Gobee

"This is Commander Gobee, to all squadron commanders: we've secured every tower on the northern wall! All wings: commence your attack runs!"

- Gobee, during the Battle of Iziz

Second-in-command to the Beast-Lord Oron Kira, Gobee was a Human male citizen from the Inner Rim world of Onderon. A Beast Rider who held the rank of commander, Gobee descended from a society of warriors who had originally been exiled from the city of Iziz for their refusal to submit to the power of the dark side of the Force, and forced to take refuge in the planet's wilderness. A man who typically demonstrated a great degree of loyalty, Gobee often went into battle by Beast-Lord Kira's side. He served with Kira in the final battle of the four-hundred-year-long Beast Wars, leading his own contingent of soldiers in aerial assaults against Onderon's capital city of Iziz. When he deemed the city as being sufficiently secured, Gobee continued to lead the Beast Riders, this time from the ground, in a final attack on the Iziz Royal Palace. The actions of Gobee, as well as the intervention of four Jedi Knights, aided in the subsequent victory of the Beast Riders over the city's rulers, members of a Sith cult known as the Naddists&mdash;worshipers of the specter of Freedon Nadd, an ancient and long-deceased Dark Lord of the Sith.

However, the peace that Gobee and his kin fought for was short-lived. After personally discovering the existence of Onderon's thought-to-be-dead King Ommin, the secret leader of the Naddist cult, Gobee again fought by Oron Kira's side against Ommin's Naddist army throughout the Freedon Nadd Uprising of 3,998 BBY. With assistance from military forces of the Galactic Republic, Gobee, Oron Kira, and the Beast Riders triumphed over the Naddists. Afterwards, Gobee, along with his fellow Beast Riders, were able to finally enjoy a time of planetary peace, having defeated the dark side power of Freedon Nadd that had dominated their world for generations.

Life as a Beast Rider
"That ship is breaking through! It's going to reach the city!" "We must stop it! The Jedi must not be allowed to reach Iziz!"

- Oron Kira and Gobee, on a mission together

Gobee was a Human male native to the planet Onderon. Rather than dwell in Onderon's only established city of Iziz, Gobee was a Beast Rider&mdash;warriors whose ancestors had been exiled from Iziz nearly four hundred years prior, and forced to take up refuge in the planet's uncivilized wilderness. By 4,000 BBY Gobee had achieved the rank of commander within the Beast Rider army. On occasion he served as a Beast Warrior Commando, an elite faction of soldier within the Beast Rider ranks. Most the time Gobee acted as the second to Beast-Lord Oron Kira, with whom he was also well endeared. He and Kira had fought valiantly by each other's side many times over in numerous battles, and because of this a great sense of comradeship had developed between the two. During his tenure as Kira's second-in-command, Gobee was assigned many squads of Beast Riders to serve under him, which he called "wings," all of whose members followed him obediently.

Princess abduction
In the year 4,000 BBY, Gobee, Oron Kira, and several of Gobee's squads encountered an off-world starship while flying their warbeasts in the skies of Onderon. The Beast Riders had received news beforehand that the Jedi were arriving to facilitate peace between their people and the citizens of Iziz. Thus, when the Nebulon Ranger, the ship that they had spotted, appeared in the Onderonian atmosphere, the Beast Riders immediately went on the offensive. They shot at the ship's hull with heavy blaster fire as it approached the city, managing to score several hits. The Jedi were also aware of the Beast Riders' presence, and had contacted Iziz to ask for some assistance. Iziz obliged them, as its walls were lined with their own perimeter defenses, and the turbolaser fire that they let loose was enough to halt the advance of Gobee and his comrades. The ship, which was carrying the Jedi Knights Tott Doneeta, and Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, was then able to then land safely within the walls of Iziz.

Meanwhile, Gobee and his team regrouped and prepared themselves for the next stage of their plan, which consisted of using the distraction of the offworlders' presence to assault the Royal Palace in Iziz, and attempt to abduct Galia, the daughter of Queen Amanoa, who ruled the city. With the hour finally at hand, Gobee's squads of Beast Riders entered the city though a weak point in the wall, and took the city-dwellers by surprise. As his men held the wall defenses at bay, Gobee, Oron Kira, and several of their Beast Warrior Commandos attacked the palace, just as the Jedi were being introduced to Amanoa and her royal court. While the other Commandos engaged the Jedi, Gobee and Kira abandoned their beasts in pursuit of the Queen, who had fled with Galia under the protection of their Royal Guards. Armed with primitive knives and blaster pistols, Gobee and Kira made short work of the guards as they came upon the Queen and her daughter. Amanoa attempted to call upon the spirit of Freedon Nadd, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith who had once ruled Onderon, and whose dark power had held dominion over Onderon for hundreds of years. Shrugging off her rants as nonsense, Gobee blasted the Queen with his pistol, lightly stunning her and rendering her temporarily unconscious. Meanwhile, Oron Kira had taken Princess Galia into custody, and the remaining Beast Warrior Commandos retreated in haste with the Princess in tow. Despite suffering minor losses, the Beast Riders' raid on the Royal Palace had been a total success.

Protecting the fortress
"Ugh, man, I hate pullin' this kinda duty. I don't know why Oron Kira stuck us out here in the middle of the jungle!''" "''Come on Gobee, keep your eyes on your instruments. Oron Kira's the boss, and he says these hunter-seeker torpedoes we're manning are important! Now that we've got hold of the Princess, the Queen's sure to send out search parties!"

- Gobee and a fellow Beast Rider, on guard duty

However, unknown to both Amanoa and the Jedi, the Beast Riders' "raid" had actually been a well-organized masquerade all along. In reality, Galia had allowed herself to be kidnapped by Oron Kira, her secret lover, because the two had planned to be secretly wed to one another. Knowing that Amanoa would never allow her daughter to marry a Beast Rider, the descendant of exiled criminals from Iziz, the abduction was the only means for them to solidify their love without the hindrance of the Queen. Following the raid, Galia and the Beast Riders retreated to the forest stronghold of Fortress Kira, home to the Beast Rider royal family, and prepared themselves for the coming wedding. Commander Gobee could not attend the wedding ceremony of his friend due to the fact that he had instead been tasked by Kira to man the perimeter defenses of the forest citadel, in case Amanoa had dispatched search-and-rescue parties in pursuit of her daughter&mdash;it was a chore which he took to grudgingly.

Complaining about being assigned to perimeter duty, Gobee had been assigned with another Beast Rider to watch for any hint of an enemy attack. The second Beast Rider, upon listening to Gobee's complaining, reminded his commander that the Beast-Lord Oron Kira had given them a job of notable importance&mdash;to protect those gathered from the long reach of Queen Amanoa. At that moment their sensors were alerted to the presence of an incoming vessel, which Gobee immediately recognized as being the off-world ship belonging to the Jedi. Without hesitation, Gobee fired one seeker-torpedo from the defense turret, and scored a direct hit on the Nebulon Ranger, forcing it down into the jungle nearby.

Though satisfied with the successful defense of their territory, Gobee and his companion were not so sure that their quarry had perished in the crash; thus, they armed themselves with blaster rifles and searched the surrounding area for potential survivors. Ironically, their reconnaissance was impeded by the dense jungle, which usually offered them the benefits of its abundant cover. It was not long, however, before Gobee and his partner were in turn found by the crashed Jedi, who managed to use their Jedi mind tricks to glean from him the location of the "captured" Princess. According to Gobee, Galia was being held in the Beast Riders' forest citadel, and was also in the process of being married to Oron Kira. The astonished Jedi left for the fortress, intent on preventing the wedding from happening by any means necessary.

When the Jedi located the hidden fortress, they found the wedding already in progress, with Galia willingly giving herself to the Beast-Lord. As a symbol of peace, Ulic Qel-Droma, the leader of the Jedi, convinced the new couple to present their union to Amanoa as a truce between their warring peoples. Oron's father, the senior Beast-Lord Modon Kira, was wary of Qel-Droma's idea, and prepared his armies for war in case the Jedi's plan went awry. Gobee also received his own orders from Oron to ready his squads for a final battle with the armies of Iziz. Obeying his Beast-Lord, Gobee did as commanded and led his troops alongside thousands of others in the largest army of Beast Riders ever assembled. However, peace was the furthest thing from Amanoa's intentions, and she promptly rejected the offer of the newly wed Oron Kira and Galia. Instead, Amanoa denounced the Jedi, her daughter, and Oron Kira as fools, and in a gesture that shocked them all, Amanoa revealed her allegiance with the dark side spirit of Freedon Nadd and unleashed the full scope of his dark influence against them. Confounded by the sheer weight of the dark side, the group attempted to escape, but became blocked by Amanoa's forces inside the Royal Palace.

Battle for the walled city
"Wait a minute&hellip;that's my comlink. This is Gobee!''" "Gobee, this is Oron Kira. We're under attack. The Jedi mission has failed, and we're under fire. Launch your counterstrike!''"

- Commander Gobee, receiving attack orders from Oron Kira

Meanwhile, outside the walls of Iziz, Gobee was readying his troops for the coming battle, making sure that every Rider was properly supplied and that every war beast was fully prepared. It was not long before Gobee received a comlink call from Oron Kira, who advised him that the peace mission had dissolved into a series of more aggressive negotiations, and that the final battle was at hand. Gobee was immediately concerned with Kira's position, but the Beast-Lord assured his friend of his well-being, and ordered Gobee to commence his counterattack. Without further question, Gobee did as instructed, leading his troops in an assault against the city's northern wall&mash;a wall which was heavily fortified with defensive towers, and that housed armaments of both turbolasers and ion cannons. Though suffering casualties from the ranged weapons in the process, Gobee's flying wings of war beasts attacked from above, while he joined his remaining forces on ground and scaled the walls, capturing several of the defensive towers in the process. During this point in the battle, Gobee himself killed the last of the enemy soldiers manning the defensive positions along the cities walls. Once the northern wall had been secured, Gobee took up a position near the Royal Palace, which was where the last transmission from Oron Kira had originated. Though the Beast Riders had overrun most of Amanoa's forces within the city streets, they took their heaviest losses at the base of the palace, which was heavily fortified itself and determined to stand to the end. Gobee thus ordered one of his flight leaders, a man by the name of Kurt, to bring his flying squads around from the east to begin their strafing runs over the rooftop resistance of the palace. The commander was satisfied with the progress of the Beast Riders in their bout to capture the city, but one unresolved issue still concerned him: the location and status of Oron Kira.

Heavily embroiled in battle against the city-dwellers, Gobee held his command position near the palace, as Kurt's wings suppressed the cannon fire blazing from the palace roof. Shortly afterward, he was greeted by Oron Kira, who had escaped the palace, and had arrived to assist with the battle. Gobee, however, assured him that everything was proceeding as planned, and that they would soon be triumphant over the dark side. Together in battle yet again, Gobee and Kira led their troops in an effort to finally subdue the palace.

During the fighting, Gobee captured a prisoner of notable regard, in the form of Amanoa's servant, the royal adviser called Novar. Pleased with Gobee's acquisition, Kira began to interrogate the dark-sider, but was interrupted when Novar pompously informed them that their victory would be short-lived, as the city-dwellers had the power of the dark side at their command. At that very moment, a deafening rumble of thunder sounded, and a palpable darkness rapidly began to spread across the skies of Onderon. Gobee was immediately stricken with feelings of pain and fear, with Oron Kira experiencing similar sensations soon after. Novar gloated over them and reveled in their misery, explaining that Queen Amanoa had used the Sith magic, taught to her by the spirit of Freedon Nadd, to both overwhelm the Beast Riders and to ensure her victory over them. Reduced to pure hysteria, Gobee and Kira were at the mercy of Novar, who was about to bring both of their lives to an end with his knife. Unnoticed by all of them was the timely arrival of an off-world ship carrying the Jedi Master Arca Jeth, who employed his talent with Jedi battle meditation to nullify Amanoa's power and deliver victory into the hands of the Beast Riders. Amanoa was subsequently defeated when Jeth confronted her at the tomb of Freedon Nadd, in the catacombs deep underneath the palace. There, she perished in the face of Jeth's light, and, due to the assistance of the Jedi, the Beast Wars were finally brought to an end. Oron Kira's marriage to Galia was then consecrated under the laws of the Republic, and they were officially crowned as King and Queen of Onderon, taking up residence in the Royal Palace of Iziz. With the civil war finally over, peace was instituted worldwide, and appeared, for the time, to be unhindered.

The Naddists' return
"These caverns under the city go on for miles. And they're pitch-black!''" "Why are we down here anyway?" "''Orders from the Jedi. They say someone's down here practicin' Sith magic."

- Gobee and another Beast Rider

Though the power of Freedon Nadd had been defeated in Iziz by Arca Jeth, the Arkanian Jedi Master, who was the Jedi Watchman of the Onderon system, along with his Knights remained on Onderon for the next two years, in an effort to ensure that Nadd's influence had been completely purged from the planet. In the wake of the battle, Jeth ordered the coffins of both Amanoa and Freedon Nadd to be relocated to Dxun, Onderon's closest moon. There, they would be kept in a new tomb constructed of Mandalorian iron. In reverence for the Queen, a funeral procession was held, allowing Galia and any others to pay their last respects to the deceased. As with Oron Kira's wedding, Gobee could not attend Amanoa's funeral; instead, he was ordered by the Jedi to explore the catacombs under the palace, where Nadd's remains were originally housed, in search of lingering practitioners of Sith magic. Accompanied by another Beast Rider, he began to explore the dark hallows, while joking about finding the ghosts of Freedon Nadd and Galia's father, King Ommin, along the way. They were suddenly accosted by Ommin himself, who until then had been thought dead. Ommin also revealed his army of dark-siders to Gobee and his partner, and the two Beast Riders in turn fled the tunnels to warn Oron Kira and the Jedi.

Gobee resurfaced above ground just as Master Jeth was overseeing the final preparations of the Queen's and the Sith Lord's remains off of the planet. He attempted to warn his comrades about his findings, but Ommin's forces were too fast in their pursuit. Before Oron Kira and the Jedi realized what Gobee was saying, they were interrupted by a deafening explosion, as the very ground beneath them split open. What emerged was an enormous war machine which released several scores of Naddist soldiers from Ommin's army, who were led by an iron-clad Dark Jedi named Warb Null.

The Naddists immediately assaulted the procession and they were met head-on by Oron Kira, Gobee, and the Beast Riders. Meanwhile, the armored dark-sider attempted to beset the Jedi by engaging them in lightsaber combat, as his soldiers confiscated the coffins of both Nadd and Amanoa. They succeeded in their mission, and after loading the sarcophagi onto their war machine the Naddists and Null retreated to their underground stronghold. Master Jeth, who had been attacked through the Force by an unrevealed source during the fray, recognized the skirmish for exactly what it was&mdash;a distraction. The real mission of the dark-siders was to reclaim the remains of Amanoa and Freedon Nadd. Also to their dismay, the Jedi Tott Doneeta had received news that another faction of Ommin's dark side army was rapidly advancing on their position. It was then that Galia told Master Jeth that her ill father, King Ommin, may be able to assist them in recovering the stolen coffins. Together with Ulic Qel-Droma and the Princess, Jeth entered the resulting tunnel of the groundborer's departure, in search of Ommin and the sarcophagus of Freedon Nadd. Gobee, the Beast Riders, and the remaining Jedi stayed behind and prepared to meet the dark-siders in battle once again, unwilling to relinquish the new-found peace that took over four hundred years to achieve.

Following the departure of Jeth and his cohorts, the Naddists attacked the city and the battle began to turn in their favor after they captured the city and drove the Beast Riders back as far as Fortress Kira. On the second day of fighting, Ulic Qel-Droma made contact with his allies above ground, having escaped the tunnels under the palace. They learned from him that Master Jeth had been captured by Ommin, and that he and Galia escaped his underground lair with more of Ommin's forces pursuing them. Qel-Droma had sent a distress call to the Galactic Republic, which they obliged by sending the full strength of the Galactic Republic Navy and a contingent of Jedi Knights. In the face of their superior numbers and strength, Ommin's forces were defeated by the Republic, with Ommin himself perishing after the Jedi rescued their imprisoned Master. Following the battle, the remains of Freedon Nadd, Ommin, and Amanoa were sealed away on Dxun. With the threat of Nadd's dark side power truly thwarted this time, Gobee and his kin then began relief efforts in the first steps in restoring Onderon to peace.

Personality and traits
"Hey, Gobee, take it easy! Just because Oron Kira left you in charge of his army, doesn't mean you have to polish every buckle!"

- Fellow Beast Rider, to Commander Gobee

Gobee was an extremely loyal soldier and friend, as witnessed through his devotion in his duty to Beast-Lord Oron Kira, who was also a close friend of his. As Oron Kira's confidant, Gobee demonstrated his loyalty by always fighting alongside Kira. Whenever the two became separated during battle, Gobee refused to retreat or withdraw his forces until he was sure that Kira was accounted for. In battle, Gobee often made split-second decisions that affected the conflict's outcome. This was evidenced during the Battle of Iziz, where Gobee's orders to Flight Leader Kurt to eliminate the rooftop resistance, allowed for the remaining Beast Riders to overtake the city unhindered. His loyalty as a soldier was again demonstrated when he secured the location of Oron Kira's last transmission near the Royal Palace, and maintained that position until Kira arrived. Gobee also had a slight sense of humor, occasionally making light of dangerous missions by engaging in situational anecdotes.

As a commander in Kira's Beast Warrior army, Gobee was an intense yet capable leader in theaters of war. He often barked out commands, which were occasionally met by the grumblings of some of his subordinates. However, Gobee was always in the midst of battle with them, displaying both valor and his willingness to lead by example, which he demonstrated when he downed his own war-beast to lead the Beast-Rider charge from the streets of Iziz. Because of this, his men held him in a high regard and followed him, and his orders, unquestioningly. His dedication to duty was further realized when he was ordered to forego his friend's wedding, and instead was asked to perform security detail.

Abilities
"Hurry, Gobee! You're slower than a third-rate&mdash;''" "''I'm runnin' as fast as I can! I'm used to ridin' on the back of my beast, not hoofin' it down hallways in the Royal Palace!"

- Oron Kira and Gobee

Commander Gobee was skilled, as were most Beast Riders, in taming and flying Onderon's wild drexls, a talent he implemented during the Battle of Iziz and the subsequent battles for Onderon. He was also proficient with an assortment of melee weapons, such as knives, and often carried them along with his personal blaster. Gobee was also skilled at using ranged weapons such as blaster pistols, having used them along with his personal knives to dispatch Queen Amanoa's Royal Protectors during the abduction of Princess Galia. The use of heavy blasters while flying his warbeast also complimented Gobee's repertoire, a skill akin to most of his ilk. He was also a formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat, as witnessed during his mission as a Beast Warrior Commando in a raid on the Royal Palace of Iziz. Likewise, Gobee was proficient with heavy machinery such as the torpedo emplacements around the perimeter of Fortress Kira. He was also trained in missions of reconnaissance, which he demonstrated when he searched the surrounding area of Fortress Kira for the Jedi Knights whose ship he had shot down, and again, when he and a fellow Beast Rider searched the tunnels under Iziz for practitioners of Sith magic.

In matters of the Force, however, Gobee was relatively weak. Though he was not Force-sensitive, he could nonetheless feel the effects of the Force being used against him. On one occasion, he was fooled by the Jedi mind-tricks of Ulic Qel-Droma, and when Amanoa unleashed the full rapture of the dark side during the battle for Iziz, Gobee was immediately defeated by its suppressive power.

Behind the scenes
Voice actor John Randolph Jones portrayed the character of Gobee, who first appeared by name in the Tales of the Jedi audio drama, which was written by John Whitman and based upon the original story by author Tom Veitch. However, Gobee first appeared in print (albeit unnamed) in Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic comic series, which was also written by Veitch. In the audio rendition every scene in which Gobee appears correlates exactly with those of the individual in the images displayed, including dialogue, very likely making them one in the same. He provides a supporting roll to Oron Kira, as well as offering moments of comic relief throughout the story. For the Freedon Nadd Uprising comic, Gobee made no visible appearance, but appears in the audio adaptation.

Several points of Gobee's story in the audio drama conflict with the established events that occur in the Tales of the Jedi comic series. First, in the audio adaptation, during the Jedi's search for Fortress Kira, Gobee and another Beast Rider are encountered by Jedi Knights who use the Force to manipulate Gobee into revealing the location of Galia. However, in the comic, the Jedi acquire this information instead by taming wild boma beasts, who tell them that Galia is being held in Fortress Kira.

Also in the audio drama, Whitman used Gobee as the character who would reveal the rumored existence of King Ommin, another of Veitch's characters that had only been mentioned in the audio drama up until that point&mdash;Ommin himself was further explored in the subsequent story-arc, The Freedon Nadd Uprising. This conflicts with the comic version of The Freedon Nadd Uprising, where Galia instead reveals the existence of her father to Arca Jeth.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon
 * Tales of the Jedi audio drama