Rezi Soresh Commander Rezi Soresh was a Human male officer in the Galactic Empire and the man who created X - 1 , X - 2 , X - 3 , X - 4 , X - 5 , X - 6 , and X - 7 in an attempt to create the perfect assassin . Of the seven , X - 7 was the only one to survive his training . Soresh was hired by the Emperor to kill the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star . When he failed , he fled Darth Vader ' s wrath and settled in the Outer Rim Territories . During his attempt to turn young Skywalker into his own assassin and gain his revenge , Soresh was gunned down by Han Solo . Biography . Assassin program . Soresh , a Human male Commander of the Galactic Empire took seven men and forced them into a brutal reconditioning program designed to turn them into mindless servants . Using a system of drugs which he perfected , he usurped their personalities . They were then pitted against each other until only one remained . X - 7 had become the perfect assassin and was utterly tied to his master , Soresh , and went on to perform flawlessly in every task . . Vendetta . By 0 ABY , Soresh was suffering from the perceived insult of having been placed in a lower position for a man of his abilities . Upon meeting Darth Vader , Rezi planned on destroying him and rising in the Emperor ' s eyes . Through dubious intelligence sources , he discovered that the Rebel Luke Skywalker was actually Vader ' s son . Soresh wanted to kill him and discredit Vader , who was also searching for the young Rebel . Soresh sent X - 7 after Skywalker with the exhortation not to fail him . During the course of the hunt , Soresh would often contact X - 7 and ask for a status update . X - 7 failed several times to kill Skywalker despite gaining his trust under the alias of Tobin Elad . Soresh eventually grew angry with X - 7 , and recalled him for additional reconditioning . But his efforts only added to the strained mental state of X - 7 , who had begun to question the actions of his master . When the Rebels set up a trap for X - 7 on Belazura , he fell for it . They used Lune Oddo Divinian , a mercenary hired by X - 7 , to masquerade as X - 7 ’ s brother and reveal his real name : Trever Flume . Eventually , X - 7 had to face a final choice between his potential past and serving his master . X - 7 stunned Divinian and joined the Imperial assault against Rebel infiltrators . The battle ended with Soresh ’ s finest assassin dead . Endgame . Lord Vader had discovered Soresh ’ s attempts to usurp power and ordered his capture . An Imperial Lieutenant confronted Soresh and told him Vader was coming to deal with the arrogant commander personally . Panicked , Soresh initiated his backup escape plans while the Lieutenant waited outside . By the time Vader arrived , Soresh had completed his escape . When he discovered Soresh had fled , Vader executed the Lieutenant for his failure . Soresh spent the next twenty - seven days fleeing Vader in backward systems in his CloakShape fighter . Stumbling upon the Sixela system , Soresh landed and set about using his remaining influence to achieve his revenge against Luke Skywalker . When the Heroes of Yavin were participating in a Mission to Nyemari , a Glymphid approached Skywalker to deliver a message . It was a hologram of Soresh asking for Skywalker to meet him in the Sixela system , and threatening to kill a colony vessel full of over 100 passengers if he didn ’ t comply . As a measure of his power , Soresh used some sort of delayed poison and killed the messenger in front of Skywalker . Skywalker knew he needed to turn himself in , but his friends would not let him go alone . Just before the deadline was going to expire , they landed on Soresh ’ s moon in the " Millennium Falcon " . Han Solo stepped out and greeted a man identifying himself as Soresh . Then , two T - 65 X - wing starfighter s swept over the planet and attacked the compound , knocking out the laser turrets . Solo then shot the impostor . After the Rebels landed , a series of mines started exploding amongst the hostages . The Rebels waded into the mob to attempt to rescue them , and were captured . Solo and Leia Organa were placed in a jail cell guarded by individuals with no emotions , more examples of Soresh ’ s handiwork . Meanwhile , Soresh had taken Skywalker for himself and planned on turning him into a perfect , Force - sensitive assassin . Over a two - week period , Soresh broke down Skywalker ’ s defenses . Skywalker came close to capitulating , but he knew his friends were counting on him , and he faked his emotions and responses . When Solo and Organa next saw Skywalker , he appeared to be a mindless servant of Soresh . When Skywalker was ordered to execute his comrades , he was given a blaster , and aimed it at his friends . Suddenly , there came a piercing screech , and his shot went wild . The droid duo , R2 - D2 and C - 3PO had been left behind during the original raid and they staged a diversion . Solo , Organa , and Chewbacca took cover behind rocks . A guard was about to execute Solo when Skywalker shot him , revealed his deception while Solo tried to convince him to escape . Skywalker would not leave without discovering Soresh ' s plan . He asked a favor from Solo : shoot him in the shoulder to make it appear he was still Soresh ’ s servant . When Skywalker woke up , he faked his emotions of failing his master . Soresh forgave him , but still punished him for his failure . The other Rebels had escaped and were later met by the mercenary Div and Organa ’ s longtime guardian , Ferus Olin . The two were on an unsanctioned reconnaissance mission . Soresh had planted evidence to the Rebellion that Emperor Palpatine and the Imperial High Command were going to meet in the Sixela system in with only a small guard . General Jan Dodonna committed the Alliance Fleet to attacking the contingent . Soresh also contacted Vader to draw him into his trap . Soresh wanted to take his revenge at once . Through his contacts , he acquired his trump card : resonance torpedo es , which he would use to destroy the fleets . When the Alliance Fleet reverted from hyperspace , they quickly discovered it was a trap , as a large Imperial fleet arrived . Soresh offered Skywalker his lightsaber back if he launched the torpedoes . Instead , Skywalker turned on him . Soresh launched the torpedoes at the sun , and then fled . Skywalker ' s companions arrived but were unable to stop the launch . Meanwhile , Darth Vader had landed and was looking for Soresh . Skywalker used a mind trick to subdue the rest of Soresh ' s guards , allowing them to escape , and then Solo and Skywalker joined the battle in space . The torpedoes hit the sun and started a chain reaction , which would end in 40 minutes . The two fleets fled , and Skywalker returned to the moon to rescue the remaining hostages , and Olin sacrificed himself to engage Vader . He was struck down and was finally at rest . Their work finished , the Rebels boarded the " Falcon . " . They were stopped by Soresh , who attempted to shoot Skywalker , but Solo shot down the man , ending his plans . The Rebels fled the system before the sun exploded and wiped out all trace of Soresh ’ s work . Personality and traits . Soresh was an ambitious man , yet to others he appeared only to be lackey . He was angry that he was put in a minor position and plotted to gain favor with the Emperor . He would tolerate no failure from his those under him and would go so far as to let them kill each other . Soresh was smart enough to plan for all contingencies and had a backup plan in case of failure . Even during his exile , he was able to rebuild his power base . Behind the scenes . Rezi Soresh is one of the primary antagonists in the " Rebel Force " series by Alex Wheeler . Those books represent his only appearance in " Star Wars " canon , although the series was included in the 2012 reference book " The Essential Reader ' s Companion " , which offers plot summaries for all " Star Wars " literary works .