Brenn Tantor

Brenn Tantor, a male Human, entered the world on Garos IV during a period marked by civil war, born to a family of modest means. The Galactic Empire intervened, restoring order, which deeply impressed Tantor's father. As a result, he enlisted as a military transport pilot and instilled in his sons a profound respect for the stormtroopers responsible for maintaining peace. However, a resistance movement emerged against the Empire, leading to the destruction of the Tantor family's home in a violent episode. Stormtroopers rescued Brenn and his younger brother Dellis from the wreckage, prompting them to vow to become stormtroopers themselves.

Brenn Tantor swiftly secured his place at the Imperial Academy of Carida, commencing his stormtrooper training, where he demonstrated exceptional aptitude in tactical studies. Dellis followed suit a year later. During their training, they received the devastating news that their father had been killed by the Rebel Alliance while delivering medical supplies to Graal'diin. This tragedy only strengthened their determination to become stormtroopers and combat the Rebellion.

Despite their outstanding performance as cadets, they were inexplicably barred from joining a stormtrooper squad, unbeknownst to them, due to their non-clone status. Undeterred, they began shadowing Cattena Squadron, stationed at the Academy, until the squad captain, impressed by their dedication, allowed them to join as "honorary stormtroopers." However, they never achieved genuine acceptance from the rest of the unit, with whom they had no social interaction.

In 0 BBY, Cattena Squadron was deployed to Kalaan. During a battle, the squad's sergeant was killed, and Tantor, a corporal, assumed command. His exceptional performance caught the eye of Captain Beri Tulon, a training officer scouting for candidates for a special project. Tulon promoted Tantor to lieutenant on the battlefield and ordered him to report to the Star Destroyer Inquisitor. Dellis, who had been wounded shortly before Tulon's arrival, was also transferred to Inquisitor and placed in a bacta tank.

Tantor was chosen to be among the first officers trained to command troops utilizing the Battlefield Holographic Control Interface, or BHCI. This project, championed by Grand General Malcor Brashin, allowed commanders to view a comprehensive holographic simulation of the battlefield and issue orders from the safety of an orbiting Star Destroyer.

From Inquisitor, in orbit above Tatooine, Tantor guided Zeta Squadron, including the recovered Dellis, through a basic set of orders to familiarize himself with the system. However, the exercise was interrupted when Brashin issued Tantor new orders. An escape pod launched from the Rebel CR90 corvette Tantive IV had been detected nearby. Lieutenant Tantor swiftly located the pod, despite attacks from indigenous Tusken Raider. Despite the natives' hostility, Tulon cautioned him to avoid engaging the locals unless provoked, urging him to act as "a soldier, not a murderer."

Tantor led subsequent missions to retrieve the Rebel droids from the escape pod, including tracking and capturing the Jawa Sandcrawler that transported the droids, and searching the home of local hermit Ben Kenobi.

However, the Imperials were too late, and the droids escaped the planet with the plans to the Death Star, a recently completed Imperial battle station. The droids had apparently fled to Alderaan aboard the YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon, but some in the Empire believed that the ship's cunning captain Han Solo had jumped to Ruul, along the same vector. Tantor, now a captain, was dispatched to Ruul with Tulon and Brashin. Although Solo was not there, the Imperials discovered that Rebels had seized a vital computer facility on Ruul. Tantor, aided by his technically skilled brother on the ground, successfully recaptured the facility and established a series of remote relay beacons from the station to an undamaged antenna, enabling him to broadcast crucial Rebel data found within the computer complex. For his outstanding performance, Tantor was promoted to commander and placed under Grand General Brashin's direct supervision. Despite this, he continued to hold Captain Tulon in high regard, who had been reassigned after Brashin deemed his traditional values incompatible with the New Order.

Commander Tantor's subsequent mission took him to Sarapin. The data from the Ruul facility revealed that the Rebellion had seized several of the lava planet's thermal energy collection plants. Tantor successfully reclaimed the collection facilities but soon discovered that the Rebels had captured a drilling station. The drilling station, now uncontrolled, was destabilizing the region, causing widespread seismic activity. Tantor's units fought their way to the heavily defended drilling platform, where Dellis managed to shut down the drill just in time to prevent a volcanic eruption and devastating groundquakes.

However, this triumph was overshadowed by two somber announcements from Brashin. First, the Death Star had been destroyed by Rebel starfighters, resulting in significant casualties. The loss of so many skilled officers created an opportunity for competent commanders like Tantor, whom Brashin promoted to major. The second announcement was that Brenn and Dellis would be separating. Dellis had finally been accepted into Imperial Intelligence, an application he had submitted before Kalaan, as it seemed unlikely he would become a stormtrooper.

Tantor then garnered the attention of the Imperial Sith Lord Darth Vader by rescuing one of Vader's favored officers, Colonel Maximilian Veers, from a crashed shuttle during a mission to destroy the Rebel base on the moon Yavin 4. Tantor later engaged in a battle on Eos sometime afterward, where All Terrain Personal Transports played a crucial role. On Empire Day in 1 ABY, Major Tantor was present in the city of Theed on the planet Naboo, where he recruited Imperial loyalists to counteract anti-Imperial propaganda during the festivities.

Tantor's exceptional command abilities, combined with the favor of Grand General Brashin and Darth Vader, propelled him to the ranks of the Empire's top generals. When Vader's task force discovered the Rebel base on Hoth in 3 ABY, the Sith Lord summoned General Tantor to oversee the ensuing battle. Tantor coordinated the assault of Veers's Blizzard Force on the Rebel base, issuing orders from orbit via the BHCI. Blizzard Force's AT-AT walkers overwhelmed the Rebels, forcing them to evacuate the icy planet.

With the Rebels defeated and his standing in Imperial High Command at its peak, Tantor suffered a devastating blow. Dellis arrived in his cabin with a classified datadisk and a shocking revelation: the Empire had murdered their father. Despite being told he was killed in a Rebel attack, the Empire had executed him as a warning to other pilots after he lost a shipment of grain to pirates. Furthermore, Dellis knew his inquiries had been noticed by his superiors, likely marking him for death. General Brashin had assigned him to quell a rebellion on Ruul, a mission Dellis believed he would not survive. Dellis departed swiftly, leaving Brenn to grapple with this information and question his loyalty to an Empire that had betrayed his family.

Tantor's next assignment was relatively straightforward, but indicative of his high rank. He was entrusted with the knowledge of the Second Death Star's location above the forest moon of Endor and tasked with finding a suitable site for the ground-based shield projector that would protect it. However, his light scouting force was attacked by Ewoks, forcing him to kill many of the natives and destroy several villages situated on potential shield projector sites. The slaughter of the diminutive natives further troubled Tantor's conscience.

He was subsequently assigned to eradicate a strong Rebel force that had captured the seat of government on Abridon. His force successfully drove the Rebels out of a captured Imperial base, which Tantor used as a rallying point to summon reinforcements and withstand repeated tank assaults until he breached the Rebel lines to capture the Abridon Government Center. From there, he repelled a Rebel counteroffensive and captured five Rebel dignitaries sent to persuade Abridon's government to join the Rebel Alliance. Among these dignitaries was the renowned Rebel commander Luke Skywalker. The capture of the galaxy's most wanted individual was a significant achievement for Tantor.

General Tantor was swiftly ordered to destroy the main Rebel base on Abridon. During his briefing, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that his former superior, now Colonel Tulon, would be commanding an additional task force to assist Tantor in the attack. Tantor was to utilize the Tracked Mobile Base, or TR-MB, a prototype mobile command center housing a BHCI, placing him directly on the ground.

However, the mission soon took a disastrous turn. Tulon's AT-AT suddenly went rogue, destroying the rest of his task force and heading straight for the Rebel base. Tantor, fearing for his mentor's life, assuming he had been killed or taken hostage by a defector, pushed his forces to overtake and disable the walker before it reached the Rebel stronghold. To Tantor's utter shock, Tulon was the defector. Unable to endure the Empire's brutality any longer, he had chosen to side with the Rebels. Tulon warned Tantor that the Empire was corrupt and evil, and that the Rebels were the true heroes. Unable to do anything else, Tantor turned his former mentor over to Brashin for imprisonment in the Tarkin Detention Facility.

Numbed, Tantor continued, efficiently crushing the Rebel base. However, Brashin demanded more. He ordered Tantor to destroy a nearby refugee camp as a demonstration of power. The conflicted Tantor had finally reached his limit. Echoing Tulon's words to be "a soldier, not a murderer," he refused his superior's orders. Enraged, Brashin cut off Tantor's communication frequencies and ordered Tantor's stormtroopers to attack, falsely claiming the camp was full of Rebels who had disabled the TR-MB, preventing Tantor from issuing the order. Horrified, the general watched as his soldiers massacred innocent civilians.

At that moment, Tantor received an unexpected transmission. His opponent, Rebel general Tyr Taskeen, appeared on his comm line. Taskeen had overheard the communications between the two Imperial generals and offered Tantor his personal comm frequency. Though not explicitly stated, the Rebel was inviting Tantor to defect rather than face the inevitable court-martial.

Back on his Star Destroyer, a communication from Brashin delivered the news Tantor had been dreading. Dellis had been killed—in a Rebel attack, according to Brashin—and Brenn Tantor himself was to report to Kalaan to face the consequences of his insubordination. He chose the only option available to him. Contacting Taskeen, Tantor instructed the Rebel general to meet him on Kalaan.

On Kalaan, Tantor was confined to an outdoor cage for the night before his court-martial. Brashin assured him that the outcome was certain: Tantor would be found guilty and executed. However, Brashin assigned stormtroopers from a unit that had served loyally under Tantor's command for years as guards. Gana Lant, one of those stormtroopers, freed Tantor from prison and arranged for the defection of the entire guard detail. However, Tantor wanted to prove his good intentions further. He hijacked the TR-MB, parked nearby, and freed Luke Skywalker, who was being held in the same facility. With these valuable assets and the assistance of the Kalaanite resistance, Tantor outfought Imperial patrols and turrets to reach Taskeen's base.

Upon arriving at Taskeen's fleet, Tantor was not greeted with the heroic welcome he had anticipated. Taskeen, wary of such a high-ranking Imperial officer, imprisoned him. Tantor would have to prove his loyalty under Taskeen's watchful eye. Tantor proposed a plan: if Taskeen allowed him to rescue Beri Tulon from the Tarkin Detention Facility on Ruul, he could combine Tulon's inside knowledge with his own tactical brilliance to deliver an AT-AT to the Alliance. Taskeen, intrigued but cautious, granted Tantor permission, warning him that he would be under constant surveillance.

Tantor led a swift commando raid that overwhelmed Tulon's escort before he reached the prison, freeing Tulon and a Ruulian Rebel leader. However, he was forced to extend his operations on Ruul when Tulon informed him that he needed an Imperial code to access the AT-AT manufacturing facility on Trasse. This code could be found at the nearby computer facility at Sounder Flats. Tantor's soldiers held off Imperial scout walkers and stormtroopers long enough for Tulon to download the codes from the computer complex.

After meticulous preparation, including Tulon's training of a special unit of armor-hijacking Infiltrators, they set out for Trasse. The capture of the AT-AT proceeded smoothly, but extraction was complicated by the arrival of a familiar Star Destroyer—Inquisitor, Grand General Brashin's personal ship. Tantor and Brashin exchanged words before the battle; Brashin expressed his disappointment in his former student, and Tantor offered the grand general a chance to defect. Brashin declined. Tantor was forced to race to capture a planetary-defense ion cannon and disable the Star Destroyer before he could escape with the valuable captured walker.

That show of faith from Taskeen imbued Tantor with the assurance needed to be entrusted with more substantial armor and more critical operations. His prior experiences on Abridon were instrumental in his selection to lead a mission aimed at liberating the world from the Imperial garrison he had once established. Tantor successfully overwhelmed the Imperial forces in the capital, reclaiming the Government Mound. He also freed a nearby prison camp, where he discovered Hamman Flatt, the former lieutenant governor of Abridon whom Tantor had previously imprisoned. Flatt, failing to recognize the Rebel general, informed him that Abridon was prepared to supply a shipment of Abridon-produced A-wings. Tantor managed to seize the shipyards situated in the war-ravaged city of Sayan, and a Hover Transport carrying pilots safely transported the A-wings to Sullust, where the Rebel fleet was readying itself for an assault on the Second Death Star.

Following the elimination of the remaining Imperial presence in Sayan at the request of the Abridon Nationalists, Tantor personally participated in the Battle of Endor during 4 ABY's. Leveraging his experience in setting up the shield generator, Tantor accompanied General Han Solo and his strike team aboard the Lambda-class shuttle Tydirium to Endor. Remaining in the shuttle, he used a portable BHCI to coordinate the commando team's actions. The team successfully destroyed the shield generator, enabling the Rebel fleet to destroy the Death Star in orbit. Tantor's pivotal contribution to this critical battle solidified his superiors' trust in his allegiance and highlighted his growing importance within the Rebellion.

With the death of Galactic Emperor Palpatine during the battle, the Alliance transitioned into the Alliance of Free Planets, and subsequently the New Republic. Tantor became a highly regarded commander in the new order. Two years after the Battle of Endor, Tantor took part in the New Republic's push into the Core Worlds, collaborating with Admiral Willham Burke to secure the planets Commenor, Gyndine, and Reytha. Tantor's career reached its zenith when he was entrusted with leading the Liberation of Coruscant, spearheading the assault on Coruscant, the Empire's capital, in conjunction with General Rand Talor.

Tantor initially deployed a small, undetectable force near Coruscant's north pole, which disabled the sensor nodes in the area, paving the way for the undetected landing of a massive assault force. He then breached the defensive perimeter along the edge of the planet's polar ice cap and seized a series of strategically important Imperial installations, including a hospital, a repair bay, artillery platforms, and walker storage depots.

Tantor advanced toward the ultimate objective: the Imperial Palace. Confronting the fierce Imperial defense, led by his long-time adversary Grand General Brashin, Tantor fought through layers of Imperial armor, weapon emplacements, and air support until a final infantry assault secured the Imperial Palace.

Following the capture, Tantor received astonishing news. Rebel troopers, while clearing a secret Imperial dungeon within the Palace, discovered an unexpected prisoner: Dellis Tantor. Overjoyed to learn that his brother, whose supposed death had haunted him for years, had actually survived execution, Brenn shared an emotional reunion with Dellis. As they emerged onto the Palace steps, they were greeted by Tyr Taskeen, who welcomed Dellis into the Rebel Alliance, declaring, "Welcome to the next chapter in the history of the galaxy."

Brenn Tantor began his service to the Empire as an enthusiastic young recruit, eager to promote order, peace, and justice through service in the stormtrooper corps. Demonstrating exceptional aptitude at the Academy, he quickly gained a deep understanding of tactics and eagerly anticipated becoming a stormtrooper.

However, Tantor suffered the first of many setbacks to his idealism and enthusiasm when he and his brother were denied entry into the stormtrooper corps. They were accepted into Cattena Squadron, but even that held disappointment as none of its members showed much affection for the boys. Brenn's strong drive led him to work even harder to earn Cattena's approval when even Dellis began to give up, but he never did gain it before he was promoted to lieutenant and transferred out.

With his promotion to officer status and selection for an elite project, Tantor's enthusiasm and determination were redoubled. However, Tulon's reassignment left Tantor without a mentor and wondering why Tulon had been determined unfit. His isolation was only increased when Dellis was assigned to Imperial Intelligence. Brenn saw him only sporadically over the next year and not at all for two years after that.

Brashin and Tantor maintained a professional working relationship, but Brashin was not particularly friendly. Though respected by his men, Tantor was isolated from them by command. Though he succeeded militarily, Tantor dashed from one hotspot to another with little in the way of a social life or friendships.

Between Dellis's revelation that the Empire had killed their father and the massacres of the Ewoks on Endor, Brenn entered a moody, brooding period in which he was forced to wrestle with his conscience. Beri Tulon's attempted defection and capture, the massacre on Abridon, and the news of Dellis's death only increased Tantor's depression, giving him nightmares.

Tyr Taskeen and, once rescued, Beri Tulon returned some companionship to his life, but Tantor remained driven to defeat the Empire and prove himself while still haunted by his past misdeeds and the presumed death of his brother. Aboard the Tydirium en route to Endor, he experienced a hallucination, seeing Dellis sitting across from him. That guilt and depression characterized Tantor throughout 3 and 4 ABY. However, discovering Dellis during the Battle of Coruscant gave Brenn a genuine second chance at happiness.

Brenn Tantor was conceived for the 2000 LucasArts video game Star Wars: Force Commander, where Jeff Bennett provided his voice. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds also depicts the Liberation of Coruscant, although in that game, Rand Talor leads the assault on the Imperial Palace. This article assumes that the two worked in cooperation with one another.

Tantor made a cameo appearance as a Non-player character (NPC) in the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Star Wars Galaxies. During the Empire Day live events of 2009, 2010, and 2011, he could be found in Theed handing out quests to players. These quests involved putting up Imperial propaganda posters, or tearing down Rebel posters.