Part 4: Ord Mantell Junkyard

According to Crow, this is our most annotated video yet. Woo! Anyways, we have now passed TESB's timeline and are fully involved in SOTE's.



Two sets of PC Cutscenes:

Ord Mantell: Introduction


Ord Mantell: IG-88D




Here's how I'm going to break down the novel: I'm going to offer quick summations from each chapter from every relevant point of view. The chapters and POVs will be clearly marked. Any particularly hilarious/awful quotes will be included.

: : :P RO L O G U E: : :

[Xizor]

We are immediately thrust into a familiar scene. We're back in the movies, watching Darth Vader speaking to Emperor Palpatine over a long-range transmission, trying to convince the Emperor to allow him to try and turn Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side. However, we are watching this scene from a new point of view. Standing near the Emperor, just out of Vader's sight, is the Dark Prince Xizor. In these brief few pages, we learn a lot about this new character:

1 ) He's very powerful - Xizor has the Emperor's ear and is trusted enough to be allow to listen in on sensitive information.
2 ) He hates Vader - As he listens, Xizor muses to himself how much he'd love to be able to shoot lightning from his hands like the Emperor--because he'd use it to strike Vader dead.
3 ) He's an intellectual - Or at least fancies himself one. He cares about logic, not emotions. As much as he hates Vader, he plans to ruin the man in secret. He also plays at being an information broker. He was upset to discover that Obi-Wan had been alive up until his recent death at Vader's hand--he believes he should know everything.
4) He's both a prince and a criminal - He titles himself the "Dark Prince, Underlord of Black Sun, the largest criminal organization in the galaxy.

As the conversation wraps up, Xizor is surprised to learn that Vader has a son: Luke Skywalker. (He's pissed off to learn this, as again, he expects his spy network to know everything). He then begins to wonder just how displeased the Emperor would be if Skywalker died before Vader could bring him in. If Xizor could kill Luke himself (in secret), he could discredit Vader and get closer to the Emperor.

Dangerous games, indeed.

: : :C H A P T E R 1: : :

[Leia]

We open to a familiar time: It's the climax to The Empire Strikes Back. Han is about to be frozen in carbonite and Chewbacca is fighting off stormtroopers--but wait, it was just a nightmare!

At present, Leia and co. have made their way to Tatooine from Bespin. Right now she's feeling all sorts of horrible emotions. She loves Han. Or does she? Does he love her? Surely. Well, he didn't say it--Rather than get teary eyed, she plans to "get even."

[Luke]

Meanwhile, Luke is practising his Force powers in an empty carnival tent. He is currently balancing on a platform sixty metres above the ground, planning to attempt to cross a tightrope. As he does so, a number of things cross his mind: he's thinking about the lightsaber he has begun constructing based on notes found at Ben Kenobi's; he is concerned about whether it was right or wrong of him to have gone to Bespin; he's wondering about what Vader said on the Cloud City catwalks; he's wishing Yoda or Obi-Wan could be there to advise him in that moment; he's wonders where Han is; and he muses about how uncomfortable he feels whenever he accesses the Force. This last thought bothers him especially. Ever since the events in the tree at Dagobah, the Dark Side has felt uncomfortably close.

[Xizor]

Ugh. Xizor. So, Xizor's chair sucks. It mispronounces his name constantly, slurring the words and drawing out the first syllable so it sounds like "Sheeeeeeezor." Problems of a Dark Prince. He has enough money to own several planets and yet he can't get his talking chair to pronounce his name correctly.

Guri enters the room. She is Xizor's most trusted agent, and also a Human Replica Droid. She is so realistic that she can pass a human woman in every way. She has the ability to eat, sleep, drink, and perform, ahem, more personal functions...

D:

Ugh. Anyways, she is also programmed to be an assassin. Kind of creepy. Anyways, Xizor orders her to hire more assassin's for the Black Sun. Specifically, the Pike Sisters, two genetic twins. This is going to be the last we hear of the Pike Sisters for a looooong time. However, they do become relevant much later. Besides that, one of his sublieutenants arrives with a token of friendship from another organization wishing an alliance with Black Sun. It is a gem so rare that it is worth millions of credits. Xizor is so wealthy and powerful and above such petty trinkets that he carelessly tosses it aside to be sucked up by the cleaning droids and responds, "Tell them we'll consider it."

So in short, Xizor is a horrible anime super-villain. Listen to this shit:




: : :C H A P T E R 2: : :

[Leia]

GAME ALERT! GAME ALERT!

In Mos Eisely, Leia goes to meet up with Lando. Chewie insists on being at Leia's side all the time because he Han told him to look after her and he owes Han a side debt. After getting hit on by a few aliens, Lando shows up with the droids (C-3PO and R2-D2) and some information: Slave I has been spotted on Gall, a moon orbiting the gas giant Zhar in one of the Far Rim Systems. The information comes from an old gambling buddy, one who does freelance cargo delivery, named Han Solo Dash Rendar.

Also, Gall is an Imperial Enclave.

[Xizor]

Xizor is having a meeting with Darth Vader. Xizor thinks Vader is a smug, arrogant, detestable prick. Vader is being forced by the Emperor to contact Xizor in order to arrange deliveries to Imperial bases in the Rim.

Oh, Palpatine, you sly dog. Way to make your children fight with each other in order to prove to you who your favourite is.

Here's the kicker, though: we discover why Xizor has a vendetta against Vader. See, Vader once okayed biological research on the planet Falleen. There was an accident, and a highly necrotizing bacteria started to mess up the population, so Vader has that section of the planet sterilized. 200, 000 Falleen died, but hey, they prevented a potential planet-wide outbreak. Vader called it a "relatively minor" cost to the Empire. Welp, as it turns out, Xizor's mother, father, brother, two sisters, and three uncles were killed in the event. Xizor was off-world running Black Sun.

Anyways, Xizor is a most amenable business partner and agrees to all of Vader's low-ball offers.

: : :C H A P T E R 3: : :

[Luke]

Luke is working on his lightsaber at Ben's home in the Western Dune Sea. There's some lightsaber lore, but whatever. I'm all that nonsense was expanded upon enough in Knights of the Old Republic, or whatever.

[Xizor]

Xizor is walking down a protected private corridor on Imperial Center, aka Coruscant, when an assassin appears out of no where and tries to kill him. Xizor dodges like an anime, orders his guards to stand down, and takes down the assassin himself because he is an anime samurai.

Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu--

Turns out the assassin is the son of a man who committed suicide because Black Sun ruined his business. Ah well, Xizor executes him and leaves.

[Vader]

Darth Vader and the Emperor are watching a holovid of the assassination attempt. The Emperor makes a hilariously snide comment about Xizor's anime--


--and hints that he knows Vader let the assassin into the protected hallway, and subtly warns Vader off further attempts. Vader takes the hint.

: : :C H A P T E R 4: : :

[Leia]

Leia and co. meet up with Luke. She feels weird about having the feeling of love for two men. But don't worry, Leia, the love you feel for Luke is only platonic, thank fuck! They discuss rescue plans for Han, and Luke gets excited. They decide to bring in Rogue Squadron and Wedge, and thus the official sanction of the Rebel Alliance.

[Xizor]

He has a meeting to figure out who a traitor is in his fake space mafia. The high-ranking Black Sun leaders call themselves Vigos, which is Tionese honourific for "nephew" (as well as a port in Spain) so that they can all recognize each other as family. It's pretty stupid. Guri eventually comes in and kills the spy, 'cause Xizor knew who was the traitor all along. The traitor also happens to be the only human of the group--because humans are generally the least predictable or trustworthy in Star Wars, or something.

Later...

The Vigos leave. Xizor and Guri speak. Information on Skywalker has been amassed and an anonymous bounty has been placed. There are now two bounties for Luke Skywalker in place: One placed by Vader for Skywalker alive, one anonymous one from Black Sun for Skywalker dead.

And in keeping with Xizor being an anime badass, he tells Guri that he would like to speak to Jabba. She tells him she will hail him when he's done his midday meal. Xizor says no, and orders her to order Jabba to get on the fastest ship off Tatooine to come speak to Xizor personally.

: : :C H A P T E R 5: : :

[Vader]

Vader sits with his hyperbaric medical chamber off, channelling the Force to try and survive without it. Vader is proud of Luke, and really wants him to join his side as Father and Son. Using his intense anger and hatred of Obi-Wan, he uses the Dark Side to temporarily heal himself--but he experiences joy at being able to do so which reverses his scarred lungs. He notes he hasn't purged all of Anakin Skywalker from himself, that he has not wholly given himself to the Dark Side.

[Luke]

Luke is still working on his lightsaber. Lando enters; Dash has confirmed that Boba Fett is on Gall. They leave.

[Xizor]

Jabba arrives and starts to speak in Huttese. Xizor tells him off, so Jabba speaks Basic. (Oh, look at how powerful Xizor is!) He probes him for information about Skywalker, Han Solo, and Boba Fett, all of which he pretty much already knew. He was just wavin' his reptile dick around to show Jabba who's boss. A note is put out to warn bounty hunters looking to collect Skywalker's bounty to seek out Boba Fett (as he is Skywalker's target).

[Leia]

They're now in the Millenium Falcon headed for Gall. Chewie and Threepio play a game. Lando cooks dinner. It's terrible food.



The comic will be laid out in a similar fashion to the novel. Where the novel and comic are really similar, I will simply summarize. Where they diverge (i.e., Boba Fett and Jix's POVs), I will provide some screenshots. I'll also provide any particularly hilarious panels.

[Leia]

Alright, rewind time just a little bit now. The comic book actually begins a little bit before the novel. The novel begins with the group already having landed on Tatooine. In the comic, we begin with Luke, Leia, and co. still in space travelling away from Bespin. Luke is still getting used to his robot hand and is accidentally crushing things.



They are attacked by a small Imperial scouting force. Thankfully, the Rebals are able to jam their communications while Wedge and Rogue Squadron wipe them out.

[Vader]



We get to see Vader get chastised by the Emperor for messing up at Bespin. Vader tries to defend himself, but Palpatine waves it off and orders him to go meet with Xizor in order to finalize their shipping arrangement plans.

[Xizor]

Xizor witnesses this from the Emperor's side, then leaves with Guri to go to the meeting himself. He reminds her to contact Jabba the hut and make the bounty hunter arrangements.



[Boba Fett]

NEW POV! YAY!

Fett has just dropped out of hyperspace in Tatooine orbit. A signal beacon has just been activated. He drops down into his lower hold, but as he's Boba Fett and doesn't have time to search for it, he just lights the entire bay on fire with his flamethrower. Done.



I want to make a quick aside, as I'm about to try and untangle the ungodly mess that is IG-88. I'm not going to go into his origin, as that's not important to my purpose here. In short, IG-88 is an assassination droid who also works as a bounty hunter. In Empire Strikes Back we see IG-88B, as he is the public face of the droids. Oh, you didn't know that there are more than one? Yeah, there's four to be precise. IG-88A was the master. I say master, because he's long since been destroyed. When IG-88B was on Vader's flagship, the Executor, he downloaded data on the Death Star. IG-88A was on the Death Star II and was about to use the data to take it over just as the Rebels blew it up over Endor. No really. I'm not making this up. Anyways, IG-88B also placed a tracer on Slave I which he used to track Boba Fett to Bespin. He was ambushed by Boba Fett and destroyed there. IG-88C and IG-88D, wanting to avenge their fallen comrade, use the tracer to track him to orbit above Tatooine. Which brings us back to where we are--

Boba Fett returns to the cockpit in time to see the outline of IG-88's flagship, the IG-2000. He blows it up without much fuss, wondering if it was a decoy.



Another ship comes out of hyperspace behind the Slave I damaging it. IG-88C warns Fett to surrender, but is instead blown up because he cannot compute Fett's illogical manoeuvres. However, the damage to his ship was enough that Fett decides to retreat to Gall for repairs rather than risk bumping into another rival bounty hunter on Tatooine.



Okay, fine. Here's where I get confused. IG-88C attacks Boba Fett from a non-descript ship while using IG-2000 as a decoy. IG-88C is supposed to be destroyed in the conflict. However, IG-88D is also supposed to be damaged enough that he needs to limp off to Ord Mantell for repairs. But in the comic it's not entirely clear on whether or not IG-88C was in the non-descript ship, or if it was IG-88D. Was there an IG-88 in IG-2000? Possible, but Fett vapourizes that vessel. Maybe the comic just drew it wrong. But then was IG-88D in IG-2000 and IG-88C in the non-descript ship, or vice versa? You see IG-88's head fly off in pieces when the non-descript vessel is blown up. Maybe they were both in non-descript ships. But then why was only one shown? Was this a mistake? IG-88D was probably in IG-2000 and somehow survived. That's probably right, lets go with that.

After all, IG-88D is the one who gets blasted by Dash Rendar.

[Jix]

Vader is annoyed at having to deal with Xizor and at failing to capture Luke, so he takes out his frustration on some lightsaber dueling droids while Jix observes. Jix is a fairly chill dude, and slouches while talking to Vader, so Vader gives him a little Force Choking to teach him respect.



Anyways, Vader is aware that Fett has failed to deliver Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt. Thus, he knows that Luke will probably make an attempt to rescue his friend. He orders Jix to infiltrate Jabba's Swoop Gang in order to keep an eye on things. If Skywalker shows up, make sure he is capture alive.





Okay, so because this is a cross-media project, I'm trying to be careful not to break any forum or sub-forum rules here. The Shadows Of The Empire soundtrack is a stand alone product from the game and books. As such, I'm wary of breaking the :files: or MP3 posting rules from No Music Discussion.

Rather than posting the individual tracks, I'm going to post the write-ups for each track that is present on the inside CD cover jacket. I still recommend listening to the songs. If you have the CD, please put it on. It's really really good considering it was made for a Star Wars expanded universe project. Heck, I'd even recommend buying it if you really like it.

That said, it's not hard to find online. It's on iTunes, for example.

Anywho, the first track we get is the Main Theme and Leia's Nightmare.





Human-Cyborg Relations, C-3PO

Everyone's favourite effeminate comic relief. Once again, C-3PO is just along for the ride, being shunted from one location to another by the protagonists. Although later on, Threepio does get a chance to save the day.


Legendary Wookie from Kashyyyk, Chewbacca

Han's best friend and co-pilot. Goes by "Chewie" for short. Han rescued him way back, so he now owes the man a life-debt. As Han is otherwise disposed at the moment, and because before he was frozen he told Chewie to look after Leia, the Wookie now refuses to go anywhere without the Princess--much to her dismay.


First Emperor of the Galactic Empire, Emperor Palpatine

The only guy who seemed to be having any fun in the prequel trilogy, he's up to his old tricks here. Right now his favourite activity is trolling Vader by playing him against Xizor. Why? Because it's hilarious and Palpatine is a consummate troll.


Human Replica Droid, and Master Assassin, Guri

As mentioned, she is Xizor's right hand. She is an almost perfect replica of a human female. I shudder to think what Xizor may or may not have done with that fact, but he primarily uses her as a tool to keep his massive criminal empire under heel. She tends not to carry weapons, because she herself is a weapon.

The unfortunate thing about Guri is that artists constantly play her up as this weird sex thing. She is pretty much always depicted with a male gaze. I know that's nothing new in comic books and nerd fiction, etc., etc., but it always bums me out regardless.


Holowan Laboratories Assassination Droid, model IG-88

Real quick, there were four altogether. IG-88A stayed behind the scenes to work on his master plan of a Droid Revolution. IG-88B acted as the public bounty hunter face, and IG-88C and D acted as support. IG-88A was blown up in the first Death Star II while trying to take it over. IG-88B was destroyed by Boba Fett on Bespin while trying to get Han Solo. IG-88C was blown up by Fett over Tatooine while trying to avenge IG-88B. Also damaged in the Tatooine fight, IG-88D went to Ord Mantell to make repairs before striking at Fett on Gall. There he was terminated by Dash Rendar.

I wish I could say it ends there, but the EU just keeps on giving. If you're interested. I'm not, moving on...


Professional Gambler, Entrepreneur, and Smuggler, Lando Calrissian

After having to betray his friends under duress on Cloud City, Lando is trying to make it by helping the Rebel Alliance rescue Han. In fact, he's probably been the most helpful up to this point, as his old underworld contacts (read: Dash Rendar) are responsible for locating Han.


Industrial Automaton Astromech Droid, R2-D2

Unfortunately for Artoo, he doesn't get too much of a role in this event. Mind you, neither of the two comic relief droids really do, but while Threepio has his one moment to save the day, all Artoo gets to do is make sarcastic beeps and whistles.


Rebel Alliance Flying Ace and Leader of Rogue Squadron, Wedge Antilles

Always a fan favourite, Wedge Antilles continues to be awesome and competent in Shadows Of The Empire. He doesn't play a big role, but whenever he's in the spotlight, he gets things done.


Courtesy of nine-gear crow

Guri’s Stinger

Now’s the point where we stagger into the Expanded Universe completely. This ship doesn’t even appear in the Shadows of the Empire video game, and yet, here we are. Because this is Guri’s lone appearance in the game, (and because Blind Sally made me do it) I feel I have to post this write-up the Stinger just for the stake of posterity, same thing with the IG-2000.

The Stinger appears primarily in the Shadows of the Empire novel and comic books (as well as the direct follow up comic Shadows of the Empire: Evolution), where it’s used by Guri as her mobile base of operations while she’s out in the galactic wilderness carrying out Xizor and Black Sun’s various orders. Guri, of course is Xizor’s gynoid human-decoy bodyguard. She’s kind of a hipster, really; she was rocking that whole ‘sexy blonde cyborg’ thing a full decade before Tricia Helfer made it cool.

The ship, shaped curiously like the female body, is a heavily modified ex-Surronian Conqueror-class assault cruiser of comparable size to the Millennium Falcon. It was originally given to Prince Xizor many years ago as payment for a deal with its creators. It was later entrusted to Guri, who customized it to her own specifications.

The Stinger is equipped with a pair of forward-facing twin-linked ion canons bracketing the cockpit, a twin-linked laser cannon turret on its dorsal midship, and a concealed proton torpedo launcher. Its eight ion engines allow it to reach speeds in excess of the Incom T-65 X-Wing starfighter’s top speed, but not quite able to match that of the SFS TIE/IN Interceptor, the fastest (officially existing) craft in the Imperial Navy.

Seriously though, look at this damn thing. Who approved that design?

IG-2000

Another ship that appears in the larger Shadows of the Empire multimedia project, yet does not appear in the Shadows of the Empire video game itself. The IG-2000 is heavily modified Trilon Inc. Agressor assault fighter. It was custom built by the assassin droid IG-88 and was used by several of his copies, most notably by our old friend IG-88D, who piloted it at the time of its destruction over Tatooine in the Shadows of the Empire comic book.

According to Dash Rendar, the IG-2000 was a perfect mirror of its pilot, “cold and metal and a little bit of evil.” Loaded with heavy armor, heavy weapons, and advanced illegal sensors, it weighs twice as much as a ship of its size should. However, this is of little concern to IG-88 when the ship is out in open space and unaffected by gravity. Being a droid, IG-88 is capable of surviving extreme maneuvers that would otherwise kill a flesh-and-blood pilot, making the IG-2000 a deadly opponent in ship-to-ship combat situations.

Being a bounty hunter vessel, the ship is equipped with eight storage cells for live prisoners and one medical stasis pod for critically injured quarry, or prisoners who are too dangerous to be transported while still conscious. As such, the brig is the only area aboard the craft that is pressurized with an atmosphere while out in open space.

The IG-2000 is equipped with two forward-facing laser cannons mounted beneath the cockpit and an ion cannon to disable target craft. A pair of tractor beam projectors are installed on the forward mandibles and are designed to draw in and hold target craft in place for boarding.

The IG-2000 was destroyed over Tatooine when IG-88s C and D worked in tandem with one another to ambush Boba Fett before he delivered Han Solo’s carbonite frozen body to Jabba the Hutt. IG-88C used a non-descript decoy ship to try and attack Fett as a diversion while IG-88D emerged from hyperspace behind Slave I in the IG-2000 and attempted to destroy it with its overwhelming firepower.

Fett, however, saw through the ruse and managed to destroy the IG-2000, the decoy ship, and IG-88C. IG-88D survived the encounter, fleeing to Ord Mantell, looking to find a suitable replacement ship from the planet’s scrap yard before going after Fett again, who was now in hiding on the Imperial moon of Gall in the Zhar system.

…Supposedly. Details are sketchy on exactly which IG-88 was piloting what ship. See the rant on the matter above. All we know for certain is that the IG-2000 was destroyed by Boba Fett, IG-88C was killed in the attack, and IG-88D managed to survive and flee to Ord Mantell.

And then Dash Rendar killed him.


Jawa Sandcralwer

The mobile homes of everyone’s favourite sand scavengers. Sandcrawlers were popularized on Tatooine during the Old Republic era by companies such as the Czerka Corporation and the Corellian Mining Corporation, which used them as mobile bases to protect against Tusken Raider and Kryat Dragon attacks. As mining prospects on Tatooine dried up, the off-planet corporations eventually abandoned the planet, leaving their massive sandcralwers behind, often times out in the middle of the planet’s massive deserts.

The model of sandcrawler most familiar to people is the CMC Digger-class sandcrawler. After the corporations abandoned them, many sandcralwers were captured by the same Tusken Raiders they were originally built to ward off. The raiders then sold them to the Jawas, another species native to Tatooine. Sandcrawlers have since become an integral part of Jawa society and culture. Jawa tribes will often gather together in the desert to hold clan meets and open market bazaars, parking their massive sandcrawlers in ring-like formations for protective purposes. These gatherings of sandcrawlers are impressive sights for many off-worlders and are often places where one can find unique items for sale. One of these gatherings, dubbed “Droidfest” was a setting for part of the weird and silly “Jedi Prince” young readers book series. The series was notable for being so awful it was almost entirely retconned out of an expanded universe that still says Han Solo punching a giant space otter was a thing, and it actually happened.

Here’s a slightly concerning piece of real-world minutia involving the production of A New Hope: the sandcrawler is well known for its tank-tread base, which George Lucas modeled after the NASA Space Shuttle mobile launch platform. While filming the Tatooine scenes from A New Hope in the Tunisian desert, Lucas had a full-scale version of the bottom part of the sandcrawler built for use as a backdrop.

However, its presence in the desert nearly started a war.

Libyan leader and notable dead crazy person Muammar Gaddafi mistakenly assumed that spy photographs taken of the sandcrawler sets were showing some sort of new Tunisian tank-based weapon parked close to the Tunisia-Libya border. Believing a Tunisian sneak attack was imminent, he sent word to the Tunisian government: remove your tanks from the border, or we’re going to war. The Tunisian government then ‘politely’ asked Lucas and co. to move the set. Which he did.

So yeah, you people want to talk about how George Lucas ruined Star Wars; the man nearly started a fucking war because it.


Imperial Command Tower

As seen on the Death Star II battlestation, the Emperor’s personal command tower reaches up some 100 stories above the station’s north pole. Notable for its four-pronged structure, the tower was constructed to be a cruel mockery of the Tranquility Spire of the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

In addition to the Imperial Throne Room, the tower holds living quarters for Emperor Palpatine and his cadre of advisors and Royal Guards (yeah, that sarcophagus-looking thing in the far left of the image is what Palpatine apparently sleeps in), a council chamber, a tactical control center with top-level command overrides for every system on the battlestation, including the firing controls of its planet-destroying superlaser. It is also equipped with a docking platform capable of berthing a Lambda-class shuttle.

It also, for whatever reason, is connected directly to the Death Star’s main reactor core, a convenient feature for, oh, let’s say throwing someone whose shit you’ve finally gotten tired of into to their assuredly horrific death.

According to production concept art seen in the documentary book From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: the Best of the LucasFilm Archives, Palpatine’s throne room was originally intended to be in some sort of volcanic underground cave. It looks absolutely stupid and was probably a Lucas idea that was vetoed by someone more competent, back in the days when people capable of saying ‘no’ to George Lucas were still a thing.

The cutaway image seen above comes from Inside the Worlds of the Star Wars Trilogy, written by James Luceno and illustrated by Hans Jenssen and Richard Chasemore with consultation from Curtis Saxton. It can be found on Amazon.com starting from $27.21 USD used.

From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: the Best of the LucasFilm Archives was written by Mark Cotta Vaz and Shinji Hata, and contains artwork, models and props created by numerous LucasFilm employees. You can buy a paperback copy new from Amazon from $13.75 USD. And if you’re any kind of Star Wars/Indiana Jones nerd, or just someone who loves looking at the behind the scenes development of things from idea to finished product, then this is one book you can’t afford to pass up. Best of all, it only covers the Original Trilogy and the first three Indy films, aka, the good LucasFilm movies.


Nebulon-B2 Frigate

A production variant of the popular Kuat Drive Yards Nebulon-B frigate. The B2 frigates were roughly 50 meters shorter than the standard Nebulon-Bs, and featured a distinctive split forward hull design resembling an inverted V shape and an inverted rear engine pod compared to the standard Bs.

The Nebulon-B2 is equipped with seven turbolasers, and are clocked at speeds up to 17% faster than their standard counterparts, despite having increased armor capacities.

The majority of Nebulon-B2 frigates are operated by the Imperial Navy, with only a handful of them having made their way into Alliance control. They are usually deployed out in deep space away from the usually travelled space routes.

In terms of behind-the-scenes trivia, that’s not a whole lot about the B2s, to be honest. They originally appeared in TIE Fighter and have pretty much been X-Wing series-exclusive EU ships, save for this little damn-near stealth cameo in Shadows of the Empire. Not even Wookieepedia has clued in to the fact that it’s there on Ord Mantell. So if one of you nerds wants to update the article located here, it will put a smile on my face.

Image source: http://images.wikia.com/starwars/im.../35/Archon1.jpg


Junkyard Hovertrain

Used all over the galaxy, hovertrains are, as one would image, train-like vehicles propelled along mono-directional tracks by built-in repulsorlift drives and held on-track by maglocks located underneath each car.

I have nothing funny or interesting to say about the hovertrain. Because I hate Ord Mantell, and hovertrains are really kind of ‘boring’ compared to the other fantastical Star Wars tech sprinkled throughout the franchise. Just watch the gif and laugh you goddamn trained seals.


REPEAT OFFENDERS
● The Outrider
● Imperial Star Destroyer]
● AT-AT Walker





I'm counting "Draws" as a point for each contender.

Dash Rendar - 5

Hand Solo - 4





edit: Thank you, Dr. Snark, for the illuminating post: