Kesin Ommis/Legends

"Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?"

- An incredulous Derek Klivian, to Princess Leia Organa, prompting a concerned look from Kesin Ommis

Kesin Ommis was a Human male member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the early leg of the Galactic Civil War. A native of the galactic capital planet of Coruscant, Ommis joined the Rebellion about a year after the Battle of Yavin, serving as a skilled gunner on capital ships and starfighters. His longest tenure was aboard the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Tharen before he was assigned to the Alliance High Command's Echo Base on the Outer Rim ice planet Hoth. He served in the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY as the T-47 airspeeder tailgunner for Rogue Group pilot Derek "Hobbie" Klivian. Ommis was wounded in the battle.

Biography
Kesin Ommis was born on Coruscant, the longstanding capital planet of the Galactic Republic, and the seat of power of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. Ommis joined the revolutionary Alliance to Restore the Republic around 1 ABY, following the Rebellion's monumental victory in destroying the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin. He served aboard several Alliance corvettes and frigates, as well as starfighters, as a skilled gunner, including his last and longest assignment aboard the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Tharen before being sent to the Alliance High Command headquarters at the secret Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth by 3 ABY.

Following the Imperial discovery of Echo Base, Ommis was one of several personnel who were pulled from their regular assignments to serve as a gunner in the aft seat of the Rebels' T-47 airspeeders to defend against the Empire's All Terrain Armored Transports. The move paired him with Rogue Group pilot Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, under the callsign Rogue Four.

Shortly before the Empire's arrival in the Hoth system, Ommis joined the rest of Rogue Group to listen to Princess Leia Organa's briefing of the base's evacuation plans. The Rebels' various transports would depart Hoth one by one, under the cover fire of the base's V-150 anti-orbital ion cannon and alongside the escort of just two starfighters, which, they hoped, would allow the ships to slip by the Imperial blockade in orbit. Ommis, standing next to Klivian during the meeting, listened to his snowspeeder pilot skeptically question Organa about the chances of two starfighters taking on the might of an Imperial Star Destroyer, to which she responded that the ion cannon would be opening a flight path for the Rebel craft.

Ommis was wounded in the ensuing Battle of Hoth. Klivian's snowspeeder ultimately went down after being hit by AT-AT blaster fire, and then crashing headfirst into the cockpit of Blizzard One, General Maximilian Veers's lead walker. Nevertheless, Klivian survived.

Personality and traits
Kesin Ommis's combat abilities lay in his considerable gunnery skills, serving aboard Rebel capital ships, starfighters, and other craft. He was also highly trained in weapons operations. When the Rebellion needed to augment Rogue Group's snowspeeders with aft gunners during the Battle of Hoth, Ommis joined the elite squadron.

Behind the scenes
The character of Kesin Ommis first appeared as one of several unidentified Rebel pilots during the Rogue Group briefing scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The November 1996 Hoth Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game first provided the character with a name and the role of a Rogue Group gunner. Ommis's background was greatly expanded upon, including pairing him as the gunner of Rogue pilot Derek Klivian in the Battle of Hoth, whom he stands next to during the briefing scene in the film, in Josh Radke's Who's Who in Echo Base article from Star Wars Insider 74.

Ommis was included in Hasbro's 2008 "Rebel Pilot Legacy Series II" figurine collection, featuring the character's likeness from The Empire Strikes Back. Other Star Wars characters in the three-figure set included famed Rebel pilot Keyan Farlander, originally of the Star Wars: X-wing video game, and Twi'lek Red Squadron pilot Cesi "Doc" Eirriss, from the X-wing Rogue Squadron ½ comic.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back PhotoComic
 * Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground Hoth