Octavian Grant
Octavian Grant is an existing Legends character.[1]
| Octavian Grant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Biographical Information: | |
| Born: | After 58 BBY[2] |
| Died: | 27 ABY, Rathalay |
| Descriptive Information: | |
| Species: | Human |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | Approximately 1.65 m[2] |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Eye Color: | Gray |
| Chronological and political information: | |
| Affiliation: | |
| Role: |
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Biography
Early life
Grant served in the Judicial Forces prior to the Clone Wars. He served under Terrinald Screed at Rothana, fought pirates with Hurst Romodi near Thyferra, and worked with Wullf Yularen in a peacekeeping stint in the Atravis Sector.[2]
He worked with Commodore Zaarin on a mission to subdue Rodian marauders between Mon Gazza and Ando. Zaarin prioritized hardware testing over completing the mission, which nearly cost Grant one of his ships and his career. The two each blamed the other for the debacle.[2]
Five Veils Campaign
Grant began to receive a begrudging respect for enemy commander Marath Vooro during the campaign, who put up a valiant defense at Farstine, then led Grant's ships on a long, costly chase through the Hook Nebula. The effort drew resources away from the subjugation of Bavinyar.[2]
Syne's Rebellion
In 18 BBY, Grant was a Vice Admiral, and he oversaw the campaign against the Bavinyar Avengers. Rather than following convoys, he placed his capital ships at key hyperspace junctions, allowing them to quickly respond to hit-and-runs by Jereveth Syne.[2] His most major base was the planet Farstine. There, he was visited by fellow future Grand Admiral, Demetrius Zaarin, who brought with him the Eye of Palpatine.[2]
Grant's inspection of vehicle rendered him essentially blind when the Bavinyar Avengers attacked that morning. With no tactical displays and a viewport angled away from the battle, Grant was unable to diagnose the situation. That proved costly when he order their Immobilizer-class Cruiser not to retreat, and it was destroyed moments later. He was also forced to devote starfighters to protecting the Eye, which left his Farstine Orbital Defense Station vulnerable. The situation was somewhat salvaged by the arrival of the Valediction, but the rebels were able to escape with minimal losses.[2]
Attack on Belsavis
Knowing Palpatine's obsession with hunting Jedi, Grant begrudgingly set aside the battle with Syne to focus on aiding the mission of the Eye of Palpatine in hunting down Jedi, and he sent Gilad Pellaeon and his ship, the Valediction, along with the Salvation to defend it in the Moonflower Nebula. They waited for a time as they tried to figure its exact location, but once Grant learned from Roly Melusar that the Jedi were on Belsavis, he quickly put his plan into action. The Eye vanished, disabling the Salvation in the process, so it ended up being Pellaeon's Valediction alone which carried out the mission.[2]
Blockade of Bavinyar
Meanwhile, Grant was determined to force a confrontation with the Bavinyar Avengers on his own terms. To do this, he intended to blockade and bombard Bavinyar until Jereveth Syne surrendered.[2] Grant attacked at a rate of one settlement per half hour, starting with Waylar, which had over 100,000 residents, then focusing on smaller islands with populations around 10,000.[2]
After 7 hours of bombardments, the Valediction arrived, but unbeknownst to Grant, it was being hijacked by Clan Skirata. Once successful, they sent a message to Jereveth Syne, who brought the Iconoclast into the system and offered her surrender to Grant, who sent two destroyers to intercept her, with one Interdictor trailing behind. Granthe suspected that Syne was planning a last ditch suicide run to kill him as vengeance for her father.[2]
The Valediction destroyed the Immobilizer-class Cruiser Delayer, and moments, later, the Iconoclast, using slave circuits to operate without a crew, made a break to destroy the Grappler by ramming into it. Her shields barely withheld against fire from the two Venator-class Star Destroyers she was surrounded by, but the damaged ship was able to limp its way to the Grappler and destroy it in the collision.[2]
With both interdictors destroyed, the Chu'unthor arrived in the system along with the ships of the Bavinyar Avengers and the Sons and Daughters of Freedom. Grant couldn't properly attack the capital ships like Valedictrion without ruining the integrity of his defensive blockade, so he had to keep his ships in place and the Valediction pave an escape route. He attempted to use his fighters to attack the escaping civilian ships, but many were picked off by starfighters from Syne's forces and the Jedi. Valediction was nearly destroyed by another Victory II-class Star Destroyer, but the attacking Vicstar was destroyed when a crippled picket ship rammed into its aft.[2]
Once the Chu'unthor and other civilian vessels escaped into hyperspace, Valediction, Fat Bastard, and the other rebel capital ships quickly fled as well, ending the battle. Grant decided that their was little purpose in bombarding the civilians who were left behind, and he withdrew his forces to Farstine.[2]
Mentoring Amise Griff
In the years leading up to the Battle of Yavin, Grant chose the young officer Amise Griff as his protegé, mentoring him during his rise from captain to admiral.[3]
Service under Isard
After the Battle of Endor, Grant pledged his loyalty to Ysanne Isard, mostly because she held Coruscant and he did not see any better alternatives. On Isard's orders, Grant took a hastily assembled fleet to the Corellian system in 5 ABY to observe the Battle of Tralus between Grand Admirals Josef Grunger and Danetta Pitta. From his flagship Oriflamme, Grant held his forces back for more than five hours, telling Oriflamme's Captain Bremel that his fleet was less than half the size of either warring party and the best-case scenario would be for the two Grand Admirals to annihilate each other before picking up the pieces. After Grunger had rammed his flagship Aggressor into Pitta's Torpedo Sphere, Grant sent out a transmission giving the remaining forces ten minutes to surrender to him. Eventually he was able to recover twelve Imperial-class and eleven Victory-class star destroyers, as well as two dozen frigates, strike cruisers, and support craft, which together made up less than half of the forces that participated in the battle.
Upon returning to Coruscant, Grant was berated by Isard for not interfering in the Battle of Tralus earlier, and particularly for not being able to reclaim the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Aggressor. Isard sent Grant to represent her at a conference aboard Ardus Kaine's flagship Reaper in the Pentastar Alignment while tasking his fellow Grand Admiral Makati with planning an attack on Warlord Zsinj, which Grant took as a slight. Aboard Reaper, Kaine wooed Grant by offering him command of the Super Star Destroyer if Grant pledged his allegiance to him. Grant was tempted but refused, instead using the conference to negotiate a clandestine intelligence-sharing deal with Treuten Teradoc's representative Temius Holt.[4]
Retirement and death
During his monitored retirement on Rathalay, Grant befriended the retired smuggler Kaerobani and often spent nights drinking at Kaerobani's estate in the Rathalay countryside.
When the Yuuzhan Vong War began, Grant and Kaerobani sometimes used the severed head of the droid 8t88 to slice into New Republic fleet transmissions and keep track of the war. When they heard about an attack on nearby Charros, they became nervous. Shortly after, it turned out that Charros had been a diversion, as a full Yuuzhan Vong invasion fleet descended on Rathalay. While Yuuzhan Vong landers attacked the cities, Grant was still a guest at Kaerobani's villa, where 8t88 taunted Grant for not even trying to fight back. Shortly afterwards, Jedi Master Yuhlan Sarn and her apprentice Eryl Besa sought refuge at Kaerobani's estate, and a coralskipper pursuing them took out the villa's shields. Following them were Jedi apprentices Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila, as well as a cadre of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, who killed Kaerobani as he tried to get to his shuttle. Grant hastily retrieved his grand admiral's uniform from Kaerobani's villa, then boarded the shuttle at the last moment together with the Jedi apprentices, who had gotten away thanks to Master Sarn sacrificing herself in holding back the Yuuzhan Vong. When the shuttle launched, a Yuuzhan Vong warrior clung to the ramp; Grant dislodged him by launching 8t88's head at him, dropping both from the shuttle.
Once in orbit, Grant found the New Republic task force evacuating the planet in disarray after a grutchin attack and the destruction of their flagship's bridge. At Grant's urging, Anakin Solo landed the shuttle on the fleet carrier Intrepid, whose captain had just died. Grant immediately tried to assume command of the carrier and the remaining New Republic forces, against attempts from Intrepid's brevet captain Floran Welby, who insisted on the chain of command. Grant succeeded in asserting his will nonetheless, rallying the New Republic forces for an attack on the Yuuzhan Vong war coordinator. The success of this strategy gave the task force a momentary reprieve, during which Grant conferred with Anakin Solo and devised a plan to destroy the Yuuzhan Vong interdictor that was trapping them in the system.
Transferring to the gunship Farlight, Grant challenged the Yuuzhan Vong commander Warral Chark to a ship-to-ship duel. Chark agreed, and their two gunships met in the space between the opposing fleet. After the initial exchange of fire, however, Grant charged the Yuuzhan Vong lines, drawing out some of the picket ships that had been protecting the interdictor. This created an opening for the three Jedi apprentices to approach the interdictor in their starfighters and destroy it. The Farlight was rammed by Chark's gunship immediately afterwards, destroying both ships and killing Grant. In his last moments, Grant reflected that he had finally had a good battle again, and a better death than many of his fellow grand admirals.[3]
Personality and Traits
Grant had an aristocratic Coruscanti accent and mannerisms that could be described as foppish or effeminate. He disliked worked with clones and trusted recruited soldiers more.[2]
Appearances
- Twilight of the Jedi: The Dying Day (First appearance)
- The Force Restored
- Hour of Judgement
- The New Jedi Order: The Last Admiral