Eli Vanto

"There's nothing special about me, ma'am. In fact, I was on track to be a supply officer before he showed up."'' ''"That would have been a waste. You belong on the bridge, not the conveyer."

- Vanto doesn't see what his fellow officer, Commander Faro does

Eli Vanto was a human male who initially served as an ensign in the Imperial Navy during the era of the Galactic Empire. He would eventually be promoted to Commander during his tenure as a translator, aide, student, and protégé of the Chiss known as Thrawn. He would serve in many conflicts with Grand Admiral Thrawn, and would eventually be sent by him to the Chiss Ascendancy as an ally.

Early Life
Eli Vanto grew up on Lysatra, a planet found in Wild Space, where his parents owned a shipping company that operated in the Unknown Regions. Because of this, Vanto spent a lot of time picking up several languages, one of which was Sy Bisti. In later years, he became a cadet at the Myomar Academy in the Expansion Region and was on track to becoming a supply officer.

First contact
Near the end of his training at the Myomar Academy, Vanto and his fellow cadets were part of an Imperial scouting party led by Colonel Mosh Barris and Captain Voss Parck. While pursuing smugglers, they explored an uncharted planet in the Unknown Regions. During the expedition, Vanto and Captain Parck were summoned by Colonel Barris to investigate a hut which did not appear to match anything of known design. The Imperial scouting party also found eight boxes near the hut that were inscribed in an unknown language which turned out to be Sy Bisti. Since the Imperial droids could no decipher Sy Bisti, Vanto was tasked with translating the script. He found that the boxes were tracking information relating to a company called "Red Bype" or "Redder Bype."

The Imperial party proceeded to set up camp around the hunt but were attacked by an unknown attacker, who killed five Imperial Navy troopers and a stormtrooper. The attacker also killed a V-wing starfighter pilot whose craft had crashed nearby in order to study the craft's communications equipment. Despite the confusion, Vanto was able to determine the attacker was a humanoid and had possibly been on the planet since the Clone Wars. Due to the attack, a decision was made to evacuate the hut and everything in it aboard the orbiting Venator-class Star Destroyer Strikefast.

Meeting Thrawn
Once aboard the Strikefast, Captain Parck realized that the attacker had stowed aboard their transport and ordered that the hangar lights be dimmed. To the surprise of Eli and the others, the attacker surrendered himself to the ship's stortrmoopers. Eli recognized the intruder as a Chiss man, a blue-skinned species whom Vanto had regarded as a Wild Space myth. In his childhood, Vanto had heard stories of the Chiss and that they used the Sy Bisti language. While the Chiss could understand both Sy Bisti and Galactic Basic, he was more proficient in the former. Since Vanto knew Sy Bisti, Captain Parck tasked him with serving as a translator between his Imperial superiors and the Chiss prisoner. The Chiss introduced himself as Mitth'raw'nuruodo but allowed Vanto and the Imperials to call him "Thrawn".

During the interrogation, Thrawn admitted attacking and killing Imperial personnel on the uncharted world in order to test the mettle of his Imperial opponents. Eli also learnt that Thrawn had purportedly been exiled by his people for launching a preemptive attack on an unidentified foe. Thrawn then claimed that he had come to seek the Empire's help in protecting his people from various mysterious dangers in the Unknown Regions. Due to his knowledge of the Chiss, Captain Parck realized that Vanto was cut out to be more than a supply officer and appointed him as Thrawn's translator. Recognizing Thrawn's potential, Parck decided to take Thrawn to the galactic capital Coruscant, believing that the Emperor Palpatine would be interested in the Chiss warrior.

For the rest of the journey, Vanto spent time alone with Thrawn and briefed him about the Empire and his own upbringing on Lysatra. The Emperor was indeed interested in meeting the Chiss warrior. He summoned Thrawn, Eli, Captain Parck, Colonel Barris, and the other stormtrooper and Imperial Navy witnesses for a private audience at the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. During the meeting, Thrawn claimed that there were unspecified dangers lurking in the Unknown Regions and offered his skills, knowledge, and service to the Empire in return for receiving a guarantee of protection for his people. The Emperor accepted Thrawn's offer to serve as his advisor on matters relating to the Unknown Regions. Thrawn also managed to persuade the Emperor to permanently assign Eli as his translator and aide.

The Royal Imperial Academy
Since Vanto was due to graduate from the Imperial Academy in three months, he and Thrawn were assigned to the Royal Imperial Academy; which was regarded as the most prestigious of the Imperial Academies. Since Thrawn was designated as a "fancy-face soldier" who needed a little orientation in Imperial procedure, equipment, and terminology, he was also given three months to complete the course. Eli and Thrawn found the Royal Imperial Academy a hostile environment, with several of the faculty and students including Commandant Deenlark not welcoming the presence of a "backwater yokel" from Wild Space and an "alien." While Vanto was initially wary of the Emperor's decision, he came to appreciate Thrawn as a friend.

During Thrawn's orientation, Vanto briefed the Chiss about the xenophobic and regional prejudices within the Imperial military establishment. In return, Thrawn confided that he had indeed met Jedi General Luke Skywalker during the Clone Wars. After Thrawn experienced three altercations from the other Imperial cadets, Vanto urged him to report the incidents to Commandant Deenlark. Thrawn was unwilling to do so to avoid jeopardizing his position at the Academy. While talking, Vanto received a comlink message from the wealthy Coruscanti cadet Spenc Orbar inviting him and Thrawn to play cards while he and his friend Rosita Turuy were running corrosion tests on their alloy boards.

Thrawn accepted the invitation and met Orbar and Turuy at the laboratory. Thrawn beat Orbar and Turuy in a game of cards, earning the enmity of the two cadets. Following the game, Vanto and Thrawn headed back to Barracks Two. On the way, Thrawn gave Vanto a lesson in martial arts by shoving him against a barrier. Shortly later, the two were ambushed by three masked assailants. Eli managed to blind two of the attackers by hurling gravel at them. Despite being outnumbered, Thrawn managed to wound the thigh of one of the assailants. At that point, five other cadets spotted the commotion and the three troublemakers were forced to flee. Thrawn then accepted Eli's advice to report the incident to Commandant Deenlark.

During the meeting with Commandant Deenlark, Vanto assisted Thrawn as he related his theory that Orbar and Turuy had instigated the attack. Vanto also advocated checking their comlink records or the lab's own comm system. While Deenlark had enough evidence to take disciplinary action against Orbay and Turuy, he was reluctant to risk a political fallout. In response, Thrawn proposed transferring the three trouble-makers to the Skystrike Academy at short notice in order scare Orbay and Turuy into not causing anymore trouble. Following the meeting, Thrawn confided that Deenlark was beholden to Orbay and Turuy's family, citing the presence of a flatsculp depicting a sailing ship in the Commandant's office. Vanto also learned that Chiss comms were also equipped with emergency buttons and that Thrawn had purportedly been exiled by the Chiss Ascendancy for launching a preemptive strike on nomadic pirates who preyed on defenseless worlds.

Chasing smugglers
Three months later, Eli Vanto and Thrawn graduated third and second place from the Royal Imperial Academy respectively. After graduation, Vanto was greeted by both his parents, who congratulated their son for his success. Vanto also tried to allay his parents' fears about the Chiss. Their first meeting with Thrawn proved to be a brief and awkward encounter and they took leave, claiming that they had to catch an airbus to their landing platform. Shortly later, Vanto discovered to his dismay that he was to be assigned as an aide with the rank of Ensign to Lieutenant Thrawn, who was the Weapons Officer aboard the Gozanti-class cruiser Blood Crow. Despite his friendship with Thrawn, Eli feared that being an aide would adversely affect his career advancement in the Imperial Navy. While Eli was upset, Thrawn reassured him that his knowledge of Sy Bisti was useful because the Blood Crow was assigned to border sectors where the language was spoken.

For the next eighteen months, Ensign Eli and Lieutenant Thrawn would serve under the command of Captain Rik Virgilio, who maintained a respectful relationship with the two. The Blood Crow saw action trapping smugglers, rendering aid to distressed vehicles, and defusing potentially damaging political situations in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim Territories. Captain Virgilio was subsequently replaced by Captain Filia Rossi and Senior Lieutenant Nels Deyland. Captain Rossi resented the fact that Thrawn had his own aide. Despite her antagonism, Thrawn managed to convince her to let him keep several Clone Wars antiques including a droideka, two buzz droids, half of a STAP, and a hyperspace ring which he had purchased with his own expenses until they reached the planet Ansion. Eli was one of the few who was privy to Thrawn's secret that these weapons were still operational.

Later, Eli and Thrawn were part of a boarding party that was dispatched on a shuttle to search the derelict freighter Dromedar, which had been carrying a shipment of tibanna. Once aboard, they encountered a man named Nevil Cygni who claimed that his crew had been kidnapped by pirates. In fact, Cygni was the leader of the pirates who was also the enigmatic rebel leader known as "Nightswan". While Captain Rossi was reluctant to aid the kidnapped crew since she had more pressing issues to attend to at a Ho'Din settlement on Moltok, Thrawn managed to convince her to let him and Eli remain behind with three other crew members: Ensign Barlin and the technicians Layneo and Jakeeb. Thrawn also brought his buzz droids aboard the Dromedar.

While the Imperials searching for the ship's cargo, Cygni revealed that he was one of the pirates. Twelve other pirates including a man named Angel emerged from hiding and took Eli and the other Imperials prisoners. The Imperials were then thrown into a cage aboard the pirate ship's cargo bay with the ship's ten crew. After Cygni and most of the pirates had reboarded the Dromedar with the stolen tibanna and jumped into hyperspace, Thrawn hatched his escape plan. With the help of the technicians, Thrawn activated one of the buzz droid and used it to cut a hole through the cage. Eli along with the other Imperials and ship crew then managed to overpower the remaining pirates. The other pirates were killed when the second buzz droid exposed the entrance chamber and amidships section of the vessel to vacuum.

Despite rescuing the crew and capturing the pirates, Captain Rossi was displeased with Lieutenant Thrawn for taking risks. In retaliation, she suspended Thrawn and Ensign Vanto from duty and left them at the Imperial base on Ansion. Despite this setback, Thrawn put their suspension to good use by interrogating the captured pirates about where they had hidden the tibanna. With Ensign Vanto and Admiral Wiskovis acting as witnesses, Thrawn managed to convince three of the captured pirates to reveal the location of the tibanna in return for protecting them from the feared Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. After the pirates revealed that Cygni and Angel had smuggled the tibanna to the planet Uba, Wiskovis dispatched Imperial forces to pursue the remaining pirates.

Playing second fiddle
Following the events aboard the Dromedar and on Ansion, Ensign Vanto and Lieutenant Thrawn traveled to Coruscant to await their court martial. During the Ascension Week holidays, they befriended the Imperial Security Bureau officer Colonel Wullf Yularen, who took them to an Imperial ball at the Alisandre Hotel in Coruscant's upmarket Federal District for social networking purposes. The Lothalian Senator Domus Renking introduced them to his citizen advisory officer Arihnda Pryce. When Yularen regaled Renking and Pryce with the story of how Thrawn and Vanto had overpowered the pirates, Vanto reassured the Colonel that he was not overstating their case. Thrawn then responded that Vanto was being too modest about his own and his comrades' contributions.

After the ballroom function, Colonel Yularen informed Thrawn and Eli that the Imperial High Command had taken up Thrawn's suggestion and were investigating whether Cygni had taken the stolen tibanna gas to the planet Kril'Dor, near the Uba system. The two learned that Cygni had escaped the Imperial cordon and that he had somehow found a way to extract the tibanna from twelve of the cylinders recovered from the Dromedar. The Imperial authorities had also taken interest in a shadowy individual known as Nightswan. At the time, the Empire was unaware that Nightswan was a pseudonym for Cygni. To both Eli and Thrawn's relief, Lieutenant Thrawn was cleared of any wrongdoing by the court martial. Since Eli came from a shipping family, Thrawn asked him about the Imperial Navy's unusual purchase of doonium. The two speculated that the doonium was being used for some unspecified mega project.

Following the court marial, Vanto was approached by Culper, an aide of Moff Ghadi. She offered him a job as an assistant military attache to the governor of a prestigious Inner Rim system. Moff Ghadi was jealous of Thrawn's successful career and hoped to enlist Vanto's help in bring the Chiss officer down. When Culper revealed her true motives and mocked Vanto for his Wild Space origins, he turned down the offer. Culper then warned him that Moff Ghadi would make certain that Vanto's career would be of no importance. She told him to get comfortable with being an Ensign, exposing Moff Ghadi's intention to curtail his career. Vanto did not mention the incident to Thrawn, who informed them that he had been promoted to Captain and posted aboard the Arquitens-class light cruiser Thunder Wasp in the Mid Rim. Though Vanto would still be accompanying Thrawn, he was disappointed that he still had not been promoted.

Following Nightswan's trail
A year later, Ensign Vanto took part in a successful operation led by Captain Thrawn and Commander Alfren Cheno to capture a group of iridum smugglers on the planet Ulba. Eli and Thrawn found Cheno to be a more cooperative commanding officer than Captain Rossi or Culper. Thrawn and Eli had managed to hunt down the smugglers by using a trail of mollusk meat and makorr predators to follow their underwater transport. In their haste, the smugglers had dumped the mollusk meat overboard to make room for the iridium instead of periodically releasing smaller chunks of the meat. In private, Thrawn praised Eli for his growing aptitude for the art of tactics. Eli also discussed his months-long investigation into the Imperial Navy's procurement of large amounts of doonium for a hidden project. Eli and Thrawn also talked about reports that Nightswan had been procuring Clone Wars equipment and smuggled metals for unknown purposes.

Later, Ensign Vanto took part in the Imperial pacification of the Umbaran homeworld of Umbara. The Imperial assault on Umbara was commander by Admiral Carlou Grendling. Prior to the assault, Vanto informed Captain Thrawn that Commander Cheno had requested a meeting with him at the bridge. Vanto found that Thrawn had been studying the art of the Umbaran people. Vanto also informed Thrawn that Admiral Grendling's Imperial Star Destroyer Foremost had arrived in the Umbara system with four corvettes. Vanto told Thrawn that Admiral Grendling was confident that he could force the Umbarans into submission with these forces.

At the bridge, Vanto checked weapons diagnostics station while Commander Cheno confided that Admiral Grendling was impatient and had ignored his advice to wait for the rest of his force. Despite Admiral Grendling's predictions that the Umbarans would not attack, the Umbarans dispatched 400 Vulture droid to attack the Imperial squadron. Eli noticed that the Vulture droids were coming from an Umbaran moon. The Imperial ships were overwhelmed by the tiny nimble fighters, which exploited gaps in their deflector shields to inflict damage. During the battle, Thrawn studied the Vulture droid's attack patterns and concluded that they were being controlled by a transmitter on an outlying moon. After sharing his findings with Eli, Thrawn convinced Commander Cheno to countermand Admiral Grendling and order the Imperial ships to bombard the transmitter's station. Thrawn's plan worked and the Umbarans capitulated.

However, Admiral Grendling was furious that Commander Cheno had countermanded his orders and warned there would be repercussions. Following the battle, Eli briefed Thrawn about his findings that the transmitted had been operating from a building owned by a group of humans. These humans were strangers to the Umbaran system. Despite the lack of hard evidence, Thrawn believed that Nighswan had a hand in the Umbaran rebellion due to his involvement in mining and metal smuggling. After analyzing the shipping records, Eli and Thrawn reached the conclusion that Nightswan had engineered an Imperial takeover of Umbara's mines since it would be easier for him and his smugglers to bribe Imperial inspectors than the Umbarans. Thrawn also confided in Eli that Nightswan was trying to send a message to him.

Intrigue on Coruscant
Following the pacification of Umbara, Eli and Thrawn discussed the injustice of Commander Cheno being forced into retirement. While Thrawn was upset that the Imperial Navy had punished a competed officer who had won the battle and saved many lives, Eli explained that Admiral Grendling had been slighted by Cheno and had used his political connections to exact revenge. Eli also reassured Thrawn that it could have been worst since Cheno had protected Thrawn from being "thrown to the wolves." Eli explained that the Imperial Navy hierarchy did not accept Thrawn because he was not human and not from the Core Worlds. Despite the hostility of the Imperial hierarchy, the two endeavored to continue their investigations into Nightswan.

At Colonel Yularen's recommendation, Ensign Vanto and Captain Thrawn decided to accompany the ISB officer and two subordinates Roenton and Brook on a visit to the Yinchom Dojo, which trained and supplied bodyguards for the Imperial Senate and various ministry officials. Yularen wanted to investigate whether the dojo was involved in seditious activities. During their visit, Eli and Thrawn encountered Arihnda Pryce, a former aide of Senator Renking who was now working for the Higher Skies Advocacy Group. Thrawn also took part in a sparring exercise with the dojo's owner, the Togorian Instructor H'sishi. Following the meeting, Thrawn discussed his suspicions about the apprehensive behavior of one of the instructors, Juahir Madras. Thrawn also concluded that H'sishi harbored no ill intentions towards Imperials.

Following their visit to the Yimchom Dojo, Vanto and Thrawn received news that they would spend the next four weeks at the Imperial Palace with Emperor Palpatine while the Thunder Wasp underwent repairs. After completing its repairs, the ship would return to Mid Rim and Outer Rim patrol duties. Captain Thrawn was also promoted to the rank of Commander. To Vanto's dismay, he was not promoted. Though Eli tried to suppress his dismay, Thrawn sensed his friend's frustration. Thrawn realized that Vanto had held the rank of ensign a full year longer that was customary even though he had done nothing wrong that would have delayed his promotion. Vanto in fact knew that he had not been promoted since he had incurred the opposition of Moff Ghadi's aide, who disliked Thrawn.

Later, Thrawn met with Arihnda Pryce, who informed him of her problems with Moff Ghadi and Higher Skies. She asked Thrawn to help her protect herself from prosecution being threatened by Moff Ghadi, the same person responsible for impeding Vanto's career. Thrawn agreed, and in return she promised to make sure Vanto would be promoted, and offered to aid Thrawn in the political arena by using her political connections. At Thrawn's request, Pryce also agreed to use her political connections to speed up the repairs to the Thunder Wasp.

The Cyphar dispute
Honoring her promise to Thrawn, Pryce met with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and provided him with incriminating evidence about Higher Skies' espionage against high-ranking Imperial officials and Moff Ghadi's willingness to exploit information that Higher Skies had illegally obtained about Tarkin. In return, she asked for the governorship of her homeworld of Lothal and to give Eli a long overdue promotion. Tarkin accepted Pryce's deal and issued orders for the arrest of the Higher Skies members including the instructor Juahir Madras and Moff Ghadi. Tarkin also used his political clout to promote both Thrawn and Vanto.

Following the resolution of the Cyphar land dispute, Vanto and Thrawn were summoned to Coruscant for a promotion ceremony. Thrawn was promoted to the rank of Commodore. Then, to Vanto's surprise, he was commended for his stellar career, and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, an exceptional achievement for a junior ranking officer. Receiving their new orders, Lieutenant Commander Vanto and Commodore Thrawn were assigned to the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera.

Defeating Nightswan
Since the incident on the Dromedar, during Thrawn and Vanto's missions, one name in particular continuously popped up in their investigations: Nightswan. Nightswan was continuously trying to disrupt the Empire's plans including instances where he would try and stop shipments of doonium and Wookiee slaves from being sent to an unknown part of the galaxy for the construction of the Death Star, unbeknownst to him however.

During the Battle of Batonn, after Admiral Durril and his 103rd Task Force failed in their attack, Thrawn and Vanto, now a Commander, launched a mission into smuggling vessels in the area of the battle, Vanto finally met Nightswan, who was pretending to be a weapons dealer fleeing from Scrim Island, and who ultimately revealed himself to be Nevil Cygni, somebody Vanto had previously met on the Dromedar. Nightswan originally thought that Vanto had met him alone, and that Thrawn had been conducting the attack on Scrim Island. However, Thrawn had secretly arrived with Vanto, and faked a radiation leak onto the ship they arrived which gave Vanto the means to escape after being held at gunpoint.

Thrawn, seeing similarities in leadership, tactics, and strategy between Vanto and Nightswan, sent Vanto to meet with the Chiss Ascendancy, and specifically Admiral Ar'alani, who Thrawn believed could be a great ally to them in the years to come.

Appearances

 * Thrawn