Romas Navander was a human serving as a lieutenant within the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. He found himself among the rebel forces manning the control room situated in Echo Base on the planet of Hoth. In the year 3 ABY, he overheard Captain Han Solo's report to Princess Leia Organa regarding his encounter with an Imperial Viper probe droid; this report triggered the Alliance's evacuation of Hoth.
Upon the arrival of Imperial forces in the Hoth system, he was the first to alert General Carlist Rieekan to their presence. Later, he used Echo Base's communication system to announce that the first of the rebel transports had successfully broken through the Imperial blockade.
As a human, Lieutenant Romas Navander functioned as an officer for the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War, fighting against the Galactic Empire. He was part of the forces stationed at the rebel's Echo Base on the planet Hoth, serving as a controller within the base's command center.
In 3 ABY, Navander, accompanied by General Carlist Rieekan and a commander, hurried to a control room terminal. There, Princess Leia Organa was listening to Captain Han Solo's report about his encounter with an Imperial Viper probe droid he had destroyed nearby. Assuming the Empire was now aware of their location, Rieekan gave the order to begin the evacuation of Echo Base.
During the evacuation preparations, Navander remained at his station in the command center. He received an alert about the arrival of the Imperial Death Squadron in Sector Four of the Hoth system. He urgently signaled Rieekan, informing him of the Empire's arrival. Rieekan then instructed Navander to reroute all power to the base's shields to prevent an orbital bombardment of Echo Base. Navander then announced to the command center that the Star Destroyer Tyrant was approaching. After the Imperials established a blockade around Hoth and began deploying ground forces, the rebels launched their first GR-75 medium transports, the Quantum Storm.
The v-150 ion cannon at Echo Base then fired upon the Imperial blockade, disabling the Tyrant and allowing the transport to escape without damage. Navander announced the successful evacuation of the Quantum Storm over Echo Base's public address system, eliciting cheers from rebels awaiting evacuation. Ultimately, the Alliance successfully evacuated Echo Base, though they suffered significant casualties.
Romas Navander's initial appearance was in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Burnell Tucker portrayed the character in the film, credited only as one of several "Other Officers." Tucker also played Wyron Serper in the same film and had previously portrayed Del Goren in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Navander's scenes within the Echo Base control room were filmed on Stage 1 at Elstree Studios between March 26 and 28, 1979. The announcement of the first transport escaping Hoth was voiced not by Tucker, but by actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the film.
Within the new Star Wars canon, Navander was first named in "In the Trenches," a 2019 article on the official website of Fantasy Flight Games. This article announced the Rebel Veterans Unit Expansion for the roleplaying game Star Wars: Legion. The name Romas Navander originated within Star Wars Legends continuity, first appearing in 1996 on a card from the Hoth Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.