Imperial Commando Info. Revealed

The Star Wars site published a first look at the cover art for Karen Traviss' next commando book, Imperial Commando: 501st.

The book is due out in October and appears to begin right where Order 66 ends.

The Clone Wars are over, but for those with reason to run from the new galactic Empire, the battle to survive has only just begun....

The Jedi have been decimated in the Great Purge, and the Republic has fallen. Now the former Republic Commandos -- the galaxy's finest special forces troops, cloned from Jango Fett -- find themselves on opposing sides and in very different armor. Some have deserted and fled to Mandalore with the mercenaries, renegade clone troopers, and rogue Jedi who make up Kal Skirata's ragtag resistance to Imperial occupation. Others -- including men from Delta and Omega squads -- now serve as Imperial Commandos, a black ops unit within Vader's own 501st Legion, tasked to hunt down fugitive Jedi and clone deserters.

For Darman, grieving for his Jedi wife and separated from his son, it's an agonizing test of loyalty. But he's not the only one who'll be forced to test the ties of brotherhood. On Mandalore, clone deserters and the planet's own natives, who have no love for the Jedi, will have their most cherished beliefs challenged. In the savage new galactic order, old feuds may have to be set aside to unite against a far bigger threat, and nobody can take old loyalties for granted.

-- Star Wars Vault

I am very excited for this book. I'll be finishing Order 66 very soon (like before April). It sucks having to wait that long! But at least there is another one!

Book Review - Republic Commando: Triple Zero

I started reading the second entry, Triple Zero, in Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series almost exactly a year ago. I had started the book but put it down and stopped reading for many months. I didn't stop because the book was boring. Reading - in general - bores me and I can only do it in waves. Rarely do I read for pleasure or for more than a few days at a time.

I finally picked Triple Zero back up this fall. And I'm glad I did.

The book was riveting; I could barely put it down. I'd usually read 20 to 30 pages a day, which is a lot for me, and want to read more. About 2.5 weeks after I began to read the book again I had completed it.

Triple Zero stand for Coruscant, the center of the Republic in the Star Wars universe. In the book, Omega Squad - the focal point of Hard Contact - return to Coruscant for a covert ops mission with fellow commando squad Delta Squad, who are the focus of the LucasArts video game Republic Commando. The two commando squads work with their former trainers on Kamino - Kal Skirata and Walon Vau. Add in some Null-ARCs, a wookie, and some (allegedly, it is a book afterall) pretty ladies and the book is set.

At the beginning you find out that Kal Skirata is the trainer and de facto father of the six Null-ARCs - Prudii, Kom'rk, Mereel, Jaing, A'den, and Ordo. As you return to the "present" - one year after the Battle of Geonosis - you find out that General Arligan Zey, Jedi General in charge of Special Operations Brigade, is tasking Skirata and Omega Squad with help from Vau and Delta Squad to eliminate a Separtist cell spying on the Republic.

The writing in Triple Zero helps to develop the Republic Commando series characters, specifically Omega Squad and Jedi General Etain Tur-Mukan, as well as introduce key characters for the remainder of the series (Skirata, Vau, Delta Squad, Besany Wennen, Bardan Jusik, the Nulls). However, the plot does not suffer despite the focus of the book truly on the characters.

I don't want to give much away. The book, to me, is even better than Hard Contact, its predecessor. It is packed with character development, an intriguing storyline, and parts that make you really feel for the characters.

After finishing Triple Zero I immediately began True Colors, only to stop for weeks once again. However ever since I started True Colors again I haven't stopped reading.

I have noticed, after finishing True Colors and currently reading Order 66, that the RC series gets stronger with each entry. For any trooper-oriented Star Wars fan, Traviss' books are a must.

You can view the status of my reading in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Hasbro Action Figure Wish List

Plenty of action figure fan sites - not just for Star Wars - have polls and such to help persuade the almighty Hasbro into making a specific figure from the fantasy realm. I know that Rebel Scum has done it on multiple occasions.

What I'm doing here isn't to plead with Hasbro to make these guys (or gals, as the case may be); no, I just want to put out my wish list. As an individual I don't carry much weight and it has become clear to me that collector's interest are quite varied. I though that this list would just be a fun thing to do!

The list below is for Star Wars figures that are yet to be produced or released individually on card. They are listed in no particular order. **WARNING: Spoilers may be found below if you have not read any of the Republic Commando series from Karen Traviss**

• Niner, Atin, Darman, Fi, and Corr - This is Omega Squad, form Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series. They were released (except Corr) in the Entertainment Exclusive Elite Forces of the Republic (specifically the Mandalorians and Omega Squad set). Because the figures are so similar I doubt they'll ever be released carded. But, again, this is just my wish list. I'm not making demands.
• Boss, Fixer, Sev, and Scorch - This is Delta Squad. Like Omega Squad, they've been released in a set from Entertainment Earth. In fact, Scorch has been released carded, too. Because each of these guys can be distinguished from one another (unlike Omega) they could EASILY be released on card. This a simple profit gain for Hasbro as it would involve little new work, if any at all. Delta Squad was featured in the Lucasarts video game Star Wars: Republic Commando as well as in Traviss' Republic Commando series.
  
• Kal Skirata and Walon Vau - So you've probably figure out I'm a fan of the Republic Commando series? Skirata and Vau are two of the Mandalorians tasked by the Kaminoans to train the Reoublic's clone army and are main characters in the Commando books. The main reason Hasbro does few book characters because there is no definitive image of the character for the sculptors and painters to work off of. There are descriptions of them in the books but they say that isn't enough. But I'd still like to have these guys!
• Bardan Jusik and Etain Tur-Mukan - Who doesn't like Jedi figures? Each of these characters has a significant role in the Commando books. Plus, Jusik and Tur-Mukan can be made twice. Jusik the Jedi and Mandalorian and Tur-Mukan the Jedi and pregnant.
• A'den, Ordo, Jaing, Mereel, Kom'rk, Prudii - These are the null-ARCs and adoptive sons of Kal Skirata. They'd be simple to make since Hasbro has already produced ARC troopers. Honestly they wouldn't need many changes; just something to differentiate between the six of them and an alpha-class ARC trooper. Fun fact: Kom'rk and Jaing are the Clone Intelligence Units the Senator Palpatine refers to in Revenge of the Sith, the guys who located General Grievous on Utapau.
• Ko Sai - There aren't too many Kaminoans made into action figures but we know they all look about the same. Using the sculpt of Lama Su could make this evil geneticist simple.
• Phase 2 armored ARC Troopers - All the ARC Troopers made by Hasbor have been in Phase 1 armor. We know that these superior fighters were involved up to the formation of the Galactic Empire. Where are they in their Phase 2 armor? Wouldn't it be as simple as adding some color and a pauldron to a ROTS-style trooper? Here's the animated version of ARC-77 (Captain Fordo) in Phase 2 armor.
• Commander Cody, Clone Pilot, and ARC Pilot - Cody and the Clone Pilot would be simple updates (realistic fashion). They each need more articulation. The ARC Pilot would be a simple repaint of the regular Clone Pilot. This could also result in another Commando series tie-in, Clone Pilot Sicko.
• Besany Wennen and Jaller Obrim - Wennen was a secondary character in the Commando series and is null-ARC Ordo's lust. She worked in the Republic Treasury Audit Division. Obrim, also a secondary character, is a former Senate Guard now working with the Coruscant Security Force's anti-terrorism unit.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure all come up with others in the future and, when do, I will update this list. I will be doing a vehicle wish list sometime as well.

A New Hobby?

I'm not big into reading. Sure I enjoy flipping through my Star Wars Insider, Game Informer, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN The Magazine, but I just didn't find books captivating. Before this past summer I could count the number of books I read for pleasure on one hand. Well that changed - for a little - over the summer. I took my Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura with me to my family's vacation to Ocean City, MD the first week of July 2007. I had less than 100 pages to go and my goal was to finish it that week. It's important to know that I started the same book when I was at the beach...2 years ago. Well a long story short, I finished it. And amazingly, I had brought another book with me. What book? Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch :-). I finished that at the shore too! I was on a roll. So I started another book. Kelly and I purchased a few books at the discount book store across the street. One of them was Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I LOVED IT. I didn't quite finish it at the beach but did within a few days of returning to State College. Unfortunately my new found hobby didn't last long after that. I started reading my next book, Republic Commando: Hard Contact at the end of July but only made it through one chapter before forgetting about it.

I brought Republic Commando: Hard Contact along with me on my trip to State College for THON at the end of February 2008. I needed something to do while waiting for the plane. I read a chapter or two and my interest was piqued again. I was rather busy after returning from THON (which was awesome) so I didn't pick up the book again until this past weekend. Tonight, I finished it.

I really enjoyed it and got attached to all of the main characters. Omega Squad kicks ass. As soon as I finished Republic Commando: Hard Contact I started on the sequel, Republic Commando: Triple Zero. I am only through the prologue and the first chapter but it already looks like a great installment. I really want to finish it so I can get to book three, True Colors.

I love special ops clones!