Brooks Carlson

Brooks Carlson was a Human member of the Galactic Empire who defected to the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War along with another Imperial, Crix Madine. Carlson was hired as a scout for General Madine's Rebel commando unit, and also trained Corporal Dansra Beezer to serve in that profession. In the year 4 ABY, the Alliance decided to attack the Empire's second Death Star battlestation in orbit over the Forest Moon of Endor. Carlson, by then a veteran scout and pathfinder with the military rank of sergeant, was part of a strike team sent to the moon to deactivate the SLD-26 planetary shield generator protecting the Death Star. The strike team managed to disable the shield generator, allowing Alliance starfighters to destroy the Death Star.

Biography[]

Service and defection from the Empire[]

The Human Brooks Carlson lived during the time of the Galactic Civil War.^[1] Originally a member of the Galactic Empire,^[2] Carlson defected to the Alliance to Restore the Republic along with^[1] the Imperial Army storm commando leader^[3]—and later Rebel general—Crix Madine. Carlson was hired as a scout for Madine's commando unit, the Alliance Special Forces.^[1] At some point during the war, Carlson trained Corporal Dansra Beezer to also serve as a scout in the Alliance commandos.^[4]

Service in Han Solo's strike team[]

By the year 4 ABY,^[5] Carlson had attained the military rank of sergeant.^[1] During that year,^[5] the Alliance discovered that the Empire was constructing a second Death Star battlestation in orbit over the Forest Moon of Endor. The Alliance decided to attack the Death Star while it was still in construction; however, in order to destroy the station, the Alliance first had to deactivate the SLD-26 planetary shield generator on Endor protecting the superweapon.^[6] A strike team was organized by General Han Solo to infiltrate the moon.^[7] Carlson, by then a veteran scout^[5] and pathfinder, joined the team.^[2]

Carlson^[5] and the rest of the strike team traveled to the Endor system aboard the stolen Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Tydirium, piloted by Solo. Queried by the Super Star Destroyer Executor in defensive orbit over Endor, Solo gave a stolen Imperial code, and the Executor provided the shuttle clearance to land on the Forest Moon. Shortly after landing on the moon's surface, the strike team waited while Solo and the team's command crew—Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and the Wookiee Chewbacca—scouted the area ahead to make sure it was clear. In the process, Solo alerted a scout trooper patrol to the strike team's presence, resulting in a speeder bike chase between Skywalker, Organa, and several of the Imperial scouts.^[6]

Carlson^[5] and the rest of the squad waited until only Skywalker returned. When it became evident that Organa was missing, Solo took the rest of the command crew to search for her, ordering the squad to continue on and to rendezvous at the deflector shield generator at 0300 hours.^[6] Major Bren Derlin, the strike team's commanding officer, led the squad toward the shield generator. Several times along the way, the squad encountered Imperial patrols and managed to hide. However, Corporal Delevar, the team's medic, almost compromised their position by preparing to take a potshot at a speeder bike; he was consequently stopped and reprimanded by Derlin.^[8]

When night fell,^[8] Carlson^[1] and the squad made camp in a camouflaged shallow ravine, posting two sentries and setting up a blanket grid with their scanning equipment. Shortly after their first sleeping shift, the scanners detected an All Terrain Scout Transport walker moving toward their location. Corporal Beezer and another member of the squad, Lieutenant Greeve, jammed the walker's transmissions and destroyed its spotlights with a sniper rifle, respectively, and the squad circled the walker in order to keep it off balance. Delevar fired a smoke canister into the AT-ST's cockpit window when it began firing randomly into the trees and foliage. The resulting smoke explosion forced the walker's crew to abandon the vehicle and surrender to the strike team. The squad captured the Imperials and forced the walker pilot to make a comm check-in at blasterpoint. The squad continued on to the rendezvous point, forcing the walker pilot to make several more check-ins on the way to explain the scout walker's absence.^[8]

Ds2destroyed — The strike team's destruction of the deflector shield enabled Rebel starfighters to destroy the second Death Star itself.

Solo and the others then rejoined the rest of their group, having allied themselves with the Ewok tribe of Bright Tree Village, who showed the Rebel commandos a route to the shield generator bunker's backdoor.^[6] Carlson^[1] and the rest of the commandos proceeded into the bunker; however, they were soon ambushed by Tempest Force, the Imperial Military legion stationed on the moon, and the entire strike team was captured and led outside the bunker. Their capture proved to be brief, however, as the Ewoks attacked the Imperial troops, turning the tide of the battle in favor of the Rebel Alliance. The Rebel commandos successfully destroyed the shield generator^[6] with the use of 7-PrG proton grenades.^[9] With the Death Star's deflector shield destroyed, Alliance starfighters were able to destroy the Imperial superweapon.^[6]

Personality and traits[]

Brooks Carlson had fair skin. His hair was gray^[1] in 4 ABY. Carlson was a veteran scout^[5] and pathfinder by the time of the Battle of Endor.^[1]

Equipment[]

During his service with the Endor strike team, Carlson wore the forest camouflage gear of the team's members.^[1] He was armed with an A280 blaster rifle.^[10]

Behind the scenes[]

Strike Team promo — One of the promotional photos of Carlson and other strike team members, shown standing in the Death Star with Luke Skywalker

Although he appeared in promotional photos of 1983's Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,^[11] Brooks Carlson did not appear in the final film.^[6] The photos, displayed in the 1998 Star Wars: Behind the Magic CD-ROM, show Carlson, along with other Rebel commandos, standing in the second Death Star along with Luke Skywalker and the Sith Lord Darth Vader.^[11] Although uncredited, stuntman Alf Joint portrayed the character.^[12] Carlson was first brought into canon, and given a name and backstory, on a card for the June 1999 Endor Limited expansion set of Decipher, Inc.'s Star Wars Customizable Card Game,^[1] with the name simultaneously being used on a separate card for Corporal Dansra Beezer.^[4]

In his blog on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee speculated that Decipher used pictures of the same actor to represent Sergeant Brooks Carlson and Corporal Delevar.^[13]