Whilst staying out his suspension on Earth, Dodds encountered Patrick Dean who, unbeknownst to him, was fleeing the Confederation after becoming privy to the details of Operation Sudarberg and the true intentions of the ATAF project.

He was requested to return to naval service after serving five months of his suspension on Earth. Along with his fellow wing mates he was enrolled into the ATAF project, though the group subsequently failed to make the grade.

Dodds was amongst the hundreds of service men and women that took part in Operation Menelaus. He was ultimately responsible for saving Griffin and her crew from destruction after spacing Anthony Hawke and Jason Zackaria when he attacked Ifrit.

Despite his actions, Dodds never felt that he had fully redeemed himself for the unlawful killings of Poppy Castro and Stefan Pitt.

Dodds was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant following Griffin and Ifrit's successful return to Spirit.

Along with his fellow wingmates, Dodds was en-route to the Solaris system when CSN Ifrit was ambushed in jump by a Pandoran force. After the invaders forced the carrier from jump, the White Knights were evacuated to the surface of Mythos, to the city of New Malaga. He was separated from his team whilst heading for the main sled bay and was then escorted by two members of Ifrit's security team: Adams and Johnson. Dodds piloted a sled down to the surface of the Mythos with Adams, after Johnson was killed. Adams, however, died during the descent. Additionally, Dodds' sled suffered a malfunction after re-entry, pushing him far off course and forcing him to make the journey to the rendezvous point on foot.

Dodds met Natalia Grace in Eastfields Parks as he attempted to make his way to Mythos' east coast and meet with his team, and the two began making for the north of New Malaga.

Dodds and Natalia were attacked when they drove their Sabretooth into an engagement between Pandoran soldiers and local military forces. Dodds was then confronted by Jason Zackaria, who told him of the Mission and his desire to acquire the ATAFs and the pilots to see it through to completion. Zackaria, however, did not say that Dodds figured in his plans and made to kill the pilot for humbling him in the Phylent system. Dodds was saved when a bombing run against an imperial Spider put Zackaria's life at too much risk, allowing him to escape.

Dodds went on to spend a night with Natalia Grace (finding her safe and well during his escape from Zackaria), where the two talked for several hours and grew to know one another. Dodds discovers that he finds Natalia very attractive and feels drawn to her, despite her earlier action of possibly abandoning him. He goes on to dream about his time on Spirit with the rest of his team mates, and how Estelle had come to his stateroom after they had been thrown out of the bar. It leads him to some conflicting views as to which of the two women he would prefer to be with.

After meeting up with Estelle and Chaz, rescuing Kelly and Enrique and subsequently learning from Elliott Parks the truth behind the Pandorans and the ATAFs, Dodds goes on to volunteer for Operation Sudarberg.

As the full impact of the Senate's Mistake start to become known, Dodds comforts Estelle in Griffin's bar, even though he is just as terrified of what is to come as she is.

Dodds' meeting with Zackaria was significant, as it was the first time that the admiral had openly spoken to someone outside of the Pandoran army.