Daultay Dofine/Legends

"Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again."

- Darth Sidious, to Nute Gunray

Daultay Dofine was the Neimoidian captain of the Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class battleship Saak'ak during the blockade and invasion of Naboo, having previously commanded the battleships Revenue and Acquisitor. Aside from Viceroy Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, and Hath Monchar, Daultay was one of only four Neimoidians who knew of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious's involvement.

An extremely cautious and worrisome individual who attained his lofty rank through a combination of his family connections and backstabbing his peers, Dofine constantly lamented Gunray's choice to fall in with the Sith. He, along with Haako, constantly advised against the move, and urged Gunray to end the "bargain". Gunray, however, ignored Dofine's council, causing the Captain to constantly fret over debacles such as the invasion of Naboo.

Early life
Daultay Dofine was said, by some, to be the runt of his hive. He commanded significant wealth. At some stage, he began serving the Trade Federation as a starship officer.

Dorvalla (33 BBY)
By 33 BBY, Dofine, now a commander, was in charge of the Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter Revenue. Among the ship's crew was a wide variety of non-Neimoidians&mdash;a fact that Dofine did not enjoy, but he understood that the Federation had to employ such types as an obligation to their allies. He and his crew spent many months in deep space, and was dispatched to Dorvalla, several times, where the Revenue took on a significant quantity of lommite ore. The first time, Dorvalla Mining claimed that the Federation's payment was short by 20,000 Republic credits. On the second visit, they claimed that the Federation was short 50,000 credits, but Dofine attempted to deflect them by having their representative recheck her figures. On the third visit, once the ship had finished loading, Dofine ordered his fighters to be recalled to the Revenue, as he wished to depart Dorvalla as soon as possible. Once the rest of his crew had returned from Dorvalla's surface, he would be free to deliver his cargo to its destination, Sluis Van. During its third visit to the planet, the Revenue also held a hefty supply of aurodium ingots&mdash;bribes from Outer Rim worlds that wanted to stay in the Federation's favour.

Before he was able to, yet again he received a transmission from Dorvalla Mining, this time claiming that he was short 100,000 credits. The female Human representative talked to Dofine directly this time, confronting him on the issue. The commander dismissed the missing credits as additional expenses, citing Dorvalla's relative remoteness. The representative was not satisfied however, but Dofine merely suggested that she take up the issue with the Trade Commission on Coruscant, before terminating the transmission. As he proceeded with his work, Dofine noticed that the ship's scanner array was picking up something. He soon found out that it was incoming craft: CloakShape fighters and a Tempest-class gunship.

Aghast at what he correctly perceived to be an attack, Dofine began to panic. His systems officer then reported a disturbance in zone two of the ship's starboard hangar arm, claiming that the droids had begun firing at one of the cargo pods. The officer suggested that it might have been a glitch, but the commander had other concerns when his crew reported that the incoming ships bore the insignia of the Nebula Front, a group of terrorists. The gunship was identified as the Hawk-Bat, which was captained by Arwen Cohl. Dofine was in disbelief; Cohl had been reportedly sighted near Malastare only a day prior. Meanwhile, the systems officer reported that eight security droids had been destroyed.

Dofine was far more concerned with the incoming attack, however. The CloakShape fighters engaged the Revenue, which retaliated with its turbolasers. The nearest Federation presence was the more heavily armed Acquisitor, but the commander was reluctant to call for help, considering the act humiliating. Nevertheless, he send out a distress signal. Launching his fighters to engage the attackers, Dofine learned that several infiltrators had been able to sneak aboard one of the cargo pods from Dorvalla, and infiltrate the Revenue. They had subsequently engaged the security droids in zone two of the starboard hangar arm, causing the disturbance. In response, Dofine had the area sealed off.

The ship continued to be pummeled by the Nebula Front's ships, and when the Revenue ' s shields fell to 40%, Dofine had the central computer activate all droids and defenses, in preparation for boarders. The commander was determined not to let Cohl's band of infiltrators set foot on his bridge, but his efforts were not enough&mdash;the Nebula Front fighters, led by Cohl personally, blew in the door to the bridge, and took Dofine and his men captive. Cohl was not interested in the lommite ore, but the aurodium ingots on board. Dofine was defiant at first, unwilling to surrender their location, but Cohl revealed that the Revenue would be destroyed within sixty minutes should the commander not cooperate. Before Dofine could reveal the location of the ingots, the Acquisitor entered the system.

As the new arrival engaged the Nebula Front ships, Cohl had Dofine placed in restraints, and led out of the bridge, and towards the ship's security cabin. There, he and his compatriots extracted the ingots, and Cohl ordered that the ship's cargo pods be jettisoned. Curious as to why the intruder would save the ship's lomitte cargo, Dofine was told that he pods would confuse the Acquisitor ' s gunners. As Cohl and his men prepared to board the cargo pod they had used to infiltrate the Revenue, Dofine asked what was to be come of he and his crew. The pirate captain suggested that he empty one of the other cargo pods, and use that to escape, but the Neimoidian claimed that he would not survive the experience. Cohl then suggested that he hurry and use one of the Revenue ' s escape pods.

Invasion of Naboo (32 BBY)
"I knew it. They're here to force a settlement."

- Daultay Dofine

In 32 BBY, Trade Federation forces blockaded Naboo, as a protest against the new taxation of trade routes that had been passed by the Senate. Daultay was assigned as captain of Saak'ak, the Federation flagship. Hoping to resolve the crisis, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum dispatched two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with Viceroy Gunray.



Dofine and the other Neimoidians, however, had no inkling of the the status of the ambassadors. When they landed on Saak'ak and the protocol droid TC-14 reported that they were in fact Jedi, Dofine baulked. Refusing to meet with the unwelcome Jedi, he watched as Gunray contacted Lord Sidious for guidance. Protesting with the Dark Lord, he insisted that the ruse was over, and that they should pull while they still could. Sidious, disgusted, ordered Gunray to make sure that Dofine was never privy to their communications again. Humiliated, Dofine retreated and returned to his standard duties.

He remained in direct command of the blockade, despite allowing the Queen's royal starship to slip through. When OOM-9's forces subjugated Naboo, Gunray dismissed the blockade, with one ship, the Droid Control Ship remaining. Dofine was transferred to the Control Ship, which he commanded in the Naboo Space Battle. During the battle, he gave the order to activate OOM-9's army at Grassy Plains.



Very shortly after this, he perished when Anakin Skywalker accidentally destroyed the ship by hitting its main reactor with proton torpedoes, and the bridge was obliterated by an explosion that ripped through the floor beneath the feet of Daultay and his crew.

He was survived by at least one relative, Lushros Dofine, who commanded the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand during the Clone Wars.

Personality and traits
Like most Neimoidians, Dofine was corrupt, greedy, and arrogant. He had supreme confidence in the Trade Federation's forces, but also expressed much concern for the safety of the organization. Though a coward, he found the courage to confront Darth Sidious and predict that the Invasion of Naboo would not work. Dofine's courage proved to be short-lived, however, as he obediently submitted to Sidious's order that he would never again be caught in the Sith Lord's sight.

Behind the scenes
Daultay Dofine was played by Alan Ruscoe and voiced by Chris Sanders in The Phantom Menace.

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Episode I Adventures 2: The Bartokk Assassins
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic

Notes and references
Daultay Dofine Daultay Dofine Daultay Dofine