The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Ait Convarion

Ait Convarion was a career officer in the Imperial Navy. Confident and talented, he earned much of his reputation and skill by fighting pirate groups that plagued the Empire in the Outer Rim. Born and educated on Eriadu, Convarion grew up as a member of the aristocracy there. When he reached adult age, a sense of patriotism led him to join the Imperial Navy. Convarion also found in space combat the means to express his aggressive nature&mdash;by blasting the enemies of the Empire to pieces.

As much as he enjoyed the thrill of victory, Convarion was also a skilled tactician. Early in his career, he demonstrated a talent for capital warship combat, and while he wasn't innovative, he was cunning and could be ruthless.

In 18 BBY, he was assigned as the first officer on the Victory Star Destroyer Corrupter, commanded by Captain Jack Nebulax. His superior was an irritable man with his own dreams of glory and was, in Convarion's mind, a relic of a bygone era, a crusty old veteran incapable of learning new tricks. Their relationship was far from platonic and indeed bordered on outright antagonism at times. To make matters worse, Corrupter was commandeered by the Inquisitorius to serve as the personal ship of a particularly testy Inquisitor named on Ajaur on a Jedi hunt, while Nebulax's and Convarion's original mission of pursuing pirates was relegated to secondary status.

Not long into their mission, Convarion was the ranking officer on the bridge when a small freighter was spotted which he believed to be connected to subversive elements in the Zhar system. Before he could do much, though, Nebulax arrived and, upon hearing Convarion's suspicions, gave the order to pursue it. However, the freighter turned out to be an illegally modified vessel and it managed to escape to hyperspace.

Convarion and Nebulax did not concern themselves unduly with the matter and continued on their cruise. When Ajaur ordered an attack on the world of Susefvi, an unhappy Nebulax ordered Convarion to accompany the landing force. The world was swiftly occupied, though the invasion was far from Convarion's liking, as he would have preferred to be in space attacking pirates and other scum instead of occupying a nearly defenseless world. The menacing presence of Ajaur did little to ease him. His two months on Susefvi were quite unpleasant.

Their next strike against an asteroid pirate base was more to his liking, as the Empire defeated a large number of pirates. In that battle, Nebulax displayed considerable skill in battle, which impressed Convarion. The Corrupter then received minor repairs for damage sustained and continued on its mission for several months. It was during this time that Convarion was promoted from lieutenant to commander.

Their streak of success was broken when Ajaur ordered Convarion and Nebulax to set course for the world of Darlyn Boda to attack a Jedi stronghold. Nebulax did as ordered, but Ajaur's ground assault was both costly and less than successful, as a Jedi-aligned ship was able to escape. Immediately afterward, the Corrupter was called in to help rescue an Imperial craft under attack by pirates. Convarion and Nebulax did their best to assist the other ship, but were unable to stop it from being seized, though they did destroy the rest of the pirate flotilla. With the Corrupter badly damaged, Convarion helped coordinate repairs until an Imperial fleet could arrive and assist them. Still pursuing his missing Jedi, Ajaur left the ship shortly afterward. Convarion did assist the Inquisitor by providing an intercepted partial transmission, which Ajaur commended him for. After the Corrupter was repaired, Captain Nebulax was transferred off of the ship, but Convarion remained on the Corrupter for nearly twenty years, plying the spacelanes of the Outer Rim, wreaking havoc on pirates and other fringe elements that dared defy the Empire.

Following the Battle of Endor and the fragmentation of the Empire, Convarion remained loyal to Ysanne Isard. He was killed in action against Rogue Squadron during the Bacta War when the Corrupter was lost with all hands aboard.

Behind the scenes
Ait Convarion was a canonical character created by X-wing author Michael Stackpole for his novel The Bacta War. When drafting Force Exile III: Liberator, Force Exile author Atarumaster88 decided to incorporate Convarion into his novel to serve as a subordinate officer to Captain Jack Nebulax on the Corrupter, the Star Destroyer he would eventually command. Atarumaster88 chose to focus heavily on the relationship between the two officers after using the example of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Gilad Pellaeon in The Thrawn Trilogy as a model. Much like his canonical characterization, Convarion was seen as ambitious, confident, and skilled. Unlike Thrawn and Pellaeon, Atarumaster88 wanted a more overt conflict between Nebulax and Convarion, owing to the more ambitious nature of both men. Convarion has yet to be depicted.

Appearances

 * Force Exile III: Liberator