Gideon Hask

"Gideon Hask. First in his class at Coruscant Imperial University. Served with valor aboard the Mandate, receiving a battlefield promotion and the Crimson Star for exceptional performance against the enemy."

- Admiral Garrick Versio

Gideon "Gid" Hask, a human male native of the planet Kuat, was a soldier and starfighter pilot who served in the ranks of Inferno Squad, an elite commando unit of the Galactic Empire, during the Galactic Civil War. After witnessing the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Hask and his team were reassigned to Operation: Cinder, a plan devised by Emperor Sheev Palpatine to devastate several worlds in the event of his death. His support for the late Emperor's plan brought Hask into direct conflict with his teammates, Commander Iden Versio and Del Meeko, both of whom defected to the New Republic as a result of the execution of Operation: Cinder on Vardos&mdash;a planet noted for its loyalty to the Empire. Promoted to the rank of Commander by Admiral Garrick Versio, Iden's father, Hask supported the Imperial remnant led by Counselor Gallius Rax against the forces of the Republic at the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY. Although Hask survived an encounter with his former commanding officer, the Empire was ultimately defeated and compelled to capitulate to the Republic, ending the war as well as the reign of the Empire.

In the years that followed the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, Hask went on to become an officer of the First Order, a military junta founded in the Unknown Regions by a group of Imperials who rejected the war's outcome and the subsequent rise of the New Republic. In addition to serving as commander of the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Retribution by 34 ABY, he was also a participant in Project Resurrection&mdash;a clandestine operation which aimed to conscript children for the purpose of training them to become stormtroopers. In the same year, the Republic capital world of Hosnian Prime was destroyed by the First Order's Starkiller superweapon, although Hask was killed shortly afterward during a final confrontation between himself and Iden Versio.

In the Empire
A native of the planet Kuat, Hask studied at the Coruscant Imperial University where he graduated at the top of his class. Sometime after leaving the Imperial Academy, Hask served aboard the Mandate and earned the Crimson Star for exceptional performances against his enemies along with a promotion. After the Battle of Yavin, Hask, along with Senior Lieutenant Iden Versio, Del Meeko and Seyn Marana, was drafted into Inferno Squad, a Special Forces unit in the Imperial Military, by Admiral Garrick Versio. Hask participated in Inferno's first mission: to infiltrate and destroy the Dreamers, which was a success, though it also brought the death of Marana.

Hask went on to participate with Inferno in conducting special operations throughout the Galactic Civil War, and, in 4 ABY, fought at the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Emperor Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star. Hask flew alongside Iden at the battle of Fondor, fighting against a Rebel attack on Moff Raythe, whose Star Destroyer transported satellites to be used as part of Operation: Cinder. However, when this climate disruption array attacked the Versio homeworld of Vardos, Iden and Meeko both went rogue, though Hask remained loyal to the Empire, succeeding in their original mission to extract Protectorate Gleb to Admiral Versio, who promoted Hask to Commander.

While Iden and Meeko reformed Inferno Squad in the New Republic, Hask continued to serve Admiral Versio and the shattering Empire in the last year of the Galactic Civil War. He oversaw fueling operations on Chinook Station at Bespin and evaded capture when Iden and Meeko undertook a mission to the station. Hask went on to fight at the Battle of Jakku, where he took to the skies in a TIE interceptor and engaged in a dogfight with Iden. Iden shot him down, however, seemingly killing him.

The Empire went on to lose the battle and was forced to surrender to the Republic and sign the Galactic Concordance. Secretly, however, a select group of Imperial officers and loyalists were able to flee into the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, Hask among them, as part of the secret Contingency. There, they formed the First Order, and Hask became an officer within the new faction.

In the First Order
Thirty years after the Battle of Jakku, Meeko and the Corvus were captured by Jinata Security, which was in league with the First Order. Hask confronted his former squad mate one last time before killing him personally. He ordered Protectorate Gleb to bury the bodies of Meeko and his crew, but to leave the Corvus alone, hoping to lure Iden into a trap and kill her as well.

A time later, Resistance member and friend of Iden, Shriv Duurgav, found the Corvus empty, concerned by this he contacted Iden. After they seemingly found out Del was on Vardos being held by Gleb they returned there to find him and Gleb, but when they arrived, they found Gleb had been executed by Hask and the First Order. Hask later revealed to them that he killed Meeko in revenge for when he and Iden defected thirty years prior. He then ordered the Corvus destroyed in an attempt to kill Zay but Zay had survived in an escape pod. He then ordered to have Vardos burned and have Iden and Shriv interrogated for information on the Resistance and then executed but a battle erupted between J-Sec and First Order forces.

Hask returned to the Retribution but Iden, Zay, and Shriv had followed him in stolen Tie Fighters. They boarded the ship just as it entered hyperspace and went to destroy the hyperdrive with charges. Predicting this, Hask snuck up on them and held Zay at gunpoint just as she had armed the last charge and began taunting Iden to shoot him, but she dropped her weapon as she didn't want to risk hitting Zay. Disappointed in her cowardice he berated her and aimed his pistol at her to kill her but Zay broke free of Hask's grip and tossed a blaster to Iden where he was shot and fell off the catwalk and down into the bottomless pit of the hyperdrive core, killing him.

Personality and traits
Unlike the rest of his comrades in Inferno Squad,because of the tragic events that happened to his family when he was still but a small boy, Gideon Hask was completely devoted to the Galactic Empire and later the First Order,thinking the Rebels as traitors to the Empire and never once questioning the intentions of both factions. Following Iden and Del's "betrayal" and defection to the Rebellion, he did not hesitate to hunt and kill either of them.When he discovered Del three decades later,he had been disillusioned by Del and his wife's weakness after the Galactic Civil War and is willing to make sure that they both pay their price for betraying the Empire at all cost.

Behind the scenes
Gideon Hask was portrayed by Paul Blackthorne in Star Wars Battlefront II.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Battlefront II: Inferno Squad