Lorth Needa Lorth Needa was a human male who served as a lieutenant commander of a " Carrack " - class light cruiser , and later captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer " Avenger " , a ship assigned to the Sith Lord Darth Vader ' s Death Squadron , during the Battle of Hoth . In the midst of the battle , Needa successfully engaged several fleeing Rebel transports , but it was his pursuit of one — Captain Han Solo ' s " Millennium Falcon " — that sealed his fate . After a lengthy chase , the " Avenger " had the " Falcon " in its sights before Solo suddenly changed course and charged the Star Destroyer ' s bridge , only to disappear from its sensor s . Not knowing how the " Falcon " could have eluded him , Needa decided to take responsibility for the situation and personally apologize to Vader , who killed him as punishment for losing the ship . Biography . The Clone Wars . A human male hailing from Coruscant , Lorth Needa served in the navy of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars . Needa took part in the Battle of Coruscant , in which Separatist General Grievous attacked the planet with a massive armada and kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine . The Chancellor was rescued by Jedi Knight s Obi - Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker , who boarded Grievous ' flagship , the " Invisible Hand " . Imperial Era . After the Clone Wars came to an end , Needa served in the Galactic Empire ' s Navy as an officer , serving as a lieutenant commander aboard a " Carrack " - class light cruiser . Later , he was in command of the Star Destroyer " Avenger " in Death Squadron , a task force of the Imperial Navy under the command of the Sith Lord Darth Vader . In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin , Death Squadron was responsible for tracking down the hidden headquarters of the Rebel Alliance , an insurgent faction at war with the Galactic Empire for control of the galaxy . After discovering a Rebel base on the planet Hoth , Death Squadron launched an assault on the Rebel forces gathered there . During the fighting , which culminated in a resounding victory for the Empire , Needa and the " Avenger " engaged several Rebel ships in battle as they attempted to flee from the Imperial forces . Among the Rebel vessels that found itself in Needa ' s sights was the " Millennium Falcon " , a freighter owned by Rebel sympathizer Han Solo . Solo , along with his co - pilot Chewbacca and the Rebel leader Prince ss Leia Organa , had fled from Imperial forces on Hoth , but with the " Falcon " hyperdrive non - operational , they were unable to make the jump to hyperspace and escape from the Star Destroyer s in orbit . Needa and the " Avenger " closed in on the " Falcon " , but Solo outmaneuvered his pursuers , causing the " Avenger " to nearly collide with two other Star Destroyer s . Solo and company took refuge in a nearby asteroid field , whereupon the Empire lost track of them for a time . Via hologram , Needa informed Darth Vader that the " Falcon " had likely been destroyed in the asteroid field , but the Sith Lord suspected otherwise and ordered the search to continue . Sure enough , the " Falcon " had not been destroyed ; after the freighter emerged from the asteroid field , the " Avenger " resumed its pursuit . With Vader informed of this development , Needa prepared to capture the elusive freighter , but Solo abruptly altered course and flew directly toward the " Avenger " bridge ; a move Needa interpreted to be an attack run . He ordered the Star Destroyer to raise its shields , but the " Falcon " merely skimmed the surface of the command tower before disappearing from the warship ' s sensor s . An incredulous Needa could not comprehend how the " Falcon " could have disappeared , since it was too small to have a functional cloaking device — unbeknown to the Imperials , Solo had merely attached his freighter to the rear of the " Avenger " bridge tower . Nevertheless , when Vader demanded an update on the " Avenger " progress , Needa decided to travel to the Super Star Destroyer " Executor " to personally apologize to the Sith Lord for losing track of his quarry . Needa did just that , whereupon the Sith Lord telekinetically strangled the captain to death as penalty for his failure . Vader mockingly accepted Needa ' s apology before a pair of Imperial Navy Trooper s dragged his lifeless body away . Personality and traits . Standing 1 . 75 meter s tall , Captain Lorth Needa was a capable Star Destroyer commander within Darth Vader ' s fleet . Though he feared the Sith Lord , Needa decided to personally apologize to Vader after failing to capture the " Millennium Falcon " in the aftermath of the Hoth campaign . Vader " accepted " his apology , but Needa did not live to hear it . Behind the scenes . Captain Needa was portrayed by Michael Culver in , released in 1980 . Before the Lucasfilm Story Group initiated a reboot of " Star Wars " canon in anticipation of the sequel trilogy , the backstory of Captain Needa — his first name having been identified as " Lorth " — had been explored and developed in a number of sources , including the of , in which he is a Republic naval officer present at the Battle of Coruscant ( his scenes are not included in the film ) . The vast majority of this information has been relegated to the " Legends " realm of " Star Wars " continuity ; as such , this article reflects only information found within the new established canon , which includes the films and the StarWars . com Encyclopedia . " " says that Needa once was ' only a Lieutenant Commander ' , and " Star Wars " : Episode V tells us that Needa was a Captain , despite " Thrawn " stating that a Captain is lower than Lieutenant Commander .