4 - 8C 4 - 8C , or For - Atesee , was an IG - series assassin droid who served as an Imperial Grand Moff and a member of the Imperial Redesign Team during the Galactic Civil War . Devising a project , The Heart of Steel , without any permission from High Command , 4 - 8C sought to position himself as a hero of the Empire by creating a program that could override every computer within the galaxy . However , his plans turned sour when the experimental droid B - 1D4 , carrier of The Heart of Steel virus , was caught in a battle and salvaged by Dilrath , a Skrilling junk merchant . Tracking B - 1D4 there , 4 - 8C discovered that the droid had in fact been sold to one Captain Han Solo , a Rebel sympathizer . 4 - 8C then enlisted the help of Captain Kassihm and journeyed to Dweem , believing that Solo had fled there . The expedition proved to be uneventful , and 4 - 8C surmised that B - 1D4 had in fact hijacked the " Millennium Falcon " and taken it to Imperial Center . There , The Heart of Steel deactivated the planetary defenses , causing havoc at the capital . Realizing that his project could be jeopardized , he raced to Merakai , where Solo and the droid were being held . 4 - 8C broke into the prison , started a riot , and rescued the droid , only to be deactivated and dismantled by Kassihm while escaping the scene . Biography . Early career . Ascending to the rank of Grand Moff in the early years of the Galactic Empire , 4 - 8C was a member of the highly secretive Imperial Redesign Team , a cadre of special agents tasked with the subjugation and sometimes liquidation of select non - Human species . Following his unprecedented ascension to Grand Moff , 4 - 8C obtained a pair of older droids from the IG - series : IG - 153 and IG - 182 , who had previously belonged to Confederacy of Independent Systems General Grievous . As with Grievous , the two droids served 4 - 8C as devoted bodyguards . The Heart of Steel . Seeking to make himself a hero of the Empire , 4 - 8C began devising a weapon that would be able to render any resistance to Palpatine ' s New Order ineffective and useless . Dubbing his experiment " The Heart of Steel , " he retrieved an ancient B - 1 series protocol droid , B - 1D4 , and developed what he thought to be a highly complex virus , which , when transferred to any computer in the galaxy , would force it to do the carrier ' s bidding . At a Redesign facility on Imperial Center , B - 1D4 was programmed to be the carrier of this virus , and would spread it to other computers throughout the galaxy via data link . Though the virus ' effects could be reversed , they had a 100 % success rate of " infection " upon transfer , and could not be overridden . In reality , 4 - 8C ' s virus was rudimentary , but it was still potent . The project was developed without the permission of anyone in Imperial High Command or Imperial Intelligence , and it is doubtful that even Palpatine knew of it . As such , the project ' s secrecy was of top priority for the Imperial Redesign Team , and research was kept strictly within their ranks . Despite this , some information brokers , such as the elusive Phelon , knew of its existence . Project gone awry ( 0 ABY ) . 4 - 8C ' s plan , however , went drastically wrong . The Imperial cruiser on which B - 1D4 was being transferred was attacked by Rebel Alliance forces . The Rebels chose not to salvage anything from the destroyed craft , which was fortunate for the Grand Moff , but a Skrilling merchant , Dilrath , happened upon the derelict and retrieved B - 1D4 . Upon learning this , 4 - 8C took his ship , the Imperial state ship " Zaker Besar " , and the interrogator Burra Stone to Dilrath ' s vessel , hoping that the merchant had kept the invaluable droid . Only hours before the Grand Moff ' s arrival , however , Dilrath had sold the droid to Captain Han Solo of the " Millennium Falcon " . Solo was a known Rebel sympathizer , and the fact incensed 4 - 8C . Arresting Dilrath , he ordered his men to demolish the Skrilling ship , eliminating all evidence of their presence . Before departure , he received word that the " Falcon " had been captured by Kassihm ' s Pirates , and that Solo , with B - 1D4 , was in the Nikto pirate ' s custody on the " M ' hendosat " . Realizing that time was short , he raced to the " M ' hendosat " last known location . Instead of being met by the sight of the " M ' hendosat " , all 4 - 8C saw at the site was a field of debris . Fearing that his painstaking research had gone to waste , he ordered a scan of the area , which revealed that nothing matching The Heart of Steel was present . The scan also indicated that the " Falcon " had recently left the system , and that at least one escape pod had escaped the destruction . Surmising that Solo and his compatriots had been able to destroy the " M ' hendosat " , 4 - 8C had the escape pod picked up . Inside was Kassihm , former Captain of the " M ' hendosat " . Standing watch while Stone interrogated Kassihm and Dilrath , 4 - 8C constantly interrupted the interrogator ' s work , desperate for answers and leads . As 4 - 8C resorted to his habit of waving a blaster in a victim ' s face , his " modus operandi " began to grate with Stone , who complained . 4 - 8C overruled him , however , and questioned each of the prisoners in turn . Dilrath yielded no information other than the fact that those who had destroyed the " M ' hendosat " were likely the ones who had purchased B - 1D4 . Kassihm was much more helpful , confirming that B - 1D4 had been with the Rebels and offering to help apprehend Solo . Information from the Nikto ' s escape pod told 4 - 8C that it had been headed for Dweem , and by logical deduction , the " Falcon " must have been headed there too . Dead end at Dweem . After setting the " Zaker Besar " into orbit around Dweem , 4 - 8C had his men scanned the planet for any trace of the " Falcon " . While the results were inconclusive , the Grand Moff believed that Solo may have used Dweem ' s storms to cloak his electromagnetic signature . Probes sent to sweep the planet showed no trace of the " Falcon " , but did show a large power signature , possibly a generator for a base . Believing that the Rebels may have been setting up their new base on Dweem , 4 - 8C had the " Besar " AT - STs prepared for recon . 4 - 8C personally joined Stone and Kassihm on the planet surface , but their mission proved to be fruitless , as the base was discovered to be an abandoned Galactic Republic base defended by Iron Knight s . Before escaping Dweem , however , the threesome encountered Dweemons : large , spydr - like creatures that blended into their environment . Despite this , 4 - 8C and his companions were able to make it back to the " Zaker Besar " unharmed . Livid that the expedition on Dweem had been nothing more than a wild bantha chase , 4 - 8C planned to kill Kassihm . The Nikto , however , protested , claiming that Solo did not expect any survivors from the destruction of the " M ' hendosat " , and thus would not have attempted any deception . Realizing that The Heart of Steel must have hijacked the " Falcon " , the Grand Moff surmised that B - 1D4 would return to Imperial Center , the place where she had served as a protocol droid for over a century , and also the location where The Heart of Steel virus was developed . Merakai jailbreak . 4 - 8C ' s assumption proved to be correct , but the consequences of B - 1D4 ' s actions were more disastrous than he had imagined . The Heart of Steel had shut down Imperial Center ' s defenses , allowing Solo to elude capture . Despite this , Lord Darth Vader , Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet , had set a trap for Solo and his compatriots on Cheeyoom Matee , a local Rebel base where the " Falcon " had sought refuge . As a result the Rebels and B - 1D4 were captured and thrown into a Merakai prison . Kassihm , devising a way to secure his own freedom , convinced 4 - 8C that B - 1D4 ' s presence in a Merakai prison could be quite disadvantageous for the Grand Moff ; if the Merakai technicians started probing the droid ' s memory , they would discover 4 - 8C ' s unauthorized involvement . He offered to aid 4 - 8C in retrieving The Heart of Steel , as simply requesting it of the base commander would look suspicious . The Grand Moff accepted , accompanying Kassihm to ensure the pirate did not try and double - cross him . Stone also tagged along , in case Kassihm attempted to destroy the Grand Moff or The Heart of Steel . Touching down on Merakai in the Nikto ship " Optitron " , 4 - 8C was forced to don water wings for the operation . Along with Stone and Kassihm , he journeyed through the swamps of the planet , braving dangers such as bullet beetyl s and sea slug s . Cutting through a grating , the group entered Merakai Prison through its sewage system and proceeded through the facility in their hunt for B - 1D4 . Choosing to masquerade as Imperial inspectors from the Department of Punishment , the group found the droid in the clutches of Merakai ' s droid torturer , who realized that they were not , in fact , inspectors . With the prison alarms blaring , the group took the droid and freed all the prisoners , starting a substantial riot . Teaming up with Solo and his friends , they were able to get free of the prison walls and into a speeder . Solo protested and pursued , but a member of the Redesign team was able to convince him to flee . 4 - 8C ' s operation complete , the group returned to the " Optitron " . Deactivation . Now that the mission was over , Kassihm understood that 4 - 8C would kill him . Realizing that the only path to salvation was by joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic , he planned to turn the tables on the Grand Moff . Waiting until Stone was fast asleep in his stasis chamber , the Nikto retrieved a droid disabler that he had stolen from the Merakai armory . While 4 - 8C was assessing the damage done to B - 1D4 , Kassihm crept up on him with extreme caution . Though the droid was able to turn around and draw a blaster with incredible speed , Kassihm was a split - second faster on the trigger . Deactivated , 4 - 8C fell to the floor , and was subsequently dismantled by the Nikto pirate . Personality and traits . Being the only droid to ascend to the rank of Grand Moff , 4 - 8C sought to prove himself to his colleagues and intended to be the hero of the Empire . He was not afraid of combat , being an assassin droid , and would constantly involve himself in Redesign missions . Eventually , he became obsessed with The Heart of Steel project and was pushed to the brink of panic when B - 1D4 was abducted . Letting nothing stand in his way , he would arrest sentients — particularly alien ones — without a second thought and believed the recovery of the droid was of paramount importance to the Imperial Redesign Team . 4 - 8C was also excessively impatient , often waving blaster pistols in the faces of captured felons . This style of interrogation grated with Burra Stone , who preferred to use the Force to persuade captives . Stone often clashed with 4 - 8C , finding him to be unintelligent and tactless . In turn , the Grand Moff found Stone to be ineffective . 4 - 8C also had a strong desire to kill sentients , but he was often forced to let them live due to their eventual usefulness , as in the case of Kassihm . His mistrust of the Nikto pirate , however , was well founded , as Kassihm would indeed deactivate and dismantle him on the " Optitron " . Behind the scenes . Grand Moff 4 - 8C was created by Dave Wolverton for the " Star Wars Missions " game book , " " . He serves as the primary antagonist of the fourth Missions arc , and is a playable character in " " and " " . The character went unreferenced in any " Star Wars " media until Abel G . Peña mentioned him in " " , the online supplement to the article " " , eight years after his original appearance . The web supplement originally called 4 - 8C " Grand Moff Grand Moff " in a typographical error , much to the mirth of several fans on the Jedi Council Forums .