SOCL

If you say so. I, personally, have never heard that line of hierarchy before in any navy. In this particular case, I would have assumed that Thrawn favored those captains, and by extension those vessels, in his immediate command, namely his armada, an image of which can be found here. Given also in the first chapter of Heir to the Empire wherein Thrawn instructs Pellaeon to communicate with Captain Harbid aboard the Death's Head their intention to leave the Fleet for a few days, I would have assumed this meant Harbid was the de facto third-in-line (if Pellaeon is second and Thrawn is first). Besides, there's a comment in Specter of the Past/Vision of the Future that explicitly states that Dorja never worked directly under Thrawn's command, which seems to imply he had some sort of step between. Granted, there is a scene in The Last Command where Dorja receives orders directly from Thrawn, I'm still inclined to put Harbid in that next slot before Dorja, and then Brandei (Judicator) after Harbid and before Dorja, as well.

Crickey! Has Zoot found his match?

I had an advantage, though, since I used to work in a bookstore. Nothing unusual about a book-seller chilling it out in the Young Adults/Kids section.

No, I don't even all of the versions of Star Wars. For simplicities sake, and so I can watch them with surround sound, I'm going to grudgingly watch all of the original trilogy on DVD. But, yes, all of the films, from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi, in order with brief intermissions between each film for bathroom breaks and food/drink runs.

Still though, it was a lame ending for an otherwise great first two novels. What would have worked better would been for Capt. Pellion to lay down his life for Thrawn against Ruhk, he gets killed, Ruhk manages to stab Thrawn before stormtroopers shoot him down. The novel ends with Pell dead and Thrawn left in an unknown critical state in Chimera's medical ward. Cliff hanger style for future novels. Capt. Dorja gets promoted to Chimera's new captian in the meantime. Many other lame aspects of the novel, Solo and Lando stopping the moles from stealing the rebel ships. Thrawn as a tactician in the novel would have disabled the software controls since each was being manually piloted by clone trooper assault teams anyways. Jedi Master whatever his name was... Thrawn just should have saved Luke the trouble and killed this guy for his insubordination. The delta source inside rebel HQ. Buried in the ground under a tree. LAME. It could have been used as a "decoy" for the real delta source who turns out to be Leia's assistant as everyone suspected the entire novel. In the end, she manages to snag one of the twins and to escape with the imperial special forces team leaving another cliff hanger with no follow up. After Thrawn's partial demise, Imperial forces fall off the radar and the New Republic doesn't know where to find them. I agree with you 100%, except for your alternate ending. Not sure if killing Pellaeon would have been the way to go. Pellaeon was something of the symbol of Imperial prestige, the average Imperial military officer just doing his duty, trying to get along. Killing Pellaeon off would be equatable to killing off the Empire as Pellaeon, in many ways, is the symbol of the post-Endor Empire. And Dorja to command Chimaera? He already commanded the Relentless. It's not like warships, even flagships, have a chain-of-command. It's the personnel, not the ship itself...

Oh, jeez, I just realized something. The intro bit to the trailer says "Heir of the Empire"...when in fact the title of the first book is Heir TO the Empire!! This is thoroughly distressing if it's a sign of things to come. UPDATE: Oh, and they spelled married as "maried". I think I'll send them an email saying, "Nice graphics and all, but you might want a spell-check on the staff." Can anyone say "BEAK"?

I am computer illiterate, Eagle. No clue how to make animated image files...plus, I don't think I have the correct software. I thought John Wayne's was Saturday? My father wants me to sit down and watch 24 hours of his movies.

Check a Borders or Waldenbooks. They order books for free and if you change your mind, you don't have to buy it, even if you ordered it. You should be able to get Jedi Sunrise and the Harry Turtledove books that way. It seems Jedi Sunrise is the last of the YJK compilations, likely because the stories afterward aren't as relevant to the overall chronology, i.e. the NJO. You'll have to look in the "Young Adults" or "Kids" section, though, since they aren't novels per se. Just get a little cousin or a child to get it for you that way you don't look...odd.

Now reading Jedi Sunrise, a compilation the second three Young Jedi Knight books, and the last of that series I intend to read. JH, Harry Turtledove is brilliant! I can't say I've read The Guns of the South, but I have read his so-called "Southern Victory" or "Timeline-191" series wherein the Confederacy wins the American Civil War and details the events from that time to, so far, World War II, or rather an analogue of World War II (yes, including World War I). I HIGHLY recommend the series to everyone, starting with the novel How Few Remain.

Yeah, The Last Command did end rather swiftly. According to Zahn, he had essentially written himself into a corner, by which I mean, Thrawn had been developed to a point that he was almost impossible to defeat. Thus SPOILERS FOLLOW!!! ...his assassination at the hands of his bodyguard. It seemed like the only logical conclusion given his inability to be tactically defeated. I know you think this is all rather far-fetched, Tofu, but there have been numerous examples in history of military commanders who were never defeated tactically, but rather something minute and truly unexpected ended it all. We have to also consider that this was the first novel series to ever be released as a post-Return of the Jedi plot. Now, had Thrawn been developed in 1998/1999, we'd have a series equivalent in size and epic in stature to the New Jedi Order, the New Republic pitted against Thrawn in a series of twelve, or maybe even twenty novels. In truth, I think that may have actually been more beneficial and done Thrawn's campaign and demise even more justice. I can dream... UPDATE: I just saw the trailer, and I have to say, I think it looks pretty bloody fantastic. I mean, I don't much about computers or CGI, but given that this is a free production with the fellows making it inducing all the costs, I think it's pretty darn fantastic! I'm very much looking forward to it and I hope it doesn't fall apart like many other much-expected fanfilms.

Well, folks, tomorrow's that marvelous day. Tomorrow, thirty years ago, a little film called Star Wars was released, a film which would launch what has become arguably the most successful film franchise of all time. So let's hear it for 30 years of Star Wars!!! I don't know about the rest of you, but I will be celebrating by waking up early and watching every film--plus the Clone Wars cartoon DVDs--from dawn 'til dusk! What will you be doing on this oh-so-momentous day?

It's already out?!! How do I keep missing the release dates for these movies?! First Spider-Man 3, then Shrek the Third, and now 28 Weeks Later!!

Crickey, how did I miss all the birthday wishes from almost a month ago? Sorry for not ringing in my thanks! Thanks all for the birthday wishes from a month ago! By the way, Eagle, where did you manage to find that photo of me? Very well done!

Well, since you weren't alive in the 70s and the majority of the 80s, how about a time period when you were alive? Wow, that leaves the field wide open for me Sorry, I couldn't put 24 BC in there, Tex.

Well, since you weren't alive in the 70s and the majority of the 80s, how about a time period when you were alive?

I'm about to finish Jedi Shadow, which is a compilation of the first three Young Jedi Knight books. Now, before you say anything, yes, Young Jedi Knights is that Star Wars kids book series from the mid-nineties. I'm reading it because the characters, especially Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka are important later, namely in the latter NJO, Dark Nest, and Legacy novels. Besides, they're not so bad.

I wouldn't dismiss it just yet. The quality of this isn't exceptional and certainly not what you would see in a cinema. I wouldn't dismiss it based on a bootleg, but I assure you, I saw that skeleton--and I wasn't the only one because in my frantic hope that he wasn't dead, I asked everyone else with me, but alas, they too saw it.

I know you weren't calling me a liar, Rob; sorry if it came across that way. I can certainly agree with you about not wanting that, and not that you mention it, it does seem odd it could successfully kill Brock, but not Harry. I truly do believe that as far as the film franchise is concerned, Brock and Venom are indeed dead. However, if I had to bet, I would put my money on saying that we haven't seen the last of the symbiote. I really do expect Carnage to come into play at some point, though not necessarily in the fourth film since they've said that like the X-Men films, they want to make them in trilogy installments. So I rather expect us to see Professor Connor as the Lizard next, then another villain in the fifth one, followed by Carnage, rather how Harry Osborne didn't become the Green Goblin Redux until the third film.

Oh, Jesus. I was Imperial, the computer was Rebel. I don't remember where we engaged, sector or system, but it was one hell of an engagement. Imperial ships included the flagship, a Super Star Destroyer, four ISDs, six or so Lancers, an Interdictor, and a few Carracks and Corvettes. The enemy brought in their SSD (I had modified what ships could be manufactured by both sides), a ISDs and Mon Cals, I think a Bulkwark, and a hell of a lot of fighters. It's been a long time, but I remember starting the battle and having time to leave, make a sandwich, eat it, and come back, and the battle kept going. I would like to say it lasted in hour or so, but I don't think it was that long. I have to say, the coolest part was seeing those two SSDs going at each other, guns blazing. Too bad it was just the regular fire a shot, wait, fire a shot, wait... It would have been awesome to see a broadside engagement like the ones in Return of the Jedi, but between SSDs.

Rob, go back and rewatch the film. When the grenade goes off, you see the symbiote consumed in flames, then you see Brock's body turned to a skeleton (like what happened to the OsCorp directors in the first film) before being consumed by that same flame. I assure you, his body was destroyed. It disappointed me quite a bit, too, because I was hoping for the return of the Venom because like you, I too think Venom was the most infamous and best of the villains in Spider-man, but that seems unlikely for the film series. I couldn't find a screenshot on the net, but I'm sure we'll get a lot once the movie comes out on DVD. I wouldn't just make it up, Rob. I did find this, though... UPDATE: And as much I hate using Wikipedia as a source, you may want to read this, Rob, under the section "Spider-Man 3", the last sentence of the "Storyline" bit.

I didn't realize there was any info on the plot yet. Where did you hear this, Tofu?

Wow! You too?!? Damn. Eventually we'll split off into factions. The more conservative faction will be called the Roman Jedi, and the people like Mitth and I will be the Protestjedi. Of course, Mitth and I will probably disagree on some detail and I'll form the Church of the Force. So 1991 to 1997?

Rob, you keep talking about Topher Grace returning for a fourth film, but his character is dead. I wanted to believe his character wasn't, but I think everyone saw that pumpkin-bomb-grenade-thing turn Brock into a skeleton. I think that there is a lot of potential for Carnage since part of the symbiote is in that lab with Professor Connor. With some good writing, the Lizard and then Carnage would be pretty cool. You can never have too many bathrooms!

Sorry, I didn't bother with photos of the military hardware... I knew that would bother someone, and I'm just as pleased it bothered you specifically, Mitth.

Not just that, but if there's a horrible script, I don't blame them. Certainly something as iconic and classic as Star Wars, any Star Wars, it doesn't matter, everyone will play in it if offered. But I don't blame them if they decide not to come back in case the fourth film's script turns out to be rubbish. It's especially going to take a lot to give the franchise momentum again. The second and third films were simply the inevitable conclusions of the first film, but a fourth film will have to essentially start a new plot-line. Certainly, there is the Peter Parker's professor missing his arm (I'm thinking The Lizard) and we have the chance to see Carnage, but... Are they interested in doing? There's only so much drama you can get out of those particular villains. Carnage has potential, but the professor/The Lizard? We have near-nil background to him and Peter Parker's friendship, so where's the drama going to come from?