Part 11: Skyhook Battle
Welp, this is it. This is the episode where Dash Rendar dies for your sins:
: : :C H A P T E R 4 0: : :
Xizor hasn't been this angry since the death of his family. All sorts of important artifacts and wealth are gone. Though they could be easily replaced and are not more than an inconvenience, he's also lost all sorts of black-mail files, personal projects, Black Sun secrets, and Guri. He orders his troops to shoot down the Falcon. Vader is nearby doin' his thing. His spy comes in with an intercepted coded message from the Virago. Yes, it's the message where Xizor orders his troops to shoot down the Falcon. Well Xizor, you done messed up. Vader now has his evidence. He makes his move.
Elsewhere. Luke has taken over controls while Dash rendezvous with Leebo on the Outrider. This is the third and final mention of Leebo in the novel, and he even gets a single line of dialogue:
Ch. 40, Pg. 369 posted:
He tapped the command button on his specialized comlink. "Hey, Leebo, you rust bucket, get your gears meshing and meet me at the following coordinates."
"My master is not in at the moment. Who is calling, please?"
"Very funny," Dash said. He looked at Luke. "Never buy a droid programmed by afailed comedianHowie Mandel."
From this point on things move rapidly. Xizor docks with his skyhook. Dash transfers to the Outrider and Luke prepares the Falcon for space combat. Xizor's people have located the Corellian freighters, so he sends his fighters out to engage. Luke is worried about now being surrounded, but the Outrider screams gleefully ahead into combat. Xizor gets annoyed when his fighters don't immediately stop the freighters. Meanwhile, Rogue Squadron has joined the fight. Luke is stoked! Turns out that Leebo had sent Wedge a distress signal (they don't even mention Leebo by name, so I don't count this as a real Leebo reference--they refer to him as "Dash's droid"). Xizor gets even more annoyed now that Rogue Squadron is there. Luke and Dash do some kickin' rad stunts and show off while blasting Star Vipers. Vader is also stoked as all fuck because the Executor is almost around Coruscant and is approaching communication range with the Falleen's Fist. Luke's combat excitement is dampening when Dash and Wedge point out that they are outnumbered 15-to-1. Xizor begins to feel a sense of relief as the Vipers are beginning to destroy or disable the Rogues. Three X-wings are already out of commission.
Vader's ship is now in range. He deploys his compliment of TIE fighters and interceptors. Leia is bummed. They are now down to 9, maybe 10 ships, including the Outrider and the Falcon. Luke starts to panic a little bit when he sees TIEs show up, but relaxes again when he sees that they are ignoring the Rogues in order to attack the Vipers. Okay, cool. Xizor's command is now in a panic because they're being attacked by the Imperial Navy. Xizor gets a personal call from Vader (it's pretty awesome):
Ch. 40, Pg. 377 posted:
Vader's image swirled into being in front of him. Xizor went on the offensive immediately: "Lord Vader! Why is the Navy attacking my ships?"
There was a pause; then Vader said, "Because the ships, under your orders, are engaging in criminal activity."
"Nonsense! My ships are trying to stop a Rebel traitor who destroyed my castle!"
There came another pause. "You have two standard minutes to recall your vessels," Vader said. "And to offer yourself into my custody."
The coldness at Xizor's core blossomed uncontrolled into an angry heat. He tried to keep his voice calm. "I will not. I will take this up with the Emperor."
"The Emperor is not here. I speak for the Empire, Xizor."
"Prince Xizor."
"You may keep the title--for another two minutes."
Xizor forced a confident smile. "What are you going to do, Vader? Destroy my skyhook? You wouldn't dare. The Emperor--"
"I warned you to stay away from Skywalker. Recall your ships and surrender into my custody or pay the consequences. I will risk the Emperor's displeasure." He paused. "However, you will not be there to see it, this time."
Xizor felt a surge of fear as the image of Vader turned ghostly and vanished. Would he do it? Would he fire on the skyhook?
He had less than two minutes before he found out. He had better decide what he was going to do.
Fast.
Luke dodges a TIE--but while the TIEs occasionally fire at the Rogues, they are targetting the Vipers almost exclusively. Luke feels a disturbance in the Force--and realizes Vader is there. (It's funny, if Vader hadn't been so petty and allowed Xizor to do his clean-up thing, the Rebellion's strongest leadership would have been cut off at this battle--ah well, Vader's thing IS that he's extremely petty). Vader watched the time slip by on his timer. When the two minutes is up, he orders the destruction of Xizor's skyhook. Luke has the Falcon facing the skyhook when it explodes. Dash leads them through the debris:
Ch. 40, Pg. 380 posted:
They headed for the debris, and it looked as if it was going to be just fine. The good guys had triumphed!
"Look out, Dash!" Lando yelled.
Luke could hardly spare a glance, but he did. Just in time to see a block of shattered skyhook the size of a resiplex zero in on the Outrider.
"Dash!" Luke yelled. It was too close to avoid--
There was an actinic flare of light too bright to look at. Luke turned away, saw Lando throw one arm up to block the glare.
When the light faded, the Outrider had vanished.
"Oh, man," Lando said. "He's--he's... gone."
Just like that.
The sweet taste of triumph went bitter in Luke's mouth.
Light-years away, at a secret Alliance base, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, Threepio, and Artoo are all reconnoitering. Xizor's skyhook is gone, as is the bounty for Luke's death--that mystery has resolved itself. Wedge comes in with a message from the Bothans: turns out the Suprosa missile was some sort of special armoured torpedo that nothing would have stopped--Dash hadn't missed.
Ch. 40, Pg. 381 posted:
Luke felt a lump of liquid air form in his belly. Oh, man. Dash hadn't screwed up, but now he would never know. How awful, to get taken out before you could learn that you hadn't been responsible for the loss of your comrades. And worse was the knowledge that Luke had felt just a little bit glad--not for the deaths, but to see a braggart like Dash taken down a notch.
Oh, man.
You should feel bad, Luke.
Anyways, what's next? They're going to get Han back--and Luke has a plan.
After escaping the blast of Xizor's Palace, Dash transfers onto the Outrider. I am utterly amazed because I've never noticed this before, but Leebo DOES get depicted in the comic! Albeit, in the background, and drawn rather shoddily, but still, here he is:
Leebo! But anyways, the battle around the skyhook rapidly descends into absolute chaos with the Star Vipers v. the Rogues v. the Imperial Navy blasting each other in an all out battle royale. I really wish this had been a mission in one of the TIE fighter or Rogue Squadron games. That would have been awesome. This skyhook battle and Gall; those are the two Shadows missions I wanted in games, not the Suprosa mission, but hey, I guess I'll take what I can get.
Of course, by this point the Alliance is an afterthought. The REAL stars of the skyhook battle are Xizor and Vader:
It's nice. Vader has been shuffled off to the side this whole journey, biding his time. When he finally gets the chance to make his move, he wreaks more havoc and destruction than either the Rebels or Xizor.
But of course, Vader's need to crush Xizor allows the Rebels the opportunity to escape.
Well, except for Dash:
Dash Rendar But who am I kidding, you all came to the Comic section of this update for one thing: Jix! (Now I'm really kidding). But seriously, here's the conclusion to ACTION FETT's adventures (which also wraps up Jix's story):
Jabba, you cheapskate.
Mirroring the space battle, which devolved into three factions shooting at each other, we have another 1 v. 1 v. 1 fight occurring on Tatooine: Fett versus Bossk's gang versus Jabba's swoop jockeys.
Spiker's ignominious death allows Jix to throw off any suspicion that he might be a mole, and thus ends his story. Though as we know, Spiker apparently survives and goes on to have absurd adventures with Big Jix, who also apparently survives, where they beat up a bunch of Dark Troopers or something. I dunno. Star Wars EU. Anyways, the Swoop Gang defeated, Bossk claims his prize:
Ho ho, Action Fett, you clever mynock, you.
Truly, Action Fett is the best Fett. He even walks off into some sort of Tatooine sunrise/sunset.
10. The Destruction of Xizor's Palace
Joel McNeely posted:
Luke tries to sneak into Xizor's palace quietly but a bungle entry sets blasters firing. When Guri reports a possible problem in the sub-sub basement, Xizor dismisses is as "another communications failure," but has Guri check it out anyways. Leia escapes when Guri comes to get her and soon she and Luke find each other. When Xizor is told of the escape he leaves to personally intercept Skywalker on level 20. "This is where it ends!"
After narrowly escaping the implosion of his majestic palace, Xizor races his ship, the Virago, to his skyhook. The Falcon, however, after an even narrower escape, is immediately thrust into battle with Xizor's forces. There are hundreds of ships. They are surrounded.
Luke soon spots a battalion of Imperial ships heading toward them. Intended, as it turns out, for Xizor rather than the Rebels, Vader is among them and Xizor must call off the attack and surrender or pay the consequences. This is to be the ultimate showdown.
As Luke and his band search for Leia, we hear more of the poem, Dha Werda Verda. Upon discovering Leia, a quiet fanfare is played, and the action begins. The musical tension builds until they encounter Xizor in a stand-off and Lando activates a thermal detonator. The race now begins for everyone to flee the palace before its now unavoidable destruction. The pace becomes increasingly chaotic as the choir adds to the orchestral frenzy with more of the text while the music crescendos as they barely make the Falcon, before the structure implodes on itself. Large bursts of percussion signify the gigantic explosion, followed by a triumphal burst as the Falcon races into space. Xizor pursues them into orbit, where the final cataclysmic confrontation takes place. The piece resolves with a reiteration of the Alliance Battle Hymn, followed by a triumphant passage signaling the end of another great adventure.
What is "Dha Werda Verda," you ask? I have no idea. Some science fantasy epic poem created for Shadows Of The Empire. I guess. It has a longer history in Wookiepedia and this soundtrack (which I'll post), but eh, who cares? Well, we do, I guess. Apparently, Karen Traviss sort of co-opted it for her Republic Commando books, and it apparently also makes an appearance in the Republic Commando game.
The poem itself:
Dha Werda Verda posted:
"Booten wooten lanlock vootem / Al a sinkee dunken pooten / Achta werda verda roll / Poonka dunkee loten cho.
Leeber soong whar tung tach picta / Manner manner migta richta / Schelecht varn toom-soing pa ho-grunten / Gersh ve dala funken mimpa / Droit! / To Gropen wettkampf Zunken!
Betteltung seeck da mindy cooten / Parta blax dha scunken drassen.
Manner manner, mitteltouse manner / Dha Dhazz jedoch / Land zu land offt letza / Unun nung.
Manner manner / Durchsprung Nocha / Immer hauk gewordenspa / Zeeetoof en poof / Olaffka begonnenspah / Var var goopinski / von moglodite / Kortzva.
Verto verto taplasko ta verto.
Vom zoomenfest / Va va voomenfest / Kopocka locka hatta statan / Schel Tha noobin rest du common / Morbskurtz!
Kaffee kaffee zum doom kaffee! / Ausbroll mobist manner mockah! / Ssstrung tartung tha stroong tartung! / Wo-cha nickschat hobbentrose.
Jungclaus dha spricken / Impoot ga kunginchock!
Kungach / Noplenkacht / Kungar Kungar / Ale Da Kungare!"
Plus, the "historical" notes from the Soundtrack booklet:
Historic Notes on Dha Werda Verda posted:
Much has been written on this famous text. We are indebted to the discoveries of space merchant and explorer Mungo Baobab (see The Adventures of MungoBaobab, Lucasfilm 1986) who found and preserved the Roonstones. Encoded into the crystal structure of the Roonstones was the earliest known text of Dha Werda Verda. It is considered original, and was translated in the Baobab archives.
The text was written five millennium before Coruscant's warlike primitive ancestors, a warrior race called the Taungs, invaded and conquered the indigenous peoples.
Dha Werda Verda recounts in epic poem fashion the legendary story of a battle between the Taungs and the vanquisged peoples, the Battalions of Zhell. The tide of the final battle was turned when a sudden volcanic eruption rained destructive ash onto the Zhell, smothering their city. The plume of ash rose kilometers in the sky, and cast a giant shadow over the land of the Taungs for two standard years. Thousands of years of continual construction have turned the orginal site of this epic battle into Imperial City. Henceforth, the Taungs became known as "Dha Werda Verda," i.e. The Warriors of the Shadow or in some translations, Dark Warriors.
The Taungs themselves saw the shadow as a symbol of their destiny and adopted the Dark Shadow Warrior identity throughout their conquests.
Welp, that's Star Wars EU lore for you!
PART 10 – Skyhook Battle
Falleen’s Fist
Named in honour of his race, Falleen’s Fist is Prince Xizor’s private skyhook station. Being a skyhook, Falleen’s Fist was not a true space station, as it was anchored to Coruscant’s surface by a space elevator connected directly to Xizor’s palace in Imperial City. When the palace and its space elevator was destroyed by
The skyhook housed all of Xizor’s personal treasures as well as a large botanical garden near the top of the station. It was defended by four turbolaser batteries mounted on each of its four docking arms, as well as by a fleet of Black Sun StarViper fighter craft and miscellaneous frigate craft.
It was destroyed in the Battle over Coruscant at the climax of the Shadows of the Empire meta-storyline by Darth Vader and his Star Dreadnaught Executor, killing both Prince Xizor and Alliance mercenary Dash Rendar in the process… allegedly.
The above image comes from the Star Wars: Galaxies MMORPG.
StarViper
The starfighter workhorse of Black Sun’s criminal armada. Manufactured by the Mandalorian-owned Mandal Motors, StarVipers are actually considered to be more mobile weapons platforms rather than starfighters because of their heavy armaments.
The StarVipers were commissioned by Prince Xizor of Black Sun to operate as the crime syndicate’s signature starfighter. He played a key role in co-developing the StarViper prototype with Mandal Motors, the ship that would eventually become his own personal starship, the Virago.
StarVipers are based off variations of the ancient Mandalorian Basilisk war droids operated by the armies of the Mandalioran war hero dubbed ‘Mandalor the Preserver,’ Canderous Ordo.
Much like the Alliance X-Wing and B-Wing starfighters, the StarViper features an S-Foil wing design, allowing both its four X-shaped wings to fold open and closed when in combat situations, as well as allowing its two heavy laser canon turrets to swing forward.
StarVipers are equipped a two twin-linked heavy laser cannons, which, as mentioned before, are mounted on swivel joints on either side of its cockpit, essentially allowing the StarViper to fire at targets in a full 360 degree arc along its beam. The craft also sports two forward-facing proton torpedo launchers, as well as military grade shielding, armour, and sensors. It has space aboard for one pilot and its Class 2 hyperdrive allows it to conduct extended missions away from Black Sun bases or carrier craft.
StarVipers employed by the Zann Consortium also come equipped with deployable buzz droids for space-based sabotage work on enemy fighters.
The Executor
The Imperial Star Dreadnaught Executor (also called a Super Star Destroyer) is the flagship of the dreaded Imperial Navy and the personal command ship of Emperor Palpatine’s second-in-command, Darth Vader.
Designed by Kuat Drive Yards, this monster of a starship is 19,000 meters longs—nearly 19 kilometres. At the time of its engagement in the Battle over Coruscant, it was commanded by Imperial Admiral Firmus Piett.
Executor-class Star Dreadnaughts are the largest currently existing craft in the Imperial arsenal. They are of a size that they could be legally considered artificial planets or moons.
The Executor is armed with over 5,000 turbolaser and ion cannon batteries, 250 concussion missile launchers, and 40 tractor beam projectors. Standard starfighter compliments for Star Dreadnaughts of its class are 144 TIE fighters of various configurations and upwards of 200 transport craft. SSDs have space for “hundreds” of walker ground vehicles and speeder craft, as well as 3 pre-fabricated orbital drop-deployed bases aboard its massive interior. In total, 300,000 beings are capable of living and working aboard the dreadnaught comfortable for any stretch of time.
Let’s just hope nothing happens to that bridge up there…
REPEAT OFFENDERS
● The Outrider
● The Millennium Falcon
● X-Wing
● TIE Fighter
● Imperial Star Destroyer (In Dash’s Mind)
nine-gear crow posted:
Vader wins this one. Sorry guys. The Executor is credited with destroying Falleen’s Fist and killing Xizor in every single other canonical source, and I am not about to argue with the weight of nerd history. Dash using the explosion as a means to fake his own death, I’ll buy, but the guy retconned an entire Super Star Destroyer out of his narrative. That’s unforgivable.
What do you mean ‘the N64 couldn’t render an object as large as the Executor’? What’s a Nintendo 64? What’s a Let’s Play? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
Blind Sally posted:
Yeah, you know what? I agree. Point for Vader. The sheer audacity he has to kill the Emperor's current favourite plaything is awesome. Forget Xizor. Xizor's a thug. He soooo had this coming.
Glory to Vader!
Dash Rendar - 11
Han Solo - 11
Darth Vader - 2
Hahaha, what? Which of you didn't see this coming? That's right, now we're leaving it in your hands.
Thread Vote! Which is the better Corellian pirate: http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?...4b084acd8563a58
I'll post the results of the vote in the Epilogue/Post-Mortem update.
*AHEM* You could also vote in the alternate poll which includes a "DARTH VADER" option: http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?...4b084acd8563ac0
Star Viper
Destruction of Falleen's Fist
