Jan Dodonna / Legends Jan Dodonna was a Commenor - born soldier who served both Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire . He was one of the first captains of a Star Destroyer in the last days of the Galactic Republic , having served in both the Stark Hyperspace War and the Clone Wars . Following his defection in 1 BBY , he became one of the first Generals in the Rebellion ' s military , overseeing the Rebel victory at the Battle of Yavin . Thought dead in the chaos of the Evacuation of Yavin , he had in fact been captured by the Empire and was imprisoned in the notorious " Lusankya " facility . Liberated in 9 ABY , he resumed service with the New Republic until his death in 24 ABY . Throughout his long period of service , Dodonna showed a strong grasp of tactics and strategy , and along with Adar Tallon and Gial Ackbar , Dodonna was considered the authority on modern space combat . Biography . Serving the Republic ( 65 BBY – 19 BBY ) . Jan Dodonna was born on Commenor . He began his military career in the Judicial Forces , serving as a lieutenant in the crew of the cruiser " Ardent IV " during the Stark Hyperspace War . Dodonna held the rank of captain by the time of the Clone Wars and first rose to prominence during the conflict , becoming one of the finest Star Destroyer captains in the Republic Navy . Alongside his fellow captain Terrinald Screed , Dodonna commanded the two task forces that comprised the Victory Fleet . After the Separatist Bulwark Fleet broke through the Republic ' s blockade of Foerost in 20 . 1 BBY , Dodonna and Screed clashed with Bulwark Fleet commander Dua Ningo at Ixtlar , Basilisk , and Alsakan . In the climactic Battle of Anaxes , Dodonna cornered Admiral Ningo and came under heavy fire in the atmosphere of Anaxes . Dodonna fought furiously , engaging Ningo ' s warships long enough to allow Screed to emerge from hyperspace and destroy Ningo ' s battlecruiser " Unrepentant " . Dodonna and Screed both returned to Coruscant as heroes , and Dodonna was awarded the Holt Cross on Anaxes three weeks after the battle he had fought there . As he traversed the Azure Walk , Dodonna physically supported his fellow honoree Screed , who had suffered nearly - mortal injuries in the battle at Anaxes . Dodonna , along with Plo Koon , was later a member of the Republic negotiating team during the Battle of Rendili . Several months later he commanded the Republic fleet at the Battle of Cato Neimoidia . Dodonna ' s grasp of strategy was particularly keen , and along with his old friend and fellow Republic officer Adar Tallon , Dodonna revolutionized the tactics of space combat . While Tallon ' s skill was in ship - to - ship warfare , Dodonna ' s expertise lay in logistics and siege tactics . He proposed a number of siege weapons , proposals later adopted by the Galactic Empire for their use in such operations as the Siege of Dalron Five and Project Asteroid . Sometime during the war , he served alongside Nejaa Halcyon . He also convinced his old friend , Sagoro Autem , to quit his mercenary ways and join the Navy . Serving the Empire ( 19 BBY – 1 BBY ) . As the Republic became the Galactic Empire , Dodonna served loyally for a time , even advising Autem to keep quiet about his feelings on the alleged " Jedi Rebellion . " When the Sy Myrthian Insurrection began in 19 BBY , after the Separatist Senator Toonbuck Toora managed to reactivate a droid army in the Foundry of the Confederacy . Dodonna and his future fellow defector Admiral Adar Tallon were given command of the force to suppress it . Deployed from Charros IV , Tallon and Dodonna led the 12th Sector Army in several months of attritional fighting on the world of Diado . After reducing Toora ' s forces there , they subsequently won another victory at Metalorn , before besieging Sy Myrth itself . Under Dodonna ' s expert guidance , the Empire eventually defeated the Separatists there . Tallon and Dodanna then chased down Toora ' s flagship , " Defiance ' s Banner " , with a task force led by the " Praetor " - class Star Battlecruiser " Battalion " . The end of the campaign came in the Trasemene system , after the Imperial task force cornered Toora ' s fleet there . In the ensuing battle , the " Battalion " ripped apart Toora ' s fleet with its turbolaser batteries , killing Toora and ending the insurrection . Dodonna and Tallon ' s victories were celebrated in the Core Worlds , but Dodonna ' s loyalty to the Empire gradually became tested as it resorted to ever - more brutal acts of reprisal against purported sedition . Though he disliked what the Imperial regime was becoming , Dodonna ' s loyalty as a soldier led him to refuse to speak ill of it . Furthermore , he regarded the fledgling Rebel Alliance as a foolish provocation that would only cause chaos and misery . Disillusioned and unhappy , Dodonna eventually retired from the service on ideological grounds . The Empire , in turn , gave the famous war hero Commenor ' s moon Brelor , where he spent many years raising his son Vrad . Rebel ( 1 BBY – 0 BBY ) . Dodonna refused Mon Mothma ' s many offers for him to join her fledgling resistance movement , an act he considered treasonous . However , COMPNOR officials deemed him a poor candidate for " retraining " for the Emperor ' s use , and around 1 BBY , deciding he was less potentially dangerous dead , ordered his assassination . The Rebellion learned of the assassination order , and sent a messenger team led by Roons Sewell to warn Dodonna . Dodonna scoffed at first , having lost much of his fighting spirit after years of retirement , and the team set up to leave . However , the arrival of the assassins re - awakened that spirit , and Dodonna fled . The Imperial troopers fired upon him , but the large target of his billowing nightclothes obscured the small , frail body hidden inside , and none of the shots found its mark . He arrived at the Rebels ' ship and boarded just as it was preparing to leave . In space , the messengers ' slow freighter was pursued by an Imperial warship . Dodonna suggested a course of action to General Sewell , but in the heat of the moment , Sewell froze , and Dodonna took the controls of the vessel , executing his tactic and destroying the opposing vessel . Dodonna joined the Rebellion and , after Sewell provided a glowing report of Dodonna ' s quick thinking , was immediately commissioned to General by Mon Mothma and placed under Sewell ' s command . He spent several months exercising and acquainting himself with the latest in technology and politics . His first major victory was at the Silken Asteroids , where he successfully coordinated the defense of a small Rebel base against Imperial incursion . After the untimely death of General Sewell , Dodonna was placed in command of the Logistics and Supply Corps and the Alliance Starfighter Corps by Mon Mothma , becoming the most important military commander and advisor in the Alliance , second only to Mon Mothma herself . He also had responsibility for the Alliance ' s ground headquarters , and kept the ground HQ in motion so as to avoid Imperial detection ; planets that held the base under his command included Chrellis , Brigia , Orion IV , Dantooine , and Yavin 4 . Dodonna ' s multiple commands came about owing to the need for a respected military commander who could broker the three - way tensions between Mon Mothma , Garm Bel Iblis , and Bail Organa . A proponent of the largely - unfashionable view that the Starfighter Corps should be a separate branch of the military , Dodonna believed that hyperspace - capable starfighters could undermine the Empire ' s control of space . He demonstrated this with Y - wing raids that destroyed Star Destroyer fleets at Denab and Tarawa . Thereafter , finding suitable targets for starfighters became the priority for Alliance Intelligence , while Dodonna geared Ordnance and Supply and the Support Services to providing the materiel and men for raiding . During his time in the Alliance High Command on Dantooine , Dodonna performed different field missions with tactics prodigy Risiev Credal , who was his protégée alongside Colonel Beryl Chiffonage . With the help of Walex Blissex , designer of the " Victory " - class Star Destroyer , Dodonna modified the R - 22 Spearhead into the fast , nimble A - wing starfighter ; the first prototypes saw action before the Battle of Yavin , though the final version would include lessons about the value of raw speed learned during that battle . He began work on the Battle Analysis Computer , which became so identified with him that it was often called " Dodonna ' s Battle Analysis Computer " ; it would go uncompleted until just after the Battle of Endor , seeing its first use at the Invasion of Bakura . His son Vrad also joined the Alliance , and become a starfighter pilot . With plans brought to him by Princess Leia Organa which were downloaded from R2 - D2 , Dodonna helped plan the attack on the Death Star . At first , the situation seemed hopeless , as the station ' s defenses exceeded Dodonna ' s worst fears ; the only strategy he could conceive that stood any chance was crashing wave after wave of the Alliance ' s heaviest vessels into the station , on the slim chance there would be sufficient damage to neutralize it ; this would effectively destroy the Rebellion , but would allow a new one to grow without the Death Star threatening them . Dodonna prepared to go to sleep , but instead wandered the halls for fresh air . While doing so , he encountered a small child , weeping over a nightmare about a dragon coming to burn her village . Dodonna comforted her with an old tale of a Jedi Knight finding a hole in the dragon ' s scaly armor , killing it . Inspired , Dodonna ran back to his quarters and scoured the plans for a similar hole , eventually finding one in the form of a small exposed thermal exhaust port that led directly to the main reactor . The data showed that the defenses of the Death Star were built around large - scale attacks , allowing a small starfighter to attack the vulnerable exhaust port . Dodonna designed the starfighter attack that was successful in destroying the battle station . Shortly afterwards he was called in to deal with the short - lived super - vaporator project on Tatooine , though this soon fell through . Captive ( 0 . 5 ABY – 9 ABY ) . Following the destruction of the Death Star , the Empire blockaded Yavin 4 while Darth Vader waited for the Super Star Destroyer " Executor " to be completed . When it was , Vader brought it to finish the Rebels , but was stopped by a suicide strike delivered by Vrad . Heartbroken , Jan set up the Yavin base to explode , taking out a number of TIE Fighters and buying more time for the evacuation . He was believed to be killed in the blast , but in reality he had been captured by Imperial forces . He was eventually sent to " Lusankya " . The Imperials were unable to turn him into a sleeper agent . Dodonna spent several years at " Lusankya " , becoming the leader of the prisoners there . Dodonna later encountered Corran Horn , a member of Rogue Squadron , and aided in Horn ' s escape . When offered to join him in freedom , he declined , saying Ysanne Isard would take it out on the other prisoners . He stayed at " Lusankya " until he was moved by Isard . Eventually , Rogue Squadron found the surviving " Lusankya " prisoners , and Dodonna was finally freed . Elder Statesman ( 9 ABY – 24 ABY ) . After being freed , Dodonna served on the New Republic council , and gathered together an ad - hoc advisory body consisting of himself and other such aged luminaries as Vanden Willard , Pashna Starkiller , and his old friend Adar Tallon . Calling themselves the " Gray Cadre " , they advised the New Republic during the resurgence of the Empire under the clone of Palpatine . After the defeat of the cloned Emperor , Dodonna was given a special appointment to the Inner Council ' s High Command as " Executive Advisor " , where he adopted the issue of re - integrating Coruscant ' s feral Humans into society . Shortly afterward , Dodonna returned to retirement , settling on New Alderaan , where he peacefully passed away prior to the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War . Legacy . Dodonna ' s strategic acumen was sorely missed by New Republic leaders during the Yuuzhan Vong War , though many of them were relieved that he had died knowing a galaxy at peace . The Rebellion named a CR90 corvette " Dodonna ' s Pride " in his honor . It was used to disrupt Imperial supply lines during the Galactic Civil War . The Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet later named a " Galactic " - class battle carrier " Dodonna " in his memory . Behind the scenes . Jan Dodonna ' s only film appearance was in " " , where he was played by Alex McCrindle . He was voiced by James Blendick in the " Star Wars " radio drama , Clive Revill in the special edition of the game " " , Jarion Monroe in the game " " , and Wayne Grace in " " . Dodonna is mentioned in " " during the Rebel campaign and was intended to be a playable character , but was cut . In " " , George Lucas renamed a Sith knight character " Dodona " from Valorum , as he considered , in that draft alone , renaming the Starkiller family the " Valor " family , and the names conflicted . " Dodona " was one of the few names from that draft that reappeared in the ( the second draft ) , when it was definitively assigned to a Rebel general on Yavin 4 .