Herrit

"I must once again respectfully request that you tell Lord Vader to stop killing my agents. The Empire has put a lot of time and money into their training. If he doesn't want to talk to them, can't the man just say no like anybody else?"

- Major Herrit, in communiqué #87341.36a, to Emperor Palpatine

Herrit was a male Human who served in Imperial Intelligence, where he reached the rank of Major. His responsibilities included gathering information on both enemies and potential allies of the Galactic Empire and sending these profiles to such leaders as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. Herrit profiled such prominent figures as the Rebel heroes Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, the bounty hunter Boba Fett, and the sentientologist Obo Rin. After earning the enmity of Lord Vader by attempting to discredit Obo Rin, Herrit was killed on a dangerous mission for the Sith Lord.

Imperial profiler
Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Herrit was responsible for gathering brief intelligence profiles on Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, which were sent to Emperor Palpatine himself. His profile of Leia Organa incorrectly assumed that Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were formal members of a Rebel cell led by Obi-Wan Kenobi. His profile of Skywalker treated this as merely an unconfirmed possibility, together with the possibility that Skywalker's life farming on the Lars homestead was merely part of a cover identity. Herrit's profile correctly speculated that Skywalker was the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star I, and mentioned both his lightsaber use and Darth Vader's assessment of his Force-sensitivity.

Sometime before the Battle of Hoth, he also profiled several bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, Bossk, Dengar, IG-88, and Zuckuss in a profile sent to Darth Vader. Herrit recommended all five hunters be recruited to capture Han Solo, singling Fett out as the most capable of the lot. Herrit also attempted to recruit Nariss Siv Loqesh, but Loqesh turned down the offer (thus making the reclusive hunter a wanted criminal in the eyes of the Empire.) Herrit's profile of Boba Fett was leaked to the Rebel Alliance by an unknown source. The Rebel leadership leaked the profile to the general public, hoping that it would help reveal the Empire's illegal practices to the general public. However, Arhul Hextrophon believed that the fearsome details Herrit revealed about the hunter hurt Rebel morale more than they encouraged rebellious sentiment.

At some point in the Galactic Civil War, he also profiled every member of The Fatal Visionaries, as well as their ship, The Fatal Vision. After his report to Lord Vader, these pirates were supplied with restricted technology for use against Rebels and smugglers.

Despite being entrusted with these important intelligence-gathering duties, Herrit and his staff had a troubled relationship with Lord Vader. In one incident, while Herrit was researching his dossier on Luke Skywalker, Vader killed some of Herrit's agents who tried to ask him questions about the Force. Herrit complained to the Emperor about Vader killing his agents at least twice.

Counterintelligence work
Herrit also carried out counterintelligence operations against the Rebel Alliance. In one such mission, he had every Imperial installation in the Rolion Sector report a separate malfunction. Since Imperial cryptographers had previously broken the Rebel codes used in Rolion Sector, Imperial Intelligence was able to intercept the transmissions which mentioned that a target code-named "Understar" was undergoing gravitational fluctuation malfunctions. Herrit was thus able to identify the target as a communication station in Fara's Belt, allowing Imperial TIE fighters to wait in ambush and destroy an entire squadron of Rebel B-wings in the ensuing battle.

Conflict with Obo Rin
Herrit was also involved with Obo Rin's project to write a Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy. Herrit worked under Darth Vader and Lieutenant Pandur in this matter, which eventually led to his downfall.

Though Herrit admitted that Rin's work on the project appeared competent, Herrit became suspicious of Rin's activities. Herrit was concerned about Rin's expense accounts, which by the time the first installment of the Catalog was ready to be sent to Lord Vader had ballooned to nearly one million credits. The major also ran a background check on Rin, and discovered that Rin's credentials as a sentientologist were dubious. Among other things, Rin claimed to be Director of Sentientology at the Academy at Sab Rufo, even though Herrit's information made it appear that neither the Academy nor Sab Rufo existed. Herrit sent these findings to Darth Vader, and instructed the Office of Budgetary Control to withhold payment to Rin. It was Major Herrit's opinion that Imperial Intelligence or experts from the Imperial Bureau of Resource Research would have been better suited for the project.

Instead of being commended, Herrit was reprimanded by Lord Vader's aide Captain Solistein. Solistein did not refute Herrit's findings in detail, aside from a claim that Vader had visited Sab Rufo. Solistein, on Vader's authority, insisted that Rin be reimbursed and allowed to continue his work. Solistein also told Herrit to assist Rin in obtaining a Duinuogwuin corpse for dissection, noting that Vader had "suggested" Herrit handle the matter personally.

Herrit died during that mission, allowing Rin to produce the Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy, Revised Edition without interference.

Personality and traits
Herrit was willing to stand up to those who he thought were impeding his mission or hurting the Imperial cause, regardless of their power or political connections. When he had a problem with Darth Vader, he complained directly to the Emperor, asking (respectfully) that Vader be restrained from killing his agents. During his conflict with Obo Rin, he ignored the chain of command to contact Lord Vader directly rather than communicate through Lieutenant Pandur. Herrit claimed to know nothing about the Force, making him unaware of the true nature and power of Vader and the Emperor.

The expenses associated with Imperial activities were a particular concern of Herrit's. His conflict with Obo Rin was sparked in part by the sentientologist's seemingly extravagant expenses, and his primary complaint to Emperor Palpatine when Vader killed Imperial Intelligence agents was the time and money the Empire had spent in training them.

Behind the scenes
Major Herrit first appears in the Star Wars Sourcebook, by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith. He appears in several other supplements for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, though he is never given any game statistics. Bill Smith's short story Hunting the Hunters is the only non-roleplaying game source to use Herrit as a character.

Major Herrit is mentioned in both editions of Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races. In the first edition, the communiqué Herrit sent to Darth Vader is included. The reply from Captain Solistein sending Herrit after a Duinwuoguin cadaver is also included. In the second edition, however, both communiqués are omitted. Instead, correspondence from Obo Rin is quoted, which mentions Herrit's death.

Herrit's rank of Major conflicts with other sources, such as the Imperial Sourcebook, that say Imperial Intelligence officers did not hold military ranks.

Herrit's tactic of reporting different alleged problems at different potential enemy targets is the same tactic used by the United States before the Battle of Midway in the Second World War. Before that battle, American naval intelligence had the Midway garrison report a water shortage using a code known to have been broken by the Japanese. Since the Americans had already broken the Japanese codes, an intercepted Japanese message which reported a water shortage at their intended target let the Americans know that an attack on Midway was planned. The American forces were thus able to ambush and defeat the Japanese fleet.