udrai who sends stormtroopers to arrest Iden for sedition.

Later, news of Iden's arrest for "sedition" and trial is reported by the holojournalist Alton Kastle. Lieutnenant Jha Eka, Admiral Versio's assistant, informs the Admiral that his daughter has been arrested but the elder Versio remains stoic. When alone again, Versio smiles that his plan is working.

Meanwhile, Seyn pretends to work as Rudaga's slave forging coins. As part of her cover, Seyn wears a slave collar rigged to explode should she escape Otor's Hub. Rudaga works for the Empire and is aware of Seyn's true identity. To reinforce the idea that Rudaga is an Imperial collaborator, Versio sends several "fake spies" to collect information from Rudaha. Later, several Dreamers attack Otor's Hub and execute Rudaga and his Trandoshan bodyguards for their collaboration with the Empire. Posing as Rudaga's slave, Seyn begs the Twi'lek Dreamer Dahna to rescue her. Seyn also meets several other Dreamers including the Kage Sadori Vushan, the human Kaev, and the Chadra-Fan Piikow. Taking pity on Seyn, the Dreamers take her aboard their ship and remove her slave of collar. Out of gratitude, Seyn joins the Dreamers.

Iden's trials and extraction
Due to her father's connections, Iden Versio is sentenced to hard labor at her former school, the Future Imperial Leaders Military Preparatory School, on her homeworld of Vardos. Upon landing, Iden is taken into custody by the school's Aqualish Headmaster Gleb. Under the full glare of HoloNet cameras, Iden is marched by two Jinata Security officers, one Zabrak and a Duros, to Gleb's house. Gleb is one of the few individuals privy to Iden's secret mission and hopes that news of her imprisonment would lead the Dreamers to "rescue" her.

In her room, Iden receives a recorded hologram message from her father Versio telling her that their plan is proceeding well and that the others have successfully infiltrated the Dreamers. Iden also receives a recorded hologram message from her mother Zeehay Versio, who works as an artist and propagandist for the Coalition for Progress. Unaware of her daughter's mission, Zeehay expresses disappointment that her daughter has abandoned faith in the Empire but tells her that she still loves her. Iden is troubled by her mother's suffering but resolves to persevere with the mission.

For the next ten days, Iden remains a "prisoner" at Gleb's house. Iden is also allowed to fly a TIE fighter under the watchful eye of Semma Waskor. However, Waskor is badly hurt in a train accident and replaced by a man named Lieutenant Azen Novaren. Under the pretext of "kidnapping" her, Novaren extracts her from the Jinata system. After leaving the Jinata system, Novaren informs Iden that he is a Dreamer and flies them to the Dreamer home base known as the Shadow Side on the planet Jeosyn. Dazen also tells Iden that the mysterious "Mentor" ordered her extraction.

In the den of the Dreamers
At Shadow Side, Iden reunites with her fellow Inferno Squad members Del, Gideon, and Seyn. She also meets several Dreamers including their leader Staven, the Chadra-Fan Piikow, the Kage Warriors Ru, Halia, their son Sadori Vushan, Kaev, and the mysterious "Mentor." The Mentor is a tall, clean-shaven man with thick, shaggy dark hair. While having a meal of tikktikk stew, Iden takes offense upon learning that Azen searched her while she was unconscious. Before trouble can break out, the Mentor intervenes and forces Azen to apologize. Iden understands their security precautions but warns that she will punch the next person who touches her without permission. Posing as a disillusioned Imperial dissident, Iden joins the Dreamers.

Since many of the Dreamers distrust the former TIE pilot, Iden is not allowed to leave the camp. While working on stolen and bloodied stormtrooper armor, Iden chats with Del, who has not yet found any intelligence. As time passes, Iden learns more about the dynamics of the Dreamers. Staven is the leader of the group while the Twi'lek Dahna is his second-in-command. The Mentor is merely an adviser to the group. Later, the Mentor takes her on a ride into the forest where he recruits her as the new public face of the Dreamers. Since the death of Saw, the partisans have been left without a public voice. The Mentor schools Iden in the arts of propaganda.

Editions

 * ISBN 9781524797539; July 19, 2017; Del Rey; San Diego Comic-Con 2017 Limited Convention Edition
 * ISBN 9781524796808; July 25, 2017; Del Rey; US hardcover
 * ISBN 9781524797348; July 25, 2017; Del Rey; Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition
 * ISBN 9781524796815; July 25, 2017; Del Rey; US ebook
 * ISBN 9780525486442; November 14, 2017; Del Rey; Target Exclusive Edition
 * ISBN 9781524796822; March 27, 2018; Del Rey; US paperback
 * ISBN 9781784752941; March 27; Arrow Books Ltd.; UK paperback