Halmere

"Aaaargh!"

- Halmere

Halmere was a High Inquisitor during the Galactic Civil War. At the conclusion of the Clone Wars, Halmere was one of the many Force-sensitive adepts held by the Galactic Empire on the Deep Core world of Byss. There, he and his fellow captives were tested by the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, to determine whether or not they could be of use to the Empire. Halmere, along with Antinnis Tremayne, Lanu Pasiq, and Gwellib Ap-Llewff, were selected by Vader, while the rest were killed. Subsequently, the four initiates were made Inquisitors, servants of Vader and his newly-formed Inquisitorius.

Trained by Vader himself, the Inquisitors were soon tasked with hunting down a rogue Jedi who was hiding on Imperial Center. Identified as Jodd Sonta, Halmere, Tremayne, and the others confronted the fugitive and his Jedi allies, Ekria and Zonder, but were foiled during the ensuing skirmish, allowing the criminals to escape. Many years later, shortly after the Dissolution of the Imperial Senate, Halmere was tasked by Emperor Palpatine with interviewing former Senator Canna Omonda of Chandrila, who was a vocal critic of the Emperor. During the ensuing interview with Halmere, Omonda admitted to high treason, and was later sentenced to death.

Recruitment
"Halmere, get the names of everyone in this room."

- Antinnis Tremayne

A Human male Force-sensitive, Halmere was amongst a large group of Agricultural Corps members and other Force adepts who had survived the Clone Wars, imprisoned by the newly formed Galactic Empire and overseen by Sly Moore, a member of the Imperial government. They were held on the Deep Core world of Byss at the insistence of Emperor Palpatine, who hoped to have some of them made to serve the Empire. Not long after the Declaration of a New Order that had given rise to the Empire, both Palpatine and his apprentice, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, inspected the captives. Palpatine, before departing, released the captives' binding, setting them on Vader as a test. Vader, who had killed many Jedi in the prior months, goaded the captives, and they rushed him with makeshift weapons. Halmere was amongst the attackers, but Vader was easily able to fend off the adepts, until one captive, Antinnis Tremayne, turned off the Dark Lord's breathing device. Satisfied, Vader selected Tremayne and Halmere, as well as Lanu Pasiq and Gwellib Ap-Llewff to serve him, before having the rest of the captives executed immediately.

The four selected adepts became Inquisitors in the newly formed Inquisitorius. Halmere accompanied Tremayne, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff to the Jrade District on Imperial Center, where Tremayne addressed a meeting of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order's Sub-Adult Group. When Tremayne finished his speech, he turned to Halmere and had him acquire the names of all those present, as he had detected a Force-sensitive in the crowd. Later, Halmere participated in a sparring session with his fellow Inquisitors, overseen by Vader. During the session, Tremayne told Vader that he had detected the presence of a Padawan at the Sub-Adult meeting, which correlated with reports from the planet's lower levels. Halmere, Pasiq and Ap-Llewff were all outstripped by Tremayne during the session, who managed to push Pasiq directly into Halmere. By the time Tremayne had disarmed his fellow Inquisitors and finished his report, Vader simply ordered him to rid the galaxy of the Jedi.

Hunting
Tremayne was later able to divine that the Padawan was one Jodd Sonta, and that he had a Selonian Jedi companion, Zonder. The Selonian, however, was to unwittingly depart for Byss to work as a slave, and Tremayne was confident that Sonta would try and mount a rescue attempt. Tremayne boarded the slave transport alone to trap Sonta, while Halmere, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff waited for orders. They eventually were given the command to kill Zonder, and they moved in, blasters drawn. The Inquisitors found the Selonian accompanied by another Jedi fugitive, Ekria, and a band of other non-Human slaves. Pasiq demanded that the group surrender, but they were defiant, and attacked the Inquisitors. Zonder, leaping forward, bit Halmere's arm, forcing the Inquisitor to drop his blaster. Pasiq and Ap-Llewff were also subdued, as Halmere was attacked by an Ithorian.

Stormtroopers then entered the area, and opened fire on the Jedi and the slaves. Halmere, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff, however, were incapacitated, and unable to give chase as their opponents retreated back into the transport. The criminals were then able to escape on a Bantha-II cargo skiff, and Sonta was able to evade Tremayne's grasp. As the fugitives escaped and the Inquisitors were left empty-handed, Tremayne reminded his colleagues that as Vader was off-planet, their failure was to be kept a secret.

Interrogation of Canna Omonda
"According to Spinbalio, Halmere and his aides were quite surprised when Omonda began sobbing shortly into the interview."

- Coruscant Daily Newsfeed

By 0 ABY, Halmere had risen to the rank of High Inquisitor. Shortly after the Dissolution of the Imperial Senate, former Imperial Senator Canna Omonda of Chandrila spoke out against Emperor Palpatine in the media. According to a Coruscant Daily Newsfeed report, Palpatine requested that Omonda return from Chandrila to Imperial Center for an interview with Inquisitor Halmere. Omonda complied, and was given an escort of three Imperial Star Destroyers for her journey. During the interview, Omonda reportedly began sobbing not long after the commencement of the session, and proceeded to claim that she, as an Imperial Senator of a Core World, had used her access to classified information, and passed it on to agents of the dissident Alliance to Restore the Republic, which at that time was at war with the Empire. Omonda proceeded to divulge the names and locations of her contacts, who were arrested shortly thereafter. A spokeswoman from Halmere's office, Gretta Spinbalio, passed on the details of the interview to the media. Subsequently, Omonda was sentenced to be executed during Fete Week for high treason.

Personality and traits
Halmere was prone to screaming out in pain when bitten on the arm by large Selonians. He also registered surprise when disarmed by his sparring partners. According to Coruscant Daily Newsfeed, Halmere was startled when Senator Omonda confessed her crimes to him during an interview.

Powers and abilities
Halmere displayed enough aptitude with the Force to be selected from the group of captives on Byss by Darth Vader, for service in the Inquisitorius. He was, however, outmatched in combat by his fellow Inquisitor, Tremayne. Even when armed with a blaster, Halmere was unable to defeat an unarmed Jedi Padawan, demonstrated when he was confronted by the Selonian Zonder.

Behind the scenes
Inquisitor Halmere was first mentioned in the "Galaxywide NewsNets" section of Star Wars Adventure Journal 4, which was published in 1994. The character went unused in the Expanded Universe for 11 years, until he made his first appearance in Paul Ens' Evasive Action: Recruitment. For the comic, Thomas Hodges provided the first rendering of Halmere. The character was later given an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008.

Appearances

 * Evasive Action: Recruitment