Hafner

"Oh! I have one on me! Harvester, come quickly! I’m stunning myself and the beast!"

- Hfner's last words before having his brain devoured by Fexian skullborers

Hafner was a male Duros who worked as a for Kelen Biolabs. Sometime shortly after the Battle of Yavin, he traveled as part of a collection crew to the moon Fex in the Deep Core on the XS-800 light freighter Harvester. On the moon, he and two other members of the team began investigating Fex's wildlife, but were killed by Fexian skullborers.

Biography
"Are you seeing this through the feed, Harvester? What is it? I couldn’t see it before. It didn’t appear until it was stunned. That implies conscious control of a very powerful natural camouflage system. It bored right through the helmet! I think you should come pick us up now. We aren’t prepared for this kind of thing."

- Hafner contacts the Harvester and asks for pick up after his colleagues are attacked

The male Duros Hafner worked for Kelen Biolabs, a company which conducted zoological research in search of medical applications. He was sent by the company as part of a collection crew to Fex, an unexplored moon in the Sha Qarot system of the Deep Core region of the galaxy which Fayet Kelen, the owner of the Biolabs, believed might be a rich source of wildlife to research due to the star systems unusual red star. Hafner traveled on board the XS-800 light freighter Harvester to the moon, and while there was sent down to the surface along with the Bith Priban and a Human member of the crew in order to scout and collect developmental leads.

While the trio were scouting, all three recorded video of the environment from their helmets, with Priban leading the group and giving commentary. As the scouts moved through the moon's crystalline forests, Priban was attack mid-sentence by a Fexian skullborer, a native creature which was invisible to the naked eye due to camouflage. The Bith called to Hafner and his other colleague for aid, but the pair could not understand what was happening to Priban, who then collapsed. The Human was next to be attacked, and demanded that Hafner fire a stun shot at his and Priban's heads in the hopes of hitting the invisible creatures. The Duros complied, but to late, as his colleague had already collapsed. The shot did stun the creature and reveal its form, as the skullborer was unable to camouflage itself while unconscious. Hafner then contacted the Harvester and reported on the incident while approaching the unconscious predator to investigate.

The Duros pulled the unconscious skullborer's trunk from the cavity it had created in the Human's helmet, only to reveal that the predator had been feeding on its victim's brain. He put down his weapon and picked up the creature, examining it closely and commenting on its various features. A skullborer then dropped onto Hafner, who grabbed his weapon and stunned himself and the creature in the hopes that the Harvester would arrive and save him while he was unconscious. The ship was not fast enough to save the Duros though, and when it arrived the Duros had had his brain eaten in the same fashion as his colleagues. The remaining crew members collected the three corpses using cables and claws and fled the moon.

The Harvester later returned to Fex with a new crew equipped with harder helmets, but all bar on of them were also killed by the skullborers when five escaped confinement on the Harvester. A third mission to investigate the moon was made by the Jedi Luke Skywalker and Nakari Kelen, the daughter of Fayet Kelen. The pair watched the holographic footage of Hafner and his colleague's deaths on Fex as a way of preparing themselves for the moon's wildlife. On the moon they found the Harvester and killed the skullborers onboard, returning the ship and its sole surviving crew member to Kelen Biolabs.

Personality and traits
"No! What are you thinking? Don’t put down your weapon, that thing could wake up at any time!"

- Nakari Kelen shouts at a hologram of Hafner after seeing him drop his weapon to investigate

Hafner had green skin and red eyes. When Priban was first attacked by the invisible skullborers, the Duros appeared terrified, although he remained calm and collected while investigating the creature after his colleagues deaths. Hafner fumbled with his weapon will trying to save his Human colleague, costing the man his life, and later put down the weapon despite the possibility of further attack in order to examine an unconscious skullborer.

Equipment
{{Quote|We hypothesized that there must exist some sort of arboreal or even aerial apex predator that attacked the head of anything it came across, and thus our first collection crew was sent out with armor suits as well&mdash;but not nearly as strong as that which you currently have.| While on Fex, Hafner wore an armor suit with heavier protection around the head and shoulders. The suit included gloves and a helmet which was capable of recording video and communication with the Harvester. He also carried a blaster with a stun setting.

Behind the scenes
Hafner appeared as a hologram in Heir to the Jedi, a novel written by Kevin Hearne and published in 2015.

Appearances

 * Heir to the Jedi