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"Twilight Company is fighting a battle for the heart of the galaxy. For the spirit of every ordinary man and woman and Imperial stormtrooper. Stealing food won't help us win. Killing enemies won't, either. Against might on the scale of the Empire, conventional victory is impossible—when our objectives become purely military, we've already lost the larger fight."
―Howl sets out Twilight Company's ideals to Hazram Namir[1]

The 61st Mobile Infantry, also referred to as the 61st or Twilight Company was a military unit that served the Alliance to Restore the Republic under the command of Captain Micha Evon, Howl, during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. Their headquarters was the CR90 corvette Thunderstrike, which was escorted by the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, which carried the company's two X-wings. The soldiers of Twilight Company fought the forces of the Galactic Empire before and during the Galactic Civil War.

During the Mid Rim Retreat Twilight Company battled on various planets to distract Imperial forces and allow the Alliance Fleet to gradually withdraw from the Mid Rim. When the company attacked Haidoral Prime, the planet's governor, Everi Chalis, defected to them. She offered to support Twilight Company with information that could help slowly cripple the "Imperial war machine." During the Coyerti campaign, she gave them information on a distillery on the planet, which First Sergeant Hazram Namir and his squad destroyed.

Following their departure from Coyerti, Twilight Company was attacked three times by Imperial forces. The Thunderstrike's chief engineer M2-M5 concluded that the corvette was being tracked due to a hyperdrive leak that came about during a run-in attack prior to the Coyerti campaign. To fix this, Twilight Company boarded an Imperial heavy freighter for supplies. The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise then rendezvoused with three other battle groups in the Elochar sector while Howl, Chalis, Namir and two others went to Hoth for an Alliance High Command strategy conference. However, the Thunderstrike was infiltrated by Imperial spies, who killed the high-ranking officers on the bridge.

After killing the Imperial spies, Twilight Company escaped the Elochar Sector and hid on Ankhural. Namir and Chalis returned from Hoth, having lost Howl and the other two soldiers in an Imperial attack. The company proceeded to repair their two ships and have a funeral for Howl. In the meantime, Chalis devised Operation Ringbreaker, a campaign targeting a number of Imperial worlds before ultimately attacking Kuat Drive Yards to cripple the Imperial Navy. Leaving Ankhural, Twilight Company began Operation Ringbreaker by attacking Mardona III. The company continued by fighting the Empire at Najan-Rovi, Obumubo, Nakadia, and several other worlds.

Twilight Company continued Operation Ringbreaker by capturing the Inyusu Tor mineral processing facility on Sullust. However, before they could be extracted, the Thunderstrike was shot down by a TIE fighter squadron, which . Being stranded on Sullust, Twilight Company set up defense on Inyusu Tor. Namir led mission down to the planet's capital city Pinyumb to find the Sullustan Resistance. Namir was able to meet with them and planned to holdout at Inyusu Tor and help the Sullustans in the city.

After the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Herald arrived, the Sullust Imperial garrison attacked Inyusu Tor. The defense, led by Namir, held out against these forces, and the Apailana's Promise returned to distract the Herald. Chalis, who disagreed with Namir's decisions in defending the Processing facility, fled and allowed herself to get captured by the Herald in a shuttle, which she had rigged with twenty ion bomb. Detonating the bombs, Chalis effectively reduced the Herald's power, forcing it to retreat. Having defeated the ground forces, Twilight Company helped keep order at Pinyumb, but planned to leave to avoid a harsh Imperial attack.

Description[]

"What's Twilight Company do best?"
"Survive. Whatever meat grinder we walk into, win or lose. Twilight Company—always survives."
―Twitch and Hazram Namir[1]

The 61st Mobile Infantry[5] was a infantry company and battle group that served in the army of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire[1] and eventually the army its successor the New Republic. In the company's time in the New Republic, it was a part of General Hera Syndulla's Barma Battle Group during the campaign in the Cerberon system.[2] The 61st was formed by Captain Micha Evon during or prior to 0 BBY. The 61st also went by its nickname, Twilight Company. The company's patch read, in Aurebesh, "Twilight survives" along the top and "Mobile Infantry" at the bottom.[1] The patch, despite its branding of the Alliance, was still worn during the time of the New Republic.[2] The rebel troopers of Twilight Company were sorted into squads of four soldiers, which worked as individual teams. Squads were multipurpose, and specialized roles included heavy fire or sniper teams.[1]

Prior to the Battle of Hoth[1] in 3 ABY,[6] Twilight Company was commanded by Captain Howl, with Lieutenant Sairgon serving as his second-in-command. The naval-captain Commander Paonu was next in line of command, with individuals like Sharn and Chief Medic Von Geiz being after in the rank structure. 3 ABY saw the deaths of Howl, Sairgon, Paonu, and the rest of Twilight Company's officers in the space of a day. Following these drastic losses, First Sergeant Hazram Namir took charge tentatively, although Von Geiz and Sharn were next in line. Paonu was replaced by Commander Tohna. Namir also included notable soldiers and squad leaders in his meetings such as Carver, Mzun, and Gadren, as they had much experience in battles and leadership.[1]

When Twilight Company found itself split during its time in the Cerberon system, Carver assumed himself as the unit commander for those on the planet Troithe, while Namir and half of the company were stranded on an asteroid.[2]

Equipment and vehicles[]

"Get me the plex."
―Hazram Namir, during the Siege of Inyusu Tor[1]
ThunderstrikeAndApailanasPromise-XWSE

The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise

Twilight Company resided on the Thunderstrike, an old CR90 corvette that the company had heavily modified. The Thunderstrike had its own escort, the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, which flew with the corvette during the Galactic Civil War. The smaller gunship also carried two X-wing starfighters on its underbelly. Additionally, Twilight Company, used a number of dropships which deployed troops from the Thunderstrike to their targets and later extracted them. The company also used at least six boarding pods, which used drills to penetrate the hulls of enemy ships to allow troops inside the pods to board.[1]

During its time in the Cerberon system, Twilight Company was stationed aboard on the Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ship Lodestar. The company also used juggernauts to transport large numbers of soldiers as well as hovertanks.[2]

The Soldiers of Twilight Company were usually limited to DLT-20A blaster rifles and had little to no armor.[1] The company additionally received equipment when they recruited from local militias.[7] More specialized troopers usually bore sniper rifles, heavy guns or ordnance equipment like the PLX-1 portable missile launcher, nicknamed the Plex. Twilight Company had various plex-armed artillery weapons for defense as well, but they were rarely used because Twilight's tactics were typically offensive.[1]

Operations[]

"Our goal isn't conquest, but alchemy. The transmutation of the galaxy. We are the catalyst. Where rebellion comes into contact with the Empire, change must occur. The substance of oppression becomes the substance of freedom—and as with any such change, terrible energies are released: war, victory, and defeat."
―Howl sets out the philosophy of his strategy[1]

Under the philosophy of Howl, Twilight Company's missions were made to win the hearts of the people in order to muster more support for the Alliance. Howl believed this would give the Alliance a better advantage. Most missions Twilight Company endured during the Mid Rim Retreat were ones meant to distract Imperial forces, allowing the Alliance fleet to gradually withdraw from the Mid Rim. When the Imperial Governor Everi Chalis defected to Twilight Company, she advised them with more tactical missions intended to help cripple the Imperial war machine or benefit the company. Chalis's aim for Operation Ringbreaker was to take out the main source of the Empire's Imperial Star Destroyers, the Kuat Drive Yards, which would've crippled the Empire's military had the operation been carried out until the end. However, Namir eventually concluded that the operation contradicted Howl's ideas and overrode Chalis's plan to continue the campaign in favor of one which benefited the population on the planet Sullust.[1]

Training and traditions[]

"Out here, when someone above you gives you an order, you follow it. When someone tries to teach you something, you pay attention. When someone shoots at you, you shoot back. Don't smuggle alcohol or spice aboard, don't be stupid, and if you have a problem with another soldier, come to Lieutenant Sairgon or me."
―Hazram Namir, to the recruits from Haidoral Prime[1]

Despite being against Alliance security policy, Twilight Company held recruitment drives on the worlds they fought on, known as open recruits. Willing recruits lined up to enlist for the company. Upon recruitment, they were sorted into various roles. Soldiers were trained with a DLT-20A blaster rifle which was modified to prevent the trainee from spraying fire at the Thunderstrike's range. The new recruits were also given a copy of the White Book, the military field guide which the Alliance High Command produced. Some recruits tried to go by the names of rebel heroes, like Leia Organa, although they earned a different nickname quickly after, and most died victims of their enthusiasm.[1]

When a member of Twilight Company died, their body was typically not recovered. Under Twilight tradition, every fallen member had a simple funeral where the individual running the ceremony, typically Quartermaster Hober, announced the name of the dead comrade and then the individual closest to that comrade gave a one-line eulogy of the fallen member. After this, a blaster power pack was always drained into the Thunderstrike's" vehicle-charging station. The simple ceremony was always broadcast throughout the corvette.[1]

History[]

Early campaigns[]

"Then came the battle. We won that day, against a laughing menace and her fiendish warriors, and we extracted the rebels we had been sent to save. But only thirty-seven Twilight soldiers survived the clash."
―Gadren recounts the fighting on Ferrok Pax[1]

The 61st Mobile Infantry[5] was founded by Captain Micha Evon[1] sometime prior to 0 BBY[4] as a mobile infantry unit of the anti-Imperial military faction known as the Rebel Alliance after he and a number of others were assigned by the Alliance's high command. The 61st eventually gained its more notorious name, Twilight Company, and Evon soon got the nickname Howl, shortened from "howling mad."[1]

At some point, Twilight Company traveled to the terrestrial body Ferrok Pax, where their troops, barely two hundred strong, had the mission of rescuing captured rebels from a warrior group. The company lost many soldiers to starvation, local fauna, or the inability to keep traveling while trying to flank their enemy. When the subsequent battle came, Twilight Company won, but with only thirty-seven left, including the Corellian Besalisk Gadren.[1]

Bounty on Howl[]

"I don't care what those rebels are blowing up! Howl's old scow is in orbit, which means Twilight Company is here and that scum is—"
―Magé over her comlink before Brand shoots her with a dart[3]

In the time that followed, Twilight Company was joined by individuals like Sairgon, who eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant. During a recruitment drive on the terrestrial astronomical object Veron, a woman named Brand joined.[1] However, Howl soon learned that she was a bounty hunter who was there to kill him and found out her backstory. After Twilight Company received more recruits off of the celestial body Dorvalla, Howl noticed that Brand became attached to them.[3]

Battle of Allst Prime

Twilight Company soldiers fight the Empire on the planet Allst Prime

Twilight Company soon attacked the Imperial outpost on the backworld planet Allst Prime. During the fighting, Brand saved the Mirialan soldier Lylee Anaraku. She then attempted to shoot Howl from afar while he filled in for Forward Air Controller Cait, who had died during the fighting. However, Brand was distracted when Anaraku was attacked by an Imperial. Later that day, Brand accompanied Howl to the Imperial headquarters, where they incapacitated Magé, the governor of Allst Prime. Brand then attempted to take the bounty on Howl. However, Howl revealed that he had foreseen this and told the bounty hunter what he knew of her past, convincing her to join Twilight Company thereafter.[3]

Further engagements[]

"So: Why do you wish to join the rebellion against the Empire?"
"The Empire killed my friends."
"You seek revenge then?"
"Not really."
"Good. Revenge is a fuel that burns too swiftly."
―Gadren and Hazram Namir[1]

Sometime after, Twilight Company fought some battles on[1] the planet[8] Mygeeto,[1] where the Alliance's Riot Squadron was also present and earned their name.[9] In 0 BBY,[10] the company attacked the transmitter tower on[1] the Outer Rim[11] planet Crucival. The Imperial forces armed a number of civilians from the planet and then hid under the particle shield around the tower whilst Twilight Company fought the army of armed residents. The Thunderstrike, the company's troop carrier, directly engaged the shield and fired on it, while TIE fighters attempted to defend it. The tower soon fell, and a week later, Twilight Company held another recruitment drive. Among the recruits was Hazram Namir, one of the armed civilians who had lost his comrades in the battle and blamed the Empire for it.[1]

Within the next two months, Twilight Company fought at the location Kor-Lahvan. A short while later, the Empire used its new superweapon, the Death Star, to destroy the planet Alderaan. Howl broadcast the news across the Thunderstrike, sending a wave of bitterness through his company.[1]

Days later, Twilight Company fought on the planet Vir Aphshire as a part of Operation Mad Rush. During the battle, news came to light that Alliance forces had destroyed the Death Star, sending cheers across the trenches. The Empire was defeated shortly after, and Twilight Company gained control of the hives and orchards. That night, Sergeant Fektrin, returning from a scouting mission to a nearby settlement, gave his report to Private Namir to give to Howl. When Namir delivered it, the captain asked the private what the company should do before leaving the planet. Namir suggested looting the settlement, so Howl told the private of Twilight Company's doctrine, to win the hearts and minds of people.[1]

Mid Rim offensive[]

"No one deserved to be sent to Praktin or Blacktar Cyst."
―Philap Bygar commends Twilight Company's service — (audio) Listen (file info)[1]

Twilight Company was deployed to a number of locations including Cartao, Vanzeist and Praktin. During a recruitment drive on the terrestrial body Demiloch, an Imperial spy posing as an enlisting civilian shot Howl. The captain woke three days after the incident, angered to know that Sairgon had stopped the recruitment early. During a battle on another terrestrial body named Blacktar Cyst, the soldier Pol Andrissus—nicknamed Charmer—was injured by shrapnel, developing a stutter as a result. Twilight Company also fought on the terrestrial astronomical object Dreivus, where they celebrated after with the fire dancers.[1]

Another time, on the terrestrial body Magnus Horn, Twilight Company took such heavy losses that the Alliance High Command attempted to reassign its troops to other battle groups. Howl fought to keep the company together and saved it from obliteration. During a bombardment at the location Asyrphus, Twilight Company suffered more heavy losses of soldiers including their comm tech and her droid. On the terrestrial astronomical object Thession, Twilight Company recruited a number of individuals including Maediyu. The grenadier Maximian Ajax also joined the company after his own group, the Thirty-Second Infantry, was obliterated.[1]

Around 1 ABY,[12] the Alliance launched a campaign into the Mid Rim. Twilight Company fought at the vanguard of the offensive, fighting at the factory-deserts of Phorsa Gedd and capturing the Ducal Palace and the port Chenodra on the terrestrial body Bamayar. The company also established positions from which Alliance hovertanks could attack on beaches and and built makeshift bases from tarps and sheet metal. However, nine months into the campaign, the Alliance High Command ordered all forces to halt, reporting that the Alliance Fleet was overstretched. The order to retreat came soon after, and Twilight Company was among the rearguard, being deployed to worlds it had taken months before, evacuating bases extracting Alliance heroes and generals.[1]

Extraction on Haidoral Prime[]

"Why did you need our attention?"
"Thanks to the Rebellion, my days with the Empire are numbered. I understand you're recruiting. I want to join your company in return for asylum."
―Hazram Namir and Everi Chalis[1]

In 3 ABY,[13] Twilight Company fought the Imperial forces on the Mid Rim planet Haidoral Prime. On the final day of the campaign, Namir, now a First Sergeant, led a squad which engaged some stormtroopers on a street. Later that day, Twilight Company held an open recruit, promoted by the capital city's public address system after Sergeant Zab and his squad smuggled an astromech droid into the city's control center. The recruitment drive at hand accepted twenty-eight recruits.[1]

Meanwhile, Fektrin and his soldiers received a message from the governor's mansion via a mouse droid, claiming that rebel prisoners were being held inside the mansion. Knowing that all the rebel soldiers had been accounted for, Howl feared that these may have been captive civilians, so Namir's squad was sent to infiltrate the mansion and investigate. After getting inside the governor's mansion, Namir and his squad killed numerous guards before reaching the main control room—a converted dining hall—where they found Governor Everi Chalis among the other senior Imperial military officers. Chalis claimed to be the prisoner mentioned by the message from the mouse droid and shot an Imperial colonel near her. After Namir's squad killed the other officers, Chalis was stunned and taken back to the Thunderstrike.[1]

The controversial guest[]

"Do you think she's for real?"
"She could be."
"Because if she is—Twilight has a target on its back. A lot worse could come."
―Hazram Namir and Howl discuss Everi Chalis[1]

Being interviewed by Howl, Namir and two others, Chalis offered the Alliance information on the supply lines and weaknesses of what she called the "Imperial War Machine," promising to map these out for the rebels. The governor was subsequently held in an airlock on the Thunderstrike used as a brig. Namir, meanwhile, introduced the combat-able recruits from Haidoral Prime to their training as a soldier, advising them about the DLT-20A blaster rifle and the White Book, the Alliance's field guide. With Chalis's presence becoming unpopular, a Haidoral recruit named Corbo attempted to visit her cell holding a galley knife. After being urged away, the recruit was confronted by Namir, and he explained his reasoning to the first sergeant, who posted a guard at Chalis's cell.[1]

Three days after departing Haidoral Prime, the Thunderstrike and its escort the Apailana's Promise stumbled upon an Imperial reconnaissance while traveling through the Kontahr sector, resulting in a short engagement. During this Chalis's holding area was damaged, injuring the guard, Maediyu. Namir rushed to check the situation there and locked himself and Maediyu in Chalis's cell with the governor. After the battle ended, Namir and Maediyu were rushed to the med bay, the latter being put in a bacta tank. Namir discussed with Howl after recovering whether Chalis was drawing attention to the company.[1]

Coyerti campaign[]

" 'We're going to provide cover for our retreating fleet.' 'We're going to save the Coyerti.' 'We're going to test the governor's information at the Distillery.' Those are all nice, clear mission parameters, but they're not the same. Now we come home to learn the first explanation was the real one."
―Hazram Namir argues to Howl[1]

Twilight Company's next campaign was on the jungle planet Coyerti, where the Empire threatened the native species during their breeding season. On the first day, Namir and Sergeant Zab's squads stormed an Imperial scout post, killing the camps occupants before dispersing. On the second day, Namir's squad awaited an Imperial convoy, but received news from Lieutenant Sairgon that it had changed route. At the same time, another dozen squads, led by the soldier Carver, attacked an Imperial fort, with the battle dying down into the night.[1]

On the third day, Namir's squad made multiple attempts to bring down an AT-ST, eventually submerging it in a swamp after changing tactics and luring the vehicle through the marshy forests. The day after, the squad traveled towards a Distillery which produced and stockpiled bioweapons for the Empire, according to intel provided by Chalis. Namir's squad attacked the Distillery the next day, creating a distraction for the guarding forces before entering the complex and setting it to detonate, destroying the distillery thereafter. The squad, though, suffered from the chemicals of a barrel they had detonated and called for a drop ship to rescue them.[1]

During the final actions of the campaign, Sergeant Maximian Ajax's squad was pinned down by an AT-ST while fighting the planet's Imperial garrison, the X-wings not being able to fly low enough enough to shoot the vehicle. They were saved by the Coyerti people who stormed and destroyed the Imperial garrison. After Twilight Company departed the planet, news spread of other engagements that occurred that week, with the soldiers deducing that the Coyerti campaign was part of a larger operation to help escort the larger Alliance fleet out of the Mid Rim by diverting Imperial forces. Namir went and argued with Howl about the ambiguity of their objective, but the captain argued that their goal was in fact alchemy, causing change where they came in contact with the Empire.[1]

Imperial attacks[]

"We've been lucky so far. The Empire hasn't had forces positioned to do more than harry us."
―Sairgon[1]

Three days after departing the Coyerti, the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise were attacked by an Imperial destroyer at the edge of the Metatessu sector. The Promise and its X-wings reacted swiftly, and the two vessels soon escaped, although one X-wing took a glancing hit and went offline. Twilight Company then traveled to the Enrivi system, where Howl had hoped to have repairs made, when the rebel starships were ambushed upon arrival by a light cruiser and a squadron of TIE fighters just thirty hours after the first attack. The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise destroyed the enemy forces with ease, with the escape pods of the cruiser being obliterated when the Imperial vessel exploded.[1]

The Twilight soldiers celebrated and toasted their pilots and gunners, who did not attend as they feared that they may be needed again. These fears were confirmed nineteen hours later when the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise were attacked in the Chonsetta system by a squadron of TIE Interceptors which ravaged the starboard side of the corvette. A rumor arose that three Imperial battle groups had abandoned rebel engagements to hunt Twilight Company. M2-M5, Twilight Company's head of engineering, discovered that the Thunderstrike's hyperdrive was leaking a traceable trail of hypermatter.[1]

The senior staff of Twilight Company were gathered for a meeting an hour later, where they discussed how they would fix the matter of the Thunderstrike being tracked. Lieutenant Sairgon suggested abandoning Chalis, but Howl argued that she had given the Alliance the only real victory recently with the destruction of the Distillery on Coyerti. As more suggestions arose, proposing different methods of saving at least the most senior personnel of Twilight Company. Chalis when brought her own idea, that the company could board an Imperial cargo transport to seize the supplies to repair the Thunderstrike's hyperdrive.[1]

Raiding a freighter[]

"I propose we locate an Imperial cargo transport, I can get us within range, and your soldiers—can board it."
―Everi Chalis proposes raiding an Imperial freighter[1]

The Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise traveled to the Redhurne system, where the vessels hid in the crescent of a shattered moon in wait for an Imperial cargo transport. An Imperial heavy freighter eventually arrived, and Chalis contacted the freighter to change the course of the transport. Once the heavy freighter did so, the Thunderstrike and Promise attacked from either side, with the former launching boarding pods carrying squads of rebel soldiers.[1]

While other squads held positions and pushed into the freighter's engineering section, Sergeant Fektrin and his squad led a trio of engineers to the command station, killing the personnel there and rendezvousing with Namir and Chalis. Chalis operated at a terminal with an astromech droid. When she had finished, Fektrin's squad led the engineers to the lower decks while Namir and Chalis tailed them, setting up a choke point to quell approaching Imperial personnel. Meanwhile, outside, the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise were keeping the freighter in a weak position to distract the crew with repairs. Once Fektrin's engineers finished their salvaging job, the sergeant signaled the other squads to slowly withdraw from the freighter.[1]

After a Gozanti-class cruiser entered the battle, Howl gave the squads five minutes to return to the Thunderstrike. The frustrated squads moved to flee to their boarding pods quickly, with Namir splitting from Chalis to assist other squads. The first sergeant assisted Ajax and his squad, who were pinned into a corner by stormtroopers. Ajax was killed as the squad was released from the enemy pressure. Fektrin was also killed in the withdrawal, but the remaining troops successfully returned to the Thunderstrike, which fled the system.[1]

Loss of leadership[]

"The Thunderstrike and Promise will rendezvous with three other battle groups in deep space. We've allocated a month to get both ships back in shape and let the company heal up."
―Howl, to Hazram Namir[1]

While the Thunderstrike and the Apailana's Promise were set to rendezvous with an Alliance flotilla in the Elochar sector to make further repairs. Meanwhile, Howl and Chalis were invited by the Alliance High Command to attend a strategy conference at their secret base on the ice planet Hoth. Taking Namir and the soldiers Roja and Beak as their escort, the pair traveled to the base on Hoth, being greeted there by General Philap Bygar. While the conference took place, Namir, Roja, and Beak were given jobs around the base. Namir eventually got into a fight with the special forces soldier Kryndal, but the other two soldiers acquainted themselves with the base's personnel.[1]

BF-TC Full cover art

The infamous Battle of Hoth was a major blow to the Rebel Alliance despite the efforts of Echo Base's defenders, including members of the 61st.

Shortly after the strategy conference ended, the base on Hoth was attacked by Imperial forces led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Namir, Roja, and Beak defended Perimeter Outpost Delta until the outpost's main defenses fell. The trio then made their way back to the main base on a hijacked Imperial Juggernaut and found an injured Howl with Chalis at the command section. They attempted to make it to a hangar but Vader and his soldiers cut them off, killing Roja and Beak and incapacitating Namir. Vader briefly confronted Chalis before attending to primary mission. Namir awoke to find Howl had too died. He and Chalis then proceeded to the hangar and fled Hoth, with Chalis using her clearance codes to bypass the Imperial blockade.[1]

Around the same time, the Thunderstrike, stationed at the flotilla, took on survivors aboard the damaged light freighter Trumpet's Call. These survivors, however, were Imperial spies, who stormed the bridge and killed numerous officers including Sairgon and Paonu, but not before Sairgon warned the rest of the flotilla, which scattered. Brand was able to reach the bridge and killed the spies. In that time,[1] the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer[5] Herald arrived in search of Chalis, with the Apailana's Promise distracting the Star Destroyer. Brand had the Thunderstrike's remaining bridge crew take the corvette into hyperspace, with the Promise following.[1]

Regrouping on Ankhural[]

Twilight Company fled to pirate backwater planet Ankhural, where the company repaired the Thunderstrike in an abandoned podracing track while the Apailana's Promise was repaired in orbit by a skeleton crew. Namir and Chalis eventually returned from Hoth, and meetings were held between the top staff with updates on the Thunderstrike's repairs as well as other agenda. Some soldiers, fearing that the Empire would find and destroy Twilight Company, considered leaving, but Namir learned of this and decided in a meeting that the potential deserters were to be split into separate teams. Twilight Company held a funeral for the late Howl, comprising a short ceremony involving personnel who were not on duty. Numerous soldiers had drinks at a cantina after.[1]

After Namir and Brand purchased parts to repair the Thunderstrike's communications array. The first sergeant and Chief Medic Von Geiz briefly contacted another member of the Alliance, who informed them that the Alliance High Command was scattered and on the run. Some personnel from Twilight Company were then attacked by what Brand assumed to be the real powers of Ankhural sending a message. Wishing to give the company a new purpose, Chalis held a meeting with the top staff proposing Operation Ringbreaker, a campaign which sought to attack a number of Imperial installations along the Rimma Trade Route to force redeployments from the Kuat Drive Yards for a projected attack on the shipyards. Some of the meeting attendees were skeptical of Chalis's logic, but they were ultimately in favor of the plan.[1]

Operation Ringbreaker[]

Twilight Company started this operation with the warehouse world of Mardona III, where they lost Charmer and two of his men to an armored worm vehicle. Namir, Twitch, Carver and a few others sought to destroy the thing and caught it off-guard as the crew was disembarking. They then decimated the Imperial garrison on Obumubo. After that they wrecked the Dockyards of Najan-Rovi and then took out the Plastic factory on Nakadia.[1]

After two more attacks on Naator and Xagobah it was just Sullust and Malastare left before Kuat. But when they took the factory Inyusu Tor on Sullust, the Thunderstrike was ambushed and shot down by the TIE Fighters of Vixus Squadron, and the Apailana's Promise fled the system with its X-wings. Twilight Company was stranded with only a matter of time before the Herald would arrive.[1]

Stranded on Sullust[]

Inyusu Tor Siege

The Siege of Inyusu Tor

With few other options, Namir went down to the nearby capital of Pinyumb to find the Sullustan resistance. He and his soldiers were attacked and they lost Twitch's soldiers. Twitch deserted them and Namir was rescued by Nien Nunb, the leader of the resistance. He took him back to the Sullustan resistance safe house, where he met the very small group of freedom fighters. They helped him back to the rest of the 61st back at Inyusu Tor. The Herald arrived, and the local Imperial forces engaged Twilight Company at the factory. However, the Apailana's Promise returned to keep the Herald from bombarding Twilight Company from above.[1]

Everi Chalis abandoned Twilight Company, stole a shuttle and let herself get captured by the Herald, not knowing she had twenty ion bombs inside the shuttle which set off and forced the Herald to flee. After Twilight Company fended off the rest of the ground forces using the lava flow from Inyusu Tor, the Sullustan resistance teamed with the once passive Cobalt Laborers' Reformation Front to take Pinyumb, and revolutions broke out all over Sullust, liberating it for the 61st. The Apailana's Promise had barely survived, and the soldiers scavenged the Thunderstrike. The 61st planned to leave Sullust within time as the Empire would return eventually.[1]

Campaign in the Cerberon system[]

"My prediction is that Wyl and Quell fly into a firestorm. They scrape by, take out the shield generators anyway, and by the time we get down there it's all easy flying. Still a meat grinder for the ground troops, obviously."
―Nath Tensent to Chass na Chadic[2]

Twilight Company subsequently departed Sullust, with Namir remaining as captain.[2] In 4 ABY, Alliance forces secured a major victory at the Endor system, one which saw the death of the Emperor.[6] The military movement transitioned into the New Republic shortly thereafter,[14] with Twilight Company serving as a part of the new government's army.[2] Around 5 ABY,[15] Twilight Company took part in a campaign in the Cerberon system, an assortment of planets orbiting a black hole. There, the company was deployed on the planet Troithe, serving as the infantry strength of the battle group led by Twi'lek General Hera Syndulla. The company resided on Syndulla's flagship, the Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ship Lodestar.[2]

Behind the scenes[]

"Twilight's an oddball company, really—the Rebel Alliance has to take the volunteers it can get, and Micha 'Howl' Evon may not have the polish or sensibilities of a military man but he's still pretty good at his job. And it's his worldview that's shaped Twilight and defined the character of the company's recruits over the years."
―Alexander Freed[16]

The 61st Mobile Infantry first appeared as the focus of the 2015 novel Battlefront: Twilight Company, written by Alexander Freed, being identified as the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry.[1] The company's more numerical name, 61st Mobile Infantry, was identified in the 2017 reference book and box set Star Wars: The Rebel Files, written by Daniel Wallace.[5] In an interview with The Daily Dot, Freed described Twilight Company as "an oddball company," claiming its recruits had been shaped by Howl, whom he viewed as the moral compass of the company. He also claimed that he implemented Roach to show the training and integration of the company's recruits, as well as providing a reminder that Twilight Company's personnel had been regular people before.[16]

According to Freed, he was eager to include Twilight Company in a later project of his, the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy,[17] which debuted with Alphabet Squadron in 2019.[14] He was hesitant to include the company prominently over fears of being too self-indulgent or being distracted by with implementing the group. After receiving approval from his editor, Freed ultimately included the company in Shadow Fall, the sequel to Alphabet Squadron[17] released in 2020,[2] attempting to include them more naturally. He recounted this in an interview with video creator "Star Wars Explained" on Youtube.[17]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 1.50 1.51 1.52 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.60 1.61 1.62 1.63 1.64 1.65 1.66 1.67 1.68 1.69 1.70 1.71 1.72 1.73 1.74 1.75 1.76 1.77 1.78 1.79 1.80 1.81 1.82 1.83 1.84 1.85 1.86 1.87 1.88 1.89 1.90 1.91 1.92 1.93 1.94 1.95 1.96 Battlefront: Twilight Company
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Shadow Fall
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 SWInsider "Inbrief" — Star Wars Insider 161
  4. 4.0 4.1 Battlefront: Twilight Company establishes that the 61st Mobile Infantry was founded by Micha Evon by the time of the Battle on Vir Aphshire, which occurred concurrent to the Battle of Yavin. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas establishes that the final year before the Battle of Yavin is 0 BBY. The 61st must have been therefore founded by 0 BBY.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Star Wars: The Rebel Files
  6. 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
  7. Helmet Collection logo small Star Wars Helmet Collection 20 (Helmets: Rebel Trooper)
  8. StarWars-DatabankII Mygeeto in the Databank (backup link)
  9. Alphabet Squadron
  10. The section of Battlefront: Twilight Company where the Battle of the Tower takes place is set two months and one week prior to the Battle of Yavin, which marks the end of the year 0 BBY according to Star Wars: Galactic Atlas. The battle must have therefore occurred in 0 BBY.
  11. Battlefront: Twilight Company establishes that Crucival is located within the Tion Hegemony, a sector that Ultimate Star Wars places in the Outer Rim Territories.
  12. Star Wars: Timelines dates the main events of Battlefront: Twilight Company to 3 ABY. The novel also states that the Mid Rim offensive began eighteen months prior to the main events. Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know establishes that a standard year was 365 days, while the sixty-first issue of Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon sets the length of a standard month at thirty-five days, with eighteen months therefore being approximately 1.7 years. Thus, the Mid Rim offensive, including the battle on Phorsa Gedd, must have taken place between 1 ABY.
  13. Star Wars: Timelines dates the main events of Battlefront: Twilight Company to 3 ABY.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Alphabet Squadron
  15. StarWars In Shadow Fall, the Dark Secrets of Alphabet Squadron Revealed on StarWars.com (backup link) establishes that Shadow Fall takes place approximately half a year after the Battle of Endor, while Before the Awakening states Kes Dameron and Shara Bey moved to Yavin 4 around six months after the Battle of Endor. Given that Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates their move to 5 ABY, the events of Shadow Fall must also take place around that time.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Alexander Freed takes us into the trenches of his latest 'Star Wars' novel by Geller, Eric on www.dailydot.com (November 3, 2015): "Twilight Company is the first canon 'Star Wars' novel to delve deeply into the 'war' part of the saga's name." (archived from the original on September 3, 2017)
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 YouTube Alexander Freed Talks Shadow Fall, the Conclusion of The Alphabet Squadron Trilogy, and More! on the Star Wars Explained YouTube channel: "I got the chance to speak with Alexander Freed about his Star Wars novels, specifically the recent release, Shadow Fall!" (backup link)
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