Toshiyuki Yamazaki

Terran Alliance

* Anti-Sith Assault Team

Major Toshiyuki Yamazaki, a human male, is a former member of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's 1st Airborne Brigade and a current member of the Anti-Sith Assault Team. He enlisted in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force at age 20. He was selected for the Anti-Sith Assault Team when it was first formed, and was the only member of the team not to come from a special forces unit. He took part in the Terran campaign, and took part in several operations during the Clone Wars.

## Biography

### Early Life

Toshiyuki Yamazaki was born on December 29, 1957 in Osaka, Japan. During his teenage years, he trained in both martial arts and swordplay, training with katanas that had been passed down in his family for generations.

After graduating high school, he spent two years traveling the world before returning to Japan and enlisting in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. After completing his training, he was assigned to the 1st Airborne Brigade. By the end of the 1990s, he had been promoted to the rank of warrant officer. He had also won multiple swordplay competitions, and had been training to join the Japanese Olympic fencing team.

### Anti-Sith Assault Team

#### Induction and Training

Soon after the Republic arrived on Terra in 1991, the Anti-Sith Assault Team was formed to serve as a defense against the Sith. Yamazaki was chosen for the team, making him both the oldest member of the team, as well as the only member of the team who was not previously a member of the a special forces unit. However, he was chosen for his existing skill at swordplay, and his unblemished history.

Yamazaki began his training under Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker on December 5, 1991. In the initial meeting of the team, Yamazaki chose two green bladed lightsabers as his weapons, making him the only member of the team to wield two lightsabers at once.

Yamazaki advanced very quickly under the tutelage of Windu and Skywalker. He relied almost entirely on technique and agility rather than strength. He was recognized by the entire ASAT team as the most skilled swordsman on the team.

#### Operation Thunderstrike

Yamazaki's first taste of combat as a member of the ASAT team came during Operation Thunderstrike. He was chosen, alongside Cheng Han, to accompany Mace Windu to capture Kim Il-Sung.

Yamazaki and Han, along with Windu, were taken to Pyongyang aboard an LAAT. Several more LAATs brought South Korean troops and clones to reinforce them.

The strike team was able to catch the North Koreans off guard, and were able to land at Mansudae Assembly Hall. Yamazaki and Han accompanied Windu and South Korean troops and clones into the building. Once inside, they were able to capture Kim-Il Sung, along with other key officials of the regime.

After retreating from North Korea, Yamazaki returned to Japan to await the arrival of the Separatists.

#### Terran Campaign

When the Separatist finally arrived on Terra, Yamazaki was stationed in Tokyo. However, when no Separatist forces landed in Japan, Yamazaki instead was ordered to deploy to Vladivostok to assist the Soviets in the defense of the city.

Yamazaki arrived in Vladivostok 4 hours into the Battle of Vladivostok. He quickly met up with his teammate, Alexei Ivankov, and the two helped to lead the defense of the city. However, the droid armies began pushing the Soviet army further back into Vladivostok.

Fourty hours into the battle, as Yamazaki and Ivankov were leading some Soviet troops in a charge, they came face to face with General Grievous.

Grievous mocked the two, then draw four lightsabers and challenged them. Uncowed, Yamazaki attacked Grievous first, followed by Ivankov.

The two ASAT commandos fought Grievous for several minutes before Grievous managed to knock Ivankov to the ground. Yamazaki drove Girevoujs back a few steps and helped his teammate back to his feet.

As the two turned to re-engage Grievous, fighters from the US Navy arrived to provide assistance. Upon seeing the arrival of the American aircraft, Grievous retreated. Yamazaki and Ivankov took advantage of the destruction caused by the American pilots and led another charge.

Yamazaki and Ivankov, and later their comrade Cheng Han, continued to lead the Soviets for another 8 hours until the last of the droid forces were destroyed.

After the Separatists retreated from Terra, Yamazaki returned to Japan. Soon afterwards, by executive order of the newly formed Terran Joint Command, Yamazaki was made an officer and promoted to the rank of Major.

When the Terran Alliance began to deploy units to the Andromeda Galaxy, Yamazaki was one of the members of the ASAT team to deploy. He was first sent to Coruscant, where he would be stationed for the following few months.

#### Battle of Kamino

Yamazaki received his first assignment in early June when he was ordered to join Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi in the hunt for General Grievous.

Only days after joining the two Jedi, Yamazaki was present when a transmission sent by Grievous was intercepted and decrypted, revealing that Grievous was intending to attack Kamino.

Yamazaki accompanied Skywalker and Kenobi to Kamino, where was stationed on the planet in Tipoca City.

When the Separatists arrived and began their attack, Yamazaki, like others, was confused by the Separatist strategy. However, he quickly realized, along with Kenobi, that debris from destroyed Separatist ships that had crashed into the water around the city was the key.

When the submarine *USS Boston* sent a report that the debris contained assault craft and droids, Yamazaki made the assumption that the DNA room would be a likely target, and his way there to protect the DNA room.

Within minutes of arriving, he heard Asajj Ventress and General Grievous approaching. Yamazaki waited and eavesdropped on their conversation, before revealing himself to Ventress when she came around the corner, and challenged Ventress to a duel.

Ventress was quickly shocked at Yamazaki's skills with his lightsabers. Their duel lasted well over five minutes before Ventress decided to give up on her attempt to get to the DNA room and fled. Yamazaki gave chase, but Ventress was able to get out to a landing platform, where she was picked up by General Grievous on an escape pod.

Yamazaki remained on Kamino for almost six months after the battle, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Finally, in early December 1992, he was ordered to return back to Terra, where he spend all of 1993 on duty on Terra.

#### Battle of Coruscant

Early in 1994, Yamazaki was ordered back to the Andromeda Galaxy, where he was ordered to join Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and his ASAT teammate Colonel Tyler Hall to lead a fleet to hunt down Count Dooku. For several months, Yamazaki remained with the fleet, attempting to find the Sith Lord.

On May 23, 1994, the Separatist navy attacked Coruscant. Yamazaki was still with the Open Circle Fleet when it was diverted to Coruscant to assist in the planet's defense. When they arrived, Yamazaki remained aboard the flagship, helping to direct the fleet in battle while Colonel Hall followed Kenobi and Skywalker on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine.

Following the battle, Yamazaki shifted his attention to attempting to track down General Grievous. By order of the Jedi Council, he was given command of a three ship task force and sent to hunt down Grievous.

Yamazaki continued searching for Grievous until Grievous was found, and Obi Wan Kenobi and Colonel Rommel were sent to find him. Yamazaki was then ordered to try and track down the Separatist Council.

Before the Council could be located, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine issued Order 66. However, before Yamazaki's task force could receive the order, Yamazaki received a warning from the Terran HQ on Coruscant, and he cut off all communication between the Republic and his task force, while ordering the task force to make for Terra.

Yamazaki and his task force arrived over Terra shortly before the rest of the Terran Starfleet arrived. For the next month, Yamazaki oversaw the surgeries that removed the inhibitor chips from every clone on his three ships, as well as their transfer into the Terran Alliance Armed Forces. In late August, he traveled to the Terran Jedi Temple construction site for the first meeting of the entire ASAT team since 1991. During the meeting, the entire team, including Yamazaki, swore an oath to see the Empire and the Sith destroyed.

## Appearances

* *Rise of the Terran Alliance (first appearance)*