An anonymous leading scientist was employed by the Imperial Navy and reported to Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin during the era of the Galactic Civil War. This individual spearheaded the project focused on the development of the cutting-edge TIE/D Defender.
Before Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin turned against the Empire, instigating an insurrection and commanding his forces in a mutiny, this chief scientist was in charge of the TIE Defender initiative. Zaarin subsequently attempted to seize his Research facility, but Loyalist Imperial troops, under the command of Tan Maarek Stele, successfully prevented him. Following a second attempt to invade and secure the station, Zaarin directed his Imperial-class Star Destroy Glory to destroy the facility. However, Loyalist forces were successful in recovering the remaining TIE Defender prototypes, designated Proto 11 and 12, onto a freighter named Mharsup, and the scientist was evacuated aboard a shuttle called G'nabgib.
The shuttle then linked up with 3 modified corvette from the Hashim group, with the intention of equipping each corvette with a TIE Defender, with Maarek Stele's being assigned to Hashim 3. After fending off Rebel forces who were trying to capture the prototypes, Hashim discovered they had entered a trap set by Rneekii Pirates. By the time Stele launched to engage the pirates, a transport identified as Ibutho 1 had already boarded the shuttle and abducted the scientist, along with critical data. Shortly after, Proto 11 was seized by a Nami team while Stele was occupied with engaging Rebel attackers.
The Rneekii opted to ransom the scientist to the highest bidder, which turned out to be the Empire. Regrettably, the pirates underestimated the Empire's capabilities, and after negotiating the ransom near the planet Kiilimaar, the Empire, utilizing Maarek Stele, successfully outmaneuvered and trap the pirates with an Interdictor named Red Claw. Once the scientist was aboard another shuttle, the order "Full Speed to Kiilimaar" was issued, and Stele engaged the pirates. The Red Claw arrived, preventing their escape. However, another Nami strike team then disabled the shuttle and damaged the Red Claw, rendering its hyperdrive and Gravity Well generators inoperable, effectively stranding both vessels. The Nami attempted to board the shuttle to capture the scientist, but they were unsuccessful. His shuttle was repaired and taken to the Red Claw. The Nami then informed Zaarin, who discovered that the ship was planning to transfer the scientist and prisoners to a Modified corvette known as Chemeti 1. Consequently, he dispatched an imposter ship to collect the scientist, while simultaneously launching a small attack force to divert the Imperials' attention. He handed the scientist over to Ali Tarrak, the leader of the Nami. She used the scientist to aid her in developing more TIE Defenders and decided to proliferate the ships, especially to the Rebels.
In response, Thrawn conceived and implemented his latest project, the Missile Boat, to control the proliferation and bring it under control. After locating and destroyed Tarrak's Deep Space Manufacturing Facility at Tarrak, Ali Tarrak fled the factory in a Corellian transport named Dhoora, taking the scientist with her. When Stele attacked the transport, she threatened to kill the scientist if he didn't back off. However, the Secret Order of the Empire recognized her bluff, and with Stele's assistance, Assault Gunboats disabled the transport, leading to the capture of both Ali Tarrak and the scientist, as the ship was programmed to head towards Coruscant.
The scientist is mentioned in the 1994 PC game Star Wars: TIE Fighter and plays a pivotal role in both the T/D Technology and New Threats campaigns. Throughout the game, the scientist is generally referred to by their title, and their gender is only specified once in Battle 10 Mission 1 by the Imperial briefing officer.