Koth Melan

"War, like politics, sometimes makes for strange bedfellows. One uses the tools one has."

- Koth Melan

Koth Melan was a member of the Bothan Spynet during the Galactic Civil War. Since the Galactic Empire had executed his father in 17 BBY for supposed treason, Melan was sympathetic to the Alliance to Restore the Republic and sought to help them in order to regain his honor. In 3 ABY, his agents caught wind of a new Imperial military project that could pose a threat to the Alliance. He attempted to contact Leia Organa, but his message was instead intercepted by Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar.

This proved to be a stroke of luck for Melan, since data pertinent to the project would be passing through the Both system on the Mobquet medium transport Suprosa. He enlisted Commander Skywalker to train the Bothan pilots of Blue Squadron, and then, aboard Dash Rendar's ship, the Outrider, participated in the First Battle of Bothawui. With the data retrieved, Melan directed Skywalker and Rendar to Kothlis, where a team of Bothan slicers could decipher the data. While Melan's team were working on the retrieval, the Kothlis safehouse was attacked by Barabel bounty hunters, and in the ensuing gunfight, Melan was shot and killed. Agent Borsk Fey'lya was able to escape with the data, however, and it was eventually discovered to be the plans for the Death Star II.

Dishonor
"Twenty years ago the Empire executed my father for espionage.''" "That's one of the risks of this business, isn't it?" "''Yes, and one I take. But all Bothans are not spies, M. Rendar. My father was a teacher. He was guilty of nothing save trying to educate his students about the Empire."

- Koth Melan and Dash Rendar

Koth Melan was a Bothan male of the prominent Clan Alya hailing from the planet Bothawui. His father was a teacher, who disagreed with the Galactic Empire's ideology and attempted to educate his students about the Empire's nature. In 17 BBY, Melan's father was arrested by the Empire, and executed on charges of espionage. The execution was a blow to Melan's honor, and caused him much disgrace. He refused to use the honorific suffix "'l'lya" as part of his name, vowing to only honor his clan name once he had helped to cause the downfall of the Empire, and in turn avenge his father's death.

Melan joined the Bothan Spynet, eventually coming to control a network of operatives. Officially, he was the assistant consul general for the Bothan Trade Mission, and was responsible for overseeing Bothan commercial interests throughout the Mid Rim region. His position was an intricately crafted cover which allowed him to travel extensively without arousing suspicion, passing information from operatives and op-fronts to the relevant interested parties and frequently reporting to his superiors on Bothawui and the colony world Kothlis. While his cover was unbroken, Melan made enemies, and always traveled with a cadre of combat trained bodyguards skilled in counter-intelligence and surveillance operations who posed as minor officials and bureaucrats.

Melan rarely engaged directly in operations, prefering the role of spymaster. He refused to meet with anyone whom he did not wish to see first, and maintained a series of secure safehouses including one which was known only to Melan and his entourage. When Melan did venture into the field, it was a sign that the information he was collecting was very valuable and important. His chief of security was often employed as a double, and reportedly performed a credible imitation of the spymaster.

Observing the Alliance
"There are agents of the Empire here on Corellia. We must be careful. In fact, there is one watching us."

- Koth Melan

During the Galactic Civil War, Melan began to take a keen interest in the Alliance to Restore the Republic's movements, despite the Bothan Spynet's supposed lack of allegiance to any particular government or organization. When Rebel pilot Ace Azzameen, with the help of his family, stealthily planted a listening device at Comm Center to monitor communications between the Empire and the Azzameen's main commercial rivals, the Viraxo, Melan was highly impressed. The spymaster sent Azzameen an e-mail, applauding his abilities, labeling them "Bothan," and awarded him the Bothan Friendship Award, as well as honorary membership of the Bothan Spynet.

At some point, Melan met with the smuggler Dash Rendar near the Agrilat Swamp Circuit on the planet Corellia. He handed Rendar a datapad with information vital for the Alliance, but noticed that the smuggler was being trailed by an Imperial operative. The operative, in league with the Imperial Security Bureau, was attempting to expose Rendar as a Rebel traitor who was supplying arms and equipment to the Alliance. During the ensuing battle, Melan was wounded and ordered Rendar to flee with the information. The Corellian stopped for a moment, but then made his escape, leaving Melan to surrender to the Imperial. In a few hours, clad in binders, he was transported to Captain Jeffren Brek of the Imperial Security Bureau in the city of Bela Vistal. The datapad, however, found its way into the hands of Alliance member Commander Luke Skywalker when Rendar handed it over to the young Jedi Knight on the planet Tatooine.

Investigating Imperial projects
"From what little else we've learned of it, this project does not bode well for the Alliance."

- Koth Melan

Some time later, Melan had regained his freedom, and returned to Bothawui. His faction bribed a high-ranking Imperial officer and learned that the Empire had began work on a highly-secret construction project, into which vast amounts of money, materiel, and personnel were being diverted. Melan attempted to infiltrate a slicer droid into the main computer complex on galactic capital, Coruscant, but the effort met with failure. However, the failure brought to light the fact that information pertaining to the project was being stored on special computers with no remote access. To obtain the data, operatives would have to physically get their hands on the computer.

Melan's operatives learned that one of the computers containing data relevant to the project was being transferred from Coruscant to Bothawui. The Empire planned to use the Mobquet medium transport Suprosa to make the transfer, disguising it as a fertilizer barge. By utilizing a low-key craft instead of a massive convoy, Melan believed that they hoped to avoid Alliance attention. While Melan's operatives worked to obtain the vessel's flight plan, he attempted to contact Princess Leia Organa of the Alliance, requesting that she meet him in the Intergalactic Trade Mission on Bothawui. Initially believing her to be on Tatooine, he dispatched an AS-M12-series messenger droid to the planet. However, while his message droid was in transit, he learned that Organa was in fact on the planet Rodia, and that Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar were the likely ones to receive the message. As expected, Skywalker and his bodyguard arrived on Bothawui, seeking Melan. The Bothan allowed the two into his presence, and explained the situation to the two Humans. Skywalker's presence was a stroke of luck; Melan had enlisted the Bothan BTL-S3 Y-wing starfighter pilots of Blue Squadron to help capture the Suprosa, but they were inexperienced and would benefit from the experience of a veteran in command. Skywalker agreed, and Melan took the two to a hidden mountain base to meet with the squadron. Skywalker led the group in training exercises for several days, preparing them to meet the Suprosa in the Both system. However, the squadron was one pilot short, and Ace Azzameen, the Alliance pilot from the Liberty honored by Melan earlier, was chosen to fill the vacant slot by Skywalker himself based on the Liberty pilot credits listings.

First Battle of Bothawui
One of Melan's operatives obtained the Suprosa flight plan from a Black Sun contact; a fact that failed to bother the Bothan despire both Skywalker and Rendar's scepticism. Melan believed that Black Sun were backing the Alliance to win the war, and noted that war usually made strange bedfellows.

With Melan aboard Dash Rendar's YT-2400 light freighter Outrider, Skywalker led Blue Squadron to one of Bothawui's moons to await the arrival of the Suprosa. Decanting from hyperspace, Skywalker ordered the Suprosa to surrender, which was met with the claim that the ship was hauling fertilizer. Eventually, the Suprosa attempted to flee, and Skywalker, Rendar, and Blue Squadron engaged the craft, attempting to slow its flight. The freighter unveiled concealed weapons, and battle commenced; two Bothan Y-wings were destroyed by defensive fire, while four craft were eliminated by a single diamond boron missile that Rendar was unable to destroy before it exploded in their midst. Eventually, the Suprosa was disabled, and Rendar boarded first, clearing the Imperial presence before Melan and a group of his operatives retrieved the computer.

Skywalker rendezvoused with them aboard the Outrider, and Melan explained that he would be unable to access the data. Fortunately, he had a team of elite hackers in a safehouse on nearby Kothlis, who would be able to retrieve the costly information. The group set out, once again, but on the way to Kothlis, they were pulled out of hyperspace by the Immobilizer 418 cruiser Claw. Its escort craft, the Hunter, deployed fighters to intercept, but Skywalker and Rendar were able to fend them off long enough to allow the remainder of Blue Squadron to destroy the Claw.

Admiral Yamarus had brought the Liberty to Kothlis, in order to defend from any possible Imperial retaliation. Rendar brought Melan and the computer to the space station Kothlis II, before departing for Rodia. Skywalker then rendezvoused with Melan at the Kothlis safe house. The safe house, cleverly disguised as a dilapidated office building, was home to a wide variety of Spynet employees, all highly skilled and more than qualified to access the Suprosa computer.

Death and legacy
"G-G-Go! Leave me, get out! Idiot! L-L-Leave! Luke, thanks. I&mdash;"

- Koth Melan's dying words

Just as Melan's agents cracked the Imperial codes protecting the computer, a team of Barabel bounty hunters burst into the facility, blasters flashing. With technicians being cut down all about him, Melan joined the battle, fending off the attackers with his long blaster and fighting alongside Skywalker, a Jedi in training. Believing that the attackers were after the computer, he urged Skywalker to retreat further into the complex.

Agent Borsk Fey'lya was able to retrieve the computer, and Melan hurriedly covered his retreat. He emptied his blaster clip into the enemies and ordered Skywalker to leave immediately, but before the Jedi could, Melan was struck by blaster fire. Skywalker, instead of leaving, stayed with the dying Bothan until he finally expired, while the bounty hunters surrounded the Jedi and captured him.

Fey'lya was eventually able to get the computer to the Alliance, though an unfortunate series of events almost led to it falling back into Imperial hands. The data revealed itself to be plans to the Death Star II, a weapon of total destruction that would spell doom for the Alliance if left unfettered. Though Melan never knew it, it was Palpatine's intent that he retrieve the plans, as the Galactic Emperor planned to lure the Alliance into a trap over Endor, the location of the Death Star II's construction. Melan's funeral was held on Bothawui, but only a limited number of Alliance pilots were permitted to attend, due to high levels of Imperial activity in the sector.

Personality and traits
Melan was a very proud Bothan and had the utmost faith in the abilities of his Spynet. He liked to keep abreast of the movements of important political figures, usually knowing where any one of them was at any given time. Though he lacked technical expertise, he made sure to employ a broad range of sentients, so the Spynet would rarely have to seek outside help. When they did, however, Melan had no qualms with dealing with such shady organizations as Black Sun, as long as it was all in the pursuit of defeating the Empire.

Melan had a strict adherence to the Bothan culture, subjecting himself to the harsh laws of honor. He suffered the consequences of his father's death by styling his name in a fashion foreign to Bothans. Though he stood to gain considerably more by remaining a neutral party in the Galactic Civil War, he hoped his siding with the Alliance would help him in the pursuit of honor. As he died defending Agent Fey'lya and other Spynet employees, it is likely that in death, Melan regained significant standing with his people.

Behind the scenes
"Melan, do you think you'll be able to access the program?''" "No, it'll be encrypted and protected by a self-destruct device. Our best team is on Kothlis, a colony not too far from here. We'll transport it there, and see what we've got." "Are we apt to run into any more Imperials along the way?" "''Who can say? It is possible&hellip;"

- Bob Bergen as Luke Skywalker and Denny Delk as Koth Melan

Koth Melan first appeared in the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project, wherein he is a supporting character. He would later appear in Lawrence Holland's Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, which crosses over with the events from Shadows of the Empire. In X-wing Alliance, he is voiced by Denny Delk, though Delk was simply credited as "Bothan Officer". The Special Edition Limited pack of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game provided an image of a generic Bothan Spy, which was later retroactively made to portray Melan in The Official Star Wars Fact File 61.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Shadows of the Empire novel / comic
 * Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Ertl minicomic
 * Shadows of the Empire junior novelization
 * Shadows of the Empire junior novelization