96th Task Force

The 96th Task Force, also called Ninety-Sixth Task Force, was essentially a task force of the Imperial Navy focused on counter-insurgency. Its primary mission was to suppress rebellious actions within the Galactic Empire's territories located in the Outer Rim Territories. Under the leadership of Admiral Thrawn, it comprised six main starships, including his command vessel, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer known as the Chimaera. Both Thrawn and the Chimaera eventually left to take charge of the Seventh Fleet. The task force also included three Arquitens-class light cruisers—namely the Flensor, the Shyrack, and the Tumnor—in addition to a pair of frigates.

On one occasion during his time as admiral of the 96th, Thrawn presented Morgan Elsbeth, a new ally, with a view of three Imperial-class Star Destroyers, explaining that they represented just a fraction of his personal fleet. On a smaller scale, the Ninety-Sixth Task Force had a large number of TIE fighters, along with assault boats. Thrawn also utilized the Slipknot, which was a YT-2400 light freighter, to gather intelligence on the Batonn insurgents. Furthermore, Thrawn had access to a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle.

During the Imperial Era, the Imperial Ninety-Sixth Task Force was under the command of Admiral Thrawn. Initially, the Chiss admiral commanded the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera as an independent warship for the Empire, holding the rank of commodore. However, upon his promotion to lead the Ninety-Sixth Task Force, the Chimaera became the designated flagship for the entire force.

At one point, Fleet Admiral Jok Donassius summoned Thrawn to the planet of Coruscant, along with Admirals Durril and Kinshara from the One Oh Third and One Twenty-Fifth task forces, respectively. The purpose of this meeting was to address the growing threat presented by various allied insurgent groups operating within the Batonn sector located in the Outer Rim.

Initially, Thrawn's assignment involved assaulting the planet Batonn first, as it was identified as the primary hub of rebel activities in the sector. His specific target was Scrim Island, a fortified facility holding approximately one hundred hostages that had been seized by insurgents five days before the meeting. However, Thrawn expressed concerns about the three ion cannons and the energy shield defending the facility. Durril quickly challenged him, dismissing the Chiss's proposed plan of a breach from above in favor of a low-altitude incursion using assault boats filled with stormtroopers.

Thrawn considered this approach but believed that the island's coastal defenses could effectively repel such an attack. Consequently, he requested more time to further analyze the situation. However, Donassius denied this request and instead ordered immediate action, including the destruction of the island. Thrawn refused this option due to the presence of the prisoners, leading Donassius to reassign the attack on Scrim Island to Durril's One Oh Third Task Force. The Ninety-Sixth was then directed to attack the world of Sammun.

Following the meeting, Thrawn and Commander Eli Vanto, his aide, both believed that Durril's attack on Skrim Island would fail due to his overconfidence. Nevertheless, Thrawn insisted that the One Oh Third should be allowed to proceed with the battle. After examining Sammuni art on a datapad, Thrawn contacted Commander Karyn Faro, the Chimaera's captain, informing her that he and Vanto would not be returning to the Star Destroyer. Instead, she would be responsible for leading the task force against the Sammuni insurgents.

Thrawn instructed the relatively inexperienced commander to enter the system from a distance and then immediately scatter the rest of the task force. The Chimaera was to approach Sammun and demand the insurgents' surrender, using its turbolasers if necessary to penetrate their shields and bunkers, forcing them out of their positions. The remaining elements of the task force could then capture the fleeing enemy ships, with minimal destruction required, as Thrawn predicted their instinct would be to seek refuge in space.

Before Faro departed for Sammun, Thrawn also requested that the Arquitens-class light cruiser Shyrack be dispatched for his personal use. Subsequently, the admiral contacted Brento, the Shyrack's captain, instructing her to observe the battle at Batonn and prepare to rescue the One Oh Third Task Force upon its anticipated failure to capture Scrim Island. Thrawn and Vanto also set off for Batonn aboard the freighter Slipknot, which had been seized from a recently defeated smuggler gang, to observe Durril's attempts to defeat the insurgents.

At Batonn, Thrawn's prediction regarding Durril's attempt came true, as Scrim Island's ion cannons and turbolasers significantly damaged much of the One Oh Third. The insurgents employed a tactic of temporarily contracting a small area of their energy shield to alternate firing patterns, which proved effective against Durril, who failed to recognize the patterns in his enemy's attacks. Thrawn and Vanto witnessed all of this from the Slipknot and transmitted an emergency distress signal on behalf of the task force upon its defeat. The pair then pursued a freighter escaping from the island into space, while the Shyrack observed seven other enemy vessels that fled to different strongpoints on Batonn's main continent. After the Slipknot departed, the Shyrack coordinated the remaining functional ships of the One Oh Third Task Force, whose tractor beams were then used to pull Durril's command ship, the Judicator, out of harm's way.

Later, Thrawn and Vanto returned to the Chimaera after successfully gathering information on the insurgents' leader, Nightswan. In Batonn's orbit, on the Star Destroyer's bridge, Thrawn, Vanto, and Faro participated in a hologram meeting with the various commanders operating in the sector. During the meeting, Thrawn reported on the success of Commander Faro and the Ninety-Sixth at Sammun, which resulted in the destruction of two enemy ships and the capture of four more, along with a substantial collection of small-arms ordnance. Although Fleet Admiral Donassius noted that Thrawn was not physically present during this battle, he was not concerned by this fact, as he was more troubled by Durril's failure to capture Scrim Island. He ordered the One Oh Third to undergo repairs and granted Thrawn permission for a second assault on the island, which Thrawn accepted, having gathered more intelligence on the insurgents.

For the assault on Scrim Island, Thrawn chose a plan designed to catch the insurgents off guard. After conducting a final check of the task force's ships, the admiral took the risky decision to order the Flensor, Shyrack, and Tumnor to approach the planet while the Chimaera maintained its position, thus placing the light cruisers in direct danger. The trio then commenced their turbolaser bombardment of the island facility. Although initially ineffective against the energy shield, the cruisers' blasts grew more powerful as they neared the surface, eventually stressing the shield and potentially overloading the generator. This risk compelled the insurgents to take action against the attack when the Ninety-Sixth's ships were in the upper atmosphere. They simultaneously contracted their shield from the entire shoreline, enabling all three of their ion cannons to fire upward at the approaching craft.

Thrawn then directed the three light cruisers to shift their targeting vectors from the center of the shield toward the newly exposed targets. However, Thrawn was surprised by the appearance of a fourth ion cannon on the southeast shore, which had not been used during Durril's assault. The Shyrack attempted to adjust its firing vector to focus on the new target, but it was too slow and was struck by the ion blasts, disabling its sensors and weapons. Before the Flensor and Tumnor could shift their own aim, the fourth ion cannon targeted them as well, also silencing their weapons.

Although Thrawn had not been aware of the fourth cannon from observing Durril's attack, he had anticipated complications, and therefore the presence of the weapon did not threaten his plan or deter him. Although the light cruisers had lost their primary weapons and main drives, their communications, select secondary weapons, and auxiliary drives remained operational. Thrawn then ordered the Flensor, Shyrack, and Tumnor to move one by one to assigned positions using their auxiliary drives. The admiral then contacted Captain Yelfis of the Tumnor, asking about the condition of the fourth ion cannon, as the Tumnor had been hit last. Yelfis reported that it was sputtering, with their engineering officer indicating that it was a sign of the cathtron tube emitter burning out, which meant that the ion cannon was expended.

With the three cruisers in position, Commander Faro took the Chimaera into the atmosphere, positioning it behind the other craft as it moved closer to Batonn's surface. As the Flensor's captain warned that the northern ion cannon was about to fire, Thrawn and Faro adjusted the Chimaera's position, successfully concealing it behind the smaller craft, which were then struck by the ion fire instead. Brento then warned the Star Destroyer of the western cannon, prompting the ships to again modify their positions to keep the Ninety-Sixth's flagship protected. As they continued to move inward, the light cruisers continued to block all ion fire targeted at the Chimaera, preventing the Chimaera from firing on the island targets. However, once the Chimaera had reached the optimal firing distance from the island, Thrawn ordered his turbolasers to fire, not at the island, but at Target One in the ocean surrounding it, which was not protected by the shield.

The Ninety-Sixth's two frigates, which were conducting observation high above the battle zone, reported tsunami-scale waves hitting the western shoreline, caused by Thrawn's initial bombardment of Target One, making contact with that shore's ion cannon. The admiral then ordered his guns to Target Two, resulting in a more severe swamping at the site of the island's turbolaser. Thrawn then alternated fire between the two targets, just as the shield began to retract over the turbolaser to allow it to fire. However, second tsunamis then struck both targets, flooding the west ion cannon and causing an explosion at the turbolaser, disabling it.

Having demonstrated his advantage, Thrawn opened a transmission to the island, ordering them to lower their shield and surrender, or face the destruction of the remainder of their defenses. When no response was received, the admiral ordered alternating fire between Targets One and Three and alerted his assault boats for imminent action. Just as the two new tsunamis hit the island and a fire started at the already destroyed insurgent turbolaser, the shield fell, and the Chimaera's comm officer reported that the insurgent leader was formally requesting terms. Thrawn ordered him and his men to leave their weapons in the buildings and await Imperial assault boats outside, threatening deadly force for any further resistance or harm to the hostages.

Thrawn, returning from his position at the front of the Chimaera's command walkway, told Vanto that he could inform Coruscant of their victory. He then instructed Faro to oversee the tractoring of the three cruisers out of Batonn's gravity well once the island had been fully retaken, so they could undergo repairs.

Several days after Thrawn was assigned to take Scrim Island, Imperial Security Bureau Colonel Wullf Yularen and Governor Arihnda Pryce, both allies of the admiral, met with him on the Chimaera above Batonn. In the meeting room, Thrawn explained that the insurgents' main stronghold was located at the Creekpath Mining and Refining complex outside Paeragosto City, which Vanto had deduced by tracking the shipping vectors of the freighters that escaped Scrim Island. Thrawn planned a full-scale attack on the facility because, like Scrim, it possessed a shield preventing orbital bombardment. Furthermore, there was a strong civilian presence of roughly thirty-thousand around the facility.

Pryce suggested that she go down to the city herself, as her parents lived there. This would allow her to inspect the insurgents' weapons and defenses, giving Thrawn insight into his enemy, and perhaps allowing her to deactivate the shield. Yularen arranged for the governor to enter the combat zone with his agent, Gudry, under the guise of looking for a friend involved in the mining situation. Although Thrawn disapproved of the plan due to safety and effectiveness concerns, he had to concede the issue, as he had limited authority because Batonn and Paeragosto City were not yet considered full military zones.

Before Yularen and Pryce's departure, the colonel handed Vanto the necessary comms card to maintain contact with the governor. Vanto then told him that Thrawn had already contacted Imperial ground forces and that they were coordinated to attack when needed. However, before he left, Yularen expressed his concern to the young aide about Thrawn's positioning of the Ninety-Sixth. After sustaining heavy damage at Scrim, the three light cruisers were positioned at the corners of an equilateral triangle nearly a hundred kilometers on a side, away from the Chimaera, being attached to heavy maintenance tugs and repair barges. This made them extremely vulnerable to attack from space, which Admiral Kinshara's prisoners had suggested the insurgents were capable of. Thrawn had previously stated that the ships were in that formation so that the barges would not interfere with each other. However, the true, secret reason for the seemingly illogical layout was that the repair barges were hiding TIE fighters borrowed from the One Oh Third, which could jump out and flank passing enemy ships.

Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, more widely known as "Thrawn," was the leader of the Ninety-Sixth Task Force during the Batonn sector insurgency. As the task force's commander, Thrawn often sought the opinions of lower-ranking officers, while also testing them on the purpose of his military strategy. Yet, even as an admiral, Thrawn lacked political acumen, relying on allies such as Colonel Yularen and Governor Pryce to assist him with the nuances of politics.

Assisting Thrawn on the Chimaera's bridge were his aide, Commander Eli Vanto, and the Star Destroyer's captain, Commander Karyn Faro. Senior Lieutenant Lomar served as the senior communications officer on the bridge. Captain Brento commanded the light cruiser Shyrack, and Yelfis was the captain of the Tumnor. They frequently communicated with Thrawn during combat, with the admiral requesting their observations and them relaying their ship's progress. Captain Gilad Pellaeon was also among Thrawn's officers at one point. Also at Thrawn's disposal was Rukh, his personal assassin.

The Ninety-Sixth Task Force made its debut in the 2017 novel Thrawn, authored by Timothy Zahn. On June 13, 2018, it was first depicted in Thrawn 5, a Marvel comic adaptation of the original book written by Jody Houser, and illustrated by Luke Ross.