Good work, everyone. Navigation, input the coordinates for the jump to Ord Mantell. Helm, get us on the appropriate jump trajectory. Comms, check in with the rest of the fleet and inform me of their status. Chief, let's get the engineers and repair crews to work checking the ship over.
—Forn Dodonna
Admiral Forn Dodonna was a senior fleet commander who served with the Republic Navy during the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War. She was a native of Commenor and a member of a traditional military family and soon rose to the rank of captain, earning command of the Inexpugnable-class command ship Tremendous by the time of the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders' attack. She gained considerable tactical and leadership experience fighting the Mandalorians before being promoted to Rear Admiral and assigned to defend Coruscant and its surrounding worlds by the Jedi Knights Revan and Malak. Dodonna held this post without incident until that war's conclusion at the Battle of Malachor V.
When the former Revanchists attacked the Galactic Republic, sparking the Jedi Civil War, Dodonna was promoted to Vice Admiral and given command of the Second Fleet. During the first year of the war, her forces were instrumental in the success of the Republic's first counteroffensive against the invading Sith Empire. Because of her skills, she was called upon to lead the Republic side of the Jedi Order's effort to capture Darth Revan, ultimately securing success with the aid of Padawan Bastila Shan and Jedi Master Kavar. Two years later, she led the fleet of Republic warships that destroyed the Star Forge at the Battle of Rakata Prime. At war's end, Dodonna was promoted to Chief of Naval Operations, effectively commanding the entire Republic Navy, holding the post for five years before retiring from military service. She died in 3,929 BBY.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Forn Dodonna was born in 4,018 BBY to a family with a long tradition of military service and was groomed from an early age to take up the life of an officer in the Republic Navy. A soft-spoken young woman, she earned excellent marks throughout her schooling and years at the various naval academies of the Galactic Republic.
Military service[]
There! A break in the Sith formation! Green Squadron, into the breach!
—Admiral Dodonna at the Battle of Rakata Prime
During the Mandalorian Wars, she served as the commanding officer of the Inexpugnable-class tactical command ship Tremendous, gaining considerable experience in battle against the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. When the Jedi Knights Revan and Malak joined the war effort, Dodonna was promoted to Rear Admiral and tasked with defending the Coruscant sector, particularly the capital world and the nearby shipyards at Foerost, from Mandalorian attack until the end of the war at the Battle of Malachor V.
At the outbreak of the Jedi Civil War, when so many of the Republic's top admirals and generals had defected to the new Sith Empire, Dodonna was promoted to Vice Admiral and given command over the Second Fleet. Planting her flag aboard the Hammerhead-class cruiser Vibrosword in the wake of the destruction of Tremendous at the Battle of Foerost, she sought to find a way to strike back at the invading Sith. The actions of Rear Admiral Kedlis Hetton, Captain Laera Reyolé, and then-Ensign Silas Dan'kre at the Second Battle of Iridonia presented the opportunity Dodonna had been looking for, and she led her fleet in the defense of Rodia.
Admiral Dodonna, in contact with the Ebon Hawk
In the wake of this success, Dodonna led the fleet to victories at Mon Gazza and Lannik, completing this first counteroffensive against Darths Revan and Malak. However, in the years that followed, the Sith, due to their possession of the Star Forge, continued to push the Republic back with sheer numbers. Finally, in 3,956 BBY, she was presented with a plan by the Jedi High Council and Republic High Command to capture the Dark Lord of the Sith. Despite initial misgivings, and with the assistance of the Jedi Master Kavar, she led her small fleet of Hammerhead-class cruisers and Foray-class frigates to Ord Mantell, ultimately holding the Sith fleet there at bay long enough for Bastila Shan to succeed in her mission, despite the interference of Darth Malak.
When the Republic Navy was summoned to the homeworld of the Rakata by Carth Onasi in order to destroy the Star Forge, Dodonna, now elevated to full Admiral, was dispatched with every available warship to lend assistance. Her fleet arrived just as Onasi, along with the redeemed Revan and their companions, had deactivated the ancient defenses surrounding the massive space station. During the battle that followed, Dodonna, accompanied by Jedi Master Vandar Tokare, faced off against the Sith forces gathered there, only achieving victory after Revan succeeded in redeeming Bastila Shan and turning her battle meditation against the Sith.
Post-war service and retirement[]
We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.
—Forn Dodonna, in her farewell address to the Republic Navy
After the conclusion of the Jedi Civil War, Admiral Dodonna was given the rank of Fleet Admiral and appointed to the position of Chief of Naval Operations. In her new capacity as leader of the Republic Navy, she did all that she could to rebuild the service that had been all but shattered in the wake of back-to-back pan-galactic conflicts. Her efforts, though met with open arms, were hampered by the sheer lack of resources at that time, and she was hard-pressed to keep up with the demands of maintaining order throughout large areas of the Outer Rim. Many of her policies favored consolidating key holdings, rather than trying to hold everything, though many of the Navy's resources were diverted into helping such endeavors as the Telos Restoration Project.
In the wake of Darth Nihilus's attack on Citadel Station in orbit of Telos IV and the resulting defeat of the Sith Triumvirate, Dodonna finally retired from military service, returning to her homeworld as an honored matron of the Navy. Among her final orders was the appointment of Carth Onasi, already an admiral himself, to command of all Republic forces in the Outer Rim. She spent her retirement years monitoring the galactic situation as the Republic stabilized, occasionally corresponding with Senators and Supreme Chancellors, or giving interviews to galactic news agencies and commencement addresses to graduates at the various Republic Naval Academies. Forn Dodonna died of natural causes in 3,929 BBY, and was interred in the Curamelle Veterans' Cemetery on Corulag
Legacy[]
The memory of Forn Dodonna would live on throughout the history of the Republic. During the Clone Wars, the Special Operations Command of the Grand Army of the Republic set up their headquarters in a complex named in her honor. In addition, a descendant of her family, Jan Dodonna, earned battle honors fighting in that same conflict and went on to serve as one of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's greatest war leaders in the early years of the Galactic Civil War.
Personality and traits[]
I'm afraid I must concur once again with Captain Reyolé, The Republic and the Jedi Order have set us a task for which we may not be equipped.
—Forn Dodonna, to Master Kavar
A soft-spoken commander, Forn Dodonna cared deeply for those she commanded as well as those she was charged to protect as a naval officer. She possessed a keen tactical awareness, and was knowledgeable about what her people and forces could and could not do. In addition, she was not ashamed to order a retreat if the situation warranted such an action, and she was aggressive in seizing opportunities on the battleplanes. She also regarded the Jedi Order as a key component in ensuring the safety and security of the Republic, and would work with them whenever she could, despite occasional skepticism in regards to their plans. She also believed in the power of redemption, accepting the defection of the Interdictor-class cruiser Wrangler back to the Republic despite its history with Darth Revan's Sith Empire.
Dodonna was not a very ambitious woman, but she did possess a deep sense of galactic responsibility, and this led her to accepting promotions to flag rank even as she desired to remain on the front lines. Despite this, her flagship was often to be found in the thick of the fighting, serving as the coordinating vessel in the vanguard of her lines of battle. She disliked having to risk her people and resources unnecessarily; after the Jedi Civil War, this led to her reducing the allotment of troops and supplies to various worlds on the frontier, including Dantooine.
Talents and abilities[]
During her initial officer training in the Naval Academy at Anaxes, Forn Dodonna demonstrated great potential talent in the fields of astronavgation and fleet operations, particularly with large numbers of warships. She was skilled at finding ways to get a fleet to its destination more quickly than would be considered normal. She also possessed an intuition for logistics, demonstrating this when she gathered every available ship in the Republic's fleet to journey to Lehon in order to destroy the Star Forge. Dodonna was also a skilled melee combatant, serving as captain of the academy vibrosword-fencing team during her third and fourth years.
Behind the scenes[]
The character of Admiral Forn Dodonna, as written by Sean "Goodwood" Nash, was initially intended to be nothing more than her canonical persona. During the course of writing The Last Full Measure, however, Nash saw the need to expand upon her character, adding more depth to what was already established by Star Wars continuity. After writing this article, Nash retroactively inserted a discrete mention into his earlier novella, Star Wars: Saber Battalion.
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Saber Battalion (First mentioned)
- The Last Full Measure (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Canonical first appearance)