In 1996, the Star Wars Expanded Universe was off and running with many critically acclaimed books and other tie-ins under its belt. It was around this time that Mike Stackpole’s “X-Wing” series of novels were released and started to fly off the shelves. These centered on the famous Rogue Squadron, founded by Luke Skywalker. Stackpole found it hard to keep up with the workload, and so another author, Aaron Allson, was brought in to assist. Instead of continuing the story of Rogue Squadron, however, he created his own group of pilots dubbed Wraith Squadron. A band of misfits and criminals, they are hell-bent on thwarting Warlord Zsinj’s attempts at taking over the falling Empire. The first book, Wraith Squadron burst with action and I am sure the second and third will be just as thrilling. I asked Aaron a few questions about Wraith Squadron. (Original Posting: May 16, 1998) Read More
Tag: x-wing
Classic LucasArts Games Go Digital
http://www.gog.com/news/lucasfilm_on_gogcom_wave_ii_starts_nowI count myself lucky enough to have been around at the dawn of home (and arcade) video gaming. From set-top pong variations right up until the Xbox/Playstation generation, I’ve seen and played them all. When home PCs started to become “a thing,” I was there also. Some of my fondest gaming memories are playing the early Star Wars titles on my old custom-built Pentium 90. I spent many an hour working through games like Rebel Assault, X-Wing and Dark Forces, not to mention non-Star Wars titles like The Dig and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Read More
Battle in the Desert
Rescuing Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba was no easy task. It took a well-thought out plan, consisting of many parts and relied on cunning and chance. It all concluded with a battle in the Tatooine desert over a mostly underground creature buried in the sand. The battle and its aftermath give us lots of material to cover.
Echo Base & The Battle of Hoth
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, and proving themselves a force to be reckoned with, the Rebel Alliance found themselves using the ice planet of Hoth as their base of operations. They thought they’d be safe on the near-uninhabitable world. They thought wrong. Between Darth Vader’s intuition and the Empire’s probe droids scouring the galaxy, it was just a matter of time before they were tracked down. The Rebels soon found themselves fighting for their lives and on the run. The scenes that take place on Hoth are quite breathtaking, especially the battle with the walkers. Of course, there are plenty of deleted scenes to be examined as well, most noticeably the ones that deal with the Wampa ice creatures.
The Battle of Yavin
Yavin IV is a small moon orbiting the gas giant Yavin. It’s also where the Rebel Alliance decided to set up camp. Most of the battle preparation scenes took place in the hangar, briefing room, and throne room, not counting the few exterior shots. The battle obviously took place in space and there were a few changes made from script to film. Let’s take a look.
Biggs Darklighter
Luke’s childhood friend, Biggs Darklighter, was a big influence on him. He was the friend that got away, joined the Academy, and did something with his life, leaving Luke at home on the farm. Luke longed to be like his friend. He wanted off the farm and to have his own adventures. He got them all right. The relationship between Biggs and Luke was quite lost in the final film, however. There are casual mentions of Biggs and another friend Tank. There’s the short reunion with Biggs during the end battle. That’s about the extent of it, though. Biggs’ missing scenes fill in a lot of those blanks in Luke’s backstory.