Lorth Needa

Needa was a Human male who served as captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger, a ship assigned to the Sith Lord Darth Vader's Imperial Death Squadron, during the Battle of Hoth. In the midst of the battle, Needa successfully engaged several fleeing Rebel transports, but it was his pursuit of one&mdash;Captain Han Solo's Millennium Falcon&mdash;that sealed his fate. After a lengthy chase, the Avenger had the Falcon in its sights before Solo suddenly changed course and charged the Star Destroyer's bridge, only to disappear from its sensors. Not knowing how the Falcon could have eluded him, Needa decided to take responsibility for the situation and personally apologize to Vader, believing the Sith Lord would be understanding. This assumption proved fatal, as Vader telekinetically executed him.

Biography
Captain Needa was a Human male officer who commanded the Star Destroyer Avenger in the Imperial Death Squadron, a task force of the Imperial Navy under the command of the Sith Lord Darth Vader. In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, Death Squadron was responsible for tracking down the hidden headquarters of the Rebel Alliance, an insurgent faction at war with the Galactic Empire for control of the galaxy. After discovering a Rebel base on the planet Hoth, Death Squadron launched an assault on the Rebel forces gathered there. During the fighting, which culminated in a resounding victory for the Empire, Needa and the Avenger engaged several Rebel ships in battle as they attempted to flee from the Imperial forces.

Among the Rebel vessels that found itself in Needa's sights was the Millennium Falcon, a freighter owned by Rebel sympathizer Han Solo. Solo, along with his co-pilot Chewbacca and the Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, had fled from Imperial forces on Hoth, but with the Falcon hyperdrive nonoperational, they were unable to make the jump to hyperspace and escape from the Star Destroyers in orbit. Needa and the Avenger closed in on the Falcon, but Solo outmaneuvered his pursuers, causing the Avenger to nearly collide with another Star Destroyer. Solo and company took refuge in a nearby asteroid field, whereupon the Empire lost track of them for a time. Via hologram, Needa informed Darth Vader that the Falcon had likely been destroyed in the asteroid field, but the Sith Lord suspected otherwise and ordered the search to continue.

Sure enough, the Falcon had not been destroyed; after the freighter emerged from the asteroid field, the Avenger resumed its pursuit. With Vader informed of this development, Needa prepared to capture the elusive freighter, but Solo abruptly altered course and flew directly toward the Avenger bridge, a move Needa interpreted to be an attack run. He ordered the Star Destroyer to raise its shields, but the Falcon merely skimmed the surface of the command tower before disappearing from the warship's sensors. An incredulous Needa could not comprehend how the Falcon could have disappeared, since it was too small to have a functional cloaking device&mdash;unbeknown to the Imperials, Solo had merely attached his freighter to rear of the Avenger bridge tower. Nevertheless, when Vader demanded an update on the Avenger progress, Needa decided to travel to the Super Star Destroyer Executor to personally apologize to the Sith Lord for losing track of his quarry. Needa did just that, whereupon the Sith Lord telekinetically strangled the captain to death as penalty for his failure. Vader mockingly accepted Needa's apology before a pair of Imperial soldiers dragged his lifeless body away.

Personality and traits
Standing 1.75 meters tall, Captain Needa was a capable Star Destroyer commander within Darth Vader's fleet. Though he feared the Sith Lord, Needa decided to personally apologize to Vader after failing to capture the Millennium Falcon in the aftermath of the Hoth campaign, mistakenly believing Vader would be forgiving of him given the circumstances. Vader accepted his apology, but Needa did not live to hear it.

Behind the scenes
Captain Needa appeared in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, released in 1980. He was portrayed by actor Michael Culver.

Before the Lucasfilm Story Group initiated a reboot of Star Wars canon in anticipation of the sequel trilogy, the backstory of Captain Needa&mdash;his first name having been identified as "Lorth"&mdash;had been explored and developed in a number of sources, including the novelization of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which he is a Republic naval officer present at the Battle of Coruscant (his scenes are not included in the film). With the upcoming release of the sequel trilogy, however, the vast majority of this information has been relegated to the "Legends" realm of Star Wars continuity; as such, this article reflects only information found within the new established canon, which includes the films and the StarWars.com Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back