Xamuel Lennox

"Sir, Rebel ships are coming into our sector.''" "''Good. Our first catch of the day."

- Lieutenant Cabbel and Captain Lennox, during the Battle of Hoth

Xamuel Lennox was a captain of the Imperial Navy in command of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Tyrant, which was attached to Darth Vader's Death Squadron. Hailing from a long line of men with military backgrounds, Lennox began his career as a naval officer with a noble, proud philosophy, similar to that of his ancestors, and he hated the deception and ruthlessness that was commonplace in the New Order. When the Empire became embroiled in a galaxy-spanning conflict with the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Lennox found himself caught between both sides; on the one hand, he saw the Empire as mired with corruption and greed; on the other, the Rebellion had begun the war and opposed a legitimate government. He found himself conflicted in his ideology, eventually accepting that corruption was how things would always be.

Lennox and the Tyrant participated in the Battle of Hoth, though the Star Destroyer was hit by ion cannon fire in the early stages of the battle and was unable to assist the Empire. Later, Lennox and his crew were present at the Battle of Endor, where they were defeated by the Rebel Alliance. Lennox's Tyrant was captured by the New Republic several years later and renamed the Rebel Dream, while he was imprisoned.

Captain of the Tyrant
Xamuel Lennox was born into a proud legacy of military men and eventually joined the Imperial Navy himself. His ancestors were all known to be honorable, noble officers, and Lennox attempted to follow suit during the early days of the Empire. However, his attitude towards duty and his crew was in stark contrast to that of the majority of his colleagues, who were content to betray each other and engage in what Lennox referred to as "political maneuvering," which he despised. He knew he would not survive long if he persisted with the traditional Lennox philosophy, so he decided instead to engage in that which he hated, adopting an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," attitude. He mastered tactics of deceit, fending off those who vied for his Navy positions.

By the time of the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War, Lennox was the captain of the Imperial-I class Star Destroyer Tyrant, which became part of Darth Vader's Death Squadron after the disastrous Battle of Yavin. He was an able leader and cunning tactician, earning his position through merit alone; he was also very dedicated to his crew and ship, and cared about their wellbeing more than political advancement. However, the dishonorable means by which he resorted to so that he could safely keep his captaincy left him quite disillusioned with the Empire and military life in general. Lennox had serious qualms about the corruption and lack of moral principles that the Empire with which he served was mired, though he despised the Alliance to Restore the Republic and knew that the Galactic Republic before it was every bit as corrupt as the Empire. Ultimately, he realized that deceit and corruption were the natural order of things.

Battle of Hoth
In 3 ABY, an Imperial Viper probe droid discovered the Rebel base on the planet Hoth in the Anoat sector, and Death Squadron, led by Admiral Kendal Ozzel's Star Dreadnought, the Executor, set a course for the Hoth system. Although Lord Vader disagreed with Ozzel's tactics of attempting to surprise the Rebels by exiting hyperspace very close to the planet&mdash;a mistake for which Ozzel was executed&mdash;the Imperials continued with their planned attack. General Maximilian Veers led the ground assault while Lennox and the Tyrant moved into position to intercept the first Rebel GR-75 medium transports as they attempted to flee.

Lennox was on the bridge of the Tyrant when his subordinate, Lieutenant Cabbel, informed him that the first Rebel transport, named the Quantum Storm, and its T-65 X-wing starfighter escorts were approaching the Tyrant 's position. Eager to engage the Rebels, Lennox prepared to attack. The Rebels had a large planetary ion cannon stationed near the base, however, and two precise shots disabled the Tyrant, allowing the Rebels to escape. Although Lennox's warship was left to float through the system and several more Rebel transports subsequently escaped, the Battle of Hoth proved a resounding victory for the Empire and kept the Rebels on the run.

Battle of Endor
Lennox retained his post after the Tyrant was recovered, and he continued to serve as part of Death Squadron until 4 ABY. The Tyrant was part of the Imperial fleet that participated in the Battle of Endor. The Rebels staged a daring assault on the second Death Star, which they believed was not yet fully operational; in truth, it was, and the Empire was able to ambush the Rebels. During the initial stages of the battle, the Empire gained the upper hand against Admiral Ackbar's fleet, though when Han Solo's Rebel Strike Team destroyed the Death Star's shield generator on Endor, the Rebels were able to destroy the Death Star; Vader and Emperor Palpatine were also killed, leaving the Empire bereft of leadership.

The battle continued for a time, until Gilad Pellaeon ordered an Imperial retreat. Several years later, shortly after the Bacta War, Lennox's Tyrant was captured by the Rebel Alliance's successor, the New Republic. Lennox was imprisoned, and the New Republic renamed his ship Rebel Dream and made it the flagship of Princess Leia Organa. The Rebel Dream was still in service by the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War in 29 ABY, dozens of years after its capture.

Personality and traits
Xamuel Lennox believed himself to be an honorable man and tried to emulate his forefathers as a dedicated and loyal captain. After proving himself to be an adept tactician and capable leader, Lennox was given command of his own ship and crew to command. Unlike many of his peers, he genuinely cared about and was totally dedicated to both the Tyrant and his crew. Lennox hated what the Empire had become during his time; mired with corruption, backstabbing, and political maneuvering, it was a far cry from the noble regimes his ancestors served with. However, Lennox knew that if he alone attempted to rise above the Empire's corruption, he would end up as the Republic had: swept away by the Imperial war machine. Thus, he decided to play his foes at their own game, proving as adept at guile and deception as he was at commanding a Star Destroyer.

Committing numerous dishonorable deeds to keep himself in the captain's chair took a significant toll on Lennox's conscience, and by the time the Rebels launched their campaign against the Empire in 2 BBY, he had grown considerably disillusioned with how the Empire was run. But while he saw many faults in the Empire, he saw even more in the Rebel Alliance; they had started the Galactic Civil War, and, in Lennox's opinion, the blood of the dead was on their hands. Additionally, he knew that the Republic that they championed and wished to re-establish was as riddled with corruption as the Empire that they spoke out against; he saw the Rebels as immoral and hypocritical, and the Imperials depraved and unethical. Realizing that a more suitable government would never exist, Lennox sided with the Empire, which he saw as legitimate, and helped fight against the Rebels.

Behind the scenes
Lennox first appeared in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, where he was portrayed by John Dicks, though the character was credited as just "Imperial officer." According to Star Wars Insider 96, there was initially some confusion among fans about Lennox's only line in the film, which is often erroneously attributed to Firmus Piett; although Lennox's face is not fully visible when he speaks, his voice is much different than Piett's. Insider claims that part of the confusion was due to the fact that Donald F. Glut's movie novelization assigned the line to Piett, though in actual fact the novelization gave the line to Lorth Needa.

Lennox did not appear again until 1993, when Star Wars: X-wing was released. The game uses a shot taken from The Empire Strikes Back featuring Lennox and Cabbel in its intro cutscene, though whether or not this is intended to portray that particular character is not known. Lennox was finally named by Decipher, Inc. as part of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, with the release of Hoth Limited in 1998. Nearly nine years later, in September 2007, Daniel Wallace and Abel G. Peña's The Empire's Finest: Who's Who in the Imperial Military, an article appearing in Star Wars Insider 96, provided Lennox with his first name, Xamuel. "Captain Lennox" can also get a brief mention in the "standard game" mode of Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, where he is a possible Imperial leader, chosen randomly. However, he does not actually appear in the game, and the mention of "Captain Lennox" is game mechanics, and thus non-canon.

The source that provided a large part of Lennox's backstory, The Empire's Finest, was originally written in 2002 and scheduled to be released in conjunction with Peña and Wallace's Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals in Star Wars Gamer magazine. However, the editor of Star Wars Insider decided to cancel The Empire's Finest and publish only Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals. Eventually, the article was released in September 2007.

Abel G. Peña had originally intended to give Lennox the first name of "Corazon." The Spanish for "heart," Peña felt that it tied into Lennox's character and his conflicting inner feelings about the Empire and the Rebellion. However, when he and Daniel Wallace prepared the article for its eventual publishing in 2007, Peña felt that using names that have a meaning in another language has already been used too much, and decided to assign Lennox with another first name. He eventually named the character "Xamuel," a play on Samuel Adams, though Peña admits that at the time he was thinking of Samuel Adams beer.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground: Hoth
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds