Eli Vanto

Eli N. Vanto, known under his time with the Chiss Ascendancy as Eli'van'to and Ivant, is a human male who initially served as an ensign and later a commander in the Imperial Navy during the era of the Galactic Empire. For several years, Vanto served as a translator, aide, student, and protégé of the Chiss known as Thrawn, who became a rising star in the Imperial Navy. Vanto served alongside Thrawn in several Imperial military operations against smugglers and insurgents. Due to his close connection to Thrawn, Vanto's promotion was overlooked for several years by the Imperial Military hierarchy which despised aliens and looked down on Wild Space outsiders like Vanto.

Following the intervention of the future Lothal Governor Arihnda Pryce and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Vanto received his long overdue promotion and eventually rose to the rank of Commander. While pursuing the shadowy insurgent leader known as Nightswan, Eli discovered evidence that the Empire was transporting large quantities of doonium and other precious metals for a mysterious mega project which turned out to be the first Death Star. Following the defeat of Nightswan during the Batonn sector insurgency, Commander Vanto was dispatched by Thrawn into the Unknown Regions to serve as the Empire's attache to the Chiss Ascendancy.

Thrawn Returns
Eli was serving with the Chiss in 1977 when he encountered the badly damaged Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera and the Seventh Fleet which included Thrawn, Ezra Bridger, and Gilad Pellaeon. While suspicious of Bridger at first, Eli eventually came to an understanding about Bridger's presence and served to keep the peace between the Chiss and Bridger. After a few years and the completion of repairs, the Seventh Fleet was sent back to the Empire with Thrawn and Bridger remaining behind. In 1983, rumors began to circulate around the Chiss about a major Imperial defeat and that both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were dead. Vanto was sent to confirm these rumors and eventually discovered through relayed information from Pellaeon that they were in fact true. While shocked at the amount of Galactic events he had missed, Eli told Thrawn and Ezra about the events and what had come of the Empire. In 1987, Thrawn left Ezra with Eli and headed back to the Empire in hopes of reuniting it, but returned a year later in complete annoyance with the endlessly feuding warlords. He also discovered that Ezra had left in what Eli described as a series of events involving a large, white wolf and taking Ezra to parts unknown to Eli with Ezra's parting words being that the three might meet again one day. Eli would continue to serve the Chiss until one day in 2018 when it appeared that Ezra's words were coming true. Eli had received word from a spacer who he contacted for news and other important events about Operation Lothal Freedom and the return of a certain Lothal hero.

Coming to Earth
In 2019, Thrawn responded to a signal on Frequency Zero and found the Astro Megaship carrying members of the Spectres under attack by ships of the First Order. Thrawn quickly scattered the First Order ships destroying one and forcing the second to make a blind jump to lightspeed. Eli received word that Thrawn had joined the crew of the Megaship as they returned to Earth and began making preparations for a possible reunion with Ezra. A few months later, Eli was contacted by Thrawn to bring their Chiss ships to The Redoubt where Thrawn was waiting with the Chimaera which surprised Eli as he had assumed the ship had been destroyed or scrapped by this time. Thrawn informed Eli about Pellaeon's death and that he was keeping watch over the ship while its Captain (Pellaeon's son Vitor Reige) took care of some family business on Corellia. While at The Redoubt, Eli asked Thrawn what the chances of meeting with Ezra were and Thrawn arranged a meet with Ezra, the Ghost, and Ezra's new Spectres unaware that Ezra was bringing Jeremy Khayman along for the trip. When the Ghost arrived, Eli was introduced to Jeremy and the members of Ezra's crew which included Darius Carpenter, Josh Myers, Noah Rodgers, Lucy Felth, and R9-D2. As Jeremy had been an unexpected add-on to the trip, Eli mistook him for Ezra's boyfriend Landon McKnight to which Ezra explained that Landon was part of the Remnant Army and had other duties. While there, Ezra informed them that the First Order was massing its fleet for something which Jeremy suggested was to attack the Varox who had brought down Captain Moden Canady's ship after Thrawn had chased it off.

When Thrawn and Reige returned to Earth in the days before Halloween 2019, Eli went with them where he was introduced to Hera Syndulla and Tevin Felth among others. At some point during November 2019, Noah Rodgers introduced Thrawn and Eli to the Rodgers' family friend Abdul and Abdul's line of soups. He spent his first on Earth with Thrawn and other members of the Spectres including Ezra at the home of Gary McKnight. At some point during 2020, Eli was reinstated to the ranks of the Empire, now Remnant at the rank of Captain.

Future
By 2030, Eli is an Admiral conducting smuggler interdiction near the planet of Onyx. At some point, he and Vitor Reige moved their commands around from one ship to another with Reige taking command of a new ship named after his late father and Eli taking command of the Chimaera. Eli took part in a smuggler interdiction operation carried out on and around Ord Mantell arranged by then-Remnant Security Bureau Major Eric Schuyler and using members of the Spectres including Landon McKnight who assumed temporary command of the Chimaera's Army forces after arresting their commander for. Eli later mentions in his report about the operation that in his opinion, Schuyler should be transferred out of RSB for his own well-being. A opinion that was also shared by Landon and Lucy Carpenter.

At some point, it is mentioned to the Remnant that Eli is considered an honorary member of the Chiss, According to both Jacen Syndulla and Justin Felth, Josh Myers had decided not to make a joke out of this.

In 2031, Eli added a pair of s to his fleet. He first deployed them against a diamond smuggler who had nearly crashed into the Ghost which had Jacen, Josh, BB-8, and Christopher Felth who was being trained by Jacen as a pilot aboard and then attempted to make a jump to lightspeed while being pursued by the X-Wing Starfighters being piloted by Lucy and Darius Carpenter as well as the Chimaera attempting to hail it. Eli and Lucy later agree to charge the pilot with for nearly crashing into the Ghost with Eli also seizing the ship and cargo of illegally harvested diamonds and assuring the Spectres that he'll see to it that the diamonds are returned to where they belong.