Shoan Kilian

"Now, this is my ship, and my rules. I do not allow tourists on board, only soldiers."

- Kilian

Kilian was a traditionalist male Human admiral who served in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars. Around the first year of the war, Kilian and his flagship, the Endurance, became host to Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu and the Grand Army of the Republic's Clone Youth Brigade, led by Clone Sergeant Crasher. As Kilian mentored the brigade's young clone cadets in their first tour of duty, the Endurance was sabotaged by Boba Fett, the son of the late bounty hunter Jango Fett, who had infiltrated the cruiser with the Youth Brigade in order to take revenge on Windu for killing his father. While the Jedi, the cadets, and most of the cruiser's crew evacuated the crippled ship, Kilian chose to stay on board and honor his belief that an admiral should go down with his ship, even as the Endurance was pulled into the atmosphere of the nearby Vanqor. Kilian, Clone Commander Ponds, and a naval officer survived the Endurance crash on Vanqor but were then taken hostage by Fett and his three accomplices&mdash;Aurra Sing, Bossk, and Castas.

Although originally intended to be sold to the Confederacy of Independent Systems to fetch a sizeable profit, the three captives were kept as leverage over Windu when Fett and his associates were unable to kill the Jedi Master. While Ponds was slain by the bounty hunters in a message transmitted to Windu in order to lure the Jedi into their trap, Kilian and the naval officer were transported to Florrum. There, Bossk prepared to shoot them pending Sing's orders while she and Fett confronted the Jedi who had come to rescue the two hostages. However, it was not Windu who arrived on Florrum; in his place were Jedi Master Plo Koon and Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Tano managed to save Kilian and the clone officer before Bossk could kill them, and Bossk and Fett were taken into Republic custody. Following the ordeal, Kilian returned with his rescuers to Coruscant, where Fett and Bossk were imprisoned for their crimes.

Visitors aboard the Endurance
"But I only&mdash;''" "''Oh no, you're done. You only get one chance. I promise you, the Separatists don't give more. Next."

- Jax and Kilian, after the former unsuccessfully attempts to shoot down a moving skeet

The Human male Kilian lived during the last years of the Galactic Republic. During the Republic's ongoing Clone Wars against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he served as an admiral within the Republic Navy and commanded the Venator-class Star Destroyer Endurance. To a certain extent, he was considered to be old during his service in the war. Around the first year of the war, the Endurance became host to Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu, who were taking a respite from the war, as well as the Grand Army of the Republic's Clone Youth Brigade, led by Clone Sergeant Crasher. Kilian met with the young clone cadets at the Endurance gunnery deck to give them some first-hand target practice with the cruiser's turbolasers. He told the clones that few things were more dangerous in space than moving targets, and when Cadet Jax inquired what the crew employed for targets, Kilian explained that they used explosive-rigged mechanical skeet. Kilian also stated that he only allowed soldiers, not "tourists," aboard his ship. With that, Kilian began the practice session and ordered Jax to take one of the laser battery's controls.

When Jax was ready, the deck's on-duty Clone Sergeant fired a skeet into space, and the young Cadet attempted to shoot it down. Despite multiple shots, however, Jax was unable to do so, and although the disappointed Cadet pleaded to be given another chance, Kilian refused his request, comparing the situation to one of real life by asserting that in an actual battle, the Separatists would definitely not provide him with more than one chance. Cadet 1174 was the next one to try his hand at target practice, but like Jax, he was not successful in deactivating his skeet. As Kilian remarked that training was not an equivalent for experience, which none of the cadets possessed, he noticed Cadet Lucky giving him a rather hard stare. Noting that he knew "that look," Kilian nodded at Sergeant Crasher to give Lucky the next opportunity for target practice. Lucky complied and was the first to hit a skeet&mdash;in one shot, even. The gunnery's Sergeant then decided to test Lucky's abilities by firing a trio of targets out into space, but Lucky was able to hit them, too, with only a single shot to each one. While Crasher took his cadets to continue their tour of the Endurance, Kilian, seeing great potential in Lucky, noted to the gunnery Sergeant that Lucky was a cadet to keep an eye on. As the Endurance neared the planet Vanqor, Kilian returned to the Star Destroyer's bridge to continue commanding the vessel. Soon, however, Windu's quarters were hit by an explosion, and the Endurance navigation was affected. Kilian immediately ordered the cruiser's engines to be shut down until all systems returned to operational status.

When Windu contacted him via comlink and inquired if the ship's navigation had been damaged, Kilian reported that it had been but was repairable. Skywalker questioned if any attack ships were nearby, to which Kilian replied that there were none in the vicinity but stated that until navigation was back online, the Endurance was a "fat and easy target." Deducing that the Endurance navigation had not been the target of the blast, Skywalker and Windu realized that Windu's own quarters had been the objective of destruction and that there was an assassin aboard the ship. The Jedi began to sweep the cruiser with a squad of clone troopers in search of the killer, and Kilian joined their hunt for the fugitive near the Star Destroyer's reactors. Kilian noted to the Jedi that the more ground was covered, the less there was for the assassin to hide. At that moment, the reactors blew up and blasted a nearby hole in the cruiser to the vacuum of space. Most of the clone troopers were pulled out into space, but Windu managed to retain a grip on Kilian with the Force to prevent him from joining their doomed comrades in the void. Skywalker quickly activated a set of emergency bulkheads between them and the breach, restoring artificial gravity in the hallway. With the Endurance severely crippled, Kilian found Crasher and the Youth Brigade as they were heading for the safe room. Showing no fear to the cadets, Kilian told them to go to the escape pods and evacuate the Endurance under the guise of a drill testing for efficiency, commenting that the experience would make a "fine story" to remember.

Knowing that the Endurance was going down, Kilian told a clone trooper to prepare to launch the distress beacon. The Admiral went back to the bridge, where he; Clone Commander CC-6454, nicknamed "Ponds;" and several clone naval officers began preparations for the entry into Vanqor's atmosphere. Although Skywalker and Windu told Kilian that the ship's main reactor had been breached and ordered him to abandon ship, Kilian was adamant against doing so&mdash;not, as Skywalker believed, because he was holding sentiments about his cruiser, but because of his traditionalist belief that an admiral had to go down with his ship. The Jedi accepted Kilian's choice to remain on board the doomed Endurance and launched from the cruiser in their starfighters, along with the clone cadets and the other evacuees. As the flaming Endurance was caught in Vanqor's gravitational pull, Skywalker requested an update on Kilian's situation. The Admiral reported the cruiser's state and replied that he would try to set the Endurance down on the surface, and Skywalker in turn stated that rescue teams would be there to assist him once the Star Destroyer had touched down.

Taken hostage
"You don't have to do this. You're not like them. I can tell.''" "What do you know, old man?" "''I know a good soldier when I see one."

- Kilian and Boba Fett

Kilian lost contact with the Jedi upon entering the planet's atmosphere, and the Endurance crashed in the wastelands of Vanqor, crippled but with its bridge still intact.

Personality and traits
"It may be your command, General, but it's my ship.''" "We don't have time for that kind of sentiment!" "''It's not sentiment. An admiral must go down with his ship. I don't expect you to understand it, Jedi."

- Kilian and Anakin Skywalker, as the latter orders him to abandon ship

Notes and references
Kilian Kilian