Baz Baz was a male human who served the Galactic Empire ' s Imperial Navy as an ensign during the early years of its reign . He was assigned to serve on Sentinel Base , a construction project under the command of Moff Wilhuff Tarkin on a moon in the Outer Rim Territories . While there he used spice , a drug which affected his performance . While traveling on board the " Carrion Spike " , Tarkin ' s personal ship , during a journey it made in 14 BBY to the planet Coruscant from Sentinel Base , Tarkin noticed signs indicating Baz ' s spice use and had him confined to his quarters . Biography . The male human Baz served the Galactic Empire during the early years of its reign over the galaxy , and by 14 BBY held the junior officer rank of ensign in the Imperial Navy . During that year , he was stationed on Sentinel Base , an Imperial project on a moon in an unnamed system in the Outer Rim Territories , where construction of a superweapon was secretly taking place under the command of Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . While at the base , Baz would take spice , a type of illicit drug , while hidden in an area of Sentinel ' s motor pool repair bay outside the auxiliary dome , which was not covered by security camera s . On one such occasion he stood near a T - 44 landspeeder in a section of the bay close to a landing platform undergoing repairs , which left a circular lubricant stain impregnated with grit on his left boot . The spice use caused Baz to arrive late to his duties several times and act inattentively when he did , which was included in his record . Some of the plugs of spice he used were not properly processed , and so stained his fingers when he pinched them . Following a brief attack on Sentinel Base by a rebel cell led by former Republic Intelligence agent Berch Teller , Tarkin was summoned to the Imperial capital Coruscant , and Baz was selected to serve as a midshipman on board the Moff ' s personal starship , the " Carrion Spike " . Once the vessel left Sentinel Base and entered hyperspace , Tarkin summoned eighteen members of the ship ' s crew , including Baz , to the ship ' s conference room for an impromptu inspection . While he looked over the crew , Tarkin ' s attention was drawn to the stain on Baz ' s boot , which the ensign claimed was hair gel . Tarkin recognized the stain as lubricant however , and revealed that he knew about the areas of the repair bay used by spice users . After pointing out several other pieces of evidence that Baz indulged in spice , Tarkin ordered a petty officer to confine Baz to his quarters for the rest of the journey , claiming he would deal with the ensign once they reached Coruscant . Personality and traits . Baz had unruly brown hair cut to Imperial regulation length , which he attempted to tame with hair gel in preparation for inspections . His dipping of spice left a nascent cavity in his left eyetooth , and pinching unprocessed plugs of the substance left yellow - ochre stains on the index finger and thumb of his right hand . The spice also caused him to be unpunctual and inattentive , and during Tarkin ' s inspection Baz ' s eye s were bloodshot , his gaze unsteady and he sweated noticeably , which he blamed on hyperspace nausea . Equipment . Baz wore the Imperial uniform standard for all officers , which had a slightly longer tunic , slimmer trousers and a lower thread count than the uniform made personally for Tarkin . The uniform also included a cap . Behind the scenes . Baz first appeared in " Tarkin " , a novel written by James Luceno and released on November 4 , 2014 . " Tarkin " was the second novel released as part of the new canon continuity announced on April 25 , 2014 .