Moradmin Bast/Legends

"We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?''" "''Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances!"

- Moradmin Bast and Wilhuff Tarkin

Moradmin Bast was a Human male from the planet Dura-Kahn. An Imperial general, Bast was stationed on the first Death Star, the Galactic Empire's planetary destroying superweapon. On the station, he was the chief personal aide to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and the subordinate to High General Cassio Tagge. In 0 BBY, Bast was present for a meeting in the battlestation's conference room, discussing the lost Death Star plans, which were stolen by the Rebel Alliance. After the Battle of Yavin began, Bast received information that the Rebels found a small vulnerable thermal exhaust port in the Death Star's superstructure. Since the exhaust port was a danger to the battlestation, Bast wanted Tarkin to evacuate the Death Star, although the Grand Moff believed that the Imperial forces would thwart the Rebels' attack. However, after the Rebel Luke Skywalker successfully launched a proton torpedo into the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, the Death Star exploded, killing Bast and everyone else on board.

Biography
Moradmin Bast, a Human male, hailed from the planet Dura-Kahn. At a young age, Bast learned patience and cunning abilities by hunting big game on his homeworld. Bast also saw the Rebel Alliance as a threat while growing up and believed that they should not be underestimated.

At some point during his life, Bast enlisted in the Imperial Army and eventually attained the rank of general. Prior to the start of the Galactic Civil War, which began in 2 BBY, the general was assigned to serve as the subordinate to High General Cassio Tagge, the Head of Army Operations aboard the first Death Star battlestation. In this capacity, Bast frequently acted as the chief personal aide to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin himself. Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, the Head of Navy operations aboard the Death Star, feared Bast and Tagge, due to their loyalty and respect toward Tarkin.

Shortly before the destruction of Alderaan in 0 BBY, Bast attended a staff conference on the battlestation. The Death Star's command staff&mdash;which included Tarkin, Tagge, and Motti&mdash;discussed the Rebel Alliance and its possession of the Death Star's technical schematics, which were stolen by the Rebels during the Battle of Toprawa. Believing that the Death Star was "the ultimate power of the universe," Motti wanted to use the station to threaten the Rebels, although the Dark Lord Darth Vader reassured Motti that the Death Star's destructive capability was insignificant next to the power of the Force. Throughout the conference, Bast sat in silence and witnessed Motti's near death as Vader Force choked him for his lack of faith in the Force.

Following the start of the Battle of Yavin, military analysts told Bast that a small thermal exhaust port, an entrance to the Death Star's main reactor, was a potential danger to everyone aboard the battlestation. Having concluded that the Rebel starfighters could pose a threat to the Death Star, Bast immediately brought this information to Tarkin in the overbridge of the Death Star, but the Grand Moff contemptuously brushed his recommendations aside. Despite his reservations, Bast remained with his superior officer, and watched as the Death Star approached its target&mdash;Yavin 4, home of the Rebel base. Before the Death Star could fire on Yavin 4, it had to orbit around the planet Yavin Prime.

Once the Death Star cleared the planet, Tarkin, without hesitation, ordered Bast to fire the superlaser on Yavin 4 to end the Rebel Alliance. However, Tenn Graneet, the master chief petty officer engineer stationed on the Death Star, delayed the destruction. The delay allowed Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker to successfully fire his proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port before the superlaser was fired. Bast, as well as everyone stationed on the Death Star, was killed when the massive battlestation exploded near Yavin 4.

Personality and traits
A Human male, Moradmin Bast had brown hair. The Imperial general also had long sideburns on both sides of his face. Bast had no personal aspirations beyond serving the Empire and was loyal to Tarkin and Tagge. A confident man, who rarely underestimated his enemies, Bast often praised the work that Tarkin had done on the Death Star. During the meeting aboard the Death Star in 0 BBY, Bast remained quiet throughout. As Tarkin's chief personal aide, Bast became worried of Tarkin's well being and delivered Tarkin information regarding the Rebel attack during the Battle of Yavin. Wanting to save his officer's life, Bast assured Tarkin that his ship would be on stand-by. However the commander-in-chief of the Death Star quickly dismissed Bast. In addition, Bast, due to witnessing how Vader dealt with foolish officers who made the mistake of assuming the latter to be subservient to Tarkin, always showed his respect.

Portrayal
The character of Moradmin Bast was portrayed by Leslie Schofield in George Lucas' 1977 film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and credited as "Commander #1". In the final version of A New Hope, Schofield played the character in two scenes. However, cut footage and dialogue of him, that was omitted during editing of A New Hope, was added in the 1978 television special The Star Wars Holiday Special. The footage was also made accessible in the bonus features of the Star Wars Blu-Ray set which was released in 2011.

The unnamed officer later received the name "Bast" in the 1991 West End Games sourcebook Death Star Technical Companion. In 1995, Bast was first identified as "Chief Bast" in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game Premiere Limited expansion set. Star Wars Insider issue 96 ranked top 10 Imperial officers that were shown in the original trilogy. In the article, Chief Bast was first identified as "Moradmin." Under the name of Chief Bast, he was listed in the first Star Wars Encyclopedia in 1998. In 2008, the original encyclopedia was updated with the The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and the character was identified as Moradmin Bast.

Appearances in novels and comics
The novelization, junior novel, and the photo comic of A New Hope do not identify Bast by name. In the film's shooting script and in the Annotated Screenplays, Bast is referred to as "Officer" in the scene where he conferred with Tarkin on the Rebel attack. In both novelizations, the officer who delivered Tarkin of the Rebels' strategy is described running from the room, rather than remaining by Tarkin's side as shown in the film. The 2006 novel Death Star did not show Bast during the Battle of Yavin. Instead, an operations lieutenant informed Tarkin about the thermal exhaust port danger. Contrary to A New Hope, the novel mentioned that Tarkin gave Motti the order to fire the superlaser; however, in the film, Tarkin gave the order to Bast.

In the photo comic, Bast was shown standing by Tarkin's side when he gave the order to destroy the Rebel base on Yavin 4&mdash;as it appeared in the movie, although the scene where he informed Tarkin of the Rebel attack is not shown. In the 1998 release of Star Wars: Behind the Magic, Cassio Tagge's biography mistakenly states that Tagge was the one who offered Tarkin to evacuate the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin, instead of Bast. However, in another section of the multimedia guide, the character of Bast was identified correctly, and it also included details of his biography from the CCG card, which was released three years prior to Behind the Magic.

Bast in other related media
Bast did not appear in the Star Wars radio adaption. His role in A New Hope was combined with Admiral Motti's lines in the thirteen-part radio adaption. Voiced by David Clennon, the line, in which Bast ordered Tarkin to leave the Death Star due to the Rebel attack, was spoken by Motti.

Bast's character appeared as an unidentified officer in the 1977 Marvel comic Star Wars 6: Is This the Final Chapter?. In the comic, it was revealed that Tarkin gave the officer the order to analyze the Rebel attack and report back to him. After doing so, the officer then says Bast's line from A New Hope; however, the line is significantly altered.

The 2006 video game Star Wars: Empire at War featured an unidentified officer who contacted Tarkin via hologram. The officer spoke Bast's line from A New Hope. To date, the officer has not been identified as Bast.

Possible survival
Though scenes of Chief Bast's conversation with Darth Vader cut from A New Hope were included in The Star Wars Holiday Special, Bast's presence with Tarkin during the final moments of the Death Star shows that this is not the same officer. On the StarWars.com message boards, Leland Chee originally noted two opposing C-canon sources on his survival, but was later shown that the film itself countered the idea that he survived. The lookalike officer in the Holiday Special has not yet been identified. His connection with Bast, if any, has not been explained.

The 2006 "Death Star Briefing" action figure multipack included a Chief Bast action figure. Notes on the packaging claim that Bast was one of a handful of Imperial officers to evacuate the Death Star before its destruction, but this had been overridden by more recent sources.

Appearances

 * Death Star
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope PhotoComic
 * Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 4
 * Star Wars Droids 8: Star Wars According to the Droids, Book III
 * Star Wars 6: Is This the Final Chapter?
 * Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars 3
 * ''The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Star Wars
 * Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope 1