| Channus Brightstormer | |
| Species | Human (Malastare) |
|---|---|
| Affiliation(s) | Rebel Alliance
Alliance of Free Planets New Republic |
| Rank / Title | Major (Commanding Officer, New Republic Starfighter Command’s Equinox Squadron) |
| Performance | Michael Haspil |
| Creator(s) | Nathan P. Butler |
Channus Brightstormer is the tragic New Republic drug-addicted starfighter pilot in the Rayzur's Edge Audio fan audio drama Anthology: Addiction.
Biography[]
Major Channus Brightstormer served the cause of freedom faithfully under three banners: the Rebel Alliance; the Alliance of Free Planets; and, finally, the New Republic. He was also a Kolemegnazone addict, but that came well into his military career.
Channus was born on Malastare in the Mid Rim, four years before the Battle of Geonosis. At the age of fifteen, he was living on a nearby colony world with his family, when the metropolis around which the family home was tucked away in suburbia was blasted from orbit by an Imperial pacification mission, leaving their parents dead. Channus was left to raise his younger brother, four-year-old Tal, on his own.
A few years later, as resistance to the Empire grew, they were taken in by a freighter pilot sympathetic to the anti-Imperial cause. By the time that Tal turned eighteen, both men were learning the ropes of starfighter piloting. Soon, both were being groomed for promotion in the Rebel Alliance.
Channus received his promotion first, achieving the rank of Major and command of Equinox Squadron, based out of Malastare, just before the Alliance of Free Planets found itself invaded by the Nagai. Shortly thereafter, as the true intent of the Nagai became clear, the Alliance joined the Nagai in their battle against the malevolent Tofs. In the final assault against the Tof ruler, Prince Sereno, on Saijo, Channus was injured by a Tof soldier, leaving him in dire straits. He had been shot down while leading Equinox Squadron’s Infinity Flight over a battle zone, but while his own participation had led to injury, he found himself proud of his younger brother’s bravery in battle as well, as Tal led the squadron’s Null Flight in areas that were less dangerous, but just as strategically important.
Channus survived, but his wounds never fully healed (thanks to treatment with bacta packs, but no full bacta treatment, necessitated by a growing bacta shortage), leaving him with constant stabbing pains. Rather than report this ongoing affliction and risk losing flight status, Channus began taking the illegal pain-killing narcotic Kolemegnazone ("Megz"), the same controlled substance that he’d been given while in post-surgical care.
Channus’ first post after resuming his duties was Dornan Twelve, the Mid Rim’s central hub of Megz-running. However, despite the routine physicals that would come with any military posting, including Dornan Twelve, he was able to hide his growing Megz addiction from scrutiny. During a previous assignment, he had learned that he could avoid regular physicals by faking illnesses and being given a clean bill of health after each. He now used this bit of knowledge to keep his addiction a secret with short periods of abstinence from the drug. While this method allowed him to hide his addiction from superior officers, his clout among fellow pilots and Starfighter Command helped give him a leg up in keeping his subordinates in line. Speaking against him about the addiction would be a bad career move, especially since his squadron was made of hand-picked rookie pilots, who lacked the clout to make it on their own at that point in their careers.
His secret came back to haunt him, though. After delivering supplies to schoolteacher Lira during the move of a school facility to a governmental tower in the capital city, Krimman, Channus and his wingman, Kristov Walker, were forced to battle an attack by TIE interceptors from the Empire’s 103rd Squadron, sent to harass the New Republic forces on the planet.
Channus and Kristov cleared the skies, but a Kolemegnazone seizure struck Channus, causing him to collide with Walker’s X-wing. Walker crashed into a residential area, dying on impact. The out-of-control Channus also died in an explosive impact . . . with the very school tower that he had helped to supply. At least 142 lives were lost that day, all as a result of drug abuse, what Channus Brightstormer had always referred to as a “victimless crime.”
Sources[]
- Rayzur's Edge Audio Guidebook
Appearances[]
- Anthology #4: "Addiction" (First Appearance)
Behind the Scenes[]
- Channus Brightstormer is played by Michael Haspil. Haspil is a frequent voice heard in Rayzur's Edge audio dramas, as he played the roles of Jivs Korus in Second Strike, Zirik Pahl in Anthology: Dreamscape, Nolan in Anthology: The Mob, and Natavon Kova in Nothing Changes. He also played the role of Kirtan Loor in the only ChronoRadio Serial Edition to be written by someone other than Nathan P. Butler, the story Matted by Michael Galasso. To date, Haspil's only non-REA role has been that of Symon in Michael Sheridan's The Logan Chronicles.
- While Channus does not reappear in any other audio dramas, the drug to which he was addicted, Kolemegnazone ("Megz"), a substance created by Butler for Addiction is briefly mentioned in the second episode of High Stakes as an homage from Joe Harrison.