Novel References

Before the Storm

PAGE QUOTATION COMMENTS

18
"The curvature of a planetary body limits the effectiveness of fixed emplacements with line-of-sight weapons. Destruction of only a few such emplacements creates a breach in the planetary defenses, and a corridor from space to the surface. The threat at this point would be from atmospheric fighters or ground-to-air missiles launched from over the horizon."

Specific remarks about the tactics of planetary invasions.

19
"...the Dornean Navy successfully defended Dornea's independence throughout the reign of Palpatine, against Imperial forces several times as large," said Princess Leia...

An unusual planet that possessed enough concentrated force to deter whatever local Imperial forces were available. This may be a hint of the tactical advantages of defenders, and/or the remoteness vs desirability of suppressing Dornea. It may be another hint of the reasons why the Emperor desired a Death Star to bolster his rule.

20
"You must understand that the problems of invading a planetary body from space, or defending one from an invasion, are quite different from the problems of destroying a planet, or blockading one, or laying siege to one."

21
"Senator, it is not possible to assault a planet which enjoys the protection of a planetary shield until that shield has been disabled."

Basic tenet of warfare in a galactic civilisation.

44
"...remember that Admiral Daala is still alive, and has the resources of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Core worlds to draw upon. She can only grow stronger as time passes, and may well have spies in Imperial City."

continuity: Note that this story takes place after Planet of Twilight, in which Daala's circumstances were very different to the way Admiral Ackbar describes her here. Has there been a reversal of her fortunes, or has Daala's fate been concealed from the Mon Calamari and the galaxy at large?

67
"When I first met Yoda, he had been a hermit on Dagobah for a hundred years or more."

continuity: Luke Skywalker assumes that Yoda has been stranded on Dagobah for a long time, however as of the end of The Phantom Menace Yoda was happily commuting across the galaxy and serving on the Jedi Council on Coruscant. This suggests that Luke has not learned much about the circumstances of the Jedi before his father's career.

84
'Almost everything we know about the Koornacht Cluster is thirty years old. It was in Imperial hands from the time of the Clone Wars until shortly after the Battle of Endor.'

124
'It's the I-class Star Destroyer Gnisnal, our registry number SD-489. Reported destroyed by internal explosions during the Imperial evacuation of Narth and Ihopek. The report is from Alliance sources.'

The Gnisnal is a star destroyer with a rather small registry number. Considering that there must have been at least tens of thousands of destroyers galaxywide, this small numbe rmay indicate that Gnisnal was a particularly old ship, or distinguished in some other way.
"I-class" probably is colloquial for Imperator-class, which is sometimes also called "Imperial-class" in New Republic slang.

132
And he knew the entire history of the Asset Tracking office, it had never before had available to it what he had now before him: a complete Imperial order of battle.
It was all there: Every warship, by name, class, callsign, and commander, assigned to every fleet and combat command. Every fighter, interceptor, bomber, and assualt squadron posted to every SD, SSD, carrier, and Dreadnaught, with squadron strengths detailed. Every stormtrooper company and infantry battalion assigned to every transport, occupation force, outpost, and fort. Every cripple in drydock and every keel in shipyard, with projected repair and completion dates. Even the second-tier vessels allocated to training commands were included.
The datastamp on the file was more than ten years old, but it was still a treasure beyond price. The order of battle encompassed information far beyond that which ordinary ship captains and task force commanders would have at their disposal, information that only a ranking sector commander or the Emperor's own military aides would possess.

Complete Imperial order of battle obtained by the New Republic for the first time, from the wreckage of the star destroyer Gnisnal.

137
'Black Sword Command defended the center of the Empire's Rim territories,' Drayson noted. 'Praxlis, Corridan, the entire Kokash and Farlax sectors.'

137-138
'...the order of battle for Black Sword includes forty-four capital ships which we have not seen nor heard of since the fall of the Emperor. None smaller than a Victory-class Star Destroyer. Three are Super-class vessels.

139
'The Empire preferred to establish military shipyards in every sector they controlled, so that no one facility was critical to the war effort, and damaged ships did not need to travel far for repairs--'

Major shipyards capable of repairing, and possibly manufacturing, Imperial warships were available in all or most sectors. Reducing or eliminating this capacity would be a major activity for the rising New Republic as it consolidated its hold on the galaxy.

143
"The Empire's standard Sector Group strength was only twenty-four Star Destroyers. They were able to exercise control over an entire system with a single Imperial-class ship. They were able to overwhelm anything up to a Class Four planetary defense with one-third of a Sector Group."

General Etahn A'baht explains the deployment of ships in the starfleet assigned to a minimal sector.

143
"...there are more than two hundred inhabited worlds in Hatawa and Farlax, many of which we still know little about."

Admiral Ackbar remarks on the scope of two sectors on the fringes of the Deep Core.

183
"[Admiral] Hiram [Drayson] and Alpha Blue work within Fleet Intelligence, and beyond its reach. They have a charter which recognizes the ambiguities of war and politics, and inherit the jobs which require working outside the rules of polite society."

Admiral Ackbar describes a super-secret sub-division of his naval intelligence service, as distinct from the more general and public intelligence agencies of the New Republic government headed by General Cracken.

247
Aramadia went into orbit forty klicks below the lower limit of Coruscant's planetary shield...

If a "klick" is interpreted as slang for "kilometre" then this indicates a lower limit of 40km for the altitude of the planetary shield. This means that the shield is probably outside even the most tenuous parts of the planetary atmosphere, which is a prudent level of protection.

263
Aitro Koornacht had done a favour involving a woman and an Imperial coach for the First Observer at the Court of Emperor Preedu III, on Tamban. That next night, the astronomer spotted a bright, fuzzy disk in the eyepiece of his newest telescope. That grateful First Observer had repaid his benefactor by naming the newly discovered star cluster after the night commander of the palace guard.

culutre: History of the naming of the Koornacht cluster.
locations: Tamban, a civilised system with a line of sight to the Koornacht cluster, unobscured by interstellar dust. Therefore it probably lies within the Core or the fringes of the Deep Core regions.

283
He cleared his throat, and uglier sound than his rasping breaths. 'My name is Plat Mallar,' he said. 'I was born in the city of Three North, on the planet Polneye. My mother was Fall Topas. She was a plant biologist, and quite beautiful. My father was Plat Hovath, a droid mechanic. I was their only son. We lived in Ten South, on blue level, near the algae pool.'

character: Plat Mallar
culture: Grannan naming conventions place the surname before the personal name.

Before the Storm
PAGE	QUOTATION	COMMENTS
18	"The curvature of a planetary body limits the effectiveness of fixed emplacements with line-of-sight weapons. Destruction of only a few such emplacements creates a breach in the planetary defenses, and a corridor from space to the surface. The threat at this point would be from atmospheric fighters or ground-to-air missiles launched from over the horizon."	Specific remarks about the tactics of planetary invasions.
19	"...the Dornean Navy successfully defended Dornea's independence throughout the reign of Palpatine, against Imperial forces several times as large," said Princess Leia...	An unusual planet that possessed enough concentrated force to deter whatever local Imperial forces were available. This may be a hint of the tactical advantages of defenders, and/or the remoteness vs desirability of suppressing Dornea. It may be another hint of the reasons why the Emperor desired a Death Star to bolster his rule.
20	"You must understand that the problems of invading a planetary body from space, or defending one from an invasion, are quite different from the problems of destroying a planet, or blockading one, or laying siege to one."
21	"Senator, it is not possible to assault a planet which enjoys the protection of a planetary shield until that shield has been disabled."	Basic tenet of warfare in a galactic civilisation.
44	"...remember that Admiral Daala is still alive, and has the resources of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Core worlds to draw upon. She can only grow stronger as time passes, and may well have spies in Imperial City."	continuity: Note that this story takes place after Planet of Twilight, in which Daala's circumstances were very different to the way Admiral Ackbar describes her here. Has there been a reversal of her fortunes, or has Daala's fate been concealed from the Mon Calamari and the galaxy at large?
67	"When I first met Yoda, he had been a hermit on Dagobah for a hundred years or more."	continuity: Luke Skywalker assumes that Yoda has been stranded on Dagobah for a long time, however as of the end of The Phantom Menace Yoda was happily commuting across the galaxy and serving on the Jedi Council on Coruscant. This suggests that Luke has not learned much about the circumstances of the Jedi before his father's career.
84	'Almost everything we know about the Koornacht Cluster is thirty years old. It was in Imperial hands from the time of the Clone Wars until shortly after the Battle of Endor.'
124	'It's the I-class Star Destroyer Gnisnal, our registry number SD-489. Reported destroyed by internal explosions during the Imperial evacuation of Narth and Ihopek. The report is from Alliance sources.'	The Gnisnal is a star destroyer with a rather small registry number. Considering that there must have been at least tens of thousands of destroyers galaxywide, this small numbe rmay indicate that Gnisnal was a particularly old ship, or distinguished in some other way. "I-class" probably is colloquial for Imperator-class, which is sometimes also called "Imperial-class" in New Republic slang.
132	And he knew the entire history of the Asset Tracking office, it had never before had available to it what he had now before him: a complete Imperial order of battle. It was all there: Every warship, by name, class, callsign, and commander, assigned to every fleet and combat command. Every fighter, interceptor, bomber, and assualt squadron posted to every SD, SSD, carrier, and Dreadnaught, with squadron strengths detailed. Every stormtrooper company and infantry battalion assigned to every transport, occupation force, outpost, and fort. Every cripple in drydock and every keel in shipyard, with projected repair and completion dates. Even the second-tier vessels allocated to training commands were included. The datastamp on the file was more than ten years old, but it was still a treasure beyond price. The order of battle encompassed information far beyond that which ordinary ship captains and task force commanders would have at their disposal, information that only a ranking sector commander or the Emperor's own military aides would possess.	Complete Imperial order of battle obtained by the New Republic for the first time, from the wreckage of the star destroyer Gnisnal.
137	'Black Sword Command defended the center of the Empire's Rim territories,' Drayson noted. 'Praxlis, Corridan, the entire Kokash and Farlax sectors.'
137-138	'...the order of battle for Black Sword includes forty-four capital ships which we have not seen nor heard of since the fall of the Emperor. None smaller than a Victory-class Star Destroyer. Three are Super-class vessels.
139	'The Empire preferred to establish military shipyards in every sector they controlled, so that no one facility was critical to the war effort, and damaged ships did not need to travel far for repairs--'	Major shipyards capable of repairing, and possibly manufacturing, Imperial warships were available in all or most sectors. Reducing or eliminating this capacity would be a major activity for the rising New Republic as it consolidated its hold on the galaxy.
143	"The Empire's standard Sector Group strength was only twenty-four Star Destroyers. They were able to exercise control over an entire system with a single Imperial-class ship. They were able to overwhelm anything up to a Class Four planetary defense with one-third of a Sector Group."	General Etahn A'baht explains the deployment of ships in the starfleet assigned to a minimal sector.
143	"...there are more than two hundred inhabited worlds in Hatawa and Farlax, many of which we still know little about."	Admiral Ackbar remarks on the scope of two sectors on the fringes of the Deep Core.
183	"[Admiral] Hiram [Drayson] and Alpha Blue work within Fleet Intelligence, and beyond its reach. They have a charter which recognizes the ambiguities of war and politics, and inherit the jobs which require working outside the rules of polite society."	Admiral Ackbar describes a super-secret sub-division of his naval intelligence service, as distinct from the more general and public intelligence agencies of the New Republic government headed by General Cracken.
247	Aramadia went into orbit forty klicks below the lower limit of Coruscant's planetary shield...	If a "klick" is interpreted as slang for "kilometre" then this indicates a lower limit of 40km for the altitude of the planetary shield. This means that the shield is probably outside even the most tenuous parts of the planetary atmosphere, which is a prudent level of protection.
263	Aitro Koornacht had done a favour involving a woman and an Imperial coach for the First Observer at the Court of Emperor Preedu III, on Tamban. That next night, the astronomer spotted a bright, fuzzy disk in the eyepiece of his newest telescope. That grateful First Observer had repaid his benefactor by naming the newly discovered star cluster after the night commander of the palace guard.	culutre: History of the naming of the Koornacht cluster. locations: Tamban, a civilised system with a line of sight to the Koornacht cluster, unobscured by interstellar dust. Therefore it probably lies within the Core or the fringes of the Deep Core regions.
283	He cleared his throat, and uglier sound than his rasping breaths. 'My name is Plat Mallar,' he said. 'I was born in the city of Three North, on the planet Polneye. My mother was Fall Topas. She was a plant biologist, and quite beautiful. My father was Plat Hovath, a droid mechanic. I was their only son. We lived in Ten South, on blue level, near the algae pool.'	character: Plat Mallar culture: Grannan naming conventions place the surname before the personal name.

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