Zevulon Veers, often shortened to Zev, was the oldest son of General Maximilian Veers of the Imperial Army and a Human. However, he later became a defector, joining the ranks of the Rebel Alliance. The early loss of his mother profoundly impacted Veers, leading his father to raise him under strict Imperial ideals. As Veers grew, he distanced himself from his father, questioning the Empire's values, particularly its use of slavery against non-Humans, which he deemed morally wrong. Subsequently, Veers enlisted in a battalion within the Sub-Adult Group of COMPNOR, where a Political Reliability Observer gave him poor evaluations. Following junior officer training, his father compelled Veers to join the elite CompForce unit of COMPNOR. It was during his time there that he resolved to defect. While Ivo Laibach, Veers's commanding officer, interrogated a captive suspected of Rebel affiliations, a Rebel task force launched an assault on the CompForcers, taking Veers prisoner. After a brief [time](/article/time/legends] as a prisoner, Veers switched sides and joined the Alliance.
Veers discovered a sense of freedom as a Rebel, no longer bound by his father's expectations of Imperial service. In 10 ABY, he fought in the Battle of Calamari, serving as a gunner on the New Republic Star Destroyer Emancipator. During the confrontation, Veers successfully destroyed the Super Star Destroyer Allegiance, but the Emancipator was caught in the molecular furnace of a World Devastator and began to break apart, forcing Veers and the crew to abandon ship. Later, he participated in an attack against the Emperor's Citadel on the planet Byss, where he and a New Republic commando team infiltrated the planet aboard several X-1 Viper war droids. They initiated their assault and advanced to the Citadel's entrance, but Emperor Palpatine's chrysalide beasts repelled them. Eventually, the smugglers Salla Zend and Shug Ninx rescued Veers and the surviving commandos, transporting them to safety off-world.
Zevulon Veers, a Human, was the only son and the oldest offspring of Maximilian Veers, a rising officer in the Imperial Army. Born around 9 BBY, he entered a privileged life under Imperial rule, enjoying a happy childhood under the care of his mother. Some years after his birth, a summer vacation turned tragic when his mother contracted a rare and deadly illness, leading to her death. This loss left Veers in his father's care, who immersed himself in Imperial service to cope with his grief. He raised the young Veers to honor his mother by becoming a dedicated Imperial.
As Veers grew older, he felt increasingly distant from his father, yearning for his mother's affection. Though he attended the best schools and had every material need met, he began to question the Empire's governance. He wondered about the enslavement of his more intelligent tutors and the disappearances of his father's dissenting friends. Despite his inquiries, no one, including his father, provided answers. Witnessing what he considered Imperial atrocities, like the enslavement of non-Humans, Veers started to believe the Empire's ideals were largely false.
At his father's insistence, Zevulon Veers reluctantly joined a local battalion of the Sub-Adult Group, the youth wing of COMPNOR. While the idea of societal improvement appealed to Veers, he struggled to connect with the other youths and questioned the purpose of the constant marching and singing of New Order anthems. He navigated his adolescence without major incidents in the Sub-Adult Group, but his father was disappointed by the low marks from a Political Reliability Observer. His father lectured him on how his low scores and questioning during a slave camp field trip could jeopardize the general's career, leading Veers to suppress his thoughts. He continued through the following years without repeating his mistakes, but his distrust of the Empire only intensified.
Veers eventually completed junior officer training, hoping for a non-combat role, but his father, seeking to toughen him, forced him to join CompForce, COMPNOR's military arm. Veers held CompForce in low regard and grew weary of the constant drills. Following the Imperial victory at [Hoth](/article/hoth-legends], where his father played a significant role, Veers and his father returned from a brief leave and were celebrated as military heroes. Veers attended numerous celebrations and heard speeches about the Empire's glory and the impending defeat of the Rebel Alliance.
Several months before Emperor Palpatine's death at the Battle of Endor, during a routine CompForce police operation, Veers served as a bodyguard to his battalion commander, Ivo Laibach. Laibach began interrogating prisoners suspected of Rebel ties. In an attempt to harden the young CompForcers to the realities of torture, Laibach began to abuse and torture an elderly librarian, deeply disturbing Veers. Simultaneously, a Rebel squad led by the librarian's daughter attacked the CompForce battalion, wounding Laibach. Disgusted by Laibach's actions, Veers freed the old man and treated his injuries with a medpac just as the Rebel squad leader arrived to rescue her father. Initially suspicious of Veers, she was convinced of his sincerity after her father vouched for him. Nevertheless, Veers was taken prisoner by the Rebels, who treated him with kindness.
Veers soon defected to the Rebel Alliance, serving its successor, the New Republic. Upon learning of his son's actions, the elder Veers wished his son had died in the Rebel attack and tried to suppress the shame of his defection. The younger Veers disowned his father but hoped his family would reject the Empire and understand his decision. However, Veers never saw or heard from his father again.
In 10 ABY, Emperor Palpatine returned in a clone body and launched an offensive against the New Republic. Zevulon Veers served as a gunner on the New Republic Star Destroyer Emancipator when Admiral Gial Ackbar ordered the Emancipator and its fleet to engage the Emperor's newest superweapons, the World Devastators, which were attacking the planet Calamari. The Emancipator, under the command of Generals Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian, intercepted an Imperial transmission above Calamari and planned to drop out of hyperspace near its source. Calrissian ordered Veers to fire all the Star Destroyer's forward turbolasers and ion cannons at his command upon arriving above Calamari. Veers executed Calrissian's orders immediately after the fleet exited hyperspace, destroying the Super Star Destroyer Allegiance, the source of the transmission, while its deflector shields were down.
During this battle, Veers found himself in direct opposition to his father. After squadrons of starfighters were deployed from the Emancipator to combat the World Devastators on Calamari's surface, one Devastator ascended to low orbit and engaged the Star Destroyer. Calrissian ordered Veers and the other gunners to fire all forward torpedoes at the Devastator, but the Emancipator was caught in one of its large furnaces and began disintegrating, leading Calrissian to order the crew to abandon ship. The crew escaped in escape pods and were rescued by arriving New Republic frigates.
Later, Veers and a large New Republic task force under Antilles and Calrissian infiltrated a shipment of Imperial X-1 Viper Automadon war droids aboard the Imperial Star Hauler Reliance. En route to the Imperial fortress world Byss, the New Republic commando team planned to launch an attack on the Emperor's Citadel using the war droids. Calrissian worried about controlling the war droids after their battle programming activated, but Veers assured him they had manual overrides. Once the war droids were unloaded at Byss's Imperial Freight Complex, Veers and the New Republic team activated them and headed for the Emperor's Citadel. Veers, piloting one of the war droids, faced heavy fire from Imperial forces and, after defeating Imperial gunships, reached the Emperor's Citadel with the rest of the team.
Veers and the commandos found a service bridge leading to the Citadel's front. Under continuous Imperial fire, Veers and Antilles evacuated the war droids as they pressed their attack. Simultaneously, Palpatine released his Chrysalide beasts to combat the war droids. Veers and Antilles retreated upon seeing the beasts, allowing the war droids to engage them. The Chrysalide beasts continued their assault, destroying every war droid and then targeting the New Republic ground team. An exhausted Veers continued to fall back with Antilles as the beasts advanced, until the smugglers Salla Zend and Shug Ninx, piloting the freighter Starhook Ten, disabled an attacking beast with an ion blast and rescued Veers and Antilles. Veers, injured from the battle, struggled to board the vessel. Another Chrysalide beast attempted to attack the Starhook Ten but was thwarted. Once everyone was safely onboard, the Starhook Ten joined the newly formed smuggling fleet and fled Byss through hyperspace.
Zevulon Veers had a difficult relationship with his father following his mother's death. He considered the summer before her death the last truly happy period of his life and continued to miss her warmth as he grew up. Veers grew distant from his father and was disturbed by his father's focus on his own reputation. Veers's life was largely dictated by his father's desires.
Veers was a curious child who frequently questioned the Empire's treatment of its citizens, much to his father's annoyance. His desire to help society and his compassion for non-Human slaves often conflicted with Imperial ideals. Veers's faith in the Empire was shaken multiple times throughout his childhood. He often questioned the Empire's enslavement of non-Humans and bombardment of planets, and why these actions were celebrated. In the Sub-Adult Group, Veers struggled to fit in and spent much of his time playing Wegsphere.
As an adolescent, studying logic and philosophy only reinforced Veers's views of the Empire, allowing him to critically analyze Imperial media reports and propaganda broadcasts. He viewed CompForce as little more than a group of armed teenagers, often calling it "CompFarce." He vowed not to become conditioned to blindly follow orders like his father, a conviction that strengthened after his father's victory at Hoth. Veers's animosity toward his father and declining faith in the Empire ultimately led to his defection to the Rebel Alliance. His breaking point came when he witnessed his superior officer torturing an old man. Once captured by the Rebels, he quickly joined their cause.
As a Rebel, Veers found the freedom to live as he chose, no longer bound by his father's expectations. Due to their similar first names, he was often mistaken for Zev Senesca, a Rebel pilot who died during the Battle of Hoth. Veers was perplexed by this and strived to be as honorable as Senesca. He utilized his skills during his time in the Rebellion and the New Republic. He served as a gunner aboard the Star Destroyer Emancipator during the Battle of Calamari, destroying a Super Star Destroyer with his skill. He later piloted an X-1 Viper war droid during the attack on the Emperor's Citadel, demonstrating extensive knowledge of the droid's battle programming.
Zevulon Veers was first introduced in the third issue of the Star Wars: Dark Empire comic book series, authored by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy. He subsequently appeared in the fourth issue of Star Wars: Dark Empire II and was voiced by John Cygan in the comic book's audio adaptation. His complete backstory was detailed in the Dark Empire Sourcebook by Michael Allen Horne. Additional background information on Veers was provided in Maximilian Veers's entry in The New Essential Guide to Characters.
The Dark Empire Sourcebook mistakenly used an image of a different crew member from the Emancipator in its entry for Zevulon Veers. It featured a communications officer seated next to Calrissian and Antilles, despite Calrissian's direct communication with someone in the crew pit when speaking to Veers. Veers is notably absent from the fifth issue of Dark Empire II, although the events of that issue are depicted in the Dark Empire II audio drama with Veers included.