Within the Rebel Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, famously known as Twilight Company, Paonu held the rank of commander. Functioning as the naval captain of the company's CR90 corvette, the Thunderstrike, he stood as the third-in-command within Twilight Company's hierarchy. When a hyperdrive malfunction caused the Thunderstrike to be hunted by forces of the Galactic Empire, Paonu put forth the idea of transferring certain members from the Thunderstrike to its escort vessel, the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, hoping to preserve their lives.
However, Everi Chalis, the former Imperial governor, instead suggested a raid on an Imperial heavy freighter, which was ultimately approved and executed. Following the successful raid, the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise met up with a rebel flotilla located in the Elochar sector to carry out repairs on the Thunderstrike under Paonu's guidance. Tragically, Imperial spies managed to infiltrate the Thunderstrike, leading to Paonu's death on the bridge.
During the Galactic Civil War, Paonu held the rank of commander within the Rebel Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry, commonly referred to as Twilight Company. He served as the naval captain responsible for ship operations aboard the company's CR90 corvette, the Thunderstrike. Within Twilight Company's command structure, the commander held the third position, reporting to Captain Micha Evon and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Sairgon. In the year 3 ABY, the Thunderstrike and its escort, the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, were repeatedly attacked by the Galactic Empire due to a hyperdrive leak on the Thunderstrike that left a trail of hypermatter for the Imperial forces to track.
Captain Evon convened a meeting with Twilight Company's high-ranking officers to address the situation. Amidst suggestions for acquiring repair equipment, Paonu cautiously presented his own idea: transferring Everi Chalis, an Imperial governor who had defected and was traveling with Twilight Company, along with select personnel to the Apailana's Promise, separating the gunship from the Thunderstrike. His plan suggested that the Thunderstrike would likely be pursued to destruction while the Promise would ensure the safety of its passengers. Chalis acknowledged his plan but proposed an alternative: locating and boarding an Imperial cargo transport to replace the Thunderstrike. The conference resumed with further discussions until Howl silenced them, and First Sergeant Hazram Namir proposed stealing supplies from an Imperial transport instead.
The decision to board an Imperial transport was eventually made, leading Twilight Company to the Redhurne system as they awaited the arrival of an Imperial heavy freighter carrying the necessary supplies for the Thunderstrike's hyperdrive. While waiting, Paonu, Evon, and Chalis engaged in conversation on the corvette's bridge. After two hours, the company's target appeared, prompting the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise to launch an attack. The Thunderstrike deployed boarding pods to send troops inside the freighter. Following the successful raid, the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise journeyed to a flotilla in the Elochar sector, where a dozen rebel ships were stationed, to complete the repairs.
Evon left for a conference at the Alliance High Command's secret base on the planet Hoth alongside Chalis, Namir, and two [soldiers](/article/soldier], temporarily placing Sairgon in command of the remaining members of the Company. While the Thunderstrike's crew worked tirelessly under Paonu's direction to finish the repairs, Sairgon did his best to keep the troops occupied. Ten days into their time at the flotilla, Twilight Company rescued survivors from the damaged light freighter Trumpet's Call, unaware that they were Imperial spies who had killed the freighter's original crew. After regaining their strength, the spies stormed the Thunderstrike's bridge.
Sairgon was killed, and five other bridge crew members were taken captive. When the rebel soldier Brand entered the bridge and began eliminating the spies, the five crewmembers fought back against their captors, resulting in three of them being killed. By the time all the spies were defeated, Paonu was found dead on the floor. Brand then assumed command of the two remaining bridge crew members, and the Thunderstrike and Apailana's Promise fled to Ankhural, a pirate backwater planet. Following Evon's death on Hoth, Chief Medic Von Geiz stated during a meeting with senior Twilight Company members that he and [Sharn](/article/sharn], the second-in-command of the Promise, were technically the highest ranking officers due to the deaths of Paonu and Sairgon. With no one to oversee ship operations on the Thunderstrike, Commander Tohna was transferred from the Apailana's Promise to lead the corvette's bridge crew.
Paonu expressed a desire to abandon the essential personnel of Twilight Company, leaving them to face certain destruction aboard the Thunderstrike, in favor of escaping to safety on the Apailana's Promise. He hesitantly presented this plan during the meeting with Twilight Company's senior personnel and bridge crew.
Paonu made an appearance in the 2015 novel titled Battlefront: Twilight Company, authored by Alexander Freed.