A male individual, Urian Orlan was an Imperial Navy officer who lived during the reign of the Galactic Empire. He was a peer of Rae Sloane, who later became Grand Admiral. Despite his reputation as a hesitant commander, his commission was fast-tracked and Orlan was given command of the Star Destroyer Dominion. By 5 ABY, Orlan had attained the rank of Rear Admiral and was posted to the planet Kashyyyk, which had been renamed Imperial territory G5-623 and was a major source of raw materials and Wookiee slaves. Orlan served under the command of Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck, who was one of the few Imperial remnant leaders to propagate the claim that Emperor Palpatine had somehow survived the destruction of the second Death Star. Kashyyyk was one of the few Imperial holdouts which had not been attacked by the New Republic, the successor government to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
When the rebels Han Solo and Norra Wexley's team infiltrated the system in two starships and posed as repair crew, Rear Admiral Orlan ordered their ships to turn around because the planet was on lockdown. He also claimed that the Emperor was alive and well. The former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus then transmitted a fake classified work order. Satisfied, Rear Admiral Orlan allowed the rebels to fly to the automated prison Ashmead's Lock in order to service the prison.
Confused about the order, Orlan contacted Grand Admiral Sloane, the official leader of the remnants of the Galactic Empire. Sloane reminded the Rear Admiral to address her as Grand Admiral, which he reluctantly did. Orlan then described his encounter with the two ships which claimed they had a code clearance from Grand Admiral Sloane. Orlan described the ships as a YT-1300 light freighter and an SS-54 light freighter. These ships were actually Solo's freighter Millennium Falcon and the Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari's gunship Halo.
Recognizing the Falcon, Sloane ordered Admiral Orlan to send a team to investigate and to report back. When Orlan responded that he had to consult Grand Moff Tolruck, Sloane reasserted her authority and warned him that Tolruck would expect a visit from her should he fail to follow her orders. After Orlan had ended the conversation, Sloane's superior Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax told her to call Orlan back and to tell him that they did approve the repairs on the prison. Unknown to Orlan and Sloane, the rebel prisoners at Ashmead's Lock were crucial to Rax's plan to assassinate the New Republic leadership on Chandrila.
After Han Solo, Chewbacca and their rebel allies succeeded in disabling the inhibitor chips controlling the enslaved Wookiees and sparking a planetwide uprising, Tolruck ordered Admiral Orlan to commence orbital bombardment and to destroy all life on Kashyyyk's surface. After Tolruck transmitted the authorization code, the Dominion and the other two Star Destroyers Vitiator and Neutralizer began bombing Kashyyyk from orbit.
Later, Admiral Orlan and his stormtroopers surrounded a rebel freighter which Han Solo and Chewbacca had flown into the Dominions hangar in a mission to knock out the Star Destroyers. Orlan and his men were mauled and devoured by several webweaver spiders that Solo's team had brought aboard their freighter. Solo and his team then managed to hijack the Dominions bridge and use the Star Destroyer to destroy the Vitiator. As a result, the Neutralizers crew surrendered to a New Republic force led by Princess Leia Organa, Captain Wedge Antilles, and Admiral Ackbar.
Urian Orlan was a plastic-cheeked and bird-nosed little man who had a reputation as a hesitant commander. He was believed to wear a wig on his head. Despite his poor qualities as a commander, Orlan was given command of the Star Destroyer Dominion. Sloane regarded Orlan as discourteous for not addressing by her proper title Grand Admiral. As an Imperial Navy officer, he was familiar with operating Imperial communications devices and transmitting data. Orlan later fell into a trap set by Han Solo and was killed by a webweaver spider.
Urian Orlan first appeared as a minor antagonist in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, the second installment in The Aftermath Trilogy.