Koth Melan

A prominent member of Clan Alya, Koth Melan was a male Bothan native to the planet of Bothawui. His father, a teacher who opposed the Galactic Empire's ideology, attempted to educate his students about its true nature. This led to his father's arrest and execution by the Empire in 17 BBY on charges of espionage. This event deeply impacted Melan, causing him significant dishonor. As a result, he ceased using the honorific suffix "y'lya" with his name, vowing to reclaim his clan's honor by contributing to the Empire's downfall and avenging his father's death.

Melan subsequently joined the Bothan Spynet, assuming the official role of assistant consul general for the Bothan Trade Mission. This position allowed him to oversee Bothan commercial interests throughout the Mid Rim region, providing a convenient cover for his extensive travels and clandestine activities. He used this cover to relay information from operatives and op-fronts to relevant parties, frequently reporting to his superiors on Bothawui and the colony world of Kothlis. Despite maintaining his cover, Melan made enemies and was always accompanied by a cadre of highly trained bodyguards skilled in counter-intelligence and surveillance, who posed as minor officials and bureaucrats. Eventually, he rose to become the head of the entire Spynet.

Melan typically avoided direct involvement in operations, preferring to operate as a spymaster. He controlled all access to himself, maintaining a network of secure safehouses, one of which was known only to him and his entourage. His rare forays into the field were indicative of the high value and importance of the information he sought. His chief of security often served as a double, reportedly providing a convincing impersonation of the spymaster.

Despite the Bothan Spynet's supposed neutrality during the Galactic Civil War, Melan developed a strong interest in the Alliance to Restore the Republic's activities. He was particularly impressed when Rebel pilot Ace Azzameen, aided by his family, successfully planted a listening device at Comm Center to monitor communications between the Empire and the Azzameen's commercial rivals, the Viraxo. Melan sent Azzameen an e-mail, praising his skills as "Bothan-like" and awarding him the Bothan Friendship Award, along with honorary membership in the Bothan Spynet.

At some point, Melan met with smuggler Dash Rendar near the Agrilat Swamp Circuit on Corellia. He provided Rendar with a datapad containing vital information for the Alliance but noticed that Rendar was being followed by an Imperial operative. This operative, working with the Imperial Security Bureau, aimed to expose Rendar as a Rebel sympathizer providing arms to the Alliance. During the ensuing battle, Melan was injured and instructed Rendar to escape with the information. Although the Corellian hesitated, he ultimately fled, leaving Melan to surrender to the Imperials. Within a few hours, Melan, restrained in binders, was transported to Captain Jeffren Brek of the Imperial Security Bureau in Bela Vistal. However, the datapad reached Commander Luke Skywalker after Rendar delivered it to the young Jedi Knight on Tatooine.

Later, after regaining his freedom, Melan returned to Bothawui. He resided at Safehouse Besh and traveled with a security detail. Upon returning to Safehouse Besh, his security team discovered a foreign object on the hatch. Suspecting it was an explosive, SecOps Four and SecOps Seven investigated, while SecOps Five remained with Melan. They found that the object was simply a flexiplast flyer for Krazy Khzam's Repulsor Lot, which they tested for poisons, electronics, and sharp edges. Deeming it safe, Melan entered his home and instructed SecOps Seven to pour him some Gruvian Tovash.

Around 3.5 ABY, Melan's agents bribed a high-ranking Imperial officer, discovering that the Empire had initiated a highly-secret construction project, diverting significant money, resources, and personnel. Melan attempted to insert a slicer droid into the main computer complex on the galactic capital, Coruscant, but the attempt failed. This failure revealed that project information was stored on specialized computers without remote access, requiring physical access to obtain the data.

Melan's operatives learned that one of these computers was being transported from Coruscant to Bothawui aboard the Mobquet medium transport Suprosa, disguised as a fertilizer barge. Melan believed that the Empire was using a low-profile transport to avoid Alliance detection. While his agents worked to acquire the vessel's flight plan, Melan attempted to contact Princess Leia Organa, requesting a meeting at the Intergalactic Trade Mission on Bothawui. Initially believing her to be on Tatooine, he dispatched an AS-M12-series messenger droid there. However, he soon learned that Organa was on Rodia and that Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar were likely to receive the message. As expected, Skywalker and Rendar arrived on Bothawui seeking Melan, who explained the situation to them. Skywalker's presence was fortunate; Melan had enlisted the inexperienced Bothan BTL-S3 Y-wing starfighter pilots of Blue Squadron to capture the Suprosa and could benefit from Skywalker's expertise. Skywalker agreed, and Melan took them to a hidden mountain base to meet the squadron. Skywalker led training exercises for several days, preparing them to intercept the Suprosa in the Both system. To fill a vacant pilot slot, Skywalker selected Ace Azzameen, the Alliance pilot from the Liberty previously honored by Melan, based on the Liberty's pilot credits listings.

Melan's operative obtained the Suprosa's flight plan from a contact within Black Sun, a criminal syndicate. Despite Skywalker and Rendar's concerns about the source, Melan was unconcerned, believing that Black Sun was supporting the Alliance for their own gain, noting that war created strange alliances. With Melan aboard Dash Rendar's YT-2400 light freighter Outrider, Skywalker led Blue Squadron to a Bothawui moon to await the Suprosa. Upon the freighter's emergence from hyperspace, Skywalker ordered the Suprosa to surrender, but the crew claimed to be hauling fertilizer. When the Suprosa attempted to flee, Skywalker, Rendar, and Blue Squadron engaged, attempting to slow it down. The freighter revealed hidden weapons, and battle commenced; two Bothan Y-wings were destroyed, and four more were eliminated by a single diamond boron missile that Rendar failed to intercept. Eventually, the Suprosa was disabled, and Rendar boarded first, clearing the Imperial presence before Melan and his operatives retrieved the computer.

Skywalker rendezvoused with them aboard the Outrider, and Melan explained that the data was encrypted and rigged with a self-destruct mechanism, requiring his slicer team on Kothlis, a Bothan colony a few light-years away. The group departed for Kothlis but was pulled out of hyperspace by the Immobilizer 418 cruiser Claw, escorted by the Victory I-class Star Destroyer Hunter. While Skywalker and Rendar engaged the starfighters deployed by the Hunter, Azzameen led the remnants of Blue Squadron against the Claw, collapsing its shields and forcing its withdrawal. With the interdiction field down, they continued to Kothlis, where Rendar dropped Melan and his team off at the Kothlis II space station before heading to Rodia to update Princess Organa.

Melan met Skywalker on Kothlis, escorting him to a safehouse disguised as storage units and offices, but secretly a modern installation filled with advanced computer technology. As Melan and Skywalker observed, a Bothan slicer discovered interesting information in Sector Tarp-Hard-Xenon. Before Melan could learn more, the safehouse door was blown open, and individuals opened fire with blasters.

A team of bounty hunters led by the Barabel Skahtul and the Kajain'sa'Nikto Calliose attacked the safehouse, seeking to claim a bounty on Skywalker. In the chaos, several Bothan slicers were killed. Melan, armed with a hold-out blaster, and Skywalker attempted to defend against the attack. Believing the attackers were after the computer, Melan urged Skywalker to retreat. A slicer grabbed the computer, and Melan ordered him to escape while they provided cover. The slicer escaped through an emergency exit as Melan's blaster ran out of shots. Ordering Skywalker to flee, the Jedi hesitated, and Melan was struck by a blaster bolt. As the wounded Melan lay on the ground, he caught the eye of his bodyguard, SecOps Four, who had failed to protect him. Melan looked at him not with disappointment, but with hope. SecOps Four understood, and grabbed a case containing stolen Imperial data and fled down the escape corridor. Melan died soon after, and Skywalker was captured.

Skywalker escaped, and the information reached the Alliance through Borsk Fey'lya's Bothan spies, despite an attempt by the Empire to retrieve it. The Alliance learned of the second Death Star under construction in orbit of Endor. However, the Kothlis attack was part of a ruse by Emperor Palpatine, who wanted the Alliance to find the Death Star's location to lure them into a trap. Melan's funeral was held on Bothawui; pilots from the Liberty were permitted to attend only if they were already on leave.

Koth Melan was a short Bothan with brown fur and black eyes. He was proud, confident in his Spynet's abilities, and kept informed about key political figures, knowing their locations at all times. While lacking technical expertise, he employed a diverse range of sentients with the necessary skills. Melan was willing to work with criminal organizations like Black Sun to defeat the Empire.

Melan strictly adhered to Bothan culture and its honor code. He bore the consequences of his father's death by altering his name. Despite the potential benefits of neutrality, he sided with the Alliance to restore his honor. In Bothese, his given name meant "philosophical," and his family name meant "moon" or "night."

As an adept spymaster, Melan was knowledgeable about alien species, cultures, languages, and planetary star systems. As the head of a Spynet op-front and assistant consul general of the Bothan Trade Mission, he was well-versed in bureaucratic protocols for both organizations and Clan Alya. He also understood law enforcement, business, and the value of items. Dealing with criminals required him to have underworld contacts and survival skills.

Melan was skilled at intimidating, persuading, and deceiving others to extract information. He was a shrewd investigator, capable of stealth, and skilled at pick pocket and forger. While he admitted his limitations in computer programming and slicing, he possessed general computer and droid programming skills. He could operate communications, security, and sensor systems, and drive repulsorlift vehicles. He was trained in blaster use, carrying a long-barreled hold-out pistol. He was proficient in unarmed combat and first aid. He typically carried a datapad and comlink.

Koth Melan's first appearance was in Steve Perry's 1996 Shadows of the Empire novel, part of the Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire multimedia project. Melan was also featured in other adaptations of the storyline. His background was detailed in West End Games's Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook that same year. Melan later appeared in the 1999 video game Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, which intersected with the Shadows of the Empire events. Denny Delk voiced him in X-Wing Alliance, credited only as "Bothan Officer."

Melan was depicted on several cards in Topps' Shadows of the Empire trading card series. Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, the artists, used a live model wearing a mask of Lon Chaney, Jr.'s "Wolf Man" character for Melan's action shots. A sketch by Michael Butkus, provided by Lucasfilm and used in the Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook, also served as reference.

In 2003, The Official Star Wars Fact File's 61st issue mentioned Melan in its entry on messenger droids, using an image of a generic Bothan spy from a Decipher's 1998 Special Edition Limited release for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. This effectively retconned Melan into the 1998 card expansion.