Dunlan was the leader of a resistance movement against the planet Ahakista's Imperial-backed government.
After Ahakista's democratic government was dissolved by the Empire, it was replaced by one composed of members of the planet's wealthy upper class and loyal to the Empire. Like his fellow citizens, Dunlan resented the new government's policies, which had eroded the prosperity and freedom that they had been accustomed to. Dunlan eventually became the leader of a resistance movement in a civil war against the government.
When Dunlan rose to prominence, he was viewed by disenfranchised citizens as a hero. As explosions shook the streets Ahakista, however, government officials took a dimmer view of him as a terrorist and a threat to their grasp on power. After Dunlan assassinated Councilman Derral and Derral's fellow council member, the Empire ascertained that the intensity of the conflict posed a significant threat to certain assets that were located on Ahakista and decided to directly intervene.
Shortly after he was nearly crushed by an All Terrain Armored Transport that had been walking through the formerly prosperous parts of the city, Dunlan was invited to a meeting convened by Sardoth. The owner of the Daystar Casino had brought with himself a motley group who he had claimed were members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During the briefing, Dunlan learned that the Empire had been using Ahakista as a base for the Hub, a supercomputer housed inside the pyramid at the center of the city. The Hub was of great importance to the Empire, since it purpose was to coordinate the vast Imperial Navy. Sardoth then came to the reason for why he had contacted Dunlan: He wanted Dunlan's group of rebels to destroy the pyramid's power control station so that the off-worlders could infiltrate and destroy the Hub itself.
Dunlan acknowledged that it was likely that the Empire would lose any interest that it had in Ahakista if the Hub was destroyed and would subsequently end its interference in the planet's affairs, but he refused to help Sardoth. He did not want to "sacrifice [his] people as a mere distraction" in a frontal assault on the pyramid for a cause other than that of the citizens of Ahakista.
Dunlan stormed out of the meeting and found himself on the business end of a blaster. The man holding it was Fenic, who up until now was one of his fellow rebels. Fenic had planned to kill Dunlan and then collect the sizable bounty that the Empire had placed on Dunlan's head, but it turned out to be harder in actual practice. Dunlan encouraged Fenic to pull the trigger, telling him that he believed in what he was fighting for and that he was willing to die for his cause. Dunlan then asked Fenic if he could say the same. Before Fenic could agonize any further on the choice that had been presented to him by Dunlan, Wyl Tarson, one of the offworlders, incapacitated Fenic. Dunlan thanked Tarson for it but still refused to help him. He believed that there would be "other ways, other methods" to end the oppression of his fellow citizens.
At the time Dunlan did not know that he had been betrayed by Astor, another of his subordinates. Upon his return to a safe house after the abortive meeting, it was raided by stormtroopers under the command of Darth Vader. While Vader and his troops were distracted by the task of killing Dunlan's fellow rebels, Dunlan slipped away and ran.
With the rest of his options closed, Dunlan chose to do exactly what he had earlier refused to sacrifice his people for: He was going to destroy the power control station on the pyramid's tenth floor with a surface-to-air missile. His first stop was the house of an who had allowed Dunlan's rebels to use it as hiding place for their weapons. As Dunlan took out the floorboards and appropriated a rocket launcher, the old woman beckoned him to look through the window and he saw Imperial walkers once again crushing buildings beneath their feet and TIE/sa bombers dropping their deadly payloads.
Just one step ahead of Vader and the stormtroopers, Dunlan stole a X-34 landspeeder and searched for a place from which he could fire his missile at the pyramid. After he found a spot, he was grazed in the chest by a blaster bolt. He found himself unsure and afraid of death, but the sight of Vader and the stormtroopers approaching reminded him that he was fighting for the future of Ahakista and its people.
After Dunlan destroyed the power control station, Vader finally caught up to him. Before the Sith Lord stabbed him through the heart with his lightsaber, Dunlan threw open his arms in a gesture of defiance and told him that he was too late and that "What we've started cannot be stopped."
After Ahakista's democratic government was dissolved by the Empire, it was replaced by one composed of members of the planet's wealthy upper class and loyal to the Empire. Like his fellow citizens, Dunlan resented the new government's policies, which had eroded the prosperity and freedom that they had been accustomed to. Dunlan eventually became the leader of a resistance movement in a civil war against the government.
When Dunlan rose to prominence, he was viewed by disenfranchised citizens as a hero. As explosions shook the streets Ahakista, however, government officials took a dimmer view of him as a terrorist and a threat to their grasp on power. After Dunlan assassinated Councilman Derral and Derral's fellow council member, the Empire ascertained that the intensity of the conflict posed a significant threat to certain assets that were located on Ahakista and decided to directly intervene.
Shortly after he was nearly crushed by an All Terrain Armored Transport that had been walking through the formerly prosperous parts of the city, Dunlan was invited to a meeting convened by Sardoth. The owner of the Daystar Casino had brought with himself a motley group who he had claimed were members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During the briefing, Dunlan learned that the Empire had been using Ahakista as a base for the Hub, a supercomputer housed inside the pyramid at the center of the city. The Hub was of great importance to the Empire, since it purpose was to coordinate the vast Imperial Navy. Sardoth then came to the reason for why he had contacted Dunlan: He wanted Dunlan's group of rebels to destroy the pyramid's power control station so that the off-worlders could infiltrate and destroy the Hub itself.
Dunlan acknowledged that it was likely that the Empire would lose any interest that it had in Ahakista if the Hub was destroyed and would subsequently end its interference in the planet's affairs, but he refused to help Sardoth. He did not want to "sacrifice [his] people as a mere distraction" in a frontal assault on the pyramid for a cause other than that of the citizens of Ahakista.
Dunlan stormed out of the meeting and found himself on the business end of a blaster. The man holding it was Fenic, who up until now was one of his fellow rebels. Fenic had planned to kill Dunlan and then collect the sizable bounty that the Empire had placed on Dunlan's head, but it turned out to be harder in actual practice. Dunlan encouraged Fenic to pull the trigger, telling him that he believed in what he was fighting for and that he was willing to die for his cause. Dunlan then asked Fenic if he could say the same. Before Fenic could agonize any further on the choice that had been presented to him by Dunlan, Wyl Tarson, one of the offworlders, incapacitated Fenic. Dunlan thanked Tarson for it but still refused to help him. He believed that there would be "other ways, other methods" to end the oppression of his fellow citizens.
At the time Dunlan did not know that he had been betrayed by Astor, another of his subordinates. Upon his return to a safe house after the abortive meeting, it was raided by stormtroopers under the command of Darth Vader. While Vader and his troops were distracted by the task of killing Dunlan's fellow rebels, Dunlan slipped away and ran.
With the rest of his options closed, Dunlan chose to do exactly what he had earlier refused to sacrifice his people for: He was going to destroy the power control station on the pyramid's tenth floor with a surface-to-air missile. His first stop was the house of an who had allowed Dunlan's rebels to use it as hiding place for their weapons. As Dunlan took out the floorboards and appropriated a rocket launcher, the old woman beckoned him to look through the window and he saw Imperial walkers once again crushing buildings beneath their feet and TIE/sa bombers dropping their deadly payloads.
Just one step ahead of Vader and the stormtroopers, Dunlan stole a X-34 landspeeder and searched for a place from which he could fire his missile at the pyramid. After he found a spot, he was grazed in the chest by a blaster bolt. He found himself unsure and afraid of death, but the sight of Vader and the stormtroopers approaching reminded him that he was fighting for the future of Ahakista and its people.
After Dunlan destroyed the power control station, Vader finally caught up to him. Before the Sith Lord stabbed him through the heart with his lightsaber, Dunlan threw open his arms in a gesture of defiance and told him that he was too late and that "What we've started cannot be stopped."