Dac

An aquatic planet located in the Calamari system Outer Rim Territories' Calamari sector, Dac was home to two sentient species, the Mon Calamari and Quarren. The planet's years lasted 398 days, and each day lasted 21 hours. Apart from a few reefs and atolls, the entirety of the planet was covered in oceans. Dac was located on the Overic Griplink and the Giblim Route, two hyperlanes.

Numerous life-forms dwelled on Dac. In addition to the Quarren and Mon Calamari, the Whaladon, Moappa, and the mollusks of the Knowledge Bank possessed some form of intelligence. Other species included the needlefish, tumblebasker, and seatree.

Long before the Mon Calamari evolved, Dac was inhabited by the Moappa, an aquatic species of glowing invertebrates.

The Mon Calamari lived comfortably on the surface and below while the Quarren lived in the depths of the oceans. The massive Whaladons meddled little in governmental affairs, swimming in their pods and protected from hunting by law.

Despite their enmity for one another, the Quarren and Mon Calamari species united under one government in 4500 BBY. This government was a monarchy, and its first King was Morn.

The planet was by outsiders discovered in 4166 BBY; by that time its inhabitants had already been exploring nearby star systems for several years. First contact with the Galactic Republic occurred on the world of Ruisto, a planet colonized by the Mon Calamari. In the following millennium, over a dozen more worlds were settled by Mon Calamari and Quarren settlers from Mon Cala.

During the conflict with the Eternal Empire, the oceans were patrolled by schools of Pliffer Fish who were known to feed on toxins. Some individuals attempted to acquire breeding pairs in order to clean up industrial spills on other worlds. Not long before the New Sith Wars which began in 2000 BBY, Mon Cala became an ally world of the Republic. Although the Mon Calamari wanted the planet to become a full member of the Republic, the Quarren did not, and the Chieftan of the Quarren, Allat Za, negotiated the compromise that gave Dac its new status. Despite this victory, the Quarren still came to feel more and more marginalized by the Mon Calamari.

Around five hundred years before the Battle of Naboo, a number of needy Mon Calamari and Quarren locals were approached by recruiters sent by Hugo Bartyn. Bartyn wanted amphibian fishermen to settle a new city in Lamaredd and tempted these poverty-stricken individuals with promises of untouched seas in a new frontier. Once they arrived, however, they became slave laborers.

The planet was represented in the Galactic Senate by the corrupt Tikkes, who allowed Thalassian slavers to operate in the Calamari sector for a share of their profits. He was exposed in 22 BBY. He escaped Republic custody on Coruscant and fled to Geonosis, where he became a member of the Separatist Council as leader of the Quarren Isolation League, which sought to cut ties between Mon Calamari and the Republic.

During the Clone Wars, the world was attacked multiple times by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. First, Count Dooku devastated the world with the Force Harvester. Later, Tikkes's Quarren Isolation League attempted to overthrow the Mon Calamari Council. Tikkes's actions led to a conflict between the two native peoples, but the League was defeated by Kit Fisto and the Mon Calamari Knights. It was discovered by Kit Fisto that the League was allied with the Moappa, whom Kit discovered were also sentient. Kit informed the Mon Calamari that they needed to make peace with and respect the sapience of the Moappa.

Many members of the Quarren Isolation League and the Free Dac movement fled Mon Calamari, settling on the CIS worlds of Pammant and Minntooine, where the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps created shipyards. Using designs based on Mon Calamari Shipyards blueprints stolen by the CIS as a basis, these yards created Recusant-class light destroyers at Minntooine and Providence-class carrier/destroyers at the Pammant Docks for the Separatist fleet.

There were also Separatist Mon Calamari, led by the heroic Commander Merai, backed by Passel Argente and the Corporate Alliance. Without the approval of Count Dooku, the Mon Calamari led an effective assault during the First Battle of Kamino, using their amphibious fighters and Merai's personal assault ship, the Shark. Ultimately their assault failed, as Dooku betrayed them. Most of the Mon Calamari forces were able to escape the disaster due to the sacrifice of Merai.

In 21 BBY, tensions between the Mon Calamari and Quarren began to escalate again, with many Quarren especially being dissatisfied with the planet's Mon Calamari–controlled monarchist government and their close relationship to the Republic. While Yos Kolina, the eighty-second and current King of Mon Cala, mediated the dispute, the Separatist leader General Grievous prepared an invasion of the Calamari system. Dac held strategic importance to the Republic's war effort at this time, due to the planet providing Republic shipyards with a special ore to strengthen cruiser armor plating. As part of their invasion plans, the Separatists sent Commander Riff Tamson to assassinate Kolina and push the Mon Calamari and Quarren towards civil war. In the wake of Kolina's death, the Quarren began a dispute with the Mon Calamari regarding their sovereignty and the monarchy's line of succession. Hoping to break free from the rule of the Mon Calamari, the Quarren challenged the monarchy, wanting one of their own on the throne instead of the heir apparent Prince Lee Char. As the diplomatic crisis continued to unfold, Gial Ackbar, captain of the Mon Calamari Guard, asked the Republic to send representatives to help mediate the situation. Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker were sent to Dac, but the Quarren Chieftan, Nossor Ri, responded by asking for an envoy from the Separatists' side to be present for the negotiations as well, a call that was answered by Tamson. Exploiting the tensions between the Quarren and Mon Calamari, Tamson convinced Ri to side with the Separatists so that the Quarren could claim control over Dac. Unbeknownst to the Quarren, however, Tamson had made a deal with Dooku to become Dac's ruler after the planet fell under Separatist control.

Following the failure of a peace conference, the Separatists, led by Tamson, and the Quarren, led by Ri, began a combined assault on Dac's capital, Coral City. The Mon Calamari and their Republic reinforcements continually lost ground, with all of them eventually being captured by Tamson and put to work in prison camps for Dooku and the Confederacy. Tamson then took Kolina's throne for himself, much to the shock of Ri and the Quarren, who began to regret their alliance with the Confederacy. When Lee-Char and his Jedi protector, Padawan Ahsoka Tano, were the only ones who had evaded capture, Dooku sought to finish what he had begun with Kolina's assassination: the termination of the royal bloodline through the execution of the prince. Despite the fear of living up to his father, Lee-Char took his place as leader of the Mon Calamari, using his father's old friendship with Ri to convince the Quarren to re-side with them and the Republic. This led to the defeat of Tamson and the removal of the Separatist presence on Dac, and Lee-Char succeeding his father as Dac's ruler.

After the Republic loyalty of the planet was cemented, the Loyalist inhabitants agreed to a new arrangement: dual representation in the Senate, with Tundra Dowmeia representing the Quarren and Meena Tills representing the Mon Calamari. Meena Tills was held hostage on Coruscant by Korunnai terrorists, but rescued by Republic Commandos. Both Senators were signatories of the Delegation of 2000's petition, resulting in their arrest upon the Declaration of a New Order.

The planet was represented in the Imperial Senate by Timi Rotramel until it was harshly subjugated by the Galactic Empire, which saw the people of Mon Calamari as natural slaves whose industries and resources could be used to power the Imperial war machine in the Outer Rim Territories and was angry about the role the Quarren had played in supporting the Separatist cause during the Clone Wars. The Imperial propaganda machine cited the signing of the Petition of 2000 by the planet's previous disloyal senatorial representatives as an excuse for the repression of the Mon Calamari. The attacking Imperial forces, commanded by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, were aided during the occupation by the sabotage of the planetary shields by Quarren Isolationist League saboteurs such as Seggor Tels and swiftly conquered the planet, killing Lee-Char in the process.

During the Imperial occupation of the planet and its system, the Mon Calamari started a resistance movement, which was unsuccessful at first. Eventually, Emperor Palpatine ordered three of the planet's floating cities to be destroyed in reprisal. Regardless, the Imperial attack did not succeed in breaking the Mon Calamari spirit. Instead of extinguishing the resistance, it pushed the world's natives into open rebellion when the Mon Calamari joined the Quarren against the invaders in a grand and secret military effort which finally repelled the Imperials and pushed them off their planet, their system and indeed the entire sector in 1 BBY. Shortly after the uprising, while preparing the planet to join efforts with the Rebel Alliance, the Imperial Senator Timi Rotramel attempted to bring other species and systems into the Rebellion against the Empire; unfortunately for Rotramel, shortly after failing to convince the Tiss'shar to join a Sector rebellion, he was killed on Tiss'shar by Darth Vader, who discovered his secret rendezvous with Tiss'shar President Si-Di-Ri.

The Imperial propaganda did not wait to attempt to discredit the Mon Calamari, as the Imperial sentientologist Obo Rin, working under the direction of Lord Vader, wrote the Catalog of Intelligent Life in the Galaxy. This work included falsified claims that the first contact between the Mon Calamari and galactic civilization occurred during the reign of the Galactic Empire. This was accepted as truth by many citizens of the Empire, further angering the Mon Calamari.

After Mon Calamari's revolution against the Empire, the Mon Calamari and the Quarren joined with the Rebel Alliance, proving to be an invaluable asset in the Galactic Civil War. The Mon Calamari, masters of starship construction, supplied the Alliance with badly needed capital ships constructed at the Mon Calamari Orbital Shipyards. Prior to joining the Alliance, the Mon Calamari had only built passenger liners and deep-space exploration vessels because of their peaceful ethos, but by heavily retrofitting these vessels, they were able to create warships that could take on the Empire's mighty ships of the line.

The Mon Calamari disrupted and mined known routes that led to their sector, while searching for new secret routes. In order to retake Dac the Empire would have to launch a long campaign that might embolden other rebel planets. Therefore the Imperial attack was postponed.

During this time of war, the Mon Calamari and Quarren of Dac lived under the constant threat of an attack by Imperial fleets. The Alliance maintained a strong presence in the star system, including enough capital ships to defend against a standard Imperial battle line or perhaps even a squadron, but the Alliance and the Mon Calamari didn't have enough firepower in the system to repel a full Imperial attack squadron. The main Alliance fleet was considered too precious to risk in such a dangerously exposed position. As early as 1 ABY Imperial Intelligence Operations sent operatives to the planet in preparation for Imperial strikes on the planet's floating cities.

While the Alliance Fleet was fighting over Endor, massive Imperial fleets moved to besiege Mon Calamari Space. The Death Star would destroy Dac once completed, but Emperor Palpatine died before the Empire could put its plans into action. Imperial commanders turned into independent warlords after the Battle of Endor and fortunately Moff Kaine withdrew to another side of the galaxy instead of attacking Dac.

By the time of the Battle of Endor, Mon Calamari Star Cruisers were extensively used by the Alliance, playing a major role in the hands of Mon Calamari Admiral Gial Ackbar, who put them to good use in that decisive battle.

Mon Calamari was a founding member of both the Alliance of Free Planets and the New Republic. Ackbar represented the planet on the New Republic Provisional Council. The New Republic defeated further Imperial invasions thrice at Mon Calamari: the first time against the Whaladon hunting submarines of Emperor Trioculus's Imperial faction; the second against the World Devastators of the resurrected Palpatine's Dark Empire; and the third against the Star Destroyers of Admiral Daala's Maw fleet. These three battles caused many cities to be destroyed, and members of all the indigenous sentient species suffered loss of life. During the battle against Daala, Leia Organa Solo discovered that the Mon Calamari Ambassador Cilghal, Ackbar's niece, was Force-sensitive. Cilghal was the first Mon Calamari to join the New Jedi Order. The planet was later represented in the New Republic Senate by Q-Varx, who was revealed as a traitor and replaced by Cilghal.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the planet was represented by both the Quarren Pwoe and the Mon Calamari Gron Marrab. After the fall of Coruscant to the Yuuzhan Vong in 27 ABY, the remaining senators and politicians of the new Republic government fled to Mon Calamari, which had not been taken by the Yuuzhan Vong. The world's massive shipyards, large defensive fleet, and isolation from the front lines made it a desirable location. Pwoe tried and failed to usurp the New Republic presidency and eventually joined the Ylesian Republic on Ylesia. Marrab, however, remained loyal, and represented his homeworld in the Senate. Following the election of Cal Omas as the new Chief of State, the New Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, or Galactic Alliance in 28 ABY. The Alliance was formed on Mon Calamari, which served as its original capital until the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

After the Sith–Imperial War, the planet was once again under Imperial control. Under the rule of usurper Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt, the Quarren were placed in charge of the planet, as the new Sith Order held a number of Quarren amongst its members, most notably Darth Azard and the late Darth Maleval. In an attempt to destroy Gar Stazi and the Galactic Alliance Remnant, who the Calamari supported in secret, Admiral Dru Valan laid a trap at Mon Calamari by leaking information about the Imperious, a new type of Star Destroyer that was under construction at the Mon Calamari Orbital Shipyards. The resulting battle resulted in the destruction of more than half of the Shipyards.

Krayt was angered by the theft of the Imperious, and decided to take his anger out on the Mon Calamari people. He traveled to Dac, and during an address to the Mon Calamari Council, he ordered the immediate execution of one-tenth of their population. After initiating the massacre by having the members of the Council itself killed, Krayt commanded that the remainder of the Mon Calamari population be rounded up and incarcerated in work camps; those Mon Calamari who tried to escape this fate were to be pursued and killed. Krayt's ultimate goal in this matter was to render the Mon Calamari extinct and to "purge the galaxy of their culture and history" as a warning to anyone else who had notions of defying his empire.

Following the initial death of Darth Krayt, Krayt's regent, Darth Wyyrlok, fully took control of the One Sith. No longer desiring to waste Imperial resources on the planet or in long and costly campaigns, Wyyrlok issued an edict calling for the immediate termination of the genocide. The ocean's water was then poisoned by Sith scientist Vul Isen in an attempt to wipe out all life on the planet. However, Admiral Gar Stazi refused to abandon the native Mon Calamari and other innocent inhabitants without an evacuation attempt.

Stazi led the Galactic Alliance Core Fleet to Dac, reinforced by an elite squadron of Jedi to the dying planet. A task force under Jedi Master Drok succeeded in sabotaging the defenses of the Mon Calamari Shipyards, and Jedi Master Asaak Dan led a group of Mon Calamari Rangers in securing Heurkea Floating City to serve as the base of operations for the evacuation. Capturing additional ships in the Shipyards, the Alliance easily overwhelmed remaining Sith forces. With the planet under control, a massive fleet of private ships from all across the galaxy exited hyperspace, and began the rescue operation.

With the Galactic Alliance fleet engaged in rescue operation, the Sith sprung their trap. The Outer Rim Third Fleet, under the command of Admiral Krion Grail and supervised by Moff Geist and Fist Darth Stryfe, emerged from hyperspace behind the Alliance fleet. Focusing on protecting the evacuation fleet, the Alliance fleet suffered heavy damage. As all seemed lost, however, a number of Star Destroyers belonging to Roan Fel's Empire-in-exile appeared, surrounding the Imperial fleet. Now trapped themselves, Stryfe and Geist ordered a retreat, leaving Dac safe for evacuation.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for most of the planet's population. The combined Alliance, Imperial, and civilian fleet was only able to save around twenty percent of Dac's Mon Calamari, Quarren, Whaladons, and Moappa. While numbering in the billions, it was only a small percentage of the world's total population of 27 billion, and does not include the even greater amount of creatures and other unique life forever lost beneath the waves.

Following the defeat of the One Sith, the Sith were driven underground again, and a Galactic Federation Triumvirate, consisting of the Fel Empire, the Jedi Order, and the Galactic Alliance, assumed power in Coruscant. In 138 ABY, a large number of Quarren and Mon Calamari were lured back to Dac under the pretext that the planet was being "renewed." Instead, these unfortunate Quarren and Mon Calamari were enslaved by a pirate syndicate led by the rogue Sith Darth Luft, who forced them to build a fleet of ships in the remnants of the Mon Calamari Shipyards. Darth Luft and his pirates also kept their children and elderly relatives hostage. The Quarren and Mon Calamari ship builders were also beaten and mistreated by their pirate captors.

One Quarren named Tikin befriended a Mon Calamari environmental engineer named Luen. These two encountered the Imperial Knight Jao Assam and the junk dealer Ania Solo, who learned about their predicament and quickly transmitted word of the pirates and their slaving operation to the Triumvirate authorities in Coruscant. Later, Tikin was murdered by Darth Luft and his death triggered a slave uprising by the Quarren and Mon Calamari, who joined forces to rebel against the pirates. This uprising coincided with an attack by the Galactic Triumvirate led by Admiral Stazi and the Imperial Knight Yalta Val, who liberated the slaves and apprehended the pirates. Darth Luft himself was killed during a duel by Jao Assam. The Quarren and Mon Calamari then settled in the space station, which had been flooded with water by Admiral Stazi, to provide a comfortable atmosphere for the former slaves. As a gesture of reconciliation between the Quarren and Mon Calamari, Tikin's son Tilin was raised by Aunt Luen.

Two sentient species, the Quarren and Mon Calamari, were native to Dac. Of the planet's 27,500,000,000 pre-genocide inhabitants, 60% were Quarren, 39% Mon Calamari, and 1% members of other species. The planet had three major languages: Mon Calamarian, Quarrenese, and Basic. The Quarren were a pragmatic, squid-like species who tended to be isolationist in nature and work as miners and laborers. The Mon Calamari, meanwhile, were more fish-like and more inclined to be engineers and explorers. Their idealistic nature put them at odds with the Quarren.

Dac had been ruled by a monarchy for 83 generations. Their king would advise the Mon Calamari Council which was made up of politicians and other experts. Although a small number of Quarren chiefs served on the council, the majority was Mon Calamari.

But during Dac's enslavement by the Galactic Empire calls for changes to the government spread. Under Imperial rule the monarchy was fragmented, leading to a new government to take shape. The new government was based off the Chandrilian planetary government and renamed "Dac Council."

Under the Dac Council governors and deputy governors were elected every two years from each colony and district on Dac. The governors and deputy governors on the council served as representatives for their respective districts and colonies. Candidates for leadership of the council are selected by each faction and put to a general vote. The winner of the election would be the Chief of State while the runners-up would fill the positions of prime minister and defense minister.

Dac's largest exports included seafood, high technology, and starships, while its imports included medicine, technology, and foods. The Mon Calamari Orbital Shipyards that orbited the planet produced numerous starships and were economically valuable.

Mon Calamari Ballet was practiced by the Mon Calamari, and was well-regarded throughout the galaxy. Popular shell horn bands and sculptors also hailed from the planet.

• Tikkes (—22 BBY)
• Tundra Dowmeia (22 BBY–20 BBY)
• Meena Tills (20 BBY – ?)
• Timi Rotramel

• Gial Ackbar (5 ABY–7 ABY)
• Q-Varx (7 ABY–at least 13 ABY)
• Cilghal (?–c. 23 ABY)
• Pwoe (c. 23 ABY–27 ABY)
• Gron Marrab (27 ABY – ?)
• Gial Gahan (c. 130 ABY)

There were a number of cities located on Dac, including Aquarius, Mon Calamari City (also known as Coral City), Foamwander City, and Quarren City. Drone shuttles were used to carry people between the cities, which were heavily populated because they provided protection from the planet's many dangerous predators

This planet has been referred to by at least four different names throughout the Star Wars Legends continuity:

A 1982 issue of Bantha Tracks provided a preview of the Mon Calamari and named their home planet Dac (before the Mon Calamari and Quarren made their first canonical appearance in Return of the Jedi). Later EU sources, such as Star Wars: Dark Empire and The Jedi Academy Trilogy, refer to the planet as "Calamari." However, in following years, most EU sources began to call the planet "Mon Calamari." To add to the confusion, the novel Assault at Selonia refers to it as "Mons Calamari." In the fourth season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, the planet is referred to as "Mon Cala."

Despite its appearance in early sources, canonicity of the name "Dac" was initially disputed. The roleplaying game supplement Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds brought Dac back into canon, noting that Dac was the name used by the natives in their own language for the world; some newer EU material has begun to refer to the planet by this name, where appropriate. Additionally, other recent EU literature has adopted the name Dac when referring to Quarren CIS members.

The PC game Star Wars: Rebellion mistakenly places Mon Calamari in the Sluis sector of the Galactic Core. The Sluis sector is actually located in the Outer Rim. Additionally, the in-game encyclopedia entry for the planet incorrectly states that Mon Calamari had only one moon, and is one of the sources that states that the planet was first discovered by the Empire.