Redd Wessel

"Wessel is a fool."

- Carnor Jax to Blim

Redd Wessel served as an Imperial Army general who was an ambitious, if uninspired, military officer who attached himself to the pretender Carnor Jax.

Biography
Redd Wessel was the son of Marcellin Wessel, one of the first of Palpatine's moffs. From a young age, he dreamed that one day, he would become an Imperial fleet commander, leading his ships to glorious battle and victory. But life in the Navy was not to be; when he was old enough to attend the Academy, the tests determined that he might be of better use to the Galactic Empire as an army officer. He would certainly have been disappointed, but evidently reconciled himself to this; the army was not his first choice, but it was still military service, and there was still battle and victory to be had.

While Redd was building his career, his father was struggling to salvage his. Marcellin sought to regain his Emperor's favor by capturing Leia Organa, a prominent Rebel leader, on Yinchorr; it all blew up in his face when the the Yinchorri toppled his government and joined the Rebel Alliance. The Empire's response was to launch a massive assault on Yinchorr (3 ABY), not only to destroy the Rebel presence there, but also to completely devastate all Yinchorri cities and obliterate their civilization. The young Redd Wessel, who participated as a ground officer in this campaign, likely wanted to avenge his father and thus would have fought all the harder; whatever his motivation, his service caught the attention of his superior officers.

Wessel steadily advanced through the ranks, utilizing mostly conventional approaches to command and strategy. He eventually won the rank of general, but eventually his career hit the wall; the exact reasons for this are unknown, but whatever the reason, he evidently felt that there was little promise for his future in the army. He wanted more than just rank; he wanted to be a power-broker, but he lacked the imagination to do what was necessary in the post-Endor galaxy to be one. He could not become a warlord. At best he could find one with promise and attach himself to that warlord's coattails.

The opportunity arose when, after a year (10-11 ABY) of a resurgent New Order led by a resurrected Palpatine, one of the Emperor's Royal Guardsmen, a certain Carnor Jax, brought Wessel into a conspiracy with members of the Imperial Ruling Council to destroy Palpatine and assume rulership of the Empire. Jax, a former soldier himself, felt more comfortable with army officers than navy officers in his staff, so he took Wessel on as his personal aide. Once Palpatine was permanently removed (11 ABY), Wessel helped Jax to take control of the Council and set himself as a viable claimant to the Imperial throne.



Wessel was made Jax's overall commander for military operations as leader of Central Command, leaving Jax and a rather quiet lieutenant named Geff Blim to see to the pretender's personal affairs. But eventually, Jax began to see what had kept Wessel from advancing any further; Jax sought vision in his ranking officers, something Wessel had not exactly been blessed with. Their working relationship deteriorated into little more than constant criticism of Wessel's inability to understand Jax's intentions.

General Redd Wessel was killed aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Emperor's Revenge when a Scimitar assault bomber, bomb-rigged by Jax's nemesis Kir Kanos, was brought aboard, where it exploded, killing everyone aboard and gutting the greater part of the ship.

Behind the scenes

 * General Wessel was played by David Anthony Brinkley for the audio drama version of Crimson Empire.

Appearances

 * Crimson Empire
 * Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood