User:Grand Moff Tranner/Sandbox

Welcome to my sandbox. Here I'll be working on articles in an effort to get them to FA or GA status. Feel free to leave any comments on the relevant talk page. See my resume for articles that have reached either FA or GA status.

Projects done: Kendal Ozzel, Osvald Teshik, Titus Klev, Argyus, Chiraneau, Ozzik Sturn, Unidentified Imperial captain (asteroid victim), Mar Tuuk, Unidentified Imperial II-class Star Destroyer (asteroid collision), Jerjerrod, Sigma-class long-range shuttle

=Lorth Needa=

Lorth Needa was a fleet officer in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars and the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War. He served as lieutenant commander of the Republic Carrack-class cruiser Integrity in Home Fleet Strike Group Five of the Coruscant Home Fleet during the Battle of Coruscant, in which he was prepared to destroy General Grievous's flagship, the Invisible Hand, should the general be unable to prove that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was being held captive aboard the warship. During the Imperial era, Needa was promoted to captain of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger by Fleet Admiral Kendal Ozzel and assigned to Darth Vader's Death Squadron, often being tasked with following up on certain leads regarding the location of the Rebel Alliance's hidden headquarters. Needa served as one of Ozzel's advisors, earning him the distrust of both Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, where General Maximilian Veers's assault on Echo Base forced the Rebels into fleeing, Needa and the Avenger were charged with capturing Han Solo's YT-1300 light freighter, the Millennium Falcon, and her crew. The Falcon outran the pursuing Star Destroyers and hid within the Hoth asteroid field, but the Avenger plunged into the field, intent on completing its assignment. While searching, the warship sustained damage, but when the Falcon emerged, the Avenger was right behind the freighter. Before Needa could detain the craft, Solo charged the Avenger and landed on a blind spot on the destroyer's conning tower. Having failed his mission, Needa went to the Star Dreadnought Executor to personally apologize to Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith accepted his apology after making sure that the captain would never fail again. Two Imperial Navy troopers then dragged Needa's lifeless body away.

Republic Navy service
Needa was a veteran command officer, having served in Strike Group Five of the Coruscant Home Fleet during the Clone Wars. During the Battle of Coruscant, Lieutenant Commander Needa served as commanding officer of the Carrack-class cruiser Integrity. He trapped the Invisible Hand as it was trying to escape, and demanded the surrender of General Grievous. During this encounter he did not believe the general's statements that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was aboard the Providence-class carrier/destroyer, and told him via hologram that he had ten minutes to prove his claim. Needa informed the cyborg general that if he could not, the ships of Strike Group Five would open fire on the Invisible Hand. Grievous did not surrender, but the Supreme Chancellor was rescued by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who forced Grievous to flee to Utapau.

A few days later, Palpatine declared himself Emperor and reformed the Republic into the first Galactic Empire declaring the Jedi Order an enemy of the state. As part of the subsequent Imperialization, the Republic Navy was reorganized into the Imperial Navy. Two weeks into Palpatine's New Order, the Emperor and his Sith apprentice Darth Vader spoke before a gathering of naval officers and announced that they were all required to serve the Navy in the unstable times, and any who dissented were purged from the military.

Captain of the Avenger
Needa would continue to serve in the navy, eventually rising to the rank of captain. Fleet Admiral Kendal Ozzel, commander of the Star Dreadnought Executor and Death Squadron, placed Needa in command of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger, a position previously held by Captain Ferdas. Needa gained a reputation for efficiency in quelling uprisings in the Outer Rim Territories, and Admiral Ozzel assigned Avenger to the "point" position in Death Squadron. Needa became one of Ozzel's closest advisors. Ozzel would often send Needa and the Avenger off on missions independent from the rest of the Death Squadron to check on certain leads regarding the Rebels' hidden fortress. Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine distrusted Needa along with Ozzel and his advisors, and Vader would execute any of them for the simplest of mistakes.

Battle of Hoth and aftermath
"Get a shuttle ready. I shall assume full responsibility for losing them, and apologize to Lord Vader."

- Needa, after failing to capture the Millennium Falcon

Before the Battle of Hoth could even commence, Ozzel died at Vader's hand for his mistake in bringing Death Squadron out of hyperspace to close to Hoth, allowing the Rebels to raise their shield and evacuate Echo Base. While the battle raged on between Blizzard Force and the Rebels on the planet below, the fleet of Star Destroyers were charged with preventing the GR-75 medium transports and other Rebel craft from escaping. Seventeen of the thirty GR-75 transports were destroyed by the Imperial fleet, but destroyers such as Captain Xamuel Lennox's Tyrant were disabled by the Rebels' planetary ion cannon. As the Imperials claimed victory, an infamous YT-1300 light freighter called the Millennium Falcon, piloted by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, escaped from Echo Base's main hangar with Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan aboard. Needa and the Avenger were charged with the pursuit and capture of the Falcon and its crew.

The Avenger pursued the Falcon from Hoth. However, Han Solo's light freighter outmaneuvered the Star Destroyer and caused it to nearly collide with another pursuing destroyer. After chasing the Falcon into the Hoth asteroid field, the Avenger lost track of the freighter when it sought shelter in a cave on one of the asteroids. Nonetheless, the destroyed ventured into the asteroid field at Vader's command. The Avenger suffered damage while it searched for the elusive Falcon, and the gunners stationed onboard were forced on destroying incoming asteroids rather than be on the lookout for the YT-1300 freighter. Needa informed Darth Vader that the Millennium Falcon had not appeared on their sensors for hours. While present during a holographic conference aboard the Executor, he asked the Dark Lord of the Sith to consider the damage the Imperial fleet had sustained, but Vader was set on capturing the freighter.

Death
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa."

- Darth Vader, after killing Needa

The Millennium Falcon eventually reappeared after discovering that the "cave" it had hidden in was in fact the mouth of a giant space slug. While the Avenger pursued the Falcon out of the asteroid field and into the neighboring Anoat system, the YT-1300 vanished from the Avenger's sensors when Solo cut the ship's power and landed on a blind spot on the conning tower of the Avenger. Seconds later, Vader demanded an update on the pursuit.

Needa ordered his ship to rendezvous with the Executor so he could personally apologize for losing Vader's prey, believing that it was the honorable thing to do. He ordered a TIE/sh shuttle to be prepared for his departure. He took the shuttle to the Executor. On its bridge, Needa apologized to the Sith Lord, but Vader telekinetically throttled him to death as he had done so to Kendal Ozzel earlier. Vader then formally&mdash;some would say cynically&mdash;accepted the man's apology. Needa's body was dragged from the bridge by two Imperial Navy troopers.

Legacy
"Hey, it was your cousin who was martyred by Darth Vader after he let Han Solo escape Hoth. After all, your cousin had Rebel sympathies that he only confided in you, which is why he let Solo escape. Your having been punished with this duty proves the Empire suspected him, but could prove nothing."

- Pedetsen to Virar Needa

As a consequence of his failure, members of the Needa family were purged from the Imperial military on Darth Vader's orders. His first cousin once removed, Virar, had been attending the Imperial Academy during the Battle of Hoth, and as he was not ambitious, he had been allowed to live. Many family members, from Virar's grandparents to cousins, however, were all killed. Virar became the commander of one of Coruscant's orbital mirrors, OSETS 2711. His subordinates, including Cadet Pedetsen, believed that Lorth had failed in capturing the Millennium Falcon because he had sympathies to the Rebel Alliance. Pedetsen stated that Virar had been placed on OSETS 2711 because the Empire could not prove Lorth's alleged Rebel loyalties. Virar was even willing to believe this.

Personality and traits
Lorth Needa was an efficient commander, and could be ruthless at times. He had been overconfident in his pursuit of the Millennium Falcon from Hoth, and this factored into his execution by Vader. Needa was an able leader, but both Vader and the Emperor were suspicious of him.

Behind the scenes
Lorth Needa first appeared in the novelization of 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kershner. Known only as "Captain Needa" in the film, he was portrayed by actor Michael Culver. In the movie, after Vader executed Needa and the Imperial Navy troopers carried his body away, Culver visibly locked his legs in such a way as to help those portraying the Navy troopers to stand him up easier. Needa was not given a first name until 1996's X-wing: Wedge's Gamble, when his first cousin once removed, Virar, revealed his first name to be Lorth.

In Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground Hoth, Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon used reference photography of Needa's death for Admiral Ozzel's execution.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi
 * Payback: The Tale of Dengar
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Early naval service
Tenn Graneet had served during the Clone Wars in the Grand Army of the Republic.

Career in the Imperial Navy
Graneet's favorite nephew, Hora, was serving onboard the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Battle Lance when its experimental hypermatter reactor disintegrated, destroying the warship in hyperspace. Tenn felt personally responsible for his nephew's death, as Hora had enlisted in the Imperial Navy out of admiration for his uncle.

Death Star gunner
As the Death Star neared completion, Graneet was transferred to the battlestation's superlaser gunnery crew, stationed in the Superlaser Fire Control room in Theta Sector. Graneet was initially thrilled with the new assignment, but as he familiarized himself with the new superweapon, he began to question whether any person was capable of wielding such power wisely. He rationalized his concerns with the mistaken belief that the Empire would not actually fire the weapon at full power on an inhabited planet, instead firing on uninhabited moons, planets, and other celestial bodies. During the final months of construction, Graneet and his crew trained on a simulator of the main firing control chamber, familiarizing themselves with the firing sequence and working to shorten the firing sequence as much as possible.

As the ranking non-commissioned officer on the superlaser's gunnery crew, it fell to Graneet to actually complete the ignition sequence by pulling the firing lever. The first time he actually fired the weapon was against the Lucrehulk-class battleship Fortressa, used by the Rebel Alliance as a carrier for 250 T-65 X-wing starfighters during an early attempt to destroy the superweapon. Even though the weapon was only at four percent power, it was more than enough to completely destroy the Rebel capital ship. TIE fighters from Alpha Squad (under the command of Lieutenant Villian Dance) and nine other fighter squadrons destroyed the remaining X-wings.

Graneet later fired the superlaser on the prison planet of Despayre. The destruction of Despayre took three shots to complete over the course of several hours. The first shot killed every living thing on the planet and cooked the surface of the planet. The second caused further tectonic stress to the planet, and the third shot finally blew the planet apart. Later, Graneet was ordered to fire on the inhabited planet of Alderaan - killing nearly two billion sentients in the process. Following the destruction of Despayre and Alderaan, Graneet had a severe conscience attack. Knowing that he had sent billions to their deaths, he soon came to see himself as the largest mass murderer in galactic history, and knew that if somehow the Rebel Alliance were to win the war he would be tried and executed for his crimes. As news that it was Graneet who fired on Despayre and Alderaan spread throughout the Death Star's population, many of the people who Graneet encountered began reacting differently to him.

Graneet was ordered to fire the superlaser at the Rebel base on Yavin 4 as the Battle of Yavin progressed on the surface of the Death Star between the Rebels' X-wing and Y-wing starfighters and the Imperial Black Squadron of TIE Fighters, led by Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced x1 fighter. When he received the order, Graneet froze, wishing desperately for something to save him from his dreadful duty. He informed his gunnery crew and the overbridge to "stand by," repeated his order a few seconds later. His wish was granted when the Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker fired a pair of proton torpedoes into the station's unprotected thermal exhaust port. When the torpedoes reached the station's hypermatter reactor core and exploded, the detonation produced enough energy to destroy the Death Star. Graneet, along with everyone onboard the battlestation, died in the resulting explosion.

Legacy
Graneet's hesitation in firing the superlaser at Yavin 4 allowed the Rebellion leadership to survive. The Alliance would ultimately triumph over the Empire in the Battle of Endor that saw the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, and they would later go on to form the New Republic.

Behind the scenes
Graneet first appeared in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, where he was simply an unnamed Imperial gunner manning the Death Star's superlaser. He was the person who repeatedly said "stand by" just prior to the station's destruction. He later appeared in 2007 Death Star novel, written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. In the novel, he was identified as Master Chief Gunnery Officer Tenn Graneet. Contrary to the seemingly heartless man who killed billions with the touch of a button and the pull of a lever, Death Star portrayed him as a more morally-conflicted individual who hated his actions but found himself forced to carry them out. He also appeared, albeit unnamed, in the video game X-wing (1993) and the non-canon comic Tag & Bink Are Dead 2 (2001). Graneet was given an entry in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing
 * Death Star
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Tag & Bink Are Dead 2

Notes and references
=Nahdonnis Praji=

Nahdonnis Praji was a decorated Human male Imperial commander and later general. Born on Coruscant into House Praji as the son of Griff Praji, young Nahdonnis was interested in military history and, during the Clone Wars, studied the tactics of Jedi Generals and starfighter aces. Following the end of the war and the formation of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, he enlisted in the Imperial Naval Academy on Carida, where he graduated with honors.

Around 1 BBY, Nahdonnis and his unit were assigned to the Star Destroyer Vengeance, and they participated in a failed attack on a Rebel outpost on Datar. The Sith Lord Darth Vader took command of the warship following the disaster, and following an assault on a Rebel base on Level 88 of Nar Shaddaa's Corellian Sector, Nahdonnis's impressive kill count earned him Vader's attention and a spot on the Dark Lord's staff. Vader and Praji transferred to the Star Destroyer Devastator in time for the attack on the Tantive IV above Tatooine. Praji and 501st Legion commander Daine Jir failed to retrieve the stolen Death Star plans onboard the CR90 corvette, so Vader ordered Praji to personally see to it that the plans were recovered on Tatooine. He ultimately failed in this task, but Vader was not willing to execute such a loyal and competent man. After the formation of Death Squadron, Vader transferred his staff from the Devastator to the Star Dreadnought Executor, but General Maximilian Veers prevented Praji from coming along. Vader had been too wrapped up in finding his son, Luke Skywalker, to overrule Veers.

Following the death of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY and the fall of Coruscant to the New Republic in 6 ABY, Praji went from warlord to warlord, eventually becoming a general. He allied with the faction he believed would do the best job of preserving the New Order&mdash;deciding his loyalty was not to whoever claimed to be the next emperor&mdash;but when the "reborn" Palpatine emerged in a series of clone bodies to reunite his Empire, Praji joined his forces. He oversaw the Shadow Hand Fleet's recapture of his family's ancient homeworld of Kaikielius, and partook in his family's old vendetta with House Vahali by destroying their skyhook headquarters and placing the world under martial law. Praji soon realized that the new theocracy was not the despotic Empire he had wished to serve, so he retired, but not before seeing to it that Kaikielius was placed under his command as governor-general. His daughter Tyla would go on to serve as a commissar in the Second Galactic Civil War.

Biography
Nahdonnis Praji, a Human male, was born on Coruscant into House Praji, a bloodline whose earliest known member was Tyler Sapius Praji, governor of Kaikielius and one of the Core Founders of the Galactic Republic. His father, Griff, was the eldest brother of the wealthy banker and political activist Tannon Praji, First Minister of the Coruscant Ministry of Ingress. From his childhood, Nahdonnis was interested in military history. During the Clone Wars that pitted the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic against the battle droids of the Separatist Droid Army, young Prahji became an "armchair admiral," studying the tactics of Jedi Generals and starfighter aces alike.

A quick ascendant of the Imperial hierarchy, Praji was promoted to serve as Darth Vader's aide aboard the Devastator. After failing to recover the plans to the first Death Star from the Tantive IV, Praji "personally" led a detachment of stormtroopers to Tatooine in search of the escape pod used by R2-D2 and C-3PO. In reality, he sent his subordinate, Captain Kosh, to lead the detachment. Upon the failure of that mission, Praji took full responsibility for the loss, and stood dignified to apologize to Darth Vader. Impressed by Praji's businesslike professionalism, Vader spared the commander's life, as the Dark Lord of the Sith had come to respect Praji.

Praji's family donated a genetic template for the Imperial stormtrooper development program.

Personality and traits
Nahdonnis Praji held a dismissive attitude toward foot soldiers, resulted from his training as an Imperial officer and his views of the clone troopers as "meat droids." He was an old-fashion officer, and he administered discipline with strict professionalism.

Praji chose to wear the prominent sideburns that were popular among the Imperial officer class at the time, including first Death Star personnel like General Cassio Tagge, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, Chief Moradmin Bast, and Lieutenant Pol Treidum.

Portrayal
Commander Nahdonnis Praji first appeared in 1977's A New Hope, in which he was portrayed by actor George Roubicek. The one sequence in which he appeared was shot over three days in July 1976 at the virtual end of principal photography, on the Tantive IV main corridor set erected on Stage 9 at Elstree Studios, just north of London, England.

In May 2007, during Celebration IV, Roubicek took part in a round-table discussion chaired by Scott Chernoff, in which he reminisced about his role as Praji. His fellow participants, all of whom portrayed Imperial characters, were actors Kenneth Colley (Admiral Firmus Piett), David Prowse (Darth Vader), Barrie Holland (Lieutenant Renz), Richard Le Parmentier (Admiral Conan Antonio Motti), and Julian Glover (General Maximilian Veers). The conversation was later published in Star Wars Insider 89. From the interview:

At the conclusion of the discussion, all the participating actors were asked: If any of you had an opportunity to write your own lines for your characters, what would you say? Roubicek responded thus:

Development of Praji's biography
When the character of Tannon Praji was created by Zack Bossan through the StarWars.com feature What's the Story?, Bossan intended him to be the uncle of Nahdonnis Praji. Nathan O'Keefe's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Praji, released on StarWars.com in February of 2009, established Nahdonnis as the son of Tannon's brother Griff. The article went on to provide more details on Nahdonnis, as well as establish the history of House Praji and some of its prominent members.

Appearances

 * Death Star
 * Star Wars radio drama
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novel
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader

Non-canon appearances

 * Tag & Bink Are Dead