Order is what we require, and that is what I shall bring.
—Norven Loyaler to Myr Raachi.
Norven Loyaler was a human male born in 38 BBY. He was a captain in the Republic Navy, commanding the Legendary. While his service in the Republic would be short, he would serve in the Imperial Navy from 19 BBY to 4 ABY, becoming an admiral in 3 BBY.
After the Emperor's demise at the battle of Endor, Norven refused to follow the rendezvous order, and instead retreated to his established base of operations, Aradan. Here, he founded the Aradan Union, his own personal warlord realm.
He founded the House of Loyaler on Aradan, which became the ruling house shortly afterwards, despite only counting a handful of members.
While Norven's realm was initially successful, it soon became target of the neighbouring Pentastar Alignment, led by his rival Grand Moff Ardus Kaine. Norven found himself in several skirmishes with Kaine and Isard during the Bacta War. However, his warlord empire was destroyed from the inside, when the people of Aradan rebelled against his empire and banished the Aradan Union and all its loyalists from the planet.
Only few remained behind, including his son, Jevron Loyaler. Norven's empire had became just the remainder of Reclaimer Fleet, which had now shrunk to only five ships, including Norven's flagship, Reclaimer.
Biography[]
Early service[]
Norven entered service in the Republic Navy after graduating from the Corulag Academy in 19 BBY, on the age of 19. He was granted command of the Legendary, a new Venator-class Star Destroyer for his outstanding accomplishments on the academy.
Norven was assigned to admiral Cal Kyro and was one of the captains in his fleet. When Cal however died mid-battle during the battle of Leclite, Norven stepped up in his place and led the Republic force to victory. He was promptly promoted to rear admiral.
Participating in campaigns across the Outer Rim, Norven managed to secure Foron during the battle of Foron in 19 BBY, defeating the Confederate commander in combat.
Since his Republic days, Norven served with Clone commander Blades of the 666th Elite Legion. His subordinate, Syn, eventually replaced Blades as he retired from Imperial service.
Imperial service[]
Norven commanded a small segment of forces, composed of the Amarasis, the Strider, the Assassin and the Ardent.
Unknown Regions expeditions[]
Him and I see alike. The future of the Empire weighs on us, the pillars of civilization. Those outsiders are the rot that would corrupt it right down to the core and I would die before I see that happen.
—Norven to Myr Raachi in 17 BBY.
Between 19 BBY and the Battle of Yavin, Norven participated in a number of expeditions into the Unknown Regions, often cooperating with fellow Imperial officer Arius Valdayn. The culmination of this was Norven's command of the expedition in 17 BBY.
Norven's own expedition[]
Being placed in charge planted Norven with numerous new responsibilities concerning resources and manpower, and the size of his fleet vastly changed throughout the expedition. One of Norven's first orders was the imminent isolation of the Unknown Regions, setting up border patrols at the end of the Murgo Choke to bar outsiders from access and more importantly, prevent natives from leaving.
At some point during the expedition, Norven met with both Erruouf Azimuth, a former Republic officer now in charge of the CSDF. The officers were faced with difficulties: Norven had no knowledge of the region which Erruouf could provide, whereas Erruouf's forces were short on formidable and experienced crew, which in turn Norven could provide. Thus, Norven was granted access to CSDF maps while tasked with rooting out pirate lord Morthyrus Vaine.
By the end of the campaign, the fleet had gained two new capital ships. In addition, Norven's expertise earned him the rank of Vice Admiral.
The rebellion[]
Several years later, in 3 BBY, Vector Hex, then his colleague, was mutinied against, and promptly retreated from Imperial space. Norven paired up with a former captain in Vector's fleet, Lucan Morces to hunt him down. The campaign eventually came to an end when Norven and Lucan had claimed to have killed him in Wild Space.
Both had earned a promotion from their manhunt, Norven being promoted to the rank of admiral, and Lucan being promoted to vice-admiral. While loyal to the Empire, Lucan decreed his personal loyalty to Norven for the years to come.
By this time, Norven had been gifted command of a Bellator-class dreadnaught, which he christened the Overlord and made his flagship.
Starting in 3 BBY, Norven would start to build up a following on Aradan, the planet becoming his base of operations and eventually the site of his palace. The planet would later serve as the capital of his warlord realm, the Aradan Union.
In the process of putting down a large insurrection, the Overlord was destroyed in 2 ABY. The ship's crew was evacuated in time, however. His flagship was replaced with the Reclaimer, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer.
In this time, Norven had also recruited his personal kill-squad, Alpha Squad, led by commander Titus. It would also be around this time that Norven would start growing his iconic beard, and started wearing a black admiral's uniform.
Finally, Norven and another colleague, Elgar Finn would serve at the battle of Endor, and witness the Emperor's death firsthand. Norven promptly retreated to Aradan, where his subordinates, Syn, Lucan and Titus waited for new orders.
Warlordism[]
Norven proclaimed the Aradan Union in 4 ABY, shortly after the establishment of Zero Command, the Varino Imperium and the Greater Maldrood in the aftermath of the revolt on Aradan. Lucan became his second-in-command in the government and the navy, as well as his most foremost naval officer, whereas Syn was placed in command of the Aradan Union Armed Forces. Titus remained in command of Alpha Squad, but was promoted to Senior Commander.
When he seized Aradan as his base, Norven began a secret hunt for the Royal Houses of Aradan, viewing them as potential threats to his power. He successfully hunted down many Aradani nobles throughout the years, resulting in the extinction of most of the noble houses.
At the establishment of the Aradan Union, Norven was in charge of two fleets, Reclaimer Fleet and Amarasis Fleet, a Predator-class battlecruiser, the Overlord II, and a segment of forces led by Lucan Morces. These formed the mainstay of the Aradan Union Naval Forces until 5 ABY.
In 5 ABY, Norven struck a deal with Cybe Drives, the massive shipyards around Cybe, a planet which neighboured Aradan and fell under Norven's influence. Cybe Drives had been an Imperial shipyard, and thus had access to most Imperial designs. The shipyard would produce ships exclusively for Norven, save for the Protector-class Star Destroyer, which was an Imperial commission started at Kuat, and the Syracuse-class Star Destroyer, a ship exclusively produced for the Mantellian Authority.
It was at this time that Norven became father of Jevron Loyaler. However, Norven felt he had no place in the child's life, and refused to give up his warlord life. Jevron and his mother thus lived a secret life in Aradan's capital city, Myran, and would continue to do so until the Aradan Union's banishment.
At some point before the raid on Bilbringi, the Aradan Union seized a Torpedo Sphere which had been undergoing an upgrade at the Tallaani Shipyards. He christened the ship Bombard and deployed it as part of the fleet.
Challenging Isard[]
Norven challenged Ysanne Isard as early as 7 ABY as Norven deemed her unfit to rule the Empire, putting himself at odds with many more within the Empire. Norven raided the Bilbringi shipyards successfully in 7 ABY, seizing five Imperial Star Destroyers in the process, including Star Destroyers Merciless and the Providence.
These five Star Destroyers became part of Reclaimer Fleet, bringing the number of ships back to eight ships, Norven reinforcing his fleet with three Star Destroyers.
Norven moved with Reclaimer Fleet to Esfandia and established the Esfandia Long-Range Communications Base the New Republic would come to use during the Yuuzhan Vong War. The base would however now be used to spy on Isard, crewed entirely by Norven's men.
His base would however be short-lived, as he was forced to abandon the base in 9 ABY to prevent the New Republic from discovering about his survival, especially now that admirals were dropping like flies.
The Thrawn Campaign[]
Norven ultimately survived his encounters with Isard, albeit neither side without casualty. In her wake, the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn rose to take her place. Norven had only heard stories about Thrawn, but knew better than to believe Imperial politics. Norven instead backed Thrawn, sending an expeditionary force under command of one of his most trusted, Jonas Elijah Woods.
On the run[]
Norven retreated from known space with his fleet, abandoning Aradan. On Aradan, a new democratic government was formed, and against all odds, Norven's son, Jevron Loyaler was elected. The Reclaimer Fleet fled to the edges of known space, where it remained hidden for the coming years.
Most of Norven's subordinates were left behind on Aradan, with the exclusion of his lieutenant Remus Morgue, and Alpha Squad.