Castin Donn

During the time of the Galactic Civil War, Castin Donn was part of a rebel faction situated on Coruscant that operated independently from the Rebel Alliance. Although this group opposed the Empire, its members harbored a similar xenophobic bias to that of the Imperials. Donn took part in efforts to broadcast footage of the Second Death Star's destruction to the public holoprojectors of Coruscant. This particular action would leave a lasting, painful impression on Donn, as stormtroopers were dispatched to quell the celebratory crowd of Rebel sympathizers. A young mother standing next to Donn was fatally shot, forcing Donn to rescue her infant son from being trampled by the fleeing masses.

During his time on Coruscant, Donn acquired a criminal record due to his insurgent activities. He attempted to erase all traces of this record, but his efforts were thwarted by the rapid proliferation of copies. He then assumed a false identity and arranged passage off-world, eventually arriving in New Republic-controlled space, where he enlisted in the New Republic Defense Fleet as a slicer. Two years later, following a physical altercation with a Sullustan navigator, Donn transferred to Starfighter Command and began pilot training. This was just one of several blemishes on his record, which also included regularly neglecting his assigned duties. Despite Donn's less-than-stellar history, Wedge Antilles, the Wraith Leader, was not deterred when Donn volunteered for Wraith Squadron, a starfighter unit specializing in both commando and starfighter missions, as other members of the Wraiths had similar imperfections on their records. In 7.5 ABY, Donn officially joined the squadron, shortly after the Wraiths participated in the Battle of Ession and destroyed the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Implacable.

Following the successful destruction of the Implacable, which was affiliated with the rogue Imperial Warlord Zsinj, and the disruption of parts of Zsinj's clandestine business network, the Wraiths received their next assignment from Admiral Ackbar, the Commander-in-Chief of New Republic military operations. Combining ideas from Gamorrean Voort saBinring and Thakwaash Hohass Ekwesh's group during a Wraith Squadron brainstorming session, the Wraiths were to be deployed to the Halmad system to target the Imperial-controlled planet of Halmad. The Wraiths had two main objectives: to establish a reputation as a formidable pirate group to attract Zsinj's attention, and to compel the government of Halmad to seek Zsinj's protection.

Adopting the guise of the Hawk-bat Independent Space Force, the Wraiths infiltrated Victory Base, the Imperial base on Halmad, and absconded with five TIE Interceptors to bolster their forces. Donn's slicing abilities were crucial to the operation, as he fabricated an urgent maintenance order for the base's hangar and disabled the internal holocams, allowing the Wraiths to enter the hangar undetected. When their cover was compromised due to Garik Loran, the Wraith's actor, providing an incorrect password to the replacement sentry, Donn created a diversion to facilitate their escape. Donn activated the base's outdated air-raid siren system, causing the base's personnel to believe they were under attack by an unknown force, plunging the entire base into chaos. Amidst the confusion, the Wraiths flew their newly acquired Interceptors out of the hangar unnoticed, while Donn and the others escaped the base aboard a commandeered skimmer.

The Wraiths subsequently ambushed the Corellian freighter Barderia, looting its cargo. Donn was among those who boarded the freighter to verify the accuracy of the ship's cargo manifest. By hacking into the freighter's system, Donn obtained information that enabled the Wraiths to ambush the Barderia again upon its return to Halmad. To maintain the illusion that Wraith Squadron was part of the Solo Fleet tasked with hunting down Zsinj, most of the Wraiths visited the Mon Remonda, General Han Solo's flagship, and participated in a mission with the elite unit Rogue Squadron. Only Donn, Ekwesh, Kell Tainer, and Ton Phanan remained at Hawk-bat Base, the squadron's temporary operational headquarters. Acting independently, the four remaining Wraiths used their time effectively, staging several raids on Halmad. Their first raid targeted the port warehouse district of Fellon city, where they stole large quantities of Imperial propaganda and recreational holos. They then strafed the city's marina before making their escape.

Their second raid involved robbing a money-exchange site in the city of Hullis. Donn was dispatched to the city a day prior to the raid to compromise the building's security system, enabling Tainer and Phanan to blast a hole in the building's side and fly their TIE Interceptors inside to seize their loot. Before being extracted from the city, Donn managed to hack into an account within Halmad's planetary defense satellite, providing the Wraiths with visual and sensor data on the planet. Upon the return of the other Wraiths, Wedge Antilles decided that their next operation would be to eliminate the two newly constructed starfighter bases on Halmad. To demonstrate their superiority over the local Imperials, Antilles announced that both missions would be executed simultaneously. This operation was later dubbed Operation Groundquake by Wraith Squadron's intrusion expert, Tyria Sarkin.

Donn was part of Tainer's group, which was assigned to seize the refueling tanker Bastion and detonate it at one of the bases. Unbeknownst to the Wraiths, Halmad had already sought Zsinj's protection. Midway through the Wraiths' operation, Zsinj's flagship, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Iron Fist, appeared in the system. It deployed fighters and ensnared the Bastion in a tractor lock. While the other Wraiths engaged the fighters, Donn and his group managed to escape by flying their shuttle, Narra, out of the Bastion's hold and detonating the tanker as it drew closer to the Iron Fist. The explosion broke the tractor beam lock, allowing the shuttle to retreat. Donn's group survived the encounter, but Loran's group lost Phanan when his TIE Fighter was shot down during the engagement, and Phanan subsequently died from his injuries.

Shortly after escaping Zsinj's ambush, Donn received a message from Zsinj, left on one of the accounts Donn had hacked within Halmad's planetary defense satellite network. The message contained a hologram of Zsinj inviting the Hawk-bats to meet with him aboard the Iron Fist to discuss the possibility of a partnership. The Wraiths welcomed the message, viewing it as a sign that their undercover operation had been a success. Antilles began screening candidates for the envoy group, excluding Donn due to his criminal record on Coruscant, as Antilles suspected Zsinj might possess a copy of Donn's file. Undeterred, Donn approached Antilles after the other pilots had been dismissed and proposed to infiltrate the Iron Fist undetected, disguised as a stormtrooper, while the envoy group met with Zsinj. Once aboard, Donn would introduce a program into the Iron Fist's system that would prompt the ship to periodically transmit its location.

Considering a capital ship's protocol of memory flushing and program scanning, Donn calculated that the program would only remain active for two weeks. He hoped that the Wraiths would be able to discern a pattern in the ship's regular destinations during that time before launching an ambush. Donn's program would function similarly to Project Morrt, a ship-tracking initiative launched by Zsinj's late subordinate, Admiral Apwar Trigit, who had previously commanded the Implacable before its destruction. Antilles approved the plan and instructed Donn to begin working on the program, but to Donn's dismay, he was informed that it would not be used during the initial meeting, as Antilles believed Zsinj would be wary of unknown pirates boarding his ship. Antilles assured Donn that his program would be used in subsequent meetings, ideally after they had gained Zsinj's trust and the Iron Fist's security had become more lax. Donn vehemently argued that he was superior to Zsinj's security team and that his plan should be implemented immediately. Noting Donn's stubbornness, Antilles issued a direct order for him to begin working on the program and rejected his plea to be included in the initial meeting with Zsinj before dismissing him.

Donn reiterated his plan during a combined briefing of all the separate but simultaneous missions the Wraiths were undertaking. Despite announcing that his program was ready, Donn was again denied participation in the envoy to Zsinj. Unable to contain his frustration, Donn reacted to Antilles's rejection with a sudden outburst. This prompted Antilles to discipline Donn by reprimanding him in front of his fellow pilots and canceling his impending leave to Coruscant. Donn stormed out of the briefing, followed by Loran, who attempted to understand Donn's behavior. Donn reasoned that Antilles was being overly cautious and that his own plan should be implemented, while Loran attempted to explain the validity and rationale behind Antilles's stance. Uncertain of the code-slicer's state of mind, Loran made Donn promise not to attempt anything on his own, which the code-slicer agreed to.

Unbeknownst to the envoy team, consisting of Loran, Tainer, and Dia Passik, Donn defied Antilles's orders and concealed himself in the Narra's smuggling compartment. By hiding behind a long strip of reflective mirror, Donn was able to deceive Tainer into believing that the compartment was empty during Tainer's inspection. After the Narra landed aboard the Iron Fist and was inspected by Zsinj's forces, Donn emerged from his hiding place, donning stormtrooper armor as a disguise. While searching for a computer terminal to upload his program, Donn stumbled upon a biomedical research project that Zsinj's scientists were conducting. Attempting to ignore the sympathy he felt for the test subjects, Donn began working on uploading his program. He was interrupted by the arrival of a squad of stormtroopers for inspection. Believing they were searching for him, Donn shot and killed the lead stormtrooper, initiating a brief shootout in the laboratory. In an act of mercy, Donn freed the modified Talz that Zsinj's scientists were experimenting on before attempting to escape. However, Donn was shot in the thigh by the squad's remaining stormtrooper. Realizing his end was near, Donn shot his datapad, destroying all the information it contained. Donn's final act was to protect his teammates' secret identities from being exposed.

Donn perished in the brief shootout, and his body was brought to the dining hall, where Zsinj was dining with the envoy team. A device was concealed behind Donn's armor to create the illusion that he was still breathing. To determine if Donn was part of the envoy team, Zsinj requested "General Kargin"—Loran's Hawk-bat identity—to execute Donn. Loran stalled for time while attempting to devise a plan, but "Seku"—Passik's Hawk-bat identity—quickly shot Donn in the throat. Zsinj was then convinced that Donn was not affiliated with the Hawk-bats and allowed them to depart. Safely aboard the Narra and traveling through hyperspace, Passik immediately explained that she believed Donn was already dead, noting that the manner in which the stormtroopers carried Donn's body suggested they were hauling a corpse, not someone likely to awaken.

The trauma of shooting Donn's body caused Passik to suffer a breakdown, nearly leading her to take her own life with her blaster. Loran intervened and reassured Passik by telling her that she had saved his and Tainer's lives by shooting the slicer's body. Passik eventually recovered from her ordeal and began a relationship with Loran. Donn's death was the second in the squadron's ongoing mission on Halmad, occurring mere days after Phanan's. Concerned that Donn's death would negatively impact the squadron's morale, Antilles voiced his concerns to the squadron's executive officer, Wes Janson, in a conversation overheard by Ekwesh. Taking it upon himself to "heal" the squadron's morale, Ekwesh organized a formal dance attended by all members of Wraith Squadron and its support personnel.

Donn's tracking program was later modified by Lara Notsil, his successor as the squadron's qualified slicer. Wraith pilot Shalla Nelprin then joined Zsinj's intrusion team and uploaded the program onto the Razor's Kiss, a newly constructed Executor-class Star Dreadnought that Zsinj had captured from the Kuat Drive Yards. Donn's program enabled a New Republic task force commanded by Han Solo to track down the Razor's Kiss and destroy it.

Castin Donn possessed a strong sense of pride and an overabundance of confidence in his own abilities, often leading him to intentionally disregard orders or be disrespectful to his superiors in an attempt to prove his point. In one instance, Donn asserted that he was superior to Zsinj's chief of security, despite having neither heard of nor met the individual. Naturally courageous, Donn consistently involved himself in perilous situations, as evidenced by his participation in a rebel group opposing the Empire and his volunteering to join Wedge Antilles's Wraith Squadron. When asked about his reasons for joining the Wraiths, Donn stated that he wanted to be where the action was, and that action always seemed to gravitate toward Antilles. During his time in the New Republic Defense Fleet, he received numerous commendations for bravery and ingenuity under fire.

As a career code slicer, Donn exhibited traits typical of his profession. He received reprimands from the Defense Fleet for his unreliability in performing routine tasks. His typical posture was unbefitting of a military member, often leaning on objects or slouching when seated. Antilles once remarked that Donn resembled someone who had misplaced his spine. When feeling uncomfortable, Donn displayed a childlike mannerism of squirming, a trait that Antilles found highly unusual in an adult.

Despite his conviction that the Empire and Warlord Zsinj needed to be stopped, Donn shared a xenophobic bias similar to that of the Imperials. Having joined the diverse New Republic, Donn found himself in conflict with Mon Calamari bridge crewmen and engaging in a fistfight with a Sullustan navigator. Upon joining the Wraiths, he was assigned to share quarters with the Thakwaash Hohass Ekwesh. Donn attempted to have his quarters reassigned, but Antilles denied his request, believing it was time for Donn to overcome his prejudice against non-Humans. Donn ultimately shed his prejudice during his final moments aboard Zsinj's flagship Iron Fist, when he freed a modified Talz that Zsinj's scientists were experimenting on.

Castin Donn possessed proficient slicing skills even before joining the New Republic. During his time with the Wraiths, he performed admirably in all missions he participated in, demonstrating his technical expertise and code-breaking abilities. The only instance in which he was unable to breach a security system was during his infiltration of the Iron Fist in an attempt to plant his tracking program. Although Donn believed he was superior to the Imperial who created the security system, he attempted to bypass a system that could have been developed over months or years in a matter of minutes.

Donn was a skilled pilot, earning a score high enough to qualify for Antilles's squadron, although he lacked experience, as evidenced by Antilles's decision to assign him as Wraith Two. According to Antilles's policy, this position was typically reserved for inexperienced pilots in need of additional instruction or protection. When Donn joined Wraith Squadron, he had no prior experience flying a TIE Fighter, but after a few days of training with a TIE fighter simulator, he was selected as one of the pilots tasked with flying a TIE Fighter that the Wraiths planned to steal from Victory Base.

Castin Donn is a character created by author Aaron Allston for his novel X-Wing: Iron Fist, the second novel in the Wraith Squadron Trilogy. This was Donn's sole appearance in the Expanded Universe. He was illustrated by Star Wars artist Scott Roller in the article Who's Who in Rogue Squadron, which appeared in Star Wars Insider 59.

The precise moment of Donn's death aboard the Iron Fist remains ambiguous. The novel does not explicitly state whether Donn was alive or dead when Dia Passik shot him in the throat, but according to Passik's entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, published in 2008, Donn was nearing death when she shot him. This entry may be considered inaccurate, as Donn's own entry in the encyclopedia states that he was executed by an Imperial officer named Captain Seku, which was Passik's pirate alias in the Hawk-bat Independent Space Force, not the Galactic Empire.