Cracken, Pash
a highly-proficient starfighter in the Republic, Pash was the son of Airen Cracken. He flew A-Wings early in his career, and quickly moved up the ranks to become a squadron commander. However, the people serving under him felt that his seeming invulnerablity and ability to survive any situation made them equally invulnerable. Pash's squadron soon started taking losses, and was placed under Varth's unit. Pash used this modification to apply for Rogue Squadron to help save good pilots. He served Wedge Antilles when the Rogues infiltrated Coruscant, as a prelude to the New Republic taking the planet back from the remnants of the Empire. He later returned to Varth's command, eventually serving at Generis just before the battles against Grand Admiral Thrawn. Pash was the namesake of the Cracken Twist. Years later, when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, Pash had risen through the ranks and attained the rank of Commander, and was assigned to command the Memory of Ithor during the final stages of the invasion. During Operation Trinity, however, the Memory of Ithor took considerable damage when the fleet was cut off from its reinforcements. Unable to control the resulting explosions, Cracken ordered a full evacuation. As the escape pods were jettisoned, the Memory of Ithor exploded, taking with it those who were still onboard. It was believed that Pash died in the explosion. Luckily, Pash and most of his crew were able to reach lifepods in time and escape the blast, only to be captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. They were taken to the prison camps on Selvaris, and maintained until they could be sacrificed. However, the heroic efforts of Thorsh and three Biths managed to put Selvaris' location into the hands of the New Republic military, which launched a rescue mission to recover the prisoners. Cracken, Page, and a handful of others managed to escape aboard the Millennium Falcon to Caluula Station, where they were once again beset by the Yuuzhan Vong. When Han Solo was ready to return to Calamari, Cracken and several other soldiers decided to remain behind, to help defend Calulla as best they could. However, Caluula was quickly overrun and Cracken once again found himself a captive, and was transported to Coruscant to be sacrificed. His luck continued to hold, however, as a group of Shamed Ones rescued many of the sacrificial victims during their disruption of Shimrra's ceremony. Cracken was among them, and he helped the Shamed Ones form a tighter resistance. When the Galactic Alliance finally attacked Coruscant, Cracken and his Yuuzhan Vong guerrillas met up with Judder Page and his infiltration team, thanks to the efforts of Baljos Arnjak.