Unidentified Aurorient Express band conductor

"Gentlebeings, it has been both an honor and a privilege... Good luck!"

- The conductor bids farewell to the Aurorient Express band while heading for an escape pod

An individual worked on the luxury cruise liner Aurorient Express in 38 BBY, where the insectoid served as a conductor for the ship's band. The conductor and the band were interrupted when Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi had crashed through the cruise liner's skylight and into a banquet table. Later, the conductor was among the evacuees, and had left the band behind when the insectoid's boarding number was called, bidding the mollusks good luck in their own evacuation. Eventually, the conductor and the band were reunited aboard the rescue frigate.

Biography
"Well, should we play another?"

- The conductor to the band

Thirty-eight years before the Battle of Yavin, an insectoid individual had served as the conductor for a band that played onboard the Aurorient Express, a luxury liner that was cruising the gas giant of Yorn Skot. Unbeknownst to the conductor and the other passengers, the ship was besieged by Fastlatch-class security droids, and Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been dispatched on a mission to thwart the attack, which was carried out under the guise of a pressure pirates attack. It was when the two Jedi had crashed through a skylight and onto a banquet table that the conductor and the band were interrupted and made aware of their presence.

Due to the attack, which was orchestrated by the Green Forge eco-terrorist organization, the passengers of the beleaguered ship were ordered to evacuate. The evacuation was carried out in an orderly fashion, with the passengers assigned to various life pods by number. During the evacuation, the conductor was still directing the band, and inquired as to whether or not they should play another song. The conductor was asked by the mollusk musicians if the ship had life pods large enough to support them, to which the insectoid replied that such a thing was assumed. The conductor was interrupted by a boarding call that announced the insectoid's assigned life pod. The insectoid bid the band good luck and hurried to evacuate.

Later, the insectoid conductor was reunited with the band aboard a Galactic Republic rescue frigate. The insectoid rushed to greet the bandmates, who appeared irritated.

Personality and traits
"Now boarding life pods B-0515 through B-0714...''" "''That's me!"

- The Aurorient Express announcer alerts the conductor

A rotund insectoid, the band conductor had red eyes, a gray exoskeleton, and a pair of antennae on the head. The conductor's head also sported a strip of black hair. The conductor was dressed in formal clothing, with a green vest, black pants, and a yellow cummerbund around the waist. Though the conductor was focused on their own itinerary, the insectoid felt that it was both an honor and a privilege to work with the band and bade the mollusks good luck with their evacuation.

Behind the scenes
The insectoid conductor appeared as a background character in the miniseries Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: The Aurorient Express, which was published by Dark Horse Comics in February and June of 2002. Written by Mike Kennedy and drawn by Lucas Marangon, the series was composed of two issues, which were later collected in the Star Wars Omnibus, Rise of the Sith. The unnamed conductor appeared in the background of a panel in the first issue, which illustrated the shocked passengers after witnessing Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi crash through the ship's skylight. Later, in the second issue, the conductor appeared again and was given dialogue, in which the insectoid commented on how one would assume that the ship would have life pods large enough to serve the needs of the two mollusk musicians. After evacuating, the conductor was not seen again until the establishing shot of the rescue frigate, where the conductor was depicted running toward the mollusks.

The insectoid's species was never given a name, and the artwork bears a passing resemblance to Skeeter, another insectoid of undefined species from the story Starcrash, the twenty-seventh issue of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, which was published in February 28 of 2001, predating The Aurorient Express by a year.

Appearances

 * Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: The Aurorient Express 1
 * Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: The Aurorient Express 2
 * Omnibus: Rise of the Sith