Wona Goban was a human female pilot serving the Alliance to Restore the Republic, operating as part of Gold Squadron. She answered to the command of Gold Leader Jon Vander. During the events of 0 BBY, Goban joined the Alliance Fleet dispatched to aid rebel forces attempting to secure the plans for the Death Star superweapon located on the planet Scarif.
Piloting a BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber with the callsign Gold Nine, Goban engaged the Imperial forces positioned above Scarif. Following the orders of Admiral Raddus, she spearheaded a Y-wings group in an attack against the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer known as the Persecutor using ion torpedos. This action successfully crippled the vessel, allowing it to be forced into the Shield Gate which had been preventing transmissions originating from Scarif.
Wona Goban was a human female who was part of the Starfighter Corps within the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In the year 0 BBY, the Alliance discovered that the Galactic Empire was in the process of building a superweapon called the Death Star, and that the schematics exposing a critical weakness in its design were held on the planet Scarif. After a renegade squad of rebels embarked on an unsanctioned operation to extract the plans from Scarif, the Alliance mobilized its fleet to provide tactical support.
Goban was present among the forces that arrived in the Scarif system, piloting Gold Nine, one of the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers belonging to Gold Squadron. She served under the command of Gold Leader Jon Vander. Admiral Raddus, in charge of the fleet from his flagship, the Profundity, instructed Gold Squadron and Red Squadron to defend the fleet from the Imperial Naval forces orbiting Scarif, while Blue Squadron was directed to assist ground forces.
Following the passage of a portion of Blue Squadron, the Empire sealed the Shield Gate over Scarif, preventing additional ships from reaching the planet's surface. Gold and Red Squadrons then executed repeated assaults on the gate's defensive turrets and their connecting control systems. However, it became apparent that they lacked the necessary firepower to destroy the gate. Raddus then ordered the squadron to engage the Star Destroyers that were attacking their fleet, and Vander instructed his pilots to exploit any opportunities.
Subsequently, Goban led a group composed of four other Y-wings in a strafing run against the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Persecutor, utilizing ion torpedos. The attack breached the Destroyer's deflector shields, which had been weakened previously by Blue Squadron pilot [Barion Raner](/article/barion_raner], causing a system-wide shutdown that completely disabled the ship. With the Persecutor adrift in space, Raddus commanded the Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette Lightmaker to ram the Destroyer, causing the Persecutor to collide with the Star Destroyer Intimidator and subsequently the Shield Gate, resulting in the destruction of both. With the gate now disabled, the rebels on the surface were able to transmit the Death Star plans to the fleet, and a segment of the rebel forces, including portions of Gold Squadron, successfully escaped with the plans.
While in flight, Wona Goban wore an orange flight suit featuring two code cylinders on the left sleeve, a white flak vest, and a Diagnostech life support unit. Goban's K-22995 light flight helmet was colored white and gray, accented with red-and-yellow highlights, a black-and-white checkered pattern on each side, and a unique symbol displayed on the central ridge. She piloted a BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber during the Battle of Scarif.
Wona Goban was brought to life by actress Gabby Wong in the 2016 Anthology Series film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Wong received credit solely as Gold Nine in the film. Subsequently, the character was formally identified as Wona Goban—a tuckerization of Wong's own name—in the companion reference book Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, authored by Pablo Hidalgo.
Wong was contacted by her agent regarding the role and attended a meeting with the casting director. She then performed dialogue in front of a camera for scenes that were later sent to the director. She was scheduled for a day of costume and helmet fitting, followed by a two-day shoot alongside actor Richard Glover, who played Red Twelve in the film. Despite the fact that only her head would be filmed, Wong wore a complete costume that was notably complex and difficult to remove. As a result, she limited her water intake while wearing it. Wong filmed her scenes inside an X-wing starfighter cockpit. However, after the decision was made to have Y-wings fire the ion torpedos, her footage was rotoscoped into pre-existing archive footage of a Y-wing cockpit.
Wong also recorded dialogue. However, due to the final sequencing of the battle, the lines she recorded did not fit perfectly, and she was asked to return during post-production for ADR. Ultimately, her voice was not used, and the character was instead dubbed by Vanessa Marshall.