"Scorched" by Delilah S. Dawson

     "Scorched" is a short story in Star Wars Insider Issue #165, May/June 2016. To get the full impact of what's going on, you have to read Bloodline first. Greer Sonnel, Leia's senatorial aide and pilot in Bloodline is the main character of this piece, and her history with a certain illness comes front and center. She knows something is wrong but doesn't know what it is...and most certainly doesn't believe it could possibly be bloodburn. Personally, I think the title references the illness itself which was quite ingenious in a sneaky sort of way.
     We find Greer piloting the mysterious and dangerous race called The Gauntlet on Corellia in her beat up, but modified, A-wing, The Ossifrage. Pilots don't know the course for the race until the starting bell rings. During the course she comes head to head with an older racer piloting an A-wing with double engines. Just who is this mysterious racer? I had so many ideas but was still surprised by the answer which should have been an obvious one. It left me sucking in my breath when I found out who it was. Pretty cool stuff.
     I would say this short story has it all: action, connections with other Star Wars canon, surprises, and something new. We've only ever really seen a Star Wars flight race before in the Han Solo short run comic series, so this was an exciting look at a mostly unexplored arena in canon. Dawson does a fabulous job of capturing Pamarthe and its people, and I was very pleased to see an author besides Claudia Gray take on a world that she created. Definitely made up for the frustratingness of Phasma and now I look forward to reading Dawson's e-book The Perfect Weapon.