In 8 ABY, Moff Sarne was ousted from his capital on Kal'Shebbol by the New Republic. Falling back to Gandle Ott with his fleet, Sarne claimed to the population that he was embarking on a mission to purge the sector of Rebels and pirates. Sarne took on supplies from the planet, recalled all loyal Imperial personnel—including the governor—and left orbit with the majority of the defense force. Before departing, Sarne activated Lansel, giving him orders to run the command files that the Moff had installed in the planetary BRT supercomputer, CUTH-BRT-92-X3. The programming would force CUTH-BRT-92-X3 to obey the orders of its Imperial controllers, which in that case was to ensure that the FarStar, a New RepublicCR90 corvette in pursuit of the Moff, was delayed and inconvenienced as much as possible. Lansel was also given orders to slow down any New Republic pursuit by redirecting them to the neighboring world of Shintel, where Sarne had arranged a trap for the corvette.[1]
Several days after Sarne's departure, the FarStar arrived in orbit and landed at Montrol Spaceport. Lansel was part of a delegation led by Marja Lang, the planet's Acting-Governor in the wake of her superior's departure, that greeted the crew. On the fourth day of the FarStar's visit, Lansel arranged for a brunch to be held at Torqumada Hanging Gardens to which the New Republic delegation was invited, along with various media personalities, business leaders, and politicians. During the event, Lansel relayed the information regarding Shintel to members of the FarStar's crew, implying that he had overheard other Imperial officers mentioning that Sarne was going to Shintel to "pick up the backups." With a supposedly solid lead on Sarne's location, the FarStar left the planet in pursuit after establishing diplomatic ties between the New Republic and Gandle Ott.[1]
Olaver Lansel was a pale, thin-face man with mousy brownhair and a mustache. Serious and polite, he was possessed of a dry sense of humor. An undercover agent, Lansel was convincing at portraying a downtrodden and alcoholic bureaucrat. He was trained in the use of a blaster, and carried a sporting model in addition to a comlink about his person. He was knowledgeable about the workings of a bureaucracy, could operate security systems, program droids, and handle explosives.[1]