Armed Rebellion Begins
The first section in this chapter, The Death Star's Completion bridges a lot of seemingly contradictory material with new revelations that finally begin to paint a clearer picture of the Death Star's mercurial history. That its early years of construction were beleaguered by scattered sabotage attempts has not yet been told in any source, but is an approved story point from Lucasfilm concerning the era between trilogies. The reaction to these attempts and concern about the costly project's viabilities stems from previously published sources that hadn't heretofore mentioned these motives.

For instance, the proof-of-concept Death Star model first revealed in the novel Jedi Search (1995, Bantam Books) was initially presented as a predecessor prototype, and not a side project that was developed concurrently with the actual construction of the Death Star. This section also combines the various contributions of other engineers from other sources -- Lemelisk, Sienar and the Geonosians, to be specific.

Maw Installation, Qui Xux, Tol Sivron, and Admiral Daala are all from that same source: Jedi Search. Some more background on them was provided by The Jedi Academy Trilogy Sourcebook (1996, West End Games). Ohran Keldor's involvement with the Death Star project was mentioned in Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam Books) while Umak Leth was first identified as an Imperial engineer in the text pages of Dark Empire #2 (1992, Dark Horse Comics).

The fittingly named Despayre penitentiary in the Horuz system comes from The Death Star Technical Companion (1991, West End Games), which identified the world as the Death Star's cradle. This section, though, reveals that the Death Star's construction site was mobile in order to deter spies and saboteurs.

The Tarkin Doctrine was first outlined in the Imperial Sourcebook (1989, West End Games). That Ackbar was Tarkin's liberated slave was first revealed in The Star Wars Sourcebook (1987, West End Games) -- the mission to free Ackbar was actually playable in the space combat simulator game X-Wing (1992, LucasArts), as was the early Battle of Turkana.

The dispatching of Darth Vader to put the Death Star project back on schedule is described in early passages of The Death Star Technical Companion (1991, West End Games). The fallout from Vader's methods -- Grand Moff Trachta's plot to remove Vader from the command hierarchy -- was told in the first story arc of the comics series Star Wars: Empire #1-4 (2002, Dark Horse Comics). The Betrayal arc was gathered into a trade paperback release in 2003.

The first few episodes of the Star Wars Radio Dramatization (1981, NPR) are the source of much of the information concerning what was only vaguely worded as the Rebellion's "first victory" against the Empire in A New Hope's opening crawl. The informant from Ralltiir, the interception of the Toprawan transmission, and even the names Tantive IV and Devastator are from this classic source. The convoy assault that secured the Death Star plans over Toprawa was playable in the computer game X-wing (1992, LucasArts), and like many player accomplishments in that game, that victory is attributed to the proxy character, Keyan Farlander. Likewise, the playable character of Kyle Katarn scored what was later revealed to be supplemental Death Star plans in the first level of Dark Forces (1995, LucasArts). The Death Star plans prove to be an extremely popular MacGuffin in video games!

The involvement of Bria Tharen and Red Hand Squadron in this crucial Alliance operation comes from Rebel Dawn (1998, Bantam Books), the last book of the Han Solo Trilogy.

Preparations for Battle describes the move from Dantooine to Yavin 4, an event inferred by the presence of an older abandoned base on Dantooine in A New Hope. The discovery of the tracking device aboard a cargo shipment was recounted in the Yavin 4 chapter of The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (1995, Bantam Books).

The familiar events of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977, Lucasfilm Ltd.) are recounted in The Capture of Princess Leia and A New Hope segments.

Darth Vader's survival on Vaal, recounted in the Impact and Consequences segment, was first told in "The Savage Heart," Star Wars: Empire #14 (2003, Dark Horse Comics). It was gathered into Volume 3 of the Star Wars: Empire trade paperbacks in 2004. Vader's tracking down of Tyler Lucien was first told in "Dark Encounter," Star Wars #29 (1979, Marvel Comics). He finally learns Luke Skywalker's name in "Dark Lord's Gambit," Star Wars #35 (1980, Marvel Comics). Both these vintage Marvel tales were collected in A Long Time Ago... Volume 2: Dark Encounters in 2002. The opening event in "Dark Lord's Gambit" was also recounted in Vader's Quest #1 (1999, Dark Horse Comics), the first of a four-part issue that was eventually gathered into a trade paperback in 2000.

The cruel and protracted torture of Bevel Lemelisk and his clones was told in the novel Darksaber (1995, Bantam Books). The Bounty Hunter Wars were the subject of their own trilogy of novels, starting with The Mandalorian Armor (1998, Bantam Books).

As a necessity of condensing numerous published works into a realistic timeframe in comparison to events in the galaxy, the section called Rebel Trap fits several years' worth of Star Wars storytelling into a six-month period set immediately after the Battle of Yavin. The birth of the Executor Super Star Destroyer at Fondor, featuring Admiral Griff, was told in "Darth Vader Strikes," a daily series of Star Wars newspaper comic strips published in 1981 and distributed by the L.A. Times Syndicate.

The entire run of this series by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson was compiled into a treasury edition published by Russ Cochran in 1991. These strips were re-edited and colored into standard comic book format by Dark Horse Comics for their Classic Star Wars series. The "Darth Vader Strikes" arc was told in Classic Star Wars #3-4 (1992, Dark Horse Comics), and subsequently compiled into the trade paperback Classic Star Wars Volume One: In Deadly Pursuit in 1994. This newspaper strip series is currently being reprinted online for members of Hyperspace.

The Aduba-3 incident and Han's run-in with Crimson Jack was told in Star Wars #7-12, (1978, Marvel Comics). These tales were compiled in A Long Time Ago... Volume 1: Doomworld in 2002. The Wheel saga was a six-part story first told in Star Wars #18-23 (1978-1979, Marvel Comics), while the Tagges were first introduced as villains in Star Wars #25 (1979, Marvel Comics), the same story that had the Yavin Prime turbine base. These story arcs are contained in Volume 1 and Volume 2 of A Long Time Ago...

Luke Skywalker's inadvertent discovery of Hoth was chronicled in the newspaper strip arc "Ice World" (1982, L.A.Times Syndicate), which was presented in comic book format in Classic Star Wars #12 (1993, Dark Horse Comics). It was included in the trade paperback Classic Star Wars: Volume 2 Rebel Storm.

The Battle of Ord Biniir was spotlighted in X-Wing: Rogue Squadron #25, The Making of Baron Fel (1997, Dark Horse Comics), which was gathered into the trade paperback release, Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron: Blood and Honor in 1999.

Imperial Counterstrike describes the final assault by the Imperial fleet on Yavin 4, and the Rebel run to escape the attack. These exciting events were first told in newspaper strips, "Race for Survival," (1983, L.A. Times Syndicate). It was told in comic book format in Classic Star Wars #16 (1994, Dark Horse Comics). This story is included in the trade paperback release, Classic Star Wars Volume Three: Escape to Hoth (1996, Dark Horse Comics).

Dodonna's history as an Imperial prisoner has interesting origins. "Race for Survival," depicts what appears to be his death, but Dark Empire #2 (1992, Dark Horse Comics), set many years later, has Dodonna alive and well. This demanded an explanation for the seeming contradiction, and spawned a whole new story. The Movie Trilogy Sourcebook (1993, West End Games) revealed that Dodonna was imprisoned in an Imperial facility until he was released by a brave Rebel strike team. He was later seen in the Lusankya prison in the novel X-Wing: The Krytos Trap (1996, Bantam Books).

LucasArts video games also provided a number of stories into this rich period of time. The incident with Overlord Ghorin was part of the X-Wing game (1992, LucasArts), while Kyle Katarn's adventure to track down the dark trooper project was from Dark Forces (1995, LucasArts). That story includes General Madine's rescue and his defection, though the incident at Dentaal is from Star Wars Adventure Journal #5 (1995, West End Games). Madine would need rescuing again, this time from Corellia, in the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998, LucasArts).

The departure of Garm Bel Iblis from the Rebel ranks was told as history in Dark Force Rising (1992, Bantam Books). The Heir to the Empire Sourcebook (1992, West End Games) indicates that Borsk Fey'lya brought in his faction of Bothans into the Rebellion around the time that Ackbar pledged his forces to the cause. The story of Echuu Shen-Jon comes from Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001, LucasArts). The search for the missing list of Rebel collaborators, undertaken by Dusque Mistflier and Finn Darktrin, is from the novel Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine (2003, Bantam Books). The Ram's Head operation is from the X-Wing game. Thila was first mentioned in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope (1989, West End Games) as a temporary Rebel base after Yavin.

Circarpous Joins the Resistance describes the events of the very first expanded universe novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978, Del Rey Books). This novel was adapted as a four-part comics series in 1995, and compiled into a trade paperback in 1996. The fall-out of the Circarpous mission was revealed in the first edition of The Essential Chronology (2000, Del Rey Books), including the Alliance purchase of a KDY Planet Defender and the diminishing strength of the Kaiburr crystal once taken from Mimban. Luke's use of the Kaiburr crystal fragments in lightsabers was taken from the novel Lightsabers (1996, Berkley Books).

In Home in the Ice events progress ever closer to Episode V. General Rieekan's backstory -- that he was an Alderaanian witness to the destruction of his homeworld -- is from Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back (1989, West End Games). Han has multiple run-ins with bounty hunters on Ord Mantell, but only two of which occur during the Rebel's time on Hoth: Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell (1983, Buena Vista Records), and "Showdown", an arc of the L.A. Times Syndicate newspaper strip that ran in 1984, and was adapted to comic book format in Classic Star Wars #19-20 (1994, Dark Horse Comics).

The Battle of Derra IV was dramatized in the very first episode of The Empire Strikes Back Radio Dramatization (1984, NPR) which included Luke's promotion to Commander.

A Light Eclipsed
The Battle of Hoth and A New Jedi describe the core events of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In describing the intertwined pasts of Boba Fett and Darth Vader, an incident involving an Icarii prophetess is mentioned; this is from the four-part mini-series Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire (1999, Dark Horse Comics). It was gathered into a trade paperback release later that same year.

The Tarkin superweapon mentioned in the Imperial Intrigue section comes from a two-issue story arc that appeared in Star Wars #51-52 (1981, Marvel Comics). It was reprinted in the trade paperback A Long Time Ago... Volume 3: Resurrection of Evil by Dark Horse Comics in 2002. The Phantom TIEs were featured in the video game Star Wars: Rebel Assault II -- The Hidden Empire (1995 LucasArts). The connection between the two -- the fact that the Tarkin unleashed an immense cache of stygium crystals by destroying Aeten II -- was revealed in Star Wars Insider #66 (2003, Wizards of the Coast).

The Shira Brie storyline was a major one in the Marvel Comics run. Shira was introduced as a character in "Hello Bespin, Good-Bye!" Star Wars #57 (1982, Marvel Comics). In a shocking turn of events, Luke shoots her down in "Screams in the Void," Star Wars #61 (1982, Marvel Comics). He finds out her dark secret in "The Mind Spider!" Star Wars #63 (1982, Marvel Comics). All these tales (and more) are contained in A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void (2003, Dark Horse Comics). Brie comes back to haunt the Rebels as Lumiya in "Figurehead" Star Wars #88 (1984, Marvel Comics). This tale was reprinted in A Long Time Ago... Volume 6: Wookiee World (2003, Dark Horse Comics). Lumiya was confirmed to be an Emperor's Hand in "The Emperor's Pawns" article that appeared in Star Wars Gamer #5 (2001, Wizards of the Coast).

The Mandalorian arc, featuring Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala, was told in Star Wars #68-69 (1983, Marvel Comics), which was included in A Long Time Ago... Volume 5: Fool's Bounty (2003, Dark Horse Comics). Shysa would return in future issues of the Marvel series.

Prince Xizor and Black Sun predominantly deals with the events of Shadows of the Empire, the 1996 multimedia program spearheaded by Lucas Licensing. At its heart, it was the novel (published by Bantam Books) that told the story of Xizor's plot to kill Skywalker, but it was also adapted in a six-part comics series (published by Dark Horse Comics), a video game (from LucasArts) and a young reader book (published by Bantam).

The incident with Zaarin comes mostly from the space combat simulator game TIE Fighter (1995, LucasArts) and its various add-on missions. The involvement of Arden Lyn in the mission to capture Palpatine was revealed in Star Wars Gamer #5 (2001, Wizards of the Coast).

Rebel spy Tay Vanis is from the Marvel Comics run. Luke and Leia discover his fate in "Ellie" Star Wars #80 (1984, Marvel Comics). It was reprinted in A Long Time Ago... Volume 5: Fool's Bounty (2003, Dark Horse Comics).

Alliance Triumphant
Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi covers the events of The Rebellion Regroups and The Battle of Endor. Arvel Crynyd was specifically named in the magazine Star Wars Technical Journal Volume #4: Rebel Forces (1994, Starlog).

The events summarized in The Truce at Bakura are of course from the novel The Truce at Bakura (1994, Bantam Books). The mission of the Flutie in Ssi-ruuvi space was revealed in the first edition of The Essential Chronology (2000, Del Rey Books). At the time, the involvement of the Chiss was presented as speculation, but it was confirmed in the Force Heretic trilogy of The New Jedi Order novels (2003, Del Rey Books).