Dorjander Kace

Dorjander Kace was a Human male Jedi Master active during the Old Sith Wars. During the Great Sith War, Kace fought on behalf of the Galactic Republic against the forces of the Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun and his Mandalorian allies. At some point during the conflict, he was taken prisoner by the Mandalorian Crusaders and forced to live in captivity among them. However, while living among the Mandalorians, Kace fell in love with one of them, Varda, who taught him the traditions of her people, which led Kace to willingly accept the Mandalorian lifestyle. Varda became pregnant with Kace's child, but she died in a Republic bombing raid led by a member of the Jedi Order. Kace was grief-stricken, believing that Varda's death by the hand of a Jedi was wrong and that she deserved a fair fight against the Republic, not its Force-using servants. When the war ended in 3996 BBY with the defeat of Kun and the Mandalorians, the grieving Kace returned to the Jedi. He served with distinction in the following decades, even attaining a place on the Jedi High Council.

Twenty years after the end of the Great Sith War, the reorganized Mandalorians launched their second conquest of the galaxy. For ten years, the Republic allowed the Mandalorians to roam through the Outer Rim Territories, capturing worlds outside of Republic jurisdiction. Finally, in 3966 BBY, the Republic took action by granting the Outer Rim world of Taris membership in the Republic and establishing a defense of the world against a potential Mandalorian attack. Over the course of the next two years, the Republic and the Mandalorians fought a series of minor skirmishes in the region. In the wake of those battles, the charismatic Jedi Knight Revan started lobbying for the Jedi Order's intervention in the conflict. The Council was hesitant to accept Revan's proposal and be drawn into another conflict so soon after the devastating Great Sith War, and of all the Council members, Kace was the one who opposed the Jedi's involvement in the conflict the most. Nevertheless, Revan's cause gathered allies within the Order, and his group grew into a fully-fledged Revanchist movement. Consequently, Kace's strong position of non-involvement was not met well with the Republic, so they found a way to force Kace to step down from the Council and be replaced with Master Lucien Draay.

Disillusioned with a Republic that he viewed as corrupt, Kace firmly believed that it could not be changed for the better and that it would lose the war, although it might take decades for that to happen. On the other hand, he considered that with the guidance of the Jedi Order, the Mandalorians could be swayed from their violent ways and become the only hope for a brighter future of the galaxy. To that end, Kace formulated a plan to bring about the Mandalorian victory sooner by evening out the odds and providing the crusaders with their own Jedi Knights. Gathering a number of Jedi Knights who shared his beliefs, Kace formed a clandestine group called the Mandalorian Knights and secretly pledged his allegiance to the Mandalorians. Keeping his true motives secret and still remaining within the ranks of the Jedi Order, Kace then volunteered to join the Revanchist movement. He led his disciples to the front lines of the war, planning to eventually reveal his true allegiance and steal a Republic vessel. The Jedi Master then hoped to use the captured ship to infiltrate the Jedi Enclave on the planet Dantooine and kidnap the Jedi Younglings in order to raise them among the Mandalorians and turn them into new Mandalorian Knights. The leader of the Mandalorians, Mandalore the Ultimate, agreed to let Kace and his Knights keep the abducted children once the operation would be over and allowed them to establish a training center on the planet Ordo. Mandalore then assigned a detachment of his warriors to assist Kace and ordered them to follow the Jedi's command.

In 3962 BBY, Kace set his plan in motion by leading Republic troops in an assault on the planet Essien, which had been recently occupied by Mandalorian forces. As the Republic did not have a regular army, it instead relied on local militias to fight the war. Under Kace's command was the Phaeda militia, a regiment of beings native to the planet Phaeda and drafted into military service by the Republic. The militia operated from the Axehead frigate Reciprocity, commanded by Captain Dallan Morvis. The militia's supposed target was a Mandalorian bastion established under Mount Savage, a mountain located on an island. After landing on the planet, Kace and his Mandalorian Knights took speeder bikes and, under the pretense of leading the charge onto Mandalorian defenses spread over the island's beach line, rode away, leaving Morvis and his militia to fight the Mandalorians on the approach to the beach. After putting up a substantial fight to keep up the illusion of the island's defense, the Mandalorian forces retreated, although they suffered casualties when Morvis refused to cease fire at the beach, hoping to annihilate his enemies completely. Kace and his Knights then returned to Morvis's position, only to witness the Captain arguing with a member of the militia, Zayne Carrick, who was against the decision to fire on the retreating enemies. Claiming that his Knights had secured the beach, Kace lied to Morvis that the remaining Mandalorians had retreated into the forest surrounding Mount Savage. The Jedi Master told Morvis that his men would lead the attack on the mountain, but they would need the Phaeda militia to root out the Mandalorians in the forest. Instead, Morvis suggested using their supply of the Tibanna Six substance to burn the forest to the ground and kill all of their enemies. That once against raised Carrick's protests, but Kace agreed with Morvis's plan and instructed the Captain to bring every crew member from the Reciprocity for the attack, claiming that there were prize vessels available for capture at the Mandalorian base.

At nightfall, Morvis and his men went toward Mount Savage, using Tibanna Six to lay waste to the forest ahead of them. Having done that, the Republic troops found piles of scorched Mandalorian armor, leading them to believe that there were no survivors of the Tibanna Six usage. However, the Mandalorians were never present in the forest, and the armor had been preemptively left there to trick Morvis and his troops. That deception was uncovered by Carrick, who had ventured into the forest before the attack in an effort to warn the Mandalorians of the Republic's intentions but had found nobody there. Carrick's discovery did not help the Phaeda militia, as Kace and the Basilisk war droid–mounted Mandalorians surrounded them. Having captured the Reciprocity, Kace revealed his true allegiance to Morvis and informed the members of the Phaeda militia that they had just been forcibly drafted into the ranks of the Mandalorians. The next step in Kace's scheme was the deactivation of Republic transmitter stations en route to Dantooine, in order to shut down the Jedi Enclave's contact with the Republic. The first of those stations was located on the planet Halthor. Using the Reciprocity, Kace's Mandalorians and the newly recruited Phaeda militia reached the planet. Sighting the Republic ship, the Halthorians deactivated the planet's defense shields and allowed the Reciprocity to land. The transmitter's defenders were taken by surprise as Kace and the Mandalorian warriors disembarked from the ship and attacked the station. After a brief battle, the transmitter was captured, and the Mandalorians quickly established a camp on the planet.

In the aftermath of the fight, Kace gave a speech to the Mandalorians, telling them that he understood their reluctance to allow Force-users in their ranks. He assured his followers that the reason he joined the Mandalorians was to teach the Republic the ways of the Mando'ade, providing the female Devaronian communications technician Koblus Sornell as an example of the true Mandalorian way, citing her determination to fight for her people while raising her son Gheedor alongside her husband Haarm. With Halthor secured, Kace prepared for the next part of his plan—attacking Phaeda. In order to accomplish that, Mandalore agreed to dispatch three Kandosii-type dreadnaughts staffed with over a hundred thousand warriors to assist Kace's troops. The night after the conquest of Halthor, Kace witnessed his men detaining Morvis, who had tried to kill Ko Sornell in her sleep. Morvis was then put under guard alongside the other members of the militia. Also present at the scene was Carrick, whom Kace recognized as the rogue Padawan of Master Lucien Draay. Two years beforehand, Carrick had been falsely accused of being the perpetrator of the Padawan Massacre of Taris and was forced to run from the Jedi Order, using a variety of ruses and schemes, until his name was cleared. Refusing to be reinstated as a Jedi and returning to his homeworld of Phaeda, Carrick had been drafted into the militia and put under Kace's command for the attack on Essien. Kace and Carrick had a conversation, with Kace revealing to the former Padawan his intention to attack Phaeda. As the three dreadnoughts arrived at Halthor, Kace, recognizing Carrick's talents for subterfuge, presented the latter with an ultimatum—either he would witness the destruction of his homeworld and the death of his family who were living there, or he could come up with a plan to sever Phaeda's connection with the rest of the galaxy without the need for an all-out assault.

Hoping to save his planet from annihilation by Kace's forces, Carrick indeed came up with another idea. He offered to use the Reciprocity to infiltrate Phaedacomm, a Bith-managed high security space station located at the outskirts of the Phaeda system. As Phaedacomm handled all signal traffic for Phaeda and connected the planet to the rest of the galaxy, holding the station for a few days would satisfy Kace's needs to shut down Phaeda's communication with Dantooine and provide the commanders of the dreadnaughts with certain information that they required to follow Kace to Dantooine. Following through with Carrick's plan, Kace and a strike team of Mandalorian Knights and warriors took the Reciprocity to Phaeda. On their approach to the planet, they were intercepted by the Phaeda Planetary Defense Force cruiser Derapha. Because there had been no word from the Reciprocity since the battle on Essien, the Derapha refused to let the ship approach Phaeda without speaking to Captain Morvis. However, Carrick answered to the cruiser's hails, claiming that he was the only crew member left standing, as Morvis and the rest of the militia were in sick bay after they had been exposed to an unknown biological weapon used by the Mandalorians on Essien. Kace then interfered, saying that he and his Jedi were unaffected, but Carrick required immediate medical attention. Afraid of letting loose the unknown disease on Phaeda, the Derapha forbade the Reciprocity to land, but instead directed the Republic ship to Phaedacomm, which possessed a medical station with a quarantine area, just as Carrick had planned.

After docking with Phaedacomm, Kace and his Knights delivered Carrick and the Mandalorian strike team inside the medical facility, using sealed biohazard-containment bags and lying to the Bith station operators that the bags carried the infected members of the Phaeda militia. Before the bags could be delivered to the quarantine area, Carrick, wearing makeup applied to make him look infected, broke out of his bag, calling for help. According to Carrick's plan, the Bith would have no choice but to quarantine the entire station or risk the disease breaking out. However, the Bith wanted to evacuate from the facility instead. Kace tried to use a mind trick to convince them to stay, but at that point, the Mandalorians, led by the Togorian Rally Master Kra'ake, broke free from the containment bags, tired of waiting and acting discreetly. Kra'ake and his men opened fire on the Bith, leaving Kace and his Knights no choice but to join the fight. As a result, all of the Bith were killed, and a fight broke out between Carrick and Kra'ake, the former being angered by the unnecessary killing. Kace stopped their fight, explaining to Carrick that the Mandalorians were warriors by nature and had already been pushed to their limits with all the subterfuge. Kace considered the mission a success, and congratulated Carrick on saving his home planet from invasion, assigning Ko Sornell to watch over the former Padawan. With Phaedacomm in Kace's hands, the Jedi Master received access to information that he hoped to learn on Phaeda and give to the dreadnaught chiefs. Kra'ake then departed for Halthor to deliver the information.

Shortly afterward, Kace was confronted by Carrick, who had managed to uncover a file that the Republic Ministry of Defense had been keeping on the Jedi Master since the Great Sith War, thus learning about Kace's time in captivity. Carrick also traced Kace's attacks, deducing that the next target was Dantooine, though he thought that Kace was going to kill the trainees there. Kace then explained his true goal to Carrick, telling him about Varda and his own views on the Republic, the Mandalorians, and the war. The Jedi Master tried to convince Carrick to join his cause, but when the latter declined, he ordered Sornell, who was supposed to stay in charge of Phaedacomm, to lock the former Padawan inside the station's quarantine area, hoping that he would change his mind by the time Kace returned with the younglings. Rallying his Knights and Mandalorian warriors aboard the Reciprocity, Kace gave a final motivating speech before they embarked on their mission. He was also surprised to find Sornell aboard the Republic ship; the Devaronian claimed that the Jedi Master would need his best warriors during the operation. Upon entering the Reciprocitys bridge, Sornell punched the technician who had been tasked with monitoring all communications with the dreadnaughts, knocking the man unconscious and justifying her action with the fact that the man had cheated on a bargain with her sixteen years ago. Admiring the woman's spirit that reminded him of Varda's, Kace let her stay and assigned her to take the unconscious technician's station. Little did Kace know that Sornell had volunteered on the mission with the purpose of sabotaging it. Having come to respect Carrick after he had saved her and Gheedor's lives on Essien, Sornell had let him go instead of locking him down as Kace had ordered her.

When the Reciprocity reached Dantooine, it was intercepted by a squadron of Aurek-class tactical strikefighters from the local security force. However, when Kace introduced himself, one of the Enclave's Masters, Zhar Lestin, called back the starfighters, apologizing before Kace and saying that they had not known about his arrival, since Dantooine's communications with Phaeda and the Core Worlds were down. Continuing his bluff, Kace claimed that the communications problem was the exact reason for his arrival, stating that the Republic had sent him to reinforce Dantooine's military force until the issue was sorted out. Lestin believed Kace's story and let him through. Before proceeding with the landing, Kace asked Sornell to contact the dreadnaughts and find out if they were following as planned. The Devaronian replied that they were, although she had in fact received messages that the dreadnaughts' approach was halted when a "Jedi Brain Fever" broke out aboard the lead dreadnaught Parjai. The "Jedi Brain Fever," in fact, was nothing more than a ruse created by Carrick, who had returned to Halthor, liberated the members of the Phaeda militia, infiltrated the Parjai, and forced its crew to abandon ship by pretending to be infected with a dangerous disease. Unaware of those developments due to Sornell's lies, Kace gave his troops the signal to land on Dantooine.

Once there, Kace's troops rounded up the Enclave's staff and trainees. Kace instructed his men not to use blaster fire, afraid of harming the children. The teachers initially put up a defense, with Lestin engaging Kace in a lightsaber duel. However, as he witnessed one of Kace's dreadnaughts arriving, Lestin realized that the fight was lost and he and his men stood down. Kace's men locked Lestin and the rest of the staff inside the local Jedi Council's convocation chamber. As Kace, acting friendly toward the Jedi children, explained to them that they were going to be joining the Mandalorians, a Shaadlar-type troopship landed near the Enclave to bring the trainees to the dreadnaught awaiting above the surface of the planet. Kace and his Mandalorians escorted the Jedi children to the troopship, where they met a squad of Mandalorians led by a Field Marshal, who introduced himself as Glomkettle, the commander of the dreadnaught Parjai in orbit. The Field Marshal claimed that the other two dreadnaughts were delayed and assured Kace that the Parjai was ready to take aboard the Jedi children. Believing that the Reciprocity had now served its purpose, and that dividing the troops to bring it to Mandalorian territory would be unwise, Kace proposed to scuttle it.

As soon as he mentioned the scuttling of the Republic ship, Kace noticed one of Glomkettle's Rally Masters reacting suspiciously horrified by that perspective, leading Kace to believe that the Rally Master was in fact Captain Morvis in disguise. Glomkettle then informed Kace that the Mandalore had allegedly assigned Kace's Knights a new secret mission which would require further usage of the Reciprocity, while the Jedi children were to be taken to Mandalorian space aboard the Parjai. However, Morvis inadvertently blew his cover by responding to a greeting from Kace, and the Jedi Master ordered his men to cut off the newly arrived Mandalorians—the members of the Phaeda militia—from their troopship. Meanwhile, the Jedi Master took Morvis and "Glomkettle," or rather Carrick, into custody, ordering Carrick's troops to surrender. Revealing that he had a backup plan, Carrick remotely activated the troopship's self-destruct mechanism, blowing the vessel up and knocking Kace onto the ground. In the ensuing chaos, the Reciprocity crew evacuated the Jedi children onto the frigate and took off. Refusing to surrender, Kace activated his jetpack and flew toward the Republic vessel, lightsaber ignited. He was intercepted mid-flight by Carrick, who used his own jetpack to collide with Kace. The two men crashed through the Enclave's transparisteel rooftop, landing inside the Jedi Council chamber, much to the surprise of the academy staff still chained there. After a brief duel, Kace kneed the former Padawan in the gut and once again tried to fly toward the Reciprocity, but he was stopped by Carrick. Sornell then entered the chamber, intent on stopping the fighting, saying that adapting orphaned children to the Mandalorian way was one thing, but kidnapping them was unacceptable for a Mandalorian. The Mandalorians had been against the plan all along, but they were forced to follow Kace since Mandalore had ordered them to do so. However, Mandalore had broken the deal now, recalling the other two dreadnaughts after the stunt that Carrick had pulled on the Parjai, which resulted in the loss of the ship. The remaining Mandalorians who had come with Kace were now leaving Dantooine as well.

Enraged by the fact that his plan was falling apart, Kace poised to kill both her and Carrick. However, Sornell informed the Jedi Master that she was pregnant with another child, and Carrick, reminding Kace of Varda, asked him if he was willing to commit the same thing the Jedi had done to Varda and her unborn child. Convinced that he had been wrong in his plan all along, Kace deactivated his lightsaber and released Lestin and the other teachers. Taken into custody by Lestin to be prosecuted for treason against the Republic, Kace asked only one thing from the Jedi Master—to let Sornell go back to her family. Kace and the rest of the Mandalorian Knights were brought to the galactic capital of Coruscant and stood trial before a large audience, with Minister of Defense Koa Delko standing as the prosecutor in the Senate Hall. Even there, Kace refused to give up on his dream of turning the Jedi to the Mandalorian side and proclaimed from his platform on the righteousness of his cause for nine hours. Despite Kace's firm belief in the inevitable Mandalorian victory, the Republic emerged victorious two years later when Revan defeated Mandalore and annihilated his forces when he deployed the Mass Shadow Generator superweapon at the Battle of Malachor V.

By 3962 BBY, Dorjander Kace was a middle-aged Human male with light skin; blue eyes; long, flowing blond hair; and facial hair styled in a short beard. A respected and reputable Jedi Master, Kace was nevertheless well-known for having a rebellious streak in his young age, a fact that he himself admitted by saying that he used to be a great iconoclast. Neither that nor the fact that he had spent so much time in Mandalorian captivity stopped him from attaining the highest position in the Jedi Order hierarchy: that of a Jedi Council member. Kace was an eloquent speaker, who always drew crowds when he was on the Council, and he later displayed that quality numerous times while giving speeches to the Mandalorians under his command and even to the crowd present at his own trial.

While living among the Mandalorians, Kace gave in to his feelings and broke the Jedi Order's tenets of non-attachment when he fell in love with Varda, whose boldness he admired, and the two conceived a child. Varda also taught Kace about her people's traditions, and he accepted the lifestyle of the Mandalorians. Kace suffered deep emotional trauma when Varda and their unborn child were killed by a Jedi, but he chose to come back to the Jedi Order, although his beliefs were starting to change from that point. When the Mandalorian Wars began, he openly spoke against Revan's involvement in the conflict, a stance that the majority of the Council initially supported. However, once the Council was forced to approve Revan's crusade, Kace's position all of a sudden became unfavorable for the Republic, which required the Jedi's assistance in the war effort. Therefore, the Republic manipulated the situation in such a manner that forced Kace to step down from the Council, yet another example of what Kace viewed as the incurable corruption that had infected the government and formed an unhealthy relationship with the Order.

Kace was absolutely certain that the Mandalorians were better prepared for the current war, and, even with Revan's intervention, that the Republic was destined to lose. However, he believed that such an outcome could be beneficial for the galaxy, if only the Jedi Order was there to guide the victorious Mandalorians. He chose to start the integration of the Jedi into the Mandalorian ranks with himself and a small group of Jedi who accepted Kace's teachings and became the first of the Mandalorian Knights. The Mandalorian Knights admired Kace, believing that he had given their lives purpose. On the other hand, the Mandalorian warriors placed under Kace's command were reluctant to accept Jedi as their leaders, due to their wary attitude toward the Force and those able to manipulate it. Kace was aware of that, and he was at times afraid that he was moving too fast with his plan. He tried his best to act in accordance with the Mandalorian ways and show by example that the Mandalorian Knights were truly devoted to the Mandalorian lifestyle. He honored their traditions and understood that the Mandalorians were warriors by nature. Although he accepted that to a degree, saying that one could not win a war set on stun and putting up with the unnecessary killing of the Bith on Phaedacomm, he hoped to try to tone down the Neo-Crusaders' violence with the help of the Jedi Order.

Kace's plan of kidnapping the Jedi children hinged on his belief in the Mandalorians' ability of converting the conquered. What he misunderstood about the warrior people, however, was that forceful abduction was not in their tradition. Still, Kace was intent on completing his mission, to the point that Zayne Carrick came to consider his obsession a sign of insanity. He was even willing to go as far as to kill both Carrick and Koblus Sornell, and only the last-minute reveal of the Devaronian's pregnancy stopped him, as the Jedi Master realized that he was one step from accomplishing the same thing for which he hated the Republic. Although he did surrender, Kace still stood by his beliefs, calling the current state of events, in which the corrupt Republic was tied so closely with the Jedi Order, "madness." Nevertheless, he believed that the situation would change one day. Holding family values dear, Kace asked only that Sornell be allowed to return to her husband and son, saying that being with one's family was ultimately what the current war was about.

A fully trained Jedi Master, Dorjander Kace was adept at both the Force and the lightsaber. Although he did not train his lightsaber dueling skills for a long time after the end of his Jedi training, he compensated that by learning some dirty fighting tricks on the streets. He did not hesitate to use that knowledge in an actual fight, when he kneed Zayne Carrick in the gut. He was still proficient enough with the lightsaber, which he used numerous times—during the assault on Halthor, the skirmish on Phaedacomm, and the duels against Zhar Lestin and Carrick on Dantooine. Kace's lightsaber had a distinct bronze color, the same color as the weapons of the other Mandalorian Knights. He was able to use telekinesis, using it to unmask Morvis on Dantooine. When the Bith technicians on Phaedacomm tried to evacuate the station, Kace tried to use a mind trick to convince them to stay, but he was unable to accomplish his goal as Kra'ake opened fire at the Bith. During his Mandalorian Knight campaign, Kace wore a suit of gray Mandalorian armor, equipped with a jetpack. He was also able to pilot a speeder bike.

Dorjander Kace was created as the main antagonist for the character of Zayne Carrick in the 2012 Dark Horse Comics five-issue miniseries Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: War, written by John Jackson Miller and penciled by Andrea Mutti. The series was published from January 11th to May 9th. Kace appeared in all five issues of the series, and was featured on the cover of the fifth issue, drawn by Benjamin Carré.