Nile Owen, a Moff, was a highly driven and skilled officer within the Galactic Empire. Early on during the Galactic Civil War, he held the position of Governor for the Rayter sector. Owen, known for his penchant for wearing furred cloaks with his Imperial attire, projected an image of menace, intelligence, and refinement. However, he possessed a volatile temper and readily executed those who failed him through either treachery or incompetence. A prime example of this was the demise of his assistant, Nak Farool, after Owen discovered Farool's plot to unseat him. Similarly, he ordered the deaths of an entire company of mercenaries for failing to deliver live prisoners for interrogation.
Nile Owen's career began in the military of the Galactic Empire, where he served on various aging Victory-class Star Destroyers. His exceptional performance, combined with his knack for cultivating relationships with influential figures, propelled him through the ranks at an impressive pace. During his ascent, Owen also became a father to one daughter. His career culminated in his appointment as Moff, the governor of the Rayter sector, responsible for maintaining order. Despite his high-ranking position, Owen remained ambitious, striving to gain control of an even more significant sector.
Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance to Restore the Republic initiated diplomatic discussions with the Shashay species, seeking their allegiance and permission to establish a Rebel base on their concealed planet, Crytal Nest. This move directly opposed the Empire's interests. The Empire also learned that Crying Dawn Singer, a revered Shashay cultural icon scheduled to perform for Owen at the grand opening of the Sector Performing Arts Center, had a Rebel operative embedded within his entourage. Owen's Special Assistant, Nak Farool, persuaded the Moff to authorize Operation 45ra, a clandestine mission: The Empire would secretly contract a criminal to abduct Crying Dawn Singer, an operation designed to expose the spy and, hopefully, uncover a Rebel base. Subsequently, the criminal would publicly issue outrageous ransom demands while falsely claiming affiliation with the Alliance. This scheme aimed to undermine the Alliance's diplomatic efforts and sway the Shashay towards the Empire.
Owen reluctantly agreed, unaware of Farool's treacherous intentions. Farool planned to broadcast not only the ransom demands but also fabricated transmissions implicating Owen's indifference to the abduction, thereby damaging Owen's reputation. Furthermore, when Farool hired the pirate Yearo Seville for the kidnapping, he instructed Seville to deliver the hostage to Farool's brother, Braig, the Governor of the planet Narg, rather than to Owen. Braig Farool would then stage a fabricated rescue operation, "recovering" Crying Dawn Singer and gaining public acclaim. As a result of this plot, Owen would be forced to resign, paving the way for Braig Farool to succeed him as Moff.
Seville successfully abducted Crying Dawn Singer and his entourage, transporting them to an abandoned Imperial base on the planet Najarka. There, COMPNOR discovered that the undercover agent was the Shashay's droid, KL-6TLF7V/T. Upon receiving this information, Owen departed for Najarka aboard his flagship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Impending Doom, determined to retrieve the droid for analysis by his staff. Meanwhile, Seville proceeded with the Shashay to the subspace relay station at Laim, where he would transmit the ransom demands, leaving the droid behind as instructed.
However, upon arriving at Najarka, Owen was astonished to find a team of Rebel agents attempting to escape with KL-6TLF7V/T. Despite deploying a Telgorn personal carrier carrying stormtroopers and supported by four TIE fighters, the Moff was unable to prevent their escape.
Seville broadcast his ransom demands from Laim, successfully deceiving the Shashay. Shashay navigators serving on Rebel starships hijacked their vessels and threatened to seek assistance from Owen unless Crying Dawn Singer was promptly returned.
Owen traveled to Laim aboard the Impending Doom. During an investigation with his subordinate, Admiral Sahreel, the Moff uncovered a recorded message from Nak Farool denouncing Owen. Enraged, he ordered Farool's immediate arrest and personally executed him on the ship's bridge, simultaneously ordering the destruction of the relay station. Owen then traced Farool's path to Narg, dispatching the Imperial Cruiser Kana's Steel, under the command of Captain Williar Barrog, to seize control of the local spaceport. The Impending Doom followed shortly thereafter.
Upon arriving at Narg, Owen discovered that the Rebel team he had encountered on Najarka was already present, attempting to rescue Crying Dawn Singer from Braig Farool's grasp. Determined to salvage his tarnished reputation, Owen sought to personally recover Crying Dawn Singer. However, despite deploying a battalion of stormtroopers against Farool's corporate security forces, Owen's efforts were thwarted, and the Rebel agents escaped with Crying Dawn Singer aboard the CRX-Tug Worthless Fool.
Owen replaced Nak Farool with a new personal assistant. This new aide later chose to defect and join the Alliance, aided by Rebel officer Airen Cracken. During this period, Owen's daughter was preparing for her wedding, an event expected to draw influential guests from twenty different sectors. The Rebel saboteur Aimi Loto had spent years reprogramming the protocol droids of these visitors to malfunction and even attack sentients during the event. Cracken met with Loto, who warned him to avoid protocol droids during the ceremony. The wedding ceremony became a chaotic scene of exploding, hostile, and treacherous droids.
Months before the Battle of Endor, Moff Owen dispatched a company of mercenaries from the First Sun Mobile Regiment to capture a Rebel outpost and provide him with prisoners for interrogation. Instead, the mercenaries killed all the Rebel soldiers. Enraged, Owen executed his subordinates. This act infuriated the First Sun leaders, leading them to distance themselves from the Empire for the first time since the Regiment's creation. Captain Zgorth'sth of the New Republic's Department of Threat Assessment documented this event in 11 ABY.
Owen, a slender, middle-aged Human male, projected a threatening aura due to his smile and intense gaze in his eyes. A refined individual skilled in management, he typically wore the uniform of an Imperial officer, enhanced by a furred cloak, a personal preference. His subordinates addressed him as "His Excellency."
Owen was known for his intelligence, determination, and cunning, driven solely by his dedication to the New Order and his ambition to advance his career. While he aimed to maintain strict control over the Rayter sector, Owen was prone to fits of rage, during which he was capable of killing anyone exhibiting incompetence or defiance, as demonstrated by his executions of Nak Farool and the First Sun mercenaries.
Nile Owen made his debut in The Abduction (1992), a roleplaying adventure authored by Chuck Truett for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Allen Nunis created several illustrations depicting Owen. According to his role-playing statistics, Owen possessed expertise in law enforcement and proficiency in using a blaster, but lacked skills in piloting or starship repair.
In The Abduction, if the player characters abandon KL-6TLF7V/T on Najarka, Owen recovers the droid, and his team accesses its memory banks. This leads to Owen discovering the secret Rebel base at Berrol's Donn and deploying a fleet to destroy it.
Alternatively, if they fail to escape Narg with Crying Dawn Singer, Owen arrests the Shashay and attempts to extract the secret galactic coordinates of Crytal Nest through torture, ultimately resulting in Crying Dawn Singer's death. This enrages the Shashay leaders, who then refuse to assist the Alliance. The loss of such a valuable ally weakens the Alliance, causing fragmentation within the sector, which solidifies Owen's control over Rayter.