Pug Neergoss

Pug Neergoss was the youngest son of Plod Neergoss and a starfighter pilot for the New Republic for almost twelve years. He was born and raised on Ord Zathuun where he learned farming and was the fastest Aqualish swimmer on the planet.

Early life
Pug was born in 3 BBY and led a rather uneventful life for his first few years. He worked on his father’s farm and was a poor student in school but in 14 ABY he managed to gain acceptance to a trade school on the other side of the planet in a town called Egrenth Creek. He joined a program to become a shuttle pilot and also joined the school’s swim team. Even though some nine million Aqualish lived on Ord Zathuun and his school focused very little on athletics, he became the leading Aqualish swimmer on the planet. As a freshman, he was able to compete on both Ando and Rintonne. Like every other Aqualish swimmer from Ord Zathuun though, he was not nearly as talented as swimmers of his species from other worlds and he narrowly avoided taking last among Aqualish in his first offworld competition. However, in his next contest he swam well enough to obtain several personal performance records and shocked his coach when he hardly even finished in the bottom half. Before his next season, though, his parents were killed by Stormtroopers involved in an undercover operation near his parents’ farmstead.

New Republic Starfighter Pilot
The death of his parents at the hand of the Empire affected him profoundly and he went visited a recruiter, Aia Le’tyu, in Kerrsh and informed her that he wanted to become a fighter pilot for the New Republic. Knowing that Pug had lost his parents to the Empire, the recruiter warned him that, while the old Rebellion had taken on many vengeance seeking recruits, the New Republic was no longer impressed with combatants who were emotionally compromised in any way. Pug lied and said he was not seeking vengeance but the death of his parents had simply been a wakeup call that the galaxy still needed people willing to serve and protect. His transcripts were satisfactory for the flight academy and his health and reflexes were superb.

He graduated from the academy in 17 ABY and was sent to a fleet in the Outer Rim he was sent to A-Wing squadron Eph and flew under the call sign Eph Nine. For several months, they chased a few pirates and mostly spent endless hours doing almost nothing. Pug realized that the military was large enough that he would see very little action. Only once, on patrol near Mygeeto, did they actually engage the Empire, but Pug had barely destroyed two Tie Fighters before the Imperials retreated and Eph Squadron was ordered not to pursue. When they returned to base, the entire Squadron was reprimanded for destroying a total of nineteen Ties in the skirmish. Eph Leader Dob Khynlleth quietly congratulated the squadron afterward. Two days later, the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty was signed, ending hostilities between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic and Eph Squadron was sent to Chandrila. For three years, the squadron was relatively inactive and the pilots often found themselves bored. Finally, in 22 ABY, they were sent to patrol the Triellus Trade Route through the Calaron Sector because of an increase in the number of ships disappearing along it. For several months they patrolled in B-Wings, finding nothing beyond the usual pirates who mostly retreated at the sight of New Republic forces. The cause of the increase in disappearances turned out to be entirely natural. A giant, nearly invisible cloud was moving through space and causing a few older navicomputers to misread coordinates and send hapless traders to their doom.

Crises on Erayyxa
The former dictator of Erayyxa, Sarqi Polpotta, was broken out of an Imperial Remnant prison by the Itching Empire in late 23 ABY and returned to his former domain and took over with the help of rogues from the Ailon Nova Guard. Because Polpotta was rebuilding the terrorist group called the Erayyxa Civil Defense League and speaking viciously speaking out against the New Republic. Eph Squadron was sent to monitor the situation from space by sending three fighters into the system for each shift while Jedi Knight Elbore Usha went to the surface to garner more information. Usha fed the squadron with information about potential targets for three days and then suddenly went silent. Khynlleth decided to take the other two members of his shift, Pug Neergoss and a human female named Yama Pezrok who flew as Eph Seven, and attempted to sneak onto Erayyxa. They agreed to land in separate locations so that if one A-Wing were discovered the others would remain hidden. As Pug flew in for a landing in the forested Lesser Stomæm Range, a Bp.5 anti-aircraft turret fired on him and caused him to crash-land. For two days, he managed to evade capture, slowly making his way toward the nearby city of Yuuruxuu. But then he discovered an Erayyxa Civil Defense League base camp and found that they had taken several prisoners. Estimating that the camp had about thirty men, he decided to sneak in and make contact with the prisoners. He was discovered and he tried to fight his way out, killing several guards before finally being forced to surrender. Pug was beaten, interrogated, and then put among the other prisoners.

An old Feeorin prisoner named Buk befriended Pug. Buk told him that he had been a member of the old ECDL that was disbanded when Sarqi Polpotta was captured during the Imperial invasion of Erayxxa after the end of the Clone Wars. Buk and a few other survivors managed to hide amongst the general population while some of the human ECDL members joined the Empire. Buk later joined the Rebellion and then returned to Erayxxa after it was liberated from the Empire. When Polpotta escaped, he had the help of the Itching Empire, a criminal organization led by Marthrull Strayfiend who was hoping to make the dictator an ally of the Imperial Remnant. However, Jaxe Minzo, a rogue Imperial Officer who had been in the ECDL during the Clone Wars when they fought against the Republic, approached Polpotta and convinced him abandon the Itching Empire and the Imperial Remnant and to become a major enemy of the New Republic. Buk and a few other ex-ECDL soldiers who had fought in the Rebellion vocally objected and were imprisoned despite the fact that Polpotta had engaged them to train the new generation of the ECDL.

After six days of being held captive in the ECDL base camp the prisoners were put in a Behemoth-class transport and taken into Yuuruxuu. They waited in a warehouse for another two days and then they were rescued by the Jedi Knight Elbore Usha and Eph Squadron. The other prisoners disappeared into the city and began to stir rebellion against Polpotta while Eph squadron escaped Erayyxa in an old T7.9 ERT Yard Transport. Yama Pezrok and Pug and both lost their A-Wings on the planet and were put in X-Wings for the upcoming assault on Erayxxa. The New Republic was victorious and Sarqi Polpotta was deposed. Jaxe Minzo had acquired a Lancer-class frigate called the Despoiler for the battle and Eph Squadron destroyed it. Minzo escaped into hyperspace on his personal shuttle, the Imperial Azure, despite the fact that Pug had damaged it. Shortly after the battle, Eph Squadron transferred from A-Wings to the new s.

Yuuzhan Vong War
Pug Neergoss was stationed with Eph Squadron on Dibrook Space Station serving under Commander Bylsma when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy. Almost immediately, refugees began pouring in and, shortly, the station was attacked by the extra-galactic invaders. With the help of the captured Heart of Artonrias, they won the battle. Then they fought in the Battle of Shramar alongside the Imperial Remnant in an attempt to rescue as many refugees as possible who were trapped on the planet. After the battle, they began escorting transports full of refugees to safer locations until Eph Squadron was sent to reinforce Fifth Fleet in Bothan Space, just days before the First Battle of Fondor.

Throughout the second year of the war, Eph Squadron remained with Fifth Fleet, always volunteering to launch daring raids against the Yuuzhan Vong in nearby sectors. As the Yuuzhan Vong approached Coruscant in 27 ABY, Eph Squadron was called to join the New Republic forces guarding the planet. When the Yuuzhan Vong captured Coruscant, virtually all of Eph Squadron, Pug Neergoss included, was wiped out. Only Yama Pezrok and an Oxoorian pilot named Ptorg survived the battle out of the entire squadron.