Rejlii Mithel Rejlii Mithel was a male Human weapons technician who served the Galactic Empire . He was the son of " Mauler " Mithel , an Imperial TIE pilot who fought and died in the Battle of Yavin . In 0 ABY , fresh out of training , Rejlii Mithel was assigned to the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Chimaera " as a tractor beam operator . He was instrumental in saving the " Chimaera " from destruction at the hands of the alien warlord Nuso Esva , who had sabotaged the Star Destroyer during a battle above the planet Poln Major . Using his command of the tractor beam , Mithel successfully implemented a tactic developed on the spot by Senior Captain Thrawn to pull the Imperial warship off its collision course with a Golan I platform above Poln Major . By 9 ABY , Ensign Mithel continued to serve aboard the " Chimaera " as a tractor beam operator , and in that year he was charged with capturing Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker as he fled the planet Poderis in a Class 720 freighter . However , as Mithel locked onto the freighter , the Jedi flew off in an X - wing starfighter that had been concealed within the larger vessel , using a covert shroud maneuver to evade capture . A successful counter to the maneuver had never been developed , but the Ensign attempted to ensnare the X - wing nonetheless before the tractor beam froze up and Skywalker escaped . Mithel reported his failure to Grand Admiral Thrawn , who noted the ingenuity of the operator ' s effort . Thrawn applauded Mithel for his quick thinking , promoting him to the rank of lieutenant and tasking him with developing an effective response to the covert shroud . Biography . Early military service . Rejlii Mithel was a Human male who served in the armed forces of the Galactic Empire as a weapons technician specialized in tractor beam operation . His father , a TIE pilot who perished in the Battle of Yavin , kept a hologram of a young Rejlii on the control yoke of his TIE fighter . By 0 ABY , the younger Mithel had completed his training and had been assigned to the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Chimaera " as a tractor beam operator . In that year , the " Chimaera " was sabotaged by the alien warlord Nuso Esva during a battle in the Poln system and set on a collision course with a Golan I platform orbiting the planet Poln Major . With the " Chimaera " captain dead , command of the warship fell to Commander Gilad Pellaeon , who was faced with the task of averting the impending collision with assistance from Senior Captain Thrawn , Esva ' s Imperial nemesis . Thrawn devised a plan to use the " Chimaera " tractor beams and his transport , the light freighter " Lost Reef " , to knock the Star Destroyer off course . Given the " Chimaera " situation , Mithel was the only tractor beam operator available , and it fell upon him to enact the strategy . Mithel succeeded in snaring the " Lost Reef " with the Star Destroyer ' s tractor beam , drawing in and releasing the smaller vessel in a repeated pattern . Due to the nature of the tractor beam , Mithel ' s execution of Thrawn ' s tactic enabled both the Star Destroyer and the freighter to move to their common center of mass , slowly shifting the " Chimaera " off its path . With the collision avoided , the warship was able to rejoin the Imperial forces in driving off Nuso Esva . The Thrawn campaign . Ensign Mithel continued to serve aboard the " Chimaera " as a tractor beam operator . In 9 ABY , Thrawn , now a Grand Admiral , launched a military campaign against the New Republic in the wake of the Empire ' s fragmentation five years prior , using the " Chimaera " as his flagship . As part of his campaign , Thrawn set a trap for New Republic hero and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker on the planet Poderis , hoping to capture the Jedi . After evading the Imperial forces on the planet , Skywalker fled aboard a Class 720 freighter into space , where Thrawn and the " Chimaera " were awaiting him . It fell upon Ensign Mithel to ensure the Jedi was captured . Operating from the bridge ' s starboard crew pit , Mithel prepared to capture Skywalker ' s freighter in a tractor beam before the Jedi could escape the system . However , Skywalker had been prepared for such an occurrence . Using a covert shroud maneuver , he activated his ship ' s self - destruct sequence and flew off in an X - wing starfighter held in the vessel ' s modified cargo bay just as the tractor beam secured a lock on the freighter . When the ship exploded , the tractor beam was unable to compensate for the large amount of debris , prompting Mithel to improvise . The Ensign attempted to counteract Skywalker ' s maneuver by quickly adjusting the beam ' s setting in an effort to lock on to the X - wing , but the attempt failed as the tractor beam froze . Though the " Chimaera " opened fire on the X - wing , Skywalker was able to make the jump to hyperspace . Realizing his failure , Mithel expected to be executed for allowing Skywalker to escape . Nevertheless , the tractor beam operator calmly explained what had transpired when questioned by the Grand Admiral , noting that he had been unprepared to deal with a covert shroud maneuver . Rather than punish the Ensign , Thrawn applauded Mithel for his quick thinking and innovative , if unsuccessful , attempt to counter Skywalker ' s tactic , promoting Mithel to the rank of lieutenant and assigning him the task of finding an effective response to the covert shroud . Shocked by the turn of events , Mithel graciously accepted the assignment . The new lieutenant proceeded to analyze the covert shroud maneuver and look for a way to thwart it , ultimately determining that the method he had employed against Skywalker ' s use of the covert shroud would have been successful had the control computer of his tractor beam been modified to handle the sensor signals produced by multiple trac - reflective particles . Mithel prepared a communique for the Grand Admiral in which he briefly detailed the covert shroud maneuver and included his findings ; he also added a request asking that a skilled computer technician be assigned to reprogram a tractor beam ' s control computer to put the theory to the test . Mithel ' s transmission was later intercepted by the New Republic . Personality and traits . Fair - skinned with black hair , Rejlii Mithel was an energetic and courageous officer committed to serving the Empire , the kind of talented being whom Thrawn wanted to make up a renewed Empire . During the battle in the Poln system in 0 ABY , Mithel was able to use his command of the tractor beam to successfully employ Thrawn ' s makeshift tactic , saving the " Chimaera " from destruction . He later reported on the Star Destroyer ' s status with an audacity that caught Pellaeon off - guard , as Mithel was merely a crewer , not a bridge officer . Years later , Mithel continued to serve as one of the " Chimaera " tractor beam operators , and he was charged with capturing Jedi Luke Skywalker above Poderis in 9 ABY . He attempted to counter Skywalker ' s covert shroud maneuver by altering his tractor beam ' s mode , a quick - thinking improvisation that ultimately failed to capture the Jedi . Mithel feared he would be executed for the failure as another tractor beam operator had been a few months earlier for his failure to capture Skywalker . Nevertheless , Mithel calmly explained his actions to Grand Admiral Thrawn , who knew that an effective countermeasure to the covert shroud had never been developed . Impressed by the Ensign ' s effort and potential , the Grand Admiral rewarded the tractor beam operator with a promotion and a new assignment to put Mithel ' s creativity to use in developing a successful response to the covert shroud maneuver . Ultimately , Mithel determined that his tactic would have been successful had his tractor beam ' s control computer been programmed to deal with trac - reflective particles . Behind the scenes . Lieutenant Mithel was created by author Timothy Zahn for " The Last Command " , the 1993 conclusion to his Thrawn Trilogy . The following year , Mithel was given both a first name and a visual depiction in " The Last Command Sourcebook " , which also contained some roleplaying statistics for use in " " . He also appeared , in a condensed version of his scene from the novel , in the first issue of " The Last Command " comic adaptation , released on November 26 , 1997 . After the character went over a decade without another appearance , Timothy Zahn included Mithel as a minor character in his 2011 novel , " Choices of One " .