Nahdonnis Praji Nahdonnis Praji was a Human male born to the wealthy House Praji on the planet Coruscant during the waning years of the Galactic Republic . Sometime around the year 19 BBY , Praji joined the newly formed Galactic Empire ' s navy and became an honored graduate of the Imperial Academy on the planet Carida . He participated in various Imperial campaigns , such as the subjugation of Almak . During the Galactic Civil War , Praji led troops against Rebel cells in the battles of Datar and Nar Shaddaa . Because of his actions , Praji became Lord Darth Vader ' s aide aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer " Devastator " . In 0 BBY , after the Rebels acquired the plans of the Death Star superweapon , the " Devastator " chased the Alderaanian CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " , Imperial Senator Leia Organa ' s consular ship , to the planet Tatooine . When the starship was captured and boarded over the planet , the stormtroopers quickly secured the ship , and Praji hastened to the main computer room to search for the stolen plans . However , the plans were copied into the memory banks of the astromech droid R2 - D2 who , accompanied by his counterpart , the protocol droid C - 3PO , left the corvette in an escape pod which crash landed on Tatooine . Praji reported to Vader that an escape pod had been jettisoned from the ship during the battle , but that no lifeforms had been detected aboard the pod . Vader ordered Praji to personally search for the plans on the surface of Tatooine , but he took the orders lightly and delegated the mission to his subordinates . He ordered Captain Kosh ' s local garrison , Captain Terrik ' s Desert Sands , and Vader ' s 501st Legion to search for the escape pod . The spaceports on the planet were quarantined , but with the help of Corellian smuggler Han Solo , moisture farmer Luke Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi , the two droids evaded the blockades and escaped into hyperspace aboard Solo ' s freighter , heading to Alderaan , the homeworld of Senator Organa . After the Battle of Endor four years later , Praji joined the forces of several Imperial warlords , and eventually served under the resurrected Galactic Emperor , His Immortal Majesty Palpatine . With his actions in the battle of Kaikielius , Praji earned the governorship of the planet . Biography . Early years . The Human male Nahdonnis Praji was born to the wealthy and influential House Praji of the capital planet Coruscant after the first quarter of the year 37 BBY . His father was Griff Praji , a brother of Tannon Praji , the First Minister of the Coruscant Ministry of Ingress . Nahdonnis Praji was interested in military history throughout his childhood . He often studied HoloNet News reports on the tactics of Jedi Generals and starfighter aces during the Clone Wars . Prior to the dissolution of the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY , the Prajii were traditionally idle rich or career bureaucrats , but some of the Coruscanti Prajii entered military service : Collin Praji became a Colonel in the Grand Army of the Republic , while another Praji became the commanding Moff of the Fourth Outer Rim Army . Months after the war ' s end , Praji came to the age of eighteen and enlisted to the newly established Galactic Empire ' s navy . He gained his basic training and graduated with honors from the Academy on Carida . The Praji family donated genetic templates for Imperial stormtrooper development programs . Nahdonnis Praji himself had a child , a daughter named Tyla . Praji participated in the subjugation of the native Leffingites on the planet Almak , and he had to admit that the Empire ' s All Terrain walkers , which he viewed as graceless brutes , were indeed effective . In 1 BBY , early in the Galactic Civil War , Praji was assigned to the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Vengeance " and was dispatched to look for Rebel supply networks . Later , he served under Vice Admiral Slenn , who ordered his troops into an unwinnable scenario against the Rebels on the planet Datar . After the botched attack , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader killed Slenn and took command of the operation . Vader ' s next target was the Rebel base on Nar Shaddaa , the moon of the Hutt planet Nal Hutta . Praji led the troops personally to the 88th Level of the moon ' s Corellian Sector , and reached a very high collateral kill count . He used a flanking tactic once favored by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker , who had utilized it during the Clone Wars . Praji ' s action and previous records impressed Vader , who assigned him into a staff position with greater responsibility . He became Vader ' s aide on board the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " , but lost his permanent command post , for most of the " Devastator " troop complement was filled with the elite stormtroopers of the 501st Legion , under the command of Commander Daine Jir . Blockade of Toprawa . In 0 BBY , on the planet Toprawa , the Rebel Alliance obtained the plans of the first Death Star , a new Imperial superweapon . The Toprawa system was declared restricted , and Darth Vader , who realized the plans were now in the hands of the Rebellion , took the " Devastator " to the world . The Rebels planned to smuggle out the plans from the planet aboard the Alderaanian consular ship " Tantive IV " . As the vessel leapt into the Toprawa system , it began receiving a transmission from the surface of the planet . Commander Praji stood beside Vader on the bridge of the " Devastator " when the sensors detected the consular ship . As the data was transmitting , an Imperial communications officer detected the signal , and Praji contacted the " Tantive IV " , ordering it to heave to and prepare to be searched . Scrambling for more time , the Rebel Captain Raymus Antilles told the " Devastator " of their " malfunction " and attempted to use the vessel ' s diplomatic immunity . Praji acknowledged the message and ordered the " Tantive IV " to hold its course and prepare for boarding . Seconds later the transmission ended , and Antilles replied to the " Devastator " , insisting that as they were on a diplomatic mission they could not be detained . He also ordered his crew to accelerate the ship to full speed and get into hyperspace . Praji announced that they had detected the transmission of the plans , and again ordered the " Tantive IV " to heave to or prepare to be fired on . Vader ordered the Star Destroyer to shoot for minimum damage , and only moments after it began firing , the " Tantive IV " finally jumped to lightspeed . It was impossible to track a ship through hyperspace ; however , the " Tantive IV " carried an Imperial homing device , which had been installed on a previous trip to the planet Ralltiir . Praji consulted a sensor screen and reported that the " Tantive IV " was heading to the planet Tatooine . Battle above Tatooine . The " Devastator " followed and captured the Rebel vessel in the Tatoo system , where the troopers of the 501st legion besieged the crippled consular ship . After the first wave of troops , under the command of an assault leader , broke the defenses of the Rebel vessel , Lord Vader , accompanied by Praji and Commander Jir , boarded the ship . Praji led a cluster of troops to the ship ' s main computer room to search for the stolen plans . He was tasked to check the computers for the plans and any other useful information . Praji used the modified R4 - series agromech droid , R4 - M9 , to pull all data from the memory banks before the Rebels could destroy it , but he did not find any valuable information or evidence of bank erasure . When Vader and Commander Jir arrived at the main computer room , Praji delivered an update of the search to the Dark Lord by reporting that the plans were not aboard the ship and that no transmissions had been made . He added that an escape pod had left the ship , but that no life forms had been detected aboard it . Vader ordered him to personally lead a detachment of stormtroopers to Tatooine and search for the escape pod used by protocol droid C - 3PO and astromech droid R2 - D2 , the latter of whom carried the stolen plans . Vader also ordered Praji to send detachments to every spaceport and quarantine the planet . Search for the droids . By Vader ' s order , Commander Praji supervised the search for the Death Star ' s missing plans on Tatooine . His first order was to assign Captain Kosh ' s local garrison to the task , while the 501st was readied . The Desert Sands sandtrooper detachment , which arrived to relieve the troopers garrisoned in the city of Mos Eisley , were also ordered by Praji to begin searching for the escape pod immediately . After a brief landfall , Praji delegated the overall command of the situation to Captain Kosh . After a few days ' searching , Captain Mod Terrik of the Desert Sands reported to Praji that a young moisture farmer , possibly a Rebel sympathizer if not a Rebel agent , had taken the droids and was presumably heading to the nearest spaceport , Mos Eisley . In reality , the actions of the Desert Sands — murdering his uncle Owen Lars and aunt Beru Whitesun Lars — had caused the farmer , Luke Skywalker , to accompany Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi in his quest of returning the stolen plans to the Rebellion . Praji concurred with Terrik and ordered him to quarantine Mos Eisley . However , the delay in coordinating the units of Kosh ' s troops , Terrik ' s troops and the 501st enabled the droids to bypass the blockade and escape from Tatooine aboard the light freighter " Millennium Falcon " . A stormtrooper officer saw the freighter lift into the sky and reported to Commander Praji , who alerted the orbiting Star Destroyers . Han Solo , the " Falcon " captain , slipped past the blockade , leaving the Commander in the uncomfortable situation of reporting his failure to Vader . Praji also reported the description of the fugitives and their escape vessel to all Imperial outposts . He personally reported the bad news to Vader , who spared his life . Later career . After the Battle of Yavin , which saw the Rebels destroy the Death Star based on information they had found in the stolen plans , Vader formed Death Squadron , a squadron of Star Destroyers that included the " Devastator " . Vader brought his staff to his new flagship , the first ship of the " Executor " - class Star Dreadnought line , but General Maximilian Veers blocked Praji from the appointment , and Vader did not overrule him . In 4 ABY during the Battle of Endor , Emperor Palpatine was killed , which led to the splintering of Empire into various warring factions . Praji served under several different Imperial warlords and ascended to the rank of General . He chose his allies by searching for the best way to carry on the New Order ' s mission . When the Galactic Emperor , His Immortal Majesty Palpatine returned from the Deep Core of the galaxy , Praji joined his forces and met him personally for the first and only time . In 10 ABY , Praji led the portion of the Shadow Hand Fleet that conquered the planet Kaikielius prior to the push towards Coruscant at the onset of Operation Shadow Hand . Praji enjoyed destroying the skyhooks of the House Vahali , an old rival of his family , and placed the planet under martial law . His higher position led him to realize that the Emperor ' s theocracy was not the Empire he had joined decades earlier , so he requested Kaikielius as a fief in order to leave the military . Emperor Palpatine then made him the Governor - General of the world , re - establishing the old connection between Kaikielius and House Praji . After the Battle of Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong War , the Coruscanti Praji regrouped on Kaikielius . Praji later retired from governorship and met historian Voren Na ' al , who asked him about his encounter with Emperor Palpatine in an interview . His daughter Tyla would go on to become a prominent member of the Galactic Alliance Guard during the Second Galactic Civil War . Personality and traits . Praji was all business when dealing with his superiors , and he often delegated assignments to a subordinate , such as Captain Kosh . His subordinates knew him for intolerance and level - headed professionalism , although Praji was not a man quick to anger . His businesslike professionalism impressed Lord Vader , too . As a member of the capital ' s aristocracy , Praji disrespected the Rimmer s , people hailing from the Outer Rim region of the galaxy , even his superiors . He was an old - fashioned military man who disdained foot - soldiers partly due to Imperial officer training , which disregarded the clones , who were " made to be killed . " He became so committed to the orderly despotism of the Galactic Empire , that during the Imperial Civil War , he served under several warlords looking for the best way to carry on the New Order ' s mission . Praji chose to wear the prominent sideburns that were popular among the Imperial officers around the time of the Battle of Yavin . Praji graduated with honors from the Imperial naval academy and became a good pilot and navigator . Under able officers like him , stormtroopers learned to adapt to their environment . During the search for the Death Star plans , Praji recited to Vader mechanically that the plans of the Death Star were not aboard the " Tantive IV " , but hurriedly added that the supposedly empty escape pod had been released during the fight . He waited attentively for the orders of the Sith Lord , who deemed him highly loyal and too capable to waste and spared the Commander ' s life when Praji disobeyed his direct order by not searching personally for the missing plans . Praji never put much stock in his family ' s old vendetta against House Vahali , but it was tremendous personal pleasure for him to break their power by knocking their skyhook headquarters during the Imperial Civil War . He also held a lot of loyalty to the Emperor up until Operation Shadow Hand , when he learned about the Emperor ' s plans of creating a theocracy of Dark Side Mages . Although he had heard throughout his career that the Emperor possessed delusions of grandeur , he dismissed the statements due to believing that they were simply figures of speeches and pejorative from lesser individuals who couldn ' t comprehend truly great men . However , upon learning of the Emperor ' s plans for a theocracy , and being in direct conflict with the New Order he had served , he was forced to reassess his earlier beliefs on the Emperor possessing such . Behind the scenes . The Praji character first appeared in the December 1976 of , ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster . Although he was not credited , actor George Roubicek played the character in the 1977 film . However , his lines were dubbed by an American actor , so the character ' s voice did not at all resemble that of Roubicek . The one sequence in which he is seen was shot over three days in July 1976 at the virtual end of principal photography , on the " Tantive IV " main corridor set erected on Stage 9 at Elstree Studios , just north of London . In the revised fourth draft script of " A New Hope " , as presented in " " and " " , Praji is addressed as " Second Officer , " and Vader orders Jir instead of Praji to " " send a detachment down . " " In 1995 , the " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game " Premiere Limited " base set was the first to identify the character as Praji , and the 2007 article " " , published in " Star Wars Insider 96 " , was the first to name him Nahdonnis . When the character of Tannon Praji was created in 2005 , he was intended to be the uncle of Commander Praji . However , this information was not published until 2009 in Nathan O ' Keefe ' s " Tinker , Tailor , Soldier , Praji " , which established Nahdonnis as the son of Tannon ' s brother Griff , as well as naming many other members of the Praji family . In May 2007 , during Celebration IV , Roubicek took part in a round - table discussion chaired by Scott Chernoff , in which he reminisced about his role as Praji . His fellow participants , all of whom portrayed Imperial characters , were actors Kenneth Colley ( Admiral Firmus Piett ) , David Prowse ( Darth Vader ) , Barrie Holland ( Lieutenant Renz ) , Richard LeParmentier ( Admiral Conan Antonio Motti ) , and Julian Glover ( General Maximilian Veers ) . The conversation was later published in " Star Wars Insider 96 " . Inconsistencies . Praji appears in various adaptations of " A New Hope " , but his line and look differ sometimes . In the 1976 novelization , he speaks a different line and appears as the " " officer in charge " " of " " a cluster of tired - looking troops . " " In the 1978 " " comic book , he is depicted as a stormtrooper and his line is slightly different than in the film . In 1978 ' s " The Story of Star Wars " , he is identified as an Imperial trooper . In the 1981 " Star Wars " radio drama ' s script , as presented in the " " , Praji is addressed as ' Trooper ' . However , there is also an unidentified Imperial commander who the 2007 young reader novel " The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader " identifies to be Commander Praji . In the 1987 " " comic , he speaks a slightly different line and is wearing a gray uniform . In the 1997 young reader book " " , Praji is blond and he is wearing a gray uniform . In the 1998 reference book " " , the captain of the " Devastator " calls the " Tantive IV " above Toprawa , but " The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader " attributes the lines to Praji . Non - canon biography . The non - canon comic book " Tag & Bink Are Dead 1 " depicts a scene where the protagonists , Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna , disguised as stormtroopers to escape Imperial custody , run into Praji , who orders them to return to the " Devastator " . Although " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " canonized the existence of Greenley and Otauna , their stories in the comic remain non - canon .