"Dark Force Rising" Part 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Karrde was behind an asteroid

Karrde was technically a smuggler, but saw himself more as an information broker, so passing on the knowledge of what the Imperials were doing was too great. He also wanted to make sure that no clues about their Rishi base were found.

Thrawn also knew that Karrde would not be able to pass up intelligence, and guessed correctly where he would be hiding. It was the only celestial body that Karrde could hide behind that was also close enough for eavesdropping.

Answer: Mara Jade sensed the trap with the Force

Mara had tried to suppress her connection to the Force after the Emperor was killed. The Force helped her find Luke Skywalker in deep space in the previous novel, and helped her escape Thrawn here. She was not happy about it, and dreaded the eventual return of the associated nightmares.

Answer: Ferrier's cigars had a particular smell

Ferrier was fond of carababba tabac, which had a unique smell. Luke had been in a reception area before seeing Lando, and Ferrier had walked by. Luke used his Force-enhanced short-term memory to determine where Ferrier was heading, and he and Lando gave chase.

Answer: Lando offered to use Ferrier's slicer codes to move Luke's X-wing up in the queue

Luke and Lando caught up to Ferrier before he could steal any ships. After a brief firefight, everyone calmed down and got to walk away. Ferrier had two non-humans in his group: his Wraith for sneaky work, and a Verpine for technical skills and slicing. Lando let Ferrier go with a warning, but took the slicer codes from the Verpine (that had been used to hack into the station's systems, and direct everyone away from the ships Ferrier was going to steal).

Earlier, Wedge had offered to pull rank to get Luke's X-wing fixed sooner, and even offered Luke his own X-wing, but Luke declined, not wanting Wedge to get in trouble.

Answer: Because Han had left the military

Han said Lando got the same treatment. Lando was a general in "Return of the Jedi" for the Battle of Endor. Later in "Star Wars" publishing, the Mon Calamari would also become known for their dim view of smugglers.

Answer: Senator Palpatine

Senator Palpatine became the Emperor. When "Dark Force Rising" was released in 1992, it was not known exactly how the Republic Senate worked, or who Palpatine represented. This would be fleshed out in the Prequel Trilogy, starting in 1999. Timothy Zahn was explicitly ordered not to reference anything from before the events of the Original Trilogy, because that was reserved for new movies.

Jar Jar Binks and Count Dooku were both created years later for the Prequel Trilogy.

Answer: Outbound Flight

Timothy Zahn eventually wrote a novel about Outbound Flight (called "Outbound Flight"), published in 2006, after the Prequel Trilogy movies had been released.

The Yuuzhan Vong were an extragalactic, invasive alien species that were the main antagonists of the "New Jedi Order" series, which was a large project to shake up "Star Wars" publishing, starting in 1999.

"Stardust" was a code word used in the movie "Rogue One" (part of the new Disney canon). "The Last Crusade" was the name of the third "Indiana Jones" movie, which George Lucas wrote.

Answer: Han suspected the Bothans were hiding something on New Cov

Looking for leads, Han had Leia search and filter the records of battles during the Galactic Civil War. He searched for a battle with a large number of Bothans, and no other forces or species. His hunch was that the only reason the Bothans would throw a lot of resources at a battle was if they were hiding or protecting something. The only battle that came up was one at the planet New Cov.

Han had also agreed to get the ship Etherway out of impound for Karrde, but that was on the planet Abrigado Rae.

Answer: It was a slave-rigged fleet

The Katana Fleet was made up of 200 Dreadnaughts. The usual crew compliment of a Dreadnaught was 16 000, but with automation and slave-rigging, they managed to reduce that number to 2000. The Katana Fleet was the first of its kind, which is why it was such a public relations nightmare when it went missing.

A hive virus infected the crew. The last thing the commander did before succumbing was to jump his ship to some unknown coordinates, and because of the slave rigging, he took all 200 ships with him.

Answer: Yes

Karrde had accidentally found the Katana Fleet 15 years earlier, when he was working as a navigator for a different smuggling group. They were making a getaway, and did a short hyperspace jump to get away. When they ran into the Dreadnaughts, they assumed they were still in trouble, and made another, immediate jump.

Only later did Karrde realize what he had found. He deleted the records, and memorized the coordinates, so only he would be able to find them again.

Answer: Delta Souce

Thrawn managed intelligence from Delta Source personally, and not even Imperial Intelligence knew its source. Delta would report some strange information some times, but Thrawn was often able to parse out the important bits.

"Dark Empire" and "Crimson Empire" were both "Star Wars" comic series. The first issue of "Dark Empire" was released in 1991 (the same year as "Heir to the Empire"). Chronologically, it took place only a year after the "Thrawn Trilogy", but because "Star Wars" publishing was still in its infancy, and tone and consistency had yet to be established, the two works ended up being very different, and sometimes contradictory.

Answer: She had passed through the the space where the Emperor had died

Without a secret Death Star construction site, there was no longer any reason to visit Endor. It was a place that everyone knew about, but no one traveled to, which made it a great place for a clandestine meeting.

Leia got to Ender a few days earlier than Khabarakh, and Chewie placed them in orbit above the forest moon. When they passed through the Death Star's former location (the location of the Emperor's death), she was overwhelmed, and passed out. After reviving Leia, Chewie changed their orbit to avoid that spot.

Answer: The Rodian had tried to pay the Barabel using Imperial scrip

Barabels were fierce-looking creatures, but also had an unwavering respect for the Jedi. When this one saw Luke, he demanded that Luke settle the dispute. The Rodian had tried to pay the Barabel for a job using new Imperial currency.

After establishing an exchange rate, Luke ruled that the Barabel would have to take a bit of a loss for the work, but also advised that he tell other Barabels to not ever work with this particular Rodian again. Luke also ruled that the Barabel had to pay for the bartender's droid that had been blasted in anger.

Answer: Niles Ferrier

Luke smelled Ferrier's carababba tabac, and called him forward. Ferrier had dealings in both New Republic and Imperial space, and could facilitate the exchange between currencies. He was not very happy about being called out.

Maz Kanata was a new character in the Sequel Trilogy, after the Disney reset.

Answer: Lando's Beckon Call

New Cov was technically part of the New Republic, but during the conflict they tried to keep favour with both sides. The Imperial "raids" were really just disguised taxation.

The Beckon Call (a play on the phrase "beck and call") was a device introduced in the previous novel. It would make a ship fly right at it. Ships in "Star Wars" were a lot less sophisticated than we might have otherwise imagined ("Dark Force Rising" was released in 1992). The autopilot could only fly in straight lines towards the Beckon Call.

Answer: Three dreadnaughts came out of hyperspace to defend the Lady Luck

Dreadnaughts were smaller than Imperial II-class Star Destroyers (600 metres vs. 1600 metres), but they were still not to be taken lightly. Three Dreadnaughts jumping out of hyperspace was more than enough to shield the Lady Luck from the orbiting Star Destroyer.

Answer: Khabarakh used a stun weapon on Chewie

Thrawn was visiting Honoghr, so the Chimera was in orbit. When Chewie saw it, he immediately assumed he had been betrayed, and assaulted Khabarakh. Thrawn's presence was a surprise to the Noghri as well, and Khabarakh had to act fast to not arouse suspicion. Leia was panicked, but tried to reason with Chewie to trust Khabarakh. It didn't work. With no time or choices left, Khabarakh used a stun weapon on Chewie, and was finally able to transmit his recognition codes. Leia was upset that Chewie had been stunned, but there was nothing that could be done with the Imperials so close.

The delay in transmitting the recognition codes would contribute to Thrawn's suspicions of Khabarakh.

Answer: An espionage droid

There were a few factors that made Thrawn suspicious. First, Khabarakh did not send his recognition codes immediately. He claimed equipment failure, but then refused to set down at repair facility. The ship was static damped, making any scans inconclusive. Lastly, the pilot was from the team that failed its mission on Kashyyyk. Thrawn went to meet Khabarakh at his village.

After a brief visit, Thrawn was confident that the Noghri were hiding something, but he was not sure what it was. He ordered that an espionage droid be left behind to spy on the village, disguised as a decontamination droid.

Answer: Garm Bel Iblis was a former Corellian senator

When Han was eleven years old and in school, he met Senator Bel Iblis for the first time, and asked about the Empire's anti-alien policies. Bel Iblis was impressed with Han, and started watching his career.

Bel Iblis was the senator for Corellia in the Galactic Republic, and later, the Empire. He was also one of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance, along with Senator Bail Organa (Leia's adoptive father), and Senator Mon Mothma.

Answer: Thrawn forced Ferrier to use an Imperial ship with a doomsday mechanism

Niles Ferrier was picked up during the Imperial raid on New Cov with undeclared biomolecules. Ferrier had a reputation for working both sides of the conflict, and Thrawn promised to make his life very difficult if he didn't cooperate.

Thrawn gave Ferrier three months to deliver the Katana Fleet, or its exact location. Ferrier was given a special ship to help him in his search that came with a doomsday device installed to make sure he complied.

Answer: Khabarakh was the maitrakh's third son

The Noghri social structure was made up of strong family and village ties. The Empire was helping them rebuild their planet, and in return, the Noghri provided excellent commandos. Leia going to Honoghr, even as the daughter of Lord Vader, was putting the Noghri in a difficult position.

Answer: Thrawn accused Khabarakh of being interrogated by the Wookiees and released

Thrawn planned to take Khabarakh up to the Chimera for a proper Imperial interrogation, but the maitrakh insisted that Noghri law called for a week of public shaming.

Thrawn was uninterested in Noghri law, and demonstrated it by blasting the surrounding hills from orbit. He softened, and compromised at three days of public shaming before being moved to Imperial custody. Thrawn said he didn't know why Khabarakh had been released by the Wookiees, but that he planned to find out.

Answer: C'Baoth used Force Lightining on the man

C'Baoth felt he was more qualified to make decisions, and that it was his duty to make and impose his decisions upon those he ruled. Questioning his decision was tantamount to insult, and disagreement was dealt with harshly to instill fear and respect. Machiavelli would have been proud.

Answer: Garm Bel Iblis was suspicious of Mon Mothma's ambitions

Garm Bel Iblis had been concerned about Mon Mothma's growing power, and was concerned that he was backing just another Emperor. He separated his forces to continue his own war, and watched the Rebel Alliance warily.

The Rebel Alliance eventually became the New Republic, and although Mothma got to be the first Chief of State, it was a position she had earned through an election, and she was not abusing her power.

Answer: They looked at the upholstery

When they got back to their private rooms, Lando noticed that the grey upholstery on one of their chairs was fraying, and saw the blue and gold underneath. Blue and gold were the colours of the Katana Fleet. Han finally admitted that maybe not all was as it seemed.

They hatched a plan to get more evidence, and confirm if Bel Iblis' Dreadnaughts really did come from the long lost Dark Force.