Novel References

Tales from the Empire

PAGE QUOTATION COMMENTS

6
"Well, for starters, your flux connectors are all about four degrees out of sync," Celina said, hefting the one in her hand. "They have to have been ignored for a long time to drift that far off."
"I see," Karrde said, his favorable first impression of this woman moving up another notch. Chin had assured him that the flux connector gimmicking would take an average hyperdrive mechanic at least a day to find. "I'll have to speak to my maintenance man."

technology: A component of a hyperdrive called a flux connector. What is it that fluxes in the flux connectors?

7
"I'd call that a marginal distinction," Celina commented. "Certainly given the casual way Sif-Uwanis approach management and money."
"Really," Karrde said, his estimation moving up yet another notch. He would have bet heavily that there wouldn't be a single person on Varonat who's ever even heard of Sif-Uwana, let alone knowing about it.

Bradley Carletti:
My immediate assumption on Karrde's assuming the identity of an agent from "Sif-Uwana" was that it was part of his penchant for smart names (As if you want to). But, it's an actual place. Perhaps it was named by some joker. Possibly the world was originally a colony of some sort, or this is just an odd coincidence.
Also, Karrde seems to have a brilliant way of covering his surprise.

20
"Do not worry," Gamgalon soothed him. "Consider, Talon Karrde, a merchant ship carrying three cargoes to a politically tense world: rethan-K, promhassic triaxli, and aleudrupe berries. ... "

technology: Rethan-K and promhassic triaxli, which combined with specially grown berries (which act as a catalyst) become a "blaster formulation" described as being fully as powerful as spin-sealed Tibanna gas.

57
"And while I have your attention, run a code check on a 10-96."
"That's easy. It's listed by Imperial enforcement protocol as a mentally imbalanced person."

Imperial Enforcement Code 10-96. Presumably a code-word for communications, much like modern police codes. This particular code probably is used for wanted being with Jedi abilities, or perhaps the subset of Force-sensitives who are also considered mad or dangerous.

75
Closing the hidden panel, Ross tripped the contamination seal. If the Imperial sensors went over the ship, they would bypass this area for contaminated mechanic's tools.

Ross' ship (and probably many like it) contain a storage area for "contaminated tools". Contaminated by what, exactly? Radiation? Implies that not all systems of a starship involve "clean" technologies.

88
"Yes, the alien incident." Barris stared darkly into the depths of the amber liquor. An alien - bother humanoid and intelligent - had run him and his men around in circles on a planet that was - if it were possible - even more of a backwater than Garqi. This alien had killed his men, had brought down a TIE fighter and had even slain two stormtroopers using technology he stole from the Imperials in combination with native plants and animals. I advocated a planetary bombardment to rid us of this menace, but Captain Parck invited this murderous creature to join the Empire. The Emperor chose that time to forego his normal xenophobia. He advanced Parck's career, gave this Thrawn a career, and started me on the long road from one humiliating post to another.

An Imperial officer's recollection of the circumstances leading to the future Grand Admiral Thrawn's meeting and joining with the Imperial Forces.

97
... "The shields on the ship are disabled?"
"Yes, sir. We replaced the a duplex circuit with its triplex equivalent."
"But a codepatch will allow them to bring the shields up."
"Yes, sir, but an initial diagnostic run on the ship will report the circuits are complete. ... "

technology: Details of some of the standard circuitry associated with shield systems.

169
"Doubtful." The freighter dipped sharply in the thickening atmosphere of Gabredor III. He gulped. "It takes a detonator firing at triple frequency intervals to properly set off a Mesonics focalized explosive."

technology: mesonics focalised explosives; the measures required to detonate them. Mesons are unstable exotic particles composed of quark-antiquark pairs, rather than three quarks as in protons and neutrons.

175

Description of the Pentastar Alignment, a large warlord faction in the Outer Rom Territories shortly after the death of the Emperor. The leader of this group, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, possesses an Executor-class vessel as his command ship: the Reaper.

184
An intense beeping came from Hugo's contraption. Before Brixie's eyes, an alternating pattern of light began to phase from the sensor mast. She gasped as the solid-looking ground before their feet suddenly evaporated, exposing a cargo speeder-sized ditch trap. Explosives and mines lay at the bottom of the excavated pit. Huge smirked.
"A holographic trap. Very sneaky. Very expensive."

Holographic trap, an expensive device which conceals dug-out pits full of dangerous objects from the naked eye. Holographic projections do not fool non-optical sensors, as demonstrated in the battle in The Hutt Gambit.

199
...Still, she reflected, any code one computer can generate, another can imitate. First Law of Slicing. . . .
...
... What stupid names they have, she thought - the Impervious, the Penetrator, the Inflexible, the Indomitable, the Inexorable, and the Exterminator. . . .

technology: practice of slicing.
starships: names of six warships under construction at the Kuat shipyards.

238
"I've always found that a competent stormtrooper could handle any three bounty hunters without working up a sweat."

Captain Niriz of the Admonitor's claimed combat effectiveness of stormtroopers.

257
Most folks don't know Wookies exist, or, at best, know Imps use them for slave labor. Folks who know more about Wookies are usually Rebel sympathisers.

Lack of popular knowledge of the Wookie species. Surprisingly, this implies that amongst Rebels, Wookiees may be common. They come from the treetops of a jungle world... They cannot be so populous. Perhaps Wookiees have a much higher rate of participation in the rebellion than most sapient species.

264
"Just hearsay, and watching a guy try to sell a lung to get more glit."
"Sell a lung?" Maranne shivered.
Corran shrugged. "Wasn't his. Belonged to some passerby. Like I said, not good stuff."

culture: The depths which glit-addicts will sink to, at least on Corellia. Incidentally, this provides a subtle hint at the nastiness of Han Solo's background as a spice smuggler for Jabba the Hutt.

264-265

Durindfire gem. Very expensive, and comes from Tatooine. How many remote and little-known worlds from the Outer Rim are sources of rare gems?

268
Veers narrowed his eyes. "There is no reason for good people to die."
Loor shrugged lazily. "If they do die, they become heroes. If you get me Zekka Thyne, you can be a hero, too."

Imperial Intelligence Agent Kirtan Loor's cavalier attitude towards the lives of the people working with him. In The Imperial Sourcebook there are several passages implying that this is actually almost a standard doctrine in some arms of Imperial Intelligence and the Imperial Security Bureau.

Tales from the Empire
PAGE	QUOTATION	COMMENTS
6	"Well, for starters, your flux connectors are all about four degrees out of sync," Celina said, hefting the one in her hand. "They have to have been ignored for a long time to drift that far off." "I see," Karrde said, his favorable first impression of this woman moving up another notch. Chin had assured him that the flux connector gimmicking would take an average hyperdrive mechanic at least a day to find. "I'll have to speak to my maintenance man."	technology: A component of a hyperdrive called a flux connector. What is it that fluxes in the flux connectors?
7	"I'd call that a marginal distinction," Celina commented. "Certainly given the casual way Sif-Uwanis approach management and money." "Really," Karrde said, his estimation moving up yet another notch. He would have bet heavily that there wouldn't be a single person on Varonat who's ever even heard of Sif-Uwana, let alone knowing about it.	Bradley Carletti: My immediate assumption on Karrde's assuming the identity of an agent from "Sif-Uwana" was that it was part of his penchant for smart names (As if you want to). But, it's an actual place. Perhaps it was named by some joker. Possibly the world was originally a colony of some sort, or this is just an odd coincidence. Also, Karrde seems to have a brilliant way of covering his surprise.
20	"Do not worry," Gamgalon soothed him. "Consider, Talon Karrde, a merchant ship carrying three cargoes to a politically tense world: rethan-K, promhassic triaxli, and aleudrupe berries. ... "	technology: Rethan-K and promhassic triaxli, which combined with specially grown berries (which act as a catalyst) become a "blaster formulation" described as being fully as powerful as spin-sealed Tibanna gas.
57	"And while I have your attention, run a code check on a 10-96." "That's easy. It's listed by Imperial enforcement protocol as a mentally imbalanced person."	Imperial Enforcement Code 10-96. Presumably a code-word for communications, much like modern police codes. This particular code probably is used for wanted being with Jedi abilities, or perhaps the subset of Force-sensitives who are also considered mad or dangerous.
75	Closing the hidden panel, Ross tripped the contamination seal. If the Imperial sensors went over the ship, they would bypass this area for contaminated mechanic's tools.	Ross' ship (and probably many like it) contain a storage area for "contaminated tools". Contaminated by what, exactly? Radiation? Implies that not all systems of a starship involve "clean" technologies.
88	"Yes, the alien incident." Barris stared darkly into the depths of the amber liquor. An alien - bother humanoid and intelligent - had run him and his men around in circles on a planet that was - if it were possible - even more of a backwater than Garqi. This alien had killed his men, had brought down a TIE fighter and had even slain two stormtroopers using technology he stole from the Imperials in combination with native plants and animals. I advocated a planetary bombardment to rid us of this menace, but Captain Parck invited this murderous creature to join the Empire. The Emperor chose that time to forego his normal xenophobia. He advanced Parck's career, gave this Thrawn a career, and started me on the long road from one humiliating post to another.	An Imperial officer's recollection of the circumstances leading to the future Grand Admiral Thrawn's meeting and joining with the Imperial Forces.
97	... "The shields on the ship are disabled?" "Yes, sir. We replaced the a duplex circuit with its triplex equivalent." "But a codepatch will allow them to bring the shields up." "Yes, sir, but an initial diagnostic run on the ship will report the circuits are complete. ... "	technology: Details of some of the standard circuitry associated with shield systems.
169	"Doubtful." The freighter dipped sharply in the thickening atmosphere of Gabredor III. He gulped. "It takes a detonator firing at triple frequency intervals to properly set off a Mesonics focalized explosive."	technology: mesonics focalised explosives; the measures required to detonate them. Mesons are unstable exotic particles composed of quark-antiquark pairs, rather than three quarks as in protons and neutrons.
175		Description of the Pentastar Alignment, a large warlord faction in the Outer Rom Territories shortly after the death of the Emperor. The leader of this group, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, possesses an Executor-class vessel as his command ship: the Reaper.
184	An intense beeping came from Hugo's contraption. Before Brixie's eyes, an alternating pattern of light began to phase from the sensor mast. She gasped as the solid-looking ground before their feet suddenly evaporated, exposing a cargo speeder-sized ditch trap. Explosives and mines lay at the bottom of the excavated pit. Huge smirked. "A holographic trap. Very sneaky. Very expensive."	Holographic trap, an expensive device which conceals dug-out pits full of dangerous objects from the naked eye. Holographic projections do not fool non-optical sensors, as demonstrated in the battle in The Hutt Gambit.
199	...Still, she reflected, any code one computer can generate, another can imitate. First Law of Slicing. . . . ... ... What stupid names they have, she thought - the Impervious, the Penetrator, the Inflexible, the Indomitable, the Inexorable, and the Exterminator. . . .	technology: practice of slicing. starships: names of six warships under construction at the Kuat shipyards.
238	"I've always found that a competent stormtrooper could handle any three bounty hunters without working up a sweat."	Captain Niriz of the Admonitor's claimed combat effectiveness of stormtroopers.
257	Most folks don't know Wookies exist, or, at best, know Imps use them for slave labor. Folks who know more about Wookies are usually Rebel sympathisers.	Lack of popular knowledge of the Wookie species. Surprisingly, this implies that amongst Rebels, Wookiees may be common. They come from the treetops of a jungle world... They cannot be so populous. Perhaps Wookiees have a much higher rate of participation in the rebellion than most sapient species.
264	"Just hearsay, and watching a guy try to sell a lung to get more glit." "Sell a lung?" Maranne shivered. Corran shrugged. "Wasn't his. Belonged to some passerby. Like I said, not good stuff."	culture: The depths which glit-addicts will sink to, at least on Corellia. Incidentally, this provides a subtle hint at the nastiness of Han Solo's background as a spice smuggler for Jabba the Hutt.
264-265		Durindfire gem. Very expensive, and comes from Tatooine. How many remote and little-known worlds from the Outer Rim are sources of rare gems?
268	Veers narrowed his eyes. "There is no reason for good people to die." Loor shrugged lazily. "If they do die, they become heroes. If you get me Zekka Thyne, you can be a hero, too."	Imperial Intelligence Agent Kirtan Loor's cavalier attitude towards the lives of the people working with him. In The Imperial Sourcebook there are several passages implying that this is actually almost a standard doctrine in some arms of Imperial Intelligence and the Imperial Security Bureau.

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