Ufsa'mak'ro

Ufsa'mak'ro, better known by his core name Samakro, was a Chiss male who served as the first officer of Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo aboard the Chiss Ascendancy cruiser Springhawk. He held the rank of merit adoptive of the Ruling Ufsa family.
Samakro suspected Caregiver Mitth'ali'astov of being a spy for Syndics of the Mitth family, particularly Mitth'urf'ianico. He believed anyone trying to take down Thrawn would have no qualms taking down the entire crew of the Springhawk with him. During the Nikardun campaigns, Samakro tried to prove his theory that Thalias was a spy by telling the caregiver a false but plausible-sounding explanation for some of Thrawn's decisions. Samakro believed Thalias would relay that false information to the Syndicure, who would then make it public, and the information would supposedly have only been able to come to them through Thalias. Syndic Thurfian had indeed attempted to recruit Thalias to be his personal spy against Thrawn, but she refused and escaped his blackmail by becoming a Trial-born of the Mitth.
==Biography==
===An Attack on Nettehi===
After the conclusion of the far-from-perfect Vagaari pirate operation, Supreme Admiral Ja'fosk made the decision to deprive Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" from his role as commander of the Springhawk. Mid Captain Ufsa'mak'ro (Samakro) was installed as the new commander of the ship, which pleased the Ufsa family, as the Springhawk had built itself quite a reputation under Thrawn. However, only a couple of months later, Thrawn would regain command status over the Springhawk after the attack of unknown origins on the Chiss homeworld of Csilla. This made Samakro the first officer.
Senior Commander Plikh'ar'illmorf (Kharill), who was the first officer under Samakro, becomes the Springhawk's second officer. Samakro's former first officer, Plikh'ar'illmorf (Kharill), now the second officer, came to Mid Captain Samakro to seethe about the sudden change in command. Samakro accurately predicts Kharill's remorse of Thrawn's return to command status, but, Samakro tells Kharill to accept the change in command. Samakro also warns the second officer that if he is witnessed disobeying orders, charges will be brought up on him. Samakro also feels furious, albeit internally, about the change in command, but he prepares to follow orders and secretly hopes that Thrawn doesn't stir any more trouble.
The Springhawk is sent to the Paataatus Hiveborn homeworld of Nettehi to retaliate against border raids. As they approach the planet, Samakro doesn't see Thrawn on the bridge. Samakro prepares to assume command of the bridge, but Thrawn appears behind him, stating that he had, in fact, been on the bridge for the last hour. He had been overseeing maintenance on a plasma sphere targeting computer. Thrawn recognized an increase in the quality of the maintenance crews since Samakro took command, and Samakro debated whether the gesture was a compliment or a sly reminder that he wasn't in command anymore. Thrawn asks Samakro if they had received any new transmissions from the Vigilant (Ar'alani's flagship). After Samakro replies in the negative, Thrawn orders the Springhawk to exit hyperspace. When they do, the ship is immediately attacked by a large swarm of at least 50 Paataatus fighters. Thrawn then ordering the Springhawk to break from the Chiss formation, and when Ar'alani orders him to return, he ignores it. The Paataatus fighters, recognizing the break in formation, swarm the Springhawk. Samakro complains to Thrawn before realizing that Thrawn is playing into the Paataatus' military weakness. Thrawn is feigning weakness to draw as many enemy fighters to the Springhawk and away from the rest of Ar'alani's Picket Force Six. This maneuver allowed the rest of the Chiss ships to defeat the remaining enemy ships, regroup, and defeat the swarming fighters using a battle-wedge formation. Thrawn explains to Samakro the swarm mentality of the Paataatus causing them to swarm the weakest enemy first. Thrawn also recognizes the Chiss weakness of their targeting computers not being able to keep up with large amounts of individual, moving targets. After the battle, Ar'alani tells Thrawn that he should have shared his plan beforehand. Samakro retorts, under his breath, that the enemy may be able to overhear the Chiss transmissions, but Ar'alani hears it and scolds him. Samakro remembers a rumor that flag officers had special comm settings that allowed them to hear more from their escort ships than was normally possible. Ar'alani permits Thrawn to depart on his next mission, which Samakro was unaware of. Thrawn states that he would be able to share the details of the Springhawk's next mission once they had detached from the other task forces of Picket Force 6. After Samakro asks for a preview, Thrawn reveals that he, too, had hated the nature of sealed orders and explains that they are tasked with identifying a possible new threat to the Ascendancy. Thrawn mentions that the new threats lurks on the other side of the Ascendancy from Paataatus space. As Samakro travels to personally oversee some checks on the electrostatic barrier, he wonders if Thrawn will follow protocols concerning preemptive attacks.
===Finding Rapacc===
The Springhawk arrives in a quadruple star system. Thrawn theorizes that, because the refugees on the derelict ship at Dioya seemed to have a close sense of comradeship, the refugee ship had a companion ship traveling with them. Because of the difficulty to navigate within a quadruple star system, he theorizes that the other ship may be hiding here. Later, the ship, orbiting around the system's planet, becomes visible. Thrawn and a survey team depart to examine the ship. It is found that everyone aboard the ship is dead (the ship ran out of air after the hyperdrive failed). The Springhawk's caregiver, Mitth'al'iastov (Thalias) arrives on the bridge. Samakro informs her of the situation and accuses her of being a Mitth family spy. He warns her to stay out of everybody's way. Thrawn calls Samakro and orders him to join him in Ready Room Two for an examination of the dead alien bodies. Samakro allows Thalias to join. After they arrive, Thrawn arrives with four alien bodies. One of the bodies is determined to be a Void Guide (the Void Guides were a group within the Navigator's Guild, a group of force-sensitive navigators that are hired for navigating the Unknown Regions). The presence of the Void Guide allows Thrawn, Thalias, and Samakro to theorize about the circumstances this derelict ship faced. The Void Guide had deleted the navigational records of the ship, leading to Thalias theorizing that they were working with the refugees' enemies. Samakro formulates a counter-theory: the Void Guide was working to keep the refugees' enemies from backtracking them. Thrawn dismisses this theory, stating that, if the Void Guide was working to keep their enemies from backtracking them, the captain would have personally deleted the records (the timestamps don't support this conclusion). Thrawn orders Samakro to make two copies of the surviving audio records of the ship, and Samakro requests permission to make an additional copy for personal review. Thrawn grants this request.
The Springhawk then arrives at another unknown system. Thrawn sends a message to Ar'alani to rendezvous with him, and when the Vigilant arrives, Ar'alani and Wutroow join Thrawn and Samakro to discuss Thrawn's plan. Thrawn notes that the box system is being blockaded and is confident that this is the system where the refugees came from, but he cannot know for sure until he can examine one of the abandoned mining stations located in the outer system. Hyperspace travel within the system is relatively impossible, but ships are able to enter the system via two "holes" (Shadow Number One and Shadow Number Two) created by large gas giants blocking solar radiation (solar radiation interactions with the system's electromagnetic flux prevents hyperspace travel). Samakro believes Thrawn's plan of entry to be impossible, but Ar'alani has seen a similar maneuver pulled off when Thrawn was training at the Taharim Academy on Naporar. Samakro plans the execution of Thrawn's plan upon the arrival of both the Springhawk and Vigilant via Shadow Number One. The Springhawk flies behind the Vigilant's sensor shadow, concealed from any enemy observation. The Springhawk successfully hides breaks away from the Vigilant and hides behind an asteroid, matching its slow rotation to ensure its concealment.
After successfully infiltrating the mining station, Thrawn and Thalias return, instructing Samakro that the system is called Rapacc. Thrawn reveals that the native species of this system, the Paccosh, were the species found on the second refugee ship in the quadruple star system. He also reveals the names of the system's blockaders: the Nikardun, led by General Yiv the Benevolent. After leaving the system, Thrawn decides to return and capture a Nikardun vessel. Before the attack, Samakro has a conversation with Mid Commander Elod'al'vumic (Dalvu), asking if she has anything to report. Dalvu questions Thrawn's capability several times during the conversation, and Samakro determines that Kharill has been sharing his displeasure of Thrawn's command status with his other officers. After a specific jab, Samakro counts down five seconds of silence, noting that after two, Dalvu's scowl was gone, and that after five, Dalvu was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable. He scolds her and tells her to keep her thoughts to herself, noting that Thrawn's authority to issue orders was none of her concern.
===The Scope and Defeat of the Nikardun Threat===
After capturing the Nikardun vessel, the Springhawk would require several weeks of repair. During this time, Samakro would stay with the Springhawk while Thrawn would accompany Ar'alani on a diplomatic mission to Urch, the capital world of the Tower Dimension. While there, the Vigilant would be attacked by the Urchiv-ki, the Nikardun, and the Lioaoi. After escaping Urch, the Vigilant would travel to the Lioaoin heartworld, where they would demand an explanation for the Lioaoin involvement in the attack. There, they would learn of an alliance formed between the Lioaoi and the Nikardun. Thrawn would subsequently send himself to investigate the Vak Combine, to determine their allegiance to the Nikardun. Ar'alani was sent to extract him from Primea, the Vak capital world. At Primea, the Vigilant would, at the order of  Nikardun General Yiv the Benevolent, be attacked by four Lioaoin warships. In response to being attacked, the Springhawk, now repaired, and the Vigilant were sent to retaliate against the Lioaoi. On the journey to the Lioaoin heartworld, Samakro, Kharill, and Thrawn would hold a conversation about peace. They discuss different definitions of peace and the ways of achieving peace. Samakro and Thrawn would also discuss the reasons for only sending two Chiss warships to attack the Lioaoi. Thrawn theorizes that some members of the Syndicure hope that he and Ar'alani die in the upcoming battle. Samakro responds by hyping the readiness and capability of both the Springhawk and the officers that command it.
After the success of the battle between the Chiss and the Lioaoi above the Lioaoin heartworld, the Springhawk returns to the Ascendancy to undergo another set of major repairs. Samakro speaks with the bluedock foreman, who is frustrated with the Springhawk's needed repairs. Samakro thanks him for his expertise and promises to try to get a rush order from Ba'kif or Supreme Admiral Ja'fosk. On a shuttle to Csilla, Samakro notes to himself that Thrawn had taken the Springhawk closer to the Lioaoin warships than was necessary, and, despite himself, wonders if Thrawn will be punished for his handling of the battle.
Five weeks later, the Springhawk would finish its repairs and joined Ar'alani's Picket Force Six in an attack against the Nikardun at Primea. Thrawn had successfully forced the Ascendancy to attack by allowing sky-walker Che'ri to be captured. Arriving, Ar'alani speaks to the Vak Combine, who, realizing the threat the Nikardun poses to them, step back and allow the Chiss to attack Yiv's forces. Samakro commands the Springhawk as it engages the thirty-two Nikardun blockade patrol boats. After it destroys its third patrol boat, however, three Nikardun Battle Dreadnoughts arrive in the system. Ar'alani orders the Springhawk to distract one of the Dreadnoughts as the other Chiss ships battle the other two. As the Springhawk keeps its Dreadnought busy, it destroys two more Nikardun gunboats. To hide from enemy laser fire, the Springhawk hides behind the gunboat debris. There, Samakro formulates a plan: aim their last three breacher missiles for the Dreadnought's viewport at a distance where, even if they were destroyed, the acid globs would inflict serious damage. However, after the Springhawk fires these breacher missiles, a Nikardun patrol craft flew in the path of the acid and was destroyed by the Dreadnought, allowing its debris to block the acid globs (the patrol craft itself would not have been large enough to block all three acid globs). After this plan fails, Ar'alani proposes that Samakro utilize a maneuver similar to the one Thrawn used against the Paataatus at Nettehi. Samakro agrees, and the Springhawk emerges from behind the Nikardun gunboat debris, heads towards the planet in a low orbit, and goes dark. Ar'alani contacts the Vaks and asks them to render humanitarian aid to the "disabled" Chiss ship. The Vaks agree and send two patrol craft to render this aid. However, these Vak patrol ships were attacked and destroyed by the Nikardun, prompting them to enter the battle on the side of the Chiss. Samakro orders the Springhawk to remain offline in order to maintain their illusion. With the help of the Vak Combine, the Nikardun at Primea are defeated, with Thrawn also capturing General Yiv. The Springhawk would eventually come back online and leave for the Ascendancy. 
===Refugees from Sunrise===
During the missions to defeat the remaining forces of the Nikardun, Samakro joins the Springhawk on a mission to Rapacc. There, he, Thrawn, and Thalias would speak to the Paccosh leader, Uingali foar Marocsaa. Samakro is annoyed at Thalias's presence in the conversation, as she is only a mere caregiver. Samakro explains to Uingali that upon Yiv's defeat, the Nikardun forces engaged in a power struggle amongst themselves, which allowed the Paccosh an opportunity to defeat them. Uingali explains that the refugees they are harboring, and, specifically, the refugee's leader, the Magys, are considering killing themselves instead of returning to their homeworld (it had a very deadly civil war). Samakro brings up the similarities that this attitude has with the Nikardun: before being captured, the Nikardun would rather kill themselves.
During the journey to talk to the Magys, Samakro was instructed to look into the possibility of a Nikardun presence near the Magys's world. Samakro found, along the vector the refugees took to get to Rapacc, a couple of Nikardun listening posts. He and Thrawn would agree that the Nikardun were at least interested in this civil war and that more information would need to be gathered. Thalias had convinced the Magys to delay her decision on suicide and to accompany the Chiss on a mission to her world. Thrawn instructs Samakro to tell the Springhawk to prepare two rooms for the Magys and her companion. He also orders for the Springhawk to treat Thalias as a senior officer while in the presence of the Magys, explaining that she clearly thinks of Thalias as a high ranking officer. Samakro is frustrated about the arrangement, believing it to be entirely unnecessary and against standard protocol. While Samakro relays these orders to the Springhawk, he overhears Thrawn tell Thalias that he will "accept the reasoning in time", which only further angers him. To himself, Samakro reflects on the intrafamilial rivalry between Thrawn and Thurfian and wonders how Thalias fits into it. After the end of his conversation with the Springhawk, Thrawn asks Samakro if he disapproves of the arrangement, to which Samakro affirms. Thrawn also admits that he does not like it, but reaffirms its necessity.
On the journey to the refugees' planet, Samakro sees Thalias enter the bridge to pick up Che'ri. He intends to bring Che'ri out of Third Sight sixty minutes after her previous break, but Thalias asks him to instead bring her out at seventy minutes. Thalias explains that she had been researching Che'ri's sleep cycles and wants to test if bringing the girl out of Third Sight in alignment with her sleep cycles will help her mental health. Samakro agrees but wonders why he has never heard of this concept before. Thalias theorizes that caregivers either don't know about it or choose to take the easy road of using a standard sixty-minute cycle. Thalias, shifting the conversation, asks Samakro what he thinks of the Springhawk's current assignment, but the Mid Captain explains that it does not matter what he thinks and that his job is to simply follow Thrawn's orders. Samakro recognizes this moment as an opportunity to test if Thalias is a spy and tells her about Thrawn's theory that the Nikardun are consolidating their forces at the refugees' planet for a final assault on the Chiss. This theory is completely fabricated, but Samakro hopes that the Syndicure will find out about these theories and chastise Thrawn for it, which would confirm Thalias's status as a spy. Once Che'ri is taken out of Third Sight, Samakro orders for the Springhawk to engage in jump-by-jump travel during the sky-walker's rest period.
Upon reaching the planet, Samakro would witness the Springhawk and the Grayshrike, commanded by Senior Captain Xodlak'in'daro (Lakinda), engage and defeat a group of fifteen unidentified gunboats and a large Battle Dreadnought class warship. After the battle, Thrawn, Samakro, and Lakinda would discuss the battle, Thrawn's next orders, and the situation with the refugees. The Magys, convinced that her world is lost, had ordered the death of her companion and was also threatening to kill herself. To mitigate this, Thrawn ordered for her to be put to sleep in a hibernation chamber for the time being. Thrawn wants to keep this matter a secret from the Defense Council and the Syndicure, and Samakro, bound to his commander, agrees to keep quiet.
===Vagaari and Hoxim===
Returning to the Ascendancy for the Springhawk's new mission, Samakro, in a meeting in Ba'kif's office, is enjoying the sight of Thrawn being confused by his new orders: to investigate rumors that the Paataatus Hiveborn have allied with a group of Vagaari pirates. During the discussions, Samakro separately asks Ba'kif and Thrawn to confirm the rumor that Thrawn acquired an artificial gravity well generator during his previous campaign against the Vagaari, but both refuse to confirm anything.
At the end of Thrawn's hunt for Vagaari, the Springhawk, alongside the Grayshrike, would discover a plot to foment a civil war in the Chiss Ascendancy. Samakro, Thrawn, and the Grayshrike's temporary commander, Mid Captain Csap'ro'strob (Apros), learned how the Xodlak, Erighal, and Pommrio families had all called family emergencies to acquire a fake nyix mine on the world of Hoxim. The three officers, with the help of Lakinda, who was aboard the Xodlak family fleet at Hoxim, would successfully prevent hostilities from breaking out. Samakro would oversee the secret operation of fourteen remote piloted gunboats, who attacked, and united, the three families' task forces. During the operation that destructed the fake nyix mine on the surface of Hoxim, Che'ri had been involved. Therefore, when Ba'kif asked Samakro for more details concerning the battle, Samakro deflected all problems to the commander on the scene, Thrawn, as per the sky-walker standing regulations (one could not talk about any mission concerning a sky-walker with anyone, even if that person know of the sky-walker secret). Ba'kif then asked Thrawn if he disliked Thrawn, and Samakro would state that he did. However, he also stated that it does not matter what he thinks and that his only responsibility was to respect and follow Thrawn's orders. Leaving Ba'kif's office, Samakro wondered why the fabricated story he had given to Thalias about the supposed Nikardun presence at Sunrise hadn't leaked out into the Syndicure. He questioned whether Thalias was a spy after all before determining that she and her overseer must be sitting on the story until the right time.
==Personality and traits==
A male Chiss, Samakro had great pride in his service to the Expansionary Defense Fleet. Samakro often held private reservations, objections, frustrations or even anger towards his commanding officer Thrawn and his tactics. However, Samakro was a very disciplined Chiss officer, and enforced obedience to protocol and the chain of command to his subordinates. When the Springhawk was transferred back to Thrawn's command just before the attack on the Paataatus, Senior Commander Plikh'ar'illmorf approached Samakro to coordinate a complaint to the Defense Hierarchy Council about being undercut on the eve of battle. Samakro privately shared Kharill's anger at being snubbed, but knew no good would come of anything but their utmost behavior and loyalty to Senior Captain Thrawn. Samakro had a strong dislike for family politics, believing it always led to disaster when it penetrated Fleet business. In Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good it is said, that Samakro doesn't like things that are illogical.
==Behind the scenes==
Ufsa'mak'ro first appeared in Timothy Zahn's 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, the first installment of Zahn's Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy. In Chaos Rising, Samakro is a secondary character, and one from whose point of view events were often described.
===Family rank===
In the dramatis personae of Chaos Rising, Samakro is listed as a merit adoptive of the Ufsa family. In its April 2021 sequel, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, Samakro is listed in the dramatis personae as having the rank of cousin in the Ufsa family. However, Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the Ascendancy Trilogy November 2021 conclusion, again lists Samakro as an Ufsa merit adoptive in its dramatis personae.Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil Neither Chaos Rising nor Greater Good makes any reference to Samakro's rank within his Ufsa family in their body of text. Both novels' only mention of Samakro's family rank are in their corresponding dramatis personae. This article assumes Samakro's listing as cousin in Greater Good was erroneous.
==Appearances==
*Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising 
*Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good 
*Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil 
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Chiss
Category:Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet officers
Category:Executive officers
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Males
Category:Merit adoptives
Category:Ufsa family