Gilad Pellaeon

"It's been a long road, sir. Long and hard and discouraging. For all of us, but mostly for you."

- Ardiff to Gilad Pellaeon

Gilad Pellaeon was a dedicated naval officer, serving for seven decades in the fleets of the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, Imperial Remnant, and Galactic Alliance, rising to the position of supreme commander for the latter two governments. Pellaeon began his career in the Republic's Judicial Forces, where he ascended the ranks and captained the assault ship Leveler during the Clone Wars. Pellaeon developed a strong attachment to the navy as an institution, and when the Republic became the Empire, Pellaeon continued serving aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera.

At the Battle of Endor, the Chimaera fell into Pellaeon's command, and he issued the retreat order. Captain Pellaeon remained in combat as one of the fleet's more prominent officers until the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who selected the Chimaera as his flagship and made Pellaeon his right-hand man. Pellaeon grew to respect and admire Thrawn throughout the Grand Admiral's campaign against the New Republic, but when Thrawn was assassinated at the Battle of Bilbringi, Pellaeon again was forced to call a retreat. After Thrawn's death and the failed return of Palpatine, the Empire crumbled around Pellaeon. He found himself serving as the second-in-command of the warlord Teradoc, but when Admiral Natasi Daala shared with him her vision of rebuilding the Empire and ending warlordism, he defected to her and played a key role in forming the Imperial Remnant.

Upon Daala's defeat at Yavin 4, she turned command of the Remnant over to Admiral Pellaeon, making him Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Pellaeon rebuilt the fleet and fought a series of campaigns against the New Republic, but was frequently driven back as the Remnant's resources shriveled. In 19 ABY, Pellaeon finally accepted that the only way for the Empire to survive was through a peace treaty, and forced the Council of Moffs to accept a truce with the New Republic. When the Imperial capital fell to the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong invaders years later, Pellaeon played on the Imperial fleet's absolute loyalty to him to overcome the old-line moffs' resistance and join the newly formed Galactic Alliance, leading a series of victories over the Yuuzhan Vong. At the war's close, Pellaeon retired, but returned to serve as the supreme commander of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force when his predecessor Sien Sovv was killed. In that capacity, Pellaeon led the Galactic Alliance through the Swarm War and the early stages of the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War before once more retiring. He returned to service as the head of state of the Imperial Remnant, but died in 40 ABY at Fondor, assassinated by Tahiri Veila when he refused to support Jacen Solo's faction of the Galactic Alliance.

Building a naval career
"I remember those days well. In some ways, I'd prefer not to."

- Gilad Pellaeon to Leia Organa Solo

Gilad Pellaeon was born in 52 BBY on Corellia, where he stayed long enough to develop memories of his homeworld. However, Pellaeon spent the majority of his formative years on Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic. Pellaeon did not care for the ecumenopolis, however, and always enjoyed departing it; he never considered it his home. Pellaeon's great ambition was to become a naval officer, and to that end he submitted his application to the elite Raithal Academy. He was not yet of age to enter, being only fifteen years old, and had falsified the data on his application to give a suitable age. The deception was apparently not discovered, as he was accepted. Pellaeon's academic career was above-average but not outstanding; he graduated in the top third of his class.

An undistinguished graduate, Pellaeon entered the Judicial Forces as an ensign. His first assignment was commanding an escort craft for a convoy of transports destined for Gavryn. When pirates attacked the convoy over Gavryn, Pellaeon avoided capture by flying near the magnetic pole, where the pirate craft's sensors were disrupted. When the vessel began to board the transports, Pellaeon's escort craft sprang from hiding and pounced on the pirate ship, destroying it and saving the convoy. His quick thinking impressed his superiors, who rewarded the young man with a series of promotions, causing a sharp uptick in what might otherwise have been an unremarkable career. As of 27 BBY, Pellaeon was placed high enough to hear rumors of the Outbound Flight project, but not enough to know much about it.



When the Confederacy of Independent Systems formed and the Clone Wars began, the Judicial Forces were folded into the reformed Republic Navy. Pellaeon served loyally throughout the Clone Wars with the rank of captain and command of the Acclamator-class assault ship Leveler. Pellaeon could not stand his communications officer, a man of weak skills who had gotten his position only due to his father's rank in the fleet. Approximately sixteen months into the Clone Wars, Pellaeon commanded a small fleet providing orbital support for Jedi General Ronhar Kim's invasion of Merson. The assault was a trap, however, devised by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to remove the troublesome Kim. Intelligence estimates vastly underrated the enemy presence, and Pellaeon had all he could do to preserve his ship, keeping him from rendering any aid to Kim and his troops pinned on the ground. In fact, Pellaeon judged the situation a complete loss and ordered a withdrawal, deciding it better to save his ships from destruction than to attempt to save the troops and die in the process. Kim's Padawan, Tap-Nar-Pal, indignantly ordered Pellaeon to hold his position, but did not have the authority to give orders to Pellaeon, and the naval officer made sure he knew it. Kim agreed with Pellaeon's assessment, approved the withdrawal, and ordered Tap-Nar-Pal, who was piloting a starfighter, to leave with Pellaeon. The Padawan refused and died in battle; Pellaeon withdrew and lived to fight another day. In that same month, Pellaeon, now under Jedi General Mas Missur, was assigned to take the Leveler to Gaftikar to support a rebellion by the Marit population which would secure the world's mineral wealth for the Republic. Pellaeon's small task force engaged Separatist ships over the world before deploying its forces to support the Marits, sustaining minimal casualties. Over the course of the war, Pellaeon developed a respect for the clone troopers and regarded them as fully human, unlike many other fleet personnel. Pellaeon later recalled fighting unstable clones as part of the fleet; he may well have spent the last months of the war serving in the siege of Saleucami, in which a clone Morgukai army was destroyed.

When the Clone Wars came to an end and the Galactic Senate declared Palpatine Emperor and reformed the Republic as the Galactic Empire, Pellaeon continued serving in the new Imperial Navy. In short order, the Imperator-class Star Destroyer was introduced and Pellaeon was assigned to one, the Chimaera, as soon as it was built. He served as part of the command crew and was quickly made executive officer aboard the ship. During the years after the Empire's formation, the Chimaera sometimes undertook slaving raids to Kashyyyk on which Pellaeon served. During those years, Pellaeon had the opportunity to serve under such various and illustrious personages as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Darth Vader, Admiral Firmus Piett, and Emperor Palpatine himself.