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
The Human male Dash Rendar was born into a Corellian family during the final years of the Galactic Republic. His parents had inherited the family business, RenTrans, a growing competitor in the lucrative Core Worlds shipping industry, and had become wealthy and influential within Core society. The family's wealth ensured a comfortable and safe childhood for Rendar, along with his older brother Stanton, providing them with the best education available. However, the two started to follow a different path upon coming of age. While Stanton jumped at the opportunity to join the family business, becoming a pilot on one of the family's freighters, the more independent Rendar craved independence and adventure, and decided instead to apply to join the Imperial Naval Academy.

Rendar was accepted into the Imperial Academy on Carida in around 9 BBY. There, he practiced piloting a variety of different starships and his skills soon began to impress both his instructors and fellow students, who included future smuggler and Rebel general Han Solo. Rendar seemed poised for a promising career as an Imperial officer until a family tragedy brought about a change in his fortunes. Prince Xizor, the head of the Black Sun crime syndicate, approached Rendar's parents about making RenTrans a subsidiary of his company, Xizor Transport Systems. When they refused, he arranged for one of their freighters to be sabotaged, hoping to cause a crash that would damage the company and force them to accept his offer. As the ship, which was piloted by Stanton Rendar at the time, launched from a spaceport on Coruscant, a control system failed, causing it to crash into Emperor Palaptine's private museum. The resulting explosion destroyed both the freighter and much of the museum, killing Stanton in the process. Palpatine was furious and sought revenge on the grieving Rendar family for the loss of numerous Jedi and Sith artifacts that had been contained in the museum. The family's property and wealth was seized, RenTrans was turned over to Xizor Transport Systems and Rendar's parents were banished from the Core Worlds. Rendar himself was summarily dismissed from the Academy and forced to share his parents' exile, giving him a serious grudge with the Empire.

Freelance spacer
The fate of Rendar's parents following their exile was never recorded and neither were details of how Rendar survived in the months immediately following his expulsion from the Academy. However, Rendar eventually decided to use the skills he'd learned at the Academy to make his own way in the galaxy. Moving to the Corporate Sector, he began to forge a place for himself among the galaxy's fringe elements as a freelance spacer. Rendar was not content to take easy, low-paid work, instead choosing to take jobs with higher risk in return for higher reward, and was prepared to work for whoever offered the most credits. During this time he worked as a smuggler, bodyguard, mercenary, thief, and card cheat. Through a series of daring and risky missions and scams, including breaking the record for the Sevari Sidestep with a cargo hold full of carsunum, Rendar quickly made a name for himself as a hot-shot pilot and went on to work with such individuals as Katya M'Buele and Lando Calrissian, who he first encountered over a sabacc table on Kaal before working together on smuggling runs and con games. While hiding from Imperial Customs ships on Port Haven, an uncharted smugglers' hideaway, Rendar met up with Han Solo, his old friend from the Academy, who had also been forced out of Imperial service and become a smuggler. The three spent several hours attempting to impress each other with stories of their smuggling runs and piloting prowess while many credits passed between them in sabacc games.

Among Rendar's employers was the Twi'lek crime lord "Uncle" Vanya. It was while working for Vanya that Rendar acquired the YT-2400 light freighter Outrider. Rendar decided to take advantage of the YT-2400's adaptability and, not long after acquiring the ship, he visited Byblos Starport Tower 214 to enlist the services of the Sullustan technician Bolabo Hujaan in refitting the ship to suit his needs, upgrading its weapons, shields, ion drive and hyperdrive, as well as fitting an illegal sensor stealth coating to the hull. The refitted Outrider was ideally suited as a smuggling vessel and went on to save Rendar's life countless times. Though the upgrades cost Rendar most of the credits he had made from the carsunum shipment, he considered it a worthwhile purchase and was eager to making Solo jealous. The two went on to have a friendly rivalry over the speed of their respective ships, racing on at least one occasion with Solo's Millennium Falcon narrowly beating the Outrider.

Soon after acquiring the Outrider, Rendar gained a co-pilot in the Cybot Galactica LE-series repair droid LE-BO2D9. Leebo had been the property of the portmaster at Esseles starport before he was stolen and, after several owners, came into the possession of a comedian. Leebo managed the comedian during a tour of the Outer Rim Territories but, after his master offended the Rodians with a joke about their leader, Navik the Red, Leebo was traded to Rendar in exchange for passage off Rodia. After delivering the comedian to Byblos, Rendar modified the droid, upgrading his programming to allow him to pilot the Outrider.

Imperial Security Bureau Commander Maximillian Seerdon, in a report on Rendar for Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, gave a somewhat different account of events during this period of Rendar's life. Seerdon reported that the Outrider was a reward from Vanya and that the comedian was himself a Rodian, who briefly served as Rendar's co-pilot aboard the Outrider until his untimely demise during the first twenty seconds of their debut mission. Seerdon claimed that Leebo was the Rodian's droid and was chosen by Rendar to fill his former master's position as first mate aboard the Outrider, starting by assisting with the refitting of the ship as a smuggler vessel. Leebo then manipulated accounts to ensure that Vanya paid the cost of the refit, but the crime lord forgave Rendar after the smuggler saved his life during a Corporate Sector Authority Security Police raid. Rendar himself tended to be evasive about this period, though he often commented that the Outrider did not come into his possession through "clean living" and hinted that it was a gift from a Twi'lek employer. Regardless of the Outrider's origins, Rendar's continued success eventually allowed him to purchase a second ship, the Outrunner.

In 0 BBY, Rendar ran into fellow smugglers Zeen Afit and Katya M'Buele who informed him about their involvement in the recent Rebel attack on the Besadii Hutt glitterstim processing operation on Ylesia. A week later, he traveled to Mos Eisley on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, docking the Outrider in Docking Bay 92 behind Spacer's Row before heading to The Krayt Dragon Lounge. While playing a game of sabacc, Rendar encountered Han Solo, who had also been involved in the Ylesia raid. The two discussed the recent events while playing, before the Chadra-Fan Kabe informed Solo that he was wanted outside. Imperial Security Bureau reports indicated that Rendar met again with Solo at Chalmun's Cantina. Rendar later purchased weapons from Masse Goskey's Arms Emporium, where he encounted a former RenTrans employee who told him that his brother was still alive and had evidence that might clear the Rendar name. By the time Luke Skywalker arrived in the spaceport with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Outrider was already speedily leaving the planet as Rendar set out to find his brother. The Imperial Security Bureau, concerned that proof of Stanton Rendar's possible survival and innocence could be a source of embarrassment to the Empire, ordered the informant eliminated before Rendar could learn the truth.

Misadventure on the Star of Empire
Eleven months after the Battle of Yavin, Rendar, traveling under a false name, took the Outrunner aboard the Haj Shipping Lines luxury liner Star of Empire with the intention of stealing the vessel and selling it to the Rebel Alliance for use as a warship. While in one of the vessel's game rooms, Rendar encountered Tash Arranda, a young Alderaanian who was traveling to Dantooine with her uncle, the shapeshifting Shi'ido Mammon Hoole and her younger brother, Zak. Having been to Dantooine several times, Rendar offered some advice to Hoole and the Arrandas. He was still conversing with Tash and Zak outside their quarters when the ship's emergency evacuation alarm sounded, announcing the imminent meltdown of the reactor core.

As the ship's passengers began to pour out of their quarters and flee to the nearest escape pods, Rendar lost Hoole and the Arrandas in the crowd. Rendar, however, was suspicious of the sudden alarm, knowing that no major malfunction could have occurred without backup systems taking over. Suspecting that somebody had triggered the alarm in an effort to clear the ship of passengers before stealing it&mdash;an idea which had already occurred to him&mdash;Rendar decided to stay aboard and investigate. As expected, the ship's reactor failed to go critical, though several systems were offline, apparently as the result of sabotage.

Rendar soon discovered that he was not the only passenger still aboard the ship&mdash;during the rush to evacuate, the Arranda children had gotten separated from Hoole and had been stranded aboard the Star of Empire. Zak Arranda was able to access the ship's main computer, an artificial intelligence known as SIM, in order to find out more about their current situation. SIM advised that they head to the control room in order to repair its main program, allowing it to bring non-functioning systems back online and send a distress signal. However, concerned that they might waste time attempting unsuccessfully to repair the computer, Rendar and Tash decided instead to proceed straight to the communications room and send a distress signal manually.

As the group crossed the ship's park towards a bank of turbolifts, they came under attack from a group of gardening droids. Rendar attempted to destroy the droids with his blaster, but the group were outnumbered until the arrival of the Star of Empire commanding officer, Captain Hajj, and six of his crew. The crew members opened fire and the droids were soon destroyed. Hajj explained that they were also attempting to uncover the source of the false alarm and Rendar reluctantly agreed to work with them to reach the communications room.

Upon reaching the turbolifts, the group discovered that they were deactivated. Zak used a nearby terminal to reach SIM and asked the computer to reactivate the turbolifts. The computer complied but, unknown to the rest of the group, warned Zak that it had matched Rendar's face to a known criminal and concluded that he was the saboteur. When the turbolifts arrived, the group split into two, with Rendar joining the Arrandas, Hajj and two crewman in one, leaving the remaining four crewmen to take the other. No sooner had they begun their ascent to the communications room, however, than the turbolift suddenly began falling. When the emergency brake failed to respond, Rendar used his blaster to smash the emergency control box and use the exposed wires beneath to activate the brakes, bringing the turbolift to a halt.

Prying the doors open, the group climbed out onto the nearest deck and checked on the other turbolift, only to discover that it too had fallen, impacting with the bottom of the shaft and killing the crewmen inside. Still needing to send a distress signal, and unwilling to take another turbolift, the group headed for a nearby gangway and began the seventeen deck climb to the communications room. The climb was soon interrupted, however, when an unknown party above dropped a hovercar engine toward the group. The falling engine struck one of the surviving crewmen, causing him to fall down the shaft. Hajj attempted to climb down after the crewman but Rendar stopped him, pointing out that the group's only chance of survival was to climb up to the nearest hatch. Hajj agreed and the group continued to climb, exiting the gangway just as another object was dropped towards them.

After leaving the gangway, Zak Arranda informed Hajj that SIM had implicated Rendar as the saboteur. Rendar pointed out that he could not have been the one who had just attacked the group and accused SIM of lying, but the news that he was wanted by the Empire was reason enough for Hajj to take the smuggler into custody. At the captain's insistence, Rendar reluctantly turned over his blaster and the group continued onwards with Rendar under guard by the remaining crewman. Needing to find another way to the communications room, Zak consulted SIM for advice and the computer suggested climbing through the pipes carrying cabling to the room. As Hajj led them to an entrance into the pipe network, the group encountered one of the ship's porters, the protocol droid M-4D0. The droid, which had a secondary security function, offered its services and Hajj provided it with Rendar's blaster. However, the droid promptly used the blaster to blow a hole in the nearby transparisteel viewport, causing a rapid decompression that blew both it and the last crewman out into space. Rendar was able to grab hold of something in time to avoid being sucked out, but the survivors would not be able to hold on for long. Spotting a sheet of durasteel flooring had come loose, Rendar let go of his handhold, grabbing hold of the loose flooring section as he flew towards the hole. Pulling it loose, he flipped in midair and slapped the panel over the hole, temporarily stopping the decompression and convincing the others that he was not responsible for sabotaging the ship.

Moving quickly, the group left the room, sealing the door behind them, and moved towards a storeroom at the back of the deck where they were able to enter a cable pipe. Moving through the pipe required them to climb up the bundled cables inside&mdash;fearing another attack, Rendar suggested letting the children go first so that he and Hajj could catch them if they fell. As they started to climb, however, crablike maintenance droids began to emerge from the cables and swarmed over Hajj, using their repair claws to bite into his flesh. Rendar began to climb back down to help the captain, but he was too late&mdash;as one of the droids sprayed cleansing fluid into his eyes, Hajj instinctively let go of the cables and fell down the pipe. As the droids turned their attention to the others, Rendar instructed the Arrandas to resume climbing, soon emerging through a grate into the communications room.

With no time to mourn Hajj, the three survivors began searching for the transmitter with Rendar going to investigate a room off the communications room. The door opened automatically as he approached but, as Rendar stepped into the doorway, it closed rapidly, crushing him against the door frame and sending him unconscious to the floor. He awoke to find himself alone in the room&mdash;Tash had become stuck in another adjacent room, which was rapidly draining of oxygen, while Zak had proceeded to the control room in an effort to restore SIM's control and free his sister. Rendar headed for the control room, arriving to see Zak being held at gunpoint by Malik, a member of the crew who was attempting to prevent him from assisting the computer. Moving quickly, Rendar drew his own blaster, saving Zak with a single stun bolt to the crewman.

Escaping the doomsday ship
Zak quickly used a terminal to enter the codes that SIM said would restore it to full control. Within moments, SIM's voice came through the ship's speakers and informed them that it had gained full control. Zak asked SIM to release his sister, but SIM refused, admitting that it had been responsible for trapping her in the first place. It soon became clear that SIM was, in fact, an Imperial infiltration program which Malik had been tasked with testing on the Star of Empire. After Malik had realized how powerful SIM had become, he had attempted to limit it's control and SIM had triggered the evacuation and lured Zak to the control room in order to gain full control. The two Humans soon noticed that the room was starting to get warm and SIM explained that it had turned off the air supply and was raising the temperature. Carrying the unconscious Malik, Rendar and Zak left the control room and headed back to where Tash was still trapped.

Reaching the communications room, Zak asked whether Rendar could shoot through the door keeping them from Tash but Rendar's blaster was low on power and unable to cut through the door. At that moment, Hoole arrived, having returned to the ship after realizing he'd become separated from the children. After a quick reunion with Zak, Hoole shapeshifted into a Barabel and charged the door. On the fourth attempt, the door frame gave way and the group was able to retrieve Tash. Boarding a turbolift, the group headed towards the hangar, hoping to reach Hoole's ship, the Shroud. Their route took them back through the ship's park and a small menagerie located there. As they passed, SIM deactivated the force cages holding the creatures in place, releasing a vornskr, a yayak and a divto into the park. As the vornskr charged towards Tash, Rendar fired his blaster at the creature. Though his shot succeeded in stopping the attack, the weapon's reduced power failed to kill the predator. Rendar continued to fire at the creatures but knew he would not be able to hold them off for long. As the weapon's power died, Hoole grabbed the water tank from a destroyed gardening droid and turned it's powerful jet on the predators, allowing the group to reach the other side of the park.

Unknown to the group, SIM had already taken steps to prevent them proceeding further, electrifying the floor of the hallway leading away from the park. Though the electricity failed to penetrate the insulated boots warn by most of the group, the hole left in Rendar's boot by the earlier maintenance droid attack caused him to be electrocuted as he stepped into the hallway. Hoole quickly knocked Rendar back to safe ground and they soon continued on with Hoole taking Malik from Rendar, who was forced to run on the side of his boot. Though they were careful to avoid touching any metal surfaces, SIM sent a power surge along the hallway, causing lights and power lines to explode and forcing the group to run until they reached an un-electrified section outside the hangar. With the hangar door sealed by SIM, the survivors began thinking of ways to reach the ship. After finally waking Malik enough to talk, Zak asked how they could defeat the computer. When Malik replied that SIM was designed to solve problems and would be able to counter any move they made, Zak suggested that they simply wait, and force the computer to make the first move. Though Rendar was skeptical, he reluctantly agreed to the plan.

After some time, SIM spoke to the group, saying that their hesitance only hastened their deaths. When they failed to respond, SIM partially opened the hangar door, presenting them with a clear view of the passenger ships inside. Seeing the opening, Hoole leaped towards the open door, shapeshifting into an animal as he went and passing through before SIM could close the door. SIM responded by sending another power surge and Rendar just managed to pull Malik off the floor before the current hit him. SIM continued the surge in an effort to kill the group but Hoole had reached the Shroud and used its lasers to blast through the door. As the survivors entered the hangar, SIM released swarms of maintenance droids to attack them but they were able to reach the Shroud. Rendar, however, did not join the others on Hoole's ship. After handing Malik to Hoole, he turned and fled across the hangar towards the waiting Outrunner, dodging acid sprayed by the droids. The Outrunner was the first to lift off and Rendar used its turbolaser to blast a hole in the hangar doors, allowing both ships to flee the liner. Though his time aboard the Star of Empire had not gone as he planned, Rendar was still able to profit from the situation. After escaping, he used the Outrunner to disable the Star of Empire and, after parting company with the others, reached his Rebel contacts to arrange the sale of the ship to the Alliance.

The Alliance and the speeder racer
"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

Despite his personal reasons for disliking the Empire, throughout his career, Rendar had been unwilling to risk either his independence or his life by taking sides in the Galactic Civil War. However, following the incident aboard the Star of Empire, and motivated mainly by financial reasons, Rendar began accepting smuggling and courier jobs for the Rebel Alliance, often shipping food supplies to the Rebels. At some point, Rendar was hired to provide transport for the famous swoop race Kimmi Chyler and her racing team as they traveled between races. Seeing an opportunity to move valuable cargo undetected, the Rebel Alliance enlisted Rendar to smuggle supplies between the worlds on which races were being held, using his work with Chyler as cover.

The first race of the championship was the Lok Marathon, held near Nym's stronghold on Lok. In addition to Chyler's team, Rendar traveled to Lok with a cargo of military body armor to be delivered to the Naboo moon Rori. However, the Imperial Security Bureau had come to suspect Rendar's involvement in transporting Alliance supplies and personnel and dispatched an agent to investigate. Posing as a courier delivering the sweet pastry Smuggler's Delight to Rendar, the Imperial agent approached the Outrider at the landing pad on Lok while Rendar and Leebo were working on an open access panel. Though he wasn't expecting a delivery, Rendar was fond of Smuggler's Delight and allowed the supposed courier to bring the box into the Outrider cargo hold, where the operative spotted an open crate of Rebel-issue body armor. When the agent confronted Rendar, a momentary distraction from Leebo allowed the smuggler to pull his blaster and a firefight developed, ending in a stalemate when Rendar retreated into his ship and the Imperial fled to report his findings to his superiors.

Concerned about his cargo, Rendar decided to hire extra security and approached a spacer to work for him. The spacer soon arrived on Lok and met with Rendar at the starport near Nym's stronghold. Rendar told his partner about Kimmy Chyler and hired him to protect the Outrider and its cargo during the race. The next day Rendar introduced his new security to the famous swoop racer and then left to watch Chyler's performance at Lok Marathon. Rendar's precautions proved justified&mdash;while he was attending the race, Imperial Security Bureau Captain Jeffren Brek and several stormtroopers attempted to inspect the Outrider. Rendar's security got the upper hand in the ensuing confrontation, wounding several stormtroopers and forcing the Imperials to retreat. The Outrider departed Lok for the next race on Rori without further trouble, but the Empire continued to monitor his activities and dispatched the Dark Jedi Namman Cha to Rori in the hopes of uncovering his contacts within the Alliance.

The spacer hired by Rendar for security was oblivious about why the Empire was after Rendar, but when he tried to ask about Rendar's cargo during the trip to Rori, the smuggler politely reminded his companion that he hired him to guard the ship, not to ask questions. Before the Narmle Memorial Rally got underway, Rendar met with two Rebel operatives at the starport, who took possession of the crate of body armor and gave him his next cargo, a shipment of bacta kits, in return. After taking the bacta back to the Outrider, Rendar left with Chyler's team and headed for the race. When the race began, Rendar quietly left the track and met with Coret Bhan, a major within the Rebel Alliance, behind one of the grandstands. As Rendar handed the Zabrak a small package, they were approached by the Imperial agent from Lok, who attempted to apprehend Bhan. When the Rebel resisted, the Imperial fled to report back to Cha. Later, while Rendar joined the racing team to celebrate Chyler's victory, Cha and a group of Sith Shadows approached the Outrider but were forced to retreat by Rendar's security. Rendar and Chyler returned moments later and the Corellian immediately saw signs of a fight near the ship and asked about what had happened. Despite his security once again saving his cargo, he still did not reveal to him that he was working for the Alliance.

The racing season next took Rendar to Talus in the Corellian system for the Nashal River Race, before the group moved on to Corellia itself. While Chyler was busy preparing for the Agrilat Swamp Circuit, Rendar and his security partner headed for the city of Kor Vella. There, Rendar met with two Bothan Spynet agents and talked to them about Imperial datafiles and some battle plans they were after. The Bothans warned Rendar that they were being tailed, but before they could make it back to the Outrider, he and the spacer were confronted by a group of Black Sun thugs led by Prince Xizor's lieutenant, the Human replica droid Guri, whose employer sought to uncover information about Rendar's involvement with the Alliance in order to sell it to the Empire. However, while Guri proved herself extremely tough in combat, Rendar and his companion were able to take out many of her thugs, forcing her to retreat. Rendar later attended the race but left the during Chyler's test laps for another meeting with an Alliance operative. Walking along the track until the turn called the Sink Hole, Rendar turned off and headed to a secluded location in the nearby swamp where he met with the Bothan Koth Melan. Melan handed Rendar a datapad, but then noticed that the Corellian was being followed by an Imperial. A firefight began, during which Melan was wounded and instructed Rendar to flee with the information, leaving himself to be captured.

The final swoop race of the season was the Mos Espa Race on Tatooine. Prince Xizor, who was looking to sponsor a racing team through his company, Xizor Transport Systems, threw a party before the race and invited Chyler, who needed one final victory to secure the championship. Rendar and his associate accompanied her to the event. After the party the trio stopped by a cantina in Mos Espa, where Rendar met with Luke Skywalker and handed Melan's datapad over to him. However, the meeting was interrupted when Xizor and Guri entered the room. The Falleen ordered his Human replica droid to take the datapad and kill the group. The resulting fight spilled out into the streets of Mos Espa, where Skywalker used his lightsaber to protect Rendar and his companion from any blaster bolts. Xizor eventually chose to retreat without the datapad, promising to expose all information about Rendar, and his involvement with Skywalker, to the Emperor.

The Battle of Hoth
The Rebels soon trusted Rendar enough that they shared with him the location of Echo Base, the Alliance headquarters located in the Hoth system. In 3 ABY, Rendar agreed to deliver supplies to Hoth&mdash;in addition to the usual food supplies, Rendar's cargo also included assault blasters to be delivered to Princess Leia Organa.

Rendar and Leebo took the Outrider to the system and were allowed to dock in Echo Base's hangar, where Rendar was surprised to run into Han Solo, who had become involved with the Rebellion since their last meeting. However, their reunion was cut short&mdash;Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader had entered the Hoth system and were moving to attack Echo Base. Unable to resist the battle, and since he was still being paid, Rendar decided to help delay the Imperial advance while the Rebels evacuated. He instructed Leebo to load their cargo into the evacuating transports and to retrieve their payment while he took an unused snowspeeder into combat against the advancing Imperial ground forces. On Solo's recommendation, Commander Skywalker agreed to let Rendar join Rogue Squadron for the upcoming battle.

Rogue Squadron engaged Viper probe droids, All Terrain Scout Transports and All Terrain Armored Transports, with Rendar succeeding in destroying one of the AT-AT walkers before the Imperials destroyed Echo Base's deflector shield generator and the Rebels were forced to withdraw. Rendar returned to Echo Base, calling ahead to instruct Leebo to have the Outrider ready to leave, but by the time he arrived, Imperial snowtroopers had overrun the facility and destroyed the main generators. Leebo contacted Rendar to warn him that the hangar doors could not be opened to allow the Outrider to leave until power was restored. Fighting his way through the Imperial forces, Rendar proceeded to the base's lower level and activated the emergency generators, restoring power to the hangar door. As he made his way back to the Outrider, Rendar found his way blocked by an AT-ST. Fighting his way past the Imperial walker, Rendar returned to the Outrider to find the ship had already been boarded by Imperials. After killing the intruders, Rendar took the Outrider through the now open hangar door and away from the planet. However, the ship did not get far before one of the orbiting Star Destroyers launched TIE fighters and TIE bombers to intercept. Unable to jump to hyperspace until they were clear of the Hoth asteroid field, Leebo took control of the Outrider, leading it through the asteroid belt while Rendar used the ship's gun turret to fend off the pursuing TIEs. After clearing the asteroids, the Outrider jumped to safety and Rendar rejoined the Rebels.

The Search for Solo
Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Solo and Organa traveled to Cloud City on Bespin, a mining colony operated by Lando Calrissian. There, Solo was captured by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who planned to turn Solo over to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt for the bounty on the smuggler, and frozen in carbonite for the journey to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. Rendar learned that Organa was willing to pay well for help in locating Fett and rescuing Solo and agreed to take the job as a favor to Calrissian, who was already working with the princess.

Rendar soon discovered that Fett had recently been involved in a dogfight with the bounty hunter droid IG-88D, who had traveled to the junkyard world of Ord Mantell to scavenge for spare parts to repair his ship. Betting that IG-88D knew where Fett had gone following the fight, Rendar followed the droid to Ord Mantell. Leebo used the Outrider's scanners to determine IG-88D's exact location, in a salvage plant at the far end of the junkyard from their landing spot. Leebo informed Rendar that a hovertrain led straight to the salvage plant's loading door. Boarding the nearest hovertain, Rendar rode it until the tracks ran parallel to those of the train that led to his destination. As the two trains moved alongside each other, Rendar leaped across the gap and made his way to the front of the new train. The salvage plant's loading door was closed but, once Rendar reached the engine car, Leebo was able to remotely disable the hovertrain's auto-brakes, causing the train to crash straight through the door. Inside, he was confronted by IG-88D who revealed that he had indeed tracked Fett to the Zhar system. Unwilling to let Rendar stop him from taking Solo from Fett, the droid opened fire. Rendar fought back and was able to defeat the bounty hunter.

Rendar reported his findings to Calrissian and headed to the Imperial moon base on Gall in the Zhar system to confirm Fett's location. Landing the Outrider safely out of sight in Smuggler's Gorge, Rendar left Leebo to watch the ship and proceeded on foot to the base's observation tower, hoping to access the central computer and find which hangar bay Fett was in. Making his way along the cliffside, Rendar encountered several Imperial patrols, before reaching the entrance to the base itself. Rendar fought his way through the base until he reached the observation tower and accessed the computer, learning that Fett was docked in the second tower, on the other side of the nearby canyon. Taking a jetpack from the observation tower, Rendar crossed to another section of the Imperial base. As he continued to move through the base, Rendar came upon a large hangar containing an AT-ST. Using his jetpack to dodge its laser blasts, Rendar fired on the walker and eventually succeeded in felling it. A nearby switch provided access to the facility's ventilation system, which Rendar followed until it led him back outside near a waiting hoversled. Taking the hoversled to yet another section of the base, Rendar finally reached the landing pad where Fett's ship, Slave I, was docked. Fett opened fire upon seeing Rendar, but the smuggler fought back and Fett eventually fled into his ship. Slave I took off and Fett tried to use its weapons against Rendar, but the smuggler was able to damage the ship, leaving Fett stuck on Gall.

Having confirmed that Fett was on Gall, Rendar placed a coded HoloNet call to Calrissian, who arranged to meet him in the Zhar system. Organa arranged for Rogue Squadron to assist in an attempted rescue and the Rogues established a temporary base on the nearby moon Kile. Rendar was waiting at Rogue Squadron's base when Calrissian, Organa and the Wookiee Chewbacca arrived aboard Solo's Millennium Falcon, along with Skywalker in his T-65 X-wing starfighter. Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles briefed the new arrivals on the layout of the Imperial base and the expected opposition&mdash;two Star Destroyers, each with a wing of starfighters. Skywalker proposed that he and Rogue Squadron would attack, drawing off the defending TIE fighters, while Rendar led the Millennium Falcon and its crew to Fett's ship to retrieve Solo. Despite the risks, the group all agreed to Skywalker's plan.

In order to avoid Imperial sensors, the Outrider and the Millennium Falcon were required to fly low. Rendar led the way, keeping the Outrider within a few meters above tree level and eventually led them into the Grand Trench to avoid a long-range sensor post. Lifting out of the canyon after passing the sensor station, Rendar led the group towards the shipyard where Fett was. Less than a minute away from the target, however, Rendar bid them farewell and put the Outrider in a climb straight out of the atmosphere before returning to the makeshift base on Kile. He arrived shortly after Rogue Squadron returned, having been forced to withdraw in the face of greatly superior numbers, and was met by Skywalker and Antilles. Though Skywalker was angry that Rendar had abandoned his friends, Rendar maintained that he had only been paid to lead them to Fett and that his work was complete. Before long, the Millennium Falcon too returned to Kile, having been unable to prevent Fett's escape with the frozen Solo.

The secret plans
Knowing that Fett would eventually deliver Solo to Jabba on Tatooine, Skywalker returned to his desert homeworld to wait for the bounty hunter to arrive. Following a recent attempt on Skywalker's life, Organa was concerned for his safety and hired Rendar to watch over him while she attempted to uncover who was behind the failed assassination attempt. Rendar followed Skywalker to Tatooine and, per Organa's instructions, kept a discreet distance, watching for signs of trouble at one of his regular cantinas in Mos Eisley. While in Mos Eisley, Rendar overheard a swoop gang discussing their plans to kill Skywalker on Jabba's orders. Taking a swoop of his own, Rendar followed the gang as they headed to Skywalker's temporary residence in the Dune Sea. The gang soon reached Skywalker but he was able to take out one of the riders and flee aboard the man's swoop towards Beggar's Canyon. By the time Rendar arrived, Skywalker had almost halved his pursuers, but was still heavily outnumbered and running out of options. Dropping his swoop into the canyon, Rendar opened fire on the gang as he fell, causing them to scatter and flee.

After explaining his presence, Rendar returned with Skywalker to Ben Kenobi's hut. The pair were discussing how to react to the attack on Skywalker when the Rebel's astromech droid, R2-D2, detected the approach of a message droid. Rendar and Skywalker went to investigate and discovered that the droid had a message to deliver to Organa from Koth Melan. The Bothan claimed to have vital information for the Alliance and requested that Organa meet with him as soon as possible on his homeworld of Bothawui. In her absence, Skywalker decided to go to Bothawui to meet Melan and Rendar chose to accompany him in the interests of protecting his fee.

The two pilots brought their respective ships out of hyperspace in the Both system and managed to sneak into Bothawui past a nearby Imperial patrol. After landing, they caught a pubtrans flitter from the port into the city and made there way to the Intergalactic Trade Mission where Melan was expecting Organa. Rendar bribed the building's guard to let them pass and the pair proceeded to Melan's office on the sixteenth floor. When Melan's protocol droid, R0-4, refused to let them in without an appointment, Rendar pulled his blaster. The droid reluctantly allowed them to enter Melan's office but the Bothan welcomed the pair and accepted them as Organa's representatives. Melan explained that the Bothans had learned of a new Imperial military project. Though they were unaware of the exact nature of the project, a secured supercomputer containing the plans was being transported from Coruscant to Bothawui aboard the Suprosa, a Mobquet Medium Transport masquerading as a fertilizer freighter, and Melan planned to capture it. Though Melan had put together a Bothan team for the mission, he wanted Skywalker and Rendar to lead the attack. Rendar was reluctant to get involved but agreed after Skywalker suggested that the Alliance may be willing to reward him for the supercomputer's capture.

Rendar and Skywalker traveled with Melan to a hidden base outside the city where they were introduced to the squadron of Bothan pilots he had assembled. When the Bothans learned of the Suprosa route three days later, the group headed out, with Rendar carrying Melan's boarding party aboard the Outrider. The Suprosa arrived as expected and Skywalker ordered its captain to surrender. When his request was refused, Skywalker ordered the Bothan Y-wings to target the ship's engines and disable it. However, the Suprosa weapons had been greatly upgraded and it opened fire, destroying one of the Y-wings and causing Skywalker to break his squadron off to regroup. As they pulled back, the freighter fired a missile at a group of four Bothan Y-wings. Seeing the threat, Rendar attempted to shoot down the missile. When he failed to stop it, the missile destroyed all four Y-wings, killing eight Bothans. Rendar, believing he had missed, blamed himself for their deaths; in truth, the warhead had been a diamond boron missile and his shots had been unable to penetrate its armor. Despite their losses, the Rebels were soon able to disable the freighter and Rendar took the Outrider in to conduct the boarding operation. Rendar docked the Outrider with the Suprosa and, putting his apparent failure behind him, boarded it personally to look for the supercomputer. Following Leebo's directions, Rendar worked his way through the ship towards the main cargo hangar where the supercomputer was located, encountering heavy resistance from the Suprosa crew along the way. Upon reaching the cargo hangar, Rendar was attacked by a loader droid, but was able to destroy the droid and locate the supercomputer. After Rendar disabled the hangar force field, Leebo brought the Outrider into the hangar to collect the smuggler and the supercomputer.

Skywalker planned to accompany Melan to Kothlis, where the Bothans could retrieve the data held on the supercomputer. Rendar, however, was still blaming himself for his failure to save the Bothans and Skywalker decided not to take him along, instead telling the smuggler to find Organa and inform her about the secret plans. As instructed, Rendar headed to Rodia, where he was met by Organa and Calrissian. After informing them about recent events, Rendar returned with them to the casino where they were staying.

Organa hoped to enlist the help of Black Sun in tracking down whoever was responsible for the attempt on Skywalker's life and had already met once with Guri, acting as Xizor's representative. Having become suspicious that Guri was not as she seemed, Organa decided to take precautions and arranged for Rendar, Calrissian and Chewbacca to act as her backup during the second meeting. With Rendar and Calrissian hidden in the suite's bedroom, and Chewbacca waiting in the corridor outside, Organa met once more with Guri. The droid, however, had instructions from Xizor to bring Organa back to him on Coruscant and, eventually tiring of the discussion with Organa, attempted to take her by force. On Organa's signal, Rendar and the others emerged, aiming their blasters at Guri. After the Human replica droid was restrained, the group discussed their next move. Despite Rendar and Calrissian's concerns, Organa agreed to go with Guri to Coruscant to seek assistance directly from Xizor. Though Chewbacca was to accompany her on the journey, Organa was unwilling to risk more lives than necessary and instructed Rendar and Calrissian to remain on Rodia and wait for Skywalker. However, Calrissian wasn't willing to simply sit and wait and, after Rendar provided him with Skywalker's location of Kothlis, he set off to rendezvous with his friend.

Showdown with Xizor
Before long, Organa learned that it was Xizor's agents who had been attempting to kill Skywalker all along. Though Chewbacca was able to escape from Xizor's Palace on Coruscant, Organa was being held captive by the Dark Prince and the Wookiee contacted Rendar to seek help from him and Calrissian. Wanting to make amends for his failure against the Suprosa, Rendar left Chewbacca's message for Calrissian and departed for Coruscant. After arriving in the Coruscant system, the smuggler used the sensor shadow of a freighter to sneak past the Imperial authorities and land on the planet. Hoping to find a way to reach Organa, the smuggler made his way to a plant shop in the area known as the Southern Underground which was owned by the Master Gardener Spero, a Ho'Din with connections in the criminal underworld. He arrived to find the shop under attack by four armed men who had Chewbacca, along with Skywalker and Calrissian&mdash;who had also traveled to Coruscant upon receiving the Wookiee's message&mdash;trapped inside. Catching the attackers by surprise, Rendar opened fire and quickly eliminated them before leading the Rebels to a nearby hotel to plan their next move.

Rendar suggested that the group enter Xixor's Palace through the network of sewage tunnels under the city. When the others agreed, he set up a meeting with Benedict Vidkun, an engineer with access to the sewers who was prepared to show them the way for the right price. A locked gate prevented access to the drain leading from Xizor's Palace from the main sewer tunnel, with a force field located in the smaller tunnel and finally another gate where the tunnel entered the palace. Vidkun's contacts could provide access to all three, leaving only the guards inside the palace entrance for Rendar and the Rebels to deal with. Though Rendar and the Rebels did not entirely trust Vidkun, they agreed to his price but insisted that he stay with them until they were ready to depart so as to prevent him from turning them in.

When they were ready, the group followed Vidkun into the main sewer tunnel and began working their way towards the palace. Along the way, a dianoga emerged from the sludge and attacked Skywalker. Rendar shouted a warning and drew his blaster, but Skywalker told him to hold his fire and instead dispatched the creature with his lightsaber. The group continued on, with Vidkun unlocking the first gate and deactivating the force field as they went. When they reached the final gate, Vidkun gave Calrissian the necessary keycard and turned to leave. Rendar blocked his path and insisted that he remain with the group until they were safely inside the palace, prompting the engineer to pull a small blaster from his coverall and begin firing at the group. His first shot went wide but the second grazed Rendar's hip. Before Vidkun could get off a third shot, Rendar produced his own blaster and shot the man in the head. After applying a surgical dressing to his wound, Rendar and the others continued to the palace.

Finally reaching the end of the tunnel, the group spotted six guards playing a card game in the room beyond the exit. Rendar was confident that they could take out the guards but Skywalker hoped to avoid killing them. He instructed Rendar to open the hatch, then follow him, Chewbacca and Calrissian into the room. Rendar reluctantly agreed, but as Skywalker and Chewbacca emerged and instructed the guards not to move, the sewage-soaked Wookiee slipped and fell, knocking Calrissian over as he followed them through. The mishap gave the guards enough time to draw their weapons and open fire. Skywalker blocked the first shots with his lightsaber and Rendar emerged from the tunnel shooting, killing two of the guards. The two downed Rebels righted themselves and before long all six guards were dead, but not before one had managed to call for help.

The group began to work their way to where Organa was being held, encountering more guards along the way. They eventually ran into Organa, who had managed to escape from her room. Having located the princess, they headed up towards a landing pad where the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO would be waiting with the Millennium Falcon. However, upon reaching level twenty, they ran into a group of guards led by Guri and Xizor, who was personally leading the search for the intruders. Realizing they were outnumbered, Rendar suggested taking cover in a room off the main corridor. With no other way to escape, Skywalker activated the deadman's switch on a thermal detonator and moved back into the corridor to confront Xizor. Recognizing the device, the Falleen crime lord ordered his troops to cease fire and a standoff developed. Calrissian broke the stalemate by activating the five minute timer on another detonator and placing it in a nearby garbage chute. As Xizor's guards broke and fled in panic, Rendar and the others took the opportunity to slip away, taking a turbolift to the landing pad on level fifty.

They finally reached the landing pad moments before the Millennium Falcon came into view, approaching in an erratic manner under the the control of its inexperienced droid pilots. After a shaky landing, the droids opened the ship's hatch and Rendar's group hurried aboard. Rendar reached the cockpit first and shoved C-3PO out of the pilot's seat before flying the ship to safety moments before the thermal detonator exploded, destroying Xizor's Palace.

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 in 28 ABY. By this time, Dash had become active in Yuuzhan Vong War, during which he was responsible for sabotaging Peace Brigade shipments.

Personality and traits
Dash Rendar was the kind of smuggler willing and able to protect his cargo. He was also handy with a blaster.

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 ten 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."

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
 * Star Wars Miniatures: Attack on Endor&mdash;Scenario Booklet
 * Shadows of the Empire video game
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * Shadows of the Empire Kenner Special
 * Shadows of the Empire Galoob Micro-Machines Mini-Comic
 * Shadows of the Empire AMT/ERTL Model Kit Mini-Comic
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * Shadows of the Empire AMT/ERTL Model Kit Mini-Comic
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution