Blitzer Harrsk

Biography

Imperial service

During the Galactic Civil War, Blitzer Harrsk, a male Human, served with distinction in the Imperial Navy. As an Admiral, he was esteemed as one of the Navy's most brilliant strategic minds and commanded Arrowhead Command from the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Whirlwind. Harrsk's area of responsibility encompassed the Core Worlds section of the Slice, known as "Arrowhead." In 4 ABY, Admiral Firmus Piett, commander of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor and a friend of Harrsk, persuaded him to attach his command to Lord Darth Vader's Death Squadron. This was to reinforce Imperial forces in preparation for an ambush against the Alliance to Restore the Republic fleet at Endor, where Emperor Palpatine had set a trap for the Rebels.

The fighting during the Battle of Endor shifted in favor of the Alliance, marked by the death of Emperor Palpatine and the destruction of both the Executor and the second Death Star. During the conflict, the Whirlwind sustained damage when a console exploded near Harrsk. Fragments of durasteel pierced Harrsk's left eye and entered his brain's frontal lobe. The same blast resulted in the death of his second-in-command, Captain Bolla Thoath. This injury led Harrsk to develop a divergent personality, where he adopted the identity of Captain Thoath. In his Harrsk persona, he was unaware of Thoath's death and hallucinated his presence. In either state, Harrsk was oblivious to his fractured psyche. When Captain Gilad Pellaeon of the Star Destroyer Chimaera ordered a retreat from Endor to the planet Annaj, Harrsk, as Thoath, agreed with the decision. During the retreat, the admiral was placed in a bacta tank for healing.

The first warlord

The Harrsk who emerged from the bacta tank was fundamentally changed. He was cruel, megalomaniacal, blind in his left eye, and bore extensive scar tissue on half of his face. Rejecting orders from a captain, he informed Pellaeon that command of Death Squadron should revert to the ranking admiral, Adye Prittick. However, Prittick's inability to formulate a plan led to disputes among the fleet's flag officers. Harrsk refused to cooperate and departed Annaj with the battlecruiser Ilthmar's Fist, two Tector-class Star Destroyers and three other Star Destroyers, declining to retreat to Yag'Dhul with the remaining Imperial fleet. Instead, Harrsk directed his ships into the restricted Deep Core at the galaxy's center, declaring he would remain there until a clear Imperial chain of command was established. Within the Deep Core, he claimed the systems around Kalist as his protectorate, naming it Zero Command and himself Lord High Admiral. Although he did not officially secede from the Imperial Ruling Council and remained nominally loyal to the Empire, Harrsk became the first independent warlord. He replaced his damaged eye with a droid photoreceptor.

While the Imperial government on Coruscant was preoccupied with other issues, Harrsk expanded his dominion into the Southern Core, claiming Abregado-rae and several planets at the start of the Rimma Trade Route. In the Outer Rim, he maintained forces in the Atravis sector to extend his personal empire. Unlike many subsequent warlords, Harrsk monitored events beyond the Deep Core, recruiting disaffected Imperials by leveraging his reputation as a rallying figure. The crew of Grand Admiral Martio Batch's fleet, notably, joined Harrsk after assassinating Batch. Harrsk also promised to protect wealthy Imperial citizens, a claim made appealing by the loss of Brentaal IV and its wealth to the New Republic, undermining the rule of Sate Pestage. Simultaneously, Harrsk maintained diplomatic ties with other factions, including offering his services to Pestage.

After recovering from his injuries sustained at Endor, Harrsk gathered Imperial forces to harass the New Republic. Over the next two years, as the New Republic advanced into former Imperial territories and dealt with warlords, Harrsk lost his holdings in the Core Worlds. In 6 ABY, he assisted Ysanne Isard, the new steward of the Empire. However, Isard soon lost Coruscant to the New Republic and fled to Thyferra to start her own warlord career. With the Bacta Cartel's military forces falling to Rogue Squadron, Isard traded bacta with Harrsk for matériel, a fact Harrsk used to assert his superiority.

Imperial reunification

Harrsk's mental instability began to influence his decisions. As Harrsk, he would impulsively attack rivals, only to be saved by the Captain Thoath persona. In 9 ABY, Grand Admiral Thrawn united several warlords into a confederation to wage war against the New Republic. Harrsk and the Deep Core warlords remained independent. After Thrawn's death, Harrsk was approached by agents of a new power on Byss: Emperor Palpatine, resurrected in a clone body. Harrsk, titled Supreme Warlord, pledged loyalty to Palpatine, seemingly forgetting the Emperor's death at Endor, although the Thoath persona remembered. Unifying the Empire, Palpatine launched Operation Shadow Hand, and Harrsk joined in driving the New Republic from the Core. Harrsk's forces were largely destroyed, and the Emperor died his final death on Onderon. His capital on Byss was destroyed, and the unified Empire collapsed. Carnor Jax briefly rose to power, but Harrsk and others refused to follow him. Harrsk returned to the Deep Core, rebuilding and holding part of the Western Core. Rumors of alliances with rogue Imperial ships led the New Republic to send Rogue Squadron to investigate.

In 12 ABY, Harrsk increased recruitment in the Atravis sector and moved troops from the Deep Core, suggesting impending action. Several Imperial fortress worlds supported him. When Leia Organa Solo discovered that Roganda Ismaren was using the Eye of Palpatine as leverage, she suspected Harrsk might seek a deal. The Eye of Palpatine was destroyed, and the Ismarens fled to Harrsk's Atravis sector. Harrsk also faced issues at home. With Byss's fall, Deep Core warlords engaged in open warfare. Harrsk's attempts to increase power brought him into conflict with Treuten Teradoc. Harrsk established his base on a world orbiting a red giant star. Orbital facilities constructed a fleet of twelve Imperial-class Star Destroyers, including the flagship Shockwave, which was larger and better equipped. Harrsk monitored his system with holocams and spy satellites, bribing spies within other warlords' employ.

Daala

Later that year, Admiral Natasi Daala visited Harrsk's stronghold as part of her tour. While Kratas inspected the Shockwave, Daala was brought to Harrsk's base. Daala urged Harrsk to unify with other warlords against the New Republic. Harrsk proposed Daala become his second in command, eliminating rivals and unifying forces under him. Before resolving their disagreement, Teradoc's forces arrived with seventy-three Victory-class Star Destroyers. Harrsk mobilized his Star Destroyers, destroying several attackers, while Kratas commanded the Shockwave. Teradoc's forces focused on the flagship, eventually destroying it. Teradoc's forces retreated, leaving three of Harrsk's Star Destroyers damaged and the Shockwave destroyed.

Harrsk sought immediate revenge take immediate revenge on Teradoc, with Daala's help. Daala, angry at Kratas's loss, refused, but Harrsk forced her to lead the fleet against Teradoc. Under duress, she commanded the Firestorm while Harrsk took the Whirlwind. Seeking surprise, Harrsk immediately hyperjumped to Teradoc's fortress world, a gas giant surrounded by icy rings. As they moved into the rings, Teradoc's bombs detonated, damaging Harrsk's fleet. Harrsk blamed Daala, but the fleet reached Teradoc's fortress, and Victories engaged them. Harrsk opened fire, but Daala countermanded him, firing the Firestorm's ion cannon at Harrsk's Whirlwind.

Harrsk's ship was disabled in space, but Daala shielded him. Two loyal Star Destroyers fired on Daala. Daala opened communications, condemning both Harrsk and Teradoc and urging unity against the New Republic. Harrsk accused Daala of treason and ordered her arrest. Daala activated the Firestorm's self-destruct, threatening to kill them both unless Harrsk ordered a ceasefire. Vice Admiral Gilad Pellaeon ordered his side to stand down. Harrsk waited until the last minute before giving the order, at which point Daala canceled the self-destruct and left with Pellaeon to confer.

Death and legacy

At a small station named Tsoss Beacon, located deep within the galaxy's core, Daala convened a summit. She summoned Harrsk, Teradoc, and thirteen of the Deep Core's most influential warlords. The warlords were instructed to keep their entire fleets away from the station's system, and only the individual warlords were permitted to approach. After two days of resistance, all thirteen finally agreed to Daala's terms. Daala and Pellaeon met with the thirteen warlords in a conference room on Tsoss Beacon, where Daala urged them to band together under the banner of the Empire. Teradoc and Harrsk openly ridiculed the gathering, and when Superior General Sander Delvardus attempted to leave, Daala activated a cyberlock, sealing the room for three hours. She gave them this time to select a leader. The warlords spent the next several hours in heated argument. Harrsk then suddenly attacked Teradoc, attempting to strangle him, but Pellaeon intervened, pulling Harrsk off and throwing him onto a table. Fed up with their behavior, Daala condemned the warlords, and she and Pellaeon donned breath masks. Daala then released a deadly nerve gas into the room. Harrsk and three others tried desperately to force the door open, but they were too late.

While the other warlords succumbed to the effects of the gas, Harrsk remained unaffected. The gas targeted specific regions of the brain, but those regions in Harrsk's brain had been previously damaged at Endor. Daala and Pellaeon, believing all the warlords to be dead, left the room, unwittingly allowing Harrsk to escape and pursue them. Harrsk, now aboard his TIE shuttle, was consumed by a desire for revenge against Daala. Since she presumed him dead, she would be unprepared for his retaliation. While on the TIE shuttle, he imagined that Thoath was present, and recounted his escape. The Thoath persona, motivated by Daala's actions and the example of Grand Admiral Batch's crew, determined that Harrsk had to be permanently eliminated. It sent the TIE shuttle into an uncontrollable spin, and the Harrsk persona then fought to regain control of the ship. Finally, Harrsk's damaged mind remembered that Thoath was dead, and he realized that he had been Thoath all along. Having accepted this truth, Harrsk allowed the shuttle to crash into an asteroid, resulting in his death.

Personality and traits

Blitzer Harrsk was of short stature, standing less than 1.73 meters tall, with black hair. During the Battle of Endor, Harrsk suffered severe facial injuries, with the left side of his face burned away, leaving pink scar tissue and a blinded left eye. Despite the availability of medical technology to heal his wounds, Harrsk chose to keep his scars as a symbol of honor and a tool for intimidation. He replaced his damaged eye with a droid photoreceptor. The undamaged side of his face, however, was always kept well-groomed.

Before his injury, Harrsk was regarded as one of the Imperial Navy's most skilled strategists. However, the damage to Harrsk's frontal lobe at Endor resulted in a fragmented psyche, leading to a split personality. Harrsk developed two distinct personas: one was Harrsk himself, but a more cruel and deranged version of his former self. The other was Captain Bolla Thoath, Harrsk's deceased second-in-command who had died at Endor. The Thoath personality was more logical and pragmatic, and counterbalanced Harrsk's violent tendencies. Harrsk was unaware of this split, and hallucinated Thoath's presence to reinforce his own views.

Harrsk favored elaborate rituals and ostentatious displays of power, which Natasi Daala interpreted as a sign of his inflated ego. He saw himself as the most powerful warlord and the rightful heir to the Imperial throne, viewing all others as imposters. While weary of the ongoing civil war with his fellow warlords, Harrsk believed that diplomacy was an inappropriate method, considering it too similar to the ways of the weak Galactic Republic. Instead, he planned to eliminate those he considered traitors, expecting their forces to rally to his banner. He did not tolerate those who questioned his orders or methods.

Harrsk was quick to seek revenge when attacked. He sometimes prioritized speed over careful planning, relying on the element of surprise and the intensity of his attacks to defeat his enemies. However, Harrsk preferred to remain in a ship at the back and side of the formation during attacks, avoiding direct fire. Many of Harrsk's subordinates disliked serving under him, preferring unity over the endless civil war he perpetuated. Gilad Pellaeon considered Harrsk to be a war criminal.

Behind the scenes

Harrsk made his initial appearance in Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson, but he was first briefly mentioned in the preceding novel, Children of the Jedi. The latter novel implied that he was preparing a major offensive against the New Republic, with Roganda and Irek Ismaren possibly joining him, but this plot was never further developed in Darksaber. In fact, the second novel placed him firmly in the Deep Core, contradicting his plot in Children, which took place in the Outer Rim. While not an explicit contradiction, The Essential Atlas confirmed that he controlled territory in both regions. Harrsk's first name was finally revealed in the 2008 compendium The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. In 2013, the second part of "The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire," authored by Abel G. Peña and Daniel Wallace, established that Harrsk suffered from a split personality following the Battle of Endor.

There are inconsistencies in Harrsk's title as a warlord. While he is referred to as Supreme Warlord in Darksaber, Children of the Jedi attributes his self-proclaimed title as Lord High Admiral, and the Atlas uses only the latter title. He is also called a Grand Admiral in Children of the Jedi. Minor inconsistencies also exist regarding Harrsk's rank at the time of Endor; while The Essential Chronology, its followup, and the Atlas all state he was an Admiral—making him superior in rank to Captain Pellaeon, a key element of his backstory—The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia claims he was only a captain at that time.