Casal Marskan was a pilot in the Alliance to Restore the Republic who served aboard the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence during the Galactic Civil War. Casal was the younger brother of Ernek Marskan, another pilot serving aboard the Independence. Red Squadron pilot Keyan Farlander, having begun to experiment with the dark side of the Force, promoted aggression in Marskan and several other rookie pilots. He was killed in 0 BBY, along with fellow rookie Horodi, while assisting Farlander in a mission to capture a pair of Imperial corvettes, and Ernek blamed Farlander for his brother's death.

Biography[]

Alliance service[]

Casal Marskan was the younger brother of Captain Ernek Marskan, a starfighter pilot in Blue Squadron aboard the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence. Like Ernek,^[2] he^[3] opposed the ruling Galactic Empire and joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic prior to the Battle of Yavin, following Ernek into the Alliance Starfighter Corps and service aboard the Independence.^[2]

Shortly after the capture of the Imperial frigate Priam^[2] around 0 BBY,^[1] Marskan was one of several new pilots who joined Captain Samuel Raider and the Sullustan Speedy in the pilots' lounge aboard the Mon Calamari vessel. Red Squadron's Captain Keyan Farlander had recently discovered his ability to manipulate the Force and had fallen under the dark side's influence, causing Raider to become suspicious of the pilot. When Farlander entered the pilots' lounge, Raider stood up to leave, prompting a brief altercation between the two, during which Farlander attempted to use the Force to make Raider stay. Though Marskan and the others witnessed the confrontation, they were unaware of the nature of the two pilots' disagreement and joined Farlander in laughing off the incident. However, Farlander was hoping to create an invincible squadron of pilots guided by the Force and began to encourage Marskan and the other pilots to learn to use the Force against their enemies, telling them that the Force was the reason he had never failed a mission or lost a starfighter. Though Marskan was initially skeptical about what Farlander had to say, he soon began to listen to the older pilot's advice.^[2]

The Priam's capture gave the Alliance a lead on locating the Death Star, an Imperial battlestation capable of destroying a planet, and two CR90 corvettes from Ethar group were dispatched to the prison planet Despayre in the Horuz system to investigate. However, the corvettes were captured by Imperial forces. A few days after he began to encourage aggression in the rookie pilots, Farlander was asked to lead a team three-ship group of Red Squadron's^[4] T-65 X-wing starfighters and guard an operation to recapture the corvettes. Farlander selected Marskan, along with another rookie named Horodi, to accompany him on the mission,^[2] which was also in 0 BBY.^[1]

Skirmish in the Horuz system and death[]

In order to clear out any defenses, the X-wings proceeded into the area ahead of the rest of the Rebel forces, and they emerged from hyperspace to find two Imperial Lambda-class shuttles in the process of boarding the corvettes. Several Assault Gunboats that were guarding the Imperial operation moved quickly to intercept the new arrivals.^[4] The X-wings engaged the Gunboats but were outnumbered by the Imperials, and both Marskan and Horodi were killed during the dogfight. Farlander was also forced to eject from his X-wing, though the Rebels were successful in recapturing the corvettes and were able to retrieve the extra-vehicular pilot.^[2]

The elder Marskan blamed Farlander for his brother's death, confronting him upon his return to the Independence. However, Farlander, still influenced by the dark side, considered their deaths proof that both pilots were unworthy of the Force. Although Farlander eventually rejected the dark side, his attitude to the deaths of his comrades caused many of the other pilots to join Marskan in displaying animosity toward him.^[2]

Personality and traits[]

Like many other rookies aboard the Independence, Casal Marskan admired the more experienced pilots, including Farlander. Initially being the only rookie pilot to voice doubts over Farlander's theories concerning the Force, Marskan soon began to take Farlander's advice, which his brother later believed was the cause of Casal's death.^[2]

Equipment[]

Marskan flew a T-65 X-wing starfighter.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

Casal Marskan was created as an unseen X-wing pilot for the video game Star Wars: X-Wing,^[4] which was released in February 1993.^[5] In June of the same year,^[6] the character was identified in the strategy book X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, written by Rusel DeMaria. The book also established Marskan as one of the aforementioned X-wing pilots.^[2]

Appearances[]

• Star Wars: X-Wing (First appearance) (Starfighter only)

Sources[]

• X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide (First identified as Casal Marskan)
• X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM: The Official Strategy Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and references[]