Pter Thanas, a commander in the Imperial Navy, was a male Human from Coruscant. He famously switched his allegiance to the Rebel Alliance following the events of the Bakura Incident during the Galactic Civil War. Thanas, a diplomatic figure within the Imperial Starfleet, gained recognition for leading effectively without resorting to intimidation. Earlier in his career, he spearheaded an Imperial task force against the Crimson Nova pirates operating on F'Dann IX.
During his assignment on the frigid world of Alzoc III, he became well-liked by the indigenous Talz laborers due to his forward-thinking policies. By increasing their food rations, he not only boosted the mine's productivity but also earned the respect and loyalty of the Talz. When a less compassionate Imperial colonel took over and reduced their rations back to previous levels, it triggered a revolt among the workers. Thanas' refusal to suppress this uprising led to his reassignment to Bakura, a recently occupied planet, in 1 BBY.
Upon arriving there, he assumed command of the local Imperial naval defense, reporting solely to Governor Nereus. In 4 ABY, Bakura faced an invasion by the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium, a reptilian species. The invaders swiftly decimated half the garrison and established a blockade around Bakura. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, a Rebel Alliance fleet responded to a distress call and arrived to assist the Imperials.
After the Bakura Truce was established between the Alliance and the Empire, Thanas collaborated with the Alliance and formed a close bond with Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. However, once the Ssi-ruuk were defeated, Nereus ordered Thanas to betray the Alliance fleet. The resulting chaos saw Thanas' flagship, the Dominant, destroy several Rebel vessels. In response, Han Solo attempted to dislodge the Dominant from the Imperial formation by using his starship, the Millennium Falcon, to ram the cruiser.
However, Skywalker's communication with Thanas through the Force played a crucial role in convincing him to switch sides. As a sign of his change of heart, Thanas targeted the Ssi-ruuvi cruiser Shriwirr with his ship's weapons and dispatched a medical team to aid the critically injured Dev Sibwarra. Following Nereus' death and the Imperial garrison's surrender under favorable conditions, a deeply impressed Thanas chose to defect to his former adversaries.
In 12 ABY, he married Gaeriel Captison, the Prime Minister of Bakura. Shortly after, Captison gave birth to their daughter, Malinza. Three years later, Thanas received a diagnosis of the debilitating Knowt's Disease. He endured the slow and painful progression of the illness, eventually passing away in 16 ABY at the age of 64, following Captison's unsuccessful bid for reelection.
Born and raised on the galactic capital of Coruscant, Pter Thanas was a male Human who later enlisted in the Imperial Navy. His military service was closely tied to the Carrack-class cruiser, Dominant. Early on, Thanas commanded an Imperial task force built around the Dominant in a campaign against the Crimson Nova pirates. Despite the pirates' strong resistance, Thanas successfully defeated their fleet and destroyed their base on F'Dann IX.
While serving as the commanding officer of a mining operation on Alzoc III, Thanas observed that the enslaved Talz workers demonstrated significantly higher productivity when provided with increased food rations. By reallocating resources within his budget, Thanas was able to provide the Talz with more food, which resulted in a threefold increase in mining output. The Talz showed their gratitude by saving Thanas from a fall into a mineshaft.
Six months later, when an Imperial colonel arrived to replace Thanas, he immediately reduced the Talz's food rations to their previous levels. A Talz leader protested this change, and the colonel ordered Thanas to destroy the Talz village as a demonstration of Imperial power. Thanas refused this order, leading to his immediate reassignment to the newly Imperial-controlled world of Bakura in the Outer Rim in 1 ABY.
On Bakura, Thanas held the position of commanding military officer for the Bakuran garrison, with the Dominant serving as the flagship of the defense force. Given Bakura's relatively low strategic importance, the military garrison stationed there was equipped with smaller warships. He oversaw the operations of the planet's limited defenses and was subordinate only to Wilek Nereus, the Imperial Governor of Bakura. His authority extended only to the Imperial Governor, not the Prime Minister. Despite his dissatisfaction with the Empire's control, Thanas' dedication as an officer may have been crucial in saving Bakura.
Concurrent with the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the Ssi-ruuvi [Imperium](/article/ssi-ruuvi_imperium], a reptilian species, launched an invasion of the Bakura system, annihilating half of the small Imperial-Bakuran defense force and capturing most of the outer system outposts. These reptilians originated from the remote Unknown Regions and were conducting reconnaissance of Imperial territory. They arrived with a significant fleet, including at least one Ssi-ruuvi assault carrier, as well as a large contingent of battle droids. An outpost on the sixth planet in the Bakuran system was completely destroyed, and a command signal for Ssi-ruuk droids was established nearby. The Ssi-ruuvi fleet then imposed a blockade on the space surrounding Bakura.
Following the heavy losses, Thanas swiftly ordered the remaining vessels to retreat to Bakura. This decision proved to be life-saving, as it allowed the depleted Imperial forces to regroup and defend against the advancing Ssi-ruuvi fleet. Recovery teams reported that the Ssi-ruuk had left no survivors or bodies, for reasons that were initially unclear. It was later discovered that these unfortunate prisoners had been captured by the Ssi-ruuk and subjected to entechment. The Bakurans also received a transmission from Sibwarra, warning them of the impending fate of entechment, which, despite Sibwarra's description of it as an eternal release, the Bakurans recognized as a falsehood.
In response to the significant casualties, Nereus, Thanas' superior, dispatched an outdated message drone to the forest moon of Endor after failing to reach Imperial Center and the Death Star II, seeking assistance from his Imperial superiors to repel the invasion force. Endor was the closest world with a substantial Imperial presence to Bakura, being the location of the Second Death Star.
Around the same time that Bakura was being invaded, Rebel Alliance forces launched an assault on the Imperial presence as part of a plan to destroy both the second Death Star and the visiting Emperor Palpatine. During the subsequent Battle of Endor, the Alliance successfully achieved these objectives and scattered much of the Imperial fleet, although they also suffered significant losses. The next day, the message droid arrived on the Forest Moon of Endor and was recovered by Alliance forces, who then examined its contents.
After decoding the message drone's coded message, Alliance technicians and slicers learned about Bakura's predicament and the potential threat posed by the Ssi-ruuk to the Galaxy. By conquering Bakura, the Ssi-ruuk aimed to establish a foothold for an invasion of the known galaxy, particularly the densely populated Core Worlds. Despite their animosity towards the Imperials, the Alliance leadership decided to intervene, reasoning that they could potentially gain a new planet as an ally, gain access to Bakura's repulsorlift technology, and prevent a potential hostile threat. Among them was the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, who was encouraged to go to Bakura by the spectral presence of his deceased Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
An Alliance task force was quickly assembled under the command of Luke Skywalker and the Virgillian Captain Tessa Manchisco. Upon arriving in the Bakura system, Luke Skywalker contacted Imperial Commander Thanas, informing him that the Alliance had received Nereus' distress signal and had come to propose a temporary truce with the local Imperial garrison to combat the Ssi-ruuk. Due to their significant losses, Thanas gratefully accepted the Alliance's offer, and the task force prepared to microjump into the system to assist the beleaguered Imperials.
To confirm the agreement, the prototype Battle Analysis Computer's status board on the Flurry changed the Imperial formations' designation from "hostile" red to "friendly" yellow-gold. By this point, 80% of the Imperial firepower was concentrated on Thanas' command ship, the Dominant. One of the first joint military actions between the Alliance and Imperial forces was the deployment of Alliance ships, including the Flurry, into the gap between the Ssi-ruuvi's three main cruisers to counter the enemy advance at Thanas' request.
With the Ssi-ruuk temporarily driven back, Leia Organa contacted the planetary government and arranged a meeting between the Rebel Alliance delegation and Governor Wilek Nereus, as well as the Bakuran Senate. An Alliance delegation, including the Heroes of Yavin, arrived at Salis D'aar and attended a special session of the Bakuran Senate. There, the Alliance representatives reiterated their intention to assist Bakura and offered an official truce, which Nereus stated would be considered.
Later, Thanas organized a meeting with his Alliance counterpart, Commander Skywalker, at the local Imperial military base that afternoon. During the meeting, the two men discussed tactical battle plans and intelligence. Displaying his fascination with the extinct Jedi Order, which had been eradicated during the Great Jedi Purge, Thanas requested a demonstration of Skywalker's lightsaber skills by ordering his stormtroopers to open fire on Skywalker after the Jedi initially refused to showcase his swordsmanship. Following this incident, Thanas reflected on his previous assignment on Alzoc III and his relationship with the local Talz.
That evening, an official truce between Alliance and Imperial representatives was formally signed at a dinner hosted by the Bakuran Prime Minister, Yeorg Captison. Midway through the dinner, Nereus received a transmission from Imperial Admiral Adye Prittick, confirming the Rebels' claims of Imperial defeat at Endor. Faced with the prospect of no Imperial support to withstand a full Ssi-ruuk attack, Nereus agreed to an official truce.
However, unbeknownst to Thanas and other Imperial officers, Nereus had secretly made a deal with the Ssi-ruuk to hand over the Force-sensitive Skywalker in exchange for a complete withdrawal. Intrigued by the powers of the Jedi, the Ssi-ruuk planned to bind Skywalker to a modified entechment rig and force him to drain the life energies of millions of sentients from light years away. Secretly, Nereus also intended to betray the aliens by infecting them with olabrian trichoid larvae.
After achieving their goal of kidnapping Skywalker from a prearranged location at the planetary spaceport, the Ssi-ruuk reneged on their secret agreement with Nereus and launched a full-scale assault on Bakura, targeting the orbital space station. In response, the combined Imperial and Alliance fleets, under the command of Thanas and his Alliance counterpart Manchisco, launched a devastating counter-offensive against the Ssi-ruuvi fleet. They were aided in their efforts by Skywalker and the former Human slave Dev Sibwarra.
When the situation seemed dire, Sibwarra, inspired by the Jedi's heroism and freed from mental control by Skywalker's use of the Force on his mind, broke free from Ssi-ruuvi indoctrination and rebelled against his masters. He released Skywalker from his bonds, and the two fought their way through the stun trap-filled corridors of the battle cruiser. Fearing death on an unconsecrated world, the fleet's commander, Admiral Ivpikkis, and the surviving crew abandoned the vessel in escape pods and were rescued by other warships.
As the Ssi-ruuk retreated, Thanas received orders from Nereus to turn against the Alliance. The Dominant opened fire and destroyed the Alliance flagship Flurry with its turbolaser batteries, along with several Rebel starfighters. The remaining Alliance ships were trapped between Bakura and the Imperial fleet. Simultaneously, Nereus had Prime Minister Captison, Senator Eppie Belden and Alliance representative Princess Leia arrested on charges of treason. Nereus also attempted to force Captison's daughter, Gaeriel, to cooperate with him.
This attempted coup d'etat sparked widespread public outrage, leading to riots in Salis D'aar. However, Solo rescued Leia and escaped aboard their transport, the Millennium Falcon, to rejoin the battle in space. Using the Millennium Falcon, Solo planned to ram a small Imperial vessel into the main generator of the Carrack-class light cruiser. This act of sacrifice would allow the Alliance fleet to escape into space while destroying the Falcon and everyone on board.
However, Luke Skywalker used the Force to influence the Dominant's captain, Thanas, to join their cause by transmitting feelings of peace and serenity. Admiring the heroism of his former enemies and recognizing the underlying flaws in his superior Nereus, Thanas ordered his ship to break formation and open fire on the Shriwirr as a sign of cooperation with the Alliance. Dev Sibwarra was mortally wounded during the bombardment of the Shriwirr. Sensing the presence of Olabrian trichoid larvae in his body, Skywalker used the Force to eliminate the parasites.
Luke then contacted Thanas to request a boarding crew to rescue him and the critically injured Sibwarra. As a gesture of goodwill, the Imperial commander agreed to come in person. Thanas also agreed to surrender himself and the Dominant to the Alliance authorities in exchange for his men being sent to a neutral pickup point and allowed to return home, and for Sibwarra to be put on trial. Solo also added that the boarding crew should be unarmed, speaking over the intercom. When the local Imperial Security Bureau operative among the bridge crew attempted to intervene, Thanas quickly stunned him. Thanas dispatched a two-man evacuation pod and placed Captain Dren Jamer in de facto command of the vessel.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Nereus was captured by members of the Bakuran resistance under the leadership of the elderly 123-year-old Eppie Belden. Nereus' personal Stormtrooper bodyguards were incapacitated by a painful electronic alarm system that resonated through their helmets. Much to Nereus' surprise, she had fully recovered, was leading the resistance effort, and was already aware of her husband's death. Outnumbered, Nereus surrendered to Belden and her resistance fighters.
Later, Nereus was killed when he attempted to shoot Skywalker with a blaster rifle. Unfortunately for him, the Jedi deflected the laser blast with his lightsaber back at Nereus, killing him. With the conflict resolved, Thanas negotiated surrender terms with Luke Skywalker and confirmed the official surrender and withdrawal of all Imperial forces on Bakura. As a gesture of goodwill, the Imperials would be allowed to transit at a neutral pick-up-point for a return to Imperial space or their homeworlds.
The planet's citizens would be allowed to choose whether to rejoin the Empire or the Alliance of Free Planets and to conduct their own affairs free from foreign intervention. Prime Minister Captison's government was reinstated, and the planet reverted to the status quo ante bellum before the Imperial invasion. Impressed by the gallantry of the Heroes of Yavin, Pter Thanas chose to defect to the Alliance. As the last of his troops departed, Thanas symbolically severed his ties with the Empire by removing his rank insignia with a knife and accepted a commission as commanding officer of the Dominant in the Alliance.
Gaeriel Captison's election as Prime Minister led to the creation of the Bakuran Defense Fleet to protect against a potential resurgence of the Ssi-ruuvi threat. Thanas was a natural choice to assist in developing a force of new defensive warships and upgrading Bakura's system defenses. As they worked together to rebuild Bakura, a relationship blossomed, and the two married in 12 ABY. Shortly after, Captison gave birth to their daughter, Malinza.
Three years later, Thanas was diagnosed with the debilitating Knowt's Disease. Thanas suffered through the slow killing illness, and finally passed away in 16 ABY at the age of 64 after Captison's unsuccessful reelection campaign. With the death of Captison at the Battle of Centerpoint Station, the orphaned Malinza was adopted by a wealthy Bakuran lady, Aunt Laera, and watched over by Luke Skywalker, who had promised Captison to care for the child in the absence of her father.
Unlike many other Imperial officers during the Imperial and New Republic eras, Thanas was renowned among his subordinates for his ability to lead effectively without relying on fear as a motivator. His skill in military tactics earned him command of the cruiser Dominant, while his training enabled him to respond appropriately to various adversaries, ranging from pirates to the more formidable Ssi-ruuvi threat. As a respected diplomatic officer in the Imperial Navy, he was able to interact with various non-Imperial personnel, including Bakuran and Rebel Alliance officials, without apprehension or prejudice.
Furthermore, Thanas did not adhere to the prevalent Human High Culture that was common in the Imperial bureaucracy and viewed aliens as equals. This was evident in his humane and progressive approach to motivating his Talz slave-laborers during his assignment on Alzoc III. However, this brought him into conflict with other Imperial officials, particularly the colonel who had him transferred to Bakura.
Nevertheless, he shared the same revulsion that many Imperials, Bakurans, and Rebels felt towards the reptilian Ssi-ruuk. This was due to the saurians' practice of mechanically draining the life energies of their captives into a conduit during the process of entechment. Consequently, Thanas viewed their brainwashed human protégé, Dev Sibwarra, as a collaborator with the enemy and sought to have him tried and punished by a human jury, unaware of the trauma that Sibwarra endured during his indoctrination.
Thanas also displayed a deep fascination with the Jedi Order, which had been eradicated during Palpatine's Great Jedi Purge. This was apparent when he compelled Luke Skywalker to demonstrate his lightsaber skills during a visit by the latter to his office. Later, when Skywalker used his blade to deflect a blaster shot from Nereus, Thanas commented on the magnificence and beauty of the lightsaber's movements.
His strong morals and conscience led him to surrender his cruiser and defect to his enemies in the Alliance after recognizing the underlying flaws in his superior Nereus. This marked a turning point in the Bakura Incident, as it prevented further losses for both the Alliance and Imperial forces.
Pter Thanas first appeared as a point-of-view character in Kathy Tyers's 1994 novel The Truce at Bakura, marking his introduction into the Expanded Universe media franchise. His post-Imperial life, including his marriage to Gaeriel Captison and his death, were further developed in the 1995 novel Assault at Selonia, the second book in Roger MacBride Allen's Corellian Trilogy. Later, he was referenced and first illustrated in the 1995 The Essential Guide to Characters by Andy Mangels and Michael Butkus respectively.
Additional information about the character was published in West End Games' The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook in 1996. He also received an entry in 1998's Star Wars Encyclopedia, by Stephen J. Sansweet. In April 2000, Kevin J. Anderson and Daniel Wallace referenced Thanas in their The Essential Chronology and its revised edition The New Essential Chronology, which was published in October 2005.