Habbel

"Admiral! The rebel ships are accelerating to attack speed all along the line!"

- Habbel reports to Sloane during the Battle of Endor

Habbel was a human lieutenant in the Galactic Empire's Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War against the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He served on board the bridge of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vigilance under Admiral Rae Sloane during the Battle of Endor and during the battle was given the task of attempting to contact the Imperial shield generator bunker on the surface of the moon Endor, which provided the deflector shield protecting the Death Star II. The bunker was eventually destroyed by the Alliance, and the Death Star soon followed. Sloane was left as the highest ranking officer in the fleet, and had Habbel prepare the fleet to flee to the Annaj system using a scenario originally prepared by the lieutenant in order to pursue fleeing Rebels.

Biography
"Controllers aboard the Death Star report a renewed outbreak of fighting on the Forest Moon, led by indigenes. Contact has been lost with a number of stormtrooper units. But there's a report from the Endor garrison that the rebel attack has failed, and they’re fleeing into the forests."

- Habbel was tasked with providing Sloane with updates on the Endor Imperial garrison

During the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Habbel served the Empire as an lieutenant in the Imperial Navy. Around four years after the Battle of Yavin, he was stationed on board the Vigilance; an Imperial-class Star Destroyer commanded by Admiral Rae Sloane. The vessel was among the Imperial forces that fought against the Alliance Fleet when it attacked the Death Star II superweapon above the moon of Endor. During the battle, Habbel served on the Star Destroyer's bridge, and when the Alliance's starship's begun accelerating to attack speed, he reported it to Sloane. In response to the acceleration, the admiral order the lieutenant to contact Maus Monare, leader of Sapphire Squadron and have him reposition his TIE/LN starfighter into a defensive perimeter. She then had him send targeting solutions to the Vigilance's turbolaser crews.

Sloane once again ordered Habbel to contact Monare when she spotted three Alliance CR90 corvettes heading in the Vigilance's direction, telling him to relay the message that his men should prepare an intercept and wait for her order to attack. The TIE fighters were unable to follow the order as they were fighting with bandits in sector 8; however, the admiral's attention was soon diverted to the Imperial Endor shield generator bunker which provided the deflector shield defending the Death Star, and had earlier reported an attack by Alliance ground forces. She questioned Habbel on the latest reports from the base and, after finding a communications officer, the lieutenant informed her that the bunker was no longer responding to hails. She ordered him to continue to hailing the garrison through priority channels and provide an update as soon as possible.

The lieutenant soon returned with two reports on the garrison's status. The first came from the Death Star and stated that new fighting had broken out on the moon involving the native Ewok species. The second was newer and came from the garrison itself, claiming that the Rebel attack had failed and that their forces were fleeing. Unsatisfied with the contradictory information, Sloane ordered Habbel to contact the garrison personally for a situation report. The lieutenant then descended into the bridge's crew pits to Communications Officer Ives and had her contact the garrison, waiting impatiently behind her as she spoke through her headset. While he waited, Sloane ordered him to navigation and firing solutions for two possibilities, a cleanup of the remaining Rebel vessels or a pursuit of the nearest Rebel ships if they tried to flee.

While Habbel followed the order, the crew of the Vigilance learned that the bunker on Endor had been destroyed by the Alliance, leaving the Death Star without a shield. Sloane had the Vigilance form up on the Executor, flagship of the Imperial fleet, but that two was destroyed before they could reach it. Now the highest ranking officer in the fleet, Sloane soon realized that the Alliance had begun to distance themselves from the Death Star as quickly as possible. Realizing what was about to happen, Sloane shot Emarr Ottkreg&mdash; an Imperial Loyalty officer stationed on the Vigilance&mdash;and then asked Habbel about the second of the two scenarios she had had him prepare for, in which the most likely outcome had been calculated to be a Alliance retreat to the Annaj system. The admiral ordered the lieutenant to send the jump coordinates for the star system to all other remaining Imperial vessels and have them prepare to jump. Before the Vigilance fled from the Endor system, the Death Star exploded.

Personality and traits
"The most likely outcome was a rebel retreat to the Annaj system. We've prepared navigational data for a jump there."

- Habbel responds shakily to Sloane after witnessing her kill Ottkreg

By the Battle of Endor, Habbel was an old-line navy officer, knowing the Imperial naval regulations and tactical manuals off by heart. Despite this knowledge, he lacked both the people skills and the innate understanding of starships that a commander would need, a fact that led Sloane to believe he would never rise higher than the rank of lieutenant. While reporting to the admiral on board the Vigilance he shifted uneasily from foot to foot while waiting for a response. Like many officers in the Imperial Navy, he considered events taking place on a planet's surface during battle insignificant, and was surprised when Sloane asked for reports from the surface of Endor during the battle above the moon. Habbel resented the Death Star II, as he felt that the trillions of credits invested into it could have been better used to build new Star Destroyers. He was a human male with pale blue eyes set in a doughy, reddish face with gray hair.

Behind the scenes
Habbel first appeared in the short story "The Levers of Power," which was written by Jason Fry and released as part of the The Rise of the Empire compilation book published in 2015.

Appearances

 * "The Levers of Power"