Puck Naeco

<Puck Naeco

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Puck Naeco

Biographical information

Homeworld

Denon^[1]

Died

0 BBY,Yavin system^[1]

Descriptive information

Species

Human^[2]

Gender

Male^[3]

Pronouns

He/him^[3]

Skin color

Fair^[2]

Chronological & political information

Affiliation(s)

Alliance to Restore the Republic^[3]
- Red Squadron^[3]

"You can't take on a Star Destroyer in a fighter. Stick to something five or ten times your own size."

―Puck Naeco, to Samuel Raider^[3]

Puck Naeco was aHuman male pilot fromDenon who served as acaptain in theAlliance to Restore the Republic during theGalactic Civil War. Shortly before theBattle of Yavin in0 BBY, Naeco transferred toRed Squadron on theMon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence where he helpeddefend the dispersal of capturedImperial communications satellites near theCron Drift, leading to the interception ofplans to the Empire'sDeath Star battle station. When theDeath Star attacked theRebel base onYavin 4, Naeco was one of severalIndependence pilots sent to help assist in its defense. Naeco flew asRed Twelve during the battle and coveredRed Leader Garven Dreis on his failed trench run alongsideRed Ten,Theron Nett. Naeco waskilled when hisT-65 X-wing starfighter was destroyed by theDark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader in hisTIE Advanced x1.

Biography[]

Red Squadron[]

"My last mission, I caught a TIE with a fantastic shot. I'd slowed down to blast a TIE Bomber, and this TIE fighter comes up behind me too fast. I caught him coming on the rear sensor, and just pushed my nose down a little. Then, as he came over me, I raised the nose and squirted a laser blast. He went nova on one hit. It was a beautiful deflection."

―Puck Naeco^[3]

AHuman^[2]male native of theplanet Denon^[1] in theInner Rim,^[4] Puck Naeco joined theAlliance to Restore the Republic as astarfighter pilot during the earlydays of theGalactic Civil War and,^[3] by1 BBY,^[5] was acaptain in theAlliance Starfighter Corps and a combat veteran. Shortly after the end ofOperation Strike Fear, a majorImperial offensive against the fledgling Rebellion, Naeco transferred toRed Squadron aboard theMon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence. Soon after arriving, Naeco joined several of hissquadmates, includingCommander Hamo Blastwell, CaptainsKeyan Farlander andSamuel Raider,Sunnar Jan-lo andSpeedy in the pilots' ready room, where they discussed their combat experiences and preferred targets.^[3] Naeco served as a mentor to some of the younger pilots, including Farlander,Milar Travis andFin Danglot^[1] and became known on theIndependence for his practical jokes.^[3]

Naeco's X-wing chases an Assault Gunboat in the Cron Drift.

Shortly before Naeco joined Red Squadron, the Alliance learned of a secret Imperial military construction project. In an effort to uncover the nature of the project,Alliance High Command devised a plan to tap into the Empire's communication network, and aprevious operation had captured a shipment of Imperialcommunications satellites. Thesatellites were to replace several Imperial satellites near a Rebellistening post in theCron Drift asteroid field.^[6] Naeco was assigned as Farlander'swingmate in a pair ofT-65 X-wing starfighters to protect the transfer of the stolen satellites from theBFF-1 bulk freighterOjai to theCR90 corvetteJeffrey in the Cron Drift. Less than aminute after the Rebels arrived, they wereattacked by several ImperialAssault Gunboats and fourDelta-class DX-9 stormtrooper transports. The two pilotsengaged the new arrivals, with Farlander leaving Naeco to fight the Assault Gunboats while he destroyed thetransports, until the Rebelships completed the transfer.^[3] TheJeffrey later deployed the captured satellites, allowing the Alliance to interceptplans to the Empire's new weapon, theDeath Star battle station.^[6]

When the other pilots became aware that Naeco was attracted to Jan-lo, several of them devised a scheme to get their revenge for his numerous practical jokes. Jan-lo indicated that she was interested in Naeco and told him to meet her in a storage area of the ship'sQuarren section. Following Farlander's advice not to waste anytime, Naeco walked into the dark room, straight over to who he thought was Jan-lo and kissed her, only to discover when the others turned the lights on that he was kissing a Quarren member of the kitchen staff. Though he laughed the incident off, Naeco cut down on the practical jokes afterward. Jan-lo was later injured during anattack on theImperial-class Star Destroyer Intrepid, and Naeco was among the pilots who visited her while she underwentbacta therapy.^[3]

In early0 BBY,^[7] Naeco, Farlander and Raider witnessed the arrival of theMon Calamari privateer andtrader Tuz aboard theIndependence when he made adelivery of stolen Imperial equipment. Curious about the visitor, Naeco invited Tuz and his entourage to join the Rebels for a drink in the pilots' lounge. When Raider voiced his opinion of Tuz's business practices, one of the pirate'sGamorrean bodyguards attacked the pilot. As Naeco and Farlander moved to help their friend, Tuz brought a halt to the altercation and admonished his bodyguard's behavior before explaining that he was working for the Alliance as part of an arrangement with theIndependence's commandingofficer,Admiral Gial Ackbar. On another occasion, Naeco suggested takingFlight Cadet Breth Gart toLucky Lower Thirteen, abar aboard theIndependence, in an effort to help him to integrate with his wingmates. The pilots soon attracted two female crew members, one of whom was clearly interested in Gart. When the young pilot decided to follow Farlander's lead in retiring for the night, the women stayed in the company of Naeco and Raider.^[3]

Battle of Yavin[]

"Red Twelve, right behind you, Red Leader."

―Puck Naeco^[8]

Naeco and Nett navigate the Death Star trench.

The Empire soon completed construction of theDeath Star and dispatched it to destroy the Alliance'sbase onYavin 4.^[2] TheIndependence traveled to theYavin system to assist in the preparations for the imminent attack and Naeco was one of several pilots transferred to Yavin Base upon arrival to bolster its starfighter squadrons.^[1]^[3] The stolen Death Star plans revealed a weakness in the battlestation: a smallthermal exhaust port leading to the mainreactor core. With the Death Star's defenses geared towards defending the station from a large-scale attack, the Rebels believed it would be possible for their starfighters to navigate down a narrow trench on the Death Star's surface, and fireproton torpedoes into the exhaust port, triggering a chain reaction that would destroy the station.^[2] Naeco was assigned an X-wing as part of Red Squadron during theBattle of Yavin, one of two squadrons responsible for attacking the exhaust port. Flying with thecall sign Red Twelve,^[1] Naeco acted as wingmate toRed Leader Garven Dreis.^[9]

Following a briefing byGeneral Jan Dodonna, the Rebel pilots intercepted the Death Star as it prepared to use itssuperlaser against Yavin 4. Dreis led Red Squadron in strafing runs against the battlestation's surface while three ofGold Squadron's BTL Y-wing starfighters made an unsuccessful run on the exhaust port, resulting in thedeaths of all three pilots. Red Squadron had already sustained losses, but Dreis regrouped the remaining fighters for an attack on the exhaust port. On Dodonna's instructions to split his group to allow two attempts, Dreis orderedWedge Antilles,Biggs Darklighter andLuke Skywalker to wait while he led Naeco andTheron Nett inRed Ten into the trench. The three Rebels initially came under heavyturbolaser fire, but when the firing stopped, Dreis ordered his wingmates to watch for enemy fighters. Skywalker soon warned that a pair ofTIE fighters, led by theDark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1, was entering the trench behind them. Closing on the exhaust port, Dreis ordered Naeco and Nett to hold off the approachingTIEs while he made his shot, but theSith Lord soon closed the distance and fired on Naeco's X-wing,^[2] causing it to explode and crash into the wall of the trench,^[10] killing the pilot.^[1] After Dreis and Nett were also killed by Vader's group, the three remaining members of Red Squadron attempted a trench run, with Skywalker finally succeeding in destroying the Death Star.^[2]

Personality and traits[]

"Sorry Jan-lo. I guess I've been taken."

―Puck Naeco, on finding himself kissing a Quarren^[3]

Naeco was a skilled pilot andgunner. Although he could sometimes be reckless in combat, he was admired by his wingmates for his accurate deflection shooting^[3] and served as a mentor to younger pilots.^[1] He was popular with those with whom he worked, despite his habit for carrying out practical jokes at their expense. Examples of Naeco's jokes included tampering with his comrades' food in order to make their urine glow in the dark and playing a seductive female voice over thecomlink while they engaged insimulated combat practice. When members of Red Squadron used his attraction to Sunnar Jan-lo to turn the tables on him, he reacted with good humor but subsequently reduced the frequency of his jokes.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

"When Red 10 gets shot down, the pilot we see die is someone else – a previously unseen male pilot with a helmet that looks like Janson's inThe Empire Strikes Back. That pilot, we decided, should be Red 12."

―Jason Fry^[11]

Naeco was created byRusel DeMaria for the1993 bookX-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, which presented the story of Keyan Farlander, the player character in theLucasArts video game Star Wars: X-Wing. In the book, Naeco is established as one of the previously unidentified members of Farlander's squadron.X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide established that several pilots from theIndependence participated in the Battle of Yavin, but does not specifically name Naeco among them.^[3] However,The Essential Guide to Warfare (2012) byJason Fry andPaul Urquhart retconned the character as Red Twelve, a pilot seen during the Battle of Yavin inGeorge Lucas's1977 filmStar Wars: Episode IVA New Hope.^[1]^[2] Red Twelve is not mentioned in dialog inA New Hope but is identified as one of Red Leader's wingmates during his unsuccessful trench run in the script^[12] and in theradio drama adaptation. Red Twelve has a line of dialog in theStar Wars radio drama, but the credits do not identify which actor portrayed him.^[8] In thenovel andcomic adaptations ofA New Hope, Red Squadron is calledBlue Squadron and Naeco is referred to as Blue Twelve.^[13]^[14] Likewise, Red Squadron is called Gold Squadron inThe Star Wars Storybook, with Naeco referred to as Gold Twelve.^[15]

While writingThe Essential Guide to Warfare Naeco was one of several characters considered as the identity of Red Twelve, along with Fin Danglot fromGalaxy Guide 1: A New Hope (1989), Milar Travis fromDroids (1986) 8 (1987),Talos Merkin fromStar Wars Journal: Captive to Evil (1998) andErnek Marskan fromX-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide. Travis was Fry's preferred option, due to his desire to include a female pilot among Red Squadron. However, in the film, when Theron Nett's starfighter is shot down moments after Red Twelve's, the pilot who is seen dying is not Nett. As a result, Fry andLeland Chee, manager of theHolocron continuity database, decided that this pilot should be Red Twelve, making the character male. Naeco was chosen from the remaining options while Travis and Danglot were both mentioned in Naeco's biography. Naeco's first name, which was never used inX-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, was also revealed inThe Essential Guide to Warfare as Puck, based on a suggestion by Chee.^[11]

BeforeThe Essential Guide to Warfare identified Red Twelve as Naeco,John Chapman, who portrayed an unidentified Rebel pilot inA New Hope, unofficially identified his character as Red Twelve, a Rebel pilot named Gil 'Drifter' Viray.^[16] Since Naeco was identified as Red Twelve, another actor namedChris Matthews has also claimed the role, and has started to attend conventions.^[17]