Dash Rendar/Legends

"Pretty good? I slept through most of that battle, kid. I could have stayed and knocked over those walkers all day without raising my heartbeat."

- Dash Rendar to Luke Skywalker, on his role at the Battle of Hoth

Dash Rendar was a Corellian smuggler and freelancer. He was an ace Imperial pilot of the Imperial Academy until the Rendar family was banished from the galaxy by Emperor Palpatine due to a freighter accident. Captain of the Outrider, Rendar eventually joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Battle of Hoth. He would assist the Alliance in deposing Black Sun, acting as Luke Skywalker's bodyguard and a spy, until his apparent "death" during the Battle of Falleen's Fist.

Early life
Dash Rendar was born on Corellia, where he lived with his parents and his brother Stanton. Dash was eventually accepted and began attending the Imperial Academy on Carida, where he was a promising student. However, when Stanton crashed a sabotaged freighter into Emperor Palpatine's private spaceport museum (arranged by Prince Xizor), Rendar was expelled from the academy and his entire family was banished from the Core, giving Rendar a serious grudge with the Empire.

Rendar quickly became a freelance spacer. He traveled the galaxy in his YT-2400, the Outrider, which was a gift from the Twi'lek crime boss Vanya. Dash's original co-pilot was an incompetent Rodian comedian, but following his untimely demise during the first twenty seconds of Rendar's debut mission, the role of first mate was filled by the Rodian's droid: LE-BO2D9 (Leebo).

Freelance spacer
As a freelance spacer, Dash would meet Lando Calrissian at the sabacc tables. Following this, he met Han Solo, a fellow spacer, at Port Haven. He enjoyed a competitive rivalry with Solo, mainly over the speed of their respective ships. Solo narrowly beat Rendar in a race between the two ships the last time that they met. Dash became so successful that he was soon able to purchase another ship, the Outrunner. As Lando, Dash, and Han bonded, Lando and Han began drifting away from the smuggler lifestyle and began throwing their two cents into the Rebel Alliance, while Rendar chose to keep for himself.

In 0 BBY, Dash was in Mos Eisley. While purchasing weapons from Masse Goskey's Arms Emporium, he received word that his brother was still alive and had evidence that might clear his name. By the time Luke Skywalker arrived in the spaceport, the Outrider was already speedily leaving the planet.

One year after the Battle of Yavin, he assisted Zak and Tash Arranda in saving the liner Star of Empire from a rogue artificial intelligence called SIM. Shortly after this he began his loose affiliation with the Rebel Alliance, transporting food and medical supplies.



The Rebel Alliance
"You'll pardon me for saying so captain, but it's been quite some time since you've flown an air speeder in combat, and&mdash;''" "''Don't get your servos in a twist pal."

- Leebo and Dash Rendar

Dash became entangled in the Galactic Civil War when the Empire attacked the Rebels' new Echo Base on Hoth. After delivering supplies to the base, Rendar found himself trapped on the planet. He flew a snowspeeder with Rogue Squadron and managed to take down at least one AT-AT walker during the engagement. Like Solo, he too was forced to escape the Imperial capture by blasting his way through the Hoth asteroid belt.



Thanks to his previous association with Lando Calrissian, Dash was hired to track down Boba Fett and the captured Han Solo. Dash followed leads to the junkheap world of Ord Mantell where he battled and destroyed IG-88D. Using this information he tracked Fett to Gall. But having led the Alliance there, he abandoned them in space during the battle, instead pursuing Fett planetside&mdash;defeating him in combat and damaging the Slave I, but ultimately failing to prevent his escape with the frozen Solo.

Shortly after, Dash was hired by Princess Leia Organa to keep an eye on Luke Skywalker while he was in retreat on Tatooine. Dash saved Skywalker's life for the first time when he prevented an ambush by a swoop gang led by Big Gizz and Spiker. Dash continued his tenure with the Alliance by flying with Skywalker and a squad of Bothan pilots in the attack on the Imperial freighter Suprosa, a mission to intercept the plans for the second Death Star. During the battle, Dash tried to shoot down a missile that would kill several Bothans. He hit it, but the missile did not explode. It continued its way and destroyed most of the Bothan ships. After the freighter was immobilized, he infiltrated it with a group of Bothans and seized the supercomputer containing the plans, destroying a loader droid who recognized him as an intruder.

Dash saved Skywalker's life again when Luke and Lando were attacked by Coruscant Guards, while trying to infiltrate Xizor's Palace through the sewers, and killed Benedict Vidkun when he turned on the group. He then accompanied the group in rescuing Princess Leia. Dash set pulse bombs on Xizor's sky elevator. When the Skyhook had been destroyed by Darth Vader's Executor-class Star Destroyer Executor, Dash led the way through the debris. During this escape, the Outrider appeared to have been destroyed by a hunk of metal. He actually faked his own death, jumping into hyperspace at the last minute.



Surviving death
Dash showed up again when the Alliance attempted to prevent Guri being used by Xizor's niece Savan in an attempt to revive Black Sun. Dash met up with Guri in a cantina on Hurd's Moon and the pair began a partnership. Shortly thereafter the pair helped Kyle Katarn infiltrate the Tof fortress world of Saijo.

Dash and Guri also set up ODT, a company that constructed Human Replica Droids on Onadax in the Minos Cluster. They had used the company to bring Dash's brother, Stanton, back to life, but both had left the company by the time it was infiltrated by Jaina Solo. It was rumored that during the Yuuzhan Vong War he was responsible for sabotaging Peace Brigade shipments.

Behind the scenes
The character was developed for the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project. Though a high profile character, Dash had only a supporting role in the narrative of the comics and novel. It was in the Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64 game that Dash was the star. Players would navigate Dash through twelve separate missions following the course of the Shadows storyline.

Concept artist Mike Butkus, who listens to music while he illustrates, explained that Dash was designed while listening to Elvis Presley and 1960s rock 'n' roll.



Dash Rendar's live-action likeness was portrayed by Jon Knoles. He was voiced by John Cygan in the Shadows of the Empire PC video game and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns.

Dash's ship, the Outrider, was seen leaving Mos Eisley in the Special Edition of A New Hope.

Joel McNeely wrote a theme for Dash for his Shadows of the Empire score. It can be briefly heard at the end of "Beggar's Canyon Chase."

[[Media:SOTE4.ogg|Hear "Dash's theme."]]

Dash Rendar's appearance in action figure form came in 1996 as part of the Shadows of the Empire assortment that was incorporated into The Power of the Force 2 line. Dash's figure saw releases on both the red, purple and foil hologram card variations of the Shadows cards. He included a blaster pistol and a shoulder-mounted blaster rifle created for the figure. Dash's ship, the Outrider, was also made into a toy as part of this line. The Outrider, being a new vehicle, was a new creation for this line so it has the distinction of being the first Power of the Force vehicle not to be created using the original vintage Kenner casting.

Steve Perry has said that he would like to write a story about Dash and Han Solo teaming up, and he and Michael Reaves have pitched an idea to Lucasfilm but this idea still remains unfulfilled.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Holostar
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Doomsday Ship
 * Lando Calrissian: Idiot's Array
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * Shadows of the Empire video game
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Shadows of the Empire Kenner Special
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * Or Die Trying
 * Or Die Trying