During the Galactic Civil War, a High Inquisitor known as Halmere operated within the Galactic Empire. Following the Clone Wars, Halmere was among numerous Force-sensitive individuals held captive by the Empire on the Deep Core world of Byss. To assess their potential value to the Empire, Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, subjected Halmere and the other prisoners to rigorous trials. Vader chose Halmere, along with Antinnis Tremayne, Lanu Pasiq, and Gwellib Ap-Llewff, while the remaining captives met their death. Subsequently, these four recruits were inducted into the Inquisitorius as Inquisitors, serving Vader and his newly established organization.
Vader personally trained the Inquisitors, and they were soon dispatched to hunt down a Jedi fugitive hiding on Imperial Center. Halmere, Tremayne, and the others confronted Jodd Sonta (identified as the rogue Jedi) and his allies, Ekria and Zonder, but the Jedi and their allies managed to escape during the ensuing conflict, thwarting the Inquisitors' efforts. Some years later, shortly after the Dissolution of the Imperial Senate, Emperor Palpatine assigned Halmere the task of interviewing Canna Omonda, a former Senator from Chandrila who had publicly criticized the Emperor. During this interview, Omonda confessed to committing high treason, which led to her subsequent death sentence.
Halmere, a Human male who was Force-sensitive, was among a large group of Agricultural Corps members and other Force users who had survived the Clone Wars. The Galactic Empire, which had recently been established, imprisoned them, with Sly Moore, a member of the Imperial government, overseeing their captivity. They were held on the Deep Core world of Byss at the direction of Emperor Palpatine, who hoped to integrate some of them into the Empire's service. Shortly after the Declaration of a New Order, which marked the Empire's rise, Palpatine and his apprentice, Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, inspected the prisoners. Before departing, Palpatine removed their restraints, effectively setting them against Vader as a test. Vader, having killed many Jedi in the previous months, taunted the captives, provoking them to attack him with improvised weapons. Halmere joined the assault, but Vader easily defended himself. One captive, Antinnis Tremayne, disabled Vader's breathing device. Impressed, Vader selected Tremayne, Halmere, Lanu Pasiq, and Gwellib Ap-Llewff to serve him, and ordered the immediate execution of the remaining captives.
The four chosen individuals were inducted into the newly formed Inquisitorius as Inquisitors. Halmere, along with Tremayne, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff, traveled to the Jrade District on Imperial Center, where Tremayne addressed a meeting of the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order's Sub-Adult Group. After his speech, Tremayne tasked Halmere with identifying all attendees, having sensed a Force-sensitive presence within the crowd. Later, Halmere participated in a sparring session with the other Inquisitors, overseen by Vader. During this session, Tremayne informed Vader about detecting a Padawan at the Sub-Adult meeting, which aligned with reports from the planet's lower levels. Tremayne outperformed Halmere, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff during the session, even using telekinesis to throw Pasiq into Halmere. By the time Tremayne had disarmed his fellow Inquisitors and completed his report, Vader simply ordered him to rid the galaxy of the Jedi.
Tremayne later determined that the Padawan was Jodd Sonta, accompanied by a Selonian Jedi companion named Zonder. Unbeknownst to them, Zonder was about to depart for Byss as a slave, and Tremayne believed Sonta would attempt a rescue. Tremayne boarded the slave transport alone to ambush Sonta, while Halmere, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff awaited orders. They were eventually instructed to eliminate Zonder and approached with blasters drawn. The Inquisitors discovered the Selonian with another Jedi fugitive, Ekria, and a group of non-Human slaves. Pasiq demanded their surrender, but they refused and attacked. Zonder bit Halmere's arm, causing him to drop his blaster. Pasiq and Ap-Llewff were also subdued, and Halmere was attacked by an Ithorian.
Stormtroopers then entered the area and opened fire on the Jedi and slaves. However, Halmere, Pasiq, and Ap-Llewff were incapacitated and unable to pursue their opponents as they retreated into the transport. The criminals escaped on a Bantha-II cargo skiff, and Sonta evaded Tremayne's capture. With the fugitives gone and the Inquisitors empty-handed, Tremayne reminded his colleagues to keep their failure a secret due to Vader's absence.
By 0 ABY, Halmere had achieved the rank of High Inquisitor. Shortly after the Dissolution of the Imperial Senate, Canna Omonda, the former Imperial Senator from Chandrila, publicly criticized Emperor Palpatine. According to a Coruscant Daily Newsfeed report, Palpatine requested Omonda to return to Imperial Center from Chandrila for an interview with Inquisitor Halmere. Omonda complied, traveling with an escort of three Imperial Star Destroyers. During the interview, Omonda reportedly began sobbing and confessed that she, as an Imperial Senator from a Core World, had used her access to classified information to aid the Alliance to Restore the Republic, which was at war with the Empire. Omonda revealed the names and locations of her contacts, who were subsequently arrested. Gretta Spinbalio, a spokeswoman from Halmere's office, shared the details of the interview with the media. Omonda was then sentenced to death for high treason during Fete Week.
Halmere's career progressed rapidly, and he became one of the High Inquisitors. Following Palpatine's death on Endor, he, like many of his peers, was recruited by High Inquisitor Jerec into the Pentastar Alignment, the splinter state established by Grand Moff Ardus Kaine. Within this regime, he became a Great InQuestor of Judgment, the Pentastar Alignment's equivalent of an Inquisitor. After Jerec's demise, Halmere inherited the title of Zenithal InQuestor of Judgment.
Halmere possessed sufficient Force abilities to be selected by Darth Vader from the captives on Byss for service in the Inquisitorius. However, he was outmatched in combat by his fellow Inquisitor, Tremayne. Even when armed with a blaster, Halmere was unable to defeat an unarmed Jedi Padawan, as demonstrated during his confrontation with Zonder, the Selonian.
The character of Inquisitor Halmere was first mentioned in the "Galaxywide NewsNets" section of Star Wars Adventure Journal 4, published in 1994. The character remained unused in the Expanded Universe for 11 years, until his appearance in Evasive Action: Recruitment by Paul Ens. Thomas Hodges provided the first visual representation of Halmere for the comic. The character was later included in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008. In 2013, Halmere was referenced in the Star Wars Blog article The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire, which mentioned his joining the Pentastar Alignment and becoming a Grand InQuestor of Judgment. The image identified as Halmere in the article was originally published in The Pentastar Alignment, an article in Star Wars Adventure Journal 3. The image depicted the Grand InQuestors from the Pentastar Alignment, and the specific InQuestor was not identified in the original article. The image was republished in The Best of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, Issues 1-4 and colored, representing artwork by Chris Gossett.