The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Terneh Oegonar

"We help protect those whom we can whenever possible without compromising the safety of the refuge."

- Jon Rieves

Terneh Oegonar was a male Duros from Yanibar. His family, a group of shipwrights. had fled to Yanibar during the height of the Galactic Civil War as Imperial xenophobia reached a fever pitch. Terneh was mildly Force-sensitive, and Yanibar hoped to employ both his family's shipbuilding skills as well as Terneh's Force-sensitivity. However, his potential never truly developed to the point where he could consider himself a true Force-user. Instead of following any of the many Force-using traditions on Yanibar, Terneh instead joined the Yanibar Guard in an impulsive youthful decision.

Although his family initially disapproved of his chosen career and he himself was not sure how well he liked it after the strenuous introductory training, Terneh persevered, becoming a Challenger tank pilot and good one at that. His natural good spirits and outspoken tendencies as well as certain off-duty exploits earned him the reputation as someone who lived large and enjoyed life. He was one of the bravest members of his unit, as well as an excellent pilot.

He had been in that assignment for six years when he was approached to become part of a new experimental program. The Yanibar Guard was developing advanced battle walkers in response to a new threat and Jon was asked to participate. The Yuuzhan Vong species had invaded the galaxy, launching a devastating war, and the new walkers were part of Yanibar's increased defensive capabilities in case doing battle with them became necessary. Terneh readily accepted, feeling that it suited his sense of adventure, though he was warned that his freewheeling ways, which at times bordered on disregard for the rules, would not be tolerated. Terneh was intrigued enough by the program that he toned down his behavior&mdash;but just enough.

They met the project's lead, Sarth Kraen, who had masterminded the new walkers, dubbed Avatars, and underwent a grueling two year familiarization program that included simulators and numerous runs on the training grounds. Only twenty pilots were selected from the initial class, and only twelve made the cut, entering a top-secret unit dubbed the Pathfinders. The first six months were spent just learning the technical capabilities and systems of their walkers&mdash;the next year was spent learning how to control them. Jon was paired with three other pilots: Akira Arkani, Sneath Lapik, and Terneh Oegonar, under the command of Harrinos.

Their first mission saw them headed to the conquered world of Falleen as Yanibar ramped up its covert strikes against the Yuuzhan Vong and their allies. By this time, Terneh had earned the nickname "Thunder" after piloting an Avatar in a field trial during a terrible thunderstorm with shields fully powered, drawing dozens of lightning strikes. He was in favor of acting against the Yuuzhan Vong, feeling that they represented the same type of evil as the Empire that had once persecuted his family and needed to be stopped. He was good-humored as they received word of thier assignment and prepared for battle.

The four Avatars dropped on Falleen. They were detected and attacked by a group of Yuuzhan Vong starfighters, but defeated them fairly easily. Advancing towards a ruined city, they encountered a large Yuuzhan Vogn warbeast. Rieves was used as bait by their commanding officer after their weapons proved ineffective, luring the beast under a bridge, which the other three Avatars then collapsed on top of it. Moving forward, they encountered Yuuzhan Vong infantry, but were able to clear them with ease. They then detected a large Yuuzhan Vong encampment, and upon seeing the piles of sacrificial corpses, Akira was horrified and understood why the Yanibar Guard was fighting the Yuuzhan Vong.

An airstrike was called in to destroy the encampment, but one of the fighters that bombed it was shot down. The four Avatars were sent to destroy the wreckage. While doing so, the ground beneath their heavy walkers gave way, plunging them into a cavern infested with Yuuzhan Vong. The four Avatars were damaged and encountered three enemy warbeasts. After a grueling battle, they managed to defeat them thanks to Rieves' tactics, but both Terneh's and Akira's Avatars were heavily damaged. Exploring further, they found that the Yuuzhan Vong were growing yammosk war coordinators, telepathic creatures that coordinated the Yuuzhan Vong war effort. Since their enclosure was heavily fortified and the Avatars had depleted most of their ordnance, Akira suggested activating the self-destruct on the damaged two Avatars to destroy all the yammosks at once, preventing any telepathic retaliation. They implemented their plan and Terneh ditched his Avatar to ride with Sneath for the exfiltration. The two abandoned Avatars self-destructed behind them, collapsing the cavern, while the remaining two Avatars were extracted with their pilots.

When the Yanibar Guard deployed to fight the Yuuzhan Vong on Rishi in 28 ABY, Terneh was part of the group that went, piloting his Avatar to good effect, including rescuing a downed Yanibar Guard pilot and a group of commandos that were extracting her. After the battle was concluded, the Yanibar Guard withdrew from Rishi. When the Yuuzhan Vong War ended in 30 ABY, Terneh continued in service of the Yanibar Guard Army, piloting an Avatar. He was still serving in 38 ABY as the last founding member of the Pathfinders when he was deployed on the cruiser-carrier Daara'sherum, which was hunting a Dark Jedi named Ariada Cerulaen. He led a contingent of Avatars which assaulted Ariada's laboratory on Tython, crushing its defenses and allowing the Yanibar Guard to take the facility.

Behind the scenes
Terneh Oegonar was created as one of the four main Avatar pilots for the novella Blaze of Glory. He was written as an easy-going pilot known for witty banter and a desire for the Yanibar Guard to intervene against the Yuuzhan Vong, yet was calm and unflappable even in combat, almost to the point of being flippant. His callsign was based off the MechCommander pilot with the same callsign, a fitting tribute since the Avatars themselves were heavily inspired by the BattleTech series. At one point, Atarumaster88 considered giving him the callsign "Thor", but dropped it. Terneh was present in both Force Exile V: Warrior and Force Exile VI: Prodigal, though he was not directly named.

Appearances

 * Blaze of Glory
 * Force Exile V: Warrior
 * Force Exile VI: Prodigal