Delak Krennel

"I've always viewed generosity as a weakness, to be exploited. Ruthlessly exploited."

- Delak Krennel

Delak Krennel was an Imperial admiral-turned-warlord in the years following Emperor Palpatine's death.

Krennel was a muscular male Human with a cybernetic replacement from the elbow down on his right arm to replace a loss during battle with another Imperial warlord's forces. The replacement glowed red when Krennel would use it in a way that would normally require muscle use, a feature that instilled fear in his subordinates.

Biography
Krennel was born on Corulag. At a young age, he demonstrated the firm Humanocentrism that would mark his later career when he helped his father burn down alien-owned farmlands so they could be seized by a Human agro-combine.

He began his Imperial service when he joined the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy. His academy record was relatively undistinguished, except for several prizes as an intramural unarmed combat champion (in later years, Krennel still kept himself in fighting trim, and his abilities were only enhanced by his mechanical arm).

Upon graduation, Krennel rose through the ranks and was eventually assigned to Thrawn's Unknown Regions armada, as an admiral in command of the Reckoning. Krennel resented serving beneath a nonhuman officer and chose to disobey an order to subjugate a world. Instead, Krennel chose to pacify it via bombardment, a choice that saw him recalled to Coruscant for a personal punishment from Palpatine. Before Palpatine could deliver his judgment, he perished at Endor. In the chaos that followed, Krennel fled the fleet and styled himself as a warlord, with the title of "Prince-Admiral", in the ensuing Imperial Civil War.



Early in the conflict, Krennel aligned with General Paltr Carvin, but accepted orders from the burgeoning authority of Ysanne Isard. On Isard's orders, Krennel attempted to capture Leia Organa on Axxila, but was stopped by an AT3 directive issued by Soontir Fel at the behest of Sate Pestage. The interruption irked Krennel, causing him to offer his allegiance directly to Isard in exchange for aid in retrieving Pestage. When Pestage escaped the New Republic, he sought asylum with Krennel, unaware of his hatred for the Grand Vizier. Krennel strangled Pestage and seized his holdings in the Ciutric Hegemony, before coldly murdering Pestage's entire family.

During Thrawn's campaign, Krennel offered monetary support and pretended to pay heed to his former commander's call for unity. After the defeat of Thrawn at Bilbringi, Krennel was targeted to be an example to warlords of the New Republic's newly strengthened policy against them.

With the clone Isard, Krennel began a plot to sow chaos in the New Republic between Human and nonhuman species, waylay freight traffic to Coruscant at Liinade III, and conquer Coruscant. Rogue Squadron put their plans to a quick end, with the aid of the original Ysanne Isard. Wedge Antilles forwarded intelligence provided by Isard to the New Republic Defense Fleet, which dispatched a flotilla to Ciutric before Krennel's forces could launch their attack. The flotilla, under the command of Admiral Ackbar crushed Krennel's forces in a Thrawn Pincer and seized the shield-stripped capital of the Hegemony. Krennel died aboard his flagship, Reckoning, when a concussion missile launched from either the Selonian Fire or Corusca Fire struck the forward viewport, shatter the viewport and sending shards through Krennel. When it exploded, Krennel and the entire bridge were destroyed.

Personality and Traits
"Why study the art of a species when I know all I need to know to destroy that species?"

- Delak Krennel

Krennel was a competent tactician and strategist (as evidenced by his promotion to Imperial Admiral), but he was a brutal man by nature and had little tolerance for the subtler approaches espoused by two of his old superiors, Thrawn and Isard. His reflexive response to any obstacle was to crush it.

During his brief tutelage by Isard's clone as ruler of the Citruic Hegemony, he began to experiment with political propaganda and other means of manipulating opinion in his favor, presenting himself as a sympathetic ruler rather than a tyrant. He started to see the effectiveness of these methods and flattered himself that he was a quick learner and would soon be able to master them without "Isard's" help. His death in battle cut short any promise he might have shown.

Appearances

 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Masquerade
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Mandatory Retirement
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge