Dorja

Dorja, a Human male, born on Coruscant around or before 65 BBY, came from a prosperous family with a rich history of military service to the Galactic Republic. His father, grandfather, and four prior generations had all served as naval officers, with some commanding capital ships and at least one achieving the rank of admiral. Continuing this legacy, Dorja joined the Navy of the Galactic Empire following the Republic's transition into the Empire in 19 BBY. Around 2 BBY, Dorja had a daughter, Vana. Embracing Galactic Emperor Palpatine's New Order, Dorja became the captain of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Relentless before 4 ABY. He was known for his cautiousness, avoiding direct combat, and ensuring no casualties under his leadership.

During the Galactic Civil War in 4 ABY, the Emperor Palpatine lured the Rebels into a trap at the forest moon of Endor, where his massive Death Star II battle station was under construction. Death Squadron, a force of over thirty Star Destroyers and support ships, including the Relentless, was hidden behind Endor. When the Alliance Fleet arrived in the system to destroy the incomplete Death Star, the trap was sprung. The Imperial fleet engaged the Rebels, contained by interdictor cruisers. Dorja kept the Relentless away from the main combat during the Battle of Endor, avoiding casualties. However, the Rebels succeeded when a strike team destroyed the shield generator on the moon, enabling Rebel fighters to destroy the Death Star.

Despite the Emperor's death, the Imperial fleet fought for nearly four hours. Imperial morale plummeted, and after the destruction of Death Squadron's flagship, the Executor, the battlecruiser Pride of Tarlandia, and sixteen more Star Destroyers, Captain Gilad Pellaeon of the Chimaera ordered a retreat to Annaj. Dorja almost defied Pellaeon, a junior officer, but agreed with his grim assessment. After two days on Annaj, a war council dissolved due to the lack of a clear command structure following Palpatine's demise. Several officers deserted, declaring themselves independent warlords.

Grand Vizier Sate Pestage claimed the Imperial throne, choosing to defend strategic systems and fortress worlds, placing the Empire on the defensive. Pellaeon maintained fleet cohesion for five years, during which time Dorja plotted to seize control. Dorja nearly acted several times, but the fleet respected Pellaeon. In 9 ABY, with Imperial Space reduced to a quarter of its former size by the New Republic, Dorja was ready to act. However, the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a brilliant tactician, from the Unknown Regions, halted his plans. Thrawn, given control of the Empire by the remaining Moffs and the Imperial Ruling Council, also commanded the military forces of the Pentastar Alignment and the Ciutric Hegemony. Thrawn left a reserve to defend the Moffs at the Imperial capital of Orinda but took twelve Star Destroyers from the Battle of Endor. He formed a personal fleet from six, leaving the rest, including the Relentless, as a secondary force under Dorja.

Dorja viewed the Relentless' exclusion from Thrawn's main fleet as a personal insult. He also resented a non-Human leading the Empire but kept his opinions private. Thrawn spent six months reorganizing the fleet and conducting strategic raids before escalating his campaign. During the campaign, the Relentless was sent to New Cov for tax collection, where they found two notable ships in the capital city of Ilic: Lando Calrissian's Lady Luck and Luke Skywalker's personal X-wing. Stormtroopers and army troopers searched for these enemies, and when Skywalker, Calrissian, and Han Solo escaped, Dorja pursued them with TIE fighters. The arrival of three dreadnaughts from hyperspace shifted the battle, as they attacked the Relentless with ion cannons before escaping with the New Republic team.

On New Cov, Dorja's troops arrested Niles Ferrier for stealing biomolecules. Thrawn contacted the Relentless and spoke to Ferrier via holocomm. Thrawn, reminding Dorja of the escape of Solo, Skywalker, and Calrissian, instructed Ferrier to locate the dreadnaughts that attacked the Relentless, tasking Dorja with providing Ferrier an unmarked freighter. The dreadnaughts were from the Katana fleet, and Ferrier's discovery led to Thrawn acquiring 178 warships, greatly bolstering his fleet and changing his tactics to reclaim territory from the New Republic.

While Thrawn took the Chimaera to capture Ukio, Dorja and other captains feigned attacks to distract the New Republic Defense Fleet. Dorja, speaking with Thrawn and Pellaeon via hologram, received his orders. After the successful operation, while the Chimaera was at the Bilbringi Shipyards, Pellaeon requested a 500-man crew for six hours. This request followed Joruus C'baoth's use of the Force to control the minds of the Chimaera's bridge crew. Thrawn was later killed by his bodyguard Rukh during a battle at Bilbringi, ending his campaign.

After Thrawn's death, Moffs and Fleet Commanders took control, leading to an Imperial Civil War. Though a reborn Palpatine united the factions into a Dark Empire, his final death caused the fleet to splinter again. By 11 ABY, the last remnants ceased to exist, but in 12 ABY Pellaeon unified various warlord fleets into the Imperial Remnant. In 19 ABY, Dorja served the Remnant under Pellaeon, its Supreme Commander, aboard the Relentless. The Star Destroyer was part of the Braxant Sector Fleet under Moff Vilim Disra and was a primary ship Pellaeon used to patrol Imperial Space. Dorja's views on Pellaeon and Thrawn had changed significantly. By 19 ABY, he trusted Pellaeon and considered it an honor to have served under Thrawn.

With the Outer Rim territories reduced to a mere eight insignificant sectors under Remnant control, Pellaeon came to the conclusion that victory was unattainable and opted to seek a peaceful resolution with the New Republic. While he successfully garnered support for his proposal from the Remnant's governing Council of Moffs, the Sinister Triumvirate—comprising Moff Disra, former Emperor's Royal Guard Grodin Tierce, and Flim, a con artist masquerading as the resurrected Grand Admiral Thrawn—initiated a scheme to undermine Pellaeon's efforts and usurp control of the Remnant. Disra summoned Dorja, along with three other Star Destroyer captains, to his palace situated on Bastion, the Remnant's capital world. Within his office, he provided each captain with a datapad containing detailed instructions. Captain Trazzen of the Obliterator and Captain Argona of the Ironhand voiced concerns that diverting four Star Destroyers from the sector fleet, even temporarily, would be a strategically unsound decision. Meanwhile, both Dorja and Captain Nalgol of the Tyrannic questioned Disra's authority to dispatch them to Morishim and Bothawui, planets located outside of his designated sector.

Disra implied he would instead select other captains for the "history-making military campaign," but Flim, in his Thrawn guise, entered the office and asserted that he had specifically chosen the four present captains for a particular purpose. The astonished captains swiftly regained their composure and stood at attention. The individual they believed to be Thrawn informed them that, for the moment, he could not disclose the circumstances of his survival. The captains pledged their allegiance to his command and vowed to keep his return a secret. Dorja refrained from inquiring about the courier he was tasked with intercepting at Morishim, instead expressing his delight at serving under the Grand Admiral once more. Despite Disra's apprehension that Dorja might detect the deception, Major Tierce maintained that the charade would only be effective if they could deceive someone who had previously served directly under Thrawn. After the captains departed, Dorja affirmed Thrawn's strategic brilliance to a still-skeptical Nalgol.

Upon the arrival of Colonel [Meizh Vermel]'s CR90 corvette, Pellaeon's envoy to the New Republic, at Morishim, the Relentless emerged from hyperspace immediately behind it and initiated an attack. Dorja jammed Vermel's attempts to transmit a peace offering to New Republic General Garm Bel Iblis. However, Lando Calrissian and the New Republic's Rogue Squadron, who happened to be in the system at the time, managed to mitigate the jamming sufficiently to receive a distorted, incoherent fragment of Vermel's message. Subsequently, the corvette was brought aboard the Relentless via tractor beam, and the Star Destroyer jumped to lightspeed to return to Bastion. Dorja contacted Flim, who berated him for allowing even a portion of Vermel's message to reach New Republic ears. He then interrogated the corvette's crew, who were unaware of Vermel and Pellaeon's intentions. Ultimately, Vermel was imprisoned in a holding cell at the Remnant's Rimcee Station.

When the Triumvirate felt ready to unveil "Thrawn" to the New Republic, Dorja, accompanied by Flim and Tierce, traveled in the Relentless to a remote area of space and used an interdictor cruiser to pull the Lady Luck out of hyperspace. The Triumvirate had learned that Calrissian was transporting New Republic Senator Porolo Miatamia from Cilpar to Coruscant. Both were taken aboard the Relentless to meet with the Grand Admiral. The New Republic was grappling with a significant internal crisis following the discovery of a partial copy of the Caamas Document, a datacard revealing that certain Bothans were responsible for the ancient destruction of Caamas. Flim offered to personally meet with the Bothan clan leaders to determine the specific individuals responsible. This offer triggered substantial political discord within the New Republic Senate, thereby advancing the Triumvirate's objective of destabilizing the New Republic from within.

While Pellaeon awaited Bel Iblis in the Pesitiin system, with the Chimaera isolated and unable to communicate with the rest of the galaxy, the Triumvirate began utilizing the Relentless as their flagship. Dorja transported them to the planet Kroctar, situated deep within New Republic territory, where the Kroctari Lord Superior Bosmihi contacted the Relentless's bridge, requesting "Thrawn" to allow them to rejoin the Remnant. A Kroctari delegation boarded the Star Destroyer, and Dorja, acting under Flim's instructions, personally greeted them and escorted them to a conference room. The ship's next destination was the planet Ruuria, where Dorja met with the Ruurian ambassador Amisus, who was also interested in switching allegiances. After the ambassador's shuttle departed the Relentless, eight Marauder-class corvettes jumped into the system and launched an attack. From the secondary command room, Flim directed Dorja to deploy six Preybird-class starfighters to intercept. Disra quickly identified the attackers as Diamalan, enemies of the Ruurians. Flim claimed credit for the discovery and ordered the Relentless to execute a Tron Boral maneuver, followed by the Preybirds performing a full-closure Marg Sabl sweep. This combination of maneuvers had been employed effectively by the real Thrawn in a prior engagement with the Diamala. Consequently, the corvettes retreated without firing a single shot. Dorja informed the Ruurians that an attack on their world had been averted, and then returned the Relentless to Bastion. The Unified Ruurian Colonies subsequently pledged their allegiance to the Remnant.

While on the Imperial capital, the Triumvirate received intelligence that General Bel Iblis was planning an assault on the Imperial Ubiqtorate station located at Yaga Minor, hoping to secure a complete copy of the Caamas Document that would prevent the New Republic from descending into civil conflict. Dorja transported them to Yaga Minor in the Relentless to demonstrate "Thrawn's" tactical prowess to the Mistryl Shadow Guards, a group of mercenaries whom they hoped to recruit as allies for the Remnant. At the Ubiqtorate station, Dorja contacted Thrawn in the secondary command room and informed him that the Tyrannic was approaching the base. Since the Tyrannic was actually on another mission, the Triumvirate recognized that it was Bel Iblis's Star Destroyer using false transponder codes. Dorja instructed the base's General Hestiv to allow the warship to pass the station's outer perimeter before preparing all defenses for battle. Following Flim's instructions, Dorja also positioned the Relentless between the station and the approaching Destroyer. The imposter Tyrannic became ensnared in the station's tractor beams and began firing upon them. Bel Iblis's task force, which had been concealed from the station, emerged from hiding and initiated an attack. During the battle, Talon Karrde, an information broker, arrived in his starship, the Wild Karrde, claiming to possess the ultimate bargaining chip. Rogue Squadron escorted him through the battle lines toward the Relentless.

The Triumvirate and the Shadow Guards proceeded to the bridge, where everyone was stunned by the unexpected arrival of Pellaeon. Karrde had discovered a datacard exposing the Triumvirate's deception and had delivered the information to Pellaeon. On the Relentless's bridge, the Supreme Commander exposed the lie. Dorja objected, stating that Nalgol had conducted a positive DNA test using a skin sample from Thrawn, but Pellaeon countered that records could be falsified. Tierce attempted to appeal to Dorja, claiming that Pellaeon was envious because Thrawn had favored Dorja over him. However, Pellaeon revealed his final trump card: Tierce was a clone of the original Grodin Tierce and existed as a failed genetic experiment of Thrawn's. Shada D'ukal, Karrde's associate, killed the enraged Tierce before he could attack Pellaeon. The Supreme Commander instructed Dorja to summon a medical team to the bridge and to order all Imperial forces to cease fire against the New Republic. Dorja pointed out that they would expect the order to originate from Thrawn. Pellaeon concurred, and Flim, secretly relieved that the charade was over, complied.

With their scheme unraveling, Flim and Disra were escorted off the bridge by a security detail. The Mistryl Shadow Guards also vanished back into the galaxy. Simultaneously with the battle at Yaga Minor, Luke Skywalker discovered a complete copy of the Caamas Document on the planet Nirauan, thus averting a civil war. Fifteen days later, Pellaeon signed peace accords with President Gavrisom of the New Republic, finally bringing the Galactic Civil War to a conclusion. By 28 ABY, Dorja's daughter, Vana, had achieved the rank of commander in the Imperial Navy.

Dorja embraced the excitement of leadership, the allure of space travel, and the principles of the New Order when he enlisted in the Imperial Navy. This decision also ensured that he upheld his family's longstanding tradition of military service. As the captain of the Relentless, he gained a reputation for his cautious command approach and reluctance to engage the enemy in direct confrontation. While his tactics were criticized by some, he disregarded their opinions, albeit with some nervousness. Objectively, his caution was not entirely unwarranted; the Relentless did not suffer any casualties under his command up to and including the Battle of Endor, although he was positioned away from the main battle lines during that engagement. Dorja was hesitant to follow the orders of a junior officer when Captain Pellaeon ordered a retreat from Endor, but he acknowledged that the battle was unwinnable. For the subsequent five years, Dorja plotted to seize control of the Imperial fleet from Pellaeon.

Despite his meticulously planned schemes being thwarted by Thrawn's return, Dorja felt resentful that a non-Human was leading the Empire and continued to plot to seize power. By replacing Thrawn, Dorja believed that he could restore a pure, glorious New Order, which he believed was the Emperor's desire. Dorja was displeased when Thrawn excluded the Relentless from his primary armada, but he kept his thoughts to himself, knowing that the Grand Admiral was intolerant of insubordination. He felt uncomfortable and visibly grimaced when Thrawn took the opportunity to remind him that he had allowed Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Luke Skywalker to escape from New Cov.

Near the end of the Thrawn campaign, Dorja was eager to participate in the battle during the Grand Admiral's capture of Ukio, clenching his right fist in his left in a traditional Mirshaf gesture of victory as he acknowledged an order from Thrawn. Ten years after Thrawn's death, Dorja's perspective on him had changed considerably. He considered it an honor to have served under the Grand Admiral and spoke highly of Thrawn's character and military genius to a skeptical Captain Nalgol. When Dorja believed that Thrawn had returned, he followed the Grand Admiral's orders without question, even if they seemed perplexing. He had unwavering faith in Thrawn and remained calm when the Relentless came under attack, and he visibly beamed when Flim, posing as Thrawn, praised his leadership abilities.

Dorja's attitude toward Pellaeon had also evolved by 19 ABY, at which point he trusted the Supreme Commander's judgment and word. When Pellaeon accused "Thrawn" of being a con artist, Dorja was conflicted about whom to believe. Dorja displayed less respect toward Moff Disra, in whose sector fleet he served, questioning his authority to conduct operations outside of the Braxant sector and treating such orders as suggestions rather than commands. When Disra, on the bridge of the Relentless, expressed surprise that the Kroctari wanted to join the Imperial Remnant, Dorja gave the Moff a subtle, satisfied smile. Dorja had fair skin, brown eyes, and gray hair, and his height was 1.8 meters.

Captain Dorja was conceived by author Timothy Zahn as a minor character in Dark Force Rising, a 1992 novel that was the second installment in what would later be recognized as The Thrawn Trilogy. In 1993, he made an appearance in the trilogy's concluding novel, The Last Command. His character was further developed in Bill Slavicsek's Dark Force Rising Sourcebook. Dorja was later given a more prominent role in Zahn's 1997 and 1998 novels, Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future, which together form The Hand of Thrawn Duology. Since then, he has been mentioned in numerous Star Wars reference materials, and visual representations of Dorja have been featured in the 1998 video game Star Wars: Rebellion and in the comic book adaptations of Dark Force Rising and The Last Command. The official strategy guide for Rebellion advises players that Dorja "makes a nearly perfect admiral, and you can trust him with difficult battles."

While the Dark Force Rising Sourcebook states that Dorja harbors animosity toward and plots to usurp power from both Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon, The Hand of Thrawn Duology portrays him as exceptionally loyal to both. Given that a decade separates the events of the duology from those of the Thrawn Trilogy, this article interprets the discrepancy as Dorja having undergone a change in attitude during the intervening period.