M'Kae/Legends

"Captain, Lord Vader demands an update on the pursuit."

- M'Kae to Captain Lorth Needa

M'Kae was a Human male Warrant Officer of the Galactic Empire who lived during the time of the Galactic Civil War, a major galactic conflict fought between them and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Sometime following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, M'Kae was stationed on the city of Restuss on the planet Naboo's moon of Rori. While there, he led a group that rescued the pilot Cal Handro from Alliance operatives. However, he was persuaded to give away Handro's whereabouts by a spacer working for the Alliance, and the spacer pursued and killed Handro. By 3 ABY, M'Kae served as the communications officer, as well as the hard-working signal officer, of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger, attached to Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader's personal Star Destroyer fleet, Death Squadron. He apprised Darth Vader's flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, of the Avenger activities, and relayed orders from the Executor to the Avenger Captain, Lorth Needa. He also coordinated and tested tractor beam equipment.

In 3 ABY, the Avenger aided Death Squadron's search across the galaxy for the Alliance to Restore the Republic's headquarters. After discovering a hidden Rebel base on the planet Hoth, the Empire launched an assault on the base. Following the battle, the Avenger was charged with pursuing the fugitive YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon from the Hoth system. M'Kae was aboard the Avenger command bridge when the Star Destroyer lost track of the Falcon in the Anoat system, not knowing the freighter had in fact been hiding on a blind spot of the Avenger conning tower. When Lord Vader demanded an update on the pursuit, M'Kae relayed the order to Captain Needa. The Captain decided to go to the Executor and apologize to Vader for the failure, while ordering his crew to continue searching for the Falcon, an act that would lead to the Captain's execution. The rest of Death Squadron would ultimately disperse into hyperspace in search of the Falcon, along with the Avenger. Before the Avenger went to hyperspace&mdash;not knowing of the Falcon still being on its conning tower&mdash;it disposed of its garbage, and the Falcon took the opportunity to float away with the garbage, effectively avoiding detection.

Biography
"He's taking a last trip out to show a new pilot his route to Kashyyyk. Then, in exchange for his life, he will tell us everything about the Rebellion that he knows and we will give him a new identity."

- M'Kae

A Human male, M'Kae served as a Warrant Officer in the Galactic Empire during the time of the Galactic Civil War, a major galactic conflict fought between them and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Sometime following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, M'Kae was stationed in a home base out of the city of Restuss on the planet Naboo's moon of Rori.

While there, he kept a journal in a datapad. At some prior point during his Imperial service, he hired Cal Handro, a pilot who was in truth a spy for the Alliance. During his service in Restuss, he led a group that rescued Cal Handro, who was wanted dead by Alliance Sergeant Major Wolff Kalos, from an Imperial-operated safe house outside another city on Rori named Narmle. The spacer whom Kalos had directed to the safe house knew M'Kae was involved, and went to Restuss to speak to the Imperial officer. M'Kae was initially unwilling to give away Handro's whereabouts; however he was willing to give away the information for 10,000 credits. Upon being bribed, M'Kae gave away Cal Handro's last trip to show a new pilot his route to the planet Kashyyyk, and would, in exchange for his life, tell the Empire all he knew about the Alliance. This ultimately culminated in a skirmish above Naboo between the spacer and Cal Handro's escort, which ended when the spacer successfully destroyed the Warlord Heavy Cruiser occupied by Handro.

The Galactic Empire eventually began researching a technology in Restuss called a Star Core, an object small enough to fit into a backpack, yet powerful enough to power an entire planet or battlestation. Tensions over this technology resulted in a military buildup between Imperial and Rebel forces around Restuss, forcing an evacuation of the entire city. M'Kae was pulled out of Restuss before a violent battle over the Star Core erupted, resulting in the city's destruction.

By 3 ABY, M'Kae became the communications officer, as well as the signal officer, aboard Captain Lorth Needa's Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger, part of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader's personal Star Destroyer fleet Death Squadron. He apprised the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, the flagship of Darth Vader, of the Avenger activities, and relayed orders from the Executor to Captain Needa. His duties also included the coordination and testing of tractor beam equipment.

In 3 ABY, Death Squadron's Imperial-class Star Destroyers deployed Viper probe droid throughout the galaxy in search of the Alliance's headquarters. Alongside the Stalker, another Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the Avenger sent probe droids to the Tokmia and Allyuen systems. Death Squadron was near the Qeimet system when one of the Stalker probe droids discovered Echo Base, the Alliance's military base on the ice planet Hoth. After making a series of hyperspace jumps, Death Squadron reached the Hoth system, leading to the subsequent Battle of Hoth. While Vader's forces launched a ground assault on the planet, Death Squadron's Star Destroyers waited to intercept Alliance GR-75 medium transports and other Rebel ships attempting to evacuate. The Avenger performed well during the Battle of Hoth, during which it attacked evacuating Alliance transports. The battle led to an Imperial victory and the Alliance being forced out of their headquarters. Following the battle, M'Kae was stationed on the Avenger command bridge when the warship was charged with pursuing the fugitive YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon&mdash;carrying Rebel fugitives Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa&mdash;through the Hoth system.

While the Avenger pursued the Falcon, the freighter at one point outmaneuvered the Star Destroyer, causing it to almost collide with another pursuing Star Destroyer. The Avenger chased the Falcon into the Hoth asteroid field, where the fugitive ship evaded the Star Destroyer by taking cover in the mouth of a space slug housed in one of the asteroids. The Avenger suffered significant damage when it traveled into the asteroid field to search for the Falcon. Eventually, the Avenger spotted the Millennium Falcon after the freighter reappeared. Needa had a priority signal sent to the Executor, with the message that the Falcon was about to be captured.

M'Kae was working in the crewpits of the Avenger command bridge when the ship pursued the fugitive Falcon into the neighboring Anoat system. The freighter charged the bridge, setting off alarms throughout the Avenger. M'Kae, along with Needa and the rest of the command crew, dove for cover before the Falcon veered away at the last moment, seemingly disappearing from the Star Destroyer's sensors. Unbeknownst to Needa and his crew, the Millennium Falcon simply landed on a blind spot of the Avenger conning tower. While the Falcon was no longer visible on the Avenger scopes, M'Kae spoke to Needa and reported that Lord Vader demanded an update on the pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. Needa decided to personally apologize to the Dark Lord for failing to capture the freighter, and ordered a TIE/sh shuttle to be prepared for his visit to the Executor. Needa gave one last request for his crew to continue their search for the Falcon, before traveling to the Executor to rendezvous with Vader, who ultimately executed the Captain for his failure. The Star Destroyers of Death Squadron would eventually disperse into hyperspace in search of the Falcon, not knowing the freighter was still hiding on the Avenger conning tower. The Avenger prepared to go to hyperspace in the opposite direction of the rest of the fleet, emptying its garbage into space beforehand. The Falcon took the opportunity to escape by floating alongside the garbage, evading the Imperial fleet.

Personality and traits
"Perhaps I can think of 10,000 reasons why I might say something."

- M'Kae Despite his loyalty to the Empire, M'Kae had at some point hired Cal Handro, who was in truth a Rebel spy. He was willing to rescue Cal Handro from the Alliance, and give him a new identity in exchange for all Handro knew about the Alliance. When the spacer attempted to bribe M'Kae 5,000 credits to give away Handro's whereabouts, M'Kae considered the higher price of 10,000 credits for the information. Upon giving the spacer their requested information, M'Kae taunted the individual by saying they could do nothing to stop Handro. M'Kae was hard-working as the Avenger signal officer. He was possessed of fair skin, as well as dark blond hair and brown eyes.

Equipment
During M'Kae's service in Restuss, he wore the standard Imperial officer's uniform. During his service aboard the Avenger during the Hoth campaign, M'Kae wore a gray Imperial Navy crewman uniform.

Behind the scenes
The M'Kae character first appeared in the 1980 novelization for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, before appearing in the film released later the same year. Although not credited in the film, he was portrayed by Mark Capri. Towards the end of the film, reused footage from the Avenger scene was included during the Executor attempt to capture the Millennium Falcon following the latter's escape from the Imperial-occupied planet Bespin. As such, Mark Capri and other extras portraying the Avenger command crew are visible during that scene. M'Kae was referred to as a "Communications Officer" in the film's script, featured in Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays and Star Wars: Behind the Magic.

In 1997, M'Kae was first identified by name on a card for the Dagobah Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.

Inconsistencies
"Sir, Lord Vader demands an update on our pursuit, sir...? Sir...?"

- M'Kae's line in Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi

In both the Empire Strikes Back novelization and the comic Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi, the M'Kae character is featured, albeit with different lines than the Empire Strikes Back film. Additionally, the novelization describes M'Kae as an aide who approached Captain Needa, which differs from the film showing M'Kae speaking to Needa from the Avenger crewpits.

Star Wars Galaxies
"Good day. Would you, a loyal member of the Empire, know the whereabouts of a pilot named Cal Handro?"

- M'Kae in an alternate scenario of the player controlling an Imperial character

M'Kae appeared as a non-player character in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts. In the game, he was known as "M'kae." The game portrays him with green eyes, as opposed to the brown eyes he has during his Empire Strikes Back appearance. The game was shut down on December 15, 2011. Rebel players who performed a quest for Wolff Kalos had to enter an Imperial safehouse to gain information on Cal Handro's whereabouts, before battling and killing the pilot.

Following the player's mission to the safe house, they are required to speak to M'Kae, who has rescued Handro. The player is expected to bribe M'Kae 10,000 credits for Handro's whereabouts. Failure to do so will result in the player returning to Kalos, who will direct them to M'Kae's base to find incriminating evidence of M'Kae's dealings with Handro. With the spacer in possession of M'Kae's journal, the officer then gives them the information they are looking for regarding Handro's whereabouts. This article assumes the player had successfully bribed Kalos during their mission.

The player also had the option of performing the mission as an Imperial character. If this is done, then Wolff Kalos and M'Kae switch roles, with Kalos the one who saves Cal Handro, and M'Kae being the investigating officer who wants to kill the treasonous Handro, who was double-dealing with the Alliance. M'Kae directs the player to the Imperial safe house, where Kalos's forces save Handro. The player then goes to Kalos, and has to either bribe the Rebel 10,000 credits or return to M'Kae if they don't have that amount of credits. M'Kae directs the player to Kalos's base, where they acquire information on Kalos's family, and then blackmail him into revealing the information on Handro. Regardless of how the player gets the information out of Kalos, this will initiate the battle against Handro. If the player is not initially successful, they will return to M'Kae, who reveals that Handro's hyperdrive was damaged, and thus he was unable to escape, allowing the Imperial operative to return and still get him. This can be repeated until the player succeeds. Upon completing the mission, the Imperial will return to M'Kae, who will award the operative 5,000 credits and a Bothan inspired BlastTech Special Ops Bola carbine. Although the player could choose not to do the quest related to Cal Handro, this article assumes 100% game completion with a Rebel character.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization
 * Star Wars Manga: The Empire Strikes Back 3
 * Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi
 * Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi