P.1 "The Death Star was the Empire's armored battle station, nearly twice as big as its predecessor, which Rebel forces had destroyed so many years before- nearly twice as big, but more than twice as powerful."
Size and Scope: The Death Star II is nearly twice as big (vague), but more than twice as powerful, as the original.
P.3 "Only now, the security web was beginning to seperate, to retract and form a clear channel- a channel through which the dot that was the Imperial shuttle ailed, unimpeded, toward the massive space station."
Shields and Forcefields: Channels can be opened for craft to pass through, without deactivating the entire shield.
P. 13-14 "while a second droid, hanging upside down, was having red-hot irons applied to its feet; it had emitted the electronic scream Threepio heard a few moments earlier, as the sensor circuits in its metal skin melted in agony."
Droids: droids have sensor circuits implanted in their skin, through which they feel pain.
P. 46 "I was a Jedi rule-of-thumb, but it took the soldiers in the second skiff by surprise: when outnumbered, attack. This drives the force of the enemy in toward himself."
The Force: Jedi prefer attack over defence, even when outnumbered. One could specualte that "driving the force of the enemy in toward himself" gives the Jedi an advantage when using the Force in battle.
P. 64 "We fought ... your father fell into a molten pit."
Medical: The purpose of Darth Vader's suit is to keep him alive from injuries sustained in this fall.
P. 69 "Back in the days when he was merely Senator Palpatine, the galaxy had been a Republic of stars, cared for and protected by the Jedi Knighthood that had watched over it for centuries. But inevitably it had grown too large- too massive a bureaucracy had been required, over too many years, in order to maintain the Republic. Corruption had set in.]
A few greedy senators had started the chain reaction of malaise, some said: but who could know? A few perverted bureaucrats, arrogant, self-serving, and suddenly a fever was in the stars. Governor turned on governor, values eroded, trusts were broken- fear had spread like an epidemic in those early years, rapidly and without visible cause, and no one knew what was happening, or why.
And so Senator Palpatine had seized the moment."
Culture: Palpatine took advantage of the Republic's weakness, but did not
cause it.
P. 71 "In a remote and midnight vacuum beyond the edge of the galaxy, the vast Rebel fleet stretched, from its vanguard to its rear echelon, past the range of human vision. Corellian battle ships, cruisers, destroyers, carriers, bmombers, Sullustan cargo freighters, Calamarian tankers, Alderaanian gunships, Kesselian blockade runners, Bestinian skyhoppers, X-wing, Y-wing, and A-wing fighters, suttles, transport vehicles, manowars. Every Reel in the galaxy, soldier and civilian alike, waited tensely in these ships for instructions. They were led by the largest of the Rebel Star Cruisers, the Headquarters Frigate."
Size and Scope: an overview of the Rebel fleet.
Misc: More evidence of Leia's "we have no weapons" lies to Moff Tarkin: Alderaan produced gunships.
P. 71 "At the center of the briefing room was a large, circular light-table, projected above which a holographic image of the unfinished Imperial Death Star hovered beside the Moon of Endor, whose scintilating protective deflector shield encompassed them both."
Shields and Forcefields: the deflector shield encompassed both the Death Star and Endor.
P. 72 "There had been other leaders, but many were killed when the Empire's first Death Star annihilated the planet Alderaan."
Misc: another motivation for destroying Alderaan, besides a demonstration: it was a leadership nexus for the Rebellion.
P. 84 "This unit composed of the elite groundfighters of the Rebel Alliance. A scruffy bunch in some ways, they'd each been hand-picked for initiative, cunning and ferocity. Some were trained commandos, some paroled criminals- but they all hated the Empire with a passion that exceeded self-preservation."
Misc: The Rebel commandos are both elite, and somewhat suicidal (similarities to mujhadeen?)
P. 96 "Leia dove for his fallen laser pistol. She rolled, fired and hit the scout squarely in the chest, flash-burning his heart"
Ground combat: blaster firepower effects on internal organs.
P. 122 "Imperial walkers were parked off to one side- square, armored, two-legged war machines, big enough for a squad of soldiers to stand inside, firing laser cannon in all diretions."
Ground Combat: These are clearly not film AT-ST walkers, but a larger version. AT-STs cannot carry a squad standing inside.
P. 127 "The vast Rebel fleet hung poised in space, ready to strike. It was hundreds of light-years from the Death Star- but in hyperspace, all time was a moment, and the deadliness of an attack was measured not in distance, but in precision"
Hyperdrive: The paradigm-shift effect of hyperdrive speed is explicity stated. Distance is unimportant.
P. 127 "The calculations required to launch such a meticulously coordinated offensive at lightspeed made it necessary to fix on a stationary point- that is, stationary relative to the point of re-entry from hyperspace. The point chosen by the Rebel command was a small, blue plnet of the Sullust system."
Hyperdrive: The requirements for a precise assault.
P. 128
"They were doing what a guerilla force must never do: engage the enemy like a traditional amy. The Imperial army, fighting the Rebellion's guerilla war, was always losing- unless it won. The Rebels, by contrast, ere always winning- unless the lost. And now, here was the most dangerous situation- the Alliance drawn into the open, to fight on the Empire's terms: if the Rebels lost this battle, they lost the war."
Misc: The supreme gamble the Rebel Alliance took is explicitly stated, as is the nature of their resistance (guerilla insurgency).
P. 140
"Some didn't make it. Three flanking X-wings nicked the invisible deflector shield, spinning out of control, exploding in flames along the shield surface."
Shields and Forcefields: Particle shields.
P. 141
"The large central view-screen was coming alive. It was no longer just the Death Star and the green moon behind it, floating isolated in space. Now the massive Imperial fleet could be seen flying in perfect, regimental formation, out from behind Endor in two behemoth flanking waves- heading to surround the Rebel fleet from both sides, like the pincers of a deadly scorpion.
And the shield barricaded the Alliance in front. They had nowhere to go."
Naval Tactics: The Imperial fleets arrival from hiding is described, as is the nature of the trap. The Imperial fleet was physically blocking all escape routes, and/or had deployed Interdictor cruisers for the purpose.
P. 141 "We've added power to the forward shield, Admiral."
"Good. Double power on the main battery, and-"
Suddenly the Star Cruiser was rocked by thermonuclear fireworks outside the observation window."
Naval Weapons: The Star Cruisers main battery has variable firepower.
Shields and Forcefields: Power can be added to shields.
The incoming TIE Fighters (since only the fighters were attacking) probably used some kind of missiles on the Rebel fleet.
P. 146 "Luke watched with impotent horror, as the unbelievably huge laser beam radiated out from the muzzle of the Death Star. It touched- for only an instant- one of the Rebel Star Cruisers surging in the midst of the heaviest fighting. And in the next instant, the Star Cruiser was vaporized. Blown to dust. Returned to its most elemental particles, in a single burst of light."
Naval Weapons: The Death Star's main weapon was sufficiently powerful to vaporize the
Liberty completely.
P. 148 "Forward ships have made contact with the Imperial fleet, sir.
"Concentrate your fire on their power generators. If we can knock out their shields, our fighters might stand a chance against them."
The ship was rocked by another explosion- a laserbolt hit to one of the aft gyrostabilisers.
"Intensify auxiliary shields!" someone yelled."
Naval Tactics: The Rebel fleet targeted Imperial power generators to knock out their shields. The destruction of the globe on the Executor was therefore a symptom of this tactic, not a cause (those globes are not power generators).
Shields and Forcefields: The "Headquarters Frigate" has auxiliary shields.
P. 154 "But no one's ever gone nose to nose at that range, between supervessels like their Destroyers and our Cruisers!" Ackbar fumed at the unthinkable- but their options were running out.
"Great!" yelled Lando, skimming over the surface of the Destroyer. "Then we're inventing a new kind of combat!"
"We know nothing about the tactics of such a confrontation!" Ackbar protested.
"We know as much as they do!" Lando hollered.
"And they'll think we know more!"
Naval Tactics: such close range engagements were unheard of at this time.
P. 160 "But if it was force-generated, it could be Force repelled. Luke raised his arms to deflect the bolts. Initially, he was successful- the lightning rebounded from his touch, harmlessly into the walls. Soon, though, the shocks came with such speed and power, they course over and into him ..."
The Force: Luke, despite little training, is able to duplicate Yoda's feat in AOTC, for a very short time.
P. 164
"Cargo ships loaded with charge were set on collision courses with fortress-vessels, their crews abandoning shops to fates that were uncertain, at best."
Naval Tactics: The Rebel fleet uses "fireship" tactics- success is not stated. The presence of the Rebel transports from TESB in the fleet in the film are thus explained. These transports must've been prepped when the fleet was assembled, indicating the alliance possibly expected to use these against any defending ships.
P. 164-165
"Lando, Wedge, Blue Leader, and Green Wing went in to take out one of the larger Destroyers- the Empire's main communications ship. It had already been disabled by direct cannonade from the Rebel cruiser it had subsequently destroyed; but its damages were reparable- so the Rebels had to strike while it was still licking its wounds."
"Lando's squadron went in low- rock-throwing distance- this prevented the Destroyer from using its bigger guns. It also made the fighters invisible until they were directly visualized"
Naval Tactics: fighters were able to exploit the weakness of this Communications Ship only because a Rebel Star Cruiser had done the hard work and paid the price.
Naval Weapons: Common sense- by hugging the hull of captial ships, fighters reduce the exposure to weaponry and confound sensors that would otherwise spot them.
Naval Weapons: The communications ship is probably larger than ISDs.
[after the destruction of the Communications Ship]
Ackbar reached Calrissian on the comlink. "The jamming has stopped. We have a reading on the shield."
Sensors: the communications ship was the source of the jamming.
P. 168 "Inside the bunker on Endor, Imperial controllers watched the main view-screen of the Ewok battle just outside. Though the image was clogged with static, the fighting seemed to be winding down. About time, since they'd initially been told that the locals on this moon were harmless nonbelligerents."
Ground Combat: Imperial troops were told the Ewoks were harmless.
P. 168 "Sir, the shield around the Death Star has lost its power."
Ackbar looked at the view screen; the electronically generated web was gone. The moon, and the Death tar, now floated in black, empty, unprotected space."
Shields and Forcefields: Again, the moon protected both the moon and the Death Star II.
P. 169 "The Falcon plunged to the surface of the Death Star, followed by a horde of Rebel fighters, followed by a still massing but disorganzied array of Imperial TIE fighters- while three Rebel Star Cruisers headed for the huge Imperial Super Star Destroyer, Vader's flagship, which seemed to be having difficulties with its guidance system."
Naval Tactics: the Executor was targeted by three Rebel Star Cruisers at this point in the battle, and was experiencing technical difficulties with its guidance system, possibly due to battle damage. This may have contributed to its crash into the Death Star II. Note this is
before Ackbar's order to concentrate all firepower.
The Force: the defending TIE Fighters are disorganized. At this point, the Emperor is dead. See below.
P. 171
"Suddenly course white static blanketed all the viewscreens.
"My scope's gone!" yelled Wedge.
"Cut speed", cautioned Lando. "Some kind of power dicharge causing interference."
"Switch to visual scanning".
Sensors: a power discharge of some sort interferes with the fighter sensors. It may have been dedicated or ad hoc jamming, related to Jerjerrod's later attempts to slow the fighters progress.
P. 172 "For the first time, the Death Star rocked. The collision with the exploding Destroyer was only the beginning, leading to various systems breakdowns, which led to reactor meltdowns, which led to personnel panic, abandonment of posts, further malfunctions, and general chaos.
Smoke was everywhere, substantial rumblings came from all directions at once, people were running and shouting. Electrical fires, steam explosions, cabin depressurizations, disruption of chain-of-command. Addded to this, the continued bombardments by Rebel Ccruisers- smelling fear in the enemy- merely heightened the sense of hysteria that was already pervasive.
For the Emperor was dead. The central, powerful evil that had been the cohesive force to the Empire was gone; and when the dark side was this diffused, this nondirected- this was simply where it led.
Confusion.
Desperation.
Damp fear."
The Force: it is explicitly stated that it was the death of the Emperor that caused the general collapse of an effective Imperial defense near the end of the battle- from the disorganized response to the Rebel fighter attack on the Death Star, the sequence of events that led to the loss of the Executor, to the naval defeat in general, Imperial efficiency was drastically reduced. The Emperor was possibly practicing Battle Meditation.
P. 177 "The fighters in the superstructure are eluding our defense system, Commander. Shouldn't we-"
"Flood sectors 304 and 138. That should slow them up."
Sensors: The interference mentioned earlier probably had something to do with the Death Star superstructure internal defense system.
P. 178
"It's too big, Gold Leader," yelled Wedge. "My proton torpedoes won't even dent that."
"Go for the power regulator on the north tower." Lando directed. "I'll take the main reactor. We're carrying concussion missiles- they should penetrate."
Naval Weapons: concussion missiles have greater penetration than proton torpedoes.
I just think those two implications are worth exploring. Anyway kudos Vympel.