History Literature / InfernoSquad

* BaitAndSwitch: Iden shoots [[spoiler:Lux]]... only for it to be revealed later that she merely stunned [[spoiler:him]], rather than have fatally killed [[spoiler:him]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Mentor was close to Saw and Steela, and he mentions how he used to be a Separatist, then a member of the Republic, and it gets pretty obvious who it is.

* VillainProtagonist: the members of Inferno Squad are all hardline Imperials who see little problem in sacrificing innocent Imperial citizens to protect the Empire. [[spoiler: That is, until Seyn almost dooms Inferno Squad's mission in order to prevent the murder of hundreds of Imperial teenage students.]]

** Meeko served on the ''Implacable'', which was from the ''Series/XWing'' series.

* BecomingTheMask: All members of Inferno Squad save for Hask struggle with this due to spending months undercover with the Dreamers. Del strikes up a genuine friendship with Piikow, Seyn feigned feelings for Sadori end up turning genuine, and Iden ends up developing more sympathy for the Dreamers and especially the Mentor than she's comfortable with, [[spoiler:and is horrified at their deaths upon the completion of their mission.]]

** Lux returns after having last appeared in the Onderon arc from ''The Clone Wars'' and receiving mentions in ''Rebel Rising''.

** Staven from ''Rebel Rising'' is revealed to be alive, having been believed to be dead which is why Jyn is told in the ''Rogue One'' novelization that he died.

** Iden to Hask, after the latter executes every remaining Dreamer despite the mission not explicitly asking for it.

* DoubleAgent: All of the members of Inferno Squad become this for most of the book as they go undercover in the Dreamers.

* BetterDieThanBeKilled: All Dreamers carry explosives on them, so that in case a mission goes bad [[TakingYouWithMe they can kill themselves and whoever tries to capture them]]. [[spoiler:Also, when she accidentally blows her cover, Seyn throws herself on Iden's knife in order to spare herself from being interrogated and Iden from having to torture her.]]

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: So you've the Inferno Squad from the Empire, versus the morally-questionable Partisans. The Inferno Squad's purpose is to destroy the rebels, particularly the Partisans. The Partisans, now in chaos, have always been less than kind to even civilians, the injured and defenseless, and the people they're supposed to be allies with. But to be fair, one could consider the Inferno Squad to be ridding a threat to the not just the Empire, but to the galactic masses as a whole; the Partisans are still fighting against the Empire, who are pretty off the rails too...

* VillainProtagonist: the members of Inferno Squad are all hardline Imperials who see no problem sacrificing innocent Imperial citizens to protect the Empire. [[spoiler: That is, until Seyn almost dooms their mission in order to prevent the murder of hundreds of Imperial teenage students.]]

* WouldHurtAChild / WouldntHurtAChild: Staven organizes a bombing that would destroy a weapons factory and kill two Imperial dignitaries, but reveals that his actual target is ''the 400 teenage students present on site''. Most of the group sees no problem with it. The Mentor is horrified and calls them as evil as the Empire, but is powerless to do anything to stop them. Iden pretends to agree with the plan [[IDidWhatIHadToDo because she can't stop it without breaking her cover]], but the disgust she actually feels makes her swear to make sure this is the last mission Inferno Squad will ever have to perform undercover with the Dreamers. [[spoiler: And lastly, Seyn goes along with the plan at first but the enormity of what she's about to do hits her when she interacts with the doomed students, leading her to sabotage the mission at the last moment without telling anyone.]]

* MoralMyopia: A million deaths of Imperial soldiers killed by the Rebel Alliance aboard the Death Star are somehow, to Iden, more important than the ''billions'' that were murdered when the Death Star blew up Alderaan.

* VillainProtagonist: How evil each of them are has yet to be seen, but the Inferno Squad is with the Empire and they're the protagonists. 'Nuff said.

* BittersweetEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Despite getting to know the Dreamers as people, Inferno Squad has no qualms killing them and putting Lux in custody, but Seyn is killed, Iden was mistaken for a traitor and put on court martial, and she and Meeko have grown closer while she and Hask have drifted farther apart.]]