Novel References

X-Wing Rogue Squadron

PAGE QUOTATION COMMENTS

21
Ackbar's barbel's quivered. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but determining a human's age by visual clues is a skill that has long since eluded me."

Now, the usual reason we can't tell people apart is because we haven't spent enough time with them to better 'learn' their features. This is true of twins, dogs, in fact, most things. Ackbar can clearly tell people apart, but has difficulty determining their ages.

31
His black boots made a solid clanking sound on the metal grating and he measured his steps carefully to keep the sound rhythmic and daunting.

Kirtan Loor's boots are black.

72
After looking over the engines he examined the lenses for the deflector shield projectors and saw new ones had been installed.

Deflector shields involve lenses? This may be a figure of speech, just like the use of "projector" in the same context. Otherwise it might be a vague hint at some aspects of the behavior of deflector shields, suggesting analogies to light.

102-103

Kirtan Loor is brought to the Imperial Palace in a shuttle (Objurium) on loan from Aggressor. Aggressor is the name of a SSD known to exist in the Core regions shortly after the Battle of Endor.

113
Ackbar rose from his chair and walked over to where a blue globe of water hung suspended in a repulsorlift cage. The apparatus negated gravity, allowing the water to form a perfect globe. Within it a school of small fish with neon blue and gold stripes flashed this way and that. The Mon Cal studied it for a moment, then inclined his head toward Salm.

This describes an interesting piece of ornamentation in Ackbar's quarters. It is large enough that the water has sufficient depth to appear blue, rather than clear. What's interesting is what would occur if the ship suffered power from an ion blast or similar. Ackbar better hope it has a backup generator of some sort, or there'll be a pool of water and dead fish.
Perhaps the repulsor field is linked with the room's artificial gravity generators. Then at least a power failure would disable the containment for the water at the same time as the local gravity would turn off. The water globe might just drift through the air in the room, remaining as a sinlge mass due to the water's self-cohesion.

118-119
"Frankly Asked." The Mon Cal's [Adm Ackbar] coloration brightened to a salmon pink on the dome of his head.

Mon Calamari show an emotional reaction equivalent to blushing on the top of their heads, the area that shows the distinctive individual green patches or stripes. If their blood is green, then the "blush" expression actually corresponds to a withdrawl of blood from the tissue near the skin.

122
Isard's predatory pacing in the centre of the room snatched his attention away from the subtle messages of the architecture and appointments. She wore and admiral's uniform, complete with boots, jodhpurs, and a dress jacket, though the garments were red. A black armband circled the upper part of her left arm and the jacket bore no rank insignia or cylinders at all. Yet even without the external signs of rank, her intensity and the deliberation with which she moved radiated power.

Kirtan Loor observes the costume of Ysanne Isard, Director of Imperial Intelligence, two years after the Battle of Endor.

133
"Squadron, come about to a heading of 230 degrees and depress 12 degrees. Flight plan on its way to you."

Corran addresses the squadron, using the degrees system. Now, those degrees could be used from any point of reference. Conventions for defining the reference direction might include: a galactic standard such as the direction of Coruscant in the sky; the direction of the local sun; the direction of the principal nearby planet; the hyperspace jump vector which brought the ships in-system.
Some kind of inertial compass device is most likely to be used to measure absolute orientation. Perhaps this is the "hyperspace compass" which a caterpillar creature attempted to sell to Han Solo on Nar Shaddaa in Dark Empire?

141
Because no-power landings would be seriously harmful to most lifeforms, extending the landing gear on the fighter opened a circuit that allowed the primary and reserve power cells to drive the S-foil impeller jets for simple maneuvering and to kick in the repulsorlift drives. The power cell tap tended to be used primarily by techs for moving the ships around in repair and maintenance facilities, because running the fusion engines up for full maneuvering power in enclosed places is generally considered harmful to most living creatures.

Backup system in X-wing fighter explained. Also veiled references to lifeforms which can survive crashes and fusion exhaust jets.

161
Iillor had been sent to serve under Colonel Thrawn and a host of other alien superior officers before she had been given a ship of her own.

Strangely, this suggests that there was a non-human officer of the Imperial Army named Thrawn, like the famous Grand Admiral. Perhaps this is the same man? Is it possible that he is sufficiently multi-talented to maintain separate careers in both Army and Navy? Clearly, his primary expertise is naval, but could he have had an Army career also?

201
Wedge Antilles watched as Gavin Darklighter and Corran Horn floated all but lifeless in bacta tanks. Seeing them there brough back memories of the time he had spent in such a tank - it hadn't been aboard the Reprieve but on Home One, Admiral Ackbar's flagship at Endor. He'd been barely conscious during his time in the tank, which he saw as a blessing. Being awake and thinking while being able to do nothing would have driven him insane.

Wedge spent time in a Bacta tank once, probably after Endor. He was in bacta for the repair of a mangled hand after taking a spacewalk to block the self-destruct mechanism of an Imperial hyperspace message drone from Bakura. [Refer to The Truce at Bakura.] He wasn't conscious at the time.

205
Corran wasn't certain what was worse: the sour taste of bacta in the back of his throat or feeling like he was still bobbing up and down in the tank. To him bacta tasted like lum that had gone flat, gotten stale, and been stored in the sort of plastic barrel that lent it an oiliness that slicked his tongue.

Corran contemplates the wonderful taste of bacta, the super drink.

206
"Somewhere in orbit between Corellia and Selonia my father's ashes are trying to recoalesce to stop me."

Could cremation and scattering the ashes between these two planets be the traditional Corellian funeral practice among Corellians who are on Corellia (unlike the ones on Coruscant)? [Refer to XWTBW 24-25.] Being an important member of CorSec would mean that CorSec probably would have paid for the funeral (like modern military units and police forces), and given them a traditional send-off, complete with twenty-one blaster salutes and the obligatory Corellian whiskey bout.

208

Shows what happened to Luke's farm after his Aunt and Uncle died.
Gavin tells Corran that Biggs is eight years older than him. Gavin is 16 (2.5 years after ROTJ; approximately 6.5 years after ANH), so Biggs was 18 or 19 when he fought in the Battle of Yavin. He looked older than that. He was older than Luke, who is variously reported to have been 18 or 20 at the Battle of Yavin.

254
Ackbar, who had a silver Mon Calamari Admiral - Ragab of the Emancipator - on his other side wore a pained expression on his face.

character: Admrial Ragab, a silver-skinned Mon Calamari.
Ackbar has practiced facial expressions capable of interpretation by humans. Among them is an expression that communicates pain.

286
[Imperial Star Destroyer-II Eviscerator]

349
Kirtan Loor fussed with the hem of his tunic and adjusted his cap with a tug on the bill.

Refernce to some elements of the uniform of Imperial Intelligence agent, Kirtan Loor.

354
"... Your report indicated that he had the resources to resist a casual invitation. The arrival of a Super Star Destroyer proved enough to convince him to join me here. .."

Ysanne Isard reveals the use of a SSD to intimidate General Derricote. The name of the vessel is not indicated.

370
The X-wing shook violently, as if a titanic child had grabbed it in an invisible fist. Whistler hooted anxiously and Corran felt his stomach turn inside out. Tractor beam! It's all over.

Corran's X-wing was locked on by the Pulsar Skate which had no line of sight.

378
Mirax slapped the nearest bulkhead. "The Skate can push .6 past light speed - not as fast as the Falcon, but definately better-looking. With our speed we can trim time off the trip back to Noquivzor and fly a course that's shorter. We'll beat them by an hour, just as we did getting here."

Mirax continues the multiplier factor theory from West End Games. The Zahn novels use an inverse interpretation of the hyperspeed factors.

X-Wing Rogue Squadron
PAGE	QUOTATION	COMMENTS
21	Ackbar's barbel's quivered. "Forgive me, gentlemen, but determining a human's age by visual clues is a skill that has long since eluded me."	Now, the usual reason we can't tell people apart is because we haven't spent enough time with them to better 'learn' their features. This is true of twins, dogs, in fact, most things. Ackbar can clearly tell people apart, but has difficulty determining their ages.
31	His black boots made a solid clanking sound on the metal grating and he measured his steps carefully to keep the sound rhythmic and daunting.	Kirtan Loor's boots are black.
72	After looking over the engines he examined the lenses for the deflector shield projectors and saw new ones had been installed.	Deflector shields involve lenses? This may be a figure of speech, just like the use of "projector" in the same context. Otherwise it might be a vague hint at some aspects of the behavior of deflector shields, suggesting analogies to light.
102-103		Kirtan Loor is brought to the Imperial Palace in a shuttle (Objurium) on loan from Aggressor. Aggressor is the name of a SSD known to exist in the Core regions shortly after the Battle of Endor.
113	Ackbar rose from his chair and walked over to where a blue globe of water hung suspended in a repulsorlift cage. The apparatus negated gravity, allowing the water to form a perfect globe. Within it a school of small fish with neon blue and gold stripes flashed this way and that. The Mon Cal studied it for a moment, then inclined his head toward Salm.	This describes an interesting piece of ornamentation in Ackbar's quarters. It is large enough that the water has sufficient depth to appear blue, rather than clear. What's interesting is what would occur if the ship suffered power from an ion blast or similar. Ackbar better hope it has a backup generator of some sort, or there'll be a pool of water and dead fish. Perhaps the repulsor field is linked with the room's artificial gravity generators. Then at least a power failure would disable the containment for the water at the same time as the local gravity would turn off. The water globe might just drift through the air in the room, remaining as a sinlge mass due to the water's self-cohesion.
118-119	"Frankly Asked." The Mon Cal's [Adm Ackbar] coloration brightened to a salmon pink on the dome of his head.	Mon Calamari show an emotional reaction equivalent to blushing on the top of their heads, the area that shows the distinctive individual green patches or stripes. If their blood is green, then the "blush" expression actually corresponds to a withdrawl of blood from the tissue near the skin.
122	Isard's predatory pacing in the centre of the room snatched his attention away from the subtle messages of the architecture and appointments. She wore and admiral's uniform, complete with boots, jodhpurs, and a dress jacket, though the garments were red. A black armband circled the upper part of her left arm and the jacket bore no rank insignia or cylinders at all. Yet even without the external signs of rank, her intensity and the deliberation with which she moved radiated power.	Kirtan Loor observes the costume of Ysanne Isard, Director of Imperial Intelligence, two years after the Battle of Endor.
133	"Squadron, come about to a heading of 230 degrees and depress 12 degrees. Flight plan on its way to you."	Corran addresses the squadron, using the degrees system. Now, those degrees could be used from any point of reference. Conventions for defining the reference direction might include: a galactic standard such as the direction of Coruscant in the sky; the direction of the local sun; the direction of the principal nearby planet; the hyperspace jump vector which brought the ships in-system. Some kind of inertial compass device is most likely to be used to measure absolute orientation. Perhaps this is the "hyperspace compass" which a caterpillar creature attempted to sell to Han Solo on Nar Shaddaa in Dark Empire?
141	Because no-power landings would be seriously harmful to most lifeforms, extending the landing gear on the fighter opened a circuit that allowed the primary and reserve power cells to drive the S-foil impeller jets for simple maneuvering and to kick in the repulsorlift drives. The power cell tap tended to be used primarily by techs for moving the ships around in repair and maintenance facilities, because running the fusion engines up for full maneuvering power in enclosed places is generally considered harmful to most living creatures.	Backup system in X-wing fighter explained. Also veiled references to lifeforms which can survive crashes and fusion exhaust jets.
161	Iillor had been sent to serve under Colonel Thrawn and a host of other alien superior officers before she had been given a ship of her own.	Strangely, this suggests that there was a non-human officer of the Imperial Army named Thrawn, like the famous Grand Admiral. Perhaps this is the same man? Is it possible that he is sufficiently multi-talented to maintain separate careers in both Army and Navy? Clearly, his primary expertise is naval, but could he have had an Army career also?
201	Wedge Antilles watched as Gavin Darklighter and Corran Horn floated all but lifeless in bacta tanks. Seeing them there brough back memories of the time he had spent in such a tank - it hadn't been aboard the Reprieve but on Home One, Admiral Ackbar's flagship at Endor. He'd been barely conscious during his time in the tank, which he saw as a blessing. Being awake and thinking while being able to do nothing would have driven him insane.	Wedge spent time in a Bacta tank once, probably after Endor. He was in bacta for the repair of a mangled hand after taking a spacewalk to block the self-destruct mechanism of an Imperial hyperspace message drone from Bakura. [Refer to The Truce at Bakura.] He wasn't conscious at the time.
205	Corran wasn't certain what was worse: the sour taste of bacta in the back of his throat or feeling like he was still bobbing up and down in the tank. To him bacta tasted like lum that had gone flat, gotten stale, and been stored in the sort of plastic barrel that lent it an oiliness that slicked his tongue.	Corran contemplates the wonderful taste of bacta, the super drink.
206	"Somewhere in orbit between Corellia and Selonia my father's ashes are trying to recoalesce to stop me."	Could cremation and scattering the ashes between these two planets be the traditional Corellian funeral practice among Corellians who are on Corellia (unlike the ones on Coruscant)? [Refer to XWTBW 24-25.] Being an important member of CorSec would mean that CorSec probably would have paid for the funeral (like modern military units and police forces), and given them a traditional send-off, complete with twenty-one blaster salutes and the obligatory Corellian whiskey bout.
208		Shows what happened to Luke's farm after his Aunt and Uncle died. Gavin tells Corran that Biggs is eight years older than him. Gavin is 16 (2.5 years after ROTJ; approximately 6.5 years after ANH), so Biggs was 18 or 19 when he fought in the Battle of Yavin. He looked older than that. He was older than Luke, who is variously reported to have been 18 or 20 at the Battle of Yavin.
254	Ackbar, who had a silver Mon Calamari Admiral - Ragab of the Emancipator - on his other side wore a pained expression on his face.	character: Admrial Ragab, a silver-skinned Mon Calamari. Ackbar has practiced facial expressions capable of interpretation by humans. Among them is an expression that communicates pain.
286	[Imperial Star Destroyer-II Eviscerator]
349	Kirtan Loor fussed with the hem of his tunic and adjusted his cap with a tug on the bill.	Refernce to some elements of the uniform of Imperial Intelligence agent, Kirtan Loor.
354	"... Your report indicated that he had the resources to resist a casual invitation. The arrival of a Super Star Destroyer proved enough to convince him to join me here. .."	Ysanne Isard reveals the use of a SSD to intimidate General Derricote. The name of the vessel is not indicated.
370	The X-wing shook violently, as if a titanic child had grabbed it in an invisible fist. Whistler hooted anxiously and Corran felt his stomach turn inside out. Tractor beam! It's all over.	Corran's X-wing was locked on by the Pulsar Skate which had no line of sight.
378	Mirax slapped the nearest bulkhead. "The Skate can push .6 past light speed - not as fast as the Falcon, but definately better-looking. With our speed we can trim time off the trip back to Noquivzor and fly a course that's shorter. We'll beat them by an hour, just as we did getting here."	Mirax continues the multiplier factor theory from West End Games. The Zahn novels use an inverse interpretation of the hyperspeed factors.

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