CR978 was a human male who served as a TIE fighter pilot in the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. Following the Battle of Hoth, CR978 was sent with three other pilots to capture the Millennium Falcon after it fled into the Hoth asteroid belt. Imperial Lieutenant Commander Ciena Ree provided support for the four pilots from on board the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, but even with her aid CR978 crashed his TIE/ln space superiority starfighter into an asteroid.
CR978 flew a TIE fighter for the Empire.
The human male designated as CR978 served in the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire as a TIE fighter pilot during the Galactic Civil War against the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was stationed on board one of six Imperial-class Star Destroyer, that traveled to the Hoth system in order to attack Echo Base, a Rebel base located on the planet Hoth. The Alliance was forced to flee from the Empire's superior forces on the surface of Hoth, but the Imperial fleet was unable to prevent the Rebel transports from escaping due to protection provided by an ion cannon on Hoth. Following the Empire's victory, the Sith Lord Darth Vader demanded that at least three of the six Imperial-class Star Destroyers, chase and capture the YT-1300 light freighter named the Millennium Falcon specifically.
With the three Destroyers in pursuit the Falcon fled into the Hoth asteroid belt, which was located in the Hoth system, in the hopes of shaking them off by hiding. Unable to give effective pursuit itself, the Star Destroyer that CR978 was stationed on board deployed him and three other TIE pilots–JA-189, OL-701, and NA-811–in TIE/ln space superiority starfighters. Entering such a belt in an unshielded craft was practically a suicide mission for the four pilots, and Lieutenant Commander Ciena Ree was assigned to provide auxiliary navigational assistance to CR978 and his comrades from on board the bridge of Vader's personal flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor. As the four TIEs chased the Falcon through the asteroids, Ree warned CR978 that he needed to pull his craft up to avoid collision with an asteroid, but the pilot was too slow and his vessel exploded upon impact, hurling his body into space and killing him.
CR978's three comrades, JA189, OL701, and NA811 all eventually crashed as well, allowing the Falcon to hide and eventually escape the Imperials entirely. Disheartened by the deaths of the four pilots, Ree was surprised when she was complimented on her work by the commanding officer of the Executor, Admiral Firmus Piett. Since the Admiral had assumed the pilots had never stood a chance anyway, he was impressed that Ree had managed to keep them alive longer than they would have survived on their own.
CR978 first appeared in the original release of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, and is the only TIE pilot to actually do so. CR978 was first identified in the novel Lost Stars, which was written by Claudia Gray and released in 2015.
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