Par Lankin

Par Lankin
Biographical information
Homeworld	Desstious
Born	50 BBY
Descriptive information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	1.6 meters
Chronological and political information
Affiliation(s)	Galactic Empire

"Lankin is a cunning warrior and a dangerous foe. I personally conducted several operations in his sector, and have found his soldiers to be brave and of superior capabilities. They are driven, as if by a madman."

―General Airen Cracken

Par Lankin was the Human male Imperial Moff of the Lambda sector. Following the Battle of Endor, he became one of the many Imperial warlords, keeping his strategic area under control. The New Republic did not launch any offensive against Lankin, even when General Airen Cracken of New Republic Intelligence filled reports on the threat posed by such a man. Intelligence reports mentioned that Lankin and his subordinate, Governor Serdif Tount of the planet Rintonne, had attacked several worlds that the New Republic had recently acquired, conquering at least three of them. By 8 ABY, the Lambda sector was no longer Lankin's personal kingdom.

Although Lankin never proved to be a formidable opponent to the New Republic, he was a good tactician and an expert commander. General Airen Cracken respected his abilities to the point of offering a sizable bounty for his head. Moff Lankin kept most of his personal activities in secret, but he was known to enjoy hunting on Xandil VII.

Biography

"While New Republic High Command seems to have decided not to take preventative measures against this man, I can assure you that conquest is his foremost plan."

―General Airen Cracken, on Par Lankin

Par Lankin, a Human male, was born in 50 BBY on the planet Desstious, in the Lambda sector. As an adult, Lankin became an officer of the Galactic Empire. As Captain of the Imperial Navy, Lankin fought in the 18 BBY against the Aqualish Separatist holdouts during the Noolian Crisis. Later Lankin become the Moff, or sectorial Governor, of Lambda sector. The sector had strategic importance for the Empire, as it had several heavy industry planets and shipyards—all of them under Moff Lankin's direct control.

In 4 ABY, after the death of Galactic Emperor Palpatine in the Battle of Endor, Lankin and other several high-ranking Imperial officers tried to take control over their domains for themselves, instead of as representatives of the Emperor. These officers were known as warlords and, during the first several years, devoted their time to stock-pile military assets for future confrontations. A report by Dirk Harkness to New Republic Intelligence General Airen Cracken only six months after Endor already listed Moff Lankin as one of the warlords building up their independent empires. A later report by Captain Baden Lathe of the Analysis Bureau specified that warlords such as Lankin or Admiral Gaen Drommel had charge of relatively few resources when compared to other more successful warlords such as Zsinj and Grand Moff Ardus Kaine.

Once the military of the New Republic had dealt with the Nagai in 4 ABY, they aimed to reach the capital planet Coruscant without unifying the warlords. The Republic Admirals decided to isolate the weaker warlords in their own territories. Once warlords Utoxx Prentioch and Delvardus were cut off by the Republic fleet, and after securing a new headquarters on the planet Moorja, the Republic Admirals made one single movement to scrutiny Lankin and Lambda sector. Having done so, they continued their way toward Glom Tho and Kalarba.

In 5 ABY, Princess Leia Organa of the New Republicmet with Moff Quarsh Panaka at Hosk Station, and one of Panaka's first queries was whether Lankin had surrendered or joined the New Republic. Organa responded that Lankin had been confined to the planet Rintonne.

Moff Lankin kept control over Lambda sector for three more years, with the New Republic not initiating any measure against him. Lankin provided his subordinate, Governor Serdif Tount of the Rintonne, with Stormtroopers and Army troops to control the civilian population of his world. In turn, Governor Tount helped Lankin with a campaign of raids over several New Republic planets; this tandem succeeded in taking over three of these as of 7 ABY. In fact, Rintonne became a fortress world for Lankin's lands. Lankin was also known to use the services of Rodin Baem, an Imperial spy that worked for several warlords.

General Cracken performed several military operations in Lambda and discovered that Lankin's soldiers had courage, honed skills and a high motivation that, Cracken hypothesized, could be caused by having a madman as their commander. Cracken also noticed that Imperial patrol starships had been spotted by the patrol droids watching over planets that the New Republic had recently conquered and that lacked fortifications. Cracken presented reports insisting that Lankin was measuring the response time of those worlds and that he prepared an attack over their weaker assets. Against Cracken's advice, the New Republic decided not to take preemptive measures against Lankin. Cracken nonetheless offered a high bounty for Lankin's head.

By 7 ABY, Lambda sector was no longer Lankin's personal fiefdom, and Lankin never became a real threat for the stability of the New Republic.

Personality and traits

"I can only believe that those encounters with his ships are meant to size up our defenses and response times. It is an indication that he is readying a strike against our weaker worlds."

―General Airen Cracken, on Par Lankin

Moff Lankin was short in stature, reaching only 1.60 meters of height. General Cracken considered him to be sly and a good commander of his Imperial troops. Lankin was also an excellent tactician, specialized in working with fleets and with capital ships. Lankin commonly carried a comlink, a datapad and a hold-out blaster with him.

Lankin was a reserved person who commonly remained in his personal palace. However, Lankin enjoyed an occasional hunting expedition in the Equatorial Reserves of the planet Xandil VII.

Behind the scenes

Moff Lankin first appeared in Bill Smith's roleplaying guide Wanted by Cracken (1993), published by West End Games. The book included an image of Lankin drawn by artist Mike Vilardi. Lankin was presented as a non-player character intended to be used to oppose the efforts of the player characters, and was mentioned in the entries of two other characters of the book, Serdif Tount and Rodin Baem. Lankin was mentioned in passing in two other roleplaying supplements, the book Cracken's Threat Dossier (1997) and the article Recon & Report: The Journey to Coruscant published in Star Wars Adventure Journal #2 (1994). His defeat was sketched in The Essential Atlas (2009), and was established to have played a role in the Galactic Empire's early conflicts in The Essential Guide to Warfare (2012).

Sources

• Wanted by Cracken (First mentioned)
• "Recon & Report: The Journey to Coruscant" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 2
• "Recon & Report: The Journey to Coruscant" — The Best of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, Issues 1-4
• Cracken's Threat Dossier
• The Essential Atlas
• Galaxy of Intrigue
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
• Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, Part 6: Showdown at Naboo on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)

Notes and references

In other languages

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