Part 7: Imperial Freighter Suprosa
This next update is rather heavy on the narrative side. That's because throughout this section Dash has a bit of a nervous break-down and takes a time out. Meanwhile, life goes on and a lot of stuff happens without him. Ah well, Dash needed a vacation.I tried to condense things as much as possible, but I was still nearing the character limit for this post. Nine-Gear Crow was gracious enough to let me bleed some of my information into his own post. It'll be structured so that content relating to the N64 mission will be in my post, while the aftermath and tangentially related events will be within Crow's post.
DailyMotion versions of the videos are coming, we promise. We've just been delayed with, stuff--
Suprosa Docking
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Leia continues to wait at the casino. Meanwhile, it's revealed that Black Sun gave the information we learned of last update to the Bothans in order to help the Rebels. Xizor is playing both sides. Guri is about to leave for Rodia to rendezvous with Princess Leia and expresses her disapproval on the way out.
Elsewhere, Luke and Dash arrive on Bothawui. Dash bribes and bullies their way to their contact, Koth Melan.
Chapter 17, Page 160-161 posted:
Luke frowned. How could they convince this droid to let them in? Couldn't bribe him, the Force wouldn't work--
Dash grinned and pulled his blaster. Pointed it at the droid. "Okay, Goldie. My name is Man with a Blaster About to Cook You. Either you open the door or your busy Bothan is going to have to get himself a new receptionist."
"Oh dear," the droid said[, ...] "Very well, Man with A Blaster About to Cook You."
When they finally meet Melan, he reveals that he is out to avenge his father who had been killed by the Empire. He needs to do this in order to restore his honour, blah blah blah, whatever. Koth Melan isn't that important a character. Melan lets slip he knows of Dash's past, Dash gets pissed, Luke gets curious--it doesn't go any further than that, for the moment.
Chapter 17, Page 163 posted:
Dash gritted his teeth; Luke saw his jaw muscles flex. "That's none of your business," he said.
Luke didn't say anything, though the question leaped to the top tier of his mind: What did they do to you, Dash?
Anyways, secret plans are being transported aboard the Imperial Freighter Suprosa. Luke convinces Dash to tag along by promising him another bonus.
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Vader broods to himself because he thinks the Emperor's plans are stupid. Leia, meanwhile, is still waiting at the casino. Avaro makes another appearance to tell her that Black Sun's representative is on her way. Leia is pleased to note that the representative is a woman.
For Luke and Dash, things get busy quick. First they go with Koth Melan to meet the Bothan squad comprised of Y-wings. While there, Koth tells Luke that their source was a female Black Sun informant. HMMM, I WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE, RIGHT EVERYONE!? It's Guri. Anyways, Luke leads the squad to the freighter. The approach and hail the Suprosa. The captain insists they're hauling fertilizer, but the squad doesn't take any of that. After Luke threatens to disable the ship, the Suprosa drops their cargo to reveal hidden weapon bays. A torpedo is launched at the Bothans. Luke goes to shoot it, but Dash gets in the way. He fires at it, to no avail. Dash persists and gets more perplexed as to why thing doesn't go boom-boom when he presses "shoot-gun" button. Luke tells him to move, he doesn't, and four Y-wings are lost in the ensuing explosion, killing eight Bothans total. Luke kills the Suprosa's engines himself.
Chapter 18, Page 172-173 posted:
"Blast!" Dash said. "I've got to be hitting it! Why doesn't it stop?"
"Dash! Come on!" Luke yelled.
"Shut up, I've got it, stop, you blasted piece of junk, stop!"
"Move, Dash!"
"No, I'll get it!"
"Incoming!" Blue Six yelled. "Scatter!"
The four fighters tried to split up, separated like an opening fist.
Too late.
The missile exploded among them, and when the blast cleared, all four ships, eight Bothans were gone.
"I can't have missed," Dash said, his voice incredulous. "I can't."
Afterwards, a disappointed and angry Luke orders Dash to bring his ship around.
INSERT N64 IMPERIAL FREIGHTER SUPROSA MISSION HERE
None of the stuff in-game happens here in the book. I feel we can trust it, though, as it doesn't actually contradict anything. Of course someone would have to board the ship. That makes sense. Why not send Dash? It's also being reinforced in XWA, so I feel confident we can give Dash a pass here.
Also, Blue Six is just a nobody in the book, but is revealed in X-Wing Alliance to be Rebel pilot Ace Azzameen. However, because Ace is a mute in the game, the line he says in the book is instead given to a random Bothan pilot.
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Back at the base, Koth Melan analyzes to Suprosa's supercomputer. Koth discovers that the computer is encrypted, so he and Luke make plans to travel to Kothlis, the Bothan homeworld, to have it looked at. Dash is visibly shaken and sits in a funk off to one side. Luke feels a bit sorry for him, but not too sorry. He doesn't want to deal Dash considering the state he's in, so he sends him off to Rodia to meet with Leia and co.
Chapter 19, Page 177-178 posted:
The were on board the Outrider in the ship's lounge. Dash sprawled on a built-in chair, staring at the wall, not saying anything. He was stunned at his failure to stop the missile that had taken out four of the Y-wings. As much as Luke had wanted to see Dash taken down a notch, that was not how he would have seen it done. Dash was disappointed that he wasn't as good as he'd thought he was, but at least he was alive--more than he could say about half his attack unit.
[...]
He looked at Dash. He couldn't bring him along, not the way he was now. He was too rattled.
Speaking of Leia, Avaro tells her that the Black Sun rep has arrived. She and Chewie greet her in their hotel room while Lando hides in the corner armed, just in case. When Guri arrives, Leia is surprised by her. They engage in a bunch of political smalltalk, but basically Guri makes it clear that Black Sun wants to help. She reveals that they helped the Alliance retrieve some secret Imperial construction plans and they make plans to meet later. After Guri leaves, Lando points out that he couldn't see any hidden weapons on her. Threepio notes that he couldn't place her accent, so he's unsure which planet she's from--though he also points out that her Basic is flawless. Chewie simply says that she made him "very nervous."
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Xizor watches the meeting between Guri and Leia. He listens to Guri's suggestions, which are hilarious, but ultimately decides to interrogate Leia himself.
Chapter 20, Page 184 posted:
"Your suggestion?" [Xizor asked.]
"Kill her. Kill her Wookiee and gambler companion. Wipe the protocol droid's memory and melt it down. Eliminate Avaro as well, just to be sure. And anybody in the casino who might have recognized her." [Guri said.]
Oh, Guri. If only Xizor had listened to you.Later, Xizor and the Emperor watch the footage of the Suprosa hijacking. It's revealed that Xizor convinced the Emperor to go along with this plan so he can play both sides. Interesting.
Luke arrives on Kothlis, and he and Koth Melan go to the Alliance safehouse. Leia, meanwhile, has her group set up a scanner for when Guri visits next. During this time, they are notified that the Outrider has arrived in the port. When they meet Dash, he tells them what happened with he, Luke, and the Bothans. They try and get him to lighten up about missing, but he freaks out because HE'S DASH RENDAR, DAMMIT, AND DASH RENDAR DOESN'T MISS!!! BOTHAN'S DIED BECAUSE DASH RENDAR MISSED, DAMMIT, AND DASH RENDAR DOESN'T MISS!!!
Ch. 20, Pg. 190 posted:
Lando said, "Hey, lighten up, Dash. Things get heavy in the middle of a battle. Anybody can miss--"
"Not me! I don't miss. I should have clipped that missile! Bothans died because I missed, you understand?"
Leia was silent. She didn't like Dash Rendar; he was a braggart and stuck on himself; but at least he had some feeling for others. Maybe it was more because his self-confidence had been shattered, but she could tell it had really rattled him. It must be a terrible thing to think you are the sharpest thing in the skies and then to find out you have a dull spot on your edge.
Nobody said anything for a while.
And off somewhere in space, space-brooding all to himself, is Vader. He is annoyed with Xizor and believe he's too dangerous to keep alive. However, he needs evidence before he get away with crushing him. He resolves to make that his top priority and goes off to beat up some more dueling droids.
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Things kind of blow up here, for both Luke and Leia.
Just as the Bothan techies find something cool on the Suprosa's computer, the door explodes and people rush in shooting. Luke tries to fight off the attackers with his new lightsaber and escape with Melan, but unfortunately the Bothan takes a hit and dies. Luke is captured by some reptilian aliens called Barabels. Apparently they don't leave their homeworld very often and have great respect for Jedis--they take him prisoner regardless, because of course they do.
Leia sits with Guri during their second visit. She checks her pocket scanner discretely to discover that Guri is only 10-years-old. Well, according to the skin scanners. Also, the sleeping drug in her tea is showing no signs of affecting her. Tired of small talk, Guri threatens Leia to come with her. Leia tips her hand and Chewie, Lando, and Dash all reveal themselves with blasters drawn. Guri surrenders and lets Leia decide what to do. Leia being Leia, she decides to go to Coruscant with Guri. Lando mentions that he suspects Guri to be a Human Replica Droid, because Lando has literally heard of every mysterious or illicit rumour in the Star Wars universe. They plan to go meet the head of Black Sun and--Guri interrupts because they decided to have this conversation in front of her. (Brilliant). Anyways, she offers to escort her, as that was her plan anyways. She reveals that she works directly for Xizor. Lando and Dash are surprised, but Leia is nonplussed--she doesn't know who Xizor is. Guri calls up Xizor directly and he tells Leia that he has information on Luke's assassination attempt.
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Luke's Barabel bounty hunter reveals himself as Skathul. Apparently they captured him for the live bounty, as the dead bounty was not as lucrative. They mention that the amount is enough to buy have a city. They plan to start a bidding war with Luke between the two contracts. Xizor sits around looking forward to
Ch. 22, Page 211 posted:
Guri said, "They belonged to Boushh, an Ubese bounty hunter. Boushh was quite good at the trade. He did a lot of contract work for Black Sun. He... retired recently."
"As it happens, I speak a bit of Ubese," Leia said.
"We know. The costume is not a coincidence."
Chewie gets a bad haircut, a dye job, and is rechristened "Snoova." Back at Dark-and-Brooding Central, Vader receives word that bounty hunters have Luke. The Emperor notes that the Death Star II plans are with Luke and orders Vader to go and collect the bounty himself. The rationale is that it will make the Rebel Alliance aware of just how valuable the secret plans are.
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Luke uses Force Persuade to escape. Leia and Chewie go through customs without Guri to avoid suspicion. Once onto Coruscant, they travel to the Southern Underground which is a goddamned mess and makes Mos Eisley and Rodia's casino complex look like fun places to be. They go to a Ho'Din master gardener named Spero and Leia calls in an old debt. They get some info on Xizor from him, but it's nothing the reader doesn't already know. Vader sits around looking forward to grooming Luke as his right-hand.
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Luke bumps into a guard, but escapes again--this time after retrieving his lightsaber. Just as he's about to be overwhelmed, the bounty hunters are attacked and scatter. It's Lando! Turns out Dash gave him the coordinates (so he IS good for something). Luke is worried when he hears about Leia and Chewie, so they grab Artoo and Threepio and leave. Just as they slip off into hyperspace to Tatooine, a Super-class Star Destroyer shows up. Surprise, surprise, it's the Executor, Vader's flagship. Leia and Chewie reunite with Guri. Xizor sits around in another painfully anime scene. Ugh, it's so frustrating. This scene shows off how civilized and refined he is. He has the Star Wars version of a bonsai tree and spends his time carefully trimming it as they grow extremsklsdsaeawfvqc njH AJVB RH#:Q*BF JDH L@N C* R WK#YCI#Y@DX*( COME ON! UGH! Here, read it yourself:
Ch. 20, Pg. 227 posted:
Xizor observed with a critical eye the lower branches of his six-hundred-year-old miniature firethorn tree. The small plant had been a gift from a former rival seeking to make peace with Black Sun after a... business disagreement. Less than half a meter high, the tiny tree was a nearly perfect replica of the hundred-meter-tall firethorn trees that grew only in a single small grove of the Irugian Rain Forest on Abbaji. The dwarf tree had been in the former rival's family for ten generations and was, to one who knew the value of such things, most precious. Were his fortunes to evaporate and leave him completely broke, Xizor would still not sell this plant, not if someone offered him a decamillion credits.
There were those who would offer that much and more. Little trees such as this had connected to them a great deal of history.
He moved the tiny mechanical scissors in with great pecisions. Centered the almost hair fine branch between the blades... cut...
Ah. Perfect. That single cut was all the trimming needed this year. Perhaps next season he would take off that obtuse-angled branchlet on the next ascending branch. He had a year to think about it. He pulled the scissors away carefully. Regarded the firethorn. Beautiful, it was. Beautiful to excuse the mistakes of its former owner. The man had made errors in judgement, but this gift showed he was also a man of some taste and intelligence. Errors could be forgiven if there were other mitigating reasons. Xizor was, after all, a civilized being, not a reflexive thug.
He would allow Princess Leia to find that out about him. Just as he would allow her to find out other, more intimate things about him...
Xizor and the Emperor watch first hand the skirmish over the Suprosa:
Just another opportunity for Xizor to appear servile to Palpatine while playing both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance against each other. I'm convinced Palpatine knows something is up but goes along with it anyways. The guy is simply too crafty and too powerful--he must detect something through the Force. Even so, I'm sure he'd love it. Palpy is all about double-crossing and scheming.
Meanwhile, after sending Dash home to mope and heading to Bothawui, Luke gets himself into a bit of a space-pickle--
Despite a valiant effort, Koth Melan goes down. Permanently. (Insert "many Bothans gave their life for this information" joke here).
Lucky for Luke, the "live bounty" pays better.
This whole Barabel side-plot is mostly fluff. Ultimately, it just gives Vader something to do. For now, we get needless backstory on a species and characters we're never going to see again. Also, the way the Barabels are drawn allow for some really awkward Muppet-looking frames:
Good thing Luke put all his skill points into Force Persuade. He uses it to escape his cell, locate his lightsaber, and make an escape. He's almost overwhelming when Lando shows up to rescue him.
Action Fett Interlude Somewhere in space, Action Fett (that's what I'm calling him now) monologues about the woes of his life and makes some action hero-y statements with regards to his prisoner:
Poor Zuckuss.
We now return you to the main Shadows Of The Empire plot Leia travels with Guri to Coruscant. Look at that ship. What is that? Why does Guri, the femme fatale stereotype, have to have a ship that looks like a hyper-sexualized female body?
They make it through Coruscant customs easily thanks to their costumes. That little bald fellow is Howzmin. He's here for the escort mission. Really, his existence is only to pad out Xizor's ranks of nameless and unimportant Black Sun employees. He appears in the comic so I thought I'd include him as part of the update, but he does nothing of note.
Leia's journey is about to get a whole lot weirder.
Also, those guys in the funny purple and gold armour are Xizor's personal guards. They look nothing like this in the game, so enjoy the hilarious comic version while you can.
Track 5 - The Southern Underground
Joel McNeely posted:
Leia, wanting a meeting with a representative of Black Sun, leaves with Chewbacca for Coruscant and goes to an area known as the Southern Underground. If, somewhere in the galaxy, there was a more wretched assembly of social outcasts she did not want to see it; even Mos Eisley looked good in comparison. Coruscant, with its surface almost completely built over, has a foundation that, in places, is a kilometer deep. The dregs of the planet seem to have gathered in these dark corridors, where a blue-gray mold grows ten centimeters thick on the walls and ceilings and the stink is unimaginable. From an old Ho'Din named Spero, Leia learns that the leader of Black Sun is a Falleen named Xizor, but is warned "Move with care, Princess. Black Sun is a formidable foe."
This piece is meant to convey the quirky environment in which Leia and Chewbacca find themselves.
Track 6 - Xizor's Theme
Joel McNeely posted:
Xizor, the Dark Prince, is the leader of Black Sun--his power is surpassed by only the Emperor himself and the Dark Lord of Sith, Darth Vader. He is physically strong and intellectually powerful, and irresistible to most females. Xizor rules his galactic empire from a magnificent palace with an unbreachable security system which ensures that there are no unwelcome visitors. A troop of a thousands soldiers would not be able to infiltrate this stronghold--it is a fortress. Xizor may be third in power but his sights are set on ascension. Unspeakably evil, cold-blooded and without remorse, Xizor is to be feared. To contend with Xizor is to lose. To challenge Xizor is to die.
Like Imperial City, I imagine this scene as a trip through the palace of the leader of the Black Sun. As the piece begins we hear faint echoes from the prison cells hidden deep below. As we travel through this massive structure we encounter evidence of great horror, incongruously side by side with objects of great beauty. While Xizor is a criminal with few peers, he has a cultivated taste of fine art and classic beauty. This is suggested by the wild, ugly motifs from the orchestra followed by moments of seemingly out-of-place classical passages. As a Falleen, Xizor's reptilian roots led me to compose a theme of a simple angry melodic line, accompanied by a battery of ethnic percussion. The middle section conveys Xizor's romantic side, but the primal ultimately wins out.
Loyal Human-cyborg servant to Prince Xizor, Howzmin
He's got a radio device implanted directly into his head so he can be contacted anywhere. He doesn't really do anything but appear in the background to do menial things that would be wasted on Guri. Otherwise, there isn't much to him. After escorting Leia and Chewie with Guri, he kind of disappears. I think he gets mentioned a couple more times, but only to note that he was somewhere in the background.
Bothan Spymaster and Head of the Bothan Spynet, Koth Melan
Koth Melan doesn't get much to do in Shadows. Notify the Alliance about the secret plans, help them retrieve the secret plans, decode the secret plans, and die--so I guess he gets to be part of that infamous line about "many Bothans dying," but eh. He does appear in X-Wing Alliance, so there's that. Poor guy doesn't get much respect. Heck, he doesn't get a single mention in the Shadows game; I guess Dash didn't think it relevant to the story.
Barabel bounty hunter, Skahtul
Welp, I didn't even realize this until I double-checked some info on Woookiepedia, but it turns out Skahtul is a female! Go figure!
Thankfully, in later appearances she is drawn with breasts. Thank goodness they did that so I wasn't confused. Yup, not like they could have used any other gender identifier present in reptiles, like size, friges, body spurs, colours, or patterns. Nope, good ol'mammalian breasts. That's the ticket.
I'm counting Crow's last update as part of the Dash v. Han count, despite the fact that he didn't realize Han was a swoop enthusiast at the time. I feel the other points remain relevant, and no one challenged it, so I'm declaring it a valid vote.
Blind Sally posted:
I can't forgive Dash his arrogance. Most of the time his 'tude is pretty hilarious. This time--not so much. His subsequent "sad phase" is a bit of a disappointment too. Fortunately, Dash eventually does get over himself and steps up to do the right thing, but it takes some time. This is Dash's lowest point, and I'm afraid I can't clap him on the back for it. Han, ol'buddy, you get the point for never being quite as full of yourself as Dash.
nine-gear crow posted:
I have to give this one to Dash by default. Han still has his ass frozen in carbonite at this point, and Dash actually does board the Suprosa and captures the computer which has the Death Star II plans on it. Yeah, Koth Melan and the Bothans are the ones who finally decode it, but Dash actually set the stage for the Empire’s eventual defeat at Endor.
You heard it here first, DASH RENDAR SINGLEHANDEDLY DEFEATED THE GALACTIC EMPIRE!
Dash Rendar - 9
Han Solo - 7
NOTE: The art contest will continue on for a bit. There haven't been a tonne of submission, but frankly, that's okay. I'm over the moon for what we have currently received. If we receive more, great. I'll probably still create a few more abominations myself--
--but things are going to get pretty weird soon, so I'm hoping that will provide inspiration.
"Snoova" and "Boushh" on Courscant:
Shadows of the Empire Comic - Issue 4 Cover.