Bolvan, a human of male gender, held the position of gunnery captain on the Imperial Star Destroyer known as the Devastator during the year 0 BBY. Following the capture of the corvette Tantive IV, he instructed Lieutenant Hija, who was under his command, to refrain from targeting an escape pod that had been deployed from the seized ship, citing the absence of any detectable life forms within it. The Empire had recently implemented new directives that linked promotions to individual's confirmed kills, a measure implemented to combat rebel propaganda regarding Imperial marksmanship. Consequently, expending laser fire on the pod would have been a wasteful act that could have negatively impacted his career advancement.
While the corvette was undergoing a thorough search, and the Death Star plans, which Darth Vader believed the rebel vessel was carrying, remained undiscovered, Bolvan began to suspect that they were concealed within the escape pod. To prevent potential repercussions for his initial oversight, he sought the help of logistics officer Arvira. Bolvan found paperwork tedious and time-consuming, but he consented to complete all the data entry that Arvira proposed in order to shield himself from Vader's anger. In return, he pledged to intentionally lose their next gambling game.