Vult Skerris Vult Skerris was a human male captain , and later commander , who served in the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire . During the Age of the Empire , Skerris was stationed at the elite Skystrike Academy , where he trained TIE pilot cadets as a flight instructor . As a pilot , he flew a TIE / IN interceptor with red markings , a symbol of his skills in flight . Skerris wore a standard TIE pilot jumpsuit with yellow stripes on the helmet and arms . He was killed during the attack on Lothal when General Hera Syndulla lured him into a trap which disabled his TIE / D Defender Elite ' s shields and let her shoot him down , sending him crashing into an " Arquitens " - class command cruiser , destroying its magazine , and in turn sending it crashing into the bridge tower of an " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer . Biography . Skystrike Academy . Captain Vult Skerris was a TIE fighter pilot who flew a TIE interceptor during the Imperial Era . He was stationed at the elite Skystrike Academy on the planet Montross . Around 2 BBY , Skerris and two other TIE Interceptor s took part in an attack on a rebel convoy heading to Teralov . Skerris and his fellow pilot s wiped out the escort A - wings before strafing the rebel transport . The rebel captain pleaded for mercy and stressed that they were an unarmed transport . However , Skerris was unmoved and fired a final salvo , which hit the transport ' s command bridge . Later , he took part in a simulated combat exercise at Skystrike . The exercise involved him and two cadets , Wedge Antilles and Ria Talla , flying in simulator pod s . During the exercise , Skerris operated a simulated copy of the rebel freighter " Ghost " , which destroyed Antilles and Talla ' s simulated TIE fighters . Following the exercise , he took the opportunity to lecture Antilles and Talla on the merits of obeying orders . He personally addressed the two cadet s and made sure that they understood his orders . Unbeknownst to Skerris and Instructor Goran , Talla was actually an undercover rebel agent named Sabine Wren – normally a crew member of the ship that had " killed " her , no less – who was on a mission to extract Antilles and two other defectors from the Academy . When Wren , along with Antilles , Hobbie , and Rake Gahree , attempted to escape in their TIE fighters during a spaceflight exercise and board a waiting rebel CR90 corvette , Governor Arihnda Pryce activated the fighters ' kill switch es , detaching the solar collector panels and leaving them stranded in space . She then sent Skerris and two other TIE Interceptors to attack the rebels . Under Pryce ' s orders , Skerris fired on one of the cadets ' TIE fighters , killing Gahree . The Imperial attack also damaged the rebel corvette , forcing the ship to jump into hyperspace . After Wren , Antilles , and Klivian escaped the academy in a stolen TIE bomber , Skerris pursued the fugitives in his TIE Interceptor . During the pursuit , Skerris derided the cadets as young fools . While flying through Montross ' atmosphere , Skerris managed to inflict damage on the TIE bomber . However , Wren and her friends were able to escape when her colleagues returned in their corvette . Taking off his flight helmet , Skerris could only watch as the rebels escaped into hyperspace with the defectors . Hunting the rebellion . At some point after this incident , Skerris was promoted to commander and was by Grand Admiral Thrawn to fly an experimental TIE / D Defender into the Archeon pass with two TIE Interceptors in pursuit of a rebel convoy that was carrying the former Senator Mon Mothma , who was wanted by the Empire . Skerris ' TIE Defender was equipped with a deflector shield and hyperdrive . After catching up with the " Ghost " and its Y - wing fighter escorts , Skerris issued an ultimatum that they surrender Mothma . The rebels refused and sent the Y - wings Gold Three and Gold Four to engage the Imperial fighters . Skerris quickly destroyed them . Skerris then followed the " Ghost " , carrying Mothma , and its remaining escorts into the nebula , where he gained a lock on the starship . However , the Y - wing pilot Gold Five sacrificed herself to protect the ship by flying her Y - wing into his crosshairs . After that , the rebels diverted all power to their shields and flew close to a forming star . The TIE Interceptors were swiftly destroyed due to their lack of shielding , leaving only Skerris . The " Ghost " sustained heavy damage but managed to escape the nebula . Skerris broke off after the radiation damaged his fighter ' s deflector shields . After recovering , Skerris pursued Ezra Bridger and Gold Leader Jon Vander ' s Y - wings . After again finding the Y - wings , he attacked Bridger ' s ship . However , he again failed to destroy it and was hit with an ion blast from Vander ' s starfighter . Bridger had used the Force to tell Vander when to shoot . Disabled , Skerris ' TIE Defender spun out of control into the nebula . However , Vander warned that they had to leave since Skerris would return once he had regained control of his fighter . Testing the TIE / D Defender Elite . Having survived the events of the Archeon Nebula , Skerris was posted to Lothal , where the TIE Defenders were being produced . After some time had passed , a new variant of the fighter was produced , the TIE / D Defender Elite , which possessed superior speed , weapons and shielding to the original . Skerris was given the honour of test - flying this new ship , which he did , bringing the prototype Elite to a remote airfield in Lothal ' s wilderness . Here , he was met by Thrawn and Pryce , who were present to witness a flight demonstration performed by Skerris . As he was escorting them to the fighter , he was startled to spot the rebel Jedi Padawan Bridger battling some trooper s , expressing disbelief at the presence of a Jedi . Skerris was further surprised when the prototype Elite lifted off and began to blast the surrounding area , having been hijacked by Wren , who had been attempting to steal the prototype ' s flight data recorder . The fighter picked up Bridger , then laid waste to the depot and destroyed most of the parked TIE fighters and Interceptors before strafing the landing strip where , Skerris , Thrawn and Pryce all stood . Though Skerris attempted to persuade Thrawn to seek cover , the Chiss calmly faced the oncoming fighter down with his blaster and watched it streak over his head , narrowly missing the command tower . Seeing an opportunity to test the fighter ' s combat prowess , Thrawn ordered Skerris to deploy three TIE Interceptors in pursuit . Inside the tower , Skerris joined Thrawn and Pryce in observing the stolen Elite ' s progress . After two of the Interceptors were quickly destroyed , Skerris surmised it to be the work of Captain Hera Syndulla . Thrawn dismissed this , since if Syndulla had been at the controls , all three fighters would have been eliminated quicker , instead guessing correctly that Bridger was the pilot . After the third Interceptor was shot down , Thrawn became convinced that Bridger ' s modest skills meant that the Elite would be a rousing success . After the prototype ' s homing beacon was shut off in record time , leading Thrawn to deduce that Wren was the other rebel onboard , he then had Pryce activate the ship ' s kill switch , causing it to crash . Dogfight above Lothal . Some time afterward , the Rebels launched a long - awaited attack on Lothal , seeking to destroy the Imperial Armory Complex in Capital City . Though severely outnumbered by the Imperial blockade , the rebel fighters ( led by Syndulla , recently promoted to General ) put up a good fight and destroyed many TIE fighters . On Thrawn ' s orders , Skerris joined the fight himself in his personal TIE Defender Elite , shooting down Phoenix Four and Phoenix Five in rapid succession before turning his attention towards Syndulla ' s T - 65B X - wing starfighter . Unable to evade him , Syndulla formulated a plan and made straight for Thrawn ' s flagship , the " Chimaera " . Seeing that Skerris was in the line of fire , Thrawn ordered him to break off pursuit , but Skerris refused , citing that he almost had Syndulla in his sights . Mildly annoyed , Thrawn nonetheless ordered his gunner s to open fire and , sure enough , Skerris was hit as well . Though the Elite ' s shields were able to withstand the barrage , they were disabled as a result , leaving his ship just as vulnerable as Syndulla ' s . She then fired on the " Chimaera " ' s scanning array , damaging it and sending up a cloud of smoke , before closing her S - foils and flying through the narrow gap . Due to the Elite ' s larger profile , Skerris flew around the structure , and realized too late that he had played right into the Twi ' lek ' s hands as she fired on his now unprotected ship , blowing off two of its wings . Helpless , Skerris could only scream as his disabled fighter spun out of control and crashed into an " Arquitens " - class command cruiser , killing him instantly . The disabled cruiser then in turn crashed into a nearby Star Destroyer , shearing off its bridge superstructure and giving the remaining Rebels an opening to the planet ' s surface . Personality and traits . Vult Skerris was a skilled TIE fighter pilot who held the rank of captain , and later commander , during the Imperial Era . Befitting his elite status , Skerris wore yellow stripes on his helmet and uniform . He also flew a TIE Interceptor with red markings . The TIE Defender Elite he was later given to pilot had gold markings , matching his uniform . Skerris was a ruthless pilot who was willing to shoot down unarmed opponents , including rebels and defectors like Gahree . He despised the rebellion and regarded the defecting cadets as " young fools . " Skerris was visibly disappointed when Wren and the defectors managed to escape into space . He was confident in his abilities as a pilot , but this cost him dearly in his final battle against the rebels . Disobeying Thrawn ' s orders to cease his pursuit of Syndulla , Skerris subsequently lost his craft ' s shields and then his life when he was lured into her trap . Due to his status as an Imperial fighter ace , Skerris was tasked with pursuing the rogue Senator Mothma and her rebel allies through the Archeon Nebula by Thrawn . For this mission , Skerris flew an experimental TIE Defender which was equipped with deflector shields and powerful turbolaser cannon s . Skerris managed to shoot down three rebel Y - wings , but his ship sustained damaged from the intense radiation of the nebula . Despite his skills as a pilot , Skerris ' starfighter was disabled by Vander , with Bridger ' s assistance , and spun out of control . Skerris ' overconfidence in his piloting skills let him to disregard Grand Admiral Thrawn ' s orders to disengage General Syndulla ' s X - wing . In his valiant attempt to take out the high - ranking rebel leader , Skerris was led into a trap by the ace pilot . This trap cost not only cost him his life but also crippled a nearby Star Destroyer . Skerris ' pride and folly gave the surviving members of the Rebel strike team an opening to Lothal through the Imperial blockade . Behind the scenes . Vult Skerris first appeared in the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " The Antilles Extraction " , which first premiered on Disney XD on October 8 , 2016 . He was voiced by Mario Vernazza .