15 hours ago, Hiemfire said:

Because not everyone who might be interested in it necessarily knows what Aurebesh is. The books aren't just intended for die hard fans.

Idd bet internet money that anyone picking up the books/comics knows what Auberesh is. Put Star Wars above the title, and you're good to go.

1 hour ago, Captain Lackwit said:

I wish to see anti Imperial storytelling sentiments further disproved. Somebody writing for Star Wars needs some cajones.

I loved the bits in Rebels with Administrator Tua. She started out as just a paper pusher, but the water started heating up as the Empire fought the rebels on Lothal.

I'd be down with a storyline where the Empire starts out actually helping a planet. Putting things right, creating peace and justice. But make no mistake, the Empire are the baddies, and eventually they crack down on the freedoms of the populace in order to enforce order, until the enforcement becomes the reason they're there, and peace and justice become afterthoughts.

That is, after all, the main theme of the Republic's fall. The people become so desperate for order, that they sacrifice their freedom for it.

13 hours ago, Stinger07 said:

BattleFront Twilight Company had an interesting sub-plot involving a female stormtrooper. Definitely still a cog. Slight chance of conversion, but you got to see her doing her duty and then being defeated and going into hiding.

It was compelling.

I found it pretty weak tbh.

Now, Cienna in Lost Stars (which is the best book in the new canon by quite some way) was really interesting and compelling. But, they really had to shoehorn in the idea that she put duty above morals and it still didn't quite work. Great book though, brilliant point of view from the cogs in both the Empire and the Rebellion.


Part of the problem is that Star Wars, at its core, is aimed at a lot of children who want the bad guys to lose and the good guys to win. To be honest, I'm the same.

16 hours ago, DarthEnderX said:

Why the **** is it called Alphabet Squadron and not Aurebesh Squadron?!

AFAIK Aurebesh is an alphabet. The Latin alphabet is not The Alphabet.

An alphabet is just group of common symbols combined to make written words. Each language can have its own alphabet, though some are shared.

2 hours ago, Phelan Boots said:

AFAIK Aurebesh is an alphabet. The Latin alphabet is not The Alphabet.

Yeah, but in Star Wars it's literally called "The Aurebesh" not the "Aurebesh alphabet".

The Alphabet is named after the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and Beta.

Likewise, The Aurebesh is named after the first two letters in the Star Wars alphabet. Aurek and Besh.

It's not just a specific alphabet, it's the Star Wars word FOR Alphabet.

13 minutes ago, DarthEnderX said:

Yeah, but in Star Wars it's literally called "The Aurebesh" not the "Aurebesh alphabet".

Huh, that’s interesting. All this time I thought they just wanted a Sci-fi font, made their own version of Wing-Dings and named it Aurebesh. I bow before your knowledge sir.

On 1/19/2019 at 4:25 AM, Captain Lackwit said:

So how long until they defect?

Based off issue 1 as early as issue 2. Not all of them, but at least one seems like she clearly intends to break away or had been a rebel spy for some time.

41 minutes ago, Animewarsdude said:

Based off issue 1 as early as issue 2. Not all of them, but at least one seems like she clearly intends to break away or had been a rebel spy for some time.

Ugh.

Title interested me and was initially excited but the blurb in the book hinting at defection has cost them any interest of mine.

The only proper solution to them defecting is to have Stele hunt them down and eliminate them by the end of it. The Imperials are not mustache twirling villains, that's just what the terrorist propaganda would have you believe. The Empire brought peace and stability to the galaxy, something that the corrupt republic failed to do. The Empire is the lawfully elected government, chosen by the people and their representatives. If the rebel terrorists crave power so much then maybe they should work within the system like everyone else if they think they can do a better job. Here's the thing though, they tried that, and their ideas were rejected by their peers. So what did they do? They went straight to political assassinations and suicide bombings. Some role models.

I really hope they don't defect, because I'm tired of that same story being repeated for EVERY FREAKING IMPERIAL SOLDIER.

Give me die hard loyal Imperials going ham on trouble makers within the Empire. If I want a defector sob story I'll go play Battlefront 2's piss story again.

Ciana Ree was an interesting and developed Imperial character, but much of what made her interesting was when she was not acting like an Imperial lol; e.g. secretly defying orders, helping people when she wasn't supposed to, letting people go that she was supposed to kill, the fact that she was often conflicted etc.

9 minutes ago, Warlon said:

I really hope they don't defect, because I'm tired of that same story being repeated for EVERY FREAKING IMPERIAL SOLDIER.

Give me die hard loyal Imperials going ham on trouble makers within the Empire. If I want a defector sob story I'll go play Battlefront 2's piss story again.

I would agree in this case. I think you can squeeze a decent imperial arc into a mini series, and that's what I'm hoping for. If it was a full run on drones and bootlickers it probably wouldn't be able to sustain itself.

You know, I still can't tell whether or not the Empire actually takes credit for blowing up Alderaan on not.

Like it's weird hearing the more reasonable Imperials, furious that the rebels killed everyone on that space station. You know, the one that killed an entire planet. I can't tell if Imperial propaganda is hiding that fact, or if they're just that obtuse and don't see the hypocrisy.

8 hours ago, Phelan Boots said:

I bow before your knowledge sir.

I mean...it was wookieepedia's knowledge. But you're welcome. 😛

10 hours ago, HolySorcerer said:

The only proper solution to them defecting is to have Stele hunt them down and eliminate them by the end of it. The Imperials are not mustache twirling villains, that's just what the terrorist propaganda would have you believe. The Empire brought peace and stability to the galaxy, something that the corrupt republic failed to do. The Empire is the lawfully elected government, chosen by the people and their representatives. If the rebel terrorists crave power so much then maybe they should work within the system like everyone else if they think they can do a better job. Here's the thing though, they tried that, and their ideas were rejected by their peers. So what did they do? They went straight to political assassinations and suicide bombings. Some role models.

I wonder if they would have voted for the Chancellor if they knew he was behind the Seperatist movement in the first place...

1 hour ago, Koing907 said:

I wonder if they would have voted for the Chancellor if they knew he was behind the Seperatist movement in the first place...

Everyone knows the war was a Jedi plot, with Dooku on one side and the Council on the other (EP. 3 novel).

On 4/17/2019 at 11:19 PM, DarthEnderX said:

Why the **** is it called Alphabet Squadron and not Aurebesh Squadron?!

Ehh on the comic. Building a decent new round of lore around 789 is going to be rough.

I'll just fire back up and play through again. Its time to bring Peace and Stability...

Nothing can live up to the standard set by LucasArts' TIE Fighter.

It was a good 1st issue. Maybe a little short but left me waiting on the second issue.

Also, I didn’t realize that TIE Fighter would be tied in with Alphabet Squadron. That’s going to be interesting.

I’ll be ready for some new TIE Intercepter pilots in the Squad Packs!!!

Found the first issue meh. It was too short and the ending to random. Dont feel invested in anyone

On 4/19/2019 at 10:50 AM, impspy said:

Everyone knows the war was a Jedi plot, with Dooku on one side and the Council on the other (EP. 3 novel).

I don't read the novelizations.

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 9:05 PM, The Penguin UK said:

Now, Cienna in Lost Stars (which is the best book in the new canon by quite some way) was really interesting and compelling. But, they really had to shoehorn in the idea that she put duty above morals and it still didn't quite work. Great book though, brilliant point of view from the cogs in both the Empire and the Rebellion.

Agreed. I was just thinking of the same character reading this thread.

She's (a) competent, (b) genuinely has reservations about the Empire* but still believes it's better than the alternative of anarchy, and (c) even after losing at Jakku is a prisoner of war not a defector despite having feelings for someone on the other side**. She's not a moustache-twirling villain and whilst she ends her career as a capital ship captain, that's still very much the moved and shook rather than the movers and shakers given the size of the Imperial Navy, even post Endor.

You also have a similar character in the older comics in the form of Janek Sunber - basically one of Luke's lot who made it to the academy a year early, but (like Han) ended up in the infantry.

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 6:37 AM, HolySorcerer said:

The only proper solution to them defecting is to have Stele hunt them down and eliminate them by the end of it. The Imperials are not mustache twirling villains, that's just what the terrorist propaganda would have you believe. The Empire brought peace and stability to the galaxy, something that the corrupt republic failed to do. The Empire is the lawfully elected government, chosen by the people and their representatives. If the rebel terrorists crave power so much then maybe they should work within the system like everyone else if they think they can do a better job. Here's the thing though, they tried that, and their ideas were rejected by their peers. So what did they do? They went straight to political assassinations and suicide bombings. Some role models.

In fairness, they do get their chance to build the government they think they want after Endor. And you know what? From what we know of Resistance, The Force Awakens, and Poe Dameron, they screw it up by the numbers.

I agree that trying to portray the Empire as 'nice' is stupid. It isn't. It's a wartime dictatorship.

Even trying to portray it as 'not evil' is wrong, given that one of the first things in the first-ever-made-film that we have is a third-party-omniscient-narrator statement that it fundamentally is, and we should consider it as such.

But that doesn't mean every individual member of the Empire is either a mindless inept goon, a spineless coward, a moustache-twirling villain, or a defector-in-waiting. Equally, when the territory your occupying is being contested either by fanatics like Saw Gerrera's what's-collateral-damage? Partisans, or something like the Hutts or Black Sun, a disciplined military force, however oppressive, has a fair chance of (locally) looking like the 'good guys'.

* "Why would they ever build another [Death Star]? It was only to stop the war before it began—and it failed—so why?"

** "Ciena was never disloyal to the Empire. One time, back then, she chose her loyalty to me. That doesn't mean she set aside her oath to the Empire."

@Magnus Grendel - just want to mention that your point (c) above is (in my opinion) a spoiler for the book. Might consider adding a warning or making it hidden content.

Aside from that, you made some good points about the book. I really enjoyed how it allowed the reader to see the OT saga through the eyes of low and mid level Imperial officers and how they are able to justify to themselves the actions of the Empire ("the Rebel terrorists forced the Empire to destroy Alderaan", for example).

On Alderaan:

The only way the Death Star accomplishes it’s design intent is for it to be known.

Thus, feared.