TOS Exclusive Article: Droids and the Force

What works works, I suppose.

Also, I was wondering how much of Nasdra Magrody's backstory was new for this article, stuff like his involvement with the Death Star project, him being an Arkanian and a latent Force-sensitive... In doing research for the Death Star histories, I've found references to him as the instructor of most of the Death Star's designers, but never anything that said he was actually invovled with the design work, although it was a logical conclusion.

TC

 

a great article - not only in the content (weaving everything together) but in the style.. (describing the philosophical problem first,etc...)

when i first mentioned this article to my girlfriend, she immediately thought of Skippy!

i wonder if the ancient Rakatans did work on channeling the Force into technology since Malak seemed to believe the Star Forge could be used to harvest and redistribute Force engery, and it was used to also manufacture weapons of war from a star's energy.

 

Jawajames, can I have your girlfriend? Please?

Adrick

 

How do you print this article, I seam to be having a very hard time in doing it.

 

Jawajames, can I have your girlfriend? Please?

Adrick

Since you asked nicely, ..... my sources point to No.

 

Dang it. I like girls more then I like Star Wars, but one is more accesible then the other.

TC

 

Eyrezer wrote:
?Abel, where did that idea about Luke disliking the Jedi-readers come from? Just pulled out of thin air? It seems a rather narrow approach, especially considering the Jedi don't seem to have any wide reaching Force-detection procedures galaxy-wide anymore. How exactly does Luke plan to find more recruits? The old fashioned, stumble upon them way??

Good question. There are a couple things behind this story, though mostly it would have to be that when I first wrote Droids and the Force, the NJO was in it?s early stages, and expecting the piece to be published at that time, I was playing up the Luke vs. Kyp angle that was so strong a part of that series early on.

So that was the motivation. But really, the Force detectors aren?t all that effective for spotting Force-users, at least, not noticeably more than the ?Force nub? method Luke discovers in the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I figured Luke would want to go with the more ?natural? method, while young, arrogant Kyp would advocate whatever is more practical?and less likely to leave him hurled in a pile of Jedi robes half way across the room. So un-Jedi-like. In any case, just because Luke doesn?t support the devices doesn?t mean he?s right; Luke?s got his own prejudices that could be temporarily clouding his judgment. One possible basis for those prejudices is the fact that Luke?s a bit cybered himself, with that prosthetic hand.

TalonCard wrote:
?Also, I was wondering how much of Nasdra Magrody's backstory was new for this article, stuff like his involvement with the Death Star project, him being an Arkanian and a latent Force-sensitive...?

The Arkanian heritage is new, specifics on some of his personal research into the Force is new, and some of his involvement with the DS might be new. Can't quite recall at the moment what I got from Magrody's notes in Children of the Jedi.

Take care,
Abel

 

vong333 wrote:
?How do you print this article, I seam to be having a very hard time in doing it.?

Try printing in landscape, vong333. That should get you the full text and graphics.

jawajames wrote:
?a great article - not only in the content (weaving everything together) but in the style.. (describing the philosophical problem first,etc...)?

Thanks jawajames. I?m glad you appreciated the style, which is obviously academic. Hopefully we will see more of Tam Azur-jamin in future novels.

?when i first mentioned this article to my girlfriend, she immediately thought of Skippy!?

When I had written this piece as an rpg supplement, I had put an adventure seed in there where a group of Iron Knight heroes go looking for Skippy, which was the name of the Shard inside R5-D4. I could?ve kept the info, but I felt it was too warped.

Other adventure scenarios involved tracking down 4-LOM, saving Droid World from the Yuuzhan Vong, and hunting the Vong with some assassin droids.

?i wonder if the ancient Rakatans did work on channeling the Force into technology since Malak seemed to believe the Star Forge could be used to harvest and redistribute Force engery, and it was used to also manufacture weapons of war from a star's energy.?

Hmm, an interesting idea.

?Since you asked nicely, ..... my sources point to No.?

The Great God Quay has spoken!

TalonCard wrote:
?Dang it. I like girls more then I like Star Wars, but one is more accesible then the other. ?

You mean they?re not fawning all over you with all that continuity knowledge of yours? 'Why TC, what an impressive personal canon you have!'

Take care folks,
Abel

 

So the Skippy story is canon now?

 

yeah, includin his heroic death in ANH, R5D4 = Skippy. he sacrificed himself to help R2D2 and C3POs mission.


but there still is the other version wherein R2 manipulated R5D4s motivator while in the Jawa Sandcrawler, to ensure he and C3PO stay together.

which one do you prefer?

 

I think I prefer the first, wouldn't sabotaging Skippy be a little too easy? Any droid could do that, I think the restraining bolt would stop R2 from doing such things.

Poor Skippy.

 

R2 is a modified droid, not a normal R2 unit, restraining has not much of an effect on him. the Visual Dictionary states this, but I won´t go into more detail, because this might be considered minor epi3 spoiler.

 

Abel has done it again... he totally and always amazes me with his Star Wars knowledge!

 

Yar, the LFL pirates are conspiring to make me get Hyperspace!

*Sounds* like a great article, Abel. But I have just one question: are you planning on inserting some continuity fixes in your Dark Forces articles about the Dark Troopers? They would seem to go along with this Droids and Force article in one of their iterations- Cyborged stormtroopers empowered by the Dark Side... and with the Dark Forces article in their other version, for obvious reasons. But, I see two types of Dark Troopers and no official statement on their relation and history. Here they are:

Mohc's Creations: Here are the original Dark Troopers, the droids created by the Imperial General Mohc(sp?) we all know were defeated by a certain Mr. Katarn. Three versions are known to exist: the skeletal melee combat Phase I, the larger ranged combat Phase II, and the impressively huge exosuit/droid Phase III. And then there are the variations: the toy Dark Trooper seems to be a Phase II, but it has slight variations with its jets, etc; the Sandblasted Dark Trooper also doesn't seem to be the standard Phase II and it is using the later Dark Trooper weapon, not the prototype one Kyle found at the base. IIRC, WotC's Rebellion Era Sourcebook had a small article on Dark Troopers. The game Galactic Battlegrounds featured Dark Troopers supposedly of this type, but they looked different and the game's "Phase I" and "Phase II" looked the same. Yoda Stories also had a mission to destroy a factory creating robotic stormtroopers. They weren't called Dark Troopers, but...

Minions of the Darkside: The other type of trooper to take up the name Dark is the Darktrooper featured in Dark Empire II. This nice little trooper is simply a black stormie with a big gun. It may have been expanded upon in the DE Sourcebook, but I don't have that. The game Rebellion portrayed Dark Troopers (appearing to be the droid type) as being Darkside Force-users. Battlefront also had their Dark Troopers look like the Dark Forces type but in their bio they were the Dark Side troopers.

I think thats all of them, though there may be some obscure source I'm missing. Seeing as the article *is* about Dark Forces, I'm sure it will have Dark Troopers. How 'bout a preview?

 

Jort wrote:
?So the Skippy story is canon now? ?

Depends on how you look at it. The particular issue of Tales (#1) where Skippy appears has an intro where it?s suggested that Skippy the Jedi Droid is some kind of movie, or the Star Wars equivalent. The way Skippy is referenced in the Droids and the Force article is as a ?wild rumor? about droids that can use the Force, in contrast to the legit Iron Knights.

Le_Sammler wrote:
?Abel has done it again... he totally and always amazes me with his Star Wars knowledge! ?

Thanks Sammler! There should soon be some more Star Wars goodness to keep you busy.

Take care,
Abel

 

About the human darktroopers... It was confirmed a while back by the databank that the darktroopers were an elite group created by Blackhole. After Blackhole vanished, they served the Reborn Emperor during Dark Empire. They were recruited by Carnor Jax, who added to their number. It wouldn't surprise me if GFFA historians often confused them with the robotic Dark Troopers, much the same way they seem to mix up Owen Kenobi and Owen Lars.

In addition to the robot stormtroopers from Yoda stories, we also have those manufactured by IG-88 on Mechis III, and Baron Tagge's failed line of robots, who can trace their roots back to the Clone Wars.

TC

 

About the human darktroopers... It was confirmed a while back by the databank that the darktroopers were an elite group created by Blackhole.

The OS databank calls them Blackhole stormtroopers instead of Darktroopers.

http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/blackholestormtroopers/eu.html

 

Rogue_Follower wrote:
?Yar, the LFL pirates are conspiring to make me get Hyperspace!?

Don?t really have much to say in response, just for some reason I can?t resist replying to a post that contains the expression ?yar.?

?*Sounds* like a great article, Abel. But I have just one question: are you planning on inserting some continuity fixes in your Dark Forces articles about the Dark Troopers? They would seem to go along with this Droids and Force article in one of their iterations- Cyborged stormtroopers empowered by the Dark Side... and with the Dark Forces article in their other version, for obvious reasons. But, I see two types of Dark Troopers and no official statement on their relation and history. Here they are:?

Yeah, the similarity in name between the Dark Troopers and the Dark Empire II Darktroopers/Blackhole stormies is bothersome, but this probably won?t be addressed in the DF project. Incidentally, the Blackhole stormtroopers have been linked to the Crimson Empire blackarmored ones, but have they also been retconed to have a relationship with the Dark Empire II darktroopers?

Take care,
Abel

 

I think so.

TC

 

Thanks TC. I'll double check on it.

BTW folks, the SWFA has recently updated with an interview I originally did for the Korpil.net website, along with several other additions. As promised, the interview contains some pointed discussion about how to make that conversion from fanboy to writing officially for Star Wars.

http://www.myuselessknowledge.com/swfa/

I'll be happy to field additional questions in the authors & artists forum. Take care folks!

Abel

 

TalonCard wrote:
"In addition to the robot stormtroopers from Yoda stories..."

Hmm, that sounds like an interesting connection. I haven't played Yoda Stories though. Does anyone have any details about these robotic stormies?

Take care,
Abel

 

Abel, when you submit your drafts to WotC, who checks them and what for?

 

Abel, if you can find the Yoda Stories demo on the internet somewhere, I think the demo level is the droid Stormie one.

Here's a summary:

Basically the [most-likely non-canon] frame story of YS is that Yoda uses Luke as an errand boy and sends him galavanting accross the galaxy to save the Rebellion, etc. Before every mission, he gives Skywalker a briefing.

"Luke! Time it is for your training to advance a step! The Empire has set up a HIDDEN FACTORY in the snowy wastes of planet Neshtab, where they are building stormtrooper droids. These robots could tip the balance against the Rebel Alliance. Find this factory you must! Destroy it you must!" -Yoda

"Destroy the HIDDEN FACTORY, Luke!" -Yoda

Luke then collects Artoo and flies off in his X-wing to the snow planet Neshtab. After landing at a run-down spaceport and solving various challenges, Luke acquires the means to discover the hidden Imperial factory. He arrives at a snow farm with a number of greenhouses and confronts the owner, who looks suspiciously like the bouncer from the cantina in SW: Holiday Special. The owner sometimes demands a bribe of a rare plant: a blumfruit from Endor. Other times Luke has to show himself around. Luke finds a secret passage in one of the greenhouses after some keycard finding worthy of Katarn himself and battling Ubese bounty hunters guarding the buildings. Sometimes a mine is required to make the passage more "user friendly." Luke then travels to the secret factory using grappling lines and the occasional sensor pack to find the entrance. Once inside, Skywalker finds that the dastardly Imperials are using junk to create droid Stormtroopers (that look exactly like medical droids... but I think that's just a gameplay aspect) and weapons. The Empire then ships the finished products out on speeder trucks. Luke proceeds to destroy the factory and returns to Master Yoda.


Personally, I love Yoda Stories. Its a fun game with some interesting stories (getting Yoda a bug to eat, killing a dianoga and taking out its heart, saving the Ewok's Lantern of Sacred Light, destroying a lost cloning center from the Clone Wars... ) and it shows us just what lommite, durasteel bars, ryll, alluvial dampers, holocubes, and many other Star Wars items look like. The Lucasarts really did some good research for this game. Pretty much the only think keeping it out of canon is its strange frame story... and Luke's meeting with Indiana Jones at the end.

Someone really needs to bring some of it into continuity. *hint* *hint*

 

I'm covering the Varn mission for the Death Star history project; but that's hardly official. I agree, let's see Yoda Stories get the respect it deserves!

TC

 

Hey folks!

Again, thanks to those of you who shared your thoughts on the Droids and the Force article. As always, I would like to ask those of you who enjoyed the piece to spare a minute to also share some of those thoughts with the people at Insider. Besides having my deep gratitude and guaranteeing future articles of this kind, there?s the extra encouragement that someone recently had a letter published in Insider #81 commenting on the History of the Mandalorians piece, so there?s a good chance you might get that personal degree of satisfaction as well.

Here are the addresses:

Email: comlink@insider.starwars.com

Snail mail: Comlink, P.O. Box 23500, Oakland, CA 94623-2350

Thanks again!

Eyrezer wrote:
?Abel, when you submit your drafts to WotC, who checks them and what for??

Those are good questions Eyrezer, questions to which I don?t even quite know the answers yet. But basically, I imagine the process works the same as it does for any other licensee I?ve worked for: the WOTC editor checks it over for style, structure, grammar, etc., while the LFL editors then check it over specifically for continuity.

Rogue_Follower wrote:
?Abel, if you can find the Yoda Stories demo on the internet somewhere, I think the demo level is the droid Stormie one.

Here's a summary:?

Ah! Just what I was looking for. And just in the nick of time, Rogue. Jason and I just today turned in the second to last parts of our respective contributions to the Dark Forces project. We?ll see if LFL lets the Yoda Stories ref go through. Cross your fingers.

Take care,
Abel