The Incom T-65 X-wing starfighter has become a symbol of the Rebellion's starfighter corps. Pressed into service time and again, the typical Alliance X-wing shows the scars from previous engagements, though the fact that it still performs as an advanced vessel of space superiority is indication of the ruggedness of the craft.
The sleek fuselage of the X-wing starfighter is 12.5 meters long. The long, narrow spaceframe is flanked in the aft quarter by four massive realspace engines. Each engine has an aerodynamic S-foil mounted on it. The wings not only serve as stabilizer surfaces in air travel, but also distribute deflector shield energy and serve as weapons mounts. The surface of each S-foil bears squadron and fighter markings.
Located midway through the ship is the X-wing's cockpit module. Behind the X-wing's cockpit is an astromech socket. The astromech droid provides astrogation data for the fighter's hyperdrives, and serves as a co-pilot and technician during flight. Three landing gears extend when the fighter is docked.
The sleek fuselage of the X-wing starfighter is 12.5 meters long. The long, narrow spaceframe is flanked in the aft quarter by four massive realspace engines. Each engine has an aerodynamic S-foil mounted on it. The wings not only serve as stabilizer surfaces in air travel, but also distribute deflector shield energy and serve as weapons mounts. The surface of each S-foil bears squadron and fighter markings.
Located midway through the ship is the X-wing's cockpit module. Behind the X-wing's cockpit is an astromech socket. The astromech droid provides astrogation data for the fighter's hyperdrives, and serves as a co-pilot and technician during flight. Three landing gears extend when the fighter is docked.
by Official_SW Definitions_ December 05, 2004
Get the --X-Wing Starfighter--mug. The more the Empire tightened its grip on the people of the galaxy, the harder the Alliance to Restore the Republic fought. Born shortly after Palpatine's transformation of the Old Republic into the New Order, the Alliance started as little more than a rag-tag group of freedom fighters woefully under-equipped to challenge an enemy as mighty as the Galactic Empire. The continued injustices of the Empire, however, brought many into the Rebellion's fold.
As it grew, so to did its arsenal. To combat the Imperial starfleet, the Alliance's hotshot pilots made do with battle-worn yet effective craft like X-wing and Y-wing starfighters.
The Rebel Alliance scored a major victory over the Empire by using stolen technical plans to formulate an attack strategy capable of destroying the Empire's most fearsome weapon: the Death Star. During the next three years, the core group of Alliance commanders fled from base to base, constantly eluding the Empire's forces.
The Alliance eventually established a central base on the ice planet of Hoth. Imperial probes soon discovered the outpost, code-named Echo Base. The discovery precipitated the Battle of Hoth, wherein the High Command group was nearly destroyed. After the evacuation of the base, the Rebel leaders, including the Alliance's architect Mon Mothma, stayed with the ever-mobile and always-growing Alliance Fleet.
The joining of the Mon Calamari people into the Alliance bolstered the Rebellion's ranks, and brought badly needed capital ships into the fleet. Finally, about a year after the defeat at Hoth, the Rebellion was poised to make an all-out strike against the Empire. The opportunity came at the Battle of Endor. Despite it being an Imperial trap, the Rebels persevered. The conflict ended with the death of Emperor Palpatine, the destruction of the second Death Star, the scattering of the Imperial Fleet, and end of the New Order's long reign of oppression.
As it grew, so to did its arsenal. To combat the Imperial starfleet, the Alliance's hotshot pilots made do with battle-worn yet effective craft like X-wing and Y-wing starfighters.
The Rebel Alliance scored a major victory over the Empire by using stolen technical plans to formulate an attack strategy capable of destroying the Empire's most fearsome weapon: the Death Star. During the next three years, the core group of Alliance commanders fled from base to base, constantly eluding the Empire's forces.
The Alliance eventually established a central base on the ice planet of Hoth. Imperial probes soon discovered the outpost, code-named Echo Base. The discovery precipitated the Battle of Hoth, wherein the High Command group was nearly destroyed. After the evacuation of the base, the Rebel leaders, including the Alliance's architect Mon Mothma, stayed with the ever-mobile and always-growing Alliance Fleet.
The joining of the Mon Calamari people into the Alliance bolstered the Rebellion's ranks, and brought badly needed capital ships into the fleet. Finally, about a year after the defeat at Hoth, the Rebellion was poised to make an all-out strike against the Empire. The opportunity came at the Battle of Endor. Despite it being an Imperial trap, the Rebels persevered. The conflict ended with the death of Emperor Palpatine, the destruction of the second Death Star, the scattering of the Imperial Fleet, and end of the New Order's long reign of oppression.
Related: --X-Wing Starfighter-- --Y-Wing Starfighter-- --A-Wing Starfighter-- --B-Wing Starfighter-- --Millennium Falcon-- --Mon Calamari Cruiser --Yavin 4--
by Official_SW Definitions_ December 04, 2004
Get the --Rebel Alliance--mug. The bone-chilling cold is not the only danger that awaits a traveler on the Hoth plains. Despite standing over two meters in height, the wampa ice creature is nonetheless a stealthy predator. Its white fur is the perfect camouflage, and the howling Hoth winds mask its approach until it is too late. With a crushing blow from its clawed hand, a wampa is strong enough to snap the neck of even a hardy tauntaun.
Wampas live in caves carved from the ice. It is here that the ice creature drags its prey. It suspends its victims from the cave ceiling until it is ready to feast.
The Rebels were plagued with wampa attacks when they erected their hidden base on Hoth. Commander Luke Skywalker was savagely attacked by a wampa while on scouting duty. Skywalker narrowly escaped becoming a meal and dying in a Hoth blizzard. Despite bacta treatment administered by the skilled medical droid 2-1B, Luke still bears scars from that encounter.
Just prior to the evacuation of the Hoth base, the Rebels had to deal with repeated wampa attacks. The first indication that was something amiss was the discovery of a dead tauntaun, its neck mysteriously broken. Attracted to the sound of astromech droids, several wampa ice creatures penetrated deeper and deeper into the Alliance caverns. The Rebels were able to capture at least one wampa in a pen before having to abandon Echo Base altogether.
Wampas live in caves carved from the ice. It is here that the ice creature drags its prey. It suspends its victims from the cave ceiling until it is ready to feast.
The Rebels were plagued with wampa attacks when they erected their hidden base on Hoth. Commander Luke Skywalker was savagely attacked by a wampa while on scouting duty. Skywalker narrowly escaped becoming a meal and dying in a Hoth blizzard. Despite bacta treatment administered by the skilled medical droid 2-1B, Luke still bears scars from that encounter.
Just prior to the evacuation of the Hoth base, the Rebels had to deal with repeated wampa attacks. The first indication that was something amiss was the discovery of a dead tauntaun, its neck mysteriously broken. Attracted to the sound of astromech droids, several wampa ice creatures penetrated deeper and deeper into the Alliance caverns. The Rebels were able to capture at least one wampa in a pen before having to abandon Echo Base altogether.
by Official_SW Definitions_ December 04, 2004
Get the --Wampa Ice Creature--mug. Within three years of the Death Star's demise, the Galactic Empire again proved its evil nature with the construction of a second Death Star in a remote region of space. Fortunately for the galaxy, the Empire never completed this monstrosity. Word of its construction was spread through the Rebel ranks by Bothan spies. The Alliance was able to pinpoint the exact location of Death Star's construction, and mount a pre-emptive strike to destroy the station.
The leaked information was all a ruse. The scheming Emperor Palpatine engineered the Rebellion's discovery of the Death Star in the hopes of trapping the growing Rebel fleet. The second Death Star would not be as vulnerable as the Rebels believed.
To ensure that the Death Star would destroy the lured Alliance fleet, Palpatine entrusted the supervision of its final phase of construction to his Sith apprentice, Lord Darth Vader. Vader motivated the Death Star's commander, Moff Jerjerrod, to see that the battle station was operational when the Emperor arrived for his inspection tour.
The second Death Star was not a complete sphere. Though much of the battle station's recognizable shape was visible, there were huge sections of exposed superstructure and visible skeleton. To protect the half-completed and immobile station during its construction, the Empire projected an immense deflector shield from the nearby forest moon of Endor. The shield was strong enough to protect any breach from both capital and starfighter-class ships.
The Alliance sent a commando team to land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator while the Rebel fleet emerged from hyperspace to destroy the station. Unlike the previous Death Star, whose reactor core was accessible only from a two meter wide exhaust port, the second Death Star's heart had to be destroyed by actually flying into the superstructure and detonating the collosal power plant.
The commando team was waylaid by Imperials and the Rebel fleet arrived to find the deflector shield intact. Worse yet, the superlaser was operational, and began destroying Rebel Mon Calamari cruisers with each blast. General Lando Calrissian came up with a daring and foolhardy tactic to engage the Imperial fleet at point-blank range, thus limiting the Death Stars available targets.
Aided by the native Ewoks of Endor, the Rebels were able to infiltrate and destroy the shield generator complex. With the shield down, General Calrissian led the Alliance starfighters into the inner recesses of the Death Star. There, he and Wedge Antilles loosed a volley of ordnance that began an immense fireball that tore apart the station.
Emperor Palpatine's body was consumed in the explosion. The Imperial fleet never recovered from the fiasco. What was to be the Rebel Alliance's demise instead turned into the death of the Empire. As firey fragments of the battle station burned away in Endor's atmosphere, the celebratory cheers of freedom rang throughout the forests, and indeed, the entire galaxy.
The leaked information was all a ruse. The scheming Emperor Palpatine engineered the Rebellion's discovery of the Death Star in the hopes of trapping the growing Rebel fleet. The second Death Star would not be as vulnerable as the Rebels believed.
To ensure that the Death Star would destroy the lured Alliance fleet, Palpatine entrusted the supervision of its final phase of construction to his Sith apprentice, Lord Darth Vader. Vader motivated the Death Star's commander, Moff Jerjerrod, to see that the battle station was operational when the Emperor arrived for his inspection tour.
The second Death Star was not a complete sphere. Though much of the battle station's recognizable shape was visible, there were huge sections of exposed superstructure and visible skeleton. To protect the half-completed and immobile station during its construction, the Empire projected an immense deflector shield from the nearby forest moon of Endor. The shield was strong enough to protect any breach from both capital and starfighter-class ships.
The Alliance sent a commando team to land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator while the Rebel fleet emerged from hyperspace to destroy the station. Unlike the previous Death Star, whose reactor core was accessible only from a two meter wide exhaust port, the second Death Star's heart had to be destroyed by actually flying into the superstructure and detonating the collosal power plant.
The commando team was waylaid by Imperials and the Rebel fleet arrived to find the deflector shield intact. Worse yet, the superlaser was operational, and began destroying Rebel Mon Calamari cruisers with each blast. General Lando Calrissian came up with a daring and foolhardy tactic to engage the Imperial fleet at point-blank range, thus limiting the Death Stars available targets.
Aided by the native Ewoks of Endor, the Rebels were able to infiltrate and destroy the shield generator complex. With the shield down, General Calrissian led the Alliance starfighters into the inner recesses of the Death Star. There, he and Wedge Antilles loosed a volley of ordnance that began an immense fireball that tore apart the station.
Emperor Palpatine's body was consumed in the explosion. The Imperial fleet never recovered from the fiasco. What was to be the Rebel Alliance's demise instead turned into the death of the Empire. As firey fragments of the battle station burned away in Endor's atmosphere, the celebratory cheers of freedom rang throughout the forests, and indeed, the entire galaxy.
by Official_SW Definitions_ June 23, 2006
Get the --Death Star II--mug. Secluded in a remote corner of the Outer Rim Territories, the gas giant Endor and its verdant moon of the same name would easily have been overlooked by a busy galaxy were it not for the decisive battle that occurred there. Endor serves as the gravesite of both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. It was here that the Rebel Alliance began the path of victory over the Galactic Empire.
Endor was the secret construction site for the second Death Star. Codenamed the Sanctuary Moon, Endor was a green jewel that stood out against the dark reaches of space. Rivers wind through the thick canopy of ancient trees, and the forests extend high over the dark floors and the low mountains of the world.
Built in a clearing on the moon was an Imperial installation protected by an entire legion of Imperial troops. A massive shield generator projected a deflector shield around the half-completed Death Star. A daring Rebel strike team, under the command of General Han Solo, was assigned to destroy the generator. With the assistance of the native Ewoks, the Rebels defeated the Imperial troops, paving the way for a victorious space battle. This historic engagement is known as the Battle of Endor.
Endor was the secret construction site for the second Death Star. Codenamed the Sanctuary Moon, Endor was a green jewel that stood out against the dark reaches of space. Rivers wind through the thick canopy of ancient trees, and the forests extend high over the dark floors and the low mountains of the world.
Built in a clearing on the moon was an Imperial installation protected by an entire legion of Imperial troops. A massive shield generator projected a deflector shield around the half-completed Death Star. A daring Rebel strike team, under the command of General Han Solo, was assigned to destroy the generator. With the assistance of the native Ewoks, the Rebels defeated the Imperial troops, paving the way for a victorious space battle. This historic engagement is known as the Battle of Endor.
Related: --Death Star II-- --Ewok--
by Official_SW Definitions_ December 05, 2004
Get the --Endor--mug. Hoth is the sixth planet in the remote system of the same name. It is a world of snow and ice, surrounded by numerous moons. Small meteorites that have wandered away from a nearby asteroid field constantly pelt Hoth's icy surface. This icy world has developed a number of indigenous lifeforms, including the wampa ice creature, and the tauntaun. The daytime temperatures of Hoth were bearable for properly dressed humans, but the Hoth nights are too hostile even for the native creatures.
Following their victory at the Battle of Yavin, the core group of Rebel Alliance heroes had to abandon their headquarters at the Massassi temples of Yavin 4. Pursued by the Empire, they eventually set up a new base on the ice planet. Code-named Echo Base, this new outpost was under the command of General Rieekan. The temperature extremes required a great deal of effort from Alliance technicians to keep all their vital supplies from freezing.
An Imperial probe droid -- one of thousands dispatched throughout the galaxy -- eventually discovered Hoth. The Rebels were fortunate enough to learn of the droid, and began evacuation procedures immediately. The Empire -- in the form of the Imperial Death Squadron -- arrived in the Hoth system shortly thereafter.
History records the conflict that followed as the Battle of Hoth, one the greatest setbacks suffered by the Rebel Alliance. The Rebels barely had enough time to evacuate their headquarters and scatter from the pursuing Imperial fleet.
Following their victory at the Battle of Yavin, the core group of Rebel Alliance heroes had to abandon their headquarters at the Massassi temples of Yavin 4. Pursued by the Empire, they eventually set up a new base on the ice planet. Code-named Echo Base, this new outpost was under the command of General Rieekan. The temperature extremes required a great deal of effort from Alliance technicians to keep all their vital supplies from freezing.
An Imperial probe droid -- one of thousands dispatched throughout the galaxy -- eventually discovered Hoth. The Rebels were fortunate enough to learn of the droid, and began evacuation procedures immediately. The Empire -- in the form of the Imperial Death Squadron -- arrived in the Hoth system shortly thereafter.
History records the conflict that followed as the Battle of Hoth, one the greatest setbacks suffered by the Rebel Alliance. The Rebels barely had enough time to evacuate their headquarters and scatter from the pursuing Imperial fleet.
by Official_SW Definitions_ December 04, 2004
Get the --Hoth--mug. Anakin grew up as a slave in the markets of Mos Espa, on Tatooine, arriving on the planet with his mother Shmi when he was just three years old. Shmi later revealed that there was no father to him, that she simply found out she was pregnant and carried the child to birth. He and his mother were owned by Gardulla the Hutt at the time, but were eventually won in a podracing bet by Watto.
Despite his gruff demeanor, Watto treated the Skywalkers fairly. After meeting Qui-Gon Jinn, he dreamed of becoming a Jedi Knight. His chances were enhanced when Qui-Gon learned of his immaculate conception, believing he to be the Chosen One prophesied by the ancient Jedi lore.
After winning the Boonta Eve Classic podrace and being freed by Qui-Gon, he left Tatooine and trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi. His own lightsaber was constructed on Ilum, but he could only remember obtaining the red blade from a vision of Darth Maul. Eventually, he grew into a brash young pilot who joined the Old Republic as a fighter pilot, gaining recognition during his education at the Academy and then during the Clone Wars.
He was still a brash young man, and the barriers of patience and hard work seemed to stifle his growing proficiency in the Force. It was about this time that Senator Palpatine also noticed the young Anakin. Sensing the Force within him, Palpatine also sensed his desire to learn quickly. After the death of Shmi Skywalker Lars at the hands of a clan of Tusken Raiders, he became so enraged that he killed the entire clan, inclding the females and the children. His descent into the Dark Side began. During the Battle of Geonosis, he lost his right arm in a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku. The arm was replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis, but took away some part of Anakin's humanity.
Seizing the opportunity, Palpatine introduced Anakin to the wonders of the Dark Side of The Force, and Anakin was hooked. He realized that, with the power of the Force behind him, he would be able to provide for himself and his pregnant wife. There would be nothing to hinder him, and his security seemed assured. He became Palpatine's student, and the fall from the Light Side to the Dark Side happened so quickly that Kenobi was powerless to stop it.
Kenobi pleaded with Anakin to return to the Light Side, but Anakin would have no part of it. After a heated argument, Anakin and Kenobi confronted each other in a vicious lightsaber duel. They were evenly matched physically, but Obi-Wan's knowledge of the Force was much greater than Anakin's, and Kenobi was able to maintain his strength. A coincidence led to their battle nearing a pit of molten lava, and Anakin misplaced his footing. He fell into the pit, and was seared alive. Obi-Wan, seeing that he had a single chance to save his friend and return him to the Light Side, pulled the burning Anakin from the pit. He returned to the Old Republic, where a tram of cybernetic surgeons worked furiously to save him.
The newly-promoted Emperor Palpatine spared no expense in trying to save Anakin. This was noted by Kenobi, who realized that Anakin would see Palpatine as a savior. Kenobi then fled with Anakin's wife, hiding her and her unborn twins on remote worlds, out of the Emperor's watchful sight. Palpatine, upon Anakin's recovery, re-introduced Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force. This eventually led to his acceptance of the Sith training and lore, and sometime during this training Anakin Skywalker ceased to exist. He became Darth Vader, and rose to become a Dark Lord of the Sith.
As such, he also became Palpatine's minion, and became the Emperor's tool. Sometime after the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine was able to discover that Anakin had had a son. He used this knowledge to help secure his hold on the former Anakin Skywalker, as well as a way to help turn Luke to the Dark Side. The Light Side of him seemed to try and return to the surface, and Vader was faced with a crisis. During the Battle of Endor, Luke managed to get the Light Side of Anakin to re-assert itself, and as
the Emperor was trying to kill Luke, Anakin rose up and threw the Emperor down the Death Star's power shaft. The life-support systems that kept Darth Vader alive, however, were seriously damaged by the Emperor's Force lightning, and failed. He died soon after Luke removed the facemask to allow Anakin to see his son with his own eyes.
Despite his gruff demeanor, Watto treated the Skywalkers fairly. After meeting Qui-Gon Jinn, he dreamed of becoming a Jedi Knight. His chances were enhanced when Qui-Gon learned of his immaculate conception, believing he to be the Chosen One prophesied by the ancient Jedi lore.
After winning the Boonta Eve Classic podrace and being freed by Qui-Gon, he left Tatooine and trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi. His own lightsaber was constructed on Ilum, but he could only remember obtaining the red blade from a vision of Darth Maul. Eventually, he grew into a brash young pilot who joined the Old Republic as a fighter pilot, gaining recognition during his education at the Academy and then during the Clone Wars.
He was still a brash young man, and the barriers of patience and hard work seemed to stifle his growing proficiency in the Force. It was about this time that Senator Palpatine also noticed the young Anakin. Sensing the Force within him, Palpatine also sensed his desire to learn quickly. After the death of Shmi Skywalker Lars at the hands of a clan of Tusken Raiders, he became so enraged that he killed the entire clan, inclding the females and the children. His descent into the Dark Side began. During the Battle of Geonosis, he lost his right arm in a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku. The arm was replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis, but took away some part of Anakin's humanity.
Seizing the opportunity, Palpatine introduced Anakin to the wonders of the Dark Side of The Force, and Anakin was hooked. He realized that, with the power of the Force behind him, he would be able to provide for himself and his pregnant wife. There would be nothing to hinder him, and his security seemed assured. He became Palpatine's student, and the fall from the Light Side to the Dark Side happened so quickly that Kenobi was powerless to stop it.
Kenobi pleaded with Anakin to return to the Light Side, but Anakin would have no part of it. After a heated argument, Anakin and Kenobi confronted each other in a vicious lightsaber duel. They were evenly matched physically, but Obi-Wan's knowledge of the Force was much greater than Anakin's, and Kenobi was able to maintain his strength. A coincidence led to their battle nearing a pit of molten lava, and Anakin misplaced his footing. He fell into the pit, and was seared alive. Obi-Wan, seeing that he had a single chance to save his friend and return him to the Light Side, pulled the burning Anakin from the pit. He returned to the Old Republic, where a tram of cybernetic surgeons worked furiously to save him.
The newly-promoted Emperor Palpatine spared no expense in trying to save Anakin. This was noted by Kenobi, who realized that Anakin would see Palpatine as a savior. Kenobi then fled with Anakin's wife, hiding her and her unborn twins on remote worlds, out of the Emperor's watchful sight. Palpatine, upon Anakin's recovery, re-introduced Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force. This eventually led to his acceptance of the Sith training and lore, and sometime during this training Anakin Skywalker ceased to exist. He became Darth Vader, and rose to become a Dark Lord of the Sith.
As such, he also became Palpatine's minion, and became the Emperor's tool. Sometime after the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine was able to discover that Anakin had had a son. He used this knowledge to help secure his hold on the former Anakin Skywalker, as well as a way to help turn Luke to the Dark Side. The Light Side of him seemed to try and return to the surface, and Vader was faced with a crisis. During the Battle of Endor, Luke managed to get the Light Side of Anakin to re-assert itself, and as
the Emperor was trying to kill Luke, Anakin rose up and threw the Emperor down the Death Star's power shaft. The life-support systems that kept Darth Vader alive, however, were seriously damaged by the Emperor's Force lightning, and failed. He died soon after Luke removed the facemask to allow Anakin to see his son with his own eyes.
by Official_SW Definitions_ June 23, 2006
Get the --Anakin Skywalker--mug.