Derek Klivian/Legends

"It's worse than that.''" "''You know, whenever the name of Derek 'Hobbie' Klivian comes up, the words 'It's worse than that' ring in my ears. Sometimes I hear them when I'm dreaming."

- Derek Klivian and Wes Janson

Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, native to Ralltiir, was a longtime officer in Rogue Squadron and a well-respected pilot. As a young man, he attended Prefsbelt Fleet Camp with dreams of becoming an Imperial pilot. At the academy, he made friends with Biggs Darklighter, who persuaded him to oppose the Galactic Empire as tyrannical. When he graduated from Prefsbelt, Klivian was commissioned as executive officer aboard the Rand Ecliptic. There, he led a cell of mutineers that took over the ship, and he defected to the burgeoning Alliance to Restore the Republic with Darklighter. Klivian was ill when his best friend died in the Battle of Yavin, but afterward was recruited by Darklighter's childhood friend Luke Skywalker to join Rogue Squadron. Klivian served with distinction, fighting in the battles of Hoth and Endor, and earned a reputation as a skilled, if crash-prone, pilot and a notorious skeptic.

When the Rebel Alliance became the New Republic, Derek Klivian continued serving until Rogue Squadron was disbanded. He then served with his close friend Wes Janson as a training officer for some time before rejoining the recommissioned Rogue Squadron under his longtime comrade Wedge Antilles after temporarily serving as Rogue Leader himself during the period when Antilles resigned. There he served for a dozen more years, battling various warlords and threats to the New Republic and serving as a vital part of the four-pilot delegation that brought Adumar into the New Republic. In 19 ABY, once peace with the Imperial Remnant had been reached, Klivian retired after approximately twenty years of service to the New Republic and Rebel Alliance.

Imperial days
"You know these striver types."

- Heliesk, to Biggs Darklighter, speaking of Derek Klivian

Derek Klivian was born on the prosperous Core World of Ralltiir and grew up under the rule of the Galactic Empire. Early in life, he acquired the nickname "Hobbie" and used it almost exclusively in place of his given name, Derek. An eager young man, Klivian applied to and was accepted by Prefsbelt Fleet Camp, an Imperial naval academy, seeking a glamorous and exciting life as a starfighter pilot. He was not a political supporter or opponent of the Galactic Empire; he merely wanted a career as a pilot. At Prefsbelt, he was instructed by Captain Soontir Fel, a highly skilled pilot. Klivian was comfortable with the highly-automated process of flying the TIE fighters, for which many maneuvers were preprogrammed. Despite this, neither he nor any of his classmates were ever able to beat Fel in the simulator, developing a healthy respect for their instructor in them.

He was classmates with Tycho Celchu and Biggs Darklighter, and befriended Darklighter. The pair joined a broader circle of friends who questioned the Empire, and Klivian began to boast idly with them of overthrowing the Empire, planning an idealistic campaign against an Empire he came to see as an oppressor. The group was far more talk than action, but an informant sold it out to the academy commander. All its members were rounded up, except for Darklighter and Klivian, who had missed the single meeting the informant had attended.

Neither Klivian nor Darklighter were told what had happened, and initially assumed that some minor punishment had occurred or, as the group's absence grew longer, that they had been transferred elsewhere. As time wore on and the cadets were never seen again, Klivian slowly came to realize that the Empire had seized and possibly killed them for conspiracy against the government. Klivian's distaste for the Empire grew into hatred, and he began to seriously plan to defect to the Rebel Alliance that had begun to form and wage war against the Empire. With Darklighter and Klivian each having survived the roundup, and neither having attended the only meeting with the informant, Darklighter began to suspect Klivian of having sold out the circle of conspirators, and their friendship dissolved as Darklighter grew to despise Klivian as an Imperial spy.

Klivian's class, graduating in 0 BBY, was known for exceptional performance. At their graduation ceremony, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin gave a speech praising the Empire and hinting vaguely at coming deployment of the nearly-completed Death Star. Through his own sources, Klivian knew some details of the project. When he passed his former friend's dormitory, he overheard Darklighter and his friends speculating on Tarkin's words, and confirmed that a planet-destroying space station named the Death Star was in the works. Subsequently Klivian was posted to the Class II Frigate Rand Ecliptic as the executive officer and second officer. Darklighter was the first officer, with Captain Heliesk commanding the ship. The pair served both as bridge officers and as leaders of the ship's TIE complement.

Klivian arrived early aboard the Rand Ecliptic and met the gruff Heliesk. After Darklighter reported in and Heliesk dismissed the pair, Darklighter rounded on Klivian, accusing him of seeking Darklighter's position before storming off. The pair settled into the ship's patrol routine, and Klivian built up a cell of Rebel sympathizers aboard, planning to defect to the Rebel Alliance. Klivian had an old friend, Lindy, who had informed Klivian that he had joined the Rebellion and was stationed on Bestine. As the Rand Ecliptic had a stop scheduled at Bestine, Klivian planned to jump ship there and join the Rebel Alliance through Lindy.

Mutiny on the Rand Ecliptic
"Well, Hobbie, I don't know how the Rebel Alliance command structure works, but it's plain to see that you've earned command of this vessel, and until the Alliance says differently, well, First Mate Biggs Darklighter reporting for duty, sir!"

- Biggs Darklighter, to Derek Klivian

Upon putting in at Bestine, Heliesk ordered Klivian to go ashore and arrange for the delivery of the shipment of rubindum ore the Rand Ecliptic was carrying. Anxious over his plan, he was relieved that he had an excuse to leave the ship safely and quickly began searching for Lindy. They met up quickly, and Klivian was taken to Lindy's Rebel cell. There, he was told that they awaited only Lindy's contact, a man code-named "Starfire" who would help Klivian defect. To his horror, the meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Heliesk with a stormtrooper escort. Klivian suddenly understood his situation when Heliesk congratulated Klivian on having captured the Rebels and dropped the word "starfire" in his conversation. Klivian returned to the ship, where he met privately with Heliesk. The captain explained that he was a Rebel spy, and he could not risk his cover. He wanted the ore and the defectors to reach the Rebellion, however, and planned to have Klivian mutiny, taking control of the ship and providing him cover.

Shortly thereafter, they challenged a ship which did not respond appropriately. Darklighter took the TIE pilots, including Klivian, to check out the ship, which replied that it was the Lark, transporting young students. However, as it lacked the proper authorization codes, its passengers were to be taken in for questioning. Klivian and the other pilots targeted its exhaust flanges, keeping it from running, but another pilot shot directly up the thruster nacelle, destroying the transport. Darklighter, furious at having his orders to disable disobeyed, ordered an immediate debriefing, but records were inconclusive; the perpetrator could not be found, and Heliesk dismissed the incident as irrelevant. Klivian had seen that Tars Nandy, one of his Prefsbelt classmates, had fired the shot, but with Heliesk unconcerned and no desire to be suspected of Rebel sympathies, he felt it wise to remain silent on the matter.

Afterward, Klivian passed by Darklighter in a corridor and noticed him reaching for the bulkhead. He continued on, but waited and returned, listening outside as Darklighter planned a defection with a group of Rebel comrades inside a hidden compartment. They noticed Klivian outside the concealed entrance and took him by surprise. Darklighter planned to kill Klivian before he could inform, and would not listen to Klivian's attempts to explain his own Rebel agenda. Klivian was forced to detonate a concussion grenade, allowing him to flee. Darklighter and his comrades put their escape plan into action swiftly, fleeing the Rand Ecliptic in their TIEs after disrupting several of the ship's systems to cover their escape. Klivian felt that his own hand had been forced, and mobilized his Rebel cell. Klivian led the mutiny, during which two additional Rebel cells surfaced to supplement Klivian's and Lindy's Rebels. They aided him in capturing Heliesk, whose identity as a spy was not given away, and the Rand Ecliptic ' s bridge. With control of the bridge, Klivian threatened to arm the ship's self-destruct, forcing the Imperial loyalists aboard to flee. He let them go with the exception of Nandy, avenging the destruction of the Lark. During the battle to take control of the ship, Klivian lost his left arm just above the elbow and suffered facial wounds, but received medical treatment for both injuries. Later statements by Darklighter implied that Klivian sustained damage to his genitalia as well.

Eventually, Darklighter and his companions returned to the ship, running low on supplies. They had planned to fight their way to the storage lockers, but Klivian warmly welcomed them and reconciled with Darklighter. Darklighter declined to use his higher Imperial rank to take command, telling Klivian he had earned the right to serve as the Rand Ecliptic ' s captain. The ship had only a skeleton crew of Rebels, and on being pursued by a complement of TIEs from Bestine, Darklighter had the idea to dump half the ore load in the fighters' path rather than attempting to battle, destroying enough of them to buy time to escape into hyperspace.

Rebel pilot
"Get somebody to carry me to my bird, and just watch me fly. You can count on me, Biggs."

- Derek Klivian, to Biggs Darklighter

They joined the Alliance Starfighter Corps, and Klivian had his arm replaced with a prosthetic. Klivian, Darklighter, and several of their fellow defectors, dubbed the Ecliptic Evaders, were stationed on Yavin 4 as part of Red Squadron. While Darklighter had earlier deferred to Klivian, he outranked Klivian within the Alliance. They were soon involved in General Jan Dodonna's plan to capture several T-65 X-wing starfighters. The Rand Ecliptic pilots, in their TIEs&mdash;which had been modified to carry hyperdrives&mdash;would enter the system, draw off the defending forces, and sacrifice their TIEs in a move that would allow the Rebellion to fly away a large supply of X-wings from Incom's factory. Klivian arrived over the world, strafed the Incom facility, and fled as they were chased off by the defensive complement of TIE fighters. Once they had drawn the enemy far enough, they ejected and turned control of their ships over to droid pilots. Klivian ejected safely but was clipped by a pursuing TIE and had his lower right leg sheared off. His flight suit sealed the wound, and the TIEs failed to detect the black-suited pilots hanging in space. They were recovered by an Alliance shuttle, and Klivian accepted a quick bandaging before insisting on being allowed to fly one of the X-wings out, pilots being in short supply.

On his return to Yavin 4, he was taken in for medical care, but a serious infection developed at the site of the wound, causing raised, ropy growths on his skin. A creeping malady of suspected native origin, it could not be treated by the base's medics, and Klivian was disqualified from flight duty and kept in the infirmary. Darklighter visited him frequently, keeping him informed of the squadron's doings. The infection progressed, however, eventually consuming Klivian's entire body in the growths. The medics despaired of his life, but Doctor Shae Polikex, recalling that a plant extract had saved an earlier survey team that fell victim to the same illness, took Darklighter and the Rebel-allied smuggler Nera Dantels into the jungle to try to identify the proper plant. They were successful, and Polikex administered the antidote. As it took effect, Klivian lay unconscious through the Battle of Yavin. The Death Star had tracked the Rebellion to Yavin 4, and the rest of Red Squadron flew against it. Only Wedge Antilles and the new addition, Luke Skywalker, survived, with Skywalker destroying the superweapon in a massive Rebel victory.

Klivian awoke after the battle, seeking Darklighter, and was crushed to be informed that the man to whom he owed his life had given his own life to allow Skywalker to make the killing shot. The man who told him was Skywalker, who had been Darklighter's lifelong friend. The two shared reminiscences of the pilot and bonded over their affection for their departed mutual friend. Once Klivian was able to move from his sickbed, he visited Darklighter's memorial with Dantels, who had developed feelings for Darklighter. With the infection beaten, Klivian had his leg replaced.

Rogue
"You're always telling me you're the best pilot in Rogue Squadron, Hobbie&mdash;prove it!"

- Wedge Antilles, to Derek Klivian

Upon his recovery, Klivian was assigned to the Sullust system, smuggling weapons for the Rebellion. His gunrunning days did not last long, as he was chosen for Rogue Squadron by Skywalker and Antilles, who were reviving the Red Squadron spirit in their new fighter group and wanted Klivian involved. Antilles had seen great promise in Klivian during his time in Red Squadron and quickly recruited him. Klivian quickly developed a joking reputation for enjoying bacta due to his numerous crashes and injuries, but his flying and tactical skills won him his fellow pilots' respect. Klivian also became known as the group's skeptic due to his dour personality, but that did not keep him from making fast friends with Skywalker, Antilles, his former classmate Celchu, and Wes Janson.

Seven months after the Battle of Yavin, Klivian and Antilles were assigned to escort Skywalker, Leia Organa, Dantels, and a diplomatic party to Jabiim to attempt to enlist the Loyalist faction. Klivian and Antilles remained in orbit while the others landed, but Klivian was dissatisfied with the arrangement; he would have preferred a stronger force and was worried for the delegation's safety. Shortly after arriving, however, the Jabiimi ordered them to leave orbit. As they had no orbital weaponry to bring against the pilots, however, Klivian ignored them and attempted to think of ways to rescue the diplomats, who he suspected were in trouble. Their planning was halted when they came under attack by TIE fighters fielded by the Nationalist faction, and Klivian and Antilles were forced to flee through the debris field surrounding the planet. Upon detecting Star Destroyers and slave ships in orbit, they decided they had to descend to the surface and rescue Skywalker and Organa. They arrived just in time to help cover the escape of Dantels's Starduster from Imperial forces, then retrieved Skywalker. They fled as the Star Destroyers began bombarding the planet, with Klivian and Antilles drawing fire to allow the group to escape to hyperspace.

When Imperial ace Kasan Moor defected to Rogue Squadron at Gerrard V, she brought with her knowledge of Imperial bases. The Rogues struck at the Imperial Enclave on Kile II, flying Y-wings rather than their customary X-wings for the mission. Klivian watched in horror as Antilles was shot down, but confirmed that he had landed safely. The Rogues could not recover the downed pilot before they had to retreat, and Antilles was captured. Klivian participated in the rescue of Antilles from a prison hovertrain on Kessel, using scanning equipment to confirm his friend's presence before halting the train. They then went on to free several more Rebel prisoners from incarceration on Kessel.

That mission was followed by a campaign against ambitious Moff Kohl Seerdon, who sought to seize control of Thyferra. The Rogues executed several hit-and-run strikes against Seerdon's assets before blunting the Moff's attack on Chandrila and striking at a Sullust base in retaliation. When Seerdon took over Thyferra, Klivian and the Rogues drove off his forces while Skywalker shot down the Moff's shuttle, killing him.

The Battle of Hoth
"Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?"

- Derek Klivian, to Leia Organa

Klivian also proved vital during several evacuations of the constantly-shifting Rebel secret base, frequently covering the Rebels' escape. By 3 ABY, the Rebel base was located on the inhospitable ice world of Hoth. There, Klivian was stationed with the rest of the Rogues, flying as Rogue Four. Not long after it was established, the base was discovered by an Imperial probe droid, and the Alliance began an evacuation. Before it could be carried out, however, Darth Vader's Death Squadron arrived in the system and began landing forces to bring down the theater shield that protected Echo Base on Hoth. Klivian was among the pilots who attended a briefing by Leia Organa explaining the new evacuation plan, which would see two fighters escort each transport away from the base. Klivian was dubious of the effectiveness of such a weak guard against the Imperial armada, but Organa assured him that the base's v-150 Planet Defender ion cannon would provide enough cover for the escape, leaving Klivian slightly less skeptical.

However, Rogue Squadron first had to deal with the approaching Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports targeting the shield generator. Klivian flew as Skywalker's wingman in one of the cold-adapted T-47 airspeeders, making a handful of passes against the massive walkers before Skywalker determined the combat airspeeders' blasters were not strong enough to bring down the AT-ATs. Instead, he turned to the tactic of using the airspeeders' tow cables to entangle the walkers' legs and trip them. Klivian accompanied Skywalker on the first attack run, in which Skywalker's gunner, Dack Ralter, was killed, and was on Skywalker's wing when Rogue Two, Zev Senesca, was killed and Skywalker shot down.

Klivian was subsequently injured by fire from one of the walkers, as was his gunner, Kesin Ommis. Deciding that his damaged craft and his damaged body could not make it back to the evacuation point, he resolved to ram the lead walker. He flew his speeder directly into the command cabin of General Maximilian Veers's Blizzard 1, bringing down the walker immediately after it had destroyed the shield generator. Klivian and Ommis ejected in time to survive the crash, and were able, despite Klivian's earlier predictions, to make it back to the evacuation staging point.

From there, Klivian piloted a Y-wing with Wes Janson as his gunner and Antilles as his wingman, escorting one of the last transports from the base. An Imperial Star Destroyer blocked their escape route, and with the ion cannon destroyed, they lacked cover fire. Klivian was surprised when Antilles ordered the transport to hang back and pulled in uncomfortably close behind Klivian's fighter. Klivian was briefly confused before realizing Antilles intended to pull off a Tallon Split, a chancy maneuver rarely used in combat. Klivian's craft masked Antilles's sensor signature, allowing the other pilot to dart out from behind and disable the Star Destroyer's targeting sensors with a lucky shot. The two fighters and the transport escaped, making their way to the Rebel fleet's rendezvous point. There, Klivian received bacta treatment for his injuries and fully recovered; Ommis survived the battle as well.

Victory at Endor
The Alliance later learned that prisoners from Hoth were being held on an orbital platform over Bakura. Klivian was one of the pilots who flew a B-wing to rescue them. When an Escort carrier made off with some of the Rebels, however, the rescue force pursued it to Geonosis and effected a recovery.

Meanwhile, Han Solo had been captured by the Empire, frozen in carbonite, and turned over to bounty hunter Boba Fett. Skywalker departed the squadron to track down and free his friend. When he had traced Fett to Gall, he called in the Rogues to help him in the extraction. They set up a temporary base on nearby Kile and reconnoitered the area before Skywalker and his allies arrived and decided that Skywalker and the Rogues would draw off the Gall's defenses, allowing Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca to find Fett's docked Slave I. While the Rogues made their distraction, Fett evaded the Millennium Falcon, leaving the mission a failure. When Prince Xizor of Black Sun captured Princess Leia Organa not long thereafter, Skywalker went to Coruscant to rescue her with Dash Rendar and Calrissian. During their escape, Rendar sent a distress signal to the Rogues that summoned them to a dogfight with Xizor's private navy over the Empire's capital. With the cover of the Rogues and the opportune intervention of Darth Vader's forces against his longtime rival Xizor, the Rebels were able to flee.

In 4 ABY, when the Alliance learned that the Empire had built a second Death Star, Rogue Squadron was among the units tasked with destroying the battle station. At the briefing, Klivian provided his usual skepticism, suggesting that the narrow channels through the under-construction Death Star appeared too tight to allow the fighters reasonable passage. Klivian did his part in the Battle of Endor, which saw the Alliance Fleet break the trap sprung on it by the Empire and destroy the Star Dreadnought Executor. Klivian's fears proved unfounded as Antilles and Calrissian made their way through the Death Star to its main reactor and destroyed it, with Darth Vader and Galactic Emperor Palpatine aboard. Klivian later had a Death Star II kill silhouette painted on his fighter.

Shortly after the battle, the Rebel forces received a message intended for Palpatine informing him that the planet Bakura was under attack by invading aliens. Rogue Squadron, Klivian among them, was sent to Bakura to aid the Imperial world and possibly recruit it as part of a task force under Skywalker and Solo. When they arrived, they found the aliens engaged in a fierce battle with the Bakuran Imperial forces. Klivian and the Rogues pressed the attack, driving the invaders off. Skywalker, Solo, and Leia Organa were able to negotiate a truce with the Imperials and learned that the attackers were Ssi-ruuk from the Unknown Regions. Eventually, the Ssi-ruuk attacked once more and Klivian flew against them, but during the battle the Imperial forces turned on the Rebels, destroying their flagship carrier Flurry. An uprising on Bakura removed Imperial governor Wilek Nereus from power, however, allowing Commander Pter Thanas to surrender the Imperial forces to the Rebels once the Ssi-ruuk were defeated.

Afterward, the Rogues captured Grand Moff Nivers at Tandankin after disabling the forces with which he intended to subjugate the planet. Leadership of the squadron then passed permanently from Skywalker to Antilles. Klivian, a lieutenant, was left one of the unit's most senior pilots; along with Antilles, Celchu, and Janson, he was one of only four Rogues who had served with the unit before Endor. Klivian's reputation for frequent crashes had spread widely, with yet more accidents costing him his left leg, and his friends joked about his supposed affection for bacta treatments. In fact, his crash-prone reputation was so widespread that Bulior Repulsor Systems contacted him seeking his endorsement of the crash-repulsor cribs the company manufactured for New Republic fighters, and by 13 ABY, bacta manufacturers had offered him advertising deals.

Mission to Mrlsst
"If I'm out of line, I apologize. But this mission is getting off to a bad start.''" "''S'right. No convoy&mdash;a dozen eyeballs instead!"

- Isplourrdacartha Estillo and Derek Klivian

Approximately one month after Endor, the Rogues were assigned to protect a food convoy from Cilpar to Mrlsst. On arriving at Cilpar, however, they failed to meet up with their contact, found no convoy, and came under Imperial attack. They fought through the ambush and put down in a cave base, but were quickly seized by the local resistance movement led by Elscol Loro, which opposed both the Empire and the forces of the Rebellion. They were taken into the town, where the group was ambushed by the local Moff, Boren Tascl. The Rogues retreated with Loro's group into the jungle, where they took shelter in an old temple. They were followed and surrounded, however, but Antilles, had Klivian and new pilot Plourr Ilo fire on a heap of rubbish, igniting the built-up methane and eliminating an enemy walker. Antilles was able to call in the X-wings via their astromechs, driving off the Imperial forces. They returned to the Rogue base, where Antilles was able to convince Loro to work with them.

Loro took the group to a Rebel supply depot, but they again came under attack by the Imperials and again escaped to the hidden Rogue base. Antilles prepared a strike on the Imperial base, while Loro led a commando mission to rescue Leia Organa after one of Loro's fighters, Vance Rego, reported that Organa was on-planet and had been captured by the Empire. The attack was successful, and the woman was freed&mdash;but she proved to be Winter, Organa's aide and double, who had been their intended contact on Cilpar. With Cilpar's Imperial presence decimated, Loro was convinced to trust the pilots of the fledgling New Republic, joining Rogue Squadron.

The Rogues collected the convoy they had originally arrived to escort and moved on to Mrlsst, over which they again faced an attack by Imperial forces, including an Interdictor Star Destroyer. Klivian helped cover Antilles as the squadron leader and Loro bombarded the Interdictor with proton torpedoes, driving it off and allowing the convoy to land in safety. Antilles then engaged in the second purpose of the squadron's visit, negotiating for the secrets of the Mrlsst Academy's Phantom Project, an advanced cloaking device. After being introduced to Antilles's old friend, Mirax Terrik, who was on-world, Klivian, Celchu, Ilo, and Dllr Nep looked for entertainment on the campus while Antilles spent time with her. Those two met the others at The Soundmound, a musical venue, where Celchu caught up with the group after having departed to confront the Ante-Endor Association's membership, an Imperialist group that gave public speeches denying the truth of the Battle of Endor. Celchu had been beaten by them, but was rescued by a mysterious Jedi ghost.

The next day, Terrik and all the squadron members but Antilles went to see Janson, who had broken his leg on Cilpar and was in a Mrlssti hospital. While there, they received warning from Koyi Komad, a student who had befriended the Rogues the previous night, that they were to be arrested, as a doctored hologram had implicated Celchu in the theft of the Phantom Project plans; Antilles had already been imprisoned. Stormtroopers were hot on Komad's heels, and the Rogues had to fight their way out of the hospital. After exiting, Klivian ascended with the others to the top levels of the hospital's greenstalk forests, where the fugitives found refuge with the fringe communities existing in the vegetation. A slicer among them was able to show that the recording was faked, and found evidence that Professor Rorax Falken's students had stolen the datacards away from the original thieves, the members of the Ante-Endor Association.

Celchu, the squadron's second in command, sent several others to recover the datacards from Falken while he, Klivian, Janson, and Ilo attempted to free their leader. That proved unnecessary when they found Antilles walking out of the detention center, freed by the ghost Jedi. Antilles explained, on their way to the spaceport, that the Phantom Project had been a fake, designed to draw money from the Empire. On reaching the spaceport, they found Loro knocked out on the orders of the Ghost Jedi and received word that Falken's asteroid laboratory had been destroyed. They were kept too busy to deal with that, however, by the arrival of Imperial bombers. Klivian scrambled to his X-wing with the other Rogues, shooting down TIEs over Mrlsst. The other Rogues and Terrik, fleeing Falken's lab, activated the gravitic polarization beam designed by the scientist, destroying the remnants of the lab and the Interdictor Star Destroyer, removing the Imperial presence from Mrlsst.

Trouble on Tatooine
"Personally, I'm looking forward to shooting down a few Imps!''" "You said it, Plourr! I didn't come to Tatooine just to ride herd on the local warlords''!"

- Isplourrdacartha Estillo and Derek Klivian

Four months later, the Rogues were ordered to Tatooine to provide support for a New Republic agent in the midst of the gang wars resulting from the death of former crime kingpin Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Klivian, Janson, Ilo, and Nep were all assigned to scout Mos Eisley and get a feel for the criminal climate. At a cantina, Ilo was picked on by a pair of patrons and began a brawl; on leaving it, they were approached by a Devaronian who tried to hire them to replace the henchmen they had just beaten. He told them they would have to scare a farmer who owed a debt, but Janson noticed the man was excessively well-armed for a simple debt collector and, seeking to figure out the real plan, agreed to take the job.

They took speeder bikes into the desert, but upon nearing the target, found it already under attack. The Devaronian canceled the raid, but Janson tackled him and demanded that he reveal his true purpose. It took all four Rogues to subdue him. They were quickly met by Antilles, Celchu, Loro, and Winter, their New Republic Intelligence contact. Winter explained that their captive was Kapp Dendo, a New Republic commando working with her to provide a diversion while she searched Huff Darklighter's estate for a valuable data disk. A different group of thieves, however, had attacked the estate and escaped with the disk.

Winter returned to speak with Darklighter and discovered that the thieves were in the employ of Firith Olan, a Twi'lek crime lord. The disk contained the coordinates of an arms cache, and if properly decoded, it could guide the way to uncovering the Strike Cruiser Eidolon. The Rogues immediately began working to find the other caches. Orbital surveillance showed Olan already looting a newfound storehouse, and the Rogues flew out to stop the criminal. They engaged in a dogfight with the TIE interceptors Olan had activated from the cache and pursued Olan's freighter into orbit. There, they encountered a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters, but when those fighters attacked Olan's ships, Antilles decided to retreat while they were ahead rather than press their luck with the superior Imperial numbers trying to stop Olan's escape.

Antilles determined that Olan would be fleeing to his homeworld of Ryloth and took Winter, Celchu, and Loro with him in pursuit. Klivian and the other Rogues remained behind on Tatooine. Klivian chafed at the inactivity and was relieved to hear that they would be facing down the enemy when Antilles returned. Olan had been spirited away from Ryloth by Marl Semtin, the captain of the destroyer Harrow, which had deployed the TIEs earlier. Semtin sought to bring Eidolon Base under his control, but the Rogues tracked him to the base and engaged its complement of TIE interceptors. They shot them down, and Winter inserted a squad of vengeful Imperial commandos, abandoned by Semtin on Ryloth, who secured the facility and killed Semtin.

Escort to Eiattu
"May not be as a good as a thuvasaur pelt, but an Imp hide'll do."

- Derek Klivian, to Wes Janson

A month later, the Rogues received a large influx of reinforcements and replacements, Loro having transferred out after the Tatooine mission and the squadron long having been understrength. They began heavy simulation work to better mesh as a team, and in some simulations Klivian flew as Rogue Leader while Antilles led the opponent faction flying in TIE simulators. Their work was interrupted by the revelation that Ilo was in fact Princess Isplourrdacartha Estillo of Eiattu 6. She was summoned home to reunite her world, which was torn with warfare between the ruling nobles and the People's Liberation Battalion, led by a recently-emerged leader claiming to be Harrandatha Estillo, Isplourrdacartha's brother and the only other survivor of the massacre of the royal family. Rogue Squadron escorted her there.

Klivian was among the Rogues who went on a thuvasaur-hunting expedition into the Eiattu swamps. Before they encountered any thuvasaurs, however, Nep heard Imperial blaster fire from deeper in the swamp. Klivian and Janson, the ranking Rogues in the party, decided to investigate. They came across an Imperial patrol and became entangled in a firefight within the swamp. They were pinned down, but air support led by Antilles and the arrival of a PLB force drove off the Imperials. They were invited back to the rebel group's encampment, at which they were hosted by Harrandatha Estillo. They were shown the PLB's hospitality overnight before returning to the palace.

As the Imperials had retreated deeper into the swamp when defeated, the next day all the Rogues but Antilles, Celchu, and Estillo went to scout the swamps, expecting to find an Imperial base. Instead, they were ambushed and forced to surrender to the Imperial forces. They were imprisoned and visited by the local Moff, Leonia Tavira. Tavira revealed that she was working with the PLB's leader, an impostor of Harrandatha Estillo, to steal the planet's wealth before fleeing. Nrin Vakil, a Rogue who had been left for dead at the ambush site, was able to fight his way into the Imperial base and rescue Klivian and the others, who then attempted to capture Tavira. The Moff fled, but with only a small portion of her loot. Meanwhile, Estillo exposed the impostor and was able to make peace between the PLB and the nobility.

Search for the Starfaring
"It's too soon to be using this leg, Hobbie! You just crawled out of a bacta tank! You shouldn't be going into battle!''" "The odds will be long enough, Wes, without an able-bodied pilot snoozing on a cot'' in sickbay!"

- Wes Janson and Derek Klivian

Though Estillo stayed to rule her homeworld, the rest of the Rogues moved on, searching for the Bothan transport Starfaring, which had gone missing. Knowing of a possible error in the navigational system that would have transposed destination coordinates, the Rogues set out to search in the Malrev system&mdash;the ship's destination if the coordinates had been transposed. They arrived and began checking Malrev IV, the system's habitable world, but the Rogues came under attack from TIE fighters. The ambushers were defeated, but Antilles was shot down and the Rogues were unable to recover him. They put down in a clearing two kilometers from the commander's crash site, where the Starfaring was grounded. The Bothans extended a welcome to the Rogues, but discouraged any search expeditions until the next morning, as Irrukiine beasts inhabited the forests. The Bothan women began making overtures to the Rogues, and several Bothan men picked a fight with Vakil. Klivian rushed to aid his fellow Rogue, but the clash was interrupted by an Irrukiine attack. Though Klivian battled back, the group was nearly overwhelmed before Vakil reached his X-wing and used it to drive off the assault. With the camp secured, the Rogues turned in for the night, posting a watch. Klivian, under the influence of the Sith power permeating the planet, spent the night with one of the Bothans.

The next morning, they set out to search for Antilles. One of the pilots, Herian I'ngre, had earlier examined the Starfaring ' s hyperdrive and reported that it had been gimmicked to simulate the damage reported by the Bothans. The Rogues were put on alert for a possible secret agenda on the part of Girov Dza'tey, the Bothan leader. The expedition found a temple in the woods, guarded by Irrukiine, and were driven off by its defenders. I'ngre was wounded in the battle, and Klivian began to carry the wounded Bith to safety. He was struck in the right knee by an Irrukiine blaster shot, however, and the group of Rogues aiding I'ngre and Klivian was surrounded. They were rescued by Antilles, who had escaped from the custody of Cartariun, a former Imperial technician who was using the power of the Sith temple to control the Irrukiine. With his cover, the Rogues and Bothans were able to retreat safely. It was only after doing so that they realized Nep had been left behind.

On returning to the Starfaring, Klivian was put in a bacta tank. In it, he spent the entirety of the subsequent battle, in which the Rogues defeated Cartariun's Irrukiine-piloted TIEs, and Dza'tey killed Cartariun and usurped the temple's power in an attempt to secure the Sith magics for his own aggrandizement. However, when the Rogues returned to base, Klivian was sufficiently healed to insist on returning to combat for the subsequent battle, which would see the Rogues, united with the rest of the Bothan contingent, attempt to destroy Dza'tey and rescue Nep. The Rogues were confronted by TIE interceptors, guided by the tactically-trained Dza'tey, in a far more intense challenge than previously. They were reinforced by the surprise arrival of an Eiattuan squadron commanded by Estillo, and when Nep and I'ngre sacrificed themselves to destroy the temple, Dza'tey was killed and the Irrukiine defeated.

The Battle of Brentaal IV
"Squints are good, Wedge. Real good."

- Derek Klivian, to Wedge Antilles

Nine months after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic was pushing into the Core and assigned Rogue Squadron to scout Brentaal IV, a critically-positioned and wealthy Core World just Coreward along the Perlemian Trade Route from Klivian's own homeworld of Ralltiir. The scouting mission was successful despite a skirmish with defending Imperial TIEs, and Vakil's reconnaissance X-wing provided the high command with valuable information on Brentaal IV's defenses. On returning to base, the Rogues gained four new pilots, and one of them, Avan Beruss, was assigned to room with Klivian.

Based on Rogue Squadron's data, the New Republic decided to seize Brentaal IV. The first strike was at the defensive base on the planet's moon. The Rogues provided fighter cover for its capture. During the battle, Klivian faced elements of the elite 181st Imperial Fighter Group. He was unable to shake a TIE interceptor and was shot down over the moon. He ejected after his fighter had already struck the lunar surface, narrowly escaping death. Klivian's fellow pilots defeated the enemy fighters and took the moon, allowing Klivian to be safely recovered. He was put in a bacta tank yet again.

Klivian soon left the tank, and was playing sabacc in the squadron's recreation room when the news arrived that his old instructor, Soontir Fel, was leading the rest of the 181st to Brentaal IV's defense. Fel had been transferred out of teaching as a result of Klivian and Darklighter's defection, but had become the Empire's most elite pilot by rebuilding the 181st into a feared unit. Klivian and Celchu were pressed for information on Fel by the squadron's newer members, who were dubious of Fel's reputation; the two former Imperials assured them that Fel lived up to his legend.

The Rogues were assigned to engage the 181st over Brentaal's capital, Vuultin, while the New Republic took the city of Oradin as a staging point. While elements of the 181st were present, New Republic spotters had been fooled, and most of the group was at Oradin. The Rogues had only light opposition, but were recalled to orbit to protect the fleet when Fel left the field at Oradin. Thanks to tactically questionable decisions by Brentaal IV's commanding officer, the widely ridiculed Admiral Lon Isoto, the New Republic was able to take Oradin.

One night, the Rogues were awoken to respond to the arrival of a convoy to evacuate the planet's wealthy Imperials. The New Republic intended to oppose the evacuation, and the Rogues were assigned to fend off Fel's 181st. During the dogfight, Klivian was saved from being shot down by an undetected pursuer when fellow Rogue Xarcce Huwla destroyed the TIE. Many of the evacuation craft were disabled, and while the 181st fled with the Imperial forces, Fel was captured after his craft was disabled by an ion cannon shot. He decided to defect to the New Republic, and joined Rogue Squadron. The revelation caused great dissension, but Klivian supported giving his old instructor a chance.

Kidnapping on Corellia
"Nothing good ever came of a meeting in an alley."

- Derek Klivian

Immediately after introducing Fel to the squadron, Antilles pulled Klivian, Janson, and Estillo aside and issued them a covert mission: to travel to Corellia, speak with Fel's relatives, and attempt to bring them back to safety in the New Republic. Of special interest was Fel's wife, actress Wynssa Starflare, whom Antilles revealed to be his long-lost sister Syal Antilles, operating under a stage name.

The group traveled to Corellia, which, while under Imperial control, had largely avoided the conflict of the Galactic Civil War. What Klivian hoped to be a peaceful vacation was quickly spoiled by a bug bite which left a swollen sore on his face. The mission took an even worse turn when, upon arriving at the Fel estate, they learned that Fel's nephew, Fyric Fel, had been kidnapped that morning. They were turned away from the estate by Corellian Security Force investigators Corran Horn and Iella Wessiri, but not before giving their docking bay number to Todr Fel, Fyric's father, and hinting that they had been sent by Antilles.

They waited aboard their ship most of the day before they were approached by Fyric's mother, Ajai. Ajai informed them that the family suspected Fyric had been seized by agents of Imperial Intelligence in an attempt to force the Fels to reveal the location of Starflare, who had gone into hiding. The Fels, however, refused to give in to the kidnappers' demands, and so Ajai urged the New Republic pilots to rescue Fyric, in exchange for which she would give up Starflare's location. To that end, she gave them a meeting location the kidnappers had supplied to the Fel family.

Klivian was surprised at Ajai's willingness to give up her sister-in-law, but the rendezvous went forward. They met the kidnappers in an alley, where Ilir Post, their leader, attempted to double-cross and kill them. They were captured, but assisted by the arrival of Horn and Wessiri, Klivian broke free and, with the others, fought off the kidnappers, though Post fled. The pilots agreed to work together with the CorSec agents to bring down Post. They did not bring the pair fully into their confidence, keeping their motivations vague and not giving their names; Horn and Wessiri referred to Klivian simply as "Bugbite" in conversation.

The CorSec agents were able to locate the estate Post was using as a hideout, and together the group raided it. They defeated the guards, but Post appeared on a balcony, holding Fyric and threatening to kill the child if the would-be rescuers did not leave. An unexpected sniper shot killed Post, and Estillo made a diving catch of Fyric as he fell from the balcony. The mystery of the shot's origin was solved when they found Todr Fel in the woods. He had had his wife lie to get the New Republic pilots involved, then used them to track down Post. He had taken the shot gambling that it was the only way to save Fyric.

Janson was able to persuade Todr to take Ajai and Fyric to safety in the New Republic. As their ship departed Corellia, however, it came under attack by TYE-wing Ugly fighters. Their ship was underarmed for dealing with the attackers, but Horn intervened in his X-wing, shooting down the Uglies. Klivian was able to safely take the ship into hyperspace. Impressed by Horn's piloting, he suggested that the young man would make a good Rogue, though the other pilots dismissed Horn's personality as unsuitable.

Pirates and Pestage
"Wedge, it's bad out here. Lots of TIEs swarming&mdash;looks like a full wing. Even with the pirates' help, we couldn't fight our way out of here."

- Derek Klivian, to Wedge Antilles

Approximately a month later, the Rogues were out on a training run when they came across a pirate ship attacking a civilian transport. Klivian, in Two Flight, was assigned to tackle the cruiser while the other Rogues screened the fighters, but he picked up a persistent TYE-wing pursuer. Unable to shake the tail, he was hard-pressed and lost his astromech droid to a well-placed shot. He was only saved when Fel swept in and destroyed the Ugly. Despite Klivian's difficulty, the pirates were driven off.

Estillo, Celchu, and Fel were assigned to a diplomatic reception on Eiattu while the rest of the Rogues undertook a secret mission to Axxila, where they provided security for Leia Organa as she attempted to negotiate the defection of Sate Pestage, ruler of the Empire after Palpatine's death but besieged by political foes seeking to oust him. While Antilles and Organa met with Pestage, Klivian found a cantina in which the other Rogues could relax, though the music proved anything but relaxing and provoked annoyance at Klivian's choice. While there, Janson spotted a pair of toughs wearing the mark of Kavil's Corsairs, the pirates they had earlier defeated. He and Klivian collected fellow Rogues Avan Beruss and Feylis Ardele before following them outside. They trailed the pirates to their hangar, but on entering it, Klivian and Janson were seized. A guns-blazing rescue by Beruss let them retreat.

They met up with Organa and Antilles and reported in the sighting of Kavil's Corsairs. The negotiators in turn reported that Pestage had offered to surrender Coruscant in exchange for protection and a few worlds of his own to rule. The Rogues maintained a watch on the cantina for more pirate activity, and several of them had a run-in with several Corsairs. At the same time that was reported, they detected a transmission from Celchu, on Axxila, requesting assistance. The Rogues launched, and found Celchu and Winter in a Y-wing, escaping from Kavil's Corsairs. They had been captured on Eiattu, with Winter masquerading as Organa, and just escaped the pirates. Just as surprising was the arrival of Han Solo and Fel aboard the Millennium Falcon, having trailed the prisoners from Eiattu.

After driving off the Corsairs, Klivian and his wingmate Janson were assigned to provide cover and patrol the trail to their base, making sure they had not been traced. However, while doing so, the Star Destroyer Reckoning, under Admiral Delak Krennel, arrived over Axxila and launched TIE fighters, demanding the handover of the New Republic agents. Klivian and Janson quickly went to ground, parking their X-wings inside a furniture boutique. Fel was able to convince the Imperial to allow their departure, however, by presenting himself as an Imperial spy whose mission was threatened by Krennel's intervention.

Extracting the Emperor
"Great shooting, Six.''" "''Need more of it, Five, if we're getting out of here."

- Wes Janson and Derek Klivian

A full year after the Battle of Endor, Klivian's downtime, spent attempting to pick up women at the base pool with Janson, was interrupted when the squadron was issued a mission to evacuate Pestage from Ciutric IV. Pestage had fled the manipulations of Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard on Coruscant and been imprisoned while seeking sanctuary on Ciutric. The Rogues were scrambled in the middle of the night to rescue him.

Captain Kapp Dendo's Commando Team One secured Pestage while the Rogues and Colonel Horton Salm's Aggressor Wing provided cover. However, before they could attempt an escape, Krennel once more appeared with Reckoning, accompanied by the Interdictor Binder. Unable to escape, the Rogues instead went to ground on Ciutric IV with the commandos while Aggressor Wing, in a position to depart, did so. While encamped, Klivian and Janson detected an incoming squadron, patrolling the skies on Krennel's orders. Klivian arranged for the Rogues to launch and sneak behind the enemies before attacking, thereby hiding the camp's position. While they defeated the squadron, popular Rogue Ibtisam was killed in action.

Krennel launched a wave of TIEs in retaliation, and the Rogues scrambled to meet them in space. There, Klivian helped cover the arrival of Mirax Terrik in her Pulsar Skate. She had been summoned by Antilles to extract Pestage, and with her jumped Aggressor Wing, which had waited in the outer reaches of the system to provide aid rather than fleeing. With the help of the Y-wing unit, the Rogues and the Pulsar Skate safely returned to the ground to refuel. Antilles proposed that they fly the Pulsar Skate out with the fighters and destroy Binder in a proton torpedo barrage, convincing Krennel that Pestage had fled with them. That would clear the way for Dendo's commandos to depart with Pestage when the coast was clear.

Klivian helped screen the fighters as they made their proton torpedo run against Reckoning, damaging it. By the time for the bombardment of Binder, the TIEs were all destroyed, and Klivian joined the barrage that crippled Binder and caused it to retreat. The New Republic forces were able to slip away, but at the last moment Pestage slipped away from Dendo, attempting to find sanctuary with Krennel. Instead, the admiral killed him, rendering the mission for nought.

Carnage at Mindor
As the depredations of the warlord Shadowspawn spread, making pirate attacks on New Republic and civilian vessels, the New Republic found itself frustrated with its inability to find Shadowspawn's base or capture any of his pilots alive. The Rogues became part of a trap masterminded by their superior in New Republic Special Operations, General Calrissian. The Rogues, along with several other units, were secreted inside a mockup of the legendarily extravagant luxury liner Corellian Queen and its itinerary leaked. When Shadowspawn's TIE Defenders struck, the Rogues sprang their ambush. Klivian immediately found himself outnumbered, and blaster fire quickly tore into his X-wing's dorsal starboard stabilizer. Klivian's legendarily bad luck saw circumstances conspire to send his ship tumbling out of control. He still managed to shoot down several enemies, but tumbled toward a set of TIE Defenders destroyed by a spread of flechette torpedoes fired by his wingmate Janson&mdash;designed specifically for the mission, they consisted of a mixture of trackers that would lead the New Republic to Shadowspawn's base of operations and shrapnel sufficient to shred a starfighter. Klivian attempted to maneuver his crippled starfighter away from the hard radiation and shrapnel concentrated in the explosion zone, but it was not up to the task. As he reached to eject, the fuselage was punctured by debris which took his artificial left hand and the ejection control with it. As Klivian's environment suit was not retaining atmosphere, the unfortunate pilot was forced to seal the breaches in the cockpit with his artificial left arm and leg. As his astromech R4-G7 had been severely damaged and Klivian was out of position to operate his damaged craft, he was forced to drift, waiting for pickup and desperately hoping against hope that Janson, ever eager for ammunition for his pranks and mockery, would not be the one to tow his craft. He was awoken from fantasies about a rescue by Starflare by Janson taking holographic images of him while preparing to tow him back to base.

While the tracking devices led the New Republic to pinpoint Mindor as Shadowspawn's base, the chaotic nature of the debris-laden system led responsibility for the attack to be passed on to newly-promoted General Skywalker's Rapid Response Task Force. Klivian was able to recover and have his hand replaced. The Rogues continued to serve with Calrissian, assisting him in bringing Mandalore Fenn Shysa to negotiations with a band of Mandalorian Supercommandos who, having been in Imperial employ, were holding a system hostage. Shortly after arriving, Klivian and the rest of the Rogues were summoned by Celchu to prepare for an unsanctioned rescue mission to Mindor; Organa had sensed that Skywalker was in deadly danger.

When the Rogues arrived in the Taspan system, cluttered with asteroids and debris from the destruction of Taspan II, they swept to the rescue of Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, who had taken off on a rescue mission of their own. Skywalker's fleet had been devastated, with several of its ships left isolated in orbit, interdicted by a series of hundreds of gravity mines. Skywalker himself had crash-landed the remnants of his flagship Justice on Mindor. Organa transferred to the Millennium Falcon, for which the Rogues provided cover during a series of microjumps to Mindor, fighting through stiff resistance from swarms of TIE Interceptors along the way. After it landed, the Rogues fought their way back, attempting to clear an escape lane free of gravity mines with the assistance of the Rapid Response Task Force's remaining ships. Meanwhile, the destabilized space debris began moving toward Taspan. Large amounts of debris plunging into the system's sun would release massive flares of radiation, sterilizing the system in a matter of hours. Antilles and Celchu worked with Captain Tirossk, the senior remaining naval officer, to devise a plan that would allow the gravitic generators of Skywalker's five CC-7700/E interdiction cruisers to clear safe lanes through the debris and put it into action. The Rogues were forced to guard the ships against the seemingly endless swarms of TIEs, but were aided by the arrival of Calrissian's flagship, the cruiser Remember Alderaan, having followed on a rescue mission of his own after resolving the standoff by hiring the Mandalorians himself.

As the escape lanes would not form before Taspan began emitting sufficient radiation to destroy the task force, Calrissian decided to take the task force into the shelter of Mindor's umbra. The Rogues flew cover for the move, and then for the efforts of the New Republic marines and Mandalorian Supercommandos who attempted to take control of Shadowspawn's anti-orbital emplacements before the planet rotated sufficiently to allow them to target the fleet. Before the facilities could be secured, however, the entire dormant volcano in which the base was housed launched into space, driven by intense gravitic explosions designed by Shadowspawn to do exactly that. Suddenly, Skywalker issued orders to the Imperial forces in the system to surrender, and ordered the New Republic forces to begin evacuating the slaves from Shadowspawn's base. The Imperial forces, conditioned to obey Skywalker as part of the plan Cronal&mdash;the mastermind behind the Shadowspawn persona&mdash;had devised to transfer his mind to Skywalker's body, immediately complied. Before evacuation operations were complete, Cronal was able to reassert control over his forces, driving them into a murderous frenzy. Klivian was forced to fight off suicidal TIE pilots to protect themselves and the fleet. Skywalker was able to withdraw Cronal's power from the soldiers, leading to the deaths of the entire Imperial complement but opening the opportunity for the New Republic forces to escape Cronal's deathtrap in the Taspan system.

Training officer
"Lieutenants Hobbie Klivian and Wes Janson will do well bringing new training squadrons along."

- Wedge Antilles, to Horton Salm

Approximately five months after the Battle of Mindor, Rogue Squadron was disbanded. Klivian and Janson were reassigned as training officers, instructing pilots and putting their veteran expertise to use building new squadrons. He and Janson successfully trained Corsair, Gauntlet, and Talon Squadrons to commissioning, in that order.

By 7 ABY, Antilles had rebuilt Rogue Squadron with a new roster. However, when they were denied the opportunity to strike at Isard, who had just been ousted from Coruscant when the New Republic took the world, they resigned to carry out the campaign themselves. For morale purposes, the New Republic leadership felt it necessary to have an official Rogue Squadron, and commissioned Klivian, with a temporary promotion to captain, to lead a replacement unit made up of himself, Janson, several other former Rogues, and pilots recruited from his former training squadrons. Klivian agreed with the understanding that when and if the Rogues returned, he be allowed to remain in the unit. While he had been willing to put his skills to use training pilots, his heart was with the Rogues, fighting on the front lines.

Antilles did succeed in overthrowing Isard's rule of Thyferra, and with his success the resigned Rogues were invited to return to the New Republic. Their return was made a public event, and Klivian's squadron was assigned to escort the victorious squadrons into the welcoming ceremony on Coruscant. The units good-naturedly challenged each other's flying capabilities during the descent, resulting in a competitive display of precision flying that thrilled the onlooking crowd. At the ceremony, Klivian warmly greeted his former and once-again commander. They discussed their activities, and Antilles brought up the fact that he intended to form a new squadron, asking Klivian to turn over the personnel records of his replacement Rogues.

Return to the Rogues
Antilles gained permission to form Wraith Squadron, a unit of commando pilots, and temporarily turned control of Rogue Squadron over to Celchu, who had remained his right-hand man in the recommissioned squadron. Klivian became Rogue Squadron's second-in-command, returning to his longtime unit while Janson helped Antilles build the Wraiths. While explaining the situation to them, Antilles dealt Klivian and Janson devastating news: their last training squadron, Talon Squadron, had been destroyed in an ambush. Only its commander, Lieutenant Myn Donos, survived. Klivian was thunderstruck at the news, but Antilles assured him that the ambush was successful due to faulty intelligence and not the fault of their training. It was poor comfort. To address the situation, Antilles assigned Klivian to work up a simulation of the ambush for Rogue and Wraith Squadrons so that they could find ways to beat the trap. Klivian also wrote a report summarizing the findings of a probe of Donos's conduct in the ambush, which cleared him of misconduct.

Klivian and the Rogues were assigned to join General Han Solo's Solo Fleet in its campaign against Warlord Zsinj, seeking to hunt down the elusive warlord and destroy his military capacity. They followed up any report of his activity, keeping them busy investigating his strikes. The Rogues were present and ready for the Battle of Talasea, a trap for the forces of Zsinj's subordinate Admiral Apwar Trigit, but the Wraiths eliminated Trigit's forces on their own before the other forces were needed. However, Klivian did take the chance to meet up with Janson and catch each other up on squadron news. The Rogues were also deployed with Wraith Squadron at the Battle of Ession, decimating Trigit's fighter complement before his Star Destroyer, Implacable, was destroyed. When the Wraiths transferred aboard the Mon Remonda, General Han Solo's flagship and the Rogues' base of operations, they began working with the Rogues in striking at Zsinj's facilities.

When the Solo Fleet became aware of the possibility that the leads it had been chasing down may have been planted by Zsinj so that Solo would eliminate Zsinj's opponents, Klivian drew up a plan to investigate a lead without letting Zsinj know they were on to him or doing his work for him. He proposed that at Lavisar, their special forces deliberately use a dud bomb in a failed attempt to disable Lavisar's sensors. The Wraiths would apparently try to make a covert insertion, knowing that Lavisar control would detect and repel them, allowing them to run. Klivian's plan was put into action, with the Rogues providing backup for the Wraiths. While Lavisar's defenders sprung an unexpected trap, the Wraiths were able to escape it without Rogue intervention.

When it was determined that Zsinj would attempt to hijack the Super Star Destroyer Razor's Kiss, being completed at Kuat, the Rogues were part of the force that intercepted his flight from the planet. A Wraith pilot had been able to sabotage the shields on the Razor's Kiss, causing Antilles to order all squadrons to focus their attack on it; the ship was destroyed in a barrage of torpedo strikes. The Rogues then engaged Iron Fist's fighter screen, coming up against the dangerous fighters of Zsinj's impostor 181st Imperial Fighter Group. The battle was hard-fought, but eventually the Imperial fighters fled as Iron Fist blasted its way through Solo's blockade.

The Mon Remonda returned to Coruscant for repairs, and Antilles returned to Rogue Squadron, as both the Rogues and Wraiths were now operating closely together. While on Coruscant, Klivian and Janson heard that Antilles had a date, and eagerly harassed their commander, who had long gone without romance, about his feelings for Iella Wessiri&mdash;the former Corellian Security officer Klivian had once worked with, now an agent of New Republic Intelligence. Antilles shook them by dodging out of a turbolift as it took the two junior officers to the roof of their building.

Defeating Zsinj
"I was thinking we ought to offer him General Han Solo.''" "''Don't do that. If Zsinj kills Solo, Wedge might be appointed to fill the vacancy."

- Inyri Forge and Derek Klivian

When the fleet was back in full fighting form, it returned to action. At Levian Two, investigating a Zsinj raid, the Solo Fleet fell into an ambush by a much-superior Zsinj force. The Rogues made an attack on Iron Fist's stern, reducing its maneuverability, before eliminating one of the Carracks in Zsinj's flotilla, allowing the Solo Fleet enough room to escape. Afterward, Klivian commiserated with his fellow pilots on the elusive nature of Zsinj and the thin intelligence on him. The discussion quickly evolved into a planning session in which several pilots brainstormed a plot to lure Zsinj out by using a false Millennium Falcon to make him strike against his archenemy, Solo.

When Wraith Squadron infiltrated Saffalore in order to find out more about a scientific endeavor with links to Zsinj, Rogue Squadron infiltrated as well to provide backup. They landed under cover of a meteor shower and set up a base camp outside Lurark. When the Wraiths struck the Binring Biomedical Product facility, they were trapped by Zsinj's forces, having been expected. Klivian received their signal requesting air support and immediately scrambled the Rogues. TIE fighters had been called out to suppress the Wraiths, which the Rogues engaged and eliminated. They then attacked the local military base in order to divert attention from the Wraiths' escape.

The Mon Remonda next responded to a Zsinj strike in the Jussafet system. While deploying from the cruiser, however, Rogue pilot Tal'dira opened fire on Antilles. Corran Horn, who had become one of the new Rogues&mdash;as Klivian had years ago suggested&mdash;was forced to kill Tal'dira when he would not stand down. While Antilles took his damaged fighter back to the Mon Remonda, Klivian and the other Rogues continued flying against Zsinj's TIEs and a corvette in the system's asteroid belt.

Later investigation showed that Tal'dira, in his last moments, had committed suicide, lowering his forward shields so that Horn would kill him easily. In the aftermath, Antilles called one of the Wraiths' infamously free-wheeling brainstorming sessions, which Klivian, Horn, and Celchu attended. They were able to determine that assassination attempts and terrorist attacks being carried out by nonhumans across the New Republic were linked to Zsinj, and Horn suspected them to be an attempt to drive a wedge of species-based dissension into the New Republic. It was correctly theorized that the agents, including Tal'dira, were being forcibly brainwashed, and the group attempted to predict where Zsinj's brainwashed agents would strike next. They were successful in predicting that the next attacks would be a Sullustan-created ship accident and a Bothan-created slicing accident, and by passing their theories on to New Republic Intelligence, were able to avert the attacks and restore faith that there was not an alien conspiracy ongoing.

In order to relieve the stress being felt by the highly-active pilots and crew, Antilles organized a day of recreation in which the officers' mess was turned into a zone in which the use of rank was forbidden and everyone was able to join in card games, astromech races, and other relaxation. The next day, Antilles and Chewbacca flew the Millennium Falsehood, a refurbished YT-1300 light freighter designed to pose as the Millennium Falcon for the decoy plan the earlier brainstorming session had suggested, to Kidriff 5. When they were detected, they left. Klivian and the other Rogues and Wraiths provided cover as the Falsehood fled, establishing what Zsinj would interpret as a sighting of Solo on a covert mission. Near the end of the mission, Wraith Lara Notsil was revealed as Gara Petothel, a former agent for Zsinj who had planted the false information that lured Talon Squadron into the trap that had destroyed it. While she insisted she was loyal to the Wraiths, she fled when fired on by Donos.

The Rogues continued a relentless mission schedule, harassing Zsinj-controlled sites and escorting the Millennium Falsehood on missions to build up a pattern of activity. When Solo was able to arrange an ambush of Zsinj at Vahaba by using an Interdictor cruiser to pin Zsinj in place, the Solo Fleet's entire starfighter complement was deployed against Zsinj's small flotilla. With Zsinj not having deployed his fighters due to his hope to run, Horn and all the others were able to line up and bombard Iron Fist before splitting up by squadron for further attack runs. Klivian was struck by ion cannon fire and his ship was disabled, though he was safe. Meanwhile, the Star Destroyer Serpent's Smile was able to force the Interdictor off-course, allowing Iron Fist to escape. Just as they had accepted the failure of the ambush, the Solo Fleet received a message from Notsil, who had gained a position in Zsinj's fleet; she had orchestrated a sabotage of the Iron Fist's hyperdrive and stranded it in the Selaggis system.

The task force followed, with the Rogues and other squadrons searching for the Iron Fist in the system's asteroid belt. Klivian was among them, his fighter reactivated in time for the battle. When Zsinj's flagship was spotted, they attacked. Antilles observed several squadrons departing Iron Fist and heading towards the location of a colony Zsinj had previously bombarded. Suspicious, he took the Rogues and Wraiths in pursuit. When Zsinj's impostor 181st Imperial Fighter Group, which had faced the Rogues in previous battles, began strafing the ruins, Klivian and his wingmate Pedna Scotian engaged the TIEs. Voort saBinring of the Wraiths was able to determine that half the fighters were droid-piloted bombs designed to detonate in combat, a trap for Antilles and the Rogues. While Antilles exposed the "Soontir Fel" leading the unit as an impostor, actor Tetran Cowall, the New Republic pilots jammed the area, cutting off the enemy fighters' remote coordination and making them easy prey. The fighters and their TIE Raptor reinforcements were destroyed, and Iron Fist was believed destroyed in the battle. The campaign against Zsinj was over, and Rogue Squadron was rotated into a less stressful assignment to let them recover.

The threat of Thrawn
"Let's just hope he's planning to sell that information to the Empire. It'd be a shame to have wasted the whole evening.''" "''Oh, he'll sell it, all right. He's a smuggler. What else would he want it for?"

- Wes Janson and Derek Klivian

In 9 ABY, the Empire began escalating its strikes against the New Republic. When Bpfassh was struck, Han and Leia Organa Solo were sent there to view the damage and reassure the population. Rogue Squadron was assigned to their guard detail. When the Solos were threatened by an Imperial kidnap attempt, Solo was able to signal the Rogues with a plume of korfaise gas from the mockup Millennium Falcon used by the would-be kidnappers and the attempt was foiled.

The Rogues were later assigned to protect the escort frigate Larkhess, converted to cargo-hauling duty due to a sharp lack of transport in the New Republic, from Coruscant to Sluis Van and then from Sluis Van to Bpfassh. While waiting to depart at Sluis Van, Antilles noticed a suspicious freighter, one which claimed to be empty but handled as if loaded. Antilles scrambled the squadron and set out to investigate it, but as soon as Klivian and the others launched, it exploded, spewing TIE Fighters and mole miners from its cloaked cargo bay. Immediately thereafter, a fleet of five Star Destroyers under the resurgent Empire's new leader, Grand Admiral Thrawn, arrived at the edge of the shipyards and began attacking. With the assistance of Solo and Skywalker, present at the shipyard in the Millennium Falcon, Antilles was able to determine that the mole miners were being used to burn through the hulls of the understaffed cargo-transporting capital ships and hijack them. The mole miners had been stolen from Lando Calrissian, also aboard the Falcon, and he used his command signals to have the mole miners burn entirely through the bridges of the craft they had attached to, foiling Thrawn's scheme. The Rogues continued harassing the TIEs as Thrawn withdrew.

When the New Republic received information on the location of the legendary lost Katana fleet, Borsk Fey'lya blocked it from taking action swiftly. Leia Organa Solo and Talon Karrde, the source of the information, were convinced that any delay could put the fleet in the hands of the Empire, which had also found the location. Organa Solo dispatched a task force in the middle of the night under the command of Solo, Calrissian, and Skywalker to investigate the Katana fleet; Rogue Squadron was part of it. Fey'lya's task force, having set off the next morning, arrived with orders to arrest the prior group. Solo, aboard the Katana, refused to give in but ordered the Rogues to comply with Fey'lya rather than risk a court-martial. As they did so, however, an Imperial Star Destroyer arrived. The Rogues immediately turned to fly cover for Solo's team as they attempted to leave the vulnerable Katana. Fey'lya made to withdraw, but Organa Solo and Karrde were present aboard his ship and were able to expose his views of the military as being pawns to be disposed of for his purposes. The task force deserted him and moved to support the Rogues, who tried to hold off the drop ships attempting to board the Katana fleet Dreadnaughts. One got through, however, boarding the Katana and trapping Solo's group aboard. A group of ships from Karrde's smuggler organization also arrived, helping even the odds, as did a task force under Garm Bel Iblis. Though another Star Destroyer arrived, Solo was able to ram it with one of the Katana Dreadnaughts under slave rig, leading the other Star Destroyer to withdraw. In the aftermath, however, it was found that the Empire had already taken off all but fifteen of the Dreadnaughts.

Klivian continued battling Thrawn's encroaching campaign with the Rogues, fighting at the Battle of Filve and covering the retreat there, as well as serving as the front-runner in Bel Iblis's invention of the A-wing Slash at the Battle of Qat Chrystac, a battle which was also lost. When Thrawn deployed several cloaked asteroids in orbit over Coruscant, the planet was closed to traffic due to fears of collisions and asteroid strikes on the planet itself if the shields were opened. The New Republic leadership decided it was vital to acquire a crystal gravfield trap array to detect the asteroids by their gravitic signature and decided to strike at the shipyards of Bilbringi to do so. However, they attempted to mislead the Imperials into thinking they would strike at Tangrene, resulting in the Rogues being deployed nearby to draw Imperial attention.

Klivian and the other Rogues deliberately spent time out on the town, hoping their presence would attract the notice of Imperial spies. On their last night before deploying to Bilbringi, Klivian, Antilles, and Janson visited the Mumbri Storve cantina. As they made to leave, an apparent drunk stumbled into them. Janson and Antilles made to help carry him out, but the interloper revealed himself as sober and ordered them to leave the cantina slowly, causing the Rogues to fear they had been caught by Imperial agents. However, he identified himself as Aves, a lieutenant in Talon Karrde's smuggling ring, and hustled the group into an alley as his men knocked out the Imperial spy who had been tailing the Rogues. Aves clearly thought he had done the Rogues a favor, not knowing they had intended their presence to be recorded. When Aves asked about the Tangrene operation, asking to know its timing so that he could pull off a simultaneous attack, Antilles was able to drop hints. Klivian hoped that Aves would sell the information to the Imperials; otherwise, the night would have been a waste.

That night, the Rogues were pulled out to participate in the Battle of Bilbringi. Upon arriving, however, they were pulled from hyperspace early; Thrawn had anticipated their strike at Bilbringi and was waiting with a large fleet. Celchu suggested the Rogues strike at the shipyards to force the Empire to split its forces, and Antilles was contacted by Aves, who had intended to stage a simultaneous attempt at the crystal gravfield trap while the New Republic would be at Tangrene. Antilles arranged to cover their insertion into the shipyards while he and the Rogues attacked one of the Golan II defense stations ringing the shipyards. The Rogues attacked the station, softening it up for two Assault Frigates to destroy. As they penetrated the shipyards, however, the Rogues became aware that Thrawn's fleet was breaking up and retreating. It was only after the battle that Klivian learned that Thrawn was dead, assassinated by his bodyguard Rukh.

The liberation of Ciutric
On returning to their base on Coruscant, the Rogues were greeted with a welcome-back party at which Urlor Sette, a former companion of Horn's when he had been captured by Isard, appeared and died as the result of a poison capsule implanted in him. A message had been delivered to Rogue Squadron, and investigation of the poison capsule led to the Xenovet facility on Commenor. Klivian&mdash;promoted to major after Antilles accepted a promotion to general&mdash;and the rest of the Rogues were inserted on Commenor to provide air cover for a commando raid on the facility. As the Rogues came up on the supposedly abandoned veterinary complex, Klivian drew fire as Two Flight targeted the enemy positions revealed by their attacks. Dendo's commandos secured the premises, discovering several former inmates from Isard's notorious Lusankya prison; while the New Republic had captured the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya, which housed the prison, the prisoners had been scattered previously. Disturbingly, they testified that Isard was still alive.

While those leads were investigated, the Rogues turned to their assignment as part of the task force assigned to overthrow Delak Krennel, who had set himself up as the Prince-Admiral of the Ciutric Hegemony after Pestage's death. Their first target was the world of Liinade III, a world of middling importance in the Hegemony. While a small New Republic fleet struck at the Star Destroyer Direption guarding Liinade III, the Rogues attacked its fighter screen. After destroying that, they were assigned to secure ground locations for the New Republic invasion. Klivian and the rest of One Flight were assigned to secure the spaceport at Valleyport, a strategic location in which to bring down troops. Its defenses were easily dispatched, but Klivian came under fire from a quartet of All Terrain Armored Transports within a hangar. He and his wingmate, Lyyr Zatoq, attacked one, with Klivian quickly dispatching it with a shot to the fuel tank. While Antilles and Celchu handled the other pair, Klivian brought down one more with a point-blank shot to the operator's compartment, securing the area.

Meanwhile, Horn found what appeared to be a laboratory working on refining the Death Star plans for Krennel. Investigation suggested that Krennel was working on plans to build an anti-fleet superweapon based on Death Star technology, code-named Pulsar Station. In order to find its construction site, the Rogues were assigned to escort a T-65R reconnaissance X-wing through the Corvis Minor system to gain readings on a moon, Distna, into which the station could be built. To Klivian's great pleasure, the reconnaissance fighter would be piloted by his old comrade Nrin Vakil, who had left the squadron after Ibtisam's death at Ciutric IV. When they went in for a closer look at Distna, they were ambushed by six squadrons of TIEs. The odds were overwhelming, and only a rescue from without saved them. Two squadrons of TIE Defenders arrived on the scene, cutting through the enemy TIEs and compelling the Rogues to return to their base with them. Left behind were four Rogues believed dead&mdash;among them Janson and Zatoq.

At the Defenders' secret base, it was revealed that the commander of their rescuers was Isard herself, having survived Rogue Squadron's attack on Thyferra. Isard alleged that the Lusankya prisoners were under the charge of a clone of herself who was working with Krennel. She wished the Rogues to bring down Krennel and her clone. In exchange for providing them that opportunity, she hoped to gain clemency from the New Republic. The Rogues, operating as a unit of TIE Defender pilots offering their services to Krennel, would infiltrate Ciutric IV and help free the Lusankya prisoners while disabling the planet's shields and calling in a New Republic naval assault. They were trained on the TIE Defender until the pilots had mastered the craft, and then traveled to Ciutric IV.

There, flying as Requiem Two in Requiem Squadron, Klivian was welcomed by Krennel along with the rest of the Rogues, all of whom were disguised. They spent a week as part of Ciutric's defense force, mingling with the other pilots. Hours before the New Republic was supposed to strike, Klivian was awoken by the call to scramble. Krennel was preparing an attack on Coruscant. By the time the assault was ready, the New Republic fleet arrived, and the Rogues launched their part of the operation. One Flight, including Klivian, struck the shield generators. Klivian demolished two of the defense towers while Antilles destroyed the facility itself, leaving Krennel's capital open to New Republic invasion. One Flight then joined Two Flight in holding off the TIEs attempting to contest Horn's control of the prison at which the Lusankya prisoners were kept. An assault shuttle launched, apparently piloted by Isard's clone. Klivian performed a scan that helped confirm that it was being piloted by one of Krennel's men while Isard's clone transmitted from the shuttle via relay&mdash;the real Isard had used the same trick at Thyferra. Antilles had the shuttle destroyed and killed the clone, tracing the communications link. Meanwhile, Krennel was killed in the orbital battle and the real Isard was shot while attempting to steal the refurbished Lusankya at Bilbringi. The successful conclusion of the campaign was feted at a party aboard the Lusankya, which was attended by Janson&mdash;Klivian's longtime friend had survived the Battle of Distna and been recovered by the New Republic.

From war to peace
When the reborn Palpatine launched his massive counterattack against the New Republic days later, Celchu and the Rogues battled relentlessly as the New Republic was driven back, participating in the defense of Mon Calamari against Palpatine's World Devastators. The Rogues were expanded vastly, turned into a multi-fighter unit based around E-wings and B-wings, and based on Lusankya, which Antilles departed the squadron to command, leaving Celchu as Rogue Leader. This unit first saw combat conquering Phaeda. , Shortly after that campaign the last leaders of the unified Empire were defeated, and the former galactic power dissolved into warlordism. Klivian stayed and weathered these changes, which were only temporary, as the squadron was back in X-wings and at regular strength by 11 ABY.

In 11 ABY, the Rogues were assigned to hunt the Invids, pirates under the command of ex-moff Leonia Tavira. Tavira's flagship, Invidious, was extremely elusive, and she seemed to have warning of any ambush attempt. The campaign was frustrating, with the New Republic scoring few victories. Eventually, the Rogues set up an ambush over Alakatha based on a tip that some of the Invid gang would strike at the luxury liner Glitterstar over the world. When the pirate ship Booty Full made its attack, Klivian, flying as Celchu's wingman, helped disable the Booty Full with several strafing runs. The Rogues captured the pirates, making the mission a rare success against the Invids.

When the New Republic raided Xa Fel, the Rogues were part of the task force. During that battle, the Invidious attacked, unaware that there was a battle ongoing. The Rogues were sent against the pirate fighters, eliminating many of the Invidious's elite pilots. Later, they were summoned by Horn, who had departed the squadron to train as a Jedi and rescue his wife, to deal with the remnants of the Invid pirates at Courkrus. Horn had driven most of them off, and the Rogues removed the Khuiumin Survivors gang and helped them settle on Susevfi, as Horn felt the Survivors were the best of a bad lot. Horn had broken Tavira's pirate network and removed her power base, rendering her only a minor threat.

Around the same time, fellow Rogue Gavin Darklighter&mdash;Biggs's cousin&mdash;was married; at the reception, Klivian and Janson abused the champagne fountain. In 12 ABY, the Rogues, contacted by Skywalker, helped drive Desann, a fallen Jedi, from the powerful Force nexus known as the Valley of the Jedi. Desann then proceeded to attack the Jedi Praxeum at Yavin 4 with the troop ship Doomgiver and ground forces that included the Reborn Dark Jedi. Summoned by Kyle Katarn, the Rogues destroyed Doomgiver and provided cover for New Republic ground troops as they fought off Desann's assault.

Embassy to Adumar
"Hobbie is 'the dour one.' Not too much romance in that, Hobbie."

- Wes Janson, to Derek Klivian, on his court nickname

In 13 ABY, a New Republic expedition encountered the world Adumar, colonized by exiles from the Old Republic. The New Republic sought to bring Adumar's significant explosives-manufacturing capacity into its membership, and consequently sent an embassy. As Adumari society embraced hero-worship of fighter pilots, Antilles was sent as the diplomatic point man, and chose Klivian, Celchu, and Janson as his fellow pilot-diplomats. Flying as Red Flight, with Klivian's callsign Red Four, they traveled to Adumar aboard the Star Destroyer Allegiance. They received no briefing on the world before they took their fighters down to it. While traveling to the capital of Cartann City, they were attacked by four Adumari pilots. They quickly shot down the interlopers, but Cartannese air control did not explain the interruption. They descended to a rapturous welcome in a Cartann plaza, where they also met their New Republic Diplomatic Corps liaison, Tomer Darpen.

That night, they went to meet the perator of Cartann at his palace. They chose to wear native dress, and Klivian made a point to select the most garish combination of colors he could so that the outfit would offend those looking at him as much as it annoyed him to wear it. The perator presented them with a local guide, Cheriss ke Hanadi, the champion blastsword duelist. At the reception, Antilles accidentally stumbled upon General Turr Phennir of the Imperial Remnant, the current leader of the 181st. The New Republic pilots quickly realized that Adumar was testing the waters with both major galactic powers before committing to either side. Klivian was deeply disappointed that what had seemed an easy diplomatic assignment had turned into a vital struggle. When Antilles spotted Iella Wessiri at the party, he had Klivian and Celchu watch for onlookers as Janson covertly made contact with her. Janson learned that she had been inserted by New Republic Intelligence as a spy. Meanwhile, Klivian mingled and attempted to learn more about Adumar, asking questions. He learned that, counter to what Darpen had led them to believe, Adumar had no world government. Cartann was one of many nations on a disunited planet, though it controlled approximately half the world.

With their trust of Darpen and New Republic Intelligence dampened, Antilles assigned Klivian to sweep their quarters for NRI listening devices. He found two, but was unsure that he had cleared the rooms; Red Flight would be unable to be guaranteed privacy. The next day, the four pilots took the local Blade-32 fighters for a test flight. Klivian appreciated the ships' heavy armament and rear-facing lasers, and felt that with an upgrade of their low-output missile load to proton torpedoes, they could bring considerable force to bear against capital ships. After discussing their opinions of the fighter, the four took the opportunity to speak by the only private means guaranteed to them: encrypted low-range comm headsets, at which Klivian pointed out that he had detected maneuvers nearby suggesting Phennir and his pilots were also familiarizing themselves with the Blade.

While returning from dinner with the Adumari Minister of Trade that night, the four were beset by attackers. Klivian worked with Celchu to bring one down, then knocked a man ke Hanadi had disarmed out of the fight. With the fight over, Klivian attempted to retrieve the Reds' weapons from the security post of the building they were in, while inspection of their leader revealed that the men were paid assassins. Informed by the security detail that Adumari custom allowed them to take the money and personal possessions of those they had defeated, the Reds armed themselves with the blastswords their opponents had carried.

The next day they took the Blades out for another flight, equipped with simulated weapons. They dueled each other first, with Klivian achieving victory over Celchu, a normally superior pilot; Celchu was used to far more maneuverable fighters than the Blades. They then engaged in simulated duels with members of an Adumari flightknife, or squadron. Concerned with accumulating honor, they concentrated on Antilles, and Klivian and the others were able to pick them off easily. Their days on Adumar continued in much the same fashion, engaging in simulated battles with Adumari pilots, both in Blades and in their X-wings. One day, Darpen entered their quarters and, infuriated, demanded that they stop performing simulated duels; he felt that to change from the Cartannese method of live-fire dueling demonstrated a lack of respect for Cartann's culture and hurt their chances of bringing Adumar over to their side. Antilles was equally enraged by the suggestion they do so, and ordered Darpen out before asking the others whether Adumar, with its culture of honor killing, was worth bringing in at all. Klivian, disgusted at the casual attitude toward death, shared his doubt.

The next morning, Klivian was awoken by Darpen's entrance to their quarters. The diplomat announced that the perator of Cartann was about to make an announcement concerning the formation of a world government and their presence was requested at the palace. Wearing their New Republic dress uniforms rather than continue to emulate the Adumari, they attended. There, the perator announced that he would unilaterally take control of Adumar's government. Any nation that resisted unification would meet Cartann in war. Meanwhile, ke Hanadi accepted a series of blastsword challenges, despondent after finding that Antilles was romancing Wessiri and her own feelings for him were not reciprocated. She was injured in a duel, causing the general to assign Klivian to rush to their fighters, relay a message to Allegiance to send down a medical team, and then help escort Celchu, who was carrying ke Hanadi, to the plaza where the shuttle would put down.

They reunited afterward and attempted to make contact with Admiral Teren Rogriss, the commander of the Imperial Star Destroyer Agonizer&mdash;Allegiance's counterpart. Antilles had run into Rogriss earlier and determined that the admiral was suffering a crisis of conscience due to his orders to attack the planet if it sided with the New Republic, contrary to the word he had given to the Adumari. Antilles offered him a safe place in the New Republic if he refused to carry out the attack and defected.

War on Adumar
"I'm sick to death of 'Hello, I'm so-and-so and I've killed this many enemies, and I challenge you, and we bow and go by the rules and say cute things to one another, and isn't it nice that we're all dead now?' Tycho, I want to shoot something. I want to blow something up. No apologies. No advance warning. Just lethal efficiency. Before frustration kills me."

- Derek Klivian, to Tycho Celchu

The next evening, they again traveled to the perator's palace for an announcement on the world unification. With war declared against the resisting nations, the perator asked the New Republic and Imperial pilots to lead his forces in a display of loyalty and skill that could help him gauge their merits. Antilles, disgusted at the war of conquest, refused. In response, the perator declared them enemies of the state and required them to run the gauntlet in order to return to the Allegiance&mdash;they would be targets for any member of the public throughout their escape, and their X-wings were impounded. Instead, four Blades awaited them.

When Allegiance would not come in, the four pilots dashed across the palace's courtyard to a repulsor transport as they came under fire from a crowd of shooters. Concentrated blaster fire burned through the transport, with one glancing shot striking Klivian across the hip. They were able to enter a building, obtain disguises, and leave covertly. In order to enter the air base where the Blades waited, Klivian filmed the other three pilots before succumbing to a simulated attack by them in an area clearly near the air base. They then changed into women's clothing and broadcast the recording, which was shown across the city. Much of the crowd waiting near the air base departed in a rush to kill the offworlders, allowing the four pilots to slip inside the air base safely. They then took to their fighters, shooting their way out of the back of their hangar rather than fly into an ambush. They faced over thirty fighters, and Klivian, Celchu, and Antilles all took damage that prevented them from reaching space; Janson was shot down. He ejected, but still came under attack from an Adumari pilot; enraged, Klivian destroyed the attacker. Antilles ordered him to protect Janson, put down, and rendezvous at Wessiri's quarters.

There, he had the several minor wounds he had gained during his escape treated, and Antilles and Celchu, able to put down themselves, later joined them, as did ke Hanadi and the mission documentarian, Hallis Saper. Saper shared a recording she had surreptitiously made of Darpen speaking with the perator before they were banished, in which Darpen persuaded the ruler that Antilles had only refused because he was under orders, and wished the perator to arrange a situation in which he would die to erase his shame. The pilots were furious at Darpen's attempts at damage control.

They were able to make contact with agents of the Yedagon Confederacy, one of the nations on which Cartann had declared war, who smuggled the New Republic entourage out of Cartann. Antilles was offered, and accepted, command of the united military forces of all nations opposing Cartann. While the general rested, Klivian worked with the others to examine intelligence and data and build a battle plan. They plotted a surprise attack on Cartann early the next morning, preempting an expected noontime attack on Yedagon. When Antilles proposed adding a squadron waiting in ambush, Klivian eagerly volunteered. Fed up with the posturing and honor-centric rituals of the Cartannese pilots, he wanted to simply fight determinedly and effectively. He gained his wish and was given command of the advance unit, with Janson coming along as his wingman.

Overnight, Klivian led Blastpike Flightknife into Cartann, flying under sensor range. They set up in advance of the anticipated front of the battle and waited for Antilles's armada to arrive. Just before the battle was joined, the squadron launched multiple barrages of missiles, thinning the close-packed fighters of the advancing Cartannese lines. They took heavy return fire, and many in the unit were killed, but Klivian and Janson both escaped into the main dogfight unharmed. They joined Antilles and Celchu and prepared to go after Phennir's TIE interceptors. One was destroyed, but the other three pursued Red Flight. Celchu was shot down, but a craft followed him down and commed Klivian to confirm that the New Republic flier had survived.

They could not compete with the TIEs in Blades, but ke Hanadi, working with a commando team, located their impounded X-wings in Cartann City. Red Flight set out to retrieve them. They flew into the city, dealing with anti-aircraft defenses, and reached the bunker in which their fighters were stored. Taking the superior fighters into battle was a pleasure, cutting through Cartannese blades to reach the TIEs. One more was destroyed, but Klivian took damage in a head-to-head match that destroyed two of his lasers. Antilles destroyed the second-to-last tie, forcing Phennir to retreat, while Janson shepherded Klivian away. The pair helped screen the surviving Meteor-class gunship, with Klivian still able to out-fly his Cartannese opponents. When the enemy began surrendering, Antilles and Celchu went to the palace to deal with the situation while Klivian and Janson accepted battlefield surrenders on the general's behalf.

The perator abdicated in favor of his son, Balass ke Teldan&mdash;a pilot who had learned from Red Flight during its simulator runs. Cartann joined the Adumari Union as an equal partner, and Rogriss defected to the New Republic, sending Agonizer away without a fight. Darpen was arrested. Adumar joined the New Republic and was allocated a defensive force. When the Imperial Remnant struck days later in an attempt to deny Adumar to the New Republic, Klivian covered Antilles in the dogfight as the Imperial attackers were driven off.

The end of an era
"There's Wedge. I told you we'd be late.''" "''You're not late, not for the fun."

- Derek Klivian and Wedge Antilles

Klivian continued his career with the Rogues for several more years. In 18 ABY, Saper interviewed Klivian and the other pilots of the Adumar delegation for their perspective on the events. Klivian's assessment of the Blade-32 fighter was among the bits that made it into Saper's award-winning documentary Adumar: Five Years of Union. In that same year, the Rogues evacuated Thanta Zilbra ahead of Centerpoint Station's use of the starbuster superweapon against that system's sun, a crisis that was resolved without further destruction of worlds.

In 19 ABY, the Rogues were attached to General Bel Iblis. They were on Morishim when an Imperial corvette, followed by an Imperial Star Destroyer, entered the system. The Rogues were scrambled, but the Star Destroyer captured the corvette and departed before they could get near. The odd incident was chalked up as an attempted defection, and audio records of the fragmentary transmission that came through the Star Destroyer's jamming were forwarded for analysis. At around that same time, news broke that a partial copy of the Caamas Document had been discovered, implicating several Bothans in the sabotage that allowed the Empire to destroy Caamas. Without a full copy, the names of the culprits were not known, but that revelation stirred up animosity against the Bothans as a people and created a public outcry.

Klivian again scrambled one night to respond to a panicked call from Sif'kric. Bel Iblis took his task force to the world, where the annual pommwomm shipment, central to the Sif'kries' economy and highly time-sensitive, was being held up by a Frezhlix force blockading the system. The Sif'kries' traditional rivals, the Frezhlix clearly desired to destroy Sif'kric's economy, but had not made any actual hostile moves. As the call had not come from anyone actually in the Sif'krie government, Bel Iblis had no legal basis for interceding. On the pretext of searching a freighter for contraband, the Rogues cut through the Frezhlix fleet to reach it, causing the Frezhlix to believe they were under attack. When they opened fire, the New Republic task force easily defeated the Frezhlix and allowed the pommwomm shipment to continue.

When the Mengjini comm relay went down nearby due to capture by dissident elements, Bel Iblis took his force to investigate and retake the relay. They did so, and then moved on to Di'tai'ni by request. There, Bel Iblis anticipated trouble and had the pilots sleep in their cockpits. He was proven right when a call came from Bothawui in the middle of the night requesting assistance. The Leresai had sent an attack force. The Rogues were sent ahead of the rest of the fleet, and arrived to find a major Leresen force. When Antilles, returned to command of the unit, contacted them, they explained that they wished to take vengeance for the death of two Leresai in a riot on Bothawui earlier. Leresen concepts of justice demanded the lives of the guilty in return, or ten innocent for each victim. They intended to destroy a space station with a crew of twenty, and so the Rogues moved to oppose them. Their fighters had been sabotaged so that their weapons would fail, however, and they could do nothing but watch in anger as the space station was destroyed, killing twenty-one innocent Bothans.

Shortly afterward, Ackbar assigned Bel Iblis to prepare for an attack at the Imperial Remnant's Ubiqtorate base at Yaga Minor in order to seek a complete copy of the Caamas Document, the one thing that could end the crisis. At Yaga Minor, the Rogues were part of the New Republic task force that pretended to chase the Errant Venture, disguised as the Tyrannic, into the base and then engaged the perimeter defenses. They kept up the distraction, but the Errant Venture was captured, pinned by tractor beams within the base's perimeter by Grand Admiral Thrawn himself, who had returned in the last weeks to much New Republic consternation. The New Republic fleet plunged into the perimeter, hoping to free Bel Iblis. As the Rogues prepared to attack, they were contacted by Talon Karrde, who claimed he could resolve the situation if they escorted him to the base. They did so, and Karrde delivered Imperial Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon to the station, where he exposed "Thrawn" as a con man involved in a power play by Moff Vilim Disra. Pellaeon ended the battle and announced his intention to open peace negotiations with the New Republic, resulting in the end of the Galactic Civil War.

At the same time, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade became engaged. Klivian was disappointed that another of his friends was abandoning bachelor life; Janson, with whom he shared quarters, was the only other senior Rogue to remain unmarried. Klivian was invited to Skywalker's bachelor party at the Red Rancor cantina, which dissolved into a brawl with a swoop gang. When it came time for the wedding, Klivian and Janson arrived late, as Klivian had worried they would. As they approached the building, they were met by Antilles. The general had been warned of a plot by disgruntled Imperials to disrupt the wedding, and he ordered the two Rogues to defend the annex, in which the children were being watched. Unarmed, they faced the same swoop gang, hired to stage a distraction. Before blows were exchanged, however, Booster Terrik, a renowned smuggler and friend of Antilles, emerged from the annex and ordered the toughs to disperse, which they did. The other attacks were averted, and the ceremony was carried out.

With the peace with the Empire, Derek Klivian retired from Rogue Squadron after nearly twenty years of active service. With him went almost all the other senior Rogues. As of 25 ABY, he remained quietly retired on Coruscant.

Personality and traits
"But the sudden shock of the disappearance of his Academy buddies combined with the tragic death of his best friend has left Hobbie with his characteristically skeptical outlook on life. Add to this his recent experiences in the devastating battle on Hoth, and one must wonder if his attitude will ever change."

- Voren Na'al

Initially, Klivian sought little more from life than a career in the Imperial Navy, flying fast starfighters and attracting women. He was politically unaware and apathetic; to him, the Empire was the only way to make a living. His dreams of an ideal life faded away after he met Biggs Darklighter, who convinced him that the Empire was worth overthrowing. The loss of his friends to the Imperial crackdown during his academy days turned him seriously against the Empire and hardened his attitude. No longer was he idealistic, instead becoming hardened and skeptical. He eagerly joined the Rebel Alliance and became driven to fight against the Empire. Darklighter's death, however, made him even more cynical and cautious. Though he let no one know, Klivian was privately extremely worried for the safety of his fellow pilots during missions.

Among the Rogues, Klivian was known as the skeptic of the squadron, a pessimist with a dour outlook and a mastery of all manner of profanity, obscenity, and vulgarity. He was not quick to embrace new ideas, but obeyed orders faithfully nevertheless. He focused on defense and caution, traits that arose from his reaction to his friends' betrayal at Prefsbelt. Klivian considered himself merely a realist, avoiding being carried away with optimism; his life experiences left prone to believing that his luck was of the rotten sort. Klivian was extremely humble and quiet, only speaking when he felt he had something of importance to impart. Klivian could be highly sarcastic, but maintained a good sense of humor; he was a frequent partner in Janson's jokes and eagerly poked fun at his squadron-mates and himself. Janson's sense of humor could wear on him at times, however.

As a young man, Klivian was highly interested in impressing women. While he became more dour, he remained highly interested in women, maintaining an attraction to actress Wynssa Starflare, frequently flirting with women he came across, and, while under the influence of Malrev IV's Sith magic, sleeping with a Bothan female. However, even under normal circumstances, Klivian did not object to the idea of relations with a Bothan. Klivian was not known to have a long-term girlfriend and, as of 13 ABY, considered himself to have had no successful relationships with women; by 19 ABY he appeared committed to what he called "the solitary path." Outside the bounds of romantic relationships, Klivian was willing to engage prostitutes.

Behind the scenes
"And I'll get back with you on my last name. Lots of people misspell it."

- Derek Klivian to Hallis Saper

Derek Klivian was portrayed by Richard Oldfield in The Empire Strikes Back, in which the character originated, though he first appeared in the novelization of the film, which was published before the film's release. In both the film and novel, Klivian appeared simply as "Hobbie"&mdash;it was not until the publication of Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back that he was identified as Derek Klivian, with "Hobbie" serving as a nickname; that source also retconned Klivian as the Academy friend Biggs Darklighter mentioned to Luke Skywalker in the novelization of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. In the video game Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, Klivian is voiced by Andrew Chaikin.

In the novelization of the film, Klivian, dying, pilots his damaged snowspeeder into General Veers's AT-AT walker before he can destroy the shield generator, presumably killing both Klivian and Veers. This scene was based on one present in the original script, but absent in the final cut of the movie, in which Veers survives at least long enough to destroy the shield generator. Despite the scene's use in the novel, it was disregarded by Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back, which established both Klivian and Veers as surviving and made no mention of the crash. Later sources, however, have reconciled both accounts by having Klivian crash his snowspeeder into the walker after Veers fires, but survive after copious bacta treatment. Veers survives but receives crippling injuries.

Star Wars Empire: Darklighter offers a depiction of the Rand Ecliptic mutiny that conflicts with the story previously given in Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back, though no details about Klivian come into outright opposition. Thus, this article presents a consolidated account in which both sources' statements about Klivian are incorporated.

In the X-wing: Rogue Squadron comic series, Klivian's name is consistently spelled as "Klivan" due to a spelling mistake on the part of writer Michael A. Stackpole, also present in Stackpole's X-wing: Rogue Squadron novel. . Author Aaron Allston, going by the comics, used that spelling in X-wing: Wraith Squadron. After that instance, Lucas Licensing detected the ongoing discrepancy and reaffirmed the "Klivian" spelling, which was used afterward. Allston jokingly referenced the affair in X-wing: Starfighters of Adumar, in which Klivian states that his name is often misspelled.

Notes and references
Derek Klivian Derek Klivian Derek Klivian