The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Sneath Lapik

"Just have to know where to look."

- Sneath Lapik

Sneath Lapik was a mysterious and taciturn Umbaran. After failing in a power grab, he was exiled from his homeworld and departed, seeking out sanctuary. His natural Umbaran abilities, combined with his Force-sensitivity, led him to track down faint clues indicating agents of a hidden refuge. They detected his approach and confronted him, with the possibility of killing or wiping his memory if he proved dangerous. To their surprise, the Umbaran asked for sanctuary and was granted it after passing rigorous background checks and mental probes.

The taciturn Lapik joined the Yanibar Guard Army after applying to Yanibar Guard Intelligence and being rejected. Though he was a natural at intelligence work, YGI didn't fully trust him, particularly with offworld missions. He was slighted at first, but adapted to life in the Yanibar Guard Army, proving competent, if cold. He made few friends until he served as a Stiletto gunship pilot. A young pilot named Akira Arkani was assigned to be his wingmate and she was able to at least somewhat befriend the reticent Sneath.

He had been in that assignment for four years when Akira recommended him for a new experimental program that she had been recruited into. He was evaluated and accepted. The Yanibar Guard was developing advanced battle walkers in response to a new threat and Jon was asked to participate. The Yuuzhan Vong species had invaded the galaxy, launching a devastating war, and the new walkers were part of Yanibar's increased defensive capabilities in case doing battle with them became necessary. Sneath accepted it as a challenge, hoping to prove his skills and earn the trust of people on his new home, even if he was the only Umbaran there.

They met the project's lead, Sarth Kraen, who had masterminded the new walkers, dubbed Avatars, and underwent a grueling two year familiarization program that included simulators and numerous runs on the training grounds. Only twenty pilots were selected from the initial class, and only twelve made the cut, entering a top-secret unit dubbed the Pathfinders. The first six months were spent just learning the technical capabilities and systems of their walkers&mdash;the next year was spent learning how to control them. Sneath was paired with three other pilots: Akira Arkani, Jon Rieves, and Terneh Oegonar, under the command of Colonel Zid Harrinos.

Their first mission saw them headed to the conquered world of Falleen as Yanibar ramped up its covert strikes against the Yuuzhan Vong and their allies. By this time, Terneh had earned the nickname "Ghost" for his secretive ways. In his off time, he learned all he could about the Avatars' systems, improving sensor performance on his vehicle and proving quite technically adept. He kept his feelings about intervention against the Yuuzhan Vong to himself, as he did with most things, instead focusing his efforts on preparing for battle.

The four Avatars dropped on Falleen. They were detected and attacked by a group of Yuuzhan Vong starfighters, but defeated them fairly easily. Advancing towards a ruined city, they encountered a large Yuuzhan Vogn warbeast. Rieves was used as bait by their commanding officer after their weapons proved ineffective, luring the beast under a bridge, which the other three Avatars then collapsed on top of it. Moving forward, they encountered Yuuzhan Vong infantry, but were able to clear them with ease. They then detected a large Yuuzhan Vong encampment, and upon seeing the piles of sacrificial corpses, Akira was horrified and understood why the Yanibar Guard was fighting the Yuuzhan Vong.

An airstrike was called in to destroy the encampment, but one of the fighters that bombed it was shot down. The four Avatars were sent to destroy the wreckage. While doing so, the ground beneath their heavy walkers gave way, plunging them into a cavern infested with Yuuzhan Vong. The four Avatars were damaged and encountered three enemy warbeasts. After a grueling battle, they managed to defeat them thanks to Rieves' tactics, but both Terneh's and Akira's Avatars were heavily damaged. Exploring further, they found that the Yuuzhan Vong were growing yammosk war coordinators, telepathic creatures that coordinated the Yuuzhan Vong war effort. Since their enclosure was heavily fortified and the Avatars had depleted most of their ordnance, Akira suggested activating the self-destruct on the damaged two Avatars to destroy all the yammosks at once, preventing any telepathic retaliation. They implemented their plan and Terneh ditched his Avatar to ride with Sneath for the exfiltration. The two abandoned Avatars self-destructed behind them, collapsing the cavern, while the remaining two Avatars were extracted with their pilots.

When the Yanibar Guard deployed to fight the Yuuzhan Vong on Rishi in 28 ABY, Sneathwas part of the group that went, piloting his Avatar to good effect, including rescuing a downed Yanibar Guard pilot and a group of commandos that were extracting her. After the battle was concluded, the Yanibar Guard withdrew from Rishi. When the Yuuzhan Vong War ended in 30 ABY, Sneath once again applied for a transfer for Yanibar Guard Intelligence, which this time was approved. He advanced rapidly through the ranks by 38 ABY and was a Senior Agent when the Yanibar refuge departed for the distant world of Atlaradis. Sneath went with them, having turned his back on Umbara forever.

Behind the scenes
Sneath Lapik was created as one of the four main Avatar pilots for the novella Blaze of Glory. He was written as quiet and secretive, with stealthy, secretive, and observant traits core to his character. out of all the pilots, he was the least developed, though he displayed considerable technical proficiency and spycraft in what exposition he received. His callsign was based off the MechCommander 2 pilot with the same callsign, a fitting tribute since the Avatars themselves were heavily inspired by the BattleTech series. Sneath was present in Force Exile V: Warrior, though he was not directly named. His name is a portmanteau of "sneak" and "stealth," befitting his personality.

Appearances

 * Blaze of Glory
 * Force Exile V: Warrior