Maximillian Veers

"General, prepare your troops for a surface attack."

- Darth Vader, preparing Veers for the Battle of Hoth

Maximillian Veers was a Human male who served as a general in the Galactic Empire's army. As such, he fought in the Galactic Civil War, which pitted the Empire against the Rebel Alliance. General Veers was famous for his leadership at the assault on Hoth, during which he led a squadron of AT-AT walkers across the planet's icy surface and personally destroyed the shield generator powering Rebel base's deflector shield. His actions allowed the Imperials to invade the base. The general survived the battle and went on to be known as a glorified veteran of Hoth.

Biography
"General Veers, prepare your men."

- Darth Vader, preparing Veers for the Battle of Hoth

Born on the planet of Denon, the Human male named Maximillian Veers came to serve as an army officer of the Galactic Empire, an authoritarian regime that governed most of the galaxy. As such, he was involved the Empire's struggle against the Rebel Alliance, which contested the rule of Emperor Palpatine. Following the Battle of Yavin, during which the Rebels destroyed the Empire's planet-killing Death Star battle station, Veers already served as a general. At that time, he was tasked with locating the former senator Johhar Kessen. The Empire thought that Johhar would play a key role in finding the location of the Rebel Alliance's new headquarters. For the duration of that mission, the general was assisted by Kosh, an officer stationed on Tatooine.

Some time later, Veers was posted to the Imperial Death Squadron, a flotilla of vessels commanded by the Emperor's dark enforcer, a Sith Lord named Darth Vader. The Death Squadron's commanding officer, Admiral Ozzel, was charged to oversee the Empire's search for the Rebel headquarters, and thousands of probe droids were dispatched throughout the galaxy to that effect.

One of the probes ended up discovering signs of an occupied settlement on the frigid planet of Hoth. On the Executor, the flagship of the Death Squadron, Veers joined the panel of officers who reviewed the probe droid's data, along with Ozzel and his subordinate, Captain Piett. While Ozzel dismissed the information as lacking definitive proof of any Rebel presence, Lord Vader chose to disregard his opinion. The Sith Lord ordered the fleet to make haste to the Hoth system and commanded that Veers prepare his men.

Imperial hero of Hoth
"Yes, Lord Vader. I've reached the main power generator. The shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing."

- Veers, to Vader

However, Admiral Ozzel came out of lightspeed too close to the system, thinking he would take the Rebels by surprise. As a consequence, the Rebels were alerted to the Empire's presence. General Veers was the one who brought the ill news to Vader, in his meditation chamber. Since the Rebels had activated a powerful energy shield, an orbital bombardment was impossible. Veers was thus ordered to prepare a squadron of five AT-AT walkers for a surface assault. Meanwhile, Ozzel was choked to death and replaced by Captain Piett, to whom Vader asked to prepare the troops for landing beyond the energy field as soon as Veers would have disabled it.

The general, who had always kept a low profile in front of Vader, had been offered a chance to correct Ozzel's mistake. He lived up to the Sith Lord's expectations by quickly deploying his armored regiment beyond the perimeter of the Hoth base's protective energy shield. After doing so, Veers led his AT-AT walkers into the Echo Base mountain valley, heading straight for the shield generators that were his primary target. The general led his troops from the front, in the cockpit of the lead walker, as the Rebels prepared to evacuate their headquarters. A group of snowspeeders led by the Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker tried to delay Veers' force. One made a strafing run at the lead walker, but caused little damage to its armor. Veers used his AT-AT's rangefinder himself to line up Echo Base's shield generator, which prevented a full scale Imperial invasion. The generator's destruction marked the end of the Rebel defense, allowing Vader and his man to land on Hoth and break into the base.

Personality and traits
"Target. Maximum fire power."

- Veers, ordering the destruction of Echo Base's shield generator

General Veers was a powerfully built man with brow hair and eyes. Standing 1.93 meters, he was ten centimeters taller than the average stormtroopers, the Empire's white-armored shock troops.

A cool and efficient officer he did not hesitate to putting himself in harm's way on the frontline, wearing the AT-AT pilot armor. Although he always seemed very sure of himself when talking to Vader, Veers had learned to tread lightly around the Sith Lord, fearing both the mysterious power he wielded and his volatile temperament. For example, when the general went to see Vader in his quarters, he was not bold enough to interrupt the meditating Sith, but stood quietly at attention until he spoke.

Equipment
On the battlefield, Veers wore a grey-green chest armor over his duty uniform, and a matching open face helmet with an ample rear skirt and a black chin strap.

Portrayal
"This man is a general. You don't get to be a general if you're a wimp."

- Actor Julian Glover, to George Lucas

General Veers first appeared in the 1980 movie Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, the second installement in the original trilogy of Star Wars, in which he was played by the English actor Julian Glover. It was Robert Watts, an associate producer on The Empire Strikes Back, who invited Glover in, as the two were next-door neighbors at the time. Glover worked on the movie for five days, which he later described as "five days of complete and total bewilderment."

Despite having a relatively small part in the movie, Glover discussed Veers's relationship to Vader with Star Wars creator George Lucas. In his opinion, Veers should not display a sycophantic behavior toward Vader, since a proper general would not lack confidence. Lucas approved the actor's vision of the character, allowing Veers to stand up to Vader a little.

The armored chest-piece worn by Veers in The Empire Strikes Back was the same design seen on the snowtroopers and the bounty hunter Dengar.

In the next movie installement, titled Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, co-producer Robert Watts played an unidentified AT-ST walker pilot. On one occasion, Watts said that his character was actually General Veers. However, that identification was refuted on the official StarWars.com website, on the grounds that Veers' demotion to a simple pilot was unlikely. Since then, Watt's character has been identified as Lieutenant Blanaid in the canon reference book Star Wars in 100 Scenes.

Alternate fate
In the original script of The Empire Strikes Back, Veers died when the Rebel snowspeeder pilot Hobbie flew his damaged vessel directly into the cockpit of the general's walker. That scene, however, never made it into the final cut, although it did appear in the novelization of the film, written by Donald F. Glut.

Veers' background and fate were expanded upon in a number of reference books and comic books, although those stories are part of the Star Wars Legends, formerly known as the "Expanded Universe," and are therefore not official canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 1: Vader
 * Star Wars: Commander
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense