[SD.net EU Database] Shattered Empire

[RogueIce]

I know you guys are talking about shields, and it's been two weeks since I read issue #1 but, I don't remember them saying it was another shield generator. The issue informs us (Han) that reconnaissance has located Imperial hold outs in a heavily fortified base on the other side of Endor

That would be tons better. I suppose it's a logical assumption due to the radar dish thing that looks similar to the DS Shield from the movie.

Because otherwise, the only "justification" for a second shield is pretty much this:

I think it was a direct response to the Endor holocaust debate.

Well that is a fucking terrible reason to have it in there. Remember the Traviss bullshit? The new EU should not be emulating that in any way, shape or form.

[Batman]

How exactactly is the (nonexistent) Endor Holocaust connected to Traviss' '3 million clones' garbage?

[Adam Reynolds]

That would be tons better. I suppose it's a logical assumption due to the radar dish thing that looks similar to the DS Shield from the movie.

Because otherwise, the only "justification" for a second shield is pretty much this:

I only said that in response to the OP's post which stated there was a second shield. I haven't read the comic.

Well that is a fucking terrible reason to have it in there. Remember the Traviss bullshit? The new EU should not be emulating that in any way, shape or form.

Agreed. I also disliked the similar "Han shot first" comments in the EU. What made the Traviss debate problematic was that she was involved in the debate while also inserting the commentary into her works. I doubt whoever wrote this will do that.

How exactactly is the (nonexistent) Endor Holocaust connected to Traviss' '3 million clones' garbage?

I presume he meant that it was commentary on the debate in the same way.

[Galvatron]

That would be tons better. I suppose it's a logical assumption due to the radar dish thing that looks similar to the DS Shield from the movie.

Also note the two Echo Base-style power generators flanking the base and its gargantuan defense turret. Yes, I'm making an assumption that it was a shield generator since no one explicitly calls it that, but I think it's a fairly safe assumption to make.

[RogueIce]

How exactactly is the (nonexistent) Endor Holocaust connected to Traviss' '3 million clones' garbage?

I presume he meant that it was commentary on the debate in the same way.

^^ This, basically. If it was primarily inserted just to quash the "Endor Holocaust" thing that's a terrible idea, and reminiscent of what Traviss got up to. Not to the same degree, obviously, but still a bad precedent regardless.

That would be tons better. I suppose it's a logical assumption due to the radar dish thing that looks similar to the DS Shield from the movie.

Also note the two Echo Base-style power generators flanking the base and its gargantuan defense turret. Yes, I'm making an assumption that it was a shield generator since no one explicitly calls it that, but I think it's a fairly safe assumption to make.

While I wouldn't doubt they did such a thing, you would at least agree this raises more questions than they bothered to answer? Like, in addition to all the questions before about how the Rebels got on the planet to celebrate and the fighters doing fireworks...well ok, maybe it's some kind of theater shield.

Except, if it is supposed to refute the Holocaust idea, that won't cut it because the rest of the planet is getting ravaged. It has to be around the whole moon for that to work, but then we're back to, "How did all those Rebels get down there?"

And even if it's a theater shield, how did that Rebel aerial transport get right on top of them? Like, what's even the point of shields if that happens? Why didn't the Empire just use TIE Bombers on Hoth if you can fly shit through them? (Or their version of LAAT gunships but there's out-of-universe reasons for that; TIE Bombers did show up in ESB however). No TIE Fighter support for their walkers?

If it's some secondary base (let's say communications because of the dish, why not?) that's one thing. But a shield generator just raises way too many questions. Especially if it's supposed to be active. I could buy it if it's deactivated; a prototype or what they used before the main shield went online and they took away parts or power and now it's nonfunctional. But a working shield generator just doesn't fit and raises all sorts of issues.

And to reiterate for Batman this is why, if they did it solely for the Endor Holocaust debate, I compared it to Traviss. Inserting nonsensical bullshit in the story purely for the purposes of debunking fan theory/speculation. At least put in your nonsensical bullshit for legitimate story-telling purposes!

[Purple]

I really don't see the issues you bring up. The shield was down to allow the rebels to land on the moon and be trapped because that's what Palpatine ordered. And once they landed the shield was up to prevent them from leaving because once again that's what Palpatine wanted. The whole thing was a trap.

[Galvatron]

Again, my guess is that Endor's surface was dotted with unmanned shield relay installations. This would mean that planetary shields function more like a network of theater shields so they can be opened one segment at a time. The novelization even described Endor's shield this way.

As for the base in this comic, perhaps the rebels were merely surprised to discover that one of the installations was manned and that the Imperials there were planning to mount a counterattack.

[Adam Reynolds]

I really don't see the issues you bring up. The shield was down to allow the rebels to land on the moon and be trapped because that's what Palpatine ordered. And once they landed the shield was up to prevent them from leaving because once again that's what Palpatine wanted. The whole thing was a trap.

He means after the first shield generator was blown up, when the Rebels landed to celebrate. Otherwise the Rebel fleet should have targeted the generator in some way during the battle, as desperate as they were getting.

Except, if it is supposed to refute the Holocaust idea, that won't cut it because the rest of the planet is getting ravaged. It has to be around the whole moon for that to work, but then we're back to, "How did all those Rebels get down there?"

And even if it's a theater shield, how did that Rebel aerial transport get right on top of them? Like, what's even the point of shields if that happens? Why didn't the Empire just use TIE Bombers on Hoth if you can fly shit through them? (Or their version of LAAT gunships but there's out-of-universe reasons for that; TIE Bombers did show up in ESB however). No TIE Fighter support for their walkers?

One possibility, with the new canon, is that the remnants of the Imperial fleet immediately broke off and fled with the destruction of Executor and the Death Star. This would leave the Rebel fleet able to patch the hole in the shield over Endor that Han caused when the first shield generator was destroyed, with their capital ships' shields. That evening the Imperial remnants on Endor managed to get the shields back up around the Rebel position. So then their units were trapped under, including their gunship. It would still beg the question of why the Rebels didn't detect them sooner.

Again, my guess is that Endor's surface was dotted with unmanned shield relay installations. This would mean that planetary shields function more like a network of theater shields so they can be opened one segment at a time. The novelization even described Endor's shield this way.

As for the base in this comic, perhaps the rebels were merely surprised to discover that one of the installations was manned and that the Imperials there were planning to mount a counterattack.

That would certainly fit my above theory, if the hole were small enough the Rebel could easily have covered it with their ships, which were already in position to do this.

[Purple]

He means after the first shield generator was blown up, when the Rebels landed to celebrate. Otherwise the Rebel fleet should have targeted the generator in some way during the battle, as desperate as they were getting.

I do not follow. If the 2nd generator was on the planet protecting the planet it self and not the death star how should the rebel fleet have went about targeting it?

[Adam Reynolds]

He means after the first shield generator was blown up, when the Rebels landed to celebrate. Otherwise the Rebel fleet should have targeted the generator in some way during the battle, as desperate as they were getting.

I do not follow. If the 2nd generator was on the planet protecting the planet it self and not the death star how should the rebel fleet have went about targeting it?

They couldn't have. But then there also would have been no way for them to land on Endor after the battle.

[Galvatron]

That evening the Imperial remnants on Endor managed to get the shields back up around the Rebel position.

What for?

So then their units were trapped under, including their gunship. It would still beg the question of why the Rebels didn't detect them sooner.

Maybe the Imperials were simply maintaining radio silence while awaiting orders. Also, the rebels had no reason to go looking for them since that base wasn't a mission-critical target.

[Elheru Aran]

The shields of Coruscant in the X-wing novels, IIRC, are described in sectional terms as well.

It makes sense for the Endor moon to have a shield as well as projecting one around the Death Star-- should a fleet come in to assault the DS, without a shield around the planet they could simply blast the projector off the face of the moon from orbit, send in a fleet of bombers in a preliminary assault to torch it, whatever. So I don't have much of an issue with there being back-up stations on Endor; there almost certainly had to be one anyway since what little we saw of the shield installation in the film couldn't necessarily have supported the garrison, stormtroopers and walkers that we see in the movie.

[Galvatron]

Something that never occurred to me before is that Endor may have been shielded long before the Empire got around to using it as a staging ground for the Death Star's shield generator.

Maybe the Old Republic installed a strong planetary shield on the moon to somehow compensate for the loss of the gas giant it once orbited. Then it was declared off limits by the Senate as a wildlife preserve and that's where the moniker "sanctuary moon" came from.

Just a thought.

[Elheru Aran]

I have no issue with that notion, and Wookieepedia does mention that it's a 'protected nature reserve'. There's a number of other EU references. In general it seems the EU assumes Endor (the planet) exists, and a planetary body is seen on occasion in ROTJ apparently (pinkish, it seems).

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Endor

[Galvatron]

The novelization claims that Endor was destroyed some time earlier, and that the moon now orbits its star in a planetary orbit of its own.

That's still canon, no?

[Elheru Aran]

If it is, sure, though one imagines that without a Death Star around destroying the gas giant would have been somewhat of a difficult operation.

[Galvatron]

Gas giants in Star Wars are exploited for their natural resources. Maybe Endor's gas giant was rich in some gas or other substance and was mined for millennia to the point where the planet itself imploded or something.

Such a concept isn't unprecedented. The Empire nearly destroyed the planet Gorse just to get its rich deposits of thorilide. This is from the new EU, BTW.

[Galvatron]

Just finished issue #3. I seem to recall there was some question in another thread as to whether the queen of Naboo (and specifically Padme) received any kind of military training...
Spoiler

http://oi59.tinypic.com/b8pr3a.jpg

[Tychu]

I genuinely liked that it harkened back to The Phantom Menace. Not to mention re-admitting the pain in the ass final mission of "Battle For Naboo" N64 game. (As a plot element)*