Pter Thanas

Pter Thanas was a hardworking Imperial Commander that defected to the Rebel Alliance after the Battle of Bakura. Thanas was noted as a diplomatic officer of the Imperial Starfleet, known for his ability to rule successfully without using fear as a motivator.

Biography
Thanas’ military career was attached to the Carrack-class cruiser Dominant. Early in his career, Thanas led an Imperial task force formed around Dominant against the Crimson Nova pirates. While the pirates put up heavy resistance against the Imperial forces, Thanas was able to defeat their fleet and destroy their base on F’Dann IX.

Thanas was the commanding officer of a mining operation on Alzoc III when he determined that the enslaved indigenous Talz workers performed at high rates of output when provided greater food rations. By rearranging his budget, Thanas was able to provide more food to the Talz and triple the mining outputs. The Talz repaid his kindness when they saved Thanas from falling down a mineshaft. When an Imperial colonel arrived six months later to replace Thanas, he immediately returned the Talz’s their food rations to their previous levels. A Talz leader protested the change, and the colonel ordered Thanas to destroy the Talz village as a demonstration of Imperial will. Thanas refused the order and was summarily reassigned to the newly Imperial-controlled Outer Rim planet of Bakura in 1 ABY.

At Bakura, Thanas served as the commanding military officer the Bakuran garrison and Dominant became the flagship of the defense force. He oversaw the operations of the minor planetary defenses and was second only to Wilek Nereus, Bakura’s Imperial Governor. While Thanas chaffed under the thumb of the Empire, his diligence as an officer may have saved Bakura.

When the Ssi-ruuk launched their assault on Bakura in 4 ABY, it was Thanas’ leadership that allowed the meager Imperial forces to hold off against the advancing Ssi-ruuvi fleet. Outnumbered and outgunned, Nereus dispatched a signal to Palpatine, unaware of the Emperor's death or of the Imperial Navy's debacle at the Battle of Endor due to Bakura’s remoteness. When the Rebel Alliance’s Bakura task force arrived in response to the message, Thanas warily accepted their military help while Alliance representatives negotiated a truce. The historic truce signed, Thanas led the Imperial forces side-by-side with the Alliance fleet, and together forced the Ssi-ruuk into retreat. As the Ssi-ruuk withdrew, Thanas received orders from Nereus to turn on the Alliance. Dominant opened fire upon and destroyed Flurry, flagship of the Alliance forces. The ship quickly changed directions, and pursued Shriwirr. With the aid of Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon, Luke Skywalker and Dev Sibwarra were rescued.

Clearly defeated, Thanas formally surrendered as commander of the Imperial defenses. After a rebellion overthrew Nereus, Bakura joined the newly formed Alliance of Free Planets, and oversaw the Imperial demilitarization. As the last of his troops left, Thanas quite literally cut himself free from the Empire, removing his rank insignia with a knife and accepted a commission as commanding officer of Dominant in the Alliance.

Gaeriel Captison’s election as Prime Minister heralded the creation of a Bakuran Defense Force to ward off a reemergence of the Ssi-ruuvi threat. Thanas was a natural choice to aid in the development of a force of new defensive warships and updates to Bakura’s system defenses. As they worked together restoring Bakura, a relationship developed and the two married in 12 ABY. Captison gave birth to a daughter, Malinza, two years later.

Shortly thereafter, Thanas was diagnosed with the debilitating Knowt's Disease. Thanas suffered through the slow killing illness, and finally passed away in 17 ABY at the age of 66 after Captison’s unsuccessful reelection campaign.

With the death of Captison at the Battle of Centerpoint Station, orphaned Malinza was placed with a comfortable Bakuran family and watched over by Luke Skywalker, who had sworn to Captison to aid the child in the absence of her father.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * Assault at Selonia
 * Balance Point