Tycho Celchu

This article details a subject that falls under the Legends brand.The subject of this article appeared in the Rise of the Empire era.The subject of this article appeared in the Rebellion era.The subject of this article appeared in the New Republic era.The subject of this article appeared in the New Jedi Order era.

Tycho Celchu
Biographical information
Homeworld	Alderaan
Born	c. 16:2:23 BBY, Alderaan
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	5'11" (1.80 m)
Hair Color	Brown, later white
Eye Color	Blue
Skin Color	Light
Family information
Family	Atticus Celchu (father) Vivian Celchu (mother) Mia Celchu (sister) Pippa Celchu (sister) Skoloc Celchu (brother) Winter Celchu (wife) Leia Solo (foster-sister-in-law) Han Solo (foster brother-in-law) Jacen Solo (foster-nephew) Jaina Solo (foster-niece) Chad Solo (foster-nephew) Ashton Solo (foster-nephew) Rory Solo (foster-niece) Caleb Solo (foster-nephew)
Political information
Affiliation	Galactic Empire Alliance to Restore the Republic New Republic

[Source]

"Well, I can be them probably as well as I can be you. And, of course, you can be you better than I can be you. But if you’re them and I’m you, everyone is thinking outside the box."

―Tycho Celchu

Tycho Celchu was a renowned human male starfighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic, serving as Rogue Leader for approximately a decade, before becoming a general in the New Republic Defense Force.

A native of Alderaan, he joined the Imperial Navy as a TIE Fighter pilot. He was speaking with his family by HoloNet when the family home was destroyed by the first Death Star, an event which pushed him into defecting to the Rebel Alliance. Celchu quickly became an ace pilot with the elite Rogue Squadron. There he fought alongside Wedge Antilles, who became a lifelong friend.

Biography

Early life

Tycho Celchu was born on c. February 16, 1985 on the planet Alderaan. Growing up in the capital Aldera, he had two sisters, Pippa and Mia, and a brother, Skoloc. His father, Atticus, was the head of Novacom, the largest HoloNet provider on Alderaan, and Celchu grew to enjoy matching wits with his father. Throughout his childhood, Cellier was friends with a girl named Nyla Dalli, a relationship that blossomed into love as they reached adolescence. In c. 2 BBY, hoping he could change the Imperial military from within to be less aggressive, Celchu sought out and gained admission to the Imperial Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV and spent the week before his departure with his family at a Novacom cabin near the Wuitho Trifalls on Alderaan. Before leaving he had proposed marriage to Nyla, who agreed both to marry him and to wait until he had graduated, survived his first year of TIE duty, and been moved into fleet operations where his life would be more stable and he could devote attention to beginning a family.

He then shipped out to Prefsbelt IV, where he attended as a cadet alongside Derek Klivian and Biggs Darklighter, with whom he developed some camaraderie. He was taught by the famous and skilled pilot Captain Soontir Fel, whom he was never able to defeat in simulation. Fel built a rapport with his students and insisted on their loyalty to the Empire. Celchu took some mocking from his classmates for being from the largely anti-Imperial world of Alderaan, which engendered resentment. When Cadet Laine insulted Celchu's heritage, Celchu punched him in front of Fel. Fel, however, felt that Laine was at fault for provoking the attack and insulting a fellow cadet, covering for Celchu with the security forces. Fel did remind Celchu, however, that his loyalty was now to the Empire, not his homeworld. In his short time, the young Celchu excelled, frequently beating the older Darklighter in exercises. A few months later, Klivian and Darklighter defected to the Alliance to Restore the Republic upon graduating. Celchu, however, remained a loyal Imperial. In April of that same year, Celchu contacted his family, fiancée, and two of his grandparents via the HoloNet. He was speaking with them in a jubilant celebration when the signal suddenly cut out; he thought little of this as it had happened before, and planned to rib his father about the dropped connection later as he had in the past. He later learned that Aldera, the city where his parents home was, had been destroyed. The Empire blamed this on the Rebel Alliance, but Celchu could not believe this as he knew that the Rebels drew support from Alderaan. He could only come to the conclusion that the Empire had destroyed Aldera and eventually learned that it had been destroyed by the Imperial Death Star superweapon. His faith in the Empire broken, he decided to defect to the Rebel Alliance and bring down the government that had destroyed his family, home, and friends.

Personality and traits

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Tycho Celchu

"This is Captain Tycho Celchu, as loyal a son of Alderaan and the New Republic as ever lived. He willingly chose to subject himself to a surrendering of his basic freedoms in order to bring the Empire down. Because of suspicions about what the Empire might have done to him, it was felt he could not be trusted, yet this man refused to let those suspicions prevent him from doing all he could to destroy the Empire. Let there be no citizen of the New Republic who harbors suspicions about Tycho Celchu. His devotion to the New Republic is unquestioned."

―Mon Mothma, in a public ceremony to Tycho Celchu

Tycho Celchu was known as a highly courageous, honourable, dutiful and fair person. Celchu was typically reserved, not betraying his emotions during official business. He was also reserved about his past and did not speak much about his time before joining the Rebellion. For example, even his longtime squadronmate Wes Janson did not know his full background for years after joining the squadron. Celchu endured many hardships in his life, giving him, in Antilles's opinion, a look of perpetual pain in his eyes. That life of stress may also have contributed to Celchu's premature graying; his hair was beginning to turn white at the temples in his early thirties, and turned completely white by the age of fifty. Nevertheless, Celchu possessed an extremely dry sense of humor as well as a sharp tongue, which led to some labeling him as hard to work with and grumpy.

Celchu was initially loyal to the Empire, though he hoped to be able to moderate and reform it from his position within the Navy. The destruction of Aldera, however, drove him to defect to the Rebellion and take up its ideals. He became exceptionally dedicated to the Rebel Alliance and New Republic, fiercely determined to protect the citizens of the galaxy as those of Alderaan had not been protected. He was willing to subject himself to extreme restrictions after his time in Lusankya because it was the only way he could serve the cause. He was calm and accepting of the situation when he was believed to be a spy, as he was when he was charged with treason. He was internally angry about being arrested, but knew that displays of rage would only be counterproductive and so waited for evidence that would exonerate him. Overall, he was levelheaded, calm, and highly skilled in analyzing a situation dispassionately and acting for the greatest good.

Celchu enjoyed the philosophical discussion common on his homeworld, though he did not get much chance to engage in it within the military. Despite his affection for Alderaan, he had little to do with the Alderaanian refugee organizations which served as advocacy groups. He also disdained his family's philosophy of pacifism, regarding it as isolated from reality and foolishly unwilling to confront those evils which Celchu felt had no other solution but to be fought. This life of fighting led him to express a feeling that he was more at home flying in combat than living a peaceful life. He admitted that he did enjoy the military life as a young man, but after many years of combat service, a successful relationship with Winter, and the loss of many lives in war, he was eager to be able to live a peaceful life, even if his sense of duty never let him stay off the battlefield when the New Republic was in need.

When dogfighting with Corran Horn over Xa Fel, Horn used his connection to the Force to get a sense of Cellier's mental processes. He was astounded by the speed at which Cellier's mind worked, making seemingly arbitrary snap decisions while adhering to a master plan. Horn characterized Cellier's mental process while piloting as boxing in the target, analyzing every possible move the target could make, and having a counter-maneuver ready to keep the target within his sights. Even while being targeted himself, he was always mindful of how he could herd his opponent into his "box" and remaining unfailingly calm under fire.

Celchu was extremely good friends with Wedge Antilles, having bonded tightly with him over years in the squadron, and he came to be a faithful second-in-command for much of Antilles's career. In time, Antilles came to consider him family, and Antilles's daughters referred to him as Uncle Tycho.

Relationships

Romances

Nyla Dalli

Cellier knew Dalli through his entire childhood and was a longtime close friend. By the time he reached adolescence, he was certain he wanted to marry her, and she reciprocated that love. They spent as much time as possible together, eager to enjoy each other's company. He proposed even though he was under the legal age, and Dalli agreed to wait for him to graduate the Academy, make it through his first year as a TIE pilot, and move into fleet operations. He would then be secure enough professionally to begin a family. Cellier was tremendously certain in his relationship with Nyla, sure that she provided an unshakable future for him.

The Death Star's destruction of Aldera killed Dalli and, in so doing, eliminated that certain future. Cellier was traumatized, throwing himself into battle against the Empire that had taken his family and fiancée from him, dedicating himself to making sure no one else suffered their fate. However, in so doing, Cellier became a hardened warrior, someone the pacifistic Nyla would not have understood. He realized that, by taking the action he felt was necessary and opposing the Empire, he had become someone fundamentally unsuitable for Dalli, a loss which cut him deeply, though he accepted it as inevitable.

Winter Celchu

Winter: "?"

Tycho: "?"

―Winter Retchford and Tycho Cellier

Tycho first met Winter on Cilpar, where he was struck by her beauty, bravery and confidence. Celchu thought much about her after that mission's resolution, hoping to meet her again. When he did on Tatooine, he was overjoyed, and made every effort to flirt with her. She rebuffed him continually, though she was becoming fond of him inside, she did not want to become attached to the pilot, fearing having to suffer his loss. When she thought him dead, she was struck by just how much she cared for him, and gave in to her feelings upon seeing him alive, kissing him.

Celchu saw nothing of her after that, however, leaving him worried as to whether they had a relationship or not. Speaking with Winter disguised as Leia Organa during the diplomatic trip to Eiattu helped reassure him that she was fond of him, and her seduction of him on Eiattu confirmed their romantic relationship, which was only strengthened by their escape from Tavira. From that point on, they began a solid romantic relationship, one which quickly developed to the point that Antilles ribbed Celchu about spending his nights with Winter. Though Tycho and Winter found it hard to spend time together romantically due to their mission load, the two made a point to get as much as they could out of their time together, even if they were in battle. They understood that each had his or her own duties to attend to, and simply sought to enjoy what they could of each other. Simply knowing that the other cared for them provided enough support to get them through from meeting to meeting.

Celchu's status as a security risk kept him from being allowed information on her whereabouts. Celchu was left unsure for several months if Winter still wanted to date him or if she had moved on. Winter did still love him and believed in his innocence. Their romance rekindled, it was not dulled even by Celchu's treason trial, during which Winter visited him and continued to believe in his innocence. In c. 2012, they finally married, making their commitment to each other formal and permanent. With Celchu's retirement, they got to spend much more time together, though the Yuuzhan Vong War separated them once more. By the end of that war, Winter was determined that she and Tycho would return to domestic life.

Powers and abilities

"There are some people who have minds so slow that you can almost hear synapses firing at a torpid pace. Others are so quick-witted you end up marveling at connections they make, but only after the five or ten minutes it takes you to unravel their thought processes. And then there are people whose minds move in multiple dimensions, all at lightspeed, leaving you unable to even begin to guess how their minds work. Tycho Celchu had such a mind, but what impressed me about him was not the speed with which he thought, but the cool deliberation that defined the way he thought."

―Corran Horn

Celchu was known as a skilled duelist.