Casal Marskan

"The Force is the ultimate power. With it, you can destroy your enemies. Just open yourself to it, let it guide you, and you'll be unbeatable."
"Is that your secret, sir? I mean, it's well known that you've never lost a ship or failed a mission."
"Yes. The Force is the secret. Let it guide you. Listen for the voice inside that tells you about the power. It's all there. You don't really have to do anything but pay attention."

―Keyan Farlander and Casal Marskan

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. He 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. Marskan was killed in 0 BBY, along with fellow rookie Horodi, while assisting Farlander in a mission to capture a pair of Imperial corvettes. Marksan's brother later blamed Farlander for his death.

Biography

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

Shortly after the capture of the Imperial frigate Priam around 0 BBY, 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 influence of the dark side, 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.

An X-wing is destroyed during Marskan's final mission.

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 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.

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. 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.

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 as 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 Ernek Marskan in displaying animosity toward him.

Personality and traits

Casal Marskan was an inexperienced pilot at the time of his death. Like many other rookies aboard the Independence, he admired the more experienced pilots, including Farlander. Although he was the only rookie pilot to voice his doubts over Farlander's theories concerning the Force, he soon began to take Farlander's advice, which his brother later believed was the cause of his death.

Behind the scenes

Casal Marskan was created by Rusel DeMaria and appeared briefly in the 1993 book X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, which presented the story of Keyan Farlander, the player character in the game Star Wars: X-Wing. In the book, Marskan is established as one of the previously unidentified pilots aboard the Independence. Though Farlander encouraged Marskan to use the Force, there was no indication that Marskan was himself Force-sensitive.

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