Novel References

Soldier for the Empire

PAGE QUOTATION COMMENTS

10
He took a quick breath of the crisp evening air and paused to watch Sullust rise.

location: Sulon [named on p.14] is a moon of Sullust. It is the home of Kyle Katarn and his father Morgan.

12
The Vengeance was not one of the Empire's larger Star Destroyers, nor was such a vessel required for the matter at hand. After all, why use a sword when a dagger would suffice?

Vengeance is an ISD, according to the illustration on page 13, and it is not the largest design of star destroyer. The analogy with dagger and sword suggests that multi-mile warships are commonplace. This probably includes designs like the Allegiance and Shockwave, plus star cruisers, star battlecruisers, star battleships etc.

12
The Dark Jedi known as Jerec stood above the command pit and stared at the moon that floated beyond.
... Jerec was tall and thin to the point of emaciation. He kept his head shaved and black facial tattoos glowed on his brown skin. empty eye sockets were hidden behind a band of black leather. His tunic, trousers, and boots were black. Jerec wore no insignia other than the symbols visible on his blood-red collar — and kept his Jedi abilities secret.
...
Captain Thrawn stood behind Jerec, slightly to his right. He was as tall as Jerec but the similarity ended there. Thrawn had shimmering blue-black hair, pale blue skin, and red glowing eyes, all of which testified to his alien origins and were rare in the Empire's xenophobic navy. However, much as Palpatine might distrust other sentient species, he loved a winner, and Thrawn had collected more victories, medals and promotions than most officers with twice his years of service.

characters: Jerec, a Dark Jedi; Captain Thrawn, who will later become the famous as Grand Admiral Thrawn.

14
... Space Station Kwenn ...

Mention of a location near the Outer Rim Territories, invented in the early RPG adventure Tatooine Manhunt.

14
...a team of Special Operations commandos prepared for combat. Their leader, a thirty-something first lieutenant named Brazack, watched with all-seeing eyes. He had earned his first commission the hard way — in a battle so bloody, every single one of his superiors had been killed. His subsequent promotion came in the wake of a mission that produced no less than four medals of valour — all awarded posthumously.

character: Lieutenant Brazack. The distinction "first" lieutenant is interesting. Presumably this means a literal "Lieutenant", the officer rank immediately superior to a "Second Lieutenant".

15
The Imperial pilot, a Caridian named Vester, grinned and circled for another pass.

character: Vester, a pilot. He is described as "Caridian". Does this mean that he was raised on Carida? Or is there another planet with a similar name, "Caridia" rather than "Carida"?

19
The lack of illumination was intended to be intimidating, and would have been for anyone but Thrawn, who came from a species that boasted exceedingly good night vision.

aliens: Thrawn's species, identified as the Chiss in Vision of the Future, has excellent night-vision. This is the first indication that his physical abilities differ in any way from baseline humans. (His people are probably a colateral human species, one of what is referred to as "near-human" species in various roleplaying game references. They racial divergences in isolated regions of the galaxy have led to speciation several times during the hundreds of thousands of years of interstellar civilisation.)

24
In spite of the fact that Major Noda had nominal command of ground forces, he was well aware of the fact that Jerec monitored everything he said and did via comlink transmissions, probe droids, and his own seemingly supernatural powers. ...
Though naturally cautious, Noda was no coward, and had bumped the AT-AT's commanding officer to see the terrain for himself. The walker was over fifteen metres tall and lurched from side to side as it waded upstream. ...
A great deal of time and energy had been spent painting Rebel insignia on the ATs. Noda considered such efforts a waste of time. After all, the very notion that Rebels could capture such powerful weapons and turn them against their owners was absurd.

character: Major Noda, commander of the army forces in Jerec's taskforce.
At this point in the Galactic Civil War, the rebels lack serious heavy military equipment. This situation changed in later years, particularly with assistance from Balmorra in Dark Empire II.

25
They ... were still celebrating when a woman named Crowley touched his arm. She'd been a Master Sergeant in the Republic's Army and was the only member of his platoon with real combat experience.

character: Master Sergeant Crowley.
The USA military defines several terms which are actually subtle distinctions of Warrant Officers; different jobs or appointments for what is essentially the same kind of rank. "Master Sergeant" is one of these terms, an intermediate of Warrant Officer I and Warrant Officer II. Master Sergeant is equivalent to a First Sergeant. First Sergeant is a "line" position, Master Sergeant is the equivalent "staff" position. A Master Sergeant is generally a supply sergeant (battalion level or higher), motor pool sergeant, or some other technical position.

30
Those who completed their missions with a satisfactory score would receive their commissions and graduate from the Imperial Military Academy at Cliffside on Carida.

location: Cliffside, Carida.

30
The assault boat, just one of hundreds of support craft carried aboard the Star Destroyer Imperator, shuddered slightly and dumped speed as the pilot fired his retros. It required skill to match velocities with an asteroid and AX-456 was no exception. Maybe the pixel pixies back on the ship knew why the rebels chose 456 for their relay station and maybe not.

The Imperator was the first star destroyer of the standard mile-long class. It has a distinguished history. (Refer to Star Destroyer Imperator Class blueprints, and XWWG 343.) For Kyle Katarn to be temporarily assigned to this ship is probably an honour, or at least a good omen.
location: asteroid AX-456, a rebel communications base. Involvement of characters from this base in circumstances surrounding the uprising on Sullust's moon, hints that it may be in the same sector of the galaxy.

31
The names came in order, starting with his second in command, Sergeant Major Hong,...
...
Hong stood between the hatches with his back to the cockpit. He had a small body and a big voice.

character: Hong, a stormtrooper subofficer. A "sergeat major" is a role/job for an army NCO of rank Warrant Officer. Specifically, a Sergeant Major is somewhere between Warrant Officer I and Warrant Officer II, and serves as the senior NCO in a battalion or larger unit.

35
Four years of hard, rigorous training kicked in.

Katarn's stormtrooper officer training lasted four years.

36
A hand touched Kyle's arm. he turned to find a medic standing beside him. He had a blaster burn along one side of his helmet and other people's blood on his arms.

At least one stormtrooper medic is in a stormtrooper platoon.

36-37
Hong wore his hair high and tight but allowed himself a carefully tended mustache.

Roleplaying game illustrations of unmasked stormtroopers usually show them to be completely bald. Hong is an exception to that pattern. Perhaps the regulations are flexible, or subject to regional variation. Perhaps NCOs are subject to fewer restrictions than troops. Perhaps the baldness of other stormtroopers is merely a fashion or non-binding tradition.

38
His helmet light wobbled across the back end of a much-abused crawler, and the alternating black and yellow stripes that covered the bumper.

Stormtrooper helmets include a lighting device that can be used in dark conditions. How this relates to the night-vision capability of the helmet, detailed in roleplaying game references, is not yet known.

41
The rough-hewn walls supported an electronic message board and a hodge-podge of printouts. One announced a birthday party for someone named Blim Shahar, and another cautioned base personnel to conserve on water.
Kyle surprised himself by having the presence of mind to scan the bulletins with the tiny holocam built into his helmet. The military intelligence geeks would be thrilled, and, in the unlikely event that he survived, the instructors would award him some extra mission points.

Stormtrooper helmets include a built-in holographic camera used to record missions for later analysis.

45
Kyle walked out through the main entrance of the hospital, ... Stone neks crouched to either side of the entryway, each large enough to swallow an assault boat, symbolic of the Empire's strength. He stared at the long flight of stairs. A metal railing separated downward-bound pedestrians from those coming up. ...
The Imperial Military Training Base on Carida was home to more than one hundred and fifty thousand recruits, cadets, and instructors. The Military Academy, also known as Cliffside due to the dropoff along the east side of the parade ground, took up less than one-tenth of the sprawling base, but produced a high percentage of the Empire's officer corps.

locations: hospital entrance; Cliffside academy on Carida.
This cannot be the only stormtrooper officer training facility in the galaxy; it is not large enough to have output sufficient for the Empire's needs. There must be other such institutions on Carida, and/or on other worlds. The indication that Cliffside produces a high percentage of the Empire's officers probably just means that it produces a respectable percentage, relative to the production of comparable institutions. But for all we know, there might be thousands of them.
1 Other kinds of naval and military academies are also located on Carida, including elite starfighter pilot training facilities attended by Han Solo and Soontir Fel. Admiral Daala was originally trained at a Caridan academy of some kind.

45
The voice had a nasal quality. It had followed him nearly every day of the last four years. it belonged to Nathan Donar III, eldest son to Governor Donar II, and a real pain in the posterior. They were filled with false bonhomie.

character: Nathan Donar III.

46
Kyle ... left the stairs. The large open area in front of him was referred to as "the quad" on the interactive maps issued to visitors, but the cadets called it "the grinder." How many hours — how many days — had he spent marching back and forth across these acres of fused stone?

location: a large quadrangle in the Cliffside academy on Carida.

52
...the Commandant introduced the first in a long list of guest speakers, the last of whom was General Mohc. He had a bulfrog face, barrel chest, and relatively short frame. He at least was a real soldier and worthy of their attention. His speech was short and to the point.
"The Emperor spent more than a half-million credits to feed, house, and educate each one of you over the past four years. Not because he thought it would be the nice thing to do or because he likes military parades, but because he wants you to defend the Empire. An Empire which has been attacked from within.

character: General Mohc.
Education of a stormtrooper officer costs more than 500000 credits, and the duration of the course is four years on Carida.

55
Odom had a square face, dark, nearly black skin, and a perpetual grin.
...
Unlike so many of the Empire's wealthier families, the Odoms had no ties to the Emperor, and were genuinely nice. Meck's mother ran a small but successful import-export business, and his father was a celebrated architect. They, and their stunning daughter, were splendid hosts and the evening passed with surprising speed.

characters: Meck Odom, cadet at Cliffside academy on Carida; his family.

57
The Star of Empire was more than two kilometres long and equipped to carry five thousand passengers in addition to her considerable crew. The sole property of Haj Shipping Lines, she, like the rest of the company's ships, was a durasteel testament to the family's ability to court favour with the Emperor, while simultaneously maintaining a positive relationship with the burgeoning Alliance.

A civilian starship well in exceeding the size of a star destroyer; a very realistic situation commensurate with economics and other practicalities of space travel. Tends to refute the absurd assumption, made by many readers, that Imperial warships are remarkably big compared to other artificial spacefaring constructs of the civilisation.

57
After hitching a ride on a military transport, Kyle made his way from the Academy on Carida to the orbital transfer station off Dorlon II, where he and a variety of other sentients boarded a well-appointed shuttle.

location: Dorlon II; Dorlon II transfer station. This place must be on or close to a major hyperlane from Carida. Carida's location in the galaxy is uncertain.

Soldier for the Empire
PAGE	QUOTATION	COMMENTS
10	He took a quick breath of the crisp evening air and paused to watch Sullust rise.	location: Sulon [named on p.14] is a moon of Sullust. It is the home of Kyle Katarn and his father Morgan.
12	The Vengeance was not one of the Empire's larger Star Destroyers, nor was such a vessel required for the matter at hand. After all, why use a sword when a dagger would suffice?	Vengeance is an ISD, according to the illustration on page 13, and it is not the largest design of star destroyer. The analogy with dagger and sword suggests that multi-mile warships are commonplace. This probably includes designs like the Allegiance and Shockwave, plus star cruisers, star battlecruisers, star battleships etc.
12	The Dark Jedi known as Jerec stood above the command pit and stared at the moon that floated beyond. ... Jerec was tall and thin to the point of emaciation. He kept his head shaved and black facial tattoos glowed on his brown skin. empty eye sockets were hidden behind a band of black leather. His tunic, trousers, and boots were black. Jerec wore no insignia other than the symbols visible on his blood-red collar — and kept his Jedi abilities secret. ... Captain Thrawn stood behind Jerec, slightly to his right. He was as tall as Jerec but the similarity ended there. Thrawn had shimmering blue-black hair, pale blue skin, and red glowing eyes, all of which testified to his alien origins and were rare in the Empire's xenophobic navy. However, much as Palpatine might distrust other sentient species, he loved a winner, and Thrawn had collected more victories, medals and promotions than most officers with twice his years of service.	characters: Jerec, a Dark Jedi; Captain Thrawn, who will later become the famous as Grand Admiral Thrawn.
14	... Space Station Kwenn ...	Mention of a location near the Outer Rim Territories, invented in the early RPG adventure Tatooine Manhunt.
14	...a team of Special Operations commandos prepared for combat. Their leader, a thirty-something first lieutenant named Brazack, watched with all-seeing eyes. He had earned his first commission the hard way — in a battle so bloody, every single one of his superiors had been killed. His subsequent promotion came in the wake of a mission that produced no less than four medals of valour — all awarded posthumously.	character: Lieutenant Brazack. The distinction "first" lieutenant is interesting. Presumably this means a literal "Lieutenant", the officer rank immediately superior to a "Second Lieutenant".
15	The Imperial pilot, a Caridian named Vester, grinned and circled for another pass.	character: Vester, a pilot. He is described as "Caridian". Does this mean that he was raised on Carida? Or is there another planet with a similar name, "Caridia" rather than "Carida"?
19	The lack of illumination was intended to be intimidating, and would have been for anyone but Thrawn, who came from a species that boasted exceedingly good night vision.	aliens: Thrawn's species, identified as the Chiss in Vision of the Future, has excellent night-vision. This is the first indication that his physical abilities differ in any way from baseline humans. (His people are probably a colateral human species, one of what is referred to as "near-human" species in various roleplaying game references. They racial divergences in isolated regions of the galaxy have led to speciation several times during the hundreds of thousands of years of interstellar civilisation.)
24	In spite of the fact that Major Noda had nominal command of ground forces, he was well aware of the fact that Jerec monitored everything he said and did via comlink transmissions, probe droids, and his own seemingly supernatural powers. ... Though naturally cautious, Noda was no coward, and had bumped the AT-AT's commanding officer to see the terrain for himself. The walker was over fifteen metres tall and lurched from side to side as it waded upstream. ... A great deal of time and energy had been spent painting Rebel insignia on the ATs. Noda considered such efforts a waste of time. After all, the very notion that Rebels could capture such powerful weapons and turn them against their owners was absurd.	character: Major Noda, commander of the army forces in Jerec's taskforce. At this point in the Galactic Civil War, the rebels lack serious heavy military equipment. This situation changed in later years, particularly with assistance from Balmorra in Dark Empire II.
25	They ... were still celebrating when a woman named Crowley touched his arm. She'd been a Master Sergeant in the Republic's Army and was the only member of his platoon with real combat experience.	character: Master Sergeant Crowley. The USA military defines several terms which are actually subtle distinctions of Warrant Officers; different jobs or appointments for what is essentially the same kind of rank. "Master Sergeant" is one of these terms, an intermediate of Warrant Officer I and Warrant Officer II. Master Sergeant is equivalent to a First Sergeant. First Sergeant is a "line" position, Master Sergeant is the equivalent "staff" position. A Master Sergeant is generally a supply sergeant (battalion level or higher), motor pool sergeant, or some other technical position.
30	Those who completed their missions with a satisfactory score would receive their commissions and graduate from the Imperial Military Academy at Cliffside on Carida.	location: Cliffside, Carida.
30	The assault boat, just one of hundreds of support craft carried aboard the Star Destroyer Imperator, shuddered slightly and dumped speed as the pilot fired his retros. It required skill to match velocities with an asteroid and AX-456 was no exception. Maybe the pixel pixies back on the ship knew why the rebels chose 456 for their relay station and maybe not.	The Imperator was the first star destroyer of the standard mile-long class. It has a distinguished history. (Refer to Star Destroyer Imperator Class blueprints, and XWWG 343.) For Kyle Katarn to be temporarily assigned to this ship is probably an honour, or at least a good omen. location: asteroid AX-456, a rebel communications base. Involvement of characters from this base in circumstances surrounding the uprising on Sullust's moon, hints that it may be in the same sector of the galaxy.
31	The names came in order, starting with his second in command, Sergeant Major Hong,... ... Hong stood between the hatches with his back to the cockpit. He had a small body and a big voice.	character: Hong, a stormtrooper subofficer. A "sergeat major" is a role/job for an army NCO of rank Warrant Officer. Specifically, a Sergeant Major is somewhere between Warrant Officer I and Warrant Officer II, and serves as the senior NCO in a battalion or larger unit.
35	Four years of hard, rigorous training kicked in.	Katarn's stormtrooper officer training lasted four years.
36	A hand touched Kyle's arm. he turned to find a medic standing beside him. He had a blaster burn along one side of his helmet and other people's blood on his arms.	At least one stormtrooper medic is in a stormtrooper platoon.
36-37	Hong wore his hair high and tight but allowed himself a carefully tended mustache.	Roleplaying game illustrations of unmasked stormtroopers usually show them to be completely bald. Hong is an exception to that pattern. Perhaps the regulations are flexible, or subject to regional variation. Perhaps NCOs are subject to fewer restrictions than troops. Perhaps the baldness of other stormtroopers is merely a fashion or non-binding tradition.
38	His helmet light wobbled across the back end of a much-abused crawler, and the alternating black and yellow stripes that covered the bumper.	Stormtrooper helmets include a lighting device that can be used in dark conditions. How this relates to the night-vision capability of the helmet, detailed in roleplaying game references, is not yet known.
41	The rough-hewn walls supported an electronic message board and a hodge-podge of printouts. One announced a birthday party for someone named Blim Shahar, and another cautioned base personnel to conserve on water. Kyle surprised himself by having the presence of mind to scan the bulletins with the tiny holocam built into his helmet. The military intelligence geeks would be thrilled, and, in the unlikely event that he survived, the instructors would award him some extra mission points.	Stormtrooper helmets include a built-in holographic camera used to record missions for later analysis.
45	Kyle walked out through the main entrance of the hospital, ... Stone neks crouched to either side of the entryway, each large enough to swallow an assault boat, symbolic of the Empire's strength. He stared at the long flight of stairs. A metal railing separated downward-bound pedestrians from those coming up. ... The Imperial Military Training Base on Carida was home to more than one hundred and fifty thousand recruits, cadets, and instructors. The Military Academy, also known as Cliffside due to the dropoff along the east side of the parade ground, took up less than one-tenth of the sprawling base, but produced a high percentage of the Empire's officer corps.	locations: hospital entrance; Cliffside academy on Carida. This cannot be the only stormtrooper officer training facility in the galaxy; it is not large enough to have output sufficient for the Empire's needs. There must be other such institutions on Carida, and/or on other worlds. The indication that Cliffside produces a high percentage of the Empire's officers probably just means that it produces a respectable percentage, relative to the production of comparable institutions. But for all we know, there might be thousands of them. 1 Other kinds of naval and military academies are also located on Carida, including elite starfighter pilot training facilities attended by Han Solo and Soontir Fel. Admiral Daala was originally trained at a Caridan academy of some kind.
45	The voice had a nasal quality. It had followed him nearly every day of the last four years. it belonged to Nathan Donar III, eldest son to Governor Donar II, and a real pain in the posterior. They were filled with false bonhomie.	character: Nathan Donar III.
46	Kyle ... left the stairs. The large open area in front of him was referred to as "the quad" on the interactive maps issued to visitors, but the cadets called it "the grinder." How many hours — how many days — had he spent marching back and forth across these acres of fused stone?	location: a large quadrangle in the Cliffside academy on Carida.
52	...the Commandant introduced the first in a long list of guest speakers, the last of whom was General Mohc. He had a bulfrog face, barrel chest, and relatively short frame. He at least was a real soldier and worthy of their attention. His speech was short and to the point. "The Emperor spent more than a half-million credits to feed, house, and educate each one of you over the past four years. Not because he thought it would be the nice thing to do or because he likes military parades, but because he wants you to defend the Empire. An Empire which has been attacked from within.	character: General Mohc. Education of a stormtrooper officer costs more than 500000 credits, and the duration of the course is four years on Carida.
55	Odom had a square face, dark, nearly black skin, and a perpetual grin. ... Unlike so many of the Empire's wealthier families, the Odoms had no ties to the Emperor, and were genuinely nice. Meck's mother ran a small but successful import-export business, and his father was a celebrated architect. They, and their stunning daughter, were splendid hosts and the evening passed with surprising speed.	characters: Meck Odom, cadet at Cliffside academy on Carida; his family.
57	The Star of Empire was more than two kilometres long and equipped to carry five thousand passengers in addition to her considerable crew. The sole property of Haj Shipping Lines, she, like the rest of the company's ships, was a durasteel testament to the family's ability to court favour with the Emperor, while simultaneously maintaining a positive relationship with the burgeoning Alliance.	A civilian starship well in exceeding the size of a star destroyer; a very realistic situation commensurate with economics and other practicalities of space travel. Tends to refute the absurd assumption, made by many readers, that Imperial warships are remarkably big compared to other artificial spacefaring constructs of the civilisation.
57	After hitching a ride on a military transport, Kyle made his way from the Academy on Carida to the orbital transfer station off Dorlon II, where he and a variety of other sentients boarded a well-appointed shuttle.	location: Dorlon II; Dorlon II transfer station. This place must be on or close to a major hyperlane from Carida. Carida's location in the galaxy is uncertain.

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