Ufsa'mak'ro

Following the less-than-ideal Vagaari pirate operation, Supreme Admiral Ja'fosk decided to relieve Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, known as "Thrawn", of his command of the Springhawk. Mid Captain Ufsa'mak'ro (Samakro) was then appointed as the new commander, a decision that pleased the Ufsa family due to the Springhawk's growing reputation under Thrawn. However, just a few months later, Thrawn regained his command of the Springhawk following an attack of unknown origin on the Chiss homeworld of Csilla, making Samakro the first officer.

Senior Commander Plikh'ar'illmorf (Kharill), who had been Samakro's first officer, became the Springhawk's second officer. Kharill, now the second officer, approached Mid Captain Samakro to express his resentment about the unexpected change in command. Samakro correctly anticipated Kharill's disappointment at Thrawn's return to command, but advised Kharill to accept the change. Samakro also cautioned the second officer that any disobedience would result in disciplinary action. Samakro himself felt internal frustration about the change in command, but he prepared to follow orders and secretly hoped that Thrawn would not cause further complications.

The Springhawk was dispatched to Nettehi, the homeworld of the Paataatus Hiveborn, to respond to border incursions. As they neared the planet, Samakro noticed Thrawn's absence from the bridge. Samakro prepared to take command, but Thrawn appeared behind him, stating that he had been present for the past hour, overseeing maintenance on a plasma sphere targeting computer. Thrawn acknowledged an improvement in the quality of the maintenance crews since Samakro's command, and Samakro wondered if this was a compliment or a subtle reminder that he was no longer in charge. Thrawn inquired if they had received any new transmissions from the Vigilant (Ar'alani's flagship). After Samakro's negative response, Thrawn ordered the Springhawk to exit hyperspace. Upon exiting, the ship was immediately attacked by a large swarm of at least 50 Paataatus fighters. Thrawn then ordered the Springhawk to deviate from the Chiss formation, ignoring Ar'alani's order to return. The Paataatus fighters, recognizing the gap in the formation, swarmed the Springhawk. Samakro voiced his concerns to Thrawn before realizing that Thrawn was exploiting the Paataatus's military weakness. Thrawn was simulating vulnerability to attract as many enemy fighters to the Springhawk, diverting them from the rest of Ar'alani's Picket Force Six. This tactic allowed the remaining Chiss ships to defeat the other enemy ships, regroup, and eliminate the swarming fighters using a battle-wedge formation. Thrawn explained to Samakro the Paataatus's swarm mentality, which caused them to target the weakest enemy first. Thrawn also recognized the Chiss weakness of their targeting computers' inability to handle numerous individual, moving targets. Following the battle, Ar'alani told Thrawn that he should have shared his plan beforehand. Samakro muttered, under his breath, that the enemy might be able to eavesdrop on Chiss transmissions, but Ar'alani overheard him and reprimanded him. Samakro recalled a rumor that flag officers had special comm settings that allowed them to hear more from their escort ships than normally possible. Ar'alani permitted Thrawn to proceed with his next mission, which Samakro was unaware of. Thrawn stated that he would reveal the details of the Springhawk's next mission once they had separated from the other task forces of Picket Force 6. When Samakro requested a preview, Thrawn disclosed that he, too, disliked sealed orders and explained that they were tasked with identifying a potential new threat to the Ascendancy, located on the opposite side of the Ascendancy from Paataatus space. As Samakro went to oversee checks on the electrostatic barrier, he wondered if Thrawn would adhere to protocols regarding preemptive attacks.

The Springhawk arrived in a quadruple star system. Thrawn hypothesized that, given the strong sense of camaraderie among the refugees on the derelict ship at Dioya, the refugee ship had likely been traveling with a companion ship. Due to the navigational challenges within a quadruple star system, he believed the other ship might be hiding there. Subsequently, the ship, orbiting around the system's planet, became visible. Thrawn and a survey team departed to examine the ship, discovering that everyone aboard had died (the ship had run out of air after its hyperdrive failed). The Springhawk's caregiver, Mitth'al'iastov (Thalias), arrived on the bridge. Samakro informed her of the situation and accused her of being a Mitth family spy, warning her to stay out of everyone's way. Thrawn summoned Samakro to Ready Room Two for an examination of the deceased alien bodies, allowing Thalias to join. Upon their arrival, Thrawn presented four alien bodies. One of the bodies was identified as a Void Guide (a group within the Navigator's Guild, composed of Force-sensitive navigators hired to navigate the Unknown Regions). The presence of the Void Guide allowed Thrawn, Thalias, and Samakro to speculate on the circumstances faced by the derelict ship. The Void Guide had deleted the ship's navigational records, leading Thalias to theorize that they were collaborating with the refugees' enemies. Samakro proposed an alternative theory: the Void Guide was attempting to prevent the refugees' enemies from tracing them. Thrawn dismissed this theory, arguing that if the Void Guide was trying to prevent their enemies from backtracking them, the captain would have personally deleted the records (the timestamps did not support this conclusion). Thrawn instructed Samakro to create two copies of the surviving audio records from the ship, and Samakro requested permission to make an additional copy for personal review, which Thrawn granted.

The Springhawk then traveled to another unknown system. Thrawn sent a message to Ar'alani to arrange a rendezvous, and upon the Vigilant's arrival, Ar'alani and Wutroow joined Thrawn and Samakro to discuss Thrawn's plan. Thrawn noted that the box system was under blockade and was confident that this was the system from which the refugees originated, but he needed to examine one of the abandoned mining stations in the outer system to confirm this. Hyperspace travel within the system was nearly impossible, but ships could enter via two "holes" (Shadow Number One and Shadow Number Two) created by large gas giants that blocked solar radiation (solar radiation's interaction with the system's electromagnetic flux prevented hyperspace travel). Samakro considered Thrawn's plan of entry to be unfeasible, but Ar'alani had witnessed a similar maneuver during Thrawn's training at the Taharim Academy on Naporar. Samakro planned the execution of Thrawn's plan upon the arrival of both the Springhawk and Vigilant via Shadow Number One. The Springhawk flew behind the Vigilant's sensor shadow, concealed from enemy observation. The Springhawk successfully broke away from the Vigilant and hid behind an asteroid, matching its slow rotation to maintain its concealment.

After successfully infiltrating the mining station, Thrawn and Thalias returned, informing Samakro that the system was called Rapacc. Thrawn revealed that the native species of this system, the Paccosh, were the same species found on the second refugee ship in the quadruple star system. He also identified the system's blockaders as the Nikardun, led by General Yiv the Benevolent. After departing the system, Thrawn decided to return and capture a Nikardun vessel. Before the attack, Samakro spoke with Mid Commander Elod'al'vumic (Dalvu), asking if she had any reports. Dalvu repeatedly questioned Thrawn's competence, and Samakro concluded that Kharill had been sharing his dissatisfaction with Thrawn's command with other officers. After a specific jab, Samakro counted five seconds of silence, noting that Dalvu's scowl disappeared after two seconds and that she began to look distinctly uncomfortable after five. He reprimanded her, telling her to keep her thoughts to herself and emphasizing that Thrawn's authority to issue orders was not her concern.

Following the capture of the Nikardun vessel, the Springhawk required several weeks of repairs. During this period, Samakro remained with the Springhawk while Thrawn accompanied Ar'alani on a diplomatic mission to Urch, the capital world of the Tower Dimension. While there, the Vigilant was attacked by the Urchiv-ki, the Nikardun, and the Lioaoi. After escaping Urch, the Vigilant traveled to the Lioaoin heartworld to demand an explanation for the Lioaoin's involvement in the attack, where they learned of an alliance between the Lioaoi and the Nikardun. Thrawn subsequently sent himself to investigate the Vak Combine to determine their allegiance to the Nikardun. Ar'alani was dispatched to extract him from Primea, the Vak capital world. At Primea, the Vigilant was attacked by four Lioaoin warships at the order of Nikardun General Yiv the Benevolent. In response to the attack, the Springhawk, now repaired, and the Vigilant were sent to retaliate against the Lioaoi. On the journey to the Lioaoin heartworld, Samakro, Kharill, and Thrawn discussed peace, exploring different definitions and ways to achieve it. Samakro and Thrawn also discussed the reasons for sending only two Chiss warships to attack the Lioaoi. Thrawn speculated that some members of the Syndicure hoped that he and Ar'alani would perish in the upcoming battle. Samakro responded by emphasizing the readiness and capability of both the Springhawk and its commanding officers.

Following the successful battle between the Chiss and the Lioaoi above the Lioaoin heartworld, the Springhawk returned to the Ascendancy for another round of major repairs. Samakro spoke with the bluedock foreman, who expressed frustration with the Springhawk's repair needs. Samakro thanked him for his expertise and promised to expedite a rush order from Ba'kif or Supreme Admiral Ja'fosk. On a shuttle to Csilla, Samakro observed that Thrawn had positioned the Springhawk closer to the Lioaoin warships than necessary and, despite himself, wondered if Thrawn would be punished for his handling of the battle.

Five weeks later, the Springhawk completed its repairs and joined Ar'alani's Picket Force Six in an attack against the Nikardun at Primea. Thrawn had successfully compelled the Ascendancy to attack by allowing sky-walker Che'ri to be captured. Upon arrival, Ar'alani addressed the Vak Combine, who, recognizing the threat posed by the Nikardun, withdrew and allowed the Chiss to attack Yiv's forces. Samakro commanded the Springhawk as it engaged the thirty-two Nikardun blockade patrol boats. After destroying its third patrol boat, three Nikardun Battle Dreadnoughts entered the system. Ar'alani ordered the Springhawk to distract one of the Dreadnoughts while the other Chiss ships engaged the other two. As the Springhawk kept its Dreadnought occupied, it destroyed two more Nikardun gunboats. To evade enemy laser fire, the Springhawk hid behind the gunboat debris. There, Samakro devised a plan: aim their last three breacher missiles at the Dreadnought's viewport from a distance where, even if they were destroyed, the acid globs would inflict significant damage. However, after the Springhawk launched these breacher missiles, a Nikardun patrol craft flew into the path of the acid and was destroyed by the Dreadnought, its debris blocking the acid globs (the patrol craft itself was not large enough to block all three acid globs). After this plan failed, Ar'alani suggested that Samakro employ a maneuver similar to the one Thrawn used against the Paataatus at Nettehi. Samakro agreed, and the Springhawk emerged from behind the Nikardun gunboat debris, headed towards the planet in a low orbit, and went dark. Ar'alani contacted the Vaks, requesting humanitarian aid for the "disabled" Chiss ship. The Vaks agreed and dispatched two patrol craft to provide assistance. However, these Vak patrol ships were attacked and destroyed by the Nikardun, prompting the Vaks to join the battle on the side of the Chiss. Samakro ordered the Springhawk to remain offline to maintain their deception. With the support of the Vak Combine, the Nikardun at Primea were defeated, and Thrawn captured General Yiv. The Springhawk eventually came back online and departed for the Ascendancy. [1]

During the missions to eliminate the remaining Nikardun forces, Samakro accompanied the Springhawk on a mission to Rapacc. There, he, Thrawn, and Thalias spoke with the Paccosh leader, Uingali foar Marocsaa. Samakro was irritated by Thalias's presence in the conversation, considering her a mere caregiver. Samakro explained to Uingali that Yiv's defeat had led to a power struggle among the Nikardun forces, giving the Paccosh an opportunity to defeat them. Uingali explained that the refugees they were sheltering, particularly their leader, the Magys, were contemplating suicide rather than returning to their homeworld (which was experiencing a deadly civil war). Samakro noted the similarity between this attitude and that of the Nikardun, who preferred suicide to capture.

During the journey to speak with the Magys, Samakro was tasked with investigating the possibility of a Nikardun presence near the Magys's world. Samakro discovered a few Nikardun listening posts along the refugees' route to Rapacc. He and Thrawn agreed that the Nikardun were at least interested in the civil war and that further information was needed. Thalias had persuaded the Magys to postpone her decision on suicide and to accompany the Chiss on a mission to her world. Thrawn instructed Samakro to have the Springhawk prepare two rooms for the Magys and her companion. He also ordered that Thalias be treated as a senior officer in the presence of the Magys, explaining that she clearly regarded Thalias as a high-ranking officer. Samakro was frustrated by this arrangement, deeming it unnecessary and contrary to standard protocol. As Samakro relayed these orders to the Springhawk, he overheard Thrawn telling Thalias that he would "accept the reasoning in time," which further angered him. Samakro privately reflected on the familial rivalry between Thrawn and Thurfian and wondered how Thalias fit into it. After his conversation with the Springhawk, Thrawn asked Samakro if he disapproved of the arrangement, to which Samakro confirmed. Thrawn admitted that he also disliked it but reaffirmed its necessity.

On the journey to the refugees' planet, Samakro saw Thalias enter the bridge to collect Che'ri. He intended to bring Che'ri out of Third Sight sixty minutes after her previous break, but Thalias requested that he bring her out at seventy minutes instead. Thalias explained that she had been researching Che'ri's sleep cycles and wanted to test if aligning the girl's exit from Third Sight with her sleep cycles would benefit her mental health. Samakro agreed but wondered why he had never heard of this concept before. Thalias suggested that caregivers were either unaware of it or chose the easier route of using a standard sixty-minute cycle. Thalias then shifted the conversation, asking Samakro his opinion of the Springhawk's current assignment, but the Mid Captain explained that his opinion was irrelevant and that his role was simply to follow Thrawn's orders. Samakro recognized this as an opportunity to test if Thalias was a spy and told her about Thrawn's theory that the Nikardun were consolidating their forces at the refugees' planet for a final assault on the Chiss. This theory was entirely fabricated, but Samakro hoped that the Syndicure would learn about these theories and reprimand Thrawn for them, confirming Thalias's status as a spy. Once Che'ri was taken out of Third Sight, Samakro ordered the Springhawk to engage in jump-by-jump travel during the sky-walker's rest period.

Upon reaching the planet, Samakro witnessed the Springhawk and the Grayshrike, commanded by Senior Captain Xodlak'in'daro (Lakinda), engage and defeat a group of fifteen unidentified gunboats and a large Battle Dreadnought-class warship. Following the battle, Thrawn, Samakro, and Lakinda discussed the battle, Thrawn's next orders, and the situation with the refugees. The Magys, convinced that her world was lost, had ordered the death of her companion and was also threatening to kill herself. To prevent this, Thrawn ordered her to be placed in a hibernation chamber for the time being. Thrawn wanted to keep this matter secret from the Defense Council and the Syndicure, and Samakro, bound to his commander, agreed to remain silent.

Returning to the Ascendancy for the Springhawk's new mission, Samakro, during a meeting in Ba'kif's office, enjoyed watching Thrawn's confusion at his new orders: to investigate rumors that the Paataatus Hiveborn had allied with a group of Vagaari pirates. During the discussions, Samakro separately asked Ba'kif and Thrawn to confirm the rumor that Thrawn had acquired an artificial gravity well generator during his previous campaign against the Vagaari, but both declined to confirm anything.

At the conclusion of Thrawn's hunt for Vagaari, the Springhawk, along with the Grayshrike, uncovered a plot to incite a civil war within the Chiss Ascendancy. Samakro, Thrawn, and the Grayshrike's temporary commander, Mid Captain Csap'ro'strob (Apros), discovered how the Xodlak, Erighal, and Pommrio families had all fabricated family emergencies to acquire a fake nyix mine on the world of Hoxim. The three officers, with the assistance of Lakinda, who was aboard the Xodlak family fleet at Hoxim, successfully prevented hostilities from erupting. Samakro oversaw the covert operation of fourteen remotely piloted gunboats, which attacked and unified the three families' task forces. Che'ri was involved during the operation that destroyed the fake nyix mine on the surface of Hoxim. Therefore, when Ba'kif requested more details about the battle from Samakro, Samakro deflected all questions to the commander on the scene, Thrawn, as per the sky-walker standing regulations (one could not discuss any mission involving a sky-walker with anyone, even if that person knew of the sky-walker secret). Ba'kif then asked Thrawn if he disliked Thrawn, and Samakro stated that he did. However, he also stated that his personal feelings were irrelevant and that his only responsibility was to respect and obey Thrawn's orders. Leaving Ba'kif's office, Samakro wondered why the fabricated story he had given to Thalias about the supposed Nikardun presence at Sunrise had not been leaked to the Syndicure. He questioned whether Thalias was a spy after all before concluding that she and her handler must be holding onto the story for the opportune moment.

As a Chiss male, Samakro took immense pride in his service within the Expansionary Defense Fleet. Samakro frequently harbored private reservations, objections, frustrations, or even anger towards his commanding officer, Thrawn, and his strategies. However, Samakro was an exceptionally disciplined Chiss officer who enforced adherence to protocol and the chain of command among his subordinates. When the Springhawk was reassigned to Thrawn's command shortly before the attack on the Paataatus, Senior Commander Plikh'ar'illmorf approached Samakro to coordinate a complaint to the Defense Hierarchy Council about being undermined on the eve of battle. Samakro privately shared Kharill's anger at being slighted, but he recognized that only their utmost behavior and loyalty to Senior Captain Thrawn would yield positive results. Samakro held a strong aversion to family politics, believing that it invariably led to disaster when it interfered with Fleet operations. In Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, it is mentioned that Samakro dislikes illogical things.

Ufsa'mak'ro made his debut in Timothy Zahn's 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, the first book in Zahn's Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy. In Chaos Rising, Samakro is a supporting character, and events are often described from his perspective.

In the dramatis personae of Chaos Rising, Samakro is identified as a merit adoptive of the Ufsa family. In its April 2021 sequel, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, Samakro is listed in the dramatis personae as holding the rank of cousin within the Ufsa family. However, Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the November 2021 conclusion to the Ascendancy Trilogy, again lists Samakro as an Ufsa merit adoptive in its dramatis personae. Neither Chaos Rising nor Greater Good explicitly mention Samakro's rank within his Ufsa family in their main text. Both novels only reference Samakro's family rank in their respective dramatis personae. This article assumes that Samakro's listing as cousin in Greater Good was an error.