The Unifying Force notes & spoilers

[Ender]

Just a thread for some stuff that has cropped up so far.

Strike Troopers

Fett is back, having started to rebuild the Mandalorians. We see 6 of them in action, and they take out the Vong hard, including scalping them in the middle of the fight and not losing a single one of their number. Fett also says that it was never personal between him and Solo, it was to hurt the Jedi (I guess he just wanted to rankle Luke so he hounded his family but didn't confront him directly). Its implied that there are alot more because these new Mandalorian Supercommandos also assit in the liberation of Ord Mantell, Tholatin, and Gyndine

The Vong have created a small number of beings known as Slayers, they demonstrate Jedi like combat abilities, but we've seen little of them beyond that. They have new starfighters that are extremely powerful; in VP it was said that Coralskippers had weaker guns then standard starfighters, these ships have weapons that knock an X-wings shields down to 50% in a single hit making them stronger then any other observed small ship laser.

Coralskipper shots are said to raise fireballs the extend above the treetops, supporting terajoule level weaponry.

We get a list of ship classes on page 178; they are
Mediator class Battle cruisers
Belarus class cruisers
Lancer class Frigates
Hapan Battle Dragons
Nova class Battle cruisers
Corellian gunships (no idea if its the old civil war type or a new class)
KDY Marl class heavy Freighters
Imperial II class star Destroyers
Republic class cruisers
Immobilizer class interdictors

Next pages says the Vong are gonna hit Mon Cal with almost all their remaining fleet, something on the order of 5000 ships. This is sufficient to overwhelm thier defenses.

Suggestion now is that the Vong were stripped of their ability to use the force. This is not unprecidented, the same thing happened to Ulic Qel-Droma, what is odd is the species wide scale of this happening.

We later hear of Rejuvenator class Star Destroyers; in Vector Prime the Rejuvenator was an Imperial II; either a new class was named in its memory as it was the first capitla ship lost in the conflict, or it was the first with sufficient modifications to earn a new class name like the Thedore Roosevelt and the Nimitz. I suspect the former, as most people just call all of them Nimitz class still.

A number of chiss clawcraft are mentioned, that they are worth mentioning means that its more then just Jag and his wingmate, implying that Baron Fel got them to give some limited aid.

A Mon Calmari ship called the Harbringer leads along with the Guardian and the Viscount; this implies to me a type of parity between the three.

Its said that Chiss scientists and the Intellegence community created Alpha red.

It is also deployed against the Vong.

And it spreads across species to some of the native fauna

We see some use of TIE Interceptors, but like in the Final Prophecy, more data indicates that the TIE Defender is now the Imperial fighter of choice.

Luke implys that a Star Destroyer can land; he states taht both the Falcon and Errant Venture must remain in orbit instead of land on Zenoma Sekot.

New building materiasl called "kelsh" and "meleenium" are mentioned as beign part of the Coruscant skyscrapers

Vong medical tech lets them live to oup to 3x as long as humans. In the GFFA, that's pushing 400 years.

Akbar dies (no statement how, I assume old age)

Kuat fell to the Vong shortly after Destiney's Way

There is brief mention of an ~400 meter long pre imperial troop carrier that looks to be a precurser to the ISD

Mention of the cruisr Dauntless. This is the same name as the ship from SbS. Someone should email Luceano and see if he took it from the Rebellion game.

the Vong place Dovin Basals in orbit to get makeshift planetary shields.

Page's commandos wear envirosuits with jetpacks

The arms on clawcraft serve as solar panels

Its stated that Jeid telepathy is greater then other kinds

Another statement that by using standard meterisl in their construction, yorik coral can be made strong enough to withstand anything short of planetbuster level

the Hedge maze (a thing made of trees) is as "solid and fire resistand as your durasteel". The things also have Wolverine style regenerative abilities.

New vong creature, artillary beasts

The guns Zenoma Sekot fires with are described as Ion Cannons (presumably the kind from other series and not the disabling ones of SW) and its blasts are half a kilometer wide and capable of vaporizing picket vessels

As many suspected, it is confirmed that the voice in Jacen's dream in Balance Point is that of Anakin Skywalker.

The entire war cost 365 trillion lives. Hopefully that is just the Alliance's side, and hopefully they are using the british number of 1 trillion = 10^18

Zenoma Sekot is not the Vong homeworld, but it was created by the conciousness or people that created the vong on their homeworld (that's a topic that will inspire much debating)

The Vong are going to relocate to Zenoma sekot and another system in the unknown regions. Either they are going to multiple systems and the s was left off, or the war really took it out of them. Or they are going to stay in Worldships for quite some time

Coruscant will be back to normal in a few decades.

Until then the new capital is a world called Denon in the Inner rim

The entire vong warfleet insystem (which was pretty much all they had left) was sent into the sun for destruction (this guy is really getting minimalist at the end)

New Jedi headquarters will be Ossus instead of reclaiming Yavin 4

Jag and Jaina almost break up... but don't.

this book contradicts the last by pelleon saying he never raised children (though he could either be lying to prevent Han & leia from knowing and blaming themselves for his sons death, or he could have been absent in his son's life thus considers it that he never raised him).

This one ties in with tattoine's ghost by having Pelleon give Leia the Killik Twilight as "repayment" for them help give him back his home by letting him help take back Coruscant

the last sentance reminded me of the last sentance of The Great Gatsby. Not in words, but in tone.

[Crown]

Rate it for me Ender. Should I read it?

Did it answer the underlining questions about the Vong, who was in charge and all that?

Or did raise more questions than answers?

Also, was the ending rushed to fit the book (I hate that)?

[Ender]

Rate it for me Ender. Should I read it?

Bout on par with Destiney's way: When its good, its great, but it also drags at points.

Did it answer the underlining questions about the Vong, who was in charge and all that?

Or did raise more questions than answers?

?[/quote]It answered almost all of the previous questions, but raised a few (How could a society with sufficient numbers to take a galaxy fit in a single solar system? what the hell do they mean about the YV homeworld being Zenoma sekot's parent?).

Also, was the ending rushed to fit the book (I hate that)?

Yes and no. The ending itself was not, it actually seems to drag. But all the post war wrap ups fly by in the span of two chapters when they could have used a few paperbacks to do it in.

Also, I don't think he had any contact with Gk in writing this one, Tahri becamse Coran's apprentice in the last book only to leave now, Pelleon saying he never raised any children, etc.

[Crown]

So does the 'victory' come mid-book and the other stuff just mopping up?

Sorry I might have mis-understood that part.

Bottom line out of 10, what would you say? Keep in mind that I didn't like the first book, I felt it dragged too much.

[Ender]

So does the 'victory' come mid-book and the other stuff just mopping up?

Sorry I might have mis-understood that part.

Bottom line out of 10, what would you say? Keep in mind that I didn't like the first book, I felt it dragged too much.

Victory starts mid book, doesn't come about until the end.

With 1 being Balance Point and 10 being Star by Star, I'd say its a 7. And Vector Prime would be a 3

[Crown]

So does the 'victory' come mid-book and the other stuff just mopping up?

Sorry I might have mis-understood that part.

Bottom line out of 10, what would you say? Keep in mind that I didn't like the first book, I felt it dragged too much.

Victory starts mid book, doesn't come about until the end.

With 1 being Balance Point and 10 being Star by Star, I'd say its a 7. And Vector Prime would be a 3

Hmm, thesis due in 3 days. I guess I will be reading this after that then.

EDIT :: Thanks Ender.

[Chris OFarrell]

I have one question.

TELL me Nom Anor died?!?!

[Ender]

I have one question.

TELL me Nom Anor died?!?!

He does, but its on his own terms.

[Kuja]

I have one question.

TELL me Nom Anor died?!?!

He does, but its on his own terms.

Akbar dies (no statement how, I assume old age)

[CmdrWilkens]

For the record Jaina only says "I THINK (emphasis mine) Devis was his son." Sure she gets a Force tingle but those are nebulous clues at best. Paelleon is either lying or Jaina just got it wrong. All things considered I'd go with the latter option.

[2000AD]

Wahoo, Fett's back!

I liked it, though i thought the ending was a bit dodgy.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Damn, Fett'd have to be at least fifty by then...

How many years after ANH is TUF set?

[2000AD]

At least 25 years AANH IIRC

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Okay, then he'd have to be about 55 or nearly sixty.

[2000AD]

Okay, then he'd have to be about 55 or nearly sixty.

Well Han is at least 50 and Palleon is over 100 and he's still handling the stress of being a Grand Admiral. I think life expectancy is longer in the SW galaxy than over here.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Well, if I remember from the RPG correctly, the average Human life expectency is about 120 years. They still would age roughly the same, though...

But you have to admit that ~60 is kinda old for an active human bounty hunter, particularly one with such a modus operandi as Fett.

[2000AD]

He's getting on, but then he's the one that's training the new generation of Mandalores (or at least more people in the use of Mandal. Armour) so i bet he's going to fight on past his sell by date!

[Ender]

Okay, then he'd have to be about 55 or nearly sixty.

Well Han is at least 50 and Palleon is over 100 and he's still handling the stress of being a Grand Admiral. I think life expectancy is longer in the SW galaxy than over here.

Pelleon is only 86-87. He joined up at age 16, had 50 years service as of the Thrawn Campaign, and TUF is 30 years after ANH.

16+50+(30-10)=86. Might be 87 depending on when his birthday is. So hes just a little bit past middle age.

[2000AD]

Pelleon is only 86-87. He joined up at age 16, had 50 years service as of the Thrawn Campaign, and TUF is 30 years after ANH.

16+50+(30-10)=86. Might be 87 depending on when his birthday is. So hes just a little bit past middle age.

I thought there was some quote that said he had spent a century in space? Ah well.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Okay, then Fett is about 63 years old.

[Illuminatus Primus]

16+50+(30-10)=86. Might be 87 depending on when his birthday is. So hes just a little bit past middle age.

And given SW medical technology, including that available in a tiny colony like Bakura in The Truce at Bakura, indicates that's not much old for SW humans at all.

[Stormbringer]

Okay, then Fett is about 63 years old.

By Star Wars standards that's barely middle aged. With good medical care (the regenerative surgery he went through to cure his cancer comes to mind) he cold easily be able to handle training, if not going back out and kicking ass.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

~60 as middle age would assume that not only do they live longer, they also age slower, which AFAIK, they don't. He'd still be past middle-age physically compared to us.

Besides, wasn't that story in TOTBH more of a "what if?" than anything else?

[Stormbringer]

~60 as middle age would assume that not only do they live longer, they also age slower, which AFAIK, they don't. He'd still be past middle-age physically compared to us.

Besides, wasn't that story in TOTBH more of a "what if?" than anything else?

Aging is physically nothing more than the effects, there's not mythical clock ticking away our lives. If they can keep some one alive for at least a century and a quartyer they must have ways of countering the effects of aging.

The Bounty Hunters stuff has. But the cancers and other ill effects on Fett thanks to his "trip" inside a Sarlacc have made it into other books whose status isn't in doubt.

[JME2]

Well here are some more spoilers to expand on the above - I bought the book and couldn't put it down - some already mentioned, others new.

Enjoy...

*** Spoilers ****

Okay, you wanted spoilers, here are spoilers (not in order). You have been forewarned.

* Many major Vong from the first year finally return. This includes Nas Choka (Successor to the position of Warmaster after Tsavong Lah‘s death in Destiny‘s Way), Malik Carr (Agents of Chaos, etc. There are even references to the Praetorite Vong (Vector Prime - several new interesting revelations are made about Nom Anor‘s involvement with the first invasion wave, but I’m not telling ) and Shedo Shai (Dark Tide) - James Luceno also brigns back several of the Vong he himself introduced.

* The Errant Venture survives the war for those who were wondering

* The book is divided into four sections and the third focuses on the final battle of the war which is ironically where the death of the New Republic occurred - Coruscant. The battle is three-pronged, as with Endor. Sekotian ships and the GA fleet engaging the Vong’s last war-fleet in space, Alliance and Shamed Ones taking each kilometer of the planet. Finally, there are two teams with the ultimate goals, with Han, Leia, and others going for the World-Brain and Luke and the Solo twins going after Shimrra.

* GA Intelligence goes rogue and deploys Alpha-Red on one of the Vong’s captured worlds.

* The Vong launch a final, desperate attack on Mon Calamari (5,000 ships). The GA splits its fleet into two, one to defend the new capital and the second to do heavy damage to the now-unprotected Coruscant. Zonama Sekot changes all of this by coming out of hyperspace IN the Coruscant system, which sets the final stage for the endgame.

* Jag and Jaina don’t get together - (look for it in the upcoming post-NJO trilogy set for a Mid 2005 release date).

* Admiral Ackbar dies of [natural causes] before the final battle.

* The Peace Brigade gets its ass kicked once and for all.

* No other GFFA major characters die.

* Pellaeon gives Leia the tapestry from her homeworld that she and Han tried to recover in ‘Tatooine Ghost’ at the end of the war- it ended up in Thrawn’s personal art collection, several pieces of which Pellaeon kept intact - to further signify the change and peace that the galaxy should have had in wake of the Imperial-Republic accords.

* Nom Anor chooses to die on Shimrra’s disintegrating escape-ship, wishing to have it all end and not be part of any new order.

* Shimra and Luke go one on one (BEST part of the whole book; I was cackling with delight - I KNEW that this was going to happen! Ahaha!), with Shrima’s amphistaff poisoning Luke, but Skywalker using his ROTJ lightsaber AND Anakin’s lightsaber (which found its way to Shimrra’s hands after Star By Star) to destroy Shimrra’s

* At last, the lack of Force within the Vong is answered. Millennia ago, the Vong were the children of Yuzzhan’atar and were a peaceful race. Then they turned to violent ways in the wake of an invasion by an unknown race (that wield technology - hence their techno-phobia) and their living planet stripped them of the their connection to the symbiosis, to the Force. This is why their reverence of life is contradictory - they seek to regain that symbiosis through death. Zonama Sekot itself was a seed sent out by the dying Vong homeworld, traveling through space and finally become the planet that we saw in ‘Rogue Planet’.

* The final death toll for the galaxy is estimated to be 365 trillion. The final battle alone cost the GA 11,000 fighters and 300 capital ships.

* All surviving Vong relocate to Zonama Sekot which heads back to the Unknown Regions as both the planet and the Vong attempt to explore the connection that exists between them -their fleet and weapons gone, sent into Coruscant’s sun.

* Onimi WAS controlling Shimrra. Apparently, what happened is this: He was originally a shaper during the pre-invasion days and implanted Yammosk cells in his brain. It resulted in his implants being rejected, but he undid the ties and gained access to the Force. He manipulated Shimrra and himself was responsible for the approval of the war.