Marcus Pitto

Marcus Pitto was a commander in the Imperial Starfleet, whose efforts in the Outer Rim as commander of the 61st Delocalised Task Group in the years following the Battle of Endor earned him the respect of many in the Imperial Remnant, even following the formal end of the Galactic Civil War.

Early Life
Born in 23 BBY, on the planet Alfestril, Marcus Pitto began his life in an area of the galaxy highly loyal to the Galactic Republic. Marcus was born into turbulent times, with the rising Separatist Crisis occupying much of Galactic politics, a facet of life that Alfestril, a Core World, was heavily exposed to. As a whole, the people of Alfestril were powerful supporters of Chancellor Palpatine, and their loyalty was rewarded with the Chancellor’s favour. Though born in the suburbs of Alfestril’s largest city, Pitto spent much of his formative years onboard the orbital station named The Overwatch, after his parents were given government jobs there following the Clone Wars. While on The Overwatch, Marcus was exposed to a great deal of high Imperial society and culture, though even at a young age his burgeoning intelligence lead him to question what he heard. Nonetheless, the Emperor’s continued favour towards Alfestril brought huge benefit to the people of the planet, and they thrived under the Empire. During his time in education aboard the station, Marcus met a man named Fravius Dennel, who had served in the Clone Wars as the commander of a small task group of Acclamator-IIs, but had retired following the wars end. Marcus greatly enjoyed Dennel’s tales of his wartime exploits, and frequently had the opportunity to hear them, as Fravius became close friends with Marcus’s father.

The combination of these in-depth discussions of fleet tactics, and the growing murmurings of open rebellion lead Marcus to conclude that he would be best suited attending the Fleet Academy on nearby Corulag, another equally Imperialised world, as soon as he turned eighteen. Three years later, following his graduation, he was made lieutenant, and assigned to a Victory-class Star Destroyer patrolling the Mid Rim. Pitto learned much from his captain, and by the time of the Battle of Yavin, he had been promoted to Commander, and given command of a trio of Acclamator-IIs, in a way similar to his old friend Fravius Dennel, who had since rejoined the Navy in light of the Rebellion, and was now an Admiral.

Insurgents
The Battle of Yavin soon became a call to arms for many across the Galaxy, and a sign that the Empire could be successfully resisted. The destruction of the Death Star, an symbol of the Empire's might, inspired the creation of numerous insurgent groups hoping to emulate the new heroes they had found in the Rebel Alliance, and soon illegal arms were flooding into Outer Rim systems that had become bases for these terrorist groups.

Determined to restore order, and wipe out the insurgent threat, the Empire was nonetheless tied up with fighting the Rebellion in the more populous areas of the Galaxy, and many of the otherwise untested commanders throughout the Imperial Navy, who in many cases had seen no combat since their Academy training exercises, were assigned to deal with the insurgents in whatever way they could. The idea was to eliminate the threat these groups presented, while giving the novice commanders much needed experience.

Pitto's group were dispatched to Seyphis, a system of rocky planets that had become home to one of the larger Outer Rim insurgencies. Pitto intended to lead his three Acclamator-IIs to the system's sole gas giant and establish a base, before systematically eliminating the resistance, planet by planet. His approach, however, brought him too close to the outermost planet, a frigid icy planet called Seyphis XI. His ships were detected and attacked by the insurgents' border patrol, in the form of a pair of Bulk Cruisers. Surprised by the amount of firepower the terrorists were able to wield, and having detected a trio of Marauder-class Corvettes en route, Pitto realised that time was short.

In an unusal move, Pitto lined his three ships up, one behind the other, and lead the trio directly between the two Bulk Cruisers, firing on both ships at the same time. Though bringing a single Acclamator against two opponents simultaneously went against standard Imperial tactics, Pitto's command ship passed between them with no direct hull damage. The second ship scored a lucky hit on one of the Bulk Cruiser's engine blocks that pierced the hull directly over a reactor control cable. The reactor detonated, and Pitto could bring the firepower of all three of his Acclamators, and they easily overcame the second Cruiser. A one-on-one battle with the Marauders was resolved quickly, and three hours later, the insurgents planetside surrendered. An hour following this, the other planets followed suit, under the condition that they would be allowed to live. Pitto executed the leaders, and imprisoned three out of every ten insurgents, chosen at random. Pitto's first mission as a commander was a success, a full three weeks ahead of schedule.

Endor and its aftermath
By the time of the Battle of Endor, Pitto was in command of an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer and a pair of subordinate Victory-class Destroyers. The battle saw his new flagship heavily damaged during a side-by-side turbolaser barrage against a Mon Calamari vessel. The two ships were still exchanging fire when the order to retreat came through, and the communications array was destroyed before the message was received in its entirety. Knowing he had to retreat, but unsure of where he was supposed to go, he fled to a repair yard in the Kaynah system, using a message pod to instruct his two support vessels to do the same.

Unfortunately for Pitto, Kaynah Base housed a set of ship-portable shield generators, and its inventory was listed on a network that had been hacked by the Rebellion during the battle. Determined to help save the Ewoks that had helped bring about their victory, the Rebels attacked the station as quickly as they discovered its inventory list.

Convinced that the Rebellion was using the chaos following the Emperor's death to attack as many Imperial installations as quickly as they could, Pitto launched a hasty defence of the base. Commanding the station's ill-equipped protection fleet (An Acclamator-II and a pair of Lancer frigates) from his heavily damaged Star Destroyer, Pitto fell victim to a concentrated starfighter attack. From an escpae pod, drifting in the debris of what had been his command ship, he watched as a pair of Corellian Corvettes blew past his defences, and docked with the station. Before his Victory-class Destroyers could intercept, they had stolen the shield generators and fled.