Mils Giel

Mils Giel was a male Human who served as an Admiral in the Imperial Navy, placed in command of a large Super Star Destroyer during the height of the Galactic Civil War.

Biography
An admiral in the Imperial Navy, Mils Giel was the catalyst for the creation of a new Imperial armada, which, when completed, was the largest in Imperial history. In order to keep its existence a secret, the armada was sent to a secret location at the edge of the galaxy. While there, Giel established his dominance over the other Imperial officers present. In 3 ABY, reports came through that the Alliance to Restore the Republic had attacked Spindrift Station, where they stole coded data that revealed the armada's location. One of the armada's colonels saw fit to suggest to the admiral that he was not showing enough concern over the Spindrift attack, which provoked Giel into launching a tirade against the his inferior. The admiral was not fazed by the possibility of an Alliance attack, and believed that even if they did move against him, they would be no match for his armada.

Loss of the teezl
Shortly afterwards, Imperial troops discovered a teezl in the Outer Rim Territories. A large non sentient creature, and the only one of its kind, the teezl had the ability to transmit electronically supplied information at the speed of thought to any kind of receptor. It was hoped that, once installed on Imperial Center, the teezl would allow the Empire to communicate with any one of its agents in the galaxy instantaneously, giving them the advantage over the Alliance. So important was the teezl, that Emperor Palpatine ordered Giel to dedicate his whole armada to transporting the creature. The admiral's men were able to set up a transport cage for the teezl aboard his flagship&mdash;Giel was satisfied with the device, and he intended to make sure that nothing untoward happened to the creature, lest he earn Palpatine's wrath.

As the armada traveled towards Imperial Center, suddenly, Major Voss' ship began firing on TIE/ln starfighters, to Giel's confusion and anger. The admiral was not fooled for long, however, and he realized that the Alliance must have procured their own TIE fighters, and entered the armada's ranks. To hamstring the Rebel's efforts, Giel ordered his men to have the teezl transmit interference on all frequencies, save for the Imperial war band. That would force the Rebel pilots to begin using Imperial frequencies, which Giel's men could then listen in to, and use to their advantage. The plan was enacted, and initially, the Rebel pilots simply didn't communicate. Two of the TIE fighter's approached the teezl's transport cage, neither of them transmitting. The admiral ordered that they both be shot down, as a precaution.

Before Giel's gunners could do so, one of the TIE fighters was shot down by the other. Immediately afterwards, the surviving ship expended all of its firepower with an ultra-power blast, that struck the flagship. The teezl was killed, and its transport cage demolished, as well as a considerable portion of the ship itself. Colonel Malka excitedly pointed out the fighter as it flew away, and Giel, trying to contain his anger, ordered his pilots to chase down and destroy the ship. They failed, however, and the modified TIE, piloted by Luke Skywalker, was able to make the jump to hyperspace.

Traveling to the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, Giel met wih Lord Darth Vader, who was waiting in his meditation chamber. The Dark Lord was less than pleased with the loss of the teezl, but the admiral argued that the Rebel pilots had stolen TIE craft, and that no contingency plan could have foreseen or prevented that kind of subterfuge. Vader cared little, as the teezl's installation at Imperial Center could have boosted the Empire's communication capacity a thousandfold. Nevertheless, Giel refused to take blame for the loss of the teezl, although, since protecting it had been his mandate, he assumed full responsibility. Vader was impressed with Giel's frankness, and he spared the admiral's life. Instead, he chose to demote the man to lieutenant. Disappointed, Giel departed the Dark Lord's chambers.

Failure on Golrath
Shortly thereafter, Vader assigned Giel to inspect the remains of a former Rebel base at a smelting plant on the volcanic world of Golrath. He discovered that mineral compounds used in the smelting process harbored extremely peculiar characteristics. When heated, they absorbed light rays and after they cooled, were able to project photoreceptive holograms of events that took place when the planet was still under Rebel control. Giel knew that his discovery would be of tremendous value to the Empire and he took measures to secure the Golrath base to the best of his ability.

Rebel leader, Princess Leia Organa, likewise discovered this, and flew to Golrath on a covert mission to eradicate any evidence of the Rebels’ presence there. She infiltrated the smelting plant and ran afoul of Giel. As valuable as the base was to Giel, he knew that killing the leader of the Rebel Alliance was even more important. He was willing to sacrifice the planet and his own life in the hopes of destroying Leia.

Giel trapped Leia inside of the reactor core of the smelting plant and activated a self-destruct override, causing the core to reach critical mass. He managed to corner Leia and was prepared to shoot her, but the Princess distracted Giel long enough to affect her escape. Giel chased after her, and they both escaped from the planet before the reactor core exploded.

Experiments on Beheboth
Giel and his assistant, Sergeant Malka, managed to evacuate Golrath aboard an Imperial troop transport ship. However, stray energy from the Golrath Station explosion caused a malfunction in the ship forcing them to eventually land on a backwater world known as Beheboth.

Giel knew that if he were to return to Darth Vader with news of another failure, the Sith Lord would instantly execute him. Instead, he decided to lay low and eke out a life for himself on Beheboth. He established a moisture farm for himself and spent the next five years conspiring of ways to avenge himself against the Rebel Alliance.

In 8 ABY, Mils Giel discovered a sentient energy-based species on Beheboth known as the Tirrith. The Tirrith were empathic entities grouped together as part of a hive consciousness. They had the ability to infect biological entities causing them to pass out. Sufficient infection by such creatures could even cause death. Giel worked with a Quarren scientist who helped him to design condensed containment units for the Tirrith. He enslaved and mutated as many of the Tirrith aspects that he could capture. He tested his new bio-weapon in the field by eradicating a small moisture farm community outside of the town of Prosperity.

Mils Giel was now prepared to return to the Galactic Empire (ignorant of the fact that the Emperor was dead). A local moisture farmer named Darial Anglethorn exposed his schemes and informed Alliance hero, Luke Skywalker of the experimental bio-weapon. Giel eventually escaped from Beheboth (after letting Malka take a blaster bolt meant for him) but his plans of achieving glory in service to the Empire were long behind him.

Personality and traits
A loud man, Mils Giel was quick to assert his dominance over those he outranked. To drive home his point, he wore his medals and awards on his uniform. Although he disliked disciplining his crew, he would not hesitate to do so. When he saw a deck officer wearing a non-regulation cap, he ordered the offender to complete ten laps around the ship. Although Giel realized that the officer would likely stop when he was out of sight, he was satisfied with the knowledge that the offender would likely wear regulation uniform from then on. Giel also requested that his crew not use nicknames for things such as the teezl, but rather, use the official designations.

A frank man, Giel was not, unlike many of his colleagues, afraid of Darth Vader, and felt free to speak honestly with the Dark Lord. In return, Vader regarded Giel as a man of "courage and integrity," but nevertheless chose to punish him for the loss of the teezl. This did not deter Giel, and he was determined, once demoted to lieutenant, to regain his former rank of admiral.

Mils Giel was a career soldier who had spent the better part of his life in service to the Empire. As such, his commitment and loyalty to Emperor Palpatine's New Order was unwavering. Even after suffering numerous failures, he aggressively acted to further the Empire's goals at every turn. Darth Vader once referred to Giel as a man of "courage and integrity".

A wealthy uncle and several cousins from Ralltiir covertly financed Mils Giel's bio-weapon research during his five-year sojourn on Beheboth.

Behind the scenes
The character of Mils Giel was created by Marvel Comics writers, David Michelinie and Walt Simonson. Aspects of Giel's background was expanded upon by writer Cory J. Herndon for Wizards of the Coast.

Admiral Giel's flagship design was based on early unused drafts of the Executor.

Appearances

 * Star Wars 60: Shira's Story
 * Star Wars 61: Screams in the Void
 * Star Wars 63: The Mind Spider
 * Star Wars 65: Golrath Never Forgets

Notes and references
Mils Giel