A human male officer by the name of Dodd Rancit held a position within the Naval Intelligence Agency of the Galactic Empire. Emperor Palpatine himself had personally selected him for this role. Despite this honor, Rancit later allied himself with a group of rebels, intending to exploit them to elevate his own standing with the Emperor. His scheme was ultimately uncovered, leading to his execution for treason under the orders of the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Born in the Outer Rim, Dodd Rancit attended the prestigious academy located at Prefsbelt. During the Clone Wars, he served the Galactic Republic within Republic Intelligence. As a case officer, he was responsible for providing Captain [Wilhuff Tarkin](/article/wilhuff_tarkin], an old acquaintance, with counterintelligence operatives to counter the CIS Shadowfeeds. He also oversaw Knotts, a subcontractor, and Berch Teller, a station chief, who supported partisan and resistance groups on Separatist-occupied worlds, including Antar 4.
Following the war and the transition to the Galactic Empire, Rancit's initial assignment involved commanding Sentinel Base, a remote installation supporting the construction of the Death Star battle station. Subsequently, he was removed from the Death Star project and reassigned to Coruscant, with Moff Wilhuff Tarkin replacing him at Sentinel. Despite Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine personally appointing him as head of the new Naval Intelligence Agency with the rank of Vice Admiral, his rivals interpreted this as a demotion. During this time, he frequently associated with fellow NIA Vice Admiral Terrinald Screed and developed intense rivalries with other members of the Imperial Military, notably Harus Ison. Commander Gallius Rax, tasked with executing the Emperor's Contingency plan, reported directly to Wullf Yularen, bypassing Rancit and Screed in the command structure.
In the years after the war and the Empire's rise, Rancit grew increasingly dissatisfied with his career trajectory. He felt overlooked during his time as commanding officer of Sentinel Base, despite its significance to the Imperial cause. His resentment deepened when Tarkin, now a Moff, was placed in command of Sentinel while Rancit was relegated back to Intelligence.
Driven by a desire for revenge against the Empire, particularly targeting Emperor Palpatine and Tarkin, Rancit orchestrated a plan involving Berch Teller, his former subordinate from the Clone Wars, and his crew of insurgents (whose names he may have provided to Teller from ISB databases). He arranged for them to attack Sentinel Base and later steal Tarkin's personal ship, the Carrion Spike, from Murkhana, utilizing it for various anti-Imperial activities. Rancit successfully persuaded the Emperor to allocate significant Imperial military resources to fortifying Imperial facilities along the Perlemian Trade Route and Hydian Way. While this garnered the Emperor's favor, it inadvertently enabled the dissidents to plot an attack on an Imperial convoy transporting supplies to the Death Star. Furthermore, Rancit secretly intended to betray Teller and his crew, destroying the Carrion Spike at Carida in the hopes of securing a promotion and enhancing his standing with Palpatine.
However, Teller discerned Rancit's untrustworthy nature and abandoned the Carrion Spike, setting it on autopilot toward the Imperial fleet at Carida. Instead, he used a cobbled-together warship to attack a supply convoy heading to Sentinel Base from Desolation Station, aiming to hinder the Death Star's construction and leave Rancit to face the consequences. Unaware of Teller's counter-betrayal, Rancit was aboard the Secutor-class Star Destroyer Conquest at Carida, instructing its commander to destroy the Carrion Spike upon its emergence from hyperspace.
Darth Vader, accompanied by Lieutenant Crest and a squad of stormtroopers, arrived to apprehend Rancit, preventing the Conquest from destroying Tarkin's ship. After confirming that the Carrion Spike was empty by scanning it for lifeforms, Vader demonstrated to Rancit that his former allies had betrayed him before he could betray them. Vader then ordered Crest to place Rancit in an escape pod and eject him into space.
As he was being led away, Rancit declared to Vader that he would not plead for mercy. Vader, unmoved, simply stated that it would not matter if he did. The Vice Admiral's sentence was promptly carried out, with the added humiliation of Rancit being forced to issue one final order to the Conquest: to fire upon his own escape pod and kill him, which it did.
Rancit's act of betrayal ultimately led to the dissolution of Naval Intelligence as an independent entity, with its integration into Imperial Intelligence under the leadership of Rancit's rival, Colonel Wullf Yularen of the Imperial Security Bureau. Ironically, his downfall also benefited several of his other contemporary rivals, with Ison being promoted to the Ubiqtorate and Nils Tenant elevated to the Joint Chiefs, along with similar advancements for Cassio Tagge and Conan Antonio Motti.
Details surrounding Rancit's treason and death were strictly concealed from his colleagues in Naval Intelligence under Palpatine's direct orders to prevent him from becoming a martyr. However, Palpatine did establish the Council of Moffs following Rancit's execution. After Rancit's death, it was falsely claimed that he had perished in an attack by the Rebel Alliance, although rumors circulated regarding the true circumstances of his demise—that Vader had executed him for treason.
In contrast to many of his more withdrawn peers within the Imperial hierarchy, Rancit was well-known in Coruscant's social circles, recognized as an enthusiast of art and the Coruscant Opera. This persona effectively concealed his covert activities, both in service of and against the Empire. He was considered a friend of fellow NIA Vice Admiral Terrinald Screed, as well as Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, despite harboring secret resentment towards the latter's success. Rancit secretly envied Tarkin's and others' career advancements, a sentiment that eventually evolved into concealed animosity.