Hija Hija was a human male who served as the chief gunnery officer of the Galactic Empire ' s " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " . In the year 0 BBY , he was onboard the " Devastator " following the Battle of Scarif when it pursued the fleeing CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " , a Rebel Alliance vessel carrying stolen plans to the Imperial Death Star superweapon . After the Star Destroyer caught up with the corvette and stormtrooper s successfully boarded the Alliance vessel , Hija was manning one of the " Devastator ' s " guns and noted an escape pod that had launched from the corvette , but was ordered not to shoot at it by Gunnery captain Bolvan . The pod was carrying two Rebel droid s carrying the plans , and in order to cover up his mistake , Bolvan later put through an order that required Hija to take part in an inspection of the " Devastator ' s " weapons , keeping him out of the way so he could not be questioned . Biography . Hija was a human male who served in the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire . In the year 0 BBY , he was stationed as a chief gunnery officer on board the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " , flagship of the Sith Lord Darth Vader . In that year , the Alliance attacked the Imperial Citadel Tower on the planet Scarif and managed to steal plans to the Empire ' s Death Star superweapon . The " Devastator " arrived at the climax of the battle , and gave chase when the Rebel CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " fled from Scarif carrying the plans . The " Devastator " caught up with the " Tantive IV " in the Tatoo system , and there deployed stormtrooper s to board the Rebel vessel . During the boarding , Hija was manning one of the " Devastator ' s " guns while sat next to Lieutenant Ciena Ree and witnessed several escape pod s launch from the " Tantive IV " . One of these pods carried the Rebel droid s R2 - D2 and C - 3PO , who had been given the Death Star plans by Prince ss Leia Organa ; however , when Hija pointed the pod out , his superior officer Gunnery Captain Bolvan ordered him not to shoot , as there was no readings of life signs on board and Imperial regulations that tied gunnery officers ' promotions to their kill ratios would label shooting an empty escape pod as a wasted shot . When the Death Star plans were not found on board the " Tantive IV " , Bolvan realised they must have been in the escape pod and panicked , going to fleet logistics liaison Arvira to see if they could help him avoid the consequences of his mistake . Arvira agreed to help Bolvan , and as part of the cover - up they told him to fill out Form INS - 776 - TX , which requested an immediate mid - cruise extra - vehicular - armament inspection . Such an inspection required the presence of the chief gunnery officer , and so Hija would have to join the inspection crew in climbing to each gun emplacement on the " Devastator ' s " exterior for the rest of the day in order to comply . This kept Hija out of the way and prevented him from being questioned over Bolvan ' s orders concerning the escape pod . Personality and traits . Hija had fair skin and brown hair . He claimed that going onto the exterior of starships while in space gave him spacesickness , and Bolvan believed that sending his subordinate onto the exterior of the " Devastator " would result in Hija hating him . Equipment . Hija wore a black Imperial officer ' s uniform with a cap . Behind the scenes . The character of Hija was created for the film , which was released on May 25 , 1977 ; however , he first appeared in the " Star Wars " Legends of the film written by Alan Dean Foster and released on November 12 , 1976 . Hija ' s name was first used in the novel , but not in the film , and so it did not appear in canon until Hija was mentioned in the short story " The Sith of Datawork " , which was written by Ken Liu and released as part of the " From a Certain Point of View " anthology book on October 3 , 2017 . The actor playing Hija was not credited in " A New Hope " , but John Wreford has acknowledged playing the character according to the fan Web site Star Wars Autographs Online . Actor John Forgeham also at one point claimed credit for the role , but later acknowledged he had in fact played Bolvan .