The Orinda Campaign

Stover is, all around, the best writer, definitely. But I feel that he'd attempt to overthink it and delve into too much philosophy. Pellaeon is a unique Imperial specimen and it would be great to get inside his head and find out why he proudly served such a vicious regime, but I don't want him to overthink it.

So Stover or Luceno.

You bastards start giving me some feedback!

Seriously, I wouldn't mind a book about the Orinda Campaign, but I think making it into a triology would be dragging it out needlessly. It was a blitz-type offensive, wasn't it?

And if someone were to write it, I'd want it to be Luceno. I think he can do the space battles and whatnot better than anyone else. And although Stover is great at writing fight scenes, he uses too much hyperbole.

Originally posted by Enyalus
Seriously, I wouldn't mind a book about the Orinda Campaign, but I think making it into a triology would be dragging it out needlessly.

Well, here is my opinion on the matter:

It was the final offensive of the Remnant and was the last engagement that decided the outcome of the war. If shit like Darth Bane and LotF get multiple books, why shouldn't this?

It was a blitz-type offensive, wasn't it?

It started off that way.

Pellaeon regrouped with the Imperial fleet post-Daala and decided an offensive thrust was needed to boost Imperial morale and remind both factions that the Empire wasn't dead. Pellaeon captured the Mid-Rim world of Orinda and six others. The New Republic retaliated by sending a fleet commanded by Wedge Antilles. Now, according to the New Essential Chronology, Pellaeon was pushed back until he eventually outmaneuvered Wedge at the Battle of Orinda, forcing him to flee.

Before and during this campaign, a Jedi initiate named Dal Konur proposed to Luke Skywalker that in order to end the war, the Jedi and New Republic needed to assassinate the Council of Moffs and essentially decapitate the political leadership of the Empire. Skywalker refused, and Konur abandoned the academy to start his own bid to assassinate the Council. Curiously, according to Nightsaber, Konur did not grow to use the dark side or renounce the Jedi or hate Luke Skywalker or all of the other cliches. He believed that he didn't have to join the dark side by destroying the threat the Council posed, which is unique. He did not become a dark Jedi. Just an unorthodox one.

He becomes interdicted on Dathomir by Imperial forces who have captured the New Republic outpost on the planet. Pellaeon had dispatched General Vit and Imperial scientist Sigit Ranth to invesitgate the Infinity Gate as a means of using it as a superweapon to help the Empire reclaim its lost territory. The gate had been destroyed decades earlier, and so Ranth abandoned the project to Vit, who instead focused on gaining the allegiance of the Nightsisters as a means of having Force-wielding troops to eventually combat the Jedi.

Now, Nightsaber is part of the Wizards of the Coast RPG game, so the protagonists are actually the players -- an unnamed group of 'heroes' -- who, while pursuing Konur on behalf of the NR, also get interdicted on Dathomir.

So now the "heroes" have to face General Vit, the Imperial army stationed on Dathomir, and the Nightsisters in order to get to Konur (who is now impersonating as an Imperial Loyalist in order to be taken to Bastion where he can assassinate the Moff Council). The rest of the Force witch clans are being rounded up and imprisoned by the Imperials and Nightsisters, so there is an undergrown rebellion at work on the planet.

Their other ally is Kir Kanos, the last of the Emperor's Royal Guardsman who has tracked Ranth to Dathomir (Ranth was one of the scientists who was hired by Carnor Jax to sabotage Palpatine's clones and so is on Kanos's "wanted" list). Unfortunately, Ranth is gone and he's stranded on Dathomir since the Imperials have interdicted the planet.

Kanos makes it clear, though, he has no love for the NR and mentions his ultimate goal is to kill Luke Skywalker for murdering the Emperor.

So, it's very interesting.

Bane's stuff shouldn't be a triology like they're making it into, I agree with that. Should have stayed two books. And LOTF could've ended in three, easily enough.

Your assessment of the campaign is pretty neat, though. They could make it into two books and keep it interesting.

Two big books. There's a lot of shit to cover. Not to mention Pellaeon's series of skirmishes with Ackbar at the end of the campaign.

Naw. You gotta close the campaign with a final, decisive battle. The skirmishes can be alluded to, but...

The final decisive battle would be the Battle of Arx Minor, where Ackbar defeats Pellaeon by destroying an experimental Star Destroyer EX-F, which obliterated six Imperial Destroyers in the ensuing explosion of antimatter reservoir.

Though the victory was described as "last minute," suggesting that Pellaeon was doing damn well against the Republic's finest tactition. TNEC says that after that, when the dust from the conflicts settled, Pellaeon's Empire was pushed back to eight sectors.

The Battle of Gravlex Med, where he defeated Ackbar and reacquired Chimaera (it was lost during Operation Shadow Hand) and the Battle of Champala are also mentioned.