Lit The Following Takes Place Between 35:3:8 and 39:3:7 of the GCW. Events Occur in Real Time.

Droid deaths don't count. It's hard enough keeping track of his organic victims. I think that the primary focus on mechanical enemies during the Clone Wars is what contributed most to his 32 year dry spell: there were just fewer targets.

 

35:3:10

In orbit over Delrakkin, aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Liquidator, Admiral Terno begins to worry at the lack of communication from Grand Moff Tarkin and the Death Star, deploying a Carrack cruiser commanded by Captain Skeezer (oy...) to investigate the status of the Death Star in the Yavin system. (Missions #1: Assault on Yavin Four)

Darth Vader defends his pack from the attack of another predator before finally arriving at the Imperial outpost on Vaal. He commandeers the shuttle there and departs for Coruscant. His pack then devours the Imperial crew slacking off at the outpost. (Empire #14: The Savage Heart).

At dawn, Luke dwells on the events of the past few days before taking his fighter for a joy ride. With it's droid socket still damaged from the battle, Artoo squeezes into the cockpit with Luke (...somehow).

During the flight, a surviving TIE Fighter from the Death Star attacks him. Their dogfight ends up crashing both fighters into the jungles of Yavin IV. Luke's Red 5 fighter being pretty well totaled as it lands in a slimy mudhole of a lake. Luke eventually subdues the TIE Pilot (was it ever established if this is Qorl?) and spares his life as he's picked up by the Rebels who saw his crash. (Marvel Illustrated: The Day After the Death Star!)

Later that day, with celebrations stiil going on, Luke begins to take a look at his X-Wing fighter, tweaking the torpedo launch on the advice of Wedge (this has to be a new X-Wing issued to him, since he just wrecked Red 5 earlier today (and this scene cannot be set before the events of Day After the Death Star, unfortunately, given the progression of events to come*; perhaps that would explain Wedge's advice to tweak the launcher, with him being familiar with it's characteristics/status prior to being reassigned to Luke; however this does make Leia's comment to Luke about his fighter seem kind of harsh given that she must know he just crashed it hours earlier...).

(after Leia reacts to seeing the hologram of the Death Star)​

"Relax, Princess. That thing ain't ever coming back." (Han Solo, Missions #1)​

The rest of this story's events take place throughout the rest of the day, with Skeezer being captured (by an unknown Rebel who might be Luke?) and the revelation that the Death Star was carrying a large amount of contaminated bacta as cargo. An ancient droid named Q-7N is discovered in the ruins of a temple in the jungle and joins the Rebels. It concludes in the middle of the night with Leia summoning General Dodonna about the bacta situation. (Missions #1: The Assault on Yavin IV)

"Sometime later"** Vader arrives on Coruscant aboard the shuttle, ordering forces be dispatched to recover his fighter on Vaal (and to replace the lost crew of the outpost). (Empire #14)

Wookieepedia's Summary of The Day After the Death Star!:

Spoiler

An excited Luke Skywalker sneaks off from the celebration following the destruction of first Death Star to go joyriding with R2-D2 in his T-65 X-wing starfighter. They encounter a TIE/LN starfighter, a lone straggler left over from the battle, in the sky over Yavin 4 and engage in a dogfight. When Luke discovers his X-wing's weapons have no charge, he is forced to collide with the TIE before the Imperial fighter can put him in its sights. Suffering damage, both craft spiral out of control to the jungles of Yavin 4 below and Luke manages to crash nose-first into a lake, but loses R2-D2 in the process.

Scrambling to shore, Luke berates himself for acting so rashly, which has caused him to wind up stuck out in the jungle with no way to call for help. His problems grow worse, however as the TIE pilot Qorl has managed to bring his own stricken craft down nearby and fires a shot at Luke just as Luke is shrugging out of his flight suit. As he lies in wait for the TIE pilot to approach, Luke discovers that in his haste he has left his gunbelt at the party—he is unarmed!

As the TIE pilot rounds the tree Luke is hiding in, he at first thinks the smoking ruins of Luke's flight suit are all that remains of his target, and Luke uses that moment to spring from the branches overhead and onto the pilot. The two wrestle for the TIE pilot's blaster, but the pilot's armor gives him advantage and Luke's blows do little damage. When Luke manages to finally get a hold of the blaster, it is at the cost of taking his weight off the TIE pilot, who upends them both into the nearby lake. There the pilot's breathing apparatus provides him with air that Luke doesn't have, while the weight of his armor helps him hold Luke down until he drowns.

However, Luke grabs one of the TIE pilot's respirator hoses and the tables are turned. Luke drags the near-drowned pilot to the shore and stands over the unconscious body with a club, intending to take vengeance upon the Imperial for the deaths of uncle Owen, aunt Beru and Obi-Wan Kenobi. But the TIE pilot's helmet falls off revealing the face of the pilot and Luke realizes the enemy is more than just armor and starships—the enemy lives and breathes, just like he does. Kill when it can be avoided and Luke would be no better than the Imperials at their worst.

When Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca and the droids arrive, having tracked the wreckage to the lake, Luke is waiting there for them, with memories not only of the day he destroyed the Death Star, but of the day after as well.

Wookieepedia's summary of Missions #1:

Spoiler

Over the planet Delrakkin, Admiral Termo awaits a transmission from Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin in the Yavin system. When the transmission does not arrive, Termo grows concerned, and prepares to dispatch a strike team to Yavin.

Meanwhile, at the Great Temple on Yavin 4, the Rebels are celebrating the destruction of the Death Star, until C-3PO interrupts them with the news that R2-D2 has discovered something interesting. According to the Death Star plans, the battle station was carrying copious amounts of bacta as cargo. While Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa ponder what this could mean, Threepio receives a relay signal from a beacon in the system, and informs the Rebels that an unknown ship has entered the system. Their sensors indicate that it is a modified Carrack cruiser, probably searching for the Death Star. General Jan Dodonna orders that they lay low, and allow the ship to pass, but Solo disobeys, and sets out after the craft in the Millennium Falcon. Upon reaching the craft, Solo opens fire, and forces the Carrack to crash land on Yavin 4. Dodonna decides that they must send a force out to stop the survivors from sending a distress signal and alerting the Empire to their presence.

Dodonna selects one of the Rebels to scout ahead and survey the Imperial strength. The scout, using a speeder bike, reaches a clearing, and is nearly captured by Imperial stormtroopers, but quickly defeats them. The scout then finds more stormtroopers who are planning to launch a distress beacon, and quickly kills them too. Realizing that they will not be able to neutralize all of the Imperials, the scout disguises themselves as a Stormtrooper, hijacks an Imperial landspeeder, attaches their speeder bike to the back of it and sneaks into the Imperial camp. However, the scout forgets to turn off their comlink, and their cover is soon blown. The scout quickly escapes into a nearby temple to avoid capture. Within the temple, the scout encounters a battle droid, but defeats it. Venturing further into the temple, the scout encounters two more battle droids, and defeats them, as well as a worm-like creature. The scout then discovers Q-7N, a security droid left by the Sith builders of the temple. 7N, thinking that the scout is an Imperial, sends the scout hurtling through a trapdoor, and pits them against two stormtroopers. The scout kills the two stormtroopers with ease, only for Q-7N to reveal that they were in fact holograms. Convinced that the scout is friendly, Q-7N aids them in their quest to capture the Imperial captain. The scout is able to escape, but is pursued by Captain Skeezer. Q-7N slams himself against the captain, knocking him out and saving the scout. The scout then returns to the Rebel base with the damaged ancient droid.

Afterwards, Artoo repairs Q-7N, while Solo learns from the captured Captain Skeezer that the bacta carried by the Death Star was contaminated.

*Luke wouldn't assume the TIE Fighter was from the Death Star but rather the Carrack cruiser if it had taken place before DATDS, for example, and he wouldn't be taking a joy ride while Imperials were landed on Yavin IV anyways.

**Apparently Vader would be refused audience with the Emperor and ordered to retrieve the fighter himself. The timing of this is somewhat nebulous, but basically forces Vader out there for his later journeys "home" in Scoundrel's Luck and Missions #17. How this fully fits in with sources whee Dodonna sends out the search for Vader before the Empire can retrieve him seems a bit wobbly but we'll see what happens.

The Day After the Death Star!, beyond the silly Artoo cockpit thing (why even bother focusing on the damaged droid socket if you need Artoo? Just say it was fixed and put him in there!), is a pretty decent story. It does have the drawback of most older comics of the era, with the heavy reliance on descriptions (both narrator and in dialogue) rather than the more modern cinematic style, but it's story point is an interesting one and mature enough to keep one's attention.

Also note that The Day After the Death Star! has two pages swapped (at least in the Last Hope For the Galaxy remastered editon): Pages 49 and 50 are swapped. Oddly enough you don't notice it (thinking they just jumped past the immediate aftermath of the crash) until you turn the page (when events noticeably "jump back").

Star Wars Missions has been an interesting reading experience, being that the books are part 3rd person narrative, part first person narrative and part gameplay choices/mechanics. Treating it closer to a video game (where gameplay elements are ignored but story elements are accepted) is an effective enough of an approach (and easier than some video games since at least 1/2 of the story is clearly delineated from the "gameplay").

It reminds me of the Doom movie: two narrative chunks bookending a main FPS sequence, only with a bit of nested IF-statement pseudocode-like game options.

Here it seems the "FPS" sequence stars an unknown Rebel, ditto for book 2 later on, though Book 3 suggests it might be Luke (as a lightsaber is an option, which would tie into the "powers" mechanic as well).

It's a mix of good and bad: some lines of dialogue are very much aimed at a younger reader with very obvious descriptive lines of dialogue and a clear "the Empire would never heal it's citizens they're always evil" perspective of things. Almost every book also has the 1st person character disguising themself as a stormtrooper or TIE Pilot to infiltrate an Imperial group. So that's kinda overdone, heh.

Also, things like Han just rushing out the door to attack a Carrack cruiser against orders seems way too spontaneous and unnecessary even for Solo.

However, some very nice character echanges find their way into the mix, including one of my favorite Han/3PO bits (below) and it's hard not to love Doctor Solo and Doctor Chewbacca.

Solo: Did you lose your little pal?​

3PO: What? Who? Oh! You mean Artoo-Detoo!​

Solo: No I meant the technician that got you perfectly polished in time for the victory ceremony,​

3PO: Oh, no, I'm not looking for her. But she did do an excellent job, didn'y she?​

Luke: Han is joking with you, Threepio.​

(...)​

3PO: Excuse me, Master Solo, but I wonder whether you could explain why you... joke with me?​

Solo: Sure, I'll explain it. (aims a finger at Threepio's chest, when 3PO lowers his chin, Solo brings the fimger up to tap 3PO's "nose".)​

Solo: It's because I like you.​

3PO: You like me? Really? How very generous of you, Captain Solo!​

(Chewbacca growls and wipes away the smudge on 3PO's "nose")​

3PO: Oh1 I guess that means you like me too, Chewbacca! How wonderful!​

Can totally picture Anthony Daniels delivering those lines.

Anyways, I'm tempted to one day do my own transcription of the Mission books, minus the game stuff (or a fan narrative combination of your options- though they usually involve shooting something or shooting something else to crash into your target.. however, for the young readers, they seem to use the term "neutralize" more often to, presumably, make the multiple killings seem less violent).

Fun Fact: Combining the covers of Missions #1 and Missions # 3 will give you 2/3rds of the cover to Millennium Falcon. And it won't look all that much different in quality. This is one of the many reasons I really, really hate that cover art.


Star Wars Missions #1: The Assault on Yavin Four has not been reprinted outside it's original subscription availability, but can often be found second hand on ebay or Amazon, etc.

 

That was a fun little fact I was going to bring up at some point- I plan to review the first 6 months or so when we hit that point and go over some of the tidbits that fall between the main sources but don't fall into a specific date other than the first half yeah ABY.

 

I'm winging the game stuff I don't have. TC's timeline put the Yavin BF level at the time of the Missions #1 battle, but going by the summary on Wookieepedia, it didn't sound like it would matchup.

I do have some ideas of how they might fit and will be watching some videos to get a better grasp of those details so hopefully I can work them in in time.

MX- I own most of it but am missing some (the last 4 Mission books, the Pizzaz comics, a lot of the short stories, SW Kids). For such sources I'm relying on summaries and existing timelines.

 

Going by your descriptions, the recon BF mission would have to have been from the Death Star itself and not another Imperial source, as we'll soon see the Liquidator did not know what planet or moon the Rebel base was on in the Yavin system, only that the Death Star was going there (though I suppose we could chalk that up to the Liquidator being isolated waiting fir Tarkin's signal, but still you'd think the Emperor would have mentioned that detail what with it being relevant to the mission orders after Delrakkin).

That second level sounds like it would have to be either in the direct aftermath of the battle on 3:8 or in the hours before the throne room celebration on 3:9. I would favor the former, because they wouldn't be partying if they suspected Imperials were still on the loose, whereas a day after the mop-up actions would track somewhat.

There's really no room for there to be an Imperial attack in the next few days given the plotline scenarios of the first four Mission books (where they're working so hard to avoid word getting out to the Empire).

However... TDATDS mentions a theory by Luke (or the narrator) that the TIE Fighter/"Qorl" had been damaged during the Battle of Yavin and had set down on a moon in the system for repairs, which is why it wasn't back in action until Luke's joyride a couple days later.

Now, I haven't yet looked at the level's circumstances, but... what if he wasn't alone?

Could the evacuees have rendezvoused with "Qorl" on another Yavin moon, then "Qorl" goes in a couple days later to scout the base for the survivors but the Imps don't hear back from him since he gets shot down. A couple days later they miss contact with the Liquidator (or maybe they do make contact and get some shuttles/supplies before it's destroyed) and then, thinking they are cut off from reinforcements after the loss of the Liquidator (or are running out of supplies and have no choice), make their way to Yavin 4 for the attack?

((EDIT- Nevermind, I watched the intro video for that level. "Ackbar" says they escaped the Death Star blast and landed in escape pods. He says they have to eliminate the Imperials "before our celebration can truly begin". So that's definitely 3:8 or 3:9 for the placement of that level.))


Tantor's situation is interesting because Missions establishes that the Emperor doesn't want word of the Death Star's destruction to get out (at least as of the setting of Missions #4), though it does seem like the higher ups are informed (so it wouldn't be impossible for a General to breach orders and tell someone, especially for such a retaliatory strike).

Condensing it and the BF2 level you describe would seem to make sense- though if they don't line up, as you said, there's no reason they have to be the same thing. Having a history of harassing attacks on the Rebel base during the blockade would certainly make more sense than having the blockade be the Imperial equivalent of the tower on the Warners movie lot.

EDIT- I did see the ES entries in TLG. I passed over the X2/Shara base defense detail to keep the battle summary a bit shorter but in retrospect that was probably a worthy detail. The other detail about X2/Shara recovering the beacon from the wreckage to use in the forthcoming blockade seemed like a minor detail best saved for later.

Obviously, going by the past few posts, I'm going to have to increase my efforts to lock down some of these game level placements.

This also just reminded me that I actually freaking own BF1 but forgot due to PC problems from 9 years ago preventing me from really playing it (and KOTOR) at the time and then it's story getting overshadowed by BF2's relatively shortly thereafter.

 

He's just narrating the mission setup- maybe its another Mon Cal? Ackbar was already rescued by the Alliance at this time, so it's not impossible for it to be him, though.

 

Perhaps it's a low-level briefing, so as not to give him too high a rank? Or even something recorded after the fact for a simulation?

35:3:11

At 0300 hours, Dodonna meets with Leia about the contaminated bacta. About 5 minutes later, Han, Luke, Leia, the droids (including Q-7N) and at least one other Rebel take off in the Falcon for Thyferra, in the hopes of tracking down the source of the bacta.

At this point it has been 12 hours since Skeezer left Delrakkin for Yavin (which would place the majority of Missions #1 as having taken place in the afternoon; the Doctor olo/ Doctor Chewbacca scene though did take place on this day, presumably between midnight and 3 am).

Terno follows his secret orders and makes contact with an unknown recipient who is revealed to be the Emperor himself. At this point, Palpatine is already aware of the Death Star's destruction and informs Terno, though orders him to keep it a secret (though I'd have to assume most Imperials and the public wouldn't even know the Death Star existed at this point, so I'm not sure what effect that would have even if he did).

Following an observation by Q-7N, Threepio thinks of himself and Artoo as Rebels for the first time.

The Falcon lands on Thyferra at a docking bay that has helped Alliance agents before, but the crew are captured by Imperials, who have apparently caught on to past Rebel activities.

The rest of Missions #2 plays out from here: one of the Rebels manages to escape, track down a bacta ingredient being used in the contaminated batch and effect a jailbreak for the others. They find the Rebel contact they were looking for and are given a lead pointing to the Delrakkin system. By days end they are planning to depart from Thyferra for the Delrakkin system. (Missions #2: Escape From Thyferra)

Note: The events of Missions 2, 3 & 4 could take place on the same day, but Missions #4 has a reference to Skeezer having been imprisoned by the Rebels for "several days", so the only possible break for an additional day is between Thyferra and Delrakkin, allowing the travel/capture/imprisonment/escape/search to take place over the course of an entire day.

(It also gives the heroes a chance to catch some rest- Luke, at the very least, has seemingly been awake for over 48 hours (barring any naps between his recovery from the jungle and working on his X-Wing, between the Carrack attack and Skeezer's interrogation or during the trip from Yavin to Thyferra, the last reference to him getting rest was Leia's recommendation for him to do so following his return from the Battle of Yavin on 3:8), having been awake since at least mid day for the throne room celebration (though likely earlier, given his efforts to convince Han into attending).

The Palpatine/Death Star thing is an interesting detail- this gives us a minimum value for when Palpatine punishes Lemelisk in the Darksaber flashbacks. There, Palpatine says he "just received word" of the Death Star's destruction, however he also knows the details of how it was destroyed via the exhaust port- information that I can see no way of having yet reached him (unless there was an Imperial study into how the Rebels did it or Vader's "first" arrival on Coruscant allowed him to file a report even if he was refused audience with Palpatine).

So it's quite possible Palpatine is exaggerating the timescale of him having been informed for Bevel, and this actually occurs sometime after the word on the nature of the Death Star's flaw manages to spread.

Speaking of Bevel, Palpatine also mentions he "saved" the Yavin piranha beetles from extinction after he heard of the Rebel's base being located there. While that might be another theatrical embellishment for Bevel's sake and they were simply bred from an on-Coruscant stock source, if he was being literal, then maybe the recovery of the beetles could be linked the first BF Yavin level involving the scouting mission?

Wookieepedia Summary for Missions #2:

Spoiler

As HIMS Liquidator lies in wait over Delrakkin for the arrival of the Death Star I, Admiral Termo views a holotape recorded by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin several weeks prior. Tarkin's holorecording tells Termo to send a coded transmission to B90-478R, and to await further instructions.

Meanwhile, back on Yavin 4, C-3PO, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo explain to General Jan Dodonna about the contaminated bacta that the Death Star had been carrying. Alarmed, Dodonna decides to dispatch a team to Thyferra to investigate. Organa volunteers, and she and her entourage board the Millennium Falcon, and set course for Thyferra. On the way, R2-D2 is able to repair the ancient droid, Q-7N.

Back on the Liquidator, Termo contacts B90-478R, only to learn that he is, in fact, speaking with Galactic Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine informs him that Tarkin is dead, and the Death Star was destroyed.

The Falcon enters the Polith system safely, with a Y-wing brought in tow as a backup. However, upon landing on Thyferra, all of the Rebels are captured. But Q-7N and one of the Rebels escape, with a view to helping the others. They commandeer the Y-Wing and land it a few blocks away from the Imperial garrison. The Rebel then tries to find Voralla Morbo, a local who is sympathetic to the Rebellion. However, on the way, they are tricked by a Kubaz, and almost robbed. The Rebel is able to fight their way out of the situation, save a Vratix named Plurra from slavery and return to the other Rebels.

The group meet with Morbo, and she tells them that a modified Imperial Carrack cruiser picked up a large amount of alazhi several weeks ago, and shipped it to Delrakkin. Picking up on the lead, Organa, Solo and Skywalker prepare to set course for Delrakkin.

On the upside, I've picked up Scoundrels so hopefully I can squeeze that in in time. Not sure yet if I'll be tackling that all in one update or breaking it up (as it might simply be more effective to simply discuss the timescales involved as a whole, though if there are any noticable breaks, I may address them as such).

Missions #2: Escape From Thyferra has not been reprinted outside it's original subscription availability, but can often be found second hand on ebay or Amazon, etc.

 

Hmm, yeah, that transmission must have been from Vaal to Coruscant. Literally just about to start reading Rebel Force #1, heh (yeah, yeah, I'm cutting it close, but most of that series seemingly happens later on)

The Darksaber scene has Palpatine confronting Bevel with the news directly. Page 31 of the hardcover (I've condensed the non-dialogue parts):

He didn't get the info from Bevel (Bevel wasn't even thinking on the matter when Palps states the info).

However, if Vader was the one who informed Palpatine in Rebel Force, then Vader would have know the trench run/exhaust port was the Rebel target (Chief Bast figured it out, probably passed that onto the fighter defenses, even if Vader didn't figure it out himself).