Dorvin Eltrom

Dorvin Eltrom's life unfolded during the Republic Dark Age, which constituted the final century of the New Sith Wars. During this era, the New Sith Empire had disintegrated, leading to the control of vast stretches of the galaxy by various Sith warlords. The Galactic Republic had diminished to a smaller state, primarily centered around the Core Worlds, and was defended against Sith incursions by a protective barrier around the Colonies. Dorvin was raised in the Republic's capital, Coruscant, as part of an expatriate community of Cereans. These Cereans were descendants of slaves who had been abducted by corporate slave traders who had raided their home planet, Cerea, centuries before. Dorvin's ancestors had remained on Coruscant because their Cerean counterparts had forbidden their return to Cerea, fearing the introduction of technology. Throughout his life, Dorvin and his family on Coruscant experienced significant alienation. As a result, he developed a strong desire to assist other beings in returning to their homes.

At some juncture, Dorvin's Force-sensitivity was discovered, leading him to join the Jedi Order. The Jedi Order had assumed leadership of the Galactic Republic in response to the prolonged conflict against the Sith. He also became acquainted with Jedi Master Vannar Treece, a Jedi activist known for leading independent "knight errant" operations against Sith warlords in the Grumani sector. In 1032 BBY, Treece learned that the Sith Lord Daiman had initiated the mining of baradium—an unstable substance used in the production of explosives, including thermal detonators—on the planet Chelloa. Daiman was exporting significant quantities of this compound to munitions factories near the front lines. Treece was concerned that Daiman's control over baradium would disrupt the stalemate in the Grumani sector, granting him an advantage over his Sith rivals and posing a greater future threat to the Republic.

Subsequently, Treece obtained authorization from Supreme Chancellor Genarra to launch Operation Influx. This operation was structured in three stages: infiltrating the Daimanate by landing on Oranessan, a crucial transportation hub; disrupting baradium export operations; and extracting to the Republic via a direct hyperspace route leading to neutral territory. Treece had acquired information about the baradium operations from his longtime friend and undercover Jedi operative, Gorlan Palladane, who led the Chelloan resistance. Palladane and his Rodian mechanic friend, Skodo, had utilized a stolen transmitter to reactivate a hyperspace relay and communicate with Treece. However, the Sith Lord Odion had been monitoring the transmission and began preparations to invade Chelloa. This nihilistic Sith Lord believed that the planet's high concentration of baradium created an imbalance in the Force and, therefore, had to be destroyed.

Treece gathered a diverse group of Jedi volunteers, including friends who had participated in earlier "knight errant" operations with him, Jedi who had distinguished themselves in combat, and acquaintances who owed him personal favors. Among them were the Trandoshan Mrssk and the Quarren Jedi Master Berluk. Treece was also exploiting a loophole in Genarra's decree that allowed Jedi Knights sixteen days of unrestricted travel throughout the galaxy between their regular duties of three months in law enforcement patrols and nine months of active service on the Republic's expanding frontiers. Another member of the strike team was Treece's former apprentice, Kerra Holt, a young Human woman who had been orphaned during the Chagras Hegemony's conquest of her homeworld, Aquilaris Minor, in 1042 BBY. This marked Kerra's first return to her home sector after spending much of her adolescence with the Jedi on Coruscant.

The initial phase of Operation Influx proceeded without incident, as the Jedi team safely arrived on a starship at Oranessan. During their descent into the planet's atmosphere, they intercepted and destroyed a personnel shuttle transporting flight crew to a spaceport where a fleet of Daimanate Heavy-Lift Starcrossers was awaiting departure for a delivery run to Chelloa. The shuttle crashed on a hilltop in the mud flats, and the Jedi quickly acquired the crew's cloaks and identification badges. Dorvin was part of a four-member advance team, which also included Master Treece and Kerra, that approached the spaceport disguised as flight crew. There, they encountered several Daimanate sentries, led by a female ground crew chief, who attempted to punish them for being late to a flight preparation meeting. However, the Jedi eliminated them with their lightsabers, with Dorvin personally killing two Daimanate Sith troopers. The Jedi then commandeered an empty Starcrosser transport, and Dorvin was designated as the pilot for the mission. Due to his large, pointed skull, Dorvin found the control console to be uncomfortably small and narrow.

Before their departure, Dorvin inquired whether Kerra's choice to wield a green lightsaber indicated her ambition to become a Jedi Consular, like the current Chancellor Genarra. Dorvin himself wielded a green lightsaber and aspired to become a Jedi Consular, a senior position within the Order. Kerra explained that she had simply grabbed a lightsaber crystal from the top of a pile, which happened to be green. Dorvin was disappointed by Kerra's lack of ambition to become a Jedi Consular. However, Kerra did not believe in adhering to tradition, as she was more interested in rapidly acquiring enough Jedi skills to fight the Sith in combat and avenge the invasion of her homeworld. Dorvin then attempted to prepare the transport for takeoff, only to discover that its navigation computer was missing its activation cylinder. While the Starcrosser could still fly, it was unable to make a hyperspace jump, which meant that the mission would have to be aborted.

The Jedi were unable to travel to Chelloa on their own ship because the planet was heavily guarded by Daiman's forces. Time was running out, as they had only one hour to infiltrate Chelloa and sabotage the baradium shipment before departing for neutral space. Vannar considered activating the fallback plan, which involved flying the transport back to their hidden Jedi vessel and using it to destroy the Daimanite transports before returning to the Republic. However, this plan had a significant drawback, as Daiman could respond by rerouting other vessels to Chelloa. Kerra opposed this idea and suggested hijacking an ore transport, but Vannar rejected it because the ore transports were heavily armed. Finally, Kerra suggested returning to the wrecked shuttle and retrieving the dispatch case. However, Vannar was uncomfortable with this plan, as he did not want to risk the lives of the Jedi Knights involved.

Despite Vannar's concerns, Kerra remained determined to carry out Operation Influx, given the substantial investment of energy, time, and resources they had already made. At that moment, they were interrupted by an announcement from the Sith control tower on Oranessan, ordering them to expedite their departure or face punishment. Vannar then instructed the team to proceed with their fallback plan. He dismissed the idea of walking several kilometers back to their hidden Jedi ship due to the wet conditions outside. Vannar also ordered Dolvin to secure all of the vessel's hatchways. However, Kerra disagreed with her master's orders and used her stolen remote control to open the transport's main cargo hatchway as it was lifting off. Donning the fallen ground crew chief's overalls, Holt stole a replacement cylinder from a nearby hangar. After fitting the device, the Jedi departed Oranessan for Chelloa.

During the second part of the operation, the Jedi strike team landed at the spaceport town of Jenith, where they overwhelmed a small Daimanate security force with the assistance of the Chelloan resistance. Their attack was interrupted by the arrival of Sith Lord Odion's forces, which had deployed a kinetic corruptor that ignited a large area of the surface. The resulting explosion killed numerous Jedi, Daimanate guards, and miners in the vicinity. Dorvin himself perished during the explosion, while Treece was killed by Odion in a lightsaber duel. Kerra Holt was the sole survivor, sheltered by Palladane. She proceeded to evacuate the planet's 63,000 inhabitants to the safety of Republic space after Daiman ignited the planet's surface with his own kinetic corruptors at the end of the Chelloan affair. Despite Dorvin's death on Chelloa, the Jedi and the Republic continued their efforts against the Sith, who were ultimately defeated at the Seventh Battle of Ruusan in 1000 BBY.

Dorvin Eltrom was initially presented as a supporting character in the new Knight Errant comic series, which premiered in August 2010 with the release of Knight Errant 0 during Celebration V. His backstory was developed by John Jackson Miller, illustrated by Federico Dallocchio, and colored by Michael Atiyeh. He also appeared in the short story Star Wars: Knight Errant: Influx, also written by Miller, which explored the events on Oranessan leading up to the Aflame story arc. This short story was released on October 19, 2010 and briefly touched upon his biographical background. Dorvin was killed off in Knight Errant: Aflame 1, the debut issue of the Star Wars: Knight Errant: Aflame story arc, first released on October 13, 2010.