Jace Dallin

A native of the world Rendili, the Human male Jace Dallin eventually found himself serving as an aide to Senator Ranulph Tarkin of Eriadu. The fiery leader of the Galactic Senate's militarist faction, Tarkin was committed to reestablishing the Republic Army and Navy. To that end, Tarkin established the Republic Outland Regions Security Force, a "prototype" military, modeled on the Galactic Republic's current Judicial Forces. As his trusted right-hand man, Dallin was the second-in-command of the self-styled "General" Tarkin's paramilitary forces. Tarkin recruited only Humans into his militia, and Dallin accepted the General's humanocentric beliefs.

In the year 44 BBY, the Trade Federation secretly conspired with Thyferra's bacta-producing Xucphra Corporation to create an artificial bacta shortage, driving up prices of the precious medicinal fluid and netting both groups huge profits. However, the smuggler Iaco Stark and his Stark Commercial Combine, a gang of Outer Rim pirates, preyed upon the bacta-carrying freighters of the Trade Federation. Stark then sold this bacta at lower prices, earning a reputation as a hero throughout the Rim, despite his criminal activities. Seeking a resolution to the conflict, the Senate voted to hold a summit between the Trade Federation, Stark, and the Republic regarding the bacta shortage.

However, Tarkin was determined that the crisis would be best solved by crushing Stark's pirates with military force. With Dallin at his side, he entered into an agreement with Representative Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation; Gunray provided the location of the secret meeting, and Tarkin would arrive with the Outland Regions Security Force fleet to destroy Stark. It was Tarkin's intent to lead a smashing military success, proving the value of a standing Republic army and navy and catapulting himself into the Supreme Chancellorship upon returning as a hero.

Dallin and Tarkin readied their fleet for action. Aboard the flagship Invincible, Dallin awaited Gunray's signal that the conference on Troiken was underway. With its receipt, the armada jumped into hyperspace. Dallin and Tarkin were unaware, however, that Stark had anticipated the betrayal and used it to justify his power grab. A navcomputer virus was piggybacked on Gunray's signal while, at the summit, Stark attacked the delegates. The navigation computers of Tarkin's fleet were scrambled, resulting in most of the fleet missing their destination. Dallin and the Invincible were among the one-third of the fleet that made it to Troiken, where they were badly outnumbered by Stark's own fleet. The Invincible was heavily hammered by enemy ships as the fleet was decimated; Dallin looked to Tarkin for orders, but the Eriadu commander had frozen with uncertainty amidst this sudden upending of his plans. Senator Finis Valorum, the Republic's delegate to the conference, had escaped with Gunray and their Jedi escort, and he contacted Tarkin with instructions to land at Mount Avos and take shelter in an abandoned spice mine inside the mountain. Tarkin angrily refused to take orders, but the Invincible was almost completely annihilated, and after a particularly damaging hit, he relented. Dallin issued the orders to evacuate the troops and defend their escape pods; Tarkin parroted those orders seconds later. The two then escaped in a life pod shortly before the Invincible was destroyed.

Dallin made planetfall on the Lycinder Plain in front of Avos, where the surviving army troopers fled, entered the mine and began fortifying it while under fire from Stark's forces. They were swiftly joined by Valorum, Gunray, and Jedi Masters Plo Koon, Adi Gallia, and Qui-Gon Jinn, as well as Jinn's Padawan learner Obi-Wan Kenobi. Tyvokka, another Jedi Master, had died as a result of Stark's betrayal. After Valorum called out Tarkin for obliging Stark's trap with his secret fleet, Dallin took an active role in the mine's fortifications, inventorying the group's supplies and organizing the troops.

Koon used his telepathic powers to read Stark's mind, and discovered that Stark and his confederates planned to launch a surprise attack on the mountain. Dallin and the Jedi prepared, and the battle saw many soldiers wounded, but it was a Republic victory as Dallin's troops used the high ground to fend off Stark's advances. Additionally, Koon's telepathy allowed him to know of any sorties and rally the Jedi against them. After the battle, Koon and the other Jedi visited the wounded—healing, comforting, and reassuring them. Seeing the Kel Dor Jedi serve without ego and display genuine concern for the troops broke Dallin of his humanocentrism. Additionally, Dallin was disillusioned with Tarkin after the Senator's failure under fire, his displays of egocentrism, his failure to treat his soldiers as more than tools for his own ends, and the defeatist attitude he was displaying at Avos. As such, Dallin's loyalty began to swing from Tarkin to the Jedi: Tarkin was largely ignored as Dallin began taking his orders from Koon, for whom he developed an immense personal respect.

After the battle, the Jedi developed a plan to sneak Valorum and Gunray back to the Republic's capital world, Coruscant, where Valorum would plead for reinforcements. With the Troiken group's communications jammed, they were assumed dead. Dallin begged for Koon to stay, knowing that the troops looked up to him and depended on the Jedi Master for their morale. Koon agreed to stay while the other Jedi accompanied the diplomats, and Dallin led a diversionary battle while the other Jedi escaped from the caves. After aiding the others in acquiring a ship, Jinn and Kenobi returned to Avos, accompanied by Jedi Knight Tholme and his apprentice Quinlan Vos, who had stowed away on a freighter that arrived on Troiken from Thyferra after conducting an investigation of the bacta crisis. Meanwhile, one of Dallin's patrols came across the Xexto Billibango, a native who wished to aid the Republic. He warned them of the threat of challat eaters in the mines—huge swarms of flesh-eating insects. Just in time, the Jedi were able to bring down a section of the caves, trapping the newly awakened challat eaters.

Due to another warning from Billibango, the Republic was made aware of an impending surprise attack by Stark's forces. Enemy troops surged into the caverns of Mount Avos, but Dallin's men rallied against them. During the battle, Dallin was wounded in an explosion; shielding from Billibango spared him from death. Dallin did, however, receive a large gash to the left side of his face. It was stitched up, but as the troops had no bacta, it healed into a large, distinguishing scar. After he awoke in the mine, Dallin spent the rest of the war with half of his face swaddled in bandages.

Koon was able to make telepathic contact with the Jedi Council through his niece, Sha Koon. The Republic refused to send aid, but the Jedi Council worked out a plan. Jedi reinforcements arrived over Troiken soon after, leading a task force of Trade Federation ships co-opted by a promise not to reveal the Federation's role in fabricating the bacta crisis. Stark was telepathically offered amnesty by Koon in return for betraying his forces, which he did. Koon planned to harmlessly trap Stark's army by retreating though the caverns, then sealing the entrances explosively. Dallin commanded the evacuation, but on reaching the exit—the last opening to be sealed—he found that Tarkin had disappeared with the charge that was to have been used to seal the exit. Tarkin, furious that Koon had usurped his command, was determined to go out a hero. He used explosives to clear the cave-in that had trapped the challat eaters, unleashing them on Stark's troops, who were devoured alive. Koon was the last to emerge from the cave, and he sealed the exit behind him with a Force-triggered rockslide. Stark's forces were defeated, and Dallin joined his troops in celebrating the end of the Stark Hyperspace War.

After the war, Dallin joined the Judicial Forces of the Republic. By 30 BBY, he was a crew member on the Republic cruiser Intrepid. In that year, the Intrepid was called upon to carry a Jedi contingent including Masters Mace Windu, Gallia, and Koon to Kiffex, where they recovered the Jedi Padawan Aayla Secura. Dallin, ecstatic to have Koon aboard, went to see the Jedi Master during the return trip to Coruscant. With Koon were Windu, Gallia, Tholme, and Secura. Secura stared at Dallin's scars, unusual in a galaxy with access to bacta, and he described them as "battle flags" from the war. Secura had had her memory erased during a failed mission, and so the group recounted the events of the war to her. At the end of the reunion, Dallin expressed his intense gratitude to Koon for the Jedi Master's service in the war, to which Dallin felt he owed his life.

Dallin eventually retired from service to the Republic, returning to his homeworld of Rendili. There, he joined and became the commander of the Rendili Home Defense Fleet. With the rank of captain, he commanded the fleet of Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers from his flagship, the Mersel Kebir.

In 22 BBY, the Clone Wars broke out across the galaxy. Dallin, ever loyal to the Republic, stood ready to defend Rendili against attacks from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. However, halfway into 20 BBY, the Independent Provisional Government of Rendili took control of the planet and pledged its allegiance to the Confederacy. Dallin faced a dilemma, unsure if he should turn his back on his homeworld and his duty as an officer or reject the Republic he loved and had fought for in the name of duty.

The Republic, well aware of Dallin's patriotism, sent a task force to negotiate with him. Koon, now a High Jedi General in the war, and Captain Jan Dodonna, a rising naval star and fellow veteran of the Stark Hyperspace War, traveled to the Mersel Kebir, seeking Dallin's defection and that of Rendili's powerful Home Defense Fleet. High Jedi General Saesee Tiin commanded a task force of three Acclamator-class assault ships which would, if negotiations failed, engage Rendili's fleet.

Koon and Dodonna came aboard, and Dallin confessed his confusion to them; Koon told him that his greater loyalty must lie with the Republic. He was interrupted by the ambitious Lieutenant Mellor Yago, however, who insisted that orders be obeyed. Dallin rebuked the junior officer, telling him that Rendili had been taken by force and that the Independent Provisional Government was merely a mouthpiece for the Separatists. Accusing Dallin of treason, Yago drew his blaster and, backed by several other junior officers, placed Dallin under arrest and took command of the fleet. With a knife to his neck and a blaster to his head, Dallin ordered Koon to disregard Dallin's own life and put down the mutiny. Koon refused, claiming there would be another time. Dallin, all other Home Defense Fleet senior officers, and the Republic emissaries were taken to the brig.

Yago secretly called for Separatist reinforcements while attempting to use his captives as hostages and force a Republic withdrawal. Tiin refused and instead offered Yago a chance to surrender and time to reconsider before the Jedi Master mounted his attack. The Separatist fleet arrived before the last hour was up, and a battle began. In the brig, Koon warned Dallin and Dodonna to ready themselves for rescue.

Jedi Masters Kenobi and Vos, Padawans when they fought alongside Dallin during the Stark Hyperspace War, infiltrated the Mersel Kebir while Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker disabled its hyperdrive. Now free, Dallin, Dodonna, and the Jedi stormed the bridge while the other senior officers reestablished Dallin's command on the lower decks. Dallin ordered all those aboard to surrender or be summarily shot in the ongoing firefight. Wielding two blasters, Dallin had Dodonna cover him as he went after Yago. Dallin and Yago found himself mere meters from each other, each with a blaster leveled at the other. Each officer pulled the trigger; Yago missed. Dallin did not.

With Yago dead and the bridge pacified, Dallin was able to quickly reassert his authority over the Home Defense Fleet. After Yago's treatment of him, he had made his decision. Dallin ordered his fleet to disengage from the Republic assault ship Sundiver and turn against the two Separatist core ships. The core ships were defeated in short order. With that done, Dallin negotiated the full surrender of the Rendili Home Defense Fleet to the Republic. The Dreadnaughts of Dallin's command were converted into prison ships for the housing of Dark Jedi.

With the example of the Rendili Home Defense Fleet, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had a law passed folding all planetary navies into the Republic Navy. Dallin once more gained a chance to serve the Republic directly. Fighting for the Republic Navy in the final six months of the Clone Wars, he held the rank of captain by the war's end in 19 BBY.

Concurrent with the Separatist surrender, Palpatine declared a New Order, transforming the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Shortly thereafter, Dallin was among many captains of the new Imperial Navy summoned to Coruscant for an audience with Emperor Palpatine. There, Palpatine revealed his deformed visage, which he claimed was the result of a Jedi attack. The Jedi had been declared enemies of the state during the transition to the Empire. Dallin, in the front row of the gathered captains, objected, his disbelief bubbling into words. Palpatine introduced his black-armored enforcer and Sith apprentice Darth Vader to the fleet, and Vader asked Dallin to clarify his statement with great care. Dallin suggested that some sort of mistake or misunderstanding had occurred, citing the high moral quality of all Jedi he had known—and Vader, the man who, as Anakin Skywalker, had helped rescue Dallin six months before, lifted Dallin into the air with the Force, telekinetically choked him, and then dashed him headfirst to the floor, killing him. Vader and Palpatine had wished to make an example, and Dallin had provided their opening.

Jace Dallin began his career as a devoted Militarist and supporter of Ranulph Tarkin and his humanocentrism. As he saw Tarkin crumble under fire in the Stark Hyperspace War, however, Dallin lost his respect for the self-styled General. Instead, he turned his allegiance to Plo Koon—a non-Human—and the Jedi after seeing their compassion for his troops and firm leadership in the crisis. Dallin renounced humanocentrism and developed a deep respect for and loyalty to Koon and the Jedi Order as a whole, feeling that he owed his life to them. Even when faced with Palpatine's and Darth Vader's insistence that the Jedi were traitors, Dallin earnestly defended them—a move that cost him his life.

Dallin's loyalty also extended to the Republic. Though he had little problem supporting Tarkin's manipulations, the sacrifices Dallin made in the Stark Hyperspace War and his turnaround in attitude gave him a strong appreciation for the Republic that he had fought to defend. He proved himself a capable army commander during the war, and after receiving scars on his face while defending the Republic, he was proud to wear them as "battle flags."

When Rendili's allegiance was pledged to the Confederacy rather than the Republic, Dallin became conflicted, unsure if he should stand by his homeworld or the Republic. He confessed as much to Koon, who was officially an enemy of Rendili, and his ultimate choice to side with the Republic saw him arrested by his ambitious junior officers. After escaping and storming the bridge of his flagship, he gave his mutinous men the option of surrender, but was willing to shoot those who opposed him—particularly Lieutenant Mellor Yago—with force. Dallin's naval command was respected by his senior officers, and he was able to re-assert his authority over his flagship after taking down the traitorous Yago.

The character of Jace Dallin was created by writer John Ostrander for the Star Wars: Republic story arc The Stark Hyperspace War, in which he was illustrated by Davidé Fabbri. Dallin was a recurring supporting character in Republic, appearing again in The Dreadnaughts of Rendili and Loyalties, both written by Ostrander. Dallin was never illustrated twice by the same artist, however, with Jan Duursema illustrating him for The Dreadnaughts of Rendili and Luke Ross doing so in Loyalties.

Although Dallin's eyes are consistently colored blue throughout the first three issues of The Stark Hyperspace War, the fourth and final issue colors them brown, a coloring that would be used for all of Dallin's later appearances. This article treats brown as the canonical color.

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