Villian Dance Villian Dance , nicknamed Vil , was an Imperial TIE Fighter pilot who defected to the Rebel Alliance after becoming disillusioned with the Empire . A native of Corellia , Dance attended Imperial City Naval Base on Coruscant early in his career , where he trained under Vindoo Barvel , a hero of the Clone Wars who was considered the best pilot in the galaxy . At some point before 1 BBY , Dance was promoted to lieutenant commander and given control of Alpha Squad . In 1 BBY , Dance and his squadron were moved to the Death Star , a battlestation being constructed above Despayre . Dance fought for the Empire in the Attack on the first Death Star , where he became a double ace after amassing ten kills . However , the ease with which he killed the enemy pilots disturbed him , as Dance felt that the battle had been a virtual slaughter . After the Destruction of Alderaan a short time later , Dance lost all faith in the Empire , and planned to desert along with his girlfriend Teela Kaarz and a small group of like - minded individuals . During the Battle of Yavin , the group commandeered a shuttle , hoping to escape from the Death Star . When the battlestation exploded mere seconds after they had left the hangar , they were free from the Empire . After proposing marriage to Kaarz , Dance and the survivors of his group joined the Rebellion on Yavin 4 . Biography . Early Imperial service . Villian Dance was born on Corellia and entered the Imperial Navy before 1 BBY , with dreams of becoming a pilot . At some point prior to that , Dance was at Imperial City Naval Base on Coruscant , training under Colonel Vindoo Barvel , who was widely considered the best pilot in the galaxy . During a training exercise with powered - down fighters , Darth Vader showed up and requested a TIE Fighter to fly against Barvel and the trainees . Vader easily eliminated the trainees , and was left with just Barvel . Though Vader did not outclass Barvel at first , the others realized that he was only toying with the colonel . This realization was made fact when Vader swooped past Barvel and shot him down , despite the colonel ' s best efforts to escape . Vader ' s demonstration left a lasting impression on Dance , who was stunned at the ease with which Vader had defeated the so - called best combat pilot in the galaxy . Around 1 BBY , Lieutenant Commander Dance , officially known as ST - 1 - 1 , was stationed on the Imperial Star Destroyer " Steel Talon " above the prison planet Despayre as the commander of Alpha Squad when a group of prisoners on the planet stole a " Lambda " - class T - 4a shuttle . Dance , along with the rest of his squadron , hurried to their TIE Fighters , ready to destroy the enemy ship . Dance , in the faster and more maneuverable TIE Fighter , was able to easily catch up to the shuttle . He ordered the escapees to surrender , but they refused , forcing him to destroy them . Dance easily blasted the shuttle apart , killing the escapees just before they could jump to hyperspace . After successfully completing his mission , Dance took a moment to think about how much he loved his life and especially his job . He was a commander of an Imperial squadron , and he hoped that if he kept moving up the ladder , he would be promoted and placed onboard the Empire ' s new battlestation — a superweapon named the Death Star . However , destroying the virtually helpless shuttle would come back to haunt him . Dance had several nightmares about the destruction of the shuttle in the nights following its destruction , and he began , for the first time , to question the Empire and what he was doing . A short time after destroying the shuttle , Dance ' s squad was one of ten sent to escort a transport carrying Darth Vader from the Star Destroyer " Devastator " to the Death Star . Hearing that Vader was aboard brought back memories of the time when Dance had witnessed the Dark Lord defeat Vindoo Barvel in an exercise . Though Dance was aware that Vader needed no escort , he did his job without complaint . As he flew alongside Vader ' s shuttle , Dance could not help but wonder why Vader was needed on the Death Star . Promotion . Not long after escorting Vader , Dance and Alpha Squadron were transferred to the Death Star . However , during a training exercise in the Death Star ' s equatorial trench , disaster struck for Dance . Nond Kendo , who recently joined the squadron , refused Dance ' s orders to pull up during a training run on several target drone s . Kendo , determined to show off , kept going . He was unable to turn before hitting the drones , destroying his fighter and killing himself . Dance was both angered and upset by this . Although he knew that it was not his fault , he still felt guilty , and Dance wished that he could do more to help Kendo ' s family than just sending them a consolatory message via the HoloNet . He felt that Kendo ' s death had been pointless and began to have more doubts about the Empire . In the time after this incident , Dance spent almost all his spare time training , by flying in simulators , and even attending a Teräs Käsi class taught by Sergeant Nova Stihl . Dance ' s piloting skill improved during this period , as he worked relentlessly to get better in an effort to erase the memory of Kendo ' s death from his mind . When his duty was over , and he had spent what he felt was enough time practicing , Dance sometimes passed time in the Death Star ' s Hard Heart Cantina , located on Deck 69 and run by the Twi ' lek Memah Roothes . There , a short time after Kendo ' s accident , Dance met the architect Teela Kaarz . Seeing her harassed by a drunken patron , he intervened , holding off the man long enough for the bouncer Rodo to come over and throw the disruptor out . Dance was attracted to Kaarz , and he introduced himself . Kaarz found herself intrigued by the pilot , and the two began talking . They soon became friends , and began interacting frequently , going out to dinner often . It was not long before they developed a romantic relationship , with Kaarz inviting Dance to her apartment for dinner at one point . After he had been on the Death Star for several months , Dance and Alpha Squad were interrupted during a training mission with the report that an enemy ship had entered the system . The ship was the " Fortressa " , a " Lucrehulk " - class battleship belonging to the Rebel Alliance . Alpha Squad , along with nine other TIE squadrons , was dispatched to engage the battleship and the fighters it carried . Excited about the possibility of doing battle with the hated Rebels , Dance flew into combat eagerly . The battleship released 500 X - wing starfighters , but they proved to be no match for the Imperials . The Death Star fired its superlaser , destroying the " Fortressa " , and thus preventing it from issuing reinforcements or recalling the fighters . The X - wings were dead - set on reaching the Death Star , in the hope that they could find a way to destroy it . Because of this , they virtually ignored the TIEs around them , allowing the Imperial pilots to rout the Rebels . When the battle was over , the Rebels had been massacred , and Dance was a double ace , having killed ten enemy fighters . However , he took no pride in it , because he believed it had been too easy , more of a slaughter than a battle . Dance expressed these feelings to Kaarz , and also told her that he wanted a challenge , something the architect understood . Though Dance had already been having doubts about the integrity of the Empire , the battle caused him to lose a great deal of faith , as he wondered what government would allow its soldiers to slaughter people , even if those people were its enemies . The trust he still had in the Empire was lost after the Death Star destroyed the planet Despayre simply in a test of the battlestation ' s firepower , which saw the obliteration of millions in the process . Dance was stunned by the Empire ' s cruelty , and he began to seriously consider if he was on the wrong side . After the Empire destroyed the pacifist planet Alderaan a short time later , Dance was completely devastated . Though the Empire claimed that Alderaan had been harboring dangerous Rebels , rumors persisted that the planet had been destroyed just to make a point . Distraught , Dance spent most of his time after Alderaan ' s destruction in the Hard Heart . Defection . In the cantina he spoke with Kaarz , the bouncer Rodo , Roothes , her boyfriend Celot Ratua Dil , archivist Atour Riten , Stihl , and Doctor Kornell Divini . The group , sickened by the Empire ' s actions , began to formulate a plan for escape . A short time later , they held another meeting in secret , where they spoke of their plan to leave that very day . They planned to steal an E - 2T medical shuttle , while Riten would use codes he obtained through slicing to get it clearance to leave . At the same time , the Death Star was in the Yavin system , heading toward a Rebel base near the planet Yavin Prime . The Rebels launched a flight of X - wings , hoping to be able to destroy the space station before it entered within firing range . In the chaos of the ensuing battle , Dance stole off to the hangar holding the planned escape shuttle . He met the rest of the group , save for Riten , who needed to stay behind to allow the shuttle a better chance to leave . The group , dressed as medics , approached the hangar , claiming that they were part of an emergency rescue team sent to pick up injured Imperial pilots . However , a group of guards refused to buy their story , and Rodo and Stihl decided that they too would stay behind . Both were masters of Teräs Käsi , and they planned to fight the guards to grant the others an opportunity to reach the shuttle and take off . Although Rodo and Stihl were gunned down and killed , their sacrifice enabled the others to leave . But the remaining group was not yet in the clear . Darth Vader , flying against the Rebel starfighters in his TIE Advanced x1 , sensed that the escaping shuttle , piloted by Dance and carrying his group , contained deserters , and he flew over to force them back to the Death Star . However , Dance was able to evade the Dark Lord by momentarily killing the shuttle ' s engines , bringing the craft to a sudden stop so that Vader flew right by him . Though Vader quickly turned around to aim his guns at the shuttle , he suddenly broke off pursuit to confront a Rebel pilot who posed a threat to the Death Star . While it appeared Dance and his group were free , the shuttle was once again stopped from escape , this time snared in one of the Death Star ' s tractor beams . Desperate to escape , Kaarz suggested that Dance continue trying to escape the tractor beam , even though it meant the engines would likely explode . The group agreed to let Dance keep fighting the tractor beam , as they were desperate to escape , and resolved not to go down without a fight . Nonetheless , the beam continued to pull the shuttle in toward the Death Star , when suddenly the space station exploded , the result of the same Rebel pilot who stole Vader away from their shuttle firing a proton torpedo down an unshielded thermal exhaust port . The shuttle was free , and the group was free from the Empire . They discussed their plans , and Dance announced that he intended to join the Rebellion and fight against the government he had once defended . Before he did this , he proposed marriage to Kaarz , who told him that she would think about it , but she planned to join the Rebellion along with Dance regardless . Ratua and Roothes decided to go see Ratua ' s family on Coruscant , while Divini also decided to join the Rebellion . Not long after the battle , Dance and Kaarz did indeed join the victorious Rebel forces on Yavin 4 . Personality and traits . Dance was a fair - skinned Human male with black hair . Early during his service to the Empire , Dance felt proud of the job he was doing . He considered flying in the name of the Empire to be the greatest job in the galaxy , and he hoped to keep improving so he would be promoted to the Death Star , which he considered to be a magnificent structure . Dance also felt a great deal of pride at helping enforce Imperial sovereignty and the Tarkin Doctrine . However , Dance ' s opinion of the Empire began to change after the Attack on the first Death Star . He felt that he had slaughtered the Rebel pilots , and he was shaken by that fact . Dance ' s remaining faith in the Empire was later destroyed along with Alderaan . The fact that a so - called civilized government had destroyed a peaceful planet for no reason other than to make a point was unforgivable in his eyes . Dance was smitten with Teela Kaarz upon meeting her . After helping her fend off a drunken patron , he offered to buy her a drink . Though Kaarz intended to avoid a relationship with an Imperial pilot , believing they were all jerks , she could not help but be attracted to Dance , especially due to his persistence in trying to get her to speak with him . The two began talking , and quickly found that they both were very interested in the other . It was not long before they began seeing each other regularly , often meeting in the Hard Heart or even in Kaarz ' s apartment . After the destruction of Alderaan , the two relied on each other for comfort , and were able to find some relief in their feelings for each other . Following the Battle of Yavin , Dance asked Kaarz for her hand in marriage , and to come join the Rebellion with him . Dance was one of the best fighter pilots on the Death Star , ranking in the top 0 . 001 % of pilots aboard the station by a simulator . He received command of his first squadron before the age of 25 , and his men considered him to be a good leader . Dance was also a talented gunner . He enjoyed a challenge when flying , preferring unshielded TIEs because he felt flying with deflector shields was too easy . He aspired to become better at flying , and he spent as much of his spare time as possible practicing in simulators so that he would improve . He tried to always be prepared for duty , and he slept in his uniform so he would be ready quicker if awoken in the middle of the night for a mission . Dance also frequently attended Nova Stihl ' s Teräs Käsi class , hoping the teachings would give him an edge by making his reactions quicker while flying . Despite the fact that Imperial pilots were told not to develop an attachment to any particular fighter , Dance believed that certain TIE fighters were a hair quicker , and always tried to use his favorites when possible . Behind the scenes . Villian Dance was created for the 2007 novel " Death Star " by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry , in which he is one of the main protagonists . He was later given an entry in the 2008 " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " .