Chiffonage was a human male who served in the Rebel Alliance's military as a commander during the Galactic Civil War. In 3 ABY, he was stationed in Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth, where he attended a strategy conference alongside members of Alliance High Command to formulate strategies in order to achieve victory in the war.
Chiffonage later operated in the command center, at one point seated next to Princess Leia Organa. During the Galactic Empire's invasion of Hoth, the command center was hit by enemy fire, and the commander, Organa and communications officer Toryn Farr chose to stay while others left. After Captain Han Solo came to help Organa, the princess gave orders to Chiffonage, who sat at the last comm station before evacuating with Solo and their protocol droid.
Chiffonage served as a commander in the Rebel Alliance's military branch during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. In 3 ABY, he was stationed in the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth. Chiffonage attended a strategy conference with various members of Alliance High Command that lasted several days, discussing strategies that would help the Rebel Alliance win the war as quickly as possible. Base sentries discussed Chiffonage, General Carlist Rieekan, and Princess Leia Organa's attendance in the conference over comms. Thanks to information provided by Imperial defector Everi Chalis, the attendees were able to devise a plan, and pardoned Chalis of her past deeds as an Imperial governor in return.
Chiffonage at the last remaining comm station
Later on, Chiffonage was monitoring a screen in Echo Base's command center while seated next to Organa when rebel Captain Han Solo reported to Rieekan of his need to leave the Rebel Alliance in order to settle personal issues. When the Viper probe droid XJ9-CS14 discovered the base's location and reported it to the Empire, the rebels began a mass evacuation. The majority of the base's personnel were able to escape Echo Base as its personnel fought invading Imperial forces.
During the battle, the command centre was soon hit by enemy AT-AT fire, damaging much of the area and prompting some of the personnel to evacuate, leaving Chiffonage, Organa, her protocol droid C-3PO and communications officer Toryn Farr. After Solo came to check on Organa, and the princess ordered Chiffonage, who operated the last comm station, to direct troops from Sector Twelve to the south slope. Organa was interrupted as Echo Base took more fire, and after enemy troops were reported to have entered the base, the princess told Chiffonage send an evacuation signal and get to his transport. Beyond Organa's orders to send out a signal, Chiffonage also verbally gave an order for all rebel troops to retreat from the battlefront.
Chiffonage first appeared as a background extra portrayed by an uncredited actor in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. The scenes in the Echo Base control room featuring Chiffonage were shot on Stage 1 at Elstree Studios between March 26 and 28, 1979.
In the Star Wars Legends continuity, the character of Beryl Chiffonage was created for West End Games' 1988 board game Assault on Hoth. He was retconned into Empire Strikes Back in the article Who's Who in Echo Base, which was written by Josh Radke and published in Star Wars Insider 74 on February 24, 2004. The name was partially brought into canon when the character was mentioned in Alexander Freed's 2015 novel, Battlefront: Twilight Company.