The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator pursued the Tantive IV and disabled it over the planet Tatooine. Smadis was then among those on board who took position at the port airlock and engaged Imperials stormtroopers there when they boarded the ship. Ultimately the Imperials took control of the vessel, but only after Smadis and the others had bought Organa the time she needed to get the plans off of the ship.
Cariso Smadis was a human male ensign in the fleet of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was stationed on board the CR90 corvette Tantive IV to guard Princess Leia Organa, Alderaan's representative in the Imperial Senate, who used the starship as her consular ship. In 0 BBY, Organa and the Tantive IV were assigned a mission to the planet Tatooine, but before the vessel could finish undergoing repairs at the rebel headquarters on the moon Yavin 4, the Alliance fleet was scrambled to support rebel forces attempting to steal the plans for the Death Star superweapon from the Empire on the planet Scarif.
Still being repaired, the Tantive IV traveled to the Scarif system in one of the hangars of the MC75 Star Cruiser Profundity. During the battle at Scarif, the Death Star plans were transmitted to the Profundity, but when the cruiser was disabled by the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator, the plans were then transferred onto the Tantive IV, which launched from the Profundity and escaped from the Scarif system. The Devastator gave pursuit, and was able to catch up to the corvette over Tatooine, where the Imperials were able to disable the vessel.
As the corvette was being pulled into the hangar of the Devastator by a tractor beam, the troopers raced through the corridors of the Tantive IV to take up a defensive position at the port airlock, where the rebels' sensors told them the Imperials would board. Smadis was crouched and ready his weapon as a TIE boarding shuttle then cut through the port airlock, after which Imperial stormtroopers began pouring through onto the Tantive IV. Smadis and the others exchanged fire with the Imperials, but were all killed or forced to retreat from the airlock. However, as intended, the troopers had bought enough time for Organa to give the plans to the astromech droid R2-D2 and for the droid to then escape the Tantive IV before the Imperials took control of the whole vessel. After capturing the Tantive IV, the Empire announced to the media that the vessel had instead been destroyed in a catastrophic meteor collision that killed everyone on board.
Like all the other rebels on board the Tantive IV, he had sworn allegiance to the planet Alderaan and served the House of Organa faithfully, volunteering to give his life if necessary for the rebel cause. Smadis had light skin, brown eyes, and brown hair.
Smadis wore the black and light blue uniform of the Alderaanian consular security, which had been adopted by much of the Alliance. The uniform included a white with an integrated comlink and flash visor, although Smadis did not lower the visor for the battle on the Tantive IV. He used a DH-17 blaster pistol in combat.
Cariso Smadis first appeared in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The character's scenes were filmed on Stage 9 at Elstree Studios between June 29 and July 16, 1976. In the current Star Wars canon Smadis's name was used in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it was first used in the third chapter of StarWars.com's Visual Guides feature, which was published on the April 30, 2007.
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