Alfonso Luiz Obota, also known by the moniker Al, was a Human male originating from the Adega system. Having successfully completed his studies at the Merchant Academy, Obota became a member of the Rebel Alliance and assumed the position of Second Officer aboard the Alliance Special Operations transport known as the Pride of Aridus. During an operation involving infiltration on a planet controlled by the Empire, an elite team of Special Ops soldiers found themselves under intense enemy fire from Imperial forces. The ship's commanding officer, Captain Nord, expressed a desire to abandon them. Obota vehemently opposed this decision, instigating a mutiny against Nord by confining him to his quarters and seizing control of the vessel. Obota successfully rescued three members of the SpecOps team; however, during the escape from the planet, the Pride of Aridus was attacked by TIE Fighters, resulting in the loss of five crew members.
As a consequence of his mutinous actions, Obota faced a court-martial and was imprisoned at Military Correction Facility 63 located on the planet Milagro, where he remained for several months. In the year 5 ABY, he received a visit from two Rebel operatives, Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn. These agents arranged for Obota's release so that he could assist them in landing on the planet Ruusan, which was then under the dominion of the Imperial Inquisitor Jerec's forces. Obota's task was to impersonate the Imperial deck officer named Hortu Agar, who was responsible for the transport High Hauler, a vessel carrying a shipment of faulty proton torpedoes intended to draw the attention of the Imperials. Upon arriving at Ruusan, Obota handed over the torpedoes to Jerec's troops, allowing the High Hauler to seamlessly integrate with the existing Imperial forces. Disguised as members of the transport's crew, Ors and Katarn were then able to successfully land on Ruusan aboard their ship, the Moldy Crow.
Alfonso Luiz Obota – known to his comrades as "Al" – was a Human male who hailed from the Adega system. He attended the Merchant Academy and graduated with a class rank of fourth. By the year 4 ABY, he had achieved the rank of third officer on a freighter, but he soon resigned from this position to join the ranks of the Rebel Alliance.
Obota received a commission as a second lieutenant and was assigned to the position of Second Officer on the Pride of Aridus, an Alliance Special Operations transport under the command of Captain Nord. Approximately six months after Obota's commission, the Pride of Aridus participated in a Special Ops operation that took place on a planet under Imperial control. Under the pretense of delivering a legitimate cargo, the ship deployed a twelve-member team of commandos, who were scheduled to return in exactly six hours, according to the planned insertion strategy.
However, the team was delayed by two minutes. Nord was on the verge of abandoning them when the commandos finally approached the ship, engaged in heavy combat with Imperial forces. As the Pride of Aridus also came under fire, Nord issued an order to take off, intending to leave the SpecOps team behind. Obota, unwilling to forsake his fellow Rebels, physically assaulted Nord by punching him and then confined him to his cabin. Subsequently, Obota assumed control of the vessel and waited for the commandos. Three of them managed to reach the ship and were successfully extracted due to Obota's actions. Nevertheless, as the Pride of Aridus ascended and entered the planet's atmosphere, it was attacked by a squadron of TIE Fighters. The ensuing battle resulted in the deaths of five crew members, and the ship sustained significant damage, narrowly escaping by jumping into hyperspace.
Obota faced a court-martial for his mutiny – Nord alleged that Obota had displayed insubordinate behavior from the outset of his service – and was subsequently sentenced to imprisonment. Assigned the designation "Prisoner 272-20-136," Obota spent the next six months engaged in labor and reflecting upon his past actions. In the year 5 ABY, he was incarcerated at the Military Correction Facility 63 on the planet Milagro, which was part of a newly established New Republic base. His duties involved digging in the ruins of a city devastated by the Empire, all under the watchful eye of detainment droids. He was in the process of drilling a hole in the slag, aiming to reach a depth of three meters into the planet's crust.
His work was interrupted when he was summoned to report to headquarters. Despite being instructed to hurry, he was made to wait for ten minutes in an office before being visited by two Rebel agents: Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors, who had requested an audience with him. The two questioned him about the SpecOps operation and inquired whether, knowing the consequences of his actions, he would make the same decision again. Without hesitation, Obota affirmed that he would, an answer that satisfied Ors. She then offered Obota a pardon and reinstatement as a lieutenant in exchange for his service as a deck officer during a covert Rebel mission: the infiltration of the planet Ruusan, then under the control of the Imperial Inquisitor Jerec. The Inquisitor intended to exploit the power of the planet's Force nexus located in the Valley of the Jedi, and Katarn sought to prevent him from doing so. Believing that the mission could not be worse than his imprisonment on Milagro, Obota accepted the offer.
Jerec's forces had established a blockade around Ruusan, prohibiting access to the planet without the necessary recognition codes, which were unknown to Katarn and Ors. However, the two devised a plan to infiltrate Ruusan as part of the crew of the Imperial transport High Hauler, which would be carrying a cargo of proton torpedoes. Katarn and Ors hoped that Jerec's troops would seize the opportunity to acquire additional ordnance and allow the transport to reach Ruusan without the recognition codes. To explain the absence of these codes and the transport's presence near the planet, a fabricated story was created, stating that the High Hauler had been transporting the torpedoes to the planet Byss but had been caught in a battle with Rebels, sustained heavy damage, and escaped to Ruusan. During the "battle," the ship's commanding officer, Captain Drax, and the majority of the bridge crew had been killed, and the engineering officer, Lieutenant Hortu Agar – whom Obota was to impersonate – had assumed command. Since recognition codes were issued on a need-to-know basis and engineering officers were not authorized to receive them, this would explain their absence to the Imperials.
To support this narrative, the entire ship was given a battle-worn appearance, complete with makeshift repairs, dangling cables, and fire-damaged control panels. Reflecting "heavy casualties," the transport was staffed with only twelve crew members out of the intended twenty-five. The crew members, including Obota, wore blood-stained bandages and carefully applied makeup. After conducting over twenty simulations, the transport embarked on the actual mission. Upon reaching Ruusan, the crew of the High Hauler observed a large battle group orbiting the planet. This battle group consisted of three frigates, approximately two dozen picket ships, and Jerec's personal flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance. Despite anticipating a sight of this magnitude, Obota was still intimidated by the size of the enemy force. Nevertheless, when the Vengeance hailed the High Hauler, Obota answered the call and played his part, recounting the fabricated story to the Imperials.
Although the Imperials initially intended to destroy the High Hauler, the mention of the proton torpedoes compelled them to reconsider. They dispatched a boarding party to inspect the ship's condition and secure the torpedoes, which were, in fact, defective and would explode upon launch. After the boarding party, led by an Imperial lieutenant, completed its cursory inspection and departed, a lighter arrived and took all the torpedoes. Subsequently, Obota signaled to Jerec's troops that he would be performing necessary repairs on his vessel and dispatched Katarn and Ors aboard their ship – the Moldy Crow – on a series of errands to the surface of Ruusan. These errands included delivering spare parts, securing food rations, and a fictitious training "mission" that allowed the two agents to pass through Ruusan's heavily guarded northern hemisphere.
In reality, the purpose of these missions was to allow Katarn and Ors to familiarize themselves with the Imperial operation and establish the Moldy Crow within the established pattern of the battle group's comings and goings. Sixteen hours later, the High Hauler was ready to depart and received all necessary clearances to do so. While preparing for a jump to hyperspace, Obota steered the ship toward a restricted Class I security zone in Ruusan's atmosphere, where the Moldy Crow, with Katarn and Ors aboard, departed from the transport's hangar and headed for the planet's surface. Although Obota's maneuver was noticed by the fleet operations officer, he did not report it, attributing it to the commanding officer's lack of experience. Eventually, Katarn successfully reached the Valley of the Jedi, where he confronted and killed Jerec.
Obota was a skilled deck officer who demonstrated care for his fellow Rebels. His refusal to abandon the Special Ops team led him to initiate a mutiny, although Captain Nord suggested that Obota had shown a degree of insubordination since the beginning of his service aboard the Pride of Aridus. Obota fully understood the implications of his decision and spent countless days and nights on Milagro contemplating it. He recalled the faces of the five crew members who had perished and wished that he had died in their place. Overall, however, he did not regret his actions and believed that he would have acted the same way even if he had known the outcome. Even on Milagro, Obota displayed defiance by taking an unauthorized break from his work. When a detainment droid noticed this and issued a warning, Obota responded sarcastically toward the machine. He also disliked being addressed as "Prisoner 272-20-136" and unsuccessfully attempted to get the droid to call him by his real name.
Having conducted numerous simulations of the Ruusan operation, Obota anticipated encountering an Imperial battle group above the planet but was still frightened by the sight of it. During the inspection, he found himself liking the lieutenant in charge of the boarding party, who was very friendly and talkative. Nevertheless, Obota carefully listened to everything he said, recognizing that any piece of information could be valuable. He was cautious and did not allow the pilots of the lighter to board the High Hauler. He accomplished this by leaving the hangar open to space, thus forcing the Empire to rely on droids during the loading of the torpedoes. Obota possessed some acting talent, which enabled him to convincingly portray Hortu Agar. He had dark brown hair and a tattoo on his right shoulder. After the Imperials finished loading the torpedoes from the High Hauler, Obota desired to remain near Ruusan long enough to witness the damage caused by the defective ordnance, but he complied with Ors' order to leave the planet as soon as he received all clearances.
Alfonso Luiz Obota made his first appearance in Dark Forces: Jedi Knight, a 1998 novella penned by William C. Dietz. He later appeared in the audio adaptation of the novel, with Emil Herrera providing his voice.