Artur Essada, a male human, served the Galactic Empire as a pilot within Nashtah Squadron. Following the Battle of Portocari, which took place in 0 ABY, he and the remaining members of his squadron found themselves at the Zero Angle cantina, situated at the Bright Jewel Oversector Flight Base. While there, and after consuming some Ebla, he engaged in conversation with his fellow soldiers, questioning the unreliable intelligence they had been operating under, as well as the deaths of their comrades, Riggs and Chan. His suspicion that the Empire was overextending its resources, sacrificing personnel without due consideration, was validated when Commander Weller arrived with news of the Rebel Alliance's destruction of the Death Star.
As a member of the Galactic Empire's Nashtah Squadron, Artur Essada was one of the pilots who flew within the atmosphere. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin and the loss of the Death Star in 0 ABY, Nashtah Squadron was dispatched to Portocari with orders to neutralize rebel artillery positions located in the hills. The squadron was subsequently ordered to regroup and attack a rebel safe house within the city. During this assault, Muller sustained injuries after her craft was struck by an anti-air missile. Shortly thereafter, Barsay was killed by fire from a Z-95 Headhunter. Riggs and Chan then piloted a TIE/sa bomber and its escort on a bombing run against the safe house. Unbeknownst to the pilots, the safe house contained a large cache of munitions, which detonated upon impact, obliterating the bomber, its escort, and causing thousands of civilian casualties in the city. This event led Essada to question whether Imperial command would have authorized the strike had they been aware of the munitions stored within the safe house.
Following the battle, the pilots of Nashtah Squadron sought refuge in the Zero Angle cantina, where Essada began consuming Elba. When Huck Trompo initiated a ground-hog anthem to provoke Banshee Squadron (a squadron of space pilots), Essada requested that squad leader Sax Hastur intervene. While Hastur initially succeeded in silencing Trompo, the latter soon resumed his singing. This time, the opposing squadron responded with a vac-head anthem, leading to a brawl. Essada remained uninvolved as the bartender, Florn, and the astromech droid, Lightning, used the droid's sonic emitter to quell the disturbance. After Florn drew attention to the holograms commemorating fallen pilots from the Bright Jewel Oversector Flight Base, the two squadrons began to find common ground in their shared losses. When the conversation shifted to Nashtah Squadron's recent setbacks at Portocari, Essada voiced his skepticism that the strike on the safe house would have been averted even if command had known its contents. The other pilots concurred, citing recent intelligence failures within the Empire. They speculated that a significant event had occurred, prompting the Empire to indiscriminately target any rebel asset. Shortly thereafter, Commander Weller entered the cantina, informing the pilots of the Death Star's destruction and instructing them to report to their quarters for reassignment.
Artur Essada was a human male characterized by his dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. As a ground-hog pilot, he resented the disproportionate representation of space pilots in recruitment materials and the HoloNet's focus on their achievements. Following the Battle of Portocari, his doubts regarding Imperial intelligence were labeled as "rebel talk" by Huck Trompo.
Artur Essada was outfitted in the standard black flight suit of an Imperial Starfighter Pilot. During his time at the Zero Angle cantina, he wore an olive-green Imperial uniform.
Artur Essada is a character featured in the canon short story "Last Call at the Zero Angle," penned by Jason Fry. This story was published in Star Wars Insider 156 on March 10, 2015.
An illustration by John Van Fleet accompanied the story, depicting the members of Nashtah Squadron, though the identities of the pilots were not specified. Jason Fry later clarified the identities of the pilots in the illustration via Twitter.