Rebel Dawn |
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| PAGE | QUOTATION | COMMENTS |
| 1 | Chapter 1: Winners and Losers | |
| 1 | He watched the system's big, pale sun slip into the great curve of ruddy light at the world's edge and disappear behind the planet's limb. Bespin's huge, dark nightside loomed up to blot out the stars. Han checked his sensors. "They say Bespin's got some big flyin' — or should I say, floatin' — creatures in its atmosphere, so keep those forward shields at maximum strength." |
starship: Wayward Girl location: Bespin |
| 1-2 | ...swooping over the planet's dark pole, lightning far below making a flickeringfog of dim light. "ETA twenty-six minutes. We ought to be in Cloud City in time to catch a late dinner." ... Jadonna Veloz was a short, stocky, dark-skinned woman with long, straight black hair. Han had met her two days ago, after she'd advertised from Alderaan on the spacer-nets for a pilot to fly her ship to Bespin. |
character: Jadonna Veloz Note that it takes 26 minutes to traverse the distance between Bespin's pole and Cloud City. Presumably this is the most direct route around the globe, and the ship is using a fast but prudent atmospheric speed. This could be combined with estimates of Bespin's size in Galaxy Guide 2 to derive the average speed of Wayward Girl. |
| 4 | "...we have a priority shipment for the Yarith Bespin kitchens. Nerf tenderloins in stasis. ..." |
location: Yarith Bespin, a restruant on Cloud City? technology: Stasis fields are probably one form of artificial time dilation device, briefly discussed by C-3PO and Luke Skywalker, whilst the droids were being cleaned in A New Hope. A stasis field can make time time pass slowly in the region affected, which is a great convenience for the transport of spoilable goods. However, the fields probably consume a great deal of energy. Probably only the most delicate and expensive cargoes warrant stasis fields rather than chemical preservatives or refridgeration. |
| 5 | Han wasn't sure how they actually mined the gas, but he knew that tibanna gas was very valuable, so the miners must be doing well. Before it was discovered in Bespin's atmosphere, tibanna gas had usually been found in stellar chromospheres and nebular clusters — which made harvesting it hazardous, to say the least. ...
Picking up a sudden burst of electrical activity on his sensors,
han hastily changed course.
"Hey — what's that?"
He pointed at the viewscreen.
To their right now, was a monstrous, half-seen shape, drifting amid those
incredible aurulent clouds.
The thing was so large that it would have dwarfed many small Corellian cities.
|
Alternative sources of tinbanna gas; indicates that there exists mining machinery and vehicles capable of operating within the chromosphere of a star. This is not particularly remarkable, considering the magnitude of some other accomplishments of STAR WARS technology. creature: beldon, which is somewhat larger than Cloud City. |
| 7 | When he'd last seen Lando, the gambler was heading off for action in the Oseon system. But he'd been talking about this tournament for months, so Han had been expecting to run into him here. |
chronology: relates the events of this novel to those of the Lando Calrissian novels. |
| 8 | "Vuffi Raa is ... was .. a baby starship. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. He comes from a ... unique ... species. Gigantic droid-ships that roam the stars. Sentient, but not biological, life-forms." |
The nature of Vuffi Raa is explained. |
| 11 |
"...that dratted berubian mine!"
... "I came in on one of those big luxury liners, the Queen of Empire, ... the Queen and I go way back." ... Han smiled slyly. "I ran into Blue a few weeks ago, and she told me that you were traveling in style aboard that new ship of Drea Renthal's. Renthal's Vigilance, that Carrack-class picket ship she salvaged after the Battle of Nar Shaddaa." |
Mining scams. Compare with the scam remembered by Calrissian when he was posing as one of Jabba's guard on a skiff in Return of the Jedi. Note Calrissian's long history with the Queen of Empire. Compare with the later events of Soldier for the Empire. characters: Blue, Drea Renthal. Does Blue appear in The New Rebellion? |
| 13 |
|
The rules of sabacc described. |
| 15 |
...if Bria Tharen had anything to say about it, he wouldn't find out.
In her years of working with the Corellian resistance, Bria had become an
expert at disguise.
|
chronology: Seven years have elapsed between this moment and the end of The Paradise Snare. The Corellian Resistance was one of three key founding members of the Rebel Alliance (the others being Alderaan and Chandrilans). The ulimtate leader of the Corellian Resistance is Imperial Senator Garm Bel Iblis, though Bria probably does not know this. After the destruction of Alderaan, Bail Organa was no longer available to counterbalance Mon Mothma's assertive style, and Bel Iblis withdrew from the Alliance to fight a separate war against Emperor Palpatine. [Refer to Dark Force Rising.] |
| 17 | Something rustled on Bria's other side, and she turned to find her aide, a Corellian named jace Paol, beside her. ... ...this was the ideal location for a top-secret meeting between representatives of several of the rebellions. Resistance groups were growing by leaps and bounds on many Imperial worlds, and it was essential to establish links between them. |
character: Jace Paol, another Corellian rebel. chronology: At this point in history, the Rebel Alliance has not yet formed. |
| 19 |
a typically mournful-faced, blue-skinned Duros, Jennsar So-Billes.
He came alone, as had Sian Tevv from Sullust.
... Just last month one of the high-ranking Rebel leaders from Tibrin had been
captured while on his way to such a conference.
The Ishi Tib was forced to suicide in order to avoid the Imp mind-probes.
|
characters: Jennsar So-Billes, Sian Tevv, Hric Dalhney, Winter - early negotiators for the formation of the Rebel Alliance. chronology: The Tibrin are already participants in rebellion; they were also represented in the briefings in Return of the Jedi. It is unknown whether large-scaled Duro or Sullustan participation or membership in the Alliance eventuated. |
| 19-20 |
Caamas had been essentially destroyed after the Clone Wars,
thanks to the efforts of the Emperor's minion, Darth Vader,
but it was a little-known fact that many of its people
had managed to flee to Alderaan and lived there, mostly in seclusion.
|
chronology: The Caamas incident has already taken place. Interestingly, Bria attributes the event to Lord Vader. Years later, in Spectre of the Past, the true culprits were unknown. Tharen's belief is certainly not conclusive evidence of guilt, but this opinion is interesting because it is the first time that any kind of specific atrocity has been attributed to Vader. All other evidence seems to indicate that his deeds were never more monstrous than slaying Jedi in duels and summarily executing clumsy or stupid subordinates. |
| 21 | "... Everyone knows the Emperor's disdain for non-humans. If an alliance challenged Palpatine's forces, and lost, the Emperor's wrath would be mostly directed at the non-human worlds. He might well destroy us as a lesson to the human Rebels." s |
The common rebel belief that the Emperor is prejudiced against members of other species. Is this literally and objectively true, or have the rebels simply convinced themselves of this idea for the sake of its comforting cloak of riteousness? It seems likely that humans are more numerous than other species in the galaxy; this may be a better explanation for their apparent dominance. |
| 23 | The dealer was a Bith. The alien's large, five fingered hands featured both an opposable thumb and little finger, giving the dealer considerable dexterity as he dealt. |
aliens: Bith are ahve great manual dexterity. Combined with their formidable mental capacities, this could make them into great card-counters. |
| 27 |
|
Solo's win. |
| 28 | "I've got an almost new YT-2400 Corelli-systems light stock freighter that would be your best bet. ..." |
starship: YT-2400, a Corellian freighter design. This is the same model as Dash Rendar's Outrider in Shadows of the Empire. The YT-2400 already exists by this time, roughly two years prior to A New Hope. |
| 29 | Chapter 2: Promises to Keep | |
| 31 | Bria had heard that adult Alderaanians didn't cut their hair. |
culture: Rumour regarding the hair of Alderaanians. |
| 32 | "I'm a year and a few months older than the princess. I just turned seventeen. That's the age of responsibility on Alderaan." ... "Twenty-six and a Commander? You must have started young." |
chronology: The ages of Princess Leia, Winter and Bria Tharen compared. |
| 36 | "...As you've no doubt noticed, the Empire is a male-dominated, human-dominated organisation. And human males can be ... manipulated .. by woman, sometimes all too easily. I don't like it, and it doesn't make it right, but it's the results that count. I've learned that, over the years." |
Bria Tharen's perspective on gender relations under Palpatine's rule. Perhaps this is a more universal human trait: where there are statistical imbalances of formal power, informal power may compensate. Tharen exhibits a certain amorality and coldness of character. |
| 38 |
"How long has it been since he was on Kashyyyk?"
|
chronology: Chewbacca has been away from his homeworld for about 53 years. |
| 39 |
Durga, the new leader of the Besadii clan since his parent Aruk's
untimely death six months ago, ...
... ... the leader of the team of forensic specialists, Myk Bidlor. He was human, a light-skinned, slightly built male with pale hair. He wore a lab coat over his rumpled clothing. |
chronology: 6 months since Aruk's death; 4 months since the hiring of forensic specialists. technology: Aruk is frozen in a stasis field. [See notes for p.5 also.] character: Myk Bidlor, one of the greatest forensic scientists of the Empire. |
| 40 | "... We had to contact specialists on Wyveral and they are currently checking to see if they can discover where it was manufactured. ..." |
location: Wyveral, seems to be a moon, planet or system which is the site for some kind of institution with formidable scientific and/or medical expertise. |
| 44 | That same night, Durga the Hutt was eating his evening repast with his cousin, Zier. Durga did not like Zier, and he knew that the other Hutt lord was his chief rival for the leadership of Besadii... ... Just as Durga was lifting a particularly succulent morsel to his mouth, his majordomo, a servile, pale Chevin humanoid, appeared. ... He undulated after the Chevin, Osman, until he reached his office. |
characters: Zier the Hutt, another powerful Besadii lord; Osman, Durga's majordomo in a Besadii palace on Nal Hutta. |
| 45 | A blond hukman female suddenly stood before him, nearly life-sized. Durga wasn't very familiar with human standards of attractiveness, but he recognised that she appeared fit and limber. "Lord Durga," she said. "I am Guri, aide to Prince Xizor. The prince would like to speak with you personally." ... Xizor's people, the Falleen, had evolved from a reptilian species, though the prince was very humanoid in appearance. His skin had a definite greenish cast, and his eyes were flat and expressionless. His body was muscled and lithe, and might have been in his mid-thirties (though Durga knew his age was closer to one hundred). Xizor's skull was bare save for a topknot of long black hair that fell to his shoulders. He wore an expensive surcoat over a one-piece garment that resembled a pilot's jumpsuit. |
characters: Guri; Prince Xizor. aliens: Falleen. [Refer to Shadows of the Empire for more details.] |
| 49 | If Xizor knew that I had authorized another colony on Ylesia, and sent survey teams to Nyrvona to begin choosing the best spot for a new Pilgrim planet, he'd be twice as eager, ... Perhaps I could even expand into the Core Worlds, he thought. Palpatine would not stop me, he values the slaves I sell his minions. ... |
location: Nyrvona, another habitable planet in the Ylesian system. [See also p.99] Durga psychologizes the Emperor. |
| 54 |
For one thing, he intended to get Shug and Salla to help him salvage the
military armour plating off the Imperial derelict Liquidator,
a bulk cruiser that had become a casualty of the Battle of Nar Shaddaa.
... Better armour plating would be a priority.
Han didn't want what happened to the Bria
hapening to the Falcon.
|
Solo considers possibile modifications to the Millenium Falcon. |
| 55 |
Kashyyyk was an Imperial "protectorate" (translation: slave) world.
The Imperials had managed to pacify the inhabitants, though they kept their
forays into Wookiee cities and homes to a minimum,
and they always went heavily armed, and in numbers.
|
location: Kashyyyk. [Also refer to STAR WARS Holiday Special, Heir to the Empire, and Tyrant's Test.] |
| 56-57 |
Chewbacca chuckled, then explained to his human freind that the Imperials were
so stupid that most of them didn;t even realise that all Wookiees were not the same.
There were several related, but somewhat different, Wookiee sub-species.
Han already knew that Chewbacca was a rwook, and bore the typical
brown, red and chestnut hair of that people.
He also knew that the language that he had learned to understand,
but not speak, was called Shyriiwook, which, loosely translated,
meant, "tongue of the tree-people."
|
aliens: Wookiee sub-species. cultures: Shyriiwook, xaczik. location: Wartaki island, on Kashyyyk. |
| 60 |
Three of the [seven] Wookiees han met were relatives of Chewie's ...
the Wookiee with the whol`rls of auburn hair turned out to be his sister,
Kallabow.
Jowdrrl, a smaller chestnut coloured female
(Han was surprised to note that he could actually see a family resemblance!)
was a cousin, and Dryanta, a darker brown male, was another cousin.
The other four were members of the Wookiee underground resistance movement,
who had come in especially to meet Han and negotiate for his cargo.
|
characters: Kallabow; Jowdrrl; Dryanta; Motamba; Katarra; Tarkazza. aliens: Wookiee fur characteristics: a hint about the extent of heritability. |
| 61 |
What are quulaars? Han wondered.
|
culture: Quulaars - sacks used by Wookiees to carry their infants whilst climbing trees. |
| 63 |
|
location: Rwookrrorro |
| 68 | Chapter 3: Mallatobuck | |
| 69-70 |
Since Chewie had last been home, Kallabow had married a fine male named
Mahraccor.
|
characters: Mahraccor; anonymous nephew; Freyrr; Kriyystak; Shoran; Salporin; Mallatobuck. |
| 71 |
Quillarats are smallish creatures, standing only a half a metre high.
They are reclusive little animals, hard to find, because they were a mottled
brownish-green in colour, and tended to simply melt into the surrounding brush.
|
creature: quillarat. |
| 72 |
To bag his quillarat, Chewie had to travel down below the fifth level.
Life was different here,
for the forest in the late afternoon was almost completely dark.
Animals down at this level had large eyes to facilitate their living at such dim
light levels.
There were dangerous predators ... the kkekkrrg rro, or Shadow Keepers,
that had ventured up a level to hunt, and the katarn. ...
|
creatures: kkekkrrg rro; katarn. flora: bridal-veil suckers; mock shyr; kshyy vines. |
| 74 | By now two of Kashyyyk's three tiny moons had risen, ... ... She had been picking kolvissh blossums and weaving their stems into a headpiece. |
locations: Kashyyyk has three moons. flora: kolvissh, a flower-bearing plant of Kashyyyk. |
| 81 | Chapter 4: Domestic Bliss and Other Complications | |
| 82 | That had been Bria, when he was nineteen, and she was eighteen, and he'd been a lovestruck, moony-eyed kid, too young and dumb to know any better. ... Until last year, just before the Battle of Nar Shaddaa, he'd thought that Bria must have gone crawling backto the Ylesians ... |
chronology: relative ages of Han and Bria; these events on Kashyyyk take place about a year after the end of The Hutt Gambit. |
| 86-90 | ... |
Detail's of Wookiee wedding ceremonies and celebrations. |
| 89 |
...a Wookiee who seemed vaguely familiar — though the Corellian was sure he'd
never met him before — walked up to him.
The Wookiee stood there, studying Han, and then introduced himself.
|
character: Utchakkaloch, son of Han's foster mother. |
| 91-92 |
"But our tests on that substance, and our tracing of it, is now conclusive.
Yes, the substance is a poison.
We have traced its origin to the planet Malkii."
|
location: Malkii a planet infamous for its expert assassins, the Malkite Poisoners. They appear to be a formalised order, with oaths and possibly other complex rituals. |
| 94 | Zier sighed. "I miss that Twi'lek chef of yours," he said. "He prepared filets of mulblatt larve in fregon-blood sauce superbly." He sighed again. |
character: Durga's anonymous deceased chef. creatures: mulblatt; fregon. Are these species native to Nal Hutta, or are they imported or domesticated animals? |
| 96 |
The infant Hutt was now old enough to spend almost an hour outside Jiliac's
pouch.
At this stage of its life, the little creature resembled a huge, chubby grub
or insect larva more than a Hutt.
Its arms were nothing more than vestigial stubs, and would not develop or
grow digits until the baby Hutt had left the maternal pouch for good.
The only way in which the baby Hutt resembled the adult members of its species
was its pop-eyed, vertical-pupiled stare.
|
character: Jiliac's anonymous baby; Jabba's cousin. |
| 103-104 106-107 |
Boba Fett sat in a sleazy rented flat on the Outer Rim world of Teth,
listening to Bria Tharen meeting with the Tethan Rebel leaders.
|
Fett is in pursuit of Bria Tharen, who has a Besadii bounty of 50000 credits. location: Teth, a planet in the Outer Rim, with a rebel movement. The Corporate Sector, an anomalously wealthy region under commercial government, is relatively near Teth. Teth is also near Hutt Space. Sarn Shild was the local Moff [see The Hutt Gambit], implying that Hutt Space and Teth may be in the same or adjoining sectors. |
| 105 | The Tethan leaders were Commander Winfrid Dagore and her aide, Lieutenant Palob Godalhi. |
characters: Commander Winfrid Dagore; Lt Palob Godalhi. Early rebel leaders of Teth. |
| 106 | "...Some of the Hutt lords have also seen fit to contribute ... clandestinely, of course." |
Hutts were among the early sponsors of some rebel factions. |
| 107 |
"... Our new Imperial Moff is far less ... vigilant than Sarn Shild was.
..."
|
character: Moff Yref Orgege. |
| 110 | Chapter 5: "From One Side of This Galaxy to the Other" | |
| 110 | Over the next five months, Han Solo and his Wookiee First Mate rose to the top of the smuggler heap. |
chronology: Jump of five months in the story. |
| 111 | ... |
Implementation of some of the modifications to the Millenium Falcon. |
| 112 | He knew Arly Bron, as he did most of the smugglers who hung out in the Corellian Sector of Nar Shaddaa. Bron was a stocky, aging smuggler with a genial air and a sharp tongue. he enjoyed needling fools, but he was fast enough on the draw to still be among the living, which said something for his speed and accuracy. He flew a beat up old freighter neamed Double Echo. |
character: Arly Bron, a smuggler who introduced Solo to the master technician "Doc". starship: Double Echo, his freighter. |
| 113-114 | ... |
Han's perception of the Emperor's influence in the galaxy, particularly the indirect effects on the communities of Nar Shaddaa. |
| 115 | This had happened to him once before, on Aefao, a remote world on the opposite side of the galaxy from Nar Shaddaa. |
location: Aefao, another rimward planet, but on the opposite side of the galaxy from Nar Shaddaa and Hutt Space. Therefore it must also be opposite from Teth, and the Corporate Sector. |
| 122 | One of the first things Han Solo did after getting the Millenium Falcon was challenge his girlfriend, Salla Zend, to a race. In the smaller, unreliable Bria he'd never had a hope of defeating her swift Rimrunner, but now... |
starship: Rimrunner, the freighter belonging to Salla Zend. She was still seeking to replace the loss of this ship more than a decade later, in Dark Empire. |
| 123 | One morning, Han and Salla left her apartment together, kissed each other goodbye, and promised to meet on Kamsul, one of the seven inhabited worlds in the Stenness System. |
location: Kasmul, in the Stenness system. Four thousand years earlier, the Stenness system was already dominated by Hutt syndicates, who protected shipping from pirates like Finhead Stonebone. [See Tales of the Jedi comic series.] Kasmul is a destination from a Kessel Run. |
| 123-124 |
The first obstacle to be faced once they left Kessel was the Maw —
a trecherous, roughly spherical region of space containing black holes,
a few neutron stars, and scattered main-sequence stars.
From a distance, the Maw appeared in Kessel's nighttime sky to be a rounded,
fuzzy, vari-coloured glow, much like a nebula.
But as a ship drew closer, the spherical shape became clearer.
The Maw glowed with the light from the suns within it,
the ionised gas and dust trails snaking throughout in bands of colour.
And, seemingly looking back at Han, were the accretion disks of the black holes.
|
location: Detailed description of the Maw, an astrogational hazzard within sublight-travel range from Kessel. |
| 126-127 |
Rimrunner was still moving, but no longer in a straight path.
Instead, Salla's ship was within a thousand kilometres of a neutron star,
looping up in a high orbit.
Han's sensors showed jets of deadly plasma spewing out both sides
of the flattened accretion disk that marked the neutron star's location.
... He knew the magentic fields, ionised gas, and plasma trails would interfere with communications, but he hoped that the Falcon's powerful sensors and transmitters could punch through. |
The gravitational field strength at Rimrunner's distance from the neutron star would be on the order of 2x108m/s². If the ship is 20m wide, the differences in gravitational field strength across the hull will be on the order of seven or eight hundred times Earth gravity. This should be within the tolerances of a starship's inertial dampers and other structural systems: star destroyers approaching the Endor moon in Return of the Jedi decelerated at over 4000g. Solo is in some doubt about whether the phenomena close to the neutron star and its accretion disk would prevent communications. This must indicate something about the nature of the communications gear aboard the freighters. New Republic starfighters in X-Wing Wraith Squadron were able to communicate easily through thousands of kilometres of a moon's rock. [See p.109 of that novel.] |
| 136 | Chapter 6: Farewell to Nar Shaddaa | |
| 137 | ... |
Salla learns to cook. Solo is already an very skilled cook. |
| 141 | ... |
Chewbacca and Solo discuss marrriage. Chewie presents a Wookiee perspective, universalised to be applicable to Han. |
| 147 | Chapter 7: Hutt Justice and Rebel Retribution | |
| 147 | Jabba and Jiliac were in Jiliac's office in her island palace on Nal Hutta. The Desilijic leader had been dangling bright streamers of Askajian silk for her baby to focus on and lurch toward. Of course, the baby Hutt could not reach for the vivid streamers — it still did not have arms, though over the past three months, its stubs had grown longer. These days it could spend two or three hours at a time outside its mother's pouch — much to Jabba's irritation. |
Further development of the huttlet. chronology: Three months have elapsed between this scene and the last one involving the Desilijic. |
| 149 |
|
Politics and economics of the spice market. |
| 150 | Jabba rolled his bulbous eyes and reached into a bowl for a Carnovian eel-pup, and popped the squirming, squeaking morsel into his mouth. ... "Solo has been gone for several month, Aunt. By all report, he went to the Corporate Sector." |
creature: Carnovian eel-pup. chronology: Solo has been in the Corporate Sector for some months, but implicitly less than a year. |
| 151 | "Mantooine in the Atrivis Sector," Jabba said. "Since then there has been another, aunt. Two weeks ago citizens of Tyshapahl staged a peaceful demonstration against the Empire and its taxation. The Sector Moff sent ships from the nearby Imperial garrison. The Imperial vassels hovered over the crowd with their ships on repulsors while the commander demanded that they disperse. When they did not, he signaled his ships, and each vessel activated their engines. Most of the crowd was summarily incinerated. |
location: Tyshapal, a slightly rebellious planet in the Rim, close enough to Hutt Space for Jabba to have noticed. |
| 152 | Hutts kept their floors scrupulously clean and, if they were uncarpeted, highly polished. It was easier to glide around on them that way. |
culture: Hutt hygene and preferences in floor coverings. |
| 152 | "They say that renegade Senator, Mon Mothma, has convinced three large resistance groups to ally. They signed a document they're calling the Corellian Treaty," Jabba said. |
chronology: This is shortly after the formation of the Rebel Alliance. |
| 155 |
When the representatives of all the kajidics were present,
the Executive Secretary of the Grand Council,
a recent appointee anmed Grejic, called the meeting to order.
|
character: Grejic chronology: This meeting of the Grand Council happens roughly one year after the events at the end of The Hutt Gambit. |
| 157 | "You did nothing, all right!" the leader of Trinivii kajidic shouted... |
characters: Trinivii kajidic, another significant Hutt clan. |
| 158 | Moments later, Grejic raised a hand. "The votes are tallied. Forty-seven to one in favour of censuring Besadii." |
The total number of voting kajidics in the Grand Council of Hutts is 48, unless there exist other kajidics which are already censured. |
| 159-160 |
Bria Tharen walked briskly down the corridor of her command ship,
the light cruiser Retribution.
She was on her way to review her troops before their planned raid on the slaver
vessel Helot's Shackle.
Retribution was almost the same size as the Shackle, so they should be relatively evenly matched. Bria's vessel was a Republic Sienar Systems Marauder-class corvette, sleek and streamlined, capable of both space and atmospheric combat. |
starships: Retribution, a rebel corvette; and Helot's Shackle a slaver corvette. |
| 162 | Bria rounded a corner in Retribution's corridor, and was joined by her medical officer. Daino Hyx would be in charge of handling the slaves once they were rescued. Hyx was a short, bearded man with the brightest blue eyes Bria had ever seen, and a shy smile that most people found irresistible. Hyx had been a scholar at one of Alderaan's top universities. There he'd studied medicine and psychology, and had wound up specializing in the treatment of addictions. |
character: Daino Hyx |
| 164 | "We're waiting for the signal from my operative on the space station. Then we'll microjump into position. He'll tell us the moment Helot's Shackle undocks from the Ylesian space station. ..." |
location: Ylesian space station, which did not exist during the pioneering days of the Ylesian colonies in The Paradise Snare. |
| 165 | Bria spoke to her lieutenant, Jace Paol, who was overseeing the last pre-battle preparations. ... At one point she stopped before a young trooper whose eyes glittered with more than eagerness. ... Sk'kot Burrid saluted. |
characters: Jace Paol; Corporal Sk'kot Burrid. Both rebels in the Corellian faction. |
| 167 | Tedris Bjalin was a tall young man whose hairline was receding, despite his youth. He'd joined the Corellian resistance just recently, after his entire family had been murdered during the Imperial massacre on Tyshapal. His Imperial training had served him in good stead, earning him a promotion in the Rebel forces. He was an able officer, a decent man, ... |
character: Captain Bjalin. He is captain of the Retribution, despite being junior to Bria Tharen (whose naval rank was commander). Clearly, Bjalin cannot be a literal captain, he must be a lieutenant commander or some kind of lieutenant, given the courtesy title of "captain" simply because he is functionally the captain of a starship. |
| 169-171 | .... |
Corellian corvette deck layout described. |
| 172 | "All right people. We're going to lay down suppressing fire while Larens, here—" she nodded at a short, slight, very agile soldier, "crawls under our fire until he's in range to toss a stun grenade right into the middle of that nest of vermin. Got me?" |
character: Larens, another of the troops in Tharen's Red Hand group, within the Corellian resistance. |
| 177 | It was plain to Bria that the slaver was under the influence of some powerful stimulant. Carsunum, probably. The woman was shaking all over. |
culture: a drug named Carsunum. |
| 179 | "... Tell Lieutenant Hethar to take her out." |
character: Lt Hethar, a rebel officer in command aboard the captured slaver corvette. |
| 184-187 | Interlude 1: The Corporate Sector Dressed only in his trousers, barefoot, Han Solo wandered out of the bedroom in Jessa's tiny apartment. ... |
Describes Solo's situation between Han Solo at Star's End and Han Solo's Revenge. Jessa and Doc, outlaw technicians, have upgraded the Millennium Falcon as thanks for Solo's efforts in rescuing Doc. |
| 188 | Chapter 8: The Queen of Empire | |
| 188 | Boba Fett stood in the queue waiting to board the luxury liner Queen of Empire, for her voyage to Velga Prime and points in between. The liner was the sister ship to Haj Shipping Lines' Star of Empire and was fully as large and opulent. Boba Fett was boarding the liner from an orbitting space docking platform, but there were nearly a thousand sentients waiting to board, so each line was several hundred beings long. |
Star of Empire is described on p.57 of Soldier for the Empire. locations: Velga Prime; a space station (shown to be in the Gyndine system on p.190). If there are a thousand passengers boarding and each line is about a hundred long, then there must be fewer than ten lines. |
| 190 | Bria Tharen had boarded the Queen on its previous stop, back on Corellia. It was unlikely that she would be coming outside the vessel during its short layover on Gyndine. |
location: Gyndine system, where the first of the commonplace mile-long star destroyers, the Imperator was constructed earlier in the Emperor's rule [see Star Destroyer Imperator Class blueprints], and where a regional military governor named Bin Essada lived during Splinter of the Mind's Eye. It can be surmised that Gyndine hosts great shipyards, and its Imperial forces are responsible for the secret mining colonies on Mimban. Since it is only a single jump from Corellia, it may also be located in the Core, perhaps even in the same sector. |
| 191 | The Queen was fully two kilometres long, and equipped to carry five thousand passengers. She contained most amenities any sentient could wish ... indoor pools and spas, casinos, null-gee gliding areas, exercise rooms, as well as upscale shops where a wealthy being could spend a great many credits indeed. |
Queen of Empire described. |
| 194 | His black softboots shone with the subdued glow of real Numatra snakehide. |
creature: Numatra snake, the skin of which is used to create luxury boots. |
| 195-196 | the band was very versatile, playing everything from swing-bop to modern jizz selections. The gambler clapped politely as they finished a mellow version of "Mood and Moons," then settled back in his seat as the bandleader, Umjing Baab, put down his Kloo horn, disengaged from the nalargon, and writhed his way up to the public address system. The Rughja's voice had a mechanical timbre ... understandable, because it was artificially generated. Rughja were a species whose natural communication was not audible to humanoids. Umjing Baab "spoke," as the spotlight reflected off his glossy, mauve, upper-limbs. |
culture: musical tastes of the Palpatine era. aliens: Rughja, which appear to be non-humanoid, mauve and communicate in what must be either infrasonic or ultrasonic ranges. |
| 198 | "Lady Bria ... Bria .. what a lovely name. You're Corellian aren't you?" "Yes," she said, stiffening slightly in his arms, her glance suddenly wary. "Why?" "I was just thinking that I've only heard that name once before. Is it common on your homeworld?" "No," she said. "My father made it up from the first syllables of my grandmothers' names. Brusela and Iaphagena. He didn't want to saddle me with wither of them, but he wanted to honour both of them." |
Significance and origins of Bria Tharen's name. |
| 204 | ... and the sound sponge. The little device was set up on the floor near her and the blinking light showed that it was on. It would effectively muffle any outcry she could make. |
technology: sound sponge - a device for stiffling sound within a certain local field of effect. |
| 211 | "We came out of hyperspace," Fett said. "The fail-safes must have encountered a sudden gravity shadow and reacted automatically." Lando silently applauded the bounty hunter for his acumen as he managed to roll back over and sit up. ... "What could cause that?" she said. "An engine malfunction?" "Possible," Fett said. "But more likely an attack. An Imperial Interdictor cruiser could bring a ship out of hyperspace." "But why would the Imperials attack a cruise ship?" Bria asked. |
It's very interesting that Fett is aware of Interdictors at this stage of history. The first production model interdictor was the Immobiliser-418 from Sienar Fleet Systems, and the research programme to create its gravity well generators was partly conducted aboard the Death Star. Evidence was found in the RPG adventure Scavenger Hunt. Fett's knowledge may mean that the Death Star is already mostly or entirely complete, and that the interdictor research has already concluded. |
| 215 | Slowly, the ranks of pirates parted, and Drea Renthal, pirate captain and Lando's former girlfriend, emerged. She was a big, squarish woman of about forty-five, with fashionably striped silver and gold hair, a fair complexion, and the coldest gray eyes Lando had ever seen. Renthal wore her typical wild jumble of clothes — red striped stockings, a purple skirt kilted up on one side, a pink silk shirt and armoured vest. Her short, spiky hair was half-hidden by an outrageous beret with a long, trailing orange feather. |
character: Drea Renthal, pirate leader from The Hutt Gambit; physical description. |
| 222-223 | Interlude 2: Somewhere between the Corporate Sector and the Tion Hegemony. ... |
Han Solo's condition immediately after Han Solo's Revenge. |
| 224 | Chapter 9: Offers and Refusals | |
| 227-228 | "Nephew, your judgement is flawed. I have been very careful, over the years, not to compare you with your reckless parent, who nearly bankrupted Desilijic with his grand schemes, then was foolish enough to wind up on that mudball prison planet, Kip. However..." |
character: Jabba's father. location: Kip, a penal planet. |
| 237-238 | ... when they'd walked into Malla's house, there she stood, holding a small bundle wrapped in a blanket in her arms. Chewbacca had stood frozen in the doorway, a look of incredulous joy dawning on his furry visage. |
character: Chewbacca's son, as yet unnamed. aliens: If the time difference between this moment and Chewbacca's wedding could be determined, we woudl have an upper limit on the duration of the wookiee gestation period. |
| 240 | Chapter 10: What Goes Around... | |
| 240 | ... Durga Besadii Tai rolled his bulbous eyes ... |
character: Durga's full Huttese name. |
| 242 | "...So many months have passed ... over a Standard Year. ..." |
chronology: More than a eyar has elapsed between Xizor's offer to Druga and Durga's affirmative answer. |
| 244 | "... Citizen Green was most helpful in acquiring it and sidetracking the pathologists at the Forensic Institute. He is a very competent human." |
character: Green, also appears with Black Sun in Shadows of the Empire. |
| 250 | The NaQoit bandits weren't known for their kind hearts. ... ... "Hey, Mako," Lando said. "It's good to see you alive. Sorry to hear that things got so rugged out there in the Ottega system... uh..." When Lando ran out of words, Han jumped in. Anything was better than the echoing silence. "Yeah, those NaQoit are scum. ..." |
characters: NaQoit bandits, a brutal group who confronted Mako Spince in the Ottega system, which is the home system of the Ithorian hammerheads. |
| 251 | He went to see the Desilijic leader in the kajidic's headquarters on Nar Shaddaa. Jiliac's Nar Shaddaa majordomo, a human woman named Dielo, looked up when he walked in, and smiled welcomingly. "Captain Solo! Welcome back! Jabba instructed me to bring you in immediately." |
character: Dielo, an important employeee in the Nar Shaddaa operations of Jabba's kajidic. |
| 260 | A Hutt's vital organswere buried too deep within their bodies to be easily pierced ... part of the reason for the old legend that Hutts were immune to blaster fire. They weren't ... but a blaster bolt that would fry most beings instantly frequently would not hit anything vital in a Hutt, leaving them free to crush their attacker before he, she or it could get off a second shot. |
aliens: Hutt internal structure and durability. |
| 262 | Chapter 11: Death Challenge | |
| 265 | Could Teroenza's mate, Tilenna, be coerced into acting as the Besadii mouthpiece in her spouse's stead? In exchange for her own life? And a generous settlement? Durga considered, and decided that she probably could. T'landa Til were a practical people ... |
character: Tilenna, wife of Teroenza. |
| 267-268 | "It is seldom invoked these days, but it is an ancient Hutt custom that, given sufficient provocation, one Hutt clan leader may challenge another to single combat without legal repercussions. The victor is presumed to be in the right." |
culture: Old Law of the Hutts. |
| 268 | "Durga Besadii Tai to see Jiliac Desilijic Tiron. I bring a gift and request a private audience." |
character: The full formal Huttese names of Durga and Jiliac. |
| 269 | ... a large, very valuable piece of art. It was a death-mask from the islands of the remote world of Langoona. The natives carved these death-masks and decorated them with semiprecious gems and inlays of silver, gold, platinum and iridescent shell-casings from their warm seas. |
location: Langoona, a planet with inhabited islands in warm seas. culture: The death-masks from Langoona are sufficiently well-known outside the native culture for Hutts to recognise such a gift as a mortal threat. |
| 279 | Not many outsiders had her private code. A few of the Intelligence operatives — Barid Mesoriaam and others of his ilk — but they would hardly contact her this directly. |
character: Barid Mesoriaam, a spy working for the Corellian Resistance. |
| 280 | Bria caught her breath. It had been only a month since her interview with Desilijic. And now Jiliac was dead? |
chronology: A month has transpired between the rebels' approach to Desilijic and the fight between Durga and Jiliac. |
| 281 | Chapter 12: Ice... | |
| 281 | The Blue Light didn't serve food, only liquor, and it was just a little hole in the wall ... There were holo-posters on the wall that depicted famous landmarks on Corellia. ... The bartender, Mich Flenn, was an aging Corellian who had been a smuggler until he'd accrued enough credits to buy the bar. |
location: Blue Light character: Mich Flenn |
| 288 | Han was whispering too. "Vader? You mean Darth Vader?" She nodded. "Darth Vader. He's the Emperor's ..." She hesitated, searching for a term. "...enforcer." Han sat back. He'd heard of the guy, but he'd never encountered him. |
This is an indirect indication of Lord Vader's fame and status at this point in history. It is interesting that Solo has not yet (to his knowledge) met his future father-in-law. This places a tight constraint on any further novels about Solo and/or Vader in periods earlier than Rebel Dawn. There remains a remote possibility that Solo met Vader unknowingly at an earlier time, before the public assumption of the Dark Lord name and armour. Of course, this possibility is very remote since Solo has not yet been important enough to move in Vader's sphere of activity. |
| 290 | "Spice, Han. You know that Besadii has been stockpiling it. Choice andris, ryll, carsunum, and, of course, glitterstim..." |
Identifies several varieties of addictive spice manufactured on Ylesia. |
| 293 | "I will dispatch two companies of mercenaries under the capable command of Willum Kamaran to Ylesia. Commander Kamaran's Nova Force will help you ..." |
character: Commander Willum Kamaran, an officer in a mercenary unit beholden to Prince Xizor or to Black Sun. It is intersting that what seems to be a ground combat group is led by an officer with a naval rank title. |
| 298 | Chapter 13: ...and Fire | |
| 310 | With mock indignation, Bria showed him the disk, twirling it to demonstrate that it was indeed a regular coin. On the obverse was the head of the Emperor, on the reverse was stamped the symbol of the Empire. |
The details of a common decicred - the one-tenth credit coin. |
| 317-318 | Noy Waglla, small and buglike herself, scuttled up the smooth permacrete and, barely pausing to chew a hole in the grating, through the window. She crouched, poised on the sill. ...Jabba would pay well for this, enough that she might someday be able to return to her own species. ... The Hyallp crawled up the nearest rough-textured harness, ... Waglla seized the large vial strapped to her back in her formidable mandibles, pulled out thestopper with her palps. ... Retracting several of her legs, Waglla climbed toward the Priest's mouth. |
character: Noy Waglla, an assassin working for Jabba. aliens: Hyallp, intelligent multi-legged arthropod species. |
| 318 | Aiaks Fwa, Whiphid assassin and bounty hunter, waited in the corridor leading to the underground mud baths of Colony Seven. |
character: Aiaks Fwa, a whiphid assissin in the employ of Jabba the Hutt. |
| 319-320 | Tuga SalPivo, down-on-hisluck Corellian space-tramp and jack-of-all-trades, paused for a moment at the edge of the Ylesian jungle and looked back. .... I'll be back on Poytta before the fire's put out. ... |
character: Tuga Poytta, a Corellian in the employ of Jabba the Hutt. location: Poytta, somewhere where Tuga feels safe, presumably a planet or moon. |
| 320 | The Rodian name Sniquux sniffed the air thoughtfully, his aqua snout wiggling. |
character: Sniquux, an expert Rodian assassin in Jabba's employ. |
| 321 | Suddenly, from the other side of the courtyard, a hideous, shrill wailing began, a sound so high it made Sniquux shiver. It was an ancient recording of the savage thota, the principle predator of the t'landa Til on their long-lost homeworld of Varl. ... the head Sacredot, Tarrz by name, ... ... Tarrz got halfway through the opening before his upper torso peeled back, revealing the dark maroon interior, internal organs laid out side by side, blood pooling and spilling as he fell to complete the gash. In a trice, they were all dead, big pools of winde-red blood slowly spreading around the quartered corpses,... |
creature: thota, a presumably extinct carnivore from Varl. character: Tarrz aliens: t'landa Til have red blood like vertebrates on Earth. Contrast this with the greenish blood/mucus that Hutts exude in the comic series Fall of the Sith Empire. |
| 324 | And there was Ganar Tos, Teroenza's majordomo, making his way through the milling soldiers, pausing for a moment at the mud's fringe, then plungingright in. "My Lord Teroenza," he cried, his weak old human's voice bearly more than a croak. |
Ganar Tos is a human. This was not immediately clear when he was introduced in The Paradise Snare [p.98], but it's a necessary precondition for him to have hoped for fruitful union with a human female. Therefore Zisians are a green-skinned, orange-eyed race or subspecies of humans, existing in the STAR WARS universe, but not (yet) in ours. |
| 325 | Chapter 14: The Battle of Ylesia | |
| 328 | Han saw a damage control warning light up on his board, and realised the shot had knocked out the extension and retraction controls on his new retractable blaster. |
An intersting detail about the particulars of the Millennium Falcon. This presumably is the gun used against stormtroopers on Hoth. The easiest assumption would have been that it wasn't installed until after A New Hope, since Solo surely would have used it during one of his escapes from Tatooine or the Death Star. This reference presumably means that the gun was present, but unusable due to unrepaired damage. |
| 329 | To his west was the Zoma Gawonga, which, in Huttese, meant "Western Ocean". |
language: Another translated phrase from Huttese. Future references to other oceans, in other parts of the literature, may reveal which word is which. |
| 330 | Chewie shook his head, affirming that Wookiee night-sight was far superior to human vision. He could see fine and didn't need goggles. |
aliens: Wookiees have night vision which is better than that of humans. Its limitations are not clear though; we don't know how dark the night was, and how much diffuse light may have been provided by various sources. |
| 345 | .... |
character: Lyndelah Jenwald, a wounded rebel. |
| 354 | Chapter 15: The Last Kessel Run | |
| 363-364 | ... |
characters: Kryss P'teska; Cathea; Tym; Aeron. Orphan children taking transport aboard the Falcon. character: Colonel Quirt, a customs officer operating near Kessel, and a bane to Han Solo. |
| 365 | "This is the Imperial light cruiser Assessor. Offer no resistance and you will not be harmed. Han sat there, with the kids clustering around him in the cockpit, watching as the falcon was drawn toward the big Imperial ship. ... The Imperial captain himself was part of the heavily armed boarding party. "Captain Tybert Capucot," the balding man with the supercilious air said, looking at Han as though he were a particularly unappetizing sight. |
starship: Assessor, a light cruiser. character: Captain Capucot. |
| 370 | Han faced the craggy, scarred holo-image of Bidlo Kwerve, Jabba the Hutt's Corellian majordomo. ... The ugly Corellian thug had jet-black hair with a vivid white stripe running through it, and vivid green eyes. Kwerve smiled, a small and nasty smile. |
character: Bidlo Kwerve, a personal rival of Bib Fortuna, first introduced in the STAR WARS Sourcebook in 1987. He was the one who obtained the Rancor for Jabba. |
| 371 | Chapter 16: Toprawa .. and Mos Eisley | |
| 376 | Here, outside the remains of the Imperial comm centre on the restricted world of Toprawa, ... Torbul and the other Rebel leaders had sent intelligence units to infiltrate Ralltiir, and they'd discovered that the Empire was shipping vital plans for its new secret weapon to its records centre on Toprawa. |
locations: Toprawa, Ralltiir. Planets involved in the theft of the Death Star plans. This should all fit with the A New Hope radio play and Kyle Katarn's mission in Soldier for the Empire somehow. |
| 380 |
|
character: Sk'kot, a young trooper in Bria Tharen's Red Hand group. |
| 383 | ... a slender man with red hair and regular features. "Hey!" Han exclaimed. "Small universe! How are you, Dash!" Dash Rendar looked up... |
character: Dash Rendar, a friend and colleague of Han Solo, present in the Mos Eisley cantina just prior to the events of A New Hope. Rendar is a major character in Shadows of the Empire, and in that book we learn that his family is from Coruscant and was wealthy until recent times. Therefore his accent is probably more refined and Core-worldish than Han's. |
| 384 | He looked down to see a little Chandra-Fan standing there. "Huh?" She squeaked at him, and Han frowned. He wasn't too good with her language. "Kabe says there's someone outside wants to see you." Rendar translated. |
character: Kabe, small bat-like street urchin seen in the cantina in A New Hope. Interestingly, Dash Rendar is able to understand the Chandra-Fan language. This may hint at some of the places his travels have taken him. |
| 385-386 | "I landed and hour ago," Fett said. "I made someone a promise, and I always keep my word. ... I promised her a while back that if she died, I'd tell her father, so he wouldn't spend his life wondering what had happened to her. But she never got around to telling me his name. So I decided to tell you, so you can send Tharen a message." ... "Someone has to tell her father, Solo. I gave her my word . . . and I always keep my word." |
Boba Fett's promise to Bria Tharen. |
| 387 | Epilogue | |
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