Del Meeko was a human male native of Coruscant, the capital world of the Galactic Empire during the Imperial Era. During the reign of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, Meeko served in the Imperial Military as a stormtrooper, a shoretrooper with the military rank of sergeant, an Imperial Starfighter Pilot, and subsequently as the chief engineer of a Star Destroyer when holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Following the Rebel Alliance's theft of the plans to the Death Star in the year 0 BBY, Meeko became an agent of Inferno Squad, a special forces unit led by Captain Iden Versio.

The Emperor's death in 4 ABY resulted in the activation of Operation: Cinder; as part of the overall Contingency, its purpose was to ensure the annihilation of both the Empire and its enemies. Inferno Squad was dispatched to Fondor with orders to retrieve satellites that were critical to the execution of Operation: Cinder. After completing their mission, Meeko was ordered to destroy the Emperor's Observatory on Pillio. In the course of his mission, he encountered the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. Despite their different allegiances, Meeko and Skywalker worked together by fighting off many scritters—indigenous lifeforms that were hostile to the offworlders—in order to reach the observatory.

After parting ways with Skywalker, Meeko rejoined Inferno Squad at Vardos where the team learned that Versio's homeworld was one of the targets under Operation: Cinder. Unwilling to participate in the ruin of a planet noted for its loyalty to the Empire, Meeko and Versio rebelled against the military in an effort to save civilians. Having severed their ties with the Empire, they surrendered to the Alliance, but were given a chance to fight alongside the Rebels at the Battle of Theed. By saving Naboo, another planet targeted by Operation: Cinder, Meeko and Versio were both welcomed into the ranks of the newly-formed New Republic by Princess Leia Organa.

In 5 ABY, approximately one year after the Battle of Endor, the new Inferno Squad was among the Republic forces that defeated the Imperial forces led by Counselor Gallius Rax at the Battle of Jakku. In the years that followed the Empire's defeat and the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, Meeko and Versio raised a daughter named Zay Versio. Decades after the war, Meeko was captured by the First Order and interrogated by Kylo Ren, a dark side warrior tasked with hunting the last Jedi. With no further use for Meeko, Ren turned the veteran soldier over to Commander Gideon Hask—a First Order officer who once served with Meeko as an agent of Inferno Squad—who personally executed his former comrade.

Biography[]

Early life[]

A native of Coruscant, Del Meeko grew up during the time of the Jedi Order,^[1] although the stories he heard about the Jedi caused him to fear them.^[4] He had two brothers. Meeko worked his way through the ranks of the Imperial Military, starting as a stormtrooper, then as a shoretrooper on Scarif^[2] with the military rank of sergeant,^[6] as a TIE fighter pilot, and finally as a chief engineer aboard a Star Destroyer with the rank of lieutenant commander. During his early Imperial service, Meeko received commendations for courage under fire.^[2]

Joining Inferno Squad[]

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Meeko was summoned to Coruscant by Admiral Garrick Versio as a top priority, and returning to his home planet felt nostalgic and comforting for him. His immediate subordinate Lieutenant Naylyn Bashan received the message aboard the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle they rode in, and the information was enough to make those aboard, including Admiral Dayun, commander of Implacable, uncomfortable. Meeko did not believe the request from Versio was due to his previous stationing on Scarif - but the thought was enough for him to reflect on all of the friends he made on the planet that perished during the Battle of Scarif.^[2]

As they entered Imperial City, two security ships denied them access to the zone. When Meeko informed them that Versio had ordered him there, the ship was cleared to proceed. As Meeko prepared to depart, he joked that Bashan might now become an excellent chief engineer in his absence. He bid farewell to the crew and hoped the summons from Versio would not be something he would come to regret.^[2]

The following morning, Meeko went to Versio’s private conference room where he met Lieutenant Seyn Marana of Imperial Navy Intelligence, Lieutenant Gideon Hask, and Senior Lieutenant Iden Versio - the Admiral’s daughter. Meeko watched on in shock as they were shown footage of the destruction of the Death Star captured by Iden when she escaped the blast zone. Admiral Versio proceeded to inform them that they represented the finest aspects of the Empire. He commented on Meeko’s gift for repairing anything he turned his hand to. Versio named the Special Forces team Inferno Squad and tasked them to recover information, artifacts, or individuals that may prove harmful to the Empire were they to fall into the wrong hands. To elect a squad leader, each member presented an outline for their first mission, though Iden’s was eventually selected as the outstanding choice. Before completing their outlines, the four bonded over Toniray wine and caf in their shared suite, and Iden commented that Meeko would make a fine leader given his experience.^[2]

Early missions[]

Inferno Squad’s first mission was to infiltrate the wedding of Famma Pereez, the daughter of Moff Jaccun Pereez, on Arvaka Prime to recover sensitive information the moff was prepared to sell to clear his gambling debts. Meeko had managed to get onto the decorating staff for the event and concealed minuscule recording devices throughout the mansion. He also hid a tiny security code descrambler behind a copy of Ancient Keltrian Poets: Masters of Alliteration, which amused Hask who was inside the event with Marana. With the technology Meeko provided, the squad were able to locate and escape with the moff’s secret datachip.^[2]

Following the mission's success, Inferno Squad were presented with the Corvus, a Raider II-class corvette, which would function as their primary transport. Aboard the ship, Meeko found an ID10 seeker droid which he customised to suit the needs of the team. Inferno Squad subsequently completed several small-scale missions though Meeko became disillusioned with the lack of character displayed by prominent Imperials they encountered, lamenting that he had not expected them to be so willing to bite the hand that fed them.^[2]

Inferno Squad were then tasked with extracting the Sullustan Bokk Naarg, a partisan willing to defect and provide information on the Dreamers, an organization comprised of the last of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. The extraction was to take place from the Singularity club at Tellik Four Station. Meeko stayed on the Corvus to monitor information sent from ID10, or ‘Dio’ as the droid was renamed, who had accompanied Hask into the club. The extraction proved unsuccessful as Naarg was killed by explosives set off by fellow partisans, however, a datachip belonging to the Sullustan was recovered thanks to modifications made to Dio by Meeko.^[2]

Infiltrating the Dreamers[]

Admiral Versio instructed Inferno Squad that their next mission would be to infiltrate the Dreamers to find out how they were receiving the sensitive Imperial information extracted from Naarg’s datachip. Meeko was initially confused, telling Versio that the partisans were never a major threat. He mused that Gerrera had become a martyr and his surviving followers would double down on their violence and exploit the intel they had as much as possible. Versio firmly agreed with Meeko's assessment of the partisans and their intentions.^[2]

For the mission, Meeko and Hask would pose as brothers, an engineer and a pilot respectively, and gain access to the Pantoran pirate Lassa Rhayme’s Blood Bone Order who were responsible for delivering food and weapon supplies to the Dreamers. They were instructed to bond over a week to strengthen their claim of being siblings, which they did successfully. The pair lived inside a force-field-protected container on Fast Friend, a ship piloted by the Devaronian Kurjak. The plan involved the Fast Friend being intercepted and raided by the Opportunity - Rhayme’s ship - en route to Eriadu and the ‘brothers’ surrendering themselves as partisans. During their time in the container, Meeko told Hask he wasn’t planning on settling down and regaled stories of his two older brothers who also served the Empire.^[2]

After four days, Rhayme arrived and attacked, and in doing so Meeko and Hask were nearly sucked into the vacuum of space before being saved by Dio and the cabin pressure stabilizing. The pair headed into the ship, and, to aid the pirates in taking the ship, blasted members of the ship's smuggling crew. Following the Fast Friend being harpooned by the Opportunity, Meeko and Hask eliminated more of the smugglers and trussed up the rest. Upon boarding, Rhayme demanded the ‘brothers’ start talking before she killed them. Meeko explained they were partisans who had been on Tellik Four Station during the Singularity bombing and they were trying to make their way to join the Dreamers. Rhayme studied the footage of the event from Dio, which Admiral Versio had carefully edited, and concluded the brother's story to be genuine. They drank Tevraki whiskey and spoke of their dislike for the Empire. Meeko was taken aback at the Pantoran’s beauty and his mind flickered to thoughts of Iden, though he blamed the alcohol for this. Rhayme agreed to take the brothers to the Dreamers base on Jeosyn but they would have to perform work tasks as payment.^[2]

First weeks in the base[]

After arriving at the Dreamers base, Meeko was questioned about his past but quickly adapted to his new lifestyle, sporting smudged, well-worn clothes and an unshaven look. Marana had been the first to arrive and, eventually, Versio joined them having both been assigned their own paths.^[2]

Meeko had been cautiously accepted by the Dreamers' leader, Staven, who believed the engineer had sought them out after everyone in his cell sacrificed their lives so he could do so. He was assigned to assist the Chadra-Fan Piikow in repairing the group’s older ships and impressed Staven with the wonders he worked on them. He had also flown on supply runs with the group before Iden arrived. During combat training sessions, Meeko had to pretend to be less experienced than he actually was.^[2]

During a rare moment away from the group's prying eyes, Meeko was tasked by Iden to find a way for Inferno Squad to communicate with each other, to which replied that he had already been working on it, though he could not shake Piikow for long enough to fully commit. However, Meeko found Piikow easy to work with as the Chadra-Fan was just as interested in mechanics as he was, though he did not have much experience interacting with nonhumans. He confirmed that he had not overheard any conversations regarding the Dreamers intel leak, but planned to bug the group’s ships once he could work unsupervised. In the meantime, Meeko covertly advised Dio to amend his comlink as a start.^[2]

Eventually, Meeko was able to upgrade Inferno Squad’s comlinks by adding a second communication channel only they could access. Whilst amending Marana’s, she told him that one of the Dreamers, 'Azen Novaren', was an Imperial agent named Lar Kantayan. The information was later shared with Iden and Hask and Inferno Squad made a plan to eliminate him. Meeko and Dio went to the Jinata Security starfighter that Iden arrived in, and the droid extracted information from the ship’s computer that Novaren had previously used. However, he was called away by Piikow who informed him about the sentient species that was once native to Jeosyn. Meeko thought the Chadra-Fan’s enthusiasm was contagious and pondered on how his research skills could have been used for the Empire.^[2]

Piikow took Meeko to a cavern away from the base that he had discovered years before by accident. When they descended, Meeko gasped and felt mild fright at what he saw - huge stone statues stretched back as far as the eye could see each with heads, arms and legs and purple light shining from the eye sockets. The mysterious figures had crystals inside of them that mimicked human organs and Meeko was astonished. Assuming them to be droids, Piikow asked Meeko to help him with repairs to fix one up. Meeko was torn by this, he had his mission to complete with Inferno Squad, but he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Quickly, Meeko agreed to help.^[2]

Mission to Affadar[]

Eventually, Inferno Squad had become trusted enough within the Dreamers to participate in a full mission, though Meeko remained at the base. They were to travel to Affadar to expose the head of the local government, Emoch Akagarti, for knowingly distributing toxic water following an agreement with the Empire to fund a mining operation on the planet. Meeko was tasked with making the J-sec starfighter appear more Imperial and was allowed access to the group's databanks to help figure out how to hack the security of Akagarti’s residence. He was delighted at being able to work on the starfighter for both the Dreamers’ needs and Inferno Squads, though he raised concerns over Piikow’s health to Marana who reminded Meeko that the Chadra-Fan was the enemy. Meeko also fitted Dio with a homing beacon which was used to incriminate Novaren in the eyes of Staven following the mission that left partisans Kaev and Nadrine dead. Meeko had also stitched together conversations from the J-sec ship’s logs that Novaren had recorded to create conversations between the Imperial agent and an unnamed Imperial Intelligence officer, and uploaded fake Imperial intel and images of Novaren against his code names. With this information, Novaren was tortured and killed by the Dreamers.^[2]

Later that night, Inferno Squad were able to convene away from the base to discuss the little they had uncovered. Iden instructed Meeko to convince Piikow that Staven was not a trustworthy leader in an attempt to create division within the group. When the others left, Meeko joined Iden in climbing a tree and enquired about her wellbeing. He told her that while the Dreamers were the enemy, it would be easier to kill someone whose favorite color you did not know, or who had not trusted you with their life. He ended by saying they could not think of the group as people because if they did, they would not be able to finish what they were there to do, though he admitted he was trying to convince himself of that as well.^[2]

Mission to Anukara[]

The next major mission involved Marana and Sadori Vushan, a Kage partisan, taking on the role of teenage schoolchildren at the opening of a munitions factory on Anukara. Whilst there, they would plant a bomb that would kill Moff Rys Deksha, General Ivel Toshan, and the nearly four hundred schoolchildren in attendance. Though not pleased with what the mission entailed, Meeko was able to obtain the codes required to land the ship near the school shuttle. He acted as the point of contact for Marana, taking on the role of her concerned father as a cover and monitoring their actions through the eyes of Dio who was with Marana as a medical droid. Meeko did harbor concern at how easily a pair of teenagers could smuggle a bomb into an Imperial facility. As the mission began, he thought of the mysterious statues in the caverns on Jeosyn to distract him.^[2]

Marana planted the bomb and radioed Meeko to extract them. However, Marana had secretly delayed the bomb's detonation to allow the schoolchildren to move on. This directly led to the death of Sadori who returned to the factory to complete the mission, destroying the factory and himself. Meeko prevented her from chasing after him and carried her back to the shuttle where they saw the explosion and the schoolchildren escaping to safety. Meeko was later grilled about his preparation of the bomb but was quickly concluded to have done no wrongdoing.^[2]

The beginning of the end[]

Sometime later, Meeko and Piikow returned to the caverns to continue researching the statues. They had opened up a second statue and removed each crystal piece by piece for measuring and recording. He felt like he was performing an autopsy given the statue's similarities to a human body. The statues had begun to unnerve Meeko with their mystery but reckoned they had plenty of example pieces to work with and study. Piikow mused that they did not have all the time they wanted to study the statues given their roles in the Dreamers and his dwindling health. Meeko once again wondered if Admiral Versio would spare Piikow given his vast intelligence and knew the Empire had the means to treat his condition.^[2]

Later, back in the base as Meeko was talking with Iden and The Mentor, a perplexing member of the group of which little was known, Marana was interrogated after accidentally conversing in Piikow’s native tongue - an act which went against her cover of being a lowly slave. As she revealed that she was responsible for the bodged mission to Abbafar, and subsequently Sadori’s death, to avoid torture and endangering the mission further, the youngest member of Inferno Squad willingly took her own life by impaling herself on the vibroblade Iden had been holding. Meeko was part of the group that disposed of Marana’s corpse. He told Iden not to blame herself, but she informed the remainder of Inferno Squad that they needed to act quickly, decisively, and as a team to finally complete the mission.^[2]

Ending the Dreamers[]

Meeko had to force himself to behave naturally around Piikow knowing that the mission was coming to its conclusion. Before heading off to secretly repair a ship that would be used for the squad’s getaway, he told the Chadra-Fan that he now believed the statue's original creators communicated telepathically which the crystals would somehow react to, and that he should take The Mentor with him in the caverns for safety. He then completed his work on the ship, ensuring his part in the plan was nearly complete.^[2]

That evening, tempers flared in the base after The Mentor accused Staven of going through his personal belongings. It had been Iden who had sliced into his datapad to learn his true identity and other secrets he harbored. As Iden left to follow The Mentor to retrieve his datachip of stolen Imperial information, Meeko stayed with Hask in the base with the remaining Dreamers and quietly prepared the recently repaired ship for a quick getaway. As he did so and before Iden had arrived back with the datachip, Hask murdered the Dreamers by blasterfire, an act that left Meeko feeling numb. Before the bodies could be buried, Meeko looked on in shock as the humanoid statues from the cavern lumbered toward them. Each statue gently collected the body of a fallen Dreamer and carried them back to the cavern to tend to them after their lives had been extinguished, and Meeko finally understood their purpose.^[2]

Following the mission, Meeko was interrogated and debriefed by Admiral Versio and was recommended for a commendation for his work on the mission.^[2]

Inferno Squad were quickly put back to work and their next mission was to neutralize blackmailers who were intending to uncover a moff’s indiscretions. Before the mission, Meeko boarded the Corvus where he found Iden placing a bottle of Tevraki whisky on Marana’s bunk. He told her it was good to be back on the ship and that Marana’s death still pained him. He then asked Iden whether she killed The Mentor as her blaster was set to stun, to which she replied that he already knew. As he began to tell her that he had thought of ways to get Piikow treatment, he quickly stopped as Hask came aboard. Together, the surviving members of Inferno Squad raised a toast to a successful mission and to Seyn Marana, who had given her life for it. Meeko honored her by repeating Marana’s toast she had delivered in the Ahak Maharr language before the Dreamers mission which elicited laughs from the three of them.^[2]

Hunting Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn[]

At some point between 3 and 4 ABY, Meeko and Inferno Squad were given orders by Emperor Palpatine to identify and eliminate all Crimson Dawn agents that he knew were present in Imperial ranks.^[7]

Hunting Beilert Valance[]

Between 3 ABY-4 ABY, Inferno Squad were tasked with locating and subduing the bounty hunter Beilert Valance and delivering him to Lieutenant Jyala Haydenn by order of Darth Vader.^[9] They were requested to track down Valance and, if he had not already been destroyed, to wipe his memory wetware completely to prevent classified information from falling into the hands of the Rebellion.^[10]

The Corvus tracked Valance and his crew deep in the Outer Rim Territories aboard the Edgehawk. Meeko was able to cripple the Edgehawk’s hyperdrive with precision shooting. Before they could board and confirm Valance was on board, the Edgehawk entered the Lost Souls asteroid field at the behest of Zuckuss. As the Corvus was too large to navigate the field and the ion clouds were disrupting its sensors, Inferno Squad declined to pursue, instead deciding to travel to the nearest available spaceport that the Edgehawk could escape to - the black market spaceport of Depatar.^[11] As they lay in wait, the Edgehawk eventually arrived for repairs.

Iden told the squad to prepare with caution and described the bounty hunters they would need to eliminate—Bossk, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, T'onga, Losha Tarkon, Tasu Leech, and potentially Valance. Upon hearing Leech’s name, Meeko bemoaned that he lost twenty credits betting against the bounty hunter in his fighting pit match against Rodrigu Battle, to which Iden stated she would ignore his declaration of breaking Imperial protocol.

Meeko was positioned as a sniper overlooking the marketplace and was able to incapacitate 4-LOM.^[12] When Iden returned to the Edgehawk disguised as T’onga, she stunned Losha with her blaster as Meeko and Hask subdued Zuckuss. In an act of defiance, Losha unwittingly revealed Valance to be on board. Meeko and the squad went aboard to arrest Valance for crimes against the Empire and immediately became involved in a fight with him and Bossk. Meeko went toe to toe with Valance but the bounty hunter was too strong a foe to defeat hand to hand. After Iden held Bossk at blaster point, Valance surrendered. Meeko told him he had seen the Imperial files of his cybernetic schematics and that the procedure would permanently scramble the cerebral processor that stored Valance’s memories. Meeko apologised as he activated the memory wetware wipe.^[13]

The Battle of Endor and aftermath[]

In 4 ABY, prior to the Battle of Endor, Meeko calculated precise hyperspace jump coordinates to successfully extract Iden following her escape from the Mon Calamari Security Cruiser Invincible Faith after she had purged Imperial intelligence relating to the impending battle.^[4] Following the commencement of the battle, Meeko and Inferno Squad were deployed to the sanctuary moon. They were tasked with apprehending the saboteurs of the second Death Star's shield generator, however, they arrived too late to prevent its destruction. By order of Admiral Garrick Versio, the team were instructed to eliminate all remaining rebels in the area and return to the Corvus. Meeko acted as reconnaissance and sniper, providing information on the location of rebels en route to the ship. When the squad regrouped, they agreed to continue neutralizing any targets they came across, but their planning was interrupted by the Death Star II exploding in the skies above them.

Meeko watched on in shock as the battle station erupted, however, he quickly scouted ahead to locate any available ships and report rebel activity to his comrades. He was able to rally a squad near Platform 4 as the squad eventually secured three TIE Fighters to reach the Corvus.^[4]

As they left the planet’s atmosphere, Meeko and his squadmates fought rebel starfighters amongst the debris of the destroyed battle station before he was ordered back to the Corvus. Admiral Versio ordered them to Fondor Shipyards where Meeko held the Corvus during the attack on Fondor. He destroyed several rebel transports as the squad successfully fought against a rebel attack on Moff Derrek Raythe's Star Destroyer Dauntless, which was transporting satellites to be used as part of Operation: Cinder.^[4]

Encountering a Jedi[]

As Operation: Cinder continued, Inferno Squad was granted access to the Emperor's Observatory on Pillio. Owing to his technical expertise, Meeko traveled to the planet with a stormtrooper team to shut down the mantle defense system and destroy the Observatory as its contents could have been used by the Rebel Alliance against the Empire.^[4]

Whilst on the planet, Meeko became trapped in the native concrete-like amber. He found himself stranded and calling for help as his stormtrooper team had been eliminated by Luke Skywalker, who had also travelled to the planet to locate the Observatory. Skywalker found the trapped Meeko and offered to help, but Meeko immediately recognised the Jedi after he ignited his lightsaber to free him. He questioned him as to why he had helped, and Skywalker simply replied because Meeko had asked.^[4]

Before they could continue further, a wave of scritters attacked the pair. Meeko discharged a thermal detonator, sending the pair plummeting to the level below where falling debris nearly crushed him before Skywalker used the Force to prevent it. Bruised and confused, Meeko accepted Skywalker’s assistance in getting to his feet. He proceeded to tell his enemy that he had heard a hundred stories about the Jedi that terrified him as a child, but Skywalker told him they would need to work together if they were to get out of their situation and handed Meeko his blaster. After the Jedi told Meeko that the Force seemingly brought them together, Meeko asked if it was the Force that got him past his stormtroopers or the lightsaber he carried. Skywalker replied they had given him no choice, but Meeko had.^[4]

As they made their way to the Observatory, they fought off several waves of scritters. Meeko assured Skywalker that he was there to destroy the vault, but if he did not disarm the defence system, the entire cavern would explode and kill them both. As Meeko worked to shut down the defenses, Skywalker protected him from the attacking scritters who had been alarmed by the security system activating. Meeko confided in Skywalker that he was glad he was there as he could not have done the job alone.^[4]

Skywalker used the Force to unlock the Observatory doors, which confused Meeko. He questioned Skywalker on whether Palpatine was secretly a Jedi, but Skywalker replied that Meeko had been scared of the wrong thing as a boy on Coruscant. Upon entering and inspecting the Observatory’s contents, Meeko stated the Emperor was simply protecting worthless junk.

Skywalker found a compass, and though Meeko initially refused to let the Jedi take it, he relented after Skywalker said he had asked to take it similar to how Meeko had asked for help previously. The Jedi told Meeko he would not stop him from destroying the vault, but asked whether he thought the Empire had done enough damage to innocent worlds. Meeko challenged him as to what would happen next between them, and Skywalker did not believe Meeko could walk off and pretend their meeting never happened as he felt a conflict within him. Meeko confirmed there was a conflict because he was aware of what the Empire was capable of but knew no alternative. The Jedi told him he had a choice, and while Meeko believed he meant joining the Rebellion, Skywalker instead told him he had a choice to be better. As the Jedi left, he warmly bid farewell to Meeko, saying “May the Force be with you.”^[4]

Defecting to the Rebel Alliance[]

As part of Operation: Cinder, Meeko and Inferno Squad were later tasked with extracting the headmaster of the Future Imperial Leaders Military Preparatory School Protectorate Gleb from Iden’s homeworld of Vardos. Upon reaching the planet, Meeko immediately noticed the Dauntless and multiple climate disruption array satellites stationed above the planet. After the satellites had been activated, the squad landed the Corvus on the planet and headed to Kestro City. Meeko remarked that he had never seen storms like the ones plaguing the planet and feared the locals would be terrified. He questioned why they were not evacuating citizens as Vardos was an Imperial world, and remarked that Gleb was simply calling in a favor with her extraction.

When Gleb was found in the Archive, Meeko requested that the injured civilians present be taken off-world, but Hask angrily rebuffed the idea. Meeko challenged whether his comrade even recognised the Empire anymore, but Hask informed him that this was a new Empire. Meeko then stated that if that were the case, then he wanted no part of it. Despite Hask calling his words treasonous, Iden confirmed she too did not agree with the direction the Empire was taking and subdued Hask. An arrest warrant for Meeko and Iden was immediately issued and the pair hurriedly made their way back to the Corvus, though Meeko was audibly worried by the situation. As he fought stormtroopers en route to shutting down the planet’s anti-air systems, Meeko hated having to kill his former colleagues. To disable the anti-air cannons, the pair hijacked an All Terrain Armored Transport with Meeko piloting the transport as Iden successfully destroyed the targeting array. As they reached the Corvus, Meeko was able to fly them off-world to the Vorpal Nebula.^[4]

When they were alone, Meeko told Iden they needed to warn people about what was happening. He told her to take the Corvus and he would leave in a TIE Fighter to send a distress call to the Rebel Alliance. Iden refused and instead told him that, together, they comprised Inferno Squad. Iden sent a distress call via hologram to the Rebel Alliance which Shriv Suurgav picked up. The pair were subsequently captured and questioned aboard the Restoration and provided the Rebels with information on the Empire and Operation: Cinder. They were later met by Lando Calrissian, who walked them through the ship's halls and offered them two X-wings for them to leave in and start a new life - an offer that baffled Meeko. Calrissian informed them that Operation: Cinder was heading to Naboo, and offered them a one-time deal - they could take the ships and fly away or they could help on Naboo. When Meeko asked Iden what the alternative to helping was, the pair agreed to assist with stopping Operation: Cinder on Naboo.^[4]

Aiding Naboo[]

Meeko joined Suurgav and the rest of Danger Squadron over Naboo in aiding Princess Leia Organa and destroying the climate disruption array satellites over the planet. He also participated in taking out the Torment’s shield arrays which led to the ship’s destruction. On the surface, Meeko repaired multiple disabled power relays throughout Theed with Organa and a team of rebel soldiers protecting him.^[4]

When the power arrays were activated, Meeko entered the Theed Royal Palace and was able to reactivate the cities defense system, resulting in an ion blast detonating and neutralizing nearby Imperial weapons, transports and ships which led to the surrender of the Imperial forces.^[4]

Following the battle, Organa confronted Meeko and Iden inside the palace having learned from Calrissian that they were, in fact, Inferno Squad. The Princess noted that the pair were not just running from the Empire, but that they were fighting for something having witnessed them during the battle. Iden replied that they had been fighting for the wrong side and would join the New Republic. Organa told them both that they were examples of why both hope and the New Republic would ultimately prevail.^[4]

Serving the New Republic[]

Extracting Han Solo[]

Months later, Meeko helped with successfully extracting Han Solo and fellow Imperial defector Ralsius Paldora from Takodana, piloting an X-wing and helping to down an Imperial light cruiser and TIE Fighters that had attacked Maz Kanata's castle.^[4]

After the Takodana mission, Iden requested from Organa that Inferno Squad track down and capture her father following stolen intel gathered by Paldora indicating the Admiral had been running mission on Bespin and Sullust. Meeko told the Princess that they asked her directly as Fleet Command might not approve of them undertaking such a personal mission. They received permission to locate and capture Versio, and Meeko told Organa, “May the Force be with you”.^[4]

Mission to Bespin[]

Meeko and Iden traveled to Chinook Station on Bespin to destroy Imperial fuel reserves and attempt to capture Hask, who they had learned was also on the planet. To avoid detection, the pair flew their X-wings through the thick clouds leading to the station. Meeko marveled at the huge Beldons that provided the planet’s tibanna gas, something Iden found cute. He told her that if they captured her father, it would put the New Republic in a strong position to end the war. That led him to think about what his life would be like following the war, and he told Iden he wanted to travel the galaxy to planets such as Lothal and Mykapo to see them when they were free from oppression.^[4]

Upon landing, the pair made their way to the Overseer's Tower and dispatched squadrons of stormtroopers en route. To ensure an easier passage to the tower and Hask, Meeko and Iden donned stormtrooper armor to blend in and make their way to their destination. Meeko was looking forward to confronting Hask, but was not fond of the memories that surfaced from being around so many stormtroopers. He mused that since Endor, the Empire’s occupations had only gotten worse and that he and Iden could have been stationed on Bespin had things been different. Iden told him to think of all those they had given hope to, which spurred him to complete the mission, though he was amazed at how busy the station itself was.^[4]

When they reached the tower, a hologram of Hask appeared and their former comrade told them he had known of their arrival and that he was no longer there. The pair were then ambushed by a wave of stormtroopers as they attempted to commandeer ships in order to ravage the Empire’s fuel supplies. Their only option was a cloud car, which they used to destroy the fuel cells and, due to a chain reaction, three Star Destroyers that were refuelling at the refinery.^[4]

The Battle of Jakku[]

In 5 ABY, Meeko participated in the Battle of Jakku, the final battle of the Galactic Civil War. He held the Corvus during the battle and was shocked at how many distress calls he picked up upon the ship entering the fray. Before Iden left, Meeko rushed to her and told her to make sure she came back, to which she replied to him to make sure she had a ship to come back to. Suurgav sardonically thanked Meeko for not also wishing him luck during the battle.^[4]

The Corvus took heavy damage during the chaotic battle, though Meeko was able to provide Iden and Suurgav with the locations of nearby distress calls. He identified a downed Star Destroyer that was dispatching bombers to an Imperial facility in Carbon Ridge and provided the details to his comrades. During the fight, Meeko also used the Corvus to evacuate and redeploy Captain Lindsey and his troops to Carbon Ridge. At one point during the battle, Meeko told Iden and Suurgav that he believed the Empire was losing.^[4]

Meeko and the Corvus came under heavy attack from TIE bombers dispatched from the Eviscerator, which was under the command of Admiral Versio. Hask joined the fray in a TIE/IN interceptor but was eventually downed by Iden. She told Meeko to get the Corvus to safety whilst she went to extract her father, but Meeko told her he was not worth saving. Iden insisted she would see her goal through, and Meeko reluctantly ordered the Corvus to retreat from their position. He attempted to return and collect Iden after her X-wing crash-landed on the ship, but his commander disabled her communications and continued on.^[4]

Meeko later located Iden in a crashed escape pod following the destruction of the Eviscerator which claimed the life of her father. He helped her out of the pod and happily informed her that the New Republic had won the battle. Overcome with joy, the pair shared a passionate kiss atop the pod, though they were quickly interrupted by Suurgav and Dio. He led them both to a hill where they looked over the ruins of the battle and the wreckage of the Imperial fleet whilst holding hands.^[4]

Later years and death[]

In the years following the fall of the Empire, Meeko and Iden married and had a daughter, whom they named Zay Versio.^[4]

In 34 ABY, Meeko traveled to Athulla in the Corvus to investigate reports that Jinata Security had kidnapped families from the planet. His investigation led him back to Pillio where he was captured and injured by Jinata Security and Gleb, who was secretly overseeing Project Resurrection.

Kylo Ren arrived on the planet to interrogate Meeko as to the whereabouts of a map that led to the location of the missing Luke Skywalker, as Ren believed that Lor San Tekka had revealed this information to Meeko. Upon the dark warrior entering the bridge of the Corvus, Meeko sarcastically told him that if he had wanted to hire his ship, he could have just asked. Ren demanded that Meeko tell him where San Tekka took the map and used the Force to infiltrate the injured man’s mind, causing Meeko to scream in pain. Meeko defiantly told Ren that he would not tell him anything, but Ren cycled through his memories unperturbed. Through the Force, Ren experienced Meeko’s memories of his time on Scarif, the Battle of Endor, his first time on Pillio and the skirmish on Vardos. Ren also confirmed his knowledge that Meeko had married Iden and that they had a daughter. He proceeded to call Meeko a coward and stated that Iden made him a traitor. Ren told Meeko that the faith he had found on Pillio led him to the Force, which eventually led him to San Tekka and again demanded to know where the map had been taken, despite Meeko valiantly resisting.^[4] Eventually, the mental torture proved too much and Meeko divulged that San Tekka had taken the map to Bayora.

Ren relinquished his control over Meeko and turned him over to Gideon Hask, who was a First Order officer at that point. Meeko told Hask to spare him any pleasantries as they both knew how their encounter would end. Hask told Meeko that he was a coward who had let him down when he defected decades earlier. Meeko replied that they all changed, remarking that Hask “used to be dead” following Jakku. Meeko then pleaded with Hask not to pursue Iden as it would not end well for his former comrade, and in reply, Hask silently strode towards Meeko and shot him four times with his blaster, killing him. Following his death, Hask ordered Gleb to bury Meeko's corpse on the planet, but to leave the Corvus to lure Iden.^[4]

Legacy[]

Shortly afterwards, Iden, Zay and Suurav tracked down Hask to Vardos, where Hask told them about Del's fate. However, Iden, Suurgav and Zay managed to sneak into the Retribution and during a struggle to kill Zay, Hask ended up losing his life when a fatally wounded Iden shot him to save her daughter, avenging her husband and demonstrating that Del's last words were right: going after Iden would not end well for Hask.^[4]

In 34 ABY^[14] and sometime after the Battle of Crait, Commander Poe Dameron gave a speech to the Resistance about how they all had a choice but struggled to explain what that choice was. Zay assured that it was the choice to be better,^[15] the same thing that Luke Skywalker,^[4] who had recently died on Ahch-To, told her father when they met on Pillio.^[4]

Personality and traits[]

Despite his Imperial background and loyalty to Inferno Squad, Del Meeko was deeply conflicted, and often uncertain about the Empire's methods. He was horrified after watching Hask murder the Dreamers in cold blood. He was much more open minded then his squadmates which allowed him to work with Luke Skywalker on Pillio despite being on opposite sides and believing him to be a terrorist. Growing up on Coruscant, he heard only frightening stories about the Jedi until being saved by Skywalker, who encouraged him to follow his own path. He also liked wildlife and often studied a planets wildlife before visiting.^[4] He easily became attached to things and people, and found curbing his natural friendliness a challenge whilst in Imperial service.^[2]

Equipment[]

As part of Inferno Squad with the Empire, Meeko wore a black flight suit with red stripes on the right side and the squad’s emblem on both shoulders. He wore black gloves, black boots, a black holster. He also wore a black belt adorned with a silver buckle, with another black belt atop of it. He also carried an ammo pouch on his left shoulder.^[4]

His black armor covered his chest and back, and allowed for a removable chest pad. Meeko’s Inferno Squad helmet was black and adorned with red patterned stripes along with the Inferno Squad and Imperial emblem. His weapons included an DLT-19x targeting blaster or an E-11 medium blaster rifle.^[4]

After defecting to the Rebellion, Meeko took to wearing a maroon leather jacket with a soft grey collar. Under that, he wore a grey-green flightsuit with a black undershirt. He carried a A280C blaster rifle amongst other weapons.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

Del Meeko was created for the 2017 video game Star Wars Battlefront II,^[4] where he was portrayed by TJ Ramini.^[16]

Appearances[]

• Star Wars Battlefront II
• Star Wars: Starfighter Missions
• Battlefront II: Inferno Squad (First appearance)
• Battlefront II: Inferno Squad audiobook
• Hidden Empire 1 (In flashback(s))
• Revelations (2022) 1 (Vision to Darth Vader)
• Bounty Hunters 31
• Bounty Hunters 32
• Bounty Hunters 33
• Bounty Hunters 34
• Bounty Hunters 35 (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)
• Alphabet Squadron (Indirect mention only)
• Alphabet Squadron audiobook (Indirect mention only)
• Resistance Reborn (Mentioned only)
• Resistance Reborn audiobook (Mentioned only)

Sources[]

• The Empire's Elite Strike Team Rises in Battlefront II: Inferno Squad – Exclusive Excerpt on StarWars.com (backup link) (First mentioned)
• Star Wars Battlefront II: Behind The Story on the official Electronic Arts Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
• "Heading into Battle" — Star Wars Insider 177
• "Fist of the Empire" — Star Wars Insider 177
• Join Inferno Squad on Electronic Arts' official website (backup link)
• Star Wars Helmet Collection 61 (Weapons & Uniforms: Bespin's Cloud City)
• Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Galactic Empire Conversion Kit (Card: Del Meeko) (Reissued in TIE/ln Fighter Expansion Pack)
• Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
• Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing 61 (Creating a Starship Fleet: Battlefront II – Playing the TIE Fighter Pilots)
• Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
• Inferno Squad Strikes Back in Marvel's April 2023 Star Wars Comics – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars: Timelines
• Iden Versio Finds Her Target in Marvel's Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #34 — Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link)
• "After Endor" — Star Wars Insider 222
• "Sacks Appeal" — Star Wars Insider 224
• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire (Indirect mention only)
• Agent Del Meeko in the Databank (backup link)

Notes and references[]