An Elomin commanded a task force of capital ships and starfighters that served the New Republic Military during the Galactic Civil War. In 9 ABY, the Elomin and his task force were present in the Obroa-skai system as part of the New Republic diplomatic efforts to entice the planet Obroa-skai to join the Republic. During the deployment, Imperial scout ships attempted an information raid on the planet's extensive library facilities. The Elomin commander ordered his task force to engage and pursue, chasing the Imperial intruders into hyperspace. After reverting to realspace, the Elomin commander found himself confronted with an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the Chimaera. Although the task force had the advantage of numbers, the New Republic unit was destroyed when the commander of the Chimaera, Grand Admiral Thrawn, employed a Marg Sabl closure maneuver against the force. The Elomin commander, unable to properly counter the unstructured attack profile of the tactic due to his logical mind, was killed during the engagement.
The Elomin task force
This Elomin was a New Republic Military officer who commanded a task force comprising four Assault Frigate Mark Is supported by several wings of Incom Corporation T-65 X-wing starfighters and manned exclusively by his fellow Elomin. In 9 ABY, the task force was on patrol in the Obroa-skai system as part of the New Republic's diplomatic efforts to bring the planet Obroa-skai into the Republic. While in-system, a small force of Imperial scout ships decanted from hyperspace and began an information raid against Obroa-skai's massive library. The Elomin commander directed his task force to intercept, and the Imperial scout ships began to flee back into hyperspace. The Elomin ordered his ships to pursue and, before the task force entered hyperspace, a communication was sent back to their New Republic superiors informing them of the formation's actions.
Upon reversion to realspace, the Elomin commander ordered his task force to deploy in a symmetric cloud-vee formation as they chased the scout ships toward their mother ship, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera. The Republic force was more than sufficient to deal with one lone Star Destroyer, so the Elomin commander elected to engage the Imperial force. As the task force moved in, the Chimaeras starfighter sentry line engaged the vanguard of the New Republic task force while the scout ships made for the safety of the Star Destroyer; the sentry line took a single casualty before falling back. As the New Republic task force closed on the Chimaera, the Star Destroyer's Sector Four sentry line scrambled out of the way, then reformed behind the Elomin task force and began jamming all transmissions.
The wreckage of the task force
The commander of the Chimaera, the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn, had deduced that there was an Elomin commanding the task force judging by the way that the opposing New Republic commander had engaged the initial sentry line during the opening moments of the engagement. With that in mind, Thrawn tailored a counter to the opposing commander's attack. Knowing that the Elomin mind was logical and incapable of reacting to unstructured and undisciplined attack profiles, Thrawn deployed his starfighter squadrons in a simple Marg Sabl closure maneuver to break up the incoming attack. The Elomin commander, psychologically unable to deal with the tactic, attempted to counter it, but to no avail. The Chimaera entered the battle, and within an hour the commander was dead, and his task force completely destroyed.
As an Elomin, the task force commander possessed a very logical and ordered mind. As such, the commander was incapable of formulating a tactical response to the Marg Sabl maneuver, which employed an unstructured attack profile.
The Elomin task force commander was first referenced in the opening chapter of Heir to the Empire, the first novel in Timothy Zahn's The Thrawn Trilogy. Subsequent references were made to the individual in the first issue of the story's comic adaptation, and the Heir to the Empire Sourcebook, published by West End Games.
Despite being referred to as an Elom by Grand Admiral Thrawn, as shown in the quote at the head of this article, all further references to the task force call it the "Elomin task force." The Heir to the Empire Sourcebook makes it clear that the Elomin task force is crewed exclusively by Elomins, and it is their logical nature that Thrawn takes advantage of.
- Heir to the Empire Sourcebook
- The Official Star Wars Fact File5
- The Essential Guide to Warfare