 |
|
| Clermont Elsire Veers | |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Homeworld |
Unknown (raised on Chandrila) |
| Date of Birth | |
| Physical Description | |
| Species |
Human |
| Gender |
Male |
| Personal Information | |
| Professions |
Naval Officer |
| Ships | |
| Political Information | |
| Position / Rank |
Fleet Admiral |
| Current Affiliation | |
| Exodus Information | |
| Creator |
David Winters |
Early Life[]
Clermont Elsire Veers was born in 47 BBY. He was the younger brother of Maximilian Elsire Veers. At the age of six, Veers’ home planet was involved in a conflict between the CIS (AKA Separatists) and the Galactic Republic. Republic forces arrived just in time to halt any CIS advances into residential regions, but normal life came to a dreadful halt as the small war took place on the planet. At this time a local regional Baron, Camille Weizel (well acquainted with the middle class families), proposed that he could evacuate one of the Veers’ children to his brother’s home planet of Chandrila where the child could live a safe and rich life. The parents knew that the campaign would make life very difficult and many of the trade routes would be diverted because of the conflict. The parents reluctantly decided to send Clermont Veers, the younger of the two, with the wealthy Baron. Before Clermont left his home planet, the only explanation he received was that he was going to spend some vacation time with his “uncle”.
Clermont would spend the next eleven years of his life in the care of the man he knew as his uncle. However, Baron Weizel had an ulterior motive to the adoption of a child. Even though the Baron referred to Clermont as his nephew, he raised him as his son. Weizel taught Veers aristocratic culture and educated him in the superiority of the human race. Veers grew accustomed to authority and politics as his uncle’s brother, Gerald Weizel, was a councilman of the System governorship and would become the second Imperial Governor of Chandrila under the New Order. It should be noted that Clermont went to school with Mon Mothma. She was one year older than Veers. They knew each other, but Veers was rather aloof when it came to girls.
Clermont received bi-yearly visits from his brother Maximilian. Clermont began to wonder why he was evacuated with his uncle and Maximilian was able to stay with his parents. However, Clermont liked his new life and became addicted to the aristocratic environment. He became less concerned for his parents and thought that his parents abandoned him. Because of this feeling of abandonment, Clermont developed a grudge with his brother and visits from his brother became less and less frequent, until one day the visits stopped. With an issue of internal emotional depression, Veers covered it up with a stern façade. By the age of fourteen, Veers became rather introverted and a young human supremacist. Clermont developed very strict and overbearing ethics and was known to be a very uneasy person to be around. Veers learned to distrust all alien species and embraced Human High Culture as the only true culture deserving to govern the universe. Not only did Veers believe that Humans should govern and rule the non-human, he also believed the universe would be made safer without aliens and that all non-human races and species should be exterminated.
The Lord Republic[]
Along with all the teachings of aristocratic education, Veers was taught ship navigation and he developed a taste for space travel and flight. At the age of eighteen, Clermont became a fighter pilot for the Galactic Republic. As a pilot, he met what would become his best and only true friend, Ensign Shan Palthis (also a native of Chandrila). Much to his uncle’s surprise, Veers was a satisfactory fighter pilot with 3 years of ambush runs, convoy and bombardment escorts behind his belt. Veers never saw fighter-to-fighter combat as such fighting was left to the clones. After 3 years as a fighter pilot, Veers yearned for higher command, and through persuasion from Councilman Weizel, veers was given command of his very own Venator-class Star Destroyer (the Lord Republic) as a Captain (age 23) after only two years of officer training (officer training was traditionally 4 years long). The Galactic Republic was only too happy to oblige to such a commission as human non-clone officers were needed and wanted. Veers made Palthis his Executive Officer as a Commander. As the Captain of the Lord Republic, Veers became acquainted with some soldiers who would serve him again as a Fleet Admiral in the future. Veers' Helms Officer was none other than the early Lieutenant Falkirk Cyteron who would later command the 2nd Battle Group of Veers’ fleet as a full Admiral. Also, Veers would see one of his fighter squadron commanders, Brenner Lancing, later as a Line Captain in his fleet. Even the Engineering Officer of the Lord Republic would become a Commodore under Veers' fleet command, his name was Leihnart Rosland, and he would later be in command of Veers' 2nd Squadron.
Veers commanded his vessel with an iron fist. There was no other vessel in the Republic with which regulations and policies were upheld so strictly. Even as an extremely young Captain, Veers conducted his duties above and beyond the norm. Captain Veers required all daily action reports from his department officers to be submitted at a designated time. If the reports were one minute late Veers would put the officer on restriction-of-command, no questions asked. Veers even read all reports and logs himself, which was highly uncommon for any battleship commander of any age. The Captain of the Lord Republic was even so bold as to not use the services of an orderly, even in battle. It was rumored that Veers constructed an onboard library from two original Officer’s quarters. It was said that Veers would spend hours at a time in the room studying holo-maps, data campaign logs, command disposition records, and even ship engineering manuals. Veers would wander the corridors and passageways of his ship randomly and inspect items that caught his fancy. If Captain Veers found a soldier with a dirty uniform or a patch of dust in a place he did not want it, he was known to have enlisted men and petty officers alike shine all scrap objects located in the ships' scrap holds. This would make some crewmembers go AWOL afterwards, but those who persevered learned their lesson and were well received in any team. Veers’ crude idea of discipline eventually made a surprisingly strong and efficient crew and thus a strong and efficient ship.
Veers was no galactic hero, but he became a well-known naval tactician. Veers realized a problem in the tactical organization of the Republic Starfleet. During the last few years of the Clone Wars, the Republic Starfleet was organized by theatre and was largely an offensive force, which moved in centralized fleets with only a minor allotment of specialized detachments. Veers realized this current organization would present a problem for smaller, multi-thematic campaigns in the future. Thus Veers devised a system of his own which would split the large unspecialized fleet squadrons into what Veers called “Lines”. A squadron would be organized into variations of five main types of lines which could confront any tactical obstacle and could seize any strategic opportunity. Veers presented this to the Brass of the Starfleet and it was eventually instituted with great success. The Line system would be incorporated into the Imperial Starfleet as doctrine.
The Galactic Empire[]
Veers was 27 when the Republic was dissolved and replaced by the New Order known as the Galactic Empire. When Veers was made aware of the policy of the Empire he was enthralled. He went through reinstated Officer school and became a full-fledged Imperial Officer. Veers claimed that the coming of the Empire was the greatest event to happen to the Universe and it was the greatest thing to happen to him. “This is the dawn of the human race,” claimed Veers. Veers was commissioned command of a new Imperial-class Star Destroyer (The Vizier). Veers was now made a Commodore of a Battle Squadron. Line Captain Palthis was in command of the 1st Attack Line in Veers’s squadron.
After only a year of squadron command, Veers and Palthis were appointed to the Imperial Security Bureau. Both Veers and Palthis knew that higher command and authority awaited them in the service of the ISB. It took both men a while to adjust to the tan uniforms. Veers and Palthis spent 9 very long years in the ISB. While an ISB Officer, Veers had a fulfilling and busy career, not to mention, secretive. Veers was sent on missions, which included: Investigating and arresting a conspiring Moff preparing to defect to the Alliance, Commanding Officer of Grand Moff Tarkin’s secret security force, Inspector-General of Juvex Sector and the Alien Labor Division, led the secret operation to destroy the collection of Jedi antiquities on Obroa-skai, and ISB Intelligence Officer to Grand Admiral Ishin-Il-Raz.
At the age of 37 Veers was a veteran ISB Officer with a record few could match. After his 9-year adventure in the ISB, Veers was reincorporated into the Imperial Starfleet as a full Admiral in command of a Battle Group. Palthis would remain in the ISB as Major to Colonel Wullf Yularen. After only two years, Veers and Palthis met once again when they were both appointed as head instructors at the legendary Carida Academy. Veers taught in the Fighter Officer Division and Palthis taught in the Intelligence Division. Veers reformed the training structure of the fighter school once he took charge. Before, the training course consisted of cadets conducting simulations under the administration of an onsite instructor and only experiencing live combat after graduation. Veers decided to change the training structure to include command and leadership. He did this by starting the course with a short period of simulated instruction, but then moved directly into live flight exercises. After 4 weeks of live exercises, Veers had his instructors put a cadet in charge of the training. Veers believed this developed an atmosphere where the team was "forced" to come together and train and learn together.
David Winters[]
Veers was head instructor for two years when he was assigned a cadet who stood out amongst any cadet he had taught. The cadet’s name was David Winters, and he was a born soldier and natural space pilot. Winters excelled in all aspects of fighter training, tactical maneuvering and above all, leadership. Veers put Winters in charge of the training combat unit. Upon graduation, Veers inducted Winters and his outstanding TIE unit aboard Veers’s own flagship, the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer Echelon. However, Veers had one last test which would prove Winters a true Imperial willing to devote himself to the Empire. Veers ordered Winter’s TIE unit to attack an innocent alien village. Reports were received that Winters was not able to follow the order as Veers had described them, this greatly disturbed Veers. Veers slept on the matter and would address Winters the following day, however, that day would never come. That night Winters escaped and was reported dead. Upon hearing the report of Winters' death Veers disregarded it as he knew Winters was a cadet who could manage almost any obstacle and could sustain life under any situation. Veers was relentless in searching for Winters. Disciplinary action was second on Veers’ mind. When Veers received proof that Winters was unable to be located and thus presumably dead he had the pilots and officers of the Combat Air Patrol, who reported Winter’s initial death, dishonorably discharged.
Against all proof that Winters was dead Veers still believed he was in fact alive somewhere. Veers was indeed distraught that Winters did not carry out his order properly that fateful day. Veers would however put Winters aside in his mind until the day they met again. After the Winters incident at Carida Academy Veers returned to Starfleet duty. He ran a myriad of missions for both Starfleet and the ISB. One mission included the take over of an alien backwater star system. Veers Personally oversaw and participated in the three-month long bombardment campaign on the four inhabited worlds of Klor’em III, Yunesk, Pvolnon VII and Zxerxia. These were peaceful and neutral alien civilizations with the inability to defend themselves. However, Veers was only too happy to command a mission of extermination of any race of inferiority. Those aliens who were not killed by the initial planetary bombardment were made slaves to serve the Empire. Some minor cells and villages did manage to find the will to defend themselves and stand up to Veers’ forces. In these rare cases Veers indulged in his hidden dark side. Those who fought back were put through unmentionable horrors of Veers’ own invention. Many were publicly gassed in order to stand as an example of what happens when you stand against the Empire. Others however were subjected to gruesome reverse-bacta injections, crushed alive in trash compactors, and even forced to ingest reactor coolant, which ate away at the victim from the inside. During such missions like these Veers descended to an awesome low and plunged into pure evil doing. The Emperor’s Inner Circle, the Central Committee of Grand Moffs and the Council of Moffs all considered Veers as spreading the will of human rule of the Empire throughout the galaxy.
Reunion[]
After his command of the extermination operation, he was put in command under Grand Moff Tarkin as the naval officer who would escort the first Death Star from its construction site to Yavin. It was here that Veers had an encounter with Darth Vader who threatened Veers with his life if any slip-ups should occur during the relocation of the Death Star to Yavin. Luckily everything went smoothly.
After the disastrous destruction of the Death Star Veers was assigned to rescue a well-known General whom had crash-landed on Yavin IV after his shuttle was attacked after the Battle of Yavin. This General was none other than his brother, Maximilian Veers. This was the first time they had met in 32 years. Clermont Veers still held a small childhood dislike of his older brother for being the one who his parents had kept. Maximilian Veers tried to initiate sentimental discussion with Clermont, but the stubborn Clermont would not have it. Clermont made sure he and his brother spoke only of business while aboard the Echelon. Clermont transported General Veers to Zaloriis and that was the last they saw of each other.
It would be three years until Veers and Winters met again. Unfortunately and much to Veers’s disillusion, Winters was now a pilot of the notorious Rebel Alliance Black Nova Squadron. Veers could not bare this fact and devoted himself to capturing Winters and persuading him back into the service of the Empire. If Winters would not come back to the Empire, than Veers would have to kill him. For what made Winters a great pilot under the Empire, made him a most dangerous enemy under the Alliance.