Koth Melan

Koth Melan was a male Bothan spymaster and head of the Bothan Spynet during the Galactic Civil War. After the Galactic Empire executed his father in 17 BBY for supposed espionage, Melan was sympathetic to the Alliance to Restore the Republic and sought to help them in order to regain his honor. Posing as an official of the Bothan Trade Mission, Melan conducted operations throughout the galaxy, including dealing with the smuggler Dash Rendar on the planet Corellia. He preferred the role of spymaster, rarely venturing into the field and traveled with a cadre of bodyguards.

In 3 ABY, his agents caught wind of a new Imperial military project that could pose a threat to the Alliance. He attempted to contact Leia Organa, but his message was instead intercepted by Luke Skywalker and Dash Rendar. This proved to be a stroke of luck for Melan, since data pertinent to the project would be passing through the Both system on the Mobquet medium transport Suprosa. He enlisted Commander Skywalker to train the Bothan pilots of Blue Squadron, and then, aboard Dash Rendar's ship, the Outrider, participated in the raid on the Suprosa. With the data retrieved, Melan directed Skywalker and Rendar to Kothlis, where a team of Bothan slicers could decipher the data. While Melan's team were working on the retrieval, the Kothlis safehouse was attacked by bounty hunters, and in the ensuing gunfight, Melan was shot and killed. Despite Melan's death, the data was ferried to the Alliance by agents allied to Borsk Fey'lya, and it was eventually discovered to be the plans for the Death Star II.

Text and facts from the “Koth Melan” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.