Pter Thanas Pter Thanas was a male Coruscanti Human Imperial Navy commander who defected to the Rebel Alliance after the Bakura Incident during the Galactic Civil War . Thanas was noted as a diplomatic officer of the Imperial Starfleet , known for his ability to rule successfully without using fear as a motivator . Early in his career , he led an Imperial task force against the Crimson Nova pirates on F ' Dann IX . During a tour of duty on icy Alzoc III , he became popular among the native Talz laborers for his progressive policies . By increasing their food budgets , he was able to increase the mine ' s work output and also win the hearts and minds of the Talz . When a less sympathetic Imperial colonel arrived and reduced their rations to previous levels , this provoked an uprising among the laborers . For refusing to crush the uprising , Thanas was reassigned to the newly occupied planet of Bakura in 1 BBY . There , he became the commander of the local Imperial naval defense and answered only to the Governor Nereus . In 4 ABY , Bakura was invaded by the saurian Ssi - ruu vi Imperium which quickly wiped out half the garrison and blockaded Bakura . Shortly after the Battle of Endor , a Rebel Alliance fleet arrived to relieve the Imperials after receiving a request for help . Following the Bakura Truce between the Alliance and the Empire , Thanas cooperated with the Alliance and developed an intimate relationship with Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker . However , with the defeat of the Ssi - ruuk , Nereus ordered Thanas to turn on the Alliance fleet . In the ensuing chaos , Thanas ' flagship the " Dominant " destroyed several Rebel ships . In response , Han Solo nearly attempted to dislodge the " Dominant " from the Imperial formation by ramming the cruiser with his starship the " Millennium Falcon " . However , Skywalker ' s communications with Thanas via the Force helped convince him to change sides . As a gesture , Thanas opened fire on the Ssi - ruuvi cruiser " Shriwirr " and sent a medical team to treat the mortally wounded Dev Sibwarra . With the death of Nereus and the surrender of the Imperial garrison under favorable terms , an awed Thanas defected to his former enemies . In 12 ABY , he married the Bakuran Prime Minister Gaeriel Captison . Shortly thereafter Captison gave birth to a daughter , Malinza . Three years later , Thanas was diagnosed with the debilitating Knowt ' s Disease . Thanas suffered through the slow killing illness , and finally passed away in 16 ABY at the age of 64 after Captison ' s unsuccessful reelection campaign . Biography . Imperial service . The Human male Pter Thanas was born and raised on the galactic capital of Coruscant prior to joining the Imperial Navy . His military career was attached to the " Carrack " - class cruiser " Dominant " . Early in his career , Thanas led an Imperial task force formed around the " 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 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 world of Bakura in 1 ABY . At Bakura , Thanas served as the commanding military officer of the Bakuran garrison and the " Dominant " became the flagship of the defense force . As a relatively strategically unimportant planet , the military garrison at Bakura was equipped with downscaled warships . 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 . A Common Enemy . While the Battle of Endor was taking place in 4 ABY , the saurian Ssi - Ruu vi Imperium invaded the Bakura system , annihilating half of the tiny Imperial - Bakuran defense force and seizing most of the outer system outposts . These saurians hailed from the distant reaches of Unknown Regions and were scouting Imperial space . They brought a sizable fleet with them , including at least one Ssi - ruuvi assault carrier , as well as large numbers of battle droids . An outpost in the sixth planet of the Bakuran system was utterly destroyed and a command signal for Ssi - ruuk droids established in its vicinity . The Ssi - ruuvi fleet then blockaded the space around Bakura . With half of the Imperial fleet destroyed , Thanas quickly ordered a withdrawal of the remaining vessels to Bakura . This decision saved many lives as it allowed the meager Imperial forces to recuperate and hold off against the advancing Ssi - ruuvi fleet . Recovery crew had reported that the Ssi - ruuk had left no survivors or bodies for inexplicable reasons . Later , it was learned that these unfortunate prisoners had been captured by the reptilian Ssi - ruuk and subjected to entechment . The Bakurans also received a transmission from Sibwarra that told them of the fate they soon experience — that of entechment — and although Sibwarra described it as an eternal release , the Bakurans knew that was a lie . In response to heavy casualties , his superior Nereus sent an antique Message Droid to the forest moon of Endor after failing to contact Imperial Center and the Death Star II , to contact his Imperial superiors and ask for assistance to fend off the invasion force . Endor was the nearest world with a sizable Imperial presence to Bakura as the site of the Second Death Star . Around the time Bakura was being invaded , Rebel Alliance forces had launched an attack on the Imperial presence as part of a plot to destroy both the second Death Star and the visiting Emperor Palpatine . During the ensuing Battle of Endor , the Alliance succeeded in these goals and scattered much of the Imperial fleet , though they sustained heavy casualties of their own . The following day , the message droid arrived in the Forest Moon of Endor and was retrieved by Alliance forces who proceeded to discover its contents . Decoding the message drone ' s coded message , Alliance technicians and slicers learned of Bakura ' s plight and the potential threat of the Ssi - ruuk to the Galaxy . By conquering Bakura , the Ssi - ruuk hoped to establish a beachhead for an invasion of the known galaxy especially the populated Core Worlds . Despite their animosity towards the Imperials , the Alliance leadership decided to intervene , reasoning that they could get a new planet into their fold , gain access to Bakura ' s repulsorlift technology , and halt a potential hostile threat . Among their number was the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker who was urged to attend to Bakura by the ghostly specter of his late Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi . An Alliance task force was quickly scrambled under the command of Luke Skywalker and the Virgillian Captain Tessa Manchisco . Arriving in the Bakura system , Luke Skywalker made contact with the Imperial Commander Thanas , stating that the Alliance had received Nereus ' distress transmission and had come to propose a temporary truce with the local Imperial garrison in order to fight the Ssi - ruuk . Due to their heavy losses , Thanas gratefully accepted the Alliance ' s offer , and the task force moved to microjump in - system to assist the beleaguered Imperials . As a confirmation of the agreement , the prototype Battle Analysis Computer ' s status board on the " Flurry " turned the Imperial formations from " hostile " red to " friendly " yellow - gold . By this phase , 80 % of the Imperial firepower was concentrated on the Thanas ' command ship " Dominant " . One of the first joint military actions between the Alliance and Imperial forces was the deployment of Alliance ships including the " Flurry " into the gap between the Ssi - ruuvi ' s three main cruisers to counter the enemy advance at the request of Thanas . A Tense Truce . With the Ssi - ruuk temporarily dispersed , Leia Organa contacted the planetary government and was able to arrange a meeting between the Rebel Alliance delegation and Governor Wilek Nereus , as well as the Bakuran Senate . An Alliance delegation consisting of the Heroes of Yavin arrived at Salis D ' aar and attended a special session at the Bakuran Senate . There , the Alliance party then iterated that they were there to help Bakura and offered an official truce , which Nereus said would be discussed . Later , Thanas arranged a meeting with his Alliance counterpart Commander Skywalker at the local Imperial military base that afternoon . There , the two men discussed their tactical battle plans and intelligence . Displaying his fascination with the extinct Jedi Order which had been wiped out during the Great Jedi Purge , Thanas compelled a demonstration of Skywalker ' s skill with a lightsaber by ordering his stormtroopers to open fire on Skywalker after the Jedi had refused an initial request for showing his swordplay . Following that incident , Thanas reflected on his earlier stint on Alzoc III and his relationship with the local Talz . That evening , an official truce between Alliance and Imperial representatives was formally signed at a dinner hosted by the Bakuran Prime Minister , Yeorg Captison . Midway through the dinner , Nereus received a transmission from Imperial Admiral Prittick informing him of the veracity of the Rebels ' claims of Imperial defeat at Endor . Faced with the prospect of no Imperial aid to stave off a full Ssi - ruuk attack , Nereus agreed to an official truce . However , unbeknown to even Thanas and other Imperial officers , his superior Nereus made a secret deal with the Ssi - ruuk to handover the Force - strong Skywalker in exchange for a full withdrawal . Fascinated with the powers of the Jedi , the Ssi - ruuk planned to bind Skywalker to a modified entechment rig and force him to drain the life energies of millions of sentients from light years away . Secretly , Nereus planned to double - cross the aliens by infecting them with olabrian trichoid larvae . With their goals achieved by kidnapping Skywalker at a prearranged location at the planetary spaceport , the Ssi - ruuk rescinded their secret deal with Nereus and launched a full scale attack on Bakura , targeting the orbital space station . In response , the joined Imperial and Alliance fleets under the command of Thanas and his Alliance counterpart Manchisco launched a devastating counter - offensive against the Ssi - ruuvi fleet . They were aided in their efforts to defeat the enemy by Skywalker and the former Human slave Dev Sibwarra . When all seemed lost , Sibwarra — awed by the Jedi ' s heroism and freed from mental bonds by Skywalker ' s ministrations with the Force on his mind — threw off the shackles of Ssi - ruuvi indoctrination and rebelled against his masters . He freed Skywalker from his bonds and the pair fought their way across the stun trap - littered corridors of the battle cruiser . Fearful of dying on an unconsecrated world , the fleet ' s commander Admiral Ivpikkis and the surviving crew escaped the vessel in life - pods and were recovered by the other warships . Questioning Loyalties . As the Ssi - ruuk withdrew , Thanas received orders from Nereus to turn on the Alliance . The " Dominant " opened fire upon and destroyed the Alliance flagship " Flurry " with its turbolaser batteries , along with several Rebel starfighters . The remaining Alliance ships were trapped in a bottleneck between Bakura and the Imperial fleet . Concurrent with these events , Nereus had the Prime Minister Captison , Senator Eppie Belden and Alliance representative Princess Leia arrested on charges of treason . Nereus also attempted to coerce Capitson ' s daughter Gaeriel into cooperating with him . This attempted coup d ' etat provoked much public outrage among the public and rioting broke out in Salis D ' aar . However , Solo had rescued Leia and broken out onboard their transport the " Millennium Falcon " to join the fight in space . Using the " Millennium Falcon " , Solo intended ram a small Imperial vessel into the main generator of the " Carrack " - class light cruiser . This sacrifice would allow the Alliance fleet to flee into space while destroying the " Falcon " and all aboard . However , Luke Skywalker had used the Force to persuade the " Dominant " ' s captain Thanas to come on their side by sending feelings of peace and serenity . Admiring the heroism of his former foes and seeing the underlining flaws in his superior Nereus , Thanas ordered his ship to break formation and open fire on the " Shriwirr " as a gesture of cooperation with the Alliance . Dev Sibwarra was mortally wounded during the bombardment of the " Shriwirr " . Sensing the presence of the Olabrian trichoid larvae in his body , Skywalker used the Force to eliminate the parasites . Luke then contacted Thanas to request a boarding crew to rescue him and the mortally wounded Sibwarra . As a good will gesture , the Imperial commander agreed to come in person . Thanas also agreed to surrender himself and the " Dominant " to the Alliance authorities in exchange that his men be sent to a neutral pickup point and allowed to return home , and that Sibwarra be put on trial . Solo also added that the boarding crew be unarmed over the intercom . When the local Imperial Security Bureau operative among the bridge crew tried to intervene , Thanas quickly stunned the man . Thanas dispatched a two - man evacuation pod and placed Captain Jamer in de - facto command of the vessel . Meanwhile on the ground , Nereus was captured by members of the Bakuran resistance under the elderly 123 - year old Eppie Belden . Wilek ' s personal Stormtrooper bodyguards were incapacitated by a painful electronic alarm system ringing through their helmets . Much to Nereus ' surprise , she was fully recovered , leading the resistance effort and already cognizant of her husband ' s death . Outnumbered , Nereus surrendered to Belden and her resistance fighters . Later , Nereus was killed when he attempted to shoot Skywalker with a blaster rifle . Unfortunately for him , the Jedi merely deflected the laser blast with his lightsaber back at Nereus , killing him . With the conflict over , Thanas negotiated surrender terms with Luke Skywalker and confirmed the official surrender and withdrawal of all Imperial forces on Bakura . As a gesture of good will , the Imperials would be allowed to transit at a neutral pick - up - point for a return to Imperial space or their homeworlds . The planet ' s citizenry would be allowed to choose whether to rejoin the Empire or the Alliance of Free Planets and to conduct their own affairs free from foreign intervention . Prime Minister Captison ' s government was reinstated and the planet reverted to the status quo bellum before the Imperial invasion . Awed by the gallantry of the Heroes of Yavin , Pter Thanas would defect to the Alliance . 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 . New Beginnings . 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 . Shortly thereafter Captison gave birth to a daughter , Malinza . Three years later , Thanas was diagnosed with the debilitating Knowt ' s Disease . Thanas suffered through the slow killing illness , and finally passed away in 16 ABY at the age of 64 after Captison ' s unsuccessful reelection campaign . With the death of Captison at the Battle of Centerpoint Station , orphaned Malinza was adopted by a wealthy Bakuran lady Aunt Laera and watched over by Luke Skywalker , who had sworn to Captison to aid the child in the absence of her father . Personality and traits . Unlike many other Imperial officers during the Imperial and New Republic era s , Thanas was known among his subordinates for his ability to command successfully without using fear as a motivator . His prowess in military tactics won him the command of the cruiser " Dominant " while his training enabled him to react appropriately against various opponents ranging from pirates to the more potent Ssi - ruuvi threat . A noted diplomatic officer in the Imperial Navy , he was able to interact without apprehension and bias with many non - Imperial personnel including Bakuran and Rebel Alliance officials . Additionally , Thanas did not subscribe to the prevalent Human High Culture so prevalent in the Imperial bureaucracy and viewed alien s as equals . This was evident in his humane and rather progressive approach to motivating his Talz slave - laborers during his tour of duty on Alzoc III . However , this brought him into conflict with other Imperial officials , particularly the colonel who had him transferred to Bakura . Still , he shared the same revulsion that many Imperials , Bakurans and Rebels felt towards the saurian Ssi - ruuk . This was due to the saurians ' practice of mechanically draining the life energies of their captives into a conduit during the process of entechment . Thus , Thanas viewed their brainwashed human protege Dev Sibwarra as a collaborator with the enemy and sought to have him tried and punished by a human jury , unaware of the trauma that Sibwarra endured during his indoctrination . Thanas also displayed a profound fascination for the Jedi Order which had been wiped out during Palpatine ' s Great Jedi Purge . This was evident in him compelling Luke Skywalker to display his lightsaber skills during a visit by the latter to his office . Later , when Skywalker used his blade to deflect a blaster shot from Nereus , Thanas noted the magnificence and beauty of the lightsaber ' s strokes . His strong morals and conscience prompted him to surrender his cruiser and to defect to his enemies the Alliance after noting the underlining flaws in his superior Nereus . This marked a turning point in the Bakura Incident as it saved both the Alliance and Imperial forces from further losses . Behind the scenes . Pter Thanas first appeared as a point - of - view character in Kathy Tyers ' s 1994 novel " The Truce at Bakura " , marking his debut into the Expanded Universe media franchise . His post - Imperial life including his marriage to Gaeriel Captison and his death were further developed in the 1995 novel " Assault at Selonia " , the second book in Roger MacBride Allen ' s " Corellian Trilogy " . Later , he was referenced and first illustrated in the 1995 " The Essential Guide to Characters " by Andy Mangels and Michael Butkus respectively . Further information on the character was published in West End Games ' " The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook " in 1996 . He also received an entry in 1998 ' s " Star Wars Encyclopedia " , by Stephen J . Sansweet . In April 2000 , Kevin J . Anderson and Daniel Wallace referenced Thanas in their " The Essential Chronology " and its revised edition " The New Essential Chronology " , which was published in October 2005 .