Battlefront II: Inferno Squad Explores Moral Ambiguity in the Star Wars Universe

I have a friend for whom the entire Star Wars saga is the tragic story of the plucky leaders of a burgeoning galactic government battling daily against whiny dirt farmers, sassy smugglers, and prissy robots whose only goals are chaos and furthering their hokey religious cult. He’s not alone in cheering for the Empire, but the movies and TV shows have all been pretty exclusively Rebel propaganda—until recently, anyway.
It’s a good time to be bad in the Star Wars universe. We’re just a few months out from the middle movie in the new trilogy of films, which is traditionally the one in which the good guys get whooped. The novel Thrawn came out in April, throwing new light on one of the Empire’s biggest bads (even if he hasn’t made it to the big screen). In september, Delilah S. Dawson will take us under the shiny dome of one of The Force Awakens‘ breakout villains, Captain Phasma. And Christie Golden’s Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, the newest novel in the official canon, shows us life from the point of view of some of the Empire’s elite. (“An entire legion of my best troops…”) It follows a group of Imperial special forces commandos tasked with going deep (deep) undercover within the Rebel Alliance in order to uncover the source of a major data breach. Here are some reasons to side with the bad guys this time.

Rogue Two
Though there’s a number two in the title, this is really only a conceptual sequel to Alexander Freed’s Battlefront: Twilight Company. That intense novel followed workaday foot soldiers of the Rebellion, eschewing lightsabers and galactic politics in favor of presenting the lives of the women and men on the ground. This book turns that premise on its head, following a comparable group of Imperial officers from several different walks of life who come together to make up Inferno Squad.
Though the direct connections to the first book are minimal, Inferno Squad does serve as a sequel of sorts to Rogue One. Inferno Squad opens during the Battle of Yavin that serves as the climax of A New Hope, introducing TIE fighter pilot Iden Verso, who narrowly escapes the destruction of the Empire’s most popular public works project. Following that disaster—which we’re recently learned was largely due the theft of the Death Star plans from Scarif—the Empire puts a new priority on the security of data and related resources (where have we heard that before?). Inferno Squad is tasked with reclaiming vulnerable information, destroying it, or neutralizing potential leaks by any and all means. That mission leads them to the remnants of Saw Gerrera’s partisans, who were all but wiped out during Rogue One. The scattered survivors have formed a new group called the “Dreamers,” with the same goals and methods: attack the Empire on all fronts, and don’t worry about collateral damage. It’s discovered that the Dreamers are selecting their targets with intelligence from within the Empire, so the squad is assigned to infiltrate the group, find the data, and eliminate the source (the solution to the mystery will carry special resonance for fans of the Clone Wars TV series).

Women on the Front
To the delight of many (and the consternation of a few particularly vocal others), the current wave of Star Wars stories has been well-populated by women in major roles: Rey, Jyn Erso, General Leia, Mon Mothma, and Captain Phasma in the movies; Hera Syndulla, Sabine Ren, and Ahsoka on TV; and Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and Norra Wexley in the novels. Women have moved well beyond token status in the new SW canon, and this book continues the tradition. The Inferno Squad is made up of four individuals: Iden Verso (played by Janina Gavankar in the Battlefront II video game) leads the squad, while Seyn Marana serves as a cryptologist who also happens to be an incredible marksman. Given that the next major release is Delilah S. Dawson’s Phasma, one has to be concerned with pop culture’s dearth of evil role models for young boys. Who will inspire our young men to crush the galaxy’s rebels beneath their heels? Worrisome.

Family Saga
Like all great SW protagonists, Iden Verso is both strengthened and burdened by her family connections. Her father is Inspector General Garrick Verso, one of the Empire’s most respected and feared leaders. Given a number of job openings following the destruction of the Death Star, he’s given a presumably well-deserved promotion to Admiral. Along with her mother, an Imperial propaganda artist par excellence, he brought up Iden to revere the Empire and taught her no sacrifice is too great in the service of galactic order. He’s been a shadow over her very impressive career: an inspiration, sure, but his stature has forced her to go above and beyond to reassure her peers her achievements are her own. When she’s assigned by her own father to lead the Squad, there’s even more pressure to prove herself. She’s got some resulting daddy issues, sure, but no more than Luke, Leia, and Jyn Erso. SW is always, at its heart, a family story. Even if the family is evil.
Evil Intent
Christie Golden’s book doesn’t soft pedal the motivations of the squad. The story is told from Iden Verso’s point of view and, though some ambiguity creeps in, we always see the Empire as she sees it: flawed and overzealous perhaps, but ultimately a force for good in the galaxy. The methods of her squad may be…morally questionable, but when held up to the violent methods of The Dreamers, there’s the strong suggestion both sides have much to answer for. It’s a smart move, putting the most ruthless element of the Rebellion up against tough, competent Imperials who still have some scruples. As the team goes deeper, they’re forced to commit pretty horrific acts just to maintain their cover. It’s challenging in a way that Star Wars isn’t always. You might never look at our plucky Rebels the same way again.
Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, with a B&N exclusive poster, is available now.