Has anyone heard "Encounter at Ord Mandell?"

I'm sure this has already been discussed, but I just read on imdb about a rare LP called "Encounter at Ord Mandell" that had original cast voices.

Is this for real? and if so, has anyone heard it/ does anyone have it?

 

There was a children's audio drama released in 1983 called the "Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell", written by Brian Daley and released by Buena Vista Records.

You can read the official description of what takes place in it here on the OS, in databank entry for "Ord Mantell".

 

Yep. I have it.

It was actually a made-for-radio play (NPR, I think) that was occurs between ANH and ESB. They had voice actors, music, sound effects, and a pretty good script. As far as I know, it's canon.

It's pretty remarkable how close some of the voice actors sound, too. . . But Threepio sounds TERRIBLE. A completely different voice, in fact! Leia didn't sound very close, either. Han, Luke and of course R2 and Chewie sounded very good, though.

At one point, I was actually transcribing it, but I lost that script ages ago. Here's a summary of the events, though:



The story begins with Luke and Han flying X-Wings over a jungle planet, talking to each other. The idea is that they want to fool the Empire into thinking they're looking for another planet similar to Yavin for their new base, instead of the exact opposite- Hoth- which is where the Rebellion is currently setting up as the story begins.

According to Rebel intelligence, there's supposed to be a Star Destroyer showing up at this planet at a certain time, as part of a routine patrol. The idea is to conveniently be witnessed, allow the Imperials to make a positive ID, and then hit light speed and get out of there. Well, the Star Destroyer shows up, exactly as predicted. Luke starts talking about hanging around and letting them see that there are two Rebel ships before turning around and fleeing the other way, when Han interrupts him:

"Luke... Luke? LUKE! Did intelligence mention that OTHER Star Destroyer? The one on the other side of us?"

"There was only supposed to be one!"

"Tell that to them!"

They are attacked, and their shields are pelted down pretty low. Luke gets the brilliant idea to move the two X-Wings super-close, one on top of the other, and then has R2 merge the shields of both into one double-strength shield. It works, but only for a short while. It's enough to survive, though. They get away, and the Imperials are left to report that they saw Rebels at this tropical planet.

Back at Hoth base, Luke and Han catch up with Chewie, 3PO, and Leia. They have a new mission: The Rebellion is seriously low on funds, and they must steal resources from the Imperials poorly-guarded banking outpost at Ord Mantell. The plan is that R2 will hack the manifest to allow Han, Luke, and Leia time to swap several Imperial supply crates full of credits (or other valuables) with crates full of old boots, broken blasters, and other junk. Luke's job is to fly the cargo ship and pretend to be an Imperial freight captain. Han & Leia are to escort R2 to the command center and use the computers there to authorize the swap and release the docking clamp. The codes, and the basics of the mission, were made possible by the intelligence gathered by a Rebel spy named "Thodriss", who is a Nalrithian.

Han kind of balks at this. He doesn't like Nalrithians, it turns out. Leia points out that Han's being hypocritical about judging aliens, since he travels with a wookiee. Han says it has nothing to do with being alien; It's that Nalrithians are insectoid, and are born in a creche with several egg-mates, all of whom share a psychic bond. They can sense each other, read each other's thoughts, and are pretty much identical to one another. Han calls them "bugs" and says "you can't trust a bug" a few times. Leia tells Han to stop worrying, because Thodriss actually ran into one of his egg-mates in the course of a Rebel mission, and was forced to kill him to protect the Rebellion. Han reluctantly agrees, based on this story.

The mission starts. Han, Leia, and R2 have no real problem getting into the command center to meet up with Thodriss, while Luke and 3PO have a short encounter with a dock worker, who momentarily stops Luke but ends up being Force-pushed into allowing Luke to go on his way and get loaded. Luke leaves 3PO in the cargo ship, and steps out to deal with things.

Meanwhile, Han, Leia, and R2 run into a problem. The codes don't work, and R2 is having a problem getting the docking clamp to release. He has to slice the computer. Thodriss dra

 

I just found the tape! I'm considering transferring it into a CD/MP3 for posterity.

Unfortunately, the sticker on the tape is a little torn, otherwise, I'd eBay that sucker!

 

yeah I know that lp it is in my closet right now. I saw it the other day while I was cleaning. And yes it is for sale.