Ayer

"As I told the commodore, Commander Vanto, the Sempre isn't carrying troops." "It's empty?" No, sir.""Excuse me?" I can't say anything more, sir. To any of you."

- Ayer discusses the Sempre with Eli Vanto

Ayer was a major in the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps who served as the stormtrooper commander aboard the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera. When the Imperial slave transport Sempre was attacked by rebels working with the criminal Nightswan, Ayer received orders from the Imperial capital Coruscant to board the vessel with his men without informing the rest of the Chimaera's crew of the slaves onboard.

By the time the Chimaera reached the Sempre however, the attackers and slaves were long gone, and so Ayer grudgingly allowed Commodore Thrawn and Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto. Thrawn worked out that the transport had been carrying slaves, and used the information to work out the next target of the rebels: the Imperial base Lansend Twenty-Six, where the slaves had originated from. The Chimaera then arrived at Lansend while it was under attack and helped defeat the rebel attackers.

When the Chimaera traveled to the planet Botajef in order to confront its Governor Quesl, who had declared that the world was succeeding from the Empire, Thrawn had the major and his men standby ready for battle before arriving. There proved to be little need however, as Thrawn realised that the succession was simply a cover created by Quesl to allow him to steal a collection of valuable art work onboard a CR90 corvette. Once the governor's ruse was revealed, Thrawn had Ayer and his men board the corvette and arrest Quesl.

A message from Coruscant
Ayer was a male major in the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps during the Age of the Empire. Under the command of the Chiss Commodore Mitth'raw'nuruodo, who was more commonly known as Thrawn, he served as the stormtrooper commander of the stormtroopers on board the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, the commodore's personnel flagship.

When the Imperial transport Sempre was attacked by rebels associated with the criminal Nightswan, the Chimaera picked up the vessel's distress signal and Ayer received a communication personally direct from the Imperial capital Coruscant. The communication instructed Ayer to lead a squad of his men onto the transport; which had been carrying Wookiee slaves, but not to inform his colleagues on board the Star Destroyer of the nature of the transport's passengers. Ayer then met with Thrawn, Senior Comm Officer Lomar and First Officer Karyn Faro on the Chimaera's bridge to inform them of his instructions to board the Sempre.

As he spoke to the group, Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto approached and Thrawn explained the situation to him. Vanto guessed the rebels were aiming to kill the troopers on board the Sempre, at which point Thrawn prompted Ayer to explain that there were no troops onboard. When Vanto questioned the commander on the matter, Ayer refused to divulge any further information and claimed that he and his men would not need any aid once they had boarded.

Arriving too late
An hour and forty-nine minutes after the conversation, the Chimaera reached the Sempre's location and found it drifting dead in space, the attackers long gone. Ayer and his men boarded alone nonetheless, discovering that the crew of the transport had all been killed and that the slaves were gone. With the need for secrecy over, Ayer reluctantly permitted Thrawn and Vanto onboard the Sempre but tasked his men with keeping them out of the slaves' quarters. Despite this, Thrawn ordered his way inside and quickly deduced that the room had been altered to accommodate slaves.

After learning that the slaves were Wookiees from the Sempre's audio logs, Thrawn worked out that the transport had originated from the Imperial base Lansend Twenty-Six. He then had the Chimaera flown there immediately, where they discovered the base under attack by the same rebels who had previously attacked the Sempre. The combined forces of the Star Destroyer and the base managed to defeat the rebels before they could rescue the remaining Wookiee slaves in the base.

The Botajef incident
"Major Ayer, your stormtroopers will board as soon as the vessel is secure. Take care with the prisoners; take even better care with the artwork."

- Thrawn orders Ayer and his men to retrieve Quesl and the artwork

Sometime after the battle at Lansend Twenty-Six, Governor Quesl of the planet Botajef declared that the planet and its native Jefi inhabitants were succeeding from the Empire. The Chimaera was amongst the vessels sent to deal with the situation, which Quesl had actually engineered as a distraction so that he could steal an incredibly valuable collection of artwork from Botajef.

Thrawn had Ayer and Starfighter Commander Yve prepare their troops for battle before arriving at Botajef, and upon arriving was contacted by Quesl, who attempted to goad the Imperials into firing on the governor's palace where the art had been housed. The governor hoped that the destruction of the palace would lead most to assume that he and the art had been destroyed, allowing them to escape onboard a CR90 corvette, but Thrawn saw through the ruse and had the corvette pulled aboard the Chimaera by tractor beam without destroying the palace.

Personality and traits
"What if they need help aboard?" "We won't, sir." "What if you do?" "We won't, sir."

- Ayer makes it clear to Vanto that he and his men will not need help aboard the Sempre

When informing his superiors onboard the Chimaera that he was not able to provide more information about the Sempre Ayer was apologetic and seemed particularly uncomfortable when looking at Thrawn. When Vanto questioned what would happened if the commander and his men needed help, Ayer became unapologetic and made it clear that the stormtroopers would not and that the matter was closed.

Behind the scenes
Ayer first appeared in the novel Thrawn, which was written by Timothy Zahn and released on April 11, 2017.

Appearances

 * Thrawn