Xamuel Lennox

Xamuel Lennox was a descendant of a distinguished military family comprised of men who had served as officers for generations. Following the fall of the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY, Lennox enlisted in the navy of the Galactic Empire, convinced that the Republic was corrupt and determined to follow in the esteemed footsteps of his ancestors. By 1 BBY, amid the Galactic Civil War against the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Lennox held the rank of captain aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer known as the Tyrant.

During that year, Lennox was in command of Imperial naval operations within the Pakuuni sector. He received orders from the sector governor to lead a squadron of ten Star Destroyers to trap and eliminate Rebel warships that were orbiting the planet Turkana. Imperial Intelligence had reported the presence of the Rebel group, initially estimating it to consist of four to six capital ships and three to eight smaller vessels. Before deploying his fleet from hyperspace in the Turkana system, Lennox ordered a starfighter flyby to confirm the Rebels' presence. On the bridge of the Tyrant, Lennox received confirmation from his first officer, Cabbel, that their TIE interceptors had located the Rebels above Turkana.

Employing Formation Besh within Attack Pattern Tartarus to prevent the surprised Rebels from escaping, Lennox's Tyrant took the lead, supported primarily by Captain Firmus Piett of the Star Destroyer Accuser, as they engaged the Rebels' seven Mon Calamari Star Cruisers at long range. The two Star Destroyers, along with the Flanchard and another Destroyer, also launched their TIE fighter wings under Lennox's command. The evading Rebels also possessed two Nebulon-B frigates, two CR90 corvettes, four GR-75 transports, and a Golan Ribbon tanker. Their cruisers' engines were targeted by TIE bombers flying under the protection of TIE fighters and interceptors.

Within a minute, Rebel Admiral Gial Ackbar deployed three squadrons of Y-wings and two squadrons of newly acquired T-65 X-wing starfighters. Despite Captain Piett's warnings about the advanced capabilities of the X-wings, Lennox persisted with his strategy of relying on superior TIE fighter numbers. While the defensive screen of TIEs was occupied by the X-wings, the Y-wings began destroying Imperial bombers, prompting Piett to redirect the Accuser to engage the Rebel fighters and allow the bombers to disable the engines of one MC80 Star Cruiser.

Piett, already convinced that Lennox's inaction had cost the Empire a victory, disregarded his fellow captain's orders when the remaining TIEs suffered heavy losses. He moved the Imperial fleet closer to the Rebels into full weapons range as part of Formation Aleph, Attack Pattern Abbadon. Nevertheless, none of the Rebel capital ships were destroyed, and the Rebel fighters inflicted significant damage on the Star Destroyers Formidable and Ajax by breaching their bridge shields with proton torpedoes, forcing Captain Lennox to order the Empire's retreat via hyperspace.

After regrouping at the world Pakuuni, Captain Piett submitted a mission report on the battle, which was later included in the Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide tactical manual, distributed just before the Battle of Yavin nineteen years into the Empire's reign. In his report, Piett recommended Lennox's removal from command of naval operations in the Pakuuni sector and led the subsequent unsuccessful Operation Strike Fear counterattack.

By the time the Tyrant joined the battle against the warlord Nuso Esva eight months after the Battle of Yavin, the starship had earned a formidable reputation across the Empire as a member of Death Squadron, the personal fleet of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader. It typically consisted of five Imperial I- and Imperial II-class Star Destroyers supporting Vader's Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, aboard which Piett served as captain under Admiral Kendal Ozzel. In 3 ABY, Captain Lennox and Lieutenant Cabbel continued their command roles on the Tyrant, and at some point, Lennox had received a myoelectric hip replacement for his right hip.

Cabbel reported to Captain Lorth Needa aboard the Star Destroyer Stalker as part of a temporary detachment of Death Squadron that also included Needa's Avenger in the Anoat sector. Following the Battle of Derra IV, they redirected probe droids to search for the Rebel headquarters on the planets Allyuen, Tokmia, and Hoth within the sector. Upon locating the Rebels on Hoth, Death Squadron, reinforced by four Star Destroyers from Juris Sector Forces, executed a series of hyperspace jumps from the Juris sector's Qeimet system to attack the Hoth system, where Lennox was joined by Cabbel on the Tyrant's bridge.

Lennox and Cabbel's warship was positioned at the forefront of Death Squadron's formation as one of six Star Destroyers forming a heavy attack line supported by the Executor, maintaining a full complement of seventy-two TIE fighters. Despite Admiral Ozzel's error of alerting the Rebels to the fleet's arrival by exiting hyperspace too close to Hoth, Death Squadron immediately initiated the Battle of Hoth by launching a ground assault on the Rebel base there. Meanwhile, Lennox and the Tyrant advanced to intercept the Rebels' GR-75 transports and their X-wing escorts as they attempted to evacuate personnel from the planet's surface.

Lennox stood beside the viewports on the Tyrant's bridge when Cabbel eagerly informed him that Rebel vessels were approaching their position. Eager to engage the Rebels despite lacking information about the composition of the incoming craft, Lennox announced to his bridge crew that they were about to catch the first prey of the battle. An officer reported that they were facing two starfighters and a transport—the first Rebel transport, the Quantum Storm, escorted by a pair of X-wings. As Lennox ordered his crew to attack upon his command and fixed his sight ahead, the Rebels fired their planetary ion cannon at the Tyrant. An officer reported that com-scan detected power fluctuations on the planet's surface, but before the captain could request clarification, he identified the flashes of incoming ion blasts. One struck the Tyrant's dorsal superstructure, while another hit its conning tower, knocking Lennox to the deck floor and removing his cap.

Lennox's vessel lost its shields and helm control, allowing the Rebel ships to escape the star system. Due to the energy surge, Lennox realized that the Star Destroyer's bridge had also lost its console displays and lighting. The ion blast also deactivated a droid and affected Lennox's myoelectric hip replacement, causing his foot to tap uncontrollably. Despite the chaos, Lennox attempted to stand and told Cabbel to disregard his commands for all stations to report, realizing that the Tyrant, although veering off course, would not collide with Hoth and that the Accuser would have to take his ship's lead position.

The Tyrant's bridge further suffered from the loss of artificial gravity, forcing Lennox to grasp a handhold while he watched his crew, strapped into their stations, attempt to secure a tumbling Cabbel. Lennox concluded from the impact of the ion cannon that the weapon was a large emplacement on Hoth, and the captain dismissed his crew's futile status reports as he became aware that the Tyrant would remain debilitated until the battle's outcome was clear.

Lennox's crew managed to repair the Star Destroyer as the battle continued. Soldiers of the Imperial 501st Legion had captured the Rebel General Crix Madine on Hoth and transported him to the Tyrant's docking bay via a shuttle, intending to transfer him to prison on the planet Dathomir. Captain Lennox summoned one of the soldiers to report the battle's status on the bridge, but the Tyrant was struck by another ion blast, prompting Lennox to alert his crew to a possible Rebel boarding action, order his helmsman to repair the inoperative systems, and instruct the soldier to secure Madine in the Tyrant's brig.

Indeed, Rebel commandos exploited the ship's ion damage to board it, rescue Madine from the brig, and return to Hoth aboard a stolen Lambda-class shuttle before evacuating with the Rebel cruiser Champion. As the Champion prepared to enter hyperspace for the Rebel rendezvous point, Captain Lennox's Tyrant attacked the vessel and launched its Star Destroyer's TIEs, offering to cease the attack if the Rebels surrendered General Madine. The captain of the Champion refused the deal and launched X-wings and Y-wings that held off Lennox's forces and allowed the Rebels to escape. Ultimately, the Empire either captured or destroyed seventeen of the thirty transports fleeing Echo Base, scattering the remainder of the Rebellion.

Following the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader sent a communication that Lennox received in his ready room on the Tyrant with the Imperial soldier he had summoned earlier. Lennox's forces were assigned to the mining colony Cloud City on the gas giant Bespin in the nearby Bespin system, where he was to drive away Rachi Sitra, a Jedi Diplomat who was creating problems for Imperial negotiations with the city. Vader concluded the message by warning Lennox not to fail again, and Lennox tasked the Imperial soldier with leading the assault on the Jedi. After two days, the Tyrant arrived in the Bespin system, and the Imperial soldier took a number of troops in a shuttle to Cloud City and forced Sitra to flee the colony before Darth Vader's arrival with Death Squadron, which had been pursuing Rebels through the Hoth asteroid field between Hoth and Bespin.

The soldier informed Lennox of Sitra's departure via hologram, and the captain ordered the operative to remove Rebel sympathizers from Cloud City's lower levels, providing the soldier with locations to search and names of suspected sympathizers. However, before the soldier could investigate any suspects, Cloud City's Baron Administrator, Lando Calrissian, advised his people to evacuate. In the ensuing chaos, the soldier captured Calrissian's top aide, Lobot, and prevented Rebel commandos from rescuing the Rebel Captain Han Solo from Vader's forces. When Lennox debriefed the operative aboard the Tyrant, he praised the soldier's removal of the Jedi and their efforts in preventing the Rebels from interfering with Vader's business, assuring them that the Empire would provide another worthy assignment.

Lennox remained captain of the Tyrant and served in Death Squadron at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, where the Rebels destroyed the second Death Star superweapon and killed Vader and Emperor Palpatine, fracturing the Empire. Several years later, shortly after the Bacta War of 7 ABY, Lennox's Tyrant was captured by the Rebel Alliance's successor, the New Republic. With Lennox imprisoned, the New Republic renamed his ship Rebel Dream and designated it as the flagship of Princess Leia Organa.

Xamuel Lennox, a Human male, possessed sharp, defined facial features, closely cropped brown hair, matching eyebrows, piercing dark eyes, fair skin punctuated by a mole on his left cheek, and a resonant, profound voice. He had undergone extensive training, aspiring to emulate his predecessors as a distinguished officer. Demonstrating exceptional tactical acumen and leadership skills, he took command of the Imperial Star Destroyer Tyrant, developing a deep commitment to both the vessel and its crew. Lennox prioritized the welfare of his crew above his own career advancement, openly praising his subordinates for successful mission completion.

Unlike the honorable principles upheld by his ancestors, Lennox deeply resented the pervasiveness of corruption, treachery, and political games within the Empire. However, he remained a cautious individual, wary of being consumed by the Empire's war machine, just as the Republic had become obsolete. Having mastered the art of deception, mirroring the tactics of his colleagues, Lennox grew increasingly cynical, convinced that deceit was the only universal truth. The Galactic Civil War, combined with his position, exacted a heavy toll on his conscience. He became disillusioned with the Empire's depravity but also held the Rebellion in disdain for instigating the conflict, viewing them as immoral and hypocritical—believing they aimed to reconstruct a Republic as tainted as the Empire they condemned.

Despite his leadership prowess, Lennox's strategic decisions during the Battle of Turkana, coupled with his disregard for Captain Piett's counsel, resulted in an Imperial defeat. This led to Piett recommending Lennox's removal from his command of Imperial naval forces in the Pakuuni sector. By the time the Battle of Hoth occurred, Lennox was well-acquainted with the workings of ion cannon installations. While some naval recruits struggled to adapt to the constant noise and vibrations on a Star Destroyer, Lennox found himself missing that familiar hum when away from his ship, considering it the Tyrant's heartbeat.

Lennox maintained a composed demeanor, typically clasping his hands behind his back. However, he would make eye contact with Cabbel and offer a subtle smile upon receiving the lieutenant's report of approaching Rebel ships during the Battle of Hoth. He remained unfazed by the Rebels' arsenal, expressing confidence in his ship and the Death Squadron's capabilities, focusing intently on the incoming spacecraft. The captain swiftly identified the trails of ion cannon fire striking his Star Destroyer and remained alert to the ensuing chaos, maintaining his composure as he assessed the situation's implications for both the Imperial fleet and his own vessel, promptly securing himself when artificial gravity was disabled. Lennox's expression soured as he realized that the Tyrant would be rendered inactive during the crucial stages of the Battle of Hoth.

In his capacity as an Imperial captain, Lennox wore the regulation uniform for an Imperial naval command officer, complete with a cap and black gloves. A lone code cylinder was positioned next to a rank insignia plaque on the left side of his chest, displaying three red bars above three blue bars. By the time of the Hoth campaign, he had undergone a procedure to receive a myoelectric replacement for his right hip.

The character of Xamuel Lennox, along with his Star Destroyer, the Tyrant, were initially introduced, albeit mistakenly identified as Captain Needa and his Star Destroyer, the Avenger, in Donald F. Glut's April 1980 novelization of the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, which was subsequently released in May of the same year. Lennox makes an appearance in the film, portrayed by John Dicks, who is credited as one of the "other officers" among the Imperial characters. Interior Star Destroyer scenes were shot between April 17 and 30, 1979, at Stage 5 of Elstree Studios.

The 1996 Hoth Limited set of Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game officially named the character Lennox. The first name "Xamuel" was assigned to him in the article "The Empire's Finest: Who's Who in the Imperial Military," featured in the September 4, 2007 ninety-sixth issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine, penned by Abel G. Peña and Daniel Wallace.

"The Empire's Finest," which delved deeper into Lennox's character, was initially composed in 2002 for publication alongside Peña and Wallace's "Who's Who: Imperial Grand Admirals" article in the Star Wars Gamer magazine before its discontinuation. Peña originally considered naming Lennox "Corazon," the Spanish term for "heart," believing it would reflect the character's internal struggle between the Empire and the Rebellion. However, he ultimately changed it to "Xamuel" before the release of The Empire's Finest. Peña reasoned that drawing names from other languages was an overused trope and instead drew inspiration from the United States Founding Father Samuel Adams—though he confessed that he was also thinking of Samuel Adams beer at the time. The author regarded Lennox as one of the "good" Imperials he had written about and expressed a desire to revisit the character, whom he described as adapting to ethically challenging situations.

"The Empire's Finest" addressed the initial confusion among fans regarding Lennox's sole line in The Empire Strikes Back, which was mistakenly attributed to Firmus Piett. The article clarified that while Lennox's face is not fully visible in the scene, his voice was noticeably deeper than Piett's. The article also asserted that part of the confusion stemmed from the film novelization incorrectly assigning the line to Piett, but the novel actually attributed it to Captain Needa.

The opening scene of the 1993 video game Star Wars: X-Wing features artwork that recreates Captain Lennox's scene with Lieutenant Cabbel in The Empire Strikes Back, albeit with bare hands. The 2014 reference book Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide confirms Lennox's participation in the events of the game, set before the Battle of Yavin, as captain of the Tyrant.

The Imperial soldier serving under Lennox, mentioned in the article biography, is the player character in the Dark Side scenario campaign of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game's 2010 set, The Price of Victory. In contrast to his film appearance, Captain Lennox's card in that set depicts him with a thin brown moustache and without his code cylinder.

A character bearing a striking resemblance to Xamuel Lennox appears in the fifth issue of Empire Lost, the third mini-series of the Star Wars: Crimson Empire comic series. The issue was written by Mike Richardson, illustrated by Paul Gulacy and Michael Bartolo, and published by Dark Horse Comics on March 7, 2012. This article avoids definitively identifying the character as Xamuel Lennox.

The character possessed distinctly brown eyes and served as an Imperial Remnant commander at a meeting of the Council of Moffs on the planet Orinda around 13 ABY, where Admiral Gilad Pellaeon convened the group to discuss a treaty with the New Republic. Following the council's receipt of news that the Republic had assassinated the Imperial Feena D'Asta—who was actually killed by a dissident Imperial faction—the commander argued against retaliating against the New Republic, believing that such action could potentially weaken the Imperial fleet following their previous defeat in the Pallaxides system. Despite the commander's opposition, Admiral Pellaeon and the council opted to strike back at the New Republic.

Captain Lennox is among the characters whose names can be randomly assigned to Imperial leaders in the 2001 video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds's standard game mode, as well as in its 2002 expansion, Clone Campaigns. Given that the Imperial leaders' mentions are independent of the game's plots, they are considered non-canonical within the Star Wars Legends continuity.

Jason Fry authored a story expanding upon Captain Lennox's experiences during the events of The Empire Strikes Back for his April 2012 reference book, The Essential Guide to Warfare, but it was ultimately omitted from publication. The story was subsequently released on StarWars.com on August 8, 2014, as part of the eleventh installment of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, which showcases various materials that were cut from the book. Entitled "A SOLDIER'S STORY: HIT BY AN ION CANNON," the story captured the attention of Warfare editor Erich Schoeneweiss, who believed that Fry could further develop the story into a more comprehensive exploration of the impact of the ion cannon strikes on Lennox and his ship.