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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Star Wars #13: Five Days of Sith, part 1 ( of 2)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by AdmiralNick22 , Oct 31, 2013.

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  1. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2000
    Where would I find this beheading?
     
  2. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
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  3. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Sep 7, 2012
    Traviss claiming the lower-ranking soldiers loved Vader because he killed their officers can work if you squint hard enough (and make all common Imperial soldiers psychopaths who think annoying officers deserve to be brutally murdered - but then again, this is the Traviss view of the GFFA).

    Her having Vader cradle wounded soldiers in his arms because he respects and honors them so much is just dumb.
     
  4. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    Soldiers fragged their incompetent COs in Vietnam -- it's not that hard to believe that they would appreciate Vader executing incompetent officers like Ozzel.
     
  5. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004

    I personally always figured that was just Piett being really sneaky since he clearly can't stand the Admiral and getting Vader to kill him is a good way to be rid of him. Also there was no need to kill Needa, or nearly kill Motti, who was essential just bad mouthing Vader for failing at his duty.
     
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  6. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Vader was established as prone to executing officers to an excessive level long before Zahn started writing.

    To the extent of provoking assassination attempts, in Marvel Star Wars.

    West End Games also dropped a few hints. WEG's The Star Wars Sourcebook, published 1987 (a communique to Palpatine from an Imperial Intelligence agent, about Luke- page 122):

    This Rebel has shown exceptional piloting and starfighting abilities, and all indications are that it was his shot that destroyed the Death Star. He has also been seen wielding a lightsaber.

    Lord Vader insists that Skywalker is strong with the Force. As we do not know what the Force is, our agents have no way to test this. Requests to Lord Vader to describe the Force have been refused. (I must once again respectfully request that you tell Lord Vader to stop killing my agents. The Empire has put a lot of time and money into their training. If he doesn't want to talk to them, can't the man just say no like anybody else?)

    EDIT: If you go right back to November 1977:

    STAR WARS: OFFICIAL POSTER MONTHLY #2
    Published November 1977
    http://www.theforce.net/image_popup/image_popup_global.asp?Image=timetales/misc/arcana/post2-02.jpg

    there's an interpretation that "Vader hates all humans, not just enemies of the Emperor"
     
  7. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    Vader's motivation for why he executes the officers is irrelevant, if he's executing incompetent ones that get their men killed, those men would appreciate the fact. It's not psychopathy -- it's survival, just like in Vietnam. You'll notice that Imperials die by the truckload in the films and in general.
     
  8. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    That said, I could see troopers aware that thousands of troops were being killed in the ESB asteroid field after being ordered in there by Vader (the ESB novelization makes it clear Star Destroyers are being obliterated) concluding that Vader spends the lives of his men recklessly.

    Regardless of Vader's own claims (In Tales of the Bounty Hunters, when talking to Dengar, he contrasts himself with the Emperor):

    "I'm not the Emperor," Vader said ominously. "I don't kill for amusement - only when it serves my purposes."
     
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  9. windu4

    windu4 Jedi Master star 4

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    May 15, 2008
    Why does everyone always compare themselves to the big bad to explain why they don't kill their subordinates for petty reasons?
     
  10. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    You've got Vader comparing himself to Palpatine, Thrawn comparing himself to Vader- maybe there's someone out there priding themselves on how much better they are regarding subordinates than Thrawn- they'd never order their bodyguard to kill a subordinate out of hand merely for incompetence- they'd just transfer that subordinate somewhere they could do less damage, give them a dishonorable discharge, etc.
     
  11. windu4

    windu4 Jedi Master star 4

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    May 15, 2008
    I have yet to meet a single villain in the Expanded Universe that does that. Is this an inside joke amongst the authors or are they really as delusional as the characters they write? Nobody as cold and calculating as Thrawn or Vader should bother to rationalize their decisions by comparing themselves to a more "evil" character.
     
  12. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    They may not be rationalizing to themselves- but trying to convince the people they are talking to.

    Vader's talking to Dengar to convince him that he's not about to be killed.
    Thrawn's talking to Ferrier to convince him that he's in deep, deep trouble.
    (and, when talking to Pellaeon, to convince Pellaeon that he need not fear Thrawn).
     
  13. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004

    Kirtan Loor is actually pretty interesting here, since he really is just that warped. Melvar and Zsinj also seem to simply not care.
     
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  14. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    For Hutt-sake I thought this series could not get any more just randomly out there, but no... this issue reaches whole new levels of “Why?!”... no Rebel Fleet shoots either though at least some nice pics of a modified CR90 Vader is using as his ride
     
  15. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
    Give in to your hate.... Elaborate.... You know you want to..... Cross to the Rant Side of the Net!
     
  16. Protectorate

    Protectorate Jedi Knight star 1

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    Dec 11, 2013
    Okay, so this issue continues the "promoting people for no reason" theme. The issue is told through the eyes of Ensign Nanda, a 21-year-old greenhorn from Naboo that is assigned as the commanding officer of "Vader's Broom", an elite force of stormtroopers. Why she was promoted to lead this team is never explained and is obviously just a storytelling device so that a young woman can marvel at Vader's brutality. The funniest thing is that she mentions that, to even have access to the dossiers on the stormtroopers that she's leading, she had to be cleared for a security level FAR ABOVE her own rank. Why is this impressive? She is an ensign right? Basically everything is above her rank!

    So Vader has Nanda fly him and his crew to Imperial Center, and tells her that everything about the mission is "off the record", and that no one will know about it, but that she will be promoted to lieutenant commander for her service. Still not sure why this mission needs to be secret...rooting out incompetence needs to be hidden now? We get some indication that Palpatine does not want Vader to do this, and that Vader is doing it for his own selfish reasons, but maybe it's best not to think too hard about it.

    After killing and interrogating people on Coruscant, they discover that a Bothan sliced Bircher's false identity, and they head for Bothawui to kill those responsible. Nanda says that she "had friends on the Death Star, same as anyone. So I was fine with [killing Bothans]" What exactly does this even mean? Are we confusing the Bothans that helped find information on the Death Star II with what happened at the Battle of Yavin? We also don't even get to see the elite stormtroopers wipe out the Bothan(s) responsible. We just get to hear that they...did some things? and then shot a torpedo at something. Whatever.

    So they head to Kuat afterwards to see the repairs to the damaged Devastator. During the trip, Vader talks with Palpatine, who is mad at him for conducting an unauthorized mission, and Vader actually ends the transmission early after claiming that he just wants to be worthy of ruling the galaxy alongside Palpatine. Onboard the Devastator, Vader decides to eliminate the crew for being deceived by Bircher, personally executing an officer for objecting and claiming that Vader was also tricked.

    The most confusing thing is that Vader claims that Devastator will be repurposed as a dung trawler and is "tainted" for having a traitor aboard. Someone explain to me how that makes any sense. We do get a cool scene where one of the officers kills another officer for speaking out of turn and then commits suicide, asking for forgiveness for the rest of the crew.

    Also, we get some rewriting of events from previous issues, as the chief of security on the Devastator tries to give Vader information on Birra Seah and her whereabouts, but he claims that she is of no concern to him. Unfortunately, Nanda actually knows about Seah's mission to the Devastator and about her going AWOL, despite that mission being top-secret and known only to Vader himself. I guess an Ensign would know about that though. We also get a weird scene where Vader speaks with the ghost of Obi-Wan and tries to attack his...voice? with his lightsaber.

    The issue ends with Nanda telling Vader about the Star Destroyer sitting in the rubble of Alderaan with that Death Star designer. Vader orders that they go there immediately. Which I guess will be explained in the next issue.
     
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  17. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    No shots of the Rebel Fleet? Damn it, Star Woods, that is what I always look forward to! :(

    --Adm. Nick
     
  18. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Finally catching up with things tonight, I actually rather liked this one- it felt focused and free of some of the mess of the last arc. The Ensign's POV here is welcome- the setup runs the risk of a repeat of some recent stories like Ghost Prison (after a fashion) but avoids that. Instead of awe and devotion of Vader and not worrying about rank and power, she has revulsion to some of the darker actions of Vader but at the same time feels its all justified given she knew people lost on the Death Star and is really just concerned about the rank advancement. So, neither is she a hard-edged, evil Imperial you'd typically have.
     
  19. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Is this why Vader is higher-ranked in ESB than in ANH?
     
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  20. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    So have Han and Chewie gotten off Coruscant yet?
     
  21. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

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    Sep 2, 2012
    I believe so.
     
  22. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004

    Protectorate summed up most of it, though a few other random things...

    Why is there a black dot in the middle of the elite trooper helmets? It makes them look like they already had been gotten shoot, the special black shoulder things are enough to make them look special.


    Why would Vader even tell Neera that there mission is illegal?! Just so it sounds more dramatic?!

    Neera will be made a Lieutenant Commander at 21?! For heaven sake no wonder the Rebels won.

    The CR 90 they get apparently has the same crew complement then their shuttle namely 6 troopers, Vader and Neera, those things come with a crew of 30+.

    So off to kill Bothans and bombard 3 locations from orbit, you know what would have been really nice?! Oh I don’t know if we actually get some of that happen and not just be told about it!

    Why are the Stormtroopers wearing masks below their helmets?! Also she may be greener than the grass on Naboo, but you better not insult an officer if you are just a trooper.


    Vader cuts of the Emperor mid holo com?!?!?!?! The X-Wing novels were nice enough to explain what would happen to such people. Also he already just did not answer him earlier when he called, why now?! So we get more Exposition?!

    You know Vader if you still going to kill the Officers for telling you the truth, at least let them do it themselves, and not just force smack one and get the other one shoot by his fellow at random. Also wait a minute, they are 12 or so Officers, all clearly armed and you are threatening to kill them with 6 troopers and a young women?! Given your reputation among the fleet, chances are they might just get up and try to kill you instead.

    Oh yeah Birra Seah was also in this plot somewhere, wasn’t she and of course Neera knows about her (how?!) and Vader just brushes the whole thing off. One way to get plot points taken care of I guess, just not very good one.

    Why the f... would Obi-Wan’s force ghost tell Vader about Luke?! Though I will just assume that Vader has picked up a mental illness for this issue, just because it makes more sense.


    So of to Alderaan to look at that derelict Jedi Cruiser are we?! You know I might even give the comic some credit here, it now even acknowledges it was a stupid move by Leia not to just stun blast the guy and then call in a team to take the thing away, but then it was this comic series that had her make that stupid move to begin with.
     
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  23. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    This sounds hilarious.
     
  24. Protectorate

    Protectorate Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2013
    Definitely. That was absolutely bonkers. Also, why does Vader take his lightsaber out when he hears Obi-Wan's voice and swing it around? Is he really that stupid? What is he even trying to accomplish? Also, the comic implies that Obi-Wan was summoned to Vader because he was thinking about him? "I do not come to you unbidden...your feelings betray you." What the heck was happening in this scene?


    It was mentioned that Leia was going to bring him in to the Galactic War Crimes Tribunal or some other nonsense, but I guess she just forgot? I have no problem letting him live, but not even following up on it?
     
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  25. Chewbacca89

    Chewbacca89 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 25, 2012
    Just picked it up tonight and gonna read it. Your previews thus far don't have me excited lol
     
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