Villian Dance

Born on Corellia, Villian Dance joined the Imperial Navy with aspirations of becoming a pilot prior to 1 BBY. Earlier in his career, Dance was stationed at the Imperial City Naval Base on Coruscant, where he was trained by Colonel Vindoo Barvel, who was renowned as the best pilot in the galaxy. During a training exercise with powered-down fighters, Darth Vader arrived and requested a TIE Fighter to compete against Barvel and the trainees. Vader swiftly eliminated the trainees, leaving only Barvel. Although Vader initially appeared to be evenly matched with Barvel, it became clear that he was merely toying with the colonel. This was confirmed when Vader effortlessly shot down Barvel, despite the colonel's attempts to evade him. Vader's demonstration had a profound impact on Dance, who was astonished by the ease with which Vader had defeated the supposed best combat pilot in the galaxy.

Around 1 BBY, Lieutenant Commander Dance, identified as ST-1-1, was stationed on the Imperial Star Destroyer Steel Talon orbiting the prison planet Despayre. He served as the commander of Alpha Squad when a group of prisoners stole a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle. Dance and his squadron quickly mobilized in their TIE Fighters, prepared to destroy the enemy ship.

Dance, piloting the faster and more agile TIE Fighter, easily overtook the shuttle. He ordered the escapees to surrender, but they refused, forcing him to eliminate them. Dance swiftly destroyed the shuttle, killing the escapees just before they could jump to hyperspace. After the successful completion of the mission, Dance contemplated how much he enjoyed his life and career. He was a commander of an Imperial squadron, and he hoped that continued advancement would lead to a promotion and assignment to the Empire's new battle station—a superweapon known as the Death Star.

However, the destruction of the practically defenseless shuttle would later haunt him. Dance experienced nightmares about the event in the following nights, and he started to question the Empire and his actions for the first time.

Shortly after destroying the shuttle, Dance's squad was among ten squadrons assigned to escort a transport carrying Darth Vader from the Star Destroyer Devastator to the Death Star. News of Vader's presence brought back memories of when Dance witnessed the Dark Lord defeat Vindoo Barvel in a training exercise. Although Dance knew that Vader did not require an escort, he performed his duty without complaint. As he flew alongside Vader's shuttle, Dance couldn't help but wonder why Vader was needed on the Death Star.

Soon after escorting Vader, Dance and Alpha Squadron were transferred to the Death Star. However, during a training exercise in the Death Star's equatorial trench, tragedy struck for Dance. Nond Kendo, a recent addition to the squadron, disobeyed Dance's orders to pull up during a training run on several target drones. Determined to show off, Kendo continued his course. He was unable to turn in time and crashed into the drones, destroying his fighter and killing himself.

Dance felt both anger and sorrow as a result. Even though he knew he wasn't at fault, he still felt responsible, and Dance wished he could do more to help Kendo's family than simply send a consolatory message via the HoloNet. He felt that Kendo's death was meaningless and began to have more doubts concerning the Empire. In the time after this incident, Dance spent almost all his spare time training, by flying in simulators, and even attending a Teräs Käsi class taught by Sergeant Nova Stihl. During this period, Dance's piloting abilities improved as he worked tirelessly to improve in an effort to erase the memory of Kendo's death from his mind.

When his duty was over, and he had spent what he felt was enough time practicing, Dance sometimes passed time in the Death Star's Hard Heart Cantina, located on Deck 69 and run by the Twi'lek Memah Roothes. There, shortly after Kendo's accident, Dance encountered the architect Teela Kaarz. He intervened when he saw her being harassed by a drunk patron, holding the man off until the bouncer Rodo arrived and threw the disruptor out. Dance was drawn to Kaarz and introduced himself. Kaarz was intrigued by the pilot, and the two began talking. They quickly became friends and started spending time together frequently, often going out to dinner. It wasn't long before they developed a romantic relationship, with Kaarz inviting Dance to her apartment for dinner at one point.

After several months on the Death Star, Dance and Alpha Squad were interrupted during a training mission by a report that an enemy ship had entered the system. The ship was the Fortressa, a Lucrehulk-class battleship belonging to the Rebel Alliance. Alpha Squad, along with nine other TIE squadrons, was dispatched to engage the battleship and the fighters it carried. Excited about the prospect of battling the hated Rebels, Dance eagerly entered combat. The battleship released 500 X-wing starfighters, but they proved to be no match for the Imperials. The Death Star fired its superlaser, destroying the Fortressa and preventing it from sending reinforcements or recalling the fighters. The X-wings were determined to reach the Death Star, hoping to find a way to destroy it. As a result, they virtually ignored the TIEs around them, allowing the Imperial pilots to rout the Rebels.

When the battle ended, the Rebels had been massacred, and Dance was a double ace, having eliminated ten enemy fighters. However, he felt no pride in it, believing it had been too easy, more of a slaughter than a battle. Dance shared these feelings with Kaarz, also expressing his desire for a challenge, which the architect understood.

Although Dance had been harboring doubts about the integrity of the Empire, the battle caused him to lose considerable faith, as he questioned what government would permit its soldiers to slaughter people, even if they were its enemies. The remaining trust he had in the Empire vanished after the Death Star destroyed the planet Despayre simply as a test of the battlestation's firepower, resulting in the obliteration of millions. Dance was appalled by the Empire's cruelty and began to seriously consider whether he was on the wrong side. After the Empire destroyed the pacifist planet Alderaan shortly thereafter, Dance was completely devastated. Despite the Empire's claims that Alderaan had been harboring dangerous Rebels, rumors persisted that the planet had been destroyed simply to make a statement. Distraught, Dance spent most of his time after Alderaan's destruction in the Hard Heart.

In the cantina, he spoke with Kaarz, the bouncer Rodo, Roothes, her boyfriend Celot Ratua Dil, archivist Atour Riten, Stihl, and Doctor Kornell Divini. The group, disgusted by the Empire's actions, began to devise a plan to escape. Soon after, they held another secret meeting to discuss their plan to leave that very day. They intended to steal an E-2T medical shuttle, while Riten would use codes obtained through slicing to secure clearance for its departure.

Simultaneously, the Death Star was in the Yavin system, heading toward a Rebel base near the planet Yavin Prime. The Rebels launched a flight of X-wings, hoping to destroy the space station before it entered firing range. Amidst the chaos of the ensuing battle, Dance slipped away to the hangar containing the planned escape shuttle. He met the rest of the group, except for Riten, who needed to stay behind to improve the shuttle's chances of escape.

The group, disguised as medics, approached the hangar, claiming to be part of an emergency rescue team sent to retrieve injured Imperial pilots. However, a group of guards were suspicious of their story, and Rodo and Stihl decided to stay behind as well. Both were masters of Teräs Käsi and planned to fight the guards to provide the others with an opportunity to reach the shuttle and take off. Although Rodo and Stihl were shot down and killed, their sacrifice allowed the others to escape. However, the remaining group was not yet safe.

Darth Vader, flying against the Rebel starfighters in his TIE Advanced x1, sensed that the escaping shuttle, piloted by Dance and carrying his group, contained deserters, and he flew over to force them back to the Death Star. However, Dance was able to evade the Dark Lord by momentarily shutting down the shuttle's engines, causing the craft to stop abruptly and Vader to fly past. Although Vader quickly turned around to target the shuttle, he suddenly broke off his pursuit to confront a Rebel pilot who posed a threat to the Death Star. Just when it seemed that Dance and his group were free, the shuttle was once again prevented from escaping, this time caught in one of the Death Star's tractor beams. Desperate to escape, Kaarz suggested that Dance continue trying to break free from the tractor beam, even if it meant the engines would likely explode. The group agreed to let Dance keep fighting the tractor beam, as they were desperate to escape, and resolved not to go down without a fight. Nevertheless, the beam continued to pull the shuttle toward the Death Star, when suddenly the space station exploded, the result of the same Rebel pilot who stole Vader away from their shuttle firing a proton torpedo down an unshielded thermal exhaust port.

The shuttle was free, and the group was free from the Empire. They discussed their plans, and Dance announced his intention to join the Rebellion and fight against the government he had once defended. Before doing so, he proposed marriage to Kaarz, who said she would consider it but planned to join the Rebellion with Dance regardless. Ratua and Roothes decided to visit Ratua's family on Coruscant, while Divini also decided to join the Rebellion. Shortly after the battle, Dance and Kaarz joined the victorious Rebel forces on Yavin 4.

Dance was a fair-skinned Human male with black hair. Early in his Imperial service, Dance was proud of his work. He considered flying for the Empire to be the best job in the galaxy and hoped to continue improving to be promoted to the Death Star, which he viewed as a magnificent structure. Dance also took great pride in helping to enforce Imperial sovereignty and the Tarkin Doctrine. However, Dance's view of the Empire started to change after the Attack on the first Death Star. He felt that he had slaughtered the Rebel pilots and was disturbed by that realization. Dance's remaining faith in the Empire was later destroyed along with Alderaan. The fact that a supposedly civilized government had destroyed a peaceful planet for no reason other than to make a point was unforgivable in his eyes.

Dance was captivated by Teela Kaarz upon meeting her. After helping her fend off a drunken patron, he offered to buy her a drink. Although Kaarz initially wanted to avoid a relationship with an Imperial pilot, believing they were all jerks, she couldn't help but be drawn to Dance, especially due to his persistence in trying to talk to her. The two began talking and quickly discovered that they were both very interested in each other. Soon, they began seeing each other regularly, often meeting in the Hard Heart or even in Kaarz's apartment. After the destruction of Alderaan, the two relied on each other for comfort and found some solace in their feelings for each other. Following the Battle of Yavin, Dance asked Kaarz to marry him and join the Rebellion with him.

Dance was one of the best fighter pilots on the Death Star, ranking in the top 0.001% of pilots aboard the station by a simulator. He received command of his first squadron before the age of 25, and his men considered him a good leader. Dance was also a talented gunner. He enjoyed a challenge when flying, preferring unshielded TIEs because he felt flying with deflector shields was too easy. He aspired to become a better pilot and spent as much of his spare time as possible practicing in simulators to improve. He tried to always be prepared for duty and slept in his uniform so he would be ready quicker if awoken in the middle of the night for a mission. Dance also frequently attended Nova Stihl's Teräs Käsi class, hoping the teachings would give him an edge by making his reactions quicker while flying. Despite the fact that Imperial pilots were told not to develop an attachment to any particular fighter, Dance believed that certain TIE fighters were a hair quicker and always tried to use his favorites when possible.

Villian Dance was created for the 2007 novel Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry in which he is one of the main protagonists.