Gilan Kirkaag was a Quarren male naval commander who served in the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars as well as the Alliance to Restore the Republic and New Republic during the Galactic Civil War.
Born on Mon Cala in 56 BBY, Gilan Kirkaag embraced Separatist ideas during the Separatist Crisis and was a founder of the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, which made capital ships for the Confederacy Navy. He became an Admiral in the CIS early in the Clone Wars and was given command of the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Enmity, although his flagship was put into reserve and he later used the Providence-class Dreadnought Trident.
After the end of the Clone Wars and the defeat of the Confederacy, Gilan Kirkaag refused to give up and fled to the Western Reaches with a fleet of Separatist ships. The Galactic Empire later launched pacification operations against Kirkaag's fleet and other Separatist holdouts, but Kirkaag continued fighting for three years until the Battle of Yoivasca, where his fleet was destroyed. Kirkaag was presumed dead after the battle, but actually survived and went into hiding.
During the Galactic Civil War, Gilan Kirkaag joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic and became a Vice Admiral in the Rebel Alliance Navy. He commanded the Providence-class Dreadnought Benevolence during the Liberation of Monix and was promoted to Admiral after the death of Nadlu Calmar. Admiral Kirkaag later served in the New Republic Defense Fleet.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Gilan Kirkaag was born in the year 56 BBY on Mon Cala, homeworld of the Mon Calamari and Quarren species. He eventually grew to dislike the Mon Calamari and the planet's monarchy, believing that they were oppressing the Quarren and that his species should revolt against the Mon Calamari to become the superior species. Kirkaag also despised the Galactic Republic, claiming that they had not done anything about the situation.
During the Separatist Crisis, Gilan Kirkaag helped found the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, also known as QFD, and oversaw the design and manufacture of its ships, such as the Providence-class Dreadnought, Recusant-class light destroyer, and Subjugator-class heavy cruiser. Kirkaag hoped that with these new capital ships, the nascent Confederacy of Independent Systems would successfully secede and that Quarren interests would be satisfied.
Clone Wars[]
Right after the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY, Gilan Kirkaag joined the Confederacy Navy and was soon granted the rank of Admiral by Count Dooku, who appreciated Kirkaag's ruthlessness. Admiral Kirkaag was given command of the Enmity, one of several Subjugator-class heavy cruisers constructed by QFD and Pammant Docks. He carried out several attacks on Republic forces and their allies, but only a few weeks later the Malevolence was destroyed. The Separatists decided to keep the remaining Subjugator-class ships in reserve and to deploy them extremely sparingly.
After the Enmity was put out of active service, Gilan Kirkaag was given command of another Quarren-made ship, the Providence-class Dreadnought Trident. The Trident was a rare larger model, measuring over two kilometers in length. With his new flagship, Gilan Kirkaag lead several successful campaigns against the Galactic Republic Navy and was considered to be a brilliant tactician by may. However, he also began to forget about his homeworld and why he joined the Separatists, and instead became focused on fighting the Republic.
By 19 BBY, the Separatists had been pushed to the spiral arms of the galaxy, beginning the Outer Rim Sieges. Admiral Kirkaag knew that the war was lost but remained determined, still commanded the Trident, and was able to inflict heavy Republic losses.
Imperial Era[]
Later that year, the Mission to Mustafar resulted in the death of the Executive Separatist Council and the deactivation of the Separatist Droid Army, ending the Clone Wars. Admiral Kirkaag prevented the battle droids in his fleet from being shut down however, and quickly amassed a force of sixty Separatist capital ships that included 1 Providence-class Dreadnought (the Trident), three Lucrehulk-class Battleships, six DH-Omni Support Vessels, twenty Recusant-class light destroyers, and thirty Munificent-class star frigates. He then fled to the remote Western Reaches, where Kirkaag planned to oppose the newly formed Galactic Empire.
In 18 BBY, the Empire launched pacification operations against Separatist holdouts in the Western Reaches. These were led by Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who was responsible for the Antar Atrocity against alleged Separatists, General Hurst Romodi, and Lieutenant Commander Orson Callan Krennic. Admiral Kirkaag's ships often attacked Imperial Star Destroyers, although he could never stop the most powerful military in galactic history, and his attacks gave the Empire reason to occupy legacy worlds and militarize even more.
Admiral Kirkaag's numbers slowly dwindled for the next three years, as ships were inevitably lost and they could not be replaced. By 15 BBY, Admiral Kirkaag had only about twenty-one ships left, including the Trident, two Lucrehulk-class battleships, three Separatist supply ships, five Recusant-class light destroyers, and ten Munificent-class star frigates. Kirkaag had brought his entire fleet over the remote planet Yoivasca to make a last stand against the Empire.
The Imperial Navy soon arrived with a large force of five Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, four Venator-class Star Destroyers, three Victory-class Star Destroyers, two Gladiator-class Star Destroyers, and numerous smaller vessels. The Battle of Yoivasca then began, and it was one of the largest space battles in the early Imperial Era. Ships on both sides eventually broke formation and broadsided, reminding Gilan Kirkaag of the Battle of Coruscant. The battle went on for some time, but it soon became clear that Kirkaag's fleet was going to lose as they were outgunned and were suffering more losses. Admiral Kirkaag ordered a few Munificent-class star frigates, including the Chairman's Treasure, to escape somewhere and potentially join a larger rebellion one day. However, the fleeing ships were attacked and the Chairman's Treasure was the only one to make it into hyperspace.
Gilan Kirkaag then continued the battle for another hour until the Trident was heavily damaged and began falling to the surface of Yoivasca. Kirkaag went down with his ship as it crashed on the planet, creating a "graveyard" of ships from the battle. The battle was a decisive Imperial victory due to the destruction of one of the last major Separatist holdouts. Admiral Kirkaag was presumed dead, but had actually survived.