Gilad Pellaeon/Legends

"I'll bet [Pellaeon] sleeps in his uniform."

- Cal Omas

Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon (c. 57 BBY&mdash;) was a military officer in the Imperial Starfleet who achieved the rank of Grand Admiral and, eventually, the leader of the Imperial Remnant.

Early career
Pellaeon was a native of Corellia, but at a young age, his family moved to Coruscant, which was his home until his early teens.

At the age of fifteen, Pellaeon lied about his age to enter the Raithal Academy. After graduating, he entered service in the Judicial Department of Starfleet and was considered one of its most promising officers. After brilliantly stopping a pirate raid at Gavryn, Pellaeon quickly rose through the ranks, eventually being promoted and assigned to the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera as its first officer. The Chimaera participated in the fleet action during the Battle of Endor as the second ship in the command chain (following the Super-class Star Destroyer Executor), during which the vessel's captain was killed. Following the deaths of Emperor Palpatine, Lord Darth Vader, and Fleet Admiral Piett and the destructions of the Death Star II and the Executor, Pellaeon kept the Chimaera fighting with the assembled fleet for another four hours under the command of Grand Admiral Teshik. When Rebel forces successfully disabled Teshik's flagship, though, Pellaeon attempted to salvage the situation and ordered the remaining elements of the Imperial fleet to retreat and regroup at Annaj, but all forces were not so willing to follow Pellaeon's initiative. Among those who refused Pellaeon's orders was Admiral Harrsk, who took those elements under his command to the Deep Core, becoming the Empire's first breakaway warlord. For his own part, Pellaeon remained loyal to the structured command of the Galactic Empire, first under the command of Grand Vizier Sate Pestage then, after Pestage's murder, to Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard.

Thrawn


In the years following the defeat at Endor, Pellaeon attempted to direct the remaining resources of the starfleet in order to maintain a united front against the Rebel Alliance and its successor, the New Republic. However, he lacked the legitimacy as commander to do so successfully; it was not until the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn from his tour of duty in the Unknown Regions that the Empire ended its string of defeats. When the Chiss Grand Admiral chose as his flagship the Chimaera, Pellaeon effectively became Thrawn's second-in-command, but not without reservation. In middle age, Pellaeon was known to find many of Thrawn's decisions and habits to be a bit outside of traditional protocol, most especially Thrawn's resdesign of the admiral's quarters aboard the Chimaera into a command room, as well as the Grand Admiral's habit of meditating for long periods of time concerning various pieces of art. Despite Pellaeon's misgivings, it was these sorts of habits and traits that would most effect the captain, most especially years later when he himself came to be a Grand Admiral. One the most important traits Pellaeon learned from Thrawn was to punish only those who deserved punishment, put aside pride and withdraw from an obvious defeat, and reward rather than punish subordinates' opinions.

Any dreams Pellaeon may have had of re-establishing the Galactic Empire were crudely shattered, though, at the Battle of Bilbringi where, in a twisted parallel to the Battle of Endor, Grand Admiral Thrawn was assassinated at the height of combat by one of his bodyguards. Without Thrawn in command, Pellaeon knew he could not win the battle; effectively Thrawn's second-in-command, he had no choice but to assume command, and ordered a retreat.

Rise of the Imperial Remnant
Following Thrawn's death, Pellaeon retreated to the core where he joined the massing fleet at Byss. It was during this time that he grew his signature moustache. From Byss, he participated in the campaigns of Palpatine's clones against the New Republic, eventually losing the Chimaera during the capture of Duro amidst the infamous Operation Shadow Hand. With the "reborn" Emperor vanquished, Pellaeon&mdash;now a Vice Admiral&mdash;was once again forced to retreat to the Deep Core, this time joining the forces of High Admiral Teradoc, one of many warlords fighting for control of the Empire, and was assigned command a flotilla of Victory-class Star Destroyers which he led from the 13X. When Admiral Daala suddenly betrayed Supreme Warlord Harrsk in exchange for talks between the warring factions, Pellaeon agreed to assist her; Daala would eventually execute both Harrsk and Teradoc, along with eleven other warlords. Daala, now effectively in control of the Empire, made Pellaeon her second-in-command, placing him in command of an armada of forty-five Star Destroyers tasked with attacking the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV as a vanguard for both the Super Star Destroyer Knight Hammer's assault on the forest moon and their planned campaign against the New Republic. Their plans were foiled, though, when the adept Jedi students managed to cripple Pellaeon's fleet and destroy the Knight Hammer.



Defeated, Daala resigned her commission and relinquished her command, in the process promoting Pellaeon to the rank of Admiral and the post of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Not a man to squander or abuse power, Pellaeon took the now-reunified fleet and regrouped. Realizing that the Deep Core was no longer of any use, he led his forces out on a series of relatively successful offensive against the New Republic with the intention of fully stabilizing the remains of the Empire in early 13 ABY, eventually working his way to the resource-rich Mid and Outer Rim, including the sectors of space now known as the Imperial Remnant. During this offensive campaign, Pellaeon successfully absorbed into the Imperial Remnant the Pentastar Alignment and gained the late Grand Moff Ardus Kaine's Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the Reaper, making it his flagship. The most famous battle of this campaign was the Battle of Orinda where Pellaeon, the Reaper, and the Imperial fleet engaged General Wedge Antilles, the Star Dreadnought Lusankya, and Rogue Squadron. Like most of Pellaeon's career, though, the victories would come to an end, and though he succeeded in stablizing the remains of the Galactic Empire into the modern Imperial Remnant, he lost a good portion of his forces, including the Reaper. By 19 ABY, only seven years since Daala's unification of the warlord factions, the New Republic regained the initiative and drove Pellaeon and the Imperial Remnant to a mere eight sectors in the Outer Rim.

During his campaigns, Pellaeon was successful in reaquisitioning the Chimaera at the Battle of Gravlex Med, which he had repaired and made it his flagship. Around that same time, the Council of Moffs recognized his merits and successes, promoting him to the rank of Fleet Admiral and making him chair of the council. Now an aged and rather wise commander, Pellaeon at last showed that he was indeed Thrawn's pupil when he decided to withdraw from an obvious defeat and proposed an to end to all hostilities between the Galactic Empire and the New Republic. He further showed the knowledge he had acquired from Thrawn when he allowed subordinates, such as Captain Ardiff, the Chimaera's commanding officer, to question his judgment without punishment, much as he had to the Chiss Grand Admiral. Despite his position, though, there were those who did not want peace, among them was Disra, Moff of the Braxant Sector, who devised a plot to have a con-man play the part of Thrawn in order to take control from Pellaeon. The plot, though well planned, was quickly foiled by agents on both sides of the conflict, eventually ending in Pellaeon signing a treaty of peace with the New Republic's Acting Chief of State Ponc Gavrisom aboard the Chimaera in 19 ABY, bringing to an end the Galactic Civil War fifteen years after the Battle of Endor. Sometime afterward, in recognition for his duty and loyalty to the Empire, the Moffs elevated him again, this time to the rank of Grand Admiral.

Yuuzhan Vong War
"I don't need your agreement, Kurlen. When I say that I am advising the council, I am only following a formality. This is the way it will be, because this is the way it has to be.  I am simply saving you the need to think it through for yourselves."

- Grand Admiral Pellaeon

In the years following the cessation of hostilities between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic, Pellaeon remained the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Starfleet. As the highest military authority in the Empire, he was a chief advisor to the Moffs, the governing body of the remaining Empire. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the Galaxy in 25 ABY, he drew upon his decades of experience as well as the lessons he learned from Thrawn, to lead the Starfleet into battle alongside its former enemies, convincing the Moffs that he would do so with or without their support and that the Imperial Fleet would follow him wherever he went.

Grand Admiral Pellaeon proved to be a worthy successor to his mentor, the legendary Grand Admiral Thrawn. Pelleaon managed to score victory after victory against the Yuuzhan Vong commander assigned to the invasion of the Empire, B'shith Vorrik, and went on to personally command the Imperial fleets dispatched to reinforce the Galactic Alliance (formerly the New Republic), eventually commanding the Imperial forces that assisted the Galactic Alliance in retaking Vong-occupied Coruscant. Together, the Empire and Galactic Alliance managed to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong invaders and bring a period of peace back to the war-torn galaxy.

Following the end of organized resistance by the Yuuzhan Vong, Gilad Pellaeon presented Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo with one of the few remaining pieces of art from Grand Admiral Thrawn's private collection, Killik Twilight, an Alderaanian painting that the Solos had once attempted to acquire prior to Thrawn's nearly victorious offensive.

Later life


While "The Old Man of the Empire" remained the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces as of 30 ABY, there was some question as to how much longer he would remain in command. By allying with the "Rebels", he became unpopular with a sizeable faction of the Moffs, though it is unknown how the general population felt about him, and there is some evidence that the Imperial Military was extremely loyal to him. That being said, sometime after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War he retired from all military and political responsibilities.

However, following the death of Sien Sovv in 36 ABY, he was asked by the Galactic Alliance Chief of State, Cal Omas, to come out of retirement and serve as the temporary Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force until he could appoint a permanent one. Pellaeon agreed.

In addition, there was a lingering question regarding whether or not Pellaeon may have sired a family out of wedlock, as it was intimated that the late Commander Mynar Devis may have been Pellaeon's son.

Behind the scenes

 * Gilad Pellaeon was created by Timothy Zahn.
 * The Essential Guide to Characters lists Pellaeon's homeworld as Coruscant. This was at odds with other sources, which listed his homeworld as Corellia. Force Heretic I: Remnant reconciled these two views, indicating he was born on Corellia but spent his youth on Coruscant, as described in "Early Career" sub-section.
 * The Dark Horse graphic novel Clone Wars Volume 5 - The Best Blades depicts a Pellaeon as captain of a Galactic Republic Acclamator-class transport during the Clone Wars. This Captain Pellaeon was in command of a Republic battle fleet during a battle over the world of Merson, a battle notable for being the one in which the Jedi Master Ronhar Kim and his Cerean Padawan Tap-Nar-Pal were killed. It is unknown whether this Pellaeon is the Gilad Pellaeon who later served under Grand Admiral Thrawn. It has been suggested that the rank of this character conflicts with Gilad Pellaeon's reported promotion to captaincy after the Battle of Endor, though it has also been suggested that his promotion to captaincy may be a confusion between rank and billet as commanding officer of the Chimaera.  Although his appearance and actions suggest the same person, he seems too old to be Gilad Pellaeon of Imperial Remnant fame. He may very well be a close relative of Gilad, his father or an uncle perhaps.

Appearances

 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Darksaber
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force
 * The Swarm War